"But these faithful friends," said Mary, "these noble gentlemen whom you now hold in captivity, are all unsoiled by such a reproach."
"Your pardon, madam," replied Albert Maurice, gravely; "such is one of the chief crimes with which they are charged. Good evidence, too, it is said, can be produced against them; and though I have not myself examined the proofs, yet I fear they will be found but too strong."
Mary stood aghast, not that she believed the accusation for a moment, but that any one should find means of advancing even such a pretext against those whose honour seemed in her eyes too bright for such a stain to rest upon them for a moment. "Oh, save them!" she exclaimed, at length, with passionate eagerness. "Save them, sir, if you love honour, if you love justice! Look there," she continued, advancing to the high window of the apartment, and pointing with her hand to the scene spread out below; "Look there!"
Albert Maurice gazed out, in some surprise. It was, indeed, as fair a sight as ever he had looked upon. The situation of the casement at which he stood, in a high tower, long since demolished, commanded an extensive view over the whole country round. The sun had not risen above an hour. The world was in all the freshness of early spring. The mists and dews of night, flying from before the first bright rays of day, had gathered together in thin white clouds, and were skimming rapidly towards the horizon, leaving the sky every moment more blue and clear. Ghent lay yet half asleep beneath the palace, with its rivers and its canals constantly gleaming in, here and there, amongst the grey, sober-coloured houses, while innumerable monasteries, with their green gardens, and churches, with their tall spires, broke the monotony both of colour and of form, and pleasantly diversified the scene. As the eye wandered on over the walls, past the suburbs, through a maze of green fields and young plantations, a fair, undulating country met its view, interspersed with deep, brown woods, from which, every now and then, rose a village spire, or a feudal tower, while the windings of the Scheldt and the Lys, with every now and then an accidental turn of the Lieve, were seen glistening like streams of silver through the distant prospect. Over all the ascending sun was pouring a flood of the soft light of spring, while the clouds, as they flitted across the sky, occasionally cut off his beams from different parts of the view, but gave a more sparkling splendour, by contrast, to the rest.
"Look there!" said Mary of Burgundy, "look there! Is not that a fair scene?" she added, after a moment's pause. "Is not that a beautiful land? Is it not a proud and pleasant thing to be lord of cities like this, and countries like that before you? Yet let me tell you, sir, I would sacrifice them all. I would resign power and station, the broad lands my father left me, the princely name I own; ay, and never drop a tear to know them lost for ever, so that I could save the life of those two noble gentlemen now in such peril by false suspicions. Oh, sir, I beseech, I entreat; and, did it beseem either of us, I would cast myself at your feet to implore that you would save them. You can--I know you can; for well am I aware of all the power which, not unjustly, your high qualities have obtained amongst your fellow citizens. Oh, use it, sir, for the noblest, for the best of purposes! use it to save them at my entreaty, and for my sake."
As she spoke, agitation, eagerness, and grief overcame every other consideration, and the tears streamed rapidly over her fair cheeks, while, with clasped hands, and raised-up eyes, she sought to move her hearer. Nor was he unmoved. On the contrary, he was shaken to the very heart. That stern determination which he thought virtue, the ambition which rose up beside patriotism, and was beginning to overtop the nobler shoot--all were yielding to the more powerful force of love; or, if they struggled, struggled but feebly against that which they could not withstand. His temples throbbed, his cheek turned pale, his lip quivered, and words were rising to utterance which might, perhaps, have changed the fate of nations, when quick steps and loud voices in the ante-chamber attracted the attention both of himself and the princess.
"Stand back, sir!" exclaimed the coarse tones of the Duke of Gueldres. "By the Lord! if the princess is in council with any one, as you say, the more reason that I should be present at it. Am not I one of her counsellors, both by birth and blood?"
By this time he had thrown open the door; and, striding boldly into the chamber, he advanced with a "Good morrow, fair cousin: if you be in want of counsellors, here am I ready to give you my advice."
Mary's cheek turned pale as he approached; but she replied, mournfully, "My best and most tried counsellors have been taken from me, sir, and I know not in whom I may now trust."
"Trust in me, fair cousin, trust in me," replied the Duke; but Albert Maurice interrupted him.