"Because Sir Geoffry Luscombe keeps the best wine in the county, and because whenever Master Hugh Pyper goes there he thinks he is bound by conscience not to leave until he has drunk until he can drink no more."
"And this Master Hugh Pyper is the constable and keeper of the jail and castle? I know he is, for such is the name written on my papers."
"Well, I will open the door," grumbled the man from within, "but I wish you had chosen some other time. To-morrow morning, up to twelve o'clock, Master Pyper will be asleep, and from then until late to-morrow night he will give no man a civil word. You say your prisoner is a man of quality?"
"That he is."
"All the same, I shall have to put him into a common jail until Master Pyper is able to read what you have brought."
We passed through the door as he spoke, and the man who had been speaking, and who held a lantern in his hand, looked at me keenly.
"I wish gentlefolk would keep out of trouble," he grumbled; "if they did, I should keep out of trouble. Master Pyper is always in a villainous temper whenever a man of quality is made prisoner. But come this way."
I expected to be taken to the castle itself, but in this I was mistaken. South of this ancient pile, and away from the main structure, I noticed a long low building, towards which I was led. The man who held the lantern gave a whistle, whereupon another fellow appeared on the scene.
"All quiet, Jenkins?" he asked.