“Let us hope so,” he said mechanically, as he followed out Ludovic’s stratagem and its reason.
“You say Rollmar is already there with a force?” Morvan put in. “And he could not help you?”
“To rescue the man whose death he constantly seeks? Scarcely. It is from him that I have fled.”
“From Rollmar?”
“He has designs upon my liberty. Perhaps—who knows?—upon my life, too, rather than that I should bring his scheme to naught.”
“And so,” Ferdinand said, eagerly, “you have come to me for protection as well. It will be no less a pleasure than an honour to me to afford you an asylum, my Princess, though in so doing I provoke the ill-will of a powerful neighbour and put myself at issue with the most pitiless spirit in Europe. You have appealed to my chivalry, cousin; you have claimed my protection and help; I lay them all, and myself, at your feet.”
He advanced, and with an excess of gallantry, bent low and kissed her hand. It seemed as though his touch chilled her; perhaps she felt instinctively that he was false; knew, woman-like, that her cause appealed to him less than her beauty. But in her desperate eagerness, she could not stay to weigh that. It was enough for the moment that she could compel his interest.
“Every hour,” she urged, as his lips touched her hand, “every moment is precious, since this brave life hangs on it. I know how unreasonable is my request, but my joy would be great in proportion if your Majesty would speak the word of rescue.”
“We will take measures at once,” Ferdinand assured her, with a show of alacrity. But he seemed as though he could not take his eyes from her; a poor guarantee that he would exert himself in her lover’s interest. Morvan, watching him, read his mind, and laughed to himself.
It was quickly arranged that Ruperta should be lodged at the house of one of the principal ladies of the Court, and thither she was escorted with the respect due to her rank, Ferdinand, as he took his leave of her, reiterating the assurance of his readiness to serve her, which was so far from his intention.