That he should win his spurs upon the first opportunity the earl had promised her, and she doubted not that he would soon attain the rank which his father had held.

But that he should return to her a belted earl was beyond her wildest thoughts.

This, however, was but little in her mind then.

It was her son, and not the Earl of Evesham, whom she clasped in her arms.
As the interview must necessarily be a short one, Cuthbert gave her but a slight outline of what had happened since they parted, and the conversation then turned upon the present position, and upon the steps which had best be taken.
"Your peril is, I fear, as great here as when you were fighting the infidels in the Holy Land," she said.

"Sir Rudolph has not been here long; but he has proved himself a cruel and ruthless master.