o
the tower, he fled up the narrow steps to the belfry, where he turned at
bay, and held the staircase with the courage of despair. Driven from
this last standpoint, he climbed yet higher to the rafters where hung
the bell, and slew six men in succession before he fell, at length,
shouting curses upon his foes.

Roger Courtenay had scant time to enjoy his triumph. The Yorkist army
was mustering for a great struggle; so, having left a small garrison in
charge of the Manor, he rode away immediately with the rest of his
followers to join the adherents of the White Rose. The result of the
battle of Tewkesbury is a matter of history. The unfortunate remnant of
Lancaster took to flight, and York gained a final and triumphant
victory. Roger, whose bravery was conspicuous throughout the day,
worthily won his spurs, and was knighted on the field by Richard of
Gloucester. His forfeited estate was restored to him, and King Edward
himself forwarded his union with Catharine Mowbray, so that before the
summer was over the ancient parish church of Haversleigh, which but
lately had rung to the clash of arms, now echoed instead to the merry
peal of wedding bells.

CHAPTER XI

Sir Mervyn's Tower

"Is that all?" asked the girls, as Monica finished her story and closed
the book.

"Why, yes. It's a fairly long tale, I think."

"Not long enough. I want to know so much more about them," said Irene.

"Is it perfectly and absolutely true?" enquired Cicely.

"Yes, it is quite true. It was Sir Roger Courtenay who began to build
the Manor as it stands to-day. All the central portion was put up in his
time, and the coats of arms over the porch are those of himself and his
wife, Catharine Mowbray. Their tomb is in the church too--that big
carved monument in the side chapel. They had seven children--five sons
and two daughters. The eldest son, Sir Godfrey Courtenay, married a
relation of Sir Thomas More. Her name is mentioned in one of the Paston
Letters."

"Was it really in Haversleigh Church that Sir Mervyn climbed into the
belfry and was killed?"

"Or did the writer make that up?"

"No, that is true too," replied Monica. "The tower is still called 'Sir
Mervyn's Tower', and it is said there is the stain of his blood on the
great bell, and that nothing can ever take it off."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yes, once. It's only a patch of rust."

"Was Sir Mervyn buried in the church too?"

"There's no monument to him, and no recor