The other guests were now fast dispersing, with the exception of those

immediately attached to Prince John's faction, and his retinue.

"This, then, is the result of your advice," said the Prince, turning

an angry countenance upon Fitzurse; "that I should be bearded at my

own board by a drunken Saxon churl, and that, on the mere sound of my

brother's name, men should fall off from me as if I had the leprosy?"

"Have patience, sir," replied his counsellor; "I might retort your

accusation, and blame the inconsiderate levity which foiled my

design, and misled your own better judgment. But this is no time for

recrimination. De Bracy and I will instantly go among these shuffling

cowards, and convince them they have gone too far to recede."

"It will be in vain," said Prince John, pacing the apartment with

disordered steps, and expressing himself with an agitation to which the

wine he had drank partly contributed--"It will be in vain--they have

seen the handwriting on the wall--they have marked the paw of the

lion in the sand--they have heard his approaching roar shake the

wood--nothing will reanimate their courage."

"Would to God," said Fitzurse to De Bracy, "that aught could reanimate

his own! His brother's very name is an ague to him. Unhappy are the

counsellors of a Prince, who wants fortitude and perseverance alike in

good and in evil!"




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024