"Methinks I am quite satisfied to be classed with Lord Darby in the matter of farewells; and as for the vagaries, they may be tantalizing but, believe me, they are far more winning."
She held up a cautioning finger.
"I prefer your arraignment to your compliments," she said. "Methinks I told you once before of my dislike for flattery."
"That was to Sir Ralph de Wilton … the night you walked with him on the wall."
"True, so it was," she laughed; "but you were there and heard it."
He casually picked up a skein of silk that had slipped to the floor, but finding her eyes upon him gave it to her straightway.
"Why not walk now on the ramparts with Sir Ralph?" he asked very low and earnestly.
For an instant she seemed to hesitate; then she looked at him and shook her head.
"I may not," she said. "I have promised the evening to Sir Aymer de Lacy … for two hours of farewells."
But the two hours were very brief, indeed; for almost immediately De Vivonne and De Wilton arrived, and shortly thereafter came Sir Richard Ratcliffe and Sir Robert Brackenbury, and the talk became general. And presently Richard himself entered; and when he withdrew the Duchess went with him and the gathering broke up; and De Lacy got no more than a casual word of farewell from the Countess.