rising from his chair, said, "Thine arm, Clarenham. Let us to the
Princess, and present her new page. Follow me, boy."

With a wistful look at his uncle, standing alone on the step of
the dais, Arthur reluctantly followed the Prince as, leaning on
Clarenham's arm, he left the hall, and, crossing a gallery, entered
a large apartment. At one end was a canopy embroidered with the
arms and badges of the heir of England, and beneath it were two
chairs of state, one of which was occupied by Joan Plantagenet,
Princess of Wales, once the Fair Maid of Kent, and though now long
past her youth, still showing traces of beauty befitting the lady
for whom her royal cousin had displayed such love and constancy.

As her husband entered, she rose, and looking anxiously at him, while
she came forward to meet him, inquired whether he felt fatigued. "No,
my fair dame," replied the Prince, "I came but to present you your new
page; the young cousin, respecting whose safety my Lord de Clarenham
hath been so much in anxiety."

"Then it is his uncle who hath brought him?" asked Joan.

"Yes," replied Edward, "he himself brought him to the hall, and even
had the presumption to claim the protection for him that I pledged to
his father, when I deemed far otherwise of this young Eustace."

"What account does he give of the length of time that he has spent
on the road?" asked the Princess.

"Ay, there is the strangest part of the tale," said Fulk Clarenham,
with a sneer, "since he left the poor simple men at Lynwood