“O! he received him,” answered the Earl, “as if they had met after a hunting party; and, pointing to me and our men-at-arms, said, ‘Thou seest, brother, I have some angry men with me⁠—thou wert best go to our mother, carry her my duteous affection, and abide with her until men’s minds are pacified.’ ”

“And this was all he said?” enquired Ivanhoe; “would not anyone say that this Prince invites men to treason by his clemency?”

“Just,” replied the Earl, “as the man may be said to invite death, who undertakes to fight a combat, having a dangerous wound unhealed.”

“I forgive thee the jest, Lord Earl,” said Ivanhoe; “but, remember, I hazarded but my own life⁠—Richard, the welfare of his kingdom.”