When they were comfortably seated and flagons of wine had been
placed on the board, the knight requested Count Charles to give him an
account of his adventure with the cut-throats and the part he had
subsequently played in the events of which he had spoken. D'Estournel
gave a lively recital, telling not only of the fray with the White Hoods,
but of what they saw when, after the defeat of the mob, they entered the
house. "Had the passage and stairs been the breach of a city attacked by
assault it could not have been more thickly strewn with dead bodies," the
count said; "and indeed for my part I would rather have struggled up a
breach, however strongly defended, than have tried to carry the barricade
at the top of the stairs, held as it was. I believe that, even had we not
arrived, Master Aylmer could have held his ground until morning, except
against fire."
"I wonder they did not fire the house," Sir Eustace remarked.
"Doubtless the leaders would have done so as soon as they saw the task
they had before them; but you see plunder was with the majority the main
object of the attack, while that of the leaders was assuredly to get rid
of the provost of the silversmiths, who had powerfully withstood them. The
cry that was raised of 'Down with the English spies!' was but a pretext.
However, as all the plate-cases with the silverware were in the barricade,
there would have been no plunder to gather had they set fire to the house,
and it was for this reason that they continued the attack so long; but
doubtless in the end, when they were convinced that they could not carry
the barricade, they would have resorted to fire.
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