Good my liege, and little worth the telling. Briefly, then, this brother did deftly

Magnify my faults and make them crimes; ending his base work with finding

A silken ladder in mine apartments — conveyed thither by his own means —

And did convince my father by this, and suborned evidence of servants and

Other lying knaves, that I was minded to carry off my Edith and marry with

Her, in rank defiance of his will.

'Three years of banishment from home and England might make a soldier

And a man of me, my father said, and teach me some degree of wisdom. I

Fought out my long probation in the continental wars, tasting sumptuously of

Hard knocks, privation, and adventure; but in my last battle I was taken

Captive, and during the seven years that have waxed and waned since then, a

Foreign dungeon hath harbored me. Through wit and courage I won to the

Free air at last, and fled hither straight; and am but just arrived, right poor in

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Purse and raiment, and poorer still in knowledge of what these dull seven

Years have wrought at Hendon Hall, its people and belongings. So please you,

sir, my meager tale is told.'

'Thou hast been shamefully abused!' said the little king, with a flashing eye.

'But I will right thee — by the cross will I! The king hath said it.'

Then, fired by the story of Miles's wrongs, he loosed his tongue and poured