I must tell you that, of the lot, you are the only one I could truly have loved, since you are neither stupid like Gontran, nor lewd like Landwin, nor yet old and reclusive like Sugerius. You are he for whom I yearn by day and by night. You are therefore commanded to return forthwith to your adoring spouse's arms.
As for the delicate legal points arising from the revival of your predecessors, transforming me from a virtuous widow to a polygamist, I have the word of the Archimandrite that there shall be no difficulties. We shall have a proper legal marriage, wherein I will endeavor to make you the happiest husband ever. I am not unaware of my faults, which I swear to overcome. Only come back! You cannot abandon me after all we have endured together. I love you!
Yolanda
"Belike she does," said Eudoric, thoughtfully refolding the missive, "as far as she loves aught but power. But it matters not to me."
"I grasp the nib," said Baldonius, "although I burn to hear the rest of the story. Where stood ye in the file of husbands?"
"I was the fourth; or so I was told. She had stricken my predecessors with a fixative spell, which kept them statuelike in a cryptic chamber. Of her quartet of nuptials, only the first has any claim to validity. But of that, more anon. Where can I find Lusina?"
"Oho! So that's the why of those unseasonable posies! I might have guessed."
Eudoric's face showed a worried frown. "Has she another suitor?"
"Nay. A brace of local swains have asked my leave to pay her their addresses, but she denied them. She hath never forgiven herself for her folly."
Indulgently, Eudoric smiled. "Who can go through life with never an indiscretion? I have committed more than I care to think about."
"Even my prudent, calculating pupil hath gone astray?"
"Aye; but I strive never to commit the same blunder twice."
"What wilt do about that letter? I must know, if ye think of courting my chick."
"I shall ignore it. As saith Helvolius the Wise, only a fool pets a biting dog a second time. Emmerhard's lawyer, Doctor Rupman, has assured me that any spousal claims by Yolanda would have no more weight in the Empire than a puff of smoke. If my business compel me to visit Letitia again. I shall be most careful not to cross paths with this overweening witch-princess. But about Lusina—"
"She's in her room in back. Take care that she flee not at sight of you."
"However fast she run, I'll follow faster," said Eudoric as he picked up his presents and hastened down the passage.
Baldonius chuckled softly. He adjusted his spectacles and opened his great iron-bound encyclopedia to "Incorporation."
The End
Copyright page
THE
INCORPORATED
KNIGHT
L. Sprague and
Catherine
Crook
de Camp
Distributed in Canada by PaperJacks Ltd., a Licensee
of the trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
THE INCORPORATED KNIGHT
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 1987 by L. Sprague de Camp
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Book
In Canada distributed by Paper Jacks Ltd.,
330 Steelcase Read, Markham, Ontario
First Baen printing, September 1988
Chapters I and II first appeared as the story "Two Yards of Dragon" in the anthology Flashing Swords! #3, copyright © 1976 by Lin Carter.
Chapter III first appeared as "The Coronet" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, v. 51, n. 5, Nov. 1976, copyright © by Mercury Press, Inc.
Chapter IV first appeared as "Spider Love" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, v. 53, n. 5, Nov. 1977, copyright © 1977 by Mercury Press, Inc.
Chapter V first appeared as "Eudoric's Unicorn" in the anthology The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3, copyright © 1977 by Daw Books, Inc.
All these stories have been revised for the present volume.
ISBN: 0-671-65435-7
Cover art by Dan Home
Printed in Canada
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