"
"I trust, dear father, that the day may come when we shall lay our
hands on all three," said the Prince, looking with shining eyes
upon the King. "Is the Holy Land to lie forever in the grasp of
these unbelieving savages, or the Holy Temple to be defiled by
their foul presence? Ah! my dear and most sweet lord, give to me
a thousand lances with ten thousand bowmen like those I led at
Crecy, and I swear to you by God's soul that within a year I will
have done homage to you for the Kingdom of Jerusalem!"
The King laughed as he turned to Walter Manny. "Boys will still
be boys," said he.
"The French do not count me such!" cried the young Prince,
flushing with anger.
"Nay, fair son, there is no one sets you at a higher rate than
your father. But you have the nimble mind and quick fancy of
youth, turning over from the thing that is half done to a further
task beyond. How would we fare in Brittany and Normandy while my
young paladin with his lances and his bowmen was besieging Ascalon
or battering at Jerusalem?"
"Heaven would help in Heaven's work."
"From what I have heard of the past," said the King dryly, "I
cannot see that Heaven has counted for much as an ally in these
wars of the East. I speak with reverence, and yet it is but sooth
to say that Richard of the Lion Heart or Louis of France might
have found the smallest earthly principality of greater service to
him than all the celestial hosts.
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