"Then, why such necessity for concealing yourself from them?" demanded Alice, carried away for a moment from other thoughts by the personal interest she felt in her lover's conduct.
"What!" exclaimed the young cavalier, "would you have had me, dear Alice, give so important a secret as that of my existence, when the Duke of Burgundy and all his court--nay, my own father also, thought me dead; would you have had me give such a secret as that to the keeping of more than five hundred men? No! they were levied secretly by one who has been devoted and faithful to me through life--good Matthew Gournay, who led you hither. The long accumulated wealth of my more than father, the Lord of Hannut, served to gather them together. His forests and the catacombs under the castle gave them shelter: and, though far too strong in numbers to fear the weak bands of the Prevot, or the force of any of the neighbouring nobles, it was absolutely necessary to conceal, with the most scrupulous care, from the court of Burgundy, that so large a body of independent troops existed, and still more that such a force was commanded by one who had cause for deadly hatred towards the duke, now dead. Thus, by the advice and with the aid of the good Lord of Hannut, I mingled with the world as his nephew, under which title he had brought me up from my youth. But as it was necessary to keep my free companions in continual employment, and to acquire over them that personal authority, which nothing but the habit of commanding them could obtain, I was often obliged to assume the character of the Vert Gallant of Hannut, and lead them to enterprises, which, however dangerous, I took care should never be dishonourable. The very concealment of my person, which was revealed only to those who had previously known me, added a sort of mysterious influence to the power which general success gave me over them; and I believe that, at this moment, there is no enterprise, however wild or rash, to which they would not follow me, with the most perfect confidence."
"But my father," said Alice, reverting to the still more interesting topic of her parent's danger; "I must speak with you of my father."
"Well, then, in regard to your father," replied the young noble; and proceeding eagerly in his exculpation, he explained to Alice that Imbercourt had always lamented the Duke of Burgundy's severity to his parent, and had striven by every means to call the sovereign to a sense of justice, even before he acquired a personal interest in the house of Gueldres. The real name and rank of the supposed Hugh de Mortmar, the cavalier proceeded, had been revealed to her father, when Alice's hand had first been promised to him as the young heir of Hannut; and seeing at once that Hugh's design of liberating the imprisoned Duke of Gueldres, and recovering his duchy by force, was anything but hopeless, Imbercourt had only become the more anxious to obviate the necessity for such an attempt, by inducing Charles the Bold to grant as a concession that which he might otherwise be forced to yield on compulsion. The purposes of the Duke of Burgundy, however, were not easily changed, nor was his mind to be wrought upon in a day; and Imbercourt was still occupied with the difficult task he had undertaken, when the defeat of Nancy took place. On the other hand, he had ever laboured zealously to induce the young heir of Gueldres to delay; and many of those trifling circumstances which impede the execution of the best laid schemes, had combined, from time to time, to second his endeavours with Hugh of Gueldres. Friends and confederates had proved remiss or incapable; supplies had been retarded; changes had taken place in the disposition or circumstances of particular states; and three times the young noble had been half persuaded, half compelled, to put off the attempt on which he had determined. All this Hugh of Gueldres poured forth eagerly to Alice of Imbercourt, too anxious to exculpate himself from all blame in the eyes of her he loved, to read in her looks the more serious cares that were busy at her heart.
"In the disturbed and dangerous state of the country," added the young cavalier, "although my father has been liberated by other means, it is my determination to keep my band together, and, watching every turn, to choose that moment which must come, when a small force, acting vigorously for one great purpose, may give the preponderance to right, and crush the wrong for ever."
"Now, then, is the moment! Hugh de Mortmar," cried Alice, clasping her hands eagerly; "now, then, is the moment!--if you feel any gratitude towards my father--if you feel any love for me--if you would uphold the right--if you would crush the wrong--if you would save the innocent from ignominious death--lose not a day, but force the rebel people of Ghent to free my unhappy father!"
The young cavalier, who had never suspected the actual danger of the Lord of Imbercourt, started with surprise; and Alice, with the eager eloquence of apprehension, made him rapidly acquainted with the events which had occurred in Ghent during the morning, and which had thus brought her to seek him.
"Ha!" cried the Vert Gallant, "does Albert Maurice--does the President of the States sanction such proceedings? I had heard that when the unhappy eschevins were murdered by the populace, he wrought signal vengeance on the perpetrators of the crime; and, if ever I saw one to whom I should attribute noble feelings and just and upright sentiments, he is the man."
"He is ambitious, Hugh," replied Alice, vehemently; "wildly, madly ambitious. I have marked him well throughout--and you may trust a woman's eyes for such discoveries--he has dared to raise his thoughts to Mary of Burgundy. He loves her--deeply and truly, I believe; but he loves her not with the love which an inferior may feel for a superior whom they may never hope to gain, but rather with that rash and daring love, which will make ambition but a stepping-stone to accomplish its bold purpose--which will see the land plunged deeper and deeper in bloodshed, in the wild hope, that out of the ruins of ancient institutions, and the wreck of order, prosperity, and peace, he may build up for himself a seat as high, or higher, than the ducal chair of Burgundy. It is evident, Hugh, it is evident, that he has the power as well as the daring to do much; and one of his first steps will be upon my father's head; for had that father's will and counsel been followed, our fair and gentle princess would now have been the bride of the Dauphin of France, and every hour that he lives will be an hour of suspense and anxiety to that ambitious burgher."
A slight smile of contempt, springing from the prejudices of the day, curled the lip of Hugh of Gueldres, as Alice first spoke of the love of the young citizen for the Princess of Burgundy; but it vanished speedily as she went on; and he shook his head with an air of thoughtful sternness as he replied, "He is one to be feared and to be opposed, far more than to be contemned. Alice, my beloved," he added, taking both her hands in his, "I must think what may be best done to save your father; and of this be assured, that I will lose not one moment in the attempt; but will peril life and fortune, and every future hope, to deliver him instantly."