Page 46 [46]
LABOULAYE 5 FAIRY? BOOK
valec. This marriage added another guartering to the
illustrious escutcheon of the Kervers.
Yvon, recognized and welcomed by all the crowd, was in¬
stantly surrounded by his relatives, who embraced him and
shook him by the hand. Where had he been? Where did
he come from? Had he conquered a kingdom, a duchy, or
a barony? Had he brought the bride the jewels of some
queen? Had the fairies protected him? How many rivals
had he overthrown? All these questions were showered
upon him without reply. Yvon respectfully kissed his
father’s hand, hastened to his sisters’ chamber, took two
of their finest dresses, went to the stable, saddled a
pony, mounted a beautiful Spanish jennet, and was
about to quit the castle, when he found his relatives,
friends, and vassals all standing in his way, their glasses
in their hands, ready to drink their young lord’s health
and his safe return. |
Yvon gracefully thanked them, bowed, and made his way
by degrees through the crowd, when, just as he was about
to cross the drawbridge, a fair-haired lady, with a haughty
and disdainful air, a stranger to him, a sister of the bride¬
groom, perhaps, approached him, holding a pomegranate
in her hand.
“My handsome knight,” said she, with a singular smile,
"you surely will not refuse a lady’s first request. ‘Taste
this pomegranate, I entreat you. If you are neither hungry
24