AN INVITATION
Edgar laughed heartily at his father's account of the success of his
defence of the house. Then he said: "I hope, father, that distorted
accounts of the affair may not get you into trouble with the Church."
"I have no fear of that, Edgar. I had shown the prior my preparations,
and he approved of them heartily, being a man of much broader
intelligence than is common. Indeed, he begged of me a pot of my
shining paste, and with it painted the stone crucifix over the abbey
gateway. And it was well that he did so, for last night some men came
out from Dartford with intent to plunder the priory of its deeds and
muniments, but on seeing the glowing crucifix, they went off in fear
and trembling, and the villagers were saying this morning that the
priory had been protected by a miracle, while you see in my case they
attribute it to the work of the devil. And now, Edgar, tell me all that
has befallen you since you went away."
Edgar related the various adventures that had happened.
When he had concluded, his father said: "Truly, Edgar, you have been
fortunate indeed, which is another way of saying that you have
skilfully grasped the opportunities that presented themselves. The man
who bemoans ill-fortune is the man too apathetic, too unready, or too
cowardly to grasp opportunity. The man who is called fortunate is, on
the other hand, he who never lets a chance slip by, who is cool,
resolute, and determined. During the time that you have been away you
have made friends of two wealthy merchants, and have rendered them both
high services; you have also as greatly benefited our neighbour, Sir
Ralph De Courcy, and have placed your foot so firmly on the ladder,
that 'tis your own fault if you do not rise high. And now, what think
you of doing?"
"I have the intention of staying at home for a while, father. There
will be troubles for a time, but I care not to take part in the hunting
down of these poor peasants north of the river, who, unlike these
fellows, were well content when the king offered them the charter
granting their demands, and retired peacefully to their homes. So I
would rather remain here quietly until I have a chance of drawing sword
in a foreign war, either against the French or the Scots."
"I think that you are right; and, moreover, although you have proved
your manhood against men, you can hardly, when with an army, be
regarded as more than a young esquire till another year or two have
gone over your head."
Two days later, finding that all was now perfectly quiet, and that
there was no probability whatever of a renewal of the troubles, Sir
Ralph went up to London with the city knight and his company. They had
ridden over on the previous day to call upon Mr. Ormskirk to thank him
for the services that Edgar had rendered them, and upon which they
entered in much fuller detail than Edgar had allowed himself. In return
he gave them a description of the defence of his house, in which Sir
Robert was greatly interested, going down into the laboratory and
examining the luminous paint and its effect upon the skull.
"It is a goodly device," he said, "and though I myself have, during my
visit to Italy, come to believe but little in the superstitions that
are held by the mass of the people, I own that my courage would have
been grievously shaken if I had encountered suddenly that gibbering
head. How long does the effect last?"
"Three or four days. I believe that it is a sort of slow combustion
which, although it has no sensible heat, gradually consumes the
particles that give rise to it. It may be that further researches will
lead to a discovery by which the light might be made permanent, and in
that case the invention would be a useful one. I have, however, no time
to follow it up, being engaged in more serious matters, and regard this
as a mere relaxation from more important work."
"And yet, methinks," the merchant said, "that were men of science, like
yourself, to devote themselves to such discoveries, instead of
searching for the secrets that always evade them, they might do good
service to mankind. Look at this discovery of Friar Bacon's. So far, I
grant that it has led to nothing, but I can see that in the future the
explosive power of this powder will be turned to diverse uses besides
those of machines for battering down walls. Were this light of yours
made permanent it would do away with the necessity for burning lamps
indoors. What could be more beautiful than a hall with its ceilings,
rafters, walls, and pillars all glowing as if in the moonlight? For
methinks the light resembles that of the moon rather than any other."
"Were I a young man I would take up such matters, Sir Robert, for I
believe with you that the time might be more usefully spent; but 'tis
too late now. 'Tis not when one's prime is past that men can embark in
a fresh course or lay aside the work for which they have laboured for
so many years."
"And which, even if made, might bring more woe than good upon the
world," Sir Robert said. "Where would be the value of gold if other
metals could at will be transformed into it? When first produced, it
might enable monarchs to raise huge armies to wage war against their
neighbours; but, after a time, its use would become common. Gold would
lose its value, and men would come to think less of it than of iron,
for it is not so strong nor so fitted for weapons or for tools; and
then some other and rarer metal would take its place, and alchemists
would begin their work again in discovering another philosopher's stone
that would transmute other metals into the more valuable one."
Mr. Ormskirk was silent. "I think, Sir Robert," he said, at last, "that
we alchemists do not work solely for the good of mankind, nor give a
thought to the consequences that might follow the finding of the
philosopher's stone. We dream of immortality, that our name shall pass
down through all ages as that of the man who first conquered the secret
of nature and made the great discovery that so many thousands of others
have sought for in vain."
"It is assuredly an ambition as worthy as many others," Sir Robert
said, thoughtfully. "A knight would be ready to risk his life a
thousand times in order to gain the reputation of being one of the
foremost knights of Europe. A king would wring the last penny from his
subjects for a rich monument that will, he thinks, carry down his name
to all time; and doubtless the discovery of a secret that has baffled
research for hundreds of years, is at least as worthy an ambition as
these--far more laudable, indeed, since it can be carried out without
inflicting woes upon others. And now farewell, Mr. Ormskirk. I trust
that your son will always remember that in me he has a friend ready to
do aught in his power for him. I am but a simple citizen of London, but
I have correspondents in well-nigh every city in Europe, and can give
him introductions that may be valuable wheresoever he goes, and I shall
be grieved indeed if he does not avail himself of my good-will and
gratitude."
Three days later Sir Ralph returned to St. Alwyth from London with his
dame and Aline. For some weeks time passed quietly and pleasantly to
Edgar. The intimacy between the two houses became even closer than
before, and Sir Ralph's report of Edgar's doings in London caused him
to be frequently invited to the houses of all the well-to-do people in
the neighbourhood. In the meantime the insurrection had been finally
crushed. The commissioners in various parts of the country were trying
and executing all who had taken any lead in the movement, and until a
general amnesty was passed, two months later, every peasant lived in
hourly dread of his life. They had gained nothing by the movement from
which they had hoped so much, and for a while, indeed, their position
was worse than it had ever been before.
In time, however, as the remembrance of the insurrection died out, it
bore its fruits, and although there was no specific law passed
abolishing serfdom, the result was arrived at insensibly. Privileges
were granted, and these privileges became customs with all the effect
of the law, and almost without their knowing it, the people became
possessed of the rights for which their fathers had in vain taken up
arms. Three weeks after Edgar's return from London a royal commission
came down to Dartford, and the authorities of the town and others were
called upon to name the leaders of the insurgents.
Sir Ralph, who was one of those summoned, said that he was altogether
unable to give any information. He had been away when the first
outbreak took place. On his return he found his castle besieged, but
having with him fifty stout men-at-arms, he attacked and pursued the
insurgents, and nearly five hundred of them were slain. But fighting,
as he did, with his vizor down, and having, for a time, as much as he
could do to defend himself, he had recognized no one, and indeed, so
far as he knew, he did not see one among the rioters with whose face he
was acquainted.
Two days later, as Edgar was riding back from Sir Ralph's castle, he
came suddenly upon a man at a cross-road. He was one of the villagers.
"Well, Master Ormskirk," he said, folding his arms, "you can kill me if
you will, and it will be best so, for if you do not I shall live but
the life of a hunted dog, and sooner or later fall into their hands."
"Why should I kill you, Carter? I have naught against you."
"Then it was not you who denounced me as one of those who fought
against you at De Courcy's castle?"
"Not I, assuredly. I have had no communication whatever with the
commissioners, nor did I know that you were one of those we encountered
there."
"Someone has given my name," the man said, moodily. "I suppose it was
some of those at Dartford, for it is true enough that I joined the
Tyler the day he slew the collector. I thought that he had done
rightfully, and it may be that, like a fool, I have exhorted others to
join him to win our charter of rights, I thought it was to be got
honestly, that no harm was to be done to any man; but when we got to
London, and I saw that the Tyler and others intended to slay many
persons of high rank and to burn and destroy, I was seized with horror,
and made my way back. When the others returned I was fool enough to let
myself be persuaded to join in the attack on Sir Ralph's castle; and
for that and the speeches, it seems that I am to be tried and hung. You
had best run me through, Master Ormskirk, and have done with it; I
would rather that than be hung like a dog."
"I shall do nothing of the kind, Carter. I have known you for years as
an honest, and a hard-working fellow. Here are a couple of crowns with
which you can make your way to London."
"'Tis no good, sir. I hear that there are parties of men on every road,
and that orders have been given in every township to arrest all
passers-by, and to detain them if they have not proper papers with
them. Well, I can die better than some, for I lost my wife last
Christmas, and have no children; so if you won't do my business for me
I will go straight back to Dartford and give myself up."
"No, no, Carter. Do you go into that wood, and remain there till
nightfall; then come to our house and knock at the gate, and you can
shelter there as long as you like. As you know, there are few indeed
who come there, and if I get you a servitor's suit, assuredly none of
our visitors would recognize you, and as for the village folk, you have
but to keep out of their way when they come with wood, meat, and other
matters. It may not be for long, for 'tis like that I shall be going to
the wars soon, and when I do so I will take you with me as my
man-at-arms. Moreover, it is probable that when the commissioners have
sat for a time, and executed all the prominent leaders of this rioting,
there will be an amnesty passed. What do you say to that?"
"I say, God bless you, sir! I know well enough that I deserve
everything that has befallen me, for of a surety the murders that were
done in London have so disgraced our cause that no one has a right to
look for mercy. However, sir, if you are willing to give me such
shelter as you say, I will serve you well and faithfully, and will
right willingly imperil the last drop of my blood in your service."
"Then it is agreed, Carter. Come soon after nightfall. I am sure that
my father will approve of what I am doing, and should the worst come to
the worst, and you be discovered, he would be able to say truly that he
knew not that you were wanted for your share in the matter, for,
indeed, he takes but small notice of what is passing without. Now you
had better be off at once to hiding before anyone else comes along."
"Father," Edgar said, when he returned, "I have taken on an additional
servitor in the house. He will cost you naught but his food while he is
here, and he will ride with me as my man-at-arms if I go abroad. He is
a stout fellow, and I beg that you will ask me no questions concerning
him, and will take him simply on my recommendation. He will not stir
out of the house at present, but you may make him of use in your
laboratory if you can."
"I think that I understand, Edgar. After a business like that which is
just over, vengeance often strikes blindly, and 'tis enough for me that
you declare him to be honest, and that you have known him for some
time."
"Andrew," Edgar said to the old servitor after he had left his father,
"I know that you are no gossip, and that in the matter of which I am
going to speak to you I can rely upon your discretion. I have taken on
a stout fellow, who will follow me to the wars as a man-at-arms. It may
be that you will know him when you see him; indeed, I doubt not that
you will do so. It is good for him at present that he should not stir
beyond the walls, and he will, indeed, remain indoors all day. There
are a good many others like him, who just at present will be keeping
quiet, and you may be sure that I should not befriend the man were it
not that I feel certain he has had no hand in the evil deeds performed
by others."
"I understand, young master, and you may trust me to keep my lips
sealed. I hear that a score have been hung during the last three days,
and though I am no upholder of rioters, methinks that now they have had
a bitter lesson. The courts might have been content with punishing only
those who took a part in the murders and burnings in London. The rest
were but poor foolish knaves, who knew no better, and who were led
astray by the preachings of some of these Jack Priests and other
troublers of the peace."
"Think you that it would be best to speak to old Anna?"
"Not a bit, Master Ormskirk. Save to go to mass, she never stirs beyond
the house, and she is so deaf that you have to shout into her ear to
make her hear the smallest thing. I will simply say to her that you
have got a man-at-arms to go with you to the wars, and that until you
leave he is to remain here in the house. You did not tell me whether I
was to take your horse round to the stable."
"No; I am going to ride into Dartford now, to get the man some apparel
suited to his station here."
Edgar returned in an hour, bringing with him a servitor's suit. As soon
as Hal Carter arrived, Edgar himself opened the gate to him.
"Strip off those clothes, and put on this suit; it were best that you
be not seen in your ordinary attire. However, you can trust old Andrew,
and as to Anna, there is little chance of her recognizing you, and I
don't suppose she as much as knows that there has been trouble in the
land."
A month later a mounted messenger brought Edgar a letter--it was the
first that he had ever received. Telling the man to alight, and calling
Carter to take his horse, he led the man into the kitchen and told Anna
to give him some food. He then opened the letter. It ran as follows:
_To Master Edgar Ormskirk, with hearty greeting,_
_Be it known to you, good friend, that having wound up my business
affairs, I am about to start for Flanders, and shall, in the first
place, go to Ghent, having a mission from those in authority at Court
here to carry out in that city. It would greatly please me if you would
accompany me. The times are troubled in Flanders, as you doubtless
know, and you would see much to interest you; and, moreover, as at
present there is naught doing in England, save the trying and executing
of malefactors, you could spend your time better in seeing somewhat of
a foreign country than in resting quietly at St. Alwyth. I need not say
that the trip will put you to no cost, and that by accepting, you will
give pleasure to my wife and daughter, as well as to myself._
_Yours in friendship,_
_NICHOLAS VAN VOORDEN._
_P.S.--I am writing at the same time to Master De Courcy, who, I hope,
will also accompany me._
Edgar went down at once to his father's laboratory and handed him the
letter. Mr. Ormskirk read it.
"It is a hearty invitation, Edgar," he said, "and after the kindness of
the Fleming in presenting you with that splendid suit of armour, you
can scarce refuse it; but, indeed, in any case, I should be glad for
you to accompany him to Flanders. The Flemings are mostly our allies
against France, and it would be well for you to pass some time among
them, to learn as much as you can of their language, and to acquaint
yourself with their customs. Their towns are virtually independent
republics, like those of Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. The power lies
wholly in the hands of the democracy, and rough fellows are they. The
nobles have little or no influence, save in the country districts. The
Flemings are at present on ill terms with France, seeing that they,
like us, support Pope Urban, while the French, Spaniards, and others
hold to Pope Clement.
"Possibly neither may care very much which pope gets the mastery, but
it makes a convenient bone of contention, and so is useful to
neighbours on bad terms with each other. Go, by all means. You had best
write a reply at once, and hand it to the messenger. Have you heard yet
whether he has been to the De Courcy's castle?"
"I did not ask him, father, for I did not read the letter until I had
handed him over to Anna to get some food in the kitchen. I will go and
ask him now, and if he has not yet gone there I will ride with him.
'Tis a cross-road, and he might have difficulty in finding it; besides,
perhaps if I tell Sir Ralph that I am going, it may influence him to
let Albert go also."
He went down to the kitchen and found that the messenger had not yet
been to the castle. Telling him that he would go with him and act as
his guide, and would be ready to start in a quarter of an hour, Edgar
sat down to write to the Fleming. It was the first time that he had
ever indited a letter, and it took him longer than he expected. When he
went down, the messenger was already standing by his horse, while
Carter was walking Edgar's up and down.
Albert and Aline were at the castle gate as they rode up.
"We were in the pleasaunce when we saw you coming, Edgar. We did not
expect you until to-morrow."
"I have come over with a messenger, who is the bearer of a letter to
you."
"You mean to my father, I suppose?"
"No, indeed; it is for yourself, and I have had a similar one. I have
written an answer, and I hope you will write one in the same strain."
"Who can it be from?" Aline said, as Albert took out his dagger and cut
the silk that held the roll.
"It is from our good friend, Mynheer Van Voorden," Edgar said. "He is
just leaving for Flanders, and has written to ask Albert and myself to
accompany him thither."
"And I suppose that you have accepted," Aline said, pettishly.
"Yes, indeed; my father thinks that it will be very good for me to see
something of foreign countries, and especially Flanders. As there is
nothing doing here now, I am wasting my time, and doubtless in the
great Flemish cities I shall be able to find masters who can teach me
many things with the sword."
"And how are we going to get on without you, I should like to know?"
she asked, indignantly, "especially if you are going to take Albert
away too."
"Albert will decide for himself--at least Sir Ralph will decide for
him, Mistress Aline."
"It is all very well to say that, but you know perfectly well that
Albert will be wanting to go if you are going, and that Sir Ralph will
not say no, if you and he both want it."
"Well, you would wish us to become accomplished knights some day, and
assuredly, as all say, that is a thing better learned abroad than in
England."
"I am quite satisfied with you as you are," she replied, "and I call it
a downright shame. I thought, anyhow, I was going to have you both here
until some great war broke out, and here you are running away for your
amusement. It is all very well for you to contend that you think it may
do you good, but it is just for change and excitement that you want to
go."
By this time Albert had finished reading the letter.
"That will be splendid," he said. "I have always thought that I should
like to see the great Flemish cities. Why, what is the matter, Aline?"
he broke off, seeing tears in his sister's eyes.
"Is it not natural that I should feel sorry at the thought of your
going away? We have to stay all our lives at home, while you wander
about, either fighting or looking for danger wherever it pleases you."
"I don't think that it is quite fair myself, Aline, but I did not have
anything to do with regulating our manners and customs; besides, it is
not certain yet that my father will let me go."
They had by this time reached the spot where Sir Ralph was watching a
party of masons engaged in heightening the parapet of the wall, as the
experience of the last fight showed that it did not afford sufficient
protection to its defenders.
"Well, Albert, what is your news?" he said, as he saw by their faces
that something unusual had happened.
"A letter from Mynheer Van Voorden to ask me to accompany him to
Flanders, whither he is about to sail. He has asked Edgar too, and his
father has consented."
"Read me the letter, Albert. 'Tis a fair offer," he said, when Albert
came to the end, "and pleases me much. I had spoken but yesterday with
your mother, saying that it was high time you were out in the world,
the only difficulty being with whom to place you. There are many
knights of my acquaintance who would gladly enough take you as esquire,
but it is so difficult to choose. It might be that, from some cause or
other, your lord might not go to the wars; unless, of course, it were a
levy of all the royal forces, and then it would be both grief to you
and me that I had not put you with another lord under whom you might
have had a better opportunity.
"But this settles the difficulty. By the time you come back there may
be some chance of your seeing service under our own flag. Lancaster has
just made a three years' truce with the Scots, and it may be that he
will now make preparations in earnest to sail with an array to conquer
his kingdom in Spain. That would be an enterprise in which an aspirant
for knighthood might well desire to take part. The Spaniards are
courtly knights and brave fellows, and there is like to be hard
fighting. This invitation is a timely one. Foreign travel is a part of
the education of a knight, and in Flanders there are always factions,
intrigues, and troubles. Then there is a French side and an English
side, and the French side is further split up by the Flemings inclining
rather to Burgundy than to the Valois. Why, this is better than that
gift of armour, and it was a lucky day indeed for you when you went to
his daughter's aid. Faith, such a piece of luck never fell in my way."
"Shall I go and write the letter at once, father?"
"There is no hurry, Albert. The messenger must have ridden from town
to-day, and as he went first to Master Ormskirk's, that would lengthen
his journey by three or four miles, therefore man and horse need rest,
and it were best, I should think, that he sleep here to-night, and be
off betimes in the morning. It would be dark before he reached the
city, and the roads are not safe riding after nightfall; besides, it
can make no difference to Van Voorden whether he gets the answer
to-night or by ten o'clock to-morrow morning."
Dame Agatha did not, as Aline had somewhat hoped, say a word to
persuade Sir Ralph to keep Albert longer at home. She looked wistfully
at the lad as the knight told her of the invitation that had come, and
at his hearty pleasure thereat, but she only said: "I am sorely
unwilling to part with you, Albert, but I know that it is best for you
to be entering the world, and that I could not expect to have you many
months longer. Your father and I were agreeing on that yesterday. A
knight cannot remain by a fireside, and it is a comfort to me that this
first absence of yours should be with the good Flemish merchant, and I
like much also his wife and daughter, who were most kind to us when we
tarried with them in London when your father was away. I would far
rather you were with him, than in the train of some lord, bound for the
wars. I am glad, too, that your good friend Edgar is going with you.
Altogether, it is better than anything I had thought of, and though I
cannot part with you without a sigh, I can feel that the parting might
well have been much more painful. What say you, Aline?"
"I knew, as you say, mother, that it was certain that Albert would have
to leave us, but I did not think that it would be so soon. It is very
hateful, and I shall miss him dreadfully."
"Yes, my dear, but you must remember it was so I felt the many times
that your father went to the war. It is so with the wife of every
knight and noble in the land. And not only these, but also the wives of
the men-at-arms and archers, and it will be yours when you too have a
lord. Men risk their lives in battle; women stay at home and mind their
castles. We each have our tasks. You know the lines that the priest
John Ball used, they say, as a text for his harangues to the crowds,
_When Adam delved and Eve span_. You see, one did the rough part of the
toil, the other sat at home and did what was needful there, and so it
has been ever since. You know how you shared our feelings of delight
that your brother had grown stronger, and would be able to take his own
part, as his fathers had done before him, to become a brave and valiant
knight, and assuredly it is not for you to repine now that a fair
opportunity offers for him to prepare for his career."
"I was wrong, mother," Aline said, penitently. "I was very cross and
ill-behaved, but it came suddenly upon me, and it seemed to me hard
that Albert and Edgar should both seem delighted at what pained me so
much. Forgive me, Albert."
"There is nothing to forgive, dear. Of course I understand your feeling
that it will be hard for us to part, when we have been so much
together. I shall be very sorry to leave you, but I am sure you will
agree with me that it is less hard to do so now than it would have been
if I had been going to be shut up in a convent to prepare for entering
the Church, as we once thought would be the case."
"I should think so," the girl said. "This will be nothing to it. Then
you would have been going out of our lives; now we shall have an
interest in all you do, and you will often be coming back to us; there
will be that to look forward to. Well, you won't hear me say another
word of grumbling until you have gone. And when are you to go?"
"To-morrow or next day," her father said. "Mynheer Van Voorden says, 'I
am about to start,' which may mean three days or six. It will need a
whole day for your mother and the maids to see to Albert's clothes, and
that all is decent and in order. To-day is Monday, and I think that if
we say that Albert will arrive there on Thursday by noon it will do
very well. Will you be ready by that time, Edgar?"
"Easily enough, Sir Ralph; for, indeed, as we have no maid, my clothes
need but little preparation. I wear them until they are worn out, and
then get new ones; and I doubt not that I shall be able to replenish my
wardrobe to-morrow at Dartford."
Well pleased to find that Albert was to accompany him, Edgar rode home.
As he passed in at the gates, Hal Carter ran up to him. "Master tells
me that you are going away, Master Edgar. Are you going to take me with
you?"
"Not this time, Hal. I am going to Flanders as a guest of a Flemish
gentleman, and I could not therefore take a man-at-arms with me;
besides, as you know naught of the language, you would be altogether
useless there. But do not think that I shall not fulfil my promise.
This is but a short absence, and when I return I shall enter the train
of some warlike knight or other, and then you shall go with me, never
fear."
"Thank you, sir. 'Tis strange to me to be pent up here; not that I have
aught in the world to complain of; your father is most kind to me, and
I do hope that I am of some use to him."
"Yes, my father has told me several times how useful you were to him in
washing out his apparatus and cleaning his crucibles and getting his
fires going in readiness. He wonders now how he got on so long without
a helper, and will be sorry when the time comes for you to go with me.
Indeed he said, but two days ago, that when you went he should
certainly look for someone to fill your place."
"So long as he feels that, Master Edgar, I shall be willing enough to
stay, but it seemed to me that I was doing but small service in return
for meat and drink and shelter. I should feel that I was getting fat
and lazy, were it not that I swing a battle-axe every day for an hour,
as you bade me."
"Look through your apparel, Edgar," his father said that evening, "and
see what you lack. To-morrow morning I will give you moneys wherewith
you can repair deficiencies. The suits you got in London will suffice
you for the present, but as winter approaches you must get yourself
cloth garments, and these can be purchased more cheaply in Flanders
than here. Of course, I know not how long your stay there may be; that
must depend upon your host. It would be well if, at the end of a month,
you should speak about returning, then you will see by his manner
whether he really wishes you to make a longer stay or not. Methinks,
however, that it is likely he will like you to stay with him until the
spring if there is no matter of importance for which you would wish to
return. I am sure that he feels very earnestly how much he owes to you,
and is desirous of doing you real service; and to my thinking he can do
it in no better manner than by giving you six months in Flanders."
Accordingly, three days later, the two friends again rode to London.
Each was followed by a man on horseback leading a sumpter-horse
carrying the baggage; and Hal Carter was much pleased when he was told
that he was to perform this service. Both, for the convenience of
carriage, wore their body-armour and arm-pieces, the helmets and
greaves being carried with their baggage. On their arrival they were
most cordially received by Van Voorden and his family, and found that
they were to start on Saturday. On the following morning the lads went
to the Tower to pay their respects to the king.
"Be sure you do not neglect that," Sir Ralph had said; "the king is
mightily well disposed to you, as I told you. I had related to him in
full the affairs in which you took part in London, and on my return
after the fight here, I, of course, told him the incidents of the
battle, and he said, 'If all my knights had borne themselves as well as
your son and his friend, I should not have been in so sore a strait. I
should be glad to have them about my person now; but I can well
understand that you wish your son to make a name for himself as a
valiant knight, and that for a time I must curb my desire.'"
The king received them very graciously. "Sir Ralph and you did good
work in dispersing that Kentish rabble, and doing with one blow what it
has taken six weeks to accomplish in Essex and Hertford. So you are
going to Flanders? You will see there what has come of allowing the
rabble to get the mastery. But of a truth the knaves of Ghent and
Bruges are of very different mettle to those here, and fight as stoutly
as many men-at-arms."
"'Tis true, your Majesty," Edgar said, "but not because they are
stouter men, for those we defeated so easily down in Kent are of the
same mettle as our archers and men-at-arms who fought so stoutly at
Cressy and Poictiers, but they have no leading and no discipline. They
know, too, that against mail-clad men they are powerless; but if they
were freemen, and called out on your Majesty's service, they would
fight as well as did their forefathers."
"You are in favour, then, of granting them freedom?"
"It seems to me that it would strengthen your Majesty's power, and
would add considerably to the force that you could put in the field,
and would make the people happier and more contented. Living down among
them as we do, one cannot but see that 'tis hard on men that they may
not go to open market, but must work for such wages as their lords may
choose to give them, and be viewed as men of no account, whereas they
are as strong and able to work as others."
"You may be right," the young king said, "but you see, my councillors
think otherwise, and I am not yet rightly my own master. In one matter,
however, I can have my way, and that is in dispensing honours. You know
what I said to you before you went hence, that, young as you were, I
would fain knight you for the valiant work that you had done. Since
then you have done me good service, as well as the realm, by having,
with Sir Ralph De Courcy and Sir Robert Gaiton, defeated a great body
of the Kentish rebels, who were the worst and most violent of all,
though there were with you but fifty men-at-arms. This is truly
knightly service, and their defeat drove all rioters in that part to
their homes, whereas, had they not been so beaten, there might have
been much more trouble, and many worthy men might have been slain by
them.
[Illustration: EDGAR AND ALBERT ARE KNIGHTED BY KING RICHARD.]
"Moreover, as you are going to Flanders with our good friend Mynheer
Van Voorden, who is in a way charged with a mission from us, it is well
that you should travel as knights. It will give you more influence, and
may aid him to further my object. Therefore, I am sure, that all here
who know how stoutly you have wielded your swords, and how you gave aid
and rescue to the worshipful Mynheer Van Voorden and his family, to
stout Sir Robert Gaiton, Dame De Courcy and her daughter, and how you
bore yourselves in the fight down in Kent, will agree with me that you
have right well won the honour."
Then, drawing his sword, he touched each slightly on the shoulder:
"Rise, Sir Albert De Courcy, and Sir Edgar Ormskirk."
As the lads rose they were warmly congratulated by several of the
nobles and knights standing round.
"I will not detain you," the king said, a short time later. "Doubtless
you have many preparations to make for your voyage. I hope that things
will fare well with you in Flanders. Bear in mind that if you draw
sword for Mynheer Van Voorden you are doing it for England."