"And now," cried the deformed leader, "back to your posts, and when
I summon you next, be readier to attend."
"My lord duke," said one man, "beseech you, tarry not here alone.
Keep but a handful of lances at your hand."
"Fellow," said the duke, "I have forborne to chide you for your
slowness. Cross me not, therefore. I trust my hand and arm, for
all that I be crooked. Ye were backward when the trumpet sounded;
and ye are now too forward with your counsels. But it is ever so;
last with the lance and first with tongue. Let it be reversed."
And with a gesture that was not without a sort of dangerous
nobility, he waved them off.
The footmen climbed again to their seats behind the men-at-arms,
and the whole party moved slowly away and disappeared in twenty
different directions, under the cover of the forest.
The day was by this time beginning to break, and the stars to fade.
The first grey glimmer of dawn shone upon the countenances of the
two young men, who now turned once more to face each other.
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