Chivalry

I say to you, then, John Copeland continued, "that to-day you are master of Europe. I say to you that, but for this woman whom for twenty years you have neglected, you would to-day be mouldering in some pauper's grave. Eh, without question, you most magnanimously loved that shrew of Salisbury! because you fancied the color of her eyes, Sire Edward, and admired the angle between her nose and her forehead. Minstrels unborn will sing of this great love of yours. Meantime I say to you"--now the man's rage was monstrous--"I say to you, go home to your too-tedious wife, the source of all your glory! sit at her feet! and let her teach you what love is!" He flung away the dagger.

James Branch Cabell (1879-1956) is best known for his tales of the imaginary land of Poictesme, where chivalry and galantry live on. All of Cabell's works from before 1930 were assembled into the grand "Biography of the Life of Manuel," the supposed redeemer of the land of Poictesme, and they form a series which follows Manuel and his descendants through the centuries. Cabell has been a favorite author of many famous writers, ranging from Lin Carter to Robert A. Heinlein.