"My master greets you well, sir," he said, addressing Sir John Grey, "and has sent you, by the King's order, some of the money belonging to you, for your present need;" and thus saying, he laid a heavy bag of what appeared to be coin upon the table. "He bids me say," continued the man, "that the rest of the money will arrive soon, and that you had better appear at the Court of my Lord Count, as early as may be, that all the world may know you have the King's protection." Sir John Grey gazed at the bag of money with a mournful smile. "How ready men are," he said, "when fortune favours! How far and how long might I have sought this, when I was in distress!"--and untying the bag, he took out a large piece of silver, saying to the servant, "There, my friend, is largess. Tell your master I will follow counsel. He has heard of this, Richard;--you bore him letters, I suppose;" he added, as the man quitted the room, with thanks for his bounty. "Well, 'tis no use to expect of men more than they judge their duty; yet this knight was the instrument who willingly urged the Duke of Burgundy to drive me forth from Dijon." CHAPTER XXII. THE COUNT OF CHAROLOIS. Clothed in the most splendid array with which he had been able to provide himself, his tight-fitting hose displaying to the highest advantage his graceful yet powerful limbs, with the coat of black silk, spotted with flowers of gold, cut wide, but gathered into numerous pleats or folds round the collar and the waist, and confined by a rich girdle to the form, while the sleeves, fashioned to the shape of the arm, and fastened at the wrist, showed the strong contour of the swelling muscles, Richard of Woodville stood before the door of the inn, as handsome and princely a man in his appearance as ever graced a royal court. Over his shoulders he wore a short mantle of embroidered cloth, trimmed with costly fur, the sleeves of which, according to the custom of the day, were slashed down the inner side so as to suffer the arm to be thrust out from them, while they, more for ornament than use, hung down to the bend of the knee. On his feet he wore the riding boots of the time, thrust down to the ankle; and--in accordance with a custom then new in the courts of France and Burgundy, but which ere long found its way to England--his heavy sword had been laid aside, and his only arm was a rich hilted dagger, suspended by a gold ring from the clasp of his girdle. His head was covered with a small bonnet, or velvet cap, ornamented by a single long white feather, showing that he had not yet reached knightly rank; and round it curled in large masses his glossy dark-brown hair.