"What is good enough for my Empress and Queen, is good enough for her faithful servants; but I may not eat in thy presence."
"Nay, scruple not; famine effaces distinctions."
Thus encouraged, Alain did not allow his scruples to interfere further with his appetite, and partook heartily of the stew of bones, in which, forsooth, the water and meal were in undue proportion to the meat.
The meal despatched, the Empress sent Alain to summon the Earl of Oxford, Robert d'Oyley, to her presence. He was informed of the arrival of the Earl and the Prince, and the plan of escape was discussed.
All the ordinary avenues of the castle were watched so closely that extraordinary expedients were necessary, and the only feasible mode of escape appeared to be the difficult road which Alain had used successfully, both in leaving and returning to the beleaguered fortress.
A branch of the Isis washed the walls of the tower. It was frozen hard. To descend by ropes upon it in the darkness, and cross to the opposite side of the stream, appeared the only mode of egress.
But for a lady—the Lady of England—was it possible? was it not utterly unworthy of her dignity?
She put this objection aside like a cobweb.
"Canst thou hold out the castle much longer?"
"At the most, another week; our provisions are nearly exhausted. This was our last meal of flesh, of which I see the bones before me," replied the Lord of Oxford.