“Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens.”

The princess’s lover, the young man, is of a lower social standing than the king sees fit. Here, the narrator points out that this is common in old romantic stories: often, a man of low station is in love with a woman ranked higher than he. This makes the young man a commonplace figure, someone who does not belong with the princess. In the king’s domain, apparently, this inappropriate pairing is a crime of the highest order.

“Tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum of admiration and anxiety. Half the audience had not known so grand a youth had lived among them.”

The youth who loves the princess is a fine specimen of a man. He is tall and good-looking, which excites the audience of the trial even further. Those who don’t know him had no idea the young man would be so handsome. Perhaps it is his good looks that drew the princess to him in the first place. Either way, he is a beautiful man, and someone toward which the crowd feels an immediate affinity, which perhaps allows them to feel more emotionally invested in his fate.