"Sir Gilbert," she said quietly, "I loved a good man, who was my
husband, and he loved me; but he was killed, and they brought him home
to me dead. I tell you, Sir Gilbert, that the true love of man and
woman is the greatest and best thing in all the world; but when two
love one another, if their love be not the greatest thing save honour,
then it is not true, nor worthy to be reckoned in account. Think well
whether you love this lady truly, as I mean, or not, and if you do,
there can be no more doubt."
"Lady Anne," said Gilbert, when he had thought a little while, "you are
a very honourable woman, and your counsel is good."
After they had talked, they parted, and Gilbert went back to his
lodging, being determined to go to Antioch by sea with the King and
Queen; but still he was sorry for the poor pilgrims who were to be left
behind to fight a way through for themselves.
The great ships that had been hired for the voyage were heavy and
unwieldy vessels to see, but yet swift through the water, whether the
vast lateen sails drew full with a fair wind or were close-reefed in a
gale, till they seemed mere jibs bent to the long yards, or even when
in a flat calm the vessels were sent along by a hundred sweeps, fifty
on each side; and they were partly Greek galleys and partly they were
of Amalfi, whose citizens had all the commerce of the East, and their
own quarter in every town and harbour, from the Piraeus round by
Constantinople and all Asia Minor and Egypt, as far as Tunis itself.
Pages:
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337