The King waved his hand, and turned to his followers.
“Gentlemen, you will not leave those horses a moment. Finish the preparations. Pay this woman, Saint Simon, and come and tell me when all is ready for the start.”
Then turning his back upon the hostess, he strode into the house, fuming with rage and glowering fiercely at the group of servants whom he passed.
“Oh, woe is me!” sobbed the landlady, wringing her hands. “That this great misfortune should happen to such a noble lord as this! And this gallant boy too, hurt as he is! No, no, sir,” she cried pettishly to Saint Simon, who approached her, purse in hand; “don’t talk to me about money. I am thinking of the honour of my house. There, there,” she cried, lowering her tone; and she caught Denis by the doublet and signed to his friend to come closer. “Your lord is angry,” she said, “and he has just cause; but you two must speak to him and try to calm his wrath. I have made all preparations for his staying here to-night, and believe me, everything is safe. I will have trusty friends in, and not a soul here but you shall close an eye. You must sleep here to-night.”
“Must, madam?” said Denis, forgetting his own sufferings in something like amusement at his hostess’s pertinacity. “There is no must with our lord.”
“Don’t say that, my child,” cried the woman anxiously. “He must give way to-night. I can see with a mother’s eye that you are not fit to mount your horse. You are hurt, and need rest. Go to him and persuade him that he must stay.”
“Madam, it is impossible,” said Denis; “and leave me, please. You heard our lord’s commands. We have our preparations to make.”
As he spoke Denis glanced at Saint Simon, who had waved back a man who came to help, and was examining their horses’ girths himself. Then, turning his eyes towards the doorway, he caught sight of the King returning, unnoticed by the landlady, who clutched at Denis’s doublet again, and continued in a low, excited voice:
“You do not know, my child. Before long it will be dark.”
“There will be a moon nearly at the full, madam,” said Denis.