"Sir Myles," said the Earl, suddenly, breaking the silence atlast, "dost thou know why I sent for thee hither?""Aye," said Myles, calmly, "how can I else? Thou wouldst not havecalled me from Paris but for one thing. Methinks thou hast sentfor me to fight the Earl of Alban, and lo! I am here.""Thou speakest very boldly," said the Earl. "I do hope that thydeeds be as bold as thy words.""That," said Myles, "thou must ask other men. Methinks no one mayjustly call me coward.""By my troth!" said the Earl, smiling, "looking upon thee--limbsand girth, bone and sinew--I would not like to be the he thatwould dare accuse thee of such a thing. As for thy surmise, I maytell thee plain that thou art right, and that it was to fight theEarl of Alban I sent for thee hither. The time is now nearlyripe, and I will straightway send for thy father to come toLondon. Meantime it would not be safe either for thee or for meto keep thee in my service. I have spoken to his Highness thePrince of Wales, who, with other of the Princes, is upon our sidein this quarrel. He hath promised to take thee into his serviceuntil the fitting time comes to bring thee and thine enemytogether, and to-morrow I shall take thee to Scotland Yard, wherehis Highness is now lodging."As the Earl ended his speech, Myles bowed, but did not speak. TheEarl waited for a little while, as though to give him theopportunity to answer.
"Well, sirrah," said he at last, with a shade of impatience,"hast thou naught to say? Meseems thou takest all this withmarvellous coolness.""Have I then my Lord's permission to speak my mind?""Aye," said the Earl, "say thy say."
"Sir," said Myles, "I have thought and pondered this matter muchwhile abroad, and would now ask thee a plain question in allhonest an I ha' thy leave. "The Earl nodded his head.
"Sir, am I not right in believing that thou hast certain weightypurposes and aims of thine own to gain an I win this battleagainst the Earl of Alban?""Has my brother George been telling thee aught to such apurpose?" said the Earl, after a moment or two of silence.
Myles did not answer.
"No matter," added Lord Mackworth. "I will not ask thee who toldthee such a thing. As for thy question--well, sin thou ask itfrankly, I will be frank with thee. Yea, I have certain ends togain in having the Earl of Alban overthrown."Myles bowed. "Sir," said he, "haply thine ends are as much beyondaught that I can comprehend as though I were a little child; onlythis I know, that they must be very great. Thou knowest well thatin any case I would fight me this battle for my father's sake andfor the honor of my house; nevertheless, in return for all thatit will so greatly advantage thee, wilt thou not grant me a boonin return should I overcome mine enemy?""What is thy boon, Sir Myles?"
"That thou wilt grant me thy favor to seek the Lady Alice deMowbray for my wife."The Earl of Mackworth started up from his seat. "Sir MylesFalworth"--he began, violently, and then stopped short, drawinghis bushy eyebrows together into a frown stern, if not sinister.
Myles withstood his look calmly and impassively, and presentlythe Earl turned on his heel, and strode to the open window. Along time passed in silence while he stood there, gazing out ofthe window into the garden beyond with his back to the young man.
Suddenly he swung around again. "Sir Myles," said he, "the familyof Falworth is as good as any in Derbyshire. Just now it is poorand fallen in estate, but if it is again placed in credit andhonor, thou, who art the son of the house, shalt have thy suitweighed with as much respect and consideration as though thouwert my peer in all things, Such is my answer. Art thousatisfied?""I could ask no more," answered Myles.
