of his men might not be able to carry it into his castle. Brides of this
calibre did not then grow in profusion on either side of the Border, and
had he continued to live uninterruptedly in his own country, no doubt
Bryan de Blenkinsopp might have remained to the end unmarried. But:
"When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till
I was married." In that, Bryan might have anticipated _Benedick_, as
well as in the resolution. "Rich she shall be, that's certain." He went
abroad to the wars. Perhaps he was with Henry V at Agincourt, and
thenceforward, till the king's death in 1422, saw more of France than of
England. In any case, to the unbounded wonder of the countryside, when
at length he did return, Bryan brought back with him a foreign bride to
Blenkinsopp. And what added to the wonder, the bride brought with her a
chest of treasure so heavy that twelve of Bryan's retainers could with
difficulty bear it into the castle.

Naturally, all this gave rise to endless talk; what prattling little
busybody but would relish so succulent a morsel! Ere long the local
gossip-mongers revelled in a perfect feast of petty scandal. Stories in
minute detail spread quickly from mouth to mouth. The eccentricities and
shortcomings of the foreign bride were a priceless boon to the scanty
population of the district; in castle and in peel tower little else for
a time was talked of. To begin with, the mere fact that she was a
foreigner, and that neither she nor any of her immediate followers could
speak English, told heavily against the lady in the estimation of the
countryside. Then, hardly anyone ever saw her (which in itself was an
offence, and the cause of still further tattle). She was very little,
folk said who professed to be well informed, and her face and hands
showed strangely brown against the white robes that she habitually wore;
her eyes were like stars; her temper quick to blaze up without due
cause. Backstairs gossip, no doubt; but there were even pious souls who,