To the knight above Drogo paid his first visit on the following day, and bowed low before Ralph of Herstmonceux.
“The fortune of war has made thee my captive, but knightly fare and honourable treatment are awaiting thee, until the day when it pleases thee to redeem thyself, and deprive us of the light of thy presence.”
“Thanks! For one whose lessons in chivalry were so abruptly broken off, thou hast learnt thy language well. But just now it would be more to the point if thou wilt tell me what it will cost me to get out of thy den.”
Drogo winced at the allusion to his expulsion from Kenilworth, and charged fifty marks the more.
“We fix thy ransom at a hundred marks {[29]}.”
“Why, it is a king’s ransom!”
“And thou art fit to be a king.”
“And what if I cannot pay it?”
“We shall feel it our unpleasant duty to hand thee over to the royal justice, as one notoriously in league with the rebel barons.”
“May I send a messenger to my castle?”