canine species. Mark his stately yet delicate length of limb, his
sleek coat, his keen eye, his haughty neck."

"These are but the externals, my noble friend. Will the greyhound
attack the lion, as our mastiff doth? The true character of the
gentleman is to know no fear, and to rush through all danger at the
throat of his foe; wherefore I uphold the dignity of the mastiff above
all his tribe, though others have a daintier hide and a statelier
crest. Enough of such matters, archbishop,--we are nearing Middleham."

"The saints be praised! for I am hungered," observed the archbishop,
piously: "but, sooth to say, my cook at the More far excelleth what we
can hope to find at the board of my brother. He hath some faults, our
Warwick! Hasty and careless, he hath not thought eno' of the
blessings he might enjoy, and many a poor abbot hath daintier fare on
his humble table."

"Oh, George Nevile! who that heard thee, when thou talkest of hounds
and interments, [entremets (side dishes)] would recognize the Lord
Chancellor of England,--the most learned dignitary, the most subtle
statesman?"

"And oh, Richard Plantagenet!" retorted the archbishop, dropping the
mincing and affected tone, which he, in common with the coxcombs of
that day, usually assumed, "who that heard thee when thou talkest of
humility and devotion, would recognize the sternest heart and the most
daring ambition God ever gave to prince?"

Richard started at these words, and his eye shot fire as it met the
keen calm glance of the prelate.