garrison could not reasonably complain of the services required of
them; the perpetual watch, and numerous guards; the occupations
which Knight and Squire seemed never weary of devising for the
purpose of keeping them separate, and their instant prohibition
of any attempt at the riotous festivity which was their only
consolation for the want of active exercises. They grew heartily
weary, and fiercely impatient of restraint, and though the firm,
calm, steady strictness of the Knight was far preferable to the
rude familiarity and furious passions of many a Castellane, there
were many of the men-at-arms who, though not actually engaged in
the conspiracy, were impatient of what they called his haughtiness
and rigidity. These men were mercenaries from different parts of
France, accustomed to a lawless life, and caring little or nothing
whatever whether it were beneath the standard of King Charles or
King Edward that they acquired pay and plunder. The Englishmen
were, of course, devoted to their King and Prince, and though at
times unruly, were completely to be depended upon. Yet, while
owning Sir Eustace to be a brave, gallant, and kind-hearted Knight,
there were times when even they felt a shudder of dread and almost
of hatred pass over them, when tales were told of the supernatural
powers he was supposed to possess; when Leonard Ashton's adventure
with the cats was narrated, or the story of his sudden arrival at
Lynwood Keep on the night before the lady's funeral. His own
immediate attendants might repel the charge with honest indignation,
but many a stout warrior slunk off in terror to bed from the sight
of Sir Eustace, turning the pages of one of his heavy books by the
light of the hall fire, and saw in each poor bat that flitted about
within the damp depths of the vaulted chambers the familiar spirit
which brought him exact intelligence of all that passed at Bordeaux,
at Paris, or in London. Nay, if he only turned his eyes on the