"
"He is a strange man, Sir Henry, and subject, I fancy, to changeable
moods. When I was brought before him he was in a happy one, over the
success he had gained; and it may be that he took a liking for me. At
any rate, he fixed my ransom at a very small sum."
"Which I will, of course, pay," Hotspur said, "since you were my
squire, and were at Ludlow on my service."
"I thank you much, Sir Henry, but 'tis so small a sum that I myself
discharged it, without difficulty."
"'Tis strange, most strange, that you should have gone into the lion's
den, and have come out unscathed. Strange, indeed, that Glendower, who,
as we know, is greatly in want of money, should have fixed your ransom
at a low sum. How much was it, Sir Oswald?"
"I will tell you the story, Sir Henry, though I would tell no one else;
for my freedom is due to something that happened, nigh two years ago,
when I was first with Sir Edmund Mortimer. I failed in what was my
strict duty, although I disobeyed no orders that I had received, and my
conscience altogether acquits me of wrong."
"You may be sure, Sir Oswald, that the matter will go no further; and
knowing you as I do, I feel sure that, whatever the matter was, it was
not to your discredit.
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