The Lord of Narbonne stepped on to the grass with his noble Countess,
his four sons, and many servants. King Louis and the Queen hastened to
meet them, and amid cries of joy they mounted the steps into the hall.
Aimeri sat beside the King, and the Countess was seated next the Queen,
while the Knights placed themselves on the floor of the hall. And
William sat also, but alone and apart, nursing his anger.
At last he rose, and, advancing to the middle of the floor, he said
with a loud voice: "Heaven protect my mother, my father, my brothers
and my friends; but may His curse alight on my sister and on the King,
who have left me to be the butt of all the mockers of the Court. By
all the Saints! were not my father sitting next to him, this sword
should ere now have cloven his skull." The King listened pale with
fright, and the rest whispered to each other, "William is angry,
something will happen!"
When Ermengarde and Aimeri saw their son standing before them great joy
filled their souls. They left their seats and flung themselves on his
neck, and William's brother also ran to greet him. The Count told them
how he had been vanquished at the Aliscans, and he himself had fled to
Orange, and of the distress in which he had left Gibourc. "It was at
her bidding I came here to ask aid from Louis, but from the way he has
treated me I see plainly that he has no heart. By St. Peter! he shall
repent before I go, and my sister also."
The King heard and again waxed cold with fear; the nobles heard and
whispered: "Who is strong enough to compass this matter? No man, be he
the bravest in France, ever went to his help and came back to tell the
tale."
It was the Lady Ermengarde who broke the silence. "O God," she cried,
"to think that the Franks should be such cowards! Have no fear, fair
son William, I have still left gold that would fill thirty chariots,
and I will give it to those who enrol themselves under your banner."
Aimeri smiled and sighed as he listened to her words, and his sons shed
tears.
William answered nothing, but remained standing in the middle of the
hall, his eyes fixed on his sister sitting on her throne, with a small
golden crown upon her head, and on her husband, King Louis.
"This, then, O King, is the reward of all I have done! When
Charlemagne, your father, died, you would have lost your crown if I had
not forced the Barons to place it upon your head."
"That is true," answered the King, "and in remembrance of your services
I will to-day bestow on you a fief."
"Yes," cried Blanchefleur, "and no doubt will deprive me of one. A
nice agreement, truly! Woe to him who dares carry it out."
"Be silent, woman without shame!" said William. "Every word you speak
proclaims your baseness! You pass your days eating and drinking, and
little you care that we endure heat and cold, hunger and thirst, and
suffer wounds and death so that your life may be easy."
Then he bounded forwards, and, drawing his sword, would have cut off
her head had not Ermengarde wrenched the weapon from his hands. Before
he could seize it again the Queen darted away and took refuge in her
chamber, where she fell fainting on the floor.