His knees were loosened, and he sank back into the chair from which he had but risen.
"Aye, I was his friend!" assented Crispin.

"Poor Roland! He married your sister, did he not, and it was thus that, having no issue and the family being extinct, Castle Marleigh passed to you ?" "He married our cousin," Gregory amended.

"They were an ill-fated family." "Ill-fated, indeed, an all accounts be true," returned Crispin in a maudlin voice.

"Poor Roland! Well, for old time's sake, I'll sleep in the King's chamber, Master Ashburn." "You shall sleep where you list, sir," answered Gregory, and they rose.
"Do you look to honour us long at Castle Marleigh, Sir Crispin ?" was Gregory's last question before separating from his guest.
"Nay, sir, 'tis likely I shall go hence to-morrow," answered Crispin, unmindful of what he said.
"I trust not," said Gregory, in accents of relief that belied him.

"A friend of Roland Marleigh's must ever be welcome in the house that was Roland Marleigh's." "The house that was Roland Marleigh's," Crispin muttered.