to do that, especially
since Avignon, when Charles asked him to betray the king's confidence.
Even now, though he wished they could get back on their old footing, he
found himself wondering whether that old footing had been an illusion.
Perhaps all along Charles had been kind to him only the better to use
him.

He was terribly afraid that he knew what Charles wanted to talk to him
about tonight. He had seen the sorry quality of Charles's army, and he
had been impelled, almost against his will, to take the lead when the
Roman mob was attacking. If Simon were in Charles's position, he knew
what he would want.

"You did just the right thing today, Simon," Charles said. "Those three
cutthroats would never have let themselves be overrun, nor would I. But
I hadn't paid them in a while, no fault of mine, and they saw that as an
excuse to try to extract a promise from me of an additional monthly five
florins per knight and increases for the common soldiers as well. They
thought the sight of that mob would force me to yield to them."

_So their refusal to act was a pretense_, Simon thought. But he began to
feel disgusted with himself. Of all of them, he was the only one who had
been duped.

Charles went on. "They were testing my courage. They did not know me
well. They know me better now. I would have stood my ground until they
were forced to turn and defend themselves. But you settled things by
taking those archers out into the field and driving the rabble off. And
a good thing you did, because the situation _was_ risky. They might have
waited too long to attack, and we might have lost lives unnecessarily.
It was a dangerous game they were playing."

_And a dangerous game you were playing_, Simon thought. He leaned
forward, resting his elbows on the table. Charles had used him, just as
Mother had warned, and he felt angry enough to speak frankly.

"It was mutiny. In my opinion you should have hanged those men. They are
little better than routiers. But all you did was haggle with them."

Sipping from his goblet, Charles lounged back on his cot and laughed.
"Ah, Simon, I forget sometimes that you have never been in a war. This
is the way it always is. Especially at the beginning. These men--du
Mont, FitzTrinian, von Regensburg, and their followers--are hirelings,
and when one goes shopping for an army, one buys, not the best there is,
but only the best that is on the market."

Simon wanted to lean back as Charles had don