Page:A C Doyle - The White Company.djvu/351

Rh abace, the credence, the buffet with its silver salver, and the half-circle of friendly wondering faces. There was an utter stillness, save for the sharp breathing of the Lady Tiphaine and for the gentle soughing of the wind outside, which wafted to their ears the distant call upon a swineherd's horn.

'The danger may bide,' said he, shrugging his broad shoulders. 'And now, Tiphaine, tell us what will come of this war in Spain.'

'I can see little,' she answered, straining her eyes and puckering her brow, as one who would fain clear her sight. 'There are mountains, and dry plains, and flash of arms, and shouting of battle-cries. Yet it is whispered to me that by failure you will succeed.'

'Ha! Sir Nigel, how like you that?' quoth Bertrand, shaking his head. 'It is like mead and vinegar, half sweet, half sour. And is there no question which you would ask my lady?'

'Certes there is. I would fain know, fair lady, how all things are at Twynham Castle, and above all how my sweet lady employs herself.'

'To answer this I would fain lay hand upon one whose thoughts turn strongly to this castle which you have named. Nay, my Lord Loring, it is whispered to me that there is another here who hath thought more deeply of it than you.'

'Thought more of mine own home?' cried Sir Nigel. 'Lady, I fear that in this matter at least you are mistaken.'

'Not so, Sir Nigel. Come hither, young man, young English squire with the grey eyes! Now give me your hand, and place it here across my brow, that I may see that which you have seen. What is this that rises before me? Mist, mist, rolling mist with a square black tower above it. See it shreds out, it thins, it rises, and there lies a castle in a green plain, with the sea beneath it, and a great church within a bow-shot. There are two rivers which run through the meadows, and between them lie the tents of the besiegers.'

'The besiegers!' cried Alleyne, Ford, and Sir Nigel all three in a breath.