“That hast thou a right to require. Where are the proofs?”
“My lord, I have them not, but—”
Roger broke in with a scornful smile.
“Said I not so? You see, my lord.”
In his turn he was interrupted by a grave voice, “My lord, the proofs are here. I but waited to see whether he would have the grace to withdraw his claim;” and John Hamlyn, stepping forward, raised a broad board so that it might be seen of all. “Will the judges say whether this design is the same as that carved by Roger Brewer?”
There was a close examination and comparison, at the end of which the master, after consultation with the others, raised his head.
“It is undoubtedly the same.”
“Now,” continued Hamlyn, turning the board, “there is writing here, which you and I, my masters, cannot fathom. Maybe my lord bishop will have the grace to construe it for us.”
The bishop advanced, and in a clear voice read, “Hugh Bassett, Saint George’s Day, A.D. 1303.”