"What devils men can be!" she whispered. "What devilry is this that they are desiring to practise, and in which I am to be their tool? Heaven send me strength and courage to thwart their evil schemes! O Hugh, my love, my love! they shall not hurt thee if I can save thee. Twice warned is thrice armed. I will save thee from their cruel malice, or I will die with thee!" CHAPTER IX. _A STUDENTS' HOLIDAY._ "Wilt thou come to see the joustings in Beaumont meadows to-morrow, fair Mistress Alys?" Alys raised her eyes from her frame, and saw that Amalric had entered the room with his eager, elastic step. The young De Montfort was no stranger to that upper chamber now. Indeed, scarce a day passed but he found his way thither, to tell the news of the city in the eager ears of Edmund, or to look into the eyes of the fair Alys, and listen whilst she played upon the lute. A great friendship had sprung up between these three, and the fact that Amalric had entered as a scholar at St. George's College in the Castle gave them the more chance of frequent meetings. Sir Humphrey and his wife were glad that Edmund should be enlivened by the visits of a friend, and in his heart of hearts the Constable was devoted to the cause of the Barons, although his position obliged him to maintain an air of neutrality when political questions were discussed. A great change had recently come over the lives of brother and sister. Instead of passing their days alone in this upper room, seeing hardly any faces but those of their parents from one week's end to another, they now enjoyed a variety of diversions. A master of Arts came twice in the week to instruct Edmund in some of that lore he was so eager to make his own, and upon three other days in the week the young clerk Leofric Wyvill made his appearance, to read with the invalid, and to assist him with such preparation for his tutor as it was possible to make in those days. Alys shared these readings with her brother, and was almost as keenly interested as he. She almost neglected her tapestry frame now for a more congenial task, but her mother still looked for the daily portion, and she would return to it and work hard again, whilst Leofric retailed to them such things as he had heard from those various masters whose lectures he sedulously attended. He was sitting beside Edmund's couch now, drawing mathematical figures and working out the problems attached, when Amalric's voice broke in upon them, and for the moment thoughts of study were thrown aside. "They say it will be a brave show," continued young De Montfort: "North and South will meet together and tilt and hold joustings. They say the Welsh have joined the Northerners, and that they will challenge those of the South to meet them in mock combat. They have chosen St. Bartholomew's Day, and all men say it will be a goodly sight.--Art thou to be there, fair mistress?"