"I have a witness," was the calm reply.
"Then by my halidame," quoth the irate knight, "as I'm a justice o' the peace, he shall be faced with the offence. When was it perpetrated?"
"At the hawking party."
"What, here at Haddon?"
"You don't mean the pedlar, surely?" inquired Lady Vernon.
"Aye, but I do; he was murdered in the wood."
"Tut," angrily exclaimed Sir George, "'tis all a tale, and I for one don't believe a word of it. The witch killed him, and was punished for it too."
"But I saw it," stubbornly returned Sir Henry, "and I have a witness; one who saw it done."
"We tried Dame Durden by the ordeal, an she was found guilty and hanged," persisted the baron. "And, beshrew me, that's enough for any man"; and the Lord of Haddon reverently crossed himself to show that the trial had had the approval of his conscience.
"But," urged De le Zouch, "I tell you I saw it done myself, and I am ready to prove it any way you choose."