And indeed Charles the Bold was on his knees beside the bed of his speechless father in an agony of grief.
Presently all the bells in Bruges began to clash out their warning that a soul was passing to the unseen land, and Grisell made signs to Clemence, while Leonard lifted himself upright, and all breathed the same for the mighty Prince as for the poorest beggar, the intercession for the dying. Then the solemn note became a knell, and their prayer changed to the De Profundis, “Out of the depths.”
Presently Lambert Groot came in, grave and saddened, with the intelligence that Philip the Good had departed in peace, with his wife and son on either side of him, and his little granddaughter kneeling beside the Duchess.
There was bitter weeping all over Bruges, and soon all over Flanders and the other domains united under the Dukedom of Burgundy, for though Philip had often deeply erred, he had been a fair ruler, balancing discordant interests justly, and maintaining peace, while all that was splendid or luxurious prospered and throve under him. There was a certain dread of the future under his successor.
“A better man at heart,” said Leonard, who had learnt to love the Count de Charolais. “He loathes the vices and revelry that have stained the Court.”
“That is true,” said Lambert. “Yet he is a man of violence, and with none of the skill and dexterity with which Duke Philip steered his course.”
“A plague on such skill,” muttered Leonard. “Caring solely for his own gain, not for the right!”
“Yet your Count has a heavy hand,” said Lambert. “Witness Dinant! unhappy Dinant.”
“The rogues insulted his mother,” said Leonard. “He offered them terms which they would not have in their stubborn pride! But speak not of that! I never saw the like in England. There we strike at the great, not at the small. Ah well, with all our wars and troubles England was the better place to live in. Shall we ever see it more?”
There was something delightful to Grisell in that “we,” but she made answer, “So far as I hear, there has been quiet there for the last two years under King Edward.”