The servant retorted that this was nonsense. My lady had bought the dog. If the old beggar woman did not go away at once she would be tied to a tree and whipped.
Alice was indignant. To dare to say I stole the dog! I! Does she not know who I am? The wife of none other than the Lord Chancellor!
But the beggar woman would not go away. She loitered on the river bank, and one day when she saw the Lord Chancellor himself alight from his barge she accosted him.
“My lord! Justice!” she cried. “Justice for a poor woman who is the victim of a thief.”
Thomas paused.
“Mistress,” he said with that grave courtesy which altered not whether he addressed a duchess or a beggar, “what theft is this you wish to report?”
“The theft of a little dog, your honor. I wish to regain what I have lost.”
“If you are speaking the truth, and the animal has been stolen from you, then must it be restored to you. Who now has possession of your property?”
“Lady More, your honor.”
“And is that so? Well then, come to my hall tomorrow morning when I try the cases, and we shall hear yours against Lady More.”
He went smiling to the house and there spoke to Alice.
“Alice, you are summoned to the courts tomorrow morning.”
“What foolish joke is this?”
“No joke. 'Tis true. You are accused of theft, wife and must needs come to answer the charge.”
“I… accused of theft!”
“Of a dog.”
“So it is that beggar!”
“She says you have her dog.”
“And I say I have my dog.”
“In a court of law, Alice, it is not enough to say an article is yours if another claims it. It must be proved.”
“You cannot mean that you would ask me to go to the courts, on a matter like this!”
“I do, Alice.”
She laughed in his face; but he meant it, she realized to her astonishment. She thought it was a most unseemly thing that die Lord Chancellor should summon his own wife to appear before him, and on the word of a beggar too! They would be the laughingstock of all, she doubted not.
She dressed herself with great care and set out with the dog as Thomas had bidden her. She would show dignity if he did not. She would show the world that if Thomas was unfit for the office of Chancellor, she was not unfit for the position of Chancellor's wife.
And in the hall, there was my Lord Chancellor with his officers about him.
“The next case we must try this day,” he said, “concerns the possession of a small animal. Let us have a fair hearing of this matter. This lady declares the dog was stolen from her and therefore belongs to her; this lady declares she bought him and therefore he belongs to her. Now let us place the little dog on the table here. Lady More, stand you back at that end of the hall; and, mistress, you stand at the other. You will both call the dog, and we will see whom he considers to be mistress; for, I verily believe this is a matter which the dog must decide.”
Imperiously Alice called the dog to her, and lovingly the beggar woman called him; and he, the little rogue, did not hesitate; he did what he had been wanting to do ever since he had seen her; he ran, barking excitedly, to the beggar woman.
“There can be no doubt,” said Thomas, “that the dog has once been the property of this lady, and her story that he was stolen from her is doubtless a true one.”
The beggar woman held the dog tightly against her, and Alice, seeing this, knew herself defeated. She knew too that Thomas had been right in this matter, although she deplored his undignified manners.
The beggar woman said to her: “Lady, he has fattened since he was in your care. You can offer him a better home than I can. Take him … care for him as you have done. I see it would be for the best that he should be yours.”
Alice was touched, as she always was by animals and those who loved them.
She saw that the old woman really loved her dog and that it was no small sacrifice to give him up.
Alice hesitated. She said: “The judgement of this court went against me. The dog is yours. But if you would like to sell him, I am ready to buy him of you.”
And so the matter was settled amicably and to the satisfaction of all; but Alice could not help pondering on the strange ways of her husband.
THE GREAT day came, as Alice had known it would.
The King was to dine at Chelsea.
All that activity which she had set in train for the entertainment of a noble duke was intensified.
Alice could scarcely sleep at night; and when she did she dreamed of serving at her table beef that was almost burned to a cinder. She dreamed of seeing black piecrust on her table. She called out in the agony of her nightmare.
She could not stop talking of the great event. “Do you wenches realize that it is tomorrow that the King comes! Hurry, hurry, I say. We shall never be done in time.” Then she would smile and think of His Grace sitting at her table, smiling at her. “His Grace the King, so I have heard, likes to see the blood flow rich and red from his beef. We must make sure that there is not one turn too many of the spit. I hear he has a fancy for his pastry to be well baked…”
Never had the servants lived through such days. Preparations were started four days ahead, and Alice could speak of nothing else during that time. All the girls were pressed into service. Ailie must come and stay, and tell all she knew of Court manners and Court etiquette. “For,” said Alice, “your father is a dullard in such things. It is beyond my understanding why they have called him a wise man.”
So again and again Ailie told of the King's habits and how food was laid at a Court banquet; and Alice wept because she had not gold platters to set before the King.
And at length the great day came.
She was at her window when the royal barge sailed along the river.
“The King!” she murmured, touching her coif nervously to make sure that it was exactly as it should be. “The King is coming to dine at my table!”
She saw him alight. Who could mistake him, surrounded though he was by dazzling courtiers?
The jewels on his clothes caught the rays of the sun. What royalty! What magnificence!
Alice marshaled the family together. They stood, as Ailie had said they should, in the hall, waiting to receive him. Thomas watched them all, and he was smiling as though he found this convention somewhat amusing. Amusing! Alice was beside herself with anxiety. Would the beef be done to a turn? How were they faring in the kitchen? She should be there … yet she must be here.
And now she heard the great booming voice. “Why, this is a pleasant place you have here at Chelsea, Master More. We have heard much of it. Norfolk has sung its praises when he has sung yours.”
And now the King was stepping into the hall.
Alice went forward and sank to her knees. All the rich color had left her face; she was trembling.
“Why, Lady More,” said the King. “Rise … rise … good lady. We have heard much of your excellence. We have come to see for ourselves what it is that calls our Chancellor so frequently from our Court.”
Alice had risen uncertainly. “Your Grace,” she stammered. “Your … most… gracious … Grace …”
The King laughed; he liked her. He liked reverence. It was good to see how his subjects stood in awe of him. He placed his great hands on her shoulders and kissed her heartily.
“There … there … We are as glad to come as you are to have us. Now we would see this family of yours.”
One by one they came forward. The King's eyes smoldered as they rested on Jack. A fine healthy boy! He felt angry when he saw the fine healthy boys of other men. Now the girls. He softened. He was fond of young girls. Lady Allington was a fair creature, but all women other than Anne were insignificant to him now; when he compared them with the incomparable they could interest him but little. He gave Lady Allington a kiss for her beauty; and he kissed the others too. Thomas's girls were hardly beauties … but pleasant creatures.