nfess him
to the good man. He alighteth and confesseth to the good man, and
rehearseth all his sins, and saith that of all thereof doth he repent
him save only one, and the hermit asketh him what it is whereof he is
unwilling to repent.

"Sir," saith Lancelot, "it seemeth to me the fairest sin and the
sweetest that ever I committed."

"Fair Sir," saith the hermit, "Sin is sweet to do, but right bitter be
the wages thereof; neither is there any sin that is fair nor seemly,
albeit there be some sins more dreadfuller than other."

"Sir," saith Lancelot, "this sin will I reveal to you of my lips, but
of my heart may I never repent me thereof. I love my Lady, which is
the Queen, more than aught else that liveth, and albeit one of the best
Kings on live hath her to wife. The affection seemeth me so good and
so high that I cannot let go thereof, for, so rooted is it in my heart
that thence may it nevermore depart, and the best knighthood that is in
me cometh to me only of her affection."

"Alas!" saith the hermit, "Sinner of mortal sin, what is this that you
have spoken? Never may no knighthood come of such wantonness that
shall not cost you right dear! A traitor are you toward our earthly
lord, and a murderer toward Our Saviour. Of the seven deadly sins, you
are labouring under the one whereof the delights are the falsest of
any, wherefore dearly shall you aby thereof, save you repent you
forthwith."

"Sir," saith Lancelot, "never the more do I desire to cast it from me."

"As much," saith the hermit, "is that as to say that you ought long
since to have cast it from you and renounced it. For so long as you
maintain it, so long are you an enemy of the Saviour!"

"Ha, Sir," saith Lancelot, "She hath in her such beauty and worth and
wisdom and courtesy and nobleness that never ought she to be forgotten
of any that hath loved her!"

X.

"The more of beauty and worth she hath in her," saith the hermit, "so
much the more blame hath she of that she doeth, and you likewise. For
of that which is of little worth is the loss not so great as of that
which is much worth. And this is a Queen, blessed and anointed, that
was thus, therefore, in her beginning vowed to God; yet now is she
given over to the Devil of her love for you, and you of your love for
her. Fair, sweet my friend," saith the hermit, "Let go this folly,
which is so cruel, that you have taken in hand, and be repentant of
these sins! So every day will