"Then what ails the matter? … Not De Bury surely?"
"Sir John is as willing as we. It is the behest of the dead Earl that bars."
"Beatrix's father?"
"Yes; she promised him she would not wed before her twenty-fifth birthday."
"Peste! A senseless thing to exact; she was little more than child. As King I can absolve her from it."
"I fear that would not help the matter, Sire; Beatrix regards it as sacred—it was given at the Earl's deathbed."
Richard made a gesture of annoyance. "Does no consideration lift the obligation from her?" he demanded.
"Naught, as she views it now, but a question of life, honor, or imperative necessity."
"Now may the Devil fly away with such foolishness! Wherefore shall the dead rule the living? … How old is the Countess?"
"She was four and twenty last month."