Well,said Sir Gringamore,sithen I know now your will,I will obey now unto him.And right therewithal he went down unto Sir Gareth,and said:Sir,I cry you mercy,and all that I have misdone I will amend it at your will.And therefore I pray you that ye would alight,and take such cheer as I can make you in this castle.Shall I have my dwarf?said Sir Gareth.Yea,sir,and all the pleasaunce that I can make you,for as soon as your dwarf told me what ye were and of what blood ye are come,and what noble deeds ye have done in these marches,then I repented of my deeds.And then Sir Gareth alighted,and there came his dwarf and took his horse.O my fellow,said Sir Gareth,I have had many adventures for thy sake.And so Sir Gringamore took him by the hand and led him into the hall where his own wife was.
CHAPTER XXI
How Sir Gareth,otherwise called Beaumains,came to the presence of his lady,and how they took acquaintance,and of their love.
AND then came forth Dame Lionesse arrayed like a princess,and there she made him passing good cheer,and he her again;and they had goodly language and lovely countenance together.And Sir Gareth thought many times,Jesu,would that the lady of the Castle Perilous were so fair as she was.There were all manner of games and plays,of dancing and singing.And ever the more Sir Gareth beheld that lady,the more he loved her;and so he burned in love that he was past himself in his reason;and forth toward night they yede unto supper,and Sir Gareth might not eat,for his love was so hot that he wist not where he was.
All these looks espied Sir Gringamore,and then at-after supper he called his sister Dame Lionesse into a chamber,and said:
Fair sister,I have well espied your countenance betwixt you and this knight,and I will,sister,that ye wit he is a full noble knight,and if ye can make him to abide here I will do him all the pleasure that I can,for an ye were better than ye are,ye were well bywaryd upon him.Fair brother,said Dame Lionesse,Iunderstand well that the knight is good,and come he is of a noble house.Notwithstanding,I will assay him better,howbeit Iam most beholden to him of any earthly man;for he hath had great labour for my love,and passed many a dangerous passage.
Right so Sir Gringamore went unto Sir Gareth,and said,Sir,make ye good cheer,for ye shall have none other cause,for this lady,my sister,is yours at all times,her worship saved,for wit ye well she loveth you as well as ye do her,and better if better may be.An I wist that,said Sir Gareth,there lived not a gladder man than I would be.Upon my worship,said Sir Gringamore,trust unto my promise;and as long as it liketh you ye shall sojourn with me,and this lady shall be with us daily and nightly to make you all the cheer that she can.I will well,said Sir Gareth,for I have promised to be nigh this country this twelvemonth.And well I am sure King Arthur and other noble knights will find me where that I am within this twelvemonth.
For I shall be sought and found,if that I be alive.And then the noble knight Sir Gareth went unto the Dame Lionesse,which he then much loved,and kissed her many times,and either made great joy of other.And there she promised him her love certainly,to love him and none other the days of her life.Then this lady,Dame Lionesse,by the assent of her brother,told Sir Gareth all the truth what she was,and how she was the same lady that he did battle for,and how she was lady of the Castle Perilous,and there she told him how she caused her brother to take away his dwarf,for this cause,to know the certainty what was your name,and of what kin ye were come.
CHAPTER XXII
How at night came an armed knight,and fought with Sir Gareth,and he,sore hurt in the thigh,smote off the knight's head.
AND then she let fetch to-fore him Linet,the damosel that had ridden with him many wildsome ways.Then was Sir Gareth more gladder than he was to-fore.And then they troth-plight each other to love,and never to fail whiles their life lasteth.And so they burnt both in love,that they were accorded to abate their lusts secretly.And there Dame Lionesse counselled Sir Gareth to sleep in none other place but in the hall.And there she promised him to come to his bed a little afore midnight.
