A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XVI FESTIVITIES

  At last the fleet, headed by the galley, to which all the knights hadreturned, rowed towards the port. A gun flashed out from the fort atits entrance, and at once those from all the other batteries responded;bells pealed out again, and a confused roar of cheering broke from thecrowds occupying every spot from which a view of the harbour could beobtained. The ships in the port were all decked with flags, and thefront windows and balconies of every house were hung with tapestries andbright curtains. As soon as the galley entered the port, a state barge,flying the flag of the Republic, advanced to meet her from the wharf.As she approached, Ralph gave orders for the oars to be laid in, andthe barge was soon alongside. The knights were already ranged alongthe poop, and, accompanied by Ralph and Caretto, Gervaise moved to thegangway to receive the visitors. At their head was Battista Fragoso, thedoge, in his robe of state, and following him were a body of the highestnobles of Genoa, all brilliant in gala costume.

  "This, my lord duke," Caretto said, "is Sir Gervaise Tresham, a knightcommander of our Order, and the commander of this, their galley. He hasbefore, as you may well believe from his appointment to so honourable apost, highly distinguished himself, but what he has before accomplishedis far surpassed by the brilliant action that he has now achieved. Hehas won a victory that not only reflects the highest honour upon theOrder, but is an inestimable service to Italy, and has freed her from acorsair fleet that would have been a scourge to her, both at sea and tothe towns and villages along the coast. Not only has he, with the braveknights under his orders, annihilated the corsair fleet, burning elevenof their galleys, and capturing thirteen others, but he has restoredto freedom no less than two hundred Christian captives, among them thecavaliers Giacomo da Vinci, Pietro Forzi, and myself."

  "In the name of the Republic, Sir Gervaise Tresham, and I may say inthat of all Italy, I thank you most heartily for the splendid servicethat you have rendered us. It would have seemed to me well nighincredible that a single galley, even if commanded and manned by themost famous knights of your great Order, should have accomplished soextraordinary a feat. Still more strange is it that it should have beenperformed by so young a knight, with a crew composed, as Sir FabriciusCaretto has told us, of knights chosen from among the youngest of theOrder."

  "You give far more credit to us, your Highness, than we deserve,"Gervaise replied. "Three of the ships were indeed captured in fairfight, but we caught the rest asleep and massed together as to beincapable of successful resistance, and they fell easy victims to thefire ships we launched against them. Any credit that is due to me isshared equally by my subcommander here, Sir Ralph Harcourt, and indeedby every knight of my company."

  "This, doubtless, may be so, Sir Gervaise," the doge said, with a slightsmile, "but it is to the head that plans, rather than to the hand thatstrikes, that such success as you have achieved is due; and the creditof this night attack is, as the cavalier Caretto tells me, wholly yours,for until you issued your final orders it seemed to him, and to the twogood knights his companions, that there was naught to do but to remainin port and watch this corsair fleet sail away to carry out its work ofdestruction."

  By this time they had reached the poop of the galley. Gervaise nowcalled forward the knights one by one, and presented them to the doge,who expressed to them all the gratitude felt by himself and the whole ofthe citizens of Genoa for the service they had rendered to the Republic.This ceremony being over, the knights broke up their ranks and conversedfor a few minutes with those who had come on board with the doge. Thelatter then took his place in the barge with his companions, invitingGervaise and Ralph to accompany him. As the barge left the side of thegalley, which followed closely behind her, the guns again thunderedout their welcome, and a roar of greeting rose from the inhabitants. Onlanding, the party waited until the knights had joined them, andthen proceeded up the street to the ducal palace, amidst enthusiasticcheering from the crowd that lined the road, occupied the windows andbalconies, and even scrambled on the housetops, the ladies waving theirhandkerchiefs and scarves.

  At the palace were assembled all the municipal authorities, and thecongratulations given on board were here repeated. After this there wasa great banquet, at which Gervaise was placed on the right hand of thedoge, who, at the conclusion of the feast, called upon the assembledguests to drink to the health of the knights of St. John, who had savedthe commerce and seacoast of Italy from the greatest danger that hadmenaced them since the days when the Northern rovers had desolated theshores of the Mediterranean. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm, andGervaise then replied with a few words of thanks for the honour done tohimself and his comrades.

  The party then left the banqueting hall for the great reception rooms,where the wives and daughters of all the nobles and principal citizensof Genoa were assembled. Most of the young knights, belonging asthey did to noble families, and accustomed from childhood to courtlyceremonies and festivities, were quite at home here. Caretto, his twocompanions, and their six Italian comrades, speedily introduced them,and each was soon surrounded by a group of ladies, anxious to hear fromhis lips the details of the exploits of the galley.

  "But how is it that you are all so young, Sir Ralph?" one of the ladies,to whom Harcourt had been introduced as the second in command, askedhim, when he had finished his account of the capture of the galleys."We heard from those who met you on landing, that all your comrades wereyoung, but we were filled with surprise when you entered the room, formany of them are but lads."

  "You may say that all of us are but lads, Countess. I am the oldest ofthe party, and am but little over twenty-two, but few of the others areover nineteen; they are all professed knights of the Order, who, as youdoubtless know, come out to Rhodes when only sixteen. Some, of course,do not join until later, but I think that all here entered at theearliest age permitted, and almost all had served in two or threevoyages in the galleys before they were appointed to the Santa Barbara.The reason why so young a crew was chosen was that our commander wasalso young. He had done such exceptional service to the Order that hewas appointed to the command of a galley, and he has, as all will allow,well justified the choice. It was because it was deemed inexpedientto place knights many years his senior under his command, and partly,perhaps, to encourage the younger knights, by giving them an exceptionalopportunity of distinguishing themselves, that the crew was chosenentirely from their ranks. I was selected as second in command becauseGervaise and I had been special friends when we came out from England inthe same ship, and had before fought side by side against the Moslems."

  "I see that you wear gilded spurs, Sir Ralph," another lady said; "youmust therefore be a dubbed knight?"

  "Yes; I had the good fortune to be knighted by D'Aubusson himself, atthe same time that Sir Gervaise was also so honoured. It was for anaffair with the Turkish pirates. It was Gervaise who really won thehonour, for I had no share in the affair, save that of doing my best inthe fight."

  "And who could do more?" the countess queried.

  "Gervaise could do more, Countess, as was shown in that attack on thecorsairs by means of fire ships. He has a head to plan, and, in the caseI speak of, a happy thought of his not only saved the lives of ourselvesand Sir John Boswell, but, indirectly, was the means of preventing twoof our galleys being captured by the corsairs."

  "Which is Sir Gervaise?" one of the ladies asked.

  Ralph smiled.

  "Look round the hall, signoras, and see if any of you can pick him outfrom the rest of us."

  The ladies looked round the hall.

  "There are only about twenty here; the rest are in the other rooms. Donot set us to work guessing, if he is not in sight, Sir Ralph."

  "Oh yes, he is in sight. Now do each of you fix on the one you thinkmost accords with your ideas of what a knight, brave in action and wiseand prudent in council, would be like."

  The six ladies each fixed on one of the young knights.

  "You are all wrong," said Ralph.

 
"How can we choose?" the countess said laughingly, "when none of themresemble our ideal hero? Most of them are pleasant and courtly lookingyouths, but as yet there is scarce a vestige of hair on their faces,and one could not fancy any of them as the destroyer of the fleet ofcorsairs."

  "Do you see the one speaking to the elderly lady in the recess?"

  "Yes; she is the wife of Fragoso. You do not mean to say that that ladis the commander of the galley? Why, he looks the youngest of you all."

  "He is between seventeen and eighteen, and there are several others whoare no older. Yes, that is Sir Gervaise, Knight Commander of the Orderof St. John."

  "But how can he possibly have served his time as a professed knight?"

  "He was one of the grand master's pages, and his time in that servicecounted just as it would have done had he entered as a professed knight;and at fifteen, therefore, he stood in the same position as those threeor four years older than himself. He speaks Turkish as well as our owntongue, and, as I told you, we received the accolade at the hands of thegrand master, a year and a half ago. He is now a knight commander, andwill assuredly one day occupy one of the highest posts in the Order."

  "You do not speak as if you were jealous, Sir Ralph; and yet methinksit cannot be pleasant for you all to have one younger than yourselvesplaced at your head."

  "I do not think there is one of us who so feels," Ralph said earnestly."In the first place, he has performed excellent service; in the nextplace, even those who did not know him before, have felt, since westarted, that he is a born leader. Then, too, we regard with pride onewho has brought credit upon the younger members of the Order. Moreover,we all owe our posts in the galley to the fact that he was chosen forits command. It is a difficult position for him to fill, but he hasmanaged so that, while all obey his orders as cheerfully and willinglyas if he were a veteran, when off duty we regard him as one ofourselves."

  "You are a staunch friend, Sir Ralph."

  "I am a staunch friend of Sir Gervaise, Countess, for the more I know ofhim the more I care for him. He well deserves the promotion and honourthat have fallen to his share."

  "Will you bring him across here to us, Sir Ralph? I want to talk tothis hero of yours, and I am sure that my daughter is longing to beintroduced to him."

  Ralph waited until Gervaise was disengaged, and then brought him across,and, after introducing him, moved away at once, leaving Gervaise to beinterrogated by the ladies.

  "You must be accustomed to festivities, Sir Gervaise, for we have justheard that you were one of the grand master's pages?"

  "I am accustomed to them, signora; but that is not at all the same thingas liking them."

  The reply was given so earnestly that all the ladies smiled.

  "Your taste is quite exceptional. Do you mean to say that you wouldrather be on board your galley than here?"

  "It would not be polite," Gervaise said, with a laugh, "if I were to saythat I would infinitely rather be on board; but indeed I have not, likemost of my comrades, been brought up in court or castle. Until the day Ijoined the Order, we led the lives of exiles. My father belonged to thedefeated party in England, and, save for a few months when the cause towhich he was attached was triumphant, we lived quietly on the estateshe had recovered, our life being one of care and anxiety. So, you see,I had no training in gaiety and pleasure. At Rhodes there are statereceptions and religious pageants, but a meeting such as this, is, ofcourse, impossible in a convent; and since I was eleven years old Ithink I have only once spoken to a woman. So you can well understand,signora, that I feel awkward in speech, and I pray you to make allowancefor my ignorance of the language of courtesy, such as would naturally beexpected in a knight, even though belonging to a religious Order."

  "There is naught to make allowance for," the countess said gently."Women can appreciate simple truth, and are not, as men seem to think,always yearning for compliments. Those who are most proficient inturning phrases are not often among those foremost in battle, or wisestin council, and I can tell you that we women value deeds far higher thanwords. Sir Fabricius Caretto is a cousin of mine, and has this afternoonbeen speaking so highly of you to me and my young daughter here, that Iam glad indeed to make your acquaintance. How long do you intend to stayin Genoa?"

  "No longer than it will take me to engage men to carry the prizes toRhodes. I am afraid that sounds rude," he broke off, as he noticed asmile on the faces of the ladies.

  "Not rude," said the countess; "though most knights would have put itdifferently, and said that their duty compelled them to leave as soon asthe prizes could be manned. But it comes to the same thing. Ofcourse, you will remain the guest of the doge as long as you arehere; otherwise, it would have given us the greatest pleasure to haveentertained you. My cousin is, of course, staying with us, and you seewe all feel a very deep obligation to you. He has been so long a slaveamong the Moors, that we had almost come to hope death had freed himfrom his fetters; so you may imagine our pleasure when he arrived hereso suddenly ten days ago. We were expecting that he would remain with usfor some time, but he says that he must first go back to Rhodes, afterwhich he will ask for leave, and return here. We have a banquet tomorrowevening to celebrate his return, and earnestly hoped that you would bepresent, but, since you say that you do not care for such gaieties,we shall, if you prefer it, be glad if you will come to join us at ourfamily meal at twelve."

  "Thank you, countess, I should very greatly prefer it, and it will giveme real pleasure to come."

  "Your friend, Sir Ralph Harcourt, has been telling us how you havedestroyed the corsair fleet that has been so alarming us. He, too, is anEnglishman, though he speaks Italian well."

  "Yes, he speaks it a great deal better than I do," Gervaise said. "He isa dear friend of mine, and it is, indeed, chiefly owing to his supportand influence that I have been able to manage so pleasantly and well inthe command of a body of young knights, most of whom are my seniors."

  "He tells us that you speak Turkish?"

  "Yes; I thought that it would be very useful, and spent nearly a year inacquiring it, the bailiff of my langue being kind enough to relieveme of all other duties. I was fortunate enough to find in one of theservants of the auberge a well educated and widely informed Turk, whowas a very pleasant companion, as well as an excellent instructor, and Ilearnt much from him besides his language. The knowledge of Turkish hasalready proved to me most useful, and was indeed the means by whichI obtained both my commandery and my appointment as captain of thegalley."

  "Perhaps you will tell us the story tomorrow; that is, if it is too longto tell us now?"

  "It is indeed much too long; but if it will interest you I shall be gladto recount it tomorrow."

  The next day Gervaise went to the palace of the Countess Da Forli. Shewas a widow with no children, except Claudia, the young daughter whohad accompanied her to the fete the evening before. Caretto, and fouror five relations of the family, were the only guests beside himself. Itwas a quiet and sociable meal, and served with less ceremony than usual,as the countess wished to place Gervaise as much as possible at hisease. During the meal but little was said about the affair with thepirates, Caretto telling them some of his experiences as a captive.

  "It is well, Claudia," he said, laughing, "that you did not see me atthe time I was rescued, for I was such a scarecrow that you would neverhave been able to regard me with due and proper respect afterwards. Iwas so thin that my bones almost came through my skin."

  "You are thin enough now, cousin," the girl said.

  "I have gained so much weight during the last ten days that I begin tofear that I shall, ere long, get too fat to buckle on my armour. But,bad as the thinness was, it was nothing to the dirt. Moreover, I wascoming near to losing my voice. There was nothing for us to talk aboutin our misery, and often days passed without a word being exchangedbetween Da Vinci, Forzi, and myself. Do you know I felt almost morethankful for the bath and perfumes than I did for my liberty. I was ableat once to enjoy the comfort of t
he one, while it was some time beforeI could really assure myself that my slavery was over, and that I was afree man again."

  "And now, Sir Gervaise," the countess said, when the meal was over, "itis your turn. Claudia is longing to hear your story, and to know how youcame to be in command of a galley."

  "And I am almost as anxious," Caretto said. "I did not like to ask thequestion on board the galley, and have been looking forward to learningit when I got to Rhodes. I did, indeed, ask the two knights whoaccompanied me on my mission here, but they would only tell me thatevery one knew you had performed some very great service to the Order,and that it concerned some intended rising among the slaves, the detailsbeing known to only a few, who had been, they understood, told that itwas not to be repeated."

  "It was a very simple matter," Gervaise said, "and although the grandmaster and council were pleased to take a very favourable view of it,it was, in fact, a question of luck, just as was the surprise of thecorsairs. There is really no secret about it--at least, except inRhodes: there it was thought best not to speak of it, because the factthat the attempt among the slaves was almost successful, might, ifgenerally known, encourage others to try to escape, and perhaps withgreater success. I told you last night, Countess, that I had only oncebefore in the last six or seven years spoken to a woman, and it was onthat occasion that the adventure, so far as I was concerned, had itscommencement."

  He then, beginning at his visit with Ralph Harcourt to the Greekmerchant and his family on the roof of the house, recounted thesuspicions he had entertained, the manner in which they were confirmed,and the method by which he had discovered the plot for the rising. Hewas interrupted several times when he attempted to abbreviate the story,or to omit some of the details, and there were exclamations of surpriseat his proposal to personate a Turkish prisoner, and to share the lot ofthe slaves in their prison, and on the benches of the galley.

  "I had no idea, Sir Gervaise," Caretto said, when he had concluded,"that you too had been a galley slave, and I understand now the careyou showed to render the lot of the rowers as easy as possible. It wasa splendid scheme, and well carried out. Indeed, I no longer wonderthat you were appointed to the command of a galley, and received a richcommandery in England at the hands of the grand master himself. Whatthink you, Countess; did I speak too highly in his favour?"

  "Not one jot, cousin. Why, Sir Gervaise, it seems to me that you havebeen born two centuries too late, and that you should have been a knighterrant, instead of being sworn to obey orders, and bound to celibacy.Do you wear no lady's favour in your helm? I know that not a few of yourOrder do so."

  "As I have said, Countess, I know no ladies who would bestow favoursupon me; in the second place, I am but eighteen, and it would beridiculous for me to think of such matters; lastly, it seems to me that,being vowed to the Order, I can desire no other mistress."

  Claudia, who had listened with rapt attention to the story, whispered inher mother's ear. The latter smiled.

  "It seems to me, Sir Gervaise," she went on, "that after what you havedone for Italy there are many fair maidens who would feel it an honourthat their colours should be borne by one who has shown himself sovaliant a knight. You see, a gage of this kind does not necessarily meanthat there is any deep feeling between the knight who bears it and thelady who bestows it; it shows only that she, on her part, feels it anhonour that her gage should be worn by a distinguished knight, and, onhis part, that he considers it as somewhat more than a compliment, andwears it as a proof of regard on the part of one whose good opinion atleast he values. It is true that among secular knights it may mean evenmore than this, but it ought not to mean more among knights of an Orderlike yours, pledged to devote their lives to a lofty and holy aim. Mydaughter Claudia whispers to me that she would deem it an honour indeedif you would wear her token, accepting it in the spirit in which I havespoken. She is fourteen now, and, as you know, a maid of fourteen hereis as old as one of sixteen or seventeen in your country."

  Gervaise turned to the girl, who was standing by her mother's chair,looking earnestly at him. He had noticed her the evening before; she hadasked no questions, but had listened so intently that he had feltalmost embarrassed. Claudia's was a very bright face, and yet marked byfirmness and strength. He turned his eyes again to the countess.

  "I never thought of wearing a woman's favour," he said; "but if yourdaughter will bestow one upon me, I shall be proud to wear it, and trustthat I may carry it unstained. I shall feel honoured indeed that one sofair, and, as I am sure by her face, so deserving of all the devotionthat a knight of our Order can give, has thought me worthy of being oneof those on whom she could bestow so high a favour, with the confidencethat it would be ever borne with credit and honour."

  "What shall I give him, mother?" Claudia asked the countess, without ashadow of the embarrassment with which Gervaise had spoken.

  "Not a kerchief, Claudia. In the rough work of the knights, it couldnot be kept without spot or stain. Moreover, if I judge Sir Gervaiserightly, methinks he would prefer some token that he could wear withoutexciting attention and remark from his comrades. Go, fetch him any ofyour jewels you may think fit."

  "Then I will give him this," the girl said; and unfastening a thin goldchain she wore round her neck, she pulled up a heart shaped ornament, inpink coral set in gold and pearls.

  Her mother uttered a low exclamation of dissent.

  "I know, mother; it was your last gift, and I prize it far beyondanything I have; therefore, it is all the more fit to be my token." Thenshe turned to Gervaise, and went on, without the slightest tremor in hervoice, or accession of colour in her cheeks. "Sir Gervaise Tresham, Ibestow upon you this my favour, and shall deem it an honour indeed toknow that it is borne by one so brave and worthy. You said that youwould be glad to be one of those who bore my favours. You will be morethan that, for I vow to you that while you live no other knight shallwear a favour of mine."

  "Claudia!" her mother said disapprovingly.

  "I know what I am saying, mother. I have often wondered why maidensshould so carelessly bestow their favours upon every knight who beggedfor them, and have said to myself that when my time came I would grantit but once, and only then to one whom I deemed worthy of it in allways--one in whose loyalty and honour I could trust implicitly, and whowould regard it as something sacred, deeming it an honour to wear it,as being the pledge of my trust and esteem. Kneel, Sir Gervaise, while Ifasten this round your neck."

  Gervaise took out the small brooch, that fastened the collar of hissilken doublet, and then knelt on one knee. The girl fastened the claspround his neck, and as he rose he hid the heart beneath the doublet, andfastened the collar.

  "Lady Claudia," he said earnestly, "I accept your favour in the spiritin which you bestow it. So long as I live I shall prize and value itbeyond any honour I may gain, and as I feel it next to my heart, it willever recall to me that you gave it me as a pledge of your esteem andtrust, and I will strive to the utmost so to bear myself that I may beworthy of the gift."

  None of the others spoke while the little ceremony was being performed.Caretto glanced at the countess with an amused smile, but the latterlooked grave, and somewhat vexed. However, she made an effort to dispelthe cloud on her face, and, when Gervaise ceased speaking, said, "Thishas been a somewhat more serious business than I intended, Sir Gervaise.But do not think that I regret in any way the course it has taken; 'tiswell for a maiden on the threshold of womanhood that she should placebefore herself a lofty ideal, and that she should entertain a warmfeeling of friendship for one worthy of it. So also it is good for ayoung knight to know that he has the trust and confidence of a pure andinnocent maiden; such a knowledge will aid him to be in all ways true tothe vows he has taken, and to remember always that he is bound to be notonly a valiant knight of his Order, but a sincere soldier of the Cross."

  Then she went on more lightly. "Have you heard, Sir Gervaise, that thereis a question of making you a noble of Genoa?"

  "No, indeed
," Gervaise replied, in great surprise; "such an idea neverentered into my thoughts."

  "Nevertheless, I know that it was spoken of last night, and although ithas not yet been finally settled, and will not be until the council meetthis afternoon, I should not tell you if I did not think that it was asgood as agreed upon; and I am pleased to be the first to whisper toyou that it is intended to bestow upon you an honour that is jealouslyguarded and seldom granted, even to crowned heads, unless as a token ofgratitude for some signal service done to the Republic."

  "I should feel most honoured and most grateful, Countess, for soextraordinary a favour, did I feel that I had done any extraordinaryaction to merit it. There can be no doubt that the destruction of thecorsairs has saved Genoa and all the maritime towns from immense lossby damage to their trade, and by the raids that would have been made atvarious points on the coast. But I cannot see that the mere fact that wehave destroyed their fleet merits any marked honour. They were caught ina trap, and half of them burned, and this might have been done equallyas well by the Sardinian fishermen, unarmed, and without our aid. As tothe fighting, it was of small account. The first three craft we capturedoffered a much stouter resistance, and we lost two of our number; butin the other affair no knight was killed, or even seriously wounded, andbelieve me, Countess, I feel absolutely ashamed at the fuss that is madeover it. It seems to me that I am a sort of impostor, obtaining creditunder false pretences."

  "No man is a fair judge of his own actions, Sir Gervaise," Caretto said."A man may believe himself a Solon, or a Roland; others may consider himas a fool, or an empty braggart; and it must be taken that the generalopinion of the public is the judgment from which there is no appeal.It is not the mob of Genoa only who regard the services that you haverendered as extraordinary, but it is the opinion of the councillors andauthorities of the Republic, and of those who, like myself, have borneour share in warfare, that not only is the service great, but that it isdue to the singular ability with which you, in command of only a singlegalley, have wholly destroyed or captured the fleet that threatenedour commerce. As our councillors, therefore, all competent judges, areunanimous in their opinion that you have deserved the highest honoursthat Genoa can bestow upon you, it is useless for you to set up yourown opinion to the contrary. Take the good things that fall to you, SirGervaise, and be thankful. It is seldom that men obtain more honoursthan they deserve, while it very often happens that they deserve farmore than they obtain. Fortune has doubtless some share in every man'scareer; but when it is not once, but several times, that a knight gainsspecial credit for deeds he has performed, we may be sure that fortunehas less to do with the matter than his personal merits. Three timeshave you earned special credit; upon the first occasion, the grandmaster--no mean judge of conduct and character--deemed you worthy ofsecular knighthood, an honour which has not, in my memory, been bestowedat Rhodes upon any young knight; on the second, you were promoted to thecommand of a galley, though never before has such a command been givento any, save knights of long experience; and now, for the third time,the councillors of one of the greatest of Italian cities are about to doyou honour. It is good to be modest, Sir Gervaise, and it is better tounderestimate than to overrate one's own merits, but it is not well tocarry the feeling to an extreme. I am quite sure that in your case yourdisclaimer is wholly sincere and unaffected; but take my advice, acceptthe honours the world may pay you as not undeserved, determining only inyour mind that if you deem them excessive, you will at least do allin your power to show that they are not ill bestowed. You will not, Itrust, take my counsel amiss."

  "On the contrary, Sir Fabricius," Gervaise said warmly. "I am reallybut a boy yet, though by good fortune pushed strangely forward, and Iam glad indeed to receive council from a knight of vastly greaterexperience than myself and, in future, however much I may be consciousin my own mind that anything I have done is greatly overrated, I will atleast abstain from protest. And now, Countess, I must pray you to excuseme. I know that Sir Ralph Harcourt is, before this, down at the dockyardwaiting my coming to engage sailors."

  "You will come tomorrow at the same time, I hope, Sir Gervaise. AsClaudia's sworn knight we have now a claim upon you, and for the shorttime that you remain here you must regard this as your home, althoughyou must necessarily remain the guest of the doge."

  "He is a fine young fellow, indeed," Caretto said, after Gervaisehad left. "There is no affectation about his modesty, and he reallyconsiders that this success he has gained is solely a stroke of goodfortune. Of course, I have been asking many questions about him of theyoung knights of his own langue, Harcourt among them. They tell me thathe is always in earnest in everything he undertakes. He is without arival among the younger knights of the convent in his skill in arms, andfor strength and activity in all exercises; he seems to care nothingfor the ordinary amusements in which they join at Rhodes, and for ninemonths was scarcely ever seen by those in the auberge, save when theygathered for meals, so continuously did he work to acquire a perfectcommand of Turkish. How thoroughly he succeeded is evident from the factthat he was able to live among the galley slaves without exciting anysuspicions in their minds that he was other than he pretended to be, aSyrian captive. That he is brave goes without saying, though perhapsno braver than the majority of his companions. The extraordinary thingabout him is that although, as he himself says, little more than a boy,he has the coolness to plan, and the head to carry out, schemes thatwould do credit to the most experienced captain. He is already a creditto the Order, and, should he live, will assuredly rise to the highestoffices in it, and may even die its grand master. In the stormy timesthat are coming on, there will be ample opportunities for him stillfurther to distinguish himself, and to fulfil the singular promise ofhis youth. That he possesses great tact, as well as other qualities,is shown by the enthusiasm with which his companions regard him. In nocase, among those to whom I have spoken, have I discerned the smallestjealousy of him. The tact that is needed to stand thus among fifty youngknights, almost all his seniors in age, will assuredly enable him lateron to command the confidence and affection of older men."

  When the other guests had left, and Caretto only remained, the countessturned to Claudia. "You went too far, Claudia. I was willing enough,when you asked me, that you should bestow a favour upon him. Most youngknights wear such a favour, which may be a sign of devotion, but whichfar more frequently is a piece of gallantry. In the case of a knighthospitaller it can only be the latter; it is in his case merely a signthat he has so distinguished himself that some maiden feels a pride thather gift should be carried into battle by him, and, on his part, that hetoo is proud of the gift so bestowed by one whose goodwill he prizes.In that way I was willing that you should grant him your favour. Butthe manner in which you gave it was far more serious than the occasionwarranted, and your promise to grant no similar favour to another aslong as he lived, surprised, and, I may almost say, shocked me. You are,according to our custom here, considered almost a woman, and had notSir Gervaise belonged to a religious Order, and were he of a presumingdisposition, he might well have gathered a meaning from your words farbeyond what you intended, and have even entertained a presumptuous hopethat you were not indifferent to his merits. In the present case, ofcourse, no harm is done; still, methinks that it would be far better hadthe words been unspoken. Your cousin here will, I am sure, agree withme."

  Caretto did not speak, but stood playing with his moustache, waiting forClaudia's reply. The girl had stood with downcast eyes while her motherwas speaking.

  "I only expressed what I felt, mother," she said, after a pause, "and Ido not think that Sir Gervaise Tresham is likely to misunderstand me.It seems to me that never among those whom I have met have I seen oneso worthy. No praises can be higher than those with which my cousin hasspoken of him. He has rescued him, whom we dearly love, from slavery;he has saved Genoa from great disaster, and many towns and villages fromplunder and ruin. I do indeed feel proud that such a knight should wearmy gage, and, were the
re no other reason, I should be unwilling that, solong as he carried it, another should possess a similar one from me. Iam sure that Sir Gervaise will have felt that this was the meaning of mywords; I wished him to see that it was not a favour lightly given by agirl who might, a few weeks hence, bestow a similar one upon another,but was a gage seriously given of the honour in which I held him."

  "Very well said, Claudia," Caretto broke in, before the countess couldreply. "I warrant me the young knight will not misunderstand your gift,and that he will prize it highly and carry it nobly. He is not one ofthose who will boast of a favour and display it all times, and, exceptperhaps to his friend Sir Ralph Harcourt, I will wager he never tells asoul who was its donor."

  When Claudia shortly afterwards left the room, he said to the countess,"Excuse me for breaking in, Agatha, but I felt that it was much betterto agree with her, and not to make overmuch of the matter; she is justof an age to make some one a hero, and she could hardly have chosen abetter subject for her worship. In the first place, he is a knightof St. John; in the second, he is going away in a few days, perhapstomorrow, and may never cross her path again. The thought of him willprevent her fancy from straying for a time, and keep her heart wholeuntil you decide on a suitor for her hand."

  "Nevertheless, I would rather that it had not been so. Claudia is notgiven to change, and this may last long enough to cause trouble when Ibring forward the suitor you speak of."

  "Well, in any case it might be worse," Caretto said philosophically.And then, with a smile in answer to her look of inquiry, "Knights of theOrder have, ere now, obtained release from their vows."

  "Fabricius!" the countess exclaimed, in a shocked voice.

  "Yes, I know, Agatha, that the child is one of the richest heiressesin Italy, but for that very reason it needs not that her husband shouldhave wide possessions. In all other respects you could wish for nobetter. He will assuredly be a famous knight; he is the sort of man tomake her perfectly happy; and, lastly, you know I cannot forget that Iowe my liberation from slavery to him. At any rate, Agatha, as I saidbefore, he may never cross her path again, and you may, a year or twohence, find her perfectly amenable to your wishes."