[The Pilgrims Of The Rhine by Edward Bulwer-Lytton]@TWC D-Link bookThe Pilgrims Of The Rhine CHAPTER XXIV 3/37
Bold and light was his spirit; if at times he betrayed the haughty insolence of youth, he felt generously, and though not ever ready to confess sorrow for a fault, he was at least ready to brave peril for a friend. But Warbeck's frame, though of equal strength, was more slender in its proportions than that of his brother; the fair long hair that characterized his northern race hung on either side of a countenance calm and pale, and deeply impressed with thought, even to sadness.
His features, more majestic and regular than Otho's, rarely varied in their expression.
More resolute even than Otho, he was less impetuous; more impassioned, he was also less capricious. The brothers remained silent after Leoline had left them.
Otho carelessly braced on his sword, that he had laid aside on the grass; but Warbeck gathered up the flowers that had been touched by the soft hand of Leoline, and placed them in his bosom. The action disturbed Otho; he bit his lip, and changed colour; at length he said, with a forced laugh,-- "It must be confessed, brother, that you carry your affection for our fair cousin to a degree that even relationship seems scarcely to warrant." "It is true," said Warbeck, calmly; "I love her with a love surpassing that of blood." "How!" said Otho, fiercely: "do you dare to think of Leoline as a bride ?" "Dare!" repeated Warbeck, turning yet paler than his wonted hue. "Yes, I have said the word! Know, Warbeck, that I, too, love Leoline; I, too, claim her as my bride; and never, while I can wield a sword, never, while I wear the spurs of knighthood, will I render my claim to a living rival,--even," he added, sinking his voice, "though that rival be my brother!" Warbeck answered not; his very soul seemed stunned; he gazed long and wistfully on his brother, and then, turning his face away, ascended the rock without uttering a single word. This silence startled Otho.
Accustomed to vent every emotion of his own, he could not comprehend the forbearance of his brother; he knew his high and brave nature too well to imagine that it arose from fear.
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