Men of Iron

by Howard Pyle

  CHAPTER 22

  And so ended Myles Falworth's boyhood. Three years followed, duringwhich he passed through that state which immediately follows boyhood inall men's lives--a time when they are neither lads nor grown men, butyouths passing from the one to the other period through what is often anuncouth and uncomfortable age.

  He had fancied, when he talked with Gascoyne in the Eyry that time,that he was to become a man all at once; he felt just then that he hadforever done with boyish things. But that is not the way it happens inmen's lives. Changes do not come so suddenly and swiftly as that, but bylittle and little. For three or four days, maybe, he went his new way oflife big with the great change that had come upon him, and then, nowin this and now in that, he drifted back very much into his old waysof boyish doings. As was said, one's young days do not end all at once,even when they be so suddenly and sharply shaken, and Myles was notdifferent from others. He had been stirred to the core by that firstwonderful sight of the great and glorious life of manhood opening beforehim, but he had yet many a sport to enjoy, many a game to play, many aboisterous romp to riot in the dormitory, many an expedition to maketo copse and spinney and river on days when he was off duty, and whenpermission had been granted.

  Nevertheless, there was a great and vital change in his life; a changewhich he hardly felt or realized. Even in resuming his old life therewas no longer the same vitality, the same zest, the same enjoyment inall these things. It seemed as though they were no longer a part ofhimself. The savor had gone from them, and by-and-by it was pleasanterto sit looking on at the sports and the games of the younger lads thanto take active part in them.

  These three years of his life that had thus passed had been very full;full mostly of work, grinding and monotonous; of training dull, dry,laborious. For Sir James Lee was a taskmaster as hard as iron andseemingly as cold as a stone. For two, perhaps for three, weeks Mylesentered into his new exercises with all the enthusiasm that noveltybrings; but these exercises hardly varied a tittle from day to day, andsoon became a duty, and finally a hard and grinding task. He used, inthe earlier days of his castle life, to hate the dull monotony of thetri-weekly hacking at the pels with a heavy broadsword as he hatednothing else; but now, though he still had that exercise to perform, itwas almost a relief from the heavy dulness of riding, riding, riding inthe tilt-yard with shield and lance--couch--recover--en passant.

  But though he had nowadays but little time for boyish plays andescapades, his life was not altogether without relaxation. Now andthen he was permitted to drive in mock battle with other of the youngerknights and bachelors in the paddock near the outer walls. It was astill more welcome change in the routine of his life when, occasionally,he would break a light lance in the tilting-court with Sir EverardWilloughby; Lord George, perhaps, and maybe one or two others of theHall folk, looking on.

  Then one gilded day, when Lord Dudleigh was visiting at Devlen, Mylesran a course with a heavier lance in the presence of the Earl, who camedown to the tilt-yard with his guest to see the young novitiate rideagainst Sir Everard. He did his best, and did it well. Lord Dudleighpraised his poise and carriage, and Lord George, who was present, gavehim an approving smile and nod. But the Earl of Mackworth only satstroking his beard impassively, as was his custom. Myles would havegiven much to know his thoughts.

  In all these years Sir James Lee almost never gave any expression eitherof approbation or disapproval--excepting when Myles exhibited somecarelessness or oversight. Then his words were sharp and harsh enough.More than once Myles's heart failed him, and bitter discouragementtook possession of him; then nothing but his bull-dog tenacity andstubbornness brought him out from the despondency of the dark hours.

  "Sir," he burst out one day, when his heart was heavy with some failure,"tell me, I beseech thee, do I get me any of skill at all? Is it in meever to make a worthy knight, fit to hold lance and sword with othermen, or am I only soothly a dull heavy block, worth naught of any good?"

  "Thou art a fool, sirrah!" answered Sir James, in his grimmest tones."Thinkest thou to learn all of knightly prowess in a year and a half?Wait until thou art ripe, and then I will tell thee if thou art fit tocouch a lance or ride a course with a right knight."

  "Thou art an old bear!" muttered Myles to himself, as the old one-eyedknight turned on his heel and strode away. "Beshrew me! an I show theenot that I am as worthy to couch a lance as thou one of these finedays!"

  However, during the last of the three years the grinding routine of histraining had not been quite so severe as at first. His exercises tookhim more often out into the fields, and it was during this time of hisknightly education that he sometimes rode against some of the castleknights in friendly battle with sword or lance or wooden mace. In theseencounters he always held his own; and held it more than well, though,in his boyish simplicity, he was altogether unconscious of his ownskill, address, and strength. Perhaps it was his very honest modestythat made him so popular and so heartily liked by all.

  He had by this time risen to the place of head squire or chief bachelor,holding the same position that Walter Blunt had occupied when he himselfhad first come, a raw country boy, to Devlen. The lesser squiresand pages fairly worshipped him as a hero, albeit imposing upon hisgood-nature. All took a pride in his practice in knightly exercises, andfabulous tales were current among the young fry concerning his strengthand skill.

  Yet, although Myles was now at the head of his class, he did not,as other chief bachelors had done, take a leading position among thesquires in the Earl's household service. Lord Mackworth, for his owngood reasons, relegated him to the position of Lord George's especialattendant. Nevertheless, the Earl always distinguished him from theother esquires, giving him a cool nod whenever they met; and Myles, uponhis part--now that he had learned better to appreciate how much his Lordhad done for him--would have shed the last drop of blood in his veinsfor the head of the house of Beaumont.

  As for the two young ladies, he often saw them, and sometimes, evenin the presence of the Earl, exchanged a few words with them, and LordMackworth neither forbade it nor seemed to notice it.

  Towards the Lady Anne he felt the steady friendly regard of a lad for agirl older than himself; towards the Lady Alice, now budding into ripeyoung womanhood, there lay deep in his heart the resolve to be some dayher true knight in earnest as he had been her knight in pretence in thattime of boyhood when he had so perilously climbed into the privy garden.

  In body and form he was now a man, and in thought and heart was quicklyripening to manhood, for, as was said before, men matured quickly inthose days. He was a right comely youth, for the promise of his boyishbody had been fulfilled in a tall, powerful, well-knit frame. His facewas still round and boyish, but on cheek and chin and lip was the curlof adolescent beard--soft, yellow, and silky. His eyes were as blueas steel, and quick and sharp in glance as those of a hawk; and as hewalked, his arms swung from his broad, square shoulders, and his bodyswayed with pent-up strength ready for action at any moment.

  If little Lady Alice, hearing much talk of his doings and of his promisein these latter times, thought of him now and then it is a matter notaltogether to be wondered at.

  Such were the changes that three years had wrought. And from now thestory of his manhood really begins.

  Perhaps in all the history of Devlen Castle, even at this, the high tideof pride and greatness of the house of Beaumont, the most notable timewas in the early autumn of the year 1411, when for five days King HenryIV was entertained by the Earl of Mackworth. The King was at that timemaking a progress through certain of the midland counties, and with himtravelled the Comte de Vermoise. The Count was the secret emissary ofthe Dauphin's faction in France, at that time in the very bitterestintensity of the struggle with the Duke of Burgundy, and had come toEngland seeking aid for his master in his quarrel.

  It was not the first time that royalty had visited Devlen. Once, in EarlRobert's day, King Edward II had spent a week at the castle during theperiod of the Scottish w
ars. But at that time it was little else than amilitary post, and was used by the King as such. Now the Beaumonts werein the very flower of their prosperity, and preparations were madefor the coming visit of royalty upon a scale of such magnificence andsplendor as Earl Robert, or perhaps even King Edward himself, had neverdreamed.

  For weeks the whole castle had been alive with folk hurrying hither andthither; and with the daily and almost hourly coming of pack-horses,laden with bales and boxes, from London. From morning to night one heardthe ceaseless chip-chipping of the masons' hammers, and saw carriersof stones and mortar ascending and descending the ladders of thescaffolding that covered the face of the great North Hall. Within, thatpart of the building was alive with the scraping of the carpenters'saws, the clattering of lumber, and the rapping and banging of hammers.

  The North Hall had been assigned as the lodging place for the King andhis court, and St. George's Hall (as the older building adjoining it wascalled) had been set apart as the lodging of the Comte de Vermoise andthe knights and gentlemen attendant upon him.

  The great North Hall had been very much altered and changed for theaccommodation of the King and his people; a beautiful gallery of carvedwood-work had been built within and across the south end of the room forthe use of the ladies who were to look down upon the ceremonies below.Two additional windows had been cut through the wall and glazed, andpassage-ways had been opened connecting with the royal apartmentsbeyond. In the bedchamber a bed of carved wood and silver had beenbuilt into the wall, and had been draped with hangings of pale blue andsilver, and a magnificent screen of wrought-iron and carved wood hadbeen erected around the couch; rich and beautiful tapestries broughtfrom Italy and Flanders were hung upon the walls; cushions of velvetsand silks stuffed with down covered benches and chairs. The floor ofthe hall was spread with mats of rushes stained in various colors, woveninto curious patterns, and in the smaller rooms precious carpets ofarras were laid on the cold stones.

  All of the cadets of the House had been assembled; all of thegentlemen in waiting, retainers and clients. The castle seemed full tooverflowing; even the dormitory of the squires was used as a lodgingplace for many of the lesser gentry.

  So at last, in the midst of all this bustle of preparation, came the dayof days when the King was to arrive. The day before a courier had comebringing the news that he was lodging at Donaster Abbey overnight, andwould make progress the next day to Devlen.

  That morning, as Myles was marshalling the pages and squires, and, withthe list of names in his hand, was striving to evolve some order outof the confusion, assigning the various individuals their specialduties--these to attend in the household, those to ride in theescort--one of the gentlemen of Lord George's household came with anorder for him to come immediately to the young nobleman's apartments.Myles hastily turned over his duties to Gascoyne and Wilkes, and thenhurried after the messenger. He found Lord George in the antechamber,three gentlemen squires arming him in a magnificent suit of ribbedMilan.

  He greeted Myles with a nod and a smile as the lad entered. "Sirrah,"said he, "I have had a talk with Mackworth this morn concerning thee,and have a mind to do thee an honor in my poor way. How wouldst thoulike to ride to-day as my special squire of escort?"

  Myles flushed to the roots of his hair. "Oh, sir!" he cried, eagerly,"an I be not too ungainly for thy purpose, no honor in all the worldcould be such joy to me as that!"

  Lord George laughed. "A little matter pleases thee hugely," said he;"but as to being ungainly, who so sayeth that of thee belieth thee,Myles; thou art not ungainly, sirrah. But that is not to the point. Ihave chosen thee for my equerry to-day; so make thou haste and don thinearmor, and then come hither again, and Hollingwood will fit thee with awreathed bascinet I have within, and a juppon embroidered with my armsand colors."

  When Myles had made his bow and left his patron, he flew across thequadrangle, and burst into the armory upon Gascoyne, whom he found stilllingering there, chatting with one or two of the older bachelors.

  "What thinkest thou, Francis?" he cried, wild with excitement. "An honorhath been done me this day I could never have hoped to enjoy. Out ofall this household, Lord George hath chose me his equerry for the day toride to meet the King. Come, hasten to help me to arm! Art thou not gladof this thing for my sake, Francis?"

  "Aye, glad am I indeed!" cried Gascoyne, that generous friend; "ratheralmost would I have this befall thee than myself!" And indeed he washardly less jubilant than Myles over the honor.

  Five minutes later he was busy arming him in the little room at the endof the dormitory which had been lately set apart for the use of the headbachelor. "And to think," he said, looking up as he kneeled, strappingthe thigh-plates to his friend's legs, "that he should have chosen theebefore all others of the fine knights and lords and gentlemen of qualitythat are here!"

  "Yea," said Myles, "it passeth wonder. I know not why he should sosingle me out for such an honor. It is strangely marvellous."

  "Nay," said Gascoyne, "there is no marvel in it, and I know right wellwhy he chooseth thee. It is because he sees, as we all see, that thouart the stoutest and the best-skilled in arms, and most easy of carriageof any man in all this place."

  Myles laughed. "An thou make sport of me," said he, "I'll rap thy headwith this dagger hilt. Thou art a silly fellow, Francis, to talk so. Buttell me, hast thou heard who rides with my Lord?"

  "Yea, I heard Wilkes say anon that it was Sir James Lee."

  "I am right glad of that," said Myles; "for then he will show me what todo and how to bear myself. It frights me to think what would hap shouldI make some mistake in my awkwardness. Methinks Lord George would neverhave me with him more should I do amiss this day."

  "Never fear," said Gascoyne; "thou wilt not do amiss."

  And now, at last, the Earl, Lord George, and all their escort wereready; then the orders were given to horse, the bugle sounded, and awaythey all rode, with clashing of iron hoofs and ringing and jinglingof armor, out into the dewy freshness of the early morning, the slantyellow sun of autumn blazing and flaming upon polished helmets andshields, and twinkling like sparks of fire upon spear points. Myles'sheart thrilled within him for pure joy, and he swelled out his sturdyyoung breast with great draughts of the sweet fresh air that camesinging across the sunny hill-tops. Sir James Lee, who acted as theEarl's equerry for the day, rode at a little distance, and there was analmost pathetic contrast between the grim, steadfast impassiveness ofthe tough old warrior and Myles's passionate exuberance of youth.

  At the head of the party rode the Earl and his brother side by side,each clad cap-a-pie in a suit of Milan armor, the cuirass of eachcovered with a velvet juppon embroidered in silver with the arms andquarterings of the Beaumonts. The Earl wore around his neck an "S S"collar, with a jewelled St. George hanging from it, and upon his head avizored bascinet, ornamented with a wreath covered with black and yellowvelvet and glistening with jewels.

  Lord George, as was said before, was clad in a beautiful suit of ribbedMilan armor. It was rimmed with a thin thread of gold, and, like hisbrother, he wore a bascinet wreathed with black and yellow velvet.

  Behind the two brothers and their equerries rode the rest in theirproper order--knights, gentlemen, esquires, men-at-arms--to the number,perhaps, of two hundred and fifty; spears and lances aslant, andbanners, permons, and pencels of black and yellow fluttering in the warmSeptember air.

  From the castle to the town they rode, and then across the bridge, andthence clattering up through the stony streets, where the folk lookeddown upon them from the windows above, or crowded the fronts of theshops of the tradesmen. Lusty cheers were shouted for the Earl, but thegreat Lord rode staring ever straight before him, as unmoved as a stone.Then out of the town they clattered, and away in a sweeping cloud ofdust across the country-side.

  It was not until they had reached the windy top of Willoughby Croft, tenmiles away, that they met the King and his company. As the two partiesapproached to within forty or fifty yards of one
another they stopped.

  As they came to a halt, Myles observed that a gentleman dressed ina plain blue-gray riding-habit, and sitting upon a beautiful whitegelding, stood a little in advance of the rest of the party, and he knewthat that must be the King. Then Sir James nodded to Myles, and leapingfrom his horse, flung the reins to one of the attendants. Myles didthe like; and then, still following Sir James's lead as he servedLord Mackworth, went forward and held Lord George's stirrup while hedismounted. The two noblemen quickly removed each his bascinet, andMyles, holding the bridle-rein of Lord George's horse with his lefthand, took the helmet in his right, resting it upon his hip.

  Then the two brothers walked forward bare-headed, the Earl, a little inadvance. Reaching the King he stopped, and then bent his knee--stifflyin the armored plates--until it touched the ground. Thereupon the Kingreached him his hand, and he, rising again, took it, and set it to hislips.

  Then Lord George, advancing, kneeled as his brother had kneeled, and tohim also the King gave his hand.

  Myles could hear nothing, but he could see that a few words of greetingpassed between the three, and then the King, turning, beckoned to aknight who stood just behind him and a little in advance of the othersof the troop. In answer, the knight rode forward; the King spoke a fewwords of introduction, and the stranger, ceremoniously drawing off hisright gauntlet, clasped the hand, first of the Earl, and then of LordGeorge. Myles knew that he must be the great Comte de Vermoise, of whomhe had heard so much of late.

  A few moments of conversation followed, and then the King bowedslightly. The French nobleman instantly reined back his horse, an orderwas given, and then the whole company moved forward, the two brotherswalking upon either side of the King, the Earl lightly touching thebridle-rein with his bare hand.

  Whilst all this was passing, the Earl of Mackworth's company had beendrawn up in a double line along the road-side, leaving the way open tothe other party. As the King reached the head of the troop, another haltfollowed while he spoke a few courteous words of greeting to some of thelesser nobles attendant upon the Earl whom he knew.

  In that little time he was within a few paces of Myles, who stoodmotionless as a statue, holding the bascinet and the bridle-rein of LordGeorge's horse.

  What Myles saw was a plain, rather stout man, with a face fat, smooth,and waxy, with pale-blue eyes, and baggy in the lids; clean shaven,except for a mustache and tuft covering lips and chin. Somehow he felta deep disappointment. He had expected to see something lion-like,something regal, and, after all, the great King Henry was commonplace,fat, unwholesome-looking. It came to him with a sort of a shock that,after all, a King was in nowise different from other men.

  Meanwhile the Earl and his brother replaced their bascinets, andpresently the whole party moved forward upon the way to Mackworth.