rom the woods, they laid siege to
thy castle, and for two days they girt us in and shot hard against us,
with such numbers as were a marvel to see. Yet the Lady Loring held the
place stoutly, and on the second day the Socman was slain--by his own
men, as some think--so that we were delivered from their hands; for
which praise be to all the saints, and more especially to the holy
Anselm, upon whose feast it came to pass. The Lady Loring, and the Lady
Maude, thy fair daughter, are in good health; and so also am I, save for
an imposthume of the toe-joint, which hath been sent me for my sins. May
all the saints preserve thee!'"

"It was the vision of the Lady Tiphaine," said Sir Nigel, after a pause.
"Marked you not how she said that the leader was one with a yellow
beard, and how he fell before the gate. But how came it, Alleyne, that
this woman, to whom all things are as crystal, and who hath not said one
word which has not come to pass, was yet so led astray as to say that
your thoughts turned to Twynham Castle even more than my own?"

"My fair lord," said Alleyne, with a flush on his weather-stained
cheeks, "the Lady Tiphaine may have spoken sooth when she said it; for
Twynham Castle is in my heart by day and in my dreams by night."

"Ha!" cried Sir Nigel, with a sidelong glance.

"Yes, my fair lord; for indeed I love your daughter, the Lady Maude;
and, unworthy as I am, I would give my heart's blood to serve her."

"By St. Paul! Edricson," said the knight coldly, arching his eyebrows,
"you aim high in this matter. Our blood is very old."

"And mine also is very old," answered the squire.

"And the Lady Maude is our single child. All our name and lands centre
upon her."

"Alas! that I should say it, but I also am now the only Edricson."

"And why have I not heard this from you before, Alleyne? In sooth, I
think that you have used me ill."

"Nay, my fair lord, say not so; for I know not whether your daughter
loves me, and there is no pledge between us."

Sir Nigel pondered for a few moments, and then burst out a-laughing. "By
St. Paul!" said he, "I know not why I should mix in the matter; for I h
look to her own affairs. Since first she could stamp her little foot,
she hath ever been able to get that for which she craved; and if she set
her heart on thee, Alleyne, and thou on her, I do not think that this
Spanish king, with his three-score thousand men, could hold you apart.
Yet this I will say, that I would