"Namur!" repeated William, and his eyes widened.
The loss of Namur had been the worst disaster of all the disasters of the war. William had perhaps never known such humiliation as when the great fortress fell before his eyes.
"M. de Vauban," continued Joost van Keppel, "hath added to the fortifications of M. Kohorn and declared the town impregnable; they have fixed a vaunting notice over the gate defying us to retake it—but, sire, it could be done."
"There spoke a soldier!" flashed the King. "That spirit in my men wrested back the three Provinces in '74."
"That spirit is alive still, sire—they who drove back the French then could take Namur now."
William looked at Sunderland.
"Would your English be pleased," he asked, "if we took Namur?"
"There is nothing would so delight the people as a great victory in the Low Countries," answered that nobleman.
"So they defy us," said the King. "And Namur is even more important than it was; it must be the strongest fortress in Europe. Certainly it is a prize worth while."
- van Keppel spoke again.