As they crossed the drawbridge the Duke of Gloucester was standing near the gate tower and he called Lord Darby to him—­and Dacre offering to take Wilda to the stables, Sir Aymer and the Countess were left to go on alone to the keep.  As they drew up at the entrance, and the Countess shifted position in the saddle, she dropped her kerchief; De Lacy secured it and put it in his doublet, then reached up to lift her down.

She shook her head.

“The kerchief first,” she said, with calm finality.

There was no mistaking the tone, and without a word he gave it to her.  She slowly tucked it in her bodice, looking the while toward the gate.

“I thought Lord Darby was to put me down,” she said, and giving De Lacy a dazzling smile—­“but if you care to act as his substitute, I suppose you may. . .  Good-bye, Selim.”  She gathered up her skirt and moved toward the steps.  On the bottom one she turned.  “Do you not think, Sir Aymer, it is about time for you to be presented?” she asked—­then ran quickly up the stairs and through the doorway.

V

THE CAPTURED FAVOR

St. George’s day was dropping into night.  Since early morning the castle had been busy in the various ceremonies with which mediaeval England observed the feast of her patron Saint; the garrison had been paraded and inspected; the archers had shot for a gold bugle, and the men-at-arms had striven for a great two-handed sword; there had been races on foot and on horseback, and feats of strength and wrestling bouts; and the Duke himself had presided at the sports and distributed the prizes.

It was almost sundown when the last contest was over and the great crowd of spectators that had congregated within the outer bailey began to disperse.  Richard had dismissed his attendants, with the exception of Ratcliffe, and leaning on the latter’s arm he sauntered slowly across the stone-paved courtyard toward the keep.

“Methinks,” said De Wilton, as he and De Lacy followed at some distance, “that the order we have so long expected must come to-morrow.  And I, for one, shall be well content; it is many a long day since I saw London.”

“Why so certain of to-morrow?” De Lacy asked.

“Because if His Grace intend to be present at the coronation, he may dally here no longer. . .  Say you not so, Dacre?” as the latter joined them.

“Verily, yes,” said Dacre, “and I have already directed my squire to prepare for the journey.  Marry! it will be a joyous time in London.”

“It is long since there was a peaceful crowning in fair England,” observed De Lacy, “and I shall be glad indeed to see the pomp.”

“It may not equal the splendors you have seen in France,” remarked Dacre, “but there will be a goodly show nevertheless; something rather brighter than Yorkshire hills or Scottish heather.”

“I have no quarrel with the heather,” replied De Wilton, “but the hills are . . . well, not—­so soft as the cheeks and eyes of the dames of the Court.”