"Is not my kinsman the duke a knight and a prince?" he observed, one day, when the matter was under discussion in the council; "and does he not know that he cannot break faith and promises, without forfeiting his honour, and becoming a mockery to the whole world?"
"If God's law does not bind him, my young king and master," replied Master Martinus, "the laws of knighthood will have still less power, especially as they do not yet properly concern him. True, he is a prince of the royal blood; but the stroke of knighthood he has not formally received. Your late father, from whose hand alone he could worthily accept it, delayed this proof of honour longer, perhaps, than was desirable, considering the relation in which they stood."
"Well, I shall give him the stroke of knighthood as soon as I have myself received it, and have a right to confer it," answered the young king. "My uncle Otto must dub me previous to my coronation; for it is not becoming that I should be crowned King of Denmark, before I am duly admitted into the noble order of knighthood."
Sir John smiled, and shook his gray head; but Drost Peter contemplated his royal pupil with delight. He considered that the desire of the young king evinced his respect as much for the crown as for the order of knighthood; and he observed that it was not unusual for princes in their minority to entertain such a wish, and that they had already, in Charlemagne and his son, an example in point, and an illustrious instance of knighthood being honoured and followed.
"But, by the laws of chivalry, the minority ceases with the stroke which confers knighthood," observed Sir John; "and the constitutional law of the kingdom debars us from shortening the period of the king's minority."
"Tis true, noble Sir John," replied Drost Peter; "but here the laws of chivalry must give way to that greater law, which secures the freedom and welfare of the people. To my mind, however, a minor king is not of less dignity than any of his knightly servants."
The queen and Master Martinus supported the views of Drost Peter, and the wishes of the little king; and, with a shrug, old Sir John gave way, considering the question as one of little importance. The duke's position in the kingdom was, to him, a subject of far graver concern. The necessity of carefully concealing every suspicion, and of entrusting the duke with his full share in the government, as well as with the guardianship of the king, was stated so clearly by the old nobleman, that even Master Martinus, to whom such a course was most repugnant, could offer no objections. On this subject the queen entertained not the least suspicion, and Drost Peter's personal distrust of the duke gave way to the exigency of the occasion, and his respect for the laws of the country.
Whilst these important state affairs occupied the council, Drost Peter vainly sought an opportunity of conferring with Sir John concerning Jomfru Ingé and her journey to Sweden; for, on the slightest allusion to the subject, the counsellor, who apparently knew nothing of it, immediately started another.
The day fixed for the Dane-court had come. The queen's brothers, the Margraves of Brandenburg, had arrived on the previous day, having, two days before, left the duke in his camp near Rypen. The duke himself, however, had not yet reached Nyborg. To delay the Dane-court until his arrival, was repugnant to the dignity of the crown and kingdom. Every one was surprised at his apparent indifference on this important occasion, when his presence was so essential. The queen, especially, was irritated by this want of attention, which seemed to her so unlike the usual politeness and knightly behaviour of the duke.
On the first day of Whitsuntide, the Dane-court was held with the customary formalities. Its general business was conducted by the council, whose decisions were confirmed by the queen and the young king, who, equally with his mother, issued and confirmed charters and grants to churches and convents, subscribing himself King of the Danes and Sclaves, and Duke of Eastland. But the principal business--that which related to the king's guardianship, and the regency of the kingdom during his minority--was still unsettled. The two first days of the court's sittings had passed, and the duke was still absent.