Master Aylmer, I have brought
hither for you a slight token of my regard and gratitude for the manner in
which you saved not only our property but our lives. Within this package
are two suits of armour and arms. One is a serviceable one suitable to
your present condition of an esquire; the other is a knightly suit, which
I hope you will wear in remembrance of us as soon as you obtain that
honour, which I cannot but feel assured will not be far distant. Had you
been obliged to leave Paris in disguise I should have made an endeavour to
send them to you in England by way of Flanders; but as you will issue out
in good company, and without examination or question asked, you can wear
the one suit and have the other carried for you."
Guy thanked the silversmith most heartily, for, having lost his armour at
the burning of the house, he had felt some uneasiness at the thought of
the figure that he would cut riding in the train of the three Burgundian
knights. But at the same time his own purse had been exhausted in the
purchase of the disguises for himself and the men-at-arms, and that of his
mistress greatly reduced by the expenses of the keep of the men, and he
had determined not to draw upon her resources for the purchase of armour.
His thanks were repeated when, on the package being opened, the beauty of
the knightly armour was seen. It was indeed a suit of which any knight
might be proud. It was less ornate in its inlaying and chasing than some
of the suits worn by nobles, but it was of the finest steel and best make,
with every part and accessory complete, and of the highest workmanship and
finish.
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