As soon as she dismounted in front of the manor-style house, Isabel heard the sound of horses' hooves on the road behind her. Looking back, it turned out to be Sir Augustine, the county magistrate, and several judges' guards, who were servants of the estate, returning on horseback.

After the crowd dismounted and greeted her, a solemn-faced Sir came up to her and asked in a low voice, "Son, how did Ernest come back from the border?" ”

Isabel looked at the guards and servants who were leading the horses away, nodded and said, "Mother asked you to go to the court to inform you?" ”

Sir said as he walked inside the gate, "Well, your mother said that Ernest had been escorted by some of His Highness's horsemen when he returned. ”

"Sir, actually, the first place Ernest went to when he returned to the county was His Highness's castle."

"Nottingham Castle? Uh, he's there to deliver a letter to His Highness? ”

Isabel shook her head, "No, he went to the castle to find me. ”

Sir Augustine was even more surprised: "He is looking for you? Does he want to talk to you about something? ”

"Sir, why don't you come back after dinner about Ernest coming back from the border." Sir glanced at his stepdaughter's face, and he felt that the eldest son's coming home today would not be as simple as going home to rest.

When Jazz went to his room to change clothes, Isabel came to the parlor. As soon as I walked into the meeting room, I felt that the atmosphere in the meeting room was not very good. Silently glancing at the expressions on his mother and sister's faces, he unfastened the belt around his waist with the Cross Knight's sword.

At this moment, Madame Jazz saw Isabel and looked at her with a reluctant smile. Isabel placed her belt and saber on an empty seat, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet Madame Sir and said, "Good day, mother." ”

When Euphemia saw her, she stood up and saluted her. When Isabel had sat down, the lady asked her again, "Son, have you seen your father?" ”

"Mother, father is changing clothes in the room, will be here soon."

"Hmm. I want to ask you, how did Ernest come back from the border? Why was it His Highness's guards who escorted him back to the manor? ”

Isabel glanced at the eyes of Madame Sir and Euphemia full of joy, suspicion and hope, and was thinking about how to answer when she heard Madame Sir say, "Also, what His Highness's guard told me, you asked him to tell me?" ”

"Yes, Mother. Uh, where is Ernest now? ”

"In the garden. Kid, don't you want to explain to me all this that is happening around Ernest? ”

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I just want to give a reasonable explanation to Father, you, and Effie when Father comes."

Soon, Augustine arrived in the parlor dressed in a knight's daily costume that complied with the legal standards. After exchanging salutes and greetings with Sir and the mother-daughter trio, they each sat down in their seats suited to their family status. As the other three focused their eyes on Isabel's face, she thought and said word by word, "Father, mother, Ernest returned to the county this time to rescue Lord Carlisle. ”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the three people beside them appeared with a mixture of shock, incomprehension, fear, and a trace of sadness. Yuphimia, who will turn 17 in a few months, has matured mentally under the influence of Isabel.

Secretly thinking to himself, he smiled indifferently: "Father, mother, Ernest still wants to free his lord from prison on the premise of knowing that Lord Carlyle is guilty of treason, what is this?" This is a provocation to the laws of the kingdom and a contempt for the king and the royal family. ”

Sir Augustine looked at his second daughter in silence, and said gently, "Effie, calm down. ”

After speaking, he turned to Isabel again: "That's what he told you?" Or is it a kind of speculation on his part? ”

Isabel took a sip of a glass of pear wine mixed with cider from the servant, and said gently, "That's exactly what Ernest told me. He wanted me to intercede before the Duke of Richmond, Lord Lancashire, and even Lord Cumberland, who I had never come into contact with, in the hope that His Majesty would spare his lordship. ”

"This guy is crazy, isn't he? Who does he think his sister is, a member of the royal family? Euphemia said with a sneer.

"Effie, Ernest is the eldest son, and I hope you still have a kind of respect for him." Sir coldly rebuked the second daughter.

Antonia, who had not spoken for a long time, looked at Isabelle's eyes full of worry, and said slowly: "Child, I know that Ernest is loyal to his lord, but this is a long-standing historical tradition in the north. ”

Isabel had a smile on her face, but she said, "Mother, I know." However, don't you think that Ernest should be loyal to His Majesty and the royal family as well as to the nobility? ”

"Mother, my sister is right. Even if you are loyal to the nobles, you will still be arrested if you follow them on the path of rebellion against the king. The mass arrests of nobles, gentry and clerics, which began before the Lent period, are a good example. "Effie's views have always been in line with Isabel's.

Madame Sir did not say anything about the second daughter, but only looked at Sir with sad eyes: "Austen, you are a magistrate in the service of His Majesty, do you also think that Ernest should be loyal to His Majesty?" ”

Madame's words made Sir feel very embarrassed. The contradiction between loyalty to the nobility and loyalty to the king and the royal family was formed in the Anglo-Soviet war at the end of the 13th century. After nearly 300 years, loyalty to the lord has long surpassed loyalty to the king and the royal family. It can be said that this kind of loyalty is not only in the ceremonial respect for the lord, but also in the fact that you can fight and kill for the lord at any time, even if it is to sacrifice your own life.

This was the case with the servants, tenant farmers, women and children of Asker Manor, and the people who held various positions at Nottingham Castle viewed the Duke of Richmond with this sentiment. Even the knight himself was loyal to the Duke of Richmond before he served Henry VIII. Therefore, he could not give a satisfactory answer to Madame's words for a while.

Seeing that Sir was looking very embarrassed, Isabel shook her head and said to Madame Sir, "Mother, I do not express any opinion of my own in respect of Ernest's allegiance to Lord Carlyle and from my heart. ”

She continued: "I have seen a book with His Royal Highness the Duke, written by Lord Edmund Dudley, former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Henry VII. In his book, he says that a country should have three classes: the first is the king and the nobility. The king was responsible for moderating the interests of different social classes, avoiding large-scale armed conflicts, and allowing each of the kingdom's subjects to play their part in the society. ”

"The duty of the king, from the duke to the gentleman, is to follow the king on his expedition and fight bravely for the king and the kingdom in war. In times of peace, the nobles and squires are the leaders of the kingdom's society, and they should help the poor and the weak, and be loyal to the king! ”