'
'No, nor Huon de Bordeaux,' said Anne.
'The Cid, then, I suppose,' said Elizabeth, 'unless he is too fierce
for your tender heart.'
'Ruy, mi Cid Campeador?' said Anne, 'I must have him in consideration
of his noble conduct to the King who banished him, and the speech the
ballad gives him:
"For vassals' vengeance on their lord,
Though just, is treason still;
The noblest blood is his, who best
Bears undeserved ill."
And the loyalty he shewed in making the King clear himself of having
any share in his brother's death, even though Alphonso was silly
enough to be affronted.'
'Like Montrose's feeling towards his lady-love,' said Elizabeth; 'not
bearing the least stain on what he loved or honoured.'
'But he is not our earliest knight,' said Anne; 'I begin with our own
Alfred, with his blue shield and golden cross.'
'King Alfred!' exclaimed Elizabeth, 'do you consider him a knight?'
'Certainly,' said Anne; 'besides that I care more for the spirit of
chivalry than for the etiquette of the accolade and golden spurs; we
know that Alfred knighted his grandson Athelstane, so that he must
have been a knight himself.
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