Nigel’sfairfaceflushed。”Nay，DameErmyntrude，Imustfindmyowngear，evenasIhavefoundmyownhorse，forIhadratherrideintobattleinthistunicthanowemysuittoanother。”
“Ifearedthatyouwouldsayso，Nigel;butindeedIknownothowelsewemaygetthemoney，“saidtheoldwomansadly。”Itwasdifferentinthedaysofmyfather。Icanrememberthatasuitofmailwasbutasmallmatterinthosedays，forineveryEnglishtownsuchthingscouldbemade。Butyearbyyearsincemenhavecometotakemorecareoftheirbodies，therehavebeenaddedaplateofproofhereandacunningjointthere，andallmustbefromToledoorMilan，sothataknightmusthavemuchmetalinhispurseereheputsanyonhislimbs。”
Nigellookedupwistfullyattheoldarmorwhichwasslungonthebeamsabovehim。”Theashspearisgood，“saidhe，“andsoistheoakenshieldwithfacingsofsteel。SirRogerFitzAlanhandledthemandsaidthathehadneverseenbetter。Butthearmor-“
LadyErmyntrudeshookheroldheadandlaughed。”Youhaveyourfather’sgreatsoul，Nigel，butyouhavenothismightybreadthofshoulderandlengthoflimb。TherewasnotinalltheKing’sgreathostatallerorastrongerman。Hisharnesswouldbelittleusetoyou。No，fairson，Iredeyouthatwhenthetimecomesyousellthiscrumblinghouseandthefewacreswhicharestillleft，andsogoforthtothewarsinthehopethatwithyourownrighthandyouwillplantthefortunesofanewhouseofLoring。”
AshadowofangerpassedoverNigel’sfreshyoungface。”Iknownotifwemayholdoffthesemonksandtheirlawyersmuchlonger。