"Your complaints deeply grieve us," said the Emperor; "we foresee all the evils which may result from these misunderstandings. But let us be just before all things. My lord Chancellor, what have you to plead in your defence?"
Dassel assumed an air of injured innocence, and in an insinuating tone replied,--
"The accused should have the right to defend his cause always, and particularly in the present case, where there are many excuses to be urged. My fidelity to your Majesty, and the respect which I have always professed for the nobility of the Empire, are in themselves a guarantee for my innocence. May God preserve me from violating a princely word! Had I been aware that the Milanese, although the avowed enemies of the Emperor and the Empire, had approached our camp with a safeguard, I should not have presumed to attack them. I can only crave my pardon on the ground of ignorance, if such an excuse be in your eyes worthy of acceptance."
"But, Chancellor, did we not cry, and that too, loudly, that the Italians were under the protection of our word, and that they must not be molested?"
"True, my lords; but the fighting had already begun!" answered Dassel. "The Milanese hemmed me in on all sides, and I was no longer the aggressor, but in the position of legitimate defence."
"Your representations are not sufficient!" said the Duke of Bohemia; "your tongue is more skilful than ours, and you are our superior in all that is tricky; but your treason must and shall be punished! Are you ready to clear yourself of this stain in single combat?"
"Your lordship must be aware," replied Dassel, with a smile, "that the canons of the Church forbid this mode of justification to the Archbishop of Cologne?"
"Bah!" said the Count. "You are only a layman like us; only a consecration can make you a priest or a bishop. So long as you are not an ecclesiastic, you have no right to shelter yourself behind the privileges of the Church."
"My lords!" cried the Emperor, angrily, "we will not permit this assault upon a man whose honor and veracity are known to us; we declare him absolved from all blame; we are satisfied with his explanations!"
Rage and mortification were expressed on the faces of the knights.