‘Alas! sire, Melior has heard that in Greece royal brides pass their lives shut in a tower, and she has sworn that she will never wed one of that race. But, indeed, for my part, I think that is not her true reason, and that she has pledged her faith to another, whom you also know and love.’
‘And who may that be?’ asked the emperor.
‘The man who saved your life in battle, William himself,’ answered Alexandrine boldly, though her limbs shook with fear.
At this news the emperor was half beside himself with grief and rage.
‘Where is she?’ he cried; ‘speak, girl, or I will shut you up in the tower.’
‘Where is William?’ asked Alexandrine. ‘If Melior is not here, and William is not here, then of a surety they have gone away together.’
The emperor looked at her in silence for a moment.
‘The Greeks will make war on me for this insult,’ he said; ‘and, as for William, a body of soldiers shall go in search of him this moment, and when he is found I will have his head cut off, and stuck on my palace gate as a warning to traitors.’