escaped with bare life; but that young man who loved me so
sorely crept up to me grievously hurt, and I did not forbear to kiss
him once on the face, for I deemed I should soon die also, and his
blood stained my sleeve and my wrist, but he died not as then, but
lived to be a dear friend to me for long.

"So we, my lord and I, were led back to the city, and he was held in
ward and I was cast into prison with chains and hunger and stripes.
And the king would have had me lie there till I perished, that I might
be forgotten utterly; but there were many of the king's knights who
murmured at this, and would not forget me; so the king being
constrained, had me brought forth to be judged by his bishops of
sorcery for the beguiling of my lord. Long was the tale to me then,
but I will not make it long for thee; as was like to be, I was brought
in guilty of sorcery, and doomed to be burned in the Great Square in
three days time.

"Nay, my friend, thou hast no need to look so troubled; for thou seest
that I was not burned. This is the selfsame body that was tied to the
stake in the market place of the king's city many a year ago.

"For the friends of my lord, young men for the most part, and many who
had been fain to be my friends also, put on their armour, and took my
lord out of the courteous prison wherein he was, and came to the Great
Square whenas I stood naked in my smock bound amid the faggots; and I
saw the sheriffs' men give back, and great noise and rumour rise up
around me: and then all about me was a clear space for a moment and I
heard the tramp of the many horse-hoofs, and the space was full of
weaponed men shouting, and crying out, 'Life for our Lord's Lady!'
Then a minute, and I was loose and in my lord's arms, and they brought
me a horse and I mounted, lest the worst should come and we might have
to flee. So I could see much of what went on; and I saw that all the
unarmed folk and lookers-on were gone, but at our backs was a great
crowd of folk with staves and bows who cried out, 'Life for the Lady!'
But before us was naught but the sheriffs' sergeants and a company of
knights and men-at-arms, about as many as we were, and the king in
front of them, fully armed, his face hidden by his helm, and a royal
surcoat over his hauberk beaten with his bearing, to wit, a silver
tower on a blue sky bestarred with gold.

"And now I could see that despite the bills and bows behind us the king
was going to fall on with h