The unhappy Knight of the Leopard hath been before
me too, at a season; for, look you, he weighs less on horseback,
and so--"
"Hush!" said the King, interrupting him in a peremptory tone,
"not a word of him," and instantly stepped forward to greet his
royal consort; and when he had done so, he presented to her
Blondel, as king of minstrelsy and his master in the gay science.
Berengaria, who well knew that her royal husband's passion for
poetry and music almost equalled his appetite for warlike fame,
and that Blondel was his especial favourite, took anxious care to
receive him with all the flattering distinctions due to one whom
the King delighted to honour. Yet it was evident that, though
Blondel made suitable returns to the compliments showered on him
something too abundantly by the royal beauty, he owned with
deeper reverence and more humble gratitude the simple and
graceful welcome of Edith, whose kindly greeting appeared to him,
perhaps, sincere in proportion to its brevity and simplicity.
Both the Queen and her royal husband were aware of this
distinction, and Richard, seeing his consort somewhat piqued at
the preference assigned to his cousin, by which perhaps he
himself did not feel much gratified, said in the hearing of both,
"We minstrels, Berengaria, as thou mayest see by the bearing of
our master Blondel, pay more reverence to a severe judge like our
kinswoman than to a kindly, partial friend like thyself, who is
willing to take our worth upon trust.
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