"If you will not learn," he said, in a voice serious for his years, "why waste this time in the essay?"
His brother burst out laughing.
"To pass the hours, thou wise man!"
"I love not to pass the time in fooling," replied the little Duke of York crossly. "If I had thought you would not learn, I would not have held the arrows for you."
The young man laughed again, and so did the Queen, but the King said quietly—
"If James hath a mind to be serious—why, it is no ill thing; you, my nephews, might without harm be graver."
The three princes took this reproof in smiling silence; they made a charming picture in the winter sunlight, in their youth and gaiety and self-confidence and all the graceful airs of pride and rank which well became their thoughtless age and high position.
Two of them, the Elector Palatine and Prince Maurice, moved on through the gardens with their two English cousins and the Queen, but Rupert, the handsome, impatient youth, remained where the King stood thoughtfully by the bench, beside the fallen bow and the quiver of arrows little James had flung down in disgust.
"Will Your Majesty see this traitor Pym to-day?" asked Rupert eagerly.
"Yes, here, and soon," replied Charles.