The five-and-twenty did wonders, and with thrice that force I should
feel confident that Villeroy could withstand any attack save by an army
with an abundance of great machines.
"Well, Margaret, since you have decided for me that you are to go--and
indeed I myself plainly see that that alternative is really the best--let
us talk over who you had best take with you. I quite approve of your
choice of Guy; he is a good lad, and will make a brave knight some day. I
shall now make him one of my esquires, and as such he will always be in
attendance on you; and assuredly Agnes and Charlie will, as well as
yourself, benefit by his presence. He will be able to take them out and
look after them, and as he talks French as well as English the lad will be
useful to you in many ways. Have you any preference as to the four men-at-
arms?"
"Could you spare Tom, the leader of the archers? I should like to have
another Englishman with me, and he is very good-tempered and obliging. He
is shrewd too, and with his strength and courage I should feel that I
could wholly rely upon him in any strait, though indeed I see not that
there is any probability of such occurring."
"Certainly you can have him, Margaret, and I shall be glad to know that he
is with you. Dickon, who is next under him, can act as captain of the
archers while he is away. I have noticed that Tom is picking up the
language fast. He is always ready to do little kindnesses to the women and
children, and I have often heard him talking with them.
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