“Nay, I went not farther than I did intend,” replied the Scottish knight; “I trow I have seen good emptying of saddles in my day, and have encountered knights of all nations, and I am bold to say that were I to choose my champion it should not be from England he should be taken, while we have Scotsmen left to afford me good picking. At present, thanks be to God, we have whole armies of knights, any one of whom, so far from provoking an Englishman’s mirth, will, by the very mention of his name alone, make any southern chevalier look grave.”
“Nay, boast not, Lindsay,” said the gallant Douglas, “we can prove enow by deeds to set us above vaunting.”
“I vaunt not, my Lord Earl of Douglas,” replied Sir David Lindsay; “yet when vaunts are the only weapons used against us, what can a man do?”
“Let words have no place, then,” said the Lord Welles, with considerable eagerness, as well as haughtiness of manner—“let words have no place; and if thou knowest not the chivalry and the valiant deeds of Englishmen, appoint me a day and a place where thou listeth, and, depardieux, thou shalt have experience to thine edification.”
“If it so please thee, then, to waive thy privileges, my Lord,” quickly rejoined Sir David Lindsay; “if so be, I say, that thou wilt condescend to waive thy privileges, and that thou wilt vouchsafe to honour our lists with an exhibition of thy skill and nerve, by St. Andrew I will gladly meet thee to-morrow; yea, or if thou shouldst wish to eschew the encounter in thine own sacred person, of a truth I shall be well contented to take whichsoever of thy companions thou mayest be pleased to assign me. We shall at least be sure that the appearance of one English knight in the lists shall give a zest to the jousting which to-day’s exhibition did so meagrely supply.”
“I do beseech thee, my noble and most fair Lord,” said Sir Piers Courtenay to the Lord Welles—“I do beseech thee, let me be the supremely felicitous knight who may appear under the banner of St. George to combat in honour of England.”
“Nay, Courtenay,” said the Lord Welles, “I can neither resign to thee the right I have obtained to the gallant Sir David Lindsay, nor can I submit to tilt now; but if Sir David will indulge me so far as to name some other time and place, verily, I shall pledge myself to give him the meeting, yea, and that, too, with as much good-will as he can wish for it.” [[326]]
“By the mass, I care not though thou dost make the meeting in England, or even in London itself,” said Sir David Lindsay. “Let me have a safe-conduct from the English King for myself and party and I will not scruple to ride, yea, even to the farthermost point of thy southern soil in search of an antagonist so desirable.”
“Let it be on London Bridge, then,” said the Lord Welles.
“On London Bridge!” muttered a number of the Scottish knights, as if they thought that it was but hardly liberal in the English noble to close so narrowly with the wide proposal of their champion.