To hold the light while Mistress Alice picked her steps, to touch
her hand as he helped her over broken ways, to have her leaning on
his arm, - it sometimes even came to that, - this was happiness
indeed!
When the nights were fair, Hugh followed in the rear, his eyes
riveted on the graceful figure of the Bowyer's daughter as she and
the old man moved on before him. So they threaded the narrow
winding streets of the city, now passing beneath the overhanging
gables of old wooden houses whence creaking signs projected into
the street, and now emerging from some dark and frowning gateway
into the clear moonlight. At such times, or when the shouts of
straggling brawlers met her ear, the Bowyer's daughter would look
timidly back at Hugh, beseeching him to draw nearer; and then how
he grasped his club and longed to do battle with a dozen rufflers,
for the love of Mistress Alice!
The old Bowyer was in the habit of lending money on interest to the
gallants of the Court, and thus it happened that many a richly-
dressed gentleman dismounted at his door. More waving plumes and
gallant steeds, indeed, were seen at the Bowyer's house, and more
embroidered silks and velvets sparkled in his dark shop and darker
private closet, than at any merchants in the city. In those times
no less than in the present it would seem that the richest-looking
cavaliers often wanted money the most.
Of these glittering clients there was one who always came alone.
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