The valiant Sir Jaufry, it is true, was ordered to a dungeon by the fair
Brunissende, who so soon as she beheld him, nevertheless became
enamoured of the knight, and gave him finally her hand in wedlock. But
if the fair Brunissende had been five and forty, or by'r lady, fifty,
the widow of a tailor, herself wondrous keen after money, and stung very
nigh to madness by the preposterous balance due (as per ledger), and the
inexhaustible and ingenious dodges executed by the insolvent Sir Jaufry,
the composer of that chivalric romance might have shrunk from the happy
winding-up as bordering too nearly upon the incredible.
Yet good Father Roach understood human nature better. Man and woman have
a tendency to fuse. And given a good-looking fellow and a woman, no
matter of what age, who but deserves the name, and bring them together,
and let the hero but have proper opportunities, and deuce is in it if
nothing comes of the matter. Animosity is no impediment. On the contrary
'tis a more advantageous opening than indifference. The Cid began his
courtship by shooting his lady-love's pigeons, and putting her into a
pet and a frenzy.
Pages:
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693