and countenance."

All who were present felt the discomfort of the Prince's speech, It was
evident that one of his mad, wild humors was upon him. In another case
the hare-brained young courtiers around might have taken their cue
from him, but the Earl of Mackworth was no subject for their gibes
and witticisms. A constrained silence fell, in which the Earl alone
maintained a perfect ease of manner.

Myles bowed to hide his own embarrassment. "Your Highness," said he,
evasively, "I rest my fortune, first of all, upon God, His strength and
justice."

"Thou wilt find safer dependence there than upon the Lord of Mackworth,"
said the Prince, dryly. "But come," he added, with a sudden change of
voice and manner, "these be jests that border too closely upon bitter
earnest for a merry breakfast. It is ill to idle with edged tools. Wilt
thou not stay and break thy fast with us, my Lord?"

"Pardon me, your Highness," said the Earl, bowing, and smiling the same
smooth smile his lips had worn from the first--such a smile as Myles
had never thought to have seen upon his haughty face; "I crave your good
leave to decline. I must return home presently, for even now, haply,
your uncle, his Grace of Winchester, is awaiting my coming upon the
business you wot of. Haply your Highness will find more joyance in a
lusty young knight like Sir Myles than in an old fox like myself. So I
leave him with you, in your good care."

Such was Myles's introduction to the wild young madcap Prince of Wales,
afterwards the famous Henry V, the conqueror of France.

For a month or more thereafter he was a member of the princely
household, and, after a little while, a trusted and honored member.
Perhaps it was the calm sturdy strength, the courage of the young
knight, that first appealed to the Prince's royal heart; perhaps
afterwards it was the more sterling qualities that underlaid that
courage that drew him to the young man; certain it was that in two weeks
Myles was the acknowledged favorite. He made no protestation of virtue;
he always accompanied the Prince in those madcap ventures to London,
where he beheld all manner of wild revelry; he never held himself aloof
from his gay comrades, but he looked upon all their mad sports with the
same calm gaze that had carried him without taint through the courts of
Burgundy and the Dauphin. The gay, roistering young lords and gentlemen
dubbed him Saint Myles, and jested with him about hair-cloth shirts
and f