Chapter Chapter 32 · Chapter 32

. Chapter 32

In the days of King Edward III a code of laws relating to trial by

battle had been compiled for one of his sons, Thomas of Woodstock. In

this work each and every detail, to the most minute, had been arranged

and fixed, and from that time judicial combats had been regulated in

accordance with its mandates.

It was in obedience to this code that Myles Falworth appeared at the

east gate of the lists (the east gate being assigned by law to the

challenger), clad in full armor of proof, attended by Gascoyne, and

accompanied by two of the young knights who had acted as his escort from

Scotland Yard.

At the barriers he was met by the attorney Willingwood, the chief lawyer

who had conducted the Falworth case before the High Court of Chivalry,

and who was to attend him during the administration of the oaths before

the King.

As Myles presented himself at the gate he was met by the Constable, the

Marshal, and their immediate attendants. The Constable, laying his hand

upon the bridle-rein, said, in a loud voice: “Stand, Sir Knight, and

tell me why thou art come thus armed to the gates of the lists. What is

thy name? Wherefore art thou come?”

Myles answered, “I am Myles Falworth, a Knight of the Bath by grace of

his Majesty King Henry IV and by his creation, and do come hither to

defend my challenge upon the body of William Bushy Brookhurst, Earl of

Alban, proclaiming him an unknightly knight and a false and perjured

liar, in that he hath accused Gilbert Reginald, Lord Falworth, of

treason against our beloved Lord, his Majesty the King, and may God

defend the right!”

As he ended speaking, the Constable advanced close to his side, and

formally raising the umbril of the helmet, looked him in the face.

Thereupon, having approved his identity, he ordered the gates to be

opened, and bade Myles enter the lists with his squire and his friends.

At the south side of the lists a raised scaffolding had been built for

the King and those who looked on. It was not unlike that which had

been erected at Devlen Castle when Myles had first jousted as belted

knight--here were the same raised seat for the King, the tapestries, the

hangings, the fluttering pennons, and the royal standard floating above;

only here were no fair-faced ladies looking down upon him, but instead,

stern-browed Lords and knights in armor and squires, and here were no

merry laughing and buzz of talk and flutter of fans and kerchiefs, but

all was very quiet and serious.

Myles riding upon his horse, with Gascoyne holding the bridle-rein,

and his attorney walking beside him with his hand upon the stirrups,

followed the Constable across the lists to an open space in front of the

seat where the King sat. Then, having reached his appointed station, he

stopped, and the Constable, advancing to the foot of the stair-way that

led to the dais above, announced in a loud voice that the challenger had

entered the lists.

“Then called the defendant straightway,” said the King, “for noon

draweth nigh.”

The day was very warm, and the sun, bright and unclouded, shone fiercely

down upon the open lists. Perhaps few men nowadays could bear the

scorching heat of iron plates such as Myles wore, from which the body

was only protected by a leathern jacket and hose. But men's bodies in

those days were tougher and more seasoned to hardships of weather than

they are in these our times. Myles thought no more of the burning

iron plates that incased him than a modern soldier thinks of his dress

uniform in warm weather. Nevertheless, he raised the umbril of his

helmet to cool his face as he waited the coming of his opponent. He

turned his eyes upward to the row of seats on the scaffolding above,

and even in the restless, bewildering multitude of strange faces turned

towards him recognized those that he knew: the Prince of Wales, his

companions of the Scotland Yard household, the Duke of Clarence,

the Bishop of Winchester, and some of the noblemen of the Earl of

Mackworth's party, who had been buzzing about the Prince for the past

month or so. But his glance swept over all these, rather perceiving

than seeing them, and then rested upon a square box-like compartment not

unlike a prisoner's dock in the courtroom of our day, for in the box sat

his father, with the Earl of Mackworth upon one side and Sir James Lee

upon the other. The blind man's face was very pale, but still wore its

usual expression of calm serenity--the calm serenity of a blind face.

The Earl was also very pale, and he kept his eyes fixed steadfastly upon

Myles with a keen and searching look, as though to pierce to the very

bottom of the young man's heart, and discover if indeed not one little

fragment of dryrot of fear or uncertainty tainted the solid courage of

his knighthood.

Then he heard the criers calling the defendant at the four corners of

the list: “Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! William Bushy Brookhurst, Earl of Alban,

come to this combat, in which you be enterprised this day to discharge

your sureties before the King, the Constable, and the Marshal, and to

encounter in your defence Myles Falworth, knight, the accepted champion

upon behalf of Gilbert Reginald Falworth, the challenger! Oyez! Oyez!

Oyez! Let the defendant come!”

So they continued calling, until, by the sudden turning of all faces,

Myles knew that his enemy was at hand.

Then presently he saw the Earl and his attendants enter the outer gate

at the west end of the barrier; he saw the Constable and Marshal meet

him; he saw the formal words of greeting pass; he saw the Constable

raise the umbril of the helmet. Then the gate opened, and the Earl of

Alban entered, clad cap-a-pie in a full suit of magnificent Milan armor

without juppon or adornment of any kind. As he approached across the

lists, Myles closed the umbril of his helmet, and then sat quite still

and motionless, for the time was come.

So he sat, erect and motionless as a statue of iron, half hearing the

reading of the long intricately-worded bills, absorbed in many thoughts

of past and present things. At last the reading ended, and then he

calmly and composedly obeyed, under the direction of his attorney,

the several forms and ceremonies that followed; answered the various

official questions, took the various oaths. Then Gascoyne, leading the

horse by the bridle-rein, conducted him back to his station at the east

end of the lists.

As the faithful friend and squire made one last and searching

examination of arms and armor, the Marshal and the clerk came to the

young champion and administered the final oath by which he swore that he

carried no concealed weapons.

The weapons allowed by the High Court were then measured and attested.

They consisted of the long sword, the short sword, the dagger, the mace,

and a weapon known as the hand-gisarm, or glave-lot--a heavy swordlike

blade eight palms long, a palm in breadth, and riveted to a stout handle

of wood three feet long.

The usual lance had not been included in the list of arms, the

hand-gisarm being substituted in its place. It was a fearful and

murderous weapon, though cumbersome, Unhandy, and ill adapted for quick

or dexterous stroke; nevertheless, the Earl of Alban had petitioned

the King to have it included in the list, and in answer to the King's

expressed desire the Court had adopted it in the stead of the lance,

yielding thus much to the royal wishes. Nor was it a small concession.

The hand-gisarm had been a weapon very much in vogue in King Richard's

day, and was now nearly if not entirely out of fashion with the younger

generation of warriors. The Earl of Alban was, of course, well used to

the blade; with Myles it was strange and new, either for attack or in

defence.

With the administration of the final oath and the examination of the

weapons, the preliminary ceremonies came to an end, and presently Myles

heard the criers calling to clear the lists. As those around him moved

to withdraw, the young knight drew off his mailed gauntlet, and gave

Gascoyne's hand one last final clasp, strong, earnest, and intense with

the close friendship of young manhood, and poor Gascoyne looked up at

him with a face ghastly white.

Then all were gone; the gates of the principal list and that of the

false list were closed clashing, and Myles was alone, face to face, with

his mortal enemy.