“Yes, yes, mother; I meant to keep a great deal back, and I can’t look in your eyes, and say anything that is not perfectly true.”
“And never will, my son,” she cried, with a wildly hysterical burst of tears, which she checked in a few moments. “There, your mother is very weak, you see, dear; but I am going to be strong now. Then that explains the sternness of the arrest. Let us look the matter in the face. Your father struck this German nobleman, the guest of the regiment. They fought this morning, and the cause of the trouble is badly hurt. The King and the Prince will be furious. They will look upon it as a mutinous attack upon one of their favourites. Yes, I must see the Princess at once. I will go to her chamber now; so leave me, my boy, and wait. I will write to you, and I must try and get a note to your father. There, go, my own brave boy, and be comforted. The trouble may not be so great after all, for we have a friend who loves us both—the Princess, and she will help me in my sore distress. There, go, my boy; she must have the news from me, as your father contrived that it should come to me. I can go to her chamber at any time, for she has told me again and again that she looks upon me as her dearest friend.”
The next minute Frank was crossing the quadrangle on his way back, feeling relieved of much of his burden; but before he reached the quarters occupied by the royal pages, Andrew Forbes stood before him.
“At last!” he said. “I’ve been waiting here ever since. How does she take it?”
“Bravely,” said Frank, with a proud look. “She has just gone in to tell the Princess.”
“And she will get Sir Robert out of the scrape if she can. But it won’t do, Frank,” said Andrew, shaking his head. “She’ll be very kind to your mother, but you may as well know the worst. She can’t; for his Majesty will have something to say about his baron. Your father might as well have hit the King himself.”