That had an end in tears of helpless rage:
“Why have you come between me and my Queen,
Stealing her love as you might steal my gold!
Honor! Good God in heaven! Is this honor—
And after all that I have done for you?”
“Why have you come between me and my Queen,
Stealing her love as you might steal my gold!
Honor! Good God in heaven! Is this honor—
And after all that I have done for you?”
“Almost as much as buying her with gold,
Or its equivalent in peace, was honor.
And as for all that you have done for me,
There are some tenuous items on my side.
Did I not, fighting Morhaus in your name,
Rid Cornwall of a tribute that for years
Had sucked away the blood and life of Cornwall,
Like vampires feeding on it in the night?
And have I not in my blind gratitude
For kindness that would never have been yours
If it had cost you even a night’s rest,
Brought you for Queen the fairest of all women?
If these two gifts, which are but two, were all,
What more, in the King’s name, would the King ask?”
Or its equivalent in peace, was honor.
And as for all that you have done for me,
There are some tenuous items on my side.
Did I not, fighting Morhaus in your name,
Rid Cornwall of a tribute that for years
Had sucked away the blood and life of Cornwall,
Like vampires feeding on it in the night?
And have I not in my blind gratitude
For kindness that would never have been yours
If it had cost you even a night’s rest,
Brought you for Queen the fairest of all women?
If these two gifts, which are but two, were all,
What more, in the King’s name, would the King ask?”
“The casuistries of youth will not go far
With me, Tristram. You brought to me a Queen,
With me, Tristram. You brought to me a Queen,
[ 65 ]
