De Lacy laughed. "He knew it ere he left the Tower, but he found no fault with us."
"And if I know Richard, he liked you both the better for it… Here, fellow, another measure of wine, and see that it be of the same barrel… These rogues need watching else will they serve poorer stuff the second time, as you have likely noticed."
"Human nature, and innkeepers' nature in particular, does not change between Dover and Calais; yet they would hardly do us the discourtesy to think that our heads muddled so easily."
"Nay, lad, I was but following my motto that it is better to warn before the fight than after."
"Did you warn before the fight in Yorkshire?"
"By St. Luke! there was the fitting moment for the motto, but the villains would give me no breathing space to speak. And that reminds me: do you recall the smooth-tongued Abbot of Kirkstall?"
"In truth, I do," said Aymer. "The most inquisitive monk I have chanced upon in many a day."
"Well, the notion grips me hard that the Abbot Aldam could tell some tales about that little incident, and violate no secret of confessional either. There have been strange rumors lately touching his Abbey and the style of servitors it employs at times."
"Then we at least decreased their numbers—but one escaped, if I remember rightly," Aymer replied.
"Aye—one; but it is enough. Some day I may chance upon him and then … I shall know the story."