In great monasteries all were
accommodated, being used to close quarters; in castles there was room
for the "Gentles," who, if they fared well, heeded little how they
slept, and their attendants found lairs in the kitchens or stables.
In towns there was generally harbour for the noble portion; indeed in
some, Warwick had dwellings of his own, or his father's, but these,
at first, were at long distances apart, such as would be ridden by
horsemen alone, not encumbered with ladies, and there were
intermediate stages, where some of the party had to be dispersed in
hostels.
It was in one of these, at Dunstable, that Dame Gresford had taken
Grisell, and there were also sundry of the gentlemen of the escort.
A minstrel was esconced under the wide spread of the chimney, and
began to sound his harp and sing long ballads in recitative to the
company. Whether he did it in all innocence and ignorance, or one of
the young squires had mischievously prompted him, there was no
knowing; Dame Gresford suspected the latter, when he began the ballad
of "Sir Gawaine's Wedding." She would have silenced it, but feared
to draw more attention on her charge, who had never heard the song,
and did not know what was coming, but listened with increasing
eagerness as she heard of King Arthur, and of the giant, and the
secret that the King could not guess, till as he rode -
He came to the green forest,
Underneath a green hollen tree,
There sat that lady in red scarlet
That unseemly was to see.
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