“Are you ready, Highness?” asked M. Bentinck.
The Prince stepped out into the sunlight, he coughed, and closed his eyes for a second as if shaken with pain.
The clock of the Groote Kerk struck six.
Florent Van Mander watched the little cavalcade ride away.
CHAPTER VII
THE POLICY OF M. DE WITT
Mynheer Gaspard Fagel was roused by persistent knocking on his door.
He sat up in his bed and cursed roundly. He was working almost to the limit of his strength and contenting himself with about four hours’ rest, and his one feeling was rage at being disturbed. He pulled back the curtains and shouted angrily—