"Come with me," he said to the two women, "you must have a room kept for
you upstairs," and he held back the door for them to pass.
Isabel put out her hand to Mary, and the two went out together into the
hall past the men, who stood back to let them through, and Hubert
followed. They turned to the left to the stairs, looking as they went
upon the wild confusion. Above them rose the carved ceiling, and in the
centre of the floor, untouched, by a strange chance, stood the
dinner-table, still laid with silver and fruit and flowers. But all else
was in disarray. The leather screen that had stood by the door into the
entrance hall had been overthrown, and had carried with it a tall
flowering plant that now lay trampled and broken before the hearth. A
couple of chairs lay on their backs between the windows; the rug under
the window was huddled in a heap, and all over the polished boards were
scratches and dents; a broken sword-hilt lay on the floor with a
feathered cap beside it. There were half a dozen men guarding the four
doors; but the rest were gone; and from overhead came tramplings and
shouts as the hunt swept to and fro in the upper floors.
At the top of the stairs was Mary's room; the two ladies, who had gone
silently upstairs with Hubert behind them, stopped at the door of it.
"Here, if you please," said Mary.
Before Hubert could answer, Lackington came down the passage, hurrying
with a drawn sword, and his hat on his head. Isabel did not recognise him
as he stopped and tapped Hubert on the arm familiarly.
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