“I think that I know one who is more beautiful,” the King said, in an undertone. “I heard this morning from our friends, the Van Dechts, Brand. They are travelling in Italy, and may come on here.”
Brand shrugged his shoulders.
“Your Majesty will find their presence welcome?” he asked.
The King looked at him in surprise.
“Surely! They are friends of mine. It would give me great pleasure to have them here. Why not?”
Brand hesitated.
“I wondered,” he said, slowly, “if they might not find their presence here a little equivocal. Your Majesty is no longer a private individual, and Mr. and Miss Van Decht, however agreeable in themselves, are not of the rank which entitles them to a familiar footing at your Court.”
Ughtred looked at his companion in some surprise.
“That speech,” he remarked, “might have come from Nicholas of Reist—from you, my friend, it sounds strangely.”