La Chatelaine de Vergi - part 5
(By Yasbeau de Vergi as appeared in the January 1990 Bolt)

La Chatelaine de Vergi - part 5

The knight was in such anguish
That he knew not whether to confide
Or to break his vow and leave the land.
And as he was thus thinking
That he knew not which would be better;
Because of the agony with which he was faced,
Tears from the bottom of his heart came to his eyes
And trickled down his cheeks,
Until his whole face was wet.
The duke did not feel joy in his heart,
But thought that there was something
Which the knight did not dare to tell him.
Then the duke said to him,
"I see well that you do not trust
In me as much as you ought.
Do you believe that if you share with me your secret,
I will tell it to a soul?
Before I would ever do such a thing
I would let my teeth be pulled out one after another."
"Ah," said he, "by the mercy of God, sire,
I know not what I should say
Nor what will become of me,
But I would sooner die
Than lose whom I shall surely lose
If I reveal to you the truth,
And if it came to pass that she heard
That I had told the tale
While I still lived."
Then said the Duke, "I swear to you,
Upon my body and my soul
And upon my love and my faith,
That I owe you for your homage.
All my years,
No creature on the earth
Through me will learn the secret,
Not by word or by the least sign."
And the knight, in tears, said to him,
"Sire, I will tell it to you thus:
I love your niece the Chatelaine of Vergi,
And she loves me, as much as could be."
"Tell me then," Said the duke,
"Since you want to keep the secret well-hidden,
Does any other know of this except you two?"
And the knight answered,
"No, not a creature in the world."
And the duke said to him, "This cannot be!
How did you go there, then,
Not knowing the place or time?"
"By my faith sire," said he, "by a way
Which I will tell you without hiding anything,
Since you know so much of this already."
Then he told all to him,
His comings and goings,
And their first pact,
And the signal of the little dog.
Then the duke said, "I want
At your next meeting,
To be your companion,
And to accompany you to this place,
Because I want to know soon
If things are as you say;
And my niece shall know nothing of it."
"Sire," said he, "I will grant this happily,
So long as it neither troubles nor annoys you,
And, Know it now, I am to go tonight."
And the duke said that he would go
And that it would be no annoyance.
Instead, it would be a pleasure and a diversion.
Together they decided on the place
Where they would meet, both on foot.
As soon as it was night,
Since it was very near
That the niece lived,
They made their journey
And were soon in the orchard,
Where the duke did not have long to wait
Before he saw his niece's little dog,
Who came to the end of the orchard
Where he found the knight,
Who made much of him
Quickly then he went on his way,
Leaving the duke.
And the duke followed him
Up close to the chamber and stopped.

To be continued....

 Page last updated 12/28/99