[Re-enter Eldra]
Eld. O, Mr. Stephen!
Ste. Ho, Madam Prune-face! A sweet mornin', now ain't it, but a bit briskish as suits the season.
Eld. Prune-face! By my lady's glass, I've not a wrinkle yet as big as the hair on a bat's wing! Plague take the eyes o' him that says it as shouldn't!
Ste. Well, well, I meant no harm, but mickle it takes to pinch a bruise. I brought a message to your lady from Sir Roland——
Eld. Sir Roland? He's a lord now——
Ste. Ay, 'tween the king and Hubert they've made him a lord.
Eld. Hubert! You mean his grace, the earl of Kent?
Ste. He's still my friend, Meggy. The earldom is nothing between Hubert and old friends. And I'm a-climbing too. I've had an advancement, which I don't mind telling you about, but I'll have a bit o' your brew first and a dozen or so o' them cakes, seein' you took the trouble. I could never disappoint a woman as had put herself out for me. [Sits at table]