“That’s kind in him,” said Hubert.
Sir Francis turned a cold eye on Hubert. “As befits a clean-blooded man,” he proceeded, “I have risen at the dawn and left you wine-pots in your thick sleep. From the wood’s edge over by Wantley I’ve watched the Baron come eagerly to an upper window in his white night-shift. And when he looks out on Mistletoe and sees she is not devoured, he bursts into a rage that can be plainly seen from a distance. These six mornings I laughed so loud at this spectacle, that I almost feared discovery. Next, the Baron visits his daughter, only to find her food untasted and herself silent. I fear she is less of a fool than the rest. But now his paternal heart smites him, and he has let her out. Also the Governess is free.”
“Such a girl as that would not flinch from meeting our Dragon,” said Hubert; “aye, or from seeking him.”
“She must never meet the Dragon,” Sir Francis declared. “What could I do shut up in the crocodile, and she with a sword, of course?”
They were gloomily silent.
“I could not devour her properly as a dragon should. Nor could I carry her away,” pursued Sir Francis.
Here Hubert, who had gone to the window, returned hastily, exclaiming, “They are coming!”
“Who are coming?” asked several.
“The Baron, his daughter, the Governess, and all Wantley at their backs, to ask our pious advice,” said the Grand Marshal. “Quick, into your gowns, one and all! Be monks outside, though you stay men underneath.” For a while the hall was filled with jostling gray figures entangled in the thick folds of the gowns, into which the arms, legs, and heads had been thrust regardless of direction; the armour clashed invisible underneath as the hot and choked members of the Guild plunged about like wild animals sewed into sacks, in their struggles to reappear in decent monastic attire. The winged crocodile was kicked into the closet, after it were hurled the thunder machine and the lightning torch, and after them clattered the cups and the silver rundlet. Barely had Hubert turned the key, when knocking at the far-off gate was heard.
“Go down quickly, Hubert,” said the Grand Marshal, “and lead them all here.”