o not fight for him in England he will sack and harry out their lands in
Normandy. Therefore Clare has risen, Fitz Osborn has risen, Montgomery has
risen--whom our First William made an English earl. Even D'Arcy is out with
his men, whose father I remember a little hedge-sparrow knight nearby
Caen. If Henry wins, the Barons can still flee to Normandy, where Robert
will welcome them. If Henry loses, Robert, he says, will give them more
lands in England. Oh, a pest--a pest on Normandy, for she will be our
England's curse this many a long year!"

'"Amen," said Hugh. "But will the war come our ways, think you?"

'"Not from the North," said De Aquila. "But the sea is always open. If the
Barons gain the upper hand Robert will send another army into England for
sure; and this time I think he will land here--where his father, the
Conqueror, landed. Ye have brought your pigs to a pretty market! Half
England alight, and gold enough on the ground"--he stamped on the bars
beneath the table--"to set every sword in Christendom fighting."

'"What is to do?" said Hugh. "I have no keep at Dallington; and if we
buried it, whom could we trust?"

'"Me," said De Aquila. "Pevensey walls are strong. No man but Jehan, who
is my dog, knows what is between them." He drew a curtain by the
shot-window and showed us the shaft of a well in the thickness of the
wall.

'"I made it for a drinking-well," he said, "but we found salt water, and
it rises and falls with the tide. Hark!" We heard the water whistle and
blow at the bottom. "Will it serve?" said he.

'"Needs must," said Hugh. "Our lives are in thy hands." So we lowered all
the gold down except one small chest of it by De Aquila's bed, which we
kept as much for his delight in its weight and colour as for any our
needs.

'In the morning, ere we rode to our Manors, he said: "I do not say
farewell; because ye will return and bide here. Not for love nor for
sorrow, but to be with the gold. Have a care," he said, laughing, "lest I
use it to make myself Pope. Trust me not, but return!"'

Sir Richard paused and smiled sadly.

'In seven days, then, we returned from our Manors--from the Manors which
had been ours.'

'And were the children quite well?' said Una.

'My sons were young. Land and governance belong by right to young men.'
Sir Richard was talking to himself. 'It would have broken their hearts if
we had taken back our Manors. They made us great welcome, but we could
see--Hugh and I