Berty's feeble and formal rhetoric had no effect whatever on the Prince, unless it caused him to glimpse more clearly than ever the trap that was being so carefully set.
He knew that Philip was not coming to the Netherlands, but that Alva was within a few days of starting for Brussels with the finest army in Europe at his back.
And while he listened to the specious Berty prating of loyalty and the King's goodness, he had in his pocket a letter from that sturdy old Landgrave Philip who had opposed his marriage with Anne, but who had since become his friend.
The Landgrave had been lured into a long captivity by the arts of Granvelle and Alva, as he now reminded William.
"Let them not smear your mouths with honey," he wrote. "If the three seigneurs, of whom the Duchess Margaret has so much to say, are invited to Court by Alva under pretext of friendly consultation, let them be wary and think twice ere they accept. I know the Duke of Alva and the Spaniards, and how they dealt with me."
The only concession Berty could obtain from the Prince was his consent to once more meet Egmont, Mansfeld, and Aerschot.
The interview was arranged to take place at a village outside Antwerp, named Willebroek; and William, with but a couple of grooms, rode out there one morning in early April.
It was a pleasure to him to ride across the fresh country, to feel the soft turf beneath his horse's feet, to see the mild blue sky overhead, and about him all the new greenery—on briar, hedge, and tree, where the birds fluttered among the leaves.
The lovely morning air on his face reminded him of grand days at the chase; it was long now since he had ridden out with hawk and hounds.
This part of the country was as yet unscathed by famine or bands of mercenaries; the grain was sprouting in the fields, the brown and white cows wandered in the pastures, the little farms were undisturbed amid the groves of budding poplar and willow trees, the peasants went to and fro about their work as if they had never heard of Ostrawell and Valenciennes and the coming of Alva.