“Prince,” answered Cedric, “I have ever done justice to thy bravery and thy worth—Nor am I ignorant of thy claim to the crown through thy descent from Matilda, niece to Edgar Atheling, and daughter to Malcolm of Scotland. But Matilda, though of the royal Saxon blood, was not the heir to the monarchy.”
“I will not dispute my title with thee, noble Thane,” said Richard, calmly; “but I will bid thee look around thee, and see where thou wilt find another to be put into the scale against it.”
“And hast thou wandered hither, Prince, to tell me so?” said Cedric—“To upbraid me with the ruin of my race, ere the grave has closed o’er the last scion of Saxon royalty?”—His countenance darkened as he spoke.—“It was boldly—it was rashly done!”
“Not so, by the holy rood!” replied the King; “it was don
