"Her hand were of little value to me, my good lord and sovereign," replied Fulmer, boldly, "if her heart be given to another." "Her heart!" said Richard, with one of those low, cold, withering laughs, so painful to an enthusiastic mind; "well, well, be you easy, this gay fisherman of hearts, this Chartley, shall be removed in a week or two, to some other place." Fulmer was just in the act of muttering to himself--"In a week or two!" when the door of the cabinet was opened; and a gentleman in dusty apparel entered. "They bade me come in, sire," he said, in a blunt tone, "though the news I bear is not a fair exchange for a gracious welcome. The earl of Oxford, with some other gentlemen of repute, has broken out of Ham castle, and has taken the way to Britanny." Richard smiled; and, seeing that the gentleman had something more to add, he said-- "Go on." "It is but a rumour," answered the other; "but, when at Dover, tidings were brought, that Sir John Fortescue, one of your officers in Calais, with twelve young gentlemen of good stock, had followed the same course." "Ha!" said Richard, in a sterner tone. "Is this so wide spread? But it matters not," he added the moment after, with the smile returning to his lip. "I have the wasp in my gauntlet; and he cannot sting, but die." "There was much turbulence in Kent too, as I rode along," said the blunt messenger. Richard mused for some moments, and then said-- "It is not comfortable news, Sir Arthur. Nevertheless be you welcome. Is there anything else, you have to say?" "No, my liege," answered the old knight, "what I have had to say is bad enough; but, as I came along, not three miles from York, I passed a limber young gentleman, on a weary horse. I have seen him in John Hutton's train; and he told me that he had ridden post, from a place called Lyme in Dorset, whither he had come in a fishing-boat, to bear your grace tidings from Britanny." The news seemed to affect Richard more than all the rest; and starting up he exclaimed-- "Ha! Call me a groom, there!" A groom was instantly called; and the king demanded, gazing at him with an eager eye--"Has any one arrived from Britanny?" "Not that I know of, sire," replied the man; "but there was some one rode into the court just now." "Bring him hither, instantly," said Richard; and, seating himself again at the table, he gnawed the side of his hand with his front teeth. "Might I venture to say a word, sire?" asked Lord Fulmer. "No, sir, no!" exclaimed Richard, vehemently, waving his hand for silence, and then resuming his bitter meditation. At the end of a few minutes, a young gentleman covered with dust, pale, and evidently sinking with fatigue, was introduced into the cabinet; and the king, fixing his eyes upon him, demanded--"What news?--You are Sir John Hutton's nephew, if I mistake not." "The same, my liege," replied the young man, in a feeble tone. "Would that my uncle had been still in Britanny, methinks he had watched better."