King Richard determined to make his way across the Tyrol to this
place; but he thought that it would attract attention to him were he
accompanied by so large a party. Therefore he, with Sir Baldwin of
Bethune, and a few followers, started north, while I with my men kept
west through the north of Italy, and then crossed by the pass over
Trent."
"How long is it since you left my brother?" the duchess asked anxiously.
"It is now over a month since I bade him adieu," Cuthbert answered.
"Then he should have been heard of long since," the duchess said. "What
fate can have befallen him?"
"Judging from my own experience," Cuthbert said, "I fear that he may
have come to harm at the hands of the friends of Conrad of Montferat,
who falsely allege that the death of their kinsman was caused by King
Richard. The Archduke John, too, owes him no good-will; and even the
emperor is evilly disposed toward him. The king traveled under an
assumed name; but it might well be that he would be recognized upon the
way.
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