The Princess Who Rode on a Mule Read Online Free PDF

freed
her, lest her kin seek her out.”
    “You
slander the Princess! And yet she hath given a good report of you.”
    Robin
scowled and looked away.
    “I
would that we were friends,” said Master Browne. “Methinks you owe no fealty to
this mad monarch—.”
    “—‘Tis
true my father is mad,” said Hadley softly.
    All
four men stared at her.
    “But I
would not have him harmed, nor my mother and sisters, nor any at Court.”
     “We
seek justice, not vengeance,” Tom Browne said. “’Tis a mortal sin to shed the
blood of innocents or e’en to oppress those whom one has vanquished. I vow
that—”
    “—Let
him vow you no vows!” exclaimed Robin, struggling with his captors. He managed
to wrest one arm free, but was soon subdued again. “Lest the wretch perjure
himself!”
    “Mayhap
you mean to have us all in chains, Master Browne,” said Hadley.
    “Nay,
but if I were mad enow to unloose this giant, he should o’erpower us in a
trice!”
    “If
Master Cope pledged that he would raise neither hand nor voice against you,
would you remove his bonds?”
    “I
shall not,” grumbled Robin.
    Tom
Browne was silent.
    “Folk
measure the world by themselves,” said Hadley, almost as if to herself. “A
traitor sees naught but treachery, but a man of honor will entrust his very
life to other men.”
    No one
spoke.
    “Lord
Vardis—” Hadley began.
    “—Aye,” said Tom
Browne abruptly. “If Steward vows to stay his hand and loose his tongue, his
fetters shall be broke. And further, I shall send these, my good friends, fro’
this chamber, that Master Cope and I may parlay as one man to another.”
    ~~~~
    Hadley’s
return to Court had been heralded only by Susannah, who bade her make haste to
change her gown, “for ‘tis nearly midday and the goose is off the spit.” Now as
the Princess climbed the stair to the upper story, the Cook scolded the
scullery maid, a young nobleman laughed loudly, and a platter of food slid from
a lackey’s grasp and crashed upon the floor. But Hadley heard only the
tumultuous pounding of her own heart.
    When
she reached her chamber, she donned a gown that her father had once commended
for its beauty, and plaited her tresses with trembling fingers. The round face
in the glass was her own, yet not her own, for she was divided from herself.
Little more than an hour ago, she had turned traitor to the King and all at
Court: she had persuaded Robin Cope to speak with Tom Browne. Now Master Browne
knew all that Robin knew of Lord Vardis and his knights…the King and his
soldiers…the courtyard and its walls. Soon, no doubt, the rebels (“a thousand
men and more,” Tom Browne had said) would lay claim to the crown. A dread
prospect, yet surely less fearsome than if the palace were o’errun by Lord
Vardis’s knights (“a heartless, knavish band,” Robin had called them).
    “Our
lives are worth not a penny to his Lordship,” Hadley whispered to herself, as
she stepped out of her chamber, taking pains to avoid stumbling on the long train
of her gown.
    In the
Great Hall, there was much merriment and conviviality, yet it seemed to Hadley
that many faces held a secret, and that even the most mirthful laughter
contained a note of fear. She persuaded Ingrid to change places with her at table,
that she might be seated nearer the King.
    King
Valentine smiled upon his youngest daughter, and raised a glass to her health
and that of her prospective bridegroom. “For Lord Vardis improves apace! His
senses have been restored to him, and the physician believes he shall swiftly
mend!”
    There
was a roar of delight and approbation which Hadley did not hear. She felt ill,
of a sudden, and was put in mind of a fledgling swallow she had once seen as a
child. It had stood upon a basswood limb, with its pale striped breast
outthrust, its wings stretched wide, and its little round head held high,
readying itself for flight, when a stone was flung by a careless youth. How
limp was its small