"But there is one, but an hour old, and my lady--" "Be damned to her!" quoth Sir Jeoffry savagely.

"A ninth one--and 'tis nine too many.

'Tis more than man can bear.

She does it but to spite me." "'Tis ill treatment for a gentleman who wants an heir," the old woman answered, as disrespectful of his spouse as he was, being a time-serving crone, and knowing that it paid but poorly to coddle women who did not as their husbands would have them in the way of offspring.

"It should have been a fine boy, but it is not, and my lady--" "Damn her puling tricks!" said Sir Jeoffry again, pulling at his horse's bit until the beast reared.
"She would not let me rest until I came to you," said the nurse resentfully.