the
King of Over-sea. But I ask of my lord three graces, and with heart
and soul pray of him to grant them.

"The first grace I ask is this, that he and the Queen and their son,
my spouse, be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit.

"The second grace is that three years may be given me, before the
bridal, in which to go to and fro upon the sea, that I may visit the
bodies of the Saints in Rome, and the blessed places of the Holy Land.

"And for the last grace, I ask that he choose ten fair maidens of his
kingdom, and with each of these a thousand more, all of gentle blood,
who shall come to me here in Britain, and go with me in gladness upon
the sea, following this my holy pilgrimage."

Then spake one of the nobles of the land to Maurus, saying, "My lord
the King, this your daughter is the Dove of Peace come from Paradise,
the same that in the days of the flood brought to the Ark of Noah the
olive-branch of good news." And at the answer were the ambassadors so
full of joy that they well-nigh could not speak, and with praise and
triumph, they went their way, and told their master all the sweet
answer of Ursula.

Then my lord the King said, "Praised and blessed be the name of our
God Malcometto, who has given my soul for comfort that which it
desired. Truly there is not a franker lady under the wheel of the sun;
and by the body of my mother I swear there is nothing she can ask that
I will not freely give. First of the maidens she desires shall be my
daughter Florence." Then all his lords rose, man by man, and gladly
named each his child.

So the will of Ursula was done; and that King, and all his folk, were
baptized into the Holy Faith. And AEther, with the English maidens, in
number above ten thousand, came to the land of Britain.

Then Ursula chose her own four sisters, Habila and Julia and Victoria
and Aurea, and a thousand daughters of her people, with certain holy
bishops and great lords and grave councillors, and an abbot of the
order of St. Benedict, men full of all wisdom and friends of God.

So all that company set sail in eleven ships, and passing this way and
that upon the sea, rejoiced in it, and in this their maiden
pilgrimage. And those who dwelt by the shores of the sea came forth in
multitudes to gaze upon them as they passed, and to each man it
appeared a delightful vision. For the ships sailed in fair order, side
by side, with sound of sweet psalms and murmur