as their
masters. sir nigel bent his knee devoutly as he put foot on
land, and taking a small black patch from his bosom he bound it
tightly over his left eye.
"may the blessed george and the memory of my sweet lady-love
raise high my heart!" quoth he. "and as a token i vow that i
will not take this patch from my eye until i have seen something
of this country of spain, and done such a small deed as it lies
in me to do. and this i swear upon the cross of my sword and
upon the glove of my lady."
"in truth, you take me back twenty years, nigel," quoth sir
oliver, as they mounted and rode slowly through the water-gate.
"after cadsand, i deem that the french thought that we were an
army of the blind, for there was scarce a man who had not closed
an eye for the greater love and honor of his lady. yet it goes
hard with you that you should darken one side, when with both
open you can scarce tell a horse from a mule. in truth, friend,
i think that you step over the line of reason in this matter."
"sir oliver buttesthorn," said the little knight shortly, "i
would have you to understand that, blind as i am, i can yet see
the path of honor very clearly, and that that is the road upon
which i do not crave another man's guidance."
"by my soul," said sir oliver, "you are as tart as verjuice this
morning! if you are bent upon a quarrel with me i must leave you
to your humor and drop into the 'tete d'or' here, for i marked a
varlet pass the door who bare a smoking dish, which had,
methought, a most excellent smell."
"nenny, nenny," cried his comrade, laying his hand upon his knee;
"we have known each other over long to fall out, oliver, like two
raw pages at their first epreuves. you must come with me first
to the prince, and then back to the hostel; though sure i am that
it would grieve his heart that any gentle cavalier should turn
from his board to a common tavern. but is not that my lord
delewar who waves to us? ha! my fair lord, god and our lady be
with you! and there is sir robert cheney. good-morrow, robert!
i am right glad to see you."
the two knights walked their horses abreast, while alleyne and
ford, with john northbury, who was squire to sir oliver, kept
some paces behind them, a spear's-length in front of black simon
and of the winchester guidon-bearer. northbury, a lean, silent
man, had been to those parts before, and sat his hosse with a
rigid neck; but the two young squires gazed eagerly to right or
left, and plucked each other's sleeves to call attention to the
many strange things on every side of them.
"see to the brave stalls!" cried alleyne. "see to the noble
armor set forth, and the costly taffeta--and oh, ford, see to
where the scrivener sits with the pigments and the ink-horns, and
the rolls of sheepskin as white as the beaulieu napery! saw man
ever the like before?"
"nay, man, there are finer stalls in cheapside," answered ford,
whose father had taken him to london on occasion of one of the
smithfield joustings. "i have seen a silversmith's booth there
which would serve to buy either side of this street. but mark
these houses, alleyne, how they thrust forth upon the top. and
see to the coats-of-arms at every window, and banner or pensel on
the roof."
"and the churches!" cried alleyne. "the priory at christ church
was a noble pile, but it was cold and bare, methinks, by one of
these, with their frettings, and their carvings, and their
traceries, as though some great ivy-plant of stone had curled and
wantoned over the walls."
"and hark to the speech of the folk!" said ford. "was ever such
a hissing and clacking? i wonder that they have not wit to learn
english now that they have come under the english crown. by
richard of hampole! there are fair faces amongst them. see the
wench with the brown whimple! out on you, alleyne, that you
would rather gaze upon dead stone than on living flesh!"
it was little wonder that the richness and ornament, not only of
church and of stall, but of every private house as well, should
have impressed itself upon the young squires. the town was now
at the height of its fortunes. besides its trade and its
armorers, other causes had combined to pour wealth into it. war,
which had wrought evil upon so many fair cities around, had
brought nought but good to this one. as her french sisters
decayed she increased, for here, from north, and from east, and
from south, came the plunder to be sold and the ransom money to
be spent. through all her sixteen landward gates there had set
for many years a double tide of empty-handed soldiers hurrying
francewards, and of enriched and laden bands who brought their
spoils home. the prince's court, too, with its swarm of noble
barons and wealthy knights, many of whom, in imitation of their
master, had brought their ladies and
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