A Forgotten Hero | Page 8

be thought strange in the nineteenth century. It was the custom in her day for husband and wife to sit together at a meal, and, the highest ranks excepted, to eat from the same plate. But the Earl and Countess of Cornwall were on opposite sides of the table, with one of the priests between them. Clarice thought they must have quarrelled, and softly demanded of Heliet if that were the case.
"No, indeed," was Heliet's rather sorrowful answer. "At least, not more than usual. The Lady of Cornwall will never sit beside her baron, and, as thou shalt shortly see, she will not even speak to him."
"Not speak to him!" exclaimed Clarice.
"I never heard her do so yet," said Heliet.
"Does he entreat her very harshly?"
"There are few gentlemen more kindly or generous towards a wife. Nay, the harsh treatment is all on her side."
"What a miserable life to live!" commented Clarice.
"I fear he finds it so," said Heliet.
The dillegrout, or white soup, was now brought in, and Clarice, being hungry, attended more to her supper than to her mistress for a time. But during the next interval between the courses she studied her master.
He was a tall and rather fine-looking man, with a handsome face and a gentle, pleasant expression.
There certainly was not in his exterior any cause for repulsion. His hair was light, his eyes bluish-grey. He seemed--or Clarice thought so at first--a silent man, who left conversation very much to others; but the decidedly intelligent glances of the grey eyes, and an occasional twinkle of fun in them when any amusing remark was made, showed that he was not in the least devoid of brains.
Clarice thought that the priest who sat between the Earl and Countess was a far more unprepossessing individual than his master. He was a Franciscan friar, in the robe of his order; while the friar who sat on the other side of the Countess was a Dominican, and much more agreeable to look at.
At this juncture the Earl of Lancaster, who bore a strong family likeness to his cousin, the Earl of Cornwall--a likeness which extended to character no less than person--inquired of the latter if any news had been heard lately from France.
"I have had no letters lately," replied his host; and, turning to the Countess, he asked, "Have you, Lady?"
Now, thought Clarice, she must speak to him. Much to her surprise, the Countess, imagining, apparently, that the Franciscan friar was her questioner, answered, [Note 1], "None, holy Father."
The friar gravely turned his head and repeated the words to the Earl, though he must have heard them. And Clarice became aware all at once that her own puzzled face was a source of excessive amusement to her vis-a-vis, Elaine. Her eyes inquired the reason.
"Oh, I know!" said Elaine, in a loud whisper across the table. "I know what perplexes thee. They are all like that when they first come. It is such fun to watch them!"
And she did not succeed in repressing a convulsion behind her handkerchief, even with the aid of Diana's "Elaine! do be sensible."
"Hush, my maid," said Mistress Underdone, gently. "If the Lady see thee laugh--"
"I shall be sent away without more supper, I know," said Elaine, shrugging her shoulders. "It is Clarice who ought to be punished, not I. I cannot help laughing when she looks so funny."
Elaine having succeeded in recovering her gravity without attracting the notice of the Countess, Clarice devoured her helping of salt beef along with much cogitation concerning her mistress's singular ways. Still, she could not restrain a supposition that the latter must have supposed the priest to speak to her, when she heard the Earl say, "I hear from Geoffrey Spenser, [Note 2], that our stock of salt ling is beyond what is like to be wanted. Methinks the villeins might have a cade or two thereof, my Lady."
And again, turning to the friar, the Countess made answer, "It shall be seen to, holy Father;" while the friar, with equal composure, as though it were quite a matter of course, repeated to the Earl, "The Lady will see to it, my Lord."
"Does she always answer him so?" demanded Clarice of Heliet, in an astonished whisper. "Always," replied Heliet, with a sad smile. "But surely," said Clarice, her amazement getting the better of her shyness, "it must be very wanting in reverence from a dame to her baron!"
Clarice's ideas of wifely duty were of a very primitive kind. Unbounded reverence, unreasoning obedience, and diligent care for the husband's comfort and pleasure were the main items. As for love, in the sense in which it is usually understood now, that was an item which simply might come into the question, but it was not necessary by any means. Parents, at that time, kept it out