xi LADY MAUD'S WALK 183 



had the spirit even to invent bowls. In any 

 case, I think I may exonerate Lady Maud ; 

 for five centuries she has been too full of 

 her own sorrows to think of trivialities, be 

 they bowls or skulls. 



How difficult it is to get at the truth of 

 things. This is not meant to be a wise 

 reflection one cannot be very wise on a 

 hot afternoon in July, but in some sort to 

 excuse myself to myself for not having made 

 sure of Lady Maud and her legend. A 

 little research would probably have revealed 

 to me the whole story, with names, reasons, 

 and dates. Some relation was she to John 

 of Gaunt, daughter possibly, or it may have 

 been daughter-in-law ; but I do not greatly 

 care. Historical accuracy is for pale people 

 in the British Museum, not for me on the 

 grass with my mind full of bowls. So far 

 as I have heard it, thus runs the tale : 

 Back from the wars came the squire, Lady 

 Maud's stripling son, who had gone forth to 

 win his spurs, and it was here, on this terrace 

 walk, that they first met in the dusk of a 

 late autumn afternoon. Mother and son 

 fell on each other's necks, and in this close 

 embrace her jealous husband found them. 



