Note 1] if you don't thank 'em for it! That girl
Anania 'll be the death of me one of these days, if she doesn't mend her
ways. Woe worth the day that Osbert brought her here to plague us!"

"I fancy he'd say Amen to that," remarked Haimet.

"I heard him getting it pretty hot last night. But he takes it easier
than you, Mother; however she goes on at him, he only whistles a tune.
He has three tunes for her, and I always know how she's getting on by
the one I hear. So long as it's only the _Agnus_, I dare lift the
latch; but when it come to _Salve Regina_, things are going awkward."

"I wish she wasn't my niece, I do!" said poor Isel. "Well, folks, come
and get your supper."

Supper was over, and the trenchers scraped--for Isel lived in great
gentility, seeing that she ate from wooden trenchers, and not on plates
made of thick slices of bread--when a rap on the door heralded the visit
of a very superior person. Long ago, when a young girl, Isel had been
chamberer, or bower-woman, of a lady named Mildred de Hameldun; and she
still received occasional visits from Mildred's daughter, whose name was
Aliz or Elise de Norton. Next to the Countess of Oxford and her two
daughters, Aliz de Norton was the chief lady in the city. Her father,
Sir Robert de Hameldun, had been Seneschal of the Castle, and her
husband, Sir Ording de Norton, was now filling a similar position. Yet
the lofty title of Lady was barely accorded to Aliz de Norton. At that
time it was of extreme rarity; less used than in Saxon days, far less
than at a subsequent date under the later Plantagenets. The only women
who enjoyed it as of right were queens, wives of the king's sons,
countesses, and baronesses: for at this period, the sole titles known to
the peerage were those of baron and earl. Duke was still a sovereign
title, and entirely a foreign one. The epithet of Dame or Lady was also
the prerogative of a few abbesses, who held the rank of baroness. Very
commonly, however, it was applied to the daughters of the sovereign, to
all abbesses, prioresses, and recluses, and to earls' daughters; but
this was a matter rather of courtesy than of right. Beyond the general
epithet of "my Lord," there was no definite title of address even for
the monarch. The appropriation of such terms as Grace, Highness,
Excellence, Majesty, or Serenity, belongs to a much later date. Sir,
however, was always restricted to knights; and Dame was the most
respectful f