When dismissed from the presence of the King and Queen, these two
merchants hastened to the port of Nicæa, and, out of the many foreign
traders who there bought and sold, chose two rich dealers from a distant
land, who purchased Blanchefleur at a price that caused the vendors to
rejoice, for these men gave 100 pounds of gold, 100 of silver, 100 webs
of Indian silk, 100 scarlet mantles, 100 good horses, and 300 birds,
such as falcons, hawks, and sparrow-hawks: last and greatest of all,
they gave a cup matchless in beauty and beyond all price. Vulcan had
made this cup, and on it he had pictured how Paris, son of Priam, king
in Troy, had carried off Helena, and was pursued in wrath by Menelaus,
Helena's lord, together with his brother Agamemnon, at the head of a
mighty host; and how the Greeks besieged and stormed Troy town, which
the Trojans for their part defended, and when the city was taken, Æneas
brought away the cup and gave it to a brother of his love Lavinia.

[Illustration]

When the purchase was completed, these traders led Blanchefleur away to
Babylon, and offered her for sale to its Admiral, whom she pleased so
well that he bought her for ten times her weight in gold from these
merchants, who, well pleased with the price bestowed, departed after
thanks given to the Admiral, who, judging from her great beauty and rich
attire that his new purchase must come of noble race, resolved to break
his rule of oft-repeated marriage by plighting his troth once and for
all to her and her alone. With this intent accordingly he sent
Blanchefleur to the women's tower, appointing twenty-five maidens for
her service and solace, seeing that she was ere long to be crowned Queen
of Babylon.