I live my own youth over again as I look at you. Know
then that though there is truce with the French here, there is not
truce in Brittany where the houses of Blois and of Montfort still
struggle for the dukedom. Half Brittany fights for one, and half
for the other. The French have taken up the cause of Blois, and
we of Montfort, and it is such a war that many a great leader,
such as Sir Walter Manny, has first earned his name there. Of
late the war has gone against us, and the bloody hands of the
Rohans, of Gaptooth Beaumanoir, of Oliver the Flesher and others
have been heavy upon our people. The last tidings have been of
disaster, and the King's soul is dark with wrath for that his
friend and comrade Gilles de St. Pol has been done to death in the
Castle of La Brohiniere. He will send succors to the country, and
we go at their head. How like you that, Nigel?"
"My honored lord, what could I ask for better?"
"Then have your harness ready, for we start within the week. Our
path by land is blocked by the French, and we go by sea. This
night the King gives a banquet ere he returns to England, and your
place is behind my chair. Be in my chamber that you may help me
to dress, and so we will to the hall together."
With satin and with samite, with velvet and with fur, the noble
Chandos was dressed for the King's feast, and Nigel too had donned
his best silk jupon, faced with the five scarlet roses, that he
might wait upon him.
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