while fighting the dragon. Evan promises Eufemie that he will grant her marriage to any available man in the kingdom if she can cure Cador. Eufemie cures Cador, each of them falling more in love with the other. When they finally admit their feelings for each other, they ask the King to make good on his promises. The King gives his consent, along with 1,000 pounds a year and the territory of Cornwall once Eufemie's father, Count Renald, passes away. Count Renald dies a year after Cador and Eufemie get married. Cador inherits the county of Cornwall, and he and Eufemie conceive a child. If it is a girl, Cador has the idea to lie to everybody and tell them that it is a boy, that way their child will be able to inherit no matter what. While Eufemie is pregnant, Nature makes the child beautiful in every way possible, putting the "beauty of a thousand" into her. When she is born, the midwife announces to everybody that Eufemie and Cador have a beautiful son, even though it is a girl. The Count decides to name the child Silence after Saint Patience. The child as a boy will be called Silentius, and if his sex is discovered it will be changed to Silentia. The Count calls on a seneschal, who was raised along Eufemie, to keep the child's secret safe. The Seneschal builds a house in the woods where he, the child, and the midwife live in solitude. Silence grows into the best-behaved and smartest boy there ever was but Nature realizes that she has been tricked and wants revenge. When Silence is old enough to understand he is a girl, his father explains the circumstances. Silence agrees to conceal himself from everyone and builds up his endurance through physical activities. Nature appears to Silence at the age of twelve, chastising him for hiding his sex. Silence is almost convinced until Nurture arrives and debates with Nature. Reason appears then, and makes Silence see that he is better off as a man, but his heart remains divided. Then, two skilled minstrels touring England receive shelter with Silence and the Seneschal; Silence decides to run away with them. The minstrels promise to protect and watch over Silence, but they do not know that Silence is the son of Cador. Cador and Eufemie are so heartbroken and angry when they hear the