AN INVITATION
Edgar laughed heartily at his father’s account
of the success of his defence of the house. Then
he said: “I hope, father, that distorted
accounts of the affair may not get you into trouble
with the Church.”
“I have no fear of that, Edgar. I had shown
the prior my preparations, and he approved of them
heartily, being a man of much broader intelligence
than is common. Indeed, he begged of me a pot
of my shining paste, and with it painted the stone
crucifix over the abbey gateway. And it was well
that he did so, for last night some men came out from
Dartford with intent to plunder the priory of its
deeds and muniments, but on seeing the glowing crucifix,
they went off in fear and trembling, and the villagers
were saying this morning that the priory had been protected
by a miracle, while you see in my case they attribute
it to the work of the devil. And now, Edgar,
tell me all that has befallen you since you went away.”
Edgar related the various adventures that had happened.
When he had concluded, his father said: “Truly,
Edgar, you have been fortunate indeed, which is another
way of saying that you have skilfully grasped the
opportunities that presented themselves. The man
who bemoans ill-fortune is the man too apathetic,
too unready, or too cowardly to grasp opportunity.
The man who is called fortunate is, on the other hand,
he who never lets a chance slip by, who is cool, resolute,
and determined. During the time that you have
been away you have made friends of two wealthy merchants,
and have rendered them both high services; you have
also as greatly benefited our neighbour, Sir Ralph
De Courcy, and have placed your foot so firmly on
the ladder, that ’tis your own fault if you
do not rise high. And now, what think you of doing?”
“I have the intention of staying at home for
a while, father. There will be troubles for a
time, but I care not to take part in the hunting down
of these poor peasants north of the river, who, unlike
these fellows, were well content when the king offered
them the charter granting their demands, and retired
peacefully to their homes. So I would rather remain
here quietly until I have a chance of drawing sword
in a foreign war, either against the French or the
Scots.”
“I think that you are right; and, moreover,
although you have proved your manhood against men,
you can hardly, when with an army, be regarded as
more than a young esquire till another year or two
have gone over your head.”
Two days later, finding that all was now perfectly
quiet, and that there was no probability whatever
of a renewal of the troubles, Sir Ralph went up to
London with the city knight and his company. They
had ridden over on the previous day to call upon Mr.
Ormskirk to thank him for the services that Edgar
had rendered them, and upon which they entered in much
fuller detail than Edgar had allowed himself.
In return he gave them a description of the defence
of his house, in which Sir Robert was greatly interested,
going down into the laboratory and examining the luminous
paint and its effect upon the skull.
