after this the pair quitted the great park, and passing through a
row of straggling houses, divided by gardens and closes, which skirted
the foot of Castle Hill, presently reached the lower gate. They were
admitted without difficulty; but just as they entered the lower ward
the falconer was hailed by Shoreditch and Paddington, who at the moment
issued from the doorway of the guard-room.

Clamp obeyed the call and went towards them, and it was evident, from
the gestures of the archers, that they were making inquiries about
Mabel, whose appearance seemed to interest them greatly. After a brief
conversation with the falconer they approached her, and, respectfully
addressing her, begged leave to attend her to the royal lodgings,
whither they understood she was going. No objection being made to the
proposal by Mabel, the party directed their course towards the middle
ward.

Passing through the gateway of the Norman Tower, they stopped before a
low portal in a picturesque Gothic wing of the castle, with projecting
walls and bay-windows, which had been erected in the preceding reign of
Henry the Seventh, and was consequently still in all its freshness and
beauty.

IV.

How Mabel was received by the Party in the Kitchen--And of
the Quarrel between the two Jesters.

Addressing himself to a stout-built yeoman of the guard, who was
standing within the doorway, Nicholas Clamp demanded admittance to the
kitchen, and the man having detained them for a few moments, during
which he regarded Mabel with a very offensive stare, ushered them into
a small hall, and from thence into a narrow passage connected with it.
Lighted by narrow loopholes pierced through the walls, which were of
immense thickness, this passage described the outer side of the whole
upper quadrangle, and communicated with many other lateral passages and
winding stairs leading to the chambers allotted to the household or
to the state apartments. Tracking it for some time, Nicholas Clamp at
length turned off on the right, and, crossing a sort of ante-room, led
the way into a large chamber with stone walls and a coved and groined
roof, lighted by a great window at the lower end. This was the royal
kitchen, and in it yawned no fewer than seven huge arched fireplaces,
in which fires were burning, and before which various goodly joints were
being roasted, while a number of cooks and scullions were congregated
round them. At a large table in the centre