Men of Iron

  CHAPTER 29

  That night Myles lodged at Mackworth House. The next morning, as soonas he had broken his fast, which he did in the privacy of his ownapartments, the Earl bade him and Gascoyne to make ready for the barge,which was then waiting at the river stairs to take them to ScotlandYard.

  The Earl himself accompanied them, and as the heavy snub-nosed boat,rowed by the six oarsmen in Mackworth livery, slid slowly and heavilyup against the stream, the Earl, leaning back in his cushioned seat,pointed out the various inns of the great priests or nobles; palatialtown residences standing mostly a little distance back from the waterbehind terraced high-walled gardens and lawns. Yon was the Bishop ofExeter's Close; yon was the Bishop of Bath's; that was York House; andthat Chester Inn. So passing by gardens and lawns and palaces, they cameat last to Scotland Yard stairs, a broad flight of marble steps that ledupward to a stone platform above, upon which opened the gate-way of thegarden beyond.

  The Scotland Yard of Myles Falworth's day was one of the morepretentious and commodious of the palaces of the Strand. It took itsname from having been from ancient times the London inn which thetributary Kings of Scotland occupied when on their periodical visits ofhomage to England. Now, during this time of Scotland's independence, thePrince of Wales had taken up his lodging in the old palace, and made itnoisy with the mad, boisterous mirth of his court.

  As the watermen drew the barge close to the landing-place of the stairs,the Earl stepped ashore, and followed by Myles and Gascoyne, ascendedto the broad gate-way of the river wall of the garden. Three men-at-armswho lounged upon a bench under the shade of the little pent roof of aguard-house beside the wall, arose and saluted as the well-known figureof the Earl mounted the steps. The Earl nodded a cool answer, andpassing unchallenged through the gate, led the way up a pleached walk,beyond which, as Myles could see, there stretched a little grassy lawnand a stone-paved terrace. As the Earl and the two young men approachedthe end of the walk, they were met by the sound of voices and laughter,the clinking of glasses and the rattle of dishes. Turning a corner,they came suddenly upon a party of young gentlemen, who sat at a latebreakfast under the shade of a wide-spreading lime-tree. They hadevidently just left the tilt-yard, for two of the guests--sturdy,thick-set young knights--yet wore a part of their tilting armor.

  Behind the merry scene stood the gray, hoary old palace, a steep flightof stone steps, and a long, open, stone-arched gallery, which evidentlyled to the kitchen beyond, for along it hurried serving-men, running upand down the tall flight of steps, and bearing trays and dishes and cupsand flagons. It was a merry sight and a pleasant one. The day was warmand balmy, and the yellow sunlight fell in waving uncertain patches oflight, dappling the table-cloth, and twinkling and sparkling upon thedishes, cups, and flagons.

  At the head of the table sat a young man some three or four yearsolder than Myles, dressed in a full suit of rich blue brocaded velvet,embroidered with gold-thread and trimmed with black fur. His face, whichwas turned towards them as they mounted from the lawn to the littlestone-flagged terrace, was frank and open; the cheeks smooth and fair;the eyes dark and blue. He was tall and rather slight, and wore histhick yellow hair hanging to his shoulders, where it was cut squareacross, after the manner of the times. Myles did not need to be toldthat it was the Prince of Wales.

  "Ho, Gaffer Fox!" he cried, as soon as he caught sight of the Earl ofMackworth, "what wind blows thee hither among us wild mallard drakes?I warrant it is not for love of us, but only to fill thine own larderafter the manner of Sir Fox among the drakes. Whom hast thou with thee?Some gosling thou art about to pluck?"

  A sudden hush fell upon the company, and all faces were turned towardsthe visitors.

  The Earl bowed with a soft smile. "Your Highness," said he, smoothly,"is pleased to be pleasant. Sir, I bring you the young knight of whom Ispoke to you some time since--Sir Myles Falworth. You may be pleased tobring to mind that you so condescended as to promise to take him intoyour train until the fitting time arrived for that certain matter ofwhich we spoke."

  "Sir Myles," said the Prince of Wales, with a frank, pleasant smile, "Ihave heard great reports of thy skill and prowess in France, both fromMackworth and from others. It will pleasure me greatly to have thee inmy household; more especially," he added, "as it will get thee, callowas thou art, out of my Lord Fox's clutches. Our faction cannot dowithout the Earl of Mackworth's cunning wits, Sir Myles; ne'theless Iwould not like to put all my fate and fortune into his hands withoutbond. I hope that thou dost not rest thy fortunes entirely upon his aidand countenance."

  All who were present felt the discomfort of the Prince's speech, It wasevident that one of his mad, wild humors was upon him. In another casethe hare-brained young courtiers around might have taken their cuefrom him, but the Earl of Mackworth was no subject for their gibesand witticisms. A constrained silence fell, in which the Earl alonemaintained a perfect ease of manner.

  Myles bowed to hide his own embarrassment. "Your Highness," said he,evasively, "I rest my fortune, first of all, upon God, His strength andjustice."

  "Thou wilt find safer dependence there than upon the Lord of Mackworth,"said the Prince, dryly. "But come," he added, with a sudden change ofvoice and manner, "these be jests that border too closely upon bitterearnest for a merry breakfast. It is ill to idle with edged tools. Wiltthou not stay and break thy fast with us, my Lord?"

  "Pardon me, your Highness," said the Earl, bowing, and smiling the samesmooth smile his lips had worn from the first--such a smile as Myleshad never thought to have seen upon his haughty face; "I crave your goodleave to decline. I must return home presently, for even now, haply,your uncle, his Grace of Winchester, is awaiting my coming upon thebusiness you wot of. Haply your Highness will find more joyance in alusty young knight like Sir Myles than in an old fox like myself. So Ileave him with you, in your good care."

  Such was Myles's introduction to the wild young madcap Prince of Wales,afterwards the famous Henry V, the conqueror of France.

  For a month or more thereafter he was a member of the princelyhousehold, and, after a little while, a trusted and honored member.Perhaps it was the calm sturdy strength, the courage of the youngknight, that first appealed to the Prince's royal heart; perhapsafterwards it was the more sterling qualities that underlaid thatcourage that drew him to the young man; certain it was that in two weeksMyles was the acknowledged favorite. He made no protestation of virtue;he always accompanied the Prince in those madcap ventures to London,where he beheld all manner of wild revelry; he never held himself alooffrom his gay comrades, but he looked upon all their mad sports with thesame calm gaze that had carried him without taint through the courts ofBurgundy and the Dauphin. The gay, roistering young lords and gentlemendubbed him Saint Myles, and jested with him about hair-cloth shirtsand flagellations, but witticism and jest alike failed to move Myles'spatient virtue; he went his own gait in the habits of his life, and inso going knew as little as the others of the mad court that the Prince'sgrowing liking for him was, perhaps, more than all else, on account ofthat very temperance.

  Then, by-and-by, the Prince began to confide in him as he did in none ofthe others. There was no great love betwixt the King and his son; it hashappened very often that the Kings of England have felt bitter jealousytowards the heirs-apparent as they have grown in power, and such was thecase with the great King Henry IV. The Prince often spoke to Myles ofthe clashing and jarring between himself and his father, and the thoughtbegan to come to Myles's mind by degrees that maybe the King's jealousyaccounted not a little for the Prince's reckless intemperance.

  Once, for instance, as the Prince leaned upon, his shoulder waiting,whilst the attendants made ready the barge that was to carry them downthe river to the city, he said, abruptly: "Myles, what thinkest thou ofus all? Doth not thy honesty hold us in contempt?"

  "Nay, Highness," said Myles. "How could I hold contempt?"

  "Marry," said the Prince, "I myself hold contempt, and am not as honesta man as thou. But, pr
ithee, have patience with me, Myles. Some day,perhaps, I too will live a clean life. Now, an I live seriously, theKing will be more jealous of me than ever, and that is not a little.Maybe I live thus so that he may not know what I really am in soothlyearnest."

  The Prince also often talked to Myles concerning his own affairs; ofthe battle he was to fight for his father's honor, of how the Earl ofMackworth had plotted and planned to bring him face to face with theEarl of Alban. He spoke to Myles more than once of the many greatchanges of state and party that hung upon the downfall of the enemyof the house of Falworth, and showed him how no hand but his own couldstrike that enemy down; if he fell, it must be through the son ofFalworth. Sometimes it seemed to Myles as though he and his blind fatherwere the centre of a great web of plot and intrigue, stretching far andwide, that included not only the greatest houses of England, but royaltyand the political balance of the country as well, and even before thegreatness of it all he did not flinch.

  Then, at last, came the beginning of the time for action. It was in theearly part of May, and Myles had been a member of the Prince's householdfor a little over a month. One morning he was ordered to attend thePrince in his privy cabinet, and, obeying the summons, he found thePrince, his younger brother, the Duke of Bedford, and his uncle, theBishop of Winchester, seated at a table, where they had just beenrefreshing themselves with a flagon of wine and a plate of wafers.

  "My poor Myles," said the Prince, smiling, as the young knight bowed tothe three, and then stood erect, as though on duty. "It shames my heart,brother--and thou, uncle--it shames my heart to be one privy to thisthing which we are set upon to do. Here be we, the greatest Lords ofEngland, making a cat's-paw of this lad--for he is only yet a boy--andof his blind father, for to achieve our ends against Alban's faction. Itseemeth not over-honorable to my mind."

  "Pardon me, your Highness," said Myles, blushing to the roots of hishair; "but, an I may be so bold as to speak, I reck nothing of what youraims may be; I only look to restoring my father's honor and the honor ofour house."

  "Truly," said the Prince, smiling, "that is the only matter that makethme willing to lay my hands to this business. Dost thou know why I havesent for thee? It is because this day thou must challenge the Duke ofAlban before the King. The Earl of Mackworth has laid all his plans andthe time is now ripe. Knowest that thy father is at Mackworth House?"

  "Nay," said Myles; "I knew it not."

  "He hath been there for nearly two days," said the Prince. "Just now theEarl hath sent for us to come first to Mackworth House. Then to goto the palace, for he hath gained audience with the King, and hath soarranged it that the Earl of Alban is to be there as well. We all gostraightway; so get thyself ready as soon as may be."

  Perhaps Myles's heart began beating more quickly within him at thenearness of that great happening which he had looked forward to for solong. If it did, he made no sign of his emotion, but only asked, "Howmust I clothe myself, your Highness?"

  "Wear thy light armor," said the Prince, "but no helmet, a jupponbearing the arms and colors that the Earl gave thee when thou wertknighted, and carry thy right-hand gauntlet under thy belt for thychallenge. Now make haste, for time passes."