Page 330 - A Knight of the White Cross

"'There was a squire of low degree, Loved the king's daughter of
Hungarie,'" Caretto sang, with a laugh. "You are not of low degree, but of

noble family, Gervaise. You are not a squire, but a knight, and already a
very distinguished one; nor is the young lady, though she be a rich heiress,

a king's daughter."

"At any rate, the squire was not vowed to celibacy. No, no, Sir Fabricius, it

is a dream, and a pleasant one; but I know perfectly well that it is but a
dream, and one that will do me no harm so long as I ever bear in mind that

it is so. Many a knight of the Order before me has borne a lady's gage, and
carried it valiantly in many a fight, and has been no less true to his vows for
doing so."

"Upon the contrary, he has been all the better a knight, Gervaise; it is

always good for a knight, whether he belongs to the Order or not, to prize
one woman above all others, and to try to make himself worthy of his ideal.
As to the vow of celibacy, you know that ere now knights have been

absolved from their vows, and methinks that, after the service you have
rendered to Italy by ridding the sea of those corsairs, his Holiness would

make no difficulty in granting any request that you might make him in that
or any other direction. I don't know whether you are aware that, after you
sailed from here, letters came from Rome as well as from Pisa, Florence,

and Naples, expressive of the gratitude felt for the services that you had
rendered, and of their admiration for the splendid exploit that you had

performed."

"No; the grand master has had his hands so full of other matters that

doubtless an affair so old escaped his memory. Indeed, he may have
forgotten that I sailed before the letters arrived."

"Do not forget to jog his memory on the subject, for I can tell you that the
letters did not come alone, but were each accompanied by presents worthy

of the service you rendered. But as to the vows?"

"As to the vows, I feel as I said just now, that I would not free myself of
them if I could, for, being bound by them, I can the more easily and