orite fruits. This the queen
failed not to do. But there was at the feast an enemy of Gawaine's,
named Pinel le Savage, who was a cousin of Lamorak de Galis, and had
long hated Gawaine for the murder of that noble knight.

To obtain revenge on him, Pinel poisoned some of the apples, feeling
sure that only Gawaine would eat them. But by unlucky chance a knight
named Patrise, cousin to Mador de la Porte, eat one of the poisoned
apples. So deadly was the venom that in a moment he was in agony, and
very soon it so filled his veins that he fell dead from his seat.

Then was terror and wrath, as the knights sprang in haste and turmoil
from their seats. For they saw that Patrise had been poisoned, and
suspicion naturally fell upon the queen, the giver of the feast.

"My lady, the queen," cried Gawaine in anger, "what thing is this we
see? This fate, I deem, was meant for me, since the fruit was provided
for my taste. Madam, what shall I think? Has this good knight taken on
himself the death that was intended to be mine?"

The queen made no answer, being so confused and terrified that she knew
not what to say.

"This affair shall not end here," cried Mador de la Porte in great
wrath. "Here lies a noble knight of my near kindred, slain by poison and
treason. For this I shall have revenge to the utterance. Queen Guenever,
I hold you guilty of the murder of my cousin, Sir Patrise. I demand from
the laws of the realm and the justice of our lord the king redress for
this deed. A knight like this shall not fall unrevenged, while I can
wield spear or hold sword."

The queen, at this hot accusation, looked appealingly from face to face;
but all stood grave and silent, for greatly they suspected her of the
crime. Then, seeing that she had not a friend in the room, she burst
into a passion of tears, and at length fell to the floor in a swoon.

The story of this sad business soon spread through the court, and
quickly came to the ears of the king, who hastened to the banqueting
hall full of trouble at what he had heard. When Mador saw him, he again
bitterly accused the queen of treason,--as murder of all kinds was then
called.

"This is a serious affair," said the king, gravely. "I, as a rightful
judge, cannot take the matter into my own hands, or I would do battle in
this cause myself, for I know well that my wife is wrongly accused. To
burn a queen on a hasty accusation of crime is no light matter, though
you may deem it so, Sir