dust, and the prize was at length
adjudged to the youngest knight there present.

Full courteously he told all who might wish to hear that he might not
wed Whiterose, the princess, for his faith was already plighted to
another across the sea. And to Felice and to her father he sent the
falcon and horse and greyhounds as tokens of his valour. After that he
and his friends journeyed to many lands, fighting tournaments when there
were any tournaments to fight, till the whole of Christendom rang with
the name of Sir Guy.

'Surely I have proved my worth,' he said, when a whole year had gone by.
'Let us go home'; and home they went.

Joyful was the welcome bestowed on him by every one he met--joyful, that
is, from all but Felice.

'Yes, you have done well,' she said, when he knelt before her, offering
some of the prizes he had won. 'It is truly spoken among men that there
are not twelve knights living as valorous as you. But that is not good
enough for me. It matters not that you are "one of the best"; my husband
must be "the best of all."'

In vain Sir Guy pleaded that with her for his wife his strength would be
doubled, and his renown also.

'If you cannot conquer all men for my sake _now_, you will never do it
after,' she answered; and Sir Guy, seeing his words were useless, went
out to do her bidding.

The wrath of his father and mother was great when their son came to tell
them he was going to seek a fresh quest, but, though his heart was sore
rent with their tears, he only embraced them tenderly, and departed
quickly, lest he should make some promise he might not keep.

For long he found no knight whose skill and strength were equal to his
own, and he was beginning to hope that the day was drawing nigh that
should see him stand without a peer, when, in a tourney near the city of
Benevento, his foe thrust his lance deep into his shoulder, and for many
days Sir Guy lay almost senseless on his bed.

Now Otho duke of Pavia had neither forgotten nor forgiven his overthrow
by the young knight at Rouen, more than a year agone, and he resolved to
have his revenge while his enemy was still weak from loss of blood. So
he hid some men behind some bushes, which Sir Guy would needs pass while
riding along the road to the north, 'and _then_,' thought he, 'I will
cast him into prison, there to await my pleasure.'

But though his plans were well laid, the fight went against him, and in
the end Sir Guy, nearly fainting with