“I say this, be ye ready with good heart To all my lust, 2506 and that I freely may, As me best thinketh, do 2507 you laugh or smart, And never ye to grudgë, 2508 night nor day, And eke when I say Yea, ye say not Nay, Neither by word, nor frowning countenance? Swear this, and here I swear our álliance.”

Wond’ring upon this word, quaking for dread, She saidë; “Lord, indigne and unworthy Am I to this honoúr that ye me bede, 2509 But as ye will yourself, right so will I: And here I swear, that never willingly In word or thought I will you disobey, For to be dead; though me were loth to dey.” 2510