"Mayhap, Sir Aymery," said the king; "nevertheless, no punishment could be too severe for your ingratitude and the treachery you have meditated; and, were Philip of Valois in my place, he would send you straight to the gallows. But do as I bid, and I promise that your life shall be spared. Nay, speak not, but listen. It is my wish that you continue this treaty; that you say nothing of my having discovered your treason; and that you inform me of the day on which you engage to deliver up Calais."
"Sire, I will obey you in all things," cried the Lombard, inspired with feelings similar to those that animate the heart of a man suddenly rescued from the danger of being swallowed up in the sea.
"Well, then," added the king, "on these conditions I promise you my pardon, and, that you may earn it, your first duty is to return to your post at Calais, to keep the nature of our interview secret, even from the wild winds, and, on peril of your life, not again to be false to me for a moment, even in your thoughts."
"Sire," said the Lombard earnestly, "I swear on my soul, to handle the business so that it shall turn out wholly for your advantage."
From the first hour of my arrival at Westminster, after returning from Calais, I had naturally been eager to visit my grandsire's homestead, of which, in the midst of battles and sieges, I had often dreamt pleasant dreams when stretched at rest on a foreign soil. But I felt, in some degree, responsible for the warning I had brought to England as to Calais being in peril; and during the time that elapsed between my communication to the Prince of Wales and the arrival of Aymery de Pavie I did not deem myself quite at liberty to leave the palace. No sooner, however, did I ascertain this much, at least, that the result of the Lombard's interview with the king had justified my intelligence, than I asked, and obtained, permission to repair, for a brief period, to the scene of my childhood.
Resolving to set out betimes next day, I availed myself of the interval to proceed to the Falcon, and hear such tidings of my kinsfolk as Thomelin of Winchester could impart. As I left the courtyard of the palace in a joyous mood, I encountered Lord De Ov, who was entering on horseback and with high feudal pride; and again he eyed me with a display of malice which renewed all the perplexity which his conduct had so frequently created in my mind.