Sentence The Fourhundredandseventythird

Which was also when the small party of Pilgrims eventually arrived at Albany Palace, ancestral home of the Dukes of that name; to say they were overawed would not be an exaggeration – the Palace was immense, massive, resolutely inspiring, a statement of power and superiority wrought in stone, it
carried the motto of the Dukes of Albany: “Wha' Daur Meddle Wi' Me!” as a Statement, there being no need for it to be a Question; and as they crossed the open space which led to the great draw-bridge, they passed other groups of supplicants, either hopeful and resolute, or broken and rejected, which latter somewhat weakened their own hopes of admittance; but when Tavish, Father Tavish, addressed one of the burly guards, he was listened to and a servant was sent across the
drawbridge with a message and when he returned, the guards stood aside for the party to cross and enter the great Palace, and they were led across a wide open space, full of guards and horses and carts being unloaded and loaded, and admitted to an interior courtyard where another guard took over and led them into the central Keep: here, they were carefully searched and, found not to be carrying any weapons, they were led along corridors, up flights of stone stairs, along other corridors, down more flights of stairs along further corridors and then up more flights of stairs until at last they cam into a huge chamber, decked with banners and tapestries, crossed swords and axes and painted shields, and then introduced to His Grace, The Duke's Chamberlain who questioned them closely and, satisfied with their answers, but not in the least impressed with their story, told them to settle themselves and wait for his return and, when at last he did return, took them up further sets of stairs and into a receiving room where they were again told to wait and they sat on hard benches until he returned again and led them into his Grace, The Duke of Albany's Presence Chamber and again told to wait, along with many others, frae aw airts an pairts, and speaking in many languages, which lent the place a cosmopolitan air, with Frenchies, Huns, Romans and Norsemen, till they would be given the opportunity to present themselves to His Grace in person; and at length, and after they had eaten three simple meals and felt that the day outside – for there were no windows to help them judge how many days and nights had passed since their arrival – was passing them by, it was announced that His Grace would be pleased to meet them in a further, more intimate chamber and they were ushered in and told to bow obsequiously, for they were in the Presence of His Grace The Duke's Personal Chaplain, a gaunt and withered man, from whom, yet, emanated power and prestige, and who listened again to their supplication and then told them that His Grace The Duke would be pleased to see them and they were taken into His Grace The Duke's bed-chamber, for it was by now late at night on a Monday, almost a week since they had first arrived, and the Duke, His Grace The Duke of Albany, lay
half-naked on his bed, speaking with a high-born lady who could have been anything from a Queen to a Courtesan and they had to wait, bowed in supplication until the Duke, that is His Grace The Duke, noticed them and invited them to join him on his bed and so Tavish, Tammy, Bernie, Lolly, Sister Evadne Eglantyne and Griselda of Longformacus, joined His Grace The Duke of Albany on his great Eight-Poster and were offered – and accepted, for no-one declines – in this, the only game in town - what they are offered in The Presence: wine and sweetmeats; and Alfalfa, as His Grace ordered them to address him, “for we are, after, all, kin, are we not Mistress Griselda, and your friends and relations are my friends and relations, are they not?” and Griselda, taking his proffered hand and kissing his Ducal Ring, propitiated him as she pledged “the devotion and subservience of herself and her entire family, kith and kin, and her friends and relations from John o Groats to Gretna Green, in the service of His Grace to posterity and beyond,” and he nodded and gratefully accepted her solemn oath and he asked the members of her party to introduce themselves individually – which they did, each receiving and responding to, a number of searching questions until His Grace, seeming satisfied, sent all but Griselda out with a number of his servants, to find them lodging within the Palace for “however long it takes,” and settled himself to get to know Griselda better!