A renewed shout greeted the judge's decision. The king now ordered the rival hosts to be mustered before him as before the battle, and when this was done Earl Talbot conducted Walter up the broad steps in front of the king's pavilion. Geoffrey Ward, who had, after fastening on Walter's armor in the tent before the sports began, taken his place among the guards at the foot of the royal pavilion, stepped forward and removed Walter's helmet at the foot of the steps.
'Young sir,' the king said, 'you have borne yourself right gallantly to-day, and have shown that you possess the qualities which make a great captain. I do my nobles no wrong when I say that not one of them could have better planned and led the assault than you have done. Am I not right, sirs?' and he looked round.
A murmur of assent rose from the knights and nobles, and the king continued: 'I thought you vain and presumptuous in undertaking the assault of a fort held by an equal number, many of whom are well accustomed to war, while the lads who followed you were all untrained in strife, but you have proved that your confidence in yourself was not misplaced. The Earl of Talbot has adjudged you victor, and none can doubt what the end of the strife would have been. Take this chain from your king, who is glad to see that his citizens of London are able to hold their own even against those of our court, than whom we may say no braver exist in Europe. Kneel now to the queen of the tourney, who will bestow upon you the chaplet which you have so worthily earned.'
Walter bent his knee before Edith Vernon. She rose to her feet, and with an air of pretty dignity placed a chaplet of laurel leaves, wrought in gold and clasped with a valuable ruby, on his head.
'I present to you,' she said, 'the chaplet of victory, and am proud that my gage should have been worn by one who has borne himself so bravely and well. May a like success rest on all your undertakings, and may you prove a good and valiant knight!'
'Well said, Mistress Edith,' Queen Philippa said, smiling. 'You may well be proud of your young champion. I too must have my gift,' and drawing a ring set with brilliants from her finger she placed it in Walter's hand.
The lad now rose to his feet. 'The prince, my son,' the king said, 'has promised that you shall ride with his men-at-arms when he is old enough to take the field. Should you choose to abandon your craft and do so earlier I doubt not that one of my nobles, the brave Sir Walter Manny, for example, will take you before that time.'
'That will I readily enough,' Sir Walter said, 'and glad to have so promising a youth beneath my banner.'
'I would that you had been of gentle blood,' the king said.
'That makes no difference, sire,' Sir Walter replied. 'I will place him among the young gentlemen, my pages and esquires, and am sure that they will receive him as one of themselves.'
Geoffrey Ward had hitherto stood at the foot of the steps leading to the royal pavilion, but doffing his cap he now ascended. 'Pardon my boldness, sire,' he said to the king, 'but I would fain tell you what the lad himself has hitherto been ignorant of. He is not, as he supposes, the son of Giles Fletcher, citizen and bowmaker, but is the lawfully born son of Sir Roland Somers, erst of Westerham and Hythe, who was killed in the troubles at the commencement of your majesty's reign. His wife, Dame Alice, brought the child to Giles Fletcher, whose wife had been her nurse, and dying left him in her care. Giles and his wife, if called for, can vouch for the truth of this, and can give you proofs of his birth.'
Walter listened with astonishment to Geoffrey's speech. A thrill of pleasure rushed through his veins as he learned that he was of gentle blood and might hope to aspire to a place among the knights of King Edward's court. He understood now the pains which Geoffrey had bestowed in seeing that he was perfected in warlike exercises, and why he and Giles had encouraged rather than repressed his love for martial exercises and his determination to abandon his craft and become a man-at-arms when he reached man's estate.
'Ah! is it so?' the king exclaimed. 'I remember Sir Roland Somers, and also that he was slain by Sir Hugh Spencer, who, as I heard on many hands, acted rather on a private quarrel than, as he alleged, in my interest, and there were many who avowed that the charges brought against Sir Roland were unfounded. However, this matter must be inquired into, and my high justiciar shall see Master Giles and his wife, hear their evidence, and examine the proofs which they may bring forward. As to the estates, they were granted to Sir Jasper Vernon and cannot be restored. Nevertheless I doubt not that the youth will carve out for himself a fortune with his sword. You are his master, I suppose. I would fain pay you to cancel his apprenticeship. Sir Walter Manny has promised to enroll him among his esquires.'
'I will cancel his indentures willingly, my liege,' the armorer answered, 'and that without payment. The lad has been to me as a son, and seeing his high spirit, and knowing the gentle blood running in his veins, I have done my best so to teach him and so to put him in the way of winning back his father's rank by his sword.'
'He hath gone far toward it already,' the king said, 'and methinks may yet gain some share in his father's inheritance,' and he glanced at little Mistress Edith Vernon and then smiled at the queen. 'Well, we shall see,' he went on. 'Under Sir Walter Manny he will have brave chances of distinguishing himself, and when my son takes the field, he shall ride with him. But I am keeping the hosts waiting. Bring hither,' he said to Earl Talbot, 'Clarence Aylmer.'
The young noble was led up to the king. 'You have done well, Clarence; though you have been worsted you fought bravely, but you were deceived by a ruse which might have taken in a more experienced captain. I trust that you will be friends with your adversary, who will be known to you henceforth as Walter Somers, son of Sir Roland of that name, and who will ride to the wars, whither you also are shortly bound, under the standard of Sir Walter Manny.'
The cloud which had hung over the face of the young noble cleared. It had indeed been a bitter mortification to him that he, the son of one of the proudest of English nobles, should have been worsted by a London apprentice, and it was a relief to him to find that his opponent was one of knightly blood. He turned frankly to Walter and held out his hand. 'I greet you as a comrade, sir,' he said, 'and hope some day that in our rivalry in the field I may do better than I have done to-day.'
'That is well spoken,' the king said. Then he rose and in a loud voice addressed the combatants, saying that all had borne themselves well and bravely, and that he thanked them, not only for the rare pastime which they had made, but for the courage and boldness which had been displayed on both sides. So saying, he waved his hand as a token that the proceedings were ended, and returned with the court to Westminster; while the crowd of spectators overflowed the lists, those who had friends in the apprentice array being anxious to know how they had fared. That evening there was a banquet given by the lord mayor. Walter was invited to be present, with Giles and Geoffrey, and many complimentary things were said to him, and he was congratulated on the prospects which awaited him. After dinner all the 'prentices who had taken part in the sports filed through the hall and were each presented with a gold piece by the lord mayor, in the name of the corporation, for having so nobly sustained the renown of the city.
After the entertainment was over Walter returned with Geoffrey to the bowyer's house, and there heard from his two friends and Bertha the details of his mother's life from the time that she had been a child, and the story of her arrival with him, and her death. He had still difficulty in believing that it was all true, that Giles and Bertha, whom he had so long regarded as his father and mother, were only his kind guardians, and that he was the scion of two noble families. Very warmly and gratefully he thanked his three friends for the kindness which they had shown to him, and vowed that no change of condition should ever alter his feelings of affection toward them. It was not until the late hour of nine o'clock that he said good-by to his foster-parents, for he was next day to repair to the lodging of Sir Walter Manny, who was to sail again before the week was out for the Low Countries, from which he had only returned for a few days to have private converse with the king on the state of matters there. His friends would have delivered to him his mother's ring and other tokens which she had left, but thought it better to keep these, with the other proofs of his birth, until his claim was established to the satisfaction of the lord justiciaries.
The next morning early, when Walter descended the stairs, he found Ralph Smith waiting for him. His face was strapped up with plaster and he wore his arm in a sling, for his armor had been twice cut through as he led his party in through the sally-port.
'How goes it with you, Ralph?' Walter said. 'Not much the worse, I hope, for your hard knocks?'
'Not a whit,' Ralph replied cheerfully, 'and I shall be all right again before the week is out; but the leech made as much fuss over me as if I had been a girl, just as though one was not accustomed to hard knocks in a smithy. Those I got yesterday were not half so hard as that which you gave me the day before. My head rings yet with the thought of it. But I have not come to talk about myself. Is the story true which they tell of you, Master Walter, that you are not the son of Giles the bowyer, but of a great noble?'
'Not of a great noble, Ralph, but of a gallant knight, which is just as good. My father was killed when I was
