of these sworn brothers, threatening his liberty, if not his life; that
which was revealed, its exact truth or falsehood, might Gloucester pause
to list or weigh? My liege, thou knowest it could not be. A piece of
money and a pair of spurs was all the hint, the warning, that he dared
to give, and it was given, and its warning taken; and the imperative
duty the laws of chivalry, of honor, friendship, all alike demanded
done. The brother by the brother saved! Was Gloucester, then, a traitor
to his sovereign, good my liege?"

"Say first, my lord, how Gloucester now will reconcile these widely
adverse duties, how comport himself, if duty to his liege and sovereign
call on him to lift his sword against his brother?" demanded Edward,
raising himself on his elbow, and looking on the kneeling nobleman with
eyes which seemed to have recovered their flashing light to penetrate
his soul. Wrath itself appeared to have subsided before this calm yet
eloquent appeal, which in that age could scarcely have been resisted
without affecting the honor of the knight to whom it was addressed.

An expression of suffering, amounting almost to anguish, took the place
of energy and fervor on the noble countenance of Gloucester, and his
voice, which had never once quivered or failed him in the height of
Edward's wrath, now absolutely shook with the effort to master his
emotion. Twice he essayed to speak ere words came; at length--

"With Robert of Carrick Gilbert of Gloucester was allied as brother, my
liege," he said. "With Robert the rebel, Robert the would-be king, the
daring opposer of my sovereign, Gloucester can have naught in common. My
liege, as a knight and gentleman, I have done my duty fearlessly,
openly; as fearlessly, as openly, as your grace's loyal liegeman, fief,
and subject, in the camp and in the court, in victory or defeat, against