The worthy man was ready enough to chat, though he had little notion of imparting information.

Still, he answered questions with frankness, and Paul was able to pick up a good deal of gossip as to public opinion in those parts and the feeling of the people round.
But what he heard did not give him pleasure.

He had been in the north when he had heard of Warwick's sudden desertion of the Yorkist cause, and before he had been able to reach London he had heard the glad news that Henry of Lancaster was again on the throne, placed there by the power of the King Maker, who had dethroned him but a few years back.

Glad as Paul was, he yet wished that any other hand had been the one to place the crown upon the gentle monarch's head.

He could not but distrust Warwick, and he was eager to learn the feeling of the country, and to know whether or not the people welcomed back the sovereign so long a captive.
But in this place, at least, it seemed as if there was no pleasure in Henry's restoration.