He bears a womans name,but he is not womanish.
Darking was speaking and every facewas turned to him. No light showed, but as they
rounded the end of it thesound of human speech came from within. A girl was singing,
and by some strange wizardry thevoice was familiar.
Let usmake haste before the storm
breaks.
Tonight I have something to give you andsomething
to ask from you.
The tankards beside the dying fire were refilled
and the fiddlewoke.
The boy raised the flap of the frieze curtain and
they entered thebarn.
There is a place in the heart of it calledLittle
Greece, where we shall meet with company. A dozen crofts were sacrificed tomake my
lords park.
A pole was suddenly thrust from the covert athwart
Darkingsbreast, and he stopped in his tracks. Such a bed he hadnever known, for he
seemed to sink deep in down and yet float onair.
The hour of the summons is near, he said, and soon
the lad willbe out of our care.
Darking laughed, as he wrungthe wet from his
cap.
Only a sonof Buckingham can keep such a concourse
to its purpose. No doubt it was only the effect ofOctober ale, but it looked like
profound meditation.
It was seductive music,languorous, rousing strange
tremors in his body.
Let usmake haste before the storm
breaks.
But if the King has bled the land sore, will there
be anyrecompense for those who overthrow him?
He is alongheaded rogue with a shrewd judgment,
and, except in his trade,a certain honesty. He is under as strict rulesas any
soldier of an army. We have been benefactors toeach other, I think. There are plenty
of foot-sentinels, but tis thecaptain that matters.
The question will be asked, How far is it to the
skirts ofWychwood? The tankards beside the dying fire were refilled and the
fiddlewoke. You have set your finger on our weakness.