This one now rose up and caught at his chair, to give the signal. 'Oh, Richard of Anjou, do thou on the body of Saint-Pol what thy faith requires of thee; and do thou, Eudo, uphold the right thou hast, in the name of God in Trinity and of our Lady.' The Bishop of Tours blessed them both and the issue, they wheeled apart, and the battle began. It was short, three careers long. At the first shock Richard unhorsed his man; at the second he unhelmed him with a deep flesh-furrow in the cheek; at the third he drove down horse and man together and broke the Count's back. Saint-Pol never moved again.
The moment it was over, in the silence of all, Prince John came down from the tribune and fell upon Richard's neck. 'Oh, dearest brother,' cried he, 'what should I have done if the worst had befallen you? I cannot bear to think of it.'
'Oh, brother,' Richard said very quietly, 'I think you would have borne it very well. You would have married Madame Alois, and paid for a mass or two for me out of the dowry.'
This raking shot was heard by everybody. John grew red as fire. 'Why, what do you mean, Richard?' he stammered.
And Richard, 'Are my words so encumbered? Think them over, get them by heart. So doing, be pleased to ride with me to Paris.' At this the colour left John's face.
'Ah! To Paris?' He looked as if he saw death under a bush.
'That is where we must go,' said Richard, 'so soon as we have prayed for that poor blind worm on the ground, who now haply sees wherein he has offended.'
'Conrad of Montferrat, cousin of this dead, is there, Richard,' said the other with intention; but Richard laughed.
'In a very good hour we shall find him. I have to give him news of his cousin Saint-Pol. What is he there for?'
'It is in the matter of the kingdom of Jerusalem. He seeks Sibylla and that crown, and is like to get them.'