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.
