I pray you, let not the Queen be offended by the answer you
shall give her from me; but I shall leave it to your courtesy and skill
to choose such words as you think best, for I am a poor speaker of
compliments."
"The Duchess of Gascony shall think only the better of you when she has
heard me, sir."
Thereupon, with a great gesture and a bow to which Gilbert gravely
responded, the knight took his leave and went to the door; but then,
suddenly forgetting all his manner, and with a genuine impulse, he
turned, came back and seized Gilbert's hand once more.
"A little accent, my friend! If you only had a little accent!"
His wiry figure disappeared through the door a moment later, and
Gilbert was alone. He asked himself whether the Queen had meant to
insult him, and he could not believe it. But presently, as he
remembered all that had happened, it occurred to him that she might be
ashamed of having shown him her heart in a moment of great danger, and
now, as if to cover herself, she meant him to understand that he was
nothing to her but a brave man who ought to be substantially and richly
rewarded for having risked his life on her behalf.
Strangely enough, the thought pleased him now, as much as the brutal
offer of the gold had outraged his honourable feeling. It was far
better, he reflected, that the Queen should act thus and help him to
look upon her as a being altogether beyond his sphere, as she really
was. After this, he thought, it would be impossible and out of the
question that any look or touch of hers could send a thrill through
him, like little rivers of fire, from his head to his heels.
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