The House of Walderne - A Tale of the Cloister and the Forest in the Days of the Barons' Wars by A. D. (Augustine David) Crake
page 18 of 339 (05%)
page 18 of 339 (05%)
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made upon that subject which interests all Englishmen so deeply
even now--the weather. "Hast travelled far?" asked the chieftain. "Only from Pevensey; we sought Michelham, but in the storm we must have wandered miles from it." "Many miles," said a low, sweet voice. The knight then noticed the woman for the first time--he might have said lady--who sat on the right of this grim king. Her features and bearing were so superior to her surroundings that he started, as men do when they spy a rich flower in a garden of herbs. By her side was a boy, evidently her son, for he had her dark features, so unlike the general type around. "How came such folk here?" thought De Montfort. The meal was at length served, the stew poured into wooden bowls; no spoons or forks were provided. The fingers and the lips had to do their work unaided, in that day, at least in the huts of the peasantry. Bread, or rather baked corn cakes, were produced; herbs floated in the soup for flavouring; vegetables, properly so called, were there none. Many a time had our travellers partaken of rougher fare in their campaigns, and they were well content with their food; so they ate contentedly with good appetite. The wind howled without, the snow found its way in through divers apertures, but the warmth of the |
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