Ah, how I pity my mother!"
"Dare not to revile our noble father!" cried the earl, almost
threateningly. "God alone knows how much he has suffered from our
mother, and how much he still suffers. He is not to blame for this
unhappy marriage. But you have not come to talk over these sad and
disgraceful family matters, sister! You wish to warn me, did you
say?"
"Yes, warn you!" said the duchess, tenderly, as she took her
brother's hand and led him to the ottoman. "Come, let us sit down
here, Henry, and let us for once chat confidentially and cordially,
as becomes brother and sister. Tell me, who is Geraldine?"
"A phantom, an ideal! I have told you that already."
"You really love, then, no lady at this court?"
"No, none! There is among all these ladies, with whom the queen has
surrounded herself, not one whom I am able to love."
"Ah, your heart then is free, Henry; and you will be so much more
easily inclined to comply with the king's wish."
"What does the king wish?"
She laid her head on her brother's shoulder, and said in a low
whisper: "That the Howard and Seymour families be at last
reconciled; that at last they may reconcile the hatred, which has
for centuries separated them, by means of a firm and sincere bond of
love."
"Ah, the king wants that!" cried the earl, scornfully.
"Forsooth, now, he has made a good beginning toward bringing about
this reconciliation. He has insulted me before all Europe, by
removing me from my command, and investing a Seymour with my rank
and dignity; and he requires that I in return shall love this
arrogant earl, who has robbed me of what is my due; who has long
intrigued and besieged the king's ears with lies and calumnies, till
he has gained his end and supplanted me.
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