the death of good Sir David Drummond, which had taken place two
days after Malcolm had left him, all but the youth himself having well
known that his state was hopeless.

In his grief, Malcolm found his chief comforter in Esclairmonde, who
kindly listened when he talked of the happy old times at Glenuskie, and
of the kindness and piety of his guardian; while she lifted his mind to
dwell on the company of the saints; and when he knew that her thoughts
went, like his, to his fatherly friend in the solemn services connected
with the departed, he was no longer desolate, and there was almost a
sweetness in the grief of which his fair saint had taken up a part. She
showed him likewise some vellum pages on which her ghostly father, the
Canon of St. Agnes, had written certain dialogues between the Divine
Master and His disciple, which seemed indeed to have been whispered by
heavenly inspiration, and which soothed and hallowed his mourning for the
guide and protector of his youth. He loved to dwell on her very name,
Esclairmonde--'light of the world.' The taste of the day hung many a pun
and conceit upon names, and to Malcolm this--which had, in fact, been
culled out of romance--seemed meetly to express the pure radiance of
consolation and encouragement that seemed to him to shine from her, and
brighten the life that had hitherto been dull and gloomy--nay, even to
give him light and joy in the midst of his grief.

At that period Courts were not much burdened with etiquette. No feudal
monarch was more than the first gentleman, and there was no rigid line of
separation of ranks, especially where, as among the kings of the Red
Rose, the boundaries were so faint between the princes and the nobility;
and as Catherine of Valois was fond of company, and indolently heedless
of all that did not affect her own dignity or ease, the whole Court,
including some of the princely captives, lived as one large family,
meeting at morning Mass in church or chapel, taking their meals in
common, riding, hunting, hawking, playing at bowls, tennis, or
stool-ball, or any other pastime, in such parties as suited their
inclinations; and spending the evening in the great hall, in conversation
varied by chess, dice, and cards, recitals of romance, and music,
sometimes performed by the choristers of the Royal chapel, or sometimes
by the company themselves, and often by one or other of the two kings,
who were both proficients as well with the voice as wit