'Sire,' said Clarissa, 'I called in passing at her door ere filling my
golden bowl with water at the spring, and Blanchefleur said she would be
here before me.'

In some surprise the Admiral then bade a chamberlain go see why
Blanchefleur tarried: so the chamberlain hasted to Blanchefleur's
chamber, which was all ablaze with precious stones, and there, locked in
each other's arms, found Fleur and Blanchefleur, and, taking Fleur in
his tender beauty to be Clarissa, the chamberlain had not the heart to
wake the two, but hasted back to tell his Lord how sweetly Blanchefleur
and Clarissa slept, and, lo! Clarissa stood before him.

As for the Admiral, he turned white with fury.




_Chapter VIII_

[Illustration]


'Give me my sword,' cried the Admiral, 'and with it I will soon find who
is this feigned Clarissa, for here the true one stands before me.' So
saying, the furious Lord went with the chamberlain to Blanchefleur's
chamber, and when the thick silken curtains were drawn aside and the
bright sunlight streamed in, he beheld the sleeping pair, and so fair
was Fleur that even the Admiral in his fury doubted if he were not a
maiden, but all the same with uplifted sword he prepared to smite both
Fleur and Blanchefleur to the death, when suddenly they awoke, and