Thou must be perfect in it by this time, or, as our yeomen say, thy bow is broken." The anxious eye of the minstrel, however, dwelt on Edith, and it was not till he observed her returning colour that he obeyed the repeated commands of the King.

Then, accompanying his voice with the harp, so as to grace, but yet not drown, the sense of what he sung, he chanted in a sort of recitative one of those ancient adventures of love and knighthood which were wont of yore to win the public attention.

So soon as he began to prelude, the insignificance of his personal appearance seemed to disappear, and his countenance glowed with energy and inspiration.

His full, manly, mellow voice, so absolutely under command of the purest taste, thrilled on every ear and to every heart.

Richard, rejoiced as after victory, called out the appropriate summons for silence, "Listen, lords, in bower and hall"; while, with the zeal of a patron at once and a pupil, he arranged the circle around, and hushed them into silence; and he himself sat down with an air of expectation and interest, not altogether unmixed with the gravity of the professed critic.