"But of whom do you speak?" again demanded Mary. "You forget, dear Alice, I know not what you mean."
"I mean!" replied Alice, while a slight blush passed rapidly over her countenance, and was immediately again succeeded by the eager and terrified paleness which had before appeared there: "I mean--I mean the Vert Gallant of Hannut. 'Tis scarce three days ago, that, by a letter from Hannut, Hugh de Mortmar bade me seek aid and assistance from him, if any thing happened, in the tumults of this city, to cause me danger or distress. He said that the Vert Gallant owed him much. Let me go, madam, I beseech you."
"But you cannot go alone, dear Alice," said the princess, gazing upon her almost as much bewildered as she was herself; "you cannot go alone, and at this hour of the night. At all events, you must have a party of the guards."
"Oh, no, no!" cried Alice; "they will only let one person go through the gates at a time; and there are men here set to watch the river, so that no large boat can pass."
At this moment the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy entered the chamber of her step-daughter; and Mary was beginning to explain the circumstances, as far as she had been able to gather them from her terrified companion, when she found that Margaret was already acquainted with many more particulars concerning the arrest of Imbercourt and Hugonet than herself. So daring an act on the part of the turbulent men of Ghent, as the arrest of two members of the supreme council of Flanders, of course terrified and shocked both Mary and her step-mother. But their personal apprehensions for the future, and consideration of the long series of calamities and horrors which such a deed portended, were overpowered by the wild agony of the daughter of one of those victims of popular sedition. The tears poured over her cheeks, her fair hands clasped in convulsive agony, till the taper fingers seemed as if they would have broken; and still she besought the princess, with wild eagerness, to permit her instant departure in search of him on whose assistance she seemed to place her only hope of delivering her father. Mary called upon her stepmother to second her arguments, for the purpose of persuading Alice to secure some protection and assistance, at least in her attempt to escape from the town, and in the difficult search she proposed to undertake for one, whose character was so doubtful, and whose dwelling was so uncertain. But Margaret, animated by a bolder spirit, saw the proposal in a different light, and supported strongly the desire of Alice, to seek the assistance she hoped for, accompanied alone by the page.
"Great things," she said, "have been done by less men than this adventurer seems to be. Many a battle between York and Lancaster has been won by the aid of foresters and outlaws. If you can once secure his assistance, and he can, by any of those strange means which he has been often known to employ so successfully, introduce his bands within the town, these rebellious men of Ghent may yet be taught a lesson which they have much need to learn. Go, then, my poor girl, if you have any probable means of discovering the abode of him you seek. Take the page with you; furnish yourself with all the money and jewels which you can collect. The princess and I will do our best to contribute, for with such men gold is better than eloquence; and, at all events, you will have the satisfaction of doing your duty towards your father."
"In the meantime, Alice," added Mary, "be not more anxious than necessary for your father's safety. These men will, doubtless, never attempt anything against his life without bringing him to trial. All the preparations must take long, and I will leave no means unused to delay their proceedings, and to mitigate their rancour. I will send for the president; I will speak with him myself. I will entreat, I will beseech, I will rather lay down my own life than that they should hurt my faithful servants."
"Thank you; thank you, dear lady!" replied Alice, kissing her hand; "thank you, thank you for your comfort! But I must go," she added, with eager anxiety; "I must not lose a moment."
"Stay, stay!" said the young Duchess, seeing her about to depart. "Let Bertha call the page whom we employed before, and we will determine on some better plans than your own unassisted fancy can frame."
It would be unnecessary here to enter into the minute details of all that ensued; and, indeed, so rapidly were the arrangements concluded, that many words would only serve to give a false impression of things that were resolved and executed in a few brief moments. Suffice it, then, that the page was soon brought to the presence of the princess; and, in eager and hasty consultation, it was determined that he should proceed in search of a small skiff, which, being brought opposite to the palace wall, on the water side, would enable Alice to make her escape with less chance of observation than if she attempted to pass the gates either on horseback or on foot, at that hour of the night.