"You here?" cried Sir Jocelyn, in astonishment. "Ay," replied the promoter; "I am come to tell you that this is no idle fear,--that the claim _will_ be made, and _will_ be substantiated." "Ah!" exclaimed Aveline, in a tone of anguish. "You will not seek to evade it, I know, young mistress," replied the promoter; "and therefore, as you have truly said, there is no escape." "Only let me know the claimant's name," cried Sir Jocelyn, "and I will engage he shall never fulfill his design." "O no; this must not be--you must not resort to violence," said Aveline. "I will never consent to owe my deliverance to such means." "You shall have all the information you require after the jousts on Thursday," said Lanyere; "and let the thought strengthen your arm in the strife, for if you fail, Aveline Calveley will have no protector in the hour of need." With this, he departed as suddenly and mysteriously as he had come. CHAPTER VIII. Whitehall. The Tilt-yard at Whitehall, where the jousting was appointed to take place, was situated on the westerly side of the large area in front of the old Banqueting House (destroyed by fire soon after the date of this history, and replaced by the stately structure planned by Inigo Jones, still existing), and formed part of a long range of buildings appertaining to the palace, and running parallel with it in a northerly direction from Westminster, devoted to purposes of exercise and recreation, and including the Tennis-court, the Bowling-alley, the Manage, and the Cock-pit. A succession of brick walls, of various heights, and surmounted by roofs of various forms and sizes, marked the position of these buildings, in reference to Saint James's Park, which they skirted on the side next to King Street. They were mainly, if not entirely erected, in 1532 by Henry VIII., when, after his acquisition from Wolsey, by forfeiture, of Whitehall, he obtained by exchange from the Abbot and Convent of Westminister all their uninclosed land contiguous to his newly-acquired palace, and immediately fenced it round, and converted it into a park.