Maître Leroux came in shortly after Jules Varoy had left. He had not,
until the man told him, heard of the events of the night before, and Guy
had to tell him all about it before anything else was said.
"It was a lucky escape, Master Aylmer, if one can call luck what is due to
thought and quickness. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"This black hue that I gave my hair has been of good service to me
hitherto, but as it is a youth with black hair that they are now looking
for, I would fain change its hue again."
"What dye did you use?"
"It was bought for me at a perfumer's in the Rue Cabot. As you see, it is
fading now, and the ducking last night has greatly assisted to wash it
out. The shopman said that it was used by court ladies and would last for
a long time, but I have already had to renew it four or five times. I
would now colour my hair a red or a reddish-brown; if I cannot do that I
must crop it quite short. It matters nothing in this disguise whether it
is altogether out of the fashion or not. What think you?"
"Doubtless you could get dyes of any shade at the perfumer's you speak of,
for he supplies most of the court ladies with dyes and perfumes; and I
should say that reddish-brown dye would suit you well, since that differs
a good deal from your hair's original colour and still more from what it
is at present. I will ask one of Lepelletiere's daughters to fetch it for
you. It would be better than cutting it short, though that might not go
badly with your present disguise, but should you need to adopt any other
it would look strange, since in our days there is scarce anyone but wears
his hair down to his shoulders. In the meantime I would have you wash your
hair several times with a ley of potash, but not too strong, or it will
damage it. I warrant me that will take out the dye altogether; but be sure
that you wash it well in pure water afterwards, so as to get rid of the
potash, for that might greatly affect the new dye. I will send a boy up
with some potash to you at once, so that you may be ready to apply the dye
as soon as you get it."
Late in the afternoon Guy sallied out in the disguise in which he had
arrived. His hair was a tawny brown. He had left his basket behind him,
and carried a heavy cudgel in his hand. He sauntered quietly along,
stopping often to stare at the goods on the stalls, and at nobles who rode
past followed generally by two or three esquires. No one would doubt that
he was a young countryman freshly arrived in Paris.
He had sent a message to the count by Jules Varoy that he would pass along
the street in the disguise of a young peasant as the clock struck seven,
and that if he saw no White Hoods about he would look up at the casement,
return a minute or two afterwards, and then try if the door was
unfastened. If so he would come in, while if it were fastened he should
consider that it was judged unsafe for him to enter. He caught sight of
Katarina's face at the window as he glanced up. There was a patrol of the
White Hoods in sight, but it was far down the street, and after going a
few yards past the house he crossed the road, and as he returned he pushed
at the door. It yielded at once, and with a glance round to see that no
one was watching he entered quickly and closed it behind him.
"The Madonna be thanked that you are safe!" Katarina, now in her girl's
dress, exclaimed as she seized his hand. "Oh, Monsieur Guy, how I have
suffered! It was not until two o'clock that my father returned and told us
that you were safe; I should never have forgiven myself if harm had come
to you from your noble effort to save me. I heard their shouts as they ran
in pursuit of you, and scarce thought it possible that you could escape
when there was so many of their patrols about in the street. I cried all
night at the thought that you should have thrown away your life to try to
save mine, for I knew well enough what would have happened had that evil
butcher dragged me to his quarter. After my father had been out early and
brought back the news that you had leapt into the Seine we had some little
hope, for Dame Margaret declared that she knew that you could swim well.
We had no one we could send out, for the old woman is too stupid, and my
father now strictly forbids me to stir outside the door. So here we all
sat worn with anxiety until my father returned from the booth with the
news. He could not come back earlier, and he had no one to send, for the
black man must keep outside amusing the people as long as my father is
there."
All this was poured out so rapidly that it was said by the time they
reached the door upstairs. Dame Margaret silently held out her hands to
Guy as he entered, and Agnes kissed him with sisterly affection, while
Charlie danced round and round him with boisterous delight.
"I hardly knew how much you were to me and how much I depended upon you,
Guy," Dame Margaret said presently, "until I feared that I had lost you.
When, as I thought must be the case from what Katarina said, I believed
you were killed or a prisoner in the hands of those terrible people, it
seemed to me that we were quite left alone, although there still remained
the four men. Neither Agnes nor I closed our eyes all night Charlie soon
cried himself to sleep, Katarina sat up with us till nigh morning, and we
had hard work to console her in any way, so deep was her grief at the
thought that it was owing to her that you had run this peril. All night we
could hear the count walking up and down in the room above. He had pointed
out the peril that might arise to us all if you had fallen into the hands
of the butchers, but at the time we could not dwell on that, though there
were doubtless grounds for his fears."
"Great grounds, madame. That is what I most feared when I was flying from
them, and I was resolved that I would not be taken alive, for had I not
gained the bridge I was determined to force them to kill me rather than be
captured. It was fortunate, indeed, that I came along when I did,
Katarina, for had I not heard what Simon said I should have passed on
without giving a thought to the matter. There are too many evil deeds done
in Paris to risk one's life to rescue a prisoner from the hands of a
patrol of the White Hoods."
"As for me, I did not realize it until it was all over," Katarina said. "I
felt too frightened even to think clearly. It was not until the shouts of
your pursuers had died away that I could realize what you had saved me
from, and the thought made me so faint and weak that I was forced to sit
down on a door-step for a time before I could make my way home. As to my
father, he turned as pale as death when I came in and told him what had
happened."
Shortly afterwards the count, who had been engaged with a person of
consequence, came down. He thanked Guy in the warmest terms for the
service he had rendered his daughter.
"Never was a woman in greater peril," he said, "and assuredly St. Anthony,
my patron saint, must have sent you to her rescue. She is all that I have
left now, and it is chiefly for her sake that I have continued to amass
money, though I say not that my own fancy for meddling in such intrigues
may not take some part in the matter. After this I am resolved of one
thing, namely, that she shall take no further part in the business. For
the last year I had often told myself that the time had come when I must
find another to act as my messenger and agent. It was difficult, however,
to find one I could absolutely trust, and I have put the matter off. I
shall do so no longer; and indeed there is now the less occasion for it,
since, as I have just learned, fresh negotiations have been opened for
peace. That it will be a lasting one I have no hope, but the Orleanists
are advancing in such force that Burgundy may well feel that the issue of
a battle at present may go against him. But even though it last but a
short time, there will come so many of the Orleanist nobles here with
doubtless strong retinues that Paris will be overawed, and we shall have
an end of these riots here. I shall, therefore, have no need to trouble as
to what is going on at the markets. As to other matters I can keep myself
well informed. I have done services to knights and nobles of one party as
well as the other, and shall be able to learn what is being done in both
camps. The important point at present is, Lady Margaret, that there is
like to be a truce, at any rate for a time. As soon as this is made and
the Duke of Aquitaine has gained power to act you may be sure that the
leaders of the White Hoods will be punished, and there will be no more
closing of gates and examination of those who pass in and out. Therefore,
madame, you will then be able to do what is now well-nigh impossible,
namely, quit the town. At present the orders are more stringent than ever,
none are allowed to leave save with orders signed by John de Troyes, who
calls himself keeper of the palace, Caboche, or other leaders and even
peasants who come in with market goods must henceforth produce papers
signed by the syndics of their villages saying they are the inhabitants of
his commune, and therefore quiet and peaceable men going about their
business of supplying the city with meat or vegetables, as the case may
be. These papers must also be shown on going out again. Until a change
takes place, then, there is no hope of your making your way out through
the gates with your children; but as soon as the truce is concluded and
the Orleanists come in you will be able to pass out without trouble."
It was not, indeed, for another month that the truce was settled, although
the terms were virtually agreed upon at Pontois, where the Dukes of Berri
and Burgundy met the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon and the other Orleanist
nobles, and the conditions were considered at a council to which the
delegates of the University and the municipality of Paris were admitted.
The conduct of the insurgents of Paris was now repudiated by the Duke of
Burgundy, and the severest, censure passed upon them, in the conditions of
the treaty. The greatest alarm was excited in the market quarter, and this
was increased when, immediately afterwards, the Dukes of Bar and Bavaria
were liberated. On the 12th of August and on the 4th of September the rest
of the prisoners still left alive were also set free. The bells of the
churches rang a joyful peal. De Jacqueville, John de Troyes, Caboche, and
many of the leaders of the butchers at once fled from Paris.
Most of the knights who had been agents for the insurgents in the mock
trials also left Paris, and shortly afterwards the duke himself, finding
how strongly the tide had set against him, and fearing that he himself
might shortly be seized and thrown into prison, went out from Paris under
the pretence of hunting, and fled. During this time Guy had remained with
the four men-at-arms. As soon as the power of the butchers diminished and
the guards were removed from the gates, and all who pleased could enter or
leave, Dame Margaret prepared for flight. Along with the Burgundian
knights and nobles who returned after the truce was proclaimed came Count
Charles d'Estournel, and several of those who had fled with him. Guy met
the former riding through the street on the day after his return to Paris.
Not caring to accost him there, he followed him and saw him dismount at
his former lodging. As soon as he had entered Guy went up to the door.
"What do you want?" one of the count's valets said.
"I want to see your master, fellow," Guy said sharply, "and I will pull
your ears for your insolence if you accost me in that style."
The valet stared at him open-mouthed, then thinking that this peasant
might be deputed by the terrible butchers to see his lord, he inquired in
a changed tone what message he should give to the count.
"Say to him that the man of the street fray wants to see him."
A minute later the young count himself ran downstairs and warmly embraced
Guy, to the astonishment of the valet.
"My dear friend," he exclaimed, "I am indeed delighted to see you! Twice
have you saved my life, for assuredly had we not got through the Port St.
Denis that day not one of us would ever have left Paris alive, and we are
all under the deepest obligation to you. But even after our skirmish at
the gate we scarcely realized the danger that we had escaped, for we
believed that even had the Parisians been insolent enough to demand our
arrest for stopping them when engaged in attacking the houses of peaceable
citizens, the duke would treat their demand with the scorn that it
deserved. However, when next day we heard that some of the officers of his
household had headed them when they forced their way into the Duke of
Aquitaine's hotel, and carried off the Duke of Bar and others from before
his eyes, and that the duke in all things assisted them, we knew that he
would not have hesitated to deliver us up to the villains.
"We held a council as to what we should do. We could not affirm that he
had failed, as our lord, in giving us protection, for he had not done so,
seeing that we had taken the matter in our own hands. Had he actually
consented to hand us over to the Parisians, we should have issued a
declaration laying the matter before all the great vassals of Burgundy and
denouncing him as a false lord. There are many who would have been very
glad to have taken up the matter, for his truckling to these knaves has
greatly displeased all save the men who are mere creatures of his.
However, as we had no proof that he was willing to surrender us to the
fury of the mob of Paris, we could do nothing, and the crafty fox called
upon my father the next day and expressed his satisfaction that we had all
ridden away, though at the same time saying that there was no reason
whatever for our having done so, as he should of course have refused to
give any satisfaction to the mob of Paris, and he caused several letters
to the same effect to be sent to my friends who escaped with me.
"My father was very short with him, and told him that as it seemed the
Parisians were the masters of the city, and that he had no power to
restrain them, however monstrous their doings, he thought that we had all
acted very wisely in going. He himself left Paris the next day, and
several other nobles, relations or friends to some of us, took the
earliest opportunity also of leaving for their estates. Now that the power
of the butchers has been broken and that their leaders have fled, I came
back again, chiefly to find out what had become of you, and whether you
and your charges have passed through these evil times unharmed."
"We have all been in hiding, and save for an adventure or two have passed
the time quietly. Now that the gates are open we are going to make our
escape, for you see everything points to the probability that the
Orleanists will very shortly be supreme here, and after the defeat Sir
Eustace gave Sir Clugnet de Brabant they might be glad still to retain our
lady as hostage, though methinks they would treat her more honourably than
the Duke of Burgundy has done."
"Possibly they might, but I would not count upon it, for indeed wherever
they have taken a town they have treated those who fell into their hands
most barbarously. 'Tis true that they have some excuse for it in the
treatment of so many knights and ladies here. Indeed it seems to me that
France has been seized with madness, and that Heaven's vengeance will fall
upon her for the evil things that are being done. And now, can we aid you
in any way? The duke was extremely civil when I saw him on my arrival here
yesterday. He said that I and my friends were wrong in not having trusted
in him to protect us from the demands of the butchers. I told him frankly
that as he had in other matters been so overborne by them, and had been
unable to save noble knights and ladies from being murdered by them under
the pretence of a trial that all men knew was a mockery, it was just as
well that we had taken the matter into our own hands without adding it to
his other burdens; and that I and my friends felt that we had no reason to
regret the step we had taken, and we knew that our feelings were shared by
many other nobles and knights in Burgundy.
"He looked darkly at me, but at the present pass he did not care to say
anything that would give offence, not only to me, but to my friends, who
with their connections are too powerful to be alienated at a time when he
may need every lance. I could not, however, well ask from him a free
conduct for your people without naming them, but I might get such a pass
from his chancellor, and if your former host, Maître Leroux, be still
alive, he might doubtless get you one from the municipality. As an
additional protection I myself shall certainly ride with you. It is for
that that I have returned to Paris. I shall simply say to the chancellor
that I am riding to Arras on my own business, and that though in most
places I should be known to Burgundians, yet that it would be as well that
I should have a pass lest I be met by any rude body of citizens or others
who might not know me, and I shall request him to make it out for me
personally and for all persons travelling in my train. So that, as far as
Flanders at any rate, there should be no difficulty. I only propose that
you should also get a document from the city in case of anything befalling
us on the way.
"I see not indeed what can befall us; but it is always well in such times
as these, when such strange things occur, to provide for all emergencies.
I may tell you that Louis de Lactre and Reginald Poupart have arrived with
me in Paris bent on the same errand, and anxious like myself to testify
their gratitude to you; so that we shall be a strong body, and could if
necessary ride through France without any pass at all, since one or other
of us is sure to find a friend in every town which we may traverse."
"Truly, I am thankful indeed to you and to your friends, Count. I own that
it has been a sore trouble to me as to how we should be able, however we
might disguise ourselves, to travel through the country in these disturbed
times, without papers of any kind, when bodies of armed men are moving to
and fro in all directions, and travellers, whoever they may be, are
questioned at every place on the road where they stop."
"Do not speak of thanks, Guy; I twice owe you my life, and assuredly 'tis
little enough to furnish you in return with an escort to Artois. Now, tell
me all that you have been doing since we left."
Guy gave a short account of all that had happened.
"It has been fortunate for us both," the Count Charles said when he had
finished, "that this astrologer should have made your acquaintance; it was
his warning that enabled you to save us as well as your lady. I have heard
several times of him as one who had wondrous powers of reading the stars,
but now I see that it is not only the stars that assist him."
"I can assure you that he himself believes thoroughly in the stars, Count;
he says that by them he can read the danger that is threatening any person
whose horoscope he has cast. I had not heard much of such things in
England, but I cannot doubt that he has great skill in them. To my
knowledge he has saved several lives thereby."
"He certainly saved ours, Guy, and should he like to join your party and
ride with us he will be heartily welcomed."
"I will return at once," Guy said, "and give my lady the good news. I will
not ask you to go with me now, for if the count--for he is really a
nobleman though an exile--decides to stay here he would not care to
attract the attention of his neighbours by the coming of a noble to his
house in daylight. Though I cannot without his permission take you there,
I will return here this evening at eight o'clock, if you will be at home
at that hour."
"I will be here, and De Lactre and Poupart will be here to meet you. I
will go now direct to the chancellor and obtain the pass both in their
names and mine, then we shall be ready to start whenever your lady is
prepared. We have all brought some spare horses, so that you will have no
trouble on that score. Your men-at-arms will, of course, ride with ours.
We have brought eight horses, knowing the number of your company; if your
Italian and his daughter go with us Lady Agnes and Charles can ride behind
some of us."
Dame Margaret, Agnes, and Charlie were delighted indeed when they heard
from Guy of his meeting with the young Count d'Estournel, and of the
latter's offer to escort them to Artois.
"The saints be praised!" his lady said. "I have spoken little about it,
Guy, but I have dreaded this journey far more than any of the dangers
here. In times so disturbed I have perceived that we should run
innumerable risks, and eager as I am to return to my lord I have doubted
whether, with Agnes with me, I should be right in adventuring on such a
journey. Now there can be no risk in it, saving only that of falling in
with any of the bands of robbers who, as they say, infest the country, and
even these would scarce venture to attack so strong a party. We shall be
ready to start to-morrow, if Count d'Estournel is prepared to go so soon.
We will be veiled as we ride out. It is most unlikely that anyone will
recognize us, but 'tis as well for his sake that there should be no risk
whatever of this being known. The count is out and will not return until
six, therefore it will be best that you should go at once and warn the
others that we start to-morrow."
The pleasure of Long Tom and his companions at the news was scarcely less
than had been that of Dame Margaret, and they started at once to recover
their steel caps and armour from the place where they had been hidden,
saying that it would take them all night to clean them up and make them
fit for service. Then Guy went in to Maître Lepelletiere and saw the
silversmith, who was also sincerely glad at the news he gave him.
"I was but yesterday arranging for a house where I could open my shop
again until my own was rebuilt," he said, "for there is an end now of all
fear of disturbances, at any rate for the present, and I was heartily
greeted by many old friends, who thought that I was dead. I will go down
with Lepelletiere this afternoon to the offices of the municipality and
ask for a pass for madame--what shall I call her?"
"Call her Picard: it matters not what surname she takes."
"Madame Picard, her daughter and son, and her cousin Jean Bouvray of
Paris, to journey to St. Omer. It does not seem to me that the pass is
likely to be of any use to you; at the same time it is as well to be
fortified with it. Now that the tyranny of the market-men is over they
will be glad to give us the pass without question."
On the Italian's return that afternoon Dame Margaret herself told him of
the offer the Count d'Estournel had made. He sat silent for a minute or
two and then said: "I will talk it over with Katarina; but at present it
does not seem to me that I can accept it. I am a restless spirit, and
there is a fascination in this work; but I will see you presently."
An hour later he came down with Katarina.
"We have agreed to stay, Lady Margaret," he said gravely, "I cannot bring
myself to go. It is true that I might continue my work in London, but as a
stranger it would be long before I found clients, while here my reputation
is established. Two of the knights I enabled to escape have already
returned. One called upon me last night and was full of gratitude,
declaring, and rightly, that he should have been, like so many of his
friends, murdered in prison had I not warned him. I have eight requests
already for interviews from friends of these knights, and as, for a time
at any rate, their faction is likely to be triumphant here, I shall have
my hands full of business. This is a pleasant life. I love the exercise of
my art, to watch how the predictions of the stars come true, to fit things
together, and to take my share, though an unseen one, in the politics and
events of the day. I have even received an intimation that the queen
herself is anxious to consult the stars, and it may be that I shall become
a great power here. I would fain that my daughter should go under your
protection, though I own that I should miss her sorely. However, she
refuses to leave me, and against my better judgment my heart has pleaded
for her, and I have decided that she shall remain. She will, however, take
no further part in my business, but will be solely my companion and
solace. I trust that with such protection as I shall now receive there is
no chance of even the Church meddling with me, but should I see danger
approaching I will send or bring her to you at once."
"I shall be glad to see her whenever she comes, and shall receive her as a
daughter. We owe our lives to your shelter and kindness, and we already
love her."
"The shelter and the kindness have already been far more than repaid by
the inestimable service your esquire rendered us," the Italian said. "I
have since blamed myself bitterly that I neglected to consult the stars
concerning her. I have since done so, and found that a most terrible
danger threatened her on that day; and had I known it, I would have kept
her indoors and would on no account have permitted her to go out. However,
I shall not be so careless of her safety in future. I see that, at any
rate for some time, her future is unclouded. She herself will bitterly
regret your absence, and has already been weeping sorely at the thought of
your leaving. Save myself she has never had a friend, poor child, and you
and your daughter have become very dear to her."
Dame Margaret had no preparations to make, for in their flight from the
silversmith's each had carried a bundle of clothes. Guy brought Count
d'Estournel round in the evening, and the arrangements were then
completed. It was thought better that they should not mount at the house,
as this would be certain to attract considerable observation and remark,
but that Count Charles should come round at seven in the morning and
escort them to his lodging. There the horses would be in readiness, and
they would mount and ride off. Guy then went round to the Rue des Fosses
and warned the men of the hour at which they were to assemble at the
count's. He found them all hard at work burnishing up their armour.
"We shall make but a poor show, Master Guy, do what we will," Tom said;
"and I doubt whether this gear will ever recover its brightness, so deeply
has the rust eaten into it. Still, we can pass muster on a journey; and
the swords have suffered but little, having been safe in their scabbards.
I never thought that I should be so pleased to put on a steel cap again,
and I only wish I had my bow slung across my shoulder."
"It will be something for you to look forward to, Tom, and I doubt not
that you will find among the spare ones at Villeroy one as good as your
own, and that with practice you will soon be able to shoot as truly with
it."
Tom shook his head doubtfully. "I hope so, but I doubt whether I shall be
suited again till I get home, and Master John the bowyer makes one
specially suitable for me, and six inches longer than ordinary. Still, I
doubt not that, if it be needed, I shall be able to make shift with one of
those at Villeroy."
The evening before the departure of Dame Margaret and her children, Maître
Leroux and his wife, with a man bearing a large parcel, had called upon
Dame Margaret at the house of the astrologer, whose address Guy had given,
the provost that day.
"We could not let you leave, Lady Margaret," his wife said, "without
coming to wish you God speed. Our troubles, like yours, are over for the
present, and I trust that the butchers will never become masters of Paris
again, whatever may happen."
"Maître Lepelletiere," said the silversmith, "is going to organize the
whole of his craft, the workmen and apprentices, into an armed body, and
the master of the smiths will do the same. I shall endeavour to prevail
upon all the traders of my own guild and others to raise such a body among
their servitors; and while we have no wish whatever to interfere in the
political affairs of state, we shall at least see that the market people
of Paris shall not become our masters again. Master Aylmer, I have brought
hither for you a slight token of my regard and gratitude for the manner in
which you saved not only our property but our lives. Within this package
are two suits of armour and arms. One is a serviceable one suitable to
your present condition of an esquire; the other is a knightly suit, which
I hope you will wear in remembrance of us as soon as you obtain that
honour, which I cannot but feel assured will not be far distant. Had you
been obliged to leave Paris in disguise I should have made an endeavour to
send them to you in England by way of Flanders; but as you will issue out
in good company, and without examination or question asked, you can wear
the one suit and have the other carried for you."
Guy thanked the silversmith most heartily, for, having lost his armour at
the burning of the house, he had felt some uneasiness at the thought of
the figure that he would cut riding in the train of the three Burgundian
knights. But at the same time his own purse had been exhausted in the
purchase of the disguises for himself and the men-at-arms, and that of his
mistress greatly reduced by the expenses of the keep of the men, and he
had determined not to draw upon her resources for the purchase of armour.
His thanks were repeated when, on the package being opened, the beauty of
the knightly armour was seen. It was indeed a suit of which any knight
might be proud. It was less ornate in its inlaying and chasing than some
of the suits worn by nobles, but it was of the finest steel and best make,
with every part and accessory complete, and of the highest workmanship and
finish.
"It is a princely gift, sir," Guy said as he examined it, "and altogether
beyond my poor deserts."
"That is not what I think, Master Aylmer. You have shown all through this
business a coolness and courage altogether beyond your years, and which
would have done honour to an experienced knight. My store of silver-ware
that was saved by your exertions, to say nothing of our lives, was worth
very many times the value of this armour, and I am sure that your lady
will agree with me that this gift of ours has been well and honourably
earned."
"I do indeed, Maître Leroux," Dame Margaret said warmly; "and assure you
that I am as pleased as Guy himself at the noble gift you have made him. I
myself have said but little to him as to the service that he has rendered
here, leaving that until we reach our castle in safety, when Sir Eustace,
on hearing from me the story of our doings, will better speak in both our
names than I can do."
In the morning Dame Margaret and her children set out for the lodging of
D'Estournel, escorted by the count and Guy, followed by a porter carrying
the latter's second suit of armour and the valises of Dame Margaret. Guy
himself had charge of a casket which the Count de Montepone had that
morning handed to Dame Margaret.
"These are gems of value," he said, "In the course of my business I more
often receive gifts of jewels than of money. The latter, as I receive it,
I hand to a firm here having dealings with a banker of Bruges, who holds
it at my disposal. The gems I have hitherto kept; but as it is possible
that we may, when we leave Paris, have to travel in disguise, I would fain
that they were safely bestowed. I pray you, therefore, to take them with
you to your castle in England, and to hold them for us until we come."
Dame Margaret willingly took charge of the casket, which was of steel,
strongly bound, and some nine inches square.
"Its weight is not so great as you would think by its appearance," the
Italian said, "for it is of the finest steel, and the gems have been taken
from their settings. It will, therefore, I hope, be no great inconvenience
to you."
At parting, Katarina, who was greatly affected, had given Guy a small box.
"Do not open it until you reach Villeroy," she said; "it is a little
remembrance of the girl you saved from deadly peril, and who will never
forget what she owes to you."
On reaching the count's lodgings they found the other two knights in
readiness. Dame Margaret's four men-at-arms were holding the horses.
"I am glad to see you all again," she said as she came up. "This is a far
better ending than our fortunes seemed likely to have at one time, and I
thank you all for your faithful service."
"I am only sorry, my lady, that we have had no opportunity of doing aught
since we were cooped up," Tom replied; "nothing would have pleased us
better than to have had the chance again of striking a stout blow in your
defence."
"We may as well mount at once, if it is your pleasure, Dame Margaret,"
Count d'Estournel said, "for the other men-at-arms are waiting for us
outside the gates."
The packages were at once fastened on the two pack-horses that were to
accompany them; all then mounted. The three knights with Dame Margaret
rode first, then Guy rode with Agnes by his side, and the four men-at-arms
came next, Charlie riding before Jules Varoy, who was the lightest of the
men-at-arms, while two of the count's servants brought up the rear,
leading the sumpter horses.