The face that had been flushed with victory and bright with hope was now set in those stern lines which seem to speak of a forlorn hope.

He saw their peril as clearly as Paul; but if the day were lost, what mattered it if his life were yet whole in him?
The face he silently turned upon his companion seemed to have grown years older whilst he had been speaking.
And to make matters worse, the knowledge of the disaster to their own side spread to the soldiers who had followed the prince, and that instant demoralization which so often accompanies and aggravates defeat seized upon the men.

They flung away their heavier arms, and with a shout of "Treason, treason!"-- for they were assured there had been foul play somewhere--fled each man by himself, without a thought for aught save his own life.
Paul and the prince thus found themselves alone in the midst of a hostile host--alone save for the presence of some half-dozen stout troopers attached to the service of Paul, who since his advance in worldly prosperity had been in a position to engage and retain the services of some men-at-arms of his own.

These faithful fellows, who had learned to love their young master, sat doggedly in their saddles, prepared to sell their lives dear, and to carry off if possible their master and the prince living from the field.

But they, too, realized how desperate was the situation; and the threatening and triumphant glances of their enemies, who now began to close up round them, showed that others had realized that the battle was already won by the Yorkist faction.
"King Edward, King Edward!" shouted the fierce soldiers as they grasped their weapons anew.