ROGER FINDS HIS MISSION.
"And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?"
—LORD MACAULAY.
Earl Roger found his Countess in the same room in which he had left her when he went to Fleshy. Hypocras and spices, which constituted the "void," a light meal corresponding to afternoon tea, were being served round as he entered. Roger made his way to the side of Alianora, declined the hypocras—a light, sweet wine—and sat down by her while she sipped it.
"You are early, my Lord," said the Countess, whose eyes were occupied in watching an interchange of frothy banter between a knight and a lady at a little distance.
"I had need, my Lady. Will it meet with your wishes to follow me to Ireland, whether urgent cause removeth me, and without delay?"
"Ireland! What part of Ireland?"
"Kilkenny, at the first; afterward, maybe, to Trim."
"And what moveth your Lordship to go among those savages, who should scantly wit if you ware red velvet or blue damask?"
"Those savages are my kinsfolk, under your Ladyship's leave. Moreover, savages commonly have better sight than civil[#] men."
[#] Civilised.