Now am I here, said Cloudesly,
I would that in I were:
Now fetch us meat and drink enough,
And let us make good cheer.
She fetched him meat and drink plenty,
Like a true wedded wife;
And pleased him with that she had,
Whom she loved as her life.
There lay an old wife in that place,
A little beside the fire,
Which William had found of charity
More than seven year.
Up she rose, and forth she goes,
Evil may she speed therefore;
For she had set no foot on ground
In seven year before.
She went unto the justice hall,
As fast as she could hie:
This night, she said, is come to town
William of Cloudesly.
Thereat the justice was full fayne,[40]
And so was the sheriff also:
Thou shalt not travel hither, dame, for nought;
Thy meed thou shalt have ere thou go.
They gave to her a right good gown
Of scarlet, and of grain:[41]
She took the gift, and home she went,
And couched her down again.
They raised the town of merry Carlisle
In all the haste they can;
And came thronging to William's house,
As fast as they might ran.
There they beset that good yeomàn
Round about on every side:
William heard great noise of folks
That thither-ward fast hied.
Alice opened a back windòw
And looked all about,
She was 'ware of the justice and sheriff both,
And with them a great rout.