Untitled

GUINEVERE DISDAINS THE GIFT. 167
*'
1 suppose the king knew that none of those he
chose for the Bound Table could do anything mean 01
wicked," said Rhoda.
"Think you so, little maid ?" asked her companion
smiling brightly.
" However that may have been, full
well do all of us feel, that being chosen, we no longer
belong to the world or to ourselves, but to our lord the
king, and through him to his Lord, who is the Lord of
heaven and earth."
As he said these words, Sir Percivale's face glowed
with a joy at once so sweet and so solemn, that Khoda
looked at him without daring to reply ;
and in the pause
Sir Lancelot's voice was heard :
" And now, if
my lord the king excuses me, I will go
and lay off this stained and cumbrous armor, and don
garments better suited to ladies' presence and royal
feasting."
" Go, but return anon, fair sir," replied the king ;
and the queen coldly added :
"And prithee, Sir Lancelot, take the giant and the
dwarf away with yon. They spoil our merriment with
their ugliness."
" I had hoped that your majesty would accept the
dwarf as an offering from the humblest of your knights,"
replied Sir Lancelot, bowing lowly, and suffering his eyes
to rest reproachfully upon the queen's haughty face.
But she shook her head disdainfully, and waving her
hand, said: