Thus it came about that the Wolf who fought paid the price for the Swan who fled away, hid in the armour of his friend, whom he left to die for him." There followed a great silence, for all those noble lords and ladies who thought little of treason, which to most of them was a very familiar thing, were not a little stirred by this tale of cowardice and false arms.

The Doge said: "Noble Cattrina, you have heard the story of the English knight.

What do you answer to it ?" "Only that it is a lie, Illustrious, like everything else that he has told us," replied Acour with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"You said that you had a witness, Cavalier de Cressi," said the Doge.
"Where is he ?" "Here," answered Hugh.

"Stand forward, Dick, and tell what you saw." Dick obeyed, and in his low, rasping voice, with more detail than Hugh had given, set out the story of those two combats at Crecy, of the sparing of the wolf knight and the slaying of the swan knight.
"What say you now, noble Cattrina ?" asked the Doge.
"I say that the man lies even better than his master," answered Acour coolly, and all the Court laughed.
"Illustrious," said Hugh, "doubtless you have some herald at your Court.
I pray that he may fetch his book and tell us what are the arms of de Noyon and Cattrina, with all their colourings and details." The Doge beckoned to an officer in a broidered tabard, who with bows, without needing to fetch any book, described the crest and arms of Cattrina in full particular.

He added that, to his knowledge, these were borne by no other family or man in Italy, France, or England.
"Then you would know them if you saw them ?" said Hugh.
"Certainly, cavalier.