But as I care not to be
always going about in armour I will expend some of my crowns in buying a
shirt of mail also. 'Tis better by far than armour, for a man coming up
behind could stab one over the line of the back-piece or under the arm,
while if you have mail under your coat they will strike at you fair
between the shoulders, and it is only by striking high up on the neck that
they have any chance with you. A good coat of mail is money well laid out,
and will last a lifetime; and even if it cost me all the silversmith's
crowns I will have a right good one."
Guy nodded. He was wondering in his own mind how he should be able to
procure one. His father had given him a purse on starting, but the money
might be needed for emergencies. He certainly could not ask his mistress
for such a sum, for she too might have need of the money that she had
brought with her. He was still turning it over in his mind when they
reached the fencing-school. He was greeted with acclamations as he entered
by the young count and his friends.
"Here is our defender of houses," the former exclaimed. "Truly, Guy, you
have given a lesson to the butchers that they sorely needed. They say that
the king himself, who is in one of his good moods to-day, has interested
himself mightily in the fray last night, and that he has expressed a wish
to hear of it from the esquire who he has been told commanded the defence.
So it is not unlikely that there will be a royal message for you to attend
at the palace.
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