And Geraint said he would like to stay there, for he was so hungry that the plainest food would seem a feast.
As he entered the castle, he heard some one singing. The song was so beautiful, and the voice was so pure and clear, that Geraint thought it was the sweetest song in all the world, and the old castle seemed less gloomy as he listened.
Then Earl Yniol led Geraint into a long low room, and this room was both dining-room and kitchen.
The Earl’s wife sat there, and she wore a dress that must have been very grand once, but now it was old.
Beside her stood her beautiful daughter, and she wore a faded silk gown, but Geraint thought he had never seen so fair a face.
‘This is the maiden who sang the beautiful song,’ he thought. ‘If I can win her for my bride, she shall come back with me to Queen Guinevere. But the brightest silks the Queen can dress her in, will not make her look more fair than she does in this old gown,’ he murmured to himself.
‘Enid,’ said the Earl, ‘take the stranger’s horse to the stable, and then go to the town and buy food for supper.’
Geraint did not like the beautiful girl to wait on him, and he got up eagerly to help her.
‘We are poor, and have no servants, but we cannot let our guest wait upon himself,’ said the Earl proudly. And Geraint had to sit down, while Enid took his horse to the stall, and went across the bridge to the little town to buy meat and cakes for supper.
And as the dining-room was the kitchen too, Geraint could watch Enid as she cooked the food and set the table.