He looked at the sleeper's face, and thought how much this
servant of his had suffered, being quite half as gentle by birth as he
himself; and he remembered how the man had fought ever bravely, and had
shed his blood, and had never taken gifts of money from his master,
save for great necessity, and had asked for a sword rather than for a
tunic when he had raised the riot to save Beatrix and the Queen in
Nicaea; and Gilbert was ashamed that such a man, who was in truth the
eldest born of a great house, should be a starving servant. So when
Dunstan opened his eyes and started up at seeing his master awake,
Gilbert spoke to him.
"You have fought with me," he said, "you have endured with me, we have
fasted together on the march, and we have drunk of the same spring in
battle while the arrows fell about us, and now, God willing, we are to
be brothers, when I wed the Lady Beatrix, and but for you I should be
mourning by her grave to-day. It is not meet that we should be any
longer master and man, for you have gentle blood in you, of a great
house."
"Sir Gilbert," murmured Dunstan, flushing darkly, "you are very kind to
me, but I will not have gentlehood of a father who was a murderer and a
thief."
"You prove yourself gentle by that speech," answered Gilbert. "Had he
no other blood to give you than his own? Then the Lady Beatrix is also
the daughter of a thief and a murderer."
"And of a lady of great lineage. That is different. I am no peer of my
lady sister.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373