The abbot arrived at the castle shortly before the breakfast hour and shared some bacon with the others before they all trooped up to see Harcourt's uncle.

Raoul was out of bed, sitting in an armchair, one of the few the castle boasted.  He was wrapped in a great robe that at one time had been a splendid garment but now was the worse for wear, although still warm and comfortable.  Someone had tried to comb his hair to make it lie down fashionably, but it had been uncombed too long to be manageable.  Rooster tails stuck out all over his head, giving him a wild look.

Harcourt's grandfather growled at him.  "How do you feel this morning?  Did you get some sleep?  Will you stay this time and not go running off again?"

"Father, you know those other times I could not help myself," said Raoul.  "There was no reason for me to stay here.  It wasn't my country; I just came to see you and Margaret - and Charley, here, of course.  Charley and I are great friends.  We get along together.  You remember that time, Charley, when I hired you to watch and..."

"The rest of them don't know about that, Uncle Raoul," said Harcourt.  "You asked me not to tell anyone, and I never did.  Even after you left, I kept watching now and then.  But the two men never came.  Did you ever see them?"

"Yes, I did," said Raoul.  "I saw them later on.  They caught up with me."

"And?"

"I'm here," said Raoul.  "Make what you want of that."

Harcourt's grandfather bellowed at them.  "What is this?  What is going on?  Do you mean to tell me, Raoul, that you involved my grandson in some of your shady doings?"

"It was a long time ago," Harcourt told him.  "I was just a lad.  He hired me to watch for two men who were following him.  I wasn't to do anything about it. I was just to run and tell him."

The grandfather grumbled.  "Well, it might have been innocent enough.  But I don't like it, Raoul."

"I knew you wouldn't," said Raoul.  "That's why I asked him not to tell you.  But now to get on with my general defense."

"I'm not asking you to defend yourself."

"Yes, you are.  You were always urging me to stay and put down roots.  Root yourself in these solid acres, you would tell me.  The thing is, they weren't my acres and neither were they yours.  Except for you and Margaret, these are alien acres to me, as alien as any I have traveled."

"They are my acres now," Harcourt told him, more arrogantly than he had intended.  "And I'm telling you you're welcome.  I would like to have you stay.  Why don't you settle down and stay?  It would be a great comfort to grandfather, and we'll do all possible to make you feel at home."

His uncle looked straight at him for what seemed a long time.  Then he said, "Charley, I may take you up on that.  I'm not as young as I was at one time, and I might settle for a while.  But it's not a promise," he told his father.  "If I feel like going off again, I'll go."

"I know you will," his father said.  "There'll be no holding you."  He said to the abbot, "I must apologize for this unseemly family quarrel.  It does not often happen.  I'm sorry that you had to witness it."

"It was a quarrel," the abbot said smoothly, "that was filled to overflowing with deep family love.  I am the one who should apologize for sitting in on it.  I intruded most obnoxiously.  I can only say that I am here because of my deep concern for what Raoul found in the Empty Land."

"What did you find?" the grandfather asked of Raoul.  "Charles said that you told him you found the prism of Lasandra."

"I did not actually find it.  I located it.  I did not see it and I did not lay my hands upon it, but I am convinced I know where it is.  I could not get to it because its defenses were too formidable for a lone man to wriggle through."

"You're sure it's where you think it is?" the abbot asked.

"I'd stake my life upon it."