stilian witch and her cats, was I?"

"Ay; and her broom-stick or her cats wafted you to Lynwood, where you
suddenly stood in the midst of the mourners, borne into the hall on a
howling blast! How I got there, I am sorry to say, the craven declared
not, lest I should give him the lie at once!"

"But surely, such a tale is too absurd and vulgar to deceive our noble
Prince."

"Oh, there is another version for his ears. This is only for the lower
sort, who might not have thought the worse of you for kidnapping your
nephew, vowing his mother should remain unburied till he was in your
hands, and carrying off all his rents."

"That is Clarenham's slander."

"Yes."

"And credited by the Prince? Oh! little did I think the hand which
laid knighthood on my shoulder should repent the boon that it gave!"
exclaimed Eustace, with a burst of sorrow rather than anger.

"Do you not challenge the traitor at once?"

"I trow not, unless he speaks the charge to my face. Father Cyril
declared that any outbreak on my part would damage our cause in the
eyes of the Chancellor; we must bide our time. Since Arthur is safe, I
will bear my own burden. I am guiltless in this matter, and I trust
that the blessing of Heaven on my deeds shall restore a name, obscured,
but not tarnished."

The resolution to forbear was tested, for time passed on without
vindicating him. With such art had the toils of his enemies been
spread, that no opening was left him for demanding an explanation. The
calumnies could only be brought home to the lowest retainers of
Clarenham and Ashton, and the only result of the zealous refutation by
the followers of Sir Eustace was a brawl between John Ingram and a
yeoman of Clarenham's, ending in their spending a week in the custody
of the Provost Marshal.

Had there been any tournament or like sport at Bordeaux, Eustace could
have asserted his place, and challenged the attention of the court; but
the state of the Prince's health prevented such spectacles; nor had he
any opportunity of acquiring honour by his deeds in arms. No army took
the field on either side, and the war was chiefly carried on by
expeditions for the siege or relief of frontier castles; and here his
unusual rank as Knight Banneret stood in his way, since it was contrary
to etiquette for him to put himself under the command of a Knight
Bachelor. He was condemned therefore to a weary life of inaction, the
more galling, because his poverty made i