Page:Romances of Chivalry on Greek Soil.djvu/14

Rh daughter, Chrysantza, has a Greek name. Belthandros recognizes her as the maiden to whom he had awarded the wand, and she, too, recognizes him; for the poet conceives that she was actually present on that night in the Castle of Love. For more than four years they woo each other by secret signs; at last they meet in a garden and declare their love. When he leaves her, Belthandros, who had no right to enter the garden, is arrested by the guards who were set to keep watch over the princess. The danger which threatened the prince at this discovery is diverted by a device of Chrysantza. Her devoted maid, Phaidrokaza, pretends that Belthandros had entered the forbidden precincts for a tryst with herself; and the king immediately arranges a marriage between his liegeman and his daughter's maid. For nearly a year Belthandros carried on his amour with the mistress under cover of his marriage with her servant, and no one else knew of the matter except his own squires. But he became uneasy; he feared that the business might leak out, and he induced Chrysantza to fly with him. Accompanied by their faithful attendants, they escaped from the palace one dark and stormy night. In crossing a swollen river the servants and horses were drowned, and the hero and heroine were washed ashore on opposite banks. Each thinks that the other is dead. Wandering along the edge, Chrysantza comes on the body of one of the men; the features are defaced, but as the clothes and sword of Belthandros are near she believes that the corpse is his, and is about to kill herself when she hears his voice in the distance calling her by name. He swims across, and they make their way down the river to the sea-coast. A ship is approaching. It is a Greek ship, bearing a search party sent by the Emperor Rhodophilus to search the world for Belthandros. His