Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France by Alfred John Church

There was great trouble and wondering when the brethren knew that / Mawgis was not in Montalban. So they called the porter and asked him / what he knew. The porter said, "Sir Mawgis went out on Bayard; in a / little while he came back, having a man of great stature on the / horse's neck before him, and went into the castle. Then he came / forth again, poorly clad and on another horse. More than this I know / not."

When Richard heard this he gnashed his teeth for anger, saying, "All / this comes of the hatred that the King bears to us and to our / kindred. Fain would I slay him," and he made as if he would draw his / sword from the scabbard. But the others held him back, and they / reasoned with him till he had promised to do no hurt to the King.

When they told what had happened to Roland and the other Barons they / were not a little astonished, and Ogier the Dane said, "All this / trouble comes through the King's rage against the brethren, for / indeed it is beyond all measure. But now I trust there will be / peace. In very truth there has been war too long, and many good / knights have been slain."

And now the charm that Mawgis had laid upon the King came to an end, / and he woke out of his sleep. And when he knew that he was in the / castle of Montalban, being aware that this was of Mawgis's doing, he / was yet more angry than before, saying that there should be no peace / till Mawgis should be delivered to him.

When Richard heard him speak in this fashion he said, "Do you / threaten us, Sire, in this fashion, being a prisoner and in our / power? " But Reynaud said, "Be silent, my brother; let the King say / what he will; 'tis for us to pray that he make peace with us. " Then / the brethren and all the knights and Barons that were there, whether / of one party or of the other, fell upon their knees before the King, / and begged that he would make peace, but the King hardened his heart, / saying, "There shall be no peace till Mawgis be delivered to my will."

Reynaud said, "My lord King, if you had my three brothers in your / power, and were about to hang them, even then would I not deliver / Mawgis to you. But besides this I know not where he is. " "I do / believe that he is in this very place," said the King. "I swear by / my baptism," cried Reynaud, "that this is not so, and I know not / whither he is gone."

Then again all the Barons made intercession with the King that he / would grant peace to the brethren, and to Mawgis. But the King did / not abate in his wrath by one jot. "I will have Mawgis, that I may / work my will upon him."

When Reynaud heard these words he rose up from his knees, for before / he had been kneeling to the King, and said, speaking to Roland and to / the other lords that were of the King's part, "Seeing that the King / has hardened his heart, and will have no mercy on me and my kinsmen, / I do call you to witness that I will henceforth seek my right by all / means that a true knight may lawfully use. " Then he turned him to / the King and said, "You may go in peace when you will, I will do you / no hurt, for you are my sovereign lord."

When the King's Barons heard these words they were not a little / astonished, not thinking that any man could deal so generously with / his enemy. As for Richard, he was greatly displeased, and said, "Now / have you let the enemy go; I fear me much that we shall all pay for / this ill courtesy that you have shown to him with our lives. " But / Reynaud answered, "Be silent, brother; know that I will not compel / the King to do that which is against his will. And now depart from / my sight, for your high words please me not."

Then Reynaud called to him a gentleman of his household, and said, / "Go now without any tarrying to the yeoman that has charge of my / horses and bid him bring me Bayard. I will that my sovereign lord / should ride back upon him to his camp; better horse he could not / have. " So the yeoman brought Bayard, and the King mounted upon him / and rode him to his camp, where the Frenchmen very gladly received / him.

The King bade a squire take Bayard back to Montalban, whom, when / Reynaud saw, he said to Roland and the other Barons, "My good lords, / I know that the King is displeased with you for your love of me. Now / therefore depart and make your peace with him. As for me, if I have / aught against you, I forgive it with all my heart."

When the Duke Naymes heard these words, he would have kneeled to / Reynaud, but this good knight would not suffer it. Then said the / Duke, "Surely it cannot but be that the King's heart will be softened / when he shall hear how nobly Reynaud has borne himself in this / matter. " "You say well," said the other Barons.

Then there were brought from the stables Roland's horse and the / horses of the others. When they were now mounted there came forth / from the palace the Lady Clare, and said to them, "My lords, I do / entreat you to make peace, if by any means it may be done, between / the King and my husband, for indeed he bears a large heart, as you / very well know. " And the Duke Naymes answered, "Lady, we will do it / if it may be. " So he and his fellows took their leave of Reynaud and / the Lady Clare with much sorrow, and rode to the King's camp.

The Barons made intercession to the King that he would accord peace / to Reynaud, but he would not hear, but rather was more inflamed with / anger than before against him and his kinsmen. First, he bade his / men make an assault upon the castle. This they did with great zeal, / bringing engines wherewith to cast stones and darts against it, and / setting ladders against the walls by which they climbed up to the / highest parts. But all these things availed nothing, but rather / turned to the damage of the King's men, of whom many were wounded and / slain.