In the Wars of the Roses | Page 4

for
them a most excellent view of the royal party; whilst the humbler
crowd was kept at a more discreet distance by the good-humoured
soldiers, who exercised their office amid plenty of jesting and laughing,
which showed that an excellent understanding existed between them
and their brethren of the soil. The captain, as the hour for the entrance
drew near, took up his position beside the lady, and conversed with her
in low tones. Paul listened with all his ears the moment he discovered
that the soldier was talking about his beloved little prince.
"I do not credit every idle tale I hear, or certes life would be but a sorry
thing for a soldier. But there is a queer rumour flying about that some
of the bold marauding fellows who follow the banner of York,
Salisbury, and Warwick have been following and hanging on the trail
of the royal party with a view to the capture--so it is said--of the Prince
of Wales, who, once in the hands of the rival faction, would prove a
hostage of no mean value. I can scarce credit such a tale myself. Sure
am I that it cannot have originated in the mind of any of those noble
earls, but must be the device of some meaner churl, who hopes to gain
a reward for his treachery. Belike there is no truth whatever in it.

Rumour is never idle, and must have some food to satisfy its cravings. I
credit not so wild a tale, albeit I must be on the watch against all
chances.
"But hark! hear you not that sound in the distance? and methinks I see
on yonder height the glitter of the spearmen and the sheen of an armed
multitude. Ay, it is truly so. They come, they come! Why, it is a goodly
following our gallant knights and gentlemen have furnished. Their
gracious majesties will have no cause to grumble at the loyalty of their
trusty county of Lichfield {1}."
Paul's breath went and came. The words of the captain had stirred his
heart, and now the actual approach of the royal family set every pulse
throbbing. Eagerly his eyes were fixed upon the advancing column of
gallant riders, the self-appointed bodyguard of the king and queen--a
bodyguard which, changing and shifting as the royal party progressed
through the kingdom, yet never deserted them throughout the triumphal
march, and did not a little to raise within the breast of the queen that
martial ardour which was to be so severely tested in days to come.
Nearer and yet more near came the gay procession; banners flying,
trumpets sounding, the joy bells from the town giving back gay
response. And now the mounted gentlemen--amongst whom Paul's
quick eyes have already discovered his father and brothers--wheel
rapidly aside to right and left, forming a sort of avenue to the gateway
through which the royal riders are to pass, to receive the loyal welcome
of the venerable prelate and the city dignitaries.
Paul's breath comes and goes as the cheering in the crowd grows
vociferous. He grasps his bunch of roses firmly in his hands, his cheeks
glowing till they almost rival the damask bloom of the flowers, his eyes
fixed in all their eager brightness upon the advancing band, which
consists of the king and queen and prince and their own immediate
attendants. It is a moment never forgotten by the boy in after life--the
moment when first his glance fell upon the royal child around whose
history romance has woven so many a tale; and it was with a start of
peculiar surprises and a thrill of emotion he could not have analyzed,
that the boy beheld the little prince of his dreams. For in those beautiful
princely features, in the alert graceful figure and the floating curls of
gold, Paul seemed to see his own lineaments reproduced, and gave one
bewildered glance toward his mother to see if perchance the same

thought struck her.
And indeed it did; for the chance resemblance between the young heir
of the House of Lancaster and the son of an obscure Staffordshire
knight was so remarkable that none who saw the two children could fail
to be struck by it. Paul for a moment was almost awed, feeling as if he
had no right thus to have aped the outward aspect of the little prince;
but the next moment all else was forgotten in the excitement of the
moment and in the vigorous cheering which greeted the close approach
of royalty.
The party moved slowly forward, returning the loyal salutations of the
crowd right graciously. The little prince was charming in his friendly
gestures, and Paul observed that to one and another of the knights and
gentlemen drawn up to do them honour he