One day, a little before the good priest returned to Saint Mary'sPriory, as he sat by Myles's bedside, his hands folded, and hissight turned inward, the young man suddenly said, "Tell me, holyfather, is it always wrong for man to slay man?"The good priest sat silent for so long a time that Myles began tothink he had not heard the question. But by-and-by he answered,almost with a sigh, "It is a hard question, my son, but I must intruth say, meseems it is not always wrong.""Sir," said Myles, "I have been in battle when men were slain,but never did I think thereon as I have upon this matter. Did Isin in so slaying my father's enemy?"
"Nay," said Prior Edward, quietly, "thou didst not sin. It wasfor others thou didst fight, my son, and for others it ispardonable to do battle. Had it been thine own quarrel, it mighthaply have been more hard to have answered thee."Who can gainsay, even in these days of light, the truth of thisthat the good priest said to the sick lad so far away in thepast?
One day the Earl of Mackworth came to visit Myles. At that timethe young knight was mending, and was sitting propped up withpillows, and was wrapped in Sir James Lee's cloak, for the daywas chilly. After a little time of talk, a pause of silence fell.
"My Lord," said Myles, suddenly, "dost thou remember one part ofa matter we spoke of when I first came from France?"The Earl made no pretence of ignorance. "I remember," said he,quietly, looking straight into the young man's thin white face.
"And have I yet won the right to ask for the Lady Alice deMowbray to wife?" said Myles, the red rising faintly to hischeeks.
"Thou hast won it," said the Earl, with a smile.
Myles's eyes shone and his lips trembled with the pang of suddenjoy and triumph, for he was still very weak. "My Lord," said he,presently "belike thou camest here to see me for this verymatter?"The Earl smiled again without answering, and Myles knew that hehad guessed aright. He reached out one of his weak, pallid handsfrom beneath the cloak. The Earl of Mackworth took it with a firmpressure, then instantly quitting it again, rose, as if ashamedof his emotion, stamped his feet, as though in pretence of beingchilled, and then crossed the room to where the fire crackledbrightly in the great stone fireplace.
Little else remains to be told; only a few loose strands to tie,and the story is complete.
Though Lord Falworth was saved from death at the block, thoughhis honor was cleansed from stain, he was yet as poor and needyas ever. The King, in spite of all the pressure brought to bearupon him, refused to restore the estates of Falworth andEasterbridge--the latter of which had again reverted to the crownupon the death of the Earl of Alban without issue--upon thegrounds that they had been forfeited not because of the attaintof treason, but because of Lord Falworth having refused torespond to the citation of the courts. So the business draggedalong for month after month, until in January the King diedsuddenly in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster. Then matterswent smoothly enough, and Falworth and Mackworth swam upon theflood-tide of fortune.
So Myles was married, for how else should the story end? And oneday he brought his beautiful young wife home to Falworth Castle,which his father had given him for his own, and at the gateway ofwhich he was met by Sir James Lee and by the newly-knighted SirFrancis Gascoyne.
One day, soon after this home-coming, as he stood with her at anopen window into which came blowing the pleasant May-time breeze,he suddenly said, "What didst thou think of me when I first fellalmost into thy lap, like an apple from heaven?""I thought thou wert a great, good-hearted boy, as I think thouart now," said she, twisting his strong, sinewy fingers in andout.
"If thou thoughtst me so then, what a very fool I must havelooked to thee when I so clumsily besought thee for thy favor formy jousting at Devlen. Did I not so?""Thou didst look to me the most noble, handsome young knight thatdid ever live; thou didst look to me Sir Galahad, as they didcall thee, withouten taint or stain."Myles did not even smile in answer, but looked at his wife withsuch a look that she blushed a rosy red. Then, laughing, sheslipped from his hold, and before he could catch her again wasgone.
I am glad that he was to be rich and happy and honored andbeloved after all his hard and noble fighting.
End
