am not worthy to confer blessings of any sort, and only
count myself fortunate for what little grace comes my way.”
His gaze on her turned momentarily serious. “A great deal of
grace resides in you, my lady, and flows from you at every word and every
turn.”
“Nay, my lord. ‘Tis no false modesty when I say I can make
little claim on any grace.”
“You need make no claim, my lady. ‘Tis already a part of
you.”
He would continue to say sweet words to her and flatter her
throughout the meal despite her efforts to deflect him.
Once the meal had concluded, the troop of entertainers began
to perform.
The group consisted of six men ranging in age from a youth
no more than fifteen or sixteen to the leader, who was likely in his late
thirties. They were good. So very good, in fact, that for a while even Juliana
lost herself in amusement at their antics. The tumblers formed elaborate
structures of human limbs by climbing all over each other and balancing in the
most impossible positions. They bounced all around the hall, doing flips and
cartwheels, handsprings and handstands. They rolled along benches, somersaulting
the entire length of the plank, did handsprings over the tables and headstands
on them.
They clowned as well, interacting with the people present.
One lithe, handsome young man circled the room, kneeling or bowing before every
woman in the place, making sheep’s eyes at her, or presenting her a stiff cloth
folded into various amazing shapes.
The audience laughed and clapped and had a marvelous time.
Children screamed and cheered. Parents had to restrain rambunctious youngsters
from attempting the same feats they’d just seen performed. Juliana’s mother
laughed until the tears streamed down her face and she struggled to get her
breath again.
Seeing her gasp, Juliana would have called halt to the
entertainment, but her mother would have none of it. “Nay, my dear,” she
insisted even as she strove to take a breath. “It has been far too long since
we’ve had such merriment. In truth, I cannot remember ever hearing laughter
such as this in this hall. Let it go on. I’m no worse than usual and I feel the
joy lightening my soul.”
Juliana nodded and acceded to her mother’s wishes.
The tumblers ran to a corner of the room where they
exchanged their multi-colored finery for another set. They brought back with
them balls of various sizes and colors, sets of staves, stuffed cloth bags, and
extra shoes and hats. Their juggling was a wonder to behold. Every one of them
could sustain three balls in the air at once. They did it in harmony, with all
of them tossing balls at exactly the same time and speed.
Then some of them changed the balls for long, round staves.
They juggled those with even more aplomb, catching them and flipping them up
end over end. Other jugglers added another ball or even two to the mix. A pair
of them began tossing balls and staves back and forth while juggling. Shoes
somehow became mixed in, with a juggler sometimes managing to pull one off his
own foot and adding it into the batch without ever dropping anything. Then
their hats also became part of the round robin juggling, flying back and forth.
By the end of the performance, the jugglers stood in a
circle in the center of the hall, juggling from one to the next, passing each
item around in a circle. Each performer took the item, juggled it a few times
with the things he already had, then tossed an item onto the next one in the
circle. Balls went around this way, but so did the staves, shoes, hats,
drinking cups they’d borrowed from nearby tables, and even a couple of leftover
bread trenchers. They kept it going for an amazingly long time before they all,
at some unseen signal, tossed the items they had straight up in the air and
caught each one.
Amidst laughter and applause, the performers bowed to the
room, and then bowed to each other, over and over. It drew even more laughter
from the crowd. Finally the one who
count myself fortunate for what little grace comes my way.”
His gaze on her turned momentarily serious. “A great deal of
grace resides in you, my lady, and flows from you at every word and every
turn.”
“Nay, my lord. ‘Tis no false modesty when I say I can make
little claim on any grace.”
“You need make no claim, my lady. ‘Tis already a part of
you.”
He would continue to say sweet words to her and flatter her
throughout the meal despite her efforts to deflect him.
Once the meal had concluded, the troop of entertainers began
to perform.
The group consisted of six men ranging in age from a youth
no more than fifteen or sixteen to the leader, who was likely in his late
thirties. They were good. So very good, in fact, that for a while even Juliana
lost herself in amusement at their antics. The tumblers formed elaborate
structures of human limbs by climbing all over each other and balancing in the
most impossible positions. They bounced all around the hall, doing flips and
cartwheels, handsprings and handstands. They rolled along benches, somersaulting
the entire length of the plank, did handsprings over the tables and headstands
on them.
They clowned as well, interacting with the people present.
One lithe, handsome young man circled the room, kneeling or bowing before every
woman in the place, making sheep’s eyes at her, or presenting her a stiff cloth
folded into various amazing shapes.
The audience laughed and clapped and had a marvelous time.
Children screamed and cheered. Parents had to restrain rambunctious youngsters
from attempting the same feats they’d just seen performed. Juliana’s mother
laughed until the tears streamed down her face and she struggled to get her
breath again.
Seeing her gasp, Juliana would have called halt to the
entertainment, but her mother would have none of it. “Nay, my dear,” she
insisted even as she strove to take a breath. “It has been far too long since
we’ve had such merriment. In truth, I cannot remember ever hearing laughter
such as this in this hall. Let it go on. I’m no worse than usual and I feel the
joy lightening my soul.”
Juliana nodded and acceded to her mother’s wishes.
The tumblers ran to a corner of the room where they
exchanged their multi-colored finery for another set. They brought back with
them balls of various sizes and colors, sets of staves, stuffed cloth bags, and
extra shoes and hats. Their juggling was a wonder to behold. Every one of them
could sustain three balls in the air at once. They did it in harmony, with all
of them tossing balls at exactly the same time and speed.
Then some of them changed the balls for long, round staves.
They juggled those with even more aplomb, catching them and flipping them up
end over end. Other jugglers added another ball or even two to the mix. A pair
of them began tossing balls and staves back and forth while juggling. Shoes
somehow became mixed in, with a juggler sometimes managing to pull one off his
own foot and adding it into the batch without ever dropping anything. Then
their hats also became part of the round robin juggling, flying back and forth.
By the end of the performance, the jugglers stood in a
circle in the center of the hall, juggling from one to the next, passing each
item around in a circle. Each performer took the item, juggled it a few times
with the things he already had, then tossed an item onto the next one in the
circle. Balls went around this way, but so did the staves, shoes, hats,
drinking cups they’d borrowed from nearby tables, and even a couple of leftover
bread trenchers. They kept it going for an amazingly long time before they all,
at some unseen signal, tossed the items they had straight up in the air and
caught each one.
Amidst laughter and applause, the performers bowed to the
room, and then bowed to each other, over and over. It drew even more laughter
from the crowd. Finally the one who
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