John Christopher - Tripods 01 by The White Mountains

Author:The White Mountains
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2011-12-14T21:36:59+00:00

Page 69

Care of the sick and the distribution of largesse were customary with ladies of the nobility and gentry.

When Sir Geoffrey’s wife, Lady May, was alive, she used to do this around Wherton; one of my earliest memories was of receiving from her a big red apple and a sugar pig, and touching my cap in reply. With the Comtesse. though, as I grew to know, generosity and care of others was not a matter of duty but sprang from her own nature. She was a gentle and kind person in herself, and suffering in another creature—human or animal—was a pain to her. The fanner’s wife had scalded her legs months before and was now quite recovered, but die Comtesse needed to reassure herself of that At the farm she was told of the three boys who had been caught hiding—two of them deaf-mutes il4 The White Mountainsp>

and one of those in a fever. She took charge of

us all right away.

It was a sizable company. Nine or ten of her ladies were with her, and three knights had ridden out with them. There were also esquires and grooms. Beanpole and Henry were put up in front of grooms, but I was set on the saddlebow of one of the knights, with his belt tied around to keep me from slipping off. I remember nothing of the journey, which is perhaps as welL It was more than ten miles back to the castle, a good deal of it over rough country.

The face bending over me when I awoke was that of the Comtesse’s daughter, Etoise.

The Chateau de la Tour Rouge stands on high ground, overlooking a confluence of two rivers. It is very ancient, but has had old parts rebuilt and others added from time to time. The tower itself is new, I fancy, because it is of a strange red stone quite unlike the stones used elsewhere in the building. In it are the state rooms and the rooms of the family, where I was put to bed.

The tower Is free-standing on the side that looks down to the river and the plain, but other buildings adjoin at the rear and on either side. there are kitchens, stores, servants’ Quarters, Page 70

The Castle of the Red Tower / 115 kennels, stables, forge—all the workaday places. And the knights*

quarters, which are well-kept and decorated houses, though at this time only three unmarried knights were living in them, the rest having their own houses within easy reach of the castle.

Part of the knights’ quarters were given up to the esquires. These were boys, the sons of knights mostly, who were being trained to knighthood, and Henry and Beanpole, by the orders of the Comtesse, were put among them. They quickly realized that there was no immediate danger of being taken for Capping, and decided to wait and see what happened.

For me, meanwhile, there was the confusion of sickness and delirium. They told me later that I was in a fever for four days.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.