A Knight of the White Cross | Page 4

de Paulliac, who is nigh three years his senior. It
was amusing to see how the little knaves fought against each other; and
by my faith Gervaise held his own staunchly, in spite of Victor's
superior height and weight. If he join the Order, Sir Thomas, I warrant
me he will cleave many an infidel's skull, and will do honour to the
langue of England."
"I hope so, prince," the knight said gravely. "The Moslems ever gain in
power, and it may well be that the Knights of St. John will be hardly
pressed to hold their own. If the boy joins them it will be my wish that
he shall as early as possible repair to Rhodes. I do not wish him to
become one of the drones who live in sloth at their commanderies in
England, and take no part in the noble struggle of the Order with the
Moslem host, who have captured Constantinople and now threaten all
Europe. We were childless some years after our marriage, and Eleanor
and I vowed that were a son born to us he should join the Order of the
White Cross, and dedicate his life to the defence of Christian Europe
against the infidel. Our prayers for a son were granted, and Gervaise
will enter the Order as soon as his age will permit him. That is why I
rejoice at the grand prior's offer to take him as his page, for he will
dwell in the hospital safely until old enough to take the first steps
towards becoming a knight of the Order."
"I would that I had been born the son of a baron like yourself," the
prince said earnestly, "and that I were free to choose my own career.
Assuredly in that case I too would have joined the noble Order and
have spent my life in fighting in so grand a cause, free from all the
quarrels and disputes and enmities that rend England. Even should I
some day gain a throne, surely my lot is not to be envied. Yet, as I have
been born to the rank, I must try for it, and I trust to do so worthily and
bravely. But who can say what the end will be? Warwick has ever been
our foe, and though my royal mother may use him in order to free my
father, and place him on the throne, she must know well enough that he
but uses us for his own ends alone, and that he will ever stand beside
the throne and be the real ruler of England."

"For a time, Edward," the queen broke in. "We have shown that we can
wait, and now it seems that our great hope is likely to be fulfilled. After
that, the rest will be easy. There are other nobles, well nigh as powerful
as he, who look with jealousy upon the way in which he lords it, and be
assured that they will look with a still less friendly eye upon him when
he stands, as you say, beside the throne, once your father is again
seated there. We can afford to bide our time, and assuredly it will not
be long before a party is formed against Warwick. Until then we must
bear everything. Our interests are the same. If he is content to remain a
prop to the throne, and not to eclipse it, the memory of the past will not
stand between us, and I shall regard him as the weapon that has beaten
down the House of York and restored us to our own, and shall give him
my confidence and friendship. If, on the other hand, he assumes too
much, and tries to lord it over us, I shall seek other support and gather a
party which even he will be unable successfully to withstand. I should
have thought, Edward, that you would be even more glad than I that
this long time of weary waiting for action is over, and that once again
the banner of Lancaster will be spread to the winds."
"I shall be that, mother. Rather would I meet death in the field than live
cooped up here, a pensioner of France. But I own that I should feel
more joy at the prospect if the people of England had declared in our
favour, instead of its being Warwick -- whom you have always taught
me to fear and hate -- who thus comes to offer to place my father again
on the throne, and whose goodwill towards us is simply the result of
pique and displeasure because he is no longer first in the favour of
Edward. It does not seem to me that a throne won by the aid of a traitor
can be a stable one."