|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 13
'All were silent awhile, till De Aquila laughed. "Look, men--a miracle,"
said he. "The fight is scarce sped, my father is not yet buried, and
here we find our youngest knight already set down in his Manor, while
his Saxons--ye can see it in their fat faces--have paid him homage and
service! By the Saints," he said, rubbing his nose, "I never thought
England would be so easy won! Surely I can do no less than give the lad
what he has taken. This Manor shall be thine, boy," he said, "till I
come again, or till thou art slain. Now, mount, men, and ride. We follow
our Duke into Kent to make him King of England."
'He drew me with him to the door while they brought his horse--a lean
roan, taller than my Swallow here, but not so well girthed.
'"Hark to me," he said, fretting with his great war-gloves. "I have
given thee this Manor, which is a Saxon hornets' nest, and I think thou
wilt be slain in a month--as my father was slain. Yet if thou canst keep
the roof on the hall, the thatch on the barn, and the plough in the
furrow till I come back, thou shalt hold the Manor from me; for the Duke
has promised our Earl Mortain all the lands by Pevensey, and Mortain
will give me of them what he would have given my father. God knows if
thou or I shall live till England is won; but remember, boy, that here
and now fighting is foolishness and"--he reached for the reins--"craft
and cunning is all."
'"Alas, I have no cunning," said I.
'"Not yet," said he, hopping abroad, foot in stirrup, and poking his
horse in the belly with his toe. "Not yet, but I think thou hast a good
teacher. Farewell! Hold the Manor and live. Lose the Manor and hang," he
said, and spurred out, his shield-straps squeaking behind him.
'So, children, here was I, little more than a boy, and Santlache fight
not two days old, left alone with my thirty men-at-arms, in a land I
knew not, among a people whose tongue I could not speak, to hold down
the land which I had taken from them.'
'And that was here at home?' said Una.
'Yes, here. See! From the Upper Ford, Weland's Ford, to the Lower Ford,
by the Belle All�e, west and east it ran half a league. From the Beacon
of Brunanburgh behind us here, south and north it ran a full league--and
all the woods were full of broken men from Santlache, Saxon thieves,
Norman plunderers, robbers, and deer-stealers. A hornets' nest indeed!
'When De Aquila had gone, Hugh would have thanked me for saving their
lives; but the Lady �lueva said that I had done it only for the sake of
receiving the Manor.
'"How could I know that De Aquila would give it me?" I said. "If I had
told him I had spent my night in your halter he would have burned the
place twice over by now."
'"If any man had put _my_ neck in a rope," she said, "I would have seen
his house burned thrice over before _I_ would have made terms."
'"But it was a woman," I said; and I laughed, and she wept and said that
I mocked her in her captivity.
'"Lady," said I, "there is no captive in this valley except one, and he
is not a Saxon."
'At this she cried that I was a Norman thief, who came with false, sweet
words, having intended from the first to turn her out in the fields to
beg her bread. Into the fields! She had never seen the face of war!
'I was angry, and answered, "This much at least I can disprove, for I
swear"--and on my sword-hilt I swore it in that place--"I swear I will
never set foot in the Great Hall till the Lady �lueva herself shall
summon me there."
'She went away, saying nothing, and I walked out, and Hugh limped after
me, whistling dolorously (that is a custom of the English), and we came
upon the three Saxons that had bound me. They were now bound by my
men-at-arms, and behind them stood some fifty stark and sullen churls of
the House and the Manor, waiting to see what should fall. We heard De
Aquila's trumpets blow thin through the woods Kentward.
'"Shall we hang these?" said my men.
'"Then my churls will fight," said Hugh, beneath his breath; but I bade
him ask the three what mercy they hoped for.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|