The Star of Lancaster Read Online Free PDF

birth.’
    ‘You ask too much of one . . . not of noble birth. You are , indeed. I guess that. You are a guest at the castle.’
    ‘The Earl of Arundel is my uncle. He would be displeased if he knew of your conduct.’
    ‘I wonder what my punishment would be. Perhaps I shall find out when you betray me.’
    ‘I will say nothing of this if you take me back to the castle without delay. Indeed I shall see that you receive a good meal and some reward.’
    ‘I am overcome with gratitude.’
    She leaped to her feet. ‘Then, show me the way back, now.’
    He did not rise but lay back smiling at her lazily.
    ‘Very soon,’ he said. ‘I promise you. You have not told me your name but I believe you are the Lady Mary de Bohun who is at this time visiting her aunt and uncle at Arundel.’
    ‘How did you know this?’
    ‘We humble folk discover these matters concerning the great ones.’
    ‘Then as you know who I am you will realise the need not to offend me . . . or my uncle.’
    ‘It is a great need,’ he said. ‘You have not asked my name.’
    ‘It is of no importance to me.’
    ‘That was scarcely friendly. Then I will tell you. My name is Henry.’
    ‘Then, Henry, it is time we left this place.’
    ‘Such a pleasant place,’ he murmured. ‘It has been a happy adventure for me.’
    ‘If you will not show me the way back I shall attempt to find the way myself. And rest assured I shall tell of your knavish behaviour to me. You will regret it.’
    ‘You are not often angry are you, my lady?’
    She turned away.
    ‘But you are angry now because you are frightened. Please do not be, Lady Mary. I want you to like me.’
    ‘I shall not do that after your behaviour. Take me back at once.’
    He stood up meekly and said: ‘It was only a game. Come. It is here. You will be surprised how close you were to the castle. The trees grow so thickly and the bushes so high that even in winter weather it is easy to lose the way.’
    She walked beside him uncertainly. From time to time he glanced at her almost appealingly as though begging her to forgive him; and strangely enough because he was rather handsome and seemed really contrite and was after all only a boy, she found she could, particularly when she saw the castle a little way ahead.
    At the edge of the wood she paused to bid him good-bye and thank him.
    ‘You shall be rewarded,’ she told him. ‘I will tell my uncle.’
    ‘I shall come to the castle for my reward,’ he said.
    She hesitated. Perhaps that was the best way. He could go to the kitchens and be refreshed there and be satisfied.
    They came to the drawbridge. There were men-at-arms there now and they bowed both to her and her companion.
    Together they passed under the portcullis and into the courtyard.
    He was preparing to accompany her into the hall and she said to him: ‘You must go through that alley there. You will come to the kitchens. You may tell them I sent you.’
    ‘I prefer to enter by way of the hall.’
    ‘But you do not understand.’
    He raised his eyebrows. He was a most unusual boy. Hehad, she noticed now, an air of arrogance which implied that he thought himself equal to anyone.
    ‘My uncle . . .’ she began.
    And at that moment her uncle came into the hall and with him was the Duke of Lancaster himself. Even at such a moment she could not help but be overawed by her guardian.
    He was a tall man, commanding in appearance. His deep-set eyes were a vivid blue and his hair tawny as a lion. He had the long nose and narrow cheeks of the Plantagenets, and on his tunic was emblazoned his emblem of the lilies of France and the leopards of England.
    Beside him her uncle looked insignificant.
    For a moment she forgot the boy at her side and then she was afraid for him. It was one thing for him to venture into the hall of the castle but to come face to face with her uncle and the great Duke of Lancaster was another.
    ‘It is Mary herself,’ said the Earl.
    She walked forward and to her