, of course," responded
Clarice, quickly; "still it is very necessary and noble."

Heliet's smile expressed a mixture of feelings. Clarice was not the
first person who has held one axiom theoretically, but has practically
behaved according to another.

"The Lord saith that He hates pride," said the lame girl, softly. "How,
then, can it be necessary, not to say noble?"

"Oh, but--" Clarice went no further.

"But He did not mean what He said?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" said Clarice. "But--"

"Better drop the _but_," said Heliet, quaintly. "And Father Bevis is
about to say grace."

The Dominican friar rose and returned thanks for the repast, and the
company broke up, the Earl and Countess, with their guests, leaving the
hall by the upper door, while the household retired by the lower.

The preparations for sleep were almost as primitive as those for meals.
Exalted persons, such as the Earl and Countess, slept in handsome
bedsteads, of the tent form, hung with silk curtains, and spread with
coverlets of fur, silk, or tapestry. They washed in silver basins, with
ewers of the same costly metal; and they sat, the highest rank in curule
chairs, the lower upon velvet-cove red forms or stools. But ordinary
people, of whom Clarice was one, were not provided for in this luxurious
style. Bower-maidens slept in pallet-beds, which were made extremely
low, so as to run easily under one of the larger bedsteads, and thus be
put out of the way. All beds rejoiced in a quantity of pillows. Our
ancestors made much more use of pillows and cushions than we--a fact
easily accounted for, considering that they had no softly-stuffed
chairs, but only upright ones of hard carved wood. But Clarice's sheets
were simple "cloth of Rennes," while those of her mistress were set with
jewels. Her mattress was stuffed with hay instead of wool; she had
neither curtains nor fly-nets, and her coverlet was of plain cloth,
unwrought by the needle. In the matter of blankets they fared alike
except as to quality. But in the bower-maidens' chamber, where all the
girls slept together, there were no basins of any material. Early in
the morning a strong-armed maid came in, bearing a tub of water, which
she set down on one of the coffers of carved oak which stood at the foot
of each bed and held all the personal treasures of the sleeper. Then,
by means of a mop which she brought with her, she gently sprinkled every
face with water, thus intimating t