"I have not seen a braver man than this English knight, nor a better
man of his hands, nor one more gentle, and he has the face of a
leader."
Then Gilbert loosed his hold and Sir Arnold looked angrily to the right
and left, and passed out of the crowd, all men making way for him as if
they would not touch him. Some of them turned to Gilbert again, and
asked him questions about the strange knight.
"My lords," he answered, "he is Sir Arnold de Curboil, my stepfather;
for when he had killed my father, he married my mother and stole my
lands. I fought him when I was but a boy, and he left me for dead in
the forest; and now I think that he is come from England to seek
occasion against me; but if I live I shall get back my inheritance. And
now, if I seem to you to have dealt justly by him, I crave my leave of
you, and thank your lordships for your good will and courtesy."
So they bade him good-night, and he went away, leaving many who felt
that he had done well, but that, in his place, they could not have done
as much. They did not know how dear it cost him, but dimly they guessed
that he was braver than they, though they were of the bravest.
He was very tired, and had not slept in a good bed under his own tent
for two months; yet he was sleepless, and awoke after two hours, and
could not sleep again till within an hour of the winter dawn; for he
feared some evil for Beatrix if her father should claim her of the
Queen and take her back from Ephesus by sea, as he must have come.
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