"
"He is a stout-looking fellow, De Maupas, and will make a powerful man; he
looks as if he could strike a shrewd blow even now. Let us question their
knaves, one of whom, by the way, is a veritable giant in point of height."
He beckoned to the four men, and Robert Picard came forward.
"Who is your lady, young man?"
"Dame Margaret de Villeroy, may it please you, sir. She is the wife of Sir
Eustace de Villeroy."
"Then we were right, De Maupas, for De Villeroy is, I know, a vassal of
England for his wife's estates, and his people have always counted
themselves English, because for over a hundred years their castle stood
inside the English line."
"He is a stout knight. We heard a month ago how bravely he held his castle
against Sir Clugnet de Brabant with 8000 Orleanists, and beat him off with
a loss of five knights and 400 men. Sir Clugnet himself was sorely
wounded. We all ought to feel mightily obliged to him for the check, which
sent them back post-haste out of Artois, where they had already done
damage enough, and might have done more had they not been so roughly
handled. I wonder what the lady is here for?"
"It may be that he would have fought the Burgundians as stoutly as he
fought the Armagnacs," the other said, "and that the duke does not care
about having so strong a castle held by so stout a knight within a few
miles of the English line."
The other shrugged his shoulders. "The English are sleeping dogs," he
said; "there is no Edward and no Black Prince to lead them now.
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