"Wilt thou back me in this manner ?" said she.

"Thou art surely rich enough to risk so much for the sake of a lady." "To pleasure my Queen I will do it," said Sir Robert Lee, "but for the sake of no other in all the world would I wager a groat, for no man can stand against Tepus and Gilbert and Clifton." Then turning to the King, Queen Eleanor said, "I want no such aid as Sir Robert giveth me; but against thy wine and beer and stout bows of yew I wager this girdle all set with jewels from around my waist; and surely that is worth more than thine." "Now, I take thy wager," quoth the King.

"Send for thy archers straightway.

But here come forth the others; let them shoot, and then I will match those that win against all the world." "So be it," said the Queen.

Thereupon, beckoning to young Richard Partington, she whispered something in his ear, and straightway the Page bowed and left the place, crossing the meadow to the other side of the range, where he was presently lost in the crowd.