“Sovereign of England, my gracious liege and honored king,” answered Gloucester, still apparently unmoved, and utterly regardless of the danger in which he stood, “dishonor is not further removed from thy royal name than it is from Gloucester’s.  I bear no stain of either falsity or treachery; that which thou hast laid to my charge regarding the Earl of Carrick, I shrink not, care not to acknowledge; yet, Edward of England, I am no traitor!”

“Ha! thou specious orator, reconcile the two an thou canst!  Thou art a scholar of deep research and eloquence profound we have heard.  Speak on, then, in heaven’s name!” He flung himself back on his cushions as he spoke, for, despite his wrath, his suspicions, there was that in the calm, chivalric bearing of the earl that appealed not in vain to one who had so long been the soul of chivalry himself.

The tone in which his sovereign spoke was softened, though his words were bitter, and Gloucester at once relaxed from his proud and cold reserve; kneeling before him, he spoke with fervor and impassioned truth—­

“Condemn me not unheard, my gracious sovereign,” he said.  “I speak not to a harsh and despotic king, who brings his faithful subjects to the block at the first whisper of evil or misguided conduct cast to their charge; were Edward such Gloucester would speak not, hope not for justice at his hands; but to thee, my liege, to thee, to whom all true knights may look up as to the minor of all that knight should be—­the life and soul of chivalry—­to thee, the noblest warrior, the truest knight that ever put lance in rest—­to thee, I say, I am no traitor; and appeal but to the spirit of chivalry actuating thine own heart to acquit or condemn me, as it listeth.  Hear me, my liege.  Robert of Carrick and myself were sworn brothers from the first hour of our entrance together upon life, as pages, esquires, and finally, as knights, made such by thine own royal hand; brothers in arms, in dangers, in victories, in defeat; aye, and brothers—­more than brothers—­in mutual fidelity and love; to receive life, to be rescued from captivity at each other’s hand, to become equal sharers of whatever honors might be granted to the one and not the other.  Need my sovereign be reminded that such constitutes the ties of brothers in arms, and such brothers were Robert of Carrick and Gilbert of Gloucester.  There came a rumor that the instigations of a base traitor had poisoned your grace’s ear against one 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?”