"A bold dame and a fair one," John of Burgundy said to the gentlemen round
him when Margaret left the chamber. "Methinks that she would be able to
hold Villeroy even should Sir Eustace be away."
"That would she," one of the knights said with a laugh. "I doubt not that
she would buckle on armour if need were. But we must make some allowance
for her heat; it is no pleasant thing to be taken away from her castle and
brought hither as a hostage, to be held for how long a time she knows
not."
"It was the safest way of securing the castle," the duke said. "Can one
doubt that, with her by his side, her husband would open his gates to the
English, should they appear before it? He himself is a vassal both of
England and France, and should the balance be placed before him, there can
be little doubt that her weight would incline him to England. How well
these English women keep their youth! One might believe her to be but a
few years past twenty, and yet she is the mother of that girl, who is
well-nigh as tall as herself."
"And who bids to be as fair, my lord duke."
"And as English, De Porcelet. She would be a difficult eaglet to tame, if
I mistake not; and had she been the spokeswoman, methinks she would have
answered as haughtily as did her mother. But it might be no bad plan to
mate her to a Frenchman. It is true that there is the boy, but the fief
might well be bestowed upon her if so mated, on the ground that the boy
would likely take after his father and mother and hold Villeroy for
England rather than for France. However, she is young yet; in a couple of
years, De Porcelet, it will be time for you to urge your suit, if so
inclined."
There was a general smile from the circle standing round, but the young
knight said gravely, "When the time comes, my lord duke, I may remind you
of what you have said. 'Tis a fair young face, honest and good, though at
present she must naturally feel with her mother at being thus haled away
from her home."
Sir Victor escorted Margaret to the court-yard. As they appeared at the
entrance a knight came up and saluted her.
"I am intrusted by the duke with the honour of escorting you to your
lodgings," he said; "I am Hugo de Chamfort, the duke's chamberlain."
After assisting her into the saddle he mounted a horse which an attendant
brought up and placed himself by her side. Two men-at-arms with their
surtouts embroidered with the cognizance of Burgundy led the way, and the
rest of the party followed in the same order in which they had come. The
distance was short, and beyond a few questions by the knight as to the
journey and how she had been cared for on the way, and Margaret's replies,
little was said until they reached the house of the provost of the
silversmiths. As they rode up to the door Maître Leroux himself came out
from the house.
"Welcome, lady," he said, "to my abode. My wife will do all that she can
to make you comfortable."
"I am sorry indeed, good sir," Margaret said, "to be thus forced upon your
hospitality, and regret the trouble that my stay will impose upon you."
"Say not so, lady," he said, "we deem it an honour that his grace the Duke
of Burgundy should have selected us for the honour of entertaining you.
The house is large, and we have no family. Chambers are already prepared
for yourself, your daughter, and son, while there are others at your
disposal for your following."
"I would not trespass too much upon you," she said. "My daughter can sleep
with me, and I am sure that my esquire here, Master Guy Aylmer, will
gladly share a room with my boy. I can obtain lodgings for my four
followers without."
"You will grieve me much if you propose it, lady. There is a large room
upstairs unoccupied, and I will place pallets for them there; and as for
their meals they can have them apart."
By this time they had mounted a fine flight of stairs, at the top of which
Dame Leroux was standing to receive her guests. She was a kindly-looking
woman between thirty and forty years of age.
"Welcome, Lady Margaret," she said with a cordiality that made Margaret
feel at once that her visit was not regarded as an infliction. "We are
quiet people, but will do our best to render your stay here a pleasant
one."
"Thanks indeed, mistress!" Margaret replied. "I feared much that my
presence would be felt as a burden, and had hardly hoped for so kind a
welcome. This is my daughter Agnes, and my son Charles." Then she turned
to Sir Hugo: "I pray you to give my thanks to his grace the Duke of
Burgundy, and to thank him for having so well bestowed me. I thank you
also for your courtesy for having conducted me here."
"I will convey your message to the duke," he said, "who will, I am sure,
be pleased to hear of your contentment."
Maître Leroux accompanied the knight downstairs again, and when he had
mounted and ridden off he called two servitors, and bade one carry the
luggage upstairs, and the other conduct the men to the stables he had
taken for the horses.
"After you have seen to their comfort," he said to Robert Picard, "you
will return hither; you will find a meal prepared for you, and will be
bestowed together in a chamber upstairs."
In the meantime his wife had ushered Dame Margaret into a very handsomely
furnished apartment. "This is at your entire service, Lady Margaret," she
said. "The bedroom behind it is for yourself, the one next to it for your
daughter, unless you would prefer that she should sleep with you."
"I thank you. I was telling your husband that I should prefer that; and my
son and esquire can therefore occupy the second room. But I fear greatly
that I am disturbing yourself and your husband."
"No, indeed; our sitting-room and bedroom are on the other side of the
landing. These are our regular guest-chambers, and your being here will
make no change whatever in our arrangements. I only regret that the
apartments are not larger."
"Do not apologize, I beg of you, madam. I can assure you that the room is
far handsomer than that to which I have been accustomed. You citizens of
Paris are far in advance of us in your ideas of comfort and luxury, and
the apartments both at Villeroy and in my English home cannot compare with
these, except in point of size. I never dreamt that my prison would be so
comfortable."
"Say not prison, I pray you, lady. I heard, indeed, that your visit to the
court was not altogether one of your own choice; but, believe me, here at
least you will be but a guest, and an honoured and welcome one. I will
leave you now. If there is aught that you desire, I pray you to ring that
bell on the table; refreshments will be quickly served. Had I known the
precise hour at which you would come we should have been in readiness for
you, but I thought not that you would arrive till evening."
"I hope that you will give me much of your company, mistress," Margaret
said warmly. "We know no one in this great city, and shall be glad indeed
if, when you can spare time, you will sit with us."
"Well, children, what do you think of this?" she asked when their hostess
had left the room.
"It is lovely, mother," Agnes said. "Look at the inlaid cabinets, and the
couches and tables, and this great warm rug that covers all the floor, how
snug and comfortable it all is. Why, mother, I never saw anything like
this."
"You might have seen something like it had you ever been in the house of
one of our rich London traders, Agnes; at least so I have heard, though in
truth I have never myself been in so luxuriously furnished a room. I only
hope that we may stay here for some time. The best of it is that these
good people evidently do not regard us as a burden. No doubt they are
pleased to oblige the Duke of Burgundy, but, beyond that, their welcome
seemed really sincere. Now let us see our bedroom. I suppose that is
yours, Charlie, through the door in the corner."
The valises had already been brought to the rooms by another entrance, and
Margaret and her daughter were charmed with their bedroom. A large ewer
and basin of silver stood on a table which was covered with a white cloth,
snowy towels hung beside it; the hangings of the bed were of damask silk,
and the floor was almost covered by an Eastern carpet. An exquisitely
carved wardrobe stood in one corner.
"It is all lovely!" Agnes said, clapping her hands. "You ought to have
your room at home fitted up like this, mother."
"It would take a large slice out of a year's revenue, Agnes," her mother
said with a smile, "to furnish a room in this fashion. That wardrobe alone
is worth a knight's ransom, and the ewer and basin are fit for a king. I
would that your father could see us here; it would ease his anxiety about
us. I must ask how I can best despatch a messenger to him."
When they returned to the other apartment they found the table already
laid, and in a short time a dainty repast was served. To this Guy sat down
with them, for except when there were guests, when his place was behind
his lord's chair, he had always been treated as one of the family, and as
the son of Sir Aylmer rather than as a page.
"Well, Master Guy, what think you of affairs?"
"They seem well to the eye, mistress, but I would not trust that Duke of
Burgundy for an hour. With that long face of his and the hooked nose and
his crafty look he resembles little a noble of France. He has an evil
face, and one which accords well with the foul murder of the king's
brother. However, as I see not that he has aught to gain by holding you
here,--save that he thinks it will ensure our lord's keeping his castle
for him,--there is no reason why he should not continue to treat you
honourably and courteously. We have yet to learn whether Master Leroux is
one of his party, or whether he is in favour of Armagnac."
"I should think that he cannot be for Armagnac," she said, "or Duke John
would hardly have quartered us upon him. No doubt it was done under the
semblance of goodwill, but most men would have considered it a heavy tax,
even though, as I expect, we shall not remain here long. Doubtless,
however, the trader considers that his complaisance in the matter would be
taken by the duke as a sign of his desire to show that at least he is not
hostile to him."
When they rose from the table Guy, at his mistress's suggestion, went
below and found the four men sitting in the great kitchen, where they had
just finished an ample meal.
"You have seen to the horses, Robert?"
"Yes, Master Guy, they are comfortably bestowed, with an abundance of
provender."
"I am going out to see how matters stand in the town. Our lady says that
at all times two of you must remain here, as it may be necessary to send
messages, or should she wish to go out, to escort her, but the other two
can be out and about as they please, after first inquiring of me whether
there is aught for them to do. You can arrange among yourselves which
shall stay in, taking turns off duty. Tom, you had better not go out till
after dark. There is something in the cut of your garments which tells
that you are not French. Robert will go out with me now, and find a
clothier, and bid him send garments here for you to choose from, or if he
has none to fit, which may likely enough be, send him to measure you. It
might lead to broils and troubles were any of the rabble to notice that
you were a stranger."
"That is right enough, Master Guy; and in sooth I have no desire to go out
at present, for after riding for the last six days I am well content to
sit quiet and take my ease here."
Guy then started with Robert Picard. Except in the streets where the
principal merchants dwelt, the town struck him as gloomy and sombre. The
palaces of the nobles were veritable fortresses, the streets were ill-paved and evil-smelling, and the people in the poorer quarters had a
sinister aspect.
"I should not care to wander about in this district after nightfall,
Robert," Guy said to the man-at-arms, who kept close to his elbow.
"Nor I," the man growled. "It is as much as I can do to keep my hands off
my dagger now, for methinks that nine out of ten of the fellows loitering
about would cut our throats willingly, if they thought that we had but a
crown in our pockets."
Presently they found themselves on the quays, and, hailing a boat, rowed
up the river a little beyond the walls. Hearing the sound of music they
landed, and on seeing a number of people gather round some booths they
discharged the boat and went on. They found that it was a sort of fair.
Here were sword-players and mountebanks, pedlars who vended their wares at
a lower price than those at which they were sold within the limits of the
city, booths at which wine and refreshments could be obtained. Here many
soldiers were sitting drinking, watching the passers-by, and exchanging
ribald jests with each other, and sometimes addressing observations to the
wives and daughters of the citizens, amid fits of laughter at the looks of
indignation on the part of their husbands or fathers.
"It is evidently a holiday of some sort," Guy remarked, as they found that
the fair extended for a considerable distance, and that the crowd was
everywhere large. They stopped for a minute or two in front of a booth of
more pretensions than the generality. In front of it a man was beating a
drum, and a negro walking up and down attired in showy garments. The drum
ceased and the latter shouted:
"Those of you who wish to see my master, the famous Elminestres, the most
learned doctor in Europe, who can read the stars, cast your horoscope,
foretell your future, and cure your ailments, should not lose this
opportunity."
The curtains opened behind, and a man dressed in dark garments with a long
black cloak spotted with silver stars came forward.
"You have heard, good people, what my slave has said. He speaks with
knowledge. I saved his life in the deserts of Africa when he was all but
dead with fever, by administering to him one of my wonderful potions; he
at once recovered and devoted himself to my service. I have infallible
remedies for every disease, therefore do you who are sick come to me and
be cured; while for you who do not suffer I can do as much or more, by
telling you of your future, what evils to avoid and what chances to
grasp."
He stood for a minute silent, his eyes wandering keenly over the
spectators. "I see," he said, "one among you who loves a fair maiden
standing beside him. At present her parents are unfavourable to his suit,
but if he will take my advice he will be able to overcome their objections
and to win the damsel. Another I see who has come to Paris with the
intention of enlisting in the service of our good duke, and who, I
foresee, will attain rank and honour and become a distinguished soldier if
he does but act prudently at the critical moment, while if he takes a
wrong turn misfortune and death will befall him. I see a youth of gentle
blood who will become a brave knight, and will better his condition by
marriage. He has many dangers to go through before that, and has at
present a serious charge for one so young; but as he has circumspection as
well as courage he may pass through them unharmed. To him too I could give
advice that may be valuable, more especially as he is a stranger to the
land, as are those of whom he is in charge."
"It is wonderful, Master Guy!" Robert Picard whispered in Guy's ear in a
tone of astonished awe.
"The knave doubtless saw us ride in this morning, and recognized me again.
There is naught of magic in it, but the fellow must be shrewd, or he would
not have so quickly drawn his conclusions. I will go in and speak to him
presently, for though I believe not his prophecies one jot, a fellow of
this sort may be useful. Let us be moving on at present."
They passed two monks, who were scowling angrily at the man, who was just
exciting the laughter of the crowd by asserting that there was a holy man
present who usually preferred a flask of good wine to saying his vespers.
"Rogues like this should be whipped and branded, Brother Anselmo."
"Ay, ay," the other agreed: "and yet," he added slyly, "it may be that he
has not altogether missed his mark this time. We are not the only two
monks here," he went on as the other turned upon him angrily, "and it may
well be that among them is one who answers to the fellow's lewd
description."
On the outskirts of the fair were many people of higher degree. Knights
and ladies strolled on the turf exchanging greetings, looking for a minute
or two at the gambols of a troupe of performing dogs, or at a bout of
cudgel play--where two stout fellows belaboured each other heartily, and
showed sufficient skill to earn from the crowd a shower of small pieces of
money, when at last they ceased from pure exhaustion. Half an hour later
Guy returned to the booth of the doctor, and went in by a side entrance,
to which those who wished to consult the learned man had been directed by
the negro. The latter was at the entrance, and, observing that Guy's
condition was above that of the majority of his master's clients, at once
took him into an inner apartment divided from the rest of the tent by a
hanging. Over the top of this was stretched a black cloth spotted with
silver stars, and similar hangings surrounded it; thus all light was cut
off, and the room was dimly illuminated by two lamps. A table with a black
cloth stood at the back. On this stood a number of phials and small boxes,
together with several retorts and alembics. The doctor was seated on a
tripod stool. He rose and was about to address Guy in his usual style,
when the latter said:
"So you saw us ride in this morning, Master Doctor, and guessed shrewdly
as to our condition and nationality. As to the latter, indeed, it needed
no sorcery, for it must have been plain to the dullest that my mistress
and her daughter were not of French blood, and though I am much less fair,
it was a pretty safe guess to suppose that I also was of their country. I
need not tell you that I have not come here either for charms or nostrums,
but it seemed to me that being, as you said, strangers here, we might
benefit by the advice of one who like yourself notes things quickly, and
can form his own conclusions."
The doctor removed his tall conical cap, and placed it on the table.
"You guess rightly," he said with a smile. "I was in the crowd and marked
you enter, and a soldier standing next to me observed to a comrade that he
had heard that Burgundy had sent the herald to demand the surrender of a
castle held by one Sir Eustace, a knight who was known to have friendly
leanings towards the English, being a vassal of their king for estates
that had come to him with an English wife, and that doubtless this was the
lady. When my eye fell on you in the crowd I said: Here is a youth of
shrewdness and parts, he is alone and is a foreigner, and maybe I can be
of service to him; therefore I shot my shaft, and, as you see, with
success. I said to myself: This youth, being a stranger, will know of no
one to whom he can turn for information, and I can furnish him with almost
any that he may require. I come in contact with the highest and the
lowest, for the Parisians are credulous, and after dark there are some of
rank and station who come to my doors for filtres and nostrums, or to have
their horoscope cast and their futures predicted. You will ask why one who
has such clients should condescend to stand at a booth and talk to this
rabble; but it has its purpose. Were I known only as one whom men and
women visit in secret, I should soon become suspected of black arts, the
priests would raise an outcry against me, and one of these days I might be
burned. Here, however, I ostensibly earn my living as a mountebank vendor
of drugs and nostrums, and therefore no one troubles his head about me."
"There is one thing that you have not told me," Guy said when he ceased
speaking. "Having, as you say, good clients besides your gains here, why
should you trouble to interest yourself in our affairs?"
"Shrewdly put, young sir. I will be frank with you. I too am a stranger,
and sooner or later I may fall into discredit, and the power of the church
be too much for me. When I saw your mistress to-day I said to myself: Here
is an English lady of rank, with a castle and estate in England; should I
have to fly--and I have one very dear to me, for whose sake I value my
life--it might be well for me that I should have one friend in England who
would act as protectress to her should aught befall me. Your mistress is a
stranger here, and in the hands of enemies. I may be of use to her. I know
this population of Paris, and can perhaps give her better information of
what is going on both at the court and in the gutter than any other man,
and may be able to render her assistance when she most needs it; and would
ask but in payment that, should I come to England, she will extend her
protection to my daughter until I can find a home and place her there. You
see I am playing an open game with you."
"I will reply as frankly," Guy said. "When I came in here it was, as I
told the man-at-arms my companion, with the thought that one who had
noticed us so shrewdly, and had recognized me so quickly in the crowd, was
no ordinary mountebank, but a keen, shrewd man who had some motive for
thus addressing me, and I see that my view was a right one. As to your
proposal I can say naught before I have laid it before my mistress, but
for myself I may say at once that it recommends itself to me as excellent.
We are, as you say, strangers here, and know of no one from whom we might
obtain information as to what is going on. My mistress, if not an actual
prisoner, is practically so, being held with her children as hostages for
my lord's loyalty to France. She is the kindest of ladies, and should she
authorize me to enter into further communication with you, you may be sure
that she would execute to the full the undertaking you ask for on behalf
of your daughter. Where can I see you again? This is scarce a place I
could often resort to without my visits being noticed, if, as is likely
enough, the Duke of Burgundy may occasionally set spies to inform him as
to what we are doing, and whether my mistress is in communication with any
who are regarded as either doubtful or hostile to his faction."
"If you will be in front of Notre Dame this evening at nine o'clock, I
will meet you there and conduct you to my abode, where you can visit me
free of any fear of observation."
"What name shall I call you?" Guy asked.
"My name is Montepone. I belong to a noble family of Mantua, but mixing
myself up with the factions there, I was on the losing side, and
unfortunately it happened that in a fray I killed a noble connected with
all the ruling families; sentence of death was passed upon me in my
absence, my property was confiscated. Nowhere in Italy should I have been
safe from the dagger of the assassin, therefore I fled to France, and for
ten years have maintained myself by the two arts which so often go
together, astrology and buffoonery. I had always been fond of knowledge,
and had learned all that could be taught in the grand science of
astrology, so that however much I may gull fools here, I have obtained the
confidence of many powerful personages by the accuracy of my forecasts.
Had Orleans but believed my solemn assurance he would not have ridden
through the streets of Paris to his death that night, and in other cases
where I have been more trusted I have rendered valuable assistance."
The belief in astrology had never gained much hold upon the mass of the
English people, many as were the superstitions that prevailed among them.
Guy had never even given the matter a thought. Montepone, however,
evidently believed in his powers of foreseeing the future, and such powers
did not in themselves seem altogether impossible to the lad; he therefore
made no direct reply, but saying that he would not fail to be at the
appointed place at nine that evening, took his leave.
"Truly, Master Guy, I began to be uneasy about you," Robert Picard said
when he rejoined him, "and was meditating whether I had best enter the
tent, and demand what had become of you. It was only the thought that
there might have been others before you, and that you had to wait your
turn before seeing him, that restrained me. You have not been taking his
nostrums, I trust; for they say that some of those men sell powders by
which a man can be changed into a wolf."
Guy laughed. "I have taken nothing, Robert, and if I had I should have no
fear of such a change happening to me. I have but talked to the man as to
how he came to know me, and it is as I thought,--he saw us as we entered.
He is a shrewd fellow, and may well be of some use to us."
"I like not chaffering with men who have intercourse with the devil,"
Picard said, shaking his head gravely; "nothing good comes of it. My
mother knew a man who bought a powder that was to cure his wife of
jealousy; and indeed it did, for it straightway killed her, and he was
hung. I think that I can stand up against mortal man as well as another,
but my blood ran cold when I saw you enter yon tent, and I fell into a
sweat at your long absence."
"The man is not of that kind, Robert, so you can reassure yourself. I
doubt not that the nostrums he sells are perfectly harmless, and that
though they may not cure they will certainly not kill."
They made their way back to the house of the provost of the silversmiths.
"Well, what do you think of Paris, Guy?" Dame Margaret asked when he
entered.
"It is a fine city, no doubt, lady, but in truth I would rather be in the
country than in this wilderness of narrow streets. But indeed I have had
somewhat of an adventure, and one which I think may prove of advantage;"
and he then related to his mistress his visit to the booth of the supposed
doctor.
"Do you think that he is honest, Guy?" she asked when he concluded.
"I think so, madam. He spoke honestly enough, and there was a ring of
truth in what he said; nor do I see that he could have had any motive for
making my acquaintance save what he stated. His story seemed to me to be a
natural one; but I shall be able to judge better when I see him in his own
house and with this daughter he speaks of; that is, if your ladyship is
willing that I should meet him."
"I am willing enough," she said, "for even if he is a spy of Burgundy's
there is nothing that we wish to conceal. I have come here willingly, and
have no thought of making my escape, or of mixing myself up in any of the
intrigues of the court. Therefore there is no harm that he can do us,
while on the other hand you may learn much from him, and will gather in a
short time whether he can be trusted. Then by all means go and meet him
this evening. But it would be as well to take Tom with you. It does not
seem to me at all likely that any plot can be intended, but at any rate it
will be well that you should have one with you whom you can thoroughly
trust, in case there is any snare set, and to guard you against any
lurking cut-throats."
"I will tell him to be in readiness to go with me. It will be his turn to
go out with one of the others this evening, and he might not be back in
time if I did not warn him."
"What arms shall I take with me?" Long Tom said, when Guy told him of
their expedition.
"Nothing but your sword and quarter-staff. I see that many of the beggars
and others that one meets in the streets carry long staffs, and yours is
not much longer than the generality. You brought it tied up with your bow,
so you would do well to carry it, for in a street broil, where there is
room to swing it, you could desire no better weapon, in such strong hands
as yours, Tom. Besides, you can knock down and disable with it and no
great harm is done, whereas if you used your sword there would be dead
men; and although by all I hear these are not uncommon objects in the
streets of Paris, there might be trouble if the town watch came up, as we
are strangers. I shall carry a stout cudgel myself, as well as my sword."
Accordingly at half-past eight they set out. Guy put on a long cloak and a
cap such as was worn by the citizens, but strengthened inside by a few
bands of steel forming sufficient protection to the head against any
ordinary blow. This he had purchased at a stall on his way home. Tom had
put on the garments that had been bought for him that afternoon,
consisting of a doublet of tanned leather that could be worn under armour
or for ordinary use, and was thick enough to afford considerable
protection. The streets were already almost deserted; those who were
abroad hurried along looking with suspicion at all whom they met, and
walking in the middle of the road so as to avoid being taken by surprise
by anyone lurking in the doorways or at the corners of alleys. Once or
twice men came out and stared at Guy and his companion by the light of the
lanterns suspended across the streets, but there was nothing about their
appearance to encourage an attack, and the stalwart figure of the archer
promised hard blows rather than plunder. Arriving at the square in front
of Notre Dame they waited awhile. Here there were still people about, for
it was a rendezvous both for roistering young gallants, thieves, and
others starting on midnight adventures. After walking backwards and
forwards two or three times Guy said, "You had best stand here in the
shadow of this buttress while I go and place myself beneath that hanging
lamp; seeing that we are together, and he, looking perhaps only for one,
may not recognize me."
On reaching the lamp, Guy took off his hat, so that the light should fall
on his face, waited for a minute, and then replaced it. As soon as he did
so a slightly-built lad came up to him.
"Were you not at the fair by the river to-day, sir, and are you not
expecting some one to meet you here?"
"That is so, lad. If you will tell me whom I am expecting I shall know
that he has sent you, though, indeed, I looked to meet himself and not a
messenger."
"Montepone," the lad said.
"That is right. Why is he not here himself?"
"He received a message before starting that one whose orders he could not
neglect would call upon him this evening, and he therefore sent me to the
rendezvous. I have been looking anxiously for you, but until now had not
seen you."
"I have a companion with me; being a stranger here in Paris, I did not
care to be wandering through the streets alone. He is a countryman of
mine, and can be trusted."
"It is indeed dangerous to be out alone. It is seldom that I am in the
streets after dark, but the doctor came with me and placed me in a corner
of the porch, and then returned by himself, telling me to stir not until I
saw you; and that should you not come, or should I not be able to make you
out, I was to remain until he came for me even if I waited until morning."
"I will fetch my follower," Guy said, "and am ready to accompany you."
The lad was evidently unwilling to be left there for a moment alone, and
he walked back with Guy to the buttress where the archer was standing.
"This is our guide, Tom," Guy said, as the archer stepped out to join him;
"the person I expected was unable to come himself. Now, lad, I am ready;
you see we are well guarded."
The boy nodded, evidently reassured by the bulk of the archer, and was
about to step on ahead of them, when Guy said, "You had best walk with us.
If you keep in front, it will seem as if you were guiding us, and that
would point us out at once as strangers. Is it far to the place you are
taking us to?"
"A short quarter of an hour's walk, sir."