Forget not when it is finished to gather all
men that they may give thanks to God for His great mercies."
Well nigh a year had gone, for once again the sun shone in the brazen
August heavens. Calais had fallen at last. Only that day six of her
noblest citizens had come forth, bearing the keys of the fortress, clad
in white shirts, with ropes about their necks, and been rescued from
instant death at the hands of the headsman by the prayer of Queen
Philippa.
In his tent sat Hugh de Cressi, who, after so much war and hardship,
looked older than his years, perhaps because of a red scar across
the forehead, which he had come by during the siege. With him was his
father, Master de Cressi, who had sailed across from Dunwich with a
cargo of provisions, whereof, if the truth were known, he had made no
small profit. For they were sold, every pound of them, before they left
the ship's hold, though it is true the money remained to be collected.
"You say that Eve is well, my father?"
"Aye, well enough, son. Never saw I woman better or more beautiful,
though she wears but a sad face. I asked her if she would not sail with
me and visit you. But she answered: 'Nay, how can I who am another man's
wife? Sir Hugh, your son, should have killed the wolf and let the poor
swan go. When the wolf is dead, then, perchance, I will visit him. But,
meanwhile, say to him that Red Eve's heart is where it always was, and
that, like all Dunwich, she joys greatly in his fame and is honoured in
his honour.
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