supped late and drunk deeply, whereby the day found them, some with
headaches, some with a nausea at their stomachs, and some only in an evil
humour which made them curse at their horses when they were restless, and
break into loud surly laughs when a coarse joke was made. There were
many such jokes, Sir Jeoffry and his boon companions being renowned
throughout the county for the freedom of their conversation as for the
scandal of their pastimes, and this day 'twas well indeed, as their loud-
voiced, oath-besprinkled jests rang out on the cold air, that there were
no ladies about to ride forth with them.

'Twas Sir Jeoffry who was louder than any other, he having drunk even
deeper than the rest, and though 'twas his boast that he could carry a
bottle more than any man, and see all his guests under the table, his
last night's bout had left him in ill-humour and boisterous. He strode
about, casting oaths at the dogs and rating the servants, and when he
mounted his big black horse 'twas amid such a clamour of voices and
baying hounds that the place was like Pandemonium.

He was a large man of florid good looks, black eyes, and full habit of
body, and had been much renowned in his youth for his great strength,
which was indeed almost that of a giant, and for his deeds of prowess in
the saddle and at the table when the bottle went round. There were many
evil stories of his roysterings, but it was not his way to think of them
as evil, but rather to his credit as a man of the world, for, when he
heard that they were gossiped about, he greeted the information with a
loud triumphant laugh. He had married, when she was fifteen, the
blooming toast of the county, for whom his passion had long died out,
having indeed departed with the honeymoon, which had been of the
briefest, and afterwards he having borne her a grudge for what he chose
to consider her undutiful conduct. This grudge was founded on the fact