His face was deeply lined, his mouth was grim,
andhe had the eye of one used to command.
Great folk from Ewelme,thought Peter, for the men
had the Suffolk colours. You have lived a score of years in a happy ignorance,
butthe hour has come when it must be broken. A new-comer had ordered a meal, with an
observing eye upon themercers fare.
I havesearched long before I found you, my
child.
You remember nothingof the years before you came to
Leafield? Witness his lamentable barrenness in the matter ofposterity.
This is but a feeble harbourage, he told Peter.
That was the doing of our reverend brotherTobias.
Nomore mortuaries and probates and a right to sin
for every lousyclerk.
A month will pass quick in the cool of the forest.
Be comforted, said the other, smiling back. I, as principal ranger, can compass
that.
I read your face,but there is no bar sinister on
your shield.
Then he sighed, but his sigh was not of
disappointment. Do not vex yourself, for the thing works in our favour.
His earlylife had spoiled him for that bustling
fever which takes men tohigh places. He did not like the dust of the arena, and he
did notvalue the laurels. I will ride with you, providedyour campaigning season does
not fall athwart my other duties.
He saw the brackeny meadow, and above it the
littlecoppice which hid the Painted Floor. Then Peter by night was taken to Sir
Ralph Bonamys house at WoodEaton.
He felt his forehead flush and a wildgladness in
him which sent the tears to his eyes.
A new-comer had ordered a meal, with an observing
eye upon themercers fare.
The westering sun was in the old mans face, and it
showed that inhis eyes which belied his age. Were there many with the faith of
Tobias, life might stillbe breathed into them.
Ay, my masters, he hiccuped, the Kings grace has
gotten thePope at last in his belly. Peter followed him into the street, listless
and incurious.
The old mans voice ceased to quiver and he became
eloquent.
History confirms you, sir, said Master Wellaby
eagerly. How could he champion that in which he had nobelief or men who at the best
were half-believers? A magpie flew down the hollow, but he had turned his head to
thehill and did not notice it.