Page 32 - A Knight of the White Cross

had he escaped from the field he would long ere this have been with her.
The messenger with the news had arrived at eight the previous morning,

and, faithful to her husband's wishes, at that hour she ordered the horses to
be brought round, and, joining a party of gentlemen who were also making

for the coast, rode with them to Plymouth. Arrangements were at once
made with the captain of a small ship in the port, and two days later they
landed at Honfleur, where Sir Thomas had enjoined his wife to wait until

she heard from him or obtained sure news of his fate.

A week after her arrival the news was brought by other fugitives of the
violation of the sanctuary by the king, and the murder of Somerset and the
gentlemen with him, of whom Sir Thomas Tresham was known to have

been one.

The blow proved fatal to Dame Tresham. She had gone through many trials
and misfortunes, and had ever borne them bravely, but the loss of her
husband completely broke her down. Save to see his wishes concerning

their son carried out, she had no longer any interest in life or any wish to
live. But until the future of Gervaise was assured, her mission was

unfulfilled. His education was her sole care; his mornings were spent at a
monastery, where the monks instructed the sons of such of the nobles and
gentry of the neighbourhood as cared that they should be able to read and

write. In the afternoon he had the best masters in the town in military
exercises. His evenings he spent with his mother, who strove to instill in

him the virtues of patience, mercy to the vanquished, and valour, by stories
of the great characters of history. She herself spent her days in pious
exercises, in attending the services of the Church, and in acts of charity and

kindness to her poorer neighbours. But her strength failed rapidly, and she
was but a shadow of her former self when, two years and a half after her

arrival at Honfleur, she felt that if she was herself to hand Gervaise over to
the Order of St. John, she must no longer delay. Accordingly she took ship
to London, and landing there made her way with him to the dwelling of the

Order at Clerkenwell. It was in process of rebuilding, for in 1381 it had
been first plundered and then burned by the insurgents under Wat Tyler.

During the ninety years that had elapsed since that event the work of
rebuilding had proceeded steadily, each grand prior making additions to the