"
The chamberlain retired.
And there at the guest table in the refectory sat Etienne, and
marvelled to see how well the ascetics fared. Yet there was
refinement in their dishes; and there was little or no excess; they
drank the light wines of France, not the heavier ale and mead of
their predecessors.
The Latin grace said, they fell to. The joints of meat were passed
round, the game, the fish, and each used his fingers in the place
of forks, and then washed them in the finger glasses, which had
some purpose then to serve, ere they waved them in the air, and
then wiped them on delicate napkins.
The meal over, the abbot retired to his chamber, a pleasant room,
overlooking the river, and there he took his seat in a cosy chair
near the Gothic window, and sent for the visitor.
Etienne appeared; bent with the grace of youth, kissed the abbot's
hand, and then standing before him, with all due modesty, waited to
be addressed.
Such etiquette was exacted of those who had not yet won their
spurs.
The abbot gave him a short benediction, a brief "Dens te custodiat
fili," and quickly added, "I am told thou hast news for me of our
little patrimony at Aescendune."
"The wolves have ravaged it, father; our own pious brethren are
ejected; English swine root in its precincts.
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