“Sooner would I pluck forth my tongue by the roots!” was Marmaduke’s reply.

“Enough!” returned the earl, with a pleased smile.  “When I come from France I will speak more to thee.  Meanwhile, be courteous to all men, servile to none.  Now to the king.”

Warwick sought his royal cousin at the Tower, where the court exhibited a laxity of morals and a faculty for intrigue that were little to the stout earl’s taste.

It was with manifest reluctance that Edward addressed himself to the object of Warwick’s visit.

“Knowst thou not,” said he, “that this French alliance, to which thou hast induced us, displeases sorely our good traders of London?”

“Mort Dieu!” returned Warwick bluntly.  “And what business have the flat-caps with the marriage of a king’s sister?  You have spoiled them, good my lord king.  Henry IV. staled not his majesty to consultation with the mayor of his city.  Henry V. gave the knighthood of the Bath to the heroes of Agincourt, not to the vendors of cloth and spices.”

“Thou forgettest, man,” said the king carelessly, “the occasion of those honours—­the eve before Elizabeth was crowned.  As to the rest,” pursued the king, earnestly and with dignity, “I and my house have owed much to London.  Thou seest not, my poor Warwick, that these burgesses are growing up into power.  And if the sword is the monarch’s appeal for his right, he must look to contented and honest industry for his buckler in peace.  This is policy, policy, Warwick; and Louis XI. will tell thee the same truths, harsh though they grate in a warrior’s ear.”

The earl bowed his head.

“If thou doubtest the wisdom of this alliance,” he said, “it is not too late yet.  Let me dismiss my following, and cross not the seas.  Unless thy heart is with the marriage, the ties I would form are but threads and cobwebs.”

“Nay,” returned Edward irresolutely.  “In these great state matters thy wit is older than mine.  But men do say the Count of Charolois is a mighty lord, and the alliance with Burgundy will be more profitable to staple and mart.”

“Then, in God’s name so conclude it!” said the earl hastily.  “Give thy sister to the heir of Burgundy, and forgive me if I depart to the castle of Middleham.  Yet think well.  Henry of Windsor is thy prisoner, but his cause lives in Margaret and his son.  There is but one power in Europe that can threaten thee with aid to the Lancastrians.  That power is France.  Make Louis thy friend and ally, and thou givest peace to thy life and thy lineage.  Make Louis thy foe, and count on plots and stratagems and treason.  Edward, my loved, my honoured liege, forgive Richard Nevile for his bluntness, and let not his faults stand in bar of his counsels.”

“You are right, as you are ever, safeguard of England and pillar of my state,” said the king frankly; and pressing Warwick’s arm, he added, “go to France, and settle all as thou wilt.”