54- TILT A L'OUTRANCE. 



longing to the hotel and household of the Comte d'Alen^on, returned 

 from Scotland, where, with the permission of his lord, he had been 

 serving under the banners of the Bastard of Escorailles. He had 

 left in his chateau of Capomesnil, situated in the marshes of Lower 

 Normandy, his wife, Marie de Thibouville, a lady, beautiful and 

 young, who on his arrival received him with just demonstrations of 

 joy, and welcomed him according to the duty which a wife owes to 

 her husband. But when the evening came, and the Sire de Car- 

 rouges was impatient to retire for the night, the lady having re- 

 luctantly dismissed the attendants, threw herself on her knees at her 

 husband's feet, and bursting into a flood of tears, addressed him 

 ' My lord/ said she, ' put me away from you, for in your absence a 

 great evil has befallen me.' At these words the countenance of the 

 Sire de Carrouges became redder than the crimson curtains of the 

 bed of state, and with a terrible voice he cried, f Woman ! what has 

 happened that you dare not name ? At the peril of your soul and 

 body have you been false to me ?' ' Not so, dear lord/ replied Marie 

 de Thibouville, with deep sobs, * I swear by the Holy Virgin Mother ! 

 Listen, and be yourself the judge. But for pity's sake, look not upon 

 me so fiercely, or I can never tell you. From the moment that I 

 received the intelligence of your being on the point of quitting Scot- 

 land, to return to your own castle, I passed the greater part of the 

 day on the turret which overlooks the road to Falaise j from thence 

 I expected your approach, and strained my eyes to discover you from 

 afar. I cannot tell how often I was deceived by dust and vapour, 

 taking herdsmen for armed knights, and sheep for war-horses ; but 

 one evening it befel, that being at the window of the turret, wrapt in 

 fancy, and idly listening to the noise of a thrasher's flail in a neigh- 

 bouring barn, or the cracking sound of the donjon weathercock, 

 I felt a hand gently laid on my shoulder. I thought at first that it 

 was Clotilde de Ners, my cousin, who wished to surprise me, and 

 without turning my head I strove to take the fair maiden's hand in 

 mine ; but instead of her delicate fingers, I grasped the armed 

 gauntlet of a knight ! I was struck with an indescribable dread, for 

 the idea came into my mind that you were dead, and that according 

 to the privilege of your noble house, you were returned from the 

 battle-field armed at all points, to pray for masses for a soul in pur- 

 gatory. But dead or alive I was resolved to see you, and with a 

 great effort I turned round, and saw beside me, not your shade, but a 

 knight of real flesh and blood, beneath whose vizor his eyes gleamed 

 like burning coals. ' Fair lady/ muttered he in a hoarse voice, c like 

 the Sire de Carrouges, I also belong to the hotel of the Comte 

 d' Alen9on, and you may remember to have seen me at the castle of 

 Argentan. I would not willingly pass the domains of Capomesnil 

 without presenting you my homage, and asking news of your husband/ 

 ' Sir knight/ replied I, very much annoyed that a stranger should 

 have approached me so suddenly without being announced by some 

 servant, ' this inquiry honours us highly ; but if you come from a 

 distance, will it not please you to take some refreshment within, arid 

 allow your steed to be looked after?' 'Many thanks, fair lady/ 

 answered he, * I cannot linger but a moment, for to night I must be 



