and it was days ere he could cast it from
his mind. but how can one serve people who are so foolish and so
ungrateful?"
whilst the seneschal of villefranche had been detailing the evil
doings of his tenants, alleyne had been unable to take his eyes
from the face of lady tiphaine. she had lain back in her chair,
with drooping eyelids and bloodless face, so that he had feared
at first her journey had weighed heavily upon her, and that the
strength was ebbing out of her. of a sudden, however, there came
a change, for a dash of bright color flickered up on to either
cheek, and her lids were slowly raised again upon eyes which
sparkled with such lustre as alleyne had never seen in human eyes
before, while their gaze was fixed intently, not on the company,
but on the dark tapestry which draped the wall. so transformed
and so ethereal was her expression, that alleyne, in his
loftiest dream of archangel or of seraph, had never pictured so
sweet, so womanly, and yet so wise a face. glancing at du
guesclin, alleyne saw that he also was watching his wife closely,
and from the twitching of his features, and the beads upon his
brick-colored brow, it was easy to see that he was deeply
agitated by the change which he marked in her.
"how is it with you, lady?" he asked at last, in a tremulous
voice.
her eyes remained fixed intently upon the wall, and there was a
long pause ere she answered him. her voice, too, which had been
so clear and ringing, was now low and muffled as that of one who
speaks from a distance.
"all is very well with me, bertrand," said she. "the blessed
hour of sight has come round to me again."
"i could see it come! i could see it come!" he exclaimed,
passing his fingers through his hair with the same perplexed
expression as before.
"this is untoward, sir tristram," he said at last. "and i scarce
know in what words to make it clear to you, and to your fair
wife, and to sir nigel loring, and to these other stranger
knights. my tongue is a blunt one, and fitter to shout word of
command than to clear up such a matter as this, of which i can
myself understand little. this, however, i know, that my wife is
come of a very sainted race, whom god hath in his wisdom endowed
with wondrous powers, so that tiphaine raquenel was known
throughout brittany ere ever i first saw her at dinan. yet these
powers are ever used for good, and they are the gift of god and
not of the devil, which is the difference betwixt white magic and
black."
"perchance it would be as well that we should send for father
stephen," said sir tristram.
"it would be best that he should come," cried the hospitaller
"and bring with him a flask of holy water," added the knight of
bohemia.
"not so, gentlemen," answered sir bertrand. "it is not needful
that this priest should be called, and it is in my mind that in
asking for this ye cast some slight shadow or slur upon the good
name of my wife, as though it were still doubtful whether her
power came to her from above or below. if ye have indeed such a
doubt i pray that you will say so, that we may discuss the matter
in a fitting way."
"for myself," said sir nigel, "i have heard such words fall from
the lips of this lady that i am of the opinion that there is no
woman, save only one, who can be in any way compared to her in
beauty and in goodness. should any gentleman think otherwise, i
should deem it great honor to run a small course with him, or
debate the matter in whatever way might be most pleasing to him."
"nay, it would ill become me to cast a slur upon a lady who is
both my guest and the wife of my comrade-in-arms," said the
seneschal of villefranche. "i have perceived also that on her
mantle there is marked a silver cross, which is surely sign
enough that there is nought of evil in these strange powers which
you say that she possesses."
this argument of the seneschal's appealed so powerfully to the
bohemian and to the hospitaller that they at once intimated that
their objections had been entirely overcome, while even the lady
rochefort, who had sat shivering and crossing herself, ceased to
cast glances at the door, and allowed her fears to turn to
curiosity.
"among the gifts which hare been vouchsafed to my wife," said du
guesclin, "there is the wondrous one of seeing into the future;
but it comes very seldom upon her, and goes as quickly, for none
can command it. the blessed hour of sight, as she hath named it,
has come but twice since i have known her, and i can vouch for it
that all that she hath told me was true, for on the evening of
the battle of auray she said that the morrow would be an ill day
for me and for charles of blois. ere the sun had sunk again he
was dead, and i the prisoner of sir john chandos. yet it is not
every question that she can answer, but only
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