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        The chattering throng quickly dispersed, but Alejandro remained behind to speak with the travelers. He stood some distance from one of the barred windows, and called out to Matthews.
        "My congratulations on your successful mission and safe return, Matthews," he said. There is fresh clothing and a supply of bread and ale in the cupboard. I have tried to anticipate your every need in advance, so that you will be comfortable during your forced confinement."
        Despite that fact that he faced two weeks of confinement with the dour-looking tailor, Matthews remained in good spirits. He joked, "You seem to have forgotten the willing maid, Doctor."
        "Of course, how stupid of me," Alejandro apologized, appreciating the man's good humor. "For now you will have to be content with Monsieur Reed."
        Matthews snickered and shrugged in the direction of the tailor, who was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor in a state of bewilderment over the situation in which he suddenly found himself.
        "Perhaps later," the soldier said. "Right now he is still getting accustomed to his new home. And I myself am nearly spent from this day's rough journey, so I shall retire soon to my sumptuous bed," and he gestured toward the straw mat, "regrettably alone."
        "I must ask you to remain awake for a short while longer, for the King himself would speak with you."
        Matthews shrugged again, and commented, "I suppose I can keep my wits about me for a little bit yet, but Master Reed may not be in any state to pay his respects tonight."
        The King appeared almost immediately after Alejandro's summons. Though he was eager to hear what passed in the outside world, the stories Matthews told were not encouraging. "Deserted cottages are everywhere," Matthews told him. "Fields of grain stand unharvested and will surely rot, Sire, if they remain unattended. But the population is so diminished I fear there are no able men to do the work."
        Matthews then related what he saw during his brief wait for the tailor to pack his materials and belongings. "There is a plain nearby where it is said that hundreds are interred; indeed, the field looked as if it were freshly plowed, such was the extent of its coverage with new graves. The abbey has only two priests remaining, and there is little business transacted there, God's or otherwise. The dead meet their Maker unconfessed for lack of priests to hear them, and those who survive stay inside their houses, fearing the contagion."
        Standing nearby, Alejandro observed the exchange between the King and his soldier. As the report progressed, and the severity of England's plight outside the safety of Windsor became clear, he saw a look of great distress and sadness spread over Edward's face; he said nothing, for there was little he could say after such news.
        Matthews politely kept his silence for a few minutes, waiting for his sovereign to speak. When no comment came from the pensive monarch, Matthews requested permission to speak again. The King grunted his distracted approval.
        "Surely, Sire," said the soldier from his cage, "this is the end of the world as we have known it."
                                * * *

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