“I tell thee,” answered De Bracy, “that it will be the work of a few hours, and I shall be at York ⁠—at the head of my daring and valorous fellows, as ready to support any bold design as thy policy can be to form one.⁠—But I hear my comrades assembling, and the steeds stamping and neighing in the outer court.⁠—Farewell.⁠—I go, like a true knight, to win the smiles of beauty.”

“Like a true knight?” repeated Fitzurse, looking after him; “like a fool, I should say, or like a child, who will leave the most serious and needful occupation, to chase the down of the thistle that drives past him.⁠—But it is with such tools that I must work;⁠—and for whose advantage?⁠—For that of a Prince as unwise as he is profligate, and as likely to be an ungrateful master as he has already proved a rebellious son and an unnatural brother.⁠—But he⁠—he, too, is but one of the tools with which I labour; and, proud as he is, should he presume to separate his interest from mine, this is a secret which he shall soon learn.”