CHAPTER LXXIII

THE CHALLENGE

It was the month of May, and Gaston Phæbus, Count of Foix, was the guest of the Prince and Princess of Wales; and thither also had come Roger, Lord De Ov; and I, having just returned from an expedition to Angoulême, was seated at dinner in the city of Bordeaux, the day being a Wednesday, when Sir Richard de Pontcharden, the Marshal of Guienne, came to me, and said--

"Winram, know you of what things you are openly accused?"

"On my faith I do not, Sir Richard," replied I; "and beshrew me if I can guess to what you allude."

"In truth," said Sir Richard, kindly taking my hand, "I fully credit what you say. Nevertheless, I deem it right to warn you that, since your departure, there has been a plot discovered for delivering some towns up to the French, and that of this plot your name is bruited about as one of the authors."

I was literally struck dumb with amazement; and I gazed on the marshal in silence.

"Why gaze you on me thus?" asked he.

"By my sooth," replied I, suddenly recovering my speech, "I may well indeed be astonished at such a charge, considering that even the existence of such a plot was unknown to me. But who may be my accuser?"

"I know not," answered Sir Richard, significantly; "but this I do know, that the prince partly believes it, and that, were I in your place, I should hasten to the prince's presence, and demand his name forthwith."

"You are right," said I with energy. "Not a moment must be lost in meeting this calumny and this calumniator face to face, and, it may be, hand to hand."

And without hesitation I proceeded to crave an audience of the prince, and was, without delay, admitted to his presence.

As I presented myself, I felt how truly the marshal had spoken. It was evident that I was the object of strong suspicion. Even if I had not been warned, I should have felt instinctively that something was wrong. Never had young Edward's aspect been to me so grave or so ungracious. But I was too strong in the consciousness of my innocence to be cast down, even before the frown of a prince and a Plantagenet. In truth, I was perfectly calm; and, after bending my knee, I drew myself to my full height, and spoke clearly and boldly.

"My lord," said I, not without scorn of the thought of being suspected, "it has come to my knowledge that I have, in my absence, been accused of conspiring with the enemies of England. I am here to deny the charge, and to demand to be placed face to face with my accuser."

The prince did not answer even a word; but he ordered Lord De Ov to be summoned; and when my adversary appeared, which he did almost on the instant, I felt, with something like exultation, that at length there was a prospect of our quarrel being brought to a decisive issue, and that, with a just cause, I could not fail to conquer.

The prince, meanwhile, turned to me, and, with the frown still on his brow, said gravely--

"There stands your accuser."

And now I cannot relate what passed; but a furious dispute, which the presence of the prince scarcely served to moderate, certainly did take place; and I recited all the hostility Lord De Ov had evinced towards me, and the persecution to which I had been exposed at his hands, not forgetting the incident of Caen, on which I was loud, if not eloquent. But I did not stop even at this point. I traced the enmity to its origin. Vehemently I narrated all the wrongs which my father had suffered, and which I had vowed to avenge, and astounded the prince by stating in a voice of thunder, that this man, who now laboured to ruin my fair fame, bore the name and occupied the place which were mine by hereditary right. At length matters reached such a stage that I threw down my glove, and appealed to the god of battles; and Lord De Ov expressed his willingness to submit the quarrel to the arbitrament of the sword.

But for a time there appeared, notwithstanding my entreaties, some doubt whether a combat would be permitted under the circumstances. In fact, the prince, who was perplexed by the turn which the quarrel had taken, entertained serious scruples. Fortunately, however, he consulted his guest, the Count of Foix; and Gaston Phæbus, who enjoyed a high reputation for wisdom, after some meditation, decided in favour of allowing the duel.

"In truth," said he, "I think that this is a case in which an appeal to the god of battles ought to be permitted; for it is a case which no man, without great discretion and knowledge, could undertake to decide, one way or another; and at all times, the judgment of God is more likely to be just than the judgment of the very justest man."

"In the name of truth and justice," exclaimed the prince, "let the combat, then, take place; and may God and St. George defend the right!"

"Yes," replied the count; "it is decidedly a quarrel which can best be decided by a duel for death or life."

Accordingly, everything was settled; and, Monday being fixed on as the day for the mortal combat, the accuser and the accused were placed under arrest till the time appointed, and preliminaries were arranged for the trial by battle.