No sooner were the guests seated, and the repast about to commence, than
the major domo, or steward, suddenly raising his wand, said
aloud--"Forbear!--Place for the Lady Rowena." A side door at the upper
end of the hall now opened, and Cedric's ward, Rowena, a Saxon lady of
rare beauty and lofty character, entered. All stood up to receive her,
and, as she moved gracefully forward to assume her place at the board,
the Knight Templar's eyes bent on her with an ardour that made Rowena
draw with dignity the veil around her face.

Cedric and the Prior discoursed on hunting for a time, the Lady Rowena
seemed engaged in conversation with one of her attendants; while the
haughty Templar's eye wandered from the Saxon beauty to the rest of the
company.

"Pledge me in a cup of wine, Sir Templar," said Cedric, "and fill
another to the Abbot. To the strong in arms, Sir Templar, be their race
or language what it will, who now bear them best in Palestine among the
champions of the Cross!"

"To whom, besides the sworn champions of the Holy Sepulchre, whose badge
I wear, can the palm be assigned among the champions of the Cross?" said
Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert.

"Were there, then, none in the English army," said the Lady Rowena,
"whose names are worthy to be mentioned with the Knights of the Temple?"

"Forgive me, lady," replied de Bois-Guilbert, "the English monarch did,
indeed, bring to Palestine a host of gallant warriors, second only to
those whose breasts have been the bulwark of that blessed land."