"And this knight was--" interrupted John.
"Sir Thomas De Lany," said the man-at-arms.
"Came thy companions to the castle here?" demanded the king.
"Yea, Your Majesty, some ten days now agone. My master having need of
them hath sent us to call them to him again."
"It is a call they will not answer," said John. "Nor will the brave
knight, Sir Thomas De Lany, answer to my call. De Kirkham, take these
men-at-arms to view the moat by the postern. Now know we who sleep
there. Could we but know the whereabouts of the wife of this traitor,
De Aldithely, and the whereabouts of his son, we were better satisfied.
And now depart we from this place. Raze the walls. Let not one stone
remain upon another.
"And thou, De Skirlaw, and thou, De Kellaw, haste ye both to Newark and
see if the rascal bailiff hath yet found the prisoner. He can speak if
he will, and he must be found."
With feigned zeal the two set out, but, once beyond the view of the
king, their fiery pace lagged to a slow one as they rode toward Selby,
where they were determined to halt for a night's rest. "I care not if
the prisoner be not found," said De Kellaw.
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