could only return their honours by courteous looks and geſtures.
After the banquet was finiſhed, all retired but the lady; who, leading back the knight to the ſofa, addreſſed him in theſe words:–
“Sir Knight, The grateful remembrance of my delivery from the iron hand of the Mooriſh tyrant, who in dying bequeathed his ſoul to the prince of the air for the horrid purpoſe of confining me in this my patrimonial caſtle, ſhall never be eraſed from my memory. And if to you I own his power over me, it was but tranſient and of ſhort duration. With horror I view the remains of his now extinguiſhed faſcination; and though years have rolled after years, and involved in their courſe the fate of my venerable anceſtors, yet I have at laſt the conſolation to find myſelf by your valor free from the machinations of Almanzor (for that was the name of the Mooriſh prince, whom our valiant king Edward brought over with him on his return from the cruſades). My father approved of my union with him, but, alas! I never beheld him without the utmoſt horror. His dark inſidious looks, compared to the open and undiſguiſed mien of him I had lately loſt in the troubles of the times, made me ſhudder. In an unlucky moment I was induced to ſign, in obedience to my father’s will, a covenant with Almanzor, which he pretended would place me next heir to the Mooriſh throne. Each ſignature was made with our blood, and a requiem was afterward ſung for the ſucceſs of the union. But alas! minds are not eaſily transferred; my ſoul owned allegiance to Sir Walter, a generous Knight of this country, and whom this horrid eaſtern tyrant had deſtroyed in conflict; and becauſe I peremptorily refuted to drink his blood, this mender ſwore he would invoke every power to confine me until ſome more valorous Knight ſhould arrive to releaſe me from his hands. How long I have been enchanted, I do not know; but this I can declare, that from that time to the preſent I have not been free from horrid dreams like thoſe which are ſaid to infeſt the wicked in their
