bove.

Tossing his gauntlets and bascinet upon the high bed that stood in the
corner near the door, he crossed to the small deep window and swung
back the sash. Below him lay the broad bailey, that at this hour was
alive with the servitors and retainers of the Duke. Before the
dwellings against the inner wall children were playing, and through the
fading light of the April afternoon rose a medley of sounds. From the
direction of the distant gateway sounded the ring of steel-shod hoofs,
and presently a body of horsemen cantered across the stone pavement and
drew rein before the keep. A gruff command followed, and just as the
rank was broken and the soldiery dispersed the sweet tones of the bell
of All Saints' Chapel came floating over the walls.

The Knight crossed himself instinctively, and then, leaning on the
ledge, his thoughts turned to his family's past and to why he, though
of the blood of one of the Conqueror's favorite Barons, was a stranger
in England.

The main branch of the House of Lacy, once so powerful in Britain, had
become extinct almost two centuries before; and although Sir Aymer's
ancestor had borne an honorable part in the wars of the Third Edward
yet, like Chandos, he was content to remain a simple banneret. When
the Second Richard went down before his usurping cousin, the then head
of the family had stood, to the last, true to his rightful King; and
hence it was small wonder that to Sir Richard de Lacy the atmosphere of
the Court of the new Monarch was not agreeable. When Henry of Monmouth
brought France again under English rule, Sir Richard rode no more to
the wars; and the heir being but an infant, his retainers were mustered
under a stranger's banner. During the later struggles of Bedford and
of Warwick to retain the fast relaxing hold of England upon the domains
beyond the Channel, the then Baron had done his devoir full knightly,
but it is not in a losing struggle that families win advancement, and,
to the last Lancastrian King, Sir Edward de Lacy was not known. Then
came the Wars of the Roses and, ere Aymer's sire could bind the White
Rose to his helmet, a sudden illness stilled his hand in death; and
thus, again, had the House lost an opportunity to rise in fame and
power. Much honor had Sir Aymer won in the recent small wars and
constant fightings of the Continent, and in the right of his mother's
family he might have aspired to high rank at the French Court; but
Louis, "the Fel