He sought to separate them, and, if it were possible, to
save the gentleman; but the latter clasped his sweetheart so fast that
he could not be taken from her until he was dead. Nevertheless he heard
the Duke speaking to him and saying--"Alas! what is the cause of this?"
To which, with a glance of fury, he replied--"My tongue, my lord, and
yours." So saying, he died, with his face close pressed to that of his
mistress.
The Duke, wishing to know more of the matter, made the damsel tell him
what she had seen and heard; and this she did at full length, sparing
nothing. Then the Duke, finding that he was himself the cause of all
this woe, threw himself upon the two dead lovers, and, with great
lamentation and weeping, kissed both of them several times and asked
their forgiveness. And after that he rose up in fury, and drew the
dagger from the gentleman's body; and, just as a wild boar, wounded with
a spear, rushes headlong against him that has dealt the blow, so did the
Duke now seek out her who had wounded him to the bottom of his soul. He
found her dancing in the hall, and more merry than was her wont at
the thought of the excellent vengeance she had wreaked on the Lady du
Vergier.
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