Then the Admiral took Fleur by the hand, and kissing him bade him sit by his side as beseemed the son of a king, and taking Blanchefleur also by the hand His Highness said to Fleur:  ’Friend, herewith I give and grant to you the maiden Blanchefleur, together with pardon full and free of all offence committed by you against my kingly power and majesty.’

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Overcome with joy and gratitude, those lovers sank at the feet of their benefactor, who raised and kissed them, and after that he made Fleur a knight according to the fashion of the land.

Chapter IX

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Now when all had turned out thus happily for Fleur and Blanchefleur, the Admiral proclaimed a great festival, and in pomp and splendour led to church Clarissa, daughter of the Duke of Alemannia, and there took her as his one and only wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better for worse, to his life’s end:  in the same church also and at the same time were Fleur and Blanchefleur united in holy wedlock.  Then came the feast, at which the Admiral sat enthroned with his bride Clarissa on one side, and Fleur and Blanchefleur on the other, and after them all the lords of the realm, placed in order according to their rank.  When the banquet was over the wedding guests diverted themselves with jousting, tilting, wrestling, and jumping matches, not forgetting music and song, that lasted for days together, and while the merry-making was at its height, behold! there came ambassadors bearing tidings from Spain that King Fenis and his Queen were dead, and the mourning country stood in sore need of the absent Fleur, heir and successor to the King deceased:  and at these heavy tidings the joy of Fleur was turned to sorrow, and, seeking the Admiral, he prayed His Highness for permission to depart to his own country, which so sorely needed its King and ruler; but the Admiral, loath to part with the guest he had learned to love, sought to persuade Fleur, by promise of a greater and richer kingdom than his own, to give up land and people and abide with him; but when Fleur, whose heart was true to his home and Spain, would not be tempted from his purpose, the Admiral, commending his departing guests to the care of his gods, speeded him on his way with many a rich and costly gift.  Thus did Fleur and Blanchefleur take their journey back again to Spain, and when they were come the people received them with great joy, and crowned Fleur King in the place of his father Fenis, and Blanchefleur they crowned as Queen, and so this happy pair lived on united in tender love together to their hundredth year, and when Fleur was made King he embraced the Christian faith of his Blanchefleur, and caused all his people to become Christians and receive baptism, and soon after these things Fleur inherited the land of Hungary from his uncle, who died childless; but to Fleur and his Queen Blanchefleur was born a daughter, Bertha by name, who became wife to King Pepin of France, and mother of Charles, that great Emperor whose fame is known throughout the world.