"Fear so, Uncle? I am ashamed of you. How can you say you fear, when the moment he returned from the East he came to your rescue, no doubt as soon as my Lord Rodolph acquainted him with your position."
"It is not likely Lord Rodolph had anything to do with it. I have heard nothing of Lord Rodolph."
"Nevertheless, you will soon hear of him, and he it was who caused this quick rescue to be brought about. Rodolph will come to the castle by the side of the Emperor, and I will not have him ashamed of us."
"It matters not to me what Lord Rodolph thinks; if he has indeed had a hand in this, I wish him well for it."
"But the Emperor is coming! The Emperor is coming. Everything else gives way to that. We shall see him and speak with him, and he shall know that here are his most loyal subjects assembled. We must receive him royally."
"What can we do? He comes—well, let him come. He has sent his dinner and the cooks to prepare it, so in God's name we will allow him to eat it, since it belongs to him, but what further can we do? I can say good-day to him, but if you expect me to bow and kneel and scrape to him, by the Holy Coat, I will leave the castle first."
"You shall do nothing of the kind. You shall put under my orders every man you have; there is work enough for them all to do. Hilda, come here."
Hilda, who had been standing at the door, came forward.
"Hilda, throw open the ghost room and tell a dozen of the men to carry down bales of cloth: the crimson silk to this room, the purple and blue and scarlet webs to the courtyard."