A
faint flush of pleasure rose in the Queen's cheeks, and her eyes
sparkled with triumph at the long applause which was on her side
against the King's disapproval. She dropped the point of her lance
until it almost touched the ground, and spoke to her husband in a high
clear voice that was heard by many.
"I present to your Grace this troop of brave knights," she said. "In
strength the advantage is yours, in numbers, you far outdo us, in age
you are older, in experience there are those with you who have lived a
lifetime in arms. Yet we have some skill also, and those who are old in
battles know that the victory belongs to the spirit and the heart,
before it is the work of the hand; and in these my knights are not
behind yours."
The men who heard her words and saw the lovely light in her wondrous
face threw up their right hands and shouted great cheers for her and
her three hundred riders, but the King spoke no word of praise, and his
face was still and sour. Again the Queen's cheek flushed.
"Your Grace leads the army of France," she said, "an army of brave men.
My knights are many, and brave too, the troops of Guienne and of Poitou
and of Gascony and of more than half of all the duchies that speak our
tongue and owe me allegiance. But of them all, and before them all, to
ride in van of this Holy War, I choose these three hundred ladies. My
Lord King, and you, lords, barons, knights, and men, who have taken
upon you the sign of the Cross, you, the flower of French chivalry and
manhood, your comrades in arms are these, the flowers of France! Long
live the King!"
She threw up her lance and caught it easily in her right hand as she
uttered the cry, laughing in the King's face, and well knowing her
power compared with his; and as the high young voices behind her took
up the shout, the great multitude that bordered the meadow took it up
also; but one word was changed, and a hundred thousand throats shouted,
"Long live the Queen!"
When there was silence at last, the King looked awkwardly to his right
and left as if seeking advice; but the nobles about him were watching
the fair ladies, and had perhaps no counsel to offer.
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