In whom else couldst thou have excited
such interest?"

"A brief respite from instant death," said Rebecca, "which will little
avail me--was this all thou couldst do for one, on whose head thou hast
heaped sorrow, and whom thou hast brought near even to the verge of the
tomb?"

"No maiden," said Bois-Guilbert, "this was NOT all that I purposed. Had
it not been for the accursed interference of yon fanatical dotard, and
the fool of Goodalricke, who, being a Templar, affects to think and
judge according to the ordinary rules of humanity, the office of the
Champion Defender had devolved, not on a Preceptor, but on a Companion
of the Order. Then I myself--such was my purpose--had, on the sounding
of the trumpet, appeared in the lists as thy champion, disguised indeed
in the fashion of a roving knight, who seeks adventures to prove his
shield and spear; and then, let Beaumanoir have chosen not one, but two
or three of the brethren here assembled, I had not doubted to cast them
out of the saddle with my single lance. Thus, Rebecca, should thine
innocence have been avouched, and to thine own gratitude would I have
trusted for the reward of my victory."

"This, Sir Knight," said Rebecca, "is but idle boasting--a brag of what
you would have done had you not found it convenient to do otherwise. You
received my glove, and my champion, if a creature so desolate can find
one, must encounter your lance in the lists--yet you would assume the
air of my friend and protector!"

"Thy friend and protector," said the Templar, gravely, "I will yet
be--but mark at what risk, or rather at what certainty, of dishonour;
and then blame me not if I make my stipulations, before I offer up all
that I have hitherto held dear, to save the life of a Jewish maiden."

"Speak," said Rebecca; "I understand thee not."

"Well, then," said Bois-Guilbert, "I will speak as freely as ever
did doting penitent to his ghostly father, when placed in the tricky
confessional.--Rebecca, if I appear not in these lists I lose fame and
rank--lose that which is the breath of my nostrils, the esteem, I mean,
in which I am held by my brethren, and the hopes I have of succeeding to
that mighty authority, which is now wielded by the bigoted dotard Lucas
de Beaumanoir, but of which I should make a different use. Such is my
certain doom, except I appear in arms against thy cause. Accursed be he
of Goodalricke, who baited this trap for me! and doubly accursed Albert
de Malv