"The Lion! our noble Count!" was the universal cry.
"My unhappy brother," continued Guy, "what sufferings have been yours! how deeply have I mourned for you! but now, oh, happy moment! now I can once more embrace you; you have broken your chains, and Flanders has regained her Count. Bear with my tears; it is for you they flow, as I think of all you have endured. The Lord be thanked for this unlooked-for happiness!"
Robert pressed the young knight affectionately to his heart; then, after turning and embracing his other brother, John of Namur, he thus spoke:
"There are good and weighty reasons, noble sirs, why I should preserve my incognito for the present; nevertheless, the decision to which you have just come has rendered it a still more imperative duty for me to declare myself, that I may, if possible, induce you to reconsider your measures. You must know, then, that Philip of France has summoned all the great feudatories of the crown, along with their vassals, to wage war against the Moors. But as the sole ostensible motive of this expedition is to reinstate the King of Majorca in his dominions, it seems certain that the real object of the king in collecting so numerous an army is the maintenance of his dominion in Flanders. The time of assembling is appointed for the close of June; so that one month more, and our enemy will have seventy thousand men in the field. Consider, therefore, whether it is not advisable that the day of our liberation should anticipate his preparations, lest afterward we find it too late. Remember, however, that I am but giving you information and advice; I lay no commands upon you, for tomorrow I must return to my prison."
There could be no difference of opinion as to the importance of this intelligence; it was therefore unanimously agreed that the utmost expedition was necessary, and that the plan of operations must be modified accordingly. It was decided that all should proceed immediately to cooperate with Deconinck at Damme, taking with them such forces as they could get together on the spur of the occasion. The young Guy, as, in Robert's absence, the next representative of the House of Flanders, was to take the chief command of the army, William of Juliers declining the office, as incompatible with his ecclesiastical character, and John of Namur being unable personally to join the Flemings, as his presence at home at this juncture was indispensable for the defense of his own territories.
The latter, however, undertook to furnish a considerable contingent of men.
The nobles now separated, and Robert was left alone with his two brothers, his cousin William, and the Dean of the Clothworkers.
"Oh, Guy!" he began, in a tone of the deepest grief, "oh, John! I bring you tidings so terrible that my tongue can hardly find words to utter them, and the mere thought of them blinds my eyes with tears. You know how basely Queen Joanna threw our poor Philippa into prison; how for six long years the unhappy maiden sighed in the dungeons of the Louvre, far from all she loved. Doubtless you think that she still lives, and continue to pray to God for her release. Alas! your prayers are in vain; my poor sister has been poisoned, and her body cast into the Seine."
For a moment Guy and John of Namur lost all power of speech; they stood pale and confounded, their eyes fixed on the ground. Guy was the first to rouse himself from his stupor:
"It is true, then," he exclaimed, "Philippa is dead! Oh, soul of my sister, look down upon me, and read in my bosom how my heart mourns for you, how it burns to avenge your death! I—yes, and you too—shall be avenged; torrents of blood shall expiate your wrongs."
"Let not your grief thus carry you away, my fair cousin," interposed William; "mourn for your sister, pray for her soul's repose, but let your sword •be drawn only for the freedom of our country. Blood can not bribe the jealous grave to restore its victim."
"My brothers," interrupted Robert, "and you, my cousin, be pleased to follow me; I will lead you to my poor child Matilda. She is not far from hence, and on the way I have other matters of serious import to communicate to you. Let your attendants wait for you here."
Robert now related to them the wonderful manner in which he had rescued his daughter from the French soldiers, and all the anxiety and anguish he had undergone within the ruins of Nieuwenhove.
On entering the chamber where Matilda was lying, they found her to all appearance in a profound and peaceful slumber, her cheeks white as alabaster, and her breathings so imperceptible that she might almost have been taken for a corpse. Great was the emotion of the knights at.the sight of the maiden with her disordered and bloodstained dress. Filled with sorrowful compassion, they stood with hands clasped tightly together, but without uttering a word; for the physician's finger, anxiously pressed upon his lips, had warned them that the most perfect silence was necessary for the welfare of his patient.
Guy was not, however, able altogether to repress his feelings. ''Can that be the noble daughter of the Lion?" burst from his lips, as in an agony of grief he threw himself upon his brother's bosom. The physician now motioned to the knights to withdraw from the chamber, and then at last he unclosed his lips.
"The young lady," he said, "has recovered her senses; but she still suffers greatly from weakness and exhaustion. She woke up in your absence, and recognizing Master Breydel, who stood by, she asked him many questions, as though seeking to collect her ideas. He comforted her with the assurance that she should soon see her father; and as in her present state it
