"They are here, aboard the frigate which brought me, your highness."
"Aboard your frigate!" exclaimed Croustillac, with an expression of surprise that De Chemerant interpreted in a very favorable manner to affectionate memories of the chevalier.
"Yes, your highness. I understand your astonishment, your happiness, your joy in the prospect of shortly seeing your old companions-in-arms."
"You have not the slightest idea of the impatience with which I await the moment when I shall again see them, sir," said Croustillac.
"And their conduct justifies your eagerness, your highness; they will bring you the loyalty of all your English friends; and they will very soon put you in touch with the affairs of that country. Who can better inform you on these subjects than Dudley and Rothsay?"
"Ah! that dear Rothsay, has he also come?" said the Gascon with an easy manner.
"Yes, your highness, but he is suffering so from his old wounds that he can hardly walk, still he said, 'It is no matter if I die—if I die at the feet of our duke,' for it is thus they speak of you in the familiarity of their devotion."
"The poor Rothsay, always the same!" said Croustillac, passing his hand across his eyes, with a touching air. "The dear friends."
"And Lord Mortimer, then, your highness; he is as if mad. If it were not for the king's orders, which were of the strictest, it would have been impossible to have prevented his coming on shore with me."
"Mortimer also—brave Mortimer!"