"
"'Tis like enough," Hotspur said. "When a man is so rash as to upbraid
the king, and still more Albany, he must needs fall under suspicion.
Now, go on with your story."
When Oswald had brought his narration to an end, Percy said:
"You have done very well, Oswald, and have deserved the confidence that
I placed in you. You have shown much circumspection, and you did well
in escaping from Dunbar, as you did. The mad monk, too, seems to have
behaved well. I doubted your wisdom in taking him, but he has certainly
proved a useful fellow."
"I would petition, my lord, that you should continue him in your
service; and that, should you employ me upon another mission, you will
again allow me to take him with me. He is a shrewd fellow, as well as a
stout one, and I could wish for no better companion; though I own that,
since he put on his gown again at Roxburgh, and rode hither, his
spirits have greatly failed him."
"I will arrange that with the abbot," Hotspur said; "but tell him that,
while he is here, he must continue to wear his robe. His face is too
well known for him to pass as a man-at-arms, without being recognized
by half the garrison. The Lord Abbot would well object to one of his
monks turning into a swaggering man-at-arms, at his very door.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180