be slain forthwith; but the holy palmer who had exorcised it forbade
the sacrifice. 'Mighty shall be the service,' said the reverend man,
'which the posterity of this steed shall render to thy royal race, and
great glory shall they give to the sons of Nevile. Let the war-horse,
now duly exorcised from infidel spells, live long to bear a Christian
warrior!'"

"And so," quoth the earl, taking up the tale--"so mare and horse were
brought by Aymer's squires to his English hall; and Aymer's son, Sir
Reginald, bore the cross, and bestrode the fatal steed, without fear
and without scathe. From that hour the House of Nevile rose amain, in
fame and in puissance; and the legend further saith, that the same
palmer encountered Sir Reginald at Joppa, bade him treasure that race
of war-steeds as his dearest heritage, for with that race his own
should flourish and depart; and the sole one of the Infidel's spells
which could not be broken was that which united the gift--generation
after generation, for weal or for woe, for honour or for doom--to the
fate of Aymer and his House. 'And,' added the palmer, 'as with
woman's love and woman's craft was woven the indissoluble charm, so
shall woman, whether in craft or in love, ever shape the fortunes of
thee and thine.'"

"As yet," said the prince, "the prophecy is fulfilled in a golden
sense, for nearly all thy wide baronies, I trow, have come to thee
through the female side. A woman's hand brought to the Nevile this
castle and its lands; [Middleham Castle was built by Robert Fitz
Ranulph, grandson of Ribald, younger brother of the Earl of Bretagne
and Richmond, nephew to the Conqueror. The founder's line failed in
male heirs, and the heiress married Robert Nevile, son of Lord Raby.
Warwick's father held the earldom of Salisbury in right of his wife,