“He shall not long be so,” said Leonard.  “Heard you not this very noon that the Prince bestows on him the government of Chateau Norbelle on the marches of Gascony?  Well, that is the matter treated of in this letter.  Let me see, let me see, how was it to be?  Yes, that is it!  It is Le Borgne Basque who is Seneschal.  Ay, true, that I know,—­and ’twas he who was to admit Clisson’s men.”

“Admit Clisson’s men!”

“Ay—­’tis one of those Castles built by the old Paladin, Renaud de Montauban, that Eustace used to talk about.  I ween he did not know of this trick that will be played on himself—­and all of them have, they say, certain secret passages leading through the vaults into the Castle.  Le Borgne Basque knows them all, for he has served much in those parts, and Fulk placed him as Seneschal for the very purpose.”

“For the purpose of admitting Clisson’s men?  Do I understand you right, Sir Knight, or do my ears play me false?”

“Yes, I speak right.  Do you not see, Lady Agnes, it is the only way to free your house of this stumbling-block—­this beggarly upstart Eustace—­who, as long as he lives, will never acknowledge Fulk’s rights, and would bring up his nephew to the same pride.”

“And is it possible, Sir Leonard, that brother of mine, and belted Knight, should devise so foul a scheme of treachery!  Oh, unsay it again!  Let me believe it was my own folly that conjured up so monstrous a thought!”

“Ay, that is the way with women,” said Leonard; “they never look at the sense of the matter.  Why, this Eustace, what terms should be kept with him, who has dealings with the Evil One? and—­”

“I will neither hear a noble Knight maligned, nor suffer him to be betrayed,” interrupted Agnes.  “I have listened to you too long, Sir Leonard Ashton, and will stain my ears no longer.  I thank you, however, for having given me such warning as to enable me to traverse them.”

“What will you do?” asked Leonard, with a look of impotent anger.

“Appeal instantly to the Prince.  Tell him the use that is made of his Castles, and the falsehoods told him of his most true-hearted Knight!” and Agnes, with glancing eyes, was already rising for the purpose, forgetting, in her eager indignation, all that must follow, when Leonard, muttering “What madness possessed me to tell her!” stood full before her, saying, gloomily, “Do so, Lady, if you choose to ruin your brother!” The timid girl stood appalled, as the horrible consequences of such an accusation arose before her.

That same day Eustace was summoned to the Prince’s presence.

“Sir Eustace Lynwood,” said Edward, gravely, “I hear you have served the King well beneath the banner of Sir John Chandos.  Your friends have wrought with me to give you occasion to prove yourself worthy of your spurs, and I have determined to confer on you the government of my Chateau of Norbelle, on the frontier of Gascony, trusting to find you a true and faithful governor and Castellane.”