Beyond were a series of guest-chambers. Another side of the
court-yard contained the apartments of the castellan, Jean Bouvard, a
sturdy soldier of long experience, and those of the other officers of the
household; the other two sides were occupied by the chapel, the kitchens,
and the offices of the servants and retainers. All these rooms were
loopholed on the side looking into the outer court. This was considerably
wider and more extensive than the one surrounding the keep. Here were the
stables, storehouses for grain and forage, and a building, just erected,
for the lodging of the English garrison. All these buildings stood against
the outer wall, so that they would afford no shelter to an enemy who had
obtained possession of the first defences and was making an attack against
the second line. The outer wall was twelve feet in thickness, and thirty
feet above the court; outside the height was considerably greater, as
there was a moat faced with stone fifteen feet deep entirely surrounding
it, and containing seven or eight feet of water.
Walls ran half across the outer court, and, from the end of these, light
wooden bridges formed a communication with the wall of the inner court, so
that in the event of the outer wall being stormed or the gates being
carried by assault, the defenders could retire to the inner defences. The
ends of these bridges rested upon irons projecting from the wall, and so
arranged that they could be instantly withdrawn when the last of the
defenders had crossed over, when the bridges would at once fall into the
court-yard below.
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