The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle (ereader manga TXT) π
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
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βA sorry shepherd!β said Alleyne humbly. βBut here is your noble father.β
βAnd you shall see how worthy a pupil I am. Father, I am much beholden to this young clerk, who was of service to me and helped me this very morning in Minstead Woods, four miles to the north of the Christchurch road, where I had no call to be, you having ordered it otherwise.β All this she reeled off in a loud voice, and then glanced with sidelong, questioning eyes at Alleyne for his approval.
Sir Nigel, who had entered the room with a silvery-haired old lady upon his arm, stared aghast at this sudden outburst of candor.
βMaude, Maude!β said he, shaking his head, βit is more hard for me to gain obedience from you than from the ten score drunken archers who followed me to Guienne. Yet, hush! little one, for your fair lady-mother will be here anon, and there is no need that she should know it. We will keep you from the provost-marshal this journey. Away to your chamber, sweeting, and keep a blithe face, for she who confesses is shriven. And now, fair mother,β he continued, when his daughter had gone, βsit you here by the fire, for your blood runs colder than it did. Alleyne Edricson, I would have a word with you, for I would fain that you should take service under me. And here in good time comes my lady, without whose counsel it is not my wont to decide aught of import; but, indeed, it was her own thought that you should come.β
βFor I have formed a good opinion of you, and can see that you are one who may be trusted,β said the Lady Loring. βAnd in good sooth my dear lord hath need of such a one by his side, for he recks so little of himself that there should be one there to look to his needs and meet his wants. You have seen the cloisters; it were well that you should see the world too, ere you make choice for life between them.β
βIt was for that very reason that my father willed that I should come forth into the world at my twentieth year,β said Alleyne.
βThen your father was a man of good counsel,β said she, βand you cannot carry out his will better than by going on this path, where all that is noble and gallant in England will be your companions.β
βYou can ride?β asked Sir Nigel, looking at the youth with puckered eyes.
βYes, I have ridden much at the abbey.β
βYet there is a difference betwixt a friar's hack and a warrior's destrier. You can sing and play?β
βOn citole, flute and rebeck.β
βGood! You can read blazonry?β
βIndifferent well.β
βThen read this,β quoth Sir Nigel, pointing upwards to one of the many quarterings which adorned the wall over the fireplace.
βArgent,β Alleyne answered, βa fess azure charged with three lozenges dividing three mullets sable. Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a jambe gules.β
βA jambe gules erased,β said Sir Nigel, shaking his head solemnly. βYet it is not amiss for a monk-bred man. I trust that you are lowly and serviceable?β
βI have served all my life, my lord.β
βCanst carve too?β
βI have carved two days a week for the brethren.β
βA model truly! Wilt make a squire of squires. But tell me, I pray, canst curl hair?β
βNo, my lord, but I could learn.β
βIt is of import,β said he, βfor I love to keep my hair well ordered, seeing that the weight of my helmet for thirty years hath in some degree frayed it upon the top.β He pulled off his velvet cap of maintenance as he spoke, and displayed a pate which was as bald as an egg, and shone bravely in the firelight. βYou see,β said he, whisking round, and showing one little strip where a line of scattered hairs, like the last survivors in some fatal field, still barely held their own against the fate which had fallen upon their comrades; βthese locks need some little oiling and curling, for I doubt not that if you look slantwise at my head, when the light is good, you will yourself perceive that there are places where the hair is sparse.β
βIt is for you also to bear the purse,β said the lady; βfor my sweet lord is of so free and gracious a temper that he would give it gayly to the first who asked alms of him. All these things, with some knowledge of venerie, and of the management of horse, hawk and hound, with the grace and hardihood and courtesy which are proper to your age, will make you a fit squire for Sir Nigel Loring.β
βAlas! lady,β Alleyne answered, βI know well the great honor that you have done me in deeming me worthy to wait upon so renowned a knight, yet I am so conscious of my own weakness that I scarce dare incur duties which I might be so ill-fitted to fulfil.β
βModesty and a humble mind,β said she, βare the very first and rarest gifts in page or squire. Your words prove that you have these, and all the rest is but the work of use and time. But there is no call for haste. Rest upon it for the night, and let your orisons ask for guidance in the matter. We knew your father well, and would fain help his son, though we have small cause to love your brother the Socman, who is forever stirring up strife in the county.β
βWe can scarce hope,β said Nigel, βto have all ready for our start before the feast of St. Luke, for there is much to be done in the time. You will have leisure, therefore, if it please you to take service under me, in which to learn your devoir. Bertrand, my daughter's page, is hot to go; but in sooth he is over young for such rough work as may be before us.β
βAnd I have one favor to crave from you,β added the lady of the castle, as Alleyne turned to leave their presence. βYou have, as I understand, much learning which you have acquired at Beaulieu.β
βLittle enough, lady, compared with those who were my teachers.β
βYet enough for my purpose, I doubt not. For I would have you give an hour or two a day whilst you are with us in discoursing with my daughter, the Lady Maude; for she is somewhat backward, I fear, and hath no love for letters, save for these poor fond romances, which do but fill her empty head with dreams of enchanted maidens and of errant cavaliers. Father Christopher comes over after nones from the priory, but he is stricken with years and slow of speech, so that she gets small profit from his teaching. I would have you do what you can with her, and with Agatha my young tire-woman, and with Dorothy Pierpont.β
And so Alleyne found himself not
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