'Aye, but my niece shall keep her virtue intact.'
'You defame the Lady Mary of England,' Udal snickered.
The old man said vigorously, 'God save her highness, and send us her for Queen. Have you begged her to get me redress in the matter of that wall?'
'Why, Providence was kind to her when it sent her me for her master,' Udal said. 'I never had apter pupil saving only one.'
'Shall Thomas Cromwell redress?' the old man asked.
'If good learning can make a good queen, trust me to render her one,' Udal avoided the question. 'But alas! being declared bastard—for very excellent reasons—she may not——'
'You owe me nine crowns,' old Badge threatened him. He picked irritably at the fur on his gown and gazed at the carved leg of the table. 'If you will not induce Privy Seal to pull down his wall I will set the tipstaves on you.'
Master Udal laughed. 'I will give thy daughter ten crowns' worth of lessons in the learned tongues.'
'You will receive another broken crown, magister,' the younger John said moodily. 'Have you not scars enow by your wenching?'
Udal pushed back the furs at his collar. 'Master Printer John Badge the Younger,' he flickered, 'if you break my crown I will break your chapel. You shall never have license to print another libel. Give me your niece in wedlock?'