Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/273

Rh grant no quarter except, as already said, to the Lady Mortimer and her youthful son.

"Besides the surrender of the castle, the Count demands also that the said pretended minstrel or friar shall be dismissed from the protection of the castle or its garrison that he may be soundly flogged, and then hanged for a warning to all of his kind, practicers of evil acts and sorcery.

"The Count de Ferrers, to remove all doubt from the minds of any of the garrison, will show the captured spy within sight of the castle as near as may be prudent.

"So witness the seal and mark of Guy, Count de Ferrers, hereto attached, and the hand of his scribe, Luke Fletcher, commonly known as Luke the Lurdane, this tenth day before the kalends of December, A. D. 1270."

The Friar put down the long letter, and was lost in thought. He saw no reason for doubting the capture of the Lady Amabel, and that once granted, there was nothing improbable in the Count's letter. The resistance had been so obstinate that his granting of terms in the hope of terminating the fighting was plausible enough; while the threat against the Friar himself might be explained by the superstition of the Count and the resentment caused by the explosion of the