[A Knight of the White Cross by G.A. Henty]@TWC D-Link bookA Knight of the White Cross CHAPTER IV A PROFESSED KNIGHT 5/27
Of course, as soon as your pageship is over you will go to the English auberge, but I shall still keep my eye upon you, and shall do my best to help you to achieve distinction; and I shall take upon myself the providing of your arms and armour as a knight." Accordingly, on the day on which his duties as a page terminated, two servitors of the auberge of Auvergne brought across to the palace a suit of fine armour and a sword, a battleaxe, a lance, and a dagger; also three complete suits of clothes, two of them for ordinary wear, and one for state occasions.
The next day Gervaise took the oaths of the Order in the Church of St.John.The aged master himself received the vows, and formally inducted him as a professed knight of the Order, Peter D'Aubusson and the bailiff of the English langue acting as his sponsors, vouching that he was of noble blood and in all ways fitted to become a knight of Justice, this being the official title of the professed knights of the Order.
Ten newly arrived novices were inducted at the same time, and the ceremony was a stately one, attended by a number of the knights from each langue, all in full armour. The ceremony over, Gervaise bore the title of Sir Gervaise Tresham; but this was an honorary rather than a real title, as the Order did not profess to bestow the honour of knighthood, and it was usual for its members to receive the accolade at the hands of secular knights.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, he returned with the bailiff of the English langue to the auberge, and took up his quarters there.
By his frequent visits he was well known to all the members, and in a day or two felt as much at home as he had done in the pages' room in the palace.
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