To the memory of my father⁠— this, his favorite....

He came walking from Bedford into Cambridge one May morning when the sun was still young and the dew scarce gone from the grass. His worldly possessions he carried on his back in an old knapsack; his ...

He came walking from Bedford into Cambridge one May morning when the sun was still young and the dew scarce gone from the grass. His worldly possessions he carried on his back in an old knapsack; his ...

From page to Alan, he became page to my lord himself, and was decked out in Montlice red and gold. Very brave he looked in the short red tunic worked with gold and caught in at the waist by a leathern...

At the time of Simon’s seventeenth birthday, affairs in Wales and the North of England had reached something approaching a crisis. It was in the year 1403, when Bolingbroke had sat upon the throne for...

He did not find his lord anywhere on the battlefield, but he was in no way perturbed. Back he rode to Shrewsbury, to Fulk’s lodging, and there he found Montlice, stretched upon a bed, and swearing mig...

The rest of the year passed quietly for those at Montlice, and once Simon’s grip was tight upon his men so that they durst not annoy him, be he at home or abroad, he began to ride out around the neigh...

Simon had hardly finished his breakfast next morning when Roger returned, leading his own mare, and accompanied by Gregory, Simon’s lieutenant, and six of his most trustworthy men. At sight of this tr...

There followed a fortnight of forced inactivity for Simon, but although he could do nothing further concerning the plot, he was not altogether idle. Much time he spent in exploring the city, and my Lo...

A week later, Charles of Granmere and Simon of Beauvallet rode through Montlice towards the castle, their squires behind them. Word flew round that Sir Simon was back, and all along the road men came ...

In a small chamber by the kitchens at the Castle of Fair Pastures, now known as Beauvallet, sat Master Hubert, the steward, with James, called the Short-Leg, on account of his limp, and Bernard of Tal...

The next thing Simon did was to dismiss Nicholas of the Guards. At the same time he made it known that Basil of Mordaunt was to succeed him. Thus he did away with almost all opposition, for Basil was ...

March saw him in Wales at his brother’s side, engaged in hard fighting and hard generalship. April brought him back to Shrewsbury unscathed, but May saw him marching south to Usk, one of the Prince’s ...

He stood upon a hill by Alençon, looking out over France, and the wind blew his fair hair all about his face, and whipped his surcoat round his mailed form. He was past thirty now, and ten years had g...

He stood upon a hill by Alençon, looking out over France, and the wind blew his fair hair all about his face, and whipped his surcoat round his mailed form. He was past thirty now, and ten years had g...

Midway through October in that year of grace, 1417, Simon appeared before the town of Belrémy, with an army of fifteen hundred strong, Geoffrey of Malvallet leading the van, John Holland, Earl of Hunt...

He struck a week before the promised date, and the manner of his striking was typical of his policy throughout his career. His mine ran from the camp beneath the town-walls to a corner of waste ground...

By noon he had brought some semblance of order into Belrémy and had held a long parley with the sheriff. The usual proclamations were posted up, in the King’s name, promising fair treatment and protec...

Through the streets of Belrémy, past staring townsfolk and saluting men-at-arms, Simon rode, a veiled and cloaked lady on a white palfrey beside him, sitting very upright in her saddle. Behind came Ed...

The Lady Margaret sat on a raised dais, looking out of the window on to the bleak gardens of her castle. A fire burned at the far end of the chamber, and by it were gathered some four or five of her l...

On the broad terrace Jeanne sat sewing, a fur cloak about her plump form, for although the sun was shining it was but a wintry sun, and the day was frosty. To her came Malvallet, bedight in crimson ve...

The Lady Margaret sat with some of her ladies in her audience-chamber. A dark-eyed page was at her feet, playing on a small harp, and Jeanne sat beside her. Margaret lay back at her ease, a splendid f...

The Lady Margaret tramped blithely along the high road, a knapsack slung over her shoulder, and a staff in her hand. Beside her trudged Mademoiselle Jeanne, very weary, and very nervous. She wore a ke...

By a brook which gurgled joyously over the pebbles at its bed, surrounded by gaunt, leafless trees, three travellers sat, eating their midday meal. The air was frosty, the ground hard, and the three s...

They plodded valiantly on, over fields and through woods, and to help their tired feet onward, they sang a little, cheerily, Ranaud in a deep bass which seemed to come from a bottomless cavern within ...

He left Belrémy at noon on the day of the Lady Margaret’s flight, having set a vigilant guard about her cage. He had no suspicion that the bird had flown, so he went to Sal-de-lac in ignorance of how ...

When Raoul pressed his flaccid lips to Margaret’s mouth a second time, she jerked her head back wildly, tearing at his encircling arms like a tigress. Jeanne sprang to her aid, eluding her guard, and ...

My Lord of Montlice hobbled out on to the terrace. It was the day after Simon’s return, and he was still in a state of incoherent surprise over the amazing announcement that Simon had made the night b...

On a voyage of exploration through the castle, Fulk came to a wide gallery where the musicians were wont to play. Coming towards him, away from her rooms, was the Lady Margaret, tall and stately as ev...

Barehead he walked slowly through the garden that surrounded the castle, and the pale sunlight played about his fair hair, while the wind stirred it gently and blew it across his face. His sword hung ...

Geoffrey burst in upon him, Alan following languidly at his heels. “Simon, what is this I hear?” Geoffrey demanded. “Is it true that one sought to slay thee?” “Ay.” Simon smiled a little. “A creature ...

He rode slowly into Bayeux, at the head of his men, Alan at his side, and Huntingdon some way behind, leading the rearguard. He had ridden north and west, past Falaise and Caen, for Belrémy was situat...

The Lady Margaret walked upon the terrace of the castle alone. It was mid-March, and Simon had been absent for three long weeks. She had had news of him through Geoffrey, and knew that he was fighting...

Early in April the King spoke again to Alan of Simon. He called him up to his closet one evening, and smiled upon him, holding up a bulky packet of parchment sheets. “Come hither, my Poet. These came ...

The Lady Margaret stood by the sundial in her pleasaunce, gazing wistfully down at it. It was May now, and all about her flowers bloomed, while the trees in the orchard, beyond the hedge, were laden w...

As a matter of stern, historical fact this post was held successively by the Earls of March and Salisbury. —⁠Author’s note ↩...