an ever, on any account, to reveal it. Accordingly,
throwing himself upon his knees, and clasping his hands, he said--

"My lord, the duty that I owe to you and the love that I bear you
constrain me more than the fear of any death. I can see that you imagine
and judge falsely concerning me, and, to take this trouble from you, I
am resolved to do that to which no torment had compelled me. But I pray
you, my lord, swear to me by the honour of God, and promise me by your
own faith as a Prince and a Christian, that you will never reveal the
secret which, since it so pleases you, I am obliged to tell."

Upon this the Duke swore to him with all the oaths he could think of
that he would never reveal aught of it to any living being, whether by
speech, or writing, or feature. Then the young man, feeling confidence
in so virtuous a Prince as he knew his master to be, began the building
up of his misfortune, and said--

"It is now seven years, my lord, since knowing your niece, the Lady
du Vergier, to be a widow and without kindred, I set myself to win her
favour. But, since I was of too lowly a birth to wed her, I contented
myself with being received by her as her true knight, as indeed I have
been. And it has pleased God that the affair has hitherto been contrived
with much discretion, so that neither man nor woman knows of it save
ourselves alone, and now, my lord, you also. I place my life and honour
in your hands, entreating you to keep the matter secret and to esteem
your niece none the less; for I think that under heaven there is no more
perfect being."

If ever man was rejoiced it was the Duke, for, knowing as he did the
exceeding beauty of his niece, he now had no doubt that she was more
pleasing than his wife. However, being unable to understand how so great
a mystery could have been contrived, he begged the gentleman to tell
him how it was that he was able to see her. The gentleman related to him
then that his lady's chamber looked upon a garden, and that, on the days
when he was to visit her, a little gate was left open through which he
went in on foot until he heard the barking of a little dog which the
lady used to loose in the garden when all her women were withdrawn. Then
he went and conversed with her all night long, and, in parting from
her, would appoint a day on which he would return; and this appointment,
unless for some weighty reason, he never failed to keep. The Duke, who
was the most inquisitive man ali