hen speaking more directly: "My Lord Earl of Mackworth, I see your hand
in this before all others. It was thou who so played upon me as to get
me to knight this young man, and thus make him worthy to challenge my
Lord of Alban. It was thy doings that brought him here to-day, backed
by mine own sons and my brother and by these noblemen." Then turning
suddenly to the Earl of Alban: "Come, my Lord," said he; "I am aweary
with all this coil. Lend me thine arm to leave this place." So it
was that he left the room, leaning upon the Earl of Alban's arm, and
followed by the two or three of the Alban faction who were present.

"Your Royal Highness," said the Earl Marshal, "I must e'en do the King's
bidding, and take this gentleman into arrest."

"Do thy duty," said the Prince. "We knew it must come to this. Meanwhile
he is to be a prisoner of honor, and see that he be well lodged and
cared for. Thou wilt find my barge at the stairs to convey him down the
river, and I myself will come this afternoon to visit him."

CHAPTER 31

It was not until the end of July that the High Court of Chivalry
rendered its judgment. There were many unusual points in the case, some
of which bore heavily against Lord Falworth, some of which were in
his favor. He was very ably defended by the lawyers whom the Earl
of Mackworth had engaged upon his side; nevertheless, under ordinary
circumstances, the judgment, no doubt, would have been quickly rendered
against him. As it was, however, the circumstances were not ordinary,
and it was rendered in his favor. The Court besought the King to grant
the ordeal by battle, to accept Lord Falworth's champion, and to appoint
the time and place for the meeting.

The decision must have been a most bitter, galling one for the sick
King. He was naturally of a generous, forgiving nature, but Lord
Falworth in his time of power had been an unrelenting and fearless
opponent, and his Majesty who, like most generous men, could on
occasions be very cruel and intolerant, had never forgiven him. He had
steadily thrown the might of his influence with the Court against the
Falworths' case, but that influence was no longer all-powerful for good
or ill. He was failing in health, and it could only be a matter of a few
years, probably of only a few months, before his successor sat upon the
throne.

Upon the other hand, the Prince of Wales's faction had been steadily,
and of late rapidly, increasing in power, and in the Earl