prince that is christened; and if I may not have him
I promise you I will never have none. For, my lord Arthur, said Dame
Lionesse, wit ye well he is my first love, and he shall be the last;
and if ye will suffer him to have his will and free choice I dare say
he will have me. That is truth, said Sir Gareth; an I have not you and
wield not you as my wife, there shall never lady nor gentlewoman rejoice
me. What, nephew, said the king, is the wind in that door? for wit ye
well I would not for the stint of my crown to be causer to withdraw
your hearts; and wit ye well ye cannot love so well but I shall rather
increase it than distress it. And also ye shall have my love and my
lordship in the uttermost wise that may lie in my power. And in the same
wise said Sir Gareth's mother.

Then there was made a provision for the day of marriage; and by the
king's advice it was provided that it should be at Michaelmas following,
at Kink Kenadon by the seaside, for there is a plentiful country. And
so it was cried in all the places through the realm. And then Sir Gareth
sent his summons to all these knights and ladies that he had won in
battle to-fore, that they should be at his day of marriage at Kink
Kenadon by the sands. And then Dame Lionesse, and the damosel Linet with
Sir Gringamore, rode to their castle; and a goodly and a rich ring she
gave to Sir Gareth, and he gave her another. And King Arthur gave her a
rich pair of beads[*6] of gold; and so she departed; and King Arthur and
his fellowship rode toward Kink Kenadon, and Sir Gareth brought his lady
on the way, and so came to the king again and rode with him. Lord! the
great cheer that Sir Launcelot made of Sir Gareth and he of him, for
there was never no knight that Sir Gareth loved so well as he did Sir
Launcelot; and ever for the most part he would be in Sir Launcelot's
company; for after Sir Gareth had espied Sir Gawaine's conditions, he
withdrew himself from his brother, Sir Gawaine's, fellowship, for he was
vengeable, and where he hated he would be avenged with murder, and that
hated Sir Gareth.

[*6] So W. de Worde; Caxton "bee."

CHAPTER XXXV. Of the Great Royalty, and what officers were made at the
feast of the wedding, and of the jousts at the feast.

SO it drew fast to Michaelmas; and thither came Dame Lionesse, the lady
of the Castle Perilous, and her sister, Dame Linet, with Sir Gringamore,
her brother, with them for he had the conduct of these ladies. And