The colour mounted to Aage's cheek, and he paused for a moment. "A crazed murderer was, then, your only friend and protector," he resumed; "his accursed scheme of revenge could not have been frustrated had you not known it! Had you but other witnesses, besides yourself and your sister, of your conduct towards him! yet, I dare confirm your testimony with my blood, and with my sword: be comforted! With the Lord's blessing, you shall never need to fly from Denmark;--instead of the captivity to which I am now forced to lead you, my just sovereign owes you thanks and honour." "That we can never look for from King Eric," answered Margaretha; "all doors and all hearts here are now shut against Marsk Stig's children; if the king will but grant us permission to quit the country, we will thank him, and pray for him in our exile. The world is wide, and there are Christian souls in other lands also." "Courage, Margaretha!" exclaimed the youngest sister, who had listened with eager interest and sparkling eyes. "If King Eric be as just and chivalrous a prince as he looks to be, and as this good knight says he is, there cannot be the least doubt that he must acquit us, and restore to us our inheritance, with royal compensation for all we have lost." "Alas, dear sister!" answered Margaretha, in a melancholy and beseeching tone, "gold and lands cannot replace what we have lost. The happiness and honour which this world and its rulers can give us we should no longer seek, but rather aspire to higher blessings." "You hear, Sir Knight! that my pious sister is already half nun and saint," said the younger sister, gaily playing with a sparkling rosary of rubies and diamonds, which she had until now concealed under her neck-kerchief. "If you will defend our cause like a brave knight, she will assuredly pray piously for you in a nunnery; but if I ever come, by your help, to the station which is my birthright, I will not forget you either in my prosperity." Drost Aage was startled; he bowed courteously, in answer to this address, while he turned his horse aside in silence, leaving the sisters to ride side by side. "Hush, hush, good Ulrica!" whispered Margaretha, who glowed crimson at her sister's speech; "thou knowest not thyself what thou sayest, but it doth disgrace us in the eyes of the stranger knight." "I know well enough what I say," answered the capricious maiden, with a scornful toss of the head, "and if _thou_ wilt not vaunt thyself of our high descent, depend on it, _I_ will; charity begins at home, and I have often heard that no knight's daughter in Denmark's kingdom hath ever had a greater man for a father." "Alas! that greatness is our misfortune," said Margaretha, with a sigh; "dearest sister, repeat not to any human being what you have just now said! Ask not my reasons! I can never tell them thee; but thank God thou knowest not all!"