guests have no sooner vanished than the hermit, Archimago,--a
personification of Hypocrisy,--casts aside his disguise, and summons
two demons, one of whom he despatches to Hades to fetch a dream from
the cave of Morpheus. This dream is to whisper to the sleeping Red
Cross Knight that Una is not as innocent as she seems, while the
other demon, transformed into her very semblance, is to delude the
knight on awakening into believing his companion beneath contempt.
This plot is duly carried out, and the Red Cross Knight shocked by the
behavior of the sham Una departs immediately, bidding the dwarf follow
him. Riding along in a state of extreme disgust and irritation, the
Red Gross Knight soon encounters Sansfoi,--Faithlessness,--accompanied
by a lady clad in red, who is Duessa,--a personification of Mary Queen
of Scots, and also of falsehood and popery. The two knights
immediately run against each other, and, when Georgos has slain his
opponent, the lady beseeches him to spare her life, exclaiming her
name is Fidessa and that she is only too glad to be saved from the
cruel Sansfoi. Deluded by her words and looks, the Red Cross Knight
invites her to accompany him, promising to defend her from her foes.

They are riding along together amicably, when the knight plucks a
blossoming twig to weave a garland for his companion, and is dismayed
to see blood trickle from the broken stem. Questioning the tree from
whence the branch was taken, Georgos learns that a knight and his wife
have been transformed into plants by Duessa, who does not wish them to
escape from her thraldom. During this explanation, Georgos fails to
notice that the lady in red trembles for fear her victims may
recognize her, nor does he mark her relief when she perceives her
present disguise is so effective that no one suspects she worked this
baleful transformation.