The conduct of the young men had been so remarkable during the late events of the fire that they were in high favour with both the king and the Duke of York, to whom they had access at any hour of the day or night.
When the king had read the letter, he looked at Reginald with that peculiar expression of bonhomie which was so familiar to his courtiers.
"Are not you the present possessor of the De Lisle estates?" he asked.
"Yes, sire," answered Reginald boldly; "they were given my father in return for his services in the Parliamentary army. But let not that trouble your majesty; I am ready to restore them to their rightful owner."
"And their rightful owner is this Lady Agnes Beaumont De Lisle," said the king. "Well, Captain Newbolt, I have a bit of advice to give you, and at the same time a tangible recognition of your services during the Dutch War, of which my cousin, Prince Rupert," and he turned to the prince, who was standing by him, and smiled, "has given me full account. Go courting this lady; make her your wife. It will not be very difficult, seeing she is the fairest maiden at our court, and my mother has kept her hidden as a pearl in an oyster shell. It is for you to bring her forth, and when you present her at our court as your wife, I will create you Sir Reginald De Lisle, and ratify to you and to her conjointly the estates of which you have defrauded her; so shall we do away with all difficulties. What say you to this, my cousin?" And he turned once more to Prince Rupert.
"That your majesty has as usual solved the question with your happy wit. What can be better than love, and marriage, and wedding-bells?"
But Reginald answered:
"I am only too willing, your majesty; but there is one thing I would beseech of you, namely, to restore the estate to Lady Agnes without delay, and with no regard as to whether I win her hand or not."
"But unless you wed her you cannot be Sir Reginald De Lisle," said the king.
"Then, with your permission, I will be Sir Reginald something else," said the young man boldly; "but I would have the Lady Agnes left free, quite free, to wed me or not as it seems best to her."