" Then he rode slowly on to his home.
He had but entered the great square courtyard when the retainer came in
on a gallop. "Your lordship, it be this," he said. "They have but just
struck the trail of the young Lord De Aldithely and will presently run
him to earth, hoping for the reward offered by the king. He rideth now
disguised as a lady, and the serving-man rideth as his esquire."
Now Lord De Launay was he who in the guise of a scullion had set Walter
Skinner free, and all for the friendship he bore Josceline's father. So
calling up twenty of his men-at-arms he sent them in pursuit. "No doubt
they ride to Dover," he said. "Make haste to come up with them. Bid the
young lord cast aside his woman's garb, and stay ye by them as an
escort on the road. Leave them not till they be safely aboard ship and
off to France."
The men-at-arms of Lord De Launay were of the best of that time, being
both bold and faithful, and their master stood but little in awe of the
king. Not that he openly flouted the king's authority, but that, at all
times, he dared to pursue the course that seemed to him best.
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