High thoughts rolled, one after each other, upon the
mind of the warrior. It seemed to him as if he had gained some
favour in the eyes of the chivalrous monarch, who till now had
not seemed to distinguish him among the crowds of brave men whom
his renown had assembled under his banner, and Sir Kenneth little
recked that the display of royal regard consisted in placing him
upon a post so perilous. The devotion of his ambitious and high-placed affection inflamed his military
enthusiasm. Hopeless as
that attachment was in almost any conceivable circumstances,
those which had lately occurred had, in some degree, diminished
the distance between Edith and himself. He upon whom Richard had
conferred the distinction of guarding his banner was no longer an
adventurer of slight note, but placed within the regard of a
princess, although he was as far as ever from her level. An
unknown and obscure fate could not now be his. If he was
surprised and slain on the post which had been assigned him, his
death--and he resolved it should be glorious--must deserve the
praises as well as call down the vengeance of Coeur de Lion, and
be followed by the regrets, and even the tears, of the high-born
beauties of the English Court.
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