at last the fleet, headed by the galley, to which all the knights had returned, rowed towards the port. a gun flashed out from the fort at its entrance, and at once those from all the other batteries responded; bells pealed out again, and a confused roar of cheering broke from the crowds occupying every spot from which a view of the harbour could be obtained. the ships in the port were all decked with flags, and the front windows and balconies of every house were hung with tapestries and bright 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, and the barge was soon alongside. the knights were already ranged along the poop, and, accompanied by ralph and caretto, gervaise moved to the gangway to receive the visitors. at their head was battista fragoso, the doge, in his robe of state, and following him were a body of the highest nobles of genoa, all brilliant in gala costume.

“this, my lord duke,” caretto said, “is sir gervaise tresham, a knight commander of our order, and the commander of this, their galley. he has before, as you may well believe from his appointment to so honourable a post, highly distinguished himself, but what he has before accomplished is far surpassed by the brilliant action that he has now achieved. he has won a victory that not only reflects the highest honour upon the order, but is an inestimable service to italy, and has freed her from a corsair fleet that would have been a scourge to her, both at sea and to the towns and villages along the coast. not only has he, with the brave knights under his orders, annihilated the corsair fleet, burning eleven of their galleys, and capturing thirteen others, but he has restored to freedom no less than two hundred christian captives, among them the cavaliers giacomo da vinci, pietro forzi, and myself.”

“in the name of the republic, sir gervaise tresham, and i may say in that of all italy, i thank you most heartily for the splendid service that you have rendered us. it would have seemed to me well nigh incredible that a single galley, even if commanded and manned by the most famous knights of your great order, should have accomplished so extraordinary a feat. still more strange is it that it should have been performed by so young a knight, with a crew composed, as sir fabricius caretto has told us, of knights chosen from among the youngest of the order.”

“you give far more credit to us, your highness, than we deserve,” gervaise replied. “three of the ships were indeed captured in fair fight, but we caught the rest asleep and massed together as to be incapable of successful resistance, and they fell easy victims to the fire ships we launched against them. any credit that is due to me is shared equally by my subcommander here, sir ralph harcourt, and indeed by every knight of my company.”

“this, doubtless, may be so, sir gervaise,” the doge said, with a slight smile, “but it is to the head that plans, rather than to the hand that strikes, that such success as you have achieved is due; and the credit of 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 two good knights his companions, that there was naught to do but to remain in port and watch this corsair fleet sail away to carry out its work of destruction.”

by this time they had reached the poop of the galley. gervaise now called 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 of the citizens of genoa for the service they had rendered to the republic. this ceremony being over, the knights broke up their ranks and conversed for a few minutes with those who had come on board with the doge. the latter then took his place in the barge with his companions, inviting gervaise and ralph to accompany him. as the barge left the side of the galley, which followed closely behind her, the guns again thundered out their welcome, and a roar of greeting rose from the inhabitants. on landing, the party waited until the knights had joined them, and then proceeded up the street to the ducal palace, amidst enthusiastic cheering from the crowd that lined the road, occupied the windows and balconies, and even scrambled on the housetops, the ladies waving their handkerchiefs and scarves.

at the palace were assembled all the municipal authorities, and the congratulations given on board were here repeated. after this there was a great banquet, at which gervaise was placed on the right hand of the doge, who, at the conclusion of the feast, called upon the assembled guests to drink to the health of the knights of st. john, who had saved the commerce and seacoast of italy from the greatest danger that had menaced them since the days when the northern rovers had desolated the shores of the mediterranean. the toast was drunk with enthusiasm, and gervaise then replied with a few words of thanks for the honour done to himself 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 citizens of genoa were assembled. most of the young knights, belonging as they did to noble families, and accustomed from childhood to courtly ceremonies and festivities, were quite at home here. caretto, his two companions, and their six italian comrades, speedily introduced them, and each was soon surrounded by a group of ladies, anxious to hear from his 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, asked him, 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 were young, but we were filled with surprise when you entered the room, for many of them are but lads.”

“you may say that all of us are but lads, countess. i am the oldest of the party, and am but little over twenty-two, but few of the others are over nineteen; they are all professed knights of the order, who, as you doubtless know, come out to rhodes when only sixteen. some, of course, do not join until later, but i think that all here entered at the earliest age permitted, and almost all had served in two or three voyages in the galleys before they were appointed to the santa barbara. the reason why so young a crew was chosen was that our commander was also young. he had done such exceptional service to the order that he was appointed to the command of a galley, and he has, as all will allow, well justified the choice. it was because it was deemed inexpedient to place knights many years his senior under his command, and partly, perhaps, to encourage the younger knights, by giving them an exceptional opportunity of distinguishing themselves, that the crew was chosen entirely from their ranks. i was selected as second in command because gervaise and i had been special friends when we came out from england in the same ship, and had before fought side by side against the moslems.”

“i see that you wear gilded spurs, sir ralph,” another lady said; “you must therefore be a dubbed knight?”

“yes; i had the good fortune to be knighted by d'aubusson himself, at the same time that sir gervaise was also so honoured. it was for an affair with the turkish pirates. it was gervaise who really won the honour, for i had no share in the affair, save that of doing my best in the fight.”

“and who could do more?” the countess queried.

“gervaise could do more, countess, as was shown in that attack on the corsairs by means of fire ships. he has a head to plan, and, in the case i speak of, a happy thought of his not only saved the lives of ourselves and sir john boswell, but, indirectly, was the means of preventing two of 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 out from the rest of us.”

the ladies looked round the hall.

“there are only about twenty here; the rest are in the other rooms. do not 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 think most accords with your ideas of what a knight, brave in action and wise and 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 them resemble our ideal hero? most of them are pleasant and courtly looking youths, 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 of corsairs.”

“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 lad is the commander of the galley? why, he looks the youngest of you all.”

“he is between seventeen and eighteen, and there are several others who are no older. yes, that is sir gervaise, knight commander of the order of 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 service counted 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 three or four years older than himself. he speaks turkish as well as our own tongue, and, as i told you, we received the accolade at the hands of the grand master, a year and a half ago. he is now a knight commander, and will 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 methinks it cannot be pleasant for you all to have one younger than yourselves placed 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 next place, even those who did not know him before, have felt, since we started, that he is a born leader. then, too, we regard with pride one who 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 for its command. it is a difficult position for him to fill, but he has managed so that, while all obey his orders as cheerfully and willingly as if he were a veteran, when off duty we regard him as one of ourselves.”

“you are a staunch friend, sir ralph.”

“i am a staunch friend of sir gervaise, countess, for the more i know of him the more i care for him. he well deserves the promotion and honour that have fallen to his share.”

“will you bring him across here to us, sir ralph? i want to talk to this hero of yours, and i am sure that my daughter is longing to be introduced to him.”

ralph waited until gervaise was disengaged, and then brought him across, and, after introducing him, moved away at once, leaving gervaise to be interrogated by the ladies.

“you must be accustomed to festivities, sir gervaise, for we have just heard that you were one of the grand master's pages?”

“i am accustomed to them, signora; but that is not at all the same thing as 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 would rather be on board your galley than here?”

“it would not be polite,” gervaise said, with a laugh, “if i were to say that i would infinitely rather be on board; but indeed i have not, like most of my comrades, been brought up in court or castle. until the day i joined the order, we led the lives of exiles. my father belonged to the defeated party in england, and, save for a few months when the cause to which he was attached was triumphant, we lived quietly on the estates he 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 state receptions and religious pageants, but a meeting such as this, is, of course, impossible in a convent; and since i was eleven years old i think 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 allowance for my ignorance of the language of courtesy, such as would naturally be expected 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 in turning phrases are not often among those foremost in battle, or wisest in council, and i can tell you that we women value deeds far higher than words. sir fabricius caretto is a cousin of mine, and has this afternoon been speaking so highly of you to me and my young daughter here, that i am glad indeed to make your acquaintance. how long do you intend to stay in genoa?”

“no longer than it will take me to engage men to carry the prizes to rhodes. i am afraid that sounds rude,” he broke off, as he noticed a smile on the faces of the ladies.

“not rude,” said the countess; “though most knights would have put it differently, and said that their duty compelled them to leave as soon as the prizes could be manned. but it comes to the same thing. of course, you will remain the guest of the doge as long as you are here; otherwise, it would have given us the greatest pleasure to have entertained you. my cousin is, of course, staying with us, and you see we all feel a very deep obligation to you. he has been so long a slave among the moors, that we had almost come to hope death had freed him from his fetters; so you may imagine our pleasure when he arrived here so suddenly ten days ago. we were expecting that he would remain with us for some time, but he says that he must first go back to rhodes, after which he will ask for leave, and return here. we have a banquet tomorrow evening to celebrate his return, and earnestly hoped that you would be present, 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 our family meal at twelve.”

“thank you, countess, i should very greatly prefer it, and it will give me real pleasure to come.”

“your friend, sir ralph harcourt, has been telling us how you have destroyed the corsair fleet that has been so alarming us. he, too, is an englishman, though he speaks italian well.”

“yes, he speaks it a great deal better than i do,” gervaise said. “he is a dear friend of mine, and it is, indeed, chiefly owing to his support and influence that i have been able to manage so pleasantly and well in the 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 in acquiring it, the bailiff of my langue being kind enough to relieve me of all other duties. i was fortunate enough to find in one of the servants of the auberge a well educated and widely informed turk, who was a very pleasant companion, as well as an excellent instructor, and i learnt much from him besides his language. the knowledge of turkish has already proved to me most useful, and was indeed the means by which i obtained both my commandery and my appointment as captain of the galley.”

“perhaps you will tell us the story tomorrow; that is, if it is too long to tell us now?”

“it is indeed much too long; but if it will interest you i shall be glad to recount it tomorrow.”

the next day gervaise went to the palace of the countess da forli. she was a widow with no children, except claudia, the young daughter who had accompanied her to the fete the evening before. caretto, and four or five relations of the family, were the only guests beside himself. it was a quiet and sociable meal, and served with less ceremony than usual, as the countess wished to place gervaise as much as possible at his ease. during the meal but little was said about the affair with the pirates, caretto telling them some of his experiences as a captive.

“it is well, claudia,” he said, laughing, “that you did not see me at the time i was rescued, for i was such a scarecrow that you would never have been able to regard me with due and proper respect afterwards. i was 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 to fear 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 was coming near to losing my voice. there was nothing for us to talk about in our misery, and often days passed without a word being exchanged between da vinci, forzi, and myself. do you know i felt almost more thankful for the bath and perfumes than i did for my liberty. i was able at once to enjoy the comfort of the one, while it was some time before i could really assure myself that my slavery was over, and that i was a free man again.”

“and now, sir gervaise,” the countess said, when the meal was over, “it is your turn. claudia is longing to hear your story, and to know how you came to be in command of a galley.”

“and i am almost as anxious,” caretto said. “i did not like to ask the question on board the galley, and have been looking forward to learning it when i got to rhodes. i did, indeed, ask the two knights who accompanied me on my mission here, but they would only tell me that every one knew you had performed some very great service to the order, and that it concerned some intended rising among the slaves, the details being known to only a few, who had been, they understood, told that it was not to be repeated.”

“it was a very simple matter,” gervaise said, “and although the grand master 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 the corsairs. there is really no secret about it—at least, except in rhodes: there it was thought best not to speak of it, because the fact that the attempt among the slaves was almost successful, might, if generally known, encourage others to try to escape, and perhaps with greater success. i told you last night, countess, that i had only once before in the last six or seven years spoken to a woman, and it was on that occasion that the adventure, so far as i was concerned, had its commencement.”

he then, beginning at his visit with ralph harcourt to the greek merchant and his family on the roof of the house, recounted the suspicions he had entertained, the manner in which they were confirmed, and the method by which he had discovered the plot for the rising. he was interrupted several times when he attempted to abbreviate the story, or to omit some of the details, and there were exclamations of surprise at his proposal to personate a turkish prisoner, and to share the lot of the 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 care you showed to render the lot of the rowers as easy as possible. it was a splendid scheme, and well carried out. indeed, i no longer wonder that you were appointed to the command of a galley, and received a rich commandery in england at the hands of the grand master himself. what think you, countess; did i speak too highly in his favour?”

“not one jot, cousin. why, sir gervaise, it seems to me that you have been born two centuries too late, and that you should have been a knight errant, 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 your order do so.”

“as i have said, countess, i know no ladies who would bestow favours upon me; in the second place, i am but eighteen, and it would be ridiculous 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 in her mother's ear. the latter smiled.

“it seems to me, sir gervaise,” she went on, “that after what you have done for italy there are many fair maidens who would feel it an honour that their colours should be borne by one who has shown himself so valiant a knight. you see, a gage of this kind does not necessarily mean that there is any deep feeling between the knight who bears it and the lady who bestows it; it shows only that she, on her part, feels it an honour that her gage should be worn by a distinguished knight, and, on his part, that he considers it as somewhat more than a compliment, and wears it as a proof of regard on the part of one whose good opinion at least he values. it is true that among secular knights it may mean even more than this, but it ought not to mean more among knights of an order like yours, pledged to devote their lives to a lofty and holy aim. my daughter claudia whispers to me that she would deem it an honour indeed if you would wear her token, accepting it in the spirit in which i have spoken. she is fourteen now, and, as you know, a maid of fourteen here is 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 had asked no questions, but had listened so intently that he had felt almost embarrassed. claudia's was a very bright face, and yet marked by firmness and strength. he turned his eyes again to the countess.

“i never thought of wearing a woman's favour,” he said; “but if your daughter will bestow one upon me, i shall be proud to wear it, and trust that i may carry it unstained. i shall feel honoured indeed that one so fair, and, as i am sure by her face, so deserving of all the devotion that a knight of our order can give, has thought me worthy of being one of those on whom she could bestow so high a favour, with the confidence that it would be ever borne with credit and honour.”

“what shall i give him, mother?” claudia asked the countess, without a shadow of the embarrassment with which gervaise had spoken.

“not a kerchief, claudia. in the rough work of the knights, it could not be kept without spot or stain. moreover, if i judge sir gervaise rightly, methinks he would prefer some token that he could wear without exciting attention and remark from his comrades. go, fetch him any of your jewels you may think fit.”

“then i will give him this,” the girl said; and unfastening a thin gold chain she wore round her neck, she pulled up a heart shaped ornament, in pink 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 beyond anything i have; therefore, it is all the more fit to be my token.” then she turned to gervaise, and went on, without the slightest tremor in her voice, or accession of colour in her cheeks. “sir gervaise tresham, i bestow upon you this my favour, and shall deem it an honour indeed to know that it is borne by one so brave and worthy. you said that you would be glad to be one of those who bore my favours. you will be more than that, for i vow to you that while you live no other knight shall wear a favour of mine.”

“claudia!” her mother said disapprovingly.

“i know what i am saying, mother. i have often wondered why maidens should so carelessly bestow their favours upon every knight who begged for them, and have said to myself that when my time came i would grant it but once, and only then to one whom i deemed worthy of it in all ways—one in whose loyalty and honour i could trust implicitly, and who would 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 i fasten this round your neck.”

gervaise took out the small brooch, that fastened the collar of his silken doublet, and then knelt on one knee. the girl fastened the clasp round his neck, and as he rose he hid the heart beneath the doublet, and fastened the collar.

“lady claudia,” he said earnestly, “i accept your favour in the spirit in which you bestow it. so long as i live i shall prize and value it beyond any honour i may gain, and as i feel it next to my heart, it will ever recall to me that you gave it me as a pledge of your esteem and trust, and i will strive to the utmost so to bear myself that i may be worthy 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 latter looked grave, and somewhat vexed. however, she made an effort to dispel the cloud on her face, and, when gervaise ceased speaking, said, “this has 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; 'tis well for a maiden on the threshold of womanhood that she should place before herself a lofty ideal, and that she should entertain a warm feeling of friendship for one worthy of it. so also it is good for a young knight to know that he has the trust and confidence of a pure and innocent maiden; such a knowledge will aid him to be in all ways true to the vows he has taken, and to remember always that he is bound to be not only 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 there is a question of making you a noble of genoa?”

“no, indeed,” gervaise replied, in great surprise; “such an idea never entered into my thoughts.”

“nevertheless, i know that it was spoken of last night, and although it has not yet been finally settled, and will not be until the council meet this afternoon, i should not tell you if i did not think that it was as good as agreed upon; and i am pleased to be the first to whisper to you that it is intended to bestow upon you an honour that is jealously guarded and seldom granted, even to crowned heads, unless as a token of gratitude for some signal service done to the republic.”

“i should feel most honoured and most grateful, countess, for so extraordinary a favour, did i feel that i had done any extraordinary action to merit it. there can be no doubt that the destruction of the corsairs has saved genoa and all the maritime towns from immense loss by damage to their trade, and by the raids that would have been made at various points on the coast. but i cannot see that the mere fact that we have destroyed their fleet merits any marked honour. they were caught in a trap, and half of them burned, and this might have been done equally as well by the sardinian fishermen, unarmed, and without our aid. as to the fighting, it was of small account. the first three craft we captured offered a much stouter resistance, and we lost two of our number; but in the other affair no knight was killed, or even seriously wounded, and believe me, countess, i feel absolutely ashamed at the fuss that is made over it. it seems to me that i am a sort of impostor, obtaining credit under 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 him as a fool, or an empty braggart; and it must be taken that the general opinion 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 have rendered as extraordinary, but it is the opinion of the councillors and authorities of the republic, and of those who, like myself, have borne our share in warfare, that not only is the service great, but that it is due to the singular ability with which you, in command of only a single galley, have wholly destroyed or captured the fleet that threatened our commerce. as our councillors, therefore, all competent judges, are unanimous in their opinion that you have deserved the highest honours that genoa can bestow upon you, it is useless for you to set up your own opinion to the contrary. take the good things that fall to you, sir gervaise, and be thankful. it is seldom that men obtain more honours than they deserve, while it very often happens that they deserve far more than they obtain. fortune has doubtless some share in every man's career; but when it is not once, but several times, that a knight gains special credit for deeds he has performed, we may be sure that fortune has less to do with the matter than his personal merits. three times have you earned special credit; upon the first occasion, the grand master—no mean judge of conduct and character—deemed you worthy of secular knighthood, an honour which has not, in my memory, been bestowed at rhodes upon any young knight; on the second, you were promoted to the command of a galley, though never before has such a command been given to 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 do you honour. it is good to be modest, sir gervaise, and it is better to underestimate than to overrate one's own merits, but it is not well to carry the feeling to an extreme. i am quite sure that in your case your disclaimer is wholly sincere and unaffected; but take my advice, accept the honours the world may pay you as not undeserved, determining only in your mind that if you deem them excessive, you will at least do all in your power to show that they are not ill bestowed. you will not, i trust, take my counsel amiss.”

“on the contrary, sir fabricius,” gervaise said warmly. “i am really but a boy yet, though by good fortune pushed strangely forward, and i am glad indeed to receive council from a knight of vastly greater experience than myself and, in future, however much i may be conscious in my own mind that anything i have done is greatly overrated, i will at least abstain from protest. and now, countess, i must pray you to excuse me. i know that sir ralph harcourt is, before this, down at the dockyard waiting my coming to engage sailors.”

“you will come tomorrow at the same time, i hope, sir gervaise. as claudia's sworn knight we have now a claim upon you, and for the short time that you remain here you must regard this as your home, although you must necessarily remain the guest of the doge.”

“he is a fine young fellow, indeed,” caretto said, after gervaise had left. “there is no affectation about his modesty, and he really considers that this success he has gained is solely a stroke of good fortune. of course, i have been asking many questions about him of the young knights of his own langue, harcourt among them. they tell me that he is always in earnest in everything he undertakes. he is without a rival among the younger knights of the convent in his skill in arms, and for strength and activity in all exercises; he seems to care nothing for the ordinary amusements in which they join at rhodes, and for nine months was scarcely ever seen by those in the auberge, save when they gathered for meals, so continuously did he work to acquire a perfect command of turkish. how thoroughly he succeeded is evident from the fact that he was able to live among the galley slaves without exciting any suspicions in their minds that he was other than he pretended to be, a syrian captive. that he is brave goes without saying, though perhaps no braver than the majority of his companions. the extraordinary thing about 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 that would do credit to the most experienced captain. he is already a credit to the order, and, should he live, will assuredly rise to the highest offices in it, and may even die its grand master. in the stormy times that are coming on, there will be ample opportunities for him still further to distinguish himself, and to fulfil the singular promise of his youth. that he possesses great tact, as well as other qualities, is shown by the enthusiasm with which his companions regard him. in no case, among those to whom i have spoken, have i discerned the smallest jealousy of him. the tact that is needed to stand thus among fifty young knights, almost all his seniors in age, will assuredly enable him later on to command the confidence and affection of older men.”

when the other guests had left, and caretto only remained, the countess turned to claudia. “you went too far, claudia. i was willing enough, when you asked me, that you should bestow a favour upon him. most young knights wear such a favour, which may be a sign of devotion, but which far more frequently is a piece of gallantry. in the case of a knight hospitaller it can only be the latter; it is in his case merely a sign that he has so distinguished himself that some maiden feels a pride that her gift should be carried into battle by him, and, on his part, that he too 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. but the manner in which you gave it was far more serious than the occasion warranted, and your promise to grant no similar favour to another as long as he lived, surprised, and, i may almost say, shocked me. you are, according to our custom here, considered almost a woman, and had not sir gervaise belonged to a religious order, and were he of a presuming disposition, he might well have gathered a meaning from your words far beyond what you intended, and have even entertained a presumptuous hope that you were not indifferent to his merits. in the present case, of course, no harm is done; still, methinks that it would be far better had the words been unspoken. your cousin here will, i am sure, agree with me.”

caretto did not speak, but stood playing with his moustache, waiting for claudia's reply. the girl had stood with downcast eyes while her mother was speaking.

“i only expressed what i felt, mother,” she said, after a pause, “and i do 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 one so worthy. no praises can be higher than those with which my cousin has spoken of him. he has rescued him, whom we dearly love, from slavery; he has saved genoa from great disaster, and many towns and villages from plunder and ruin. i do indeed feel proud that such a knight should wear my gage, and, were there no other reason, i should be unwilling that, so long as he carried it, another should possess a similar one from me. i am sure that sir gervaise will have felt that this was the meaning of my words; i wished him to see that it was not a favour lightly given by a girl 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 could reply. “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 of those who will boast of a favour and display it all times, and, except perhaps to his friend sir ralph harcourt, i will wager he never tells a soul 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 better to agree with her, and not to make overmuch of the matter; she is just of an age to make some one a hero, and she could hardly have chosen a better subject for her worship. in the first place, he is a knight of st. john; in the second, he is going away in a few days, perhaps tomorrow, and may never cross her path again. the thought of him will prevent her fancy from straying for a time, and keep her heart whole until you decide on a suitor for her hand.”

“nevertheless, i would rather that it had not been so. claudia is not given to change, and this may last long enough to cause trouble when i bring 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 the order 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 heiresses in italy, but for that very reason it needs not that her husband should have wide possessions. in all other respects you could wish for no better. he will assuredly be a famous knight; he is the sort of man to make her perfectly happy; and, lastly, you know i cannot forget that i owe my liberation from slavery to him. at any rate, agatha, as i said before, he may never cross her path again, and you may, a year or two hence, find her perfectly amenable to your wishes.”