war may be averted.
There has been bloodshed enough in this fair land since the Roses were
plucked."

"By St. George! my heart is with yours," returned De Wilton instantly;
"yet, mark me, this night will make history for England. If not, then
I mistake the Duke of Gloucester. It is obvious now that, to him, this
meeting is no accident--it was timed for most adroitly. Why did he
tarry so long at Pontefract, unless because it were easier to prick the
Woodville bubble at Northampton than in London?"

"You know the Prince far better than I," said De Lacy, "but perchance
you do not know that with Rivers ride two thousand men. If Gloucester
intended such a course, why did he not bring a larger following? He
was fully advised of the number of the King's escort."

"Because it would have aroused instant suspicion and left him no
recourse but to force. He has some other plan, I warrant. Yet, should
it come to blows, Richard himself is equal to a thousand men."

"Scarce so much as that, I fancy," said De Lacy, with a laugh.
"Nathless, sooner will I ride behind the Boar of Gloucester with six
hundred swords than under the Woodville banner with thrice the number."

"Well said, by St. George!" De Wilton exclaimed. "No Lancastrian
upstart for me."

"Be not so energetic, Sir Ralph," said De Lacy, as Ratcliffe, hearing
the words, looked back. "But tell me, I pray, who are these that
approach?"

"Your eyes are keener than mine," returned De Wilton, "for I can scarce
discern them at all. Is there any banner displayed?"

"Aye, but I cannot yet distinguish the device. . . . There are at
least fifty of them, and they are riding most marvellously fast. By
St. Denis! they cannot travel far at such a pace. When the sun next
falls athwart the banner, I will try to make it out. . . There . . .
Pardieu! it is a queer bearing: _argent, a la fasce-canton a desire de
gueules_. Do you know it, or have I not read it aright?"

"Nay, your heraldry is not amiss," said De Wilton. "It is the red fess
and canton of the Woodvilles. Yonder comes Lord Anthony of Scales and
Rivers."

"Then the struggle is on, I ween," remarked De Lacy. "Let us move
closer to the Duke. I would not miss this meeting."

When the horsemen were a short distance away, they broke from a hand
gallop into a walk, and then all halted except the two who were in
front. Of these, one was a man nearing middle age, of most courtly
bearing and noble countenanc