go that night? At
Harengod, his mother's demesne, where he was to remain until Hubert
had set sail, after which he might from time to time visit Sir
Nicholas, his father's brother, a relationship which that good
knight could never forget, unworthy though Drogo was of his love.
But the uncle was really afraid to let the youths come together,
lest there should be a quarrel, perhaps not confined to words.

He had spoken his mind decidedly to Drogo about the question of
inheritance. Hubert should, if he survived the pilgrimage, be Lord
of Walderne, as was just, Drogo of Harengod: if either died without
issue, the other should have both domains.

Of course Sir Nicholas was quite unaware that the third child of
the old lord, Mabel, had left issue. Do our readers remember it?
Drogo had no real claim on Walderne, and could only succeed by
disposition of Sir Nicholas, in the absence of natural heirs.

When the party in the hall broke up about midnight, one parting
interview took place between the lovers in Lady Sybil's bower,
while the kind lady got as far as her notions of propriety (which
were very strict) permitted, out of earshot.

Oh, those poor young lovers! She cried, and although Hubert tried
hard to restrain it, it was infectious, and he couldn't help a
tear. But he must go!

"Wilt thou be true to me till death?"
the anxious lover cried.
"Ay, while this mortal form hath breath,"
Alicia replied.

"Come, go to bed," said Sir Nicholas, entering, and they went:
To bed, but not to sleep.

On the morrow the sun shone brightly on the castle, on the church,
on the hilltop, and on the wooded valley of Walderne. The household
assembled first for a brief parting service in the castle chapel,
for it was an old proverb with them, "mass and meat hinder no man,"
and then the breakfast table was duly honoured.

And then--the last parting. Oh how hard to speak the final words;
how many longing, lingering looks behind; how many words, which
should have been said, came to the mind of our hero as he rode
through the woods, with his squire and six men-at-arms, who were to
share his perils and his glory.

Sir Nicholas was by his side, for he had determined to see the last
of Hubert, who had wound himself very closely round the old
knight's heart; and together they rode through Hailsham to
Pevensey.

The first part of their journey was through a dense and tangled
forest, which extended nearly to Hailsham. It passed through the