om 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 s