"Messire!" exclaimed Gray, furiously, as he drew his sword; "are you mad, or weary of life, that you dare to open a letter----"
"For Arnold d'Egmont, count of Zutphen, and duke of Gueldres, you would say?"
"Yes, surrender it, messire, or by every saint in heaven, I shall kill you where you stand!"
"Beware--beware!" exclaimed some of the attendants, lowering their lances.
"And why beware?" demanded the sturdy Scot.
"Because I am Arnold himself," replied the old duke, with a hearty laugh, in which the three knights of the Golden Fleece joined.
"You, monseigneur?" said Gray, sinking the point of his sword, and reining back his horse.
"Behold my banner and escort, with Ravenstein, Berg, and Nassau, my three most faithful friends."
"Pardon me," said Gray, sheathing his sword, and reining back his horse.
"I have nothing to pardon, Sir Patrick Gray," replied the duke; "we shall all ride forward together, but this letter, which you have travelled so far to lay before me, is written in the young king's name, and announces, that so soon as affairs are peaceful in his kingdom, his lord chancellor, accompanied by John, bishop of Dunkeld, and Messire Nicholas Otterbourne, official of Lothian, with a suitable train, will visit our court at Gueldres, to receive the Princess Mary, and conduct her to her new home. Poor child! she is very young and tender, to be trusted among your unruly mountaineers. The letter shall be laid before the duchess and council. Meantime, messire, I thank you for the care with which you have brought hither the missive of your king, and the valour with which you were ready to defend it, at all hazards, even against four-and-twenty mounted men."
Sir Patrick bowed low, and kissed the hand which the duke extended towards him.
"You will ride on with us, Sir Patrick," he resumed. "I have a hunting-lodge near Vlierden, on this side of Peel Morass, seventeen miles distant. There we shall halt for to-night, and to-morrow depart for the capital."
I behold the pageants splendid That adorned those days of old; Stately dames like queens attended, Knights who wore the Fleece of Gold.
The three knights who wore the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, proved to be the prince of Ravenstein, the marquis of Berg, and Englebert, count of Nassau, who was hereditary burg graf, or governor of Antwerp, and who, when a mere boy, in 1404, had espoused the heiress of Loeke and Breda. The prince of Ravenstein's territory lay between Gueldres and Brabant; it is now merged in the duchy of Cleves, but his castle still stands near the Maese.