"Why hast thou not obeyed our summons?"
"I have not heard of any such; nor in good sooth should I have been careful to obey had your mandate been delivered."
"Croix Rouge," said the interrogator; "has this delinquent been cited?"
The person he addressed arose, bowed, and presented a written answer.
"I have here," continued the chief, "sufficient proof that our summons hath been conveyed to thee, and that hitherto thine answer hath been contumaciously withheld. What sayest thou?"
"I have yet to learn, firstly," said Gervase, with more indignation than prudence, "by what authority ye would compel me to appear; and, secondly, how and in what form such mandate hath been sent?"
"Bethink thee, is our answer to the last,—the first will be manifested in due time. We might indeed leave thee ignorant as to what we require, but pity for thy youth and inexperience forbids. Clegg Hall is, thou knowest, along with the estate, now unlawfully holden by the Ashtons."
"I know that sundry Popish recusants plotting the overthrow of our most gracious Queen, do say that other and more legitimate rights are in abeyance only; but the present owners are too well fortified to be dispossessed by hearsay."
"In the porch at Clegg thou wast accosted not long ago by a mendicant who solicited an alms."
"Probably so."