He had therefore contented himself
with forcing away his daughter from the scene of action.
In the course of the evening he had received intelligence that
the earl's castle was in possession of a party of the king's men,
who had been detached by Sir Ralph Montfaucon to seize on it during
the earl's absence. The baron inferred from this that the earl's
case was desperate; and those who have had the opportunity
of seeing a rich friend fall suddenly into poverty, may easily
judge by their own feelings how quickly and completely the whole
moral being of the earl was changed in the baron's estimation.
The baron immediately proceeded to require in his daughter's mind
the same summary revolution that had taken place in his own,
and considered himself exceedingly ill-used by her non-compliance.
The lady had retired to her chamber, and the baron had passed
a supperless and sleepless night, stalking about his apartments
till an advanced hour of the morning, when hunger compelled
him to summon into his presence the spoils of the buttery,
which, being the intended array of an uneaten wedding feast,
were more than usually abundant, and on which, when the knight
and the friar entered, he was falling with desperate valour.
He looked up at them fiercely, with his mouth full of beef
and his eyes full of flame, and rising, as ceremony required,
made an awful bow to the knight, inclining himself forward
over the table and presenting his carving-knife en militaire,
in a manner that seemed to leave it doubtful whether he meant
to show respect to his visitor, or to defend his provision:
but the doubt was soon cleared up by his politely motioning
the knight to be seated; on which the friar advanced to the table,
saying, "For what we are going to receive," and commenced operations
without further prelude by filling and drinking a goblet of wine.
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