Wine , ale , and money were all plentiful ; many sprawled gambling in the straw of the barn , many were still drunken from the noontide meal . To the eye of a modern it would have looked like the sack of a city ; to the eye of a contemporary it was like any other rich and noble household at a festive season . Two monks -- a young and an old -- had arrived late , and were now warming themselves at a bonfire in a corner of the shed . A mixed crowd surrounded them -- jugglers , mountebanks , and soldiers ; and with these the elder of the two had soon engaged so brisk a conversation , and exchanged so many loud guffaws and country witticisms , that the group momentarily increased in number . The younger companion , in whom the reader has already recognised Dick Shelton , sat from the first somewhat backward , and gradually drew himself away . He listened , indeed , closely , but he opened not his mouth ; and by the grave expression of his countenance , he made but little account of his companion 's pleasantries . At last his eye , which travelled continually to and fro , and kept a guard upon all the entrances of the house , lit upon a little procession entering by the main gate and crossing the court in an oblique direction . Two ladies , muffled in thick furs , led the way , and were followed by a pair of waiting-women and four stout men-at-arms . The next moment they had disappeared within the house ; and Dick , slipping through the crowd of loiterers in the shed , was already giving hot pursuit . `` The taller of these twain was Lady Brackley , '' he thought ; `` and where Lady Brackley is , Joan will not be far . '' At the door of the house the four men-at-arms had ceased to follow , and the ladies were now mounting the stairway of polished oak , under no better escort than that of the two waiting-women . Dick followed close behind . It was already the dusk of the day ; and in the house the darkness of the night had almost come . On the stair-landings , torches flared in iron holders ; down the long , tapestried corridors , a lamp burned by every door . And where the door stood open , Dick could look in upon arras-covered walls and rush-bescattered floors , glowing in the light of the wood fires . Two floors were passed , and at every landing the younger and shorter of the two ladies had looked back keenly at the monk . He , keeping his eyes lowered , and affecting the demure manners that suited his disguise , had but seen her once , and was unaware that he had attracted her attention . And now , on the third floor , the party separated , the younger lady continuing to ascend alone , the other , followed by the waiting-maids , descending the corridor to the right . Dick mounted with a swift foot , and holding to the corner , thrust forth his head and followed the three women with his eyes . Without turning or looking behind them , they continued to descend the corridor .
`` It is right well , '' thought XXXXX .
Dick entrances first fro night right third waiting-maids waiting-women witticisms