CHAPTER THE FIRST.
Some were for gospel ministers,
And some for red-coat seculars,
As men most fit t' hold forth the word,
And wield the one and th' other sword.
Butler's Hudibras.
There is a handsome parish church in the town of Woodstock,I am told
so, at least, for I never saw it, having scarce time, when at the
place, to view the magnificence of Blenheim, its painted halls, and
tapestried bowers, and then return in due season to dine in hall with
my learned friend, the provost of ; being one of those occasions on
which a man wrongs himself extremely, if he lets his curiosity
interfere with his punctuality. I had the church accurately described
to me, with a view to this work; but, as I have some reason to doubt
whether my informant had ever seen the inside of it himself, I shall be
content to say that it is now a handsome edifice, most part of which
was rebuilt forty or fifty years since, although it still contains some
arches of the old chantry, founded, it is said, by King John. It is to
this more ancient part of the building that my story refers. On a
morning in the end of September, or beginning of October, in the year
1652, being a day appointed for a solemn thanksgiving for the decisive
victory at Worcester, a respectable audience was assembled in the old
chantry, or chapel of King John. The condition of the church and
character of the audience both bore witness to the rage of civil war,
and the peculiar spirit of the times. The sacred edifice showed many
marks of dilapidation. The windows, once filled with stained glass, had
been dashed to pieces with pikes and muskets, as matters of and
pertaining to idolatry. The carving on the reading-desk was damaged,
and two fair screens of beautiful sculptured oak had been destroyed,
for the same pithy and conclusive reason. The high altar had been
removed, and the gilded railing, which was once around it, was broken
down and carried off. The effigies of several tombs were mutilated, and
now lay scattered about the church,
Torn from their destined nicheunworthy meed
Of knightly counsel or heroic deed!
The autumn wind piped through empty aisles, in which the remains of
stakes and trevisses of rough-hewn timber, as well as a quantity of
scattered hay and trampled straw, seemed to intimate that the hallowed
precincts had been, upon some late emergency, made the quarters of a
troop of horse.
The audience, like the building, was abated in splendour. None of the
ancient and habitual worshippers during peaceful times, were now to be
seen in their carved galleries, with hands shadowing their brows, while
composing their minds to pray where their fathers had prayed, and after
the same mode of worship. The eye of the yeoman and peasant sought in
vain the tall form of old Sir Henry Lee, of Ditchley, as, wrapped in
his lace cloak, and with beard and whiskers duly composed, he moved
slowly through the aisles, followed by the faithful mastiff, or
bloodhound, which in old time had saved his master by his fidelity, and
which regularly followed him to church. Bevis, indeed, fell under the
proverb which avers, "He is a good dog which goes to church;" for,
bating an occasional temptation to warble along with the accord, he
behaved himself as decorously as any of the congregation, and returned
as much edified, perhaps, as most of them. The damsels of Woodstock
looked as vainly for the laced cloaks, jingling spurs, slashed boots,
and tall plumes, of the young cavaliers of this and other high-born
houses, moving through the streets and the church-yard with the
careless ease, which indicates perhaps rather an overweening degree of
self-confidence, yet shows graceful when mingled with good-humour and
courtesy. The good old dames, too, in their white hoods and black
velvet gownstheir daughters, "the cynosure of neighbouring
eyes,"where were they all now, who, when they entered the church, used
to divide men's thoughts between them and Heaven? "But, ah! Alice
Leeso sweet, so gentle, so condescending in thy loveliness[thus
proceeds a contemporary annalist, whose manuscript we have
deciphered]why is my story to turn upon thy fallen fortunes? and why
not rather to the period when, in the very dismounting from your
palfrey, you attracted as many eyes as if an angel had descended,as
many blessings as if the benignant being had come fraught with good
tidings? No creature wert thou of an idle romancer's imaginationno
being fantastically bedizened with inconsistent perfections;thy merits
made me love thee welland for thy faultsso well did they show amid
thy good qualities, that I think they made me love thee better."
With the house of Lee had disappeared from the chantry of King John
others of gentle blood and honoured lineageFreemantles, Winklecombes,
Drycotts, &c.; for the air that blew over the towers of Oxford was
unfavourable to the growth of Puritanism, which was more general in the
neighbouring counties. There were among the congregation, however, one
or two that, by their habits and demeanour, seemed country gentlemen of
consideration, and there were also present some of the notables of the
town of Woodstock, cutlers or glovers chiefly, whose skill in steel or
leather had raised them to a comfortable livelihood. These dignitaries
wore long black cloaks, plaited close at the neck, and, like peaceful
citizens, carried their Bibles and memorandum-books at their girdles,
instead of knife or sword.[1] This respectable, but least numerous part
of the audience, were such decent persons as had adopted the
Presbyterian form of faith, renouncing the liturgy and hierarchy of the
Church of England, and living under the tuition of the Rev. Nehemiah
Holdenough, much famed for the length and strength of his powers of
predication. With these grave seniors sate their goodly dames in ruff
and gorget, like the portraits which in catalogues of paintings are
designed "wife of a burgomaster;" and their pretty daughters, whose
study, like that of Chaucer's physician, was not always in the Bible,
but who were, on the contrary, when a glance could escape the vigilance
of their honoured mothers, inattentive themselves, and the cause of
inattention in others.
[1] This custom among the Puritans is mentioned often in old plays,
and among others in the Widow of Watling Street.
But, besides these dignified persons, there were in the church a
numerous collection of the lower orders, some brought thither by
curiosity, but many of them unwashed artificers, bewildered in the
theological discussions of the time, and of as many various sects as
there are colours in the rainbow. The presumption of these learned
Thebans being in exact proportion to their ignorance, the last was
total and the first boundless. Their behaviour in the church was any
thing but reverential or edifying. Most of them affected a cynical
contempt for all that was only held sacred by human sanctionthe church
was to these men but a steeple-house, the clergyman, an ordinary
person; her ordinances, dry bran and sapless pottage unfitted for the
spiritualized palates of the saints, and the prayer, an address to
Heaven, to which each acceded or not as in his too critical judgment he
conceived fit.
The elder amongst them sate or lay on the benches, with their high
steeple-crowned hats pulled over their severe and knitted brows,
waiting for the Presbyterian parson, as mastiffs sit in dumb
expectation of the bull that is to be brought to the stake. The younger
mixed, some of them, a bolder license of manners with their heresies;
they gazed round on the women, yawned, coughed, and whispered, eat
apples, and cracked nuts, as if in the gallery of a theatre ere the
piece commences.
Besides all these, the congregation contained a few soldiers, some in
corslets and steel caps, some in buff, and others in red coats. These
men of war had their bandeliers, with ammunition, slung around them,
and rested on their pikes and muskets. They, too, had their peculiar
doctrines on the most difficult points of religion, and united the
extravagances of enthusiasm with the most determined courage and
resolution in the field. The burghers of Woodstock looked on these
military saints with no small degree of awe; for though not often
sullied with deeds of plunder or cruelty, they had the power of both
absolutely in their hands, and the peaceful citizen had no alternative,
save submission to whatever the ill-regulated and enthusiastic
imaginations of their martial guides might suggest.
After some time spent in waiting for him, Mr. Holdenough began to walk
up the aisles of the chapel, not with the slow and dignified carriage
with which the old Rector was of yore wont to maintain the dignity of
the surplice, but with a hasty step, like one who arrives too late at
an appointment, and bustles forward to make the best use of his time.
He was a tall thin man, with an adust complexion, and the vivacity of
his eye indicated some irascibility of temperament. His dress was
brown, not black, and over his other vestments he wore, in honour of
Calvin, a Geneva cloak of a blue colour, which fell backwards from his
shoulders as he posted on to the pulpit. His grizzled hair was cut as
short as shears could perform the feat, and covered with a black silk
scull-cap, which stuck so close to his head, that the two ears expanded
from under it as if they had been intended as handles by which to lift
the whole person. Moreover, the worthy divine wore spectacles, and a
long grizzled peaked beard, and he carried in his hand a small
pocket-bible with silver clasps. Upon arriving at the pulpit, he paused
a moment to take breath, then began to ascend the steps by two at a
time.
But his course was arrested by a strong hand, which seized his cloak.
It was that of one who had detached himself from the group of soldiery.
He was a stout man of middle stature, with a quick eye, and a
countenance, which, though plain, had yet an expression that fixed the
attention. His dress, though not strictly military, partook of that
character. He wore large hose made of calves-leather, and a tuck, as it
was then called, or rapier, of tremendous length, balanced on the other
side by a dagger. The belt was morocco, garnished with pistols.
The minister, thus intercepted in his duty, faced round upon the party
who had seized him, and demanded, in no gentle tone, the meaning of the
interruption.
"Friend," quoth the intruder, "is it thy purpose to hold forth to these
good people?"
"Ay, marry is it," said the clergyman, "and such is my bounden duty.
Woe to me if I preach not the gospelPrithee, friend, let me not in my
labour"
"Nay," said the man of warlike mien, "I am myself minded to hold forth;
therefore, do thou desist, or if thou wilt do by my advice, remain and
fructify with those poor goslings, to whom I am presently about to
shake forth the crumbs of comfortable doctrine."
"Give place, thou man of Satan," said the priest, waxing wroth,
"respect mine ordermy cloth."
"I see no more to respect in the cut of thy cloak, or in the cloth of
which it is fashioned," said the other, "than thou didst in the
Bishop's rochetsthey were black and white, thou art blue and brown.
Sleeping dogs every one of you, lying down, loving to slumbershepherds
that starve the flock but will not watch it, each looking to his own
gainhum."
Scenes of this indecent kind were so common at the time, that no one
thought of interfering; the congregation looked on in silence, the
better class scandalized, and the lower orders, some laughing, and
others backing the soldier or minister as their fancy dictated.
Meantime the struggle waxed fiercer; Mr. Holdenough clamoured for
assistance.
"Master Mayor of Woodstock," he exclaimed, "wilt thou be among those
wicked magistrates, who bear the sword in vain?Citizens, will you not
help your pastor?Worthy Alderman, will you see me strangled on the
pulpit stairs by this man of buff and Belial?But lo, I will overcome
him, and cast his cords from me."
As Holdenough spoke, he struggled to ascend the pulpit stairs, holding
hard on the banisters. His tormentor held fast by the skirts of the
cloak, which went nigh to the choking of the wearer, until, as he spoke
the words last mentioned, in a half-strangled voice, Mr. Holdenough
dexterously slipped the string which tied it round his neck, so that
the garment suddenly gave way; the soldier fell backwards down the
steps, and the liberated divine skipped into the pulpit, and began to
give forth a psalm of triumph over his prostrate adversary. But a great
hubbub in the church marred his exultation, and although he and his
faithful clerk continued to sing the hymn of victory, their notes were
only heard by fits, like the whistle of a curlew during a gale of wind.
The cause of the tumult was as follows:The Mayor was a zealous
Presbyterian, and witnessed the intrusion of the soldier with great
indignation from the very beginning, though he hesitated to interfere
with an armed man while on his legs and capable of resistance. But no
sooner did he behold the champion of independency sprawling on his
back, with the divine's Geneva cloak fluttering in his hands, than the
magistrate rushed forward, exclaiming that such insolence was not to be
endured, and ordered his constables to seize the prostrate champion,
proclaiming, in the magnanimity of wrath, "I will commit every red-coat
of them allI will commit him were he Noll Cromwell himself!"
The worthy Mayor's indignation had overmastered his reason when he made
this mistimed vaunt; for three soldiers, who had hitherto stood
motionless like statues, made each a stride in advance, which placed
them betwixt the municipal officers and the soldier, who was in the act
of rising; then making at once the movement of resting arms according
to the manual as then practised, their musket-buts rang on the church
pavement, within an inch of the gouty toes of Master Mayor. The
energetic magistrate, whose efforts in favour of order were thus
checked, cast one glance on his supporters, but that was enough to show
him that force was not on his side. All had shrunk back on hearing that
ominous clatter of stone and iron. He was obliged to descend to
expostulation.
"What do you mean, my masters?" said he; "is it like a decent and
God-fearing soldiery, who have wrought such things for the land as have
never before been heard of, to brawl and riot in the church, or to aid,
abet, and comfort a profane fellow, who hath, upon a solemn
thanksgiving excluded the minister from his own pulpit?"
"We have nought to do with thy church, as thou call'st it," said he
who, by a small feather in front of his morion, appeared to be the
corporal of the party;"we see not why men of gifts should not be heard
within these citadels of superstition, as well as the voice of the men
of crape of old, and the men of cloak now. Wherefore, we will pluck yon
Jack Presbyter out of his wooden sentinel-box, and our own watchman
shall relieve the guard, and mount thereon, and cry aloud and spare
not."
"Nay, gentlemen," said the Mayor, "if such be your purpose, we have not
the means to withstand you, being, as you see, peaceful and quiet
menBut let me first speak with this worthy minister, Nehemiah
Holdenough, to persuade him to yield up his place for the time without
farther scandal."
The peace-making Mayor then interrupted the quavering Holdenough and
the clerk, and prayed both to retire, else there would, he said, be
certainly strife.
"Strife!" replied the Presbyterian divine, with scorn; "no fear of
strife among men that dare not testify against this open profanation of
the Church, and daring display of heresy. Would your neighbours of
Banbury have brooked such an insult?"
"Come, come, Master Holdenough," said the Mayor, "put us not to mutiny
and cry Clubs. I tell you once more, we are not men of war or blood."
"Not more than may be drawn by the point of a needle," said the
preacher, scornfully."Ye tailors of Woodstock!for what is a glover
but a tailor working on kidskin?I forsake you, in scorn of your faint
hearts and feeble hands, and will seek me elsewhere a flock which will
not fly from their shepherd at the braying of the first wild ass which
cometh from out the great desert."
So saying, the aggrieved divine departed from his pulpit, and shaking
the dust from his shoes, left the church as hastily as he had entered
it, though with a different reason for his speed. The citizens saw his
retreat with sorrow, and not without a compunctious feeling, as if
conscious that they were not playing the most courageous part in the
world. The Mayor himself and several others left the church, to follow
and appease him.
The Independent orator, late prostrate, was now triumphant, and
inducting himself into the pulpit without farther ceremony, he pulled a
Bible from his pocket, and selected his text from the forty-fifth
psalm,"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory
and thy majesty: and in thy majesty ride prosperously."Upon this
theme, he commenced one of those wild declamations common at the
period, in which men were accustomed to wrest and pervert the language
of Scripture, by adapting to it modern events.[2] The language which,
in its literal sense, was applied to King David, and typically referred
to the coming of the Messiah, was, in the opinion of the military
orator, most properly to be interpreted of Oliver Cromwell, the
victorious general of the infant Commonwealth, which was never destined
to come of age. "Gird on thy sword!" exclaimed the preacher
emphatically; "and was not that a pretty bit of steel as ever dangled
from a corslet, or rung against a steel saddle? Ay, ye prick up your
ears now, ye cutlers of Woodstock, as if ye should know something of a
good fox broad swordDid you forge it, I trow?was the steel quenched
with water from Rosamond's well, or the blade blessed by the old
cuckoldy priest of Godstow? You would have us think, I warrant me, that
you wrought it and welded it, grinded and polished it, and all the
while it never came on a Woodstock stithy! You were all too busy making
whittles for the lazy crape-men of Oxford, bouncing priests, whose eyes
were so closed up with fat, that they could not see Destruction till
she had them by the throat. But I can tell you where the sword was
forged, and tempered, and welded, and grinded, and polished. When you
were, as I said before, making whittles for false priests, and daggers
for dissolute Gd dn-me cavaliers, to cut the people of England's
throats withit was forged at Long Marston Moor, where blows went
faster than ever rung hammer on anviland it was tempered at Naseby, in
the best blood of the cavaliersand it was welded in Ireland against
the walls of Droghedaand it was grinded on Scottish lives at
Dunbarand now of late it was polished in Worcester, till it shines as
bright as the sun in the middle heaven, and there is no light in
England that shall come nigh unto it."
[2] See "Vindication of the Book of Common Prayer, against the
contumelious Slanders of the Fanatic Party terming it Porridge."
The author of this singular and rare tract indulges in the
allegorical style, till he fairly hunts down the allegory.
"But as for what you call porridge, who hatched the name I know
not, neither is it worth the enquiring after, for I hold porridge
good food. It is better to a sick man than meat, for a sick man
will sooner eat pottage than meat. Pottage will digest with him
when meat will not: pottage will nourish the blood, fill the veins,
run into every part of a man, make him warmer; so will these
prayers do, set our soul and body in a heat, warm our devotion,
work fervency in us, lift up our soul to God. For there be herbs of
God's own planting in our pottage as ye call itthe Ten
Commandments, dainty herbs to season any pottage in the world;
there is the Lord's Prayer, and that is a most sweet pot-herb,
cannot be denied; then there is also David's herbs, his prayers and
psalms, helps to make our pottage relish well; the psalm of the
blessed Virgin, a good pot-herb. Though they be, as some term them,
cock-crowed pottage, yet they are as sweet, as good, as dainty,
and as fresh, as they were at first. The sun hath not made them
sour with its heat, neither hath the cold water taken away their
vigour and strength. Compare them with the Scriptures, and see if
they be not as well seasoned and crumbed. If you find any thing in
them that is either too salt, too fresh, or too bitter, that herb
shall be taken out and better put in, if it can be got, or none.
And as in kitchen pottage there are many good herbs, so there is
likewise in this church pottage, as ye call it. For first, there is
in kitchen pottage good water to make them so; on the contrary, in
the other pottage there is the water of life. 2. There is salt, to
season them; so in the other is a prayer of grace to season their
hearts. 3. There is oatmeal to nourish the body, in the other is
the bread of life. 4. There is thyme in them to relish them, and it
is very wholesomein the other is the wholesome exhortation not to
harden our heart while it is called to-day. This relisheth well. 5.
There is a small onion to give a tastein the other is a good herb,
called Lord have mercy on us. These, and many other holy herbs are
contained in it, all boiling in the heart of man, will make as good
pottage as the world can afford, especially if you use these herbs
for digestion. The herb repentance, the herb grace, the herb faith,
the herb love, the herb hope, the herb good works, the herb
feeling, the herb zeal, the herb fervency, the herb ardency, the
herb constancy, with many more of this nature, most excellent for
digestion." Ohe! jam satis. In this manner the learned divine
hunts his metaphor at a very cold scent, through a pamphlet of six
mortal quarto pages.)
Here the military part of the congregation raised a hum of approbation,
which, being a sound like the "hear, hear," of the British House of
Commons, was calculated to heighten the enthusiasm of the orator, by
intimating the sympathy of the audience. "And then," resumed the
preacher, rising in energy as he found that his audience partook in
these feelings, "what saith the text?Ride on prosperouslydo not
stopdo not call a haltdo not quit the saddlepursue the scattered
flierssound the trumpetnot a levant or a flourish, but a point of
warsound, boot and saddleto horse and awaya charge!follow after the
young Man!what part have we in him?Slay, take, destroy, divide the
spoil! Blessed art thou, Oliver, on account of thine honourthy cause
is clear, thy call is undoubtednever has defeat come near thy
leading-staff, nor disaster attended thy banner. Ride on, flower of
England's soldiers! ride on, chosen leader of God's champions! gird up
the loins of thy resolution, and be steadfast to the mark of thy high
calling."
Another deep and stern hum, echoed by the ancient embow'd arches of the
old chantry, gave him an opportunity of an instant's repose; when the
people of Woodstock heard him, and not without anxiety, turn the stream
of his oratory into another channel.
"But wherefore, ye people of Woodstock, do I say these things to you,
who claim no portion in our David, no interest in England's son of
Jesse?You, who were fighting as well as your might could (and it was
not very formidable) for the late Man, under that old blood-thirsty
papist Sir Jacob Astonare you not now plotting, or ready to plot, for
the restoring, as ye call it, of the young Man, the unclean son of the
slaughtered tyrantthe fugitive after whom the true hearts of England
are now following, that they may take and slay him?'Why should your
rider turn his bridle our way?' say you in your hearts; 'we will none
of him; if we may help ourselves, we will rather turn us to wallow in
the mire of monarchy, with the sow that was washed but newly.' Come,
men of Woodstock, I will ask, and do you answer me. Hunger ye still
after the flesh-pots of the monks of Godstow? and ye will say, Nay;but
wherefore, except that the pots are cracked and broken, and the fire is
extinguished wherewith thy oven used to boil? And again, I ask, drink
ye still of the well of fornications of the fair Rosamond?ye will say,
Nay;but wherefore?"
Here the orator, ere he could answer the question in his own way, was
surprised by the following reply, very pithily pronounced by one of the
congregation:"Because you, and the like of you, have left us no brandy
to mix with it."
All eyes turned to the audacious speaker, who stood beside one of the
thick sturdy Saxon pillars, which he himself somewhat resembled, being
short of stature, but very strongly made, a squat broad Little John
sort of figure, leaning on a quarterstaff, and wearing a jerkin, which,
though now sorely stained and discoloured, had once been of the Lincoln
green, and showed remnants of having been laced. There was an air of
careless, good humoured audacity about the fellow; and, though under
military restraint, there were some of the citizens who could not help
crying out,"Well said, Joceline Joliffe!"
"Jolly Joceline, call ye him?" proceeded the preacher, without showing
either confusion or displeasure at the interruption,"I will make him
Joceline of the jail, if he interrupts me again. One of your
park-keepers, I warrant, that can never forget they have borne C. R.
upon their badges and bugle-horns, even as a dog bears his owner's name
on his collara pretty emblem for Christian men! But the brute beast
hath the better of him,the brute weareth his own coat, and the caitiff
thrall wears his master's. I have seen such a wag make a rope's end wag
ere now.Where was I?Oh, rebuking you for your backslidings, men of
Woodstock.Yes, then ye will say ye have renounced Popery, and ye have
renounced Prelacy, and then ye wipe your mouth like Pharisees, as ye
are; and who but you for purity of religion! But I tell you, ye are but
like Jehu the son of Nimshi, who broke down the house of Baal, yet
departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. Even so ye eat not fish on
Friday with the blinded Papists, nor minced-pies on the 25th day of
December, like the slothful Prelatists; but ye will gorge on
sack-posset each night in the year with your blind Presbyterian guide,
and ye will speak evil of dignities, and revile the Commonwealth; and
ye will glorify yourselves in your park of Woodstock, and say, 'Was it
not walled in first of any other in England, and that by Henry, son of
William called the Conqueror?' And ye have a princely Lodge therein,
and call the same a Royal Lodge; and ye have an oak which ye call the
King's Oak; and ye steal and eat the venison of the park, and ye say,
'This is the king's venison, we will wash it down with a cup to the
king's healthbetter we eat it than those round-headed commonwealth
knaves.' But listen unto me and take warning. For these things come we
to controversy with you. And our name shall be a cannon-shot, before
which your Lodge, in the pleasantness whereof ye take pastime, shall be
blown into ruins; and we will be as a wedge to split asunder the King's
Oak into billets to heat a brown baker's oven; and we will dispark your
park, and slay your deer, and eat them ourselves, neither shall you
have any portion thereof, whether in neck or haunch. Ye shall not haft
a ten-penny knife with the horns thereof, neither shall ye cut a pair
of breeches out of the hide, for all ye be cutlers and glovers; and ye
shall have no comfort or support neither from the sequestered traitor
Henry Lee, who called himself Ranger of Woodstock, nor from any on his
behalf; for they are coming hither who shall be called
Mahershalal-hash-baz, because he maketh haste to the spoil."
Here ended the wild effusion, the latter part of which fell heavy on
the souls of the poor citizens of Woodstock, as tending to confirm a
report of an unpleasing nature which had been lately circulated. The
communication with London was indeed slow, and the news which it
transmitted were uncertain; no less uncertain were the times
themselves, and the rumours which were circulated, exaggerated by the
hopes and fears of so many various factions. But the general stream of
report, so far as Woodstock was concerned, had of late run uniformly in
one direction. Day after day they had been informed, that the fatal
fiat of Parliament had gone out, for selling the park of Woodstock,
destroying its lodge, disparking its forest, and erasing, as far as
they could be erased, all traces of its ancient fame. Many of the
citizens were likely to be sufferers on this occasion, as several of
them enjoyed, either by sufferance or right, various convenient
privileges of pasturage, cutting firewood, and the like, in the royal
chase; and all the inhabitants of the little borough were hurt to
think, that the scenery of the place was to be destroyed, its edifices
ruined, and its honours rent away. This is a patriotic sensation often
found in such places, which ancient distinctions and long-cherished
recollections of former days, render so different from towns of recent
date. The natives of Woodstock felt it in the fullest force. They had
trembled at the anticipated calamity; but now, when it was announced by
the appearance of those dark, stern, and at the same time omnipotent
soldiersnow that they heard it proclaimed by the mouth of one of their
military preachersthey considered their fate as inevitable. The causes
of disagreement among themselves were for the time forgotten, as the
congregation, dismissed without psalmody or benediction, went slowly
and mournfully homeward, each to his own place of abode.
CHAPTER THE SECOND.
Come forth, old manThy daughter's side
Is now the fitting place for thee:
When time hath quell'd the oak's bold pride,
The youthful tendril yet may hide
The ruins of the parent tree.
When the sermon was ended, the military orator wiped his brow; for,
notwithstanding the coolness of the weather, he was heated with the
vehemence of his speech and action. He then descended from the pulpit,
and spoke a word or two to the corporal who commanded the party of
soldiers, who, replying by a sober nod of intelligence, drew his men
together, and marched them in order to their quarters in the town.
The preacher himself, as if nothing extraordinary had happened, left
the church and sauntered through the streets of Woodstock, with the air
of a stranger who was viewing the town, without seeming to observe that
he was himself in his turn anxiously surveyed by the citizens, whose
furtive yet frequent glances seemed to regard him as something alike
suspected and dreadful, yet on no account to be provoked. He heeded
them not, but stalked on in the manner affected by the distinguished
fanatics of the day; a stiff solemn pace, a severe and at the same time
a contemplative look, like that of a man discomposed at the
interruptions which earthly objects forced upon him, obliging him by
their intrusion to withdraw his thoughts for an instant from celestial
things. Innocent pleasures of what kind soever they held in suspicion
and contempt, and innocent mirth they abominated. It was, however, a
cast of mind that formed men for great and manly actions, as it adopted
principle, and that of an unselfish character, for the ruling motive,
instead of the gratification of passion. Some of these men were indeed
hypocrites, using the cloak of religion only as a covering for their
ambition; but many really possessed the devotional character, and the
severe republican virtue, which others only affected. By far the
greater number hovered between these extremes, felt to a certain extent
the power of religion, and complied with the times in affecting a great
deal.
The individual, whose pretensions to sanctity, written as they were
upon his brow and gait, have given rise to the above digression,
reached at length the extremity of the principal street, which
terminates upon the park of Woodstock. A battlemented portal of Gothic
appearance defended the entrance to the avenue. It was of mixed
architecture, but on the whole, though composed of the styles of the
different ages when it had received additions, had a striking and
imposing effect. An immense gate, composed of rails of hammered iron,
with many a flourish and scroll, displaying as its uppermost ornament
the ill-fated cipher of C. R., was now decayed, being partly wasted
with rust, partly by violence.
The stranger paused, as if uncertain whether he should demand or assay
entrance. He looked through the grating down an avenue skirted by
majestic oaks, which led onward with a gentle curve, as if into the
depths of some ample and ancient forest. The wicket of the large iron
gate being left unwittingly open, the soldier was tempted to enter, yet
with some hesitation, as he that intrudes upon ground which he
conjectures may be prohibitedindeed his manner showed more reverence
for the scene than could have been expected from his condition and
character. He slackened his stately and consequential pace, and at
length stood still, and looked around him.
Not far from the gate, he saw rising from the trees one or two ancient
and venerable turrets, bearing each its own vane of rare device
glittering in the autumn sun. These indicated the ancient hunting seat,
or Lodge, as it was called, which had, since the time of Henry II.,
been occasionally the residence of the English monarchs, when it
pleased them to visit the woods of Oxford, which then so abounded with
game, that, according to old Fuller, huntsmen and falconers were
nowhere better pleased. The situation which the Lodge occupied was a
piece of flat ground, now planted with sycamores, not far from the
entrance to that magnificent spot where the spectator first stops to
gaze upon Blenheim, to think of Marlborough's victories, and to applaud
or criticise the cumbrous magnificence of Vanburgh's style.
There, too, paused our military preacher, but with other thoughts, and
for other purpose, than to admire the scene around him. It was not long
afterwards when he beheld two persons, a male and a female, approaching
slowly, and so deeply engaged in their own conversation that they did
not raise their eyes to observe that there stood a stranger in the path
before them. The soldier took advantage of their state of abstraction,
and, desirous at once to watch their motions and avoid their
observation, he glided beneath one of the huge trees which skirted the
path, and whose boughs, sweeping the ground on every side, ensured him
against discovery, unless in case of an actual search.
In the meantime, the gentleman and lady continued to advance, directing
their course to a rustic seat, which still enjoyed the sunbeams, and
was placed adjacent to the tree where the stranger was concealed.
The man was elderly, yet seemed bent more by sorrow and infirmity than
by the weight of years. He wore a mourning cloak, over a dress of the
same melancholy colour, cut in that picturesque form which Vandyck has
rendered immortal. But although the dress was handsome, it was put on
with a carelessness which showed the mind of the wearer ill at ease.
His aged, yet still handsome countenance, had the same air of
consequence which distinguished his dress and his gait. A striking part
of his appearance was a long white beard, which descended far over the
breast of his slashed doublet, and looked singular from its contrast in
colour with his habit.
The young lady, by whom this venerable gentleman seemed to be in some
degree supported as they walked arm in arm, was a slight and sylphlike
form, with a person so delicately made, and so beautiful in
countenance, that it seemed the earth on which she walked was too
grossly massive a support for a creature so aerial. But mortal beauty
must share human sorrows. The eyes of the beautiful being showed tokens
of tears; her colour was heightened as she listened to her aged
companion; and it was plain, from his melancholy yet displeased look,
that the conversation was as distressing to himself as to her. When
they sate down on the bench we have mentioned, the gentleman's
discourse could be distinctly overheard by the eavesdropping soldier,
but the answers of the young lady reached his ear rather less
distinctly.
"It is not to be endured!" said the old man, passionately; "it would
stir up a paralytic wretch to start up a soldier. My people have been
thinned, I grant you, or have fallen off from me in these timesI owe
them no grudge for it, poor knaves; what should they do waiting on me
when the pantry has no bread and the buttery no ale? But we have still
about us some rugged foresters of the old Woodstock breedold as myself
most of themwhat of that? old wood seldom warps in the wetting;I will
hold out the old house, and it will not be the first time that I have
held it against ten times the strength that we hear of now."
"Alas! my dear father!"said the young lady, in a tone which seemed to
intimate his proposal of defence to be altogether desperate.
"And why, alas?" said the gentleman, angrily; "is it because I shut my
door against a score or two of these blood-thirsty hypocrites?"
"But their masters can as easily send a regiment or an army, if they
will," replied the lady; "and what good would your present defence do,
excepting to exasperate them to your utter destruction?"
"Be it so, Alice," replied her father; "I have lived my time, and
beyond it. I have outlived the kindest and most princelike of masters.
What do I do on the earth since the dismal thirtieth of January? The
parricide of that day was a signal to all true servants of Charles
Stewart to avenge his death, or die as soon after as they could find a
worthy opportunity."
"Do not speak thus, sir," said Alice Lee; "it does not become your
gravity and your worth to throw away that life which may yet be of
service to your king and country,it will not and cannot always be
thus. England will not long endure the rulers which these bad times
have assigned her. In the meanwhile[here a few words escaped the
listener's ears]and beware of that impatience, which makes bad worse."
"Worse?" exclaimed the impatient old man, "What can be worse? Is it
not at the worst already? Will not these people expel us from the only
shelter we have leftdilapidate what remains of royal property under my
chargemake the palace of princes into a den of thieves, and then wipe
their mouths and thank God, as if they had done an alms-deed?"
"Still," said his daughter, "there is hope behind, and I trust the King
is ere this out of their reachWe have reason to think well of my
brother Albert's safety."
"Ay, Albert! there again," said the old man, in a tone of reproach;
"had it not been for thy entreaties I had gone to Worcester myself; but
I must needs lie here like a worthless hound when the hunt is up, when
who knows what service I might have shown? An old man's head is
sometimes useful when his arm is but little worth. But you and Albert
were so desirous that he should go aloneand now, who can say what has
become of him?"
"Nay, nay, father," said Alice, "we have good hope that Albert escaped
from that fatal day; young Abney saw him a mile from the field."
"Young Abney lied, I believe," said the father, in the same humour of
contradiction"Young Abney's tongue seems quicker than his hands, but
far slower than his horse's heels when he leaves the roundheads behind
him. I would rather Albert's dead body were laid between Charles and
Cromwell, than hear he fled as early as young Abney."
"My dearest father," said the young lady, weeping as she spoke, "what
can I say to comfort you?"
"Comfort me, say'st thou, girl? I am sick of comfortan honourable
death, with the ruins of Woodstock for my monument, were the only
comfort to old Henry Lee. Yes, by the memory of my fathers! I will make
good the Lodge against these rebellious robbers."
"Yet be ruled, dearest father," said the maiden, "and submit to that
which we cannot gainsay. My uncle Everard"
Here the old man caught at her unfinished words. "Thy uncle Everard,
wench!Well, get on.What of thy precious and loving uncle Everard?"
"Nothing, sir," she said, "if the subject displeases you."
"Displeases me?" he replied, "why should it displease me? or if it did,
why shouldst thou, or any one, affect to care about it? What is it that
hath happened of late yearswhat is it can be thought to happen that
astrologer can guess at, which can give pleasure to us?"
"Fate," she replied, "may have in store the joyful restoration of our
banished Prince."
"Too late for my time, Alice," said the knight; "if there be such a
white page in the heavenly book, it will not be turned until long after
my day.But I see thou wouldst escape me.In a word, what of thy uncle
Everard?"
"Nay, sir," said Alice, "God knows I would rather be silent for ever,
than speak what might, as you would take it, add to your present
distemperature."
"Distemperature!" said her father; "Oh, thou art a sweet lipped
physician, and wouldst, I warrant me, drop nought but sweet balm, and
honey, and oil, on my distemperatureif that is the phrase for an old
man's ailment, when he is wellnigh heart-broken.Once more, what of thy
uncle Everard?"
His last words were uttered in a high and peevish tone of voice; and
Alice Lee answered her father in a trembling and submissive tone.
"I only meant to say, sir, that I am well assured that my uncle
Everard, when we quit this place"
"That is to say, when we are kicked out of it by crop-eared canting
villains like himself.But on with thy bountiful unclewhat will he
do?will he give us the remains of his worshipful and economical
housekeeping, the fragments of a thrice-sacked capon twice a-week, and
a plentiful fast on the other five days?Will he give us beds beside
his half-starved nags, and put them under a short allowance of straw,
that his sister's husbandthat I should have called my deceased angel
by such a name!and his sister's daughter, may not sleep on the stones?
Or will he send us a noble each, with a warning to make it last, for he
had never known the ready-penny so hard to come by? Or what else will
your uncle Everard do for us? Get us a furlough to beg? Why, I can do
that without him."
"You misconstrue him much," answered Alice, with more spirit than she
had hitherto displayed; "and would you but question your own heart, you
would acknowledgeI speak with reverencethat your tongue utters what
your better judgment would disown. My uncle Everard is neither a miser
nor a hypocriteneither so fond of the goods of this world that he
would not supply our distresses amply, nor so wedded to fanatical
opinions as to exclude charity for other sects beside his own."
"Ay, ay, the Church of England is a sect with him, I doubt not, and
perhaps with thee too, Alice," said the knight. "What is a
Muggletonian, or a Ranter, or a Brownist, but a sectary? and thy phrase
places them all, with Jack Presbyter himself, on the same footing with
our learned prelates and religious clergy! Such is the cant of the day
thou livest in, and why shouldst thou not talk like one of the wise
virgins and psalm-singing sisters, since, though thou hast a profane
old cavalier for a father, thou art own niece to pious uncle Everard?"
"If you speak thus, my dear father," said Alice, "what can I answer
you? Hear me but one patient word, and I shall have discharged my uncle
Everard's commission."
"Oh, it is a commission, then? Surely, I suspected so much from the
beginningnay, have some sharp guess touching the ambassador also.
Come, madam, the mediator, do your errand, and you shall have no reason
to complain of my patience."
"Then, sir," replied his daughter, "my uncle Everard desires you would
be courteous to the commissioners, who come here to sequestrate the
parks and the property; or, at least, heedfully to abstain from giving
them obstacle or opposition: it can, he says, do no good, even on your
own principles, and it will give a pretext for proceeding against you
as one in the worst degree of malignity, which he thinks may otherwise
be prevented. Nay, he has good hope, that if you follow his counsel,
the committee may, through the interest he possesses, be inclined to
remove the sequestration of your estate on a moderate line. Thus says
my uncle; and having communicated his advice, I have no occasion to
urge your patience with farther argument."
"It is well thou dost not, Alice," answered Sir Henry Lee, in a tone of
suppressed anger; "for, by the blessed Rood, thou hast well nigh led me
into the heresy of thinking thee no daughter of mine.Ah! my beloved
companion, who art now far from the sorrows and cares of this weary
world, couldst thou have thought that the daughter thou didst clasp to
thy bosom, would, like the wicked wife of Job, become a temptress to
her father in the hour of affliction, and recommend to him to make his
conscience truckle to his interest, and to beg back at the bloody hands
of his master's and perhaps his son's murderers, a wretched remnant of
the royal property he has been robbed of!Why, wench, if I must beg,
think'st thou I will sue to those who have made me a mendicant? No. I
will never show my grey beard, worn in sorrow for my sovereign's death,
to move the compassion of some proud sequestrator, who perhaps was one
of the parricides. No. If Henry Lee must sue for food, it shall be of
some sound loyalist like himself, who, having but half a loaf
remaining, will not nevertheless refuse to share it with him. For his
daughter, she may wander her own way, which leads her to a refuge with
her wealthy roundhead kinsfolk; but let her no more call him father,
whose honest indigence she has refused to share!"
"You do me injustice, sir," answered the young lady, with a voice
animated yet faltering, "cruel injustice. God knows, your way is my
way, though it lead to ruin and beggary; and while you tread it, my arm
shall support you while you will accept an aid so feeble."
"Thou word'st me, girl," answered the old cavalier, "thou word'st me,
as Will Shakspeare saysthou speakest of lending me thy arm; but thy
secret thought is thyself to hang upon Markham Everard's."
"My father, my father," answered Alice, in a tone of deep grief, "what
can thus have altered your clear judgment and kindly heart!Accursed be
these civil commotions; not only do they destroy men's bodies, but they
pervert their souls; and the brave, the noble, the generous, become
suspicious, harsh, and mean! Why upbraid me with Markham Everard? Have
I seen or spoke to him since you forbid him my company, with terms less
kindI will speak it trulythan was due even to the relationship
betwixt you? Why think I would sacrifice to that young man my duty to
you? Know, that were I capable of such criminal weakness, Markham
Everard were the first to despise me for it."
She put her handkerchief to her eyes, but she could not hide her sobs,
nor conceal the distress they intimated. The old man was moved.
"I cannot tell," he said, "what to think of it. Thou seem'st sincere,
and wert ever a good and kindly daughterhow thou hast let that rebel
youth creep into thy heart I wot not; perhaps it is a punishment on me,
who thought the loyalty of my house was like undefiled ermine. Yet here
is a damned spot, and on the fairest gem of allmy own dear Alice. But
do not weepwe have enough to vex us. Where is it that Shakspeare hath
it:
'Gentle daughter,
Give even way unto my rough affairs:
Put you not on the temper of the times,
Nor be, like them, to Percy troublesome.'"
"I am glad," answered the young lady, "to hear you quote your favourite
again, sir. Our little jars are ever wellnigh ended when Shakspeare
comes in play."
"His book was the closet-companion of my blessed master," said Sir
Henry Lee; "after the Bible, (with reverence for naming them together,)
he felt more comfort in it than in any other; and as I have shared his
disease, why, it is natural I should take his medicine. Albeit, I
pretend not to my master's art in explaining the dark passages; for I
am but a rude man, and rustically brought up to arms and hunting."
"You have seen Shakspeare yourself, sir?" said the young lady.
"Silly wench," replied the knight, "he died when I was a mere
childthou hast heard me say so twenty times; but thou wouldst lead the
old man away from the tender subject. Well, though I am not blind, I
can shut my eyes and follow. Ben Jonson I knew, and could tell thee
many a tale of our meetings at the Mermaid, where, if there was much
wine, there was much wit also. We did not sit blowing tobacco in each
other's faces, and turning up the whites of our eyes as we turned up
the bottom of the wine-pot. Old Ben adopted me as one of his sons in
the muses. I have shown you, have I not, the verses, 'To my much
beloved son, the worshipful Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley, Knight and
Baronet?'"
"I do not remember them at present, sir," replied Alice.
"I fear ye lie, wench," said her father; "but no matterthou canst not
get any more fooling out of me just now. The Evil Spirit hath left Saul
for the present. We are now to think what is to be done about leaving
Woodstockor defending it?"
"My dearest father," said Alice, "can you still nourish a moment's hope
of making good the place?"
"I know not, wench," replied Sir Henry; "I would fain have a parting
blow with them, 'tis certainand who knows where a blessing may alight?
But then, my poor knaves that must take part with me in so hopeless a
quarrelthat thought hampers me I confess."
"Oh, let it do so, sir," replied Alice; "there are soldiers in the
town, and there are three regiments at Oxford!"
"Ah, poor Oxford!" exclaimed Sir Henry, whose vacillating state of mind
was turned by a word to any new subject that was suggested,"Seat of
learning and loyalty! these rude soldiers are unfit inmates for thy
learned halls and poetical bowers; but thy pure and brilliant lamp
shall defy the foul breath of a thousand churls, were they to blow at
it like Boreas. The burning bush shall not be consumed, even by the
heat of this persecution."
"True, sir," said Alice, "and it may not be useless to recollect, that
any stirring of the royalists at this unpropitious moment will make
them deal yet more harshly with the University, which they consider as
being at the bottom of every thing which moves for the King in these
parts."
"It is true, wench," replied the knight; "and small cause would make
the villains sequestrate the poor remains which the civil wars have
left to the colleges. That, and the risk of my poor fellowsWell! thou
hast disarmed me, girl. I will be as patient and calm as a martyr."
"Pray God you keep your word, sir!" replied his daughter; "but you are
ever so much moved at the sight of any of these men, that"
"Would you make a child of me, Alice?" said Sir Henry. "Why, know you
not that I can look upon a viper, or a toad, or a bunch of engendering
adders, without any worse feeling than a little disgust? and though a
roundhead, and especially a red-coat, are in my opinion more poisonous
than vipers, more loathsome than toads, more hateful than knotted
adders, yet can I overcome my nature so far, that should one of them
appear at this moment, thyself should see how civilly I would entreat
him."
As he spoke, the military preacher abandoned his leafy screen, and
stalking forward, stood unexpectedly before the old cavalier, who
stared at him, as if he had thought his expressions had actually raised
a devil.
"Who art thou?" at length said Sir Henry, in a raised and angry voice,
while his daughter clung to his arm in terror, little confident that
her father's pacific resolutions would abide the shock of this
unwelcome apparition.
"I am, one," replied the soldier, "who neither fear nor shame to call
myself a poor day-labourer in the great work of Englandumph!Ay, a
simple and sincere upholder of the good old cause."
"And what the devil do you seek here?" said the old knight, fiercely.
"The welcome due to the steward of the Lords Commissioners," answered
the soldier.
"Welcome art thou as salt would be to sore eyes," said the cavalier;
"but who be your Commissioners, man?"
The soldier with little courtesy held out a scroll, which Sir Henry
took from him betwixt his finger and thumb, as if it were a letter from
a pest-house; and held it at as much distance from his eyes, as his
purpose of reading it would permit. He then read aloud, and as he named
the parties one by one, he added a short commentary on each name,
addressed, indeed, to Alice, but in such a tone that showed he cared
not for its being heard by the soldier.
"Desboroughthe ploughman Desboroughas grovelling a clown as is in
Englanda fellow that would be best at home like an ancient Scythian,
under the tilt of a waggondn him. Harrisona bloody-minded, ranting
enthusiast, who read the Bible to such purpose, that he never lacked a
text to justify a murderdn him too. Bletsona true-blue
Commonwealth's man, one of Harrison's Rota Club, with his noddle full
of new fangled notions about government, the clearest object of which
is to establish the tail upon the head; a fellow who leaves you the
statutes and law of old England, to prate of Rome and Greecesees the
Areopagus in Westminster-Hall, and takes old Noll for a Roman
consulAdad, he is like to prove a dictator amongst them instead. Never
minddn Bletson too."
"Friend," said the soldier, "I would willingly be civil, but it
consists not with my duty to hear these godly men, in whose service I
am, spoken of after this irreverent and unbecoming fashion. And albeit
I know that you malignants think you have a right to make free with
that damnation, which you seem to use as your own portion, yet it is
superfluous to invoke it against others, who have better hopes in their
thoughts, and better words in their mouths."
"Thou art but a canting varlet," replied the knight; "and yet thou art
right in some sensefor it is superfluous to curse men who already are
damned as black as the smoke of hell itself."
"I prithee forbear," continued the soldier, "for manners' sake, if not
for consciencegrisly oaths suit ill with grey beards."
"Nay, that is truth, if the devil spoke it," said the knight; "and I
thank Heaven I can follow good counsel, though old Nick gives it. And
so, friend, touching these same Commissioners, bear them this message;
that Sir Henry Lee is keeper of Woodstock Park, with right of waif and
stray, vert and venison, as complete as any of them have to their
estatethat is, if they possess any estate but what they have gained by
plundering honest men. Nevertheless, he will give place to those who
have made their might their right, and will not expose the lives of
good and true men, where the odds are so much against them. And he
protests that he makes this surrender, neither as acknowledging of
these so termed Commissioners, nor as for his own individual part
fearing their force, but purely to avoid the loss of English blood, of
which so much hath been spilt in these late times."
"It is well spoken," said the steward of the Commissioners; "and
therefore, I pray you, let us walk together into the house, that thou
may'st deliver up unto me the vessels, and gold and silver ornaments,
belonging unto the Egyptian Pharaoh, who committed them to thy
keeping."
"What vessels?" exclaimed the fiery old knight; "and belonging to whom?
Unbaptized dog, speak civil of the Martyr in my presence, or I will do
a deed misbecoming of me on that caitiff corpse of thine!"And shaking
his daughter from his right arm, the old man laid his hand on his
rapier.
His antagonist, on the contrary, kept his temper completely, and waving
his hand to add impression to his speech, he said, with a calmness
which aggravated Sir Henry's wrath, "Nay, good friend, I prithee be
still, and brawl notit becomes not grey hairs and feeble arms to rail
and rant like drunkards. Put me not to use the carnal weapon in mine
own defence, but listen to the voice of reason. See'st thou not that
the Lord hath decided this great controversy in favour of us and ours,
against thee and thine? Wherefore, render up thy stewardship
peacefully, and deliver up to me the chattels of the Man, Charles
Stewart."
"Patience is a good nag, but she will bolt," said the knight, unable
longer to rein in his wrath. He plucked his sheathed rapier from his
side, struck the soldier a severe blow with it, and instantly drawing
it, and throwing the scabbard over the trees, placed himself in a
posture of defence, with his sword's point within half a yard of the
steward's body. The latter stepped back with activity, threw his long
cloak from his shoulders, and drawing his long tuck, stood upon his
guard. The swords clashed smartly together, while Alice, in her terror,
screamed wildly for assistance. But the combat was of short duration.
The old cavalier had attacked a man as cunning of fence as he himself,
or a little more so, and possessing all the strength and activity of
which time had deprived Sir Henry, and the calmness which the other had
lost in his passion. They had scarce exchanged three passes ere the
sword of the knight flew up in the air, as if it had gone in search of
the scabbard; and burning with shame and anger, Sir Henry stood
disarmed, at the mercy of his antagonist. The republican showed no
purpose of abusing his victory; nor did he, either during the combat,
or after the victory was won, in any respect alter the sour and grave
composure which reigned upon his countenancea combat of life and death
seemed to him a thing as familiar, and as little to be feared, as an
ordinary bout with foils.
"Thou art delivered into my hands," he said, "and by the law of arms I
might smite thee under the fifth rib, even as Asahel was struck dead by
Abner, the son of Ner, as he followed the chase on the hill of Ammah,
that lieth before Giah, in the way of the wilderness of Gibeon; but far
be it from me to spill thy remaining drops of blood. True it is, thou
art the captive of my sword and of my spear; nevertheless, seeing that
there may be a turning from thy evil ways, and a returning to those
which are good, if the Lord enlarge thy date for repentance and
amendment, wherefore should it be shortened by a poor sinful mortal,
who is, speaking truly, but thy fellow-worm."
Sir Henry Lee remained still confused, and unable to answer, when there
arrived a fourth person, whom the cries of Alice had summoned to the
spot. This was Joceline Joliffe, one of the under-keepers of the walk,
who, seeing how matters stood, brandished his quarterstaff, a weapon
from which he never parted, and having made it describe the figure of
eight in a flourish through the air, would have brought it down with a
vengeance upon the head of the steward, had not Sir Henry interposed.
"We must trail bats now, Jocelineour time of shouldering them is past.
It skills not striving against the streamthe devil rules the roast,
and makes our slaves our tutors."
At this moment another auxiliary rushed out of the thicket to the
knight's assistance. It was a large wolf-dog, in strength a mastiff, in
form and almost in fleetness a greyhound. Bevis was the noblest of the
kind which ever pulled down a stag, tawny coloured like a lion, with a
black muzzle and black feet, just edged with a line of white round the
toes. He was as tractable as he was strong and bold. Just as he was
about to rush upon the soldier, the words, "Peace, Bevis!" from Sir
Henry, converted the lion into a lamb, and instead of pulling the
soldier down, he walked round and round, and snuffed, as if using all
his sagacity to discover who the stranger could be, towards whom,
though of so questionable an appearance, he was enjoined forbearance.
Apparently he was satisfied, for he laid aside his doubtful and
threatening demonstrations, lowered his ears, smoothed down his
bristles, and wagged his tail.
Sir Henry, who had great respect for the sagacity of his favourite,
said in a low voice to Alice, "Bevis is of thy opinion and counsels
submission. There is the finger of Heaven in this to punish the pride,
ever the fault of our house.Friend," he continued, addressing the
soldier, "thou hast given the finishing touch to a lesson, which ten
years of constant misfortune have been unable fully to teach me. Thou
hast distinctly shown me the folly of thinking that a good cause can
strengthen a weak arm. God forgive me for the thought, but I could
almost turn infidel, and believe that Heaven's blessing goes ever with
the longest sword; but it will not be always thus. God knows his
time.Reach me my Toledo, Joceline, yonder it lies; and the scabbard,
see where it hangs on the tree.Do not pull at my cloak, Alice, and
look so miserably frightened; I shall be in no hurry to betake me to
bright steel again, I promise thee.For thee, good fellow, I thank
thee, and will make way for thy masters without farther dispute or
ceremony. Joceline Joliffe is nearer thy degree than I am, and will
make surrender to thee of the Lodge and household stuff. Withhold
nothing, Joliffelet them have all. For me, I will never cross the
threshold againbut where to rest for a night? I would trouble no one
in Woodstockhumayit shall be so. Alice and I, Joceline, will go down
to thy hut by Rosamond's well; we will borrow the shelter of thy roof
for one night at least; thou wilt give us welcome, wilt thou not?How
nowa clouded brow?"
Joceline certainly looked embarrassed, directed a first glance to
Alice, then looked to Heaven, then to earth, and last to the four
quarters of the horizon, and then murmured out, "Certainlywithout
questionmight he but run down to put the house in order."
"Order enoughorder enough for those that may soon be glad of clean
straw in a barn," said the knight; "but if thou hast an ill-will to
harbour any obnoxious or malignant persons, as the phrase goes, never
shame to speak it out, man. 'Tis true, I took thee up when thou wert
but a ragged Robin,[1] made a keeper of thee, and so forth. What of
that? Sailors think no longer of the wind than when it forwards them on
the voyagethy betters turn with the tide, why should not such a poor
knave as thou?"
[1] The keeper's followers in the New Forest are called in popular
language ragged Robins.
"God pardon your honour for your harsh judgment," said Joliffe. "The
hut is yours, such as it is, and should be were it a King's palace, as
I wish it were even for your honour's sake, and Mistress Alice'sonly I
could wish your honour would condescend to let me step down before, in
case any neighbour be thereororjust to put matters something into
order for Mistress Alice and your honourjust to make things something
seemly and shapely."
"Not a whit necessary," said the knight, while Alice had much trouble
in concealing her agitation. "If thy matters are unseemly, they are
fitter for a defeated knightif they are unshapely, why, the liker to
the rest of a world, which is all unshaped. Go thou with that man.What
is thy name, friend?"
"Joseph Tomkins is my name in the flesh," said the steward. "Men call
me Honest Joe, and Trusty Tomkins."
"If thou hast deserved such names, considering what trade thou hast
driven, thou art a jewel indeed," said the knight; "yet if thou hast
not, never blush for the matter, Joseph, for if thou art not in truth
honest, thou hast all the better chance to keep the fame of itthe
title and the thing itself have long walked separate ways. Farewell to
thee,and farewell to fair Woodstock!"
So saying, the old knight turned round, and pulling his daughter's arm
through his own, they walked onward into the forest, in the same manner
in which they were introduced to the reader.
CHAPTER THE THIRD.
Now, ye wild blades, that make loose inns your stage,
To vapour forth the acts of this sad age,
Stout Edgehill fight, the Newberries and the West,
And northern clashes, where you still fought best;
Your strange escapes, your dangers void of fear,
When bullets flew between the head and ear,
Whether you fought by Damme or the Spirit,
Of you I speak.
LEGEND OF CAPTAIN JONES.
Joseph Tomkins and Joliffe the keeper remained for some time in
silence, as they stood together looking along the path in which the
figures of the Knight of Ditchley and pretty Mistress Alice had
disappeared behind the trees. They then gazed on each other in doubt,
as men who scarce knew whether they stood on hostile or on friendly
terms together, and were at a loss how to open a conversation. They
heard the knight's whistle summon Bevis; but though the good hound
turned his head and pricked his ears at the sound, yet he did not obey
the call, but continued to snuff around Joseph Tomkins's cloak.
"Thou art a rare one, I fear me," said the keeper, looking to his new
acquaintance. "I have heard of men who have charms to steal both dogs
and deer."
"Trouble not thyself about my qualities, friend," said Joseph Tomkins,
"but bethink thee of doing thy master's bidding."
Joceline did not immediately answer, but at length, as if in sign of
truce, stuck the end of his quarterstaff upright in the ground, and
leant upon it as he said gruffly,"So, my tough old knight and you were
at drawn bilbo, by way of afternoon service, sir preacherWell for you
I came not up till the blades were done jingling, or I had rung
even-song upon your pate."
The Independent smiled grimly as he replied, "Nay, friend, it is well
for thyself, for never should sexton have been better paid for the
knell he tolled. Nevertheless, why should there be war betwixt us, or
my hand be against thine? Thou art but a poor knave, doing thy master's
order, nor have I any desire that my own blood or thine should be shed
touching this matter.Thou art, I understand, to give me peaceful
possession of the Palace of Woodstock, so calledthough there is now no
palace in England, no, nor shall be in the days that come after, until
we shall enter the palace of the New Jerusalem, and the reign of the
Saints shall commence on earth."
"Pretty well begun already, friend Tomkins," said the keeper; "you are
little short of being kings already upon the matter as it now stands;
and for your Jerusalem I wot not, but Woodstock is a pretty nest-egg to
begin with.Well, will you shogwill you onwill you take sasine and
livery?You heard my orders."
"UmphI know not," said Tomkins. "I must beware of ambuscades, and I am
alone here. Moreover, it is the High Thanksgiving appointed by
Parliament, and owned to by the armyalso the old man and the young
woman may want to recover some of their clothes and personal property,
and I would not that they were baulked on my account. Wherefore, if
thou wilt deliver me possession to-morrow morning, it shall be done in
personal presence of my own followers, and of the Presbyterian man the
Mayor, so that the transfer may be made before witnesses; whereas, were
there none with us but thou to deliver, and I to take possession, the
men of Belial might say, Go to, Trusty Tomkins hath been an Edomite
Honest Joe hath been as an Ishmaelite, rising up early and dividing the
spoil with them that served the Manyea, they that wore beards and
green Jerkins, as in remembrance of the Man and of his government."
Joceline fixed his keen dark eyes upon the soldier as he spoke, as if
in design to discover whether there was fair play in his mind or not.
He then applied his five fingers to scratch a large shock head of hair,
as if that operation was necessary to enable him to come to a
conclusion. "This is all fair sounding, brother," said he; "but I tell
you plainly there are some silver mugs, and platters, and flagons, and
so forth, in yonder house, which have survived the general sweep that
sent all our plate to the smelting-pot, to put our knight's troop on
horseback. Now, if thou takest not these off my hand, I may come to
trouble, since it may be thought I have minished their
numbers.Whereas, I being as honest a fellow"
"As ever stole venison," said Tomkins"nay, I do owe thee an
interruption."
"Go to, then," replied the keeper; "if a stag may have come to
mischance in my walk, it was no way in the course of dishonesty, but
merely to keep my old dame's pan from rusting; but for silver
porringers, tankards, and such like, I would as soon have drunk the
melted silver, as stolen the vessel made out of it. So that I would not
wish blame or suspicion fell on me in this matter. And, therefore, if
you will have the things rendered even now,why soand if not, hold me
blameless."
"Ay, truly," said Tomkins; "and who is to hold me blameless, if they
should see cause to think any thing minished? Not the right worshipful
Commissioners, to whom the property of the estate is as their own;
therefore, as thou say'st, we must walk warily in the matter. To lock
up the house and leave it, were but the work of simple ones. What
say'st thou to spend the night there, and then nothing can be touched
without the knowledge of us both?"
"Why, concerning that," answered the keeper, "I should be at my hut to
make matters somewhat conformable for the old knight and Mistress
Alice, for my old dame Joan is something dunny, and will scarce know
how to manageand yet,to speak the truth, by the mass I would rather
not see Sir Henry to-night, since what has happened to-day hath roused
his spleen, and it is a peradventure he may have met something at the
hut which will scarce tend to cool it."
"It is a pity," said Tomkins, "that being a gentleman of such grave and
goodly presence, he should be such a malignant cavalier, and that he
should, like the rest of that generation of vipers, have clothed
himself with curses as with a garment."
"Which is as much as to say, the tough old knight hath a habit of
swearing," said the keeper, grinning at a pun, which has been repeated
since his time; "but who can help it? it comes of use and wont. Were
you now, in your bodily self, to light suddenly on a Maypole, with all
the blithe morris-dancers prancing around it to the merry pipe and
tabor, with bells jingling, ribands fluttering, lads frisking and
laughing, lasses leaping till you might see where the scarlet garter
fastened the light blue hose, I think some feeling, resembling either
natural sociality, or old use and wont, would get the better, friend,
even of thy gravity, and thou wouldst fling thy cuckoldy steeple-hat
one way, and that blood-thirsty long sword another, and trip, like the
noodles of Hogs-Norton, when the pigs play on the organ."
The Independent turned fiercely round on the keeper, and replied, "How
now, Mr. Green Jerkin? what language is this to one whose hand is at
the plough? I advise thee to put curb on thy tongue, lest thy ribs pay
the forfeit."
"Nay, do not take the high tone with me, brother" answered Joceline;
"remember thou hast not the old knight of sixty-five to deal with, but
a fellow as bitter and prompt as thyselfit may be a little more so
younger, at all eventsand prithee, why shouldst thou take such umbrage
at a Maypole? I would thou hadst known one Phil Hazeldine of these
partsHe was the best morris-dancer betwixt Oxford and Burford."
"The more shame to him," answered the Independent; "and I trust he has
seen the error of his ways, and made himself (as, if a man of action,
he easily might) fit for better company than wood-hunters,
deer-stealers, Maid Marions, swash-bucklers, deboshed revellers, bloody
brawlers, maskers, and mummers, lewd men and light women, fools and
fiddlers, and carnal self-pleasers of every description."
"Well," replied the keeper, "you are out of breath in time; for here we
stand before the famous Maypole of Woodstock."
They paused in an open space of meadow-land, beautifully skirted by
large oaks and sycamores, one of which, as king of the forest, stood a
little detached from the rest, as if scorning the vicinity of any
rival. It was scathed and gnarled in the branches, but the immense
trunk still showed to what gigantic size the monarch of the forest can
attain in the groves of merry England.
"That is called the King's Oak," said Joceline; "the oldest men of
Woodstock know not how old it is; they say Henry used to sit under it
with fair Rosamond, and see the lasses dance, and the lads of the
village run races, and wrestle for belts or bonnets."
"I nothing doubt it, friend," said Tomkins; "a tyrant and a harlot were
fitting patron and patroness for such vanities."
"Thou mayst say thy say, friend," replied the keeper, "so thou lettest
me say mine. There stands the Maypole, as thou seest, half a
flight-shot from the King's Oak, in the midst of the meadow. The King
gave ten shillings from the customs of Woodstock to make a new one
yearly, besides a tree fitted for the purpose out of the forest. Now it
is warped, and withered, and twisted, like a wasted brier-rod. The
green, too, used to be close-shaved, and rolled till it was smooth as a
velvet mantlenow it is rough and overgrown."
"Well, well, friend Joceline," said the Independent, "but where was the
edification of all this?what use of doctrine could be derived from a
pipe and tabor? or was there ever aught like wisdom in a bagpipe?"
"You may ask better scholars that," said Joceline; "but methinks men
cannot be always grave, and with the hat over their brow. A young
maiden will laugh as a tender flower will bloway, and a lad will like
her the better for it; just as the same blithe Spring that makes the
young birds whistle, bids the blithe fawns skip. There have come worse
days since the jolly old times have gone by:I tell thee, that in the
holydays which you, Mr. Longsword, have put down, I have seen this
greensward alive with merry maidens and manly fellows. The good old
rector himself thought it was no sin to come for a while and look on,
and his goodly cassock and scarf kept us all in good order, and taught
us to limit our mirth within the bounds of discretion. We might, it may
be, crack a broad jest, or pledge a friendly cup a turn too often, but
it was in mirth and good neighbour-hoodAy, and if there was a bout at
single-stick, or a bellyful of boxing, it was all for love and
kindness; and better a few dry blows in drink, than the bloody doings
we have had in sober earnest, since the presbyter's cap got above the
bishop's mitre, and we exchanged our goodly rectors and learned
doctors, whose sermons were all bolstered up with as much Greek and
Latin as might have confounded the devil himself, for weavers and
cobblers, and such other pulpit volunteers, asas we heard this
morningIt will out."
"Well, friend," said the Independent, with patience scarcely to have
been expected, "I quarrel not with thee for nauseating my doctrine. If
thine ear is so much tickled with tabor tunes and morris tripping,
truly it is not likely thou shouldst find pleasant savour in more
wholesome and sober food. But let us to the Lodge, that we may go about
our business there before the sun sets."
"Troth, and that may be advisable for more reasons than one," said the
keeper; "for there have been tales about the Lodge which have made men
afeard to harbour there after nightfall."
"Were not yon old knight, and yonder damsel his daughter, wont to dwell
there?" said the Independent. "My information said so."
"Ay, truly did they," said Joceline; "and while they kept a jolly
house-hold, all went well enough; for nothing banishes fear like good
ale. But after the best of our men went to the wars, and were slain at
Naseby fight, they who were left found the Lodge more lonesome, and the
old knight has been much deserted of his servants:marry, it might be,
that he has lacked silver of late to pay groom and lackey."
"A potential reason for the diminution of a household," said the
soldier.
"Right, sir, even so," replied the keeper. "They spoke of steps in the
great gallery, heard by dead of the night, and voices that whispered at
noon, in the matted chambers; and the servants pretended that these
things scared them away; but, in my poor judgment, when Martinmas and
Whitsuntide came round without a penny-fee, the old blue-bottles of
serving-men began to think of creeping elsewhere before the frost
chilled them.No devil so frightful as that which dances in the pocket
where there is no cross to keep him out."
"You were reduced, then, to a petty household?" said the Independent.
"Ay, marry, were we," said Joceline; "but we kept some half-score
together, what with blue-bottles in the Lodge, what with green
caterpillars of the chase, like him who is yours to command; we stuck
together till we found a call to take a morning's ride somewhere or
other."
"To the town of Worcester," said the soldier, "where you were crushed
like vermin and palmer worms, as you are."
"You may say your pleasure," replied the keeper; "I'll never contradict
a man who has got my head under his belt. Our backs are at the wall, or
you would not be here."
"Nay, friend," said the Independent, "thou riskest nothing by thy
freedom and trust in me. I can be bon camarado to a good soldier,
although I have striven with him even to the going down of the sun.But
here we are in front of the Lodge."
They stood accordingly in front of the old Gothic building, irregularly
constructed, and at different times, as the humour of the English
monarchs led them to taste the pleasures of Woodstock Chase, and to
make such improvements for their own accommodation as the increasing
luxury of each age required. The oldest part of the structure had been
named by tradition Fair Rosamond's Tower; it was a small turret of
great height, with narrow windows, and walls of massive thickness. The
Tower had no opening to the ground, or means of descending, a great
part of the lower portion being solid mason-work. It was traditionally
said to have been accessible only by a sort of small drawbridge, which
might be dropped at pleasure from a little portal near the summit of
the turret, to the battlements of another tower of the same
construction, but twenty feet lower, and containing only a winding
staircase, called in Woodstock Love's Ladder; because it is said, that
by ascending this staircase to the top of the tower, and then making
use of the drawbridge, Henry obtained access to the chamber of his
paramour.
This tradition had been keenly impugned by Dr. Rochecliffe, the former
rector of Woodstock, who insisted, that what was called Rosamond's
Tower, was merely an interior keep, or citadel, to which the lord or
warden of the castle might retreat, when other points of safety failed
him; and either protract his defence, or, at the worst, stipulate for
reasonable terms of surrender. The people of Woodstock, jealous of
their ancient traditions, did not relish this new mode of explaining
them away; and it is even said, that the Mayor, whom we have already
introduced, became Presbyterian, in revenge of the doubts cast by the
rector upon this important subject, rather choosing to give up the
Liturgy than his fixed belief in Rosamond's Tower, and Love's Ladder.
The rest of the Lodge was of considerable extent, and of different
ages; comprehending a nest of little courts, surrounded by buildings
which corresponded with each other, sometimes within-doors, sometimes
by crossing the courts, and frequently in both ways. The different
heights of the buildings announced that they could only be connected by
the usual variety of staircases, which exercised the limbs of our
ancestors in the sixteenth and earlier centuries, and seem sometimes to
have been contrived for no other purpose.
The varied and multiplied fronts of this irregular building were, as
Dr. Rochecliffe was wont to say, an absolute banquet to the
architectural antiquary, as they certainly contained specimens of every
style which existed, from the pure Norman of Henry of Anjou, down to
the composite, half Gothic half classical architecture of Elizabeth and
her successor. Accordingly, the rector was himself as much enamoured of
Woodstock as ever was Henry of Fair Rosamond; and as his intimacy with
Sir Henry Lee permitted him entrance at all times to the Royal Lodge,
he used to spend whole days in wandering about the antique apartments,
examining, measuring, studying, and finding out excellent reasons for
architectural peculiarities, which probably only owed their existence
to the freakish fancy of a Gothic artist. But the old antiquary had
been expelled from his living by the intolerance and troubles of the
times, and his successor, Nehemiah Holdenough, would have considered an
elaborate investigation of the profane sculpture and architecture of
blinded and blood-thirsty Papists, together with the history of the
dissolute amours of old Norman monarchs, as little better than a bowing
down before the calves of Bethel, and a drinking of the cup of
abominations.We return to the course of our story.
"There is," said the Independent Tomkins, after he had carefully
perused the front of the building, "many a rare monument of olden
wickedness about this miscalled Royal Lodge; verily, I shall rejoice
much to see the same destroyed, yea, burned to ashes, and the ashes
thrown into the brook Kedron, or any other brook, that the land may be
cleansed from the memory thereof, neither remember the iniquity with
which their fathers have sinned."
The keeper heard him with secret indignation, and began to consider
with himself, whether, as they stood but one to one, and without chance
of speedy interference, he was not called upon, by his official duty,
to castigate the rebel who used language so defamatory. But he
fortunately recollected, that the strife must be a doubtful onethat
the advantage of arms was against himand that, in especial, even if he
should succeed in the combat, it would be at the risk of severe
retaliation. It must be owned, too, that there was something about the
Independent so dark and mysterious, so grim and grave, that the more
open spirit of the keeper felt oppressed, and, if not overawed, at
least kept in doubt concerning him; and he thought it wisest, as well
as safest, for his master and himself, to avoid all subjects of
dispute, and know better with whom he was dealing, before he made
either friend or enemy of him.
The great gate of the Lodge was strongly bolted, but the wicket opened
on Joceline's raising the latch. There was a short passage of ten feet,
which had been formerly closed by a portcullis at the inner end, while
three loopholes opened on either side, through which any daring
intruder might be annoyed, who, having surprised the first gate, must
be thus exposed to a severe fire before he could force the second. But
the machinery of the portcullis was damaged, and it now remained a
fixture, brandishing its jaw, well furnished with iron fangs, but
incapable of dropping it across the path of invasion.
The way, therefore, lay open to the great hall or outer vestibule of
the Lodge. One end of this long and dusky apartment was entirely
occupied by a gallery, which had in ancient times served to accommodate
the musicians and minstrels. There was a clumsy staircase at either
side of it, composed of entire logs of a foot square; and in each angle
of the ascent was placed, by way of sentinel, the figure of a Norman
foot-soldier, having an open casque on his head, which displayed
features as stern as the painter's genius could devise. Their arms were
buff-jackets, or shirts of mail, round bucklers, with spikes in the
centre, and buskins which adorned and defended the feet and ankles, but
left the knees bare. These wooden warders held great swords, or maces,
in their hands, like military guards on duty. Many an empty hook and
brace, along the walls of the gloomy apartment, marked the spots from
which arms, long preserved as trophies, had been, in the pressure of
the wars, once more taken down, to do service in the field, like
veterans whom extremity of danger recalls to battle. On other rusty
fastenings were still displayed the hunting trophies of the monarchs to
whom the Lodge belonged, and of the silvan knights to whose care it had
been from time to time confided.
At the nether end of the hall, a huge, heavy, stone-wrought
chimney-piece projected itself ten feet from the wall, adorned with
many a cipher, and many a scutcheon of the Royal House of England. In
its present state, it yawned like the arched mouth of a funeral vault,
or perhaps might be compared to the crater of an extinguished volcano.
But the sable complexion of the massive stone-work, and all around it,
showed that the time had been when it sent its huge fires blazing up
the huge chimney, besides puffing many a volume of smoke over the heads
of the jovial guests, whose royalty or nobility did not render them
sensitive enough to quarrel with such slight inconvenience. On these
occasions, it was the tradition of the house, that two cart-loads of
wood was the regular allowance for the fire between noon and curfew,
and the andirons, or dogs, as they were termed, constructed for
retaining the blazing firewood on the hearth, were wrought in the shape
of lions of such gigantic size as might well warrant the legend. There
were long seats of stone within the chimney, where, in despite of the
tremendous heat, monarchs were sometimes said to have taken their
station, and amused themselves with broiling the umbles, or
dowsels, of the deer, upon the glowing embers, with their own royal
hands, when happy the courtier who was invited to taste the royal
cookery. Tradition was here also ready with her record, to show what
merry gibes, such as might be exchanged between prince and peer, had
flown about at the jolly banquet which followed the Michaelmas hunt.
She could tell, too, exactly, where King Stephen sat when he darned his
own princely hose, and knew most of the odd tricks he had put upon
little Winkin, the tailor of Woodstock.
Most of this rude revelry belonged to the Plantagenet times. When the
house of Tudor ascended to the throne, they were more chary of their
royal presence, and feasted in halls and chambers far within,
abandoning the outmost hall to the yeomen of the guard, who mounted
their watch there, and passed away the night with wassail and mirth,
exchanged sometimes for frightful tales of apparitions and sorceries,
which made some of those grow pale, in whose ears the trumpet of a
French foeman would have sounded as jollily as a summons to the
woodland chase.
Joceline pointed out the peculiarities of the place to his gloomy
companion more briefly than we have detailed them to the reader. The
Independent seemed to listen with some interest at first, but, flinging
it suddenly aside, he said in a solemn tone, "Perish, Babylon, as thy
master Nebuchadnezzar hath perished! He is a wanderer, and thou shalt
be a waste placeyea, and a wildernessyea, a desert of salt, in which
there shall be thirst and famine."
"There is like to be enough of both to-night," said Joceline, "unless
the good knight's larder be somewhat fuller than it is wont."
"We must care for the creature-comforts," said the Independent, "but in
due season, when our duties are done. Whither lead these entrances?"
"That to the right," replied the keeper, "leads to what are called, the
state-apartments, not used since the year sixteen hundred and
thirty-nine, when his blessed Majesty"
"How, sir!" interrupted the Independent, in a voice of thunder, "dost
thou speak of Charles Stewart as blessing, or blessed?beware the
proclamation to that effect."
"I meant no harm," answered the keeper, suppressing his disposition to
make a harsher reply. "My business is with bolts and bucks, not with
titles and state affairs. But yet, whatever may have happed since, that
poor King was followed with blessings enough from Woodstock, for he
left a glove full of broad pieces for the poor of the place"
"Peace, friend," said the Independent; "I will think thee else one of
those besotted and blinded Papists, who hold, that bestowing of alms is
an atonement and washing away of the wrongs and oppressions which have
been wrought by the almsgiver. Thou sayest, then, these were the
apartments of Charles Stewart?"
"And of his father, James, before him, and Elizabeth, before him, and
bluff King Henry, who builded that wing, before them all."
"And there, I suppose, the knight and his daughter dwelt?"
"No," replied Joceline; "Sir Henry Lee had too much reverence forfor
things which are now thought worth no reverence at allBesides, the
state-rooms are unaired, and in indifferent order, since of late years.
The Knight Ranger's apartment lies by that passage to the left."
"And whither goes yonder stair, which seems both to lead upwards and
downwards?"
"Upwards," replied the keeper, "it leads to many apartments, used for
various purposes, of sleeping, and other accommodation. Downwards, to
the kitchen, offices, and vaults of the castle, which, at this time of
the evening, you cannot see without lights."
"We will to the apartments of your knight, then," said the Independent.
"Is there fitting accommodation there?"
"Such as has served a person of condition, whose lodging is now worse
appointed," answered the honest keeper, his bile rising so fast that he
added, in a muttering and inaudible tone, "so it may well serve a
crop-eared knave like thee."
He acted as the usher, however, and led on towards the ranger's
apartments.
This suite opened by a short passage from the hall, secured at time of
need by two oaken doors, which could be fastened by large bars of the
same, that were drawn out of the wall, and entered into square holes,
contrived for their reception on the other side of the portal. At the
end of this passage, a small ante-room received them, into which opened
the sitting apartment of the good knightwhich, in the style of the
time, might have been termed a fair summer parlourlighted by two oriel
windows, so placed as to command each of them a separate avenue,
leading distant and deep into the forest. The principal ornament of the
apartment, besides two or three family portraits of less interest, was
a tall full-length picture, that hung above the chimney-piece, which,
like that in the hall, was of heavy stone-work, ornamented with carved
scutcheons, emblazoned with various devices. The portrait was that of a
man about fifty years of age, in complete plate armour, and painted in
the harsh and dry manner of Holbeinprobably, indeed, the work of that
artist, as the dates corresponded. The formal and marked angles, points
and projections of the armour, were a good subject for the harsh pencil
of that early school. The face of the knight was, from the fading of
the colours, pale and dim, like that of some being from the other
world, yet the lines expressed forcibly pride and exultation.
He pointed with his leading-staff, or truncheon, to the background,
where, in such perspective as the artist possessed, were depicted the
remains of a burning church, or monastery, and four or five soldiers,
in red cassocks, bearing away in triumph what seemed a brazen font or
laver. Above their heads might be traced in scroll, "Lee Victor sic
voluit." Right opposite to the picture, hung, in a niche in the wall,
a complete set of tilting armour, the black and gold colours, and
ornaments of which exactly corresponded with those exhibited in the
portrait.
The picture was one of those which, from something marked in the
features and expression, attract the observation even of those who are
ignorant of art. The Independent looked at it until a smile passed
transiently over his clouded brow. Whether he smiled to see the grim
old cavalier employed in desecrating a religious house(an occupation
much conforming to the practice of his own sect)whether he smiled in
contempt of the old painter's harsh and dry mode of workingor whether
the sight of this remarkable portrait revived some other ideas, the
under-keeper could not decide.
The smile passed away in an instant, as the soldier looked to the oriel
windows. The recesses within them were raised a step or two from the
wall. In one was placed a walnut-tree reading-desk, and a huge stuffed
arm-chair, covered with Spanish leather. A little cabinet stood beside,
with some of its shuttles and drawers open, displaying hawks-bells,
dog-whistles, instruments for trimming falcons' feathers, bridle-bits
of various constructions, and other trifles connected with silvan
sport.
The other little recess was differently furnished. There lay some
articles of needle-work on a small table, besides a lute, with a book
having some airs written down in it, and a frame for working
embroidery. Some tapestry was displayed around the recess, with more
attention to ornament than was visible in the rest of the apartment;
the arrangement of a few bow-pots, with such flowers as the fading
season afforded, showed also the superintendence of female taste.
Tomkins cast an eye of careless regard upon these subjects of female
occupation, then stepped into the farther window, and began to turn the
leaves of a folio, which lay open on the reading-desk, apparently with
some interest. Joceline, who had determined to watch his motions
without interfering with them, was standing at some distance in
dejected silence, when a door behind the tapestry suddenly opened, and
a pretty village maid tripped out with a napkin in her hand, as if she
had been about some household duty.
"How now, Sir Impudence?" she said to Joceline in a smart tone; "what
do you here prowling about the apartments when the master is not at
home?"
But instead of the answer which perhaps she expected, Joceline Joliffe
cast a mournful glance towards the soldier in the oriel window, as if
to make what he said fully intelligible, and replied with a dejected
appearance and voice, "Alack, my pretty Phbe, there come those here
that have more right or might than any of us, and will use little
ceremony in coming when they will, and staying while they please."
He darted another glance at Tomkins, who still seemed busy with the
book before him, then sidled close to the astonished girl, who had
continued looking alternately at the keeper and at the stranger, as if
she had been unable to understand the words of the first, or to
comprehend the meaning of the second being present.
"Go," whispered Joliffe, approaching his mouth so near her cheek, that
his breath waved the curls of her hair; "go, my dearest Phbe, trip it
as fast as a fawn down to my lodgeI will soon be there, and"
"Your lodge, indeed" said Phbe; "you are very bold, for a poor
kill-buck that never frightened any thing before save a dun deerYour
lodge, indeed!I am like to go there, I think." "Hush, hush! Phbe
here is no time for jesting. Down to my hut, I say, like a deer, for
the knight and Mrs. Alice are both there, and I fear will not return
hither again.All's naught, girland our evil days are come at last
with a vengeancewe are fairly at bay and fairly hunted down."
"Can this be, Joceline?" said the poor girl, turning to the keeper with
an expression of fright in her countenance, which she had hitherto
averted in rural coquetry.
"As sure, my dearest Phbe, as"
The rest of the asseveration was lost in Phbe's ear, so closely did
the keeper's lips approach it; and if they approached so very near as
to touch her cheek, grief, like impatience, hath its privileges, and
poor Phbe had enough of serious alarm to prevent her from demurring
upon such a trifle.
But no trifle was the approach of Joceline's lips to Phbe's pretty
though sunburnt cheek, in the estimation of the Independent, who, a
little before the object of Joceline's vigilance, had been more lately
in his turn the observer of the keeper's demeanour, so soon as the
interview betwixt Phbe and him had become so interesting. And when he
remarked the closeness of Joceline's argument, he raised his voice to a
pitch of harshness that would have rivalled that of an ungreased and
rusty saw, and which at once made Joceline and Phbe spring six feet
apart, each in contrary directions, and if Cupid was of the party, must
have sent him out at the window like it wild duck flying from a
culverin. Instantly throwing himself into the attitude of a preacher
and a reprover of vice, "How now!" he exclaimed, "shameless and
impudent as you are!Whatchambering and wantoning in our very
presence!How would you play your pranks before the steward of the
Commissioners of the High Court of Parliament, as ye would in a booth
at the fulsome fair, or amidst the trappings and tracings of a profane
dancing-school, where the scoundrel minstrels make their ungodly
weapons to squeak, 'Kiss and be kind, the fiddler's blind?'But here,"
he said, dealing a perilous thump upon the volume"Here is the King and
high priest of those vices and follies!Here is he, whom men of folly
profanely call nature's miracle!Here is he, whom princes chose for
their cabinet-keeper, and whom maids of honour take for their
bed-fellow! Here is the prime teacher of fine words, foppery and
follyHere!" (dealing another thump upon the volumeand oh! revered of
the Roxburghe, it was the first foliobeloved of the Bannatyne, it was
Hemmings and Condelit was the editio princeps)"On thee," he
continued"on thee, William Shakspeare, I charge whate'er of such
lawless idleness and immodest folly hath defiled the land since thy
day!"
"By the mass, a heavy accusation," said Joceline, the bold recklessness
of whose temper could not be long overawed; "Odds pitlikins, is our
master's old favourite, Will of Stratford, to answer for every buss
that has been snatched since James's time?a perilous reckoning
trulybut I wonder who is sponsible for what lads and lasses did before
his day?" "Scoff not," said the soldier, "lest I, being called thereto
by the voice within me, do deal with thee as a scorner. Verily, I say,
that since the devil fell from Heaven, he never lacked agents on earth;
yet nowhere hath he met with a wizard having such infinite power over
men's souls as this pestilent fellow Shakspeare. Seeks a wife a foul
example for adultery, here she shall find itWould a man know how to
train his fellow to be a murderer, here shall he find tutoringWould a
lady marry a heathen negro, she shall have chronicled example for
itWould any one scorn at his Maker, he shall be furnished with a jest
in this book Would he defy his brother in the flesh, he shall be
accommodated with a challengeWould you be drunk, Shakspeare will cheer
you with a cup Would you plunge in sensual pleasures, he will soothe
you to indulgence, as with the lascivious sounds of a lute. This, I
say, this book is the well-head and source of all those evils which
have overrun the land like a torrent, making men scoffers, doubters,
deniers, murderers, makebates, and lovers of the wine-pot, haunting
unclean places, and sitting long at the evening-wine. Away with him,
away with him, men of England! to Tophet with his wicked book, and to
the Vale of Hinnom with his accursed bones! Verily but that our march
was hasty when we passed Stratford, in the year 1643, with Sir William
Waller; but that our march was hasty"
"Because Prince Rupert was after you with his cavaliers," muttered the
incorrigible Joceline.
"I say," continued the zealous trooper, raising his voice and extending
his arm"but that our march was by command hasty, and that we turned
not aside in our riding, closing our ranks each one upon the other as
becomes men of war, I had torn on that day the bones of that preceptor
of vice and debauchery from the grave, and given them to the next
dunghill. I would have made his memory a scoff and a hissing!"
"That is the bitterest thing he has said yet," observed the keeper.
"Poor Will would have liked the hissing worse than all the rest." "Will
the gentleman say any more?" enquired Phbe in a whisper. "Lack-a-day,
he talks brave words, if one knew but what they meant. But it is a
mercy our good knight did not see him ruffle the book at that
rateMercy on us, there would certainly have been bloodshed.But oh,
the fathersee how he is twisting his face about!Is he ill of the
colic, think'st thou, Joceline? Or, may I offer him a glass of strong
waters?"
"Hark thee hither, wench!" said the keeper, "he is but loading his
blunderbuss for another volley; and while he turns up his eyes, and
twists about his face, and clenches his fist, and shuffles and tramples
with his feet in that fashion, he is bound to take no notice of any
thing. I would be sworn to cut his purse, if he had one, from his side,
without his feeling it."
"La! Joceline," said Phbe, "and if he abides here in this turn of
times, I dare say the gentleman will be easily served."
"Care not thou about that," said Joliffe; "but tell me softly and
hastily, what is in the pantry?"
"Small housekeeping enough," said Phbe; "a cold capon and some
comfits, and the great standing venison pasty, with plenty of spicea
manchet or two besides, and that is all."
"Well, it will serve for a pinchwrap thy cloak round thy comely
bodyget a basket and a brace of trenchers and towels, they are
heinously impoverished down yondercarry down the capon and the
manchetsthe pasty must abide with this same soldier and me, and the
pie-crust will serve us for bread."
"Rarely," said Phbe; "I made the paste myselfit is as thick as the
walls of Fair Rosamond's Tower."
"Which two pairs of jaws would be long in gnawing through, work hard as
they might," said the keeper. "But what liquor is there?"
"Only a bottle of Alicant, and one of sack, with the stone jug of
strong waters," answered Phbe.
"Put the wine-flasks into thy basket," said Joceline, "the knight must
not lack his evening draughtand down with thee to the hut like a
lapwing. There is enough for supper, and to-morrow is a new day.Ha! by
heaven I thought yonder man's eye watched usNohe only rolled it round
him in a brown studyDeep enough doubtless, as they all are.But dn
him, he must be bottomless if I cannot sound him before the night's
out.Hie thee away, Phbe."
But Phbe was a rural coquette, and, aware that Joceline's situation
gave him no advantage of avenging the challenge in a fitting way, she
whispered in his ear, "Do you think our knight's friend, Shakspeare,
really found out all these naughty devices the gentleman spoke of?"
Off she darted while she spoke, while Joliffe menaced future vengeance
with his finger, as he muttered, "Go thy way, Phbe Mayflower, the
lightest-footed and lightest-hearted wench that ever tripped the sod in
Woodstock-park!After her, Bevis, and bring her safe to our master at
the hut."
The large greyhound arose like a human servitor who had received an
order, and followed Phbe through the hall, first licking her hand to
make her sensible of his presence, and then putting himself to a slow
trot, so as best to accommodate himself to the light pace of her whom
he convoyed, whom Joceline had not extolled for her activity without
due reason. While Phbe and her guardian thread the forest glades, we
return to the Lodge.
The Independent now seemed to start as if from a reverie. "Is the young
woman gone?" said he.
"Ay, marry is she," said the keeper; "and if your worship hath farther
commands, you must rest contented with male attendance."
"CommandsumphI think the damsel might have tarried for another
exhortation," said the soldier"truly, I profess my mind was much
inclined toward her for her edification."
"Oh, sir," replied Joliffe, "she will be at church next Sunday, and if
your military reverence is pleased again to hold forth amongst us, she
will have use of the doctrine with the rest. But young maidens of these
parts hear no private homilies.And what is now your pleasure? Will you
look at the other rooms, and at the few plate articles which have been
left?"
"Umphno," said the Independent"it wears late, and gets darkthou hast
the means of giving us beds, friend?"
"Better you never slept in," replied the keeper.
"And wood for a fire, and a light, and some small pittance of
creature-comforts for refreshment of the outward man?" continued the
soldier.
"Without doubt," replied the keeper, displaying a prudent anxiety to
gratify this important personage.
In a few minutes a great standing candlestick was placed on an oaken
table. The mighty venison pasty, adorned with parsley, was placed on
the board on a clean napkin; the stone-bottle of strong waters, with a
blackjack full of ale, formed comfortable appendages; and to this meal
sate down in social manner the soldier, occupying a great elbow-chair,
and the keeper, at his invitation, using the more lowly accommodation
of a stool, at the opposite side of the table. Thus agreeably employed,
our history leaves them for the present.
CHAPTER THE FOURTH.
Yon path of greensward
Winds round by sparry grot and gay pavilion;
There is no flint to gall thy tender foot,
There's ready shelter from each breeze, or shower.
But duty guides not that waysee her stand,
With wand entwined with amaranth, near yon cliffs.
Oft where she leads thy blood must mark thy footsteps,
Oft where she leads thy head must bear the storm.
And thy shrunk form endure heat, cold, and hunger;
But she will guide thee up to noble heights,
Which he who gains seems native of the sky,
While earthly things lie stretch'd beneath his feet,
Diminish'd, shrunk, and valueless
ANONYMOUS.
The reader cannot have forgotten that after his scuffle with the
commonwealth soldier, Sir Henry Lee, with his daughter Alice, had
departed to take refuge in the hut of the stout keeper Joceline
Joliffe. They walked slow, as before, for the old knight was at once
oppressed by perceiving these last vestiges of royalty fall into the
hands of republicans, and by the recollection of his recent defeat. At
times he paused, and, with his arms folded on his bosom, recalled all
the circumstances attending his expulsion from a house so long his
home. It seemed to him that, like the champions of romance of whom he
had sometimes read, he himself was retiring from the post which it was
his duty to guard, defeated by a Paynim knight, for whom the adventure
had been reserved by fate. Alice had her own painful subjects of
recollection, nor had the tenor of her last conversation with her
father been so pleasant as to make her anxious to renew it until his
temper should be more composed; for with an excellent disposition, and
much love to his daughter, age and misfortunes, which of late came
thicker and thicker, had given to the good knight's passions a wayward
irritability unknown to his better days. His daughter, and one or two
attached servants, who still followed his decayed fortunes, soothed his
frailty as much as possible, and pitied him even while they suffered
under its effects.
It was a long time ere he spoke, and then he referred to an incident
already noticed. "It is strange," he said, "that Bevis should have
followed Joceline and that fellow rather than me."
"Assure yourself, sir," replied Alice, "that his sagacity saw in this
man a stranger, whom he thought himself obliged to watch circumspectly,
and therefore he remained with Joceline."
"Not so, Alice," answered Sir Henry; "he leaves me because my fortunes
have fled from me. There is a feeling in nature, affecting even the
instinct, as it is called, of dumb animals, which teaches them to fly
from misfortune. The very deer there will butt a sick or wounded buck
from the herd; hurt a dog, and the whole kennel will fall on him and
worry him; fishes devour their own kind when they are wounded with a
spear; cut a crow's wing, or break its leg, the others will buffet it
to death."
"That may be true of the more irrational kinds of animals among each
other," said Alice, "for their whole life is well nigh a warfare; but
the dog leaves his own race to attach himself to ours; forsakes, for
his master, the company, food, and pleasure of his own kind; and surely
the fidelity of such a devoted and voluntary servant as Bevis hath been
in particular, ought not to be lightly suspected."
"I am not angry with the dog, Alice; I am only sorry," replied her
father. "I have read, in faithful chronicles, that when Richard II. and
Henry of Bolingbroke were at Berkeley Castle, a dog of the same kind
deserted the King, whom he had always attended upon, and attached
himself to Henry, whom he then saw for the first time. Richard
foretold, from the desertion of his favourite, his approaching
deposition. The dog was afterwards kept at Woodstock, and Bevis is said
to be of his breed, which was heedfully kept up. What I might foretell
of mischief from his desertion, I cannot guess, but my mind assures me
it bodes no good."
There was a distant rustling among the withered leaves, a bouncing or
galloping sound on the path, and the favourite dog instantly joined his
master.
"Come into court, old knave," said Alice, cheerfully, "and defend thy
character, which is wellnigh endangered by this absence." But the dog
only paid her courtesy by gamboling around them, and instantly plunged
back again, as fast as he could scamper.
"How now, knave?" said the knight; "thou art too well trained, surely,
to take up the chase without orders." A minute more showed them Phbe
Mayflower approaching, her light pace so little impeded by the burden
which she bore, that she joined her master and young mistress just as
they arrived at the keeper's hut, which was the boundary of their
journey. Bevis, who had shot a-head to pay his compliments to Sir Henry
his master, had returned again to his immediate duty, the escorting
Phbe and her cargo of provisions. The whole party stood presently
assembled before the door of the keeper's hut.
In better times, a substantial stone habitation, fit for the
yeoman-keeper of a royal walk, had adorned this place. A fair spring
gushed out near the spot, and once traversed yards and courts, attached
to well-built and convenient kennels and mews. But in some of the
skirmishes which were common during the civil wars, this little silvan
dwelling had been attacked and defended, stormed and burnt. A
neighbouring squire, of the Parliament side of the question, took
advantage of Sir Henry Lee's absence, who was then in Charles's camp,
and of the decay of the royal cause, and had, without scruple, carried
off the hewn stones, and such building materials as the fire left
unconsumed, and repaired his own manor-house with them. The
yeoman-keeper, therefore, our friend Joceline, had constructed, for his
own accommodation, and that of the old woman he called his dame, a
wattled hut, such as his own labour, with that of a neighbour or two,
had erected in the course of a few days. The walls were plastered with
clay, white-washed, and covered with vines and other creeping plants;
the roof was neatly thatched, and the whole, though merely a hut, had,
by the neat-handed Joliffe, been so arranged as not to disgrace the
condition of the dweller.
The knight advanced to the entrance; but the ingenuity of the
architect, for want of a better lock to the door, which itself was but
of wattles curiously twisted, had contrived a mode of securing the
latch on the inside with a pin, which prevented it from rising; and in
this manner it was at present fastened. Conceiving that this was some
precaution of Joliffe's old housekeeper, of whose deafness they were
all aware, Sir Henry raised his voice to demand admittance, but in
vain. Irritated at this delay, he pressed the door at once with foot
and hand, in a way which the frail barrier was unable to resist; it
gave way accordingly, and the knight thus forcibly entered the kitchen,
or outward apartment, of his servant. In the midst of the floor, and
with a posture which indicated embarrassment, stood a youthful
stranger, in a riding-suit.
"This may be my last act of authority here," said the knight, seizing
the stranger by the collar, "but I am still Ranger of Woodstock for
this night at leastWho, or what art thou?"
The stranger dropped the riding-mantle in which his face was muffled,
and at the same time fell on one knee.
"Your poor kinsman, Markham Everard," he said, "who came hither for
your sake, although he fears you will scarce make him welcome for his
own."
Sir Henry started back, but recovered himself in an instant, as one who
recollected that he had a part of dignity to perform. He stood erect,
therefore, and replied, with considerable assumption of stately
ceremony:
"Fair kinsman, it pleases me that you are come to Woodstock upon the
very first night that, for many years which have passed, is likely to
promise you a worthy or a welcome reception."
"Now God grant it be so, that I rightly hear and duly understand you,"
said the young man; while Alice, though she was silent, kept her looks
fixed on her father's face, as if desirous to know whether his meaning
was kind towards his nephew, which her knowledge of his character
inclined her greatly to doubt.
The knight meanwhile darted a sardonic look, first on his nephew, then
on his daughter, and proceeded"I need not, I presume, inform Mr.
Markham Everard, that it cannot be our purpose to entertain him, or
even to offer him a seat in this poor hut."
"I will attend you most willingly to the Lodge," said the young
gentleman. "I had, indeed, judged you were already there for the
evening, and feared to intrude upon you. But if you would permit me, my
dearest uncle, to escort my kinswoman and you back to the Lodge,
believe me, amongst all which you have so often done of good and kind,
you never conferred benefit that will be so dearly prized."
"You mistake me greatly, Mr. Markham Everard," replied the knight. "It
is not our purpose to return to the Lodge to-night, nor, by Our Lady,
to-morrow neither. I meant but to intimate to you in all courtesy, that
at Woodstock Lodge you will find those for whom you are fitting
society, and who, doubtless, will afford you a willing welcome; which
I, sir, in this my present retreat, do not presume to offer to a person
of your consequence."
"For Heaven's sake," said the young man, turning to Alice, "tell me how
I am to understand language so misterious."
Alice, to prevent his increasing the restrained anger of her father,
compelled herself to answer, though it was with difficulty, "We are
expelled from the Lodge by soldiers."
"Expelledby soldiers!" exclaimed Everard, in surprise"there is no
legal warrant for this."
"None at all," answered the knight, in the same tone of cutting irony
which he had all along used, "and yet as lawful a warrant, as for aught
that has been wrought in England this twelvemonth and more. You are, I
think, or were, an Inns-of-Court-manmarry, sir, your enjoyment of your
profession is like that lease which a prodigal wishes to have of a
wealthy widow. You have already survived the law which you studied, and
its expiry doubtless has not been without a legacysome decent
pickings, some merciful increases, as the phrase goes. You have
deserved it two waysyou wore buff and bandalier, as well as wielded
pen and inkI have not heard if you held forth too."
"Think of me and speak of me as harshly as you will, sir," said
Everard, submissively. "I have but in this evil time, guided myself by
my conscience, and my father's commands."
"O, and you talk of conscience," said the old knight, "I must have mine
eye upon you, as Hamlet says. Never yet did Puritan cheat so grossly as
when he was appealing to his conscience; and as for thy father"
He was about to proceed in a tone of the same invective, when the young
man interrupted him, by saying, in a firm tone, "Sir Henry Lee, you
have ever been thought nobleSay of me what you will, but speak not of
my father what the ear of a son should not endure, and which yet his
arm cannot resent. To do me such wrong is to insult an unarmed man, or
to beat a captive."
Sir Henry paused, as if struck by the remark. "Thou hast spoken truth
in that, Mark, wert thou the blackest Puritan whom hell ever vomited,
to distract an unhappy country."
"Be that as you will to think it," replied Everard; "but let me not
leave you to the shelter of this wretched hovel. The night is drawing
to stormlet me but conduct you to the Lodge, and expel those
intruders, who can, as yet at least, have no warrant for what they do.
I will not linger a moment behind them, save just to deliver my
father's message.Grant me but this much, for the love you once bore
me!"
"Yes, Mark," answered his uncle, firmly, but sorrowfully, "thou
speakest truthI did love thee once. The bright-haired boy whom I
taught to ride, to shoot, to huntwhose hours of happiness were spent
with me, wherever those of graver labours were employedI did love that
boyay, and I am weak enough to love even the memory of what he
was.But he is gone, Markhe is gone; and in his room I only behold an
avowed and determined rebel to his religion and to his kinga rebel
more detestable on account of his success, the more infamous through
the plundered wealth with which he hopes to gild his villany.But I am
poor, thou think'st, and should hold my peace, lest men say, 'Speak,
sirrah, when you should.'Know, however, that, indigent and plundered
as I am, I feel myself dishonoured in holding even but this much talk
with the tool of usurping rebels.Go to the Lodge, if thou wiltyonder
lies the waybut think not that, to regain my dwelling there, or all
the wealth I ever possessed in my wealthiest days, I would accompany
thee three steps on the greensward. If I must be thy companion, it
shall be only when thy red-coats have tied my hands behind me, and
bound my legs beneath my horse's belly. Thou mayst be my fellow
traveller then, I grant thee, if thou wilt, but not sooner."
Alice, who suffered cruelly during this dialogue, and was well aware
that farther argument would only kindle the knight's resentment still
more highly, ventured at last, in her anxiety, to make a sign to her
cousin to break off the interview, and to retire, since her father
commanded his absence in a manner so peremptory. Unhappily, she was
observed by Sir Henry, who, concluding that what he saw was evidence of
a private understanding betwixt the cousins, his wrath acquired new
fuel, and it required the utmost exertion of self-command, and
recollection of all that was due to his own dignity, to enable him to
veil his real fury under the same ironical manner which he had adopted
at the beginning of this angry interview.
"If thou art afraid," he said, "to trace our forest glades by night,
respected stranger, to whom I am perhaps bound to do honour as my
successor in the charge of these walks, here seems to be a modest
damsel, who will be most willing to wait on thee, and be thy
bow-bearer.Only, for her mother's sake, let there pass some slight
form of marriage between youYe need no license or priest in these
happy days, but may be buckled like beggars in a ditch, with a hedge
for a church-roof, and a tinker for a priest. I crave pardon of you for
making such an officious and simple requestperhaps you are a ranteror
one of the family of Love, or hold marriage rites as unnecessary, as
Knipperdoling, or Jack of Leyden?"
"For mercy's sake, forbear such dreadful jesting, my father! and do
you, Markham, begone, in God's name, and leave us to our fateyour
presence makes my father rave."
"Jesting!" said Sir Henry, "I was never more seriousRaving!I was
never more composedI could never brook that falsehood should approach
meI would no more bear by my side a dishonoured daughter than a
dishonoured sword; and this unhappy day hath shown that both can fail."
"Sir Henry," said young Everard, "load not your soul with a heavy
crime, which be assured you do, in treating your daughter thus
unjustly. It is long now since you denied her to me, when we were poor
and you were powerful. I acquiesced in your prohibition of all suit and
intercourse. God knoweth what I sufferedbut I acquiesced. Neither is
it to renew my suit that I now come hither, and have, I do acknowledge,
sought speech of hernot for her own sake only, but for yours also.
Destruction hovers over you, ready to close her pinions to stoop, and
her talons to clutchYes, sir, look contemptuous as you will, such is
the case; and it is to protect both you and her that I am here."
"You refuse then my free gift," said Sir Henry Lee; "or perhaps you
think it loaded with too hard conditions?"
"Shame, shame on you, Sir Henry;" said Everard, waxing warm in his
turn; "have your political prejudices so utterly warped every feeling
of a father, that you can speak with bitter mockery and scorn of what
concerns your own daughter's honour?Hold up your head, fair Alice, and
tell your father he has forgotten nature in his fantastic spirit of
loyalty.Know, Sir Henry, that though I would prefer your daughter's
hand to every blessing which Heaven could bestow on me, I would not
accept itmy conscience would not permit me to do so, when I knew it
must withdraw her from her duty to you."
"Your conscience is over-scrupulous, young man;carry it to some
dissenting rabbi, and he who takes all that comes to net, will teach
thee it is sinning against our mercies to refuse any good thing that is
freely offered to us."
"When it is freely offered, and kindly offerednot when the offer is
made in irony and insultFare thee well, Aliceif aught could make me
desire to profit by thy father's wild wish to cast thee from him in a
moment of unworthy suspicion, it would be that while indulging in such
sentiments, Sir Henry Lee is tyrannically oppressing the creature, who
of all others is most dependent on his kindnesswho of all others will
most feel his severity, and whom, of all others, he is most bound to
cherish and support."
"Do not fear for me, Mr. Everard," exclaimed Alice, aroused from her
timidity by a dread of the consequences not unlikely to ensue, where
civil war sets relations, as well as fellow-citizens, in opposition to
each other."Oh, begone, I conjure you, begone! Nothing stands betwixt
me and my father's kindness, but these unhappy family divisionsbut
your ill-timed presence herefor Heaven's sake, leave us!"
"So, mistress!" answered the hot old cavalier, "you play lady paramount
already; and who but you!you would dictate to our train, I warrant,
like Goneril and Regan! But I tell thee, no man shall leave my
houseand, humble as it is, this is now my housewhile he has aught
to say to me that is to be spoken, as this young man now speaks, with a
bent brow and a lofty tone.Speak out, sir, and say your worst!"
"Fear not my temper, Mrs. Alice," said Everard, with equal firmness and
placidity of manner; "and you, Sir Henry, do not think that if I speak
firmly, I mean therefore to speak in anger, or officiously. You have
taxed me with much, and, were I guided by the wild spirit of romantic
chivalry, much which, even from so near a relative, I ought not, as
being by birth, and in the world's estimation, a gentleman, to pass
over without reply. Is it your pleasure to give me patient hearing?"
"If you stand on your defence," answered the stout old knight, "God
forbid that you should not challenge a patient hearingay, though your
pleading were two parts disloyalty and one blasphemyOnly, be brief
this has already lasted but too long."
"I will, Sir Henry," replied the young man; "yet it is hard to crowd
into a few sentences, the defence of a life which, though short, has
been a busy onetoo busy, your indignant gesture would assert. But I
deny it; I have drawn my sword neither hastily, nor without due
consideration, for a people whose rights have been trampled on, and
whose consciences have been oppressedFrown not, sirsuch is not your
view of the contest, but such is mine. For my religious principles, at
which you have scoffed, believe me, that though they depend not on set
forms, they are no less sincere than your own, and thus far
purerexcuse the wordthat they are unmingled with the blood-thirsty
dictates of a barbarous age, which you and others have called the code
of chivalrous honour. Not my own natural disposition, but the better
doctrine which my creed has taught, enables me to bear your harsh
revilings without answering in a similar tone of wrath and reproach.
You may carry insult to extremity against me at your pleasurenot on
account of our relationship alone, but because I am bound in charity to
endure it. This, Sir Henry, is much from one of our house. But, with
forbearance far more than this requires, I can refuse at your hands the
gift, which, most of all things under heaven, I should desire to
obtain, because duty calls upon her to sustain and comfort you, and
because it were sin to permit you, in your blindness, to spurn your
comforter from your side.Farewell, sirnot in anger, but in pityWe
may meet in a better time, when your heart and your principles shall
master the unhappy prejudices by which they are now
overclouded.Farewell farewell, Alice!"
The last words were repeated twice, and in a tone of feeling and
passionate grief, which differed utterly from the steady and almost
severe tone in which he had addressed Sir Henry Lee. He turned and left
the hut so soon as he had uttered these last words; and, as if ashamed
of the tenderness which had mingled with his accents, the young
commonwealth's-man turned and walked sternly and resolvedly forth into
the moonlight, which now was spreading its broad light and autumnal
shadows over the woodland.
So soon as he departed, Alice, who had been during the whole scene in
the utmost terror that her father might have been hurried, by his
natural heat of temper, from violence of language into violence of
action, sunk down upon a settle twisted out of willow boughs, like most
of Joceline's few moveables, and endeavoured to conceal the tears which
accompanied the thanks she rendered in broken accents to Heaven, that,
notwithstanding the near alliance and relationship of the parties, some
fatal deed had not closed an interview so perilous and so angry. Phbe
Mayflower blubbered heartily for company, though she understood but
little of what had passed; just, indeed, enough to enable her
afterwards to report to some half-dozen particular friends, that her
old master, Sir Henry, had been perilous angry, and almost fought with
young Master Everard, because he had wellnigh carried away her young
mistress."And what could he have done better?" said Phbe, "seeing the
old man had nothing left either for Mrs. Alice or himself; and as for
Mr. Mark Everard and our young lady, oh! they had spoken such loving
things to each other as are not to be found in the history of Argalus
and Parthenia, who, as the story-book tells, were the truest pair of
lovers in all Arcadia, and Oxfordshire to boot."
Old Goody Jellycot had popped her scarlet hood into the kitchen more
than once while the scene was proceeding; but, as the worthy dame was
parcel blind and more than parcel deaf, knowledge was excluded by two
principal entrances; and though she comprehended, by a sort of general
instinct, that the gentlefolk were at high words, yet why they chose
Joceline's hut for the scene of their dispute was as great a mystery as
the subject of the quarrel.
But what was the state of the old cavalier's mood, thus contradicted,
as his most darling principles had been, by the last words of his
departing nephew? The truth is, that he was less thoroughly moved than
his daughter expected; and in all probability his nephew's bold defence
of his religious and political opinions rather pacified than aggravated
his displeasure. Although sufficiently impatient of contradiction,
still evasion and subterfuge were more alien to the blunt old Ranger's
nature than manly vindication and direct opposition; and he was wont to
say, that he ever loved the buck best who stood boldest at bay. He
graced his nephew's departure, however, with a quotation from
Shakspeare, whom, as many others do, he was wont to quote from a sort
of habit and respect, as a favourite of his unfortunate master, without
having either much real taste for his works, or great skill in applying
the passages which he retained on his memory.
"Mark," he said, "mark this, Alicethe devil can quote Scripture for
his purpose. Why, this young fanatic cousin of thine, with no more
beard than I have seen on a clown playing Maid Marion on May-day, when
the village barber had shaved him in too great a hurry, shall match any
bearded Presbyterian or Independent of them all, in laying down his
doctrines and his uses, and bethumping us with his texts and his
homilies. I would worthy and learned Doctor Rochecliffe had been here,
with his battery ready-mounted from the Vulgate, and the Septuagint,
and what nothe would have battered the presbyterian spirit out of him
with a wanion. However, I am glad the young man is no sneaker; for,
were a man of the devil's opinion in religion, and of Old Noll's in
politics, he were better open on it full cry, than deceive you by
hunting counter, or running a false scent. Comewipe thine eyesthe
fray is over, and not like to be stirred again soon, I trust."
Encouraged by these words, Alice rose, and, bewildered as she was,
endeavoured to superintend the arrangements for their meal and their
repose in their new habitation. But her tears fell so fast, they marred
her counterfeited diligence; and it was well for her that Phbe, though
too ignorant and too simple to comprehend the extent of her distress,
could afford her material assistance, in lack of mere sympathy.
With great readiness and address, the damsel set about every thing that
was requisite for preparing the supper and the beds; now screaming into
Dame Jellycot's ear, now whispering into her mistress's, and artfully
managing, as if she was merely the agent, under Alice's orders. When
the cold viands were set forth, Sir Henry Lee kindly pressed his
daughter to take refreshment, as if to make up, indirectly, for his
previous harshness towards her; while he himself, like an experienced
campaigner, showed, that neither the mortifications nor brawls of the
day, nor the thoughts of what was to come to-morrow, could diminish his
appetite for supper, which was his favourite meal. He ate up two-thirds
of the capon, and, devoting the first bumper to the happy restoration
of Charles, second of the name, he finished a quart of wine; for he
belonged to a school accustomed to feed the flame of their loyalty with
copious brimmers. He even sang a verse of "The King shall enjoy his own
again," in which Phbe, half-sobbing, and Dame Jellycot, screaming
against time and tune, were contented to lend their aid, to cover
Mistress Alice's silence.
At length the jovial knight betook himself to his rest on the keeper's
straw pallet, in a recess adjoining to the kitchen, and, unaffected by
his change of dwelling, slept fast and deep. Alice had less quiet rest
in old Goody Jellycot's wicker couch, in the inner apartment; while the
dame and Phbe slept on a mattress, stuffed with dry leaves, in the
same chamber, soundly as those whose daily toil gains their daily
bread, and, whom morning calls up only to renew the toils of yesterday.
CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
My tongue pads slowly under this new language,
And starts and stumbles at these uncouth phrases.
They may be great in worth and weight, but hang
Upon the native glibness of my language
Like Saul's plate-armour on the shepherd boy,
Encumbering and not arming him.
J. B.
As Markham Everard pursued his way towards the Lodge, through one of
the long sweeping glades which traversed the forest, varying in
breadth, till the trees were now so close that the boughs made darkness
over his head, then receding farther to let in glimpses of the moon,
and anon opening yet wider into little meadows, or savannahs, on which
the moonbeams lay in silvery silence; as he thus proceeded on his
lonely course, the various effects produced by that delicious light on
the oaks, whose dark leaves, gnarled branches, and massive trunks it
gilded, more or less partially, might have drawn the attention of a
poet or a painter.
But if Everard thought of anything saving the painful scene in which he
had just played his part, and of which the result seemed the
destruction of all his hopes, it was of the necessary guard to be
observed in his night-walk. The times were dangerous and unsettled; the
roads full of disbanded soldiers, and especially of royalists, who made
their political opinions a pretext for disturbing the country with
marauding parties and robberies. Deer-stealers also, who are ever a
desperate banditti, had of late infested Woodstock Chase. In short, the
dangers of the place and period were such, that Markham Everard wore
his loaded pistols at his belt, and carried his drawn sword under his
arm, that he might be prepared for whatever peril should cross his
path.
He heard the bells of Woodstock Church ring curfew, just as he was
crossing one of the little meadows we have described, and they ceased
as he entered an overshadowed and twilight part of the path beyond. It
was there that he heard some one whistling; and, as the sound became
clearer, it was plain the person was advancing towards him. This could
hardly be a friend; for the party to which he belonged rejected,
generally speaking, all music, unless psalmody. "If a man is merry, let
him sing psalms," was a text which they were pleased to interpret as
literally and to as little purpose as they did some others; yet it was
too continued a sound to be a signal amongst night-walkers, and too
light and cheerful to argue any purpose of concealment on the part of
the traveller, who presently exchanged his whistling for singing, and
trolled forth the following stanza to a jolly tune, with which the old
cavaliers were wont to wake the night owl:
Hey for cavaliers! Ho for cavaliers!
Pray for cavaliers!
Rub a dubrub a dub!
Have at old Beelzebub
Oliver smokes for fear.
"I should know that voice," said Everard, uncocking the pistol which he
had drawn from his belt, but continuing to hold it in his hand. Then
came another fragment:
Hash themslash them
All to pieces dash them.
"So ho!" cried Markham, "who goes there, and for whom?"
"For Church and King," answered a voice, which presently added, "No,
dn meI mean against Church and King, and for the people that are
uppermostI forget which they are."
"Roger Wildrake, as I guess?" said Everard.
"The sameGentleman; of Squattlesea-mere, in the moist county of
Lincoln."
"Wildrake!" said Markham"Wildgoose you should be called. You have been
moistening your own throat to some purpose, and using it to gabble
tunes very suitable to the times, to be sure!"
"Faith, the tune's a pretty tune enough, Mark, only out of fashion a
littlethe more's the pity."
"What could I expect," said Everard, "but to meet some ranting, drunken
cavalier, as desperate and dangerous as night and sack usually make
them? What if I had rewarded your melody by a ball in the gullet?"
"Why, there would have been a piper paidthat's all," said Wildrake.
"But wherefore come you this way now? I was about to seek you at the
hut."
"I have been obliged to leave itI will tell you the cause hereafter,"
replied Markham.
"What! the old play-hunting cavalier was cross, or Chloe was unkind?"
"Jest not, Wildrakeit is all over with me," said Everard.
"The devil it is," exclaimed Wildrake, "and you take it thus quietly!
Zounds! let us back togetherI'll plead your cause for youI know how
to tickle up an old knight and a pretty maidenLet me alone for putting
you rectus in curia, you canting rogue.Dn me, Sir Henry Lee, says
I, your nephew is a piece of a Puritanit won't denybut I'll uphold
him a gentleman and a pretty fellow, for all that.Madam, says I, you
may think your cousin looks like a psalm-singing weaver, in that bare
felt, and with that rascally brown cloak; that band, which looks like a
baby's clout, and those loose boots, which have a whole calf-skin in
each of them,but let him wear on the one side of his head a castor,
with a plume befitting his quality; give him a good Toledo by his side,
with a broidered belt and an inlaid hilt, instead of the ton of iron
contained in that basket-hilted black Andrew Ferrara; put a few smart
words in his mouthand, blood and wounds! madam, says I"
"Prithee, truce with this nonsense, Wildrake," said Everard, "and tell
me if you are sober enough to hear a few words of sober reason?"
"Pshaw! man, I did but crack a brace of quarts with yonder puritanic,
roundheaded soldiers, up yonder at the town; and rat me but I passed
myself for the best man of the party; twanged my nose, and turned up my
eyes, as I took my canPah! the very wine tasted of hypocrisy. I think
the rogue corporal smoked something at lastas for the common fellows,
never stir, but they asked me to say grace over another quart."
"This is just what I wished to speak with you about, Wildrake," said
Markham"You hold me, I am sure, for your friend?"
"True as steel.Chums at College and at Lincoln's Innwe have been
Nisus and Euryalus, Theseus and Pirithous, Orestes and Pylades; and, to
sum up the whole with a puritanic touch, David and Jonathan, all in one
breath. Not even politics, the wedge that rends families and
friendships asunder, as iron rives oak, have been able to split us."
"True," answered Markham: "and when you followed the King to
Nottingham, and I enrolled under Essex, we swore, at our parting, that
whichever side was victorious, he of us who adhered to it, should
protect his less fortunate comrade."
"Surely, man, surely; and have you not protected me accordingly? Did
you not save me from hanging? and am I not indebted to you for the
bread I eat?"
"I have but done that which, had the times been otherwise, you, my dear
Wildrake, would, I am sure, have done for me. But, as I said, that is
just what I wished to speak to you about. Why render the task of
protecting you more difficult than it must necessarily be at any rate?
Why thrust thyself into the company of soldiers, or such like, where
thou art sure to be warmed into betraying thyself? Why come hollowing
and whooping out cavalier ditties, like a drunken trooper of Prince
Rupert, or one of Wilmot's swaggering body-guards?"
"Because I may have been both one and t'other in my day, for aught that
you know," replied Wildrake. "But, oddsfish! is it necessary I should
always be reminding you, that our obligation of mutual protection, our
league of offensive and defensive, as I may call it, was to be carried
into effect without reference to the politics or religion of the party
protected, or the least obligation on him to conform to those of his
friend?"
"True," said Everard; "but with this most necessary qualification, that
the party should submit to such outward conformity to the times as
should make it more easy and safe for his friend to be of service to
him. Now, you are perpetually breaking forth, to the hazard of your own
safety and my credit."
"I tell you, Mark, and I would tell your namesake the apostle, that you
are hard on me. You have practised sobriety and hypocrisy from your
hanging sleeves till your Geneva cassockfrom the cradle to this
day,and it is a thing of nature to you; and you are surprised that a
rough, rattling, honest fellow, accustomed to speak truth all his life,
and especially when he found it at the bottom of a flask, cannot be so
perfect a prig as thyselfZooks! there is no equality betwixt usA
trained diver might as well, because he can retain his breath for ten
minutes without inconvenience, upbraid a poor devil for being like to
burst in twenty seconds, at the bottom of ten fathoms waterAnd, after
all, considering the guise is so new to me, I think I bear myself
indifferently welltry me!"
"Are there any more news from Worcester fight?" asked Everard, in a
tone so serious that it imposed on his companion, who replied in his
genuine character
"Worse!dn me, worse an hundred times than reportedtotally broken.
Noll hath certainly sold himself to the devil, and his lease will have
an end one daythat is all our present comfort."
"What! and would this be your answer to the first red-coat who asked
the question?" said Everard. "Methinks you would find a speedy passport
to the next corps de garde."
"Nay, nay," answered Wildrake, "I thought you asked me in your own
person.Lack-a-day! a great mercya glorifying mercya crowning mercya
vouchsafingan upliftingI profess the malignants are scattered from
Dan to Beershebasmitten, hip and thigh, even until the going down of
the sun!"
"Hear you aught of Colonel Thornhaugh's wounds?"
"He is dead," answered Wildrake, "that's one comfortthe roundheaded
rascal!Nay, hold! it was but a trip of the tongueI meant, the sweet
godly youth."
"And hear you aught of the young man, King of Scotland, as they call
him?" said Everard.
"Nothing but that he is hunted like a partridge on the mountains. May
God deliver him, and confound his enemies!Zoons, Mark Everard, I can
fool it no longer. Do you not remember, that at the Lincoln's-Inn
gambolsthough you did not mingle much in them, I thinkI used always
to play as well as any of them when it came to the action, but they
could never get me to rehearse conformably. It's the same at this day.
I hear your voice, and I answer to it in the true tone of my heart; but
when I am in the company of your snuffling friends, you have seen me
act my part indifferent well."
"But indifferent, indeed," replied Everard; "however, there is little
call on you to do aught, save to be modest and silent. Speak little,
and lay aside, if you can, your big oaths and swaggering looksset your
hat even on your brows."
"Ay, that is the curse! I have been always noted for the jaunty manner
in which I wear my castorHard when a man's merits become his enemies!"
"You must remember you are my clerk."
"Secretary," answered Wildrake: "let it be secretary, if you love me."
"It must be clerk, and nothing elseplain clerkand remember to be
civil and obedient," replied Everard.
"But you should not lay on your commands with so much ostentatious
superiority, Master Markham Everard. Remember, I am your senior of
three years' standing. Confound me, if I know how to take it!"
"Was ever such a fantastic wrong-head!For my sake, if not for thine
own, bend thy freakish folly to listen to reason. Think that I have
incurred both risk and shame on thy account."
"Nay, thou art a right good fellow, Mark," replied the cavalier; "and
for thy sake I will do muchbut remember to cough, and cry hem! when
thou seest me like to break bounds. And now, tell me whither we are
bound for the night."
"To Woodstock Lodge, to look after my uncle's property," answered
Markham Everard: "I am informed that soldiers have taken possessionYet
how could that be if thou foundest the party drinking in Woodstock?"
"There was a kind of commissary or steward, or some such rogue, had
gone down to the Lodge," replied Wildrake; "I had a peep at him."
"Indeed!" replied Everard.
"Ay, verily," said Wildrake, "to speak your own language. Why, as I
passed through the park in quest of you, scarce half an hour since, I
saw a light in the LodgeStep this way, you will see it yourself."
"In the north-west angle?" returned Everard. "It is from a window in
what they call Victor Lee's apartment."
"Well," resumed Wildrake, "I had been long one of Lundsford's lads, and
well used to patrolling dutySo, rat me, says I, if I leave a light in
my rear, without knowing what it means. Besides, Mark, thou hadst said
so much to me of thy pretty cousin, I thought I might as well have a
peep, if I could."
"Thoughtless, incorrigible man! to what dangers do you expose yourself
and your friends, in mere wantonness!But go on."
"By this fair moonshine, I believe thou art jealous, Mark Everard!"
replied his gay companion; "there is no occasion; for, in any case, I,
who was to see the lady, was steeled by honour against the charms of my
friend's ChloeThen the lady was not to see me, so could make no
comparisons to thy disadvantage, thou knowestLastly, as it fell out,
neither of us saw the other at all."
"Of that I am well aware. Mrs. Alice left the Lodge long before sunset,
and never returned. What didst thou see to introduce with such
preface?"
"Nay, no great matter," replied Wildrake; "only getting upon a sort of
buttress, (for I can climb like any cat that ever mewed in any gutter,)
and holding on by the vines and creepers which grew around, I obtained
a station where I could see into the inside of that same parlour thou
spokest of just now."
"And what saw'st thou there?" once more demanded Everard.
"Nay, no great matter, as I said before," replied the cavalier; "for in
these times it is no new thing to see churls carousing in royal or
noble chambers. I saw two rascallions engaged in emptying a solemn
stoup of strong waters, and dispatching a huge venison pasty, which
greasy mess, for their convenience, they had placed on a lady's
work-tableOne of them was trying an air on a lute."
"The profane villains!" exclaimed Everard, "it was Alice's."
"Well said, comradeI am glad your phlegm can be moved. I did but throw
in these incidents of the lute and the table, to try if it was possible
to get a spark of human spirit out of you, besanctified as you are."
"What like were the men?" said young Everard.
"The one a slouch-hatted, long-cloaked, sour-faced fanatic, like the
rest of you, whom I took to be the steward or commissary I heard spoken
of in the town; the other was a short sturdy fellow, with a wood-knife
at his girdle, and a long quarterstaff lying beside hima black-haired
knave, with white teeth and a merry countenanceone of the
under-rangers or bow-bearers of these walks, I fancy."
"They must have been Desborough's favourite, trusty Tomkins," said
Everard, "and Joceline Joliffe, the keeper. Tomkins is Desborough's
right handan Independent, and hath pourings forth, as he calls them.
Some think that his gifts have the better of his grace. I have heard of
his abusing opportunities."
"They were improving them when I saw them," replied Wildrake, "and made
the bottle smoke for itwhen, as the devil would have it, a stone,
which had been dislodged from the crumbling buttress, gave way under my
weight. A clumsy fellow like thee would have been so long thinking what
was to be done, that he must needs have followed it before he could
make up his mind; but I, Mark, I hopped like a squirrel to an ivy twig,
and stood fastwas wellnigh shot, though, for the noise alarmed them
both. They looked to the oriel, and saw me on the outside; the fanatic
fellow took out a pistolas they have always such texts in readiness
hanging beside the little clasped Bible, thou know'stthe keeper seized
his hunting-poleI treated them both to a roar and a grinthou must
know I can grimace like a baboonI learned the trick from a French
player, who could twist his jaws into a pair of nut-crackersand
therewithal I dropped myself sweetly on the grass, and ran off so
trippingly, keeping the dark side of the wall as long as I could, that
I am wellnigh persuaded they thought I was their kinsman, the devil,
come among them uncalled. They were abominably startled."
"Thou art most fearfully rash, Wildrake," said his companion; "we are
now bound for the housewhat if they should remember thee?"
"Why, it is no treason, is it? No one has paid for peeping since Tom of
Coventry's days; and if he came in for a reckoning, belike it was for a
better treat than mine. But trust me, they will no more know me, than a
man who had only seen your friend Noll at a conventicle of saints,
would know the same Oliver on horseback, and charging with his
lobster-tailed squadron; or the same Noll cracking a jest and a bottle
with wicked Waller the poet."
"Hush! not a word of Oliver, as thou dost value thyself and me. It is
ill jesting with the rock you may split on.But here is the gatewe
will disturb these honest gentlemen's recreations."
As he spoke, he applied the large and ponderous knocker to the
hall-door. "Rat-tat-tat-too!" said Wildrake; "there is a fine alarm to
you cuckolds and round-heads." He then half-mimicked, half-sung the
march so called:
"Cuckolds, come dig, cuckolds, come dig;
Round about cuckolds, come dance to my jig!"
"By Heaven! this passes Midsummer frenzy," said Everard, turning
angrily to him.
"Not a bit, not a bit," replied Wildrake; "it is but a slight
expectoration, just like what one makes before beginning a long speech.
I will be grave for an hour together, now I have got that point of war
out of my head."
As he spoke, steps were heard in the hall, and the wicket of the great
door was partly opened, but secured with a chain in case of accidents.
The visage of Tomkins, and that of Joceline beneath it, appeared at the
chink, illuminated by the lamp which the latter held in his hand, and
Tomkins demanded the meaning of this alarm.
"I demand instant admittance!" said Everard. "Joliffe, you know me
well?"
"I do, sir," replied Joceline, "and could admit you with all my heart;
but, alas! sir, you see I am not key-keeperHere is the gentleman whose
warrant I must walk byThe Lord help me, seeing times are such as they
be!"
"And when that gentleman, who I think may be Master Desborough's
valet"
"His honour's unworthy secretary, an it please you," interposed
Tomkins; while Wildrake whispered in Everard's ear; "I will be no
longer secretary. Mark, thou wert quite rightthe clerk must be the
more gentlemanly calling."
"And if you are Master Desborough's secretary, I presume you know me
and my condition well enough," said Everard, addressing the
Independent, "not to hesitate to admit me and my attendant to a night's
quarters in the Lodge?"
"Surely not, surely not," said the Independent"that is, if your
worship thinks you would be better accommodated here than up at the
house of entertainment in the town, which men unprofitably call Saint
George's Inn. There is but confined accommodation here, your honourand
we have been frayed out of our lives already by the visitation of
Satanalbeit his fiery dart is now quenched."
"This may be all well in its place, Sir Secretary," said Everard; "and
you may find a corner for it when you are next tempted to play the
preacher. But I will take it for no apology for keeping me here in the
cold harvest wind; and if not presently received, and suitably too, I
will report you to your master for insolence in your office."
The secretary of Desborough did not dare offer farther opposition; for
it is well known that Desborough himself only held his consequence as a
kinsman of Cromwell; and the Lord-General, who was well nigh paramount
already, was known to be strongly favourable both to the elder and
younger Everard. It is true, they were Presbyterians and he an
Independent; and that though sharing those feelings of correct morality
and more devoted religious feeling, by which, with few exceptions, the
Parliamentarian party were distinguished, the Everards were not
disposed to carry these attributes to the extreme of enthusiasm,
practised by so many others at the time. Yet it was well known that
whatever might be Cromwell's own religious creed, he was not uniformly
bounded by it in the choice of his favourites, but extended his
countenance to those who could serve him, even, although, according to
the phrase of the time, they came out of the darkness of Egypt. The
character of the elder Everard stood very high for wisdom and sagacity;
besides, being of a good family and competent fortune, his adherence
would lend a dignity to any side he might espouse. Then his son had
been a distinguished and successful soldier, remarkable for the
discipline he maintained among his men, the bravery which he showed in
the time of action, and the humanity with which he was always ready to
qualify the consequences of victory. Such men were not to be neglected,
when many signs combined to show that the parties in the state, who had
successfully accomplished the deposition and death of the King, were
speedily to quarrel among themselves about the division of the spoils.
The two Everards were therefore much courted by Cromwell, and their
influence with him was supposed to be so great, that trusty Master
Secretary Tomkins cared not to expose himself to risk, by contending
with Colonel Everard for such a trifle as a night's lodging.
Joceline was active on his sidemore lights were obtainedmore wood
thrown on the fireand the two newly-arrived strangers were introduced
into Victor Lee's parlour, as it was called, from the picture over the
chimney-piece, which we have already described. It was several minutes
ere Colonel Everard could recover his general stoicism of deportment,
so strongly was he impressed by finding himself in the apartment, under
whose roof he had passed so many of the happiest hours of his life.
There was the cabinet, which he had seen opened with such feelings of
delight when Sir Henry Lee deigned to give him instructions in fishing,
and to exhibit hooks and lines, together with all the materials for
making the artificial fly, then little known. There hung the ancient
family picture, which, from some odd mysterious expressions of his
uncle relating to it, had become to his boyhood, nay, his early youth,
a subject of curiosity and of fear. He remembered how, when left alone
in the apartment, the searching eye of the old warrior seemed always
bent upon his, in whatever part of the room he placed himself, and how
his childish imagination was perturbed at a phenomenon, for which he
could not account.
With these came a thousand dearer and warmer recollections of his early
attachment to his pretty cousin Alice, when he assisted her at her
lessons, brought water for her flowers, or accompanied her while she
sung; and he remembered that while her father looked at them with a
good-humoured and careless smile, he had once heard him mutter, "And if
it should turn out sowhy, it might be best for both," and the theories
of happiness he had reared on these words. All these visions had been
dispelled by the trumpet of war, which called Sir Henry Lee and himself
to opposite sides; and the transactions of this very day had shown,
that even Everard's success as a soldier and a statesman seemed
absolutely to prohibit the chance of their being revived.
He was waked out of this unpleasing reverie by the approach of
Joceline, who, being possibly a seasoned toper, had made the additional
arrangements with more expedition and accuracy, than could have been
expected from a person engaged as he had been since night-fall.
He now wished to know the Colonel's directions for the night.
"Would he eat anything?"
"No."
"Did his honour choose to accept Sir Henry Lee's bed, which was ready
prepared?"
"Yes."
"That of Mistress Alice Lee should be prepared for the Secretary."
"On pain of thine earsNo," replied Everard.
"Where then was the worthy Secretary to be quartered?"
"In the dog-kennel, if you list," replied Colonel Everard; "but," added
he, stepping to the sleeping apartment of Alice, which opened from the
parlour, locking it, and taking out the key, "no one shall profane this
chamber."
"Had his honour any other commands for the night?"
"None, save to clear the apartment of yonder man. My clerk will remain
with meI have orders which must be written out.Yet stayThou gavest
my letter this morning to Mistress Alice?"
"I did."
"Tell me, good Joceline, what she said when she received it?"
"She seemed much concerned, sir; and indeed I think that she wept a
littlebut indeed she seemed very much distressed."
"And what message did she send to me?"
"None, may it please your honourShe began to say, 'Tell my cousin
Everard that I will communicate my uncle's kind purpose to my father,
if I can get fitting opportunitybut that I greatly fear'and there
checked herself, as it were, and said, 'I will write to my cousin; and
as it may be late ere I have an opportunity of speaking with my father,
do thou come for my answer after service.'So I went to church myself,
to while away the time; but when I returned to the Chase, I found this
man had summoned my master to surrender, and, right or wrong, I must
put him in possession of the Lodge. I would fain have given your honour
a hint that the old knight and my young mistress were like to take you
on the form, but I could not mend the matter."
"Thou hast done well, good fellow, and I will remember thee.And now,
my masters," he said, advancing to the brace of clerks or secretaries,
who had in the meanwhile sate quietly down beside the stone bottle, and
made up acquaintance over a glass of its contents"Let me remind you,
that the night wears late."
"There is something cries tinkle, tinkle, in the bottle yet," said
Wildrake, in reply.
"Hem! hem! hem!" coughed the Colonel of the Parliament service; and if
his lips did not curse his companion's imprudence, I will not answer
for what arose in his heart,"Well!" he said, observing that Wildrake
had filled his own glass and Tomkins's, "take that parting glass and
begone."
"Would you not be pleased to hear first," said Wildrake, "how this
honest gentleman saw the devil to-night look through a pane of yonder
window, and how he thinks he had a mighty strong resemblance to your
worship's humble slave and varlet scribbler? Would you but hear this,
sir, and just sip a glass of this very recommendable strong waters?"
"I will drink none, sir," said Colonel Everard sternly; "and I have to
tell you, that you have drunken a glass too much already.Mr.
Tomkins, sir, I wish you good night."
"A word in season at parting," said Tomkins, standing up behind the
long leathern back of a chair, hemming and snuffling as if preparing
for an exhortation.
"Excuse me, sir," replied Markham Everard sternly; "you are not now
sufficiently yourself to guide the devotion of others."
"Woe be to them that reject!" said the Secretary of the Commissioners,
stalking out of the roomthe rest was lost in shutting the door, or
suppressed for fear of offence.
"And now, fool Wildrake, begone to thy bedyonder it lies," pointing to
the knight's apartment.
"What, thou hast secured the lady's for thyself? I saw thee put the key
in thy pocket."
"I would notindeed I could not sleep in that apartmentI can sleep
nowherebut I will watch in this arm-chair.I have made him place wood
for repairing the fire.Good now, go to bed thyself, and sleep off thy
liquor."
"Liquor!I laugh thee to scorn, Markthou art a milksop, and the son of
a milksop, and know'st not what a good fellow can do in the way of
crushing an honest cup."
"The whole vices of his faction are in this poor fellow individually,"
said the Colonel to himself, eyeing his proteg askance, as the other
retreated into the bedroom, with no very steady pace"He is reckless,
intemperate, dissolute;and if I cannot get him safely shipped for
France, he will certainly be both his own ruin and mine.Yet, withal,
he is kind, brave, and generous, and would have kept the faith with me
which he now expects from me; and in what consists the merit of our
truth, if we observe not our plighted word when we have promised, to
our hurt? I will take the liberty, however, to secure myself against
farther interruption on his part."
So saying, he locked the door of communication betwixt the
sleeping-room, to which the cavalier had retreated, and the parlour;
and then, after pacing the floor thoughtfully, returned to his seat,
trimmed the lamp, and drew out a number of letters."I will read these
over once more," he said, "that, if possible, the thought of public
affairs may expel this keen sense of personal sorrow. Gracious
Providence, where is this to end! We have sacrificed the peace of our
families, the warmest wishes of our young hearts, to right the country
in which we were born, and to free her from oppression; yet it appears,
that every step we have made towards liberty, has but brought us in
view of new and more terrific perils, as he who travels in a
mountainous region, is by every step which elevates him higher, placed
in a situation of more imminent hazard."
He read long and attentively, various tedious and embarrassed letters,
in which the writers, placing before him the glory of God, and the
freedom and liberties of England, as their supreme ends, could not, by
all the ambagitory expressions they made use of, prevent the shrewd eye
of Markham Everard from seeing, that self-interest and views of
ambition, were the principal moving springs at the bottom of their
plots.
CHAPTER THE SIXTH.
Sleep steals on us even like his brother Death
We know not when it comeswe know it must come
We may affect to scorn and to contemn it,
For 'tis the highest pride of human misery
To say it knows not of an opiate;
Yet the reft parent, the despairing lover,
Even the poor wretch who waits for execution,
Feels this oblivion, against which he thought
His woes had arm'd his senses, steal upon him,
And through the fenceless citadelthe body
Surprise that haughty garrisonthe mind.
HERBERT.
Colonel Everard experienced the truth contained in the verses of the
quaint old bard whom we have quoted above. Amid private grief, and
anxiety for a country long a prey to civil war, and not likely to fall
soon under any fixed or well-established form of government, Everard
and his father had, like many others, turned their eyes to General
Cromwell, as the person whose valour had made him the darling of the
army, whose strong sagacity had hitherto predominated over the high
talents by which he had been assailed in Parliament, as well as over
his enemies in the field, and who was alone in the situation to settle
the nation, as the phrase then went; or, in other words, to dictate
the mode of government. The father and son were both reputed to stand
high in the General's favour. But Markham Everard was conscious of some
particulars, which induced him to doubt whether Cromwell actually, and
at heart, bore either to his father or to himself that good-will which
was generally believed. He knew him for a profound politician, who
could veil for any length of time his real sentiments of men and
things, until they could be displayed without prejudice to his
interest. And he moreover knew that the General was not likely to
forget the opposition which the Presbyterian party had offered to what
Oliver called the Great Matterthe trial, namely, and execution of the
King. In this opposition, his father and he had anxiously concurred,
nor had the arguments, nor even the half-expressed threats of Cromwell,
induced them to flinch from that course, far less to permit their names
to be introduced into the commission nominated to sit in judgment on
that memorable occasion.
This hesitation had occasioned some temporary coldness between the
General and the Everards, father and son. But as the latter remained in
the army, and bore arms under Cromwell both in Scotland, and finally at
Worcester, his services very frequently called forth the approbation of
his commander. After the fight of Worcester, in particular, he was
among the number of those officers on whom Oliver, rather considering
the actual and practical extent of his own power, than the name under
which he exercised it, was with difficulty withheld from imposing the
dignity of Knights-Bannerets at his own will and pleasure. It therefore
seemed, that all recollection of former disagreement was obliterated,
and that the Everards had regained their former stronghold in the
General's affections. There were, indeed, several who doubted this, and
who endeavoured to bring over this distinguished young officer to some
other of the parties which divided the infant Commonwealth. But to
these proposals he turned a deaf ear. Enough of blood, he said, had
been spilledit was time that the nation should have repose under a
firmly-established government, of strength sufficient to protect
property, and of lenity enough to encourage the return of tranquillity.
This, he thought, could only be accomplished by means of Cromwell, and
the greater part of England was of the same opinion. It is true, that,
in thus submitting to the domination of a successful soldier, those who
did so, forgot the principles upon which they had drawn the sword
against the late King. But in revolutions, stern and high principles
are often obliged to give way to the current of existing circumstances;
and in many a case, where wars have been waged for points of
metaphysical right, they have been at last gladly terminated, upon the
mere hope of obtaining general tranquillity, as, after many a long
siege, a garrison is often glad to submit on mere security for life and
limb.
Colonel Everard, therefore, felt that the support which he afforded
Cromwell, was only under the idea, that, amid a choice of evils, the
least was likely to ensue from a man of the General's wisdom and valour
being placed at the head of the state; and he was sensible, that Oliver
himself was likely to consider his attachment as lukewarm and
imperfect, and measure his gratitude for it upon the same limited
scale.
In the meanwhile, however, circumstances compelled him to make trial of
the General's friendship. The sequestration of Woodstock, and the
warrant to the Commissioners to dispose of it as national property, had
been long granted, but the interest of the elder Everard had for weeks
and months deferred its execution. The hour was now approaching when
the blow could be no longer parried, especially as Sir Henry Lee, on
his side, resisted every proposal of submitting himself to the existing
government, and was therefore, now that his hour of grace was passed,
enrolled in the list of stubborn and irreclaimable malignants, with
whom the Council of State was determined no longer to keep terms. The
only mode of protecting the old knight and his daughter, was to
interest, if possible, the General himself in the matter; and revolving
all the circumstances connected with their intercourse, Colonel Everard
felt that a request, which would so immediately interfere with the
interests of Desborough, the brother-in-law of Cromwell, and one of the
present Commissioners, was putting to a very severe trial the
friendship of the latter. Yet no alternative remained.
With this view, and agreeably to a request from Cromwell, who at
parting had been very urgent to have his written opinion upon public
affairs, Colonel Everard passed the earlier part of the night in
arranging his ideas upon the state of the Commonwealth, in a plan which
he thought likely to be acceptable to Cromwell, as it exhorted him,
under the aid of Providence, to become the saviour of the state, by
convoking a free Parliament, and by their aid placing himself at the
head of some form of liberal and established government, which might
supersede the state of anarchy, in which the nation was otherwise
likely to be merged. Taking a general view of the totally broken
condition of the Royalists, and of the various factions which now
convulsed the state, he showed how this might be done without bloodshed
or violence. From this topic he descended to the propriety of keeping
up the becoming state of the Executive Government, in whose hands
soever it should be lodged, and thus showed Cromwell, as the future
Stadtholder, or Consul, or Lieutenant-General of Great Britain and
Ireland, a prospect of demesne and residence becoming his dignity. Then
he naturally passed to the disparking and destroying of the royal
residences of England, made a woful picture of the demolition which
impended over Woodstock, and interceded for the preservation of that
beautiful seat, as a matter of personal favour, in which he found
himself deeply interested.
Colonel Everard, when he had finished his letter, did not find himself
greatly risen in his own opinion. In the course of his political
conduct, he had till this hour avoided mixing up personal motives with
his public grounds of action, and yet he now felt himself making such a
composition. But he comforted himself, or at least silenced this
unpleasing recollection, with the consideration, that the weal of
Britain, studied under the aspect of the times, absolutely required
that Cromwell should be at the head of the government; and that the
interest of Sir Henry Lee, or rather his safety and his existence, no
less emphatically demanded the preservation of Woodstock, and his
residence there. Was it a fault of his, that the same road should lead
to both these ends, or that his private interest, and that of the
country, should happen to mix in the same letter? He hardened himself,
therefore, to the act, made up and addressed his packet to the
Lord-General, and then sealed it with his seal of arms. This done, he
lay back in the chair; and, in spite of his expectations to the
contrary, fell asleep in the course of his reflections, anxious and
harassing as they were, and did not awaken until the cold grey light of
dawn was peeping through the eastern oriel.
He started at first, rousing himself with the sensation of one who
awakes in a place unknown to him; but the localities instantly forced
themselves on his recollection. The lamp burning dimly in the socket,
the wood fire almost extinguished in its own white embers, the gloomy
picture over the chimney-piece, the sealed packet on the tableall
reminded him of the events of yesterday, and his deliberations of the
succeeding night. "There is no help for it," he said; "it must be
Cromwell or anarchy. And probably the sense that his title, as head of
the Executive Government, is derived merely from popular consent, may
check the too natural proneness of power to render itself arbitrary. If
he govern by Parliaments, and with regard to the privileges of the
subject, wherefore not Oliver as well as Charles? But I must take
measures for having this conveyed safely to the hands of this future
sovereign prince. It will be well to take the first word of influence
with him, since there must be many who will not hesitate to recommend
counsels more violent and precipitate."
He determined to intrust the important packet to the charge of
Wildrake, whose rashness was never so distinguished, as when by any
chance he was left idle and unemployed; besides, even if his faith had
not been otherwise unimpeachable, the obligations which he owed to his
friend Everard must have rendered it such.
These conclusions passed through Colonel Everard's mind, as, collecting
the remains of wood in the chimney, he gathered them into a hearty
blaze, to remove the uncomfortable feeling of dullness which pervaded
his limbs; and by the time he was a little more warm, again sunk into a
slumber, which was only dispelled by the beams of morning peeping into
his apartment.
He arose, roused himself, walked up and down the room, and looked from
the large oriel window on the nearest objects, which were the untrimmed
hedges and neglected walks of a certain wilderness, as it is called in
ancient treatises on gardening, which, kept of yore well ordered, and
in all the pride of the topiary art, presented a succession of
yew-trees cut into fantastic forms, of close alleys, and of open walks,
filling about two or three acres of ground on that side of the Lodge,
and forming a boundary between its immediate precincts and the open
Park. Its enclosure was now broken down in many places, and the hinds
with their fawns fed free and unstartled up to the very windows of the
silvan palace.
This had been a favourite scene of Markham's sports when a boy. He
could still distinguish, though now grown out of shape, the verdant
battlements of a Gothic castle, all created by the gardener's shears,
at which he was accustomed to shoot his arrows; or, stalking before it
like the Knight-errants of whom he read, was wont to blow his horn, and
bid defiance to the supposed giant or Paynim knight, by whom it was
garrisoned. He remembered how he used to train his cousin, though
several years younger than himself, to bear a part in those revels of
his boyish fancy, and to play the character of an elfin page, or a
fairy, or an enchanted princess. He remembered, too, many particulars
of their later acquaintance, from which he had been almost necessarily
led to the conclusion, that from an early period their parents had
entertained some idea, that there might be a well-fitted match betwixt
his fair cousin and himself. A thousand visions, formed in so bright a
prospect, had vanished along with it, but now returned like shadows, to
remind him of all he had lostand for what?"For the sake of England,"
his proud consciousness replied,"Of England, in danger of becoming the
prey at once of bigotry and tyranny." And he strengthened himself with
the recollection, "If I have sacrificed my private happiness, it is
that my country may enjoy liberty of conscience, and personal freedom;
which, under a weak prince and usurping statesman, she was but too
likely to have lost."
But the busy fiend in his breast would not be repulsed by the bold
answer. "Has thy resistance," it demanded, "availed thy country,
Markham Everard? Lies not England, after so much bloodshed, and so much
misery, as low beneath the sword of a fortunate soldier, as formerly
under the sceptre of an encroaching prince? Are Parliament, or what
remains of them, fitted to contend with a leader, master of his
soldiers' hearts, as bold and subtle as he is impenetrable in his
designs! This General, who holds the army, and by that the fate of the
nation in his hand, will he lay down his power because philosophy would
pronounce it his duty to become a subject?"
He dared not answer that his knowledge of Cromwell authorised him to
expect any such act of self-denial. Yet still he considered that in
times of such infinite difficulty, that must be the best government,
however little desirable in itself, which should most speedily restore
peace to the land, and stop the wounds which the contending parties
were daily inflicting on each other. He imagined that Cromwell was the
only authority under which a steady government could be formed, and
therefore had attached himself to his fortune, though not without
considerable and recurring doubts, how far serving the views of this
impenetrable and mysterious General was consistent with the principles
under which he had assumed arms.
While these things passed in his mind, Everard looked upon the packet
which lay on the table addressed to the Lord-General, and which he had
made up before sleep. He hesitated several times, when he remembered
its purport, and in what degree he must stand committed with that
personage, and bound to support his plans of aggrandizement, when once
that communication was in Oliver Cromwell's possession.
"Yet it must be so," he said at last, with a deep sigh. "Among the
contending parties, he is the strongestthe wisest and most moderate
and ambitious though he be, perhaps not the most dangerous. Some one
must be trusted with power to preserve and enforce general order, and
who can possess or wield such power like him that is head of the
victorious armies of England? Come what will in future, peace and the
restoration of law ought to be our first and most pressing object. This
remnant of a parliament cannot keep their ground against the army, by
mere appeal to the sanction of opinion. If they design to reduce the
soldiery, it must be by actual warfare, and the land has been too long
steeped in blood. But Cromwell may, and I trust will, make a moderate
accommodation with them, on grounds by which peace may be preserved;
and it is to this which we must look and trust for a settlement of the
kingdom, alas! and for the chance of protecting my obstinate kinsman
from the consequences of his honest though absurd pertinacity."
Silencing some internal feelings of doubt and reluctance by such
reasoning as this, Markham Everard continued in his resolution to unite
himself with Cromwell in the struggle which was evidently approaching
betwixt the civil and military authorities; not as the course which, if
at perfect liberty, he would have preferred adopting, but as the best
choice between two dangerous extremities to which the times had reduced
him. He could not help trembling, however, when he recollected that his
father, though hitherto the admirer of Cromwell, as the implement by
whom so many marvels had been wrought in England, might not be disposed
to unite with his interest against that of the Long Parliament, of
which he had been, till partly laid aside by continued indisposition,
an active and leading member. This doubt also he was obliged to swallow
or strangle, as he might; but consoled himself with the ready argument,
that it was impossible his father could see matters in another light
than that in which they occurred to himself.
CHAPTER THE SEVENTH.
Determined at length to dispatch his packet to the General without
delay, Colonel Everard approached the door of the apartment, in which,
as was evident from the heavy breathing within, the prisoner Wildrake
enjoyed a deep slumber, under the influence of liquor at once and of
fatigue. In turning the key, the bolt, which was rather rusty, made a
resistance so noisy, as partly to attract the sleeper's attention,
though not to awake him. Everard stood by his bedside, as he heard him
mutter, "Is it morning already, jailor?Why, you dog, an you had but a
cast of humanity in you, you would qualify your vile news with a cup of
sack;hanging is sorry work, my mastersand sorrow's dry."
"Up, Wildrakeup, thou ill-omened dreamer," said his friend, shaking
him by the collar.
"Hands off!" answered the sleeper."I can climb a ladder without help,
I trow."He then sate up in the bed, and opening his eyes, stared
around him, and exclaimed, "Zounds! Mark, is it only thou? I thought it
was all over with mefetters were struck from my legsrope drawn round
my gulletirons knocked off my handshempen cravat tucked on,all ready
for a dance in the open element upon slight footing."
"Truce with thy folly, Wildrake; sure the devil of drink, to whom thou
hast, I think, sold thyself"
"For a hogshead of sack," interrupted Wildrake; "the bargain was made
in a cellar in the Vintry."
"I am as mad as thou art, to trust any thing to thee," said Markham; "I
scarce believe thou hast thy senses yet."
"What should ail me?" said Wildrake"I trust I have not tasted liquor
in my sleep, saving that I dreamed of drinking small-beer with Old
Noll, of his own brewing. But do not look so glum, manI am the same
Roger Wildrake that I ever was; as wild as a mallard, but as true as a
game-cock. I am thine own chum, manbound to thee by thy kind deeds
devinctus beneficiothere is Latin for it; and where is the thing
thou wilt charge me with, that I wilt not, or dare not execute, were it
to pick the devil's teeth with my rapier, after he had breakfasted upon
round-heads?"
"You will drive me mad," said Everard."When I am about to intrust all
I have most valuable on earth to your management, your conduct and
language are those of a mere Bedlamite. Last night I made allowance for
thy drunken fury; but who can endure thy morning madness?it is unsafe
for thyself and me, Wildrakeit is unkindI might say ungrateful."
"Nay, do not say that, my friend," said the cavalier, with some show
of feeling; "and do not judge of me with a severity that cannot apply
to such as I am. We who have lost our all in these sad jars, who are
compelled to shift for our living, not from day to day, but from meal
to mealwe whose only hiding place is the jail, whose prospect of final
repose is the gallows,what canst thou expect from us, but to bear such
a lot with a light heart, since we should break down under it with a
heavy one?"
This was spoken in a tone of feeling which found a responding string in
Everard's bosom. He took his friend's hand, and pressed it kindly.
"Nay, if I seemed harsh to thee, Wildrake, I profess it was for thine
own sake more than mine. I know thou hast at the bottom of thy levity,
as deep a principle of honour and feeling as ever governed a human
heart. But thou art thoughtlessthou art rashand I protest to thee,
that wert thou to betray thyself in this matter, in which I trust thee,
the evil consequences to myself would not afflict me more than the
thought of putting thee into such danger."
"Nay, if you take it on that tone, Mark," said the cavalier, making an
effort to laugh, evidently that he might conceal a tendency to a
different emotion, "thou wilt make children of us bothbabes and
sucklings, by the hilt of this bilbo.Come, trust me; I can be cautious
when time requires itno man ever saw me drink when an alert was
expectedand not one poor pint of wine will I taste until I have
managed this matter for thee. Well, I am thy secretaryclerkI had
forgotand carry thy dispatches to Cromwell, taking good heed not to be
surprised or choused out of my lump of loyalty, (striking his finger on
the packet,) and I am to deliver it to the most loyal hands to which it
is most humbly addressedAdzooks, Mark, think of it a moment longer
Surely thou wilt not carry thy perverseness so far as to strike in with
this bloody-minded rebel?Bid me give him three inches of my
dudgeon-dagger, and I will do it much more willingly than present him
with thy packet."
"Go to," replied Everard, "this is beyond our bargain. If you will help
me it is well; if not, let me lose no time in debating with thee, since
I think every moment an age till the packet is in the General's
possession. It is the only way left me to obtain some protection, and a
place of refuge for my uncle and his daughter."
"That being the case," said the cavalier, "I will not spare the spur.
My nag up yonder at the town will be ready for the road in a trice, and
thou mayst reckon on my being with Old Nollthy General, I meanin as
short time as man and horse may consume betwixt Woodstock and Windsor,
where I think I shall for the present find thy friend keeping
possession where he has slain."
"Hush, not a word of that. Since we parted last night, I have shaped
thee a path which will suit thee better than to assume the decency of
language and of outward manner, of which thou hast so little. I have
acquainted the General that thou hast been by bad example and bad
education"
"Which is to be interpreted by contraries, I hope," said Wildrake; "for
sure I have been as well born and bred up as any lad of Leicestershire
might desire."
"Now, I prithee, hushthou hast, I say, by bad example become at one
time a malignant, and mixed in the party of the late King. But seeing
what things were wrought in the nation by the General, thou hast come
to a clearness touching his calling to be a great implement in the
settlement of these distracted kingdoms. This account of thee will not
only lead him to pass over some of thy eccentricities, should they
break out in spite of thee, but will also give thee an interest with
him as being more especially attached to his own person."
"Doubtless," said Wildrake, "as every fisher loves best the trouts that
are of his own tickling."
"It is likely, I think, he will send thee hither with letters to me,"
said the Colonel, "enabling me to put a stop to the proceedings of
these sequestrators, and to give poor old Sir Henry Lee permission to
linger out his days among the oaks he loves to look upon. I have made
this my request to General Cromwell, and I think my father's friendship
and my own may stretch so far on his regard without risk of cracking,
especially standing matters as they now dothou dost understand?"
"Entirely well," said the cavalier; "stretch, quotha!I would rather
stretch a rope than hold commerce with the old King-killing ruffian.
But I have said I will be guided by thee, Markham, and rat me but I
will."
"Be cautious, then," said Everard, "mark well what he does and
saysmore especially what he does; for Oliver is one of those whose
mind is better known by his actions than by his words; and stayI
warrant thee thou wert setting off without a cross in thy purse?"
"Too true, Mark," said Wildrake; "the last noble melted last night
among yonder blackguard troopers of yours."
"Well, Roger," replied the Colonel, "that is easily mended." So saying,
he slipped his purse into his friend's hand. "But art thou not an
inconsiderate weather-brained fellow, to set forth as thou wert about
to do, without any thing to bear thy charges; what couldst thou have
done?"
"Faith, I never thought of that; I must have cried Stand, I suppose,
to the first pursy townsman or greasy grazier that I met o' the
heathit is many a good fellow's shift in these bad times."
"Go to," said Everard; "be cautioususe none of your loose
acquaintancerule your tonguebeware of the wine-potfor there is
little danger if thou couldst only but keep thyself soberBe moderate
in speech, and forbear oaths or vaunting."
"In short, metamorphose myself into such a prig as thou art, Mark,
Well," said Wildrake, "so far as outside will go, I think I can make a
Hope-on-High-Bomby[1] as well as thou canst. Ah! those were merry
days when we saw Mills present Bomby at the Fortune playhouse, Mark,
ere I had lost my laced cloak and the jewel in my ear, or thou hadst
gotten the wrinkle on thy brow, and the puritanic twist of thy
mustache!"
[1] A puritanic character in one of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays.
"They were like most worldly pleasures, Wildrake," replied Everard,
"sweet in the mouth and bitter in digestion.But away with thee; and
when thou bring'st back my answer, thou wilt find me either here or at
Saint George's Inn, at the little borough.Good luck to theeBe but
cautious how thou bearest thyself."
The Colonel remained in deep meditation."I think," he said, "I have
not pledged myself too far to the General. A breach between him and the
Parliament seems inevitable, and would throw England back into civil
war, of which all men are wearied. He may dislike my messengeryet that
I do not greatly fear. He knows I would choose such as I can myself
depend on, and hath dealt enough with the stricter sort to be aware
that there are among them, as well as elsewhere, men who can hide two
faces under one hood."
CHAPTER THE EIGHTH.
For there in lofty air was seen to stand
The stern Protector of the conquer'd land;
Draw in that look with which he wept and swore,
Turn'd out the members and made fast the door,
Ridding the house of every knave and drone,
Forcedthough it grieved his soulto rule alone.
THE FRANK COURTSHIP.CRABBE.
Leaving Colonel Everard to his meditations, we follow the jolly
cavalier, his companion, who, before mounting at the George, did not
fail to treat himself to his morning-draught of eggs and muscadine, to
enable him to face the harvest wind.
Although he had suffered himself to be sunk in the extravagant license
which was practised by the cavaliers, as if to oppose their conduct in
every point to the preciseness of their enemies, yet Wildrake,
well-born and well-educated, and endowed with good natural parts, and a
heart which even debauchery, and the wild life of a roaring cavalier,
had not been able entirely to corrupt, moved on his present embassy
with a strange mixture of feelings, such as perhaps he had never in his
life before experienced.
His feelings as a loyalist led him to detest Cromwell, whom in other
circumstances he would scarce have wished to see, except in a field of
battle, where he could have had the pleasure to exchange pistol-shots
with him. But with this hatred there was mixed a certain degree of
fear. Always victorious wherever he fought, the remarkable person whom
Wildrake was now approaching had acquired that influence over the minds
of his enemies, which constant success is so apt to inspirethey
dreaded while they hated himand joined to these feelings, was a
restless meddling curiosity, which made a particular feature in
Wildrake's character, who, having long had little business of his own,
and caring nothing about that which he had, was easily attracted by the
desire of seeing whatever was curious or interesting around him.
"I should like to see the old rascal after all," he said, "were it but
to say that I had seen him."
He reached Windsor in the afternoon, and felt on his arrival the
strongest inclination to take up his residence at some of his old
haunts, when he had occasionally frequented that fair town in gayer
days. But resisting all temptations of this kind, he went courageously
to the principal inn, from which its ancient emblem, the Garter, had
long disappeared. The master, too, whom Wildrake, experienced in his
knowledge of landlords and hostelries, had remembered a dashing Mine
Host of Queen Bess's school, had now sobered down to the temper of the
times, shook his head when he spoke of the Parliament, wielded his
spigot with the gravity of a priest conducting a sacrifice, wished
England a happy issue out of all her difficulties, and greatly lauded
his Excellency the Lord-General. Wildrake also remarked, that his wine
was better than it was wont to be, the Puritans having an excellent
gift at detecting every fallacy in that matter; and that his measures
were less and his charges largercircumstances which he was induced to
attend to, by mine host talking a good deal about his conscience.
He was told by this important personage, that the Lord-General received
frankly all sorts of persons; and that he might obtain access to him
next morning, at eight o'clock, for the trouble of presenting himself
at the Castle-gate, and announcing himself as the bearer of despatches
to his Excellency.
To the Castle the disguised cavalier repaired at the hour appointed.
Admittance was freely permitted to him by the red-coated soldier, who,
with austere looks, and his musket on his shoulder, mounted guard at
the external gate of that noble building. Wildrake passed through the
underward or court, gazing as he passed upon the beautiful Chapel,
which had but lately received, in darkness and silence, the unhonoured
remains of the slaughtered King of England. Rough as Wildrake was, the
recollection of this circumstance affected him so strongly, that he had
nearly turned back in a sort of horror, rather than face the dark and
daring man, to whom, amongst all the actors in that melancholy affair,
its tragic conclusion was chiefly to be imputed. But he felt the
necessity of subduing all sentiments of this nature, and compelled
himself to proceed in a negotiation intrusted to his conduct by one to
whom he was so much obliged as Colonel Everard. At the ascent, which
passed by the Round Tower, he looked to the ensign-staff, from which
the banner of England was wont to float. It was gone, with all its rich
emblazonry, its gorgeous quarterings, and splendid embroidery; and in
its room waved that of the Commonwealth, the cross of Saint George, in
its colours of blue and red, not yet intersected by the diagonal cross
of Scotland, which was soon after assumed, as if in evidence of
England's conquest over her ancient enemy. This change of ensigns
increased the train of his gloomy reflections, in which, although
contrary to his wont, he became so deeply wrapped, that the first thing
which recalled him to himself, was the challenge from the sentinel,
accompanied with a stroke of the butt of his musket on the pavement,
with an emphasis which made Wildrake start.
"Whither away, and who are you?"
"The bearer of a packet," answered Wildrake, "to the worshipful the
Lord-General."
"Stand till I call the officer of the guard."
The corporal made his appearance, distinguished above those of his
command by a double quantity of band round his neck, a double height of
steeple-crowned hat, a larger allowance of cloak, and a treble
proportion of sour gravity of aspect. It might be read on his
countenance, that he was one of those resolute enthusiasts to whom
Oliver owed his conquests, whose religious zeal made them even more
than a match for the high-spirited and high-born cavaliers, who
exhausted their valour in vain defence of their sovereign's person and
crown. He looked with grave solemnity at Wildrake, as if he was making
in his own mind an inventory of his features and dress; and having
fully perused them, he required "to know his business."
"My business," said Wildrake, as firmly as he couldfor the close
investigation of this man had given him some unpleasant nervous
sensations"my business is with your General."
"With his Excellency the Lord-General, thou wouldst say?" replied the
corporal. "Thy speech, my friend, savours too little of the reverence
due to his Excellency."
"Dn his Excellency!" was at the lips of the cavalier; but prudence
kept guard, and permitted not the offensive words to escape the
barrier. He only bowed, and was silent.
"Follow me," said the starched figure whom he addressed; and Wildrake
followed him accordingly into the guard-house, which exhibited an
interior characteristic of the times, and very different from what such
military stations present at the present day.
By the fire sat two or three musketeers, listening to one who was
expounding some religious mystery to them. He began half beneath his
breath, but in tones of great volubility, which tones, as he approached
the conclusion, became sharp and eager, as challenging either instant
answer or silent acquiescence. The audience seemed to listen to the
speaker with immovable features, only answering him with clouds of
tobacco-smoke, which they rolled from under their thick mustaches. On a
bench lay a soldier on his face: whether asleep, or in a fit of
contemplation, it was impossible to decide. In the midst of the floor
stood an officer, as he seemed by his embroidered shoulder-belt and
scarf round his waist, otherwise very plainly attired, who was engaged
in drilling a stout bumpkin, lately enlisted, to the manual, as it was
then used. The motions and words of command were twenty at the very
least; and until they were regularly brought to an end, the corporal
did not permit Wildrake either to sit down or move forward beyond the
threshold of the guard-house. So he had to listen in succession
toPoise your musketRest your musketCock your musketHandle your
primersand many other forgotten words of discipline, until at length
the words, "Order your musket," ended the drill for the time. "Thy
name, friend?" said the officer to the recruit, when the lesson was
over.
"Ephraim," answered the fellow, with an affected twang through the
nose.
"And what besides Ephraim?"
"Ephraim Cobb, from the goodly city of Glocester, where I have dwelt
for seven years, serving apprentice to a praiseworthy cordwainer."
"It is a goodly craft," answered the officer; "but casting in thy lot
with ours, doubt not that thou shalt be set beyond thine awl, and thy
last to boot."
A grim smile of the speaker accompanied this poor attempt at a pun; and
then turning round to the corporal, who stood two paces off, with the
face of one who seemed desirous of speaking, said, "How now, corporal,
what tidings?"
"Here is one with a packet, an please your Excellency," said the
corporal"Surely my spirit doth not rejoice in him, seeing I esteem him
as a wolf in sheep's clothing."
By these words, Wildrake learned that he was in the actual presence of
the remarkable person to whom he was commissioned; and he paused to
consider in what manner he ought to address him.
The figure of Oliver Cromwell was, as is generally known, in no way
prepossessing. He was of middle stature, strong and coarsely made, with
harsh and severe features, indicative, however, of much natural
sagacity and depth of thought. His eyes were grey and piercing; his
nose too large in proportion to his other features, and of a reddish
hue.
His manner of speaking, when he had the purpose to make himself
distinctly understood, was energetic and forcible, though neither
graceful nor eloquent. No man could on such occasion put his meaning
into fewer and more decisive words. But when, as it often happened, he
had a mind to play the orator, for the benefit of people's ears,
without enlightening their understanding, Cromwell was wont to invest
his meaning, or that which seemed to be his meaning, in such a mist of
words, surrounding it with so many exclusions and exceptions, and
fortifying it with such a labyrinth of parentheses, that though one of
the most shrewd men in England, he was, perhaps, the most
unintelligible speaker that ever perplexed an audience. It has been
long since said by the historian, that a collection of the Protector's
speeches would make, with a few exceptions, the most nonsensical book
in the world; but he ought to have added, that nothing could be more
nervous, concise, and intelligible, than what he really intended should
be understood.
It was also remarked of Cromwell, that though born of a good family,
both by father and mother, and although he had the usual opportunities
of education and breeding connected with such an advantage, the fanatic
democratic ruler could never acquire, or else disdained to practise,
the courtesies usually exercised among the higher classes in their
intercourse with each other. His demeanour was so blunt as sometimes
might be termed clownish, yet there was in his language and manner a
force and energy corresponding to his character, which impressed awe,
if it did not impose respect; and there were even times when that dark
and subtle spirit expanded itself, so as almost to conciliate
affection. The turn for humour, which displayed itself by fits, was
broad, and of a low, and sometimes practical character. Something there
was in his disposition congenial to that of his countrymen; a contempt
of folly, a hatred of affectation, and a dislike of ceremony, which,
joined to the strong intrinsic qualities of sense and courage, made him
in many respects not an unfit representative of the democracy of
England.
His religion must always be a subject of much doubt, and probably of
doubt which he himself could hardly have cleared up. Unquestionably
there was a time in his life when he was sincerely enthusiastic, and
when his natural temper, slightly subject to hypochondria, was strongly
agitated by the same fanaticism which influenced so many persons of the
time. On the other hand, there were periods during his political
career, when we certainly do him no injustice in charging him with a
hypocritical affectation. We shall probably judge him, and others of
the same age, most truly, if we suppose that their religious
professions were partly influential in their own breasts, partly
assumed in compliance with their own interest. And so ingenious is the
human heart in deceiving itself as well as others, that it is probable
neither Cromwell himself, nor those making similar pretensions to
distinguished piety, could exactly have fixed the point at which their
enthusiasm terminated and their hypocrisy commenced; or rather, it was
a point not fixed in itself, but fluctuating with the state of health,
of good or bad fortune, of high or low spirits, affecting the
individual at the period.
Such was the celebrated person, who, turning round on Wildrake, and
scanning his countenance closely, seemed so little satisfied with what
he beheld, that he instinctively hitched forward his belt, so as to
bring the handle of his tuck-sword within his reach. But yet, folding
his arms in his cloak, as if upon second thoughts laying aside
suspicion, or thinking precaution beneath him, he asked the cavalier
what he was, and whence he came?
"A poor gentleman, sir,that is, my lord,"answered Wildrake; "last
from Woodstock."
"And what may your tidings be, sir gentleman?" said Cromwell, with an
emphasis. "Truly I have seen those most willing to take upon them that
title, bear themselves somewhat short of wise men, and good men, and
true men, with all their gentility; yet gentleman was a good title in
old England, when men remembered what it was construed to mean."
"You say truly, sir," replied Wildrake, suppressing, with difficulty,
some of his usual wild expletives; "formerly gentlemen were found in
gentlemen's places, but now the world is so changed that you shall find
the broidered belt has changed place with the under spur-leather."
"Say'st thou me?" said the General; "I profess thou art a bold
companion, that can bandy words so wantonly;thou ring'st somewhat too
loud to be good metal, methinks. And, once again, what are thy tidings
with me?"
"This packet," said Wildrake, "commended to your hands by Colonel
Markham Everard."
"Alas, I must have mistaken thee," answered Cromwell, mollified at the
mention of a man's name whom he had great desire to make his own;
"forgive us, good friend, for such, we doubt not, thou art. Sit thee
down, and commune with thyself as thou may'st, until we have examined
the contents of thy packet. Let him be looked to, and have what he
lacks." So saying the General left the guard-house, where Wildrake took
his seat in the corner, and awaited with patience the issue of his
mission.
The soldiers now thought themselves obliged to treat him with more
consideration, and offered him a pipe of Trinidado, and a black jack
filled with October. But the look of Cromwell, and the dangerous
situation in which he might be placed by the least chance of detection,
induced Wildrake to decline these hospitable offers, and stretching
back in his chair, and affecting slumber, he escaped notice or
conversation, until a sort of aide-de-camp, or military officer in
attendance, came to summon him to Cromwell's presence.
By this person he was guided to a postern-gate, through which he
entered the body of the Castle, and penetrating through many private
passages and staircases, he at length was introduced into a small
cabinet, or parlour, in which was much rich furniture, some bearing the
royal cipher displayed, but all confused and disarranged, together with
several paintings in massive frames, having their faces turned towards
the wall, as if they had been taken down for the purpose of being
removed.
In this scene of disorder, the victorious General of the Commonwealth
was seated in a large easy-chair, covered with damask, and deeply
embroidered, the splendour of which made a strong contrast with the
plain, and even homely character of his apparel; although in look and
action he seemed like one who felt that the seat which might have in
former days held a prince, was not too much distinguished for his own
fortunes and ambition. Wildrake stood before him, nor did he ask him to
sit down.
"Pearson," said Cromwell, addressing himself to the officer in
attendance, "wait in the gallery, but be within call." Pearson bowed,
and was retiring. "Who are in the gallery beside?"
"Worthy Mr. Gordon, the chaplain, was holding forth but now to Colonel
Overton, and four captains of your Excellency's regiment."
"We would have it so," said the General; "we would not there were any
corner in our dwelling where the hungry soul might not meet with manna.
Was the good man carried onward in his discourse?"
"Mightily borne through," said Pearson; "and he was touching the
rightful claims which the army, and especially your Excellency, hath
acquired by becoming the instruments in the great work;not instruments
to be broken asunder and cast away when the day of their service is
over, but to be preserved, and held precious, and prized for their
honourable and faithful labours, for which they have fought and
marched, and fasted, and prayed, and suffered cold and sorrow; while
others, who would now gladly see them disbanded, and broken, and
cashiered, eat of the fat, and drink of the strong."
"Ah, good man!" said Cromwell, "and did he touch upon this so
feelingly! I could say somethingbut not now. Begone, Pearson, to the
gallery. Let not our friends lay aside their swords, but watch as well
as pray."
Pearson retired; and the General, holding the letter of Everard in his
hand, looked again for a long while fixedly at Wildrake, as if
considering in what strain he should address him.
When he did speak, it was, at first, in one of those ambiguous
discourses which we have already described, and by which it was very
difficult for any one to understand his meaning, if, indeed, he knew
himself. We shall be as concise in our statement, as our desire to give
the very words of a man so extraordinary will permit.
"This letter," he said, "you have brought us from your master, or
patron, Markham Everard; truly an excellent and honourable gentleman as
ever bore a sword upon his thigh, and one who hath ever distinguished
himself in the great work of delivering these three poor unhappy
nations. Answer me not: I know what thou wouldst say.And this letter
he hath sent to me by thee, his clerk, or secretary, in whom he hath
confidence, and in whom he prays me to have trust, that there may be a
careful messenger between us. And lastly, he hath sent thee to meDo
not answerI know what thou wouldst say,to me, who, albeit, I am of
that small consideration, that it would be too much honour for me even
to bear a halberd in this great and victorious army of England, am
nevertheless exalted to the rank of holding the guidance and the
leading-staff thereof.Nay, do not answer, my friendI know what thou
wouldst say. Now, when communing thus together, our discourse taketh,
in respect to what I have said, a threefold argument, or division:
First, as it concerneth thy master; secondly, as it concerneth us and
our office; thirdly and lastly, as it toucheth thyself.Now, as
concerning this good and worthy gentleman, Colonel Markham Everard,
truly he hath played the man from the beginning of these unhappy
buffetings, not turning to the right or to the left, but holding ever
in his eye the mark at which he aimed. Ay, truly, a faithful,
honourable gentleman, and one who may well call me friend; and truly I
am pleased to think that he doth so. Nevertheless, in this vale of
tears, we must be governed less by our private respects and
partialities, than by those higher principles and points of duty,
whereupon the good Colonel Markham Everard hath ever framed his
purposes, as, truly, I have endeavoured to form mine, that we may all
act as becometh good Englishmen and worthy patriots. Then, as for
Woodstock, it is a great thing which the good Colonel asks, that it
should be taken from the spoil of the godly and left in keeping of the
men of Moab, and especially of the malignant, Henry Lee, whose hand
hath been ever against us when he might find room to raise it; I say,
he hath asked a great thing, both in respect of himself and me. For we
of this poor but godly army of England, are holden, by those of the
Parliament, as men who should render in spoil for them, but be no
sharer of it ourselves; even as the buck, which the hounds pull to
earth, furnisheth no part of their own food, but they are lashed off
from the carcass with whips, like those which require punishment for
their forwardness, not reward for their services. Yet I speak not this
so much in respect of this grant of Woodstock, in regard, that,
perhaps, their Lordships of the Council, and also the Committeemen of
this Parliament, may graciously think they have given me a portion in
the matter, in relation that my kinsman Desborough hath an interest
allowed him therein; which interest, as he hath well deserved it for
his true and faithful service to these unhappy and devoted countries,
so it would ill become me to diminish the same to his prejudice, unless
it were upon great and public respects. Thus thou seest how it stands
with me, my honest friend, and in what mind I stand touching thy
master's request to me; which yet I do not say that I can altogether,
or unconditionally, grant or refuse, but only tell my simple thoughts
with regard thereto. Thou understandest me, I doubt not?"
Now, Roger Wildrake, with all the attention he had been able to pay to
the Lord-General's speech, had got so much confused among the various
clauses of the harangue, that his brain was bewildered, like that of a
country clown when he chances to get himself involved among a crowd of
carriages, and cannot stir a step to get out of the way of one of them,
without being in danger of being ridden over by the others.
The General saw his look of perplexity, and began a new oration, to the
same purpose as before; spoke of his love for his kind friend the
Colonelhis regard for his pious and godly kinsman, Master Desborough
the great importance of the Palace and Park of Woodstockthe
determination of the Parliament that it should be confiscated, and the
produce brought into the coffers of the statehis own deep veneration
for the authority of Parliament, and his no less deep sense of the
injustice done to the armyhow it was his wish and will that all
matters should be settled in an amicable and friendly manner, without
self-seeking, debate, or strife, betwixt those who had been the hands
acting, and such as had been the heads governing, in that great
national causehow he was willing, truly willing, to contribute to this
work, by laying down, not his commission only, but his life also, if it
were requested of him, or could be granted with safety to the poor
soldiers, to whom, silly poor men, he was bound to be as a father,
seeing that they had followed him with the duty and affection of
children.
And here he arrived at another dead pause, leaving Wildrake as
uncertain as before, whether it was or was not his purpose to grant
Colonel Everard the powers he had asked for the protection of Woodstock
against the Parliamentary Commissioners. Internally he began to
entertain hopes that the justice of Heaven, or the effects of remorse,
had confounded the regicide's understanding. But nohe could see
nothing but sagacity in that steady stern eye, which, while the tongue
poured forth its periphrastic language in such profusion, seemed to
watch with severe accuracy the effect which his oratory produced on the
listener.
"Egad," thought the cavalier to himself, becoming a little familiar
with the situation in which he was placed, and rather impatient of a
conversationwhich led to no visible conclusion or termination, "If
Noll were the devil himself, as he is the devil's darling, I will not
be thus nose-led by him. I'll e'en brusque it a little, if he goes on
at this rate, and try if I can bring him to a more intelligible mode of
speaking."
Entertaining this bold purpose, but half afraid to execute it, Wildrake
lay by for an opportunity of making the attempt, while Cromwell was
apparently unable to express his own meaning. He was already beginning
a third panegyric upon Colonel Everard, with sundry varied expressions
of his own wish to oblige him, when Wildrake took the opportunity to
strike in, on the General's making one of his oratorical pauses.
"So please you" he said bluntly, "your worship has already spoken on
two topics of your discourse, your own worthiness, and that of my
master, Colonel Everard. But, to enable me to do mine errand, it would
be necessary to bestow a few words on the third head."
"The third?" said Cromwell.
"Ay," said Wildrake, "which, in your honour's subdivision of your
discourse, touched on my unworthy self. What am I to dowhat portion am
I to have in this matter?"
Oliver started at once from the tone of voice he had hitherto used, and
which somewhat resembled the purring of a domestic cat, into the growl
of the tiger when about to spring. "Thy portion, jail-bird!" he
exclaimed, "the gallowsthou shalt hang as high as Haman, if thou
betray counsel!But," he added, softening his voice, "keep it like a
true man, and my favour will be the making of thee. Come hitherthou
art bold, I see, though somewhat saucy. Thou hast been a malignantso
writes my worthy friend Colonel Everard; but thou hast now given up
that falling cause. I tell thee, friend, not all that the Parliament or
the army could do would have pulled down the Stewarts out of their high
places, saving that Heaven had a controversy with them. Well, it is a
sweet and comely thing to buckle on one's armour in behalf of Heaven's
cause; otherwise truly, for mine own part, these men might have
remained upon the throne even unto this day. Neither do I blame any for
aiding them, until these successive great judgments have overwhelmed
them and their house. I am not a bloody man, having in me the feeling
of human frailty; but, friend, whosoever putteth his hand to the
plough, in the great actings which are now on foot in these nations,
had best beware that he do not look back; for, rely upon my simple
word, that if you fail me, I will not spare on you one foot's length of
the gallows of Haman. Let me therefore know, at a word, if the leaven
of thy malignancy is altogether drubbed out of thee?" "Your honourable
lordship," said the cavalier, shrugging up his shoulders, "has done
that for most of us, so far as cudgelling to some tune can perform it."
"Say'st thou?" said the General, with a grim smile on his lip, which
seemed to intimate that he was not quite inaccessible to flattery;
"yea, truly, thou dost not lie in thatwe have been an instrument.
Neither are we, as I have already hinted, so severely bent against
those who have striven against us as malignants, as others may be. The
parliament-men best know their own interest and their own pleasure;
but, to my poor thinking, it is full time to close these jars, and to
allow men of all kinds the means of doing service to their country; and
we think it will be thy fault if thou art not employed to good purpose
for the state and thyself, on condition thou puttest away the old man
entirely from thee, and givest thy earnest attention to what I have to
tell thee."
"Your lordship need not doubt my attention," said the cavalier. And the
republican General, after another pause, as one who gave his confidence
not without hesitation, proceeded to explain his views with a
distinctness which he seldom used, yet not without his being a little
biassed now and then, by his long habits of circumlocution, which
indeed he never laid entirely aside, save in the field of battle.
"Thou seest," he said, "my friend, how things stand with me. The
Parliament, I care not who knows it, love me notstill less do the
Council of State, by whom they manage the executive government of the
kingdom. I cannot tell why they nourish suspicion against me, unless it
is because I will not deliver this poor innocent army, which has
followed me in so many military actions, to be now pulled asunder,
broken piecemeal and reduced, so that they who have protected the state
at the expense of their blood, will not have, perchance, the means of
feeding themselves by their labour; which, methinks, were hard measure,
since it is taking from Esau his birthright, even without giving him a
poor mess of pottage."
"Esau is likely to help himself, I think," replied Wildrake.
"Truly, thou say'st wisely," replied the General; "it is ill starving
an armed man, if there is food to be had for takingnevertheless, far
be it from me to encourage rebellion, or want of due subordination to
these our rulers. I would only petition, in a due and becoming, a sweet
and harmonious manner, that they would listen to our conditions, and
consider our necessities. But, sir, looking on me, and estimating me so
little as they do, you must think that it would be a provocation in me
towards the Council of State, as well as the Parliament, if, simply to
gratify your worthy master, I were to act contrary to their purposes,
or deny currency to the commission under their authority, which is as
yet the highest in the Stateand long may it be so for me!to carry on
the sequestration which they intend. And would it not also be said,
that I was lending myself to the malignant interest, affording this den
of the blood-thirsty and lascivious tyrants of yore, to be in this our
day a place of refuge to that old and inveterate Amalekite, Sir Henry
Lee, to keep possession of the place in which he hath so long glorified
himself? Truly it would be a perilous matter."
"Am I then to report," said Wildrake, "an it please you, that you
cannot stead Colonel Everard in this matter?"
"Unconditionally, aybut, taken conditionally, the answer may be
otherwise,"answered Cromwell. "I see thou art not able to fathom my
purpose, and therefore I will partly unfold it to thee.But take
notice, that, should thy tongue betray my counsel, save in so far as
carrying it to thy master, by all the blood which has been shed in
these wild times, thou shalt die a thousand deaths in one!"
"Do not fear me, sir," said Wildrake, whose natural boldness and
carelessness of character was for the present time borne down and
quelled, like that of falcon's in the presence of the eagle.
"Hear me, then," said Cromwell, "and let no syllable escape thee.
Knowest thou not the young Lee, whom they call Albert, a malignant like
his father, and one who went up with the young Man to that last ruffle
which we had with him at WorcesterMay we be grateful for the victory!"
"I know there is such a young gentleman as Albert Lee," said Wildrake.
"And knowest thou notI speak not by way of prying into the good
Colonel's secrets, but only as it behoves me to know something of the
matter, that I may best judge how I am to serve himKnowest thou not
that thy master, Markham Everard, is a suitor after the sister of this
same malignant, a daughter of the old Keeper, called Sir Henry Lee?"
"All this I have heard," said Wildrake, "nor can I deny that I believe
in it."
"Well then, go to.When the young man Charles Stewart fled from the
field of Worcester, and was by sharp chase and pursuit compelled to
separate himself from his followers, I know by sure intelligence that
this Albert Lee was one of the last who remained with him, if not
indeed the very last."
"It was devilish like him," said the cavalier, without sufficiently
weighing his expressions, considering in what presence they were to be
uttered"And I'll uphold him with my rapier, to be a true chip of the
old block!"
"Ha, swearest thou?" said the General. "Is this thy reformation?"
"I never swear, so please you," replied Wildrake, recollecting himself,
"except there is some mention of malignants and cavaliers in my
hearing; and then the old habit returns, and I swear like one of
Goring's troopers."
"Out upon thee," said the General; "what can it avail thee to practise
a profanity so horrible to the ears of others, and which brings no
emolument to him who uses it?"
"There are, doubtless, more profitable sins in the world than the
barren and unprofitable vice of swearing," was the answer which rose to
the lips of the cavalier; but that was exchanged for a profession of
regret for having given offence. The truth was, the discourse began to
take a turn which rendered it more interesting than ever to Wildrake,
who therefore determined not to lose the opportunity for obtaining
possession of the secret that seemed to be suspended on Cromwells lips;
and that could only be through means of keeping guard upon his own.
"What sort of a house is Woodstock?" said the General, abruptly.
"An old mansion," said Wildrake, in reply; "and, so far as I could
judge by a single night's lodgings, having abundance of backstairs,
also subterranean passages, and all the communications under ground,
which are common in old raven-nests of the sort."
"And places for concealing priests, unquestionably," said Cromwell. "It
is seldom that such ancient houses lack secret stalls wherein to mew up
these calves of Bethel."
"Your Honour's Excellency," said Wildrake, "may swear to that."
"I swear not at all," replied the General, drily."But what think'st
thou, good fellow?I will ask thee a blunt questionWhere will those
two Worcester fugitives that thou wottest of be more likely to take
shelterand that they must be sheltered somewhere I well knowthan, in
this same old palace, with all the corners and concealment whereof
young Albert hath been acquainted ever since his earliest infancy?"
"Truly," said Wildrake, making an effort to answer the question with
seeming indifference, while the possibility of such an event, and its
consequences, flashed fearfully upon his mind,"Truly, I should be of
your honour's opinion, but that I think the company, who, by the
commission of Parliament, have occupied Woodstock, are likely to fright
them thence, as a cat scares doves from a pigeon-house. The
neighbourhood, with reverence, of Generals Desborough and Harrison,
will suit ill with fugitives from Worcester field."
"I thought as much, and so, indeed, would I have it," answered the
General. "Long may it be ere our names shall be aught but a terror to
our enemies. But in this matter, if thou art an active plotter for thy
master's interest, thou might'st, I should think, work out something
favourable to his present object."
"My brain is too poor to reach the depth of your honourable purpose,"
said Wildrake.
"Listen, then, and let it be to profit," answered Cromwell. "Assuredly
the conquest at Worcester was a great and crowning mercy; yet might we
seem to be but small in our thankfulness for the same, did we not do
what in us lies towards the ultimate improvement and final conclusion
of the great work which has been thus prosperous in our hands,
professing, in pure humility and singleness of heart, that we do not,
in any way, deserve our instrumentality to be remembered, nay, would
rather pray and entreat, that our name and fortunes were forgotten,
than that the great work were in itself incomplete. Nevertheless,
truly, placed as we now are, it concerns us more nearly than
others,that is, if so poor creatures should at all speak of themselves
as concerned, whether more or less, with these changes which have been
wrought around,not, I say, by ourselves, or our own power, but by the
destiny to which we were called, fulfilling the same with all meekness
and humility,I say it concerns us nearly that all things should be
done in conformity with the great work which hath been wrought, and is
yet working, in these lands. Such is my plain and simple meaning.
Nevertheless, it is much to be desired that this young man, this King
of Scots, as he called himselfthis Charles Stewartshould not escape
forth from the nation, where his arrival has wrought so much
disturbance and bloodshed."
"I have no doubt," said the cavalier, looking down, "that your
lordship's wisdom hath directed all things as they may best lead
towards such a consummation; and I pray your pains may be paid as they
deserve."
"I thank thee, friend," said Cromwell, with much humility; "doubtless
we shall meet our reward, being in the hands of a good paymaster, who
never passeth Saturday night. But understand me, friendI desire no
more than my own share in the good work. I would heartily do what poor
kindness I can to your worthy master, and even to you in your
degreefor such as I do not converse with ordinary men, that our
presence may be forgotten like an every-day's occurrence. We speak to
men like thee for their reward or their punishment; and I trust it will
be the former which thou in thine office wilt merit at my hand."
"Your honour," said Wildrake, "speaks like one accustomed to command."
"True; men's minds are likened to those of my degree by fear and
reverence," said the General;"but enough of that, desiring, as I do,
no other dependency on my special person than is alike to us all upon
that which is above us. But I would desire to cast this golden ball
into your master's lap. He hath served against this Charles Stewart and
his father. But he is a kinsman near to the old knight Lee, and stands
well affected towards his daughter. Thou also wilt keep a watch, my
friendthat ruffling look of thine will procure thee the confidence of
every malignant, and the prey cannot approach this cover, as though to
shelter, like a coney in the rocks, but thou wilt be sensible of his
presence."
"I make a shift to comprehend your Excellency," said the cavalier; "and
I thank you heartily for the good opinion you have put upon me, and
which, I pray I may have some handsome opportunity of deserving, that I
may show my gratitude by the event. But still, with reverence, your
Excellency's scheme seems unlikely, while Woodstock remains in
possession of the sequestrators. Both the old knight and his son, and
far more such a fugitive as your honor hinted at, will take special
care not to approach it till they are removed."
"It is for that I have been dealing with thee thus long," said the
General."I told thee that I was something unwilling, upon slight
occasion, to dispossess the sequestrators by my own proper warrant,
although having, perhaps, sufficient authority in the state both to do
so, and to despise the murmurs of those who blame me. In brief, I would
be both to tamper with my privileges, and make experiments between
their strength, and the powers of the commission granted by others,
without pressing need, or at least great prospect of advantage. So, if
thy Colonel will undertake, for his love of the Republic, to find the
means of preventing its worst and nearest danger, which must needs
occur from the escape of this young Man, and will do his endeavour to
stay him, in case his flight should lead him to Woodstock, which I hold
very likely, I will give thee an order to these sequestrators, to
evacuate the palace instantly; and to the next troop of my regiment,
which lies at Oxford, to turn them out by the shoulders, if they make
any scruplesAy, even, for example's sake, if they drag Desborough out
foremost, though he be wedded to my sister."
"So please you, sir," said Wildrake, "and with your most powerful
warrant, I trust I might expel the commissioners, even without the aid
of your most warlike and devout troopers."
"That is what I am least anxious about," replied the General; "I should
like to see the best of them sit after I had nodded to them to begone
always excepting the worshipful House, in whose name our commissions
run; but who, as some think, will be done with politics ere it be time
to renew them. Therefore, what chiefly concerns me to know, is, whether
thy master will embrace a traffic which hath such a fair promise of
profit with it. I am well convinced that, with a scout like thee, who
hast been in the cavaliers' quarters, and canst, I should guess, resume
thy drinking, ruffianly, health-quaffing manners whenever thou hast a
mind, he must discover where this Stewart hath ensconced himself.
Either the young Lee will visit the old one in person, or he will write
to him, or hold communication with him by letter. At all events,
Markham Everard and thou must have an eye in every hair of your head."
While he spoke, a flush passed over his brow, he rose from his chair,
and paced the apartment in agitation. "Woe to you, if you suffer the
young adventurer to escape me!you had better be in the deepest dungeon
in Europe, than breathe the air of England, should you but dream of
playing me false. I have spoken freely to thee, fellowmore freely than
is my wontthe time required it. But, to share my confidence is like
keeping a watch over a powder-magazine, the least and most
insignificant spark blows thee to ashes. Tell your master what I
saidbut not how I said itFie, that I should have been betrayed into
this distemperature of passion! begone, sirrah. Pearson shall bring
thee sealed ordersYet, staythou hast something to ask."
"I would know," said Wildrake, to whom the visible anxiety of the
General gave some confidence, "what is the figure of this young
gallant, in case I should find him?"
"A tall, rawboned, swarthy lad, they say he has shot up into. Here is
his picture by a good hand, some time since." He turned round one of
the portraits which stood with its face against the wall; but it proved
not to be that of Charles the Second, but of his unhappy father.
The first motion of Cromwell indicated a purpose of hastily replacing
the picture, and it seemed as if an effort were necessary to repress
his disinclination to look upon it. But he did repress it, and, placing
the picture against the wall, withdrew slowly and sternly, as if, in
defiance of his own feelings, he was determined to gain a place from
which to see it to advantage. It was well for Wildrake that his
dangerous companion had not turned an eye on him, for his blood also
kindled when he saw the portrait of his master in the hands of the
chief author of his death. Being a fierce and desperate man, he
commanded his passion with great difficulty; and if, on its first
violence, he had been provided with a suitable weapon, it is possible
Cromwell would never have ascended higher in his bold ascent towards
supreme power.
But this natural and sudden flash of indignation, which rushed through
the veins of an ordinary man like Wildrake, was presently subdued, when
confronted with the strong yet stifled emotion displayed by so powerful
a character as Cromwell. As the cavalier looked on his dark and bold
countenance, agitated by inward and indescribable feelings, he found
his own violence of spirit die away and lose itself in fear and wonder.
So true it is, that as greater lights swallow up and extinguish the
display of those which are less, so men of great, capacious, and
overruling minds, bear aside and subdue, in their climax of passion,
the more feeble wills and passions of others; as, when a river joins a
brook, the fiercer torrent shoulders aside the smaller stream.
Wildrake stood a silent, inactive, and almost a terrified spectator,
while Cromwell, assuming a firm sternness of eye and manner, as one who
compels himself to look on what some strong internal feeling renders
painful and disgustful to him, proceeded, in brief and interrupted
expressions, but yet with a firm voice, to comment on the portrait of
the late King. His words seemed less addressed to Wildrake, than to be
the spontaneous unburdening of his own bosom, swelling under
recollection of the past and anticipation of the future.
"That Flemish painter" he said"that Antonio Vandyckwhat a power he
has! Steel may mutilate, warriors may waste and destroystill the King
stands uninjured by time; and our grandchildren, while they read his
history, may look on his image, and compare the melancholy features
with the woful tale.It was a stern necessityit was an awful deed! The
calm pride of that eye might have ruled worlds of crouching Frenchmen,
or supple Italians, or formal Spaniards; but its glances only roused
the native courage of the stern Englishman.Lay not on poor sinful man,
whose breath is in, his nostrils, the blame that he falls, when Heaven
never gave him strength of nerves to stand! The weak rider is thrown by
his unruly horse, and trampled to deaththe strongest man, the best
cavalier, springs to the empty saddle, and uses bit and spur till the
fiery steed knows its master. Who blames him, who, mounted aloft, rides
triumphantly amongst the people, for having succeeded, where the
unskilful and feeble fell and died? Verily he hath his reward: Then,
what is that piece of painted canvas to me more than others? No; let
him show to others the reproaches of that cold, calm face, that proud
yet complaining eye: Those who have acted on higher respects have no
cause to start at painted shadows. Not wealth nor power brought me from
my obscurity. The oppressed consciences, the injured liberties of
England, were the banner that I followed."
He raised his voice so high, as if pleading in his own defence before
some tribunal, that Pearson, the officer in attendance, looked into the
apartment; and observing his master, with his eyes kindling, his arm
extended, his foot advanced, and his voice raised, like a general in
the act of commanding the advance of his army, he instantly withdrew.
"It was other than selfish regards that drew me forth to action,"
continued Cromwell, "and I dare the worlday, living or dead I
challengeto assert that I armed for a private cause, or as a means of
enlarging my fortunes. Neither was there a trooper in the regiment who
came there with less of personal ill will to yonder unhappy"
At this moment the door of the apartment opened, and a gentlewoman
entered, who, from her resemblance to the General, although her
features were soft and feminine, might be immediately recognised as his
daughter. She walked up to Cromwell, gently but firmly passed her arm
through his, and said to him in a persuasive tone, "Father, this is not
wellyou have promised me this should not happen."
The General hung down his head, like one who was either ashamed of the
passion to which he had given way, or of the influence which was
exercised over him. He yielded, however, to the affectionate impulse,
and left the apartment, without again turning his head towards the
portrait which had so much affected him, or looking towards Wildrake,
who remained fixed in astonishment.
CHAPTER THE NINTH.
Doctor.Go to, go to,You have known what you should not.
MACBETH.
Wildrake was left in the cabinet, as we have said, astonished and
alone. It was often noised about, that Cromwell, the deep and sagacious
statesman, the calm and intrepid commander, he who had overcome such
difficulties, and ascended to such heights, that he seemed already to
bestride the land which he had conquered, had, like many other men of
great genius, a constitutional taint of melancholy, which sometimes
displayed itself both in words and actions, and had been first observed
in that sudden and striking change, when, abandoning entirely the
dissolute freaks of his youth, he embraced a very strict course of
religious observances, which, upon some occasions, he seemed to
consider as bringing him into more near and close contact with the
spiritual world. This extraordinary man is said sometimes, during that
period of his life, to have given way to spiritual delusions, or, as he
himself conceived them, prophetic inspirations of approaching grandeur,
and of strange, deep, and mysterious agencies, in which he was in
future to be engaged, in the same manner as his younger years had been
marked by fits of exuberant and excessive frolic and debaucheries.
Something of this kind seemed to explain the ebullition of passion
which he had now manifested.
With wonder at what he had witnessed, Wildrake felt some anxiety on his
own account. Though not the most reflecting of mortals, he had sense
enough to know, that it is dangerous to be a witness of the infirmities
of men high in power; and he was left so long by himself, as induced
him to entertain some secret doubts, whether the General might not be
tempted to take means of confining or removing a witness, who had seen
him lowered, as it seemed, by the suggestions of his own conscience,
beneath that lofty flight, which, in general, he affected to sustain
above the rest of the sublunary world.
In this, however, he wronged Cromwell, who was free either from an
extreme degree of jealous suspicion, or from any thing which approached
towards blood-thirstiness. Pearson appeared, after a lapse of about an
hour, and, intimating to Wildrake that he was to follow, conducted him
into a distant apartment, in which he found the General seated on a
couch. His daughter was in the apartment, but remained at some
distance, apparently busied with some female needle-work, and scarce
turned her head as Pearson and Wildrake entered.
At a sign from the Lord-General, Wildrake approached him as before.
"Comrade," he said, "your old friends the cavaliers look on me as their
enemy, and conduct themselves towards me as if they desired to make me
such. I profess they are labouring to their own prejudice; for I
regard, and have ever regarded them, as honest and honourable fools,
who were silly enough to run their necks into nooses and their heads
against stonewalls, that a man called Stewart, and no other, should be
king over them. Fools! are there no words made of letters that would
sound as well as Charles Stewart, with that magic title beside them?
Why, the word King is like a lighted lamp, that throws the same bright
gilding upon any combination of the alphabet, and yet you must shed
your blood for a name! But thou, for thy part, shalt have no wrong from
me. Here is an order, well warranted, to clear the Lodge at Woodstock,
and abandon it to thy master's keeping, or those whom he shall appoint.
He will have his uncle and pretty cousin with him, doubtless. Fare thee
wellthink on what I told thee. They say beauty is a loadstone to
yonder long lad thou dost wot of; but I reckon he has other stars at
present to direct his course than bright eyes and fair hair. Be it as
it may, thou knowst my purposepeer out, peer out; keep a constant and
careful look-out on every ragged patch that wanders by hedge-row or
lanethese are days when a beggar's cloak may cover a king's ransom.
There are some broad Portugal pieces for theesomething strange to thy
pouch, I ween.Once more, think on what thou hast heard, and," he
added, in a lower and more impressive tone of voice, "forget what thou
hast seen. My service to thy master;and, yet once again,
rememberand forget."Wildrake made his obeisance, and, returning
to his inn, left Windsor with all possible speed.
It was afternoon in the same day when the cavalier rejoined his
round-head friend, who was anxiously expecting him at the inn in
Woodstock appointed for their rendezvous.
"Where hast thou been?what hast thou seen?what strange uncertainty is
in thy looks?and why dost thou not answer me?"
"Because," said Wildrake, laying aside his riding cloak and rapier,
"you ask so many questions at once. A man has but one tongue to answer
with, and mine is well-nigh glued to the roof of my mouth."
"Will drink unloosen it?" said the Colonel; "though I dare say thou
hast tried that spell at every ale-house on the road. Call for what
thou wouldst have, man, only be quick."
"Colonel Everard," answered Wildrake, "I have not tasted so much as a
cup of cold water this day."
"Then thou art out of humour for that reason," said the Colonel; "salve
thy sore with brandy, if thou wilt, but leave being so fantastic and
unlike to thyself, as thou showest in this silent mood."
"Colonel Everard," replied the cavalier, very gravely, "I am an altered
man."
"I think thou dost alter," said Everard, "every day in the year, and
every hour of the day. Come, good now, tell me, hast thou seen the
General, and got his warrant for clearing out the sequestrators from
Woodstock?"
"I have seen the devil," said Wildrake, "and have, as thou say'st, got
a warrant from him."
"Give it me hastily," said Everard, catching at the packet.
"Forgive me, Mark," said Wildrake; "if thou knewest the purpose with
which this deed is grantedif thou knewestwhat it is not my purpose to
tell theewhat manner of hopes are founded on thy accepting it, I have
that opinion of thee, Mark Everard, that thou wouldst as soon take a
red-hot horse-shoe from the anvil with thy bare hand, as receive into
it this slip of paper."
"Come, come," said Everard, "this comes of some of your exalted ideas
of loyalty, which, excellent within certain bounds, drive us mad when
encouraged up to some heights. Do not think, since I must needs speak
plainly with thee, that I see without sorrow the downfall of our
ancient monarchy, and the substitution of another form of government in
its stead; but ought my regret for the past to prevent my acquiescing
and aiding in such measures as are likely to settle the future? The
royal cause is ruined, hadst thou and every cavalier in England sworn
the contrary; ruined, not to rise againfor many a day at least. The
Parliament, so often draughted and drained of those who were courageous
enough to maintain their own freedom of opinion, is now reduced to a
handful of statesmen, who have lost the respect of the people, from the
length of time during which they have held the supreme management of
affairs. They cannot stand long unless they were to reduce the army;
and the army, late servants, are now masters, and will refuse to be
reduced. They know their strength, and that they may be an army
subsisting on pay and free quarters throughout England as long as they
will. I tell thee, Wildrake, unless we look to the only man who can
rule and manage them, we may expect military law throughout the land;
and I, for mine own part, look for any preservation of our privileges
that may be vouchsafed to us, only through the wisdom and forbearance
of Cromwell. Now you have my secret. You are aware that I am not doing
the best I would, but the best I can. I wishnot so ardently as thou,
perhapsyet I do wish that the King could have been restored on good
terms of composition, safe for us and for himself. And now, good
Wildrake, rebel as thou thinkest me, make me no worse a rebel than an
unwilling one. God knows, I never laid aside love and reverence to the
King, even in drawing my sword against his ill advisers."
"Ah, plague on you," said Wildrake, "that is the very cant of itthat's
what you all say. All of you fought against the King in pure love and
loyalty, and not otherwise. However, I see your drift, and I own that I
like it better than I expected. The army is your bear now, and old Noll
is your bearward; and you are like a country constable, who makes
interest with the bearward that he may prevent him from letting bruin
loose. Well, there may come a day when the sun will shine on our side
of the fence, and thereon shall you, and all the good fair-weather
folks who love the stronger party, come and make common cause with us."
Without much attending to what his friend said, Colonel Everard
carefully studied the warrant of Cromwell. "It is bolder and more
peremptory than I expected," he said. "The General must feel himself
strong, when he opposes his own authority so directly to that of the
Council of State and the Parliament."
"You will not hesitate to act upon it?" said Wildrake.
"That I certainly will not," answered Everard; "but I must wait till I
have the assistance of the Mayor, who, I think, will gladly see these
fellows ejected from the Lodge. I must not go altogether upon military
authority, if possible." Then, stepping to the door of the apartment,
he despatched a servant of the house in quest of the Chief Magistrate,
desiring he should be made acquainted that Colonel Everard desired to
see him with as little loss of time as possible.
"You are sure he will come, like a dog at a whistle," said Wildrake.
"The word captain, or colonel, makes the fat citizen trot in these
days, when one sword is worth fifty corporation charters. But there are
dragoons yonder, as well as the grim-faced knave whom I frightened the
other evening when I showed my face in at the window. Think'st thou the
knaves will show no rough play?"
"The General's warrant will weigh more with them than a dozen acts of
Parliament," said Everard."But it is time thou eatest, if thou hast in
truth ridden from Windsor hither without baiting."
"I care not about it," said Wildrake: "I tell thee, your General gave
me a breakfast, which, I think, will serve me one while, if I am ever
able to digest it. By the mass, it lay so heavy on my conscience, that
I carried it to church to see if I could digest it there with my other
sins. But not a whit."
"To church!to the door of the church, thou meanest," said Everard. "I
know thy waythou art ever wont to pull thy hat off reverently at the
threshold; but for crossing it, that day seldom comes."
"Well," replied Wildrake, "and if I do pull off my castor and kneel, is
it not seemly to show the same respects in a church which we offer in a
palace? It is a dainty matter, is it not, to see your Anabaptists, and
Brownists, and the rest of you, gather to a sermon with as little
ceremony as hogs to a trough! But here comes food, and now for a grace,
if I can remember one."
Everard was too much interested about the fate of his uncle and his
fair cousin, and the prospect of restoring them to their quiet home,
under the protection of that formidable truncheon which was already
regarded as the leading-staff of England, to remark, that certainly a
great alteration had taken place in the manners and outward behaviour
at least of his companion. His demeanour frequently evinced a sort of
struggle betwixt old habits of indulgence, and some newly formed
resolutions of abstinence; and it was almost ludicrous to see how often
the hand of the neophyte directed itself naturally to a large black
leathern jack, which contained two double flagons of strong ale, and
how often, diverted from its purpose by the better reflections of the
reformed toper, it seized, instead, upon a large ewer of salubrious and
pure water.
It was not difficult to see that the task of sobriety was not yet
become easy, and that, if it had the recommendation of the intellectual
portion of the party who had resolved upon it, the outward man yielded
a reluctant and restive compliance. But honest Wildrake had been
dreadfully frightened at the course proposed to him by Cromwell, and,
with a feeling not peculiar to the Catholic religion, had formed a
solemn resolution within his own mind, that, if he came off safe and
with honour from this dangerous interview, he would show his sense of
Heaven's favour, by renouncing some of the sins which most easily beset
him, and especially that of intemperance, to which, like many of his
wild compeers, he was too much addicted.
This resolution, or vow, was partly prudential as well as religious;
for it occurred to him as very possible, that some matters of a
difficult and delicate nature might be thrown into his hands at the
present emergency, during the conduct of which it would be fitting for
him to act by some better oracle than that of the Bottle, celebrated by
Rabelais. In full compliance with this prudent determination, he
touched neither the ale nor the brandy which were placed before him,
and declined peremptorily the sack with which his friend would have
garnished the board. Nevertheless, just as the boy removed the
trenchers and napkins, together with the large black-jack which we have
already mentioned, and was one or two steps on his way to the door, the
sinewy arm of the cavalier, which seemed to elongate itself on purpose,
(as it extended far beyond the folds of the threadbare jacket,)
arrested the progress of the retiring Ganymede, and seizing on the
black-jack, conveyed it to the lips, which were gently breathing forth
the aspiration, "DnI mean. Heaven forgive mewe are poor creatures of
clayone modest sip must be permitted to our frailty."
So murmuring, he glued the huge flagon to his lips, and as the head was
slowly and gradually inclined backwards, in proportion as the right
hand elevated the bottom of the pitcher, Everard had great doubts
whether the drinker and the cup were likely to part until the whole
contents of the latter had been transferred to the person of the
former. Roger Wildrake stinted, however, when, by a moderate
computation, he had swallowed at one draught about a quart and a half.
He then replaced it on the salver, fetched a long breath to refresh his
lungs, bade the boy get him gone with the rest of the liquors, in a
tone which inferred some dread of his constancy, and then, turning to
his friend Everard, he expatiated in praise of moderation, observing,
that the mouthful which he had just taken had been of more service to
him than if he had remained quaffing healths at table for four hours
together.
His friend made no reply, but could not help being privately of opinion
that Wildrake's temperance had done as much execution on the tankard in
his single draught, as some more moderate topers might have effected if
they had sat sipping for an evening. But the subject was changed by the
entrance of the landlord, who came to announce to his honour Colonel
Everard, that the worshipful Mayor of Woodstock, with the Rev. Master
Holdenough, were come to wait upon him.
CHAPTER THE TENTH.
Here we have one head
Upon two bodies,your two-headed bullock
Is but an ass to such a prodigy.
These two have but one meaning, thought, and counsel:
And when the single noddle has spoke out,
The four legs scrape assent to it.
OLD PLAY.
In the goodly form of the honest Mayor, there was a bustling mixture of
importance and embarrassment, like the deportment of a man who was
conscious that he had an important part to act, if he could but exactly
discover what that part was. But both were mingled with much pleasure
at seeing Everard, and he frequently repeated his welcomes and
all-hails before he could be brought to attend to what that gentleman
said in reply.
"Good, worthy Colonel, you are indeed a desirable sight to Woodstock at
all times, being, as I may say, almost our townsman, as you have dwelt
so much and so long at the palace. Truly, the matter begins almost to
pass my wit, though I have transacted the affairs of this borough for
many a long day; and you are come to my assistance like, like"
"Tanquam Deus ex machina, as the Ethnic poet hath it," said Master
Holdenough, "although I do not often quote from such books.Indeed,
Master Markham Everard,or worthy Colonel, as I ought rather to sayyou
are simply the most welcome man who has come to Woodstock since the
days of old King Harry."
"I had some business with you, my good friend," said the Colonel,
addressing the Mayor; "I shall be glad if it should so happen at the
same time, that I may find occasion to pleasure you or your worthy
pastor."
"No question you can do so, good sir;" interposed Master Holdenough;
"you have the heart, sir, and you have the hand; and we are much in
want of good counsel, and that from a man of action. I am aware, worthy
Colonel, that you and your worthy father have ever borne yourselves in
these turmoils like men of a truly Christian and moderate spirit,
striving to pour oil into the wounds of the land, which some would rub
with vitriol and pepper: and we know you are faithful children of that
church which we have reformed from its papistical and prelatical
tenets."
"My good and reverend friend," said Everard, "I respect the piety and
learning of many of your teachers; but I am also for liberty of
conscience to all men. I neither side with sectaries, nor do I desire
to see them the object of suppression by violence."
"Sir, sir," said the Presbyterian, hastily, "all this hath a fair
sound; but I would you should think what a fine country and church we
are like to have of it, amidst the errors, blasphemies, and schisms,
which are daily introduced into the church and kingdom of England, so
that worthy Master Edwards, in his Gangrena, declareth, that our native
country is about to become the very sink and cess-pool of all schisms,
heresies, blasphemies, and confusions, as the army of Hannibal was said
to be the refuse of all nationsColluvies omnium gentium.Believe me,
worthy Colonel, that they of the Honourable House view all this over
lightly, and with the winking connivance of old Eli. These instructors,
the schismatics, shoulder the orthodox ministers out of their pulpits,
thrust themselves into families, and break up the peace thereof,
stealing away men's hearts from the established faith."
"My good Master Holdenough," replied the Colonel, interrupting the
zealous preacher, "there is ground of sorrow for all these unhappy
discords; and I hold with you, that the fiery spirits of the present
time have raised men's minds at once above sober-minded and sincere
religion, and above decorum and common sense. But there is no help save
patience. Enthusiasm is a stream that may foam off in its own time,
whereas it is sure to bear down every barrier which is directly opposed
to it.But what are these schismatical proceedings to our present
purpose?"
"Why, partly this, sir," said Holdenough, "although perhaps you may
make less of it than I should have thought before we met.I was
myselfI, Nehemiah Holdenough, (he added consequentially,) was forcibly
expelled from my own pulpit, even as a man should have been thrust out
of his own house, by an alien, and an intrudera wolf, who was not at
the trouble even to put on sheep's clothing, but came in his native
wolfish attire of buff and bandalier, and held forth in my stead to the
people, who are to me as a flock to the lawful shepherd. It is too
true, sirMaster Mayor saw it, and strove to take such order to prevent
it as man might, though," turning to the Mayor, "I think still you
might have striven a little more."
"Good now, good Master Holdenough, do not let us go back on that
question," said the Mayor. "Guy of Warwick, or Bevis of Hampton, might
do something with this generation; but truly, they are too many and too
strong for the Mayor of Woodstock."
"I think Master Mayor speaks very good sense," said the Colonel; "if
the Independents are not allowed to preach, I fear me they will not
fight;and then if you were to have another rising of cavaliers?"
"There are worse folks may rise than cavaliers," said Holdenough.
"How, sir?" replied Colonel Everard. "Let me remind you, Master
Holdenough, that is no safe language in the present state of the
nation."
"I say," said the Presbyterian, "there are worse folk may rise than
cavaliers; and I will prove what I say. The devil is worse than the
worst cavalier that ever drank a health, or swore an oathand the devil
has arisen at Woodstock Lodge!"
"Ay, truly hath he," said the Mayor, "bodily and visibly, in figure and
formAn awful time we live in!"
"Gentlemen, I really know not how I am to understand you," said
Everard.
"Why, it was even about the devil we came to speak with you," said the
Mayor; "but the worthy minister is always so hot upon the sectaries"
"Which are the devil's brats, and nearly akin to him," said Master
Holdenough. "But true it is, that the growth of these sects has brought
up the Evil One even upon the face of the earth, to look after his own
interest, where he finds it most thriving."
"Master Holdenough," said the Colonel, "if you speak figuratively, I
have already told you that I have neither the means nor the skill
sufficient to temper these religious heats. But if you design to say
that there has been an actual apparition of the devil, I presume to
think that you, with your doctrine and your learning, would be a fitter
match for him than a soldier like me."
"True, sir; and I have that confidence in the commission which I hold,
that I would take the field against the foul fiend without a moment's
delay," said Holdenough; "but the place in which he hath of late
appeared, being Woodstock, is filled with those dangerous and impious
persons, of whom I have been but now complaining; and though, confident
in my own resources, I dare venture in disputation with their Great
Master himself; yet without your protection, most worthy Colonel, I see
not that I may with prudence trust myself with the tossing and goring
ox Desborough, or the bloody and devouring bear Harrison, or the cold
and poisonous snake Bletsonall of whom are now at the Lodge, doing
license and taking spoil as they think meet; and, as all men say, the
devil hath come to make a fourth with them."
"In good truth, worthy and noble sir," said the Mayor, "it is even as
Master Holdenough saysour privileges are declared void, our cattle
seized in the very pastures. They talk of cutting down and disparking
the fair Chase, which has been so long the pleasure of so many kings,
and making Woodstock of as little note as any paltry village. I assure
you we heard of your arrival with joy, and wondered at your keeping
yourself so close in your lodgings. We know no one save your father or
you, that are like to stand the poor burgesses' friend in this
extremity, since almost all the gentry around are malignants, and under
sequestration. We trust, therefore, you will make strong intercession
in our behalf."
"Certainly, Master Mayor," said the Colonel, who saw himself with
pleasure anticipated; "it was my very purpose to have interfered in
this matter; and I did but keep myself alone until I should be
furnished with some authority from the Lord-General."
"Powers from the Lord-General!" said the Mayor, thrusting the
clergy-man with his elbow"Dost thou hear that?What cock will fight
that cock? We shall carry it now over their necks, and Woodstock shall
be brave Woodstock still!"
"Keep thine elbow from my side, friend," said Holdenough, annoyed by
the action which the Mayor had suited to his words; "and may the Lord
send that Cromwell prove not as sharp to the people of England as thy
bones against my person! Yet I approve that we should use his authority
to stop the course of these men's proceedings."
"Let us set out, then," said Colonel Everard; "and I trust we shall
find the gentlemen reasonable and obedient."
The functionaries, laic and clerical, assented with much joy; and the
Colonel required and received Wildrake's assistance in putting on his
cloak and rapier, as if he had been the dependent whose part he acted.
The cavalier contrived, however, while doing him these menial offices,
to give his friend a shrewd pinch, in order to maintain the footing of
secret equality betwixt them.
The Colonel was saluted, as they passed through the streets, by many of
the anxious inhabitants, who seemed to consider his intervention as
affording the only chance of saving their fine Park, and the rights of
the corporation, as well as of individuals, from ruin and confiscation.
As they entered the Park, the Colonel asked his companions, "What is
this you say of apparitions being seen amongst them?"
"Why, Colonel," said the clergyman, "you know yourself that Woodstock
was always haunted?"
"I have lived therein many a day," said the Colonel; "and I know I
never saw the least sign of it, although idle people spoke of the house
as they do of all old mansions, and gave the apartments ghosts and
spectres to fill up the places of as many of the deceased great, as had
ever dwelt there."
"Nay, but, good Colonel," said the clergyman, "I trust you have not
reached the prevailing sin of the times, and become indifferent to the
testimony in favour of apparitions, which appears so conclusive to all
but atheists, and advocates for witches?"
"I would not absolutely disbelieve what is so generally affirmed," said
the Colonel; "but my reason leads me to doubt most of the stories which
I have heard of this sort, and my own experience never went to confirm
any of them."
"Ay, but trust me," said Holdenough, "there was always a demon of one
or the other species about this Woodstock. Not a man or woman in the
town but has heard stories of apparitions in the forest, or about the
old castle. Sometimes it is a pack of hounds, that sweep along, and the
whoops and halloos of the huntsmen, and the winding of horns and the
galloping of horse, which is heard as if first more distant, and then
close around youand then anon it is a solitary huntsman, who asks if
you can tell him which way the stag has gone. He is always dressed in
green; but the fashion of his clothes is some five hundred years old.
This is what we call Demon Meridianumthe noon-day spectre."
"My worthy and reverend sir," said the Colonel, "I have lived at
Woodstock many seasons, and have traversed the Chase at all hours.
Trust me, what you hear from the villagers is the growth of their idle
folly and superstition."
"Colonel," replied Holdenough, "a negative proves nothing. What
signifies, craving your pardon, that you have not seen anything, be it
earthly or be it of the other world, to detract from the evidence of a
score of people who have?And besides, there is the Demon Nocturnum
the being that walketh by night; he has been among these Independents
and schismatics last night. Ay, Colonel, you may stare; but it is even
sothey may try whether he will mend their gifts, as they profanely
call them, of exposition and prayer. No, sir, I trow, to master the
foul fiend there goeth some competent knowledge of theology, and an
acquaintance of the humane letters, ay, and a regular clerical
education and clerical calling."
"I do not in the least doubt," said the Colonel, "the efficacy of your
qualifications to lay the devil; but still I think some odd mistake has
occasioned this confusion amongst them, if there has any such in
reality existed. Desborough is a blockhead, to be sure; and Harrison is
fanatic enough to believe anything. But there is Bletson, on the other
hand, who believes nothing.What do you know of this matter, good
Master Mayor?"
"In sooth, and it was Master Bletson who gave the first alarm," replied
the magistrate; "or, at least, the first distinct one. You see, sir, I
was in bed with my wife, and no one else; and I was as fast asleep as a
man can desire to be at two hours after midnight, when, behold you,
they came knocking at my bedroom door, to tell me there was an alarm in
Woodstock, and that the bell of the Lodge was ringing at that dead hour
of the night as hard as ever it rung when it called the court to
dinner."
"Well, but the cause of this alarm?" said the Colonel.
"You shall hear, worthy Colonel, you shall hear," answered the Mayor,
waving his hand with dignity; for he was one of those persons who will
not be hurried out of their own pace. "So Mrs. Mayor would have
persuaded me, in her love and affection, poor wretch, that to rise at
such an hour out of my own warm bed, was like to bring on my old
complaint the lumbago, and that I should send the people to Alderman
Dutton.Alderman Devil, Mrs. Mayor, said I;I beg your reverence's
pardon for using such a phraseDo you think I am going to lie a-bed
when the town is on fire, and the cavaliers up, and the devil to pay;I
beg pardon again, parson.But here we are before the gate of the
Palace; will it not please you to enter?"
"I would first hear the end of your story," said the Colonel; "that is,
Master Mayor, if it happens to have an end."
"Every thing hath an end," said the Mayor, "and that which we call a
pudding hath two.Your worship will forgive me for being facetious.
Where was I?Oh, I jumped out of bed, and put on my red plush breeches,
with the blue nether stocks, for I always make a point of being dressed
suitably to my dignity, night and day, summer or winter, Colonel
Everard; and I took the Constable along with me, in case the alarm
should be raised by night-walkers or thieves, and called up worthy
Master Holdenough out of his bed, in case it should turn out to be the
devil. And so I thought I was provided for the worst, and so away we
came; and, by and by, the soldiers who came to the town with Master
Tomkins, who had been called to arms, came marching down to Woodstock
as fast as their feet would carry them; so I gave our people the sign
to let them pass us, and out-march us, as it were, and this for a
twofold reason."
"I will be satisfied," interrupted the Colonel, "with one good reason.
You desired the red-coats should have the first of the fray?"
"True, sir, very true;and also that they should have the last of it,
in respect that fighting is their especial business. However, we came
on at a slow pace, as men who are determined to do their duty without
fear or favour, when suddenly we saw something white haste away up the
avenue towards the town, when six of our constables and assistants fled
at once, as conceiving it to be an apparition called the White Woman of
Woodstock."
"Look you there, Colonel," said Master Holdenough, "I told you there
were demons of more kinds than one, which haunt the ancient scenes of
royal debauchery and cruelty."
"I hope you stood your own ground, Master Mayor?" said the Colonel.
"Iyesmost assuredlythat is, I did not, strictly speaking, keep my
ground; but the town-clerk and I retreatedretreated, Colonel, and
without confusion or dishonour, and took post behind worthy Master
Holdenough, who, with the spirit of a lion, threw himself in the way of
the supposed spectre, and attacked it with such a siserary of Latin as
might have scared the devil himself, and thereby plainly discovered
that it was no devil at all, nor white woman, neither woman of any
colour, but worshipful Master Bletson, a member of the House of
Commons, and one of the commissioners sent hither upon this unhappy
sequestration of the Wood, Chase, and Lodge of Woodstock."
"And this was all you saw of the demon?" said the Colonel.
"Truly, yes," answered the Mayor; "and I had no wish to see more.
However, we conveyed Master Bletson, as in duty bound, back to the
Lodge, and he was ever maundering by the way how that he met a party of
scarlet devils incarnate marching down to the Lodge; but, to my poor
thinking, it must have been the Independent dragoons who had just
passed us."
"And more incarnate devils I would never wish to see," said Wildrake,
who could remain silent no longer. His voice, so suddenly heard, showed
how much the Mayor's nerves were still alarmed, far he started and
jumped aside with an alacrity of which no one would at first sight
suppose a man of his portly dignity to have been capable. Everard
imposed silence on his intrusive attendant; and, desirous to hear the
conclusion of this strange story, requested the Mayor to tell him how
the matter ended, and whether they stopped the supposed spectre.
"Truly, worthy sir," said the Mayor, "Master Holdenough was quite
venturous upon confronting, as it were, the devil, and compelling him
to appear under the real form of Master Joshua Bletson, member of
Parliament for the borough of Littlefaith."
"In sooth, Master Mayor," said the divine, "I were strangely ignorant
of my own commission and its immunities, if I were to value opposing
myself to Satan, or any Independent in his likeness, all of whom, in
the name of Him I serve, I do defy, spit at, and trample under my feet;
and because Master Mayor is something tedious, I will briefly inform
your honour that we saw little of the Enemy that night, save what
Master Bletson said in the first feeling of his terrors, and save what
we might collect from the disordered appearance of the Honourable
Colonel Desborough and Major-General Harrison."
"And what plight were they in, I pray you?" demanded the Colonel.
"Why, worthy sir, every one might see with half an eye that they had
been engaged in a fight wherein they had not been honoured with perfect
victory; seeing that General Harrison was stalking up and down the
parlour, with his drawn sword in his hand, talking to himself, his
doublet unbuttoned, his points untrussed, his garters loose, and like
to throw him down as he now and then trode on them, and gaping and
grinning like a mad player. And yonder sate Desborough with a dry
pottle of sack before him, which he had just emptied, and which, though
the element in which he trusted, had not restored him sense enough to
speak, or courage enough to look over his shoulder. He had a Bible in
his hand, forsooth, as if it would of itself make battle against the
Evil One; but I peered over his shoulder, and, alas! the good gentleman
held the bottom of the page uppermost. It was as if one of your
musketeers, noble and valued sir, were to present the butt of his piece
at the enemy instead of the muzzleha, ha, ha! it was a sight to judge
of schismatics by; both in point of head, and in point of heart, in
point of skill, and in point of courage. Oh! Colonel, then was the time
to see the true character of an authorised pastor of souls over those
unhappy men, who leap into the fold without due and legal authority,
and will, forsooth, preach, teach, and exhort, and blasphemously term
the doctrine of the Church saltless porridge and dry chips!"
"I have no doubt you were ready to meet the danger, reverend sir; but I
would fain know of what nature it was, and from whence it was to be
apprehended?"
"Was it for me to make such inquiry?" said the clergyman, triumphantly.
"Is it for a brave soldier to number his enemies, or inquire from what
quarter they are to come? No, sir, I was there with match lighted,
bullet in my mouth, and my harquebuss shouldered, to encounter as many
devils as hell could pour in, were they countless as motes in the
sunbeam, and although they came from all points of the compass. The
Papists talk of the temptation of St. Anthonypshaw! let them double
all the myriads which the brain of a crazy Dutch painter hath invented,
and you will find a poor Presbyterian divineI will answer for one at
least,who, not in his own strength, but his Master's, will receive the
assault in such sort, that far from returning against him as against
yonder poor hound, day after day, and night after night, he will at
once pack them off as with a vengeance to the uttermost parts of
Assyria!"
"Still," said the Colonel, "I pray to know whether you saw anything
upon which to exercise your pious learning?"
"Saw?" answered the divine; "no, truly, I saw nothing, nor did I look
for anything. Thieves will not attack well-armed travellers, nor will
devils or evil spirits come against one who bears in his bosom the word
of truth, in the very language in which it was first dictated. No, sir,
they shun a divine who can understand the holy text, as a crow is said
to keep wide of a gun loaded with hailshot."
They had walked a little way back upon their road, to give time for
this conversation; and the Colonel, perceiving it was about to lead to
no satisfactory explanation of the real cause of alarm on the preceding
night, turned round, and observing it was time they should go to the
Lodge, began to move in that direction with his three companions.
It had now become dark, and the towers of Woodstock arose high above
the umbrageous shroud which the forest spread around the ancient and
venerable mansion. From one of the highest turrets, which could still
be distinguished as it rose against the clear blue sky, there gleamed a
light like that of a candle within the building. The Mayor stopt short,
and catching fast hold of the divine, and then of Colonel Everard,
exclaimed, in a trembling and hasty, but suppressed tone,
"Do you see yonder light?"
"Ay, marry do I," said Colonel Everard; "and what does that matter?a
light in a garret-room of such an old mansion as Woodstock is no
subject of wonder, I trow."
"But a light from Rosamond's Tower is surely so," said the Mayor.
"True," said the Colonel, something surprised, when, after a careful
examination, he satisfied himself that the worthy magistrate's
conjecture was right. "That is indeed Rosamond's Tower; and as the
drawbridge, by which it was accessible has been destroyed for
centuries, it is hard to say what chance could have lighted a lamp in
such an inaccessible place."
"That light burns with no earthly fuel," said the Mayor; "neither from
whale nor olive oil, nor bees-wax, nor mutton-suet either. I dealt in
these commodities, Colonel, before I went into my present line; and I
can assure you I could distinguish the sort of light they give, one
from another, at a greater distance than yonder turretLook you, that
is no earthly flame.See you not something blue and reddish upon the
edges? that bodes full well where it comes from.Colonel, in my
opinion we had better go back to sup at the town, and leave the Devil
and the red-coats to settle their matters together for to-night; and
then when we come back the next morning, we will have a pull with the
party that chances to keep a-field."
"You will do as you please, Master Mayor," said Everard, "but my duty
requires me that I should see the Commissioners to-night."
"And mine requires me to see the foul Fiend," said Master Holdenough,
"if he dare make himself visible to me. I wonder not that, knowing who
is approaching, he betakes himself to the very citadel, the inner and
the last defences of this ancient and haunted mansion. He is dainty, I
warrant you, and must dwell where is a relish of luxury and murder
about the walls of his chamber. In yonder turret sinned Rosamond, and
in yonder turret she suffered; and there she sits, or more likely, the
Enemy in her shape, as I have heard true men of Woodstock tell. I wait
on you, good ColonelMaster Mayor will do as he pleases. The strong man
hath fortified himself in his dwelling-house, but lo, there cometh
another stronger than he."
"For me," said the Mayor, "who am as unlearned as I am unwarlike, I
will not engage eitherwith the Powers of the Earth, or the Prince of
the Powers of the Air, and I would we were again at Woodstock;and hark
ye, good fellow," slapping Wildrake on the shoulder, "I will bestow on
thee a shilling wet and a shilling dry if thou wilt go back with me."
"Gadzookers, Master Mayor," said, Wildrake, neither flattered by the
magistrate's familiarity of address, nor captivated by his munificence
"I wonder who the devil made you and me fellows? and, besides, do you
think I would go back to Woodstock with your worshipful cods-head,
when, by good management, I may get a peep of fair Rosamond, and see
whether she was that choice and incomparable piece of ware, which the
world has been told of by rhymers and ballad-makers?"
"Speak less lightly and wantonly, friend," said the divine; "we are to
resist the devil that he may flee from us, and not to tamper with him,
or enter into his counsels, or traffic with the merchandise of his
great Vanity Fair."
"Mind what the good man says, Wildrake," said the Colonel; "and take
heed another time how thou dost suffer thy wit to outrun discretion."
"I am beholden to the reverend gentleman for his advice," answered
Wildrake, upon whose tongue it was difficult to impose any curb
whatever, even when his own safety rendered it most desirable. "But,
gadzookers, let him have had what experience he will in fighting with
the Devil, he never saw one so black as I had a tussle withnot a
hundred years ago."
"How, friend," said the clergyman, who understood every thing literally
when apparitions were mentioned, "have you had so late a visitation of
Satan? Believe me, then, that I wonder why thou darest to entertain his
name so often and so lightly, as I see thou dost use it in thy ordinary
discourse. But when and where didst thou see the Evil One?"
Everard hastily interposed, lest by something yet more strongly
alluding to Cromwell, his imprudent squire should, in mere wantonness,
betray his interview with the General. "The young man raves," he said,
"of a dream which he had the other night, when he and I slept together
in Victor Lee's chamber, belonging to the Ranger's apartments at the
Lodge."
"Thanks for help at a pinch, good patron," said Wildrake, whispering
into Everard's ear, who in vain endeavoured to shake him off,"a fib
never failed a fanatic."
"You, also, spoke something too lightly of these matters, considering
the work which we have in hand, worthy Colonel," said the Presbyterian
divine. "Believe me, the young man, thy servant, was more likely to see
visions than to dream merely idle dreams in that apartment; for I have
always heard, that, next to Rosamond's Tower, in which, as I said, she
played the wanton, and was afterwards poisoned by Queen Eleanor, Victor
Lee's chamber was the place in the Lodge of Woodstock more peculiarly
the haunt of evil spirits.I pray you, young man, tell me this dream or
vision of yours."
"With all my heart, sir," said Wildrakethen addressing his patron, who
began to interfere, he said, "Tush, sir, you have had the discourse for
an hour, and why should not I hold forth in my turn? By this darkness,
if you keep me silent any longer, I will turn Independent preacher, and
stand up in your despite for the freedom of private judgment.And so,
reverend sir, I was dreaming of a carnal divertisement called a
bull-baiting; and methought they were venturing dogs at head, as
merrily as e'er I saw them at Tutbury bull-running; and methought I
heard some one say, there was the Devil come to have a sight of the
bull-ring. Well, I thought that, gadswoons, I would have a peep at his
Infernal Majesty. So I looked, and there was a butcher in greasy
woollen, with his steel by his side; but he was none of the Devil. And
there was a drunken cavalier, with his mouth full of oaths, and his
stomach full of emptiness, and a gold-laced waistcoat in a very
dilapidated condition, and a ragged hat,with a piece of a feather in
it; and he was none of the Devil neither. And here was a miller, his
hands dusty with meal, and every atom of it stolen; and there was a
vintner, his green apron stained with wine, and every drop of it
sophisticated; but neither was the old gentleman I looked for to be
detected among these artisans of iniquity. At length, sir, I saw a
grave person with cropped hair, a pair of longish and projecting ears,
a band as broad as a slobbering bib under his chin, a brown coat
surmounted by a Geneva cloak, and I had old Nicholas at once in his
genuine paraphernalia, by."
"Shame, shame!" said Colonel Everard. "What! behave thus to an old
gentleman and a divine!"
"Nay, let him proceed," said the minister, with perfect equanimity: "if
thy friend, or secretary, is gibing, I must have less patience than
becomes my profession, if I could not bear an idle jest, and forgive
him who makes it. Or if, on the other hand, the Enemy has really
presented himself to the young man in such a guise as he intimates,
wherefore should we be surprised that he, who can take upon him the
form of an angel of light, should be able to assume that of a frail and
peaceable mortal, whose spiritual calling and profession ought, indeed,
to induce him to make his life an example to others; but whose conduct,
nevertheless, such is the imperfection of our unassisted nature,
sometimes rather presents us with a warning of what we should shun?"
"Now, by the mass, honest domineI mean reverend sirI crave you a
thousand pardons," said Wildrake, penetrated by the quietness and
patience of the presbyter's rebuke. "By St. George, if quiet patience
will do it, thou art fit to play a game at foils with the Devil
himself, and I would be contented to hold stakes."
As he concluded an apology, which was certainly not uncalled for, and
seemed to be received in perfectly good part, they approached so close
to the exterior door of the Lodge, that they were challenged with the
emphatic Stand, by a sentinel who mounted guard there. Colonel
Everard replied, A friend; and the sentinel repeating his command,
"Stand, friend," proceeded to call the corporal of the guard. The
corporal came forth, and at the same time turned out his guard. Colonel
Everard gave his name and designation, as well as those of his
companions, on which the corporal said, "he doubted not there would be
orders for his instant admission; but, in the first place, Master
Tomkins must be consulted, that he might learn their honours' mind."
"How, sir!" said the Colonel, "do you, knowing who I am, presume to
keep me on the outside of your post?"
"Not if your honour pleases to enter," said the corporal, "and
undertakes to be my warranty; but such are the orders of my post."
"Nay, then, do your duty," said the Colonel; "but are the cavaliers up,
or what is the matter, that you keep so close and strict a watch?"
The fellow gave no distinct answer, but muttered between his mustaches
something about the Enemy, and the roaring Lion who goeth about seeking
whom he may devour. Presently afterwards Tomkins appeared, followed by
two servants, bearing lights in great standing brass candlesticks. They
marched before Colonel Everard and his party, keeping as close to each
other as two cloves of the same orange, and starting from time to time;
and shuddering as they passed through sundry intricate passages, they
led up a large and ample wooden staircase, the banisters, rail, and
lining of which were executed in black oak, and finally into a long
saloon, or parlour, where there was a prodigious fire, and about twelve
candles of the largest size distributed in sconces against the wall.
There were seated the Commissioners, who now held in their power the
ancient mansion and royal domain of Woodstock.
CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH.
The bloody bear, an independent beast,
Unlick'd to forms, in groans his hate express'd
* * *
Next him the buffoon ape, as atheists use,
Mimick'd all sects, and had his own to choose.
HIND AND PANTHER.
The strong light in the parlour which we have described, served to
enable Everard easily to recognise his acquaintances, Desborough,
Harrison, and Bletson, who had assembled round an oak table of large
dimensions, placed near the blazing chimney, on which were arranged
wine, and ale, and materials for smoking, then the general indulgence
of the time. There was a species of movable cupboard set betwixt the
table and the door, calculated originally for a display of plate upon
grand occasions, but at present only used as a screen; which purpose it
served so effectually, that, ere he had coasted around it, Everard
heard the following fragment of what Desborough was saying, in his
strong coarse voice:"Sent him to share with us, I'se warrant yeIt was
always his Excellency my brother-in-law's wayif he made a treat for
five friends, he would invite more than the table could holdI have
known him ask three men to eat two eggs."
"Hush, hush," said Bletson; and the servants, making their appearance
from behind the tall cupboard, announced Colonel Everard. It may not be
uninteresting to the reader to have a description, of the party into
which he now entered.
Desborough was a stout, bull-necked man, of middle-size, with heavy
vulgar features, grizzled bushy eyebrows, and walleyes. The flourish of
his powerful relative's fortunes had burst forth in the finery of his
dress, which was much more ornamented than was usual among the
roundheads. There was embroidery on his cloak, and lace upon his band;
his hat displayed a feather with a golden clasp, and all his
habiliments were those of a cavalier, or follower of the court, rather
than the plain dress of a parliamentarian officer. But, Heaven knows,
there was little of courtlike grace or dignity in the person or
demeanour of the individual, who became his fine suit as the hog on the
sign-post does his gilded armour. It was not that he was positively
deformed, or misshaped, for, taken in detail, the figure was well
enough. But his limbs seemed to act upon different and contradictory
principles. They were not, as the play says, in a concatenation
accordingly;the right hand moved as if it were upon bad terms with the
left, and the legs showed an inclination to foot it in different and
opposite directions. In short, to use an extravagant comparison, the
members of Colonel Desborough seemed rather to resemble the
disputatious representatives of a federative congress, than the
well-ordered union of the orders of the state, in a firm and
well-compacted monarchy, where each holds his own place, and all obey
the dictates of a common head.
General Harrison, the second of the Commissioners, was a tall, thin,
middle-aged man, who had risen into his high situation in the army, and
his intimacy with Cromwell, by his dauntless courage in the field, and
the popularity he had acquired by his exalted enthusiasm amongst the
military saints, sectaries, and Independents, who composed the strength
of the existing army. Harrison was of mean extraction, and bred up to
his father's employment of a butcher. Nevertheless, his appearance,
though coarse, was not vulgar, like that of Desborough, who had so much
the advantage of him in birth and education. He had a masculine height
and strength of figure, was well made and in his manner announced a
rough military character, which might be feared, but could not easily
become the object of contempt or ridicule. His aquiline nose and dark
black eyes set off to some advantage a countenance otherwise irregular,
and the wild enthusiasm that sometimes sparkled in them as he dilated
on his opinions to others, and often seemed to slumber under his long
dark eyelashes as he mused upon them himself, gave something strikingly
wild, and even noble to his aspect. He was one of the chief leaders of
those who were called Fifth-Monarchy men, who, going even beyond the
general fanaticism of the age, presumptuously interpreted the Book of
the Revelations after their own fancies, considered that the second
Advent of the Messiah, and the Millenium, or reign of the Saints upon
earth, was close at hand, and that they themselves, illuminated, as
they believed, with the power of foreseeing these approaching events,
were the chosen instruments for the establishment of the New Reign, or
Fifth Monarchy, as it was called, and were fated also to win its
honours, whether celestial or terrestrial.
When this spirit of enthusiasm, which operated like a partial insanity,
was not immediately affecting Harrison's mind, he was a shrewd worldly
man, and a good soldier; one who missed no opportunity of mending his
fortune, and who, in expecting the exaltation of the Fifth Monarchy,
was, in the meanwhile, a ready instrument for the establishment of the
Lord-General's supremacy. Whether it was owing to his early occupation,
and habits of indifference to pain or bloodshed acquired in the
shambles, to natural disposition and want of feeling, or, finally, to
the awakened character of his enthusiasm, which made him look upon
those who opposed him, as opposing the Divine will, and therefore
meriting no favour or mercy, is not easy to say; but all agreed, that
after a victory, or the successful storm of a town, Harrison was one of
the most cruel and pitiless men in Cromwell's army; always urging some
misapplied text to authorize the continued execution of the fugitives,
and sometimes even putting to death those who had surrendered
themselves prisoners. It was said, that at times the recollection of
some of those cruelties troubled his conscience, and disturbed the
dreams of beatification in which his imagination indulged.
When Everard entered the apartment, this true representative of the
fanatic soldiers of the day, who filled those ranks and regiments which
Cromwell had politically kept on foot, while he procured the reduction
of those in which the Presbyterian interest predominated, was seated a
little apart from the others, his legs crossed, and stretched out at
length towards the fire, his head resting on his elbow, and turned
upwards, as if studying, with the most profound gravity, the half-seen
carving of the Gothic roof.
Bletson remains to be mentioned, who, in person and figure, was
diametrically different from the other two. There was neither foppery
nor slovenliness in his exterior, nor had he any marks of military
service or rank about his person. A small walking rapier seemed merely
worn as a badge of his rank as a gentleman, without his hand having the
least purpose of becoming acquainted with the hilt, or his eye with the
blade. His countenance was thin and acute, marked with lines which
thought rather than age had traced upon it; and a habitual sneer on his
countenance, even, when he least wished to express contempt on his
features, seemed to assure the individual addressed, that in Bletson he
conversed with a person of intellect far superior to his own. This was
a triumph of intellect only, however; for on all occasions of
difference respecting speculative opinions, and indeed on all
controversies whatsoever, Bletson avoided the ultimate ratio of blows
and knocks.
Yet this peaceful gentleman had found himself obliged to serve
personally in the Parliamentary army at the commencement of the Civil
War, till happening unluckily to come in contact with the fiery Prince
Rupert, his retreat was judged so precipitate, that it required all the
shelter that his friends could afford, to keep him free of an
impeachment or a court-martial. But as Bletson spoke well, and with
great effect in the House of Commons, which was his natural sphere, and
was on that account high in the estimation of his party, his behaviour
at Edgehill was passed over, and he continued to take an active share
in all the political events of that bustling period, though he faced
not again the actual front of war.
Bletson's theoretical politics had long inclined him to espouse the
opinions of Harrington and others, who adopted the visionary idea of
establishing a pure democratical republic in so extensive a country as
Britain. This was a rash theory, where there is such an infinite
difference betwixt ranks, habits, education, and moralswhere there is
such an immense disproportion betwixt the wealth of individualsand
where a large portion of the inhabitants consist of the inferior
classes of the large towns and manufacturing districtsmen unfitted to
bear that share in the direction of a state, which must be exercised by
the members of a republic in the proper sense of the word. Accordingly,
as soon as the experiment was made, it became obvious that no such form
of government could be adopted with the smallest chance of stability;
and the question came only to be, whether the remnant, or, as it was
vulgarly called, the Rump of the Long Parliament, now reduced by the
seclusion of so many of the members to a few scores of persons, should
continue, in spite of their unpopularity, to rule the affairs of
Britain? Whether they should cast all loose by dissolving themselves,
and issuing writs to convoke a new Parliament, the composition of which
no one could answer for, any more than for the measures they might take
when assembled? Or lastly, whether Cromwell, as actually happened, was
not to throw the sword into the balance, and boldly possess himself of
that power which the remnant of the Parliament were unable to hold, and
yet afraid to resign?
Such being the state of parties, the Council of State, in distributing
the good things in their gift, endeavoured to soothe and gratify the
army, as a beggar flings crusts to a growling mastiff. In this view
Desborough had been created a Commissioner in the Woodstock matter to
gratify Cromwell, Harrison to soothe the fierce Fifth-Monarchy men, and
Bletson as a sincere republican, and one of their own leaven.
But if they supposed Bletson had the least intention of becoming a
martyr to his republicanism, or submitting to any serious loss on
account of it, they much mistook the man. He entertained their
principles sincerely and not the less that they were found
impracticable; for the miscarriage of his experiment no more converts
the political speculator, than the explosion of a retort undeceives an
alchymist. But Bletson was quite prepared to submit to Cromwell, or any
one else who might be possessed of the actual authority. He was a ready
subject in practice to the powers existing, and made little difference
betwixt various kinds of government, holding in theory all to be nearly
equal in imperfection, so soon as they diverged from the model of
Harrington's Oceana. Cromwell had already been tampering with him, like
wax between his finger and thumb, and which he was ready shortly to
seal with, smiling at the same time to himself when he beheld the
Council of State giving rewards to Bletson, as their faithful adherent,
while he himself was secure of his allegiance, how soon soever the
expected change of government should take place.
But Bletson was still more attached to his metaphysical than his
political creed, and carried his doctrines of the perfectibility of
mankind as far as he did those respecting the conceivable perfection of
a model of government; and as in the one case he declared against all
power which did not emanate from the people themselves, so, in his
moral speculations, he was unwilling to refer any of the phenomena of
nature to a final cause. When pushed, indeed, very hard, Bletson was
compelled to mutter some inarticulate and unintelligible doctrines
concerning an Animus Mundi, or Creative Power in the works of Nature,
by which she originally called into existence, and still continues to
preserve, her works. To this power, he said, some of the purest
metaphysicians rendered a certain degree of homage; nor was he himself
inclined absolutely to censure those, who, by the institution of
holydays, choral dances, songs, and harmless feasts and libations,
might be disposed to celebrate the great goddess Nature; at least
dancing, singing, feasting, and sporting, being conformable things to
both young and old, they might as well sport, dance, and feast, in
honour of such appointed holydays, as under any other pretext. But then
this moderate show of religion was to be practised under such
exceptions as are admitted by the Highgate oath; and no one was to be
compelled to dance, drink, sing, or feast, whose taste did not happen
to incline them to such divertisements; nor was any one to be obliged
to worship the creative power, whether under the name of the Animus
Mundi, or any other whatsoever. The interference of the Deity in the
affairs of mankind he entirely disowned, having proved to his own
satisfaction that the idea originated entirely in priestcraft. In
short, with the shadowy metaphysical exception aforesaid, Mr. Joshua
Bletson of Darlington, member for Littlefaith, came as near the
predicament of an atheist, as it is perhaps possible for a man to do.
But we say this with the necessary salvo; for we have known many like
Bletson, whose curtains have been shrewdly shaken by superstition,
though their fears were unsanctioned by any religious faith. The
devils, we are assured, believe and tremble; but on earth there are
many, who, in worse plight than even the natural children of perdition,
tremble without believing, and fear even while they blaspheme.
It follows, of course, that nothing could be treated with more scorn by
Mr. Bletson, than the debates about Prelacy and Presbytery, about
Presbytery and Independency, about Quakers and Anabaptists,
Muggletonians and Brownists, and all the various sects with which the
Civil War had commenced, and by which its dissensions were still
continued. "It was," he said, "as if beasts of burden should quarrel
amongst themselves about the fashion of their halters and pack-saddles,
instead of embracing a favourable opportunity of throwing them aside."
Other witty and pithy remarks he used to make when time and place
suited; for instance, at the club called the Rota, frequented by St.
John, and established by Harrington, for the free discussion of
political and religious subjects.
But when Bletson was out of this academy, or stronghold of philosophy,
he was very cautious how he carried his contempt of the general
prejudice in favour of religion and Christianity further than an
implied objection or a sneer. If he had an opportunity of talking in
private with an ingenuous and intelligent youth, he sometimes attempted
to make a proselyte, and showed much address in bribing the vanity of
inexperience, by suggesting that a mind like his ought to spurn the
prejudices impressed upon it in childhood; and when assuming the latus
clavus of reason, assuring him that such as he, laying aside the
bulla of juvenile incapacity, as Bletson called it, should proceed to
examine and decide for himself. It frequently happened, that the youth
was induced to adopt the doctrines in whole, or in part, of the sage
who had seen his natural genius, and who had urged him to exert it in
examining, detecting, and declaring for himself, and thus flattery gave
proselytes to infidelity, which could not have been gained by all the
powerful eloquence or artful sophistry of the infidel.
These attempts to extend the influence of what was called freethinking
and philosophy, were carried on, as we have hinted, with a caution
dictated by the timidity of the philosopher's disposition. He was
conscious his doctrines were suspected, and his proceedings watched, by
the two principal sects of Prelatists and Presbyterians, who, however
inimical to each other, were still more hostile to one who was an
opponent, not only to a church establishment of any kind, but to every
denomination of Christianity. He found it more easy to shroud himself
among the Independents, whose demands were for a general liberty of
conscience, or an unlimited toleration, and whose faith, differing in
all respects and particulars, was by some pushed into such wild errors,
as to get totally beyond the bounds of every species of Christianity,
and approach very near to infidelity itself, as extremes of each kind
are said to approach each other. Bletson mixed a good deal among those
sectaries; and such was his confidence in his own logic and address,
that he is supposed to have entertained hopes of bringing to his
opinions in time the enthusiastic Vane, as well as the no less
enthusiastic Harrison, provided he could but get them to resign their
visions of a Fifth Monarchy, and induce them to be contented with a
reign of Philosophers in England for the natural period of their lives,
instead of the reign of the Saints during the Millenium.
Such was the singular group into which Everard was now introduced;
showing, in their various opinions, upon how many devious coasts human
nature may make shipwreck, when she has once let go her hold on the
anchor which religion has given her to lean upon; the acute
self-conceit and worldly learning of Bletsonthe rash and ignorant
conclusions of the fierce and under-bred Harrison, leading them into
the opposite extremes of enthusiasm and infidelity, while Desborough,
constitutionally stupid, thought nothing about religion at all; and
while the others were active in making sail on different but equally
erroneous courses, he might be said to perish like a vessel, which
springs a leak and founders in the roadstead. It was wonderful to
behold what a strange variety of mistakes and errors, on the part of
the King and his Ministers, on the part of the Parliament and their
leaders, on the part of the allied kingdoms of Scotland and England
towards each other, had combined to rear up men of such dangerous
opinions and interested characters among the arbiters of the destiny of
Britain.
Those who argue for party's sake, will see all the faults on the one
side, without deigning to look at those on the other; those who study
history for instruction, will perceive that nothing but the want of
concession on either side, and the deadly height to which the animosity
of the King's and Parliament's parties had arisen, could have so
totally overthrown the well-poised balance of the English constitution.
But we hasten to quit political reflections, the rather that ours, we
believe, will please neither Whig nor Tory.
CHAPTER THE TWELFTH.
Three form a Collegean you give us four,
Let him bring his share with him.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
Mr. Bletson arose and paid his respects to Colonel Everard, with the
ease and courtesy of a gentleman of the time; though on every account
grieved at his intrusion, as a religious man who held his free-thinking
principles in detestation, and would effectually prevent his conversion
of Harrison, and even of Desborough, if any thing could be moulded out
of such a clod, to the worship of the Animus Mundi. Moreover, Bletson
knew Everard to be a man of steady probity, and by no means disposed to
close with a scheme on which he had successfully sounded the other two,
and which was calculated to assure the Commissioners of some little
private indemnification for the trouble they were to give themselves in
the public business. The philosopher was yet less pleased, when he saw
the magistrate the pastor who had met him in his flight of the
preceding evening, when he had been seen, parma non bene relicta,
with cloak and doublet left behind him.
The presence of Colonel Everard was as unpleasing to Desborough as to
Bletson: but the former having no philosophy in him, nor an idea that
it was possible for any man to resist helping himself out of untold
money, was chiefly embarrassed by the thought, that the plunder which
they might be able to achieve out of their trust, might, by this
unwelcome addition to their number, be divided into four parts instead
of three; and this reflection added to the natural awkwardness with
which he grumbled forth a sort of welcome, addressed to Everard.
As for Harrison, he remained like one on higher thoughts intent; his
posture unmoved, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as before, and in no way
indicating the least consciousness that the company had been more than
doubled around him.
Meantime, Everard took his place at the table, as a man who assumed his
own right, and pointed to his companions to sit down nearer the foot of
the board. Wildrake so far misunderstood his signals, as to sit down
above the Mayor; but rallying his recollection at a look from his
patron, he rose and took his place lower, whistling, however, as he
went, a sound at which the company stared, as at a freedom highly
unbecoming. To complete his indecorum, he seized upon a pipe, and
filling it from a large tobacco-box, was soon immersed in a cloud of
his own raising; from which a hand shortly after emerged, seized on the
black-jack of ale, withdrew it within the vapoury sanctuary, and, after
a potential draught, replaced it upon the table, its owner beginning to
renew the cloud which his intermitted exercise of the tube had almost
allowed to subside.
Nobody made any observation on his conduct, out of respect, probably,
to Colonel Everard, who bit his lip, but continued silent; aware that
censure might extract some escapade more unequivocally characteristic
of a cavalier, from his refractory companion. As silence seemed
awkward, and the others made no advances to break it, beyond the
ordinary salutation, Colonel Everard at length said, "I presume,
gentlemen, that you are somewhat surprised at my arrival here, and thus
intruding myself into your meeting?"
"Why the dickens should we be surprised, Colonel?" said Desborough; "we
know his Excellency, my brother-in-law Noll'sI mean my Lord Cromwell's
way, of overquartering his men in the towns he marches through. Thou
hast obtained a share in our commission?"
"And in that," said Bletson, smiling and bowing, "the Lord-General has
given us the most acceptable colleague that could have been added to
our number. No doubt your authority for joining with us must be under
warrant of the Council of State?"
"Of that, gentlemen," said the Colonel, "I will presently advise
you."He took out his warrant accordingly, and was about to communicate
the contents; but observing that there were three or four half-empty
flasks upon the table, that Desborough looked more stupid than usual,
and that the philosopher's eyes were reeling in his head,
notwithstanding the temperance of Bletson's usual habits, he concluded
that they had been fortifying themselves against the horrors of the
haunted mansion, by laying in a store of what is called Dutch courage,
and therefore prudently resolved to postpone his more important
business with them till the cooler hour of morning. He, therefore,
instead of presenting the General's warrant superseding their
commission, contented himself with replying,"My business has, of
course, some reference to your proceedings here. But here isexcuse my
curiositya reverend gentleman," pointing to Holdenough, "who has told
me that you are so strangely embarrassed here, as to require both the
civil and spiritual authority to enable you to keep possession of
Woodstock."
"Before we go into that matter," said Bletson, blushing up to the eyes
at the recollection of his own fears, so manifestly displayed, yet so
inconsistent with his principles, "I should like to know who this other
stranger is, who has come with the worthy magistrate, and the no less
worthy Presbyterian?"
"Meaning me?" said Wildrake, laying his pipe aside; "Gadzooks, the time
hath been that I could have answered the question with a better title;
but at present I am only his honour's poor clerk, or secretary,
whichever is the current phrase."
"'Fore George, my lively blade, thou art a frank fellow of thy tattle,"
said Desborough. "There is my secretary Tomkins, whom men sillily
enough call Fibbet, and the honourable Lieutenant-General Harrison's
secretary Bibbet, who are now at supper below stairs, that durst not
for their ears speak a phrase above their breath in the presence of
their betters, unless to answer a question."
"Yes, Colonel Everard," said the philosopher, with his quiet smile,
glad, apparently, to divert the conversation from the topic of last
night's alarm, and recollections which humbled his self-love and
self-satisfaction,"yes; and when Master Fibbet and Master Bibbet do
speak, their affirmations are as much in a common mould of mutual
attestation, as their names would accord in the verses of a poet. If
Master Fibbet happens to tell a fiction, Master Bibbet swears it as
truth. If Master Bibbet chances to have gotten drunk in the fear of the
Lord, Master Fibbet swears he is sober. I have called my own secretary
Gibbet, though his name chances to be only Gibeon, a worthy Israelite
at your service, but as pure a youth as ever picked a lamb-bone at
Paschal. But I call him Gibbet, merely to make up the holy trefoil with
another rhyme. This squire of thine, Colonel Everard, looks as if he
might be worthy to be coupled with the rest of the fraternity."
"Not I, truly," said the cavalier; "I'll be coupled with no Jew that
was ever whelped, and no Jewess neither."
"Scorn not for that, young man," said the philosopher; "the Jews are,
in point of religion, the elder brethren, you know."
"The Jews older than the Christians?" said Desborough, "'fore George,
they will have thee before the General Assembly, Bletson, if thou
venturest to say so."
Wildrake laughed without ceremony at the gross ignorance of Desborough,
and was joined by a sniggling response from behind the cupboard, which,
when inquired into, proved to be produced by the serving-men. These
worthies, timorous as their betters, when they were supposed to have
left the room, had only withdrawn to their present place of
concealment.
"How now, ye rogues," said Bletson, angrily; "do you not know your duty
better?"
"We beg your worthy honour's pardon," said one of the men, "but we
dared not go down stairs without a light."
"A light, ye cowardly poltroons?" said the philosopher; "whatto show
which of you looks palest when a rat squeaks?but take a candlestick
and begone, you cowardly villains! the devils you are so much afraid of
must be but paltry kites, if they hawk at such bats as you are."
The servants, without replying, took up one of the candlesticks, and
prepared to retreat, Trusty Tomkins at the head of the troop, when
suddenly, as they arrived at the door of the parlour, which had been
left half open, it was shut violently. The three terrified domestics
tumbled back into the middle of the room, as if a shot had been
discharged in their face, and all who were at the table started to
their feet.
Colonel Everard was incapable of a moment's fear, even if any thing
frightful had been seen; but he remained stationary, to see what his
companions would do, and to get at the bottom, if possible, of the
cause of their alarm upon an occasion so trifling. The philosopher
seemed to think that he was the person chiefly concerned to show
manhood on the occasion.
He walked to the door accordingly, murmuring at the cowardice of the
servants; but at such a snail's pace, that it seemed he would most
willingly have been anticipated by any one whom his reproaches had
roused to exertion. "Cowardly blockheads!" he said at last, seizing
hold of the handle of the door, but without turning it effectually
round "dare you not open a door?"(still fumbling with the lock)"dare
you not go down a stair-case without a light? Here, bring me the
candle, you cowardly villains!By Heaven, something sighs on the
outside!"
As he spoke, he let go the handle of the parlour door, and stepped back
a pace or two into the apartment, with cheeks as pale as the band he
wore.
"Deus adjutor meus!" said the Presbyterian clergyman, rising from his
seat. "Give place, sir," addressing Bletson; "it would seem I know more
of this matter than thou, and I bless Heaven I am armed for the
conflict."
Bold as a grenadier about to mount a breach, yet with the same belief
in the existence of a great danger to be encountered, as well as the
same reliance in the goodness of his cause, the worthy man stepped
before the philosophical Bletson, and taking a light from a sconce in
one hand, quietly opened the door with the other, and standing in the
threshold, said, "Here is nothing!"
"And who expected to see any thing," said Bletson, "excepting those
terrified oafs, who take fright at every puff of wind that whistles
through the passages of this old dungeon?"
"Mark you, Master Tomkins," said one of the waiting-men in a whisper to
the steward,"See how boldly the minister pressed forward before all of
them. Ah! Master Tomkins, our parson is the real commissioned officer
of the churchyour lay-preachers are no better than a parcel of
club-men and volunteers."
"Follow me those who list," said Master Holdenough, "or go before me
those who choose, I will walk through the habitable places of this
house before I leave it, and satisfy myself whether Satan hath really
mingled himself among these dreary dens of ancient wickedness, or
whether, like the wicked of whom holy David speaketh, we are afraid,
and flee when no one pursueth."
Harrison, who had heard these words, sprung from his seat, and drawing
his sword, exclaimed, "Were there as many fiends in the house as there
are hairs on my head, upon this cause I will charge them up to their
very trenches!"
So saying, he brandished his weapon, and pressed to the head of the
column, where he moved side by side with the minister. The Mayor of
Woodstock next joined the body, thinking himself safer perhaps in the
company of his pastor; and the whole train moved forward in close
order, accompanied by the servants bearing lights, to search the Lodge
for some cause of that panic with which they seemed to be suddenly
seized.
"Nay, take me with you, my friends," said Colonel Everard, who had
looked on in surprise, and was now about to follow the party, when
Bletson laid hold on his cloak, and begged him to remain.
"You see, my good Colonel," he said, affecting a courage which his
shaking voice belied, "here are only you and I and honest Desborough
left behind in garrison, while all the others are absent on a sally. We
must not hazard the whole troops in one sortiethat were unmilitaryHa,
ha, ha!"
"In the name of Heaven, what means all this?" said Everard. "I heard a
foolish tale about apparitions as I came this way, and now I find you
all half mad with fear, and cannot get a word of sense among so many of
you. Fie, Colonel Desboroughfie, Master Bletsontry to compose
yourselves, and let me know, in Heaven's name, the cause of all this
disturbance. One would be apt to think your brains were turned."
"And so mine well may," said Desborough, "ay, and overturned too, since
my bed last night was turned upside down, and I was placed for ten
minutes heels uppermost, and head downmost, like a bullock going to be
shod."
"What means this nonsense, Master Bletson?Desborough must have had the
nightmare."
"No, faith, Colonel; the goblins, or whatever else they were, had been
favourable to honest Desborough, for they reposed the whole of his
person on that part of his body whichHark, did you not hear
something?is the central point of gravity, namely, his head."
"Did you see any thing to alarm you?" said the Colonel.
"Nothing," said Bletson; "but we heard hellish noises, as all our
people did; and I, believing little of ghosts and apparitions,
concluded the cavaliers were taking us at advantage; so, remembering
Rainsborough's fate, I e'en jumped the window, and ran to Woodstock, to
call the soldiers to the rescue of Harrison and Desborough."
"And did you not first go to see what the danger was?"
"Ah, my good friend, you forget that I laid down my commission at the
time of the self-denying ordinance. It would have been quite
inconsistent with my duty as a Parliament-man to be brawling amidst a
set of ruffians, without any military authority. Nowhen the Parliament
commanded me to sheath my sword, Colonel, I have too much veneration
for their authority to be found again with it drawn in my hand."
"But the Parliament," said Desborough, hastily, "did not command you to
use your heels when your hands could have saved a man from choking.
Odds dickens! you might have stopped when you saw my bed canted heels
uppermost, and me half stifled in the bed-clothesyou might, I say,
have stopped and lent a hand to put it to rights, instead of jumping
out of the window, like a new-shorn sheep, so soon as you had run
across my room."
"Nay, worshipful Master Desborough," said Bletson, winking at Everard,
to show that he was playing on his thick-sculled colleague, "how could
I tell your particular mode of reposing?there are many tastesI have
known men who slept by choice on a slope or angle of forty-five."
"Yes, but did ever a man sleep standing on his head, except by
miracle?" said Desborough.
"Now, as to miracles"said the philosopher, confident in the presence
of Everard, besides that an opportunity of scoffing at religion really
in some degree diverted his fear"I leave these out of the question,
seeing that the evidence on such subjects seems as little qualified to
carry conviction as a horse-hair to land a leviathan."
A loud clap of thunder, or a noise as formidable, rang through the
Lodge as the scoffer had ended, which struck him pale and motionless,
and made Desborough throw himself on his knees, and repeat exclamations
and prayers in much admired confusion.
"There must be contrivance here," exclaimed Everard; and snatching one
of the candles from a sconce, he rushed out of the apartment, little
heeding the entreaties of the philosopher, who, in the extremity of his
distress, conjured him by the Animus Mundi to remain to the
assistance of a distressed philosopher endangered by witches, and a
Parliament-man assaulted by ruffians. As for Desborough, he only gaped
like a clown in a pantomime; and, doubtful whether to follow or stop,
his natural indolence prevailed, and he sat still.
When on the landing-place of the stairs, Everard paused a moment to
consider which was the best course to take. He heard the voices of men
talking fast and loud, like people who wish to drown their fears, in
the lower story; and aware that nothing could be discovered by those
whose inquiries were conducted in a manner so noisy, he resolved to
proceed in a different direction, and examine the second floor, which
he had now gained.
He had known every corner, both of the inhabited and uninhabited part
of the mansion, and availed himself of the candle to traverse two or
three intricate passages, which he was afraid he might not remember
with sufficient accuracy. This movement conveyed him to a sort of
oeil-de-boeuf, an octagon vestibule, or small hall, from which
various rooms opened. Amongst these doors, Everard selected that which
led to a very long, narrow, and dilapidated gallery, built in the time
of Henry VIII., and which, running along the whole south-west side of
the building, communicated at different points with the rest of the
mansion. This he thought was likely to be the post occupied by those
who proposed to act the sprites upon the occasion; especially as its
length and shape gave him some idea that it was a spot where the bold
thunder might in many ways be imitated.
Determined to ascertain the truth if possible, he placed his light on a
table in the vestibule, and applied himself to open the door into the
gallery. At this point he found himself strongly opposed either by a
bolt drawn, or, as he rather conceived, by somebody from within
resisting his attempt. He was induced to believe the latter, because
the resistance slackened and was renewed, like that of human strength,
instead of presenting the permanent opposition of an inanimate
obstacle. Though Everard was a strong and active young man, he
exhausted his strength in the vain attempt to open the door; and having
paused to take breath, was about to renew his efforts with foot and
shoulder, and to call at the same time for assistance, when to his
surprise, on again attempting the door more gently, in order to
ascertain if possible where the strength of the opposing obstacle was
situated, he found it gave way to a very slight impulse, some
impediment fell broken to the ground, and the door flew wide open. The
gust of wind, occasioned by the sudden opening of the door, blew out
the candle, and Everard was left in darkness, save where the moonshine,
which the long side-row of latticed windows dimmed, could imperfectly
force its way into the gallery, which lay in ghostly length before him.
The melancholy and doubtful twilight was increased by a quantity of
creeping plants on the outside, which, since all had been neglected in
these ancient halls, now completely overgrown, had in some instances
greatly diminished, and in others almost quite choked up, the space of
the lattices, extending between the heavy stone shaftwork which divided
the windows, both lengthways and across. On the other side there were
no windows at all, and the gallery had been once hung round with
paintings, chiefly portraits, by which that side of the apartment had
been adorned. Most of the pictures had been removed, yet the empty
frames of some, and the tattered remnants of others, were still visible
along the extent of the waste gallery; the look of which was so
desolate, and it appeared so well adapted for mischief, supposing there
were enemies near him, that Everard could not help pausing at the
entrance, and recommending himself to God, ere, drawing his sword, he
advanced into the apartment, treading as lightly as possible, and
keeping in the shadow as much as he could.
Markham Everard was by no means superstitious, but he had the usual
credulity of the times; and though he did not yield easily to tales of
supernatural visitations, yet he could not help thinking he was in the
very situation, where, if such things were ever permitted, they might
be expected to take place, while his own stealthy and ill-assured pace,
his drawn weapon, and extended arms, being the very attitude and action
of doubt and suspicion, tended to increase in his mind the gloomy
feelings of which they are the usual indications, and with which they
are constantly associated. Under such unpleasant impressions, and
conscious of the neighbourhood of something unfriendly, Colonel Everard
had already advanced about half along the gallery, when he heard some
one sigh very near him, and a low soft voice pronounce his name.
"Here I am," he replied, while his heart beat thick and short. "Who
calls on Markham Everard?"
Another sigh was the only answer.
"Speak," said the Colonel, "whoever or whatsoever you are, and tell
with what intent and purpose you are lurking in these apartments?"
"With a better intent than yours," returned the soft voice.
"Than mine!" answered Everard in great surprise. "Who are you that dare
judge of my intents?"
"What, or who are you, Markham Everard, who wander by moonlight through
these deserted halls of royalty, where none should be but those who
mourn their downfall, or are sworn to avenge it?"
"It isand yet it cannot be," said Everard; "yet it is, and must be.
Alice Lee, the devil or you speaks. Answer me, I conjure you!speak
openlyon what dangerous scheme are you engaged? where is your father?
why are you here?wherefore do you run so deadly a venture?Speak, I
conjure you, Alice Lee!"
"She whom you call on is at the distance of miles from this spot. What
if her Genius speaks when she is absent?what if the soul of an
ancestress of hers and yours were now addressing you?what if"
"Nay," answered Everard, "but what if the dearest of human beings has
caught a touch of her father's enthusiasm?what if she is exposing her
person to danger, her reputation to scandal, by traversing in disguise
and darkness a house filled with armed men? Speak to me, my fair
cousin, in your own person. I am furnished with powers to protect my
uncle, Sir Henryto protect you too, dearest Alice, even against the
consequences of this visionary and wild attempt. SpeakI see where you
are, and, with all my respect, I cannot submit to be thus practised
upon. Trust metrust your cousin Markham with your hand, and believe
that he will die or place you in honourable safety."
As he spoke, he exercised his eyes as keenly as possible to detect
where the speaker stood; and it seemed to him, that about three yards
from him there was a shadowy form, of which he could not discern even
the outline, placed as it was within the deep and prolonged shadow
thrown by a space of wall intervening betwixt two windows, upon that
side of the room from which the light was admitted. He endeavoured to
calculate, as well as he could, the distance betwixt himself and the
object which he watched, under the impression, that if, by even using a
slight degree of compulsion, he could detach his beloved Alice from the
confederacy into which he supposed her father's zeal for the cause of
royalty had engaged her, he would be rendering them both the most
essential favour. He could not indeed but conclude, that however
successfully the plot which he conceived to be in agitation had
proceeded against the timid Bletson, the stupid Desborough, and the
crazy Harrison, there was little doubt that at length their artifices
must necessarily bring shame and danger on those engaged in it.
It must also be remembered, that Everard's affection to his cousin,
although of the most respectful and devoted character, partook less of
the distant veneration which a lover of those days entertained for the
lady whom he worshipped with humble diffidence, than of the fond and
familiar feelings which a brother entertains towards a younger sister,
whom he thinks himself entitled to guide, advise, and even in some
degree to control. So kindly and intimate had been their intercourse,
that he had little more hesitation in endeavouring to arrest her
progress in the dangerous course in which she seemed to be engaged,
even at the risk of giving her momentary offence, than he would have
had in snatching her from a torrent or conflagration, at the chance of
hurting her by the violence of his grasp. All this passed through his
mind in the course of a single minute; and he resolved at all events to
detain her on the spot, and compel, if possible, an explanation from
her.
With this purpose, Everard again conjured his cousin, in the name of
Heaven, to give up this idle and dangerous mummery; and lending an
accurate ear to her answer, endeavoured from the sound to calculate as
nearly as possible the distance between them.
"I am not she for whom you take me," said the voice; "and dearer
regards than aught connected with her life or death, bid me warn you to
keep aloof, and leave this place."
"Not till I have convinced you of your childish folly," said the
Colonel, springing forward, and endeavouring to catch hold of her who
spoke to him. But no female form was within his grasp. On the contrary,
he was met by a shock which could come from no woman's arm, and which
was rude enough to stretch him on his back on the floor. At the same
time he felt the point of a sword at his throat, and his hands so
completely mastered, that not the slightest defence remained to him.
"A cry for assistance," said a voice near him, but not that which he
had hitherto heard, "will be stifled in your blood!No harm is meant
yoube wise and be silent."
The fear of death, which Everard had often braved in the field of
battle, became more intense as he felt himself in the hands of unknown
assassins, and totally devoid of all means of defence. The sharp point
of the sword pricked his bare throat, and the foot of him who held it
was upon his breast. He felt as if a single thrust would put an end to
life, and all the feverish joys and sorrows which agitate us so
strangely, and from which we are yet so reluctant to part. Large drops
of perspiration stood upon his foreheadhis heart throbbed, as if it
would burst from its confinement in the bosomhe experienced the agony
which fear imposes on the brave man, acute in proportion to that which
pain inflicts when it subdues the robust and healthy.
"Cousin Alice,"he attempted to speak, and the sword's point pressed
his throat yet more closely,"Cousin, let me not be murdered in a
manner so fearful!"
"I tell you," replied the voice, "that you speak to one who is not
here; but your life is not aimed at, provided you swear on your faith
as a Christian, and your honour as a gentleman, that you will conceal
what has happened, whether from the people below, or from any other
person. On this condition you may rise; and if you seek her, you will
find Alice Lee at Joceline's cottage, in the forest."
"Since I may not help myself otherwise," said Everard, "I swear, as I
have a sense of religion and honour, I will say nothing of this
violence, nor make any search after those who are concerned in it."
"For that we care nothing," said the voice. "Thou hast an example how
well thou mayst catch mischief on thy own part; but we are in case to
defy thee. Rise, and begone!"
The foot, the sword's-point, were withdrawn, and Everard was about to
start up hastily, when the voice, in the same softness of tone which
distinguished it at first, said, "No hastecold and bare steel is yet
around thee. Nownownow(the words dying away as at a distance) thou
art free. Be secret and be safe."
Markham Everard arose, and, in rising, embarrassed his feet with his
own sword, which he had dropped when springing forward, as he supposed,
to lay hold of his fair cousin. He snatched it up in haste, and as his
hand clasped the hilt, his courage, which had given way under the
apprehension of instant death, began to return; he considered, with
almost his usual composure, what was to be done next. Deeply affronted
at the disgrace which he had sustained, he questioned for an instant
whether he ought to keep his extorted promise, or should not rather
summon assistance, and make haste to discover and seize those who had
been recently engaged in such violence on his person. But these
persons, be they who they would, had had his life in their powerhe had
pledged his word in ransom of itand what was more, he could not divest
himself of the idea that his beloved Alice was a confidant, at least,
if not an actor, in the confederacy which had thus baffled him. This
prepossession determined his conduct; for, though angry at supposing
she must have been accessory to his personal ill-treatment, he could
not in any event think of an instant search through the mansion, which
might have compromised her safety, or that of his uncle. "But I will to
the hut," he said"I will instantly to the hut, ascertain her share in
this wild and dangerous confederacy, and snatch her from ruin, if it be
possible."
As, under the influence of the resolution which he had formed, Everard
groped his way through the gallery and regained the vestibule, he heard
his name called by the well-known voice of Wildrake. "Whatho!
holloa!Colonel EverardMark Everardit is dark as the devil's
mouthspeakwhere are you?The witches are keeping their hellish
sabbath here, as I think.Where are you?"
"Here, here!" answered Everard. "Cease your bawling. Turn to the left,
and you will meet me."
Guided by his voice, Wildrake soon appeared, with a light in one hand,
and his drawn sword in the other. "Where have you been?" he said"What
has detained you?Here are Bletson and the brute Desborough terrified
out of their lives, and Harrison raving mad, because the devil will not
be civil enough to rise to fight him in single duello."
"Saw or heard you nothing as you came along?" said Everard.
"Nothing," said his friend, "excepting that when I first entered this
cursed ruinous labyrinth, the light was struck out of my hand, as if by
a switch, which obliged me to return for another."
"I must come by a horse instantly, Wildrake, and another for thyself,
if it be possible."
"We can take two of those belonging to the troopers," answered
Wildrake. "But for what purpose should we run away, like rats, at this
time in the evening?Is the house falling?"
"I cannot answer you," said the Colonel, pushing forward into a room
where there were some remains of furniture.
Here the cavalier took a more strict view of his person, and exclaimed
in wonder, "What the devil have you been fighting with, Markham, that
has bedizened you after this sorry fashion?"
"Fighting!" exclaimed Everard.
"Yes," replied his trusty attendant. "I say fighting. Look at yourself
in the mirror."
He did, and saw he was covered with dust and blood. The latter
proceeded from a scratch which he had received in the throat, as he
struggled to extricate himself. With unaffected alarm, Wildrake undid
his friend's collar, and with eager haste proceeded to examine the
wound, his hands trembling, and his eyes glistening with apprehension
for his benefactor's life. When, in spite of Everard's opposition, he
had examined the hurt, and found it trifling, he resumed the natural
wildness of his character, perhaps the more readily that he had felt
shame in departing from it, into one which expressed more of feeling
than he would be thought to possess.
"If that be the devil's work, Mark," said he, "the foul fiend's claws
are not nigh so formidable as they are represented; but no one shall
say that your blood has been shed unrevenged, while Roger Wildrake was
by your side. Where left you this same imp? I will back to the field of
fight, confront him with my rapier, and were his nails tenpenny nails,
and his teeth as long as those of a harrow, he shall render me reason
for the injury he has done you."
"Madnessmadness!" exclaimed Everard; "I had this trifling hurt by a
falla basin and towel will wipe it away. Meanwhile, if you will ever
do me kindness, get the troop-horsescommand them for the service of
the public, in the name of his Excellency the General. I will but wash,
and join you in an instant before the gate."
"Well, I will serve you, Everard, as a mute serves the Grand Signior,
without knowing why or wherefore. But will you go without seeing these
people below?"
"Without seeing any one," said Everard; "lose no time, for God's sake."
He found out the non-commissioned officer, and demanded the horses in a
tone of authority, to which the corporal yielded undisputed obedience,
as one well aware of Colonel Everard's military rank and consequence.
So all was in a minute or two ready for the expedition.
CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH.
She kneeled, and saintlike
Cast her eyes to heaven, and pray'd devoutly.
KING HENRY VIII.
Colonel Everard's departure at the late hour, for, so it was then
thought, of seven in the evening, excited much speculation. There was a
gathering of menials and dependents in the outer chamber or hall, for
no one doubted that his sudden departure was owing to his having, as
they expressed it, "seen something," and all desired to know how a man
of such acknowledged courage as Everard, looked under the awe of a
recent apparition. But he gave them no time to make comments; for,
striding through the hall wrapt in his riding suit, he threw himself on
horseback, and rode furiously through the Chase, towards the hut of the
keeper Joliffe.
It was the disposition of Markham Everard to be hot, keen, earnest,
impatient, and decisive to a degree of precipitation. The acquired
habits which education had taught, and which the strong moral and
religious discipline of his sect had greatly strengthened, were such as
to enable him to conceal, as well as to check, this constitutional
violence, and to place him upon his guard against indulging it. But
when in the high tide of violent excitation, the natural impetuosity of
the young soldier's temper was sometimes apt to overcome these
artificial obstacles, and then, like a torrent foaming over a wear, it
became more furious, as if in revenge for the constrained calm which it
had been for some time obliged to assume. In these instances he was
accustomed to see only that point to which his thoughts were bent, and
to move straight towards it, whether a moral object, or the storming of
a breach, without either calculating, or even appearing to see, the
difficulties which were before him.
At present, his ruling and impelling motive was to detach his beloved
cousin, if possible, from the dangerous and discreditable machinations
in which he suspected her to have engaged, or, on the other hand, to
discover that she really had no concern with these stratagems. He
should know how to judge of that in some measure, he thought, by
finding her present or absent at the hut, towards which he was now
galloping. He had read, indeed, in some ballad or minstrel's tale, of a
singular deception practised on a jealous old man, by means of a
subterranean communication between his house and that of a neighbour,
which the lady in question made use of to present herself in the two
places alternately, with such speed, and so much address, that, after
repeated experiments, the dotard was deceived into the opinion, that
his wife, and the lady who was so very like her, and to whom his
neighbour paid so much attention, were two different persons. But in
the present case there was no room for such a deception; the distance
was too great, and as he took by much the nearest way from the castle,
and rode full speed, it would be impossible, he knew, for his cousin,
who was a timorous horsewoman even by daylight, to have got home before
him.
Her father might indeed be displeased at his interference; but what
title had he to be so?Was not Alice Lee the near relation of his
blood, the dearest object of his heart, and would he now abstain from
an effort to save her from the consequences of a silly and wild
conspiracy, because the old knight's spleen might be awakened by
Everard's making his appearance at their present dwelling contrary to
his commands? No. He would endure the old man's harsh language, as he
endured the blast of the autumn wind, which was howling around him, and
swinging the crashing branches of the trees under which he passed, but
could not oppose, or even retard, his journey.
If he found not Alice, as he had reason to believe she would be absent,
to Sir Henry Lee himself he would explain what he had witnessed.
However she might have become accessory to the juggling tricks
performed at Woodstock, he could not but think it was without her
father's knowledge, so severe a judge was the old knight of female
propriety, and so strict an assertor of female decorum. He would take
the same opportunity, he thought, of stating to him the well-grounded
hopes he entertained, that his dwelling at the Lodge might be
prolonged, and the sequestrators removed from the royal mansion and
domains, by other means than those of the absurd species of
intimidation which seemed to be resorted to, to scare them from thence.
All this seemed to be so much within the line of his duty as a
relative, that it was not until he halted at the door of the ranger's
hut, and threw his bridle into Wildrake's hand, that Everard
recollected the fiery, high, and unbending character of Sir Henry Lee,
and felt, even when his fingers were on the latch, a reluctance to
intrude himself upon the presence of the irritable old knight.
But there was no time for hesitation. Bevis, who had already bayed more
than once from within the Lodge, was growing impatient, and Everard had
but just time to bid Wildrake hold the horses until he should send
Joceline to his assistance, when old Joan unpinned the door, to demand
who was without at that time of the night. To have attempted anything
like an explanation with poor dame Joan, would have been quite
hopeless; the Colonel, therefore, put her gently aside, and shaking
himself loose from the hold she had laid on his cloak, entered the
kitchen of Joceline's dwelling. Bevis, who had advanced to support Joan
in her opposition, humbled his lion-port, with that wonderful instinct
which makes his race remember so long those with whom they have been
familiar, and acknowledged his master's relative, by doing homage in
his fashion, with his head and tail.
Colonel Everard, more uncertain in his purpose every moment as the
necessity of its execution drew near, stole over the floor like one who
treads in a sick chamber, and opening the door of the interior
apartment with a slow and trembling hand, as he would have withdrawn
the curtains of a dying friend, he saw, within, the scene which we are
about to describe.
Sir Henry Lee sat in a wicker arm-chair by the fire. He was wrapped in
a cloak, and his limbs extended on a stool, as if he were suffering
from gout or indisposition. His long white beard flowing over the
dark-coloured garment, gave him more the appearance of a hermit than of
an aged soldier or man of quality; and that character was increased by
the deep and devout attention with which he listened to a respectable
old man, whose dilapidated dress showed still something of the clerical
habit, and who, with a low, but full and deep voice, was reading the
Evening Service according to the Church of England. Alice Lee kneeled
at the feet of her father, and made the responses with a voice that
might have suited the choir of angels; and a modest and serious
devotion, which suited the melody of her tone. The face of the
officiating clergyman would have been good-looking, had it not been
disfigured with a black patch which covered the left eye and a part of
his face, and had not the features which were visible been marked with
the traces of care and suffering.
When Colonel Everard entered, the clergyman raised his finger, as
cautioning him to forbear disturbing the divine service of the evening,
and pointed to a seat; to which, struck deeply with the scene he had
witnessed, the intruder stole with as light a step as possible, and
knelt devoutly down as one of the little congregation.
Everard had been bred by his father what was called a Puritan; a member
of a sect who, in the primitive sense of the word, were persons that
did not except against the doctrines of the Church of England, or even
in all respects against its hierarchy, but chiefly dissented from it on
the subject of certain ceremonies, habits, and forms of ritual, which
were insisted upon by the celebrated and unfortunate Laud with
ill-timed tenacity. But even if, from the habits of his father's house,
Everard's opinions had been diametrically opposed to the doctrines of
the English Church, he must have been reconciled to them by the
regularity with which the service was performed in his uncle's family
at Woodstock, who, during the blossom of his fortunes, generally had a
chaplain residing in the Lodge for that special purpose.
Yet deep as was the habitual veneration with which he heard the
impressive service of the Church, Everard's eyes could not help
straying towards Alice, and his thoughts wandering to the purpose of
his presence there. She seemed to have recognised him at once, for
there was a deeper glow than usual upon her cheek, her fingers trembled
as they turned the leaves of her prayerbook, and her voice, lately as
firm as it was melodious, faltered when she repeated the responses. It
appeared to Everard, as far as he could collect by the stolen glances
which he directed towards her, that the character of her beauty, as
well as of her outward appearance, had changed with her fortunes.
The beautiful and high-born young lady had now approached as nearly as
possible to the brown stuff dress of an ordinary village maiden; but
what she had lost in gaiety of appearance, she had gained as it seemed
in dignity. Her beautiful light-brown tresses, now folded around her
head, and only curled where nature had so arranged them, gave her an
air of simplicity, which did not exist when her head-dress showed the
skill of a curious tire-woman. A light joyous air, with something of a
humorous expression, which seemed to be looking for amusement, had
vanished before the touch of affliction, and a calm melancholy supplied
its place, which seemed on the watch to administer comfort to others.
Perhaps the former arch, though innocent expression of countenance, was
uppermost in her lover's recollection, when he concluded that Alice had
acted a part in the disturbances which had taken place at the Lodge. It
is certain, that when he now looked upon her, it was with shame for
having nourished such a suspicion, and the resolution to believe rather
that the devil had imitated her voice, than that a creature, who seemed
so much above the feelings of this world, and so nearly allied to the
purity of the next, should have had the indelicacy to mingle in such
manoeuvres as he himself and others had been subjected to.
These thoughts shot through his mind, in spite of the impropriety of
indulging them at such a moment. The service now approached the close,
and a good deal to Colonel Everard's surprise, as well as confusion,
the officiating priest, in firm and audible tone, and with every
attribute of dignity, prayed to the Almighty to bless and preserve "Our
Sovereign Lord, King Charles, the lawful and undoubted King of these
realms." The petition (in those days most dangerous) was pronounced
with a full, raised, and distinct articulation, as if the priest
challenged all who heard him to dissent, if they dared. If the
republican officer did not assent to the petition, he thought at least
it was no time to protest against it.
The service was concluded in the usual manner, and the little
congregation arose. It now included Wildrake, who had entered during
the latter prayer, and was the first of the party to speak, running up
to the priest, and shaking him by the hand most heartily, swearing at
the same time, that he truly rejoiced to see him. The good clergyman
returned the pressure with a smile, observing he should have believed
his asseveration without an oath. In the meanwhile, Colonel Everard,
approaching his uncle's seat, made a deep inclination of respect, first
to Sir Henry Lee, and then to Alice, whose colour now spread from her
cheek to her brow and bosom.
"I have to crave your excuse," said the Colonel with hesitation, "for
having chosen for my visit, which I dare not hope would be very
agreeable at any time, a season most peculiarly unsuitable."
"So far from it, nephew," answered Sir Henry, with much more mildness
of manner than Everard had dared to expect, "that your visits at other
times would be much more welcome, had we the fortune to see you often
at our hours of worship."
"I hope the time will soon come, sir, when Englishmen of all sects and
denominations," replied Everard, "will be free in conscience to worship
in common the great Father, whom they all after their manner call by
that affectionate name."
"I hope so too, nephew," said the old man in the same unaltered tone;
"and we will not at present dispute, whether you would have the Church
of England coalesce with the Conventicle, or the Conventicle conform to
the Church. It was, I ween, not to settle jarring creeds, that you have
honoured our poor dwelling, where, to say the truth, we dared scarce
have expected to see you again, so coarse was our last welcome."
"I should be happy to believe," said Colonel Everard, hesitating,
"thatthatin short my presence was not now so unwelcome here as on
that occasion."
"Nephew," said Sir Henry, "I will be frank with you. When you were last
here, I thought you had stolen from me a precious pearl, which at one
time it would have been my pride and happiness to have bestowed on you;
but which, being such as you have been of late, I would bury in the
depths of the earth rather than give to your keeping. This somewhat
chafed, as honest Will says, 'the rash humour which my mother gave me.'
I thought I was robbed, and I thought I saw the robber before me. I am
mistakenI am not robbed; and the attempt without the deed I can
pardon."
"I would not willingly seek offence in your words, sir," said Colonel
Everard, "when their general purport sounds kind; but I can protest
before Heaven, that my views and wishes towards you and your family are
as void of selfish hopes and selfish ends, as they are fraught with
love to you and to yours."
"Let us hear them, man; we are not much accustomed to good wishes
now-a-days; and their very rarity will make them welcome."
"I would willingly, Sir Henry, since you might not choose me to give
you a more affectionate name, convert those wishes into something
effectual for your comfort. Your fate, as the world now stands, is bad,
and, I fear, like to be worse."
"Worse than I expect it cannot be. Nephew, I do not shrink before my
changes of fortune. I shall wear coarser clothes,I shall feed on more
ordinary food,men will not doff their cap to me as they were wont,
when I was the great and the wealthy. What of that? Old Harry Lee loved
his honour better than his title, his faith better than his land and
lordship. Have I not seen the 30th of January? I am neither Philomath
nor astrologer; but old Will teaches me, that when green leaves fall
winter is at hand, and that darkness will come when the sun sets."
"Bethink you, sir," said Colonel Everard, "if, without any submission
asked, any oath taken, any engagement imposed, express or tacit,
excepting that you are not to excite disturbances in the public peace,
you can be restored to your residence in the Lodge, and your usual
fortunes and perquisities thereI have great reason to hope this may be
permitted, if not expressly, at least on sufferance."
"Yes, I understand you. I am to be treated like the royal coin, marked
with the ensign of the Rump to make it pass current, although I am too
old to have the royal insignia grinded off from me. Kinsman, I will
have none of this. I have lived at the Lodge too long; and let me tell
you, I had left it in scorn long since, but for the orders of one whom
I may yet live to do service to. I will take nothing from the usurpers,
be their name Rump or Cromwellbe they one devil or legionI will not
take from them an old cap to cover my grey hairsa cast cloak to
protect my frail limbs from the cold. They shall not say they have, by
their unwilling bounty, made Abraham richI will live, as I will die,
the Loyal Lee."
"May I hope you will think of it, sir; and that you will, perhaps,
considering what slight submission is asked, give me a better answer?"
"Sir, if I retract my opinion, which is not my wont, you shall hear of
it.And now, cousin, have you more to say? We keep that worthy
clergyman in the outer room."
"Something I had to saysomething touching my cousin Alice," said
Everard, with embarrassment; "but I fear that the prejudices of both
are so strong against me"
"Sir, I dare turn my daughter loose to youI will go join the good
doctor in dame Joan's apartment. I am not unwilling that you should
know that the girl hath, in all reasonable sort, the exercise of her
free will."
He withdrew, and left the cousins together.
Colonel Everard advanced to Alice, and was about to take her hand. She
drew back, took the seat which her father had occupied, and pointed out
to him one at some distance.
"Are we then so much estranged, my dearest Alice?" he said.
"We will speak of that presently," she replied. "In the first place,
let me ask the cause of your visit here at so late an hour."
"You heard," said Everard, "what I stated to your father?"
"I did; but that seems to have been only part of your errandsomething
there seemed to be which applied particularly to me."
"It was a fancya strange mistake," answered Everard. "May I ask if you
have been abroad this evening?"
"Certainly not," she replied. "I have small temptation to wander from
my present home, poor as it is; and whilst here, I have important
duties to discharge. But why does Colonel Everard ask so strange a
question?"
"Tell me in turn, why your cousin Markham has lost the name of
friendship and kindred, and even of some nearer feeling, and then I
will answer you, Alice?"
"It is soon answered," she said. "When you drew your sword against my
father's causealmost against his personI studied, more than I should
have done, to find excuse for you. I knew, that is, I thought I knew
your high feelings of public dutyI knew the opinions in which you had
been bred up; and I said, I will not, even for this, cast him offhe
opposes his King because he is loyal to his country. You endeavoured to
avert the great and concluding tragedy of the 30th of January; and it
confirmed me in my opinion, that Markham Everard might be misled, but
could not be base or selfish."
"And what has changed your opinion, Alice? or who dare," said Everard,
reddening, "attach such epithets to the name of Markham Everard?"
"I am no subject," she said, "for exercising your valour, Colonel
Everard, nor do I mean to offend. But you will find enough of others
who will avow, that Colonel Everard is truckling to the usurper
Cromwell, and that all his fair pretexts of forwarding his country's
liberties, are but a screen for driving a bargain with the successful
encroacher, and obtaining the best terms he can for himself and his
family."
"For myselfnever!"
"But for your family you haveYes, I am well assured that you have
pointed out to the military tyrant, the way in which he and his satraps
may master the government. Do you think my father or I would accept an
asylum purchased at the price of England's liberty, and your honour?"
"Gracious Heaven, Alice, what is this? You accuse me of pursuing the
very course which so lately had your approbation!"
"When you spoke with authority of your father, and recommended our
submission to the existing government, such as it was, I own I
thoughtthat my father's grey head might, without dishonour, have
remained under the roof where it had so long been sheltered. But did
your father sanction your becoming the adviser of yonder ambitious
soldier to a new course of innovation, and his abettor in the
establishment of a new species of tyranny?It is one thing to submit to
oppression, another to be the agent of tyrantsAnd O, Markhamtheir
bloodhound!"
"How! bloodhound?what mean you?I own it is true I could see with
content the wounds of this bleeding country stanched, even at the
expense of beholding Cromwell, after his matchless rise, take a yet
farther step to powerbut to be his bloodhound! What is your meaning?"
"It is false, then?I thought I could swear it had been false."
"What, in the name of God, is it you ask?"
"It is false that you are engaged to betray the young King of
Scotland?"
"Betray him! I betray him, or any fugitive? Never! I would he were
well out of EnglandI would lend him my aid to escape, were he in the
house at this instant; and think in acting so I did his enemies good
service, by preventing their soiling themselves with his bloodbut
betray him, never!"
"I knew itI was sure it was impossible. Oh, be yet more honest;
disengage yourself from yonder gloomy and ambitious soldier! Shun him
and his schemes, which are formed in injustice, and can only be
realized in yet more blood!"
"Believe me," replied Everard, "that I choose the line of policy best
befitting the times."
"Choose that," she said, "which best befits duty, Markhamwhich best
befits truth and honour. Do your duty, and let Providence decide the
rest.Farewell! we tempt my father's patience too faryou know his
temperfarewell, Markham."
She extended her hand, which he pressed to his lips, and left the
apartment. A silent bow to his uncle, and a sign to Wildrake, whom he
found in the kitchen of the cabin, were the only tokens of recognition
exhibited, and leaving the hut, he was soon mounted, and, with his
companion, advanced on his return to the Lodge.
CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH.
Deeds are done on earth
Which have their punishment ere the earth closes
Upon the perpetrators. Be it the working
Of the remorse-stirr'd fancy, or the vision,
Distinct and real, of unearthly being,
All ages witness, that beside the couch
Of the fell homicide oft stalks the ghost
Of him he slew, and shows the shadowy wound.
OLD PLAY.
Everard had come to Joceline's hut as fast as horse could bear him, and
with the same impetuosity of purpose as of speed. He saw no choice in
the course to be pursued, and felt in his own imagination the strongest
right to direct, and even reprove, his cousin, beloved as she was, on
account of the dangerous machinations with which she appeared to have
connected herself. He returned slowly, and in a very different mood.
Not only had Alice, prudent as beautiful, appeared completely free from
the weakness of conduct which seemed to give him some authority over
her, but her views of policy, if less practicable, were so much more
direct and noble than his own, as led him to question whether he had
not compromised himself too rashly with Cromwell, even although the
state of the country was so greatly divided and torn by faction, that
the promotion of the General to the possession of the executive
government seemed the only chance of escaping a renewal of the Civil
War. The more exalted and purer sentiments of Alice lowered him in his
own eyes; and though unshaken in his opinion, that it were better the
vessel should be steered by a pilot having no good title to the office,
than that she should run upon the breakers, he felt that he was not
espousing the most direct, manly, and disinterested side of the
question.
As he rode on, immersed in these unpleasant contemplations, and
considerably lessened in his own esteem by what had happened, Wildrake,
who rode by his side, and was no friend to long silence, began to enter
into conversation. "I have been thinking, Mark," said he, "that if you
and I had been called to the baras, by the by, has been in danger of
happening to me in more senses than oneI say, had we become
barristers, I would have had the better oiled tongue of the twothe
fairer art of persuasion."
"Perhaps so," replied Everard, "though I never heard thee use any, save
to induce an usurer to lend thee money, or a taverner to abate a
reckoning."
"And yet this day, or rather night, I could have, as I think, made a
conquest which baffled you."
"Indeed?" said the Colonel, becoming attentive.
"Why, look you," said Wildrake, "it was a main object with you to
induce Mistress Alice LeeBy Heaven, she is an exquisite creatureI
approve of your taste, MarkI say, you desire to persuade her, and the
stout old Trojan her father, to consent to return to the Lodge, and
live there quietly, and under connivance, like gentlefolk, instead of
lodging in a hut hardly fit to harbour a Tom of Bedlam."
"Thou art right; such, indeed, was a great part of my object in this
visit," answered Everard.
"But perhaps you also expected to visit there yourself, and so keep
watch over pretty Mistress Leeeh?"
"I never entertained so selfish a thought," said Everard; "and if this
nocturnal disturbance at the mansion were explained and ended, I would
instantly take my departure."
"Your friend Noll would expect something more from you," said Wildrake;
"he would expect, in case the knight's reputation for loyalty should
draw any of our poor exiles and wanderers about the Lodge, that you
should be on the watch and ready to snap them. In a word, as far as I
can understand his long-winded speeches, he would have Woodstock a
trap, your uncle and his pretty daughter the bait of
toasted-cheesecraving your Chloe's pardon for the comparisonyou the
spring-fall which should bar their escape, his Lordship himself being
the great grimalkin to whom they are to be given over to be devoured."
"Dared Cromwell mention this to thee in express terms?" said Everard,
pulling up his horse, and stopping in the midst of the road.
"Nay, not in express terms, which I do not believe he ever used in his
life; you might as well expect a drunken man to go straight forward;
but he insinuated as much to me, and indicated that you might deserve
well of himGadzo, the damnable proposal sticks in my throatby
betraying our noble and rightful King, (here he pulled off his hat,)
whom God grant in health and wealth long to reign, as the worthy
clergyman says, though I fear just now his Majesty is both sick and
sorry, and never a penny in his pouch to boot."
"This tallies with what Alice hinted," said Everard; "but how could she
know it? didst thou give her any hint of such a thing?"
"I!" replied the cavalier, "I, who never saw Mistress Alice in my life
till to-night, and then only for an instantzooks, man, how is that
possible?"
"True," replied Everard, and seemed lost in thought. At length he
spoke"I should call Cromwell to account for his bad opinion of me;
for, even though not seriously expressed, but, as I am convinced it
was, with the sole view of proving you, and perhaps myself, it was,
nevertheless, a misconstruction to be resented."
"I'll carry a cartel for you, with all my heart and soul," said
Wildrake; "and turn out with his godliness's second, with as good will
as I ever drank a glass of sack."
"Pshaw," replied Everard, "those in his high place fight no single
combats. But tell me, Roger Wildrake, didst thou thyself think me
capable of the falsehood and treachery implied in such a message?"
"I!" exclaimed Wildrake. "Markham Everard, you have been my early
friend, my constant benefactor. When Colchester was reduced, you saved
me from the gallows, and since that thou hast twenty times saved me
from starving. But, by Heaven, if I thought you capable of such villany
as your General recommended,by yonder blue sky, and all the works of
creation which it bends over, I would stab you with my own hand!"
"Death," replied Everard, "I should indeed deserve, but not from you,
perhaps; but fortunately, I cannot, if I would, be guilty of the
treachery you would punish. Know that I had this day secret notice, and
from Cromwell himself, that the young Man has escaped by sea from
Bristol."
"Now, God Almighty be blessed, who protected him through so many
dangers!" exclaimed Wildrake. "Huzza!Up hearts, cavaliers!Hey for
cavaliers!God bless King Charles!Moon and stars, catch my hat!"and
he threw it up as high as he could into the air. The celestial bodies
which he invoked did not receive the present dispatched to them; but,
as in the case of Sir Henry Lee's scabbard, an old gnarled oak became a
second time the receptacle of a waif and stray of loyal enthusiasm.
Wildrake looked rather foolish at the circumstance, and his friend took
the opportunity of admonishing him.
"Art thou not ashamed to bear thee so like a schoolboy?"
"Why," said Wildrake, "I have but sent a Puritan's hat upon a loyal
errand. I laugh to think how many of the schoolboys thou talk'st of
will be cheated into climbing the pollard next year, expecting to find
the nest of some unknown bird in yonder unmeasured margin of felt."
"Hush now, for God's sake, and let us speak calmly," said Everard.
"Charles has escaped, and I am glad of it. I would willingly have seen
him on his father's throne by composition, but not by the force of the
Scottish army, and the incensed and vengeful royalists."
"Master Markham Everard," began the cavalier, interrupting him"Nay,
hush, dear Wildrake," said Everard; "let us not dispute a point on
which we cannot agree, and give me leave to go on.I say, since the
young Man has escaped, Cromwell's offensive and injurious stipulation
falls to the ground; and I see not why my uncle and his family should
not again enter their own house, under the same terms of connivance as
many other royalists. What may be incumbent on me is different, nor can
I determine my course until I have an interview with the General,
which, as I think, will end in his confessing that he threw in this
offensive proposal to sound us both. It is much in his manner; for he
is blunt, and never sees or feels the punctilious honour which the
gallants of the day stretch to such delicacy."
"I'll acquit him of having any punctilio about him," said Wildrake,
"either touching honour or honesty. Now, to come back to where we
started. Supposing you were not to reside in person at the Lodge, and
to forbear even visiting there, unless on invitation, when such a thing
can be brought about, I tell you frankly, I think your uncle and his
daughter might be induced to come back to the Lodge, and reside there
as usual. At least the clergyman, that worthy old cock, gave me to hope
as much."
"He had been hasty in bestowing his confidence," said Everard.
"True," replied Wildrake; "he confided in me at once; for he instantly
saw my regard for the Church. I thank Heaven I never passed a clergyman
in his canonicals without pulling my hat off(and thou knowest, the
most desperate duel I ever fought was with young Grayless of the Inner
Temple, for taking the wall of the Reverend Dr. Bunce)Ah, I can gain a
chaplain's ear instantly. Gadzooks, they know whom they have to trust
to in such a one as I."
"Dost thou think, then," said Colonel Everard, "or rather does this
clergyman think, that if they were secure of intrusion from me, the
family would return to the Lodge, supposing the intruding Commissioners
gone, and this nocturnal disturbance explained and ended?"
"The old Knight," answered Wildrake, "may be wrought upon by the Doctor
to return, if he is secure against intrusion. As for disturbances, the
stout old boy, so far as I can learn in two minutes' conversation,
laughs at all this turmoil as the work of mere imagination, the
consequence of the remorse of their own evil consciences; and says that
goblin or devil was never heard of at Woodstock, until it became the
residence of such men as they, who have now usurped the possession."
"There is more than imagination in it," said Everard. "I have personal
reason to know there is some conspiracy carrying on, to render the
house untenable by the Commissioners. I acquit my uncle of accession to
such a silly trick; but I must see it ended ere I can agree to his and
my cousin's residing where such a confederacy exists; for they are
likely to be considered as the contrivers of such pranks, be the actual
agent who he may."
"With reference to your better acquaintance with the gentleman,
Everard, I should rather suspect the old father of Puritans (I beg your
pardon again) has something to do with the business; and if so, Lucifer
will never look near the true old Knight's beard, nor abide a glance of
yonder maiden's innocent blue eyes. I will uphold them as safe as pure
gold in a miser's chest."
"Sawest thou aught thyself, which makes thee think thus?"
"Not a quill of the devil's pinion saw I," replied Wildrake. "He
supposes himself too secure of an old cavalier, who must steal, hang,
or drown, in the long run, so he gives himself no trouble to look after
the assured booty. But I heard the serving-fellows prate of what they
had seen and heard; and though their tales were confused enough, yet if
there was any truth among them at all, I should say the devil must have
been in the dance.But, holla! here comes some one upon us.Stand,
friendwho art thou?"
"A poor day-labourer in the great work of EnglandJoseph Tomkins by
nameSecretary to a godly and well-endowed leader in this poor
Christian army of England, called General Harrison."
"What news, Master Tomkins?" said Everard; "and why are you on the road
at this late hour?"
"I speak to the worthy Colonel Everard, as I judge?" said Tomkins; "and
truly I am glad of meeting your honour. Heaven knows, I need such
assistance as yours.Oh, worthy Master Everard!Here has been a
sounding of trumpets, and a breaking of vials, and a pouring forth,
and"
"Prithee, tell me in brief, what is the matterwhere is thy masterand,
in a word, what has happened?"
"My master is close by, parading it in the little meadow, beside the
hugeous oak, which is called by the name of the late Man; ride but two
steps forward, and you may see him walking swiftly to and fro,
advancing all the while the naked weapon."
Upon proceeding as directed, but with as little noise as possible, they
descried a man, whom of course they concluded must be Harrison, walking
to and fro beneath the King's oak, as a sentinel under arms, but with
more wildness of demeanour. The tramp of the horses did not escape his
ear; and they heard him call out, as if at the head of the brigade
"Lower pikes against cavalry!Here comes Prince RupertStand fast, and
you shall turn them aside, as a bull would toss a cur-dog. Lower your
pikes still, my hearts, the end secured against your footdown on your
right knee, front rankspare not for the spoiling of your blue
aprons.HaZerobabelay, that is the word!"
"In the name of Heaven, about whom or what is he talking" said Everard;
"wherefore does he go about with his weapon drawn?"
"Truly, sir, when aught disturbs my master, General Harrison, he is
something rapt in the spirit, and conceives that he is commanding a
reserve of pikes at the great battle of Armageddonand for his weapon,
alack, worthy sir, wherefore should he keep Sheffield steel in calves'
leather, when there are fiends to be combatedincarnate fiends on
earth, and raging infernal fiends under the earth?"
"This is intolerable," said Everard. "Listen to me, Tomkins. Thou art
not now in the pulpit, and I desire none of thy preaching language. I
know thou canst speak intelligibly when thou art so minded. Remember, I
may serve or harm thee; and as you hope or fear any thing on my part,
answer straight-forwardWhat has happened to drive out thy master to
the wild wood at this time of night?"
"Forsooth, worthy and honoured sir, I will speak with the precision I
may. True it is, and of verity, that the breath of man, which is in his
nostrils, goeth forth and returneth"
"Hark you, sir," said Colonel Everard, "take care where you ramble in
your correspondence with me. You have heard how at the great battle of
Dunbar in Scotland, the General himself held a pistol to the head of
Lieutenant Hewcreed, threatening to shoot him through the brain if he
did not give up holding forth, and put his squadron in line to the
front. Take care, sir."
"Verily, the lieutenant then charged with an even and unbroken order,"
said Tomkins, "and bore a thousand plaids and bonnets over the beach
before him into the sea. Neither shall I pretermit or postpone your
honour's commands, but speedily obey them, and that without delay."
"Go to, fellow; thou knowest what I would have," said Everard; "speak
at once; I know thou canst if thou wilt. Trusty Tomkins is better known
than he thinks for."
"Worthy sir," said Tomkins, in a much less periphrastic style, "I will
obey your worship as far as the spirit will permit. Truly, it was not
an hour since, when my worshipful master being at table with Master
Bibbet and myself, not to mention the worshipful Master Bletson and
Colonel Desborough, and behold there was a violent knocking at the
gate, as of one in haste. Now, of a certainty, so much had our
household been harassed with witches and spirits, and other objects of
sound and sight, that the sentinels could not be brought to abide upon
their posts without doors, and it was only by a provision of beef and
strong liquors that we were able to maintain a guard of three men in
the hall, who nevertheless ventured not to open the door, lest they
should be surprised with some of the goblins wherewith their
imaginations were overwhelmed. And they heard the knocking, which
increased until it seemed that the door was well-nigh about to be
beaten down. Worthy Master Bibbet was a little overcome with liquor,
(as is his fashion, good man, about this time of the evening,) not that
he is in the least given to ebriety, but simply, that since the
Scottish campaign he hath had a perpetual ague, which obliges him so to
nourish his frame against the damps of the night; wherefore, as it is
well known to your honour that I discharge the office of a faithful
servant, as well to Major-General Harrison, and the other
Commissioners, as to my just and lawful master, Colonel Desborough"
"I know all that.And now that thou art trusted by both, I pray to
Heaven thou mayest merit the trust," said Colonel Everard.
"And devoutly do I pray," said Tomkins, "that your worshipful prayers
may be answered with favour; for certainly to be, and to be called and
entitled, Honest Joe, and Trusty Tomkins, is to me more than ever would
be an Earl's title, were such things to be granted anew in this
regenerated government."
"Well, go ongo onor if thou dalliest much longer, I will make bold to
dispute the article of your honesty. I like short tales, sir, and doubt
what is told with a long unnecessary train of words."
"Well, good sir, be not hasty. As I said before, the doors rattled till
you would have thought the knocking was reiterated in every room of the
Palace. The bell rung out for company, though we could not find that
any one tolled the clapper, and the guards let off their firelocks,
merely because they knew not what better to do. So, Master Bibbet
being, as I said, unsusceptible of his duty, I went down with my poor
rapier to the door, and demanded who was there; and I was answered in a
voice, which, I must say, was much like another voice, that it was one
wanting Major-General Harrison. So, as it was then late, I answered
mildly, that General Harrison was betaking himself to his rest, and
that any who wished to speak to him must return on the morrow morning,
for that after nightfall the door of the Palace, being in the room of a
garrison, would be opened to no one. So, the voice replied, and bid me
open directly, without which he would blow the folding leaves of the
door into the middle of the hall. And therewithal the noise
recommenced, that we thought the house would have fallen; and I was in
some measure constrained to open the door, even like a besieged
garrison which can hold out no longer."
"By my honour, and it was stoutly done of you, I must say," said
Wildrake,who had been listening with much interest. "I am a bold
dare-devil enough, yet when I had two inches of oak plank between the
actual fiend and me, hang him that would demolish the barrier between
us, say II would as soon, when aboard, bore a hole in the ship, and
let in the waves; for you know we always compare the devil to the deep
sea."
"Prithee, peace, Wildrake," said Everard, "and let him go on with his
history.Well, and what saw'st thou when the door was opened?the great
Devil with his horns and claws thou wilt say, no doubt."
"No, sir, I will say nothing but what is true. When I undid the door,
one man stood there, and he, to seeming, a man of no extraordinary
appearance. He was wrapped in a taffeta cloak of a scarlet colour, and
with a red lining. He seemed as if he might have been in his time a
very handsome man, but there was something of paleness and sorrow in
his facea long love-lock and long hair he wore, even after the
abomination of the cavaliers, and the unloveliness, as learned Master
Prynne well termed it, of love-locksa jewel in his eara blue scarf
over his shoulder, like a military commander for the King, and a hat
with a white plume, bearing a peculiar hatband."
"Some unhappy officer of cavaliers, of whom so many are in hiding, and
seeking shelter through the country," briefly replied Everard.
"True, worthy sirright as a judicious exposition. But there was
something about this man (if he was a man) whom I, for one, could not
look upon without trembling; nor the musketeers,who were in the hall,
without betraying much alarm, and swallowing, as they will themselves
aver, the very bulletswhich they had in their mouths for loading their
carabines and muskets. Nay, the wolf and deer-dogs, that are the
fiercest of their kind, fled from this visitor, and crept into holes
and corners, moaning and wailing in a low and broken tone. He came into
the middle of the hall, and still he seemed no more than an ordinary
man, only somewhat fantastically dressed, in a doublet of black velvet
pinked upon scarlet satin under his cloak, a jewel in his ear, with
large roses in his shoes, and a kerchief in his hand, which he
sometimes pressed against his left side."
"Gracious Heavens!" said Wildrake, coming close up to Everard, and
whispering in his ear, with accents which terror rendered tremulous, (a
mood of mind most unusual to the daring man, who seemed now overcome by
it)"it must have been poor Dick Robison the player, in the very dress
in which I have seen him play Philasteray, and drunk a jolly bottle
with him after it at the Mermaid! I remember how many frolics we had
together, and all his little fantastic fashions. He served for his old
master, Charles, in Mohun's troop, and was murdered by this butcher's
dog, as I have heard, after surrender, at the battle of Naseby-field."
"Hush! I have heard of the deed," said Everard; "for God's sake hear
the man to an end.Did this visitor speak to thee, my friend?"
"Yes, sir, in a pleasing tone of voice, but somewhat fanciful in the
articulation, and like one who is speaking to an audience as from a bar
or a pulpit, more than in the voice of ordinary men on ordinary
matters. He desired to see Major-General Harrison."
"He did!and you," said Everard, infected by the spirit of the time,
which, as is well known, leaned to credulity upon all matters of
supernatural agency,"what did you do?"
"I went up to the parlour, and related that such a person enquired for
him. He started when I told him, and eagerly desired to know the man's
dress; but no sooner did I mention his dress, and the jewel in his ear,
than he said, 'Begone! tell him I will not admit him to speech of me.
Say that I defy him, and will make my defiance good at the great battle
in the valley of Armageddon, when the voice of the angel shall call all
fowls which fly under the face of heaven to feed on the flesh of the
captain and the soldier, the warhorse and his rider. Say to the Evil
One, I have power to appeal our conflict even till that day, and that
in the front of that fearful day he will again meet with Harrison.' I
went back with this answer to the stranger, and his face was writhed
into such a deadly frown as a mere human brow hath seldom worn. 'Return
to him,' he said, 'and say it is MY HOUR, and that if he come not
instantly down to speak with me, I will mount the stairs to him. Say
that I COMMAND him to descend, by the token, that, on the field of
Naseby, he did not the work negligently.'"
"I have heard," whispered Wildrakewho felt more and more strongly the
contagion of superstition"that these words were blasphemously used by
Harrison when he shot my poor friend Dick."
"What happened next?" said Everard. "See that thou speakest the truth."
"As gospel unexpounded by a steeple-man," said the Independent; "yet
truly it is but little I have to say. I saw my master come down, with a
blank, yet resolved air; and when he entered the hall and saw the
stranger, he made a pause. The other waved on him as if to follow, and
walked out at the portal. My worthy patron seemed as if he were about
to follow, yet again paused, when this visitant, be he man or fiend,
re-entered, and said, 'Obey thy doom.
'By pathless march by greenwood tree,
It is thy weird to follow me
To follow me through the ghastly moonlight
To follow me through the shadows of night
To follow me, comrade, still art thou bound;
I conjure thee by the unstaunch'd wound
I conjure thee by the last words I spoke
When the body slept and the spirit awoke,
In the very last pangs of the deadly stroke.'
"So saying, he stalked out, and my master followed him into the wood.I
followed also at a distance. But when I came up, my master was alone,
and bearing himself as you now behold him."
"Thou hast had a wonderful memory, friend," said the Colonel, coldly,
"to remember these rhymes in a single recitationthere seems something
of practice in all this."
"A single recitation, my honoured sir?" exclaimed the Independent
"alack, the rhyme is seldom out of my poor master's mouth, when, as
sometimes haps, he is less triumphant in his wrestles with Satan. But
it was the first time I ever heard it uttered by another; and, to say
truth, he ever seems to repeat it unwillingly, as a child after his
pedagogue, and as it was not indited by his own head, as the Psalmist
saith."
"It is singular," said Everard;"I have heard and read that the spirits
of the slaughtered have strange power over the slayer; but I am
astonished to have it insisted upon that there may be truth in such
tales. Roger Wildrakewhat art thou afraid of, man?why dost thou shift
thy place thus?"
"Fear? it is not fearit is hate, deadly hate.I see the murderer of
poor Dick before me, andsee, he throws himself into a posture of
fenceSasasay'st thou, brood of a butcher's mastiff? thou shalt not
want an antagonist."
Ere any one could stop him, Wildrake threw aside his cloak, drew his
sword, and almost with a single bound cleared the distance betwixt him
and Harrison, and crossed swords with the latter, as he stood
brandishing his weapon, as if in immediate expectation of an assailant.
Accordingly, the Republican General was not for an instant taken at
unawares, but the moment the swords clashed, he shouted, "Ha! I feel
thee now, thou hast come in body at last.Welcome! welcome!the sword
of the Lord and of Gideon!"
"Part them, part them!" cried Everard, as he and Tomkins, at first
astonished at the suddenness of the affray, hastened to interfere.
Everard, seizing on the cavalier, drew him forcibly backwards, and
Tomkins contrived, with risk and difficulty, to master Harrison's
sword, while the General exclaimed, "Ha! two to onetwo to one!thus
fight demons." Wildrake, on his side, swore a dreadful oath, and added,
"Markham, you have cancelled every obligation I owed youthey are all
out of sightgone, dn me!"
"You have indeed acquitted these obligations rarely," said Everard,
"Who knows how this affair shall be explained and answered?"
"I will answer it with my life," said Wildrake.
"Good now, be silent," said Tomkins, "and let me manage. It shall be so
ordered that the good General shall never know that he hath encountered
with a mortal man; only let that man of Moab put his sword into the
scabbard's rest, and be still."
"Wildrake, let me entreat thee to sheathe thy sword," said Everard,
"else, on my life, thou must turn it against me."
"No, 'fore George, not so mad as that neither, but I'll have another
day with him."
"Thou, another day!" exclaimed Harrison, whose eye had still remained
fixed on the spot where he found such palpable resistance. "Yes, I know
thee well; day by day, week by week, thou makest the same idle request,
for thou knowest that my heart quivers at thy voice. But my hand
trembles not when opposed to thinethe spirit is willing to the combat,
if the flesh be weak when opposed to that which is not of the flesh."
"Now, peace all, for Heaven's sake,"said the steward Tomkins; then
added, addressing his master, "there is no one here, if it please your
Excellency, but Tomkins and the worthy Colonel Everard."
General Harrison, as sometimes happens in cases of partial insanity,
(that is, supposing his to have been a case of mental delusion,) though
firmly and entirely persuaded of the truth of his own visions, yet was
not willing to speak on the subject to those who, he knew, would regard
them as imaginary. Upon this occasion, he assumed the appearance of
perfect ease and composure, after the violent agitation he had just
manifested, in a manner which showed how anxious he was to disguise his
real feelings from Everard, whom he considered so unlikely to
participate in them.
He saluted the Colonel with profound ceremony, and talked of the
fineness of the evening, which had summoned him forth of the Lodge, to
take a turn in the Park, and enjoy the favourable weather. He then took
Everard by the arm, and walked back with him towards the Lodge,
Wildrake and Tomkins following close behind and leading the horses.
Everard, desirous to gain some light on these mysterious incidents,
endeavoured to come on the subject more than once, by a mode of
interrogation, which Harrison (for madmen are very often unwilling to
enter on the subject of their mental delusion) parried with some skill,
or addressed himself for aid to his steward Tomkins, who was in the
habit of being voucher for his master upon all occasions, which led to
Desborough's ingenious nickname of Fibbet.
"And wherefore had you your sword drawn, my worthy General," said
Everard, "when you were only on an evening walk of pleasure?"
"Truly, excellent Colonel, these are times when men must watch with
their loins girded, and their lights burning, and their weapons drawn.
The day draweth nigh, believe me or not as you will, that men must
watch lest they be found naked and unarmed, when the seven trumpets
shall sound, Boot and saddle; and the pipes of Jezer shall strike up,
Horse and away."
"True, good General; but methought I saw you making passes, even now,
as if you were fighting," said Everard.
"I am of a strange fantasy, friend Everard," answered Harrison; "and
when I walk alone, and happen, as but now, to have my weapon drawn, I
sometimes, for exercise' sake, will practise a thrust against such a
tree as that. It is a silly pride men have in the use of weapons. I
have been accounted a master of fence, and have fought for prizes when
I was unregenerated, and before I was called to do my part in the great
work, entering as a trooper into our victorious General's first
regiment of horse."
"But methought," said Everard, "I heard a weapon clash with yours?"
"How? a weapon clash with my sword?How could that be, Tomkins?"
"Truly, sir," said Tomkins, "it must have been a bough of the tree;
they have them of all kinds here, and your honour may have pushed
against one of them, which the Brazilians call iron-wood, a block of
which, being struck with a hammer, saith Purchas in his Pilgrimage,
ringeth like an anvil."
"Truly, it may be so," said Harrison; "for those rulers who are gone,
assembled in this their abode of pleasure many strange trees and
plants, though they gathered not of the fruit of that tree which
beareth twelve manner of fruits, or of those leaves which are for the
healing of the nations."
Everard pursued his investigation; for he was struck with the manner in
which Harrison evaded his questions, and the dexterity with which he
threw his transcendental and fanatical notions, like a sort of veil,
over the darker visions excited by remorse and conscious guilt.
"But," said he, "if I may trust my eyes and ears, I cannot but still
think that you had a real antagonist.Nay, I am sure I saw a fellow, in
a dark-coloured jerkin, retreat through the wood."
"Did you?" said Harrison, with a tone of surprise, while his voice
faltered in spite of him"Who could he be?Tomkins, did you see the
fellow Colonel Everard talks of with the napkin in his handthe bloody
napkin which he always pressed to his side?"
This last expression, in which Harrison gave a mark different from that
which Everard had assigned, but corresponding to Tomkins's original
description of the supposed spectre, had more effect on Everard in
confirming the steward's story, than anything he had witnessed or
heard. The voucher answered the draft upon him as promptly as usual,
that he had seen such a fellow glide past them into the thicketthat he
dared to say he was some deer-stealer, for he had heard they were
become very audacious.
"Look ye there now, Master Everard," said Harrison, hurrying from the
subject"Is it not time now that we should lay aside our controversies,
and join hand in hand to repairing the breaches of our Zion? Happy and
contented were I, my excellent friend, to be a treader of mortar, or a
bearer of a hod, upon this occasion, under our great leader, with whom
Providence has gone forth in this great national controversy; and
truly, so devoutly do I hold by our excellent and victorious General
Oliver, whom Heaven long preservethat were he to command me, I should
not scruple to pluck forth of his high place the man whom they call
speaker, even as I lent a poor hand to pluck down the man whom they
called King.Wherefore, as I know your judgment holdeth with mine on
this matter, let me urge unto you lovingly, that we may act as
brethren, and build up the breaches, and re-establish the bulwarks of
our English Zion, whereby we shall be doubtless chosen as pillars and
buttresses, under our excellent Lord-General, for supporting and
sustaining the same, and endowed with proper revenues and incomes, both
spiritual and temporal, to serve as a pedestal, on which we may stand,
seeing that otherwise our foundation will be on the loose
sand.Nevertheless," continued he, his mind again diverging from his
views of temporal ambition into his visions of the Fifth Monarchy,
"these things are but vanity in respect of the opening of the book
which is sealed; for all things approach speedily towards lightning and
thundering, and unloosing of the great dragon from the bottomless pit,
wherein he is chained."
With this mingled strain of earthly politics, and fanatical prediction,
Harrison so overpowered Colonel Everard, as to leave him no time to
urge him farther on the particular circumstances of his nocturnal
skirmish, concerning which it is plain he had no desire to be
interrogated. They now reached the Lodge of Woodstock.
CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH.
Now the wasted brands do glow,
While the screech-owl, sounding loud,
Puts the wretch that lies in woe,
In remembrance of a shroud.
Now it is the time of night
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets out its sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.
Before the gate of the palace the guards were now doubled. Everard
demanded the reason of this from the corporal, whom he found in the
hall with his soldiers, sitting or sleeping around a great fire,
maintained at the expense of the carved chairs and benches with
fragments of which it was furnished.
"Why, verily," answered the man, "the corps-de-garde, as your worship
says, will be harassed to pieces by such duty; nevertheless, fear hath
gone abroad among us, and no man will mount guard alone. We have drawn
in, however, one or two of our outposts from Banbury and elsewhere, and
we are to have a relief from Oxford to-morrow."
Everard continued minute enquiries concerning the sentinels that were
posted within as well as without the Lodge; and found that, as they had
been stationed under the eye of Harrison himself, the rules of prudent
discipline had been exactly observed in the distribution of the posts.
There remained nothing therefore for Colonel Everard to do, but,
remembering his own adventure of the evening, to recommend that an
additional sentinel should be placed, with a companion, if judged
indispensable, in that vestibule, or ante-room, from which the long
gallery where he had met with the rencontre, and other suites of
apartments, diverged. The corporal respectfully promised all obedience
to his orders. The serving-men being called, appeared also in double
force. Everard demanded to know whether the Commissioners had gone to
bed, or whether he could get speech with them? "They are in their
bedroom, forsooth," replied one of the fellows; "but I think they be
not yet undressed."
"What!" said Everard, "are Colonel Desborough and Master Bletson both
in the same sleeping apartment?"
"Their honours have so chosen it," said the man; "and their honours'
secretaries remain upon guard all night."
"It is the fashion to double guards all over the house," said Wildrake.
"Had I a glimpse of a tolerably good-looking house-maid now, I should
know how to fall into the fashion."
"Peace, fool!" said Everard."And where are the Mayor and Master
Holdenough?"
"The Mayor is returned to the borough on horseback, behind the trooper,
who goes to Oxford for the reinforcement; and the man of the
steeple-house hath quartered himself in the chamber which Colonel
Desborough had last night, being that in which he is most likely to
meet theyour honour understands. The Lord pity us, we are a harassed
family!"
"And where be General Harrison's knaves," said Tomkins, "that they do
not marshal him to his apartment?"
"Hereherehere, Master Tomkins," said three fellows, pressing forward,
with the same consternation on their faces which seemed to pervade the
whole inhabitants of Woodstock.
"Away with you, then," said Tomkins;"speak not to his worshipyou see
he is not in the humour."
"Indeed," observed Colonel Everard, "he looks singularly wanhis
features seem writhen as by a palsy stroke; and though he was talking
so fast while we came along, he hath not opened his mouth since we came
to the light."
"It is his manner after such visitations," said Tomkins."Give his
honour your arms, Zedekiah and Jonathan, to lead him offI will follow
instantly.You, Nicodemus, tarry to wait upon meit is not well walking
alone in this mansion."
"Master Tomkins," said Everard, "I have heard of you often as a sharp,
intelligent mantell me fairly, are you in earnest afraid of any thing
supernatural haunting this house?"
"I would be loth to run the chance, sir," said Tomkins very gravely;
"by looking on my worshipful master, you may form a guess how the
living look after they have spoken with the dead." He bowed low, and
took his leave. Everard proceeded to the chamber which the two
remaining Commissioners had, for comfort's sake, chosen to inhabit in
company. They were preparing for bed as he went into their apartment.
Both started as the door openedboth rejoiced when they saw it was only
Everard who entered.
"Hark ye hither," said Bletson, pulling him aside, "sawest thou ever
ass equal to Desborough?the fellow is as big as an ox, and as timorous
as a sheep. He has insisted on my sleeping here, to protect him. Shall
we have a merry night on't, ha? We will, if thou wilt take the third
bed, which was prepared for Harrison; but he is gone out, like a
mooncalf, to look for the valley of Armageddon in the Park of
Woodstock."
"General Harrison has returned with me but now," said Everard.
"Nay but, as I shall live, he comes not into our apartment," said
Desborough, overhearing his answer. "No man that has been supping, for
aught I know, with the Devil, has a right to sleep among Christian
folk."
"He does not propose so," said Everard; "he sleeps, as I understand,
apartand alone."
"Not quite alone, I dare say," said Desborough; "for Harrison hath a
sort of attraction for goblinsthey fly round him like moths about a
candle:But, I prithee, good Everard, do thou stay with us. I know not
how it is, but although thou hast not thy religion always in thy mouth,
nor speakest many hard words about it, like Harrisonnor makest long
preachments, like a certain most honourable relation of mine who shall
be nameless, yet somehow I feel myself safer in thy company than with
any of them. As for this Bletson, he is such a mere blasphemer, that I
fear the Devil will carry him away ere morning."
"Did you ever hear such a paltry coward?" said Bletson, apart to
Everard. "Do tarry, however, mine honoured ColonelI know your zeal to
assist the distressed, and you see Desborough is in that predicament,
that he will require near him more than one example to prevent him
thinking of ghosts and fiends."
"I am sorry I cannot oblige you, gentlemen," said Everard; "but I have
settled my mind to sleep in Victor Lee's apartment, so I wish you good
night; and, if you would repose without disturbance, I would advise
that you commend yourselves, during the watches of the night, to Him
unto whom night is even as mid-day. I had intended to have spoke with
you this evening on the subject of my being here; but I will defer the
conference till to-morrow, when, I think, I will be able to show you
excellent reasons for leaving Woodstock."
"We have seen plenty such already," said Desborough; "for one, I came
here to serve the estate, with some moderate advantage to myself for my
trouble; but if I am set upon my head again to-night, as I was the
night before, I would not stay longer to gain a king's crown; for I am
sure my neck would be unfitted to bear the weight of it."
"Good night," exclaimed Everard; and was about to go, when Bletson
again pressed close, and whispered to him, "Hark thee, Colonelyou know
my friendship for theeI do implore thee to leave the door of thy
apartment open, that if thou meetest with any disturbance, I may hear
thee call, and be with thee upon the very instant. Do this, dear
Everard, my fears for thee will keep me awake else; for I know that,
notwithstanding your excellent sense, you entertain some of those
superstitious ideas which we suck in with our mother's milk, and which
constitute the ground of our fears in situations like the present;
therefore leave thy door open, if you love me, that you may have ready
assistance from me in case of need."
"My master," said Wildrake, "trusts, first, in his Bible, sir, and then
in his good sword. He has no idea that the Devil can be baffled by the
charm of two men lying in one room, still less that the foul fiend can
be argued out of existence by the Nullifidians of the Rota."
Everard seized his imprudent friend by the collar, and dragged him off
as he was speaking, keeping fast hold of him till they were both in the
chamber of Victor Lee, where they had slept on a former occasion. Even
then he continued to hold Wildrake, until the servant had arranged the
lights, and was dismissed from the room; then letting him go, addressed
him with the upbraiding question, "Art thou not a prudent and sagacious
person, who in times like these seek'st every opportunity to argue
yourself into a broil, or embroil yourself in an argument? Out on you!"
"Ay, out on me indeed," said the cavalier; "out on me for a poor
tame-spirited creature, that submits to be bandied about in this
manner, by a man who is neither better born nor better bred than
myself. I tell thee, Mark, you make an unfair use of your advantages
over me. Why will you not let me go from you, and live and die after my
own fashion?"
"Because, before we had been a week separate, I should hear of your
dying after the fashion of a dog. Come, my good friend, what madness
was it in thee to fall foul on Harrison, and then to enter into useless
argument with Bletson?"
"Why, we are in the Devil's house, I think, and I would willingly give
the landlord his due wherever I travel. To have sent him Harrison, or
Bletson now, just as a lunch to stop his appetite, till Crom"
"Hush! stone walls have ears," said Everard, looking around him. "Here
stands thy night-drink. Look to thy arms, for we must be as careful as
if the Avenger of Blood were behind us. Yonder is thy bedand I, as
thou seest, have one prepared in the parlour. The door only divides
us."
"Which I will leave open, in case thou shouldst holla for assistance,
as yonder Nullifidian hath itBut how hast thou got all this so well
put in order, good patron?"
"I gave the steward Tomkins notice of my purpose to sleep here."
"A strange fellow that," said Wildrake, "and, as I judge, has taken
measure of every one's footall seems to pass through his hands."
"He is, I have understood," replied Everard, "one of the men formed by
the timeshas a ready gift of preaching and expounding, which keeps him
in high terms with the Independents; and recommends himself to the more
moderate people by his intelligence and activity."
"Has his sincerity ever been doubted?" said Wildrake.
"Never, that I heard of," said the Colonel; "on the contrary, he has
been familiarly called Honest Joe, and Trusty Tomkins. For my part, I
believe his sincerity has always kept pace with his interest.But come,
finish thy cup, and to bed.What, all emptied at one draught!"
"Adszookers, yesmy vow forbids me to make two on't; but, never
fearthe nightcap will only warm my brain, not clog it. So, man or
devil, give me notice if you are disturbed, and rely on me in a
twinkling." So saying, the cavalier retreated into his separate
apartment, and Colonel Everard, taking off the most cumbrous part of
his dress, lay down in his hose and doublet, and composed himself to
rest.
He was awakened from sleep by a slow and solemn strain of music, which
died away as at a distance. He started up, and felt for his arms, which
he found close beside him. His temporary bed being without curtains, he
could look around him without difficulty; but as there remained in the
chimney only a few red embers of the fire which he had arranged before
he went to sleep, it was impossible he could discern any thing. He
felt, therefore, in spite of his natural courage, that undefined and
thrilling species of tremor which attends a sense that danger is near,
and an uncertainty concerning its cause and character. Reluctant as he
was to yield belief to supernatural occurrences, we have already said
he was not absolutely incredulous; as perhaps, even in this more
sceptical age, there are many fewer complete and absolute infidels on
this particular than give themselves out for such. Uncertain whether he
had not dreamed of these sounds which seemed yet in his ears, he was
unwilling to risk the raillery of his friend by summoning him to his
assistance. He sat up, therefore, in his bed, not without experiencing
that nervous agitation to which brave men as well as cowards are
subject; with this difference, that the one sinks under it, like the
vine under the hailstorm, and the other collects his energies to shake
it off, as the cedar of Lebanon is said to elevate its boughs to
disperse the snow which accumulates upon them.
The story of Harrison, in his own absolute despite, and notwithstanding
a secret suspicion which he had of trick or connivance, returned on his
mind at this dead and solitary hour. Harrison, he remembered, had
described the vision by a circumstance of its appearance different from
that which his own remark had been calculated to suggest to the mind of
the visionary;that bloody napkin, always pressed to the side, was then
a circumstance present either to his bodily eye, or to that of his
agitated imagination. Did, then, the murdered revisit the living haunts
of those who had forced them from the stage with all their sins
unaccounted for? And if they did, might not the same permission
authorise other visitations of a similar nature, to warnto instruct
to punish? Rash are they, was his conclusion, and credulous, who
receive as truth every tale of the kind; but no less rash may it be, to
limit the power of the Creator over the works which he has made, and to
suppose that, by the permission of the Author of Nature, the laws of
Nature may not, in peculiar cases, and for high purposes, be
temporarily suspended.
While these thoughts passed through Everard's mind, feelings unknown to
him, even when he stood first on the rough and perilous edge of battle,
gained ground upon him. He feared he knew not what; and where an open
and discernible peril would have drawn out his courage, the absolute
uncertainty of his situation increased his sense of the danger. He felt
an almost irresistible desire to spring from his bed and heap fuel on
the dying embers, expecting by the blaze to see some strange sight in
his chamber. He was also strongly tempted to awaken Wildrake; but
shame, stronger than fear itself, checked these impulses. What! should
it be thought that Markham Everard, held one of the best soldiers who
had drawn a sword in this sad warMarkham Everard, who had obtained
such distinguished rank in the army of the Parliament, though so young
in years, was afraid of remaining by himself in a twilight-room at
midnight? It never should be said.
This was, however, no charm for his unpleasant current of thought.
There rushed on his mind the various traditions of Victor Lee's
chamber, which, though he had often despised them as vague,
unauthenticated, and inconsistent rumours, engendered by ancient
superstition, and transmitted from generation to generation by
loquacious credulity, had something in them, which, did not tend to
allay the present unpleasant state of his nerves. Then, when he
recollected the events of that very afternoon, the weapon pressed
against his throat, and the strong arm which threw him backward on the
floorif the remembrance served to contradict the idea of flitting
phantoms, and unreal daggers, it certainly induced him to believe, that
there was in some part of this extensive mansion a party of cavaliers,
or malignants, harboured, who might arise in the night, overpower the
guards, and execute upon them all, but on Harrison in particular, as
one of the regicide judges, that vengeance, which was so eagerly
thirsted for by the attached followers of the slaughtered monarch.
He endeavoured to console himself on this subject by the number and
position of the guards, yet still was dissatisfied with himself for not
having taken yet more exact precautions, and for keeping an extorted
promise of silence, which might consign so many of his party to the
danger of assassination. These thoughts, connected with his military
duties, awakened another train of reflections. He bethought himself,
that all he could now do, was to visit the sentries, and ascertain that
they were awake, alert, on the watch, and so situated, that in time of
need they might be ready to support each other."This better befits
me," he thought, "than to be here like a child, frightening myself with
the old woman's legend, which I have laughed at when a boy. What
although old Victor Lee was a sacrilegious man, as common report goes,
and brewed ale in the font which he brought from the ancient palace of
Holyrood, while church and building were in flames? And what although
his eldest son was when a child scalded to death in the same vessel?
How many churches have been demolished since his time? How many fonts
desecrated? So many indeed, that were the vengeance of Heaven to visit
such aggressions in a supernatural manner, no corner in England, no,
not the most petty parish church, but would have its apparition.Tush,
these are idle fancies, unworthy, especially, to be entertained by
those educated to believe that sanctity resides in the intention and
the act, not in the buildings or fonts, or the form of worship."
As thus he called together the articles of his Calvinistic creed, the
bell of the great clock (a token seldom silent in such narratives)
tolled three, and was immediately followed by the hoarse call of the
sentinels through vault and gallery, up stairs and beneath, challenging
and answering each other with the usual watch-word, All's Well. Their
voices mingled with the deep boom of the bell, yet ceased before that
was silent, and when they had died away, the tingling echo of the
prolonged knell was scarcely audible. Ere yet that last distant
tingling had finally subsided into silence, it seemed as if it again
was awakened; and Everard could hardly judge at first whether a new
echo had taken up the falling cadence, or whether some other and
separate sound was disturbing anew the silence to which the deep knell
had, as its voice ceased, consigned the ancient mansion and the woods
around it.
But the doubt was soon cleared up. The musical tones which had mingled
with the dying echoes of the knell, seemed at first to prolong, and
afterwards to survive them. A wild strain of melody, beginning at a
distance, and growing louder as it advanced, seemed to pass from room
to room, from cabinet to gallery, from hall to bower, through the
deserted and dishonoured ruins of the ancient residence of so many
sovereigns; and, as it approached, no soldier gave alarm, nor did any
of the numerous guests of various degrees, who spent an unpleasant and
terrified night in that ancient mansion, seem to dare to announce to
each other the inexplicable cause of apprehension.
Everard's excited state of mind did not permit him to be so passive.
The sounds approached so nigh, that it seemed they were performing, in
the very next apartment, a solemn service for the dead, when he gave
the alarm, by calling loudly to his trusty attendant and friend
Wildrake, who slumbered in the next chamber with only a door betwixt
them, and even that ajar. "WildrakeWildrake!UpUp! Dost thou not hear
the alarm?" There was no answer from Wildrake, though the musical
sounds, which now rung through the apartment, as if the performers had
actually been, within its precincts, would have been sufficient to
awaken a sleeping person, even without the shout of his comrade and
patron.
"Alarm!Roger Wildrakealarm!" again called Everard, getting out of bed
and grasping his weapons"Get a light, and cry alarm!" There was no
answer. His voice died away as the sound of the music seemed also to
die; and the same soft sweet voice, which still to his thinking
resembled that of Alice Lee, was heard in his apartment, and, as he
thought, at no distance from him.
"Your comrade will not answer," said the low soft voice. "Those only
hear the alarm whose consciences feel the call!"
"Again this mummery!" said Everard. "I am better armed than I was of
late; and but for the sound of that voice, the speaker had bought his
trifling dear."
It was singular, we may observe in passing, that the instant the
distinct sounds of the human voice were heard by Everard, all idea of
supernatural interference was at an end, and the charm by which he had
been formerly fettered appeared to be broken; so much is the influence
of imaginary or superstitious terror dependent (so far as respects
strong judgments at least) upon what is vague or ambiguous; and so
readily do distinct tones, and express ideas, bring such judgments back
to the current of ordinary life. The voice returned answer, as
addressing his thoughts as well as his words.
"We laugh at the weapons thou thinkest should terrify usOver the
guardians of Woodstock they have no power. Fire, if thou wilt, and try
the effect of thy weapons. But know, it is not our purpose to harm
theethou art of a falcon breed, and noble in thy disposition, though,
unreclaimed and ill-nurtured, thou hauntest with kites and carrion
crows. Wing thy flight from hence on the morrow, for if thou tarriest
with the bats, owls, vultures and ravens, which have thought to nestle
here, thou wilt inevitably share their fate. Away then, that these
halls may be swept and garnished for the reception of those who have a
better right to inhabit them."
Everard answered in a raised voice."Once more I warn you, think not to
defy me in vain. I am no child to be frightened by goblins' tales; and
no coward, armed as I am, to be alarmed at the threats of banditti. If
I give you a moment's indulgence, it is for the sake of dear and
misguided friends, who may be concerned with this dangerous gambol.
Know, I can bring a troop of soldiers round the castle, who will search
its most inward recesses for the author of this audacious frolic; and
if that search should fail, it will cost but a few barrels of gunpowder
to make the mansion a heap of ruins, and bury under them the authors of
such an ill-judged pastime."
"You speak proudly, Sir Colonel," said another voice, similar to that
harsher and stronger tone by which he had been addressed in the
gallery; "try your courage in this direction."
"You should not dare me twice," said Colonel Everard, "had I a glimpse
of light to take aim by."
As he spoke, a sudden gleam of light was thrown with a brilliancy which
almost dazzled the speaker, showing distinctly a form somewhat
resembling that of Victor Lee, as represented in his picture, holding
in one hand a lady completely veiled, and in the other his
leading-staff, or truncheon. Both figures were animated, and, as it
appeared, standing within six feet of him.
"Were it not for the woman," said Everard, "I would not be thus
mortally dared."
"Spare not for the female form, but do your worst," replied the same
voice. "I defy you."
"Repeat your defiance when I have counted thrice," said Everard, "and
take the punishment of your insolence. OnceI have cocked my pistol
TwiceI never missed my aimBy all that is sacred, I fire if you do not
withdraw. When I pronounce the next number, I will shoot you dead where
you stand. I am yet unwilling to shed bloodI give you another chance
of flightoncetwiceTHRICE!"
Everard aimed at the bosom, and discharged his pistol. The figure waved
its arm in an attitude of scorn; and a loud laugh arose, during which
the light, as gradually growing weaker, danced and glimmered upon the
apparition of the aged knight, and then disappeared. Everard's
life-blood ran cold to his heart"Had he been of human mould," he
thought, "the bullet must have pierced himbut I have neither will nor
power to fight with supernatural beings."
The feeling of oppression was now so strong as to be actually
sickening. He groped his way, however, to the fireside, and flung on
the embers which were yet gleaming, a handful of dry fuel. It presently
blazed, and afforded him light to see the room in every direction. He
looked cautiously, almost timidly, around, and half expected some
horrible phantom to become visible. But he saw nothing save the old
furniture, the reading desk, and other articles, which had been left in
the same state as when Sir Henry Lee departed. He felt an
uncontrollable desire, mingled with much repugnance, to look at the
portrait of the ancient knight, which the form he had seen so strongly
resembled. He hesitated betwixt the opposing feelings, but at length
snatched, with desperate resolution, the taper which he had
extinguished, and relighted it, ere the blaze of the fuel had again
died away. He held it up to the ancient portrait of Victor Lee, and
gazed on it with eager curiosity, not unmingled with fear. Almost the
childish terrors of his earlier days returned, and he thought the
severe pale eye of the ancient warrior followed his, and menaced him
with its displeasure. And although he quickly argued himself out of
such an absurd belief, yet the mixed feelings of his mind were
expressed in words that seemed half addressed to the ancient portrait.
"Soul of my mother's ancestor," he said, "be it for weal or for woe, by
designing men, or by supernatural beings, that these ancient halls are
disturbed, I am resolved to leave them on the morrow."
"I rejoice to hear it, with all my soul," said a voice behind him.
He turned, saw a tall figure in white, with a sort of turban upon its
head, and dropping the candle in the exertion, instantly grappled with
it.
"Thou at least art palpable," he said.
"Palpable?" answered he whom he grasped so strongly"'Sdeath, methinks
you might know thatwithout the risk of choking me; and if you loose me
not, I'll show you that two can play at the game of wrestling."
"Roger Wildrake!" said Everard, letting the cavalier loose, and
stepping back.
"Roger Wildrake? ay, truly. Did you take me for Roger Bacon, come to
help you raise the devil?for the place smells of sulphur consumedly."
"It is the pistol I firedDid you not hear it?"
"Why, yes, it was the first thing waked mefor that nightcap which I
pulled on, made me sleep like a dormousePshaw, I feel my brains giddy
with it yet."
"And wherefore came you not on the instant?I never needed help more."
"I came as fast as I could," answered Wildrake; "but it was some time
ere I got my senses collected, for I was dreaming of that cursed field
at Nasebyand then the door of my room was shut, and hard to open, till
I played the locksmith with my foot."
"How! it was open when I went to bed," said Everard.
"It was locked when I came out of bed, though," said Wildrake, "and I
marvel you heard me not when I forced it open."
"My mind was occupied otherwise," said Everard.
"Well," said Wildrake, "but what has happened?Here am I bolt upright,
and ready to fight, if this yawning fit will give me leaveMother
Redcap's mightiest is weaker than I drank last night, by a bushel to a
barleycornI have quaffed the very elixir of maltHayaw."
"And some opiate besides, I should think," said Everard.
"Very likevery likeless than the pistol-shot would not waken me; even
me, who with but an ordinary grace-cup, sleep as lightly as a maiden on
the first of May, when she watches for the earliest beam to go to
gather dew. But what are you about to do next?"
"Nothing," answered Everard.
"Nothing?" said Wildrake, in surprise.
"I speak it," said Colonel Everard, "less for your information, than
for that of others who may hear me, that I will leave the Lodge this
morning, and, if it is possible, remove the Commissioners."
"Hark," said Wildrake, "do you not hear some noise like the distant
sound of the applause of a theatre? The goblins of the place rejoice in
your departure."
"I shall leave Woodstock," said Everard, "to the occupation of my uncle
Sir Henry Lee, and his family, if they choose to resume it; not that I
am frightened into this as a concession to the series of artifices
which have been played off on this occasion, but solely because such
was my intention from the beginning. But let me warn," (he added,
raising his voice,)"let me warn the parties concerned in this
combination, that though it may pass off successfully on a fool like
Desborough, a visionary like Harrison, a coward like Bletson"
Here a voice distinctly spoke, as standing near them"or a wise,
moderate, and resolute person, like Colonel Everard."
"By Heaven, the voice came from the picture," said Wildrake, drawing
his sword; "I will pink his plated armour for him."
"Offer no violence," said Everard, startled at the interruption, but
resuming with firmness what he was saying"Let those engaged be aware,
that however this string of artifices may be immediately successful, it
must, when closely looked into, be attended with the punishment of all
concernedthe total demolition of Woodstock, and the irremediable
downfall of the family of Lee. Let all concerned think of this, and
desist in time."
He paused, and almost expected a reply, but none such came.
"It is a very odd thing," said Wildrake; "butyaw-hamy brain cannot
compass it just now; it whirls round like a toast in a bowl of
muscadine; I must sit downhaw-yawand discuss it at leisure Gramercy,
good elbow-chair."
So saying, he threw himself, or rather sank gradually down on a large
easy-chair which had been often pressed by the weight of stout Sir
Henry Lee, and in an instant was sound asleep. Everard was far from
feeling the same inclination for slumber, yet his mind was relieved of
the apprehension of any farther visitation that night; for he
considered his treaty to evacuate Woodstock as made known to, and
accepted in all probability by, those whom the intrusion of the
Commissioners had induced to take such singular measures for expelling
them. His opinion, which had for a time bent towards a belief in
something supernatural in the disturbances, had now returned to the
more rational mode of accounting for them by dexterous combination, for
which such a mansion as Woodstock afforded so many facilities.
He heaped the hearth with fuel, lighted the candle, and examining poor
Wildrake's situation, adjusted him as easily in the chair as he could,
the cavalier stirring his limbs no more than an infant. His situation
went far, in his patron's opinion, to infer trick and confederacy, for
ghosts have no occasion to drug men's possets. He threw himself on the
bed, and while he thought these strange circumstances over, a sweet and
low strain of music stole through the chamber, the words "Good
nightgood nightgood night," thrice repeated, each time in a softer
and more distant tone, seeming to assure him that the goblins and he
were at truce, if not at peace, and that he had no more disturbance to
expect that night. He had scarcely the courage to call out a "good
night;" for, after all his conviction of the existence of a trick, it
was so well performed as to bring with it a feeling of fear, just like
what an audience experience during the performance of a tragic scene,
which they know to be unreal, and which yet affects their passions by
its near approach to nature. Sleep overtook him at last, and left him
not till broad daylight on the ensuing morning.
CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH.
And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger.
At whose approach ghosts, wandering here and there,
Troop home to churchyard.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.
With the fresh air and the rising of morning, every feeling of the
preceding night had passed away from Colonel Everard's mind, excepting
wonder how the effects which he had witnessed could be produced. He
examined the whole room, sounding bolt, floor, and wainscot with his
knuckles and cane, but was unable to discern any secret passages; while
the door, secured by a strong cross-bolt, and the lock besides,
remained as firm as when he had fastened it on the preceding evening.
The apparition resembling Victor Lee next called his attention.
Ridiculous stories had been often circulated, of this figure, or one
exactly resembling it, having been met with by night among the waste
apartments and corridors of the old palace; and Markham Everard had
often heard such in his childhood. He was angry to recollect his own
deficiency of courage, and the thrill which he felt on the preceding
night, when by confederacy, doubtless, such an object was placed before
his eyes.
"Surely," he said, "this fit of childish folly could not make me miss
my aimmore likely that the bullet had been withdrawn clandestinely
from the pistol."
He examined that which was undischargedhe found the bullet in it. He
investigated the apartment opposite to the point at which he had fired,
and, at five feet from the floor in a direct line between the bed-side
and the place where the appearance had been seen, a pistol-ball had
recently buried itself in the wainscot. He had little doubt, therefore,
that he had fired in a just direction; and indeed to have arrived at
the place where it was lodged, the bullet must have passed through the
appearance at which he aimed, and proceeded point blank to the wall
beyond. This was mysterious, and induced him to doubt whether the art
of witchcraft or conjuration had not been called in to assist the
machinations of those daring conspirators, who, being themselves
mortal, might, nevertheless, according to the universal creed of the
times, have invoked and obtained assistance from the inhabitants of
another world.
His next investigation respected the picture of Victor Lee itself. He
examined it minutely as he stood on the floor before it, and compared
its pale, shadowy, faintly-traced outlines, its faded colours, the
stern repose of the eye, and death-like pallidness of the countenance,
with its different aspect on the preceding night, when illuminated by
the artificial light which fell full upon it, while it left every other
part of the room in comparative darkness. The features seemed then to
have an unnatural glow, while the rising and falling of the flame in
the chimney gave the head and limbs something which resembled the
appearance of actual motion. Now, seen by day, it was a mere picture of
the hard and ancient school of Holbein; last night, it seemed for the
moment something more. Determined to get to the bottom of this
contrivance if possible, Everard, by the assistance of a table and
chair, examined the portrait still more closely, and endeavoured to
ascertain the existence of any private spring, by which it might be
slipt aside,a contrivance not unfrequent in ancient buildings, which
usually abounded with means of access and escape, communicated to none
but the lords of the castle, or their immediate confidants. But the
panel on which Victor Lee was painted was firmly fixed in the
wainscoting of the apartment, of which it made a part, and the Colonel
satisfied himself that it could not have been used for the purpose
which he had suspected.
He next aroused his faithful squire, Wildrake, who, notwithstanding his
deep share of the "blessedness of sleep," had scarce even yet got rid
of the effects of the grace-cup of the preceding evening. "It was the
reward," according to his own view of the matter, "of his temperance;
one single draught having made him sleep more late and more sound than
a matter of half-a-dozen, or from thence to a dozen pulls, would have
done, when he was guilty of the enormity of rere-suppers,[1] and of
drinking deep after them."
[1] Rere-suppers (quasi arrire) belonged to a species of luxury
introduced in the jolly days of King James's extravagance, and
continued through the subsequent reign. The supper took place at an
early hour, six or seven o'clock at latestthe rere-supper was a
postliminary banquet, a hors d'uvre, which made its appearance at
ten or eleven, and served as an apology for prolonging the
entertainment till midnight.
"Had your temperate draught," said Everard, "been but a thought more
strongly seasoned, Wildrake, thou hadst slept so sound that the last
trump only could have waked thee."
"And then," answered Wildrake, "I should have waked with a headache,
Mark; for I see my modest sip has not exempted me from that epilogue.
But let us go forth, and see how the night, which we have passed so
strangely, has been spent by the rest of them. I suspect they are all
right willing to evacuate Woodstock, unless they have either rested
better than we, or at least been more lucky in lodgings."
"In that case, I will dispatch thee down to Joceline's hut, to
negotiate the re-entrance of Sir Henry Lee and his family into their
old apartments, where, my interest with the General being joined with
the indifferent repute of the place itself, I think they have little
chance of being disturbed either by the present, or by any new
Commissioners."
"But how are they to defend themselves against the fiends, my gallant
Colonel?" said Wildrake. "Methinks had I an interest in yonder pretty
girl, such as thou dost boast, I should be loth to expose her to the
terrors of a residence at Woodstock, where these devilsI beg their
pardon, for I suppose they hear every word we saythese merry
goblinsmake such gay work from twilight till morning."
"My dear Wildrake," said the Colonel, "I, as well as you, believe it
possible that our speech may be overheard; but I care not, and will
speak my mind plainly. I trust Sir Henry and Alice are not engaged in
this silly plot; I cannot reconcile it with the pride of the one, the
modesty of the other, nor the good sense of both, that any motive could
engage them in so strange a conjunction. But the fiends are all of your
own political persuasion, Wildrake, all true-blue cavaliers; and I am
convinced, that Sir Henry and Alice Lee, though they be unconnected
with them, have not the slightest cause to be apprehensive of their
goblin machinations. Besides, Sir Henry and Joceline must know every
corner about the place: it will be far more difficult to play off any
ghostly machinery upon him than upon strangers. But let us to our
toilet, and when water and brush have done their work, we will
enquirewhat is next to be done."
"Nay, that wretched puritan's garb of mine is hardly worth brushing,"
said Wildrake; "and but for this hundred-weight of rusty iron, with
which thou hast bedizened me, I look more like a bankrupt Quaker than
anything else. But I'll make you as spruce as ever was a canting
rogue of your party."
So saying, and humming at the same time the cavalier tune,
"Though for a time we see Whitehall
With cobwebs hung around the wall,
Yet Heaven shall make amends for all.
When the King shall enjoy his own again."
"Thou forgettest who are without," said Colonel Everard.
"NoI remember who are within," replied his friend. "I only sing to my
merry goblins, who will like me all the better for it. Tush, man, the
devils are my bonos socios, and when I see them, I will warrant they
prove such roaring boys as I knew when I served under Lunford and
Goring, fellows with long nails that nothing escaped, bottomless
stomachs, that nothing filled,mad for pillaging, ranting, drinking,
and fighting,sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in
their boots. Ah! those merry days are gone. Well, it is the fashion to
make a grave face on't among cavaliers, and specially the parsons that
have lost their tithe-pigs; but I was fitted for the element of the
time, and never did or can desire merrier days than I had during that
same barbarous, bloody, and unnatural rebellion."
"Thou wert ever a wild sea-bird, Roger, even according to your name;
liking the gale better than the calm, the boisterous ocean better than
the smooth lake, and your rough, wild struggle against the wind, than
daily food, ease and quiet."
"Pshaw! a fig for your smooth lake, and your old woman to feed me with
brewer's grains, and the poor drake obliged to come swattering whenever
she whistles! Everard, I like to feel the wind rustle against my
pinions,now diving, now on the crest of the wave, now in ocean, now in
skythat is the wild-drake's joy, my grave one! And in the Civil War so
it went with usdown in one county, up in another, beaten to-day,
victorious tomorrownow starving in some barren leaguernow revelling
in a Presbyterian's pantryhis cellars, his plate-chest, his old
judicial thumb-ring, his pretty serving-wench, all at command!"
"Hush, friend," said Everard; "remember I hold that persuasion." "More
the pity, Mark, more the pity," said Wildrake; "but, as you say, it is
needless talking of it. Let us e'en go and see how your Presbyterian
pastor, Mr. Holdenough, has fared, and whether he has proved more able
to foil the foul Fiend than have you his disciple and auditor."
They left the apartment accordingly, and were overwhelmed with the
various incoherent accounts of sentinels and others, all of whom had
seen or heard something extraordinary in the course of the night. It is
needless to describe particularly the various rumours which each
contributed to the common stock, with the greater alacrity that in such
cases there seems always to be a sort of disgrace in not having seen or
suffered as much as others.
The most moderate of the narrators only talked of sounds like the
mewing of a cat, or the growling of a dog, especially the squeaking of
a pig. They heard also as if it had been nails driven and saws used,
and the clashing of fetters, and the rustling of silk gowns, and the
notes of music, and in short all sorts of sounds which have nothing to
do with each other. Others swore they had smelt savours of various
kinds, chiefly bituminous, indicating a Satanic derivation; others did
not indeed swear, but protested, to visions of men in armour, horses
without heads, asses with horns, and cows with six legs, not to mention
black figures, whose cloven hoofs gave plain information what realm
they belonged to.
But these strongly-attested cases of nocturnal disturbances among the
sentinels had been so general as to prevent alarm and succour on any
particular point, so that those who were on duty called in vain on the
corps-de-garde, who were trembling on their own post; and an alert
enemy might have done complete execution on the whole garrison. But
amid this general alerte, no violence appeared to be meant, and
annoyance, not injury, seemed to have been the goblins' object,
excepting in the case of one poor fellow, a trooper, who had followed
Harrison in half his battles, and now was sentinel in that very
vestibule upon which Everard had recommended them to mount a guard. He
had presented his carabine at something which came suddenly upon him,
when it was wrested out of his hands, and he himself knocked down with
the butt-end of it. His broken head, and the drenched bedding of
Desborough, upon whom a tub of ditch-water had been emptied during his
sleep, were the only pieces of real evidence to attest the disturbances
of the night.
The reports from Harrison's apartment were, as delivered by the grave
Master Tomkins, that truly the General had passed the night
undisturbed, though there was still upon him a deep sleep, and a
folding of the hands to slumber; from which Everard argued that the
machinators had esteemed Harrison's part of the reckoning sufficiently
paid off on the preceding evening.
He then proceeded to the apartment doubly garrisoned by the worshipful
Desborough, and the philosophical Bletson. They were both up and
dressing themselves; the former open-mouthed in his feeling of fear and
suffering. Indeed, no sooner had Everard entered, than the ducked and
dismayed Colonel made a dismal complaint of the way he had spent the
night, and murmured not a little against his worshipful kinsman for
imposing a task upon him which inferred so much annoyance.
"Could not his Excellency, my kinsman Noll," he said, "have given his
poor relative and brother-in-law a sop somewhere else than out of this
Woodstock, which seems to be the devil's own porridge-pot? I cannot sup
broth with the devil; I have no long spoonnot I. Could he not have
quartered me in some quiet corner, and given this haunted place to some
of his preachers and prayers, who know the Bible as well as the
muster-roll? whereas I know the four hoofs of a clean-going nag, or the
points of a team of oxen, better than all the books of Moses. But I
will give it over, at once and for ever; hopes of earthly gain shall
never make me run the risk of being carried away bodily by the devil,
besides being set upon my head one whole night, and soused with
ditch-water the nextNo, no; I am too wise for that."
Master Bletson had a different part to act. He complained of no
personal annoyances; on the contrary, he declared he should have slept
as well as ever he did in his life but for the abominable disturbances
around him, of men calling to arms every half hour, when so much as a
cat trotted by one of their postsHe would rather, he said, "have slept
among a whole sabaoth of witches, if such creatures could be found."
"Then you think there are no such things as apparitions, Master
Bletson?" said Everard. "I used to be sceptical on the subject; but, on
my life, to-night has been a strange one."
"Dreams, dreams, dreams, my simple Colonel," said Bletson, though, his
pale face and shaking limbs belied the assumed courage with which he
spoke. "Old Chaucer, sir, hath told us the real moral on'tHe was an
old frequenter of the forest of Woodstock, here"
"Chaser?" said Desborough; "some huntsman, belike, by his name. Does he
walk, like Hearne at Windsor?"
"Chaucer," said Bletson, "my dear Desborough, is one of those wonderful
fellows, as Colonel Everard knows, who live many a hundred years after
they are buried, and whose words haunt our ears after their bones are
long mouldered in the dust."
"Ay, ay! well," answered Desborough, to whom this description of the
old poet was unintelligible"I for one desire his room rather than his
company; one of your conjurors, I warrant him. But what says he to the
matter?"
"Only a slight spell, which I will take the freedom to repeat to
Colonel Everard," said Bletson; "but which would be as bad as Greek to
thee, Desborough. Old Geoffrey lays the whole blame of our nocturnal
disturbance on superfluity of humours,
'Which causen folk to dred in their dreams
Of arrowes, and of fire with red gleams,
Right as the humour of melancholy
Causeth many a man in sleep to cry
For fear of great bulls and bears black,
And others that black devils will them take.'"
While he was thus declaiming, Everard observed a book sticking out from
beneath the pillow of the bed lately occupied by the honourable member.
"Is that Chaucer?" he said, making to the volume; "I would like to look
at the passage"
"Chaucer?" said Bletson, hastening to interfere; "nothat is Lucretius,
my darling Lucretius. I cannot let you see it; I have some private
marks."
But by this time Everard had the book in his hand. "Lucretius?" he
said; "no, Master Bletson, this is not Lucretius, but a fitter
comforter in dread or in dangerWhy should you be ashamed of it? Only,
Bletson, instead of resting your head, if you can but anchor your heart
upon this volume, it may serve you in better stead than Lucretius or
Chaucer either."
"Why, what book is it?" said Bletson, his pale cheek colouring with the
shame of detection. "Oh! the Bible!" throwing it down contemptuously;
"some book of my fellow Gibeon's; these Jews have been always
superstitiousever since Juvenal's time, thou knowest
"'Qualiacunque voles Judi somnia vendunt.'
"He left me the old book for a spell, I warrant you; for 'tis a
well-meaning fool."
"He would scarce have left the New Testament as well as the Old," said
Everard. "Come, my dear Bletson, do not be ashamed of the wisest thing
you ever did in your life, supposing you took your Bible in an hour of
apprehension, with a view to profit by the contents."
Bletson's vanity was so much galled that it overcame his constitutional
cowardice. His little thin fingers quivered for eagerness, his neck and
cheeks were as red as scarlet, and his articulation was as thick and
vehement asin short, as if he had been no philosopher.
"Master Everard," he said, "you are a man of the sword, sir; and, sir,
you seem to suppose yourself entitled to say whatever comes into your
mind with respect to civilians, sir. But I would have you remember,
sir, that there are bounds beyond which human patience may be urged,
sirand jests which no man of honour will endure, sirand therefore I
expect an apology for your present language, Colonel Everard, and this
unmannerly jesting, siror you may chance to hear from me in a way that
will not please you."
Everard could not help smiling at this explosion of valour, engendered
by irritated self-love.
"Look you, Master Bletson," he said, "I have been a soldier, that is
true, but I was never a bloody-minded one; and, as a Christian, I am
unwilling to enlarge the kingdom of darkness by sending a new vassal
thither before his time. If Heaven gives you time to repent, I see no
reason why my hand should deprive you of it, which, were we to have a
rencontre, would be your fate in the thrust of a sword, or the pulling
of a triggerI therefore prefer to apologise; and I call Desborough, if
he has recovered his wits, to bear evidence that I do apologise for
having suspected you, who are completely the slave of your own vanity,
of any tendency, however slight, towards grace or good sense. And I
farther apologise for the time that I have wasted in endeavouring to
wash an Ethiopian white, or in recommending rational enquiry to a
self-willed atheist."
Bletson, overjoyed at the turn the matter had takenfor the defiance
was scarce out of his mouth ere he began to tremble for the
consequencesanswered with great eagerness and servility of
manner,"Nay, dearest Colonel, say no more of itan apology is all that
is necessary among men of honourit neither leaves dishonour with him
who asks it, nor infers degradation on him who makes it."
"Not such an apology as I have made, I trust," said the Colonel.
"No, nonot in the least," answered Bletson,"one apology serves me
just as well as another, and Desborough will bear witness you have made
one, and that is all there can be said on the subject."
"Master Desborough and you," rejoined the Colonel, "will take care how
the matter is reported, I dare say; and I only recommend to both, that,
if mentioned at all, it may be told correctly."
"Nay, nay, we will not mention it at all," said Bletson, "we will
forget it from this moment. Only, never suppose me capable of
superstitious weakness. Had I been afraid of an apparent and real
dangerwhy such fear is natural to manand I will not deny that the
mood of mind may have happened to me as well as to others. But to be
thought capable of resorting to spells, and sleeping with books under
my pillow to secure myself against ghosts,on my word, it was enough to
provoke one to quarrel, for the moment, with his very best friend.And
now, Colonel, what is to be done, and how is our duty to be executed at
this accursed place? If I should get such a wetting as Desborough's,
why I should die of catarrh, though you see it hurts him no more than a
bucket of water thrown over a post-horse. You are, I presume, a brother
in our commission,how are you of opinion we should proceed?"
"Why, in good time here comes Harrison," said Everard, "and I will lay
my commission from the Lord-General before you all; which, as you see,
Colonel Desborough, commands you to desist from acting on your present
authority, and intimates his pleasure accordingly, that you withdraw
from this place."
Desborough took the paper and examined the signature."It is Noll's
signature sure enough," said he, dropping his under jaw; "only, every
time of late he has made the Oliver as large as a giant, while the
Cromwell creeps after like a dwarf, as if the surname were like to
disappear one of these days altogether. But is his Excellency, our
kinsman, Noll Cromwell (since he has the surname yet) so unreasonable
as to think his relations and friends are to be set upon their heads
till they have the crick in their neckdrenched as if they had been
plunged in a horse-pondfrightened, day and night, by all sort of
devils, witches, and fairies, and get not a penny of smart-money?
Adzooks, (forgive me for swearing,) if that's the case I had better
home to my farm, and mind team and herd, than dangle after such a
thankless person, though I have wived his sister. She was poor enough
when I took her, for as high as Noll holds his head now."
"It is not my purpose," said Bletson, "to stir debate in this
honourable meeting; and no one will doubt the veneration and attachment
which I bear to our noble General, whom the current of events, and his
own matchless qualities of courage and constancy, have raised so high
in these deplorable days.If I were to term him a direct and immediate
emanation of the Animus Mundi itselfsomething which Nature had
produced in her proudest hour, while exerting herself, as is her law,
for the preservation of the creatures to whom she has given existence
should scarce exhaust the ideas which I entertain of him. Always
protesting that I am by no means to be held as admitting, but merely as
granting for the sake of argument, the possible existence of that
species of emanation, or exhalation, from the Animus Mundi , of which
I have made mention. I appeal to you, Colonel Desborough, who are his
Excellency's relationto you, Colonel Everard, who hold the dearer
title of his friend, whether I have overrated my zeal in his behalf?"
Everard bowed at this pause, but Desborough gave a more complete
authentication. "Nay, I can bear witness to that. I have seen when you
were willing to tie his points or brush his cloak, or the likeand to
be treated thus ungratefullyand gudgeoned of the opportunities which
had been given you"
"It is not for that," said Bletson, waving his hand gracefully. "You do
me wrong, Master Desboroughyou do indeed, kind siralthough I know you
meant it notNo, sirno partial consideration of private interest
prevailed on me to undertake this charge. It was conferred on me by the
Parliament of England, in whose name this war commenced, and by the
Council of State, who are the conservators of England's liberty. And
the chance and serene hope of serving the country, the confidence that
Iand you, Master Desboroughand you, worthy General Harrison
superior, as I am, to all selfish considerationsto which I am sure you
also, good Colonel Everard, would be superior, had you been named in
this Commission, as I would to Heaven you hadI say, the hope of
serving the country, with the aid of such respectable associates, one
and all of themas well as you, Colonel Everard, supposing you to have
been of the number, induced me to accept of this opportunity, whereby I
might, gratuitously, with your assistance, render so much advantage to
our dear mother the Commonwealth of England.Such was my hopemy
trustmy confidence. And now comes my Lord-General's warrant to
dissolve the authority by which we are entitled to act. Gentlemen, I
ask this honourable meeting, (with all respect to his Excellency,)
whether his Commission be paramount to that from which he himself
directly holds his commission? No one will say so. I ask whether he has
climbed into the seat from which the late Man descended, or hath a
great seal, or means to proceed by prerogative in such a case? I cannot
see reason to believe it, and therefore I must resist such doctrine. I
am in your judgment, my brave and honourable colleagues; but, touching
my own poor opinion, I feel myself under the unhappy necessity of
proceeding in our commission, as if the interruption had not taken
place; with this addition, that the Board of Sequestrators should sit,
by day, at this same Lodge of Woodstock, but that, to reconcile the
minds of weak brethren, who may be afflicted by superstitious rumours,
as well as to avoid any practice on our persons by the malignants, who,
I am convinced, are busy in this neighbourhood, we should remove our
sittings after sunset to the George Inn, in the neighbouring borough."
"Good Master Bletson," replied Colonel Everard, "it is not for me to
reply to you; but you may know in what characters this army of England
and their General write their authority. I fear me the annotation on
this precept of the General, will be expressed by the march of a troop
of horse from Oxford to see it executed. I believe there are orders out
for that effect; and you know by late experience, that the soldier will
obey his General equally against King and Parliament."
"That obedience is conditional," said Harrison, starting fiercely up.
"Know'st thou not, Markham Everard, that I have followed the man
Cromwell as close as the bull-dog follows his master?and so I will
yet;but I am no spaniel, either to be beaten, or to have the food I
have earned snatched from me, as if I were a vile cur, whose wages are
a whipping, and free leave to wear my own skin. I looked, amongst the
three of us, that we might honestly, and piously, and with advantage to
the Commonwealth, have gained out of this commission three, or it may
be five thousand pounds. And does Cromwell imagine I will part with it
for a rough word? No man goeth a warfare on his own charges. He that
serves the altar must live by the altarand the saints must have means
to provide them with good harness and fresh horses against the
unsealing and the pouring forth. Does Cromwell think I am so much of a
tame tiger as to permit him to rend from me at pleasure the miserable
dole he hath thrown me? Of a surety I will resist; and the men who are
here, being chiefly of my own regimentmen who wait, and who expect,
with lamps burning and loins girded, and each one his weapon bound upon
his thigh, will aid me to make this house good against every
assaultay, even against Cromwell himself, until the latter
comingSelah! Selah!"
"And I," said Desborough, "will levy troops and protect your
out-quarters, not choosing at present to close myself up in garrison"
"And I," said Bletson, "will do my part, and hie me to town and lay the
matter before Parliament, arising in my place for that effect."
Everard was little moved by all these threats. The only formidable one,
indeed, was that of Harrison, whose enthusiasm, joined with his
courage, and obstinacy, and character among the fanatics of his own
principles, made him a dangerous enemy. Before trying any arguments
with the refractory Major-General, Everard endeavoured to moderate his
feelings, and threw something in about the late disturbances.
"Talk not to me of supernatural disturbances, young mantalk not to me
of enemies in the body or out of the body. Am I not the champion chosen
and commissioned to encounter and to conquer the great Dragon, and the
Beast which cometh out of the sea? Am I not to command the left wing,
and two regiments of the centre, when the Saints shall encounter with
the countless legions of Grog and Magog? I tell thee that my name is
written on the sea of glass mingled with fire, and that I will keep
this place of Woodstock against all mortal men, and against all devils,
whether in field or chamber, in the forest or in the meadow, even till
the Saints reign in the fulness of their glory."
Everard saw it was then time to produce two or three lines under
Cromwell's hand, which he had received from the General, subsequently
to the communication through Wildrake. The information they contained
was calculated to allay the disappointment of the Commissioners. This
document assigned as the reason of superseding the Woodstock
Commission, that he should probably propose to the Parliament to
require the assistance of General Harrison, Colonel Desborough, and
Master Bletson, the honourable member for Littlefaith, in a much
greater matter, namely, the disposing of the royal property, and
disparking of the King's forest at Windsor. So soon as this idea was
started, all parties pricked up their ears; and their drooping, and
gloomy, and vindictive looks began to give place to courteous smiles,
and to a cheerfulness, which laughed in their eyes, and turned their
mustaches upwards.
Colonel Desborough acquitted his right honourable and excellent cousin
and kinsman of all species of unkindness; Master Bletson discovered,
that the interest of the state was trebly concerned in the good
administration of Windsor more than in that of Woodstock. As for
Harrison, he exclaimed, without disguise or hesitation, that the
gleaning of the grapes of Windsor was better than the vintage of
Woodstock. Thus speaking, the glance of his dark eye expressed as much
triumph in the proposed earthly advantage, as if it had not been,
according to his vain persuasion, to be shortly exchanged for his share
in the general reign of the Millennium. His delight, in short,
resembled the joy of an eagle, who preys upon a lamb in the evening
with not the less relish, because she descries in the distant landscape
an hundred thousand men about to join battle with daybreak, and to give
her an endless feast on the hearts and lifeblood of the valiant. Yet
though all agreed that they would be obedient to the General's pleasure
in this matter, Bletson proposed, as a precautionary measure, in which
all agreed, that they should take up their abode for some time in the
town of Woodstock, to wait for their new commissions respecting
Windsor; and this upon the prudential consideration, that it was best
not to slip one knot until another was first tied.
Each Commissioner, therefore, wrote to Oliver individually, stating, in
his own way, the depth and height, length and breadth, of his
attachment to him. Each expressed himself resolved to obey the
General's injunctions to the uttermost; but with the same scrupulous
devotion to the Parliament, each found himself at a loss how to lay
down the commission intrusted to them by that body, and therefore felt
bound in conscience to take up his residence at the borough of
Woodstock, that he might not seem to abandon the charge committed to
them, until they should be called to administrate the weightier matter
of Windsor, to which they expressed their willingness instantly to
devote themselves, according to his Excellency's pleasure.
This was the general style of their letters, varied by the
characteristic flourishes of the writers. Desborough, for example, said
something about the religious duty of providing for one's own
household, only he blundered the text. Bletson wrote long and big words
about the political obligation incumbent on every member of the
community, on every person, to sacrifice his time and talents to the
service of his country; while Harrison talked of the littleness of
present affairs, in comparison of the approaching tremendous change of
all things beneath the sun. But although the garnishing of the various
epistles was different, the result came to the same, that they were
determined at least to keep sight of Woodstock, until they were well
assured of some better and more profitable commission.
Everard also wrote a letter in the most grateful terms to Cromwell,
which would probably have been less warm had he known more distinctly
than his follower chose to tell him, the expectation under which the
wily General had granted his request. He acquainted his Excellency with
his purpose of continuing at Woodstock, partly to assure himself of the
motions of the three Commissioners, and to watch whether they did not
again enter upon the execution of the trust, which they had for the
present renounced,and partly to see that some extraordinary
circumstances, which had taken place in the Lodge, and which would
doubtless transpire, were not followed by any explosion to the
disturbance of the public peace. He knew (as he expressed himself) that
his Excellency was so much the friend of order, that he would rather
disturbances or insurrections were prevented than punished; and he
conjured the General to repose confidence in his exertions for the
public service by every mode within his power; not aware, it will be
observed, in what peculiar sense his general pledge might be
interpreted.
These letters being made up into a packet, were forwarded to Windsor by
a trooper, detached on that errand.
CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH.
We do that in our zeal,
Our calmer moments are afraid to answer.
ANONYMOUS.
While the Commissioners were preparing to remove themselves from the
Lodge to the inn at the borough of Woodstock, with all that state and
bustle which attend the movements of great persons, and especially of
such to whom greatness is not entirely familiar, Everard held some
colloquy with the Presbyterian clergyman, Master Holdenough, who had
issued from the apartment which he had occupied, as it were in defiance
of the spirits by whom the mansion was supposed to be disturbed, and
whose pale cheek, and pensive brow, gave token that he had not passed
the night more comfortably than the other inmates of the Lodge of
Woodstock. Colonel Everard having offered to procure the reverend
gentleman some refreshment, received this reply:"This day shall I not
taste food, saving that which we are assured of as sufficient for our
sustenance, where it is promised that our bread shall be given us, and
our water shall be sure. Not that I fast, in the papistical opinion
that it adds to those merits, which are but an accumulation of filthy
rags; but because I hold it needful that no grosser sustenance should
this day cloud my understanding, or render less pure and vivid the
thanks I owe to Heaven for a most wonderful preservation."
"Master Holdenough," said Everard, "you are, I know, both a good man
and a bold one, and I saw you last night courageously go upon your
sacred duty, when soldiers, and tried ones, seemed considerably
alarmed."
"Too courageoustoo venturous" was Master Holdenough's reply, the
boldness of whose aspect seemed completely to have died away. "We are
frail creatures, Master Everard, and frailest when we think ourselves
strongest. Oh, Colonel Everard," he added, after a pause, and as if the
confidence was partly involuntary, "I have seen that which I shall
never survive!"
"You surprise me, reverend sir," said Everard;"may I request you will
speak more plainly? I have heard some stories of this wild night, nay,
have witnessed strange things myself; but, methinks, I would be much
interested in knowing the nature of your disturbance."
"Sir," said the clergyman, "you are a discreet gentleman; and though I
would not willingly that these heretics, schismatics, Brownists,
Muggletonians, Anabaptists, and so forth, had such an opportunity of
triumph, as my defeat in this matter would have afforded them, yet with
you, who have been ever a faithful follower of our Church, and are
pledged to the good cause by the great National League and Covenant,
surely I would be more open. Sit we down, therefore, and let me call
for a glass of pure water, for as yet I feel some bodily faltering;
though, I thank Heaven, I am in mind resolute and composed as a merely
mortal man may after such a vision.They say, worthy Colonel, that
looking on such things foretells, or causes, speedy deathI know not if
it be true; but if so, I only depart like the tired sentinel when his
officer releases him from his post; and glad shall I be to close these
wearied eyes against the sight, and shut these harassed ears against
the croaking, as of frogs, of Antinomians, and Pelagians, and
Socinians, and Arminians, and Arians, and Nullifidians, which have come
up into our England, like those filthy reptiles into the house of
Pharaoh."
Here one of the servants who had been summoned, entered with a cup of
water, gazing at the same time in the face of the clergyman, as if his
stupid grey eyes were endeavouring to read what tragic tale was written
on his brow; and shaking his empty skull as he left the room, with the
air of one who was proud of having discovered that all was not exactly
right, though he could not so well guess what was wrong.
Colonel Everard invited the good man to take some refreshment more
genial than the pure element, but he declined: "I am in some sort a
champion" he said; "and though I have been foiled in the late
controversy with the Enemy, still I have my trumpet to give the alarm,
and my sharp sword to smite withal; therefore, like the Nazarites of
old, I will eat nothing that cometh of the vine, neither drink wine nor
strong drink, until these my days of combat shall have passed away."
Kindly and respectfully the Colonel anew pressed Master Holdenough to
communicate the events that had befallen him on the preceding night;
and the good clergyman proceeded as follows, with that little
characteristic touch of vanity in his narrative, which naturally arose
out of the part he had played in the world, and the influence which he
had exercised over the minds of others. "I was a young man at the
University of Cambridge," he said, "when I was particularly bound in
friendship to a fellow-student, perhaps because we were esteemed
(though it is vain to mention it) the most hopeful scholars at our
college; and so equally advanced, that it was difficult, perhaps, to
say which was the greater proficient in his studies. Only our tutor,
Master Purefoy, used to say, that if my comrade had the advantage of me
in gifts, I had the better of him in grace; for he was attached to the
profane learning of the classics, always unprofitable, often impious
and impure; and I had light enough to turn my studies into the sacred
tongues. Also we differed in our opinions touching the Church of
England, for he held Arminian opinions, with Laud, and those who would
connect our ecclesiastical establishment with the civil, and make the
Church dependent on the breath of an earthly man. In fine, he favoured
Prelacy both in essentials and ceremonial; and although, we parted with
tears and embraces, it was to follow very different courses. He
obtained a living, and became a great controversial writer in behalf of
the Bishops and of the Court. I also, as is well known to you, to the
best of my poor abilities, sharpened my pen in the cause of the poor
oppressed people, whose tender consciences rejected the rites and
ceremonies more befitting a papistical than a reformed Church, and
which, according to the blinded policy of the Court, were enforced by
pains and penalties. Then came the Civil War, and Icalled thereunto by
my conscience, and nothing fearing or suspecting what miserable
consequences have chanced through the rise of these
Independentsconsented to lend my countenance and labour to the great
work, by becoming chaplain to Colonel Harrison's regiment. Not that I
mingled with carnal weapons in the fieldwhich Heaven forbid that a
minister of the altar shouldbut I preached, exhorted, and, in time of
need, was a surgeon, as well to the wounds of the body as of the soul.
Now, it fell, towards the end of the war, that a party of malignants
had seized on a strong house in the shire of Shrewsbury, situated on a
small island advanced into a lake, and accessible only by a small and
narrow causeway. From thence they made excursions, and vexed the
country; and high time it was to suppress them, so that a part of our
regiment went to reduce them; and I was requested to go, for they were
few in number to take in so strong a place, and the Colonel judged that
my exhortations would make them do valiantly. And so, contrary to my
wont, I went forth with them, even to the field, where there was
valiant fighting on both sides. Nevertheless, the malignants shooting
their wall-pieces at us, had so much the advantage, that, after
bursting their gates with a salvo of our cannon, Colonel Harrison
ordered his men to advance on the causeway, and try to carry the place
by storm. Nonetheless, although our men did valiantly, advancing in
good order, yet being galled on every side by the fire, they at length
fell into disorder, and were retreating with much loss, Harrison
himself valiantly bringing up the rear, and defending them as he could
against the enemy, who sallied forth in pursuit of them, to smite them
hip and thigh. Now, Colonel Everard, I am a man of a quick and vehement
temper by nature, though better teaching than the old law hath made me
mild and patient as you now see me. I could not bear to see our
Israelites flying before the Philistines, so I rushed upon the
causeway, with the Bible in one hand, and a halberd, which I had caught
up, in the other, and turned back the foremost fugitives, by
threatening to strike them down, pointing out to them at the same time
a priest in his cassock, as they call it, who was among the malignants,
and asking them whether they would not do as much for a true servant of
Heaven, as the uncircumcised would for a priest of Baal. My words and
strokes prevailed; they turned at once, and shouting out, Down with
Baal and his worshippers! they charged the malignants so unexpectedly
home, that they not only drove them back into their house of garrison,
but entered it with them, as the phrase is, pell-mell. I also was
there, partly hurried on by the crowd, partly to prevail on our enraged
soldiers to give quarter; for it grieved my heart to see Christians and
Englishmen hashed down with swords and gunstocks, like curs in the
street, when there is an alarm of mad-dogs. In this way, the soldiers
fighting and slaughtering, and I calling to them to stay their hand, we
gained the very roof of the building, which was in part leaded, and to
which, as a last tower of refuge, those of the cavaliers, who yet
escaped, had retired. I was myself, I may say, forced up the narrow
winding staircase by our soldiers, who rushed on like dogs of chase
upon their prey; and when extricated from the passage, I found myself
in the midst of a horrid scene. The scattered defenders were, some
resisting with the fury of despair; some on their knees, imploring for
compassion in words and tones to break a man's heart when he thinks on
them; some were calling on God for mercy; and it was time, for man had
none. They were stricken down, thrust through, flung from the
battlements into the lake; and the wild cries of the victors, mingled
with the groans, shrieks, and clamours, of the vanquished, made a sound
so horrible, that only death can erase it from my memory. And the men
who butchered their fellow-creatures thus, were neither pagans from
distant savage lands, nor ruffians, the refuse and offscourings of our
own people. They were in calm blood reasonable, nay, religious men,
maintaining a fair repute both heavenward and earthward. Oh, Master
Everard, your trade of war should be feared and avoided, since it
converts such men into wolves towards their fellow creatures."
"It is a stern necessity," said Everard, looking down, "and as such
alone is justifiable. But proceed, reverend sir; I see not how this
storm, an incident but e'en too frequent on both sides during the late
war, connects with the affair of last night."
"You shall hear anon," said Mr. Holdenough; then paused as one who
makes an effort to compose himself before continuing a relation, the
tenor of which agitated him with much violence. "In this infernal
tumult," he resumed,"for surely nothing on earth could so much
resemble hell, as when men go thus loose in mortal malice on their
fellow-creatures,I saw the same priest whom I had distinguished on the
causeway, with one or two other malignants, pressed into a corner by
the assailants, and defending themselves to the last, as those who had
no hope.I saw himI knew himOh, Colonel Everard!"
He grasped Everard's hand with his own left hand, and pressed the palm
of his right to his face and forehead, sobbing aloud.
"It was your college companion?" said Everard, anticipating the
catastrophe.
"Mine ancientmine only friendwith whom I had spent the happy days of
youth!I rushed forwardI struggledI entreated.But my eagerness left
me neither voice nor languageall was drowned in the wretched cry which
I had myself raisedDown with the priest of Baal! Slay Mattan slay him
were he between the altars!Forced over the battlements, but struggling
for life, I could see him cling to one of those projections which were
formed to carry the water from the leads, but they hacked at his arms
and hands. I heard the heavy fall into the bottomless abyss below.
Excuse meI cannot go on."
"He may have escaped."
"Oh! no, no, nothe tower was four stories in height. Even those who
threw themselves into the lake from the lower windows, to escape by
swimming, had no safety; for mounted troopers on the shore caught the
same bloodthirsty humour which had seized the storming party, galloped
around the margin of the lake, and shot those who were struggling for
life in the water, or cut them down as they strove to get to land. They
were all cut off and destroyed.Oh! may the blood shed on that day
remain silent!Oh! that the earth may receive it in her recesses!Oh!
that it may be mingled for ever with the dark waters of that lake, so
that it may never cry for vengeance against those whose anger was
fierce, and who slaughtered in their wrath!And, oh! may the erring man
be forgiven who came into their assembly, and lent his voice to
encourage their, cruelty!Oh! Albany, my brother, my brother, I have
lamented for thee even as David for Jonathan!"[1]
[1] Michael Hudson, the plain-dealing chaplain of King Charles I.,
resembled, in his loyalty to that unfortunate monarch, the fictitious
character of Dr. Rochecliffe; and the circumstances of his death were
copied in the narrative of the Presbyterian's account of the slaughter
of his school-fellow;he was chosen by Charles I., along with John
Ashburnham, as his guide and attendant, when he adopted the
ill-advised resolution of surrendering his person to the Scots army.
He was taken prisoner by the Parliament, remained long in their
custody, and was treated with great severity. He made his escape
for about a year in 1647; was retaken, and again escaped in 1648.
and heading an insurrection of cavaliers, seized on a strong moated
house in Lincolnshire, called Woodford House. He gained the place
without resistance; and there are among Peck's Desiderata Curiosa
several accounts of his death, among which we shall transcribe that
of Bishop Kenneth, as the most correct, and concise:"I have been
on the spot," saith his Lordship, "and made all possible enquiries,
and find that the relation given by Mr. Wood may be a little
rectified and supplied.
"Mr. Hudson and his party did not fly to Woodford, but had quietly
taken possession of it, and held it for a garrison, with a good
party of horse, who made a stout defence, and frequent sallies,
against a party of the Parliament at Stamford, till the colonel
commanding them sent a stronger detachment, under a captain, his
own kinsman, who was shot from the house, upon which the colonel
himself came up to renew the attack, and to demand surrender, and
brought them to capitulate upon terms of safe quarter. But the
colonel, in base revenge, commanded that they should not spare that
rogue Hudson. Upon which, Hudson fought his way up to the leads;
and when he saw they were pushing in upon him, threw himself over
the battlements (another account says, he caught hold of a spout or
outstone,) and hung by the hands, as intending to fall into the
moat beneath, till they cut off his wrists and let him drop, and
then ran down to hunt him in the water, where they found him
paddling with his stumps, and barbarously knocked him on the
head."Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, Book ix.
Other accounts mention he was refused the poor charity of coming to
die on land, by one Egborough, servant to Mr. Spinks, the intruder
into the parsonage. A man called Walker, a chandler or grocer, cut
out the tongue of the unfortunate divine, and showed it as a trophy
through the country. But it was remarked, with vindictive
satisfaction, that Egborough was killed by the bursting of his own
gun; and that Walker, obliged to abandon his trade through poverty,
became a scorned mendicant.
For some time a grave was not vouchsafed to the remains of this
brave and loyal divine, till one of the other party said, "Since he
is dead, let him be buried."
The good man sobbed aloud, and so much did Colonel Everard sympathize
with his emotions, that he forebore to press him upon the subject of
his own curiosity until the full tide of remorseful passion had for the
time abated. It was, however, fierce and agitating, the more so,
perhaps, that indulgence in strong mental feeling of any kind was
foreign to the severe and ascetic character of the man, and was
therefore the more overpowering when it had at once surmounted all
restraints. Large tears flowed down the trembling features of his thin,
and usually stern, or at least austere countenance; he eagerly returned
the compression of Everard's hand, as if thankful for the sympathy
which the caress implied.
Presently after, Master Holdenough wiped his eyes, withdrew his hand
gently from that of Everard, shaking it kindly as they parted, and
proceeded with more composure: "Forgive me this burst of passionate
feeling, worthy Colonel. I am conscious it little becomes a man of my
cloth, who should be the bearer of consolation to others, to give way
in mine own person to an extremity of grief, weak at least, if indeed
it is not sinful; for what are we, that we should weep and murmur
touching that which is permitted? But Albany was to me as a brother.
The happiest days of my life, ere my call to mingle myself in the
strife of the land had awakened me to my duties, were spent in his
company. Ibut I will make the rest of my story short."Here he drew
his chair close to that of Everard, and spoke in a solemn and
mysterious tone of voice, almost lowered to a whisper"I saw him last
night."
"Saw himsaw whom?" said Everard. "Can you mean the person whom"
"Whom I saw so ruthlessly slaughtered," said the clergyman"My ancient
college friendJoseph Albany."
"Master Holdenough, your cloth and your character alike must prevent
your jesting on such a subject as this."
"Jesting!" answered Holdenough; "I would as soon jest on my
death-bedas soon jest upon the Bible."
"But you must have been deceived," answered Everard, hastily; "this
tragical story necessarily often returns to your mind, and in moments
when the imagination overcomes the evidence of the outward senses, your
fancy must have presented to you an unreal appearance. Nothing more
likely, when the mind is on the stretch after something supernatural,
than that the imagination should supply the place with a chimera, while
the over-excited feelings render it difficult to dispel the delusion."
"Colonel Everard," replied Holdenough, with austerity, "in discharge of
my duty I must not fear the face of man; and, therefore, I tell you
plainly, as I have done before with more observance, that when you
bring your carnal learning and judgment, as it is but too much your
nature to do, to investigate the hidden things of another world, you
might as well measure with the palm of your hand the waters of the
Isis. Indeed, good sir, you err in this, and give men too much pretence
to confound your honourable name with witch-advocates, free-thinkers,
and atheists, even with such as this man Bletson, who, if the
discipline of the church had its hand strengthened, as it was in the
beginning of the great conflict, would have been long ere now cast out
of the pale, and delivered over to the punishment of the flesh, that
his spirit might, if possible, be yet saved."
"You mistake, Master Holdenough," said Colonel Everard; "I do not deny
the existence of such preternatural visitations, because I cannot, and
dare not, raise the voice of my own opinion against the testimony of
ages, supported by such learned men as yourself. Nevertheless, though I
grant the possibility of such things, I have scarce yet heard of an
instance in my days so well fortified by evidence, that I could at once
and distinctly say, This must have happened by supernatural agency, and
not otherwise."
"Hear, then, what I have to tell," said the divine, "on the faith of a
man, a Christian, and, what is more, a servant of our Holy Church; and,
therefore, though unworthy, an elder and a teacher among Christians. I
had taken my post yester evening in the half-furnished apartment,
wherein hangs a huge mirror, which might have served Goliath of Gath to
have admired himself in, when clothed from head to foot in his brazen
armour. I the rather chose this place, because they informed me it was
the nearest habitable room to the gallery in which they say you had
been yourself assailed that evening by the Evil One.Was it so, I pray
you?"
"By some one with no good intentions I was assailed in that apartment.
So far," said Colonel Everard, "you were correctly informed."
"Well, I chose my post as well as I might, even as a resolved general
approaches his camp, and casts up his mound as nearly as he can to the
besieged city. And, of a truth, Colonel Everard, if I felt some
sensation of bodily fear,for even Elias, and the prophets, who
commanded the elements, had a portion in our frail nature, much more
such a poor sinful being as myself,yet was my hope and my courage
high; and I thought of the texts which I might use, not in the wicked
sense of periapts, or spells, as the blinded papists employ them,
together with the sign of the cross and other fruitless forms, but as
nourishing and supporting that true trust and confidence in the blessed
promises, being the true shield of faith wherewith the fiery darts of
Satan may be withstood and quenched. And thus armed and prepared, I
sate me down to read, at the same time to write, that I might compel my
mind to attend to those subjects which became the situation in which I
was placed, as preventing any unlicensed excursions of the fancy, and
leaving no room for my imagination to brood over idle fears. So I
methodised, and wrote down what I thought meet for the time, and
peradventure some hungry souls may yet profit by the food which I then
prepared."
"It was wisely and worthily done, good and reverend sir," replied
Colonel Everard. "I pray you to proceed."
"While I was thus employed, sir, and had been upon the matter for about
three hours, not yielding to weariness, a strange thrilling came over
my senses, and the large and old-fashioned apartment seemed to wax
larger, more gloomy, and more cavernous, while the air of the night
grew more cold and chill. I know not if it was that the fire began to
decay, or whether there cometh before such things as were then about to
happen, a breath and atmosphere, as it were, of terror, as Job saith in
a well-known passage, 'Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made my
bones to shake;' and there was a tingling noise in my ears, and a
dizziness in my brain, so that I felt like those who call for aid when
there is no danger, and was even prompted to flee, when I saw no one to
pursue. It was then that something seemed to pass behind me, casting a
reflection on the great mirror before which I had placed my
writing-table, and which I saw by assistance of the large standing
light which was then in front of the glass. And I looked up, and I saw
in the glass distinctly the appearance of a manas sure as these words
issue from my mouth, it was no other than the same Joseph Albanythe
companion of my youthhe whom I had seen precipitated down the
battlements of Clidesbrough Castle into the deep lake below!"
"What did you do?"
"It suddenly rushed on my mind," said the divine, "that the stoical
philosopher Athenodorus had eluded the horrors of such a vision by
patiently pursuing his studies; and it shot at the same time across my
mind, that I, a Christian divine, and a Steward of the Mysteries, had
less reason to fear evil, and better matter on which to employ my
thoughts, than was possessed by a Heathen, who was blinded even by his
own wisdom. So, instead of betraying any alarm, or even turning my head
around, I pursued my writing, but with a beating heart, I admit, and
with a throbbing hand."
"If you could write at all," said the Colonel, "with such an impression
on your mind, you may take the head of the English army for dauntless
resolution."
"Our courage is not our own, Colonel," said the divine, "and not as
ours should it be vaunted of. And again, when you speak of this strange
vision as an impression on my fancy, and not a reality obvious to my
senses, let me tell you once more, your worldly wisdom is but
foolishness touching the things that are not worldly."
"Did you not look again upon the mirror?" said the Colonel.
"I did, when I had copied out the comfortable text, 'Thou shalt tread
down Satan under thy feet.'"
"And what did you then see?"
"The reflection of the same Joseph Albany," said Holdenough, "passing
slowly as from behind my chairthe same in member and lineament that I
had known him in his youth, excepting that his cheek had the marks of
the more advanced age at which he died, and was very pale."
"What did you then?"
"I turned from the glass, and plainly saw the figure which had made the
reflection in the mirror retreating towards the door, not fast, nor
slow, but with a gliding steady pace. It turned again when near the
door, and again showed me its pale, ghastly countenance, before it
disappeared. But how it left the room, whether by the door, or
otherwise, my spirits were too much hurried to remark exactly; nor have
I been able, by any effort of recollection, distinctly to remember."
"This is a strange, and, as coming from you, a most excellently
well-attested apparition," answered Everard. "And yet, Master
Holdenough, if the other world has been actually displayed, as you
apprehend, and I will not dispute the possibility, assure yourself
there are also wicked men concerned in these machinations. I myself
have undergone some rencontres with visitants who possessed bodily
strength, and wore, I am sure, earthly weapons."
"Oh! doubtless, doubtless," replied Master Holdenough; "Beelzebub loves
to charge with horse and foot mingled, as was the fashion of the old
Scottish general, Davie Leslie. He has his devils in the body as well
as his devils disembodied, and uses the one to support and back the
other."
"It may be as you say, reverend sir," answered the Colonel."But what
do you advise in this case?"
"For that I must consult with my brethren," said the divine; "and if
there be but left in our borders five ministers of the true kirk, we
will charge Satan in full body, and you shall see whether we have not
power over him to resist till he shall flee from us. But failing that
ghostly armament against these strange and unearthly enemies, truly I
would recommend, that as a house of witchcraft and abomination, this
polluted den of ancient tyranny and prostitution should be totally
consumed by fire, lest Satan, establishing his head-quarters so much to
his mind, should find a garrison and a fastness from which he might
sally forth to infest the whole neighbourhood. Certain it is, that I
would recommend to no Christian soul to inhabit the mansion; and, if
deserted, it would become a place for wizards to play their pranks, and
witches to establish their Sabbath, and those who, like Demas, go about
after the wealth of this world, seeking for gold and silver to practise
spells and charms to the prejudice of the souls of the covetous. Trust
me, therefore, it were better that it were spoiled and broken down, not
leaving one stone upon another."
"I say nay to that, my good friend," said the Colonel; "for the
Lord-General hath permitted, by his license, my mother's brother, Sir
Henry Lee, and his family, to return into the house of his fathers,
being indeed the only roof under which he hath any chance of obtaining
shelter for his grey hairs."
"And was this done by your advice, Markham Everard?" said the divine
austerely.
"Certainly it was," returned the Colonel."And wherefore should I not
exert mine influence to obtain a place of refuge for the brother of my
mother?"
"Now, as sure as thy soul liveth," answered the presbyter, "I had
believed this from no tongue but thine own. Tell me, was it not this
very Sir Henry Lee, who, by the force of his buffcoats and his
greenjerkins, enforced the Papist Laie's order to remove the altar to
the eastern end of the church at Woodstock?and did not he swear by his
beard, that he would hang in the very street of Woodstock whoever
should deny to drink the King's health?and is not his hand red with
the blood of the saints?and hath there been a ruffler in the field for
prelacy and high prerogative more unmitigable or fiercer?"
"All this may have been as you say, good Master Holdenough," answered
the Colonel; "but my uncle is now old and feeble, and hath scarce a
single follower remaining, and his daughter is a being whom to look
upon would make the sternest weep for pity; a being who"
"Who is dearer to Everard," said Holdenough, "than his good name, his
faith to his friends, his duty to his religion;this is no time to
speak with sugared lips. The paths in which you tread are dangerous.
You are striving to raise the papistical candlestick which Heaven in
its justice removed out of its placeto bring back to this hall of
sorceries those very sinners who are bewitched with them. I will not
permit the land to be abused by their witchcrafts.They shall not come
hither."
He spoke this with vehemence, and striking his stick against the
ground; and the Colonel, very much dissatisfied, began to express
himself haughtily in return. "You had better consider your power to
accomplish your threats, Master Holdenough," he said, "before you urge
them so peremptorily."
"And have I not the power to bind and to loose?" said the clergyman.
"It is a power little available, save over those of your own Church,"
said Everard, with a tone something contemptuous.
"Take heedtake heed," said the divine, who, though an excellent, was,
as we have elsewhere seen, an irritable man."Do not insult me; but
think honourably of the messenger, for the sake of Him whose commission
he carries.Do not, I say, defy meI am bound to discharge my duty,
were it to the displeasing of my twin brother."
"I can see nought your office has to do in the matter," said Colonel
Everard; "and I, on my side, give you warning not to attempt to meddle
beyond your commission."
"Rightyou hold me already to be as submissive as one of your
grenadiers," replied the clergyman, his acute features trembling with a
sense of indignity, so as even to agitate his grey hair; "but beware,
sir, I am not so powerless as you suppose. I will invoke every true
Christian in Woodstock to gird up his loins, and resist the restoration
of prelacy, oppression, and malignancy within our borders. I will stir
up the wrath of the righteous against the oppressorthe Ishmaelitethe
Edomiteand against his race, and against those who support him and
encourage him to rear up his horn. I will call aloud, and spare not,
and arouse the many whose love hath waxed cold, and the multitude who
care for none of these things. There shall be a remnant to listen to
me; and I will take the stick of Joseph, which was in the hand of
Ephraim, and go down to cleanse this place of witches and sorcerers,
and of enchantments, and will cry and exhort, sayingWill you plead for
Baal?will you serve him? Nay, take the prophets of Baallet not a man
escape!"
"Master Holdenough, Master Holdenough," said Colonel Everard, with much
impatience, "by the tale yourself told me, you have exhorted upon that
text once too often already."
The old man struck his palm forcibly against his forehead, and fell
back into a chair as these words were uttered, as suddenly, and as much
without power of resistance, as if the Colonel had fired a pistol
through his head. Instantly regretting the reproach which he had
suffered to escape him in his impatience, Everard hastened to
apologise, and to offer every conciliatory excuse, however
inconsistent, which occurred to him on the moment. But the old man was
too deeply affectedhe rejected his hand, lent no ear to what he said,
and finally started up, saying sternly, "You have abused my confidence,
sirabused it vilely, to turn it into my own reproach: had I been a man
of the sword, you dared notBut enjoy your triumph, sir, over an old
man, and your father's friendstrike at the wound his imprudent
confidence showed you."
"Nay, my worthy and excellent friend," said the Colonel
"Friend!" answered the old man, starting up"We are foes, sirfoes now,
and for ever!"
So saying, and starting from the seat into which he had rather fallen
than thrown himself, he ran out of the room with a precipitation of
step which he was apt to use upon occasions of irritable feeling, and
which was certainly more eager than dignified, especially as he
muttered while he ran, and seemed as if he were keeping up his own
passion, by recounting over and over the offence which he had received.
"So!" said Colonel Everard, "and there was not strife enough between
mine uncle and the people of Woodstock already, but I must needs
increase it, by chafing this irritable and quick-tempered old man,
eager as I knew him to be in his ideas of church-government, and stiff
in his prejudices respecting all who dissent from him! The mob of
Woodstock will rise; for though he would not get a score of them to
stand by him in any honest or intelligible purpose, yet let him cry
havoc and destruction, and I will warrant he has followers enow. And my
uncle is equally wild and unpersuadable. For the value of all the
estate he ever had, he would not allow a score of troopers to be
quartered in the house for defence; and if he be alone, or has but
Joceline to stand by him, he will be as sure to fire upon those who
come to attack the Lodge, as if he had a hundred men in garrison; and
then what can chance but danger and bloodshed?"
This progress of melancholy anticipation was interrupted by the return
of Master Holdenough, who, hurrying into the room, with the same
precipitate pace at which he had left it, ran straight up to the
Colonel, and said, "Take my hand, Markhamtake my hand hastily; for the
old Adam is whispering at my heart, that it is a disgrace to hold it
extended so long."
"Most heartily do I receive your hand, my venerable friend," said
Everard, "and I trust in sign of renewed amity."
"Surely, surely,"said the divine, shaking his hand kindly; "thou hast,
it is true, spoken bitterly, but thou hast spoken truth in good time;
and I thinkthough your words were severewith a good and kindly
purpose. Verily, and of a truth, it were sinful in me again to be hasty
in provoking violence, remembering that which you have upbraided me
with"
"Forgive me, good Master Holdenough," said Colonel Everard, "it was a
hasty word; I meant not in serious earnest to upbraid."
"Peace, I pray you, peace," said the divine; "I say, the allusion to
that which you have most justly upbraided me withthough the charge
aroused the gall of the old man within me, the inward tempter being
ever on the watch to bring us to his lureought, instead of being
resented, to have been acknowledged by me as a favour, for so are the
wounds of a friend termed faithful. And surely I, who have by one
unhappy exhortation to battle and strife sent the living to the
deadand I fear brought back even the dead among the livingshould now
study peace and good will, and reconciliation of difference, leaving
punishment to the Great Being whose laws are broken, and vengeance to
Him who hath said, I will repay it."
The old man's mortified features lighted up with a humble confidence as
he made this acknowledgment; and Colonel Everard, who knew the
constitutional infirmities, and the early prejudices of professional
consequence and exclusive party opinion, which he must have subdued ere
arriving at such a tone of candour, hastened to express his admiration
of his Christian charity, mingled with reproaches on himself for having
so deeply injured his feelings.
"Think not of itthink not of it, excellent young man," said
Holdenough; "we have both erredI in suffering my zeal to outrun my
charity, you perhaps in pressing hard on an old and peevish man, who
had so lately poured out his sufferings into your friendly bosom. Be it
all forgotten. Let your friends, if they are not deterred by what has
happened at this manor of Woodstock, resume their habitation as soon as
they will. If they can protect themselves against the powers of the
air, believe me, that if I can prevent it by aught in my power, they
shall have no annoyance from earthly neighbours; and assure yourself,
good sir, that my voice is still worth something with the worthy Mayor,
and the good Aldermen, and the better sort of housekeepers up yonder in
the town, although the lower classes are blown about with every wind of
doctrine. And yet farther, be assured, Colonel, that should your
mother's brother, or any of his family, learn that they have taken up a
rash bargain in returning to this unhappy and unhallowed house, or
should they find any qualms in their own hearts and consciences which
require a ghostly comforter, Nehemiah Holdenough will be as much at
their command by night or day, as if they had been bred up within the
holy pale of the Church in which he is an unworthy minister; and
neither the awe of what is fearful to be seen within these walls, nor
his knowledge of their blinded and carnal state, as bred up under a
prelatic dispensation, shall prevent him doing what lies in his poor
abilities for their protection and edification."
"I feel all the force of your kindness, reverend sir," said Colonel
Everard, "but I do not think it likely that my uncle will give you
trouble on either score. He is a man much accustomed to be his own
protector in temporal danger, and in spiritual doubts to trust to his
own prayers and those of his Church."
"I trust I have not been superfluous in offering mine assistance," said
the old man, something jealous that his proffered spiritual aid had
been held rather intrusive. "I ask pardon if that is the case, I humbly
ask pardonI would not willingly be superfluous."
The Colonel hastened to appease this new alarm of the watchful jealousy
of his consequence, which, joined with a natural heat of temper which
he could not always subdue, were the good man's only faults.
They had regained their former friendly footing, when Roger Wildrake
returned from the hut of Joceline, and whispered his master that his
embassy had been successful. The Colonel then addressed the divine, and
informed him, that as the Commissioners had already given up Woodstock,
and as his uncle, Sir Henry Lee, proposed to return to the Lodge about
noon, he would, if his reverence pleased, attend him up to the borough.
"Will you not tarry," said the reverend man, with something like
inquisitive apprehension in his voice, "to welcome your relatives upon
their return to this their house?"
"No, my good friend," said Colonel Everard; "the part which I have
taken in these unhappy broils, perhaps also the mode of worship in
which I have been educated, have so prejudiced me in mine uncle's
opinion, that I must be for some time a stranger to his house and
family."
"Indeed! I rejoice to hear it with all my heart and soul," said the
divine. "Excuse my franknessI do indeed rejoice; I had thoughtno
matter what I had thought; I would not again give offence. But truly
though the maiden hath a pleasant feature, and he, as all men say, is
in human things unexceptionable, yetbut I give you painin sooth, I
will say no more unless you ask my sincere and unprejudiced advice,
which you shall command, but which I will not press on you
superfluously. Wend we to the borough togetherthe pleasant solitude of
the forest may dispose us to open our hearts to each other."
They did walk up to the little town in company, and somewhat to Master
Holdenough's surprise, the Colonel, though they talked on various
subjects, did not request of him any ghostly advice on the subject of
his love to his fair cousin, while, greatly beyond the expectation of
the soldier, the clergyman kept his word, and in his own phrase, was
not so superfluous as to offer upon so delicate a point his unasked
counsel.
CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH.
Then are the harpies goneYet ere we perch
Where such foul birds have roosted, let us cleanse
The foul obscenity they've left behind them.
AGAMEMNON.
The embassy of Wildrake had been successful, chiefly through the
mediation of the Episcopal divine, whom we formerly found acting in the
character of a chaplain to the family, and whose voice had great
influence on many accounts with its master.
A little before high noon, Sir Henry Lee, with his small household,
were again in unchallenged possession of their old apartments at the
Lodge of Woodstock; and the combined exertions of Joceline Joliffe, of
Phbe, and of old Joan, were employed in putting to rights what the
late intruders had left in great disorder.
Sir Henry Lee had, like all persons of quality of that period, a love
of order amounting to precision, and felt, like a fine lady whose dress
has been disordered in a crowd, insulted and humiliated by the rude
confusion into which his household goods had been thrown, and impatient
till his mansion was purified from all marks of intrusion. In his anger
he uttered more orders than the limited number of his domestics were
likely to find time or hands to execute. "The villains have left such
sulphureous steams behind them, too," said the old knight, "as if old
Davie Leslie and the whole Scottish army had quartered among them."
"It may be near as bad," said Joceline, "for men say, for certain, it
was the Devil came down bodily among them, and made them troop off."
"Then," said the knight, "is the Prince of Darkness a gentleman, as old
Will Shakspeare says. He never interferes with those of his own coat,
for the Lees have been here, father and son, these five hundred years,
without disquiet; and no sooner came these misbegotten churls, than he
plays his own part among them."
"Well, one thing he and they have left us," said Joliffe, "which we may
thank them for; and that is, such a well-filled larder and buttery as
has been seldom seen in Woodstock Lodge this many a day: carcasses of
mutton, large rounds of beef, barrels of confectioners' ware, pipes and
runlets of sack, muscadine, ale, and what not. We shall have a royal
time on't through half the winter; and Joan must get to salting and
pickling presently."
"Out, villain!" said the knight; "are we to feed on the fragments of
such scum of the earth as these? Cast them forth instantly! Nay,"
checking himself, "that were a sin; but give them to the poor, or see
them sent to the owners. And, hark ye, I will none of their strong
liquors. I would rather drink like a hermit all my life, than seem to
pledge such scoundrels as these in their leavings, like a miserable
drawer, who drains off the ends of the bottles after the guests have
paid their reckoning, and gone off. And, hark ye, I will taste no water
from the cistern out of which these slaves have been serving
themselvesfetch me down a pitcher from Rosamond's spring."
Alice heard this injunction, and well guessing there was enough for the
other members of the family to do, she quietly took a small pitcher,
and flinging a cloak around her, walked out in person to procure Sir
Henry the water which he desired. Meantime, Joceline said, with some
hesitation, "that a man still remained, belonging to the party of these
strangers, who was directing about the removal of some trunks and mails
which belonged to the Commissioners, and who could receive his honour's
commands about the provisions."
"Let him come hither." (The dialogue was held in the hall.) "Why do you
hesitate and drumble in that manner?"
"Only, sir," said Joceline, "only perhaps your honour might not wish to
see him, being the same who, not long since"
He paused.
"Sent my rapier a-hawking through the firmament, thou wouldst say? Why,
when did I take spleen at a man for standing his ground against me?
Roundhead as he is, man, I like him the better of that, not the worse.
I hunger and thirst to have another turn with him. I have thought on
his passado ever since, and I believe, were it to try again, I know a
feat would control it. Fetch him directly."
Trusty Tomkins was presently ushered in, bearing himself with an iron
gravity, which neither the terrors of the preceding night, nor the
dignified demeanour of the high-born personage before whom he stood,
were able for an instant to overcome.
"How now, good fellow?" said Sir Henry; "I would fain see something
more of thy fence, which baffled me the other evening; but truly, I
think the light was somewhat too faint for my old eyes. Take a foil,
manI walk here in the hall, as Hamlet says; and 'tis the
breathing-time of day with me. Take a foil, then, in thy hand."
"Since it is your worship's desire," said the steward, letting fall his
long cloak, and taking the foil in his hand.
"Now," said the knight, "if your fitness speaks, mine is ready.
Methinks the very stepping on this same old pavement hath charmed away
the gout which threatened me. SasaI tread as firm as a game-cock."
They began the play with great spirit; and whether the old knight
really fought more coolly with the blunt than with the sharp weapon, or
whether the steward gave him some grains of advantage in this merely
sportive encounter, it is certain Sir Henry had the better in the
assault. His success put him into excellent humour.
"There," said he, "I found your tricknay, you cheat me not twice the
same way. There was a very palpable hit. Why, had I had but light
enough the other nightBut it skills not speaking of itHere we leave
off. I must not fight, as we unwise cavaliers did with you roundhead
rascals, beating you so often that we taught you to beat us at last.
And good now, tell me why you are leaving your larder so full here? Do
you think I or my family can use broken victuals? What, have you no
better employment for your rounds of sequestrated beef than to leave
them behind you when you shift your quarters?"
"So please your honour," said Tomkins, "it may be that you desire not
the flesh of beeves, of rams, or of goats. Nevertheless, when you know
that the provisions were provided and paid for out of your own rents
and stock at Ditchley, sequestrated to the use of the state more than a
year since, it may be you will have less scruple to use them for your
own behoof."
"Rest assured that I shall," said Sir Henry; "and glad you have helped
me to a share of mine own. Certainly I was an ass to suspect your
masters of subsisting, save at honest men's expense."
"And as for the rumps of beeves," continued Tomkins, with the same
solemnity, "there is a rump at Westminster, which will stand us of the
army much hacking and hewing yet, ere it is discussed to our mind."
Sir Henry paused, as if to consider what was the meaning of this
innuendo; for he was not a person of very quick apprehension. But
having at length caught the meaning of it, he burst into an explosion
of louder laughter than Joceline had seen him indulge in for a long
while.
"Right, knave," he said, "I taste thy jestIt is the very moral of the
puppet-show. Faustus raised the devil, as the Parliament raised the
army, and then, as the devil flies away with Faustus, so will the army
fly away with the Parliament, or the rump, as thou call'st it, or
sitting part of the so-called Parliament. And then, look you, friend,
the very devil of all hath my willing consent to fly away with the army
in its turn, from the highest general down to the lowest drum-boy. Nay,
never look fierce for the matter; remember there is daylight enough now
for a game at sharps."
Trusty Tomkins appeared to think it best to suppress his displeasure;
and observing that the wains were ready to transport the Commissioners'
property to the borough, took a grave leave of Sir Henry Lee.
Meantime the old man continued to pace his recovered hall, rubbing his
hands, and evincing greater signs of glee than he had shown since the
fatal 30th of January.
"Here we are again in the old frank, Joliffe; well victualled too. How
the knave solved my point of conscience!the dullest of them is a
special casuist where the question concerns profit. Look out if there
are not some of our own ragged regiment lurking about, to whom a
bellyful would be a God-send, Joceline. Then his fence, Joceline,
though the fellow foins well, very sufficient well. But thou saw'st how
I dealt with him when I had fitting light, Joceline."
"Ay, and so your honour did," said Joceline. "You taught him to know
the Duke of Norfolk, from Saunders Gardner. I'll warrant him he will
not wish to come under your honour's thumb again."
"Why, I am waxing old," said Sir Henry; "but skill will not rust
through age, though sinews must stiffen. But my age is like a lusty
winter, as old Will says, frosty but kindly; and what if, old as we
are, we live to see better days yet! I promise thee, Joceline, I love
this jarring betwixt the rogues of the board and the rogues of the
sword. When thieves quarrel, true men have a chance of coming by their
own."
Thus triumphed the old cavalier, in the treble glory of having
recovered his dwelling,regained, as he thought, his character as a man
of fence, and finally, discovered some prospect of a change of times,
in which he was not without hopes that something might turn up for the
royal interest.
Meanwhile, Alice, with a prouder and a lighter heart than had danced in
her bosom for several days, went forth with a gaiety to which she of
late had been a stranger, to contribute her assistance to the
regulation and supply of the household, by bringing the fresh water
wanted from fair Rosamond's well.
Perhaps she remembered, that when she was but a girl, her cousin
Markham used, among others, to make her perform that duty, as
presenting the character of some captive Trojan princess, condemned by
her situation to draw the waters from some Grecian spring, for the use
of the proud victor. At any rate, she certainly joyed to see her father
reinstated in his ancient habitation; and the joy was not the less
sincere, that she knew their return to Woodstock had been procured by
means of her cousin, and that even in her father's prejudiced eyes,
Everard had been in some degree exculpated of the accusations the old
knight had brought against him; and that, if a reconciliation had not
yet taken place, the preliminaries had been established on which such a
desirable conclusion might easily be founded. It was like the
commencement of a bridge; when the foundation is securely laid, and the
piers raised above the influence of the torrent, the throwing of the
arches may be accomplished in a subsequent season.
The doubtful fate of her only brother might have clouded even this
momentary gleam of sunshine; but Alice had been bred up during the
close and frequent contest of civil war, and had acquired the habit of
hoping in behalf of those dear to her, until hope was lost. In the
present case, all reports seemed to assure her of her brother's safety.
Besides these causes for gaiety, Alice Lee had the pleasing feeling
that she was restored to the habitation and the haunts of her
childhood, from which she had not departed without much pain, the more
felt, perhaps, because suppressed, in order to avoid irritating her
father's sense of his misfortune. Finally, she enjoyed for the instant
the gleam of self-satisfaction by which we see the young and
well-disposed so often animated, when they can be, in common phrase,
helpful to those whom they love, and perform at the moment of need some
of those little domestic tasks, which age receives with so much
pleasure from the dutiful hands of youth. So that, altogether, as she
hasted through the remains and vestiges of a wilderness already
mentioned, and from thence about a bow-shot into the Park, to bring a
pitcher of water from Rosamond's spring, Alice Lee, her features
enlivened and her complexion a little raised by the exercise, had, for
the moment, regained the gay and brilliant vivacity of expression which
had been the characteristic of her beauty in her earlier and happier
days.
This fountain of old memory had been once adorned with architectural
ornaments in the style of the sixteenth century, chiefly relating to
ancient mythology. All these were now wasted and overthrown, and
existed only as moss-covered ruins, while the living spring continued
to furnish its daily treasures, unrivalled in purity, though the
quantity was small, gushing out amid disjointed stones, and bubbling
through fragments of ancient sculpture.
With a light step and laughing brow the young Lady of Lee was
approaching, the fountain usually so solitary, when she paused on
beholding some one seated beside it. She proceeded, however, with
confidence, though with a step something less gay, when she observed
that the person was a female; some menial perhaps from the town, whom a
fanciful mistress occasionally dispatched for the water of a spring,
supposed to be peculiarly pure, or some aged woman, who made a little
trade by carrying it to the better sort of families, and selling it for
a trifle. There was no cause, therefore, for apprehension.
Yet the terrors of the times were so great, that Alice did not see a
stranger even of her own sex without some apprehension. Denaturalized
women had as usual followed the camps of both armies during the Civil
War; who, on the one side with open profligacy and profanity, on the
other with the fraudful tone of fanaticism or hypocrisy, exercised
nearly in like degree their talents, for murder or plunder. But it was
broad daylight, the distance from the Lodge was but trifling, and
though a little alarmed at seeing a stranger where she expected deep
solitude, the daughter of the haughty old Knight had too much of the
lion about her, to fear without some determined and decided cause.
Alice walked, therefore, gravely on toward the fount, and composed her
looks as she took a hasty glance of the female who was seated there,
and addressed herself to her task of filling her pitcher.
The woman, whose presence had surprised and somewhat startled Alice
Lee, was a person of the lower rank, whose red cloak, russet kirtle,
handkerchief trimmed with Coventry blue, and a coarse steeple hat,
could not indicate at best any thing higher than the wife of a small
farmer, or, perhaps, the helpmate of a bailiff or hind. It was well if
she proved nothing worse. Her clothes, indeed, were of good materials;
but, what the female eye discerns with half a glance, they were
indifferently adjusted and put on. This looked as if they did not
belong to the person by whom they were worn, but were articles of which
she had become the mistress by some accident, if not by some successful
robbery. Her size, too, as did not escape Alice, even in the short
perusal she afforded the stranger, was unusual; her features swarthy
and singularly harsh, and her manner altogether unpropitious. The young
lady almost wished, as she stooped to fill her pitcher, that she had
rather turned back, and sent Joceline on the errand; but repentance was
too late now, and she had only to disguise as well as she could her
unpleasant feelings.
"The blessings of this bright day to one as bright as it is," said the
stranger, with no unfriendly, though a harsh voice.
"I thank you," said Alice in reply; and continued to fill her pitcher
busily, by assistance of an iron bowl which remained still chained to
one of the stones beside the fountain.
"Perhaps, my pretty maiden, if you would accept my help, your work
would be sooner done," said the stranger.
"I thank you," said Alice; "but had I needed assistance, I could have
brought those with me who had rendered it."
"I do not doubt of that, my pretty maiden," answered the female; "there
are too many lads in Woodstock with eyes in their headsNo doubt you
could have brought with you any one of them who looked on you, if you
had listed."
Alice replied not a syllable, for she did not like the freedom used by
the speaker, and was desirous to break off the conversation.
"Are you offended, my pretty mistress?" said the stranger; "that was
far from my purpose.I will put my question otherwise.Are the good
dames of Woodstock so careless of their pretty daughters as to let the
flower of them all wander about the wild chase without a mother, or a
somebody to prevent the fox from running away with the lamb?that
carelessness, methinks, shows small kindness."
"Content yourself, good woman, I am not far from protection and
assistance," said Alice, who liked less and less the effrontery of her
new acquaintance.
"Alas! my pretty maiden," said the stranger, patting with her large and
hard hand the head which Alice had kept bended down towards the water
which she was laving, "it would be difficult to hear such a pipe as
yours at the town of Woodstock, scream as loud as you would."
Alice shook the woman's hand angrily off, took up her pitcher, though
not above half full, and as she saw the stranger rise at the same time,
said, not without fear doubtless, but with a natural feeling of
resentment and dignity, "I have no reason to make my cries heard as far
as Woodstock; were there occasion for my crying for help at all, it is
nearer at hand."
She spoke not without a warrant; for, at the moment, broke through the
bushes, and stood by her side, the noble hound Bevis; fixing on the
stranger his eyes that glanced fire, raising every hair on his gallant
mane as upright as the bristles of a wild boar when hard pressed,
grinning till a case of teeth, which would have matched those of any
wolf in Russia, were displayed in full array, and, without either
barking or springing, seeming, by his low determined growl, to await
but the signal for dashing at the female, whom he plainly considered as
a suspicious person.
But the stranger was undaunted. "My pretty maiden," she said, "you have
indeed a formidable guardian there, where cockneys or bumpkins are
concerned; but we who have been at the wars know spells for taming such
furious dragons; and therefore let not your four-footed protector go
loose on me, for he is a noble animal, and nothing but self-defence
would induce me to do him injury." So saying, she drew a pistol from
her bosom, and cocked itpointing it towards the dog, as if
apprehensive that he would spring upon her.
"Hold, woman, hold!" said Alice Lee; "the dog will not do you
harm.Down, Bevis, couch down.And ere you attempt to hurt him, know he
is the favourite hound of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley, the keeper of
Woodstock Park, who would severely revenge any injury offered to him."
"And you, pretty one, are the old knight's house-keeper, doubtless? I
have often heard the Lees have good taste."
"I am his daughter, good woman."
"His daughter!I was blindbut yet it is true, nothing less perfect
could answer the description which all the world has given of Mistress
Alice Lee. I trust that my folly has given my young mistress no
offence, and that she will allow me, in token of reconciliation, to
fill her pitcher, and carry it as far as she will permit."
"As you will, good mother; but I am about to return instantly to the
Lodge, to which, in these times, I cannot admit strangers. You can
follow me no farther than the verge of the wilderness, and I am already
too long from home: I will send some one to meet and relieve you of the
pitcher." So saying, she turned her back, with a feeling of terror
which she could hardly account for, and began to walk quickly towards
the Lodge, thinking thus to get rid of her troublesome acquaintance.
But she reckoned without her host; for in a moment her new companion
was by her side, not running, indeed, but walking with prodigious long
unwomanly strides, which soon brought her up with the hurried and timid
steps of the frightened maiden. But her manner was more respectful than
formerly, though her voice sounded remarkably harsh and disagreeable,
and her whole appearance suggested an undefined, yet irresistible
feeling of apprehension.
"Pardon a stranger, lovely Mistress Alice," said her persecutor, "that
was not capable of distinguishing between a lady of your high quality
and a peasant wench, and who spoke to you with a degree of freedom,
ill-befitting your rank, certainly, and condition, and which, I fear,
has given you offence."
"No offence whatever," replied Alice; "but, good woman, I am near home,
and can excuse your farther company.You are unknown to me."
"But it follows not," said the stranger, "that your fortunes may not
be known to me, fair Mistress Alice. Look on my swarthy browEngland
breeds none suchand in the lands from which I come, the sun which
blackens our complexion, pours, to make amends, rays of knowledge into
our brains, which are denied to those of your lukewarm climate. Let me
look upon your pretty hand,(attempting to possess herself of it,)and
I promise you, you shall hear what will please you."
"I hear what does not please me," said Alice, with dignity; "you must
carry your tricks of fortune-telling and palmistry to the women of the
village.We of the gentry hold them to be either imposture or unlawful
knowledge."
"Yet you would fain hear of a certain Colonel, I warrant you, whom
certain unhappy circumstances have separated from his family; you would
give better than silver if I could assure you that you would see him in
a day or twoay, perhaps, sooner."
"I know nothing of what you speak, good woman; if you want alms, there
is a piece of silverit is all I have in my purse."
"It were pity that I should take it," said the female; "and yet give it
mefor the princess in the fairy tale must ever deserve, by her
generosity, the bounty of the benevolent fairy, before she is rewarded
by her protection."
"Take ittake itgive me my pitcher," said Alice, "and begone,yonder
comes one of my father's servants.What, ho!JocelineJoceline!"
The old fortune-teller hastily dropped something into the pitcher as
she restored it to Alice Lee, and, plying her long limbs, disappeared
speedily under cover of the wood.
Bevis turned, and barked, and showed some inclination to harass the
retreat of this suspicious person, yet, as if uncertain, ran towards
Joliffe, and fawned on him, as to demand his advice and encouragement.
Joceline pacified the animal, and, coming up to his young lady, asked
her, with surprise, what was the matter, and whether she had been
frightened? Alice made light of her alarm, for which, indeed, she could
not have assigned any very competent reason, for the manners of the
woman, though bold and intrusive, were not menacing. She only said she
had met a fortune-teller by Rosamond's Well, and had had some
difficulty in shaking her off.
"Ah, the gipsy thief," said Joceline, "how well she scented there was
food in the pantry!they have noses like ravens, these strollers. Look
you, Mistress Alice, you shall not see a raven or a carrion-crow in all
the blue sky for a mile round you; but let a sheep drop suddenly down
on the green-sward, and before the poor creature's dead you shall see a
dozen of such guests croaking, as if inviting each other to the
banquet.Just so it is with these sturdy beggars. You will see few
enough of them when there's nothing to give, but when hough's in the
pot, they will have share on't."
"You are so proud of your fresh supply of provender," said Alice, "that
you suspect all of a design on't. I do not think this woman will
venture near your kitchen, Joceline."
"It will be best for her health," said Joceline, "lest I give her a
ducking for digestion.But give me the pitcher, Mistress Alicemeeter I
bear it than you.How now? what jingles at the bottom? have you lifted
the pebbles as well as the water?"
"I think the woman dropped something into the pitcher," said Alice.
"Nay, we must look to that, for it is like to be a charm, and we have
enough of the devil's ware about Woodstock alreadywe will not spare
for the waterI can run back and fill the pitcher." He poured out the
water upon the grass, and at the bottom of the pitcher was found a gold
ring, in which was set a ruby, apparently of some value.
"Nay, if this be not enchantment, I know not what is," said Joceline.
"Truly, Mistress Alice, I think you had better throw away this
gimcrack. Such gifts from such hands are a kind of press-money which
the devil uses for enlisting his regiment of witches; and if they take
but so much as a bean from him, they become his bond-slaves for
lifeAy, you look at the gew-gaw, but to-morrow you will find a lead
ring, and a common pebble in its stead."
"Nay, Joceline, I think it will be better to find out that
dark-complexioned woman, and return to her what seems of some value.
So, cause enquiry to be made, and be sure you return her ring. It seems
too valuable to be destroyed."
"Umph! that is always the way with women," murmured Joceline. "You will
never get the best of them, but she is willing to save a bit of
finery.Well, Mistress Alice, I trust that you are too young and too
pretty to be enlisted in a regiment of witches."
"I shall not be afraid of it till you turn conjuror," said Alice; "so
hasten to the well, where you are like still to find the woman, and let
her know that Alice Lee desires none of her gifts, any more than she
did of her society."
So saying, the young lady pursued her way to the Lodge, while Joceline
went down to Rosamond's Well to execute her commission. But the
fortune-teller, or whoever she might be, was nowhere to be found;
neither, finding that to be the case, did Joceline give himself much
trouble in tracking her farther.
"If this ring, which I dare say the jade stole somewhere," said the
underkeeper to himself, "be worth a few nobles, it is better in honest
hands than in that of vagabonds. My master has a right to all waifs and
strays, and certainly such a ring, in possession of a gipsy, must be a
waif. So I shall confiscate it without scruple, and apply the produce
to the support of Sir Henry's household, which is like to be poor
enough. Thank Heaven, my military experience has taught me how to carry
hooks at my finger-endsthat is trooper's law. Yet, hang it, after all,
I had best take it to Mark Everard and ask his adviceI hold him now to
be your learned counsellor in law where Mistress Alice's affairs are
concerned, and my learned Doctor, who shall be nameless, for such as
concern Church and State and Sir Henry Lee.And I'll give them leave to
give mine umbles to the kites and ravens if they find me conferring my
confidence where it is not safe."
CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH.
Being skilless in these parts, which, to a stranger,
Unguided and unfriended, often prove
Rough and inhospitable.
TWELFTH NIGHT.
There was a little attempt at preparation, now that the dinner hour was
arrived, which showed that, in the opinion of his few but faithful
domestics, the good knight had returned in triumph to his home.
The great tankard, exhibiting in bas-relief the figure of Michael
subduing the Arch-enemy, was placed on the table, and Joceline and
Phbe dutifully attended; the one behind the chair of Sir Henry, the
other to wait upon her young mistress, and both to make out, by formal
and regular observance, the want of a more numerous train.
"A health to King Charles!" said the old knight, handing the massive
tankard to his daughter; "drink it, my love, though it be rebel ale
which they have left us. I will pledge thee; for the toast will excuse
the liquor, had Noll himself brewed it."
The young lady touched the goblet with her lip, and returned it to her
father, who took a copious draught.
"I will not say blessing on their hearts," said he; "though I must own
they drank good ale."
"No wonder, sir; they come lightly by the malt, and need not spare it,"
said Joceline.
"Say'st thou?" said the knight; "thou shalt finish the tankard thyself
for that very jest's sake."
Nor was his follower slow in doing reason to the royal pledge. He
bowed, and replaced the tankard, saying, after a triumphant glance at
the sculpture, "I had a gibe with that same red-coat about the Saint
Michael just now."
"Red-coatha! what red-coat?" said the hasty old man. "Do any of these
knaves still lurk about Woodstock?Quoit him down stairs instantly,
Joceline.Know we not Galloway nags?"
"So please you, he is in some charge here, and will speedily be
gone.It is hehe who had a rencontre with your honour in the wood."
"Ay, but I paid him off for it in the hall, as you yourself saw.I was
never in better fence in my life, Joceline. That same steward fellow is
not so utterly black-hearted a rogue as the most of them, Joceline. He
fences wellexcellent well. I will have thee try a bout in the hall
with him to-morrow, though I think he will be too hard for thee. I know
thy strength to an inch."
He might say this with some truth; for it was Joceline's fashion, when
called on, as sometimes happened, to fence with his patron, just to put
forth as much of his strength and skill as obliged the Knight to
contend hard for the victory, which, in the long run, he always
contrived to yield up to him, like a discreet serving-man.
"And what said this roundheaded steward of our great Saint Michael's
standing cup?"
"Marry, he scoffed at our good saint, and said he was little better
than one of the golden calves of Bethel. But I told him he should not
talk so, until one of their own roundheaded saints had given the devil
as complete a cross-buttock as Saint Michael had given him, as 'tis
carved upon the cup there. I trow that made him silent enough. And then
he would know whether your honour and Mistress Alice, not to mention
old Joan and myself, since it is your honour's pleasure I should take
my bed here, were not afraid to sleep in a house that had been so much
disturbed. But I told him we feared no fiends or goblins, having the
prayers of the Church read every evening."
"Joceline," said Alice, interrupting him, "wert thou mad? You know at
what risk to ourselves and the good doctor the performance of that duty
takes place."
"Oh, Mistress Alice," said Joceline, a little abashed, "you may be sure
I spoke not a word of the doctorNo, noI did not let him into the
secret that we had such a reverend chaplain.I think I know the length
of this man's foot. We have had a jollification or so together. He is
hand and glove with me, for as great a fanatic as he is."
"Trust him not too far," said the knight. "Nay, I fear thou hast been
imprudent already, and that it will be unsafe for the good man to come
here after nightfall, as is proposed. These Independents have noses
like bloodhounds, and can smell out a loyalist under any disguise."
"If your honour thinks so," said Joceline, "I'll watch for the doctor
with good will, and bring him into the Lodge by the old condemned
postern, and so up to this apartment; and sure this man Tomkins would
never presume to come hither; and the doctor may have a bed in
Woodstock Lodge, and he never the wiser; or, if your honour does not
think that safe, I can cut his throat for you, and I would not mind it
a pin."
"God forbid!" said the knight. "He is under our roof, and a guest,
though not an invited one.Go, Joceline; it shall be thy penance, for
having given thy tongue too much license, to watch for the good doctor,
and to take care of his safety while he continues with us. An October
night or two in the forest would finish the good man."
"He's more like to finish our October than our October is to finish
him," said the keeper; and withdrew under the encouraging smile of his
patron.
He whistled Bevis along with him to share in his watch; and having
received exact information where the clergyman was most likely to be
found, assured his master that he would give the most pointed attention
to his safety. When the attendants had withdrawn, having previously
removed the remains of the meal, the old knight, leaning back in his
chair, encouraged pleasanter visions than had of late passed through
his imagination, until by degrees he was surprised by actual slumber;
while his daughter, not venturing to move but on tiptoe, took some
needle-work, and bringing it close by the old man's side, employed her
fingers on this task, bending her eyes from time to time on her parent,
with the affectionate zeal, if not the effective power, of a guardian
angel. At length, as the light faded away, and night came on, she was
about to order candles to be brought. But, remembering how indifferent
a couch Joceline's cottage had afforded, she could not think of
interrupting the first sound and refreshing sleep which her father had
enjoyed, in all probability, for the last two nights and days.
She herself had no other amusement, as she sat facing one of the great
oriel windows, the same by which Wildrake had on a former occasion
looked in upon Tomkins and Joceline while at their compotations, than
watching the clouds, which a lazy wind sometimes chased from the broad
disk of the harvest-moon, sometimes permitted to accumulate, and
exclude her brightness. There is, I know not why, something peculiarly
pleasing to the imagination, in contemplating the Queen of Night, when
she is wading, as the expression is, among the vapours which she has
not power to dispel, and which on their side are unable entirely to
quench her lustre. It is the striking image of patient virtue, calmly
pursuing her path through good report and bad report, having that
excellence in herself which ought to command all admiration, but
bedimmed in the eyes of the world, by suffering, by misfortune, by
calumny.
As some such reflections, perhaps, were passing through Alice's
imagination, she became sensible, to her surprise and alarm, that some
one had clambered up upon the window, and was looking into the room.
The idea of supernatural fear did not in the slightest degree agitate
Alice. She was too much accustomed to the place and situation; for folk
do not see spectres in the scenes with which they have been familiar
from infancy. But danger from maurauders in a disturbed country was a
more formidable subject of apprehension, and the thought armed Alice,
who was naturally high spirited, with such desperate courage, that she
snatched a pistol from the wall, on which some fire-arms hung, and
while she screamed to her father to awake, had the presence of mind to
present it at the intruder. She did so the more readily, because she
imagined she recognised in the visage, which she partially saw, the
features of the woman whom she had met with at Rosamond's Well, and
which had appeared to her peculiarly harsh and suspicious. Her father
at the same time seized his sword and came forward, while the person at
the window, alarmed at these demonstrations, and endeavouring to
descend, missed footing, as had Cavaliero Wildrake before, and went
down to the earth with no small noise. Nor was the reception on the
bosom of our common mother either soft or safe; for, by a most terrific
bark and growl, they heard that Bevis had come up and seized on the
party, ere he or she could gain their feet.
"Hold fast, but worry not," said the old knight."Alice, thou art the
queen of wenches! Stand fast here till I run down and secure the
rascal."
"For God's sake, no, my dearest father!" Alice exclaimed; "Joceline
will be up immediatelyHark!I hear him."
There was indeed a bustle below, and more than one light danced to and
fro in confusion, while those who bore them called to each other, yet
suppressing their voices as they spoke, as men who would only be heard
by those they addressed. The individual who had fallen under the power
of Bevis was most impatient in his situation, and called with least
precaution"Here, Lee,Forestertake the dog off, else I must shoot
him."
"If thou dost," said Sir Henry, from the window, "I blow thy brains out
on the spot. Thieves, Joceline, thieves! come up and secure this
ruffian.Bevis, hold on!"
"Back, Bevis; down, sir!" cried Joceline. "I am coming, I am coming,
Sir HenrySaint Michael, I shall go distracted!"
A terrible thought suddenly occurred to Alice; could Joceline have
become unfaithful, that he was calling Bevis off the villain, instead
of encouraging the trusty dog to secure him? Her father, meantime,
moved perhaps by some suspicion of the same kind, hastily stepped aside
out of the moonlight, and pulled Alice close to him, so as to be
invisible from without, yet so placed as to hear what should pass. The
scuffle between Bevis and his prisoner seemed to be ended by Joceline's
interference, and there was close whispering for an instant, as of
people in consultation.
"All is quiet now," said one voice; "I will up and prepare the way for
you." And immediately a form presented itself on the outside of the
window, pushed open the lattice, and sprung into the parlour. But
almost ere his step was upon the floor, certainly before he had
obtained any secure footing, the old knight, who stood ready with his
rapier drawn, made a desperate pass, which bore the intruder to the
ground. Joceline, who clambered up next with a dark lantern in his
hand, uttered a dreadful exclamation, when he saw what had happened,
crying out, "Lord in heaven, he has slain his own son!"
"No, noI tell you no," said the fallen young man, who was indeed young
Albert Lee, the only son of the old knight; "I am not hurt. No noise,
on your lives; get lights instantly." At the same time, he started from
the floor as quickly as he could, under the embarrassment of a cloak
and doublet skewered as it were together by the rapier of the old
knight, whose pass, most fortunately, had been diverted from the body
of Albert by the interruption of his cloak, the blade passing right
across his back, piercing the clothes, while the hilt coming against
his side with the whole force of the lunge, had borne him to the
ground.
Joceline all the while enjoined silence to every one, under the
strictest conjurations. "Silence, as you would long live on
earthsilence, as ye would have a place in heaven; be but silent for a
few minutesall our lives depend on it."
Meantime he procured lights with inexpressible dispatch, and they then
beheld that Sir Henry, on hearing the fatal words, had sunk back on one
of the large chairs, without either motion, colour, or sign of life.
"Oh, brother, how could you come in this manner?" said Alice.
"Ask no questionsGood God! for what am I reserved!" He gazed on his
father as he spoke, who, with clay-cold features rigidly fixed, and his
arms extended in the most absolute helplessness, looked rather the
image of death upon a monument, than a being in whom existence was only
suspended. "Was my life spared," said Albert, raising his hands with a
wild gesture to heaven, "only to witness such a sight as this!"
"We suffer what Heaven permits, young man; we endure our lives while
Heaven continues them. Let me approach." The same clergyman who had
read the prayers at Joceline's hut now came forward. "Get water," he
said, "instantly." And the helpful hand and light foot of Alice, with
the ready-witted tenderness which never stagnates in vain lamentations
while there is any room for hope, provided with incredible celerity all
that the clergyman called for.
"It is but a swoon," he said, on feeling Sir Henry's palm; "a swoon
produced from the instant and unexpected shock. Rouse thee up, Albert;
I promise thee it will be nothing save a syncopeA cup, my dearest
Alice, and a ribbon or a bandage. I must take some bloodsome
aromatics, too, if they can be had, my good Alice."
But while Alice procured the cup and bandage, stripped her father's
sleeve, and seemed by intuition even to anticipate every direction of
the reverend doctor, her brother, hearing no word, and seeing no sign
of comfort, stood with both hands clasped and elevated into the air, a
monument of speechless despair. Every feature in his face seemed to
express the thought, "Here lies my father's corpse, and it is I whose
rashness has slain him!"
But when a few drops of blood began to follow the lancetat first
falling singly, and then trickling in a freer streamwhen, in
consequence of the application of cold water to the temples, and
aromatics to the nostrils, the old man sighed feebly, and made an
effort to move his limbs, Albert Lee changed his posture, at once to
throw himself at the feet of the clergyman, and kiss, if he would have
permitted him, his shoes and the hem of his raiment.
"Rise, foolish youth," said the good man, with a reproving tone; "must
it be always thus with you? Kneel to Heaven, not to the feeblest of its
agents. You have been saved once again from great danger; would you
deserve Heaven's bounty, remember you have been preserved for other
purposes than you now think on. Begone, you and Jocelineyou have a
duty to discharge; and be assured it will go better with your father's
recovery that he see you not for a few minutes. Downdown to the
wilderness, and bring in your attendant."
"Thanks, thanks, a thousand thanks," answered Albert Lee; and,
springing through the lattice, he disappeared as unexpectedly as he had
entered. At the same time Joceline followed him, and by the same road.
Alice, whose fears for her father were now something abated, upon this
new movement among the persons of the scene, could not resist appealing
to her venerable assistant. "Good doctor, answer me but one question.
Was my brother Albert here just now, or have I dreamed all that has
happened for these ten minutes past? Methinks, but for your presence, I
could suppose the whole had passed in my sleep; that horrible
thrustthat death-like, corpse-like old manthat soldier in mute
despair; I must indeed have dreamed."
"If you have dreamed, my sweet Alice," said the doctor, "I wish every
sick-nurse had your property, since you have been attending to our
patient better during your sleep than most of these old dormice can do
when they are most awake. But your dream came through the gate of horn,
my pretty darling, which you must remind me to explain to you at
leisure. Albert has really been here, and will be here again."
"Albert!" repeated Sir Henry, "who names my son?"
"It is I, my kind patron," said the doctor; "permit me to bind up your
arm."
"My wound?with all my heart, doctor," said Sir Henry, raising himself,
and gathering his recollection by degrees. "I knew of old thou wert
body-curer as well as soul-curer, and served my regiment for surgeon as
well as chaplain.But where is the rascal I killed?I never made a
fairer stramaon in my life. The shell of my rapier struck against
his ribs. So, dead he must be, or my right hand has forgot its
cunning."
"Nobody was slain," said the doctor; "we must thank God for that, since
there were none but friends to slay. Here is a good cloak and doublet,
though, wounded in a fashion which will require some skill in
tailor-craft to cure. But I was your last antagonist, and took a little
blood from you, merely to prepare you for the pleasure and surprise of
seeing your son, who, though hunted pretty close, as you may believe,
hath made his way from Worcester hither, where, with Joceline's
assistance, we will care well enough for his safety. It was even for
this reason that I pressed you to accept of your nephew's proposal to
return to the old Lodge, where a hundred men might be concealed, though
a thousand were making search to discover them. Never such a place for
hide-and-seek, as I shall make good when I can find means to publish my
Wonders of Woodstock."
"But, my sonmy dear son," said the knight, "shall I not then instantly
see him! and wherefore did you not forewarn me of this joyful event?"
"Because I was uncertain of his motions," said the doctor, "and rather
thought he was bound for the sea-side, and that it would be best to
tell you of his fate when he was safe on board, and in full sail for
France. We had appointed to let you know all when I came hither
to-night to join you. But there is a red-coat in the house whom we care
not to trust farther than we could not help. We dared not, therefore,
venture in by the hall; and so, prowling round the building, Albert
informed us, that an old prank of his, when a boy, consisted of
entering by this window. A lad who was with us would needs make the
experiment, as there seemed to be no light in the chamber, and the
moonlight without made us liable to be detected. His foot slipped, and
our friend Bevis came upon us."
"In good truth, you acted simply," said Sir Henry, "to attack a
garrison without a summons. But all this is nothing to my son,
Albertwhere is he?Let me see him."
"But, Sir Henry, wait," said the doctor, "till your restored strength"
"A plague of my restored strength, man!" answered the knight, as his
old spirit began to awaken within him."Dost not remember, that I lay
on Edgehill-field all night, bleeding like a bullock from five several
wounds, and wore my armour within six weeks? and you talk to me of the
few drops of blood that follow such a scratch as a cat's claw might
have made!"
"Nay, if you feel so courageous," said the doctor, "I will fetch your
sonhe is not far distant."
So saying, he left the apartment, making a sign to Alice to remain, in
case any symptoms of her father's weakness should return.
It was fortunate, perhaps, that Sir Henry never seemed to recollect the
precise nature of the alarm, which had at once, and effectually as the
shock of the thunderbolt, for the moment suspended his faculties.
Something he said more than once of being certain he had done mischief
with that stramaon, as he called it; but his mind did not recur to
that danger, as having been incurred by his son. Alice, glad to see
that her father appeared to have forgotten a circumstance so fearful,
(as men often forget the blow, or other sudden cause, which has thrown
them into a swoon,) readily excused herself from throwing much light on
the matter, by pleading the general confusion. And in a few minutes,
Albert cut off all farther enquiry, by entering the room, followed by
the doctor, and throwing himself alternately into the arms of his
father and of his sister.
CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH.
The boy ishark ye, sirrahwhat's your name?
Oh, Jacobay, I recollectthe same.
CRABBE.
The affectionate relatives were united as those who, meeting under
great adversity, feel still the happiness of sharing it in common. They
embraced again and again, and gave way to those expansions of the
heart, which at once express and relieve the pressure of mental
agitation. At length the tide of emotion began to subside; and Sir
Henry, still holding his recovered son by the hand, resumed the command
of his feelings which he usually practised.
"So you have seen the last of our battles, Albert," he said, "and the
King's colours have fallen for ever before the rebels."
"It is but even so," said the young man"the last cast of the die was
thrown, and, alas! lost at Worcester; and Cromwell's fortune carried it
there, as it has wherever he has shown himself."
"Wellit can but be for a timeit can but be for a time," answered his
father; "the devil is potent, they say, in raising and gratifying
favourites, but he can grant but short leases.And the Kingthe King,
Albertthe Kingin my earclose, close!"
"Our last news were confident that he had escaped from Bristol."
"Thank God for thatthank God for that!" said the knight. "Where didst
thou leave him?"
"Our men were almost all cut to pieces at the bridge," Albert replied;
"but I followed his Majesty with about five hundred other officers and
gentlemen, who were resolved to die around him, until as our numbers
and appearance drew the whole pursuit after us, it pleased his Majesty
to dismiss us, with many thanks and words of comfort to us in general,
and some kind expressions to most of us in especial. He sent his royal
greeting to you, sir, in particular, and said more than becomes me to
repeat."
"Nay, I will hear it every word, boy," said Sir Henry; "is not the
certainty that thou hast discharged thy duty, and that King Charles
owns it, enough to console me for all we have lost and suffered, and
wouldst thou stint me of it from a false shamefacedness?I will have it
out of thee, were it drawn from thee with cords!"
"It shall need no such compulsion," said the young man"It was his
Majesty's pleasure to bid me tell Sir Henry Lee, in his name, that if
his son could not go before his father in the race of loyalty, he was
at least following him closely, and would soon move side by side."
"Said he so?" answered the knight"Old Victor Lee will look down with
pride on thee, Albert!But I forgetyou must be weary and hungry."
"Even so," said Albert; "but these are things which of late I have been
in the habit of enduring for safety's sake."
"Joceline!what ho, Joceline!"
The under-keeper entered, and received orders to get supper prepared
directly.
"My son and Dr. Rochecliffe are half starving," said the knight. "And
there is a lad, too, below," said Joceline; "a page, he says, of
Colonel Albert's, whose belly rings cupboard too, and that to no common
tune; for I think he could eat a horse, as the Yorkshireman says,
behind the saddle. He had better eat at the sideboard; for he has
devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, as fast as Phbe could cut
it, and it has not staid his stomach for a minuteand truly I think you
had better keep him under your own eyes, for the steward beneath might
ask him troublesome questions if he went belowAnd then he is
impatient, as all your gentlemen pages are, and is saucy among the
women."
"Whom is it he talks of?what page hast thou got, Albert, that bears
himself so ill?" said Sir Henry.
"The son of a dear friend, a noble lord of Scotland, who followed the
great Montrose's bannerafterwards joined the King in Scotland, and
came with him as far as Worcester. He was wounded the day before the
battle, and conjured me to take this youth under my charge, which I
did, something unwillingly; but I could not refuse a father, perhaps on
his death-bed, pleading for the safety of an only son."
"Thou hadst deserved an halter, hadst thou hesitated" said Sir Henry;
"the smallest tree can always give some shelter,and it pleases me to
think the old stock of Lee is not so totally prostrate, but it may yet
be a refuge for the distressed. Fetch the youth in;he is of noble
blood, and these are no times of ceremonyhe shall sit with us at the
same table, page though he be; and if you have not schooled him
handsomely in his manners, he may not be the worse of some lessons from
me."
"You will excuse his national drawling accent, sir?" said Albert,
"though I know you like it not."
"I have small cause, Albert," answered the knight"small cause.Who
stirred up these disunions?the Scots. Who strengthened the hands of
Parliament, when their cause was well nigh ruined?the Scots again. Who
delivered up the King, their countryman, who had flung himself upon.
their protection?the Scots again. But this lad's father, you say, has
fought on the part of the noble Montrose; and such a man as the great
Marquis may make amends for the degeneracy of a whole nation."
"Nay, father," said Albert, "and I must add, that though this lad is
uncouth and wayward, and, as you will see, something wilful, yet the
King has not a more zealous friend in England; and, when occasion
offered, he fought stoutly, too, in his defenceI marvel he comes not."
"He hath taken the bath" said Joceline, "and nothing less would serve
than that he should have it immediatelythe supper, he said, might be
got ready in the meantime; and he commands all about him as if he were
in his father's old castle, where he might have called long enough, I
warrant, without any one to hear him."
"Indeed?" said Sir Henry, "this must be a forward chick of the game, to
crow so early.What is his name?"
"His name?it escapes me every hour, it is so hard a one," said
Albert"Kerneguy is his nameLouis Kerneguy; his father was Lord
Killstewers, of Kincardineshire."
"Kerneguy, and Killstewers, and Kinwhat d'ye call it?Truly," said the
knight, "these northern men's names and titles smack of their
originthey sound like a north-west wind, rumbling and roaring among
heather and rocks."
"It is but the asperities of the Celtic and Saxon dialects," said Dr.
Rochecliffe, "which, according to Verstegan, still linger in those
northern parts of the island.But peacehere comes supper, and Master
Louis Kerneguy."
Supper entered accordingly, borne in by Joceline and Phbe, and after
it, leaning on a huge knotty stick, and having his nose in the air like
a questing houndfor his attention was apparently more fixed on the
good provisions that went before him, than any thing elsecame Master
Kerneguy, and seated himself, without much ceremony, at the lower end
of the table.
He was a tall, rawboned lad, with a shock head of hair, fiery red, like
many of his country, while the harshness of his national features was
increased by the contrast of his complexion, turned almost black by the
exposure to all sorts of weather, which, in that skulking and rambling
mode of life, the fugitive royalists had been obliged to encounter. His
address was by no means prepossessing, being a mixture of awkwardness
and forwardness, and showing in a remarkable degree, how a want of easy
address may be consistent with an admirable stock of assurance. His
face intimated having received some recent scratches, and the care of
Dr. Rochecliffe had decorated it with a number of patches, which even
enhanced its natural plainness. Yet the eyes were brilliant and
expressive, and, amid his uglinessfor it amounted to that degree of
irregularitythe face was not deficient in some lines which expressed
both sagacity and resolution.
The dress of Albert himself was far beneath his quality, as the son of
Sir Henry Lee, and commander of a regiment in the royal service; but
that of his page was still more dilapidated. A disastrous green jerkin,
which had been changed to a hundred hues by sun and rain, so that the
original could scarce be discovered, huge clouterly shoes, leathern
breechessuch as were worn by hedgerscoarse grey worsted stockings,
were the attire of the honourable youth, whose limping gait, while it
added to the ungainliness of his manner, showed, at the same time, the
extent of his sufferings. His appearance bordered so much upon what is
vulgarly called the queer, that even with Alice it would have excited
some sense of ridicule, had not compassion been predominant.
The grace was said, and the young squire of Ditchley, as well as Dr.
Rochecliffe, made an excellent figure at a meal, the like of which, in
quality and abundance, did not seem to have lately fallen to their
share. But their feats were child's-play to those of the Scottish
youth. Far from betraying any symptoms of the bread and butter with
which he had attempted to close the orifice of his stomach, his
appetite appeared to have been sharpened by a nine-days' fast; and the
knight was disposed to think that the very genius of famine himself,
come forth from his native regions of the north, was in the act of
honouring him with a visit, while, as if afraid of losing a moment's
exertion, Master Kerneguy never looked either to right or left, or
spoke a single word to any at table.
"I am glad to see that you have brought a good appetite for our country
fare, young gentleman," said Sir Henry.
"Bread of gude, sir!" said the page, "an ye'll find flesh, I'se find
appetite conforming, ony day o' the year. But the truth is, sir, that
the appeteezement has been coming on for three days or four, and the
meat in this southland of yours has been scarce, and hard to come by;
so, sir, I'm making up for lost time, as the piper of Sligo said, when
he eat a hail side o' mutton."
"You have been country-bred, young man," said the knight, who, like
others of his time, held the reins of discipline rather tight over the
rising generation; "at least, to judge from the youths of Scotland whom
I have seen at his late Majesty's court in former days; they had less
appetite, and moremore"As he sought the qualifying phrase, which
might supply the place of "good manners," his guest closed the sentence
in his own way"And more meat, it may bethe better luck theirs."
Sir Henry stared and was silent. His son seemed to think it time to
interpose"My dear father," he said, "think how many years have run
since the Thirty-eight, when the Scottish troubles first began, and I
am sure that you will not wonder that, while the Barons of Scotland
have been, for one cause or other, perpetually in the field, the
education of their children at home must have been much neglected, and
that young men of my friend's age know better how to use a broadsword,
or to toss a pike, than the decent ceremonials of society."
"The reason is a sufficient one," said the knight, "and, since thou
sayest thy follower Kernigo can fight, we'll not let him lack victuals,
a God's name.See, he looks angrily still at yonder cold loin of
muttonfor God's sake put it all on his plate!"
"I can bide the bit and the buffet," said the honourable Master
Kerneguy"a hungry tike ne'er minds a blaud with a rough bane."
"Now, God ha'e mercy, Albert, but if this be the son of a Scots peer,"
said Sir Henry to his son, in a low tone of voice, "I would not be the
English ploughman who would change manners with him for his ancient
blood, and his nobility, and his estate to boot, an he has one.He has
eaten, as I am a Christian, near four pounds of solid butcher's meat,
and with the grace of a wolf tugging at the carcass of a dead horse.
Oh, he is about to drink at lastSoh!he wipes his mouth, though,and
dips his fingers in the ewerand dries them, I profess, with the
napkin!there is some grace in him, after all."
"Here is wussing all your vera gude healths!" said the youth of
quality, and took a draught in proportion to the solids which he had
sent before; he then flung his knife and fork awkwardly on the
trencher, which he pushed back towards the centre of the table,
extended his feet beneath it till they rested on their heels, folded
his arms on his well-replenished stomach, and, lolling back in his
chair, looked much as if he was about to whistle himself asleep.
"Soh!" said the knight"the honourable Master Kernigo hath laid down
his arms.Withdraw these things, and give us our glassesFill them
around, Joceline; and if the devil or the whole Parliament were within
hearing, let them hear Henry Lee of Ditchley drink a health to King
Charles, and confusion to his enemies!"
"Amen!" said a voice from behind the door.
All the company looked at each other in astonishment, at a response so
little expected. It was followed by a solemn and peculiar tap, such as
a kind of freemasonry had introduced among royalists, and by which they
were accustomed to make themselves and their principles known to each
other, when they met by accident.
"There is no danger," said Albert, knowing the sign"it is a
friend;yet I wish he had been at a greater distance just now."
"And why, my son, should you wish the absence of one true man, who may,
perhaps, wish to share our abundance, on one of those rare occasions
when we have superfluity at our disposal?Go, Joceline, see who
knocksand, if a safe man, admit him."
"And if otherwise," said Joceline, "methinks I shall be able to prevent
his troubling the good company."
"No violence, Joceline, on your life," said Albert Lee; and Alice
echoed, "For God's sake, no violence!"
"No unnecessary violence at least," said the good knight; "for if the
time demands it, I will have it seen that I am master of my own house."
Joceline Joliffe nodded assent to all parties, and went on tiptoe to
exchange one or two other mysterious symbols and knocks, ere he opened
the door. It, may be here remarked, that this species of secret
association, with its signals of union, existed among the more
dissolute and desperate class of cavaliers, men habituated to the
dissipated life which they had been accustomed to in an ill-disciplined
army, where everything like order and regularity was too apt to be
accounted a badge of puritanism. These were the "roaring boys" who met
in hedge alehouses, and when they had by any chance obtained a little
money or a little credit, determined to create a counter-revolution by
declaring their sittings permanent, and proclaimed, in the words of one
of their choicest ditties,
"We'll drink till we bring
In triumph back the king."
The leaders and gentry, of a higher description and more regular
morals, did not indeed partake such excesses, but they still kept their
eye upon a class of persons, who, from courage and desperation, were
capable of serving on an advantageous occasion the fallen cause of
royalty; and recorded the lodges and blind taverns at which they met,
as wholesale merchants know the houses of call of the mechanics whom
they may have occasion to employ, and can tell where they may find them
when need requires it. It is scarce necessary to add, that among the
lower class, and sometimes even among the higher, there were men found
capable of betraying the projects and conspiracies of their associates,
whether well or indifferently combined, to the governors of the state.
Cromwell, in particular, had gained some correspondents of this kind of
the highest rank, and of the most undoubted character, among the
royalists, who, if they made scruple of impeaching or betraying
individuals who confided in them, had no hesitation in giving the
government such general information as served to enable him to
disappoint the purposes of any plot or conspiracy.
To return to our story. In much shorter time than we have spent in
reminding the reader of these historical particulars, Joliffe had made
his mystic communication; and being duly answered as by one of the
initiated, he undid the door, and there entered our old friend Roger
Wildrake, round-head in dress, as his safety and dependence on Colonel
Everard compelled him to be, but that dress worn in a most
cavalier-like manner, and forming a stronger contrast than usual with
the demeanour and language of the wearer, to which it was never very
congenial.
His puritanic hat, the emblem of that of Ralpho in the prints to
Hudibras, or, as he called it, his felt umbrella, was set most
knowingly on one side of the head, as if it had been a Spanish hat and
feather; his straight square-caped sad-coloured cloak was flung gaily
upon one shoulder, as if it had been of three-plied taffeta, lined with
crimson silk; and he paraded his huge calf-skin boots, as if they had
been silken hose and Spanish leather shoes, with roses on the instep.
In short, the airs which he gave himself, of a most thorough-paced wild
gallant and cavalier, joined to a glistening of self-satisfaction in
his eye, and an inimitable swagger in his gait, which completely
announced his thoughtless, conceited, and reckless character, formed a
most ridiculous contrast to his gravity of attire.
It could not, on the other hand, be denied, that in spite of the touch
of ridicule which attached to his character, and the loose morality
which he had learned in the dissipation of town pleasures, and
afterwards in the disorderly life of a soldier, Wildrake had points
about him both to make him feared and respected. He was handsome, even
in spite of his air of debauched effrontery; a man of the most decided
courage, though his vaunting rendered it sometimes doubtful; and
entertained a sincere sense of his political principles, such as they
were, though he was often so imprudent in asserting and boasting of
them, as, joined with his dependence on Colonel Everard, induced
prudent men to doubt his sincerity.
Such as he was, however, he entered the parlour of Victor Lee, where
his presence was any thing but desirable to the parties present, with a
jaunty step, and a consciousness of deserving the best possible
reception. This assurance was greatly aided by circumstances which
rendered it obvious, that if the jocund cavalier had limited himself to
one draught of liquor that evening, in terms of his vow of temperance,
it must have been a very deep and long one.
"Save ye, gentlemen, save ye.Save you, good Sir Henry Lee, though I
have scarce the honour to be known to you.Save you, worthy doctor, and
a speedy resurrection to the fallen Church of England."
"You are welcome, sir," said Sir Henry Lee, whose feelings of
hospitality, and of the fraternal reception due to a royalist sufferer,
induced him to tolerate this intrusion more than he might have done
otherwise. "If you have fought or suffered for the King, sir, it is an
excuse for joining us, and commanding our services in any thing in our
poweralthough at present we are a family-party.But I think I saw you
in waiting upon Master Markham Everard, who calls himself Colonel
Everard.If your message is from him, you may wish to see me in
private?"
"Not at all, Sir Henry, not at all.It is true, as my ill hap will have
it, that being on the stormy side of the hedgelike all honest menyou
understand me, Sir HenryI am glad, as it were, to gain something from
my old friend and comrade's countenancenot by truckling or disowning
my principles, sirI defy such practises;but, in short, by doing him
any kindness in my power when he is pleased to call on me. So I came
down here with a message from him to the old roundheaded son of a  (I
beg the young lady's pardon, from the crown of her head down to the
very toes of her slipper)And so, sir, chancing as I was stumbling out
in the dark, I heard you give a toast, sir, which warmed my heart, sir,
and ever will, sir, till death chills it;and so I made bold to let you
know there was an honest man within hearing."
Such was the self-introduction of Master Wildrake, to which the knight
replied, by asking him to sit down, and take a glass of sack to his
Majesty's glorious restoration. Wildrake, at this hint, squeezed in
without ceremony beside the young Scotsman, and not only pledged his
landlord's toast, but seconded its import, by volunteering a verse or
two of his favourite loyal ditty,"The King shall enjoy his own again."
The heartiness which he threw into his song opened still farther the
heart of the old knight, though Albert and Alice looked at each other
with looks resentful of the intrusion, and desirous to put an end to
it. The honourable Master Kerneguy either possessed that happy
indifference of temper which does not deign to notice such
circumstances, or he was able to assume the appearance of it to
perfection, as he sat sipping sack, and cracking walnuts, without
testifying the least sense that an addition had been made to the party.
Wildrake, who liked the liquor and the company, showed no unwillingness
to repay his landlord, by being at the expense of the conversation.
"You talk of fighting and suffering, Sir Henry Lee. Lord help us, we
have all had our share. All the world knows what Sir Henry Lee has done
from Edgefield downwards, wherever a loyal sword was drawn, or a loyal
flag fluttered. Ah, God help us! I have done something too. My name is
Roger Wildrake of Squattlesea-mere, Lincoln; not that you are ever like
to have heard it before, but I was captain in Lunsford's light-horse,
and afterwards with Goring. I was a child-eater, sira babe-bolter."
"I have heard of your regiment's exploits, sir; and perhaps you may
find I have seen some of them, if we should spend ten minutes together.
And I think I have heard of your name too. I beg to drink your health,
Captain Wildrake of Squattlesea-mere, Lincolnshire."
"Sir Henry, I drink yours in this pint bumper, and upon my knee; and I
would do as much for that young gentleman"(looking at Albert)"and the
squire of the green cassock too, holding it for green, as the colours
are not to my eyes altogether clear and distinguishable."
It was a remarkable part of what is called by theatrical folk the
by-play of this scene, that Albert was conversing apart with Dr.
Rochecliffe in whispers, even more than the divine seemed desirous of
encouraging; yet, to whatever their private conversation referred, it
did not deprive the young Colonel of the power of listening to what was
going forward in the party at large, and interfering from time to time,
like a watch-dog, who can distinguish the slightest alarm, even when
employed in the engrossing process of taking his food.
"Captain Wildrake," said Albert, "we have no objectionI mean, my
friend and Ito be communicative on proper occasions; but you, sir, who
are so old a sufferer, must needs know, that at such casual meetings as
this, men do not mention their names unless they are specially wanted.
It is a point of conscience, sir, to be able to say, if your principal,
Captain Everard or Colonel Everard, if he be a Colonel, should examine
you upon oath, I did not know who the persons were whom I heard drink
such and such toasts."
"Faith, I have a better way of it, worthy sir," answered Wildrake; "I
never can, for the life of me, remember that there were any such and
such toasts drunk at all. It's a strange gift of forgetfulness I have."
"Well, sir," replied the younger Lee; "but we, who have unhappily more
tenacious memories, would willingly abide by the more general rule."
"Oh, sir," answered Wildrake, "with all my heart. I intrude on no man's
confidence, dn meand I only spoke for civility's sake, having the
purpose of drinking your health in a good fashion"(Then he broke forth
into melody)
"'Then let the health go round, a-round, a-round, a-round,
Then let the health go round;
For though your stocking be of silk,
Your knee shall kiss the ground, a-ground, a-ground, a-ground,
Your knee shall kiss the ground.'"
"Urge it no farther," said Sir Henry, addressing his son; "Master
Wildrake is one of the old schoolone of the tantivy boys; and we must
bear a little, for if they drink hard they fought well. I will never
forget how a party came up and rescued us clerks of Oxford, as they
called the regiment I belonged to, out of a cursed embroglio during the
attack on Brentford. I tell you we were enclosed with the cockneys'
pikes both front and rear, and we should have come off but ill had not
Lunford's light-horse, the babe-eaters, as they called them, charged up
to the pike's point, and brought us off."
"I am glad you thought on that, Sir Henry," said Wildrake; "and do you
remember what the officer of Lunsford's said?"
"I think I do," said Sir Henry, smiling.
"Well, then, did not he call out, when the women were coming down,
howling like sirens as they were'Have none of you a plump child that
you could give us to break our fast upon?'"
"Truth itself!" said the knight; "and a great fat woman stepped forward
with a baby, and offered it to the supposed cannibal."
All at the table, Master Kerneguy excepted, who seemed to think that
good food of any kind required no apology, held up their hands in token
of amazement.
"Ay," said Wildrake, "thea-hem!I crave the lady's pardon again, from
tip of top-knot to hem of farthingalebut the cursed creature proved to
be a parish nurse, who had been paid for the child half a year in
advance. Gad, I took the babe out of the bitch-wolf's hand; and I have
contrived, though God knows I have lived in a skeldering sort of way
myself, to breed up bold Breakfast, as I call him, ever since. It was
paying dear for a jest, though."
"Sir, I honour you for your humanity," said the old knight"Sir, I
thank you for your courageSir, I am glad to see you here," said the
good knight, his eyes watering almost to overflowing. "So you were the
wild officer who cut us out of the toils; Oh, sir, had you but stopped
when I called on you, and allowed us to clear the streets of Brentford
with our musketeers, we would have been at London Stone that day! But
your good will was the same."
"Ay, truly was it," said Wildrake, who now sat triumphant and glorious
in his easy-chair; "and here is to all the brave hearts, sir, that
fought and fell in that same storm of Brentford. We drove all before us
like chaff, till the shops, where they sold strong waters, and other
temptations, brought us up. Gad, sir, we, the babe-eaters, had too many
acquaintances in Brentford, and our stout Prince Rupert was ever better
at making way than drawing off. Gad, sir, for my own poor share, I did
but go into the house of a poor widow lady, who maintained a charge of
daughters, and whom I had known of old, to get my horse fed, a morsel
of meat, and so forth, when these cockney-pikes of the artillery
ground, as you very well call them, rallied, and came in with their
armed heads, as boldly as so many Cotswold rams. I sprang down stairs,
got to my horse,but, egad, I fancy all my troop had widows and orphan
maidens to comfort as well as I, for only five of us got together. We
cut our way through successfully; and Gad, gentlemen, I carried my
little Breakfast on the pommel before me; and there was such a
hollowing and screeching, as if the whole town thought I was to kill,
roast, and eat the poor child, so soon as I got to quarters. But devil
a cockney charged up to my bonny bay, poor lass, to rescue little
cake-bread; they only cried haro, and out upon me."
"Alas, alas!" said the knight, "we made ourselves seem worse than we
were; and we were too bad to deserve God's blessing even in a good
cause. But it is needless to look back; we did not deserve victories
when God gave them, for we never improved them like good soldiers, or
like Christian men; and so we gave these canting scoundrels the
advantage of us, for they assumed, out of mere hypocrisy, the
discipline and orderly behaviour which we, who drew our swords in a
better cause, ought to have practised out of true principle. But here
is my hand, Captain. I have often wished to see the honest fellow who
charged up so smartly in our behalf, and I reverence you for the care
you took of the poor child. I am glad this dilapidated place has still
some hospitality to offer you, although we cannot treat you to roasted
babes or stewed sucklingseh, Captain?"
"Truth, Sir Henry, the scandal was sore against us on that score. I
remember Lacy, who was an old play-actor, and a lieutenant in ours,
made drollery on it in a play which was sometimes acted at Oxford, when
our hearts were something up, called, I think, the Old Troop."
So saying, and feeling more familiar as his merits were known, he
hitched his chair up against that of the Scottish lad, who was seated
next him, and who, in shifting his place, was awkward enough to
disturb, in his turn, Alice Lee, who sate opposite, and, a little
offended, or at least embarrassed, drew her chair away from the table.
"I crave pardon," said the honourable Master Kerneguy; "but, sir," to
Master Wildrake, "ye hae e'en garr'd me hurt the young lady's shank."
"I crave your pardon, sir, and much more that of the fair lady, as is
reasonable; though, rat me, sir, if it was I set your chair a-trundling
in that way. Zooks, sir, I have brought with me no plague, nor
pestilence, nor other infectious disorder, that ye should have started
away as if I had been a leper, and discomposed the lady, which I would
have prevented with my life, sir. Sir, if ye be northern born, as your
tongue bespeaks, egad, it was I ran the risk in drawing near you; so
there was small reason for you to bolt."
"Master Wildrake," said Albert, interfering, "this young gentleman is a
stranger as well as you, under protection of Sir Henry's hospitality,
and it cannot be agreeable for my father to see disputes arise among
his guests. You may mistake the young gentleman's quality from his
present appearancethis is the Honourable Master Louis Kerneguy, sir,
son of my Lord Killstewers of Kincardineshire, one who has fought for
the King, young as he is."
"No dispute shall rise through me, sirnone through me," said Wildrake;
"your exposition sufficeth, sir.Master Louis Girnigo, son of my Lord
Kilsteer, in Gringardenshire, I am your humble slave, sir, and drink
your health, in token that I honour you, and all true Scots who draw
their Andrew Ferraras on the right side, sir."
"I'se beholden to you, and thank you, sir," said the young man, with
some haughtiness of manner, which hardly corresponded with his
rusticity; "and I wuss your health in a ceevil way."
Most judicious persons would have here dropped the conversation; but it
was one of Wildrake's marked peculiarities, that he could never let
matters stand when they were well. He continued to plague the shy,
proud, and awkward lad with his observations. "You speak your national
dialect pretty strongly, Master Girnigo," said he, "but I think not
quite the language of the gallants that I have known among the Scottish
cavaliersI knew, for example, some of the Gordons, and others of good
repute, who always put an f for wh, as faat for what, fan for
when, and the like."
Albert Lee here interposed, and said that the provinces of Scotland,
like those of England, had their different modes of pronunciation.
"You are very right, sir," said Wildrake. "I reckon myself, now, a
pretty good speaker of their cursed jargonno offence, young gentleman;
and yet, when I took a turn with some of Montrose's folk, in the South
Highlands, as they call their beastly wildernesses, (no offence again,)
I chanced to be by myself, and to lose my way, when I said to a
shepherd-fellow, making my mouth as wide, and my voice as broad as I
could, whore am I ganging till?confound me if the fellow could
answer me, unless, indeed, he was sulky, as the bumpkins will be now
and then to the gentlemen of the sword."
This was familiarly spoken, and though partly addressed to Albert, was
still more directed to his immediate neighbour, the young Scotsman, who
seemed, from bashfulness, or some other reason, rather shy of his
intimacy. To one or two personal touches from Wildrake's elbow,
administered during his last speech, by way of a practical appeal to
him in particular, he only answered, "Misunderstandings were to be
expected when men converse in national deealects."
Wildrake, now considerably drunker than he ought to have been in civil
company, caught up the phrase and repeated it:"Misunderstanding,
sirMisunderstanding, sir?I do not know how I am to construe that,
sir; but to judge from the information of these scratches on your
honourable visnomy, I should augur that you had been of late at
misunderstanding with the cat, sir."
"You are mistaken, then, friend, for it was with the dowg," answered
the Scotsman, dryly, and cast a look towards Albert.
"We had some trouble with the watch-dogs in entering so late in the
evening," said Albert, in explanation, "and this youth had a fall among
some rubbish, by which he came by these scratches."
"And now, dear Sir Henry," said Dr. Rochecliffe, "allow us to remind
you of your gout, and our long journey. I do it the rather that my good
friend your son has been, during the whole time of supper, putting
questions to me aside, which had much better be reserved till
to-morrowMay we therefore ask permission to retire to our night's
rest?"
"These private committees in a merry meeting," said Wildrake, "are a
solecism in breeding. They always put me in mind of the cursed
committees at Westminster.But shall we roost before we rouse the
night-owl with a catch?"
"Aha, canst thou quote Shakspeare?" said Sir Henry, pleased at
discovering a new good quality in his acquaintance, whose military
services were otherwise but just able to counterbalance the intrusive
freedom of his conversation. "In the name of merry Will," he
continued,"whom I never saw, though I have seen many of his comrades,
as Alleyn, Hemmings, and so on,we will have a single catch, and one
rouse about, and then to bed."
After the usual discussion about the choice of the song, and the parts
which each was to bear, they united their voices in trolling a loyal
glee, which was popular among the party at the time, and in fact
believed to be composed by no less a person than Dr. Rochecliffe
himself.
GLEE FOR KING CHARLES.
Bring the bowl which you boast,
Fill it up to the brim;
'Tis to him we love most,
And to all who love him.
Brave gallants, stand up.
And avauant, ye base carles!
Were there death in the cup,
Here's a health to King Charles!
Though he wanders through dangers,
Unaided, unknown,
Dependent 'on strangers,
Estranged from his own;
Though 'tis under our breath,
Amidst forfeits and perils,
Here's to honour and faith,
And a health to King Charles!
Let such honours abound
As the time can afford.
The knee on the ground,
And the hand on the sword;
But the time shall come round.
When, 'mid Lords, Dukes, and Earls,
The loud trumpets shall sound
Here's a health to King Charles!
After this display of loyalty, and a final libation, the party took
leave of each other for the night. Sir Henry offered his old
acquaintance Wildrake a bed for the evening, who weighed the matter
somewhat in this fashion: "Why, to speak truth, my patron will expect
me at the boroughbut then he is used to my staying out of doors
a-nights. Then there's the Devil, that they say haunts Woodstock; but
with the blessing of this reverend Doctor, I defy him and all his
worksI saw him not when I slept here twice before, and I am sure if he
was absent then, he has not come back with Sir Henry Lee and his
family. So I accept your courtesy, Sir Henry, and I thank you, as a
cavalier of Lunsford should thank one of the fighting clerks of Oxon.
God bless the King! I care not who hears it, and confusion to Noll and
his red nose!" Off he went accordingly with a bottle-swagger, guided by
Joceline, to whom Albert, in the meantime, had whispered, to be sure to
quarter him far enough from the rest of the family.
Young Lee then saluted his sister, and, with the formality of those
times, asked and received his father's blessing with an affectionate
embrace. His page seemed desirous to imitate one part of his example,
but was repelled by Alice, who only replied to his offered salute with
a curtsy. He next bowed his head in an awkward fashion to her father,
who wished him a good night. "I am glad to see, young man," he said,
"that you have at least learned the reverence due to age. It should
always be paid, sir; because in doing so you render that honour to
others which you will expect yourself to receive when you approach the
close of your life. More will I speak with you at leisure, on your
duties as a page, which office in former days used to be the very
school of chivalry; whereas of late, by the disorderly times, it has
become little better than a school of wild and disordered license;
which made rare Ben Jonson exclaim"
"Nay, father," said Albert, interposing, "you must consider this day's
fatigue, and the poor lad is almost asleep on his legsto-morrow he
will listen with more profit to your kind admonitions.And you, Louis,
remember at least one part of your dutytake the candles and light
ushere Joceline comes to show us the way. Once more, good night, good
Dr. Rochecliffegood night, all."
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST.
Groom. Hail, noble prince!
King Richard. Thanks, noble peer;
The cheapest of us is a groat too dear.
RICHARD II
Albert and his page were ushered by Joceline to what was called the
Spanish Chamber, a huge old scrambling bedroom, rather in a dilapidated
condition, but furnished with a large standing-bed for the master, and
a truckle-bed for the domestic, as was common at a much later period in
old English houses, where the gentleman often required the assistance
of a groom of the chambers to help him to bed, if the hospitality had
been exuberant. The walls were covered with hangings of cordovan
leather, stamped with gold, and representing fights between the
Spaniards and Moriscoes, bull-feasts, and other sports peculiar to the
Peninsula, from which it took its name of the Spanish Chamber. These
hangings were in some places entirely torn down, in others defaced and
hanging in tatters. But Albert stopped not to make observations,
anxious, it seemed, to get Joceline out of the room; which he achieved
by hastily answering his offers of fresh fuel, and more liquor, in the
negative, and returning, with equal conciseness, the under-keeper's
good wishes for the evening. He at length retired, somewhat
unwillingly, and as if he thought that his young master might have
bestowed a few more words upon a faithful old retainer after so long
absence.
Joliffe was no sooner gone, than, before a single word was spoken
between Albert Lee and his page, the former hastened to the door,
examined lock, latch, and bolt, and made them fast, with the most
scrupulous attention. He superadded to these precautions that of a long
screw-bolt, which he brought out of his pocket, and which he screwed on
to the staple in such a manner as to render it impossible to withdraw
it, or open the door, unless by breaking it down. The page held a light
to him during the operation, which his master went through with much
exactness and dexterity. But when Albert arose from his knee, on which
he had rested during the accomplishment of this task, the manner of the
companions was on the sudden entirely changed towards each other. The
honourable Master Kerneguy, from a cubbish lout of a raw Scotsman,
seemed to have acquired at once all the grace and ease of motion and
manner, which could be given by an acquaintance of the earliest and
most familiar kind with the best company of the time.
He gave the light he held to Albert, with the easy indifference of a
superior, who rather graces than troubles his dependent by giving him
some slight service to perform. Albert, with the greatest appearance of
deference, assumed in his turn the character of torch-bearer, and
lighted his page across the chamber, without turning his back upon him
as he did so. He then set the light on the table by the bedside, and
approaching the young man with deep reverence, received from him the
soiled green jacket, with the same profound respect as if he had been a
first lord of the bedchamber, or other officer of the household of the
highest distinction, disrobing his Sovereign of the Mantle of the
Garter. The person to whom this ceremony was addressed endured it for a
minute or two with profound gravity, and then bursting out a-laughing,
exclaimed to Albert, "What a devil means all this formality?thou
complimentest with these miserable rags as if they were silks and
sables, and with poor Louis Kerneguy as if he were the King of Great
Britain!"
"And if your Majesty's commands, and the circumstances of the time,
have made me for a moment seem to forget that you are my sovereign,
surely I may be permitted to render my homage as such while you are in
your own royal palace of Woodstock?"
"Truly," replied the disguised Monarch, "the sovereign and the palace
are not ill matched;these tattered hangings and my ragged jerkin suit
each other admirably.This Woodstock!this the bower where the
royal Norman revelled with the fair Rosamond Clifford!Why, it is a
place of assignation for owls." Then, suddenly recollecting himself,
with his natural courtesy, he added, as if fearing he might have hurt
Albert's feelings"But the more obscure and retired, it is the fitter
for our purpose, Lee; and if it does seem to be a roost for owls, as
there is no denying, why we know it has nevertheless brought up
eagles."
He threw himself as he spoke upon a chair, and indolently, but
gracefully, received the kind offices, of Albert, who undid the coarse
buttonings of the leathern gamashes which defended his legs, and spoke
to him the whilst:"What a fine specimen of the olden time is your
father, Sir Henry! It is strange I should not have seen him before;but
I heard my father often speak of him as being among the flower of our
real old English gentry. By the mode in which he began to school me, I
can guess you had a tight taskmaster of him, AlbertI warrant you never
wore hat in his presence, eh?"
"I never cocked it at least in his presence, please your Majesty, as I
have seen some youngsters do," answered Albert; "indeed if I had, it
must have been a stout beaver to have saved me from a broken head."
"Oh, I doubt it not," replied the king; "a fine old gentlemanbut with
that, methinks, in his countenance, that assures you he would not hate
the child in sparing the rod.Hark ye, AlbertSuppose the same glorious
Restoration come roundwhich, if drinking to its arrival can hasten it,
should not be far distant,for in that particular our adherents never
neglect their duty, suppose it come, therefore, and that thy father, as
must be of course, becomes an Earl and one of the Privy Council,
oddsfish, man, I shall be as much afraid of him as ever was my
grandfather Henri Quatre of old Sully.Imagine there were such a
trinket now about the Court as the Fair Rosamond, or La Belle
Gabrielle, what a work there would be of pages, and grooms of the
chamber, to get the pretty rogue clandestinely shuffled out by the
backstairs, like a prohibited commodity, when the step of the Earl of
Woodstock was heard in the antechamber!"
"I am glad to see your Majesty somerry after your fatiguing journey."
"The fatigue was nothing, man," said Charles; "a kind welcome and a
good meal made amends for all that. But they must have suspected thee
of bringing a wolf from the braes of Badenoch along with you, instead
of a two-legged being, with no more than the usual allowance of mortal
stowage for provisions. I was really ashamed of my appetite; but thou
knowest I had eat nothing for twenty-four hours, save the raw egg you
stole for me from the old woman's hen-roostI tell thee, I blushed to
show myself so ravenous before that high-bred and respectable old
gentleman your father, and the very pretty girl your sisteror cousin,
is she?"
"She is my sister," said Albert Lee, dryly, and added, in the same
breath, "Your Majesty's appetite suited well enough with the character
of a raw northern lad.Would your Majesty now please to retire to
rest?"
"Not for a minute or two," said the King, retaining his seat. "Why,
man, I have scarce had my tongue unchained to-day; and to talk with
that northern twang, and besides, the fatigue of being obliged to speak
every word in character,Gad, it's like walking as the galley-slaves do
on the Continent, with a twenty-four pound shot chained to their
legsthey may drag it along, but they cannot move with comfort. And, by
the way, thou art slack in paying me my well-deserved tribute of
compliment on my counterfeiting.Did I not play Louis Kerneguy as round
as a ring?"
"If your Majesty asks my serious opinion, perhaps I may be forgiven if
I say your dialect was somewhat too coarse for a Scottish youth of high
birth, and your behaviour perhaps a little too churlish. I thought
toothough I pretend not to be skilfulthat some of your Scottish
sounded as if it were not genuine."
"Not genuine?there is no pleasing thee, Albert.Why, who should speak
genuine Scottish but myself?Was I not their King for a matter of ten
months? and if I did not get knowledge of their language, I wonder what
else I got by it. Did not east country, and south country, and west
country, and Highlands, caw, croak, and shriek about me, as the deep
guttural, the broad drawl, and the high sharp yelp predominated by
turns?Oddsfish, man, have I not been speeched at by their orators,
addressed by their senators, rebuked by their kirkmen? Have I not sate
on the cutty-stool, mon, [again assuming the northern dialect,] and
thought it grace of worthy Mrs John Gillespie, that I was permitted to
do penance in my own privy chamber, instead of the face of the
congregation? and wilt thou tell me, after all, that I cannot speak
Scotch enough to baffle an Oxon Knight and his family?"
"May it please your Majesty,I begun by saying I was no judge of the
Scottish language."
"Pshawit is mere envy; just so you said at Norton's, that I was too
courteous and civil for a young pagenow you think me too rude."
"And there is a medium, if one could find it," said Albert, defending
his opinion in the same tone in which the King attacked him; "so this
morning, when you were in the woman's dress, you raised your petticoats
rather unbecomingly high, as you waded through the first little stream;
and when I told you of it, to mend the matter, you draggled through the
next without raising them at all."
"O, the devil take the woman's dress!" said Charles; "I hope I shall
never be driven to that disguise again. Why, my ugly face was enough to
put gowns, caps, and kirtles, out of fashion for everthe very dogs
fled from meHad I passed any hamlet that had but five huts in it, I
could not have escaped the cucking-stool.I was a libel on womankind.
These leathern conveniences are none of the gayest, but they are
propria quae maribus; and right glad am I to be repossessed of them.
I can tell you too, my friend, I shall resume all my masculine
privileges with my proper habiliments; and as you say I have been too
coarse to-night, I will behave myself like a courtier to Mistress Alice
to-morrow. I made a sort of acquaintance with her already, when I
seemed to be of the same sex with herself, and found out there are
other Colonels in the wind besides you, Colonel Albert Lee."
"May it please your Majesty," said Albertand then stopped short, from
the difficulty of finding words to express the unpleasant nature of his
feelings. They could not escape Charles; but he proceeded without
scruple. "I pique myself on seeing as far into the hearts of young
ladies as most folk, though God knows they are sometimes too deep for
the wisest of us. But I mentioned to your sister in my character of
fortune-teller,thinking, poor simple man, that a country girl must
have no one but her brother to dream about,that she was anxious about
a certain Colonel. I had hit the theme, but not the person; for I
alluded to you, Albert; and I presume the blush was too deep ever to be
given to a brother. So up she got, and away she flew from me like a
lap-wing. I can excuse herfor, looking at myself in the well, I think
if I had met such a creature as I seemed, I should have called fire and
fagot against it.Now, what think you, Albertwho can this Colonel be,
that more than rivals you in your sister's affection?"
Albert, who well knew that the King's mode of thinking, where the fair
sex was concerned, was far more gay than delicate, endeavoured to put a
stop to the present topic by a grave answer.
"His sister," he said, "had been in some measure educated with the son
of her maternal uncle, Markham Everard; but as his father and he
himself had adopted the cause of the roundheads, the families had in
consequence been at variance; and any projects which might have been
formerly entertained, were of course long since dismissed on all
sides."
"You are wrong, Albert, you are wrong," said the King, pitilessly
pursuing his jest. "You Colonels, whether you wear blue or orange
sashes, are too pretty fellows to be dismissed so easily, when once you
have acquired an interest. But Mistress Alice, so pretty, and who
wishes the restoration of the King with such a look and accent, as if
she were an angel whose prayers must needs bring it down, must not be
allowed to retain any thoughts of a canting roundheadWhat say youwill
you give me leave to take her to task about it?After all, I am the
party most concerned in maintaining true allegiance among my subjects;
and if I gain the pretty maiden's good will, that of the sweetheart's
will soon follow. This was jolly King Edward's wayEdward the Fourth,
you know. The king-making Earl of Warwickthe Cromwell of his
daydethroned him more than once; but he had the hearts of the merry
dames of London, and the purses and veins of the cockneys bled freely,
till they brought him home again. How say you?shall I shake off my
northern slough, and speak with Alice in my own character, showing what
education and manners have done for me, to make the best amends they
can for an ugly face?"
"May it please your Majesty," said Albert, in an altered and
embarrassed tone, "I did not expect"
Here he stopped, not able to find words adequate at the same time to
express his sentiments, and respectful enough to the King, while in his
father's house, and under his own protection.
"And what is it that Master Lee does not expect?" said Charles, with
marked gravity on his part.
Again Albert attempted a reply, but advanced no farther than, "I would
hope, if it please your Majesty"when he again stopped short, his deep
and hereditary respect for his sovereign, and his sense of the
hospitality due to his misfortunes, preventing his giving utterance to
his irritated feelings.
"And what does Colonel Albert Lee hope?" said Charles, in the same dry
and cold manner in which he had before spoken."No answer?Now, I
hope that Colonel Lee does not see in a silly jest anything offensive
to the honour of his family, since methinks that were an indifferent
compliment to his sister, his father, and himself, not to mention
Charles Stewart, whom he calls his King; and I expect, that I shall
not be so hardly construed, as to be supposed capable of forgetting
that Mistress Alice Lee is the daughter of my faithful subject and
host, and the sister of my guide and preserver.Come, come, Albert," he
added, changing at once to his naturally frank and unceremonious
manner, "you forget how long I have been abroad where men, women, and
children, talk gallantry morning, noon, and night, with no more serious
thought than just to pass away the time; and I forget, too, that you
are of the old-fashioned English school, a son after Sir Henry's own
heart, and don't understand raillery upon such subjects.But I ask your
pardon, Albert, sincerely, if I have really hurt you."
So saying, he extended his hand to Colonel Lee, who, feeling he had
been rather too hasty in construing the King's jest in an unpleasant
sense, kissed it with reverence, and attempted an apology.
"Not a wordnot a word," said the good-natured Prince, raising his
penitent adherent as he attempted to kneel; "we understand each other.
You are somewhat afraid of the gay reputation which I acquired in
Scotland; but I assure you, I will be as stupid as you or your cousin
Colonel could desire, in presence of Mistress Alice Lee, and only
bestow my gallantry, should I have any to throw away, upon the pretty
little waiting-maid who attended at supperunless you should have
monopolized her ear for your own benefit, Colonel Albert?"
"It is monopolized, sure enough, though not by me, if it please your
Majesty, but by Joceline Joliffe, the under-keeper, whom we must not
disoblige, as we have trusted him so far already, and may have occasion
to repose even entire confidence in him. I half think he suspects who
Louis Kerneguy may in reality be."
"You are an engrossing set, you wooers of Woodstock," said the King,
laughing. "Now, if I had a fancy, as a Frenchman would not fail to have
in such a case, to make pretty speeches to the deaf old woman I saw in
the kitchen, as a pisaller, I dare say I should be told that her ear
was engrossed for Dr. Rochecliffe's sole use?"
"I marvel at your Majesty's good spirits," said Albert, "that after a
day of danger, fatigue, and accidents, you should feel the power of
amusing yourself thus."
"That is to say, the groom of the chambers wishes his Majesty would go
to sleep?Well, one word or two on more serious business, and I have
done.I have been completely directed by you and RochecliffeI have
changed my disguise from female to male upon the instant, and altered
my destination from Hampshire to take shelter hereDo you still hold it
the wiser course?"
"I have great confidence in Dr. Rochecliffe," replied Albert, "whose
acquaintance with the scattered royalists enables him to gain the most
accurate intelligence. His pride in the extent of his correspondence,
and the complication of his plots and schemes for your Majesty's
service, is indeed the very food he lives upon; but his sagacity is
equal to his vanity. I repose, besides, the utmost faith in Joliffe. Of
my father and sister I would say nothing; yet I would not, without
reason, extend the knowledge of your Majesty's person farther than it
is indispensably necessary."
"Is it handsome in me," said Charles, pausing, "to withhold my full
confidence from Sir Henry Lee?"
"Your Majesty heard of his almost death-swoon of last nightwhat would
agitate him most deeply must not be hastily communicated."
"True; but are we safe from a visit of the red-coatsthey have them in
Woodstock as well as in Oxford?" said Charles.
"Dr. Rochecliffe says, not unwisely," answered Lee, "that it is best
sitting near the fire when the chimney smokes; and that Woodstock, so
lately in possession of the sequestrators, and still in the vicinity of
the soldiers, will be less suspected, and more carelessly searched,
than more distant corners, which might seem to promise more safety.
Besides," he added, "Rochecliffe is in possession of curious and
important news concerning the state of matters at Woodstock, highly
favourable to your Majesty's being concealed in the palace for two or
three days, till shipping is provided. The Parliament, or usurping
Council of State, had sent down sequestrators, whom their own evil
conscience, assisted, perhaps, by the tricks of some daring cavaliers,
had frightened out of the Lodge, without much desire to come back
again. Then the more formidable usurper, Cromwell, had granted a
warrant of possession to Colonel Everard, who had only used it for the
purpose of repossessing his uncle in the Lodge, and who kept watch in
person at the little borough, to see that Sir Henry was not disturbed."
"What! Mistress Alice's Colonel?" said the King"that sounds
alarming;for grant that he keeps the other fellows at bay, think you
not, Master Albert, he will have an hundred errands a-day, to bring him
here in person?"
"Dr. Rochecliffe says," answered Lee, "the treaty between Sir Henry and
his nephew binds the latter not to approach the Lodge, unless
invited;indeed, it was not without great difficulty, and strongly
arguing the good consequences it might produce to your Majesty's cause,
that my father could be prevailed on to occupy Woodstock at all; but be
assured he will be in no hurry to send an invitation to the Colonel."
"And be you assured that the Colonel will come without waiting for
one," said Charles. "Folk cannot judge rightly where sisters are
concernedthey are too familiar with the magnet to judge of its powers
of attraction.Everard will be here, as if drawn by cart-ropes
fetters, not to talk of promises, will not hold himand then, methinks,
we are in some danger."
"I hope not," said Albert. "In the first place, I know Markham is a
slave to his word: besides, were any chance to bring him here, I think
I could pass your Majesty upon him without difficulty, as Louis
Kerneguy. Then, although my cousin and I have not been on good terms
for these some years, I believe him incapable of betraying your
Majesty; and lastly, if I saw the least danger of it, I would, were he
ten times the son of my mother's sister, run my sword through his body,
ere he had time to execute his purpose."
"There is but another question," said Charles, "and I will release you,
Albert:You seem to think yourself secure from search. It may be so;
but, in any other country, this tale of goblins which is flying about
would bring down priests and ministers of justice to examine the
reality of the story, and mobs of idle people to satisfy their
curiosity."
"Respecting the first, sir, we hope and understand that Colonel
Everard's influence will prevent any immediate enquiry, for the sake of
preserving undisturbed the peace of his uncle's family; and as for any
one coming without some sort of authority, the whole neighbours have so
much love and fear of my father, and are, besides, so horribly alarmed
about the goblins of Woodstock, that fear will silence curiosity."
"On the whole, then," said Charles, "the chances of safety seem to be
in favour of the plan we have adopted, which is all I can hope for in a
condition where absolute safety is out of the question. The Bishop
recommended Dr. Rochecliffe as one of the most ingenious, boldest, and
most loyal sons of the Church of England; you, Albert Lee, have marked
your fidelity by a hundred proofs. To you and your local knowledge I
submit myself.And now, prepare our armsalive I will not be taken;
yet I will not believe that a son of the King of England, and heir of
her throne, could be destined to danger in his own palace, and under
the guard of the loyal Lees."
Albert Lee laid pistols and swords in readiness by the King's bed and
his own; and Charles, after some slight apology, took his place in the
larger and better bed, with a sigh of pleasure, as from one who had not
lately enjoyed such an indulgence. He bid good night to his faithful
attendant, who deposited himself on his truckle; and both monarch and
subject were soon fast asleep.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND.
Give Sir Nicholas Threlkeld praise;
Hear it, good man, old in days,
Thou tree of succour and of rest
To this young bird that was distress'd;
Beneath thy branches he did stay;
And he was free to sport and play,
When falcons were abroad for prey.
WORDSWORTH.
The fugitive Prince slept, in spite of danger, with the profound repose
which youth and fatigue inspire. But the young cavalier, his guide and
guard, spent a more restless night, starting from time to time, and
listening; anxious, notwithstanding Dr. Rochecliffe's assurances, to
procure yet more particular knowledge concerning the state of things
around them, than he had been yet able to collect.
He rose early after daybreak; but although he moved with as little
noise as was possible, the slumbers of the hunted Prince were easily
disturbed. He started up in his bed, and asked if there was any alarm.
"None, please your Majesty," replied Lee; "only, thinking on the
questions your Majesty was asking last night, and the various chances
there are of your Majesty's safety being endangered from unforeseen
accidents, I thought of going thus early, both to communicate with Dr.
Rochecliffe, and to keep such a look-out as befits the place, where are
lodged for the time the Fortunes of England. I fear I must request of
your Majesty, for your own gracious security, that you have the
goodness to condescend to secure the door with your own hand after I go
out."
"Oh, talk not to Majesty, for Heaven's sake, dear Albert!" answered the
poor King, endeavouring in vain to put on a part of his clothes, in
order to traverse the room."When a King's doublet and hose are so
ragged that he can no more find his way into them than he could have
travelled through the forest of Deane without a guide, good faith,
there should be an end of Majesty, until it chances to be better
accommodated. Besides, there is the chance of these big words bolting
out at unawares, when there are ears to hear them whom we might think
dangerous."
"Your commands shall be obeyed," said Lee, who had now succeeded in
opening the door; from which he took his departure, leaving the King,
who had hustled along the floor for that purpose, with his dress
wofully ill arranged, to make it fast again behind him, and begging him
in no case to open to any one, unless he or Rochecliffe were of the
party who summoned him.
Albert then set out in quest of Dr. Rochecliffe's apartment, which was
only known to himself and the faithful Joliffe, and had at different
times accommodated that steady churchman with a place of concealment,
when, from his bold and busy temper, which led him into the most
extensive and hazardous machinations on the King's behalf, he had been
strictly sought after by the opposite party. Of late, the inquest after
him had died entirely away, as he had prudently withdrawn himself from
the scene of his intrigues. Since the loss of the battle of Worcester,
he had been afloat again, and more active than ever; and had, by
friends and correspondents, and especially the Bishop of , been the
means of directing the King's flight towards Woodstock, although it was
not until the very day of his arrival that he could promise him a safe
reception at that ancient mansion.
Albert Lee, though he revered both the undaunted spirit and ready
resources of the bustling and intriguing churchman, felt he had not
been enabled by him to answer some of Charles's questions yesternight,
in a way so distinct as one trusted with the King's safety ought to
have done; and it was now his object to make himself personally
acquainted, if possible, with the various bearings of so weighty a
matter, as became a man on whom so much of the responsibility was
likely to descend.
Even his local knowledge was scarce adequate to find the Doctor's
secret apartment, had he not traced his way after a genial flavour of
roasted game through divers blind passages, and up and down certain
very useless stairs, through cupboards and hatchways, and so forth, to
a species of sanctum sanctorum, where Joceline Joliffe was ministering
to the good Doctor a solemn breakfast of wild-fowl, with a cup of small
beer stirred with a sprig of rosemary, which Dr. Rochecliffe preferred
to all strong potations. Beside him sat Bevis on his tail, slobbering
and looking amiable, moved by the rare smell of the breakfast, which
had quite overcome his native dignity of disposition.
The chamber in which the Doctor had established himself was a little
octangular room, with walls of great thickness, within which were
fabricated various issues, leading in different directions, and
communicating with different parts of the building. Around him were
packages with arms, and near him one small barrel, as it seemed, of
gunpowder; many papers in different parcels, and several keys for
correspondence in cipher; two or three scrolls covered with
hieroglyphics were also beside him, which Albert took for plans of
nativity; and various models of machinery, in which Dr. Rochecliffe was
an adept. There were also tools of various kinds, masks, cloaks, and a
dark lantern, and a number of other indescribable trinkets belonging to
the trade of a daring plotter in dangerous times. Last, there was a
casket with gold and silver coin of different countries, which was left
carelessly open, as if it were the least of Dr. Rochecliffe's concern,
although his habits in general announced narrow circumstances, if not
actual poverty. Close by the divine's plate lay a Bible and
Prayer-book, with some proof sheets, as they are technically called,
seemingly fresh from the press. There was also within the reach of his
hand a dirk, or Scottish poniard, a powder-horn, and a musketoon, or
blunderbuss, with a pair of handsome pocket-pistols. In the midst of
this miscellaneous collection, the Doctor sat eating his breakfast with
great appetite, as little dismayed by the various implements of danger
around him, as a workman is when accustomed to the perils of a
gunpowder manufactory.
"So, young gentleman," he said, getting up and extending his hand, "are
you come to breakfast with me in good fellowship, or to spoil my meal
this morning, as you did my supper last night, by asking untimely
questions?"
"I will pick a bone with you with all my heart," said Albert; "and if
you please, Doctor, I would ask some questions which seem not quite
untimely."
So saying he sat down, and assisted the Doctor in giving a very
satisfactory account of a brace of wild-ducks and a leash of teal.
Bevis, who maintained his place with great patience and insinuation,
had his share of a collop, which was also placed on the well-furnished
board; for, like most high-bred dogs, he declined eating waterfowl.
"Come hither then, Albert Lee," said the Doctor, laying down his knife
and fork, and plucking the towel from his throat, so soon as Joceline
was withdrawn; "thou art still the same lad thou wert when I was thy
tutornever satisfied with having got a grammar rule, but always
persecuting me with questions why the rule stood so, and not otherwise
over-curious after information which thou couldst not comprehend, as
Bevis slobbered and whined for the duck-wing, which he could not eat."
"I hope you will find me more reasonable, Doctor," answered Albert;
"and at the same time, that you will recollect I am not now sub
ferula, but am placed in circumstances where I am not at liberty to
act upon the ipse dixit of any man, unless my own judgment be
convinced. I shall deserve richly to be hanged, drawn, and quartered,
should any misfortune happen by my misgovernment in this business."
"And it is therefore, Albert, that I would have thee trust the whole to
me, without interfering. Thou sayest, forsooth, thou art not sub
ferula; but recollect that while you have been fighting in the field,
I have been plotting in the studythat I know all the combinations of
the King's friends, ay, and all the motions of his enemies, as well as
a spider knows every mesh of his web. Think of my experience, man. Not
a cavalier in the land but has heard of Rochecliffe, the Plotter. I
have been a main limb in every thing that has been attempted since
forty-twopenned declarations, conducted correspondence, communicated
with chiefs, recruited followers, commissioned arms, levied money,
appointed rendezvouses. I was in the Western Riding; and before that,
in the City Petition, and in Sir John Owen's stir in Wales; in short,
almost in every plot for the King, since Tomkins and Challoner's
matter."
"But were not all these plots unsuccessful?" said Albert; "and were not
Tomkins and Challoner hanged, Doctor?"
"Yes, my young friend," answered the Doctor, gravely, "as many others
have been with whom I have acted; but only because they did not follow
my advice implicitly. You never heard that I was hanged myself?"
"The time may come, Doctor," said Albert; "The pitcher goes oft to the
well.The proverb, as my father would say, is somewhat musty. But I,
too, have some confidence in my own judgment; and, much as I honour the
Church, I cannot altogether subscribe to passive obedience. I will tell
you in one word what points I must have explanation on; and it will
remain with you to give it, or to return a message to the King that you
will not explain your plan; in which case, if he acts by my advice, he
will leave Woodstock, and resume his purpose of getting to the coast
without delay."
"Well, then," said the Doctor, "thou suspicious monster, make thy
demands, and, if they be such as I can answer without betraying
confidence, I will reply to them."
"In the first place, then, what is all this story about ghosts, and
witch-crafts, and apparitions? and do you consider it as safe for his
Majesty to stay in a house subject to such visitations, real or
pretended?"
"You must be satisfied with my answer in verbo sacerdotisthe
circumstances you allude to will not give the least annoyance to
Woodstock during the King's residence. I cannot explain farther; but
for this I will be bound, at the risk of my neck."
"Then," said Lee, "we must take Dr. Rochecliffe's bail that the devil
will keep the peace towards our Sovereign Lord the Kinggood. Now there
lurked about this house the greater part of yesterday, and perhaps
slept here, a fellow called Tomkins,a bitter Independent, and a
secretary, or clerk, or something or other, to the regicide dog
Desborough. The man is well knowna wild ranter in religious opinions,
but in private affairs far-sighted, cunning, and interested even as any
rogue of them all."
"Be assured we will avail ourselves of his crazy fanaticism to mislead
his wicked cunning;a child may lead a hog, if it has wit to fasten a
cord to the ring in its nose," replied the Doctor.
"You may be deceived," said Albert; "the age has many such as this
fellow, whose views of the spiritual and temporal world are so
different, that they resemble the eyes of a squinting man; one of
which, oblique and distorted, sees nothing but the end of his nose,
while the other, instead of partaking the same defect, views strongly,
sharply, and acutely, whatever is subjected to its scrutiny."
"But we will put a patch on the better eye," said the Doctor, "and he
shall only be allowed to speculate with the imperfect optic. You must
know, this fellow has always seen the greatest number, and the most
hideous apparitions; he has not the courage of a cat in such matters,
though stout enough when he hath temporal antagonists before him. I
have placed him under the charge of Joceline Joliffe, who, betwixt
plying him with sack and ghost-stories, would make him incapable of
knowing what was done, if you were to proclaim the King in his
presence."
"But why keep such a fellow here at all?"
"Oh, sir, content you;he lies leaguer, as a sort of ambassador for his
worthy masters, and we are secure from any intrusion so long as they
get all the news of Woodstock from Trusty Tomkins."
"I know Joceline's honesty well," said Albert; "and if he can assure me
that he will keep a watch over this fellow, I will so far trust in him.
He does not know the depth of the stake, 'tis true, but that my life is
concerned will be quite enough to keep him vigilant.Well, then, I
proceed:What if Markham Everard comes down on us?"
"We have his word to the contrary," answered Rochecliffe"his word of
honour, transmitted by his friend:Do you think it likely he will break
it?"
"I hold him incapable of doing so," answered Albert; "and, besides, I
think Markham would make no bad use of any thing which might come to
his knowledgeYet God forbid we should be under the necessity of
trusting any who ever wore the Parliament's colours in a matter of such
dear concernment!"
"Amen!" said the Doctor."Are your doubts silenced now?"
"I still have an objection," said Albert, "to yonder impudent rakehelly
fellow, styling himself a cavalier, who rushed himself on our company
last night, and gained my father's heart by a story of the storm of
Brentford, which I dare say the rogue never saw."
"You mistake him, dear Albert," replied Rochecliffe"Roger Wildrake,
although till of late I only knew him by name, is a gentleman, was bred
at the Inns of Court, and spent his estate in the King's service."
"Or rather in the devil's service," said Albert. "It is such fellows as
he, who, sunk from the license of their military habits into idle
debauched ruffians, infest the land with riots and robberies, brawl in
hedge alehouses and cellars where strong waters are sold at midnight,
and, with their deep oaths, their hot loyalty, and their drunken
valour, make decent men abominate the very name of cavalier."
"Alas!" said the Doctor, "it is but too true; but what can you expect?
When the higher and more qualified classes are broken down and mingled
undistinguishably with the lower orders, they are apt to lose the most
valuable marks of their quality in the general confusion of morals and
mannersjust as a handful of silver medals will become defaced and
discoloured if jumbled about among the vulgar copper coin. Even the
prime medal of all, which we royalists would so willingly wear next our
very hearts, has not, perhaps, entirely escaped some deteriorationBut
let other tongues than mine speak on that subject."
Albert Lee paused deeply after having heard these communications on the
part of Rochecliffe. "Doctor," he said, "it is generally agreed, even
by some who think you may occasionally have been a little over busy in
putting men upon dangerous actions"
"May God forgive them who entertain so false an opinion of me," said
the Doctor.
"That, nevertheless, you have done and suffered more in the King's
behalf than any man of your function."
"They do me but justice there," said Dr. Rochecliffe"absolute
justice."
"I am therefore disposed to abide by your opinion, if, all things
considered, you think it safe that we should remain at Woodstock."
"That is not the question," answered the divine.
"And what is the question, then?" replied the young soldier.
"Whether any safer course can be pointed out. I grieve to say, that the
question must be comparative, as to the point of option. Absolute
safety isalas the while!out of the question on all sides. Now, I say
Woodstock is, fenced and guarded as at present, by far the most
preferable place of concealment."
"Enough," replied Albert; "I give up to you the question, as to a
person whose knowledge of such important affairs, not to mention your
age and experience, is more intimate and extensive than mine can be."
"You do well," answered Rochecliffe; "and if others had acted with the
like distrust of their own knowledge, and confidence in competent
persons, it had been better for the age. This makes Understanding bar
himself up within his fortalice, and Wit betake himself to his high
tower." (Here he looked around his cell with an air of
self-complacence.) "The wise man forseeth the tempest, and hideth
himself."
"Doctor," said Albert, "let our foresight serve others far more
precious than either of us. Let me ask you, if you have well considered
whether our precious charge should remain in society with the family,
or betake himself to some of the more hidden corners of the house?"
"Hum!" said the Doctor, with an air of deep reflection"I think he will
be safest as Louis Kerneguy, keeping himself close beside you"
"I fear it will be necessary," added Albert, "that I scout abroad a
little, and show myself in some distant part of the country, lest,
coming here in quest of me, they should find higher game."
"Pray do not interrupt meKeeping himself close beside you or your
father, in or near to Victor Lee's apartment, from which you are aware
he can make a ready escape, should danger approach. This occurs to me
as best for the presentI hope to hear of the vessel to-dayto-morrow
at farthest."
Albert Lee bid the active but opiniated man good morrow; admiring how
this species of intrigue had become a sort of element in which the
Doctor seemed to enjoy himself, notwithstanding all that the poet has
said concerning the horrors which intervene betwixt the conception and
execution of a conspiracy.
In returning from Dr. Rochecliffe's sanctuary, he met with Joceline,
who was anxiously seeking him. "The young Scotch gentleman," he said,
in a mysterious manner, "has arisen from bed, and, hearing me pass, he
called me into his apartment."
"Well," replied Albert, "I will see him presently."
"And he asked me for fresh linen and clothes. Now, sir, he is like a
man who is quite accustomed to be obeyed, so I gave him a suit which
happened to be in a wardrobe in the west tower, and some of your linen
to conform; and when he was dressed, he commanded me to show him to the
presence of Sir Henry Lee and my young lady. I would have said
something, sir, about waiting till you came back, but he pulled me
goodnaturedly by the hair, (as, indeed, he has a rare humour of his
own,) and told me, he was guest to Master Albert Lee, and not his
prisoner; so, sir, though I thought you might be displeased with me for
giving him the means of stirring abroad, and perhaps being seen by
those who should not see him, what could I say?"
"You are a sensible fellow, Joceline, and comprehend always what is
recommended to you. This youth will not be controlled, I fear, by
either of us; but we must look the closer after his safety. You keep
your watch over that prying fellow the steward?"
"Trust him to my careon that side have no fear. But ah, sir! I would
we had the young Scot in his old clothes again, for the riding-suit of
yours which he now wears hath set him off in other-guess fashion."
From the manner in which the faithful dependent expressed himself,
Albert saw that he suspected who the Scottish page in reality was; yet
he did not think it proper to acknowledge to him a fact of such
importance, secure as he was equally of his fidelity, whether
explicitly trusted to the full extent, or left to his own conjectures.
Full of anxious thought, he went to the apartment of Victor Lee, in
which Joliffe told him he would find the party assembled. The sound of
laughter, as he laid his hand on the lock of the door, almost made him
start, so singularly did it jar with the doubtful and melancholy
reflections which engaged his own mind. He entered, and found his
father in high good-humour, laughing and conversing freely with his
young charge, whose appearance was, indeed, so much changed to the
better in externals, that it seemed scarce possible a night's rest, a
toilet, and a suit of decent clothes, could have done so much in his
favour in so short a time. It could not, however, be imputed to the
mere alteration of dress, although that, no doubt, had its effect.
There was nothing splendid in that which Louis Kerneguy (we continue to
call him by his assumed name) now wore. It was merely a riding-suit of
grey cloth, with some silver lace, in the fashion of a country
gentleman of the time. But it happened to fit him very well, and to
become his very dark complexion, especially as he now held up his head,
and used the manners, not only of a well-behaved but of a
highly-accomplished gentleman. When he moved, his clumsy and awkward
limp was exchanged for a sort of shuffle, which, as it might be the
consequence of a wound in those perilous times, had rather an
interesting than an ungainly effect. At least it was as genteel an
expression that the party had been overhard travelled, as the most
polite pedestrian could propose to himself.
The features of the Wanderer were harsh as ever, but his red shock
peruke, for such it proved, was laid aside, his sable elf-locks were
trained, by a little of Joceline's assistance, into curls, and his fine
black eyes shone from among the shade of these curls, and corresponded
with the animated, though not handsome, character of the whole head. In
his conversation, he had laid aside all the coarseness of dialect which
he had so strongly affected on the preceding evening; and although he
continued to speak a little Scotch, for the support of his character as
a young gentleman of that nation, yet it was not in a degree which
rendered his speech either uncouth or unintelligible, but merely
afforded a certain Doric tinge essential to the personage he
represented. No person on earth could better understand the society in
which he moved; exile had made him acquainted with life in all its
shades and varieties;his spirits, if not uniform, were elastiche had
that species of Epicurean philosophy, which, even in the most extreme
difficulties and dangers, can, in an interval of ease, however brief,
avail itself of the enjoyments of the momenthe was, in short, in youth
and misfortune, as afterwards in his regal condition, a good-humoured
but hard-hearted voluptuarywise, save where his passions
intervenedbeneficent, save when prodigality had deprived him of the
means, or prejudice of the wish, to confer benefitshis faults such as
might often have drawn down hatred, but that they were mingled with so
much urbanity, that the injured person felt it impossible to retain the
full sense of his wrongs.
Albert Lee found the party, consisting of his father, sister, and the
supposed page, seated by the breakfast-table, at which he also took his
place. He was a pensive and anxious beholder of what passed, while the
page, who had already completely gained the heart of the good old
cavalier, by mimicking the manner in which the Scottish divines
preached in favour of Ma gude Lord Marquis of Argyle and the Solemn
League and Covenant, was now endeavouring to interest the fair Alice by
such anecdotes, partly of warlike and perilous adventure, as possessed
the same degree of interest for the female ear which they have had ever
since Desdemona's days. But it was not only of dangers by land and sea
that the disguised page spoke; but much more, and much oftener, on
foreign revels, banquets, balls, where the pride of France, of Spain,
or of the Low Countries, was exhibited in the eyes of their most
eminent beauties. Alice being a very young girl, who, in consequence of
the Civil War, had been almost entirely educated in the country, and
often in great seclusion, it was certainly no wonder that she should
listen with willing ears, and a ready smile, to what the young
gentleman, their guest, and her brother's protege, told with so much
gaiety, and mingled with such a shade of dangerous adventure, and
occasionally of serious reflection, as prevented the discourse from
being regarded as merely light and frivolous.
In a word, Sir Henry Lee laughed, Alice smiled from time to time, and
all were satisfied but Albert, who would himself, however, have been
scarce able to allege a sufficient reason for his depression of
spirits. The materials of breakfast were at last removed, under the
active superintendence of the neat-handed Phbe, who looked over her
shoulder, and lingered more than once, to listen to the fluent
discourse of their new guest, whom, on the preceding evening, she had,
while in attendance at supper, accounted one of the most stupid inmates
to whom the gates of Woodstock had been opened since the times of Fair
Rosamond.
Louis Kerneguy then, when they were left only four in the chamber,
without the interruption of domestics, and the successive bustle
occasioned by the discussion and removal of the morning meal, became
apparently sensible, that his friend and ostensible patron Albert ought
not altogether to be suffered to drop to leeward in the conversation,
while he was himself successfully engaging the attention of those
members of his family to whom he had become so recently known. He went
behind his chair, therefore, and, leaning on the back, said with a
good-humoured tone, which made his purpose entirely intelligible,
"Either my good friend, guide, and patron, has heard worse news this
morning than he cares to tell us, or he must have stumbled over my
tattered jerkin and leathern hose, and acquired, by contact, the whole
mass of stupidity which I threw off last night with those most dolorous
garments. Cheer up, my dear Colonel Albert, if your affectionate page
may presume to say soyou are in company with those whose society, dear
to strangers, must be doubly so to you. Oddsfish, man, cheer up! I have
seen you gay on a biscuit and a mouthful of water-cressesdon't let
your heart fail you on Rhenish wine and venison."
"Dear Louis," said Albert, rousing himself into exertion, and somewhat
ashamed of his own silence, "I have slept worse, and been astir earlier
than you."
"Be it so," said his father; "yet I hold it no good excuse for your
sullen silence. Albert, you have met your sister and me, so long
separated from you, so anxious on your behalf, almost like mere
strangers, and yet you are returned safe to us, and you find us well."
"Returned indeedbut for safety, my dear father, that word must be a
stranger to us Worcester folk for some time. However, it is not my own
safety about which I am anxious."
"About whose, then, should you be anxious?All accounts agree that the
King is safe out of the dogs' jaws."
"Not without some danger, though," muttered Louis, thinking of his
encounter with Bevis on the preceding evening.
"No, not without danger, indeed," echoed the knight; "but, as old Will
says,
'There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason dares not peep at what it would.'
"No, nothank God, that's cared for; our Hope and Fortune is escaped,
so all news affirm, escaped from Bristolif I thought otherwise,
Albert, I should be as sad as you are. For the rest of it, I have
lurked a month in this house when discovery would have been death, and
that is no longer since than after Lord Holland and the Duke of
Buckingham's rising at Kingston; and hang me, if I thought once of
twisting my brow into such a tragic fold as yours, but cocked my hat at
misfortune as a cavalier should."
"If I might put in a word," said Louis, "it would be to assure Colonel
Albert Lee that I verily believe the King would think his own hap,
wherever he may be, much the worse that his best subjects were seized
with dejection on his account."
"You answer boldly on the King's part, young man," said Sir Henry.
"Oh, my father was meikle about the King's hand," answered Louis,
recollecting his present character.
"No wonder, then," said Sir Henry, "that you have so soon recovered
your good spirits and good breeding, when you heard of his Majesty's
escape. Why, you are no more like the lad we saw last night, than the
best hunter I ever had was like a dray-horse."
"Oh, there is much in rest, and food, and grooming," answered Louis.
"You would hardly know the tired jade you dismounted from last night,
when she is brought out prancing and neighing the next morning, rested,
refreshed, and ready to start againespecially if the brute hath some
good blood, for such pick up unco fast."
"Well, then, but since thy father was a courtier, and thou hast
learned, I think, something of the trade, tell us a little, Master
Kerneguy, of him we love most to hear aboutthe King; we are all safe
and secret, you need not be afraid. He was a hopeful youth; I trust his
flourishing blossom now gives promise of fruit?"
As the knight spoke, Louis bent his eyes on the ground, and seemed at
first uncertain what to answer. But, admirable at extricating himself
from such dilemmas, he replied, "that he really could not presume to
speak on such a subject in the presence of his patron, Colonel Albert
Lee, who must be a much better judge of the character of King Charles
than he could pretend to be."
Albert was accordingly next assailed by the Knight, seconded by Alice,
for some account of his Majesty's character.
"I will speak but according to facts," said Albert; "and then I must be
acquitted of partiality. If the King had not possessed enterprise and
military skill, he never would have attempted the expedition to
Worcester;had he not had personal courage, he had not so long disputed
the battle that Cromwell almost judged it lost. That he possesses
prudence and patience, must be argued from the circumstances attending
his flight; and that he has the love of his subjects is evident, since,
necessarily known to many, he has been betrayed by none."
"For shame, Albert!" replied his sister; "is that the way a good
cavalier doles out the character of his Prince, applying an instance at
every concession, like a pedlar measuring linen with his rod?Out upon
you!no wonder you were beaten, if you fought as coldly for your King
as you now talk for him."
"I did my best to trace a likeness from what I have seen and known of
the original, sister Alice," replied her brother."If you would have a
fancy portrait, you must get an artist of more imagination than I have
to draw it for you."
"I will be that artist myself" said Alice; "and, in my portrait, our
Monarch shall show all that he ought to be, having such high
pretensionsall that he must be, being so loftily descendedall that I
am sure he is, and that every loyal heart in the kingdom ought to
believe him."
"Well said, Alice," quoth the old knight"Look thou upon this picture,
and on this!Here is our young friend shall judge. I wager my best
nagthat is, I would wager him had I one leftthat Alice proves the
better painter of the two.My son's brain is still misty, I think,
since his defeathe has not got the smoke of Worcester out of it.
Plague on thee!a young man, and cast down for one beating? Had you
been banged twenty times like me, it had been time to look grave.But
come, Alice, forward; the colours are mixed on your palletforward with
something that shall show like one of Vandyck's living portraits,
placed beside the dull dry presentation there of our ancestor Victor
Lee."
Alice, it must be observed, had been educated by her father in the
notions of high and even exaggerated loyalty, which characterized the
cavaliers, and she was really an enthusiast in the royal cause. But,
besides, she was in good spirits at her brother's happy return, and
wished to prolong the gay humour in which her father had of late
scarcely ever indulged.
"Well, then," she said, "though I am no Apelles, I will try to paint an
Alexander, such as I hope, and am determined to believe, exists in the
person of our exiled sovereign, soon I trust to be restored. And I will
not go farther than his own family. He shall have all the chivalrous
courage, all the warlike skill, of Henry of France, his grandfather, in
order to place him on the throne; all his benevolence, love of his
people, patience even of unpleasing advice, sacrifice of his own wishes
and pleasures to the commonweal, that, seated there, he may be blest
while living, and so long remembered when dead, that for ages after it
shall be thought sacrilege to breathe an aspersion against the throne
which he had occupied! Long after he is dead, while there remains an
old man who has seen him, were the condition of that survivor no higher
than a groom or a menial, his age shall be provided for at the public
charge, and his grey hairs regarded with more distinction than an
earl's coronet, because he remembers the Second Charles, the monarch of
every heart in England!"
While Alice spoke, she was hardly conscious of the presence of any one
save her father and brother; for the page withdrew himself somewhat
from the circle, and there was nothing to remind her of him. She gave
the reins, therefore, to her enthusiasm; and as the tears glittered in
her eye, and her beautiful features became animated, she seemed like a
descended cherub proclaiming the virtues of a patriot monarch. The
person chiefly interested in her description held himself back, as we
have said, and concealed his own features, yet so as to preserve a full
view of the beautiful speaker.
Albert Lee, conscious in whose presence this eulogium was pronounced,
was much embarrassed; but his father, all whose feelings were flattered
by the panegyric, was in rapture.
"So much for the King, Alice," he said, "and now for the Man."
"For the man," replied Alice, in the same tone, "need I wish him more
than the paternal virtues of his unhappy father, of whom his worst
enemies have recorded, that if moral virtues and religious faith were
to be selected as the qualities which merited a crown, no man could
plead the possession of them in a higher or more indisputable degree.
Temperate, wise, and frugal, yet munificent in rewarding merita friend
to letters and the muses, but a severe discourager of the misuse of
such giftsa worthy gentlemana kind masterthe best friend, the best
father, the best Christian"Her voice began to falter, and her father's
handkerchief was already at his eyes.
"He was, girl, he was!" exclaimed Sir Henry; "but no more on't, I
charge yeno more on'tenough; let his son but possess his virtues,
with better advisers, and better fortunes, and he will be all that
England, in her warmest wishes, could desire."
There was a pause after this; for Alice felt as if she had spoken too
frankly and too zealously for her sex and youth. Sir Henry was occupied
in melancholy recollections on the fate of his late sovereign, while
Kerneguy and his supposed patron felt embarrassed, perhaps from a
consciousness that the real Charles fell far short of his ideal
character, as designed in such glowing colours. In some cases,
exaggerated or unappropriate praise becomes the most severe satire.
But such reflections were not of a nature to be long willingly
cherished by the person to whom they might have been of great
advantage. He assumed a tone of raillery, which is, perhaps, the
readiest mode of escaping from the feelings of self-reproof. "Every
cavalier," he said, "should bend his knee to thank Mistress Alice Lee
for having made such a flattering portrait of the King their master, by
laying under contribution for his benefit the virtues of all his
ancestors; only there was one point he would not have expected a female
painter to have passed over in silence. When she made him, in right of
his grandfather and father, a muster of royal and individual
excellences, why could she not have endowed him at the same time with
his mother's personal charms? Why should not the son of Henrietta
Maria, the finest woman of her day, add the recommendations of a
handsome face and figure to his internal qualities? He had the same
hereditary title to good looks as to mental qualifications; and the
picture, with such an addition, would be perfect in its wayand God
send it might be a resemblance."
"I understand you, Master Kerneguy," said Alice; "but I am no fairy, to
bestow, as those do in the nursery tales, gifts which Providence has
denied. I am woman enough to have made enquiries on the subject, and I
know the general report is, that the King, to have been the son of such
handsome parents, is unusually hard-favoured."
"Good God, sister!" said Albert, starting impatiently from his seat.
"Why, you yourself told me so," said Alice, surprised at the emotion he
testified; "and you said"
"This is intolerable," muttered Albert; "I must out to speak with
Joceline without delayLouis," (with an imploring look to Kerneguy,)
"you will surely come with me?"
"I would with all my heart," said Kerneguy, smiling maliciously; "but
you see how I suffer still from lameness.Nay, nay, Albert," he
whispered, resisting young Lee's attempt to prevail on him to leave the
room, "can you suppose I am fool enough to be hurt by this?on the
contrary, I have a desire of profiting by it."
"May God grant it!" said Lee to himself, as he left the room"it will
be the first lecture you ever profited by; and the devil confound the
plots and plotters who made me bring you to this place!" So saying, he
carried his discontent forth into the Park.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-THIRD.
For there, they say, he daily doth frequent
With unrestrained loose companions;
While he, young, wanton, and effeminate boy,
Takes on the point of honour, to support
So dissolute a crew.
RICHARD II.
The conversation which Albert had in vain endeavoured to interrupt,
flowed on in the same course after he had left the room. It entertained
Louis Kerneguy; for personal vanity, or an over-sensitiveness to
deserved reproof, were not among the faults of his character, and were
indeed incompatible with an understanding, which, combined with more
strength of principle, steadiness of exertion, and self-denial, might
have placed Charles high on the list of English monarchs. On the other
hand, Sir Henry listened with natural delight to the noble sentiments
uttered by a being so beloved as his daughter. His own parts were
rather steady than brilliant; and he had that species of imagination
which is not easily excited without the action of another, as the
electrical globe only scintillates when rubbed against its cushion. He
was well pleased, therefore, when Kerneguy pursued the conversation, by
observing that Mistress Alice Lee had not explained how the same good
fairy that conferred moral qualities, could not also remove corporeal
blemishes.
"You mistake, sir," said Alice. "I confer nothing. I do but attempt to
paint our King such as I hope he issuch as I am sure he may be,
should he himself desire to be so. The same general report which speaks
of his countenance as unprepossessing, describes his talents as being
of the first order. He has, therefore, the means of arriving at
excellence, should he cultivate them sedulously and employ them
usefullyshould he rule his passions and be guided by his
understanding. Every good man cannot be wise; but it is in the power of
every wise man, if he pleases, to be as eminent for virtue as for
talent."
Young Kerneguy rose briskly, and took a turn through the room; and ere
the knight could make any observation on the singular vivacity in which
he had indulged, he threw himself again into his chair, and said, in
rather an altered tone of voice"It seems, then, Mistress Alice Lee,
that the good friends who have described this poor King to you, have
been as unfavourable in their account of his morals as of his person?"
"The truth must be better known to you, sir," said Alice, "than it can
be to me. Some rumours there have been which accuse him of a license,
which, whatever allowance flatterers make for it, does not, to say the
least, become the son of the MartyrI shall be happy to have these
contradicted on good authority."
"I am surprised at your folly," said Sir Henry Lee, "in hinting at such
things, Alice; a pack of scandal, invented by the rascals who have
usurped the governmenta thing devised by the enemy."
"Nay, sir," said Kerneguy, laughing, "we must not let our zeal charge
the enemy with more scandal than they actually deserve. Mistress Alice
has put the question to me. I can only answer, that no one can be more
devotedly attached to the King than I myself,that I am very partial to
his merits and blind to his defects;and that, in short, I would be the
last man in the world to give up his cause where it was tenable.
Nevertheless, I must confess, that if all his grandfather of Navarre's
morals have not descended to him, this poor King has somehow inherited
a share of the specks that were thought to dim the lustre of that great
Princethat Charles is a little soft-hearted, or so, where beauty is
concerned.Do not blame him too severely, pretty Mistress Alice; when a
man's hard fate has driven him among thorns, it were surely hard to
prevent him from trifling with the few roses he may find among them?"
Alice, who probably thought the conversation had gone far enough, rose
while Master Kerneguy was speaking, and was leaving the room before he
had finished, without apparently hearing the interrogation with which
he concluded. Her father approved of her departure, not thinking the
turn which Kerneguy had given to the discourse altogether fit for her
presence; and, desirous civilly to break off the conversation, "I see,"
he said, "this is about the time, when, as Will says, the household
affairs will call my daughter hence; I will therefore challenge you,
young gentleman, to stretch your limbs in a little exercise with me,
either at single rapier, or rapier and poniard, back-sword, spadroon,
or your national weapons of broad-sword and target; for all or any of
which I think we shall find implements in the hall."
It would be too high a distinction, Master Kerneguy said, for a poor
page to be permitted to try a passage of arms with a knight so renowned
as Sir Henry Lee, and he hoped to enjoy so great an honour before he
left Woodstock; but at the present moment his lameness continued to
give him so much pain, that he should shame himself in the attempt.
Sir Henry then offered to read him a play of Shakspeare, and for this
purpose turned up King Richard II. But hardly had he commenced with
"Old John of Gaunt, time-honored Lancaster,"
when the young gentleman was seized with such an incontrollable fit of
the cramp as could only be relieved by immediate exercise. He therefore
begged permission to be allowed to saunter abroad for a little while,
if Sir Henry Lee considered he might venture without danger.
"I can answer for the two or three of our people that are still left
about the place," said Sir Henry; "and I know my son has disposed them
so as to be constantly on the watch. If you hear the bell toll at the
Lodge, I advise you to come straight home by the way of the King's Oak,
which you see in yonder glade towering above the rest of the trees. We
will have some one stationed there to introduce you secretly into the
house."
The page listened to these cautions with the impatience of a schoolboy,
who, desirous of enjoying his holiday, hears without marking the advice
of tutor or parent, about taking care not to catch cold, and so forth.
The absence of Alice Lee had removed all which had rendered the
interior of the Lodge agreeable, and the mercurial young page fled with
precipitation from the exercise and amusement which Sir Henry had
proposed. He girded on his rapier, and threw his cloak, or rather that
which belonged to his borrowed suit, about him, bringing up the lower
part so as to muffle the face and show only the eyes over it, which was
a common way of wearing them in those days, both in streets, in the
country, and in public places, when men had a mind to be private, and
to avoid interruption from salutations and greetings in the
market-place. He hurried across the open space which divided the front
of the Lodge from the wood, with the haste of a bird, escaped from the
cage, which, though joyful at its liberation, is at the same time
sensible of its need of protection and shelter. The wood seemed to
afford these to the human fugitive, as it might have done to the bird
in question.
When under the shadow of the branches, and within the verge of the
forest, covered from observation, yet with the power of surveying the
front of the Lodge, and all the open ground before it, the supposed
Louis Kerneguy meditated on his escape.
"What an inflictionto fence with a gouty old man, who knows not, I
dare say, a trick of the sword which was not familiar in the days of
old Vincent Saviolo! or, as a change of misery, to hear him read one of
those wildernesses of scenes which the English call a play, from
prologue to epiloguefrom Enter the first to the final Exeunt
omnesan unparalleled horrora penance which would have made a dungeon
darker, and added dullness even to Woodstock!"
Here he stopped and looked around, then continued his meditations"So,
then, it was here that the gay old Norman secluded his pretty
mistressI warrant, without having seen her, that Rosamond Clifford was
never half so handsome as that lovely Alice Lee. And what a soul there
is in the girl's eye!with what abandonment of all respects, save that
expressing the interest of the moment, she poured forth her tide of
enthusiasm! Were I to be long here, in spite of prudence, and
half-a-dozen very venerable obstacles beside, I should be tempted to
try to reconcile her to the indifferent visage of this same
hard-favoured Prince.Hard favoured?it is a kind of treason for one
who pretends to so much loyalty, to say so of the King's features, and
in my mind deserves punishment.Ah, pretty Mistress Alice! many a
Mistress Alice before you has made dreadful exclamations on the
irregularities of mankind, and the wickedness of the age, and ended by
being glad to look out for apologies for their own share in them. But
then her fatherthe stout old cavaliermy father's old friendshould
such a thing befall, it would break his heart.Break a pudding's-endhe
has more sense. If I give his grandson a title to quarter the arms of
England, what matter if a bar sinister is drawn across them?Pshaw! far
from an abatement, it is a point of additionthe heralds in their next
visitation will place him higher in the roll for it. Then, if he did
wince a little at first, does not the old traitor deserve it;first,
for his disloyal intention of punching mine anointed body black and
blue with his vile foilsand secondly, his atrocious complot with Will
Shakspeare, a fellow as much out of date as himself, to read me to
death with five acts of a historical play, or chronicle, 'being the
piteous Life and Death of Richard the Second?' Odds-fish, my own life
is piteous enough, as I think; and my death may match it, for aught I
see coming yet. Ah, but then the brothermy friendmy guidemy guardSo
far as this little proposed intrigue concerns him, such practising
would be thought not quite fair. But your bouncing, swaggering,
revengeful brothers exist only on the theatre. Your dire revenge, with
which a brother persecuted a poor fellow who had seduced his sister, or
been seduced by her, as the case might be, as relentlessly as if he had
trodden on his toes without making an apology, is entirely out of
fashion, since Dorset killed the Lord Bruce many a long year since.
Pshaw! when a King is the offender, the bravest man sacrifices nothing
by pocketing a little wrong which he cannot personally resent. And in
France, there is not a noble house, where each individual would not
cock his hat an inch higher, if they could boast of such a left-handed
alliance with the Grand Monarque."
Such were the thoughts which rushed through the mind of Charles, at his
first quitting the Lodge of Woodstock, and plunging into the forest
that surrounded it. His profligate logic, however, was not the result
of his natural disposition, nor received without scruple by his sound
understanding. It was a train of reasoning which he had been led to
adopt from his too close intimacy with the witty and profligate youth
of quality by whom he had been surrounded. It arose from the evil
communication with Villiers, Wilmot, Sedley, and others, whose genius
was destined to corrupt that age, and the Monarch on whom its character
afterwards came so much to depend. Such men, bred amidst the license of
civil war, and without experiencing that curb which in ordinary times
the authority of parents and relations imposes upon the headlong
passions of youth, were practised in every species of vice, and could
recommend it as well by precept as by example, turning into pitiless
ridicule all those nobler feelings which withhold men from gratifying
lawless passion. The events of the King's life had also favoured his
reception of this Epicurean doctrine. He saw himself, with the highest
claims to sympathy and assistance, coldly treated by the Courts which
he visited, rather as a permitted supplicant, than an exiled Monarch.
He beheld his own rights and claims treated with scorn and
indifference; and, in the same proportion, he was reconciled to the
hard-hearted and selfish course of dissipation, which promised him
immediate indulgence. If this was obtained at the expense of the
happiness of others, should he of all men be scrupulous upon the
subject, since he treated others only as the world treated him?
But although the foundations of this unhappy system had been laid, the
Prince was not at this early period so fully devoted to it as he was
found to have become, when a door was unexpectedly opened for his
restoration. On the contrary, though the train of gay reasoning which
we have above stated, as if it had found vent in uttered language, did
certainly arise in his mind, as that which would have been suggested by
his favourite counsellors on such occasions, he recollected that what
might be passed over as a peccadillo in France or the Netherlands, or
turned into a diverting novel or pasquinade by the wits of his own
wandering Court, was likely to have the aspect of horrid ingratitude
and infamous treachery among the English gentry, and would inflict a
deep, perhaps an incurable wound upon his interests, among the more
aged and respectable part of his adherents. Then it occurred to himfor
his own interest did not escape him, even in this mode of considering
the subjectthat he was in the power of the Lees, father and son, who
were always understood to be at least sufficiently punctilious on the
score of honour; and if they should suspect such an affront as his
imagination had conceived, they could be at no loss to find means of
the most ample revenge, either by their own hands, or by those of the
ruling faction.
"The risk of re-opening the fatal window at Whitehall, and renewing the
tragedy of the Man in the Mask, were a worse penalty," was his final
reflection, "than the old stool of the Scottish penance; and pretty
though Alice Lee is, I cannot afford to intrigue at such a hazard. So,
farewell, pretty maiden! unless, as sometimes has happened, thou hast a
humour to throw thyself at thy King's feet, and then I am too
magnanimous to refuse thee my protection. Yet, when I think of the pale
clay-cold figure of the old man, as he lay last night extended before
me, and imagine the fury of Albert Lee raging with impatience, his hand
on a sword which only his loyalty prevents him from plunging into his
sovereign's heartnay, the picture is too horrible! Charles must for
ever change his name to Joseph, even if he were strongly tempted; which
may Fortune in mercy prohibit!"
To speak the truth of a prince, more unfortunate in his early
companions, and the callousness which he acquired by his juvenile
adventures and irregular mode of life, than in his natural disposition,
Charles came the more readily to this wise conclusion, because he was
by no means subject to those violent and engrossing passions, to
gratify which the world has been thought well lost. His amours, like
many of the present day, were rather matters of habit and fashion, than
of passion and affection: and, in comparing himself in this respect to
his grandfather, Henry IV., he did neither his ancestor nor himself
perfect justice. He was, to parody the words of a bard, himself
actuated by the stormy passions which an intriguer often only
simulates,
None of those who loved so kindly,
None of those who loved so blindly.
An amour was with him a matter of amusement, a regular consequence, as
it seemed to him, of the ordinary course of things in society. He was
not at the trouble to practise seductive arts, because he had seldom
found occasion to make use of them; his high rank, and the profligacy
of part of the female society with which he had mingled, rendering them
unnecessary. Added to this, he had, for the same reason, seldom been
crossed by the obstinate interference of relations, or even of
husbands, who had generally seemed not unwilling to suffer such matters
to take their course.
So that, notwithstanding his total looseness of principle, and
systematic disbelief in the virtue of women, and the honour of men, as
connected with the character of their female relatives, Charles was not
a person to have studiously introduced disgrace into a family, where a
conquest might have been violently disputed, attained with difficulty,
and accompanied with general distress, not to mention the excitation of
all fiercer passions against the author of the scandal.
But the danger of the King's society consisted in his being much of an
unbeliever in the existence of such cases as were likely to be
embittered by remorse on the part of the principal victim, or rendered
perilous by the violent resentment of her connexions or relatives. He
had even already found such things treated on the continent as matters
of ordinary occurrence, subject, in all cases where a man of high
influence was concerned, to an easy arrangement; and he was really,
generally speaking, sceptical on the subject of severe virtue in either
sex, and apt to consider it as a veil assumed by prudery in women, and
hypocrisy in men, to extort a higher reward for their compliance.
While we are discussing the character of his disposition to gallantry,
the Wanderer was conducted, by the walk he had chosen, through several
whimsical turns, until at last it brought him under the windows of
Victor Lee's apartment, where he descried Alice watering and arranging
some flowers placed on the oriel window, which was easily accessible by
daylight, although at night he had found it a dangerous attempt to
scale it. But not Alice only, her father also showed himself near the
window, and beckoned him up. The family party seemed now more promising
than before, and the fugitive Prince was weary of playing battledore
and shuttlecock with his conscience, and much disposed to let matters
go as chance should determine.
He climbed lightly up the broken ascent, and was readily welcomed by
the old knight, who held activity in high honour. Alice also seemed
glad to see the lively and interesting young man; and by her presence,
and the unaffected mirth with which she enjoyed his sallies, he was
animated to display those qualities of wit and humour, which nobody
possessed in a higher degree.
His satire delighted the old gentleman, who laughed till his eyes ran
over as he heard the youth, whose claims to his respect he little
dreamed of, amusing him with successive imitations of the Scottish
Presbyterian clergymen, of the proud and poor Hidalgo of the North, of
the fierce and over-weening pride and Celtic dialect of the mountain
chief, of the slow and more pedantic Lowlander, with all of which his
residence in Scotland had made him familiar. Alice also laughed, and
applauded, amused herself, and delighted to see that her father was so;
and the whole party were in the highest glee, when Albert Lee entered,
eager to find Louis Kerneguy, and to lead him away to a private
colloquy with Dr. Rochecliffe, whose zeal, assiduity, and wonderful
possession of information, had constituted him their master-pilot in
those difficult times.
It is unnecessary to introduce the reader to the minute particulars of
their conference. The information obtained was so far favourable, that
the enemy seemed to have had no intelligence of the King's route
towards the south, and remained persuaded that he had made his escape
from Bristol, as had been reported, and as had indeed been proposed;
but the master of the vessel prepared for the King's passage had taken
the alarm, and sailed without his royal freight. His departure,
however, and the suspicion of the service in which he was engaged,
served to make the belief general, that the King had gone off along
with him.
But though this was cheering, the Doctor had more unpleasant tidings
from the sea-coast, alleging great difficulties in securing a vessel,
to which it might be fit to commit a charge so precious; and, above
all, requesting his Majesty might on no account venture to approach the
shore, until he should receive advice that all the previous
arrangements had been completely settled.
No one was able to suggest a safer place of residence than that which
he at present occupied. Colonel Everard was deemed certainly not
personally unfriendly to the King; and Cromwell, as was supposed,
reposed in Everard an unbounded confidence. The interior presented
numberless hiding-places, and secret modes of exit, known to no one but
the ancient residents of the Lodgenay, far better to Rochecliffe than
to any of them; as, when Rector at the neighbouring town, his prying
disposition as an antiquary had induced him to make very many
researches among the old ruinsthe results of which he was believed, in
some instances, to have kept to himself.
To balance these conveniences, it was no doubt true, that the
Parliamentary Commissioners were still at no great distance, and would
be ready to resume their authority upon the first opportunity. But no
one supposed such an opportunity was likely to occur; and all believed,
as the influence of Cromwell and the army grew more and more
predominant, that the disappointed Commissioners would attempt nothing
in contradiction to his pleasure, but wait with patience an
indemnification in some other quarter for their vacated commissions.
Report, through the voice of Master Joseph Tomkins, stated, that they
had determined, in the first place, to retire to Oxford, and were
making preparations accordingly. This promised still farther to insure
the security of Woodstock. It was therefore settled, that the King,
under the character of Louis Kerneguy, should remain an inmate of the
Lodge, until a vessel should be procured for his escape, at the port
which might be esteemed the safest and most convenient.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FOURTH.
The deadliest snakes are those which, twined 'mongst flowers,
Blend their bright colouring with the varied blossoms,
Their fierce eyes glittering like the spangled dew-drop;
In all so like what nature has most harmless,
That sportive innocence, which dreads no danger,
Is poison'd unawares.
OLD PLAY.
Charles (we must now give him his own name) was easily reconciled to
the circumstances which rendered his residence at Woodstock advisable.
No doubt he would much rather have secured his safety by making an
immediate escape out of England; but he had been condemned already to
many uncomfortable lurking-places, and more disagreeable disguises, as
well as to long and difficult journeys, during which, between
pragmatical officers of justice belonging to the prevailing party, and
parties of soldiers whose officers usually took on them to act on their
own warrant, risk of discovery had more than once become very imminent.
He was glad, therefore, of comparative repose, and of comparative
safety.
Then it must be considered, that Charles had been entirely reconciled
to the society at Woodstock since he had become better acquainted with
it. He had seen, that, to interest the beautiful Alice, and procure a
great deal of her company, nothing more was necessary than to submit to
the humours, and cultivate the intimacy, of the old cavalier her
father. A few bouts at fencing, in which Charles took care not to put
out his more perfect skill, and full youthful strength and activitythe
endurance of a few scenes from Shakspeare, which the knight read with
more zeal than tastea little skill in music, in which the old man had
been a proficientthe deference paid to a few old-fashioned opinions,
at which Charles laughed in his sleevewere all-sufficient to gain for
the disguised Prince an interest in Sir Henry Lee, and to conciliate in
an equal degree the good-will of his lovely daughter.
Never were there two young persons who could be said to commence this
species of intimacy with such unequal advantages. Charles was a
libertine, who, if he did not in cold blood resolve upon prosecuting
his passion for Alice to a dishonourable conclusion, was at every
moment liable to be provoked to attempt the strength of a virtue, in
which he was no believer. Then Alice, on her part, hardly knew even
what was implied by the word libertine or seducer. Her mother had died
early in the commencement of the Civil War, and she had been bred up
chiefly with her brother and cousin; so that she had an unfearing and
unsuspicious frankness of manner, upon which Charles was not unwilling
or unlikely to put a construction favourable to his own views. Even
Alice's love for her cousinthe first sensation which awakens the most
innocent and simple mind to feelings of shyness and restraint towards
the male sex in generalhad failed to excite such an alarm in her
bosom. They were nearly related; and Everard, though young, was several
years her elder, and had, from her infancy, been an object of her
respect as well as of her affection. When this early and childish
intimacy ripened into youthful love, confessed and returned, still it
differed in some shades from the passion existing between lovers
originally strangers to each other, until their affections have been
united in the ordinary course of courtship. Their love was fonder, more
familiar, more perfectly confidential; purer too, perhaps, and more
free from starts of passionate violence, or apprehensive jealousy.
The possibility that any one could have attempted to rival Everard in
her affection, was a circumstance which never occurred to Alice; and
that this singular Scottish lad, whom she laughed with on account of
his humour, and laughed at for his peculiarities, should be an object
of danger or of caution, never once entered her imagination. The sort
of intimacy to which she admitted Kerneguy was the same to which she
would have received a companion of her own sex, whose manners she did
not always approve, but whose society she found always amusing.
It was natural that the freedom of Alice Lee's conduct, which arose
from the most perfect indifference, should pass for something
approaching to encouragement in the royal gallant's apprehension, and
that any resolutions he had formed against being tempted to violate the
hospitality of Woodstock, should begin to totter, as opportunities for
doing so became more frequent.
These opportunities were favoured by Albert's departure from Woodstock
the very day after his arrival. It had been agreed, in full council
with Charles and Rochecliffe, that he should go to visit his uncle
Everard in the county of Kent, and, by showing himself there, obviate
any cause of suspicion which might arise from his residence at
Woodstock, and remove any pretext for disturbing his father's family on
account of their harbouring one who had been so lately in arms. He had
also undertaken, at his own great personal risk, to visit different
points on the sea-coast, and ascertain the security of different places
for providing shipping for the King's leaving England.
These circumstances were alike calculated to procure the King's safety,
and facilitate his escape. But Alice was thereby deprived of the
presence of her brother, who would have been her most watchful
guardian, but who had set down the King's light talk upon a former
occasion to the gaiety of his humour, and would have thought he had
done his sovereign great injustice, had he seriously suspected him of
such a breach of hospitality as a dishonourable pursuit of Alice would
have implied.
There were, however, two of the household at Woodstock, who appeared
not so entirely reconciled with Louis Kerneguy or his purposes. The one
was Bevis, who seemed, from their first unfriendly rencontre, to have
kept up a pique against their new guest, which no advances on the part
of Charles were able to soften. If the page was by chance left alone
with his young mistress, Bevis chose always to be of the party; came
close by Alice's chair, and growled audibly when the gallant drew near
her. "It is a pity," said the disguised Prince, "that your Bevis is not
a bull-dog, that we might dub him a roundhead at onceHe is too
handsome, too noble, too aristocratic, to nourish those inhospitable
prejudices against a poor houseless cavalier. I am convinced the spirit
of Pym or Hampden has transmigrated into the rogue and continues to
demonstrate his hatred against royalty and all its adherents."
Alice would then reply, that Bevis was loyal in word and deed, and only
partook her father's prejudices against the Scots, which, she could not
but acknowledge, were tolerably strong.
"Nay, then," said the supposed Louis, "I must find some other reason,
for I cannot allow Sir Bevis's resentment to rest upon national
antipathy. So we will suppose that some gallant cavalier, who wended to
the wars and never returned, has adopted this shape to look back upon
the haunts he left so unwillingly, and is jealous at seeing even poor
Louis Kerneguy drawing near to the lady of his lost affections."He
approached her chair as he spoke, and Bevis gave one of his deep
growls.
"In that case, you had best keep your distance," said Alice, laughing,
"for the bite of a dog, possessed by the ghost of a jealous lover,
cannot be very safe." And the King carried on the dialogue in the same
strainwhich, while it led Alice to apprehend nothing more serious than
the apish gallantry of a fantastic boy, certainly induced the supposed
Louis Kerneguy to think that he had made one of those conquests which
often and easily fall to the share of sovereigns. Notwithstanding the
acuteness of his apprehension, he was not sufficiently aware that the
Royal Road to female favour is only open to monarchs when they travel
in grand costume, and that when they woo incognito, their path of
courtship is liable to the same windings and obstacles which obstruct
the course of private individuals.
There was, besides Bevis, another member of the family, who kept a
look-out upon Louis Kerneguy, and with no friendly eye. Phbe
Mayflower, though her experience extended not beyond the sphere of the
village, yet knew the world much better than her mistress, and besides
she was five years older. More knowing, she was more suspicious. She
thought that odd-looking Scotch boy made more up to her young mistress
than was proper for his condition of life; and, moreover, that Alice
gave him a little more encouragement than Parthenia would have afforded
to any such Jack-a-dandy, in the absence of Argalusfor the volume
treating of the loves of these celebrated Arcadians was then the
favourite study of swains and damsels throughout merry England.
Entertaining such suspicions, Phbe was at a loss how to conduct
herself on the occasion, and yet resolved she would not see the
slightest chance of the course of Colonel Everard's true love being
obstructed, without attempting a remedy. She had a peculiar favour for
Markham herself; and, moreover, he was, according to her phrase, as
handsome and personable a young man as was in Oxfordshire; and this
Scottish scarecrow was no more to be compared to him than chalk was to
cheese. And yet she allowed that Master Girnigy had a wonderfully
well-oiled tongue, and that such gallants were not to be despised. What
was to be done?she had no facts to offer, only vague suspicion; and
was afraid to speak to her mistress, whose kindness, great as it was,
did not, nevertheless, encourage familiarity.
She sounded Joceline; but he was, she knew not why, so deeply
interested about this unlucky lad, and held his importance so high,
that she could make no impression on him. To speak to the old knight
would have been to raise a general tempest. The worthy chaplain, who
was, at Woodstock, grand referee on all disputed matters, would have
been the damsel's most natural resource, for he was peaceful as well as
moral by profession, and politic by practice. But it happened he had
given Phbe unintentional offence by speaking of her under the
classical epithet of Rustica Fidele, the which epithet, as she
understood it not, she held herself bound to resent as contumelious,
and declaring she was not fonder of a fiddle than other folk, had
ever since shunned all intercourse with Dr. Rochecliffe which she could
easily avoid.
Master Tomkins was always coming and going about the house under
various pretexts; but he was a roundhead, and she was too true to the
cavaliers to introduce any of the enemy as parties to their internal
discords; besides, he had talked to Phbe herself in a manner which
induced her to decline everything in the shape of familiarity with him.
Lastly, Cavaliero Wildrake might have been consulted; but Phbe had her
own reasons for saying, as she did with some emphasis, that Cavaliero
Wildrake was an impudent London rake. At length she resolved to
communicate her suspicions to the party having most interest in
verifying or confuting them.
"I'll let Master Markham Everard know, that there is a wasp buzzing
about his honey-comb," said Phbe; "and, moreover, that I know that
this young Scotch Scapegrace shifted himself out of a woman's into a
man's dress at Goody Green's, and gave Goody Green's Dolly a gold-piece
to say nothing about it; and no more she did to any one but me, and she
knows best herself whether she gave change for the gold or notbut
Master Louis is a saucy jackanapes, and like enough to ask it."
Three or four days elapsed while matters continued in this
conditionthe disguised Prince sometimes thinking on the intrigue which
Fortune seemed to have thrown in his way for his amusement, and taking
advantage of such opportunities as occurred to increase his intimacy
with Alice Lee; but much oftener harassing Dr. Rochecliffe with
questions about the possibility of escape, which the good man finding
himself unable to answer, secured his leisure against royal
importunity, by retreating into the various unexplored recesses of the
Lodge, known perhaps only to himself, who had been for nearly a score
of years employed in writing the Wonders of Woodstock.
It chanced on the fourth day, that some trifling circumstance had
called the knight abroad; and he had left the young Scotsman, now
familiar in the family, along with Alice, in the parlour of Victor Lee.
Thus situated, he thought the time not unpropitious for entering upon a
strain of gallantry, of a kind which might be called experimental, such
as is practised by the Croats in skirmishing, when they keep bridle in
hand, ready to attack the enemy, or canter off without coming to close
quarters, as circumstances may recommend. After using for nearly ten
minutes a sort of metaphysical jargon, which might, according to
Alice's pleasure, have been interpreted either into gallantry, or the
language of serious pretension, and when he supposed her engaged in
fathoming his meaning, he had the mortification to find, by a single
and brief question, that he had been totally unattended to, and that
Alice was thinking on anything at the moment rather than the sense of
what he had been saying. She asked him if he could tell what it was
o'clock, and this with an air of real curiosity concerning the lapse of
time, which put coquetry wholly out of the question.
"I will go look at the sundial, Mistress Alice," said the gallant,
rising and colouring, through a sense of the contempt with which he
thought himself treated.
"You will do me a pleasure, Master Kerneguy," said Alice, without the
least consciousness of the indignation she had excited.
Master Louis Kerneguy left the room accordingly, not, however, to
procure the information required, but to vent his anger and
mortification, and to swear, with more serious purpose than he had
dared to do before, that Alice should rue her insolence. Good-natured
as he was, he was still a prince, unaccustomed to contradiction, far
less to contempt, and his self pride felt, for the moment, wounded to
the quick. With a hasty step he plunged into the Chase, only
remembering his own safety so far as to choose the deeper and
sequestered avenues, where, walking on with the speedy and active step,
which his recovery from fatigue now permitted him to exercise according
to his wont, he solaced his angry purposes, by devising schemes of
revenge on the insolent country coquette, from which no consideration
of hospitality was in future to have weight enough to save her.
The irritated gallant passed
"The dial-stone, aged and green,"
without deigning to ask it a single question; nor could it have
satisfied his curiosity if he had, for no sun happened to shine at the
moment. He then hastened forward, muffling himself in his cloak, and
assuming a stooping and slouching gait, which diminished his apparent
height. He was soon involved in the deep and dim alleys of the wood,
into which he had insensibly plunged himself, and was traversing it at
a great rate, without having any distinct idea in what direction he was
going, when suddenly his course was arrested, first by a loud hello,
and then by a summons to stand, accompanied by what seemed still more
startling and extraordinary, the touch of a cane upon his shoulder,
imposed in a good-humoured but somewhat imperious manner.
There were few symptoms of recognition which would have been welcome at
this moment; but the appearance of the person who had thus arrested his
course, was least of all that he could have anticipated as timely or
agreeable. When he turned, on receiving the signal, he beheld himself
close to a young man, nearly six feet in height, well made in joint and
limb, but the gravity of whose apparel, although handsome and
gentlemanlike, and a sort of precision in his habit, from the cleanness
and stiffness of his band to the unsullied purity of his
Spanish-leather shoes, bespoke a love of order which was foreign to the
impoverished and vanquished cavaliers, and proper to the habits of
those of the victorious party, who could afford to dress themselves
handsomely; and whose rulethat is, such as regarded the higher and
more respectable classesenjoined decency and sobriety of garb and
deportment. There was yet another weight against the Prince in the
scale, and one still more characteristic of the inequality in the
comparison, under which he seemed to labour. There was strength in the
muscular form of the stranger who had brought him to this involuntary
parley, authority and determination in his brow, a long rapier on the
left, and a poniard or dagger on the right side of his belt, and a pair
of pistols stuck into it, which would have been sufficient to give the
unknown the advantage, (Louis Kerneguy having no weapon but his sword,)
even had his personal strength approached nearer than it did to that of
the person by whom he was thus suddenly stopped.
Bitterly regretting the thoughtless fit of passion that brought him
into his present situation, but especially the want of the pistols he
had left behind, and which do so much to place bodily strength and
weakness upon an equal footing, Charles yet availed himself of the
courage and presence of mind, in which few of his unfortunate family
had for centuries been deficient. He stood firm and without motion, his
cloak still wrapped round the lower part of his face, to give time for
explanation, in case he was mistaken for some other person.
This coolness produced its effect; for the other party said,with doubt
and surprise on his part, "Joceline Joliffe, is it not?if I know not
Joceline Joliffe, I should at least know my own cloak."
"I am not Joceline Joliffe, as you may see, sir," said Kerneguy,
calmly, drawing himself erect to show the difference of size, and
dropping the cloak from his face and person.
"Indeed!" replied the stranger, in surprise; "then, Sir Unknown, I have
to express my regret at having used my cane in intimating that I wished
you to stop. From that dress, which I certainly recognise for my own, I
concluded you must be Joceline, in whose custody I had left my habit at
the Lodge."
"If it had been Joceline, sir," replied the supposed Kerneguy, with
perfect composure, "methinks you should not have struck so hard." The
other party was obviously confused by the steady calmness with which he
was encountered. The sense of politeness dictated, in the first place,
an apology for a mistake, when he thought he had been tolerably certain
of the person. Master Kerneguy was not in a situation to be
punctilious; he bowed gravely, as indicating his acceptance of the
excuse offered, then turned, and walked, as he conceived, towards the
Lodge; though he had traversed the woods which were cut with various
alleys in different directions, too hastily to be certain of the real
course which he wished to pursue.
He was much embarrassed to find that this did not get him rid of the
companion whom he had thus involuntarily acquired. Walked he slow,
walked he fast, his friend in the genteel but puritanic habit, strong
in person, and well armed, as we have described him, seemed determined
to keep him company, and, without attempting to join, or enter into
conversation, never suffered him to outstrip his surveillance for more
than two or three yards. The Wanderer mended his pace; but, although he
was then, in his youth, as afterwards in his riper age, one of the best
walkers in Britain, the stranger, without advancing his pace to a run,
kept fully equal to him, and his persecution became so close and
constant, and inevitable, that the pride and fear of Charles were both
alarmed, and he began to think that, whatever the danger might be of a
single-handed rencontre, he would nevertheless have a better bargain of
this tall satellite if they settled the debate betwixt them in the
forest, than if they drew near any place of habitation, where the man
in authority was likely to find friends and concurrents.
Betwixt anxiety, therefore, vexation, and anger, Charles faced suddenly
round on his pursuer, as they reached a small narrow glade, which led
to the little meadow over which presided the King's Oak, the ragged and
scathed branches and gigantic trunk of which formed a vista to the
little wild avenue.
"Sir," said he to his pursuer, "you have already been guilty of one
piece of impertinence towards me. You have apologised; and knowing no
reason why you should distinguish me as an object of incivility, I have
accepted your excuse without scruple. Is there any thing remains to be
settled betwixt us, which causes you to follow me in this manner? If
so, I shall be glad to make it a subject of explanation or
satisfaction, as the case may admit of. I think you can owe me no
malice; for I never saw you before to my knowledge. If you can give any
good reason for asking it, I am willing to render you personal
satisfaction. If your purpose is merely impertinent curiosity, I let
you know that I will not suffer myself to be dogged in my private walks
by any one."
"When I recognise my own cloak on another man's shoulders," replied the
stranger, dryly, "methinks I have a natural right to follow and see
what becomes of it; for know, sir, though I have been mistaken as to
the wearer, yet I am confident I had as good a right to stretch my cane
across the cloak you are muffled in, as ever had any one to brush his
own garments. If, therefore, we are to be friends, I must ask, for
instance, how you came by that cloak, and where you are going with it?
I shall otherwise make bold to stop you, as one who has sufficient
commission to do so."
"Oh, unhappy cloak," thought the Wanderer, "ay, and thrice unhappy the
idle fancy that sent me here with it wrapped around my nose, to pick
quarrels and attract observation, when quiet and secrecy were
peculiarly essential to my safety!"
"If you will allow me to guess, sir," continued the stranger, who was
no other than Markham Everard, "I will convince you that you are better
known than you think for."
"Now, Heaven forbid!" prayed the party addressed, in silence, but with
as much devotion as ever he applied to a prayer in his life. Yet even
in this moment of extreme urgency, his courage and composure did not
fail; and he recollected it was of the utmost importance not to seem
startled, and to answer so as, if possible, to lead the dangerous
companion with whom he had met, to confess the extent of his actual
knowledge or suspicions concerning him.
"If you know me, sir," he said, "and are a gentleman, as your
appearance promises, you cannot be at a loss to discover to what
accident you must attribute my wearing these clothes, which you say are
yours." "Oh, sir," replied Colonel Everard, his wrath in no sort turned
away by the mildness of the stranger's answer"we have learned our
Ovid's Metamorphoses, and we know for what purposes young men of
quality travel in disguisewe know that even female attire is resorted
to on certain occasionsWe have heard of Vertumnus and Pomona."
The Monarch, as he weighed these words, again uttered a devout prayer,
that this ill-looking affair might have no deeper root than the
jealousy of some admirer of Alice Lee, promising to himself, that,
devotee as he was to the fair sex, he would make no scruple of
renouncing the fairest of Eve's daughters in order to get out of the
present dilemma.
"Sir," he said, "you seem to be a gentleman. I have no objection to
tell you, as such, that I also am of that class."
"Or somewhat higher, perhaps?" said Everard.
"A gentleman," replied Charles, "is a term which comprehends all ranks
entitled to armorial bearingsA duke, a lord, a prince, is no more than
a gentleman; and if in misfortune as I am, he may be glad if that
general term of courtesy is allowed him."
"Sir," replied Everard, "I have no purpose to entrap you to any
acknowledgment fatal to your own safety,nor do I hold it my business
to be active in the arrest of private individuals, whose perverted
sense of national duty may have led them into errors, rather to be
pitied than punished by candid men. But if those who have brought civil
war and disturbance into their native country, proceed to carry
dishonour and disgrace into the bosom of familiesif they attempt to
carry on their private debaucheries to the injury of the hospitable
roofs which afford them refuge from the consequences of their public
crimes, do you think, my lord, that we shall bear it with patience?"
"If it is your purpose to quarrel with me," said the Prince, "speak it
out at once like a gentleman. You have the advantage, no doubt, of
arms; but it is not that odds which will induce me to fly from a single
man. If, on the other hand, you are disposed to hear reason, I tell you
in calm words, that I neither suspect the offence to which you allude,
nor comprehend why you give me the title of my Lord."
"You deny, then, being the Lord Wilmot?" said Everard.
"I may do so most safely," said the Prince.
"Perhaps you rather style yourself Earl of Rochester? We heard that the
issuing of some such patent by the King of Scots was a step which your
ambition proposed."
"Neither lord nor earl am I, as sure as I have a Christian soul to be
saved. My name is"
"Do not degrade yourself by unnecessary falsehood, my lord; and that to
a single man, who, I promise you, will not invoke public justice to
assist his own good sword should he see cause to use it. Can you look
at that ring, and deny that you are Lord Wilmot?"
He handed to the disguised Prince a ring which he took from his purse,
and his opponent instantly knew it for the same he had dropped into
Alice's pitcher at the fountain, obeying only, through imprudently, the
gallantry of the moment, in giving a pretty gem to a handsome girl,
whom he had accidentally frightened.
"I know the ring," he said; "it has been in my possession. How it
should prove me to be Lord Wilmot, I cannot conceive; and beg to say,
it bears false witness against me."
"You shall see the evidence," answered Everard; and, resuming the ring,
he pressed a spring ingeniously contrived in the collet of the setting,
on which the stone flew back, and showed within it the cipher of Lord
Wilmot beautifully engraved in miniature, with a coronet."What say you
now, sir?"
"That probabilities are no proofs," said the Prince; "there is nothing
here save what may be easily accounted for. I am the son of a Scottish
nobleman, who was mortally wounded and made prisoner at Worcester
fight. When he took leave, and bid me fly, he gave me the few valuables
he possessed, and that among others. I have heard him talk of having
changed rings with Lord Wilmot, on some occasion in Scotland, but I
never knew the trick of the gem which you have shown me."
In this it may be necessary to say, Charles spoke very truly; nor would
he have parted with it in the way he did, had he suspected it would be
easily recognised. He proceeded after a minute's pause:"Once more,
sirI have told you much that concerns my safetyif you are generous,
you will let me pass, and I may do you on some future day as good
service. If you mean to arrest me, you must do so here, and at your own
peril, for I will neither walk farther your way, nor permit you to dog
me on mine. If you let me pass, I will thank you: if not, take to your
weapon."
"Young gentleman," said Colonel Everard, "whether you be actually the
gay young nobleman for whom I took you, you have made me uncertain;
but, intimate as you say your family has been with him, I have little
doubt that you are proficient in the school of debauchery, of which
Wilmot and Villiers are professors, and their hopeful Master a
graduated student. Your conduct at Woodstock, where you have rewarded
the hospitality of the family by meditating the most deadly wound to
their honour, has proved you too apt a scholar in such an academy. I
intended only to warn you on this subjectit will be your own fault if
I add chastisement to admonition."
"Warn me, sir!" said the Prince indignantly, "and chastisement! This is
presuming more on my patience than is consistent with your own safety
Draw, sir."So saying, he laid his hand on his sword.
"My religion," said Everard, "forbids me to be rash in shedding
bloodGo home, sirbe wiseconsult the dictates of honour as well as
prudence. Respect the honour of the House of Lee, and know there is one
nearly allied to it, by whom your motions will be called to severe
account."
"Aha!" said the Prince, with a bitter laugh, "I see the whole matter
nowwe have our roundheaded Colonel, our puritan cousin before usthe
man of texts and morals, whom Alice Lee laughs at so heartily. If your
religion, sir, prevents you from giving satisfaction, it should prevent
you from offering insult to a person of honour."
The passions of both were now fully upthey drew mutually, and began to
fight, the Colonel relinquishing the advantage he could have obtained
by the use of his fire-arms. A thrust of the arm, or a slip of the
foot, might, at the moment, have changed the destinies of Britain, when
the arrival of a third party broke off the combat.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH.
Stayfor the King has thrown his warder down.
RICHARD II.
The combatants, whom we left engaged at the end of the last chapter,
made mutual passes at each other with apparently equal skill and
courage. Charles had been too often in action, and too long a party as
well as a victim to civil war, to find any thing new or surprising in
being obliged to defend himself with his own hands; and Everard had
been distinguished, as well for his personal bravery, as for the other
properties of a commander. But the arrival of a third party prevented
the tragic conclusion of a combat, in which the success of either party
must have given him much cause for regretting his victory.
It was the old knight himself, who arrived, mounted upon a forest pony,
for the war and sequestration had left him no steed of a more dignified
description. He thrust himself between the combatants, and commanded
them on their lives to hold. So soon as a glance from one to the other
had ascertained to him whom he had to deal with, he demanded, "Whether
the devils of Woodstock, whom folk talked about, had got possession of
them both, that they were tilting at each other within the verge of the
royal liberties? Let me tell both of you," he said, "that while old
Henry Lee is at Woodstock, the immunities of the Park shall be
maintained as much as if the King were still on the throne. None shall
fight duellos here, excepting the stags in their season. Put up, both
of you, or I shall lug out as thirdsman, and prove perhaps the worst
devil of the three!As Will says
'I'll so maul you and your toasting-irons,
That you shall think the devil has come from hell.'"
The combatants desisted from their encounter, but stood looking at each
other sullenly, as men do in such a situation, each unwilling to seem
to desire peace more than the other, and averse therefore to be the
first to sheathe his sword.
"Return your weapons, gentlemen, upon the spot," said the knight yet
more peremptorily, "one and both of you, or you will have something to
do with me, I promise you. You may be thankful times are changed. I
have known them such, that your insolence might have cost each of you
your right hand, if not redeemed with a round sum of money. Nephew, if
you do not mean to alienate me for ever, I command you to put
up.Master Kerneguy, you are my guest. I request of you not to do me
the insult of remaining with your sword drawn, where it is my duty to
see peace observed."
"I obey you, Sir Henry," said the King, sheathing his rapier"I hardly
indeed know wherefore I was assaulted by this gentleman. I assure you,
none respects the King's person or privileges more than myselfthough
the devotion is somewhat out of fashion."
"We may find a place to meet, sir," replied Everard, "where neither the
royal person nor privileges can be offended."
"Faith, very hardly, sir," said Charles, unable to suppress the rising
jest"I mean, the King has so few followers, that the loss of the least
of them might be some small damage to him; but, risking all that, I
will meet you wherever there is fair field for a poor cavalier to get
off in safety, if he has the luck in fight."
Sir Henry Lee's first idea had been fixed upon the insult offered to
the royal demesne; he now began to turn them towards the safety of his
kinsman, and of the young royalist, as he deemed him. "Gentlemen," he
said, "I must insist on this business being put to a final end. Nephew
Markham, is this your return for my condescension in coming back to
Woodstock on your warrant, that you should take an opportunity to cut
the throat of my guest?"
"If you knew his purpose as well as I do,"said Markham, and then
paused, conscious that he might only incense his uncle without
convincing him, as any thing he might say of Kerneguy's addresses to
Alice was likely to be imputed to his own jealous suspicionshe looked
on the ground, therefore, and was silent.
"And you, Master Kerneguy," said Sir Henry, "can you give me any reason
why you seek to take the life of this young man, in whom, though
unhappily forgetful of his loyalty and duty, I must yet take some
interest, as my nephew by affinity?"
"I was not aware the gentleman enjoyed that honour, which certainly
would have protected him from my sword," answered Kerneguy. "But the
quarrel is his; nor can I tell any reason why he fixed it upon me,
unless it were the difference of our political opinions."
"You know the contrary," said Everard; "you know that I told you you
were safe from me as a fugitive royalistand your last words showed you
were at no loss to guess my connexion with Sir Henry. That, indeed, is
of little consequence. I should debase myself did I use the
relationship as a means of protection from you, or any one."
As they thus disputed, neither choosing to approach the real cause of
quarrel, Sir Henry looked from one to the other, with a peace-making
conscience, exclaiming
"'Why, what an intricate impeach is this?
I think you both have drunk of Circe's cup.'
"Come, my young masters, allow an old man to mediate between you. I am
not shortsighted in such mattersThe mother of mischief is no bigger
than a gnat's wing; and I have known fifty instances in my own day,
when, as Will says
'Gallants have been confronted hardily,
In single opposition, hand to hand.'
in which, after the field was fought, no one could remember the cause
of quarrel.Tush! a small thing will do itthe taking of the wallor
the gentle rub of the shoulder in passing each other, or a hasty word,
or a misconceived gestureCome, forget your cause of quarrel, be what
it willyou have had your breathing, and though you put up your rapiers
unbloodied, that was no default of yours, but by command of your elder,
and one who had right to use authority. In Malta, where the duello is
punctiliously well understood, the persons engaged in a single combat
are bound to halt on the command of a knight, or priest, or lady, and
the quarrel so interrupted is held as honourably terminated, and may
not be revived.Nephew, it is, I think, impossible that you can nourish
spleen against this young gentleman for having fought for his king.
Hear my honest proposal, MarkhamYou know I bear no malice, though I
have some reason to be offended with youGive the young man your hand
in friendship, and we will back to the Lodge, all three together, and
drink a cup of sack in token of reconciliation."
Markham Everard found himself unable to resist this approach towards
kindness on his uncle's part. He suspected, indeed, what was partly the
truth, that it was not entirely from reviving good-will, but also, that
his uncle thought, by such attention, to secure his neutrality at
least, if not his assistance, for the safety of the fugitive royalist.
He was sensible that he was placed in an awkward predicament; and that
he might incur the suspicions of his own party, for holding intercourse
even with a near relation, who harboured such guests. But, on the other
hand, he thought his services to the Commonwealth had been of
sufficient importance to outweigh whatever envy might urge on that
topic. Indeed, although the Civil War had divided families much, and in
many various ways, yet when it seemed ended by the triumph of the
republicans, the rage of political hatred began to relent, and the
ancient ties of kindred and friendship regained at least a part of
their former influence. Many reunions were formed; and those who, like
Everard, adhered to the conquering party, often exerted themselves for
the protection of their deserted relatives.
As these things rushed through his mind, accompanied with the prospect
of a renewed intercourse with Alice Lee, by means of which he might be
at hand to protect her against every chance, either of injury or
insult, he held out his hand to the supposed Scottish page, saying at
the same time, "That, for his part, he was very ready to forget the
cause of quarrel, or rather, to consider it as arising out of a
misapprehension, and to offer Master Kerneguy such friendship as might
exist between honourable men, who had embraced different sides in
politics."
Unable to overcome the feeling of personal dignity, which prudence
recommended him to forget, Louis Kerneguy in return bowed low, but
without accepting Everard's proffered hand.
"He had no occasion," he said, "to make any exertions to forget the
cause of quarrel, for he had never been able to comprehend it; but as
he had not shunned the gentleman's resentment, so he was now willing to
embrace and return any degree of his favour, with which he might be
pleased to honour him."
Everard withdrew his hand with a smile, and bowed in return to the
salutation of the page, whose stiff reception of his advances he
imputed to the proud pettish disposition of a Scotch boy, trained up in
extravagant ideas of family consequence and personal importance, which
his acquaintance with the world had not yet been sufficient to dispel.
Sir Henry Lee, delighted with the termination of the quarrel, which he
supposed to be in deep deference to his own authority, and not
displeased with the opportunity of renewing some acquaintance with his
nephew, who had, notwithstanding his political demerits, a warmer
interest in his affections than he was, perhaps, himself aware of,
said, in a tone of consolation, "Never be mortified, young gentlemen. I
protest it went to my heart to part you, when I saw you stretching
yourselves so handsomely, and in fair love of honour, without any
malicious or blood-thirsty thoughts. I promise you, had it not been for
my duty as Ranger here, and sworn to the office, I would rather have
been your umpire than your hinderance.But a finished quarrel is a
forgotten quarrel; and your tilting should have no further consequence
excepting the appetite it may have given you."
So saying, he urged forward his pony, and moved in triumph towards the
Lodge by the nearest alley. His feet almost touching the ground, the
ball of his toe just resting in the stirrup,the forepart of the thigh
brought round to the saddle,the heels turned outwards, and sunk as
much as possible,his body precisely erect,the reins properly and
systematically divided in his left hand, his right holding a riding-rod
diagonally pointed towards the horse's left ear,he seemed a champion
of the manege, fit to have reined Bucephalus himself. His youthful
companions, who attended on either hand like equerries, could scarcely
suppress a smile at the completely adjusted and systematic posture of
the rider, contrasted with the wild and diminutive appearance of the
pony, with its shaggy coat, and long tail and mane, and its keen eyes
sparkling like red coals from amongst the mass of hair which fell over
its small countenance. If the reader has the Duke of Newcastle's book
on horsemanship, (splendida moles!) he may have some idea of the
figure of the good knight, if he can conceive such a figure as one of
the cavaliers there represented, seated, in all the graces of his art,
on a Welsh or Exmoor pony, in its native savage state, without grooming
or discipline of any kind; the ridicule being greatly enhanced by the
disproportion of size betwixt the animal and its rider.
Perhaps the knight saw their wonder, for the first words he said after
they left the ground were, "Pixie, though small, is mettlesome,
gentlemen," (here he contrived that Pixie should himself corroborate
the assertion, by executing a gambade,)"he is diminutive, but full of
spirit;indeed, save that I am somewhat too large for an elfin
horseman," (the knight was upwards of six feet high,) "I should remind
myself, when I mount him, of the Fairy King, as described by Mike
Drayton:
Himself he on an earwig set,
Yet scarce upon his back could get,
So oft and high he did curvet,
Ere he himself did settle.
He made him stop, and turn, and bound,
To gallop, and to trot the round.
He scarce could stand on any ground,
He was so full of mettle.'"
"My old friend, Pixie," said Everard, stroking the pony's neck, "I am
glad that he has survived all these bustling daysPixie must be above
twenty years old, Sir Henry?"
"Above twenty years, certainly. Yes, nephew Markham, war is a whirlwind
in a plantation, which only spares what is least worth leaving. Old
Pixie and his old master have survived many a tall fellow, and many a
great horseneither of them good for much themselves. Yet, as Will
says, an old man can do somewhat. So Pixie and I still survive."
So saying, he again contrived that Pixie should show some remnants of
activity.
"Still survive?" said the young Scot, completing the sentence which the
good knight had left unfinished"ay, still survive,
'To witch the world with noble horsemanship.'"
Everard coloured, for he felt the irony; but not so his uncle, whose
simple vanity never permitted him to doubt the sincerity of the
compliment.
"Are you advised of that?" he said. "In King James's time, indeed, I
have appeared in the tilt-yard, and there you might have said
'You saw young Harry with his beaver up.'
"As to seeing old Harry, why"Here the knight paused, and looked as a
bashful man in labour of a pun"As to old Harrywhy, you might as well
see the devil. You take me, Master Kerneguythe devil, you know, is
my namesakehahaha!Cousin Everard, I hope your precision is not
startled by an innocent jest?"
He was so delighted with the applause of both his companions, that he
recited the whole of the celebrated passage referred to, and concluded
with defying the present age, bundle all its wits, Donne, Cowley,
Waller, and the rest of them together, to produce a poet of a tenth
part of the genius of old Will.
"Why, we are said to have one of his descendants among usSir William
D'Avenant," said Louis Kerneguy; "and many think him as clever a
fellow."
"What!" exclaimed Sir Henry"Will D'Avenant, whom I knew in the North,
an officer under Newcastle, when the Marquis lay before Hull?why, he
was an honest cavalier, and wrote good doggrel enough; but how came he
a-kin to Will Shakspeare, I trow?"
"Why," replied the young Scot, "by the surer side of the house, and
after the old fashion, if D'Avenant speaks truth. It seems that his
mother was a good-looking, laughing, buxom mistress of an inn between
Stratford and London, at which Will Shakspeare often quartered as he
went down to his native town; and that out of friendship and gossipred,
as we say in Scotland, Will Shakspeare became godfather to Will
D'Avenant; and not contented with this spiritual affinity, the younger
Will is for establishing some claim to a natural one, alleging that his
mother was a great admirer of wit, and there were no bounds to her
complaisance for men of genius."
"Out upon the hound!" said Colonel Everard; "would he purchase the
reputation of descending from poet, or from prince, at the expense of
his mother's good fame?his nose ought to be slit."
"That would be difficult," answered the disguised Prince, recollecting
the peculiarity of the bard's countenance.[1]
[1] D'Avenant actually wanted the nose, the foundation of many a jest
of the day.
"Will D'Avenant the son of Will Shakspeare?" said the knight, who had
not yet recovered his surprise at the enormity of the pretension; "why,
it reminds me of a verse in the Puppet-show of Phaeton, where the hero
complains to his mother
'Besides, by all the village boys I am sham'd,
You the Sun's son, you rascal, you be dd!'
"I never heard such unblushing assurance in my life!Will D'Avenant the
son of the brightest and best poet that ever was, is, or will be?But I
crave your pardon, nephewYou, I believe, love no stage plays."
"Nay, I am not altogether so precise as you would make me, uncle. I
have loved them perhaps too well in my time, and now I condemn them not
altogether, or in gross, though I approve not their excesses and
extravagances.I cannot, even in Shakspeare, but see many things both
scandalous to decency and prejudicial to good mannersmany things which
tend to ridicule virtue, or to recommend vice,at least to mitigate the
hideousness of its features. I cannot think these fine poems are an
useful study, and especially for the youth of either sex, in which
bloodshed is pointed out as the chief occupation of the men, and
intrigue as the sole employment of the women."
In making these observations, Everard was simple enough to think that
he was only giving his uncle an opportunity of defending a favourite
opinion, without offending him by a contradiction, which was so limited
and mitigated. But here, as on other occasions, he forgot how obstinate
his uncle was in his views, whether of religion, policy, or taste, and
that it would be as easy to convert him to the Presbyterian form of
government, or engage him to take the abjuration oath, as to shake his
belief in Shakspeare. There was another peculiarity in the good
knight's mode of arguing, which Everard, being himself of a plain and
downright character, and one whose religious tenets were in some degree
unfavourable to the suppressions and simulations often used in society,
could never perfectly understand. Sir Henry, sensible of his natural
heat of temper, was wont scrupulously to guard against it, and would
for some time, when in fact much offended, conduct a debate with all
the external appearance of composure, till the violence of his feelings
would rise so high as to overcome and bear away the artificial barriers
opposed to it, and rush down upon the adversary with accumulating
wrath. It thus frequently happened, that, like a wily old general, he
retreated in the face of his disputant in good order and by degrees,
with so moderate a degree of resistance, as to draw on his antagonist's
pursuit to the spot, where, at length, making a sudden and unexpected
attack, with horse, foot, and artillery at once, he seldom failed to
confound the enemy, though he might not overthrow him.
It was on this principle, therefore, that, hearing Everard's last
observation, he disguised his angry feelings, and answered, with a tone
where politeness was called in to keep guard upon passion, "That
undoubtedly the Presbyterian gentry had given, through the whole of
these unhappy times, such proofs of an humble, unaspiring, and
unambitious desire of the public good, as entitled them to general
credit for the sincerity of those very strong scruples which they
entertained against works, in which the noblest, sentiments of religion
and virtue,sentiments which might convert hardened sinners, and be
placed with propriety in the mouths of dying saints and martyrs,
happened, from the rudeness and coarse taste of the times, to be mixed
with some broad jests, and similar matter, which lay not much in the
way, excepting of those who painfully sought such stuff out, that they
might use it in vilifying what was in itself deserving of the highest
applause. But what he wished especially to know from his nephew was,
whether any of those gifted men, who had expelled the learned scholars
and deep divines of the Church of England from the pulpit, and now
flourished in their stead, received any inspiration from the muses, (if
he might use so profane a term without offence to Colonel Everard,) or
whether they were not as sottishly and brutally averse from elegant
letters, as they were from humanity and common sense?"
Colonel Everard might have guessed, by the ironical tone in which this
speech was delivered, what storm was mustering within his uncle's
bosomnay, he might have conjectured the state of the old knight's
feelings from his emphasis on the word Colonel, by which epithet, as
that which most connected his nephew with the party he hated, he never
distinguished Everard, unless when his wrath was rising; while, on the
contrary, when disposed to be on good terms with him, he usually called
him Kinsman, or Nephew Markham. Indeed, it was under a partial sense
that this was the case, and in the hope to see his cousin Alice, that
the Colonel forbore making any answer to the harangue of his uncle,
which had concluded just as the old knight had alighted at the door of
the Lodge, and was entering the hall, followed by his two attendants.
Phbe at the same time made her appearance in the hall, and received
orders to bring some "beverage" for the gentlemen. The Hebe of
Woodstock failed not to recognise and welcome Everard by an almost
imperceptible curtsy; but she did not serve her interest, as she
designed, when she asked the knight, as a question of course, whether
he commanded the attendance of Mistress Alice. A stern No, was the
decided reply; and the ill-timed interference seemed to increase his
previous irritation against Everard for his depreciation of Shakspeare.
"I would insist," said Sir Henry, resuming the obnoxious subject, "were
it fit for a poor disbanded cavalier to use such a phrase towards a
commander of the conquering army,upon, knowing whether the convulsion
which has sent us saints and prophets without end, has not also
afforded us a poet with enough both of gifts and grace to outshine poor
old Will, the oracle and idol of us blinded and carnal cavaliers."
"Surely, sir," replied Colonel Everard; "I know verses written by a
friend of the Commonwealth, and those, too, of a dramatic character,
which, weighed in an impartial scale, might equal even the poetry of
Shakspeare, and which are free from the fustian and indelicacy with
which that great bard was sometimes content to feed the coarse
appetites of his barbarous audience."
"Indeed!" said the knight, keeping down his wrath with difficulty. "I
should like to be acquainted with this master-piece of poetry!May we
ask the name of this distinguished person?"
"It must be Vicars, or Withers, at least," said the feigned page.
"No, sir," replied Everard, "nor Drummond of Hawthornden, nor Lord
Stirling neither. And yet the verses will vindicate what I say, if you
will make allowance for indifferent recitation, for I am better
accustomed to speak to a battalion than to those who love the muses.
The speaker is a lady benighted, who, having lost her way in a pathless
forest, at first expresses herself agitated by the supernatural fears
to which her situation gave rise."
"A play, too, and written by a roundhead author!" said Sir Henry in
surprise.
"A dramatic production at least," replied his nephew; and began to
recite simply, but with feeling, the lines now so well known, but which
had then obtained no celebrity, the fame of the author resting upon the
basis rather of his polemical and political publications, than on the
poetry doomed in after days to support the eternal structure of his
immortality.
'These thoughts may startle, but will not, astound
The virtuous mind, that ever walks attended
By a strong-siding champion, Conscience.'"
"My own opinion, nephew Markham, my own opinion," said Sir Henry, with
a burst of admiration; "better expressed, but just what I said when the
scoundrelly roundheads pretended to see ghosts at WoodstockGo on, I
prithee."
Everard proceeded:
"'O welcome pure-eyed Faith, white-handed Hope,
Thou hovering angel, girt with golden wings,
And thou unblemish'd form of Chastity!
I see ye visibly, and now believe
That he the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill
Are but as slavish officers of vengeance,
Would send a glistering guardian, if need were,
To keep my life and honour unassail'd.
Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud.
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?'"
"The rest has escaped me," said the reciter; "and I marvel I have been
able to remember so much."
Sir Henry Lee, who had expected some effusion very different from those
classical and beautiful lines, soon changed the scornful expression of
his countenance, relaxed his contorted upper lip, and, stroking down
his beard with his left hand, rested the forefinger of the right upon
his eyebrow, in sign of profound attention. After Everard had ceased
speaking, the old man signed as at the end of a strain of sweet music.
He then spoke in a gentler manner than formerly.
"Cousin Markham," he said, "these verses flow sweetly, and sound in my
ears like the well-touched warbling of a lute. But thou knowest I am
somewhat slow of apprehending the full meaning of that which I hear for
the first time. Repeat me these verses again, slowly and deliberately;
for I always love to hear poetry twice, the first time for sound, and
the latter time for sense."
Thus encouraged, Everard recited again the lines with more hardihood
and better effect; the knight distinctly understanding, and from his
looks and motions, highly applauding them.
"Yes!" he broke out, when Everard was again silent"Yes, I do call that
poetrythough it were even written by a Presbyterian, or an Anabaptist
either. Ay, there were good and righteous people to be found even
amongst the offending towns which were destroyed by fire. And certainly
I have heard, though with little credence (begging your pardon, cousin.
Everard,) that there are men among you who have seen the error of their
ways in rebelling against the best and kindest of masters, and bringing
it to that pass that he was murdered by a gang yet fiercer than
themselves. Ay, doubtless, the gentleness of spirit, and the purity of
mind, which dictated those beautiful lines, has long ago taught a man
so amiable to say, I have sinned, I have sinned. Yes, I doubt not so
sweet a harp has been broken, even in remorse, for the crimes he was
witness to; and now he sits drooping for the shame and sorrow of
England,all his noble rhymes, as Will says,
'Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh.'
Dost thou not think so, Master Kerneguy?"
"Not I, Sir Henry," answered the page, somewhat maliciously.
"What, dost not believe the author of these lines must needs be of the
better file, and leaning to our persuasion?"
"I think, Sir Henry, that the poetry qualifies the author to write a
play on the subject of Dame Potiphar and her recusant lover; and as for
his callingthat last metaphor of the cloud in a black coat or cloak,
with silver lining, would have dubbed him a tailor with me, only that I
happen to know that he is a schoolmaster by profession, and by
political opinions qualified to be Poet Laureate to Cromwell; for what
Colonel Everard has repeated with such unction, is the production of no
less celebrated a person than John Milton."
"John Milton!" exclaimed Sir Henry in astonishment"What! John Milton,
the blasphemous and bloody-minded author of the Defensio Populi
Anglicani!the advocate of the infernal High Court of Fiends; the
creature and parasite of that grand impostor, that loathsome hypocrite,
that detestable monster, that prodigy of the universe, that disgrace of
mankind, that landscape of iniquity, that sink of sin, and that
compendium of baseness, Oliver Cromwell!"
"Even the same John Milton," answered Charles; "schoolmaster to little
boys, and tailor to the clouds, which he furnishes with suits of black,
lined with silver, at no other expense than that of common sense."
"Markham Everard," said the old knight, "I will never forgive thee
never, never. Thou hast made me speak words of praise respecting one
whose offal should fatten the region-kites. Speak not to me, sir, but
begone! Am I, your kinsman and benefactor, a fit person to be juggled
out of my commendation and eulogy, and brought to bedaub such a
whitened sepulchre as the sophist Milton?"
"I profess," said Everard, "this is hard measure, Sir Henry. You
pressed meyou defied me, to produce poetry as good as Shakspeare's. I
only thought of the verses, not of the politics of Milton."
"Oh yes, sir," replied Sir Henry; "we well know your power of making
distinctions; you could make war against the King's prerogative,
without having the least design against his person. Oh Heaven forbid!
But Heaven will hear and judge you. Set down the beverage, Phbe"(this
was added by way of parenthesis to Phbe, who entered with
refreshment)"Colonel Everard is not thirstyYou have wiped your
mouths, and said you have done no evil. But though you have deceived
man, yet God you cannot deceive. And you shall wipe no lips in
Woodstock, either after meat or drink, I promise you."
Charged thus at once with the faults imputed to his whole religious
sect and political party, Everard felt too late of what imprudence he
had been guilty in giving the opening, by disputing his uncle's taste
in dramatic poetry. He endeavoured to explainto apologise.
"I mistook your purpose, honoured sir, and thought you really desired
to know something of our literature; and in repeating what you deemed
not unworthy your hearing, I profess I thought I was doing you
pleasure, instead of stirring your indignation."
"O ay!" returned the knight, with unmitigated rigour of resentment
"professprofessAy, that is the new phrase of asseveration, instead of
the profane adjuration of courtiers and cavaliersOh, sir, profess
less and practise moreand so good day to you. Master Kerneguy, you
will find beverage in my apartment."
While Phbe stood gaping in admiration at the sudden quarrel which had
arisen, Colonel Everard's vexation and resentment was not a little
increased by the nonchalance of the young Scotsman, who, with his hands
thrust into his pockets, (with a courtly affectation of the time,) had
thrown himself into one of the antique chairs, and, though habitually
too polite to laugh aloud, and possessing that art of internal laughter
by which men of the world learn to indulge their mirth without
incurring quarrels, or giving direct offence, was at no particular
pains to conceal that he was exceedingly amused by the result of the
Colonel's visit to Woodstock. Colonel Everard's patience, however, had
reached bounds which it was very likely to surpass; for, though
differing widely in politics, there was a resemblance betwixt the
temper of the uncle and nephew.
"Damnation" exclaimed the Colonel, in a tone which became a puritan as
little as did the exclamation itself.
"Amen!" said Louis Kerneguy, but in a tone so soft and gentle, that the
ejaculation seemed rather to escape him than to be designedly uttered.
"Sir!" said Everard, striding towards him in that sort of humour, when
a man, full of resentment, would not unwillingly find an object on
which to discharge it.
"Plait-il?" said the page, in the most equable tone, looking up in
his face with the most unconscious innocence.
"I wish to know, sir," retorted Everard, "the meaning of that which you
said just now?"
"Only a pouring out of the spirit, worthy sir," returned Kerneguy"a
small skiff dispatched to Heaven on my own account, to keep company
with your holy petition just now expressed."
"Sir, I have known a merry gentleman's bones broke for such a smile as
you wear just now," replied Everard.
"There, look you now" answered the malicious page, who could not weigh
even the thoughts of his safety against the enjoyment of his jest"If
you had stuck to your professions, worthy sir, you must have choked by
this time; but your round execration bolted like a cork from a bottle
of cider, and now allows your wrath to come foaming out after it, in
the honest unbaptized language of common ruffians."
"For Heaven's sake, Master Girnegy," said Phbe, "forbear giving the
Colonel these bitter words! And do you, good Colonel Markham, scorn to
take offence at his handshe is but a boy."
"If the Colonel or you choose, Mistress Phbe, you shall find me a
manI think the gentleman can say something to the purpose already.
Probably he may recommend to you the part of the Lady in Comus; and I
only hope his own admiration of John Milton will not induce him to
undertake the part of Samson Agonistes, and blow up this old house with
execration, or pull it down in wrath about our ears."
"Young man," said the Colonel, still in towering passion, "if you
respect my principles for nothing else, be grateful to the protection
which, but for them, you would not easily attain."
"Nay, then," said the attendant, "I must fetch those who have more
influence with you than I have," and away tripped Phbe; while Kerneguy
answered Everard in the same provoking tone of calm indifference,
"Before you menace me with a thing so formidable as your resentment,
you ought to be certain whether I may not be compelled by circumstances
to deny you the opportunity you seem to point at."
At this moment Alice, summoned no doubt by her attendant, entered the
hall hastily.
"Master Kerneguy," she said, "my father requests to see you in Victor
Lee's apartment."
Kerneguy arose and bowed, but seemed determined to remain till
Everard's departure, so as to prevent any explanation betwixt the
cousins. "Markham," said Alice, hurriedly"Cousin EverardI have but a
moment to remain herefor God's sake, do you instantly begone!be
cautious and patientbut do not tarry heremy father is fearfully
incensed."
"I have had my uncle's word for that, madam," replied Everard, "as well
as his injunction to depart, which I will obey without delay. I was not
aware that you would have seconded so harsh an order quite so
willingly; but I go, madam, sensible I leave those behind whose company
is more agreeable."
"Unjustungenerousungrateful!" said Alice; but fearful her words might
reach ears for which they were not designed, she spoke them in a voice
so feeble, that her cousin, for whom they were intended, lost the
consolation they were calculated to convey.
He bowed coldly to Alice, as taking leave, and said, with an air of
that constrained courtesy which sometimes covers, among men of
condition, the most deadly hatred, "I believe, Master Kerneguy, that I
must make it convenient at present to suppress my own peculiar opinions
on the matter which we have hinted at in our conversation, in which
case I will send a gentleman, who, I hope, may be able to conquer
yours."
The supposed Scotsman made him a stately, and at the same time a
condescending bow, said he should expect the honour of his commands,
offered his hand to Mistress Alice, to conduct her back to her father's
apartment, and took a triumphant leave of his rival.
Everard, on the other hand, stung beyond his patience, and, from the
grace and composed assurance of the youth's carriage, still conceiving
him to be either Wilmot, or some of his compeers in rank and
profligacy, returned to the town of Woodstock, determined not to be
outbearded, even though he should seek redress by means which his
principles forbade him to consider as justifiable.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH.
Boundless intemperance
In nature is a tyrannyit hath been
The untimely emptying of many a throne,
And fall of many kings.
MACBETH.
While Colonel Everard retreated in high indignation from the little
refection, which Sir Henry Lee had in his good-humour offered, and
withdrawn under the circumstances of provocation which we have
detailed, the good old knight, scarce recovered from his fit of
passion, partook of it with his daughter and guest, and shortly after,
recollecting some silvan task, (for, though to little efficient
purpose, he still regularly attended to his duties as Ranger,) he
called Bevis, and went out, leaving the two young people together.
"Now," said the amorous Prince to himself, "that Alice is left without
her lion, it remains to see whether she is herself of a tigress breed.
So, Sir Bevis has left his charge," he said loud; "I thought the
knights of old, those stern guardians of which he is so fit a
representative, were more rigorous in maintaining a vigilant guard."
"Bevis," said Alice, "knows that his attendance on me is totally
needless; and, moreover, he has other duties to perform, which every
true knight prefers to dangling the whole morning by a lady's sleeve."
"You speak treason against all true affection," said the gallant; "a
lady's lightest wish should to a true knight be more binding than aught
excepting the summons of his sovereign. I wish, Mistress Alice, you
would but intimate your slightest desire to me, and you should see how
I have practised obedience."
"You never brought me word what o'clock it was this morning," replied
the young lady, "and there I sate questioning of the wings of Time,
when I should have remembered that gentlemen's gallantry can be quite
as fugitive as Time himself. How do you know what your disobedience may
have cost me and others? Pudding and pasty may have been burned to a
cinder, for, sir, I practise the old domestic rule of visiting the
kitchen; or I may have missed prayers, or I may have been too late for
an appointment, simply by the negligence of Master Louis Kerneguy
failing to let me know the hour of the day."
"O," replied Kerneguy, "I am one of those lovers who cannot endure
absenceI must be eternally at the feet of my fair enemysuch, I think,
is the title with which romances teach us to grace the fair and cruel
to whom we devote our hearts and lives.Speak for me, good lute," he
added, taking up the instrument, "and show whether I know not my duty."
He sung, but with more taste than execution, the air of a French
rondelai, to which some of the wits or sonnetteers, in his gay and
roving train, had adapted English verses.
An hour with thee!When earliest day
Dapples with gold the eastern grey,
Oh, what, can frame my mind to bear
The toil and turmoil, cark and care.
New griefs, which coming hours unfold,
And sad remembrance of the old?
One hour with thee!
One hour with thee!When burning June
Waves his red flag at pitch of noon;
What shall repay the faithful swain,
His labour on the sultry plain,
And more than cave or sheltering bough,
Cool feverish blood, and throbbing brow?
One hour with thee!
One hour with thee!When sun is set,
O, what can teach me to forget
The thankless labours of the day;
The hopes, the wishes, flung away:
The increasing wants, and lessening gains,
The master's pride, who scorns my pains?
One hour with thee!
"Truly, there is another verse," said the songster; "but I sing it not
to you, Mistress Alice, because some of the prudes of the court liked
it not." "I thank you, Master Louis," answered the young lady, "both
for your discretion in singing what has given me pleasure, and in
forbearing what might offend me. Though a country girl, I pretend to be
so far of the court mode, as to receive nothing which does not pass
current among the better class there."
"I would," answered Louis, "that you were so well confirmed in their
creed, as to let all pass with you, to which court ladies would give
currency."
"And what would be the consequence?" said Alice, with perfect
composure.
"In that case," said Louis, embarrassed like a general who finds that
his preparations for attack do not seem to strike either fear or
confusion into the enemy"in that case you would forgive me, fair
Alice, if I spoke to you in a warmer language than that of mere
gallantryif I told you how much my heart was interested in what you
consider as idle jestingif I seriously owned it was in your power to
make me the happiest or the most miserable of human beings."
"Master Kerneguy," said Alice, with the same unshaken nonchalance, "let
us understand each other. I am little acquainted with high-bred
manners, and I am unwilling, I tell you plainly, to be accounted a
silly country girl, who, either from ignorance or conceit, is startled
at every word of gallantry addressed to her by a young man, who, for
the present, has nothing better to do than coin and circulate such
false compliments. But I must not let this fear of seeming rustic and
awkwardly timorous carry me too far; and being ignorant of the exact
limits, I will take care to stop within them."
"I trust, madam," said Kerneguy, "that however severely you may be
disposed to judge of me, your justice will not punish me too severely
for an offence, of which your charms are alone the occasion?"
"Hear me out, sir, if you please," resumed Alice. "I have listened to
you when you spoke en bergernay, my complaisance has been so great,
as to answer you en bergrefor I do not think any thing except
ridicule can come of dialogues between Lindor and Jeanneton; and the
principal fault of the style is its extreme and tiresome silliness and
affectation. But when you begin to kneel, offer to take my hand, and
speak with a more serious tone, I must remind you of our real
characters. I am the daughter of Sir Henry Lee, sir; you are, or
profess to be, Master Louis Kerneguy, my brother's page, and a fugitive
for shelter under my father's roof, who incurs danger by the harbour he
affords you, and whose household, therefore, ought not to be disturbed
by your unpleasing importunities."
"I would to Heaven, fair Alice," said the King, "that your objections
to the suit which I am urging, not in jest, but most seriously, as that
on which my happiness depends, rested only on the low and precarious
station of Louis Kerneguy!Alice, thou hast the soul of thy family, and
must needs love honour. I am no more the needy Scottish page, whom I
have, for my own purposes, personated, than I am the awkward lout,
whose manners I adopted on the first night of our acquaintance. This
hand, poor as I seem, can confer a coronet."
"Keep it," said Alice, "for some more ambitious damsel, my lord,for
such I conclude is your title, if this romance be true,I would not
accept your hand, could you confer a duchy."
"In one sense, lovely Alice, you have neither overrated my power nor my
affection. It is your Kingit is Charles Stewart who speaks to you!he
can confer duchies, and if beauty can merit them, it is that of Alice
Lee. Nay, nayrisedo not kneelit is for your sovereign to kneel to
thee, Alice, to whom he is a thousand times more devoted than the
wanderer Louis dared venture to profess himself. My Alice has, I know,
been trained up in those principles of love and obedience to her
sovereign, that she cannot, in conscience or in mercy, inflict on him
such a wound as would be implied in the rejection of his suit."
In spite of all Charles's attempts to prevent her, Alice had persevered
in kneeling on one knee, until she had touched with her lip the hand
with which he attempted to raise her. But this salutation ended, she
stood upright, with her arms folded on her bosomher looks humble, but
composed, keen, and watchful, and so possessed of herself, so little
flattered by the communication which the King had supposed would have
been overpowering, that he scarce knew in what terms next to urge his
solicitation.
"Thou art silentthou art silent," he said, "my pretty Alice. Has the
King no more influence with thee than the poor Scottish page?"
"In one sense, every influence," said Alice; "for he commands my best
thoughts, my best wishes, my earnest prayers, my devoted loyalty,
which, as the men of the House of Lee have been ever ready to testify
with the sword, so are the women bound to seal, if necessary, with
their blood. But beyond the duties of a true and devoted subject, the
King is even less to Alice Lee than poor Louis Kerneguy. The Page could
have tendered an honourable unionthe Monarch can but offer a
contaminated coronet."
"You mistake, Aliceyou mistake," said the King, eagerly. "Sit down and
let me speak to yousit downWhat is't you fear?"
"I fear nothing, my liege," answered Alice. "What can I fear from the
King of BritainI, the daughter of his loyal subject, and under my
father's roof? But I remember the distance betwixt us; and though I
might trifle and jest with mine equal, to my King I must only appear in
the dutiful posture of a subject, unless where his safety may seem to
require that I do not acknowledge his dignity."
Charles, though young, being no novice in such scenes, was surprised to
encounter resistance of a kind which had not been opposed to him in
similar pursuits, even in cases where he had been unsuccessful. There
was neither anger, nor injured pride, nor disorder, nor disdain, real
or affected, in the manners and conduct of Alice. She stood, as it
seemed, calmly prepared to argue on the subject, which is generally
decided by passionshowed no inclination to escape from the apartment,
but appeared determined to hear with patience the suit of the
loverwhile her countenance and manner intimated that she had this
complaisance only in deference to the commands of the King.
"She is ambitious," thought Charles; "it is by dazzling her love of
glory, not by mere passionate entreaties, that I must hope to be
successful.I pray you be seated, my fair Alice," he said; "the lover
entreatsthe King commands you."
"The King," said Alice, "may permit the relaxation of the ceremonies
due to royalty, but he cannot abrogate the subject's duty, even by
express command. I stand here while it is your Majesty's pleasure to
addressa patient listener, as in duty bound."
"Know then, simple girl," said the King, "that in accepting my
proffered affection and protection, you break through no law either of
virtue or morality. Those who are born to royalty are deprived of many
of the comforts of private lifechiefly that which is, perhaps, the
dearest and most precious, the power of choosing their own mates for
life. Their formal weddings are guided upon principles of political
expedience only, and those to whom they are wedded are frequently, in
temper, person, and disposition, the most unlikely to make them happy.
Society has commiseration, therefore, towards us, and binds our
unwilling and often unhappy wedlocks with chains of a lighter and more
easy character than those which fetter other men, whose marriage ties,
as more voluntarily assumed, ought, in proportion, to be more strictly
binding. And therefore, ever since the time that old Henry built these
walls, priests and prelates, as well as nobles and statesmen, have been
accustomed to see a fair Rosamond rule the heart of an affectionate
monarch, and console him for the few hours of constraint and state
which he must bestow upon some angry and jealous Eleanor. To such a
connection the world attaches no blame; they rush to the festival to
admire the beauty of the lovely Esther, while the imperious Vashti is
left to queen it in solitude; they throng the palace to ask her
protection, whose influence is more in the state an hundred times than
that of the proud consort; her offspring rank with the nobles of the
land, and vindicate by their courage, like the celebrated Longsword,
Earl of Salisbury, their descent from royalty and from love. From such
connections our richest ranks of nobles are recruited; and the mother
lives, in the greatness of her posterity honoured and blest, as she
died lamented and wept in the arms of love and friendship."
"Did Rosamond so die, my lord?" said Alice. "Our records say she was
poisoned by the injured Queenpoisoned, without time allowed to call to
God for the pardon of her many faults. Did her memory so live? I have
heard that, when the Bishop purified the church at Godstowe, her
monument was broken open by his orders, and her bones thrown out into
unconsecrated ground."
"Those were rude old days, sweet Alice," answered Charles; "queens are
not now so jealous, nor bishops so rigorous. And know, besides, that in
the lands to which I would lead the loveliest of her sex, other laws
obtain, which remove from such ties even the slightest show of scandal.
There is a mode of matrimony, which, fulfilling all the rites of the
Church, leaves no stain on the conscience; yet investing the bride with
none of the privileges peculiar to her husband's condition, infringes
not upon the duties which the King owes to his subjects. So that Alice
Lee may, in all respects, become the real and lawful wife of Charles
Stewart, except that their private union gives her no title to be Queen
of England."
"My ambition," said Alice, "will be sufficiently gratified to see
Charles king, without aiming to share either his dignity in public, or
his wealth and regal luxury in private."
"I understand thee, Alice," said the King, hurt but not displeased.
"You ridicule me, being a fugitive, for speaking like a king. It is a
habit, I admit, which I have learned, and of which even misfortune
cannot cure me. But my case is not so desperate as you may suppose. My
friends are still many in these kingdoms; my allies abroad are bound,
by regard to their own interest, to espouse my cause. I have hopes
given me from Spain, from France, and from other nations; and I have
confidence that my father's blood has not been poured forth in vain,
nor is doomed to dry up without due vengeance. My trust is in Him from
whom princes derive their title, and, think what thou wilt of my
present condition, I have perfect confidence that I shall one day sit
on the throne of England."
"May God grant it!" said Alice; "and that he may grant it, noble
Prince, deign to considerwhether you now pursue a conduct likely to
conciliate his favour. Think of the course you recommend to a
motherless maiden, who has no better defence against your sophistry,
than what a sense of morality, together with the natural feeling of
female dignity inspires. Whether the death of her father, which would
be the consequence of her imprudence;whether the despair of her
brother, whose life has been so often in peril to save that of your
Majesty; whether the dishonour of the roof which has sheltered you,
will read well in your annals, or are events likely to propitiate God,
whose controversy with your House has been but too visible, or recover
the affections of the people of England, in whose eyes such actions are
an abomination, I leave to your own royal mind to consider."
Charles paused, struck with a turn to the conversation which placed his
own interests more in collision with the gratification of his present
passion than he had supposed.
"If your Majesty," said Alice, curtsying deeply, "has no farther
commands for my attendance, may I be permitted to withdraw?"
"Stay yet a little, strange and impracticable girl," said the King;
"and answer me but one question:Is it the lowness of my present
fortunes that makes my suit contemptible?"
"I have nothing to conceal, my liege," she said, "and my answer shall
be as plain and direct as the question you have asked. If I could have
been moved to an act of ignominious, insane, and ungrateful folly, it
could only arise from my being blinded by that passion, which I believe
is pleaded as an excuse for folly and for crime much more often than it
has a real existence. I must, in short, have been in love, as it is
calledand that might have beenwith my equal, but surely never with my
sovereign, whether such only in title, or in possession of his
kingdom."
"Yet loyalty was ever the pride, almost the ruling passion, of your
family, Alice," said the King.
"And could I reconcile that loyalty," said Alice, "with indulging my
sovereign, by permitting him to prosecute a suit dishonourable to
himself as to me? Ought I, as a faithful subject, to join him in a
folly, which might throw yet another stumbling-block in the path to his
restoration, and could only serve to diminish his security, even if he
were seated upon his throne?"
"At this rate," said Charles, discontentedly, "I had better have
retained my character of the page, than assumed that of a sovereign,
which it seems is still more irreconcilable with my wishes."
"My candour shall go still farther," said Alice. "I could have felt as
little for Louis Kerneguy as for the heir of Britain; for such love as
I have to bestow, (and it is not such as I read of in romance, or hear
poured forth in song,) has been already conferred on another object.
This gives your Majesty painI am sorry for itbut the wholesomest
medicines are often bitter."
"Yes," answered the King, with some asperity, "and physicians are
reasonable enough to expect their patients to swallow them, as if they
were honeycomb. It is true, then, that whispered tale of the cousin
Colonel, and the daughter of the loyal Lee has set her heart upon a
rebellious fanatic?"
"My love was given ere I knew what these words fanatic and rebel meant.
I recalled it not, for I am satisfied, that amidst the great
distractions which divide the kingdom, the person to whom you allude
has chosen his part, erroneously, perhaps, but conscientiouslyhe,
therefore, has still the highest place in my affection and esteem. More
he cannot have, and will not ask, until some happy turn shall reconcile
these public differences, and my father be once more reconciled to him.
Devoutly do I pray that such an event may occur by your Majesty's
speedy and unanimous restoration!"
"You have found out a reason," said the King, pettishly, "to make me
detest the thought of such a changenor have you, Alice, any sincere
interest to pray for it. On the contrary, do you not see that your
lover, walking side by side with Cromwell, may, or rather must, share
his power? nay, if Lambert does not anticipate him, he may trip up
Oliver's heels, and reign in his stead. And think you not he will find
means to overcome the pride of the loyal Lees, and achieve an union,
for which things are better prepared than that which Cromwell is said
to meditate betwixt one of his brats and the no less loyal heir of
Fauconberg?"
"Your Majesty," said Alice, "has found a way at length to avenge
yourselfif what I have said deserves vengeance."
"I could point out a yet shorter road to your union," said Charles,
without minding her distress, or perhaps enjoying the pleasure of
retaliation. "Suppose that you sent your Colonel word that there was
one Charles Stewart here, who had come to disturb the Saints in their
peaceful government, which they had acquired by prayer and preaching,
pike and gun,and suppose he had the art to bring down a half-score of
troopers, quite enough, as times go, to decide the fate of this heir of
royaltythink you not the possession of such a prize as this might
obtain from the Rumpers, or from Cromwell, such a reward as might
overcome your father's objections to a roundhead's alliance, and place
the fair Alice and her cousin Colonel in full possession of their
wishes?"
"My liege," said Alice, her cheeks glowing, and her eyes sparklingfor
she too had her share of the hereditary temperament of her family,
"this passes my patience. I have heard, without expressing anger, the
most ignominious persuasions addressed to myself, and I have vindicated
myself for refusing to be the paramour of a fugitive Prince, as if I
had been excusing myself from accepting a share of an actual crown. But
do you think I can hear all who are dear to me slandered without
emotion or reply? I will not, sir; and were you seated with all the
terrors of your father's Star-chamber around you, you should hear me
defend the absent and the innocent. Of my father I will say nothing,
but that if he is now without wealthwithout state, almost without a
sheltering home and needful foodit is because he spent all in the
service of the King. He needed not to commit any act of treachery or
villany to obtain wealth he had an ample competence in his own
possessions. For Markham Everard he knows no such thing as
selfishnesshe would not, for broad England, had she the treasures of
Peru in her bosom, and a paradise on her surface, do a deed that would
disgrace his own name, or injure the feelings of anotherKings, my
liege, may take a lesson from him. My liege, for the present I take my
leave."
"Alice, Alicestay!" exclaimed the King. "She is gone.This must be
virtuereal, disinterested, overawing virtueor there is no such thing
on earth. Yet Wilmot and Villiers will not believe a word of it, but
add the tale to the other wonders of Woodstock. 'Tis a rare wench! and
I profess, to use the Colonel's obtestation, that I know not whether to
forgive and be friends with her, or study a dire revenge. If it were
not for that accursed cousinthat puritan ColonelI could forgive every
thing else to so noble a wench. But a roundheaded rebel preferred to
methe preference avowed to my face, and justified with the assertion,
that a king might take a lesson from himit is gall and wormwood. If
the old man had not come up this morning as he did, the King should
have taken or given a lesson, and a severe one. It was a mad rencontre
to venture upon with my rank and responsibilityand yet this wench has
made me so angry with her, and so envious of him, that if an
opportunity offered, I should scarce be able to forbear him.Ha! whom
have we here?"
The interjection at the conclusion of this royal soliloquy, was
occasioned by the unexpected entrance of another personage of the
drama.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH.
Benedict. Shall I speak a word in your ear?
Claudio. God bless me from a challenge.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.
As Charles was about to leave the apartment, he was prevented by the
appearance of Wildrake, who entered with an unusual degree of swagger
in his gait, and of fantastic importance on his brow. "I crave your
pardon, fair sir," he said; "but, as they say in my country, when doors
are open dogs enter. I have knocked and called in the hall to no
purpose; so, knowing the way to this parlour, sir,for I am a light
partisan, and the road I once travel I never forget,I ventured to
present myself unannounced."
"Sir Henry Lee is abroad, sir, I believe, in the Chase," said Charles,
coldly, for the appearance of this somewhat vulgar debauchee was not
agreeable to him at the moment, "and Master Albert Lee has left the
Lodge for two or three days."
"I am aware of it, sir," said Wildrake; "but I have no business at
present with either."
"And with whom is your business?" said Charles; "that is, if I may be
permitted to asksince I think it cannot in possibility be with me."
"Pardon me in turn, sir," answered the cavalier; "in no possibility can
it be imparted to any other but yourself, if you be, as I think you
are, though in something better habit, Master Louis Girnigo, the
Scottish gentleman who waits upon Master Albert Lee."
"I am all you are like to find for him," answered Charles.
"In truth," said the cavalier, "I do perceive a difference, but rest,
and better clothing, will do much; and I am glad of it, since I would
be sorry to have brought a message, such as I am charged with, to a
tatterdemalion."
"Let us get to the business, sir, if you please," said the King"you
have a message for me, you say?"
"True, sir," replied Wildrake; "I am the friend of Colonel Markham
Everard, sir, a tall man, and a worthy person in the field, although I
could wish him a better causeA message I have to you, it is certain,
in a slight note, which I take the liberty of presenting with the usual
formalities." So saying, he drew his sword, put the billet he mentioned
upon the point, and making a profound bow, presented it to Charles.
The disguised Monarch accepted of it, with a grave return of the
salute, and said, as he was about to open the letter, "I am not, I
presume, to expect friendly contents in an epistle presented in so
hostile a manner?"
"A-hem, sir," replied the ambassador, clearing his voice, while he
arranged a suitable answer, in which the mild strain of diplomacy might
be properly maintained; "not utterly hostile, I suppose, sir, is the
invitation, though it be such as must be construed in the commencement
rather bellicose and pugnacious. I trust, sir, we shall find that a few
thrusts will make a handsome conclusion of the business; and so, as my
old master used to say, Pax mascitur ex bello. For my own poor share,
I am truly glad to have been graced by my friend, Markham Everard, in
this matterthe rather as I feared the puritan principles with which he
is imbued, (I will confess the truth to you, worthy sir,) might have
rendered him unwilling, from certain scruples, to have taken the
gentlemanlike and honourable mode of righting himself in such a case as
the present. And as I render a friend's duty to my friend, so I humbly
hope, Master Louis Girnigo, that I do no injustice to you, in preparing
the way for the proposed meeting, where, give me leave to say, I trust,
that if no fatal accident occur, we shall be all better friends when
the skirmish is over than we were before it began."
"I should suppose so, sir, in any case," said Charles, looking at the
letter; "worse than mortal enemies we can scarce be, and it is that
footing upon which this billet places us."
"You say true, sir," said Wildrake; "it is, sir, a cartel, introducing
to a single combat, for the pacific object of restoring a perfect good
understanding betwixt the survivorsin case that fortunately that word
can be used in the plural after the event of the meeting."
"In short, we only fight, I suppose," replied the King, "that we may
come to a perfectly good and amicable understanding?"
"You are right again, sir; and I thank you for the clearness of your
apprehension," said Wildrake."Ah, sir, it is easy to do with a person
of honour and of intellect in such a case as this. And I beseech you,
sir, as a personal kindness to myself, that, as the morning is like to
be frosty, and myself am in some sort rheumaticas war will leave its
scars behind, sir,I say, I will entreat of you to bring with you some
gentleman of honour, who will not disdain to take part in what is going
forwarda sort of pot-luck, sirwith a poor old soldier like myself
that we may take no harm by standing unoccupied during such cold
weather."
"I understand, sir," replied Charles; "if this matter goes forward, be
assured I will endeavour to provide you with a suitable opponent."
"I shall remain greatly indebted to you, sir," said Wildrake; "and I am
by no means curious about the quality of my antagonist. It is true I
write myself esquire and gentleman, and should account myself
especially honoured by crossing my sword with that of Sir Henry or
Master Albert Lee; but, should that not be convenient, I will not
refuse to present my poor person in opposition to any gentleman who has
served the King, which I always hold as a sort of letters of nobility
in itself, and, therefore, would on no account decline the duello with
such a person."
"The King is much obliged to you, sir," said Charles, "for the honour
you do his faithful subjects."
"O, sir, I am scrupulous on that pointvery scrupulous.When there is a
roundhead in question, I consult the Herald's books, to see that he is
entitled to bear arms, as is Master Markham Everard, without which, I
promise you, I had borne none of his cartel. But a cavalier is with me
a gentleman, of courseBe his birth ever so low, his loyalty has
ennobled his condition."
"It is well, sir," said the King. "This paper requests me to meet
Master Everard at six to-morrow morning, at the tree called the King's
OakI object neither to place nor time. He proffers the sword, at
which, he says, we possess some equalityI do not decline the weapon;
for company, two gentlemenI shall endeavour to procure myself an
associate, and a suitable partner for you, sir, if you incline to join
in the dance."
"I kiss your hand, sir, and rest yours, under a sense of obligation,"
answered the envoy.
"I thank you, sir," continued the King; "I will therefore be ready at
place and time, and suitably furnished; and I will either give your
friend such satisfaction with my sword as he requires, or will render
him such cause for not doing so as he will be contented with."
"You will excuse me, sir," said Wildrake, "if my mind is too dull,
under the circumstances, to conceive any alternative that can remain
betwixt two men of honour in such a case, exceptingsasa." He threw
himself into a fencing position, and made a pass with his sheathed
rapier, but not directed towards the person of the King, whom he
addressed.
"Excuse me, sir," said Charles, "if I do not trouble your intellects
with the consideration of a case which may not occur.But, for example,
I may plead urgent employment on the part of the public." This he spoke
in a low and mysterious tone of voice, which Wildrake appeared
perfectly to comprehend; for he laid his forefinger on his nose with
what he meant for a very intelligent and apprehensive nod.
"Sir," said he, "if you be engaged in any affair for the King, my
friend shall have every reasonable degree of patienceNay, I will fight
him myself in your stead, merely to stay his stomach, rather than you
should be interrupted.And, sir, if you can find room in your
enterprise for a poor gentleman that has followed Lunsford and Goring,
you have but to name day, time, and place of rendezvous; for truly,
sir, I am tired of the scald hat, cropped hair, and undertaker's cloak,
with which my friend has bedizened me, and would willingly ruffle it
out once more in the King's cause, when whether I be banged or hanged,
I care not."
"I shall remember what you say, sir, should an opportunity occur," said
the King; "and I wish his Majesty had many such subjectsI presume our
business is now settled?"
"When you shall have been pleased, sir, to give me a trifling scrap of
writing, to serve for my credentialsfor such, you know, is the
customyour written cartel hath its written answer."
"That, sir, will I presently do," said Charles, "and in good time, here
are the materials."
"And, sir," continued the envoy"Ah!ahem!if you have interest in the
household for a cup of sackI am a man of few words, and am somewhat
hoarse with much speakingmoreover, a serious business of this kind
always makes one thirsty.Besides, sir, to part with dry lips argues
malice, which God forbid should exist in such an honourable
conjuncture."
"I do not boast much influence in the house, sir," said the King; "but
if you would have the condescension to accept of this broad piece
towards quenching your thirst at the George"
"Sir," said the cavalier, (for the times admitted of this strange
species of courtesy, nor was Wildrake a man of such peculiar delicacy
as keenly to dispute the matter,)"I am once again beholden to you. But
I see not how it consists with my honour to accept of such
accommodation, unless you were to accompany and partake?"
"Pardon me, sir," replied Charles, "my safety recommends that I remain
rather private at present."
"Enough said," Wildrake observed; "poor cavaliers must not stand on
ceremony. I see, sir, you understand cutter's lawwhen one tall fellow
has coin, another must not be thirsty. I wish you, sir, a continuance
of health and happiness until to-morrow, at the King's Oak, at six
o'clock."
"Farewell, sir," said the King, and added, as Wildrake went down the
stair whistling, "Hey for cavaliers," to which air his long rapier,
jarring against the steps and banisters, bore no unsuitable burden
"Farewell, thou too just emblem of the state, to which war, and defeat,
and despair, have reduced many a gallant gentleman."
During the rest of the day, there occurred nothing peculiarly deserving
of notice. Alice sedulously avoided showing towards the disguised
Prince any degree of estrangement or shyness, which could be discovered
by her father, or by any one else. To all appearance, the two young
persons continued on the same footing in every respect. Yet she made
the gallant himself sensible, that this apparent intimacy was assumed
merely to save appearances, and in no way designed as retracting from
the severity with which she had rejected his suit. The sense that this
was the case, joined to his injured self-love, and his enmity against a
successful rival, induced Charles early to withdraw himself to a
solitary walk in the wilderness, where, like Hercules in the Emblem of
Cebes, divided betwixt the personifications of Virtue and of Pleasure,
he listened alternately to the voice of Wisdom and of passionate Folly.
Prudence urged to him the importance of his own life to the future
prosecution of the great object in which he had for the present
miscarriedthe restoration of monarchy in England, the rebuilding of
the throne, the regaining the crown of his father, the avenging his
death, and restoring to their fortunes and their country the numerous
exiles, who were suffering poverty and banishment on account of their
attachment to his cause. Pride too, or rather a just and natural sense
of dignity, displayed the unworthiness of a Prince descending to actual
personal conflict with a subject of any degree, and the ridicule which
would be thrown on his memory, should he lose his life for an obscure
intrigue by the hand of a private gentleman. What would his sage
counsellors, Nicholas and Hydewhat would his kind and wise governor,
the Marquis of Hertford, say to such an act of rashness and folly?
Would it not be likely to shake the allegiance of the staid and prudent
persons of the royalist party, since wherefore should they expose their
lives and estates to raise to the government of a kingdom a young man
who could not command his own temper? To this was to be added, the
consideration that even his success would add double difficulties to
his escape, which already seemed sufficiently precarious. If, stopping
short of death, he merely had the better of his antagonist, how did he
know that he might not seek revenge by delivering up to government the
malignant Louis Kerneguy, whose real character could not in that case
fail to be discovered?
These considerations strongly recommended to Charles that he should
clear himself of the challenge without fighting; and the reservation
under which he had accepted it, afforded him some opportunity of doing
so.
But Passion also had her arguments, which she addressed to a temper
rendered irritable by recent distress and mortification. In the first
place, if he was a prince, he was also a gentleman, entitled to resent
as such, and obliged to give or claim the satisfaction expected on
occasion of differences among gentlemen. With Englishmen, she urged, he
could never lose interest by showing himself ready, instead of
sheltering himself under his royal birth and pretensions, to come
frankly forward and maintain what he had done or said on his own
responsibility. In a free nation, it seemed as if he would rather gain
than lose in the public estimation by a conduct which could not but
seem gallant and generous. Then a character for courage was far more
necessary to support his pretensions than any other kind of reputation;
and the lying under a challenge, without replying to it, might bring
his spirit into question. What would Villiers and Wilmot say of an
intrigue, in which he had allowed himself to be shamefully baffled by a
country girl, and had failed to revenge himself on his rival? The
pasquinades which they would compose, the witty sarcasms which they
would circulate on the occasion, would be harder to endure than the
grave rebukes of Hertford, Hyde, and Nicholas. This reflection, added
to the stings of youthful and awakened courage, at length fixed his
resolution, and he returned to Woodstock determined to keep his
appointment, come of it what might.
Perhaps there mingled with his resolution a secret belief that such a
rencontre would not prove fatal. He was in the flower of his youth,
active in all his exercises, and no way inferior to Colonel Everard, as
far as the morning's experiment had gone, in that of self-defence. At
least, such recollection might pass through his royal mind, as he
hummed to himself a well-known ditty, which he had picked up during his
residence in Scotland
"A man may drink and not be drunk;
A man may fight and not be slain;
A man may kiss a bonnie lass,
And yet be welcome back again."
Meanwhile the busy and all-directing Dr. Rochecliffe had contrived to
intimate to Alice that she must give him a private audience, and she
found him by appointment in what was called the study, once filled with
ancient books, which, long since converted into cartridges, had made
more noise in the world at their final exit, than during the space
which had intervened betwixt that and their first publication. The
Doctor seated himself in a high-backed leathern easy-chair, and signed
to Alice to fetch a stool and sit down beside him.
"Alice," said the old man, taking her hand affectionately, "thou art a
good girl, a wise girl, a virtuous girl, one of those whose price is
above rubiesnot that rubies is the proper translationbut remind me
to tell you of that another time. Alice, thou knowest who this Louis
Kerneguy isnay, hesitate not to meI know every thingI am well aware
of the whole matter. Thou knowest this honoured house holds the
Fortunes of England." Alice was about to answer. "Nay, speak not, but
listen to me, AliceHow does he bear himself towards you?"
Alice coloured with the deepest crimson. "I am a country-bred girl,"
she said, "and his manners are too courtlike for me."
"Enough saidI know it all. Alice, he is exposed to a great danger
to-morrow, and you must be the happy means to prevent him."
"I prevent him!how, and in what manner?" said Alice, in surprise. "It
is my duty, as a subject, to do anythinganything that may become my
father's daughter"
Here she stopped, considerably embarrassed.
"Yes," continued the Doctor, "to-morrow he hath made an appointmentan
appointment with Markham Everard; the hour and place are setsix in the
morning, by the King's Oak. If they meet, one will probably fall."
"Now, may God forefend they should meet," said Alice, turning as
suddenly pale as she had previously reddened. "But harm cannot come of
it; Everard will never lift his sword against the King."
"For that," said Dr. Rochecliffe, "I would not warrant. But if that
unhappy young gentleman shall have still some reserve of the loyalty
which his general conduct entirely disavows, it would not serve us
here; for he knows not the King, but considers him merely as a
cavalier, from whom he has received injury."
"Let him know the truth, Doctor Rochecliffe, let him know it
instantly," said Alice; "he lift hand against the King, a fugitive
and defenceless! He is incapable of it. My life on the issue, he
becomes most active in his preservation."
"That is the thought of a maiden, Alice," answered the Doctor; "and, as
I fear, of a maiden whose wisdom is misled by her affections. It were
worse than treason to admit a rebel officer, the friend of the
arch-traitor Cromwell, into so great a secret. I dare not answer for
such rashness. Hammond was trusted by his father, and you know what
came of it."
"Then let my father know. He will meet Markham, or send to him,
representing the indignity done to him by attacking his guest."
"We dare not let your father into the secret who Louis Kerneguy really
is. I did but hint the possibility of Charles taking refuge at
Woodstock, and the rapture into which Sir Henry broke out, the
preparations for accommodation and the defence which he began to talk
of, plainly showed that the mere enthusiasm of his loyalty would have
led to a risk of discovery. It is you, Alice, who must save the hopes
of every true royalist."
"I!" answered Alice; "it is impossible.Why cannot my father be induced
to interfere, as in behalf of his friend and guest, though he know him
as no other than Louis Kerneguy?"
"You have forgot your father's character, my young friend," said the
Doctor; "an excellent man, and the best of Christians, till there is a
clashing of swords, and then he starts up the complete martialist, as
deaf to every pacific reasoning as if he were a game-cock."
"You forget, Doctor Rochecliffe," said Alice, "that this very morning,
if I understand the thing aright, my father prevented them from
fighting."
"Ay," answered the Doctor, "because he deemed himself bound to keep the
peace in the Royal-Park; but it was done with such regret, Alice, that,
should he find them at it again, I am clear to foretell he will only so
far postpone the combat as to conduct them to some unprivileged ground,
and there bid them tilt and welcome, while he regaled his eyes with a
scene so pleasing. No, Alice, it is you, and you only, who can help us
in this extremity."
"I see no possibility," said she, again colouring, "how I can be of the
least use."
"You must send a note," answered Dr. Rochecliffe, "to the Kinga note
such as all women know how to write better than any man can teach
themto meet you at the precise hour of the rendezvous. He will not
fail you, for I know his unhappy foible."
"Doctor Rochecliffe," said Alice gravely,"you have known me from
infancy,What have you seen in me to induce you to believe that I
should ever follow such unbecoming counsel?"
"And if you have known me from infancy," retorted the Doctor, "what
have you seen of me that you should suspect me of giving counsel to
my friend's daughter, which it would be misbecoming in her to follow?
You cannot be fool enough, I think, to suppose, that I mean you should
carry your complaisance farther than to keep him in discourse for an
hour or two, till I have all in readiness for his leaving this place,
from which I can frighten him by the terrors of an alleged search?So,
C. S. mounts his horse and rides off, and Mistress Alice Lee has the
honour of saving him."
"Yes, at the expense of my own reputation," said Alice, "and the risk
of an eternal stain on my family. You say you know all. What can the
King think of my appointing an assignation with him after what has
passed, and how will it be possible to disabuse him respecting the
purpose of my doing so?"
"I will disabuse him, Alice; I will explain the whole."
"Doctor Rochecliffe," said Alice, "you propose what is impossible. You
can do much by your ready wit and great wisdom; but if new-fallen snow
were once sullied, not all your art could wash it clean again; and it
is altogether the same with a maiden's reputation."
"Alice, my dearest child," said the Doctor, "bethink you that if I
recommended this means of saving the life of the King, at least
rescuing him from instant peril, it is because I see no other of which
to avail myself. If I bid you assume, even for a moment, the semblance
of what is wrong, it is but in the last extremity, and under
circumstances which cannot returnI will take the surest means to
prevent all evil report which can arise from what I recommend."
"Say not so, Doctor," said Alice; "better undertake to turn back the
Isis than to stop the course of calumny. The King will make boast to
his whole licentious court, of the ease with which, but for a sudden
alarm, he could have brought off Alice Lee as a paramourthe mouth
which confers honour on others, will then be the means to deprive me of
mine. Take a fitter course, one more becoming your own character and
profession. Do not lead him to fail in an engagement of honour, by
holding out the prospect of another engagement equally dishonourable,
whether false or true. Go to the King himself, speak to him, as the
servants of God have a right to speak, even to earthly sovereigns.
Point out to him the folly and the wickedness of the course he is about
to pursueurge upon him, that he fear the sword, since wrath bringeth
the punishment of the sword. Tell him, that the friends who died for
him in the field at Worcester, on the scaffolds, and on the gibbets,
since that bloody daythat the remnant who are in prison, scattered,
fled, and ruined on his account, deserve better of him and his father's
race, than that he should throw away his life in an idle brawlTell
him, that it is dishonest to venture that which is not his own,
dishonourable to betray the trust which brave men have reposed in his
virtue and in his courage."
Dr. Rochecliffe looked on her with a melancholy smile, his eyes
glistening as he said, "Alas! Alice, even I could not plead that just
cause to him so eloquently or so impressively as thou dost. But, alack!
Charles would listen to neither. It is not from priests or women, he
would say, that men should receive counsel in affairs of honour."
"Then, hear me, Doctor RochecliffeI will appear at the place of
rendezvous, and I will prevent the combatdo not fear that I can do
what I sayat a sacrifice, indeed, but not that of my reputation. My
heart may be broken"she endeavoured to stifle her sobs with
difficulty"for the consequence; but not in the imagination of a man,
and far less that man her sovereign, shall a thought of Alice Lee be
associated with dishonour." She hid her face in her handkerchief, and
burst out into unrestrained tears.
"What means this hysterical passion?" said Dr. Rochecliffe, surprised
and somewhat alarmed by the vehemence of her grief"Maiden, I must have
no concealments; I must know."
"Exert your ingenuity, then, and discover it," said Alicefor a moment
put out of temper at the Doctor's pertinacious self-importance"Guess
my purpose, as you can guess at every thing else. It is enough to have
to go through my task, I will not endure the distress of telling it
over, and that to one whoforgive me, dear Doctormight not think my
agitation on this occasion fully warranted."
"Nay, then, my young mistress, you must be ruled," said Rochecliffe;
"and if I cannot make you explain yourself, I must see whether your
father can gain so far on you." So saying, he arose somewhat
displeased, and walked towards the door.
"You forget what you yourself told me, Doctor Rochecliffe," said Alice,
"of the risk of communicating this great secret to my father."
"It is too true," he said, stopping short and turning round; "and I
think, wench, thou art too smart for me, and I have not met many such.
But thou art a good girl, and wilt tell me thy device of free-willit
concerns my character and influence with the King, that I should be
fully acquainted with whatever is actum atque tractatum, done and
treated of in this matter."
"Trust your character to me, good Doctor," said Alice, attempting to
smile; "it is of firmer stuff than those of women, and will be safer in
my custody than mine could have been in yours. And thus much I
condescendyou shall see the whole sceneyou shall go with me yourself,
and much will I feel emboldened and heartened by your company."
"That is something," said the Doctor, though not altogether satisfied
with this limited confidence. "Thou wert ever a clever wench, and I
will trust thee; indeed, trust thee I find I must, whether voluntarily
or no."
"Meet me, then," said Alice, "in the wilderness to-morrow. But first
tell me, are you well assured of time and place?a mistake were fatal."
"Assure yourself my information is entirely accurate," said the Doctor,
resuming his air of consequence, which had been a little diminished
during the latter part of their conference.
"May I ask," said Alice, "through what channel you acquired such
important information?"
"You may ask, unquestionably," he answered, now completely restored to
his supremacy; "but whether I will answer or not, is a very different
question. I conceive neither your reputation nor my own is interested
in your remaining in ignorance on that subject. So I have my secrets as
well as you, mistress; and some of them, I fancy, are a good deal more
worth knowing."
"Be it so," said Alice, quietly; "if you will meet me in the wilderness
by the broken dial at half-past five exactly, we will go together
to-morrow, and watch them as they come to the rendezvous. I will on the
way get the better of my present timidity, and explain to you the means
I design to employ to prevent mischief. You can perhaps think of making
some effort which may render my interference, unbecoming and painful as
it must be, altogether unnecessary."
"Nay, my child," said the Doctor, "if you place yourself in my hands,
you will be the first that ever had reason to complain of my want of
conduct, and you may well judge you are the very last (one excepted)
whom I would see suffer for want of counsel. At half-past five, then,
at the dial in the wildernessand God bless our undertaking!"
Here their interview was interrupted by the sonorous voice of Sir Henry
Lee, which shouted their names, "Daughter AliceDoctor Rochecliffe,"
through passage and gallery.
"What do you here," said he, entering, "sitting like two crows in a
mist, when we have such rare sport below? Here is this wild
crack-brained boy Louis Kerneguy, now making me laugh till my sides are
fit to split, and now playing on his guitar sweetly enough to win a
lark from the heavens.Come away with you, come away. It is hard work
to laugh alone."
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH.
This is the place, the centre of the grove;
Here stands the oak, the monarch of the wood.
JOHN HOME.
The sun had risen on the broad boughs of the forest, but without the
power of penetrating into its recesses, which hung rich with heavy
dewdrops, and were beginning on some of the trees to exhibit the varied
tints of autumn; it being the season when Nature, like a prodigal whose
race is well-nigh run, seems desirous to make up in profuse gaiety and
variety of colours, for the short space which her splendour has then to
endure. The birds were silentand even Robin-redbreast, whose
chirruping song was heard among the bushes near the Lodge, emboldened
by the largesses with which the good old knight always encouraged his
familiarity, did not venture into the recesses of the wood, where he
encountered the sparrow-hawk, and other enemies of a similar
description, preferring the vicinity of the dwellings of man, from whom
he, almost solely among the feathered tribes, seems to experience
disinterested protection.
The scene was therefore at once lovely and silent, when the good Dr.
Rochecliffe, wrapped in a scarlet roquelaure, which had seen service in
its day, muffling his face more from habit than necessity, and
supporting Alice on his arm, (she also defended by a cloak against the
cold and damp of the autumn morning,) glided through the tangled and
long grass of the darkest alleys, almost ankle-deep in dew, towards the
place appointed for the intended duel. Both so eagerly maintained the
consultation in which they were engaged, that they were alike
insensible of the roughness and discomforts of the road, though often
obliged to force their way through brushwood and coppice, which poured
down on them all the liquid pearls with which they were loaded, till
the mantles they were wrapped in hung lank by their sides, and clung to
their shoulders heavily charged with moisture. They stopped when they
had attained a station under the coppice, and shrouded by it, from
which they could see all that passed on the little esplanade before the
King's Oak, whose broad and scathed form, contorted and shattered
limbs, and frowning brows, made it appear like some ancient war-worn
champion, well selected to be the umpire of a field of single combat.
The first person who appeared at the rendezvous was the gay cavalier
Roger Wildrake. He also was wrapped in his cloak, but had discarded his
puritanic beaver, and wore in its stead a Spanish hat, with a feather
and gilt hatband, all of which had encountered bad weather and hard
service; but to make amends for the appearance of poverty by the show
of pretension, the castor was accurately adjusted after what was rather
profanely called the dme cut, used among the more desperate cavaliers.
He advanced hastily, and exclaimed aloud"First in the field after all,
by Jove, though I bilked Everard in order to have my morning draught.
It has done me much good," he added, smacking his lips."Well, I
suppose I should search the ground ere my principal comes up, whose
Presbyterian watch trudges as slow as his Presbyterian step."
He took his rapier from under his cloak, and seemed about to search the
thickets around.
"I will prevent him," whispered the Doctor to Alice. "I will keep faith
with youyou shall not come on the scenenisi dignus vindice nodus
I'll explain that another time. Vindex is feminine as well as
masculine, so the quotation is defensible.Keep you close."
So saying, he stepped forward on the esplanade, and bowed to Wildrake.
"Master Louis Kerneguy," said Wildrake, pulling off his hat; but
instantly discovering his error, he added, "But noI beg your pardon,
sirFatter, shorter, older.Mr. Kerneguy's friend, I suppose, with whom
I hope to have a turn by and by.And why not now, sir, before our
principals come up? Just a snack to stay the orifice of the stomach,
till the dinner is served, sir? What say you?"
"To open the orifice of the stomach more likely, or to give it a new
one," said the Doctor.
"True, sir," said Roger, who seemed now in his element; "you say
wellthat is as thereafter may be.But come, sir, you wear your face
muffled. I grant you, it is honest men's fashion at this unhappy time;
the more is the pity. But we do all above boardwe have no traitors
here. I'll get into my gears first, to encourage you, and show you that
you have to deal with a gentleman, who honours the King, and is a match
fit to fight with any who follow him, as doubtless you do, sir, since
you are the friend of Master Louis Kerneguy."
All this while, Wildrake was busied undoing the clasps of his
square-caped cloak.
"Offoff, ye lendings," he said, "borrowings I should more properly
call you
Via the curtain which shadow'd Borgia!"
So saying, he threw the cloak from him, and appeared in cuerpo, in a
most cavalier-like doublet, of greasy crimson satin, pinked and slashed
with what had been once white tiffany; breeches of the same; and
nether-stocks, or, as we now call them, stockings, darned in many
places, and which, like those of Poins, had been once peach-coloured. A
pair of pumps, ill calculated for a walk through the dew, and a broad
shoulderbelt of tarnished embroidery, completed his equipment.
"Come, sir!" he exclaimed; "make haste, off with your sloughHere I
stand tight and trueas loyal a lad as ever stuck rapier through a
roundhead.Come, sir, to your tools!" he continued; "we may have
half-a-dozen thrusts before they come yet, and shame them for their
tardiness.Pshaw!" he exclaimed, in a most disappointed tone, when the
Doctor, unfolding his cloak, showed his clerical dress; "Tush! it's but
the parson after all!"
Wildrake's respect for the Church, however, and his desire to remove
one who might possibly interrupt a scene to which he looked forward
with peculiar satisfaction, induced him presently to assume another
tone.
"I beg pardon," he said, "my dear DoctorI kiss the hem of your
cassockI do, by the thundering JoveI beg your pardon again.But I am
happy I have met with youThey are raving for your presence at the
Lodgeto marry, or christen, or bury, or confess, or something very
urgent.For Heaven's sake, make haste!"
"At the Lodge?" said the Doctor; "why, I left the Lodge this instantI
was there later, I am sure, than you could be, who came the Woodstock
road."
"Well," replied Wildrake, "it is at Woodstock they want you.Rat it,
did I say the Lodge?No, noWoodstockMine host cannot be hangedhis
daughter marriedhis bastard christened, or his wife buriedwithout the
assistance of a real clergymanYour Holdenoughs won't do for
them.He's a true man mine host; so, as you value your function, make
haste."
"You will pardon me, Master Wildrake," said the Doctor"I wait for
Master Louis Kerneguy."
"The devil you do!" exclaimed Wildrake. "Why, I always knew the Scots
could do nothing without their minister; but dn it, I never thought
they put them to this use neither. But I have known jolly customers in
orders, who understood how to handle the sword as well as their
prayer-book. You know the purpose of our meeting, Doctor. Do you come
only as a ghostly comforteror as a surgeon, perhapsor do you ever
take bilboa in hand?Sasa!"
Here he made a fencing demonstration with his sheathed rapier.
"I have done so, sir, on necessary occasion," said Dr. Rochecliffe.
"Good sir, let this stand for a necessary one," said Wildrake. "You
know my devotion for the Church. If a divine of your skill would do me
the honour to exchange but three passes with me, I should think myself
happy for ever."
"Sir," said Rochecliffe, smiling, "were there no other objection to
what you propose, I have not the meansI have no weapon."
"What? you want the de quoi? that is unlucky indeed. But you have a
stout cane in your handwhat hinders our trying a pass (my rapier being
sheathed of course) until our principals come up? My pumps are full of
this frost-dew; and I shall be a toe or two out of pocket, if I am to
stand still all the time they are stretching themselves; for, I fancy,
Doctor, you are of my opinion, that the matter will not be a fight of
cock-sparrows."
"My business here is to make it, if possible, be no fight at all," said
the divine.
"Now, rat me, Doctor, but that is too spiteful," said Wildrake; "and
were it not for my respect for the Church, I could turn Presbyterian,
to be revenged."
"Stand back a little, if you please, sir," said the Doctor; "do not
press forward in that direction."For Wildrake, in the agitation of his
movements, induced by his disappointment, approached the spot where
Alice remained still concealed.
"And wherefore not, I pray you, Doctor?" said the cavalier.
But on advancing a step, he suddenly stopped short, and muttered to
himself, with a round oath of astonishment, "A petticoat in the
coppice, by all that is reverend, and at this hour in the morning
Whewewew!"He gave vent to his surprise in a long low
interjectional whistle; then turning to the Doctor, with his finger on
the side of his nose, "You're sly, Doctor, dd sly! But why not give me
a hint of youryour commodity thereyour contraband goods? Gad, sir, I
am not a man to expose the eccentricities of the Church."
"Sir," said Dr. Rochecliffe, "you are impertinent; and if time served,
and it were worth my while, I would chastise you."
And the Doctor, who had served long enough in the wars to have added
some of the qualities of a captain of horse to those of a divine,
actually raised his cane, to the infinite delight of the rake, whose
respect for the Church was by no means able to subdue his love of
mischief.
"Nay, Doctor," said he, "if you wield your weapon broadsword-fashion,
in that way, and raise it as high as your head, I shall be through you
in a twinkling." So saying, he made a pass with his sheathed rapier,
not precisely at the Doctor's person, but in that direction; when
Rochecliffe, changing the direction of his cane from the broadsword
guard to that of the rapier, made the cavalier's sword spring ten yards
out of his hand, with all the dexterity of my friend Francalanza. At
this moment both the principal parties appeared on the field.
Everard exclaimed angrily to Wildrake, "Is this your friendship? In
Heaven's name, what make you in that fool's jacket, and playing the
pranks of a jack-pudding?" while his worthy second, somewhat
crest-fallen, held down his head, like a boy caught in roguery, and
went to pick up his weapon, stretching his head, as he passed, into the
coppice, to obtain another glimpse, if possible, of the concealed
object of his curiosity.
Charles in the meantime, still more surprised at what he beheld, called
out on his part"What! Doctor Rochecliffe become literally one of the
church militant, and tilting with my friend cavalier Wildrake? May I
use the freedom to ask him to withdraw, as Colonel Everard and I have
some private business to settle?"
It was Dr. Rochecliffe's cue, on this important occasion, to have armed
himself with the authority of his sacred office, and used a tone of
interference which might have overawed even a monarch, and made him
feel that his monitor spoke by a warrant higher than his own. But the
indiscreet latitude he had just given to his own passion, and the
levity in which he had been detected, were very unfavourable to his
assuming that superiority, to which so uncontrollable a spirit as that
of Charles, wilful as a prince, and capricious as a wit, was at all
likely to submit. The Doctor did, however, endeavour to rally his
dignity, and replied, with the gravest, and at the same time the most
respectful, tone he could assume, that he also had business of the most
urgent nature, which prevented him from complying with Master
Kerneguy's wishes and leaving the spot.
"Excuse this untimely interruption," said Charles, taking off his hat,
and bowing to Colonel Everard, "which I will immediately put an end
to." Everard gravely returned his salute, and was silent.
"Are you mad, Doctor Rochecliffe?" said Charles"or are you deaf?or
have you forgotten your mother-tongue? I desired you to leave this
place."
"I am not mad," said the divine, rousing up his resolution, and
regaining the natural firmness of his voice"I would prevent others
from being so; I am not deafI would pray others to hear the voice of
reason and religion; I have not forgotten my mother-tonguebut I have
come hither to speak the language of the Master of kings and princes."
"To fence with broomsticks, I should rather suppose," said the King
"Come, Doctor Rochecliffe, this sudden fit of assumed importance befits
you as little as your late frolic. You are not, I apprehend, either a
Catholic priest or a Scotch Mass-John to claim devoted obedience from
your hearers, but a Church-of-England-man, subject to the rules of that
Communionand to its HEAD." In speaking the last words, the King
lowered his voice to a low and impressive whisper. Everard observing
this drew back, the natural generosity of his temper directing him to
avoid overhearing private discourse, in which the safety of the
speakers might be deeply concerned. They continued, however, to observe
great caution in their forms of expression.
"Master Kerneguy," said the clergyman, "it is not I who assume
authority or control over your wishesGod forbid; I do but tell you
what reason, Scripture, religion, and morality, alike prescribe for
your rule of conduct."
"And I, Doctor," said the King, smiling, and pointing to the unlucky
cane, "will take your example rather than your precept. If a reverend
clergyman will himself fight a bout at single-stick, what right can he
have to interfere in gentlemen's quarrels?Come, sir, remove yourself,
and do not let your present obstinacy cancel former obligations."
"Bethink yourself," said the divine,"I can say one word which will
prevent all this."
"Do it," replied the King, "and in doing so belie the whole tenor and
actions of an honourable lifeabandon the principles of your Church,
and become a perjured traitor and an apostate, to prevent another
person from discharging his duty as a gentleman! This were indeed
killing your friend to prevent the risk of his running himself into
danger. Let the Passive Obedience, which is so often in your mouth, and
no doubt in your head, put your feet for once into motion, and step
aside for ten minutes. Within that space your assistance may be needed,
either as body-curer or soul-curer."
"Nay, then," said Dr. Rochecliffe, "I have but one argument left."
While this conversation was carried on apart, Everard had almost
forcibly detained by his own side his follower, Wildrake, whose greater
curiosity, and lesser delicacy, would otherwise have thrust him
forward, to get, if possible, into the secret. But when he saw the
Doctor turn into the coppice, he whispered eagerly to Everard"A gold
Carolus to a commonwealth farthing, the Doctor has not only come to
preach a peace, but has brought the principal conditions along with
him!"
Everard made no answer; he had already unsheathed his sword; and
Charles hardly saw Rochecliffe's back fairly turned, than he lost no
time in following his example. But, ere they had done more than salute
each other, with the usual courteous nourish of their weapons, Dr.
Rochecliffe again stood between them, leading in his hand Alice Lee,
her garments dank with dew, and her long hair heavy with moisture, and
totally uncurled. Her face was extremely pale, but it was the paleness
of desperate resolution, not of fear. There was a dead pause of
astonishmentthe combatants rested on their swordsand even the
forwardness of Wildrake only vented itself in half-suppressed
ejaculations, as, "Well done, Doctorthis beats the 'parson among the
pease'No less than your patron's daughterAnd Mistress Alice, whom I
thought a very snowdrop, turned out a dog-violet after alla
Lindabrides, by heavens, and altogether one of ourselves."
Excepting these unheeded mutterings, Alice was the first to speak.
"Master Everard," she said"Master Kerneguy, you are surprised to see
me hereYet, why should I not tell the reason at once? Convinced that I
am, however guiltlessly, the unhappy cause of your misunderstanding, I
am too much interested to prevent fatal consequences to pause upon any
step which may end it.Master Kerneguy, have my wishes, my entreaties,
my prayershave your noble thoughtsthe recollections of your own high
duties, no weight with you in this matter? Let me entreat you to
consult reason, religion, and common sense, and return your weapon."
"I am obedient as an Eastern slave, madam," answered Charles, sheathing
his sword; "but I assure you, the matter about which you distress
yourself is a mere trifle, which will be much better settled betwixt
Colonel Everard and myself in five minutes, than with the assistance of
the whole Convocation of the Church, with a female parliament to assist
their reverend deliberations.Mr. Everard, will you oblige me by
walking a little farther?We must change ground, it seems."
"I am ready to attend you, sir," said Everard, who had sheathed his
sword so soon as his antagonist did so.
"I have then no interest with you, sir," said Alice, continuing to
address the King"Do you not fear I should use the secret in my power
to prevent this affair going to extremity? Think you this gentleman,
who raises his hand against you, if he knew"
"If he knew that I were Lord Wilmot, you would say?Accident has given
him proof to that effect, with which he is already satisfied, and I
think you would find it difficult to induce him to embrace a different
opinion."
Alice paused, and looked on the King with great indignation, the
following words dropping from her mouth by intervals, as if they burst
forth one by one in spite of feelings that would have restrained
them"Coldselfishungratefulunkind!Woe to the land which"Here she
paused with marked emphasis, then added"which shall number thee, or
such as thee, among her nobles and rulers!"
"Nay, fair Alice," said Charles, whose good nature could not but feel
the severity of this reproach, though too slightly to make all the
desired impression, "You are too unjust to metoo partial to a happier
man. Do not call me unkind; I am but here to answer Mr. Everard's
summons. I could neither decline attending, nor withdraw now I am here,
without loss of honour; and my loss of honour would be a disgrace which
must extend to manyI cannot fly from Mr. Everardit would be too
shameful. If he abides by his message, it must be decided as such
affairs usually are. If he retreats or yields it up, I will, for your
sake, wave punctilio. I will not even ask an apology for the trouble it
has afforded me, but let all pass as if it were the consequence of some
unhappy mistake, the grounds of which shall remain on my part
unenquired into.This I will do for your sake, and it is much for a man
of honour to condescend so farYou know that the condescension from me
in particular is great indeed. Then do not call me ungenerous, or
ungrateful, or unkind, since I am ready to do all, which, as a man, I
can do, and more perhaps than as a man of honour I ought to do."
"Do you hear this, Markham Everard?" exclaimed Alice"do you hear
this?The dreadful option is left entirely at your disposal. You were
wont to be temperate in passion, religious, forgivingwill you, for a
mere punctilio, drive on this private and unchristian broil to a
murderous extremity? Believe me, if you now, contrary to all the better
principles of your life, give the reins to your passions, the
consequences may be such as you will rue for your lifetime, and even,
if Heaven have not mercy, rue after your life is finished."
Markham Everard remained for a moment gloomily silent,with his eyes
fixed on the ground. At length he looked up, and answered her"Alice,
you are a soldier's daughtera soldier's sister. All your relations,
even including one whom you then entertained some regard for, have been
made soldiers by these unhappy discords. Yet you have seen them take
the fieldin some instances on contrary sides, to do their duty where
their principles called them, without manifesting this extreme degree
of interest."
He continued, "However, what is the true concern here is our relations
with your own self, and mine is with this gentleman's interest in you.
I had expected that our disagreement could be dealt with as men dispute
matters of honor. With your intrusion this cannot be done. I have few
other options for politely resolving this, for you would surely hate
the one who killed the other, to the loss of us both. Therefore,"
addressing Charles, "in the interest of avoid this fate, I am forced to
yield my interest in her to you; and, as I will never be the means of
giving her pain, I trust you will not think I act unworthily in
retracting the letter which gave you the trouble of attending this
place at this hour.Alice," he said, turning his head towards her,
"Farewell, Alice, at once, and for ever!"
The poor young lady, whose adventitious spirit had almost deserted her,
attempted to repeat the word farewell, but failing in the attempt, only
accomplished a broken and imperfect sound, and would have sunk to the
ground, but for Dr. Rochecliffe, who caught her as she fell. Roger
Wildrake, also, who had twice or thrice put to his eyes what remained
of a kerchief, interested by the lady's evident distress, though unable
to comprehend the mysterious cause, hastened to assist the divine in
supporting so fair a burden.
Meanwhile, the disguised Prince had beheld the whole in silence, but
with an agitation to which he was unwonted, and which his swarthy
features, and still more his motions, began to betray. His posture was
at first absolutely stationary, with his arms folded on his bosom, as
one who waits to be guided by the current of events; presently after,
he shifted his position, advanced and retired his foot, clenched and
opened his hand, and otherwise showed symptoms that he was strongly
agitated by contending feelingswas on the point, too, of forming some
sudden resolution, and yet still in uncertainty what course he should
pursue.
But when he saw Markham Everard, after one look of unspeakable anguish
towards Alice, turning his back to depart, he broke out into his
familiar ejaculation, "Oddsfish! this must not be." In three strides he
overtook the slowly retiring Everard, tapped him smartly on the
shoulder, and, as he turned round, said, with an air of command, which
he well knew how to adopt at pleasure, "One word with you, sir."
"At your pleasure, sir," replied Everard; and naturally conjecturing
the purpose of his antagonist to be hostile, took hold of his rapier
with the left hand, and laid the right on the hilt, not displeased at
the supposed call; for anger is at least as much akin to disappointment
as pity is said to be to love.
"Pshaw!" answered the King, "that cannot be nowColonel Everard, I am
CHARLES STEWART!"
Everard recoiled in the greatest surprise, and next exclaimed,
"Impossibleit cannot be! The King of Scots has escaped from
Bristol.My Lord Wilmot, your talents for intrigue are well known; but
this will not pass upon me."
"The King of Scots, Master Everard," replied Charles, "since you are so
pleased to limit his sovereigntyat any rate, the Eldest Son of the
late Sovereign of Britainis now before you; therefore it is impossible
he could have escaped from Bristol. Doctor Rochecliffe shall be my
voucher, and will tell you, moreover, that Wilmot is of a fair
complexion and light hair; mine, you may see, is swart as a raven."
Rochecliffe, seeing what was passing, abandoned Alice to the care of
Wildrake, whose extreme delicacy in the attempts he made to bring her
back to life, formed an amiable contrast to his usual wildness, and
occupied him so much, that he remained for the moment ignorant of the
disclosure in which he would have been so much interested. As for Dr.
Rochecliffe, he came forward, wringing his hands in all the
demonstration of extreme anxiety, and with the usual exclamations
attending such a state.
"Peace, Doctor Rochecliffe!" said the King, with such complete
self-possession as indeed became a prince; "we are in the hands, I am
satisfied, of a man of honour. Master Everard must be pleased in
finding only a fugitive prince in the person in whom he thought he had
discovered a successful rival. He cannot but be aware of the feelings
which prevented me from taking advantage of the cover which this young
lady's devoted loyalty afforded me, at the risk of her own happiness.
He is the party who is to profit by my candour; and certainly I have a
right to expect that my condition, already indifferent enough, shall
not be rendered worse by his becoming privy to it under such
circumstances. At any rate, the avowal is made; and it is for Colonel
Everard to consider how he is to conduct himself."
"Oh, your Majesty! my Liege! my King! my royal Prince!" exclaimed
Wildrake, who, at length discovering what was passing, had crawled on
his knees, and seizing the King's hand, was kissing it, more like a
child mumbling gingerbread, or like a lover devouring the yielded hand
of his mistress, than in the manner in which such salutations pass at
court"If my dear friend Mark Everard should prove a dog on this
occasion, rely on me I will cut his throat on the spot, were I to do
the same for myself the moment afterwards!"
"Hush, hush, my good friend and loyal subject," said the King, "and
compose yourself; for though I am obliged to put on the Prince for a
moment, we have not privacy or safety to receive our subjects in King
Cambyses' vein."
Everard, who had stood for a time utterly confounded, awoke at length
like a man from a dream.
"Sire," he said, bowing low, and with profound deference, "if I do not
offer you the homage of a subject with knee and sword, it is because
God, by whom kings reign, has denied you for the present the power of
ascending your throne without rekindling civil war. For your safety
being endangered by me, let not such an imagination for an instant
cross your mind. Had I not respected your personwere I not bound to
you for the candour with which your noble avowal has prevented the
misery of my future life, your misfortunes would have rendered your
person as sacred, so far as I can protect it, as it could be esteemed
by the most devoted royalist in the kingdom. If your plans are soundly
considered, and securely laid, think that all which is now passed is
but a dream. If they are in such a state that I can aid them, saving my
duty to the Commonwealth, which will permit me to be privy to no
schemes of actual violence, your Majesty may command my services."
"It may be I may be troublesome to you, sir," said the King; "for my
fortunes are not such as to permit me to reject even the most limited
offers of assistance; but if I can, I will dispense with applying to
you. I would not willingly put any man's compassion at war with his
sense of duty on my account.Doctor, I think there will be no farther
tilting to-day, either with sword or cane; so we may as well return to
the Lodge, and leave these"looking at Alice and Everard"who may have
more to say in explanation."
"Nono!" exclaimed Alice, who was now perfectly come to herself, and
partly by her own observation, and partly from the report of Dr.
Rochecliffe, comprehended all that had taken place"My cousin Everard
and I have nothing to explain; he will forgive me for having riddled
with him when I dared not speak plainly; and I forgive him for having
read my riddle wrong. But my father has my promisewe must not
correspond or converse for the presentI return instantly to the Lodge,
and he to Woodstock, unless you, sire," bowing to the King, "command
his duty otherwise. Instant to the town, Cousin Markham; and if danger
should approach, give us warning."
Everard would have delayed her departure, would have excused himself
for his unjust suspicion, would have said a thousand things; but she
would not listen to him, saying, for all other answer,"Farewell,
Markham, till God send better days!"
"She is an angel of truth and beauty," said Roger Wildrake; "and I,
like a blasphemous heretic, called her a Lindabrides![1]But has your
Majesty, craving your pardon, no commands for poor Hodge Wildrake, who
will blow out his own or any other man's brains in England, to do your
Grace a pleasure?"
[1] A sort of court name for a female of no reputation.
"We entreat our good friend Wildrake to do nothing hastily," said
Charles, smiling; "such brains as his are rare, and should not be
rashly dispersed, as the like may not be easily collected. We recommend
him to be silent and prudentto tilt no more with loyal clergymen of
the Church of England, and to get himself a new jacket with all
convenient speed, to which we beg to contribute our royal aid. When fit
time comes, we hope to find other service for him."
As he spoke, he slid ten pieces into the hand of poor Wildrake, who,
confounded with the excess of his loyal gratitude, blubbered like a
child, and would have followed the King, had not Dr. Rochecliffe, in
few words, but peremptory, insisted that he should return with his
patron, promising him he should certainly be employed in assisting the
King's escape, could an opportunity be found of using his services.
"Be so generous, reverend sir, and you bind me to you for ever," said
the cavalier; "and I conjure you not to keep malice against me on
account of the foolery you wot of."
"I have no occasion, Captain Wildrake," said the Doctor, "for I think I
had the best of it."
"Well, then, Doctor, I forgive you on my part: and I pray you, for
Christian charity, let me have a finger in this good service; for as I
live in hope of it, rely that I shall die of disappointment."
While the Doctor and soldier thus spoke together, Charles took leave of
Everard, (who remained uncovered while he spoke to him,) with his usual
grace"I need not bid you no longer be jealous of me," said the King;
"for I presume you will scarce think of a match betwixt Alice and me,
which would be too losing a one on her side. For other thoughts, the
wildest libertine could not entertain them towards so high-minded a
creature; and believe me, that my sense of her merit did not need this
last distinguished proof of her truth and loyalty. I saw enough of her
from her answers to some idle sallies of gallantry, to know with what a
lofty character she is endowed. Mr. Everard, her happiness I see
depends on you, and I trust you will be the careful guardian of it. If
we can take any obstacle out of the way of your joint happiness, be
assured we will use our influence.Farewell, sir; if we cannot be
better friends, do not at least let us entertain harder or worse
thoughts of each other than we have now."
There was something in the manner of Charles that was extremely
affecting; something too, in his condition as a fugitive in the kingdom
which was his own by inheritance, that made a direct appeal to
Everard's bosomthough in contradiction to the dictates of that policy
which he judged it his duty to pursue in the distracted circumstances
of the country. He remained, as we have said, uncovered; and in his
manner testified the highest expression of reverence, up to the point
when such might seem a symbol of allegiance. He bowed so low as almost
to approach his lips to the hand of Charlesbut he did not kiss it."I
would rescue your person, sir," he said, "with the purchase of my own
life. More"He stopped short, and the King took up his sentence where
it broke off"More you cannot do," said Charles, "to maintain an
honourable consistencybut what you have said is enough. You cannot
render homage to my proffered hand as that of a sovereign, but you will
not prevent my taking yours as a friendif you allow me to call myself
soI am sure, as a well-wisher at least."
The generous soul of Everard was touchedHe took the King's hand, and
pressed it to his lips.
"Oh!" he said, "were better times to come"
"Bind yourself to nothing, dear Everard," said the good-natured Prince,
partaking his emotion"We reason ill while our feelings are moved. I
will recruit no man to his loss, nor will I have my fallen fortunes
involve those of others, because they have humanity enough to pity my
present condition. If better times come, why we will meet again, and I
hope to our mutual satisfaction. If not, as your future father-in-law
would say," (a benevolent smile came over his face, and accorded not
unmeetly with his glistening eyes,)"If not, this parting was well
made."
Everard turned away with a deep bow, almost choking under contending
feelings; the uppermost of which was a sense of the generosity with
which Charles, at his own imminent risk, had cleared away the darkness
that seemed about to overwhelm his prospects of happiness for life
mixed with a deep sense of the perils by which he was environed. He
returned to the little town, followed by his attendant Wildrake, who
turned back so often, with weeping eyes, and hands clasped and uplifted
as supplicating Heaven, that Everard was obliged to remind him that his
gestures might be observed by some one, and occasion suspicion.
The generous conduct of the King during the closing part of this
remarkable scene, had not escaped Alice's notice; and, erasing at once
from her mind all resentment of Charles's former conduct, and all the
suspicions they had deservedly excited, awakened in her bosom a sense
of the natural goodness of his disposition, which permitted her to
unite regard for his person, with that reverence for his high office in
which she had been educated as a portion of her creed. She felt
convinced, and delighted with the conviction, that his virtues were his
own, his libertinism the fault of education, or rather want of
education, and the corrupting advice of sycophants and flatterers. She
could not know, or perhaps did not in that moment consider, that in a
soil where no care is taken to eradicate tares, they will outgrow and
smother the wholesome seed, even if the last is more natural to the
soil. For, as Dr. Rochecliffe informed her afterwards for her
edification, promising, as was his custom, to explain the precise words
on some future occasion, if she would put him in mindVirtus rectorem
ducemque desiderat; Vitia sine magistro discuntur.[2]
[2] The quotations of the learned doctor and antiquary were often left
uninterpreted, though seldom incommunicated, owing to his contempt for
those who did not understand the learned languages, and his dislike to
the labour of translation, for the benefit of ladies and of country
gentlemen. That fair readers and country thanes may not on this
occasion burst in ignorance, we add the meaning of the passage in the
text"Virtue requires the aid of a governor and director; vices are
learned without a teacher."
There was no room for such reflections at present. Conscious of mutual
sincerity, by a sort of intellectual communication, through which
individuals are led to understand each other better, perhaps, in
delicate circumstances, than by words, reserve and simulation appeared
to be now banished from the intercourse between the King and Alice.
With manly frankness, and, at the same time, with princely
condescension, he requested her, exhausted as she was, to accept of his
arm on the way homeward, instead of that of Dr. Rochecliffe; and Alice
accepted of his support with modest humility, but without a shadow of
mistrust or fear. It seemed as if the last half hour had satisfied them
perfectly with the character of each other, and that each had full
conviction of the purity and sincerity of the other's intentions.
Dr. Rochecliffe, in the meantime, had fallen some four or five paces
behind; for, less light and active than Alice, (who had, besides, the
assistance of the King's support,) he was unable, without effort and
difficulty, to keep up with the pace of Charles, who then was, as we
have elsewhere noticed, one of the best walkers in England, and was
sometimes apt to forget (as great men will) that others were inferior
to him in activity.
"Dear Alice," said the King, but as if the epithet were entirely
fraternal, "I like your Everard muchI would to God he were of our
determinationBut since that cannot be, I am sure he will prove a
generous enemy." "May it please you, sire," said Alice, modestly, but
with some firmness, "my cousin will never be your Majesty's personal
enemyand he is one of the few on whose slightest word you may rely
more than on the oath of those who profess more strongly and formally.
He is utterly incapable of abusing your Majesty's most generous and
voluntary confidence."
"On my honour, I believe so, Alice," replied the King: "But oddsfish!
my girl, let Majesty sleep for the presentit concerns my safety, as I
told your brother latelyCall me sir, then, which belongs alike to
king, peer, knight, and gentlemanor rather let me be wild Louis
Kerneguy again." Alice looked down, and shook her head. "That cannot
be, please your Majesty."
"What! Louis was a saucy companiona naughty presuming boyand you
cannot abide him?Well, perhaps you are rightBut we will wait for Dr.
Rochecliffe"he said, desirous, with good-natured delicacy, to make
Alice aware that he had no purpose of engaging her in any discussion
which could recall painful ideas. They paused accordingly, and again
she felt relieved and grateful.
"I cannot persuade our fair friend, Mistress Alice, Doctor," said the
King, "that she must, in prudence, forbear using titles of respect to
me, while there are such very slender means of sustaining them."
"It is a reproach to earth and to fortune," answered the divine, as
fast as his recovered breath would permit him, "that your most sacred
Majesty's present condition should not accord with the rendering of
those honours which are your own by birth, and which, with God's
blessing on the efforts of your loyal subjects, I hope to see rendered
to you as your hereditary right, by the universal voice of the three
kingdoms."
"True, Doctor," replied the King; "but, in the meanwhile, can you
expound to Mistress Alice Lee two lines of Horace, which I have carried
in my thick head several years, till now they have come pat to my
purpose. As my canny subjects of Scotland say, If you keep a thing
seven years you are sure to find a use for it at lastTelephusay, so
it begins
'Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque,
Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba.'"
"I will explain the passage to Mistress Alice," said the Doctor, "when
she reminds me of itor rather," (he added, recollecting that his
ordinary dilatory answer on such occasions ought not to be returned
when the order for exposition emanated from his Sovereign,) "I will
repeat a poor couplet from my own translation of the poem
'Heroes and kings, in exile forced to roam.
Leave swelling phrase and seven-leagued words at home.'"
"A most admirable version, Doctor," said Charles; "I feel all its
force, and particularly the beautiful rendering of sesquipedalia
verba into seven-leagued bootswords I meanit reminds me, like half
the things I meet with in this world, of the Contes de Commre
L'Oye."[3]
[3] Tales of Mother Goose.
Thus conversing they reached the Lodge; and as the King went to his
chamber to prepare for the breakfast summons, now impending, the idea
crossed his mind, "Wilmot, and Villiers, and Killigrew, would laugh at
me, did they hear of a campaign in which neither man nor woman had been
conqueredBut, oddsfish! let them laugh as they will, there is
something at my heart which tells me, that for once in my life I have
acted well."
That day and the next were spent in tranquillity, the King waiting
impatiently for the intelligence, which was to announce to him that a
vessel was prepared somewhere on the coast. None such was yet in
readiness; but he learned that the indefatigable Albert Lee was, at
great personal risk, traversing the sea-coast from town to village, and
endeavouring to find means of embarkation among the friends of the
royal cause, and the correspondents of Dr. Rochecliffe.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-NINTH.
Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch!
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
At this time we should give some account of the other actors in our
drama, the interest due to the principal personages having for some
time engrossed our attention exclusively.
We are, therefore, to inform the reader, that the lingering longings of
the Commissioners, who had been driven forth of their proposed paradise
of Woodstock, not by a cherub indeed, but, as they thought, by spirits
of another sort, still detained them in the vicinity. They had, indeed,
left the little borough under pretence of indifferent accommodation.
The more palpable reasons were, that they entertained some resentment
against Everard, as the means of their disappointment, and had no mind
to reside where their proceedings could be overlooked by him, although
they took leave in terms of the utmost respect. They went, however, no
farther than Oxford, and remained there, as ravens, who are accustomed
to witness the chase, sit upon a tree or crag, at a little distance,
and watch the disembowelling of the deer, expecting the relics which
fall to their share. Meantime, the University and City, but especially
the former, supplied them with some means of employing their various
faculties to advantage, until the expected moment, when, as they hoped,
they should either be summoned to Windsor, or Woodstock should once
more be abandoned to their discretion.
Bletson, to pass the time, vexed the souls of such learned and pious
divines and scholars, as he could intrude his hateful presence upon, by
sophistry, atheistical discourse, and challenges to them to impugn the
most scandalous theses. Desborough, one of the most brutally ignorant
men of the period, got himself nominated the head of a college, and
lost no time in cutting down trees, and plundering plate. As for
Harrison, he preached in full uniform in Saint Mary's Church, wearing
his buff-coat, boots, and spurs, as if he were about to take the field
for the fight at Armageddon. And it was hard to say, whether the seat
of Learning, Religion, and Loyalty, as it is called by Clarendon, was
more vexed by the rapine of Desborough, the cold scepticism of Bletson,
or the frantic enthusiasm of the Fifth-Monarchy Champion.
Ever and anon, soldiers, under pretence of relieving guard, or
otherwise, went and came betwixt Woodstock and Oxford, and maintained,
it may be supposed, a correspondence with Trusty Tomkins, who, though
he chiefly resided in the town of Woodstock, visited the Lodge
occasionally, and to whom, therefore, they doubtless trusted for
information concerning the proceedings there.
Indeed, this man Tomkins seemed by some secret means to have gained the
confidence in part, if not in whole, of almost every one connected with
these intrigues. All closeted him, all conversed with him in private;
those who had the means propitiated him with gifts, those who had not
were liberal of promises. When he chanced to appear at Woodstock, which
always seemed as it were by accidentif he passed through the hall, the
knight was sure to ask him to take the foils, and was equally certain
to be, after less or more resistance, victorious in the encounter; so,
in consideration of so many triumphs, the good Sir Henry almost forgave
him the sins of rebellion and puritanism. Then, if his slow and formal
step was heard in the passages approaching the gallery, Dr.
Rochecliffe, though he never introduced him to his peculiar boudoir,
was sure to meet Master Tomkins in some neutral apartment, and to
engage him in long conversations, which apparently had great interest
for both.
Neither was the Independent's reception below stairs less gracious than
above. Joceline failed not to welcome him with the most cordial
frankness; the pasty and the flagon were put in immediate requisition,
and good cheer was the general word. The means for this, it may be
observed, had grown more plenty at Woodstock since the arrival of Dr.
Rochecliffe, who, in quality of agent for several royalists, had
various sums of money at his disposal. By these funds it is likely that
Trusty Tomkins also derived his own full advantage.
In his occasional indulgence in what he called a fleshly frailty, (and
for which he said he had a privilege,) which was in truth an attachment
to strong liquors, and that in no moderate degree, his language, at
other times remarkably decorous and reserved, became wild and animated.
He sometimes talked with all the unction of an old debauchee, of former
exploits, such as deer-stealing, orchard-robbing, drunken gambols, and
desperate affrays in which he had been engaged in the earlier part of
his life, sung bacchanalian and amorous ditties, dwelt sometimes upon
adventures which drove Phbe Mayflower from the company, and penetrated
even the deaf ears of Dame Jellicot, so as to make the buttery in which
he held his carousals no proper place for the poor old woman.
In the middle of these wild rants, Tomkins twice or thrice suddenly ran
into religious topics, and spoke mysteriously, but with great
animation, and a rich eloquence, on the happy and pre-eminent saints,
who were saints, as he termed them, indeedMen who had stormed the
inner treasure-house of Heaven, and possessed themselves of its
choicest jewels. All other sects he treated with the utmost contempt,
as merely quarrelling, as he expressed it, like hogs over a trough
about husks and acorns; under which derogatory terms, he included alike
the usual rites and ceremonies of public devotion, the ordinances of
the established churches of Christianity, and the observances, nay, the
forbearances, enjoined by every class of Christians. Scarcely hearing,
and not at all understanding him, Joceline, who seemed his most
frequent confidant on such occasions, generally led him back into some
strain of rude mirth, or old recollection of follies before the Civil
Wars, without caring about or endeavouring to analyze the opinion of
this saint of an evil fashion, but fully sensible of the protection
which his presence afforded at Woodstock, and confident in the honest
meaning of so freespoken a fellow, to whom ale and brandy, when better
liquor was not to be come by, seemed to be principal objects of life,
and who drank a health to the King, or any one else, whenever required,
provided the cup in which he was to perform the libation were but a
brimmer.
These peculiar doctrines, which were entertained by a sect sometimes
termed the Family of Love, but more commonly Ranters, had made some
progress in times when such variety of religious opinions were
prevalent, that men pushed the jarring heresies to the verge of
absolute and most impious insanity. Secrecy had been enjoined on these
frantic believers in a most blasphemous doctrine, by the fear of
consequences, should they come to be generally announced; and it was
the care of Master Tomkins to conceal the spiritual freedom which he
pretended to have acquired, from all whose resentment would have been
stirred by his public avowal of them. This was not difficult; for their
profession of faith permitted, nay, required their occasional
conformity with the sectaries or professors of any creed which chanced
to be uppermost.
Tomkins had accordingly the art to pass himself on Dr. Rochecliffe as
still a zealous member of the Church of England, though serving under
the enemy's colours, as a spy in their camp; and as he had on several
times given him true and valuable intelligence, this active intriguer
was the more easily induced to believe his professions.
Nevertheless, lest this person's occasional presence at the Lodge,
which there were perhaps no means to prevent without exciting
suspicion, should infer danger to the King's person, Rochecliffe,
whatever confidence he otherwise reposed in him, recommended that, if
possible, the King should keep always out of his sight, and when
accidentally discovered, that he should only appear in the character of
Louis Kerneguy. Joseph Tomkins, he said, was, he really believed,
Honest Joe; but honesty was a horse which might be overburdened, and
there was no use in leading our neighbour into temptation.
It seemed as if Tomkins himself had acquiesced in this limitation of
confidence exercised towards him, or that he wished to seem blinder
than he really was to the presence of this stranger in the family. It
occurred to Joceline, who was a very shrewd fellow, that once or twice,
when by inevitable accident Tomkins had met Kerneguy, he seemed less
interested in the circumstance than he would have expected from the
man's disposition, which was naturally prying and inquisitive. "He
asked no questions about the young stranger," said Joceline"God avert
that he knows or suspects too much!" But his suspicions were removed,
when, in the course of their subsequent conversation, Joseph Tomkins
mentioned the King's escape from Bristol as a thing positively certain,
and named both the vessel in which, he said, he had gone off, and the
master who commanded her, seeming so convinced of the truth of the
report, that Joceline judged it impossible he could have the slightest
suspicion of the reality.
Yet, notwithstanding this persuasion, and the comradeship which had
been established between them, the faithful under-keeper resolved to
maintain a strict watch over his gossip Tomkins, and be in readiness to
give the alarm should occasion arise. True, he thought, he had reason
to believe that his said friend, notwithstanding his drunken and
enthusiastic rants, was as trustworthy as he was esteemed by Dr.
Rochecliffe; yet still he was an adventurer, the outside and lining of
whose cloak were of different colours, and a high reward, and pardon
for past acts of malignancy, might tempt him once more to turn his
tippet. For these reasons Joceline kept a strict, though unostentatious
watch over Trusty Tomkins.
We have said, that the discreet seneschal was universally well received
at Woodstock, whether in the borough or at the Lodge, and that even
Joceline Joliffe was anxious to conceal any suspicions which he could
not altogether repress, under a great show of cordial hospitality.
There were, however, two individuals, who, for very different reasons,
nourished personal dislike against the individual so generally
acceptable.
One was Nehemiah Holdenough, who remembered, with great bitterness of
spirit, the Independent's violent intrusion into his pulpit, and who
ever spoke of him in private as a lying missionary, into whom Satan had
put a spirit of delusion; and preached, besides, a solemn sermon on the
subject of the false prophet, out of whose mouth came frogs. The
discourse was highly prized by the Mayor and most of the better class,
who conceived that their minister had struck a heavy blow at the very
root of Independency. On the other hand, those of the private spirit
contended, that Joseph Tomkins had made a successful and triumphant
rally, in an exhortation on the evening of the same day, in which he
proved, to the conviction of many handicraftsmen, that the passage in
Jeremiah, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bare rule by
their means," was directly applicable to the Presbyterian system of
church government. The clergyman dispatched an account of his
adversary's conduct to the Reverend Master Edwards, to be inserted in
the next edition of Gangraena, as a pestilent heretic; and Tomkins
recommended the parson to his master, Desborough, as a good subject on
whom to impose a round fine, for vexing the private spirit; assuring
him, at the same time, that though the minister might seem poor, yet if
a few troopers were quartered on him till the fine was paid, every rich
shopkeeper's wife in the borough would rob the till, rather than go
without the mammon of unrighteousness with which to redeem their priest
from sufferance; holding, according to his expression, with Laban, "You
have taken from me my gods, and what have I more?" There was, of
course, little cordiality between the polemical disputants, when
religious debate took so worldly a turn.
But Joe Tomkins was much more concerned at the evil opinion which
seemed to be entertained against him, by one whose good graces he was
greatly more desirous to obtain than those of Nehemiah Holdenough. This
was no other than pretty Mistress Phbe Mayflower, for whose conversion
he had felt a strong vocation, ever since his lecture upon Shakspeare
on their first meeting at the Lodge. He seemed desirous, however, to
carry on this more serious work in private, and especially to conceal
his labours from his friend Joceline Joliffe, lest, perchance, he had
been addicted to jealousy. But it was in vain that he plied the
faithful damsel, sometimes with verses from the Canticles, sometimes
with quotations from Green's Arcadia, or pithy passages from Venus and
Adonis, and doctrines of a nature yet more abstruse, from the popular
work entitled Aristotle's Masterpiece. Unto no wooing of his, sacred or
profane, metaphysical or physical, would Phbe Mayflower seriously
incline.
The maiden loved Joceline Joliffe, on the one hand; and, on the other,
if she disliked Joseph Tomkins when she first saw him, as a rebellious
puritan, she had not been at all reconciled by finding reason to regard
him as a hypocritical libertine. She hated him in both capacitiesnever
endured his conversation when she could escape from itand when obliged
to remain, listened to him only because she knew he had been so deeply
trusted, that to offend him might endanger the security of the family,
in the service of which she had been born and bred up, and to whose
interest she was devoted. For reasons somewhat similar, she did not
suffer her dislike of the steward to become manifest before Joceline
Joliffe, whose spirit, as a forester and a soldier, might have been
likely to bring matters to an arbitrement, in which the couteau de
chasse and quarterstaff of her favourite, would have been too
unequally matched with the long rapier and pistols which his dangerous
rival always carried about his person. But it is difficult to blind
jealousy when there is any cause of doubt; and perhaps the sharp watch
maintained by Joceline on his comrade, was prompted not only by his
zeal for the King's safety, but by some vague suspicion that Tomkins
was not ill disposed to poach upon his own fair manor.
Phbe, in the meanwhile, like a prudent girl, sheltered herself as much
as possible by the presence of Goody Jellicot. Then, indeed, it is true
the Independent, or whatever he was, used to follow her with his
addresses to very little purpose; for Phbe seemed as deaf, through
wilfulness, as the old matron by natural infirmity. This indifference
highly incensed her new lover, and induced him anxiously to watch for a
time and place, in which he might plead his suit with an energy that
should command attention. Fortune, that malicious goddess, who so often
ruins us by granting the very object of our vows, did at length procure
him such an opportunity as he had long coveted.
It was about sunset, or shortly after, when Phbe, upon whose activity
much of the domestic arrangements depended, went as far as fair
Rosamond's spring to obtain water for the evening meal, or rather to
gratify the prejudice of the old knight, who believed that celebrated
fountain afforded the choicest supplies of the necessary element. Such
was the respect in which he was held by his whole family, that to
neglect any of his wishes that could be gratified, though with
inconvenience to themselves, would, in their estimation, have been
almost equal to a breach of religious duty.
To fill the pitcher had, we know, been of late a troublesome task; but
Joceline's ingenuity had so far rendered it easy, by repairing rudely a
part of the ruined front of the ancient fountain, that the water was
collected, and trickling along a wooden spout, dropped from a height of
about two feet. A damsel was thereby enabled to place her pitcher under
the slowly dropping supply, and, without toil to herself, might wait
till her vessel was filled.
Phbe Mayflower, on the evening we allude to, saw, for the first time,
this little improvement; and, justly considering it as a piece of
gallantry of her silvan admirer, designed to save her the trouble of
performing her task in a more inconvenient manner, she gratefully
employed the minutes of ease which the contrivance procured her, in
reflecting on the good-nature and ingenuity of the obliging engineer,
and perhaps in thinking he might have done as wisely to have waited
till she came to the fountain, that he might have secured personal
thanks for the trouble he had taken. But then she knew he was detained
in the buttery with that odious Tomkins, and rather than have seen the
Independent along with him, she would have renounced the thought of
meeting Joceline.
As she was thus reflecting, Fortune was malicious enough to send
Tomkins to the fountain, and without Joceline. When she saw his figure
darken the path up which he came, an anxious reflection came over the
poor maiden's breast, that she was alone, and within the verge of the
forest, where in general persons were prohibited to come during the
twilight, for fear of disturbing the deer settling to their repose. She
encouraged herself, however, and resolved to show no sense of fear,
although, as the steward approached, there was something in the man's
look and eye no way calculated to allay her apprehensions.
"The blessings of the evening upon you, my pretty maiden," he said. "I
meet you even as the chief servant of Abraham, who was a steward like
myself, met Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, at the
well of the city of Nahor, in Mesopotamia. Shall I not, therefore, say
to you, set down thy pitcher that I may drink?"
"The pitcher is at your service, Master Tomkins," she replied, "and you
may drink as much as you will; but you have, I warrant, drank better
liquor, and that not long since."
It was, indeed, obvious that the steward had arisen from a revel, for
his features were somewhat flushed, though he had stopped far short of
intoxication. But Phbe's alarm at his first appearance was rather
increased when she observed how he had been lately employed.
"I do but use my privilege, my pretty Rebecca; the earth is given to
the saints, and the fulness thereof. They shall occupy and enjoy it,
both the riches of the mine, and the treasures of the vine; and they
shall rejoice, and their hearts be merry within them. Thou hast yet to
learn the privileges of the saints, my Rebecca."
"My name is Phbe," said the maiden, in order to sober the enthusiastic
rapture which he either felt or affected.
"Phbe after the flesh," he said, "but Rebecca being spiritualised; for
art thou not a wandering and stray sheep?and am I not sent to fetch
thee within the fold?Wherefore else was it said, Thou shalt find her
seated by the well, in the wood which is called after the ancient
harlot, Rosamond?"
"You have found me sitting here sure enough," said Phbe; "but if you
wish to keep me company, you must walk to the Lodge with me; and you
shall carry my pitcher for me, if you will be so kind. I will hear all
the good things you have to say to me as we go along. But Sir Henry
calls for his glass of water regularly before prayers."
"What!" exclaimed Tomkins, "hath the old man of bloody hand and
perverse heart sent thee hither to do the work of a bondswoman? Verily
thou shalt return enfranchised; and for the water thou hast drawn for
him, it shall be poured forth, even as David caused to be poured forth
the water of the well of Bethlehem."
So saying, he emptied the water pitcher, in spite of Phbe's
exclamations and entreaties. He then replaced the vessel beneath the
little conduit, and continued:"Know that this shall be a token to
thee. The filling of that pitcher shall be like the running of a
sand-glass; and if within the time which shall pass ere it rises to the
brim, thou shalt listen to the words which I shall say to thee, then it
shall be well with thee, and thy place shall be high among those who,
forsaking the instruction which is as milk for babes and sucklings, eat
the strong food which nourishes manhood. But if the pitcher shall
overbrim with water ere thy ear shall hear and understand, thou shalt
then be given as a prey, and as a bondsmaiden, unto those who shall
possess the fat and the fair of the earth."
"You frighten me, Master Tomkins," said Phbe, "though I am sure you do
not mean to do so. I wonder how you dare speak words so like the good
words in the Bible, when you know how you laughed at your own master,
and all the rest of themwhen you helped to play the hobgoblins at the
Lodge."
"Think'st thou then, thou simple fool, that in putting that deceit upon
Harrison and the rest, I exceeded my privileges?Nay, verily.Listen to
me, foolish girl. When in former days I lived the most wild, malignant
rakehell in Oxfordshire, frequenting wakes and fairs, dancing around
May-poles, and showing my lustihood at football and cudgel-playingYea,
when I was called, in the language of the uncircumcised, Philip
Hazeldine, and was one of the singers in the choir, and one of the
ringers in the steeple, and served the priest yonder, by name
Rochecliffe, I was not farther from the straight road than when, after
long reading, I at length found one blind guide after another, all
burners of bricks in Egypt. I left them one by one, the poor tool
Harrison being the last; and by my own unassisted strength, I have
struggled forward to the broad and blessed light, whereof thou too,
Phbe, shalt be partaker."
"I thank you, Master Tomkins," said Phbe, suppressing some fear under
an appearance of indifference; "but I shall have light enough to carry
home my pitcher, would you but let me take it; and that is all the want
of light I shall have this evening."
So saying, she stooped to take the pitcher from the fountain; but he
snatched hold of her by the arm, and prevented her from accomplishing
her purpose. Phbe, however, was the daughter of a bold forester,
prompt at thoughts of self-defence; and though she missed getting hold
of the pitcher, she caught up instead a large pebble, which she kept
concealed in her right hand.
"Stand up, foolish maiden, and listen," said the Independent, sternly;
"and know, in one word, that sin, for which the spirit of man is
punished with the vengeance of Heaven, lieth not in the corporal act,
but in the thought of the sinner. Believe, lovely Phbe, that to the
pure all acts are pure, and that sin is in our thought, not in our
actionseven as the radiance of the day is dark to a blind man, but
seen and enjoyed by him whose eyes receive it. To him who is but a
novice in the things of the spirit, much is enjoined, much is
prohibited; and he is fed with milk fit for babesfor him are
ordinances, prohibitions, and commands. But the saint is above these
ordinances and restraints.To him, as to the chosen child of the house,
is given the pass-key to open all locks which withhold him from the
enjoyment of his heart's desire. Into such pleasant paths will I guide
thee, lovely Phbe, as shall unite in joy, in innocent freedom,
pleasures, which, to the unprivileged, are sinful and prohibited." "I
really wish, Master Tomkins, you would let me go home." said Phbe, not
comprehending the nature of his doctrine, but disliking at once his
words and his manner. He went on, however, with the accursed and
blasphemous doctrines, which, in common with others of the pretended
saints, he had adopted, after having long shifted from one sect to
another, until he settled in the vile belief, that sin, being of a
character exclusively spiritual, only existed in the thoughts, and that
the worst actions were permitted to those who had attained to the pitch
of believing themselves above ordinance. "Thus, my Phbe," he
continued, endeavouring to draw her towards him "I can offer thee more
than ever was held out to woman since Adam first took his bride by the
hand. It shall be for others to stand dry-lipped, doing penance, like
papists, by abstinence, when the vessel of pleasure pours forth its
delights. Dost thou love money?I have it, and can procure moream at
liberty to procure it on every hand, and by every meansthe earth is
mine and its fulness. Do you desire power?which of these poor cheated
commissioner-fellows' estates dost thou covet, I will work it out for
thee; for I deal with a mightier spirit than any of them. And it is not
without warrant that I have aided the malignant Rochecliffe, and the
clown Joliffe, to frighten and baffle them in the guise they did. Ask
what thou wilt, Phbe, I can give, or I can procure it for theeThen
enter with me into a life of delight in this world, which shall prove
but an anticipation of the joys of Paradise hereafter!"
Again the fanatical voluptuary endeavoured to pull the poor girl
towards him, while she, alarmed, but not scared out of her presence of
mind, endeavoured, by fair entreaty, to prevail on him to release her.
But his features, in themselves not marked, had acquired a frightful
expression, and he exclaimed, "No, Phbedo not think to escapethou
art given to me as a captivethou hast neglected the hour of grace, and
it has glided pastSee, the water trickles over thy pitcher, which was
to be a sign between usTherefore I will urge thee no more with words,
of which thou art not worthy, but treat thee as a recusant of offered
grace."
"Master Tomkins," said Phbe, in an imploring tone, "consider, for
God's sake, I am a fatherless childdo me no injury, it would be a
shame to your strength and your manhoodI cannot understand your fine
wordsI will think on them till to-morrow." Then, in rising resentment,
she added more vehemently"I will not be used rudelystand off, or I
will do you a mischief." But, as he pressed upon her with a violence,
of which the object could not be mistaken, and endeavoured to secure
her right hand, she exclaimed, "Take it then, with a wanion to
you!"and struck him an almost stunning blow on the face, with the
pebble which she held ready for such an extremity.
The fanatic let her go, and staggered backward, half stupified; while
Phbe instantly betook herself to flight, screaming for help as she
ran, but still grasping the victorious pebble. Irritated to frenzy by
the severe blow which he had received, Tomkins pursued, with every
black passion in his soul and in his face, mingled with fear least his
villany should be discovered. He called on Phbe loudly to stop, and
had the brutality to menace her with one of his pistols if she
continued to fly. Yet she slacked not her pace for his threats, and he
must either have executed them, or seen her escape to carry the tale to
the Lodge, had she not unhappily stumbled over the projecting root of a
fir-tree. But as he rushed upon his prey, rescue interposed in the
person of Joceline Joliffe, with his quarterstaff on his shoulder. "How
now? what means this?" he said, stepping between Phbe and her pursuer.
Tomkins, already roused to fury, made no other answer than by
discharging at Joceline the pistol which he held in his hand. The ball
grazed the under keeper's face, who, in requital of the assault, and
saying "Aha! Let ash answer iron," applied his quarterstaff with so
much force to the Independent's head, that lighting on the left temple,
the blow proved almost instantly mortal.
A few convulsive struggles were accompanied with these broken words,
"JocelineI am gonebut I forgive theeDoctor RochecliffeI wish I had
minded moreOh!the clergymanthe funeral service"As he uttered these
words, indicative, it may be, of his return to a creed, which perhaps
he had never abjured so thoroughly as he had persuaded himself, his
voice was lost in a groan, which, rattling in the throat, seemed unable
to find its way to the air. These were the last symptoms of life: the
clenched hands presently relaxedthe closed eyes opened, and stared on
the heavens a lifeless jellythe limbs extended themselves and
stiffened. The body, which was lately animated with life, was now a
lump of senseless claythe soul, dismissed from its earthly tenement in
a moment so unhallowed, was gone before the judgment-seat.
"Oh, what have you done?what have you done, Joceline!" exclaimed
Phbe; "you have killed the man!"
"Better than he should have killed me," answered Joceline; "for he was
none of the blinkers that miss their mark twice running.And yet I am
sorry for him.Many a merry bout have we had together when he was wild
Philip Hazeldine, and then he was bad enough; but since he daubed over
his vices with hypocrisy, he seems to have proved worse devil than
ever."
"Oh, Joceline, come away," said poor Phbe, "and do not stand gazing on
him thus;" for the woodsman, resting on his fatal weapon, stood looking
down on the corpse with the appearance of a man half stunned at the
event.
"This comes of the ale pitcher," she continued, in the true style of
female consolation, "as I have often told youFor Heaven's sake, come
to the Lodge, and let us consult what is to be done."
"Stay first, girl, and let me drag him out of the path; we must not
have him lie herein all men's sightWill you not help me, wench?"
"I cannot, JocelineI would not touch a lock on him for all Woodstock."
"I must to this gear myself, then," said Joceline, who, a soldier as
well as a woodsman, still had great reluctance to the necessary task.
Something in the face and broken words of the dying man had made a deep
and terrific impression on nerves not easily shaken. He accomplished
it, however, so far as to drag the late steward out of the open path,
and bestow his body amongst the undergrowth of brambles and briers, so
as not to be visible unless particularly looked for. He then returned
to Phbe, who had sate speechless all the while beneath the tree over
whose roots she had stumbled.
"Come away, wench," he said, "come away to the Lodge, and let us study
how this is to be answered forthe mishap of his being killed will
strangely increase our danger. What had he sought of thee, wench, when
you ran from him like a madwoman?But I can guessPhil was always a
devil among the girls, and I think, as Doctor Rochecliffe says, that,
since he turned saint, he took to himself seven devils worse than
himself.Here is the very place where I saw him, with his sword in his
hand raised against the old knight, and he a child of the parishit was
high treason at leastbut, by my faith, he hath paid for it at last."
"But, oh, Joceline," said Phbe, "how could you take so wicked a man
into your counsels, and join him in all his plots about scaring the
roundhead gentlemen?"
"Why look thee, wench, I thought I knew him at the first meeting
especially when Bevis, who was bred here when he was a dog-leader,
would not fly at him; and when we made up our old acquaintance at the
Lodge, I found he kept up a close correspondence with Doctor
Rochecliffe, who was persuaded that he was a good King's man, and held
consequently good intelligence with him.The doctor boasts to have
learned much through his means; I wish to Heaven he may not have been
as communicative in turn."
"Oh, Joceline," said the waiting-woman, "you should never have let him
within the gate of the Lodge!"
"No more I would, if I had known how to keep him out; but when he went
so frankly into our scheme, and told me how I was to dress myself like
Robinson the player, whose ghost haunted HarrisonI wish no ghost may
haunt me!when he taught me how to bear myself to terrify his lawful
master, what could I think, wench? I only trust the Doctor has kept the
great secret of all from his knowledge.But here we are at the Lodge.
Go to thy chamber, wench, and compose thyself. I must seek out Doctor
Rochecliffe; he is ever talking of his quick and ready invention. Here
come times, I think, that will demand it all."
Phbe went to her chamber accordingly; but the strength arising from
the pressure of danger giving way when the danger was removed, she
quickly fell into a succession of hysterical fits, which required the
constant attention of Dame Jellicot, and the less alarmed, but more
judicious care of Mistress Alice, before they even abated in their
rapid recurrence.
The under-keeper carried his news to the politic Doctor, who was
extremely disconcerted, alarmed, nay angry with Joceline, for having
slain a person on whose communications he had accustomed himself to
rely. Yet his looks declared his suspicion, whether his confidence had
not been too rashly conferreda suspicion which pressed him the more
anxiously, that he was unwilling to avow it, as a derogation from his
character for shrewdness, on which he valued himself.
Dr. Rochecliffe's reliance, however, on the fidelity of Tomkins, had
apparently good grounds. Before the Civil Wars, as may be partly
collected from what has been already hinted at, Tomkins, under his true
name of Hazeldine, had been under the protection of the Rector of
Woodstock, occasionally acted as his clerk, was a distinguished member
of his choir, and, being a handy and ingenious fellow, was employed in
assisting the antiquarian researches of Dr. Rochecliffe through the
interior of Woodstock. When he engaged in the opposite side in the
Civil Wars, he still kept up his intelligence with the divine, to whom
he had afforded what seemed valuable information from time to time. His
assistance had latterly been eminently useful in aiding the Doctor,
with the assistance of Joceline and Phbe, in contriving and executing
the various devices by which the Parliamentary Commissioners had been
expelled from Woodstock. Indeed, his services in this respect had been
thought worthy of no less a reward than a present of what plate
remained at the Lodge, which had been promised to the Independent
accordingly. The Doctor, therefore, while admitting he might be a bad
man, regretted him as a useful one, whose death, if enquired after, was
likely to bring additional danger on a house which danger already
surrounded, and which contained a pledge so precious.
CHAPTER THE THIRTIETH.
Cassio. That thrust had been my enemy indeed,
But that my coat is better than thou know'st.
OTHELLO.
On the dark October night succeeding the evening on which Tomkins was
slain, Colonel Everard, besides his constant attendant Roger Wildrake,
had Master Nehemiah Holdenough with him as a guest at supper. The
devotions of the evening having been performed according to the
Presbyterian fashion, a light entertainment, and a double quart of
burnt claret, were placed before his friends at nine o'clock, an hour
unusually late. Master Holdenough soon engaged himself in a polemical
discourse against Sectaries and Independents, without being aware that
his eloquence was not very interesting to his principal hearer, whose
ideas in the meanwhile wandered to Woodstock and all which it
containedthe Prince, who lay concealed therehis uncleabove all,
Alice Lee. As for Wildrake, after bestowing a mental curse both on
Sectaries and Presbyterians, as being, in his opinion, never a barrel
the better herring, he stretched out his limbs, and would probably have
composed himself to rest, but that he as well as his patron had
thoughts which murdered sleep.
The party were waited upon by a little gipsy-looking boy, in an
orange-tawny doublet, much decayed, and garnished with blue worsted
lace. The rogue looked somewhat stinted in size, but active both in
intelligence and in limb, as his black eyes seemed to promise by their
vivacity. He was an attendant of Wildrake's choice, who had conferred
on him the nom de guerre of Spitfire, and had promised him promotion
so soon as his young proteg, Breakfast, was fit to succeed him in his
present office. It need scarce be said that the manege was maintained
entirely at the expense of Colonel Everard, who allowed Wildrake to
arrange the household very much according to his pleasure. The page did
not omit, in offering the company wine from time to time, to
accommodate Wildrake with about twice the number of opportunities of
refreshing himself which he considered it necessary to afford to the
Colonel or his reverend guest.
While they were thus engaged, the good divine lost in his own argument,
and the hearers in their private thoughts, their attention was about
half-past ten arrested by a knocking at the door of the house. To those
who have anxious hearts, trifles give cause of alarm.
Even a thing so simple as a knock at the door may have a character
which excites apprehension. This was no quiet gentle tap, intimating a
modest intruder; no redoubled rattle, as the pompous annunciation of
some vain person; neither did it resemble the formal summons to formal
business, nor the cheerful visit of some welcome friend. It was a
single blow, solemn and stern, if not actually menacing in the sound.
The door was opened by some of the persons of the house; a heavy foot
ascended the stair, a stout man entered the room, and drawing the cloak
from his face, said, "Markham Everard, I greet thee in God's name."
It was General Cromwell.
Everard, surprised and taken at unawares, endeavoured in vain to find
words to express his astonishment. A bustle occurred in receiving the
General, assisting him to uncloak himself, and offering in dumb show
the civilities of reception. The General cast his keen eye around the
apartment, and fixing it first on the divine, addressed Everard as
follows: "A reverend man I see is with thee. Thou art not one of those,
good Markham, who let the time unnoted and unimproved pass away.
Casting aside the things of this worldpressing forward to those of the
nextit is by thus using our time in this poor seat of terrestrial sin
and care, that we may, as it wereBut how is this?" he continued,
suddenly changing his tone, and speaking briefly, sharply, and
anxiously; "one hath left the room since I entered?"
Wildrake had, indeed, been absent for a minute or two, but had now
returned, and stepped forward from a bay window, as if he had been out
of sight only, not out of the apartment. "Not so, sir; I stood but in
the background out of respect. Noble General, I hope all is well with
the Estate, that your Excellency makes us so late a visit? Would not
your Excellency choose some"
"Ah!" said Oliver, looking sternly and fixedly at him"Our trusty
Go-betweenour faithful confidant.No, sir; at present I desire nothing
more than a kind reception, which, methinks, my friend Markham Everard
is in no hurry to give me."
"You bring your own welcome, my lord," said Everard, compelling himself
to speak. "I can only trust it was no bad news that made your
Excellency a late traveller, and ask, like my follower, what
refreshment I shall command for your accommodation."
"The state is sound and healthy, Colonel Everard," said the General;
"and yet the less so, that many of its members, who have been hitherto
workers together, and propounders of good counsel, and advancers of the
public weal, have now waxed cold in their love and in their affection
for the Good Cause, for which we should be ready, in our various
degrees, to act and do so soon as we are called to act that whereunto
we are appointed, neither rashly nor over-slothfully, neither
lukewarmly nor over-violently, but with such a frame and disposition,
in which zeal and charity may, as it were, meet and kiss each other in
our streets. Howbeit, because we look back after we have put our hand
to the plough, therefore is our force waxed dim."
"Pardon me, sir," said Nehemiah Holdenough, who, listening with some
impatience, began to guess in whose company he stood"Pardon me, for
unto this I have a warrant to speak."
"Ah! ah!" said Cromwell. "Surely, most worthy sir, we grieve the Spirit
when we restrain those pourings forth, which, like water from a rock"
"Nay, therein I differ from you, sir," said Holdenough; "for as there
is the mouth to transmit the food, and the profit to digest what Heaven
hath sent; so is the preacher ordained to teach and the people to hear;
the shepherd to gather the flock into the sheepfold, the sheep to
profit by the care of the shepherd."
"Ah! my worthy sir," said Cromwell, with much unction, "methinks you
verge upon the great mistake, which supposes that churches are tall
large houses built by masons, and hearers are menwealthy men, who pay
tithes, the larger as well as the less; and that the priests, men in
black gowns or grey cloaks, who receive the same, are in guerdon the
only distributors of Christian blessings; whereas, in my apprehension,
there is more of Christian liberty in leaving it to the discretion of
the hungry soul to seek his edification where it can be found, whether
from the mouth of a lay teacher, who claimeth his warrant from Heaven
alone, or at the dispensation of those who take ordinations and degrees
from synods and universities, at best but associations of poor sinful
creatures like themselves."
"You speak you know not what, sir," replied Holdenough, impatiently.
"Can light come out of darkness, sense out of ignorance, or knowledge
of the mysteries of religion from such ignorant mediciners as give
poisons instead of wholesome medicaments, and cram with filth the
stomachs of such as seek to them for food?" This, which the
Presbyterian divine uttered rather warmly, the General answered with
the utmost mildness.
"Lack-a-day, lack-a-day! a learned man, but intemperate; over-zeal hath
eaten him up.A well-a-day, sir, you may talk of your regular
gospel-meals, but a word spoken in season by one whose heart is with
your heart, just perhaps when you are riding on to encounter an enemy,
or are about to mount a breach, is to the poor spirit like a rasher on
the coals, which the hungry shall find preferable to a great banquet,
at such times when the full soul loatheth the honey-comb. Nevertheless,
although I speak thus in my poor judgment, I would not put force on the
conscience of any man, leaving to the learned to follow the learned,
and the wise to be instructed by the wise, while poor simple wretched
souls are not to be denied a drink from the stream which runneth by the
way.Ay, verily, it will be a comely sight in England when men shall go
on as in a better world, bearing with each other's infirmities, joining
in each other's comforts.Ay, truly, the rich drink out of silver
flagons, and goblets of silver, the poor out of paltry bowls of
woodand even so let it be, since they both drink the same element."
Here an officer opened the door and looked in, to whom Cromwell,
exchanging the canting drawl, in which it seemed he might have gone on
interminably, for the short brief tone of action, called out, "Pearson,
is he come?"
"No, sir," replied Pearson; "we have enquired for him at the place you
noted, and also at other haunts of his about the town."
"The knave!" said Cromwell, with bitter emphasis; "can he have proved
false?No, no, his interest is too deeply engaged. We shall find him by
and by. Hark thee hither."
While this conversation was going forward, the reader must imagine the
alarm of Everard. He was certain that the personal attendance of
Cromwell must be on some most important account, and he could not but
strongly suspect that the General had some information respecting
Charles's lurking place. If taken, a renewal of the tragedy of the 30th
of January was instantly to be apprehended, and the ruin of the whole
family of Lee, with himself probably included, must be the necessary
consequence.
He looked eagerly for consolation at Wildrake, whose countenance
expressed much alarm, which he endeavoured to bear out with his usual
look of confidence. But the weight within was too great; he shuffled
with his feet, rolled his eyes, and twisted his hands, like an
unassured witness before an acute and not to be deceived judge.
Oliver, meanwhile, left his company not a minute's leisure to take
counsel together. Even while his perplexed eloquence flowed on in a
stream so mazy that no one could discover which way its course was
tending, his sharp watchful eye rendered all attempts of Everard to
hold communication with Wildrake, even by signs, altogether vain.
Everard, indeed, looked for an instant at the window, then glanced at
Wildrake, as if to hint there might be a possibility to escape that
way. But the cavalier had replied with a disconsolate shake of the
head, so slight as to be almost imperceptible. Everard, therefore, lost
all hope, and the melancholy feeling of approaching and inevitable
evil, was only varied by anxiety concerning the shape and manner in
which it was about to make its approach.
But Wildrake had a spark of hope left. The very instant Cromwell
entered he had got out of the room, and down to the door of the house.
"Back back!" repeated by two armed sentinels, convinced him that, as
his fears had anticipated, the General had come neither unattended nor
unprepared. He turned on his heel, ran up stairs, and meeting on the
landing-place the boy whom he called Spitfire, hurried him into the
small apartment which he occupied as his own. Wildrake had been
shooting that morning, and game lay on the table. He pulled a feather
from a woodcock's wing, and saying hastily, "For thy life, Spitfire,
mind my ordersI will put thee safe out at the window into the
courtthe yard wall is not highand there will be no sentry thereFly
to the Lodge, as thou wouldst win Heaven, and give this feather to
Mistress Alice Lee, if possibleif not, to Joceline Joliffesay I have
won the wages of the young lady. Dost mark me, boy?"
The sharp-witted youth clapped his hand in his master's, and only
replied, "Done, and done."
Wildrake opened the window, and, though the height was considerable, he
contrived to let the boy down safely by holding his cloak. A heap of
straw on which Spitfire lighted rendered the descent perfectly safe,
and Wildrake saw him scramble over the wall of the court-yard, at the
angle which bore on a back lane; and so rapidly was this accomplished,
that the cavalier had just re-entered the room, when, the bustle
attending Cromwell's arrival subsiding, his own absence began to be
noticed.
He remained during Cromwell's lecture on the vanity of creeds, anxious
in mind whether he might not have done better to send an explicit
verbal message, since there was no time to write. But the chance of the
boy being stopped, or becoming confused with feeling himself the
messenger of a hurried and important communication, made him, on the
whole, glad that he had preferred a more enigmatical way of conveying
the intelligence. He had, therefore, the advantage of his patron, for
he was conscious still of a spark of hope.
Pearson had scarce shut the door, when Holdenough, as ready in arms
against the future Dictator as he had been prompt to encounter the
supposed phantoms and fiends of Woodstock, resumed his attack upon the
schismatics, whom he undertook to prove to be at once soul-slayers,
false brethren, and false messengers; and was proceeding to allege
texts in behalf of his proposition, when Cromwell, apparently tired of
the discussion, and desirous to introduce a discourse more accordant
with his real feelings, interrupted him, though very civilly, and took
the discourse into his own hands.
"Lack-a-day," he said, "the good man speaks truth, according to his
knowledge and to his lights,ay, bitter truths, and hard to be
digested, while we see as men see, and not with the eyes of angels.
False messengers, said the reverend man?ay, truly, the world is full
of such. You shall see them who will carry your secret message to the
house of your mortal foe, and will say to him, 'Lo! my master is going
forth with a small train, by such and such desolate places; be you
speedy, therefore, that you may arise and slay him.' And another, who
knoweth where the foe of your house, and enemy of your person, lies
hidden, shall, instead of telling his master thereof, carry tidings to
the enemy even where he lurketh, saying, 'Lo! my master knoweth of your
secret abodeup now, and fly, lest he come on thee like a lion on his
prey.'But shall this go without punishment?" looking at Wildrake with
a withering glance. "Now, as my soul liveth, and as He liveth who hath
made me a ruler in Israel, such false messengers shall be knitted to
gibbets on the wayside, and their right hands shall be nailed above
their heads, in an extended position, as if pointing out to others the
road from which they themselves have strayed!"
"Surely," said Master Holdenough, "it is right to cut off such
offenders."
"Thank ye, Mass-John," muttered Wildrake; "when did the Presbyterian
fail to lend the devil a shove?"
"But, I say," continued Holdenough, "that the matter is estranged from
our present purpose, for the false brethren of whom I spoke are"
"Right, excellent sir, they be those of our own house," answered
Cromwell; "the good man is right once more. Ay, of whom can we now say
that he is a true brother, although he has lain in the same womb with
us? Although we have struggled in the same cause, eat at the same
table, fought in the same battle, worshipped at the same throne, there
shall be no truth in him.Ah, Markham Everard, Markham Everard!"
He paused at this ejaculation; and Everard, desirous at once of knowing
how far he stood committed, replied, "Your Excellency seems to have
something in your mind in which I am concerned. May I request you will
speak it out, that I may know what I am accused of?"
"Ah, Mark, Mark," replied the General, "there needeth no accuser speak
when the still small voice speaks within us. Is there not moisture on
thy brow, Mark Everard? Is there not trouble in thine eye? Is there not
a failure in thy frame? And who ever saw such things in noble and stout
Markham Everard, whose brow was only moist after having worn the helmet
for a summer's day; whose hand only shook when it had wielded for hours
the weighty falchion?But go to, man! thou doubtest over much. Hast
thou not been to me as a brother, and shall I not forgive thee even the
seventy-seventh time? The knave hath tarried somewhere, who should have
done by this time an office of much import. Take advantage of his
absence, Mark; it is a grace that God gives thee beyond expectance. I
do not say, fall at my feet; but speak to me as a friend to his
friend."
"I have never said any thing to your Excellency that was in the least
undeserving the title you have assigned to me," said Colonel Everard,
proudly.
"Nay, nay, Markham," answered Cromwell; "I say not you have. Butbut
you ought to have remembered the message I sent you by that person"
(pointing to Wildrake;) "and you must reconcile it with your
conscience, how, having such a message, guarded with such reasons, you
could think yourself at liberty to expel my friends from Woodstock,
being determined to disappoint my object, whilst you availed yourself
of the boon, on condition of which my warrant was issued."
Everard was about to reply, when, to his astonishment, Wildrake stepped
forward; and with a voice and look very different from his ordinary
manner, and approaching a good deal to real dignity of mind, said,
boldly and calmly, "You are mistaken, Master Cromwell; and address
yourself to the wrong party here."
The speech was so sudden and intrepid that Cromwell stepped a pace
back, and motioned with his right hand towards his weapon, as if he had
expected that an address of a nature so unusually bold was to be
followed by some act of violence. He instantly resumed his indifferent
posture; and, irritated at a smile which he observed on Wildrake's
countenance, he said, with the dignity of one long accustomed to see
all tremble before him, "This to me, fellow! Know you to whom you
speak?"
"Fellow!" echoed Wildrake, whose reckless humour was now completely set
afloat"No fellow of yours, Master Oliver. I have known the day when
Roger Wildrake of Squattlesea-mere, Lincoln, a handsome young gallant,
with a good estate, would have been thought no fellow of the bankrupt
brewer of Huntingdon."
"Be silent!" said Everard; "be silent, Wildrake, if you love your
life!"
"I care not a maravedi for my life," said Wildrake. "Zounds, if he
dislikes what I say, let him take to his tools! I know, after all, he
hath good blood in his veins! and I will indulge him with a turn in the
court yonder, had he been ten times a brewer."
"Such ribaldry, friend," said Oliver, "I treat with the contempt it
deserves. But if thou hast any thing to say touching the matter in
question speak out like a man, though thou look'st more like a beast."
"All I have to say is," replied Wildrake, "that whereas you blame
Everard for acting on your warrant, as you call it, I can tell you he
knew not a word of the rascally conditions you talk of. I took care of
that; and you may take the vengeance on me, if you list."
"Slave! dare you tell this to me?" said Cromwell, still heedfully
restraining his passion, which he felt was about to discharge itself
upon an unworthy object.
"Ay, you will make every Englishman a slave, if you have your own way,"
said Wildrake, not a whit abashed;for the awe which had formerly
overcome him when alone with this remarkable man, had vanished, now
that they were engaged in an altercation before witnesses."But do your
worst, Master Oliver; I tell you beforehand, the bird has escaped you."
"You dare not say so!Escaped?So ho! Pearson! tell the soldiers to
mount instantly.Thou art a lying fool!Escaped?Where, or from
whence?"
"Ay, that is the question," said Wildrake; "for look you, sirthat men
do go from hence is certainbut how they go, or to what quarter"
Cromwell stood attentive, expecting some useful hint from the careless
impetuosity of the cavalier, upon the route which the King might have
taken.
"Or to what quarter, as I said before, why, your Excellency, Master
Oliver, may e'en find that out yourself."
As he uttered the last words he unsheathed his rapier, and made a full
pass at the General's body. Had his sword met no other impediment than
the buff jerkin, Cromwell's course had ended on the spot. But, fearful
of such attempts, the General wore under his military dress a shirt of
the finest mail, made of rings of the best steel, and so light and
flexible that it was little or no encumbrance to the motions of the
wearer. It proved his safety on this occasion, for the rapier sprung in
shivers; while the owner, now held back by Everard and Holdenough,
flung the hilt with passion on the ground, exclaiming, "Be damned the
hand that forged thee!To serve me so long, and fail me when thy true
service would have honoured us both for ever! But no good could come of
thee, since thou wert pointed, even in jest, at a learned divine of the
Church of England."
In the first instant of alarm,and perhaps suspecting Wildrake might be
supported by others, Cromwell half drew from his bosom a concealed
pistol, which he hastily returned, observing that both Everard and the
clergyman were withholding the cavalier from another attempt.
Pearson and a soldier or two rushed in"Secure that fellow," said the
General, in the indifferent tone of one to whom imminent danger was too
familiar to cause irritation"Bind himbut not so hard, Pearson;"for
the men, to show their zeal, were drawing their belts, which they used
for want of cords, brutally tight round Wildrake's limbs. "He would
have assassinated me, but I would reserve him for his fit doom."
"Assassinated!I scorn your words, Master Oliver," said Wildrake; "I
proffered you a fair duello."
"Shall we shoot him in the street, for an example?" said Pearson to
Cromwell; while Everard endeavoured to stop Wildrake from giving
further offence.
"On your life harm him not; but let him be kept in safe ward, and well
looked after," said Cromwell; while the prisoner exclaimed to Everard,
"I prithee let me aloneI am now neither thy follower, nor any man's,
and I am as willing to die as ever I was to take a cup of liquor.And
hark ye, speaking of that, Master Oliver, you were once a jolly fellow,
prithee let one of thy lobsters here advance yonder tankard to my lips,
and your Excellency shall hear a toast, a song, and asecret."
"Unloose his head, and hand the debauched beast the tankard," said
Oliver; "while yet he exists, it were shame to refuse him the element
he lives in."
"Blessings on your head for once," said Wildrake, whose object in
continuing this wild discourse was, if possible, to gain a little
delay, when every moment was precious. "Thou hast brewed good ale, and
that's warrant for a blessing. For my toast and my song, here they go
together
Son of a witch,
Mayst thou die in a ditch,
With the hutchers who back thy quarrels;
And rot above ground,
While the world shall resound
A welcome to Royal King Charles.
And now for my secret, that you may not say I had your liquor for
nothingI fancy my song will scarce pass current for muchMy secret is,
Master Cromwellthat the bird is flownand your red nose will be as
white as your winding-sheet before you can smell out which way."
"Pshaw, rascal," answered Cromwell, contemptuously, "keep your scurrile
jests for the gibbet foot."
"I shall look on the gibbet more boldly," replied Wildrake, "than I
have seen you look on the Royal Martyr's picture."
This reproach touched Cromwell to the very quick."Villain!" he
exclaimed; "drag him hence, draw out a party, andBut hold, not nowto
prison with himlet him be close watched, and gagged, if he attempts to
speak to the sentinelsNay, holdI mean, put a bottle of brandy into
his cell, and he will gag himself in his own way, I warrant youWhen
day comes, that men can see the example, he shall be gagged after my
fashion."
During the various breaks in his orders, the General was evidently
getting command of his temper; and though he began in fury, he ended
with the contemptuous sneer of one who overlooks the abusive language
of an inferior. Something remained on his mind notwithstanding, for he
continued standing, as if fixed to the same spot in the apartment, his
eyes bent on the ground, and with closed hand pressed against his lips,
like a man who is musing deeply. Pearson, who was about to speak to
him, drew back, and made a sign to those in the room to be silent.
Master Holdenough did not mark, or, at least, did not obey it.
Approaching the General, he said, in a respectful but firm tone, "Did I
understand it to be your Excellency's purpose that this poor man shall
die next morning?"
"Hah!" exclaimed Cromwell, starting from his reverie, "what say'st
thou?"
"I took leave to ask, if it was your will that this unhappy man should
die to-morrow?"
"Whom saidst thou?" demanded Cromwell: "Markham Everardshall he die,
saidst thou?"
"God forbid!" replied Holdenough, stepping back"I asked whether this
blinded creature, Wildrake, was to be so suddenly cut off?"
"Ay, marry is he," said Cromwell, "were the whole General Assembly of
Divines at Westminsterthe whole Sanhedrim of Presbyteryto offer bail
for him."
"If you will not think better of it, sir," said Holdenough, "at least
give not the poor man the means of destroying his sensesLet me go to
him as a divine, to watch with him, in case he may yet be admitted into
the vineyard at the latest houryet brought into the sheepfold, though
he has neglected the call of the pastor till time is wellnigh closed
upon him."
"For God's sake," said Everard, who had hitherto kept silence, because
he knew Cromwell's temper on such occasions, "think better of what you
do!"
"Is it for thee to teach me?" replied Cromwell; "think thou of thine
own matters, and believe me it will require all thy wit.And for you,
reverend sir, I will have no father-confessors attend my prisonersno
tales out of school. If the fellow thirsts after ghostly comfort, as he
is much more like to thirst after a quartern of brandy, there is
Corporal Humgudgeon, who commands the corps de garde, will preach and
pray as well as the best of ye.But this delay is intolerableComes not
this fellow yet?"
"No, sir," replied Pearson. "Had we not better go down to the Lodge?
The news of our coming hither may else get there before us."
"True," said Cromwell, speaking aside to his officer, "but you know
Tomkins warned us against doing so, alleging there were so many
postern-doors, and sallyports, and concealed entrances in the old
house, that it was like a rabbit-warren, and that an escape might be
easily made under our very noses, unless he were with us, to point out
all the ports which should be guarded. He hinted, too, that he might be
delayed a few minutes after his time of appointmentbut we have now
waited half-an-hour."
"Does your Excellency think Tomkins is certainly to be depended upon?"
said Pearson.
"As far as his interest goes, unquestionably," replied the General. "He
has ever been the pump by which I have sucked the marrow out of many a
plot, in special those of the conceited fool Rochecliffe, who is goose
enough to believe that such a fellow as Tomkins would value any thing
beyond the offer of the best bidder. And yet it groweth lateI fear we
must to the Lodge without himYet, all things well considered, I will
tarry here till midnight.Ah! Everard, thou mightest put this gear to
rights if thou wilt! Shall some foolish principle of fantastic
punctilio have more weight with thee, man, than have the pacification
and welfare of England; the keeping of faith to thy friend and
benefactor, and who will be yet more so, and the fortune and security
of thy relations? Are these, I say, lighter in the balance than the
cause of a worthless boy, who, with his father and his father's house,
have troubled Israel for fifty years?"
"I do not understand your Excellency, nor at what service you point,
which I can honestly render," replied Everard. "That which is dishonest
I should be loth that you proposed."
"Then this at least might suit your honesty, or scrupulous humour, call
it which thou wilt," said Cromwell. "Thou knowest, surely, all the
passages about Jezebel's palace down yonder?Let me know how they may
be guarded against the escape of any from within."
"I cannot pretend to aid you in this matter," said Everard; "I know not
all the entrances and posterns about Woodstock, and if I did, I am not
free in conscience to communicate with you on this occasion."
"We shall do without you, sir," replied Cromwell, haughtily; "and if
aught is found which may criminate you, remember you have lost right to
my protection."
"I shall be sorry," said Everard, "to have lost your friendship,
General; but I trust my quality as an Englishman may dispense with the
necessity of protection from any man. I know no law which obliges me to
be spy or informer, even if I were in the way of having opportunity to
do service in either honourable capacity."
"Well, sir," said Cromwell, "for all your privileges and qualities, I
will make bold to take you down to the Lodge at Woodstock to-night, to
enquire into affairs in which the State is concerned.Come hither,
Pearson." He took a paper from his pocket, containing a rough sketch or
ground-plan of Woodstock Lodge, with the avenues leading to it."Look
here," he said, "we must move in two bodies on foot, and with all
possible silencethou must march to the rear of the old house of
iniquity with twenty file of men, and dispose them around it the wisest
thou canst. Take the reverend man there along with you. He must be
secured at any rate, and may serve as a guide. I myself will occupy the
front of the Lodge, and thus having stopt all the earths, thou wilt
come to me for farther orderssilence and dispatch is all.But for the
dog Tomkins, who broke appointment with me, he had need render a good
excuse, or woe to his father's son!Reverend sir, be pleased to
accompany that officer.Colonel Everard, you are to follow me; but
first give your sword to Captain Pearson, and consider yourself as
under arrest."
Everard gave his sword to Pearson without any comment, and with the
most anxious presage of evil followed the Republican General, in
obedience to commands which it would have been useless to dispute.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIRST.
"Were my son William here but now,
He wadna fail the pledge."
Wi' that in at the door there ran
A ghastly-looking page
"I saw them, master, O! I saw,
Beneath the thornie brae,
Of black-mail'd warriors many a rank;
'Revenge!' he cried, 'and gae.'"
HENRY MACKENZIE.
The little party at the Lodge were assembled at supper, at the early
hour of eight o'clock. Sir Henry Lee, neglecting the food that was
placed on the table, stood by a lamp on the chimney-piece, and read a
letter with mournful attention.
"Does my son write to you more particularly than to me, Doctor
Rochecliffe?" said the knight. "He only says here, that he will return
probably this night; and that Master Kerneguy must be ready to set off
with him instantly. What can this haste mean? Have you heard of any new
search after our suffering party? I wish they would permit me to enjoy
my son's company in quiet but for a day."
"The quiet which depends on the wicked ceasing from troubling," said
Dr. Rochecliffe, "is connected, not by days and hours, but by minutes.
Their glut of blood at Worcester had satiated them for a moment, but
their appetite, I fancy, has revived."
"You have news, then, to that purpose?" said Sir Henry.
"Your son," replied the Doctor, "wrote to me by the same messenger: he
seldom fails to do so, being aware of what importance it is that I
should know every thing that passes. Means of escape are provided on
the coast, and Master Kerneguy must be ready to start with your son the
instant he appears."
"It is strange," said the knight; "for forty years I have dwelt in this
house, man and boy, and the point only was how to make the day pass
over our heads; for if I did not scheme out some hunting match or
hawking, or the like, I might have sat here on my arm-chair, as
undisturbed as a sleeping dormouse, from one end of the year to the
other; and now I am more like a hare on her form, that dare not sleep
unless with her eyes open, and scuds off when the wind rustles among
the fern."
"It is strange," said Alice, looking at Dr. Rochecliffe, "that the
roundhead steward has told you nothing of this. He is usually
communicative enough of the motions of his party; and I saw you close
together this morning."
"I must be closer with him this evening," said the Doctor gloomily;
"but he will not blab."
"I wish you may not trust him too much," said Alice in reply."To me,
that man's face, with all its shrewdness, evinces such a dark
expression, that methinks I read treason in his very eye."
"Be assured, that matter is looked to," answered the Doctor, in the
same ominous tone as before. No one replied, and there was a chilling
and anxious feeling of apprehension which seemed to sink down on the
company at once, like those sensations which make such constitutions as
are particularly subject to the electrical influence, conscious of an
approaching thunder-storm.
The disguised Monarch, apprised that day to be prepared on short notice
to quit his temporary asylum, felt his own share of the gloom which
involved the little society. But he was the first also to shake it off,
as what neither suited his character nor his situation. Gaiety was the
leading distinction of the former, and presence of mind, not depression
of spirits, was required by the latter.
"We make the hour heavier," he said, "by being melancholy about it. Had
you not better join me, Mistress Alice, in Patrick Carey's jovial
farewell?Ah, you do not know Pat Careya younger brother of Lord
Falkland's?"
"A brother of the immortal Lord Falkland's, and write songs!" said the
Doctor.
"Oh, Doctor, the Muses take tithe as well as the Church," said Charles,
"and have their share in every family of distinction. You do not know
the words, Mistress Alice, but you can aid me, notwithstanding, in the
burden at least
'Come, now that we're parting, and 'tis one to ten
If the towers of sweet Woodstock I e'er see agen,
Let us e'en have a frolic, and drink like tall men,
While the goblet goes merrily round.'"
The song arose, but not with spirit. It was one of those efforts at
forced mirth, by which, above all other modes of expressing it, the
absence of real cheerfulness is most distinctly animated. Charles stopt
the song, and upbraided the choristers.
"You sing, my dear Mistress Alice, as if you were chanting one of the
seven penitential psalms; and you, good Doctor, as if you recited the
funeral service."
The Doctor rose hastily from the table, and turned to the window; for
the expression connected singularly with the task which he was that
evening to discharge. Charles looked at him with some surprise; for the
peril in which he lived, made him watchful of the slightest motions of
those around himthen turned to Sir Henry, and said, "My honoured host,
can you tell any reason for this moody fit, which has so strangely
crept upon us all?"
"Not I, my dear Louis," replied the knight; "I have no skill in these
nice quillets of philosophy. I could as soon undertake to tell you the
reason why Bevis turns round three times before he lies down. I can
only say for myself, that if age and sorrow and uncertainty be enough
to break a jovial spirit, or at least to bend it now and then, I have
my share of them all; so that I, for one, cannot say that I am sad
merely because I am not merry. I have but too good cause for sadness. I
would I saw my son, were it but for a minute."
Fortune seemed for once disposed to gratify the old man; for Albert Lee
entered at that moment. He was dressed in a riding suit, and appeared
to have travelled hard. He cast his eye hastily around as he entered.
It rested for a second on that of the disguised Prince, and, satisfied
with the glance which he received in lieu, he hastened, after the
fashion of the olden day, to kneel down to his father, and request his
blessing.
"It is thine, my boy," said the old man; a tear springing to his eyes
as he laid his hand on the long locks, which distinguished the young
cavalier's rank and principles, and which, usually combed and curled
with some care, now hung wild and dishevelled about his shoulders. They
remained an instant in this posture, when the old man suddenly started
from it, as if ashamed of the emotion which he had expressed before so
many witnesses, and passing the back of his hand hastily across his
eyes, bid Albert get up and mind his supper, "since I dare say you have
ridden fast and far since you last baitedand we'll send round a cup to
his health, if Doctor Rochecliffe and the company pleasesJoceline,
thou knave, skink aboutthou look'st as if thou hadst seen a ghost."
"Joceline," said Alice, "is sick for sympathyone of the stags ran at
Phbe Mayflower to-day, and she was fain to have Joceline's assistance
to drive the creature offthe girl has been in fits since she came
home."
"Silly slut," said the old knight"She a woodman's daughter!But,
Joceline, if the deer gets dangerous, you must send a broad arrow
through him."
"It will not need, Sir Henry," said Joceline, speaking with great
difficulty of utterance"he is quiet enough nowhe will not offend in
that sort again."
"See it be so," replied the knight; "remember Mistress Alice often
walks in the Chase. And now, fill round, and fill too, a cup to thyself
to overred thy fear, as mad Will has it. Tush, man, Phbe will do well
enoughshe only screamed and ran, that thou might'st have the pleasure
to help her. Mind what thou dost, and do not go spilling the wine after
that fashion.Come, here is a health to our wanderer, who has come to
us again."
"None will pledge it more willingly than I," said the disguised Prince,
unconsciously assuming an importance which the character he personated
scarce warranted; but Sir Henry, who had become fond of the supposed
page, with all his peculiarities, imposed only a moderate rebuke upon
his petulance. "Thou art a merry, good-humoured youth, Louis," he said,
"but it is a world to see how the forwardness of the present generation
hath gone beyond the gravity and reverence which in my youth was so
regularly observed towards those of higher rank and stationI dared no
more have given my own tongue the rein, when there was a doctor of
divinity in company, than I would have dared to have spoken in church
in service time."
"True, sir," said Albert, hastily interfering; "but Master Kerneguy had
the better right to speak at present, that I have been absent on his
business as well as my own, have seen several of his friends, and bring
him important intelligence."
Charles was about to rise and beckon Albert aside, naturally impatient
to know what news he had procured, or what scheme of safe escape was
now decreed for him. But Dr. Rochecliffe twitched his cloak, as a hint
to him to sit still, and not show any extraordinary motive for anxiety,
since, in case of a sudden discovery of his real quality, the violence
of Sir Henry Lee's feelings might have been likely to attract too much
attention.
Charles, therefore, only replied, as to the knight's stricture, that he
had a particular title to be sudden and unceremonious in expressing his
thanks to Colonel Leethat gratitude was apt to be unmannerlyfinally,
that he was much obliged to Sir Henry for his admonition; and that quit
Woodstock when he would, "he was sure to leave it a better man than he
came there."
His speech was of course ostensibly directed towards the father; but a
glance at Alice assured her that she had her full share in the
compliment.
"I fear," he concluded, addressing Albert, "that you come to tell us
our stay here must be very short."
"A few hours only," said Albert"just enough for needful rest for
ourselves and our horses. I have procured two which are good and tried.
But Doctor Rochecliffe broke faith with me. I expected to have met some
one down at Joceline's hut, where I left the horses; and finding no
person, I was delayed an hour in littering them down myself, that they
might be ready for to-morrow's workfor we must be off before day."
"IIintended to have sent Tomkinsbutbut"hesitated the Doctor, "I"
"The roundheaded rascal was drunk, or out of the way, I presume," said
Albert. "I am glad of ityou may easily trust him too far."
"Hitherto he has been faithful," said the Doctor, "and I scarce think
he will fail me now. But Joceline will go down and have the horses in
readiness in the morning."
Joceline's countenance was usually that of alacrity itself on a case
extraordinary. Now, however, he seemed to hesitate.
"You will go with me a little way, Doctor?" he said, as he edged
himself closely to Rochecliffe.
"How? puppy, fool, and blockhead," said the knight, "wouldst thou ask
Doctor Rochecliffe to bear thee company at this hour?Out, hound!get
down to the kennel yonder instantly, or I will break the knave's pate
of thee."
Joceline looked with an eye of agony at the divine, as if entreating
him to interfere in his behalf; but just as he was about to speak, a
most melancholy howling arose at the hall-door, and a dog was heard
scratching for admittance.
"What ails Bevis next?" said the old knight. "I think this must be
All-Fools-day, and that every thing around me is going mad!"
The same sound startled Albert and Charles from a private conference in
which they had engaged, and Albert ran to the hall-door to examine
personally into the cause of the noise.
"It is no alarm," said the old knight to Kerneguy, "for in such cases
the dog's bark is short, sharp, and furious. These long howls are said
to be ominous. It was even so that Bevis's grandsire bayed the whole
livelong night on which my poor father died. If it comes now as a
presage, God send it regard the old and useless, not the young, and
those who may yet serve King and country!"
The dog had pushed past Colonel Lee, who stood a little while at the
hall-door to listen if there were any thing stirring without, while
Bevis advanced into the room where the company were assembled, bearing
something in his mouth, and exhibiting, in an unusual degree, that
sense of duty and interest which a dog seems to show when he thinks he
has the charge of something important. He entered therefore, drooping
his long tail, slouching his head and ears, and walking with the
stately yet melancholy dignity of a war-horse at his master's funeral.
In this manner he paced through the room, went straight up to Joceline,
who had been regarding him with astonishment, and uttering a short and
melancholy howl, laid at his feet the object which he bore in his
mouth. Joceline stooped, and took from the floor a man's glove, of the
fashion worn by the troopers, having something like the old-fashioned
gauntleted projections of thick leather arising from the wrist, which
go half way up to the elbow, and secure the arm against a cut with a
sword. But Joceline had no sooner looked at what in itself was so
common an object, than he dropped it from his hand, staggered backward,
uttered a groan, and nearly fell to the ground.
"Now, the coward's curse be upon thee for an idiot!" said the knight,
who had picked up the glove, and was looking at it"thou shouldst be
sent back to school, and flogged till the craven's blood was switched
out of theeWhat dost thou look at but a glove, thou base poltroon, and
a very dirty glove, too? Stay, here is writingJoseph Tomkins? Why,
that is the roundheaded fellowI wish he hath not come to some
mischief, for this is not dirt on the cheveron, but blood. Bevis may
have bit the fellow, and yet the dog seemed to love him well too, or
the stag may have hurt him. Out, Joceline, instantly, and see where he
iswind your bugle."
"I cannot go," said Joliffe, "unless"and again he looked piteously at
Dr. Rochecliffe, who saw no time was to be lost in appeasing the
ranger's terrors, as his ministry was most needful in the present
circumstances."Get spade and mattock," he whispered to him, "and a
dark lantern, and meet me in the Wilderness."
Joceline left the room; and the Doctor, before following him, had a few
words of explanation with Colonel Lee. His own spirit, far from being
dismayed on the occasion, rather rose higher, like one whose natural
element was intrigue and danger. "Here hath been wild work," he said,
"since you parted. Tomkins was rude to the wench PhbeJoceline and he
had a brawl together, and Tomkins is lying dead in the thicket, not far
from Rosamond's Well. It will be necessary that Joceline and I go
directly to bury the body; for besides that some one might stumble upon
it, and raise an alarm, this fellow Joceline will never be fit for any
active purpose till it is under ground. Though as stout as a lion, the
under-keeper has his own weak side, and is more afraid of a dead body
than a living one. When do you propose to start to-morrow?"
"By daybreak, or earlier," said Colonel Lee; "but we will meet again. A
vessel is provided, and I have relays in more places than onewe go off
from the coast of Sussex; and I am to get a letter at , acquainting
me precisely with the spot."
"Wherefore not go off instantly?" said the Doctor.
"The horses would fail us," replied Albert; "they have been hard ridden
to-day."
"Adieu," said Rochecliffe, "I must to my taskDo you take rest and
repose for yours. To conceal a slaughtered body, and convey on the same
night a king from danger and captivity, are two feats which have fallen
to few folks save myself; but let me not, while putting on my harness,
boast myself as if I were taking it off after a victory." So saying he
left the apartment, and, muffling himself in his cloak, went out into
what was called the Wilderness.
The weather was a raw frost. The mists lay in partial wreaths upon the
lower grounds; but the night, considering that the heavenly bodies were
in a great measure hidden by the haze, was not extremely dark. Dr.
Rochecliffe could not, however, distinguish the under-keeper until he
had hemmed once or twice, when Joceline answered the signal by showing
a glimpse of light from the dark lantern which he carried. Guided by
this intimation of his presence, the divine found him leaning against a
buttress which had once supported a terrace, now ruinous. He had a
pickaxe and shovel, together with a deer's hide hanging over his
shoulder.
"What do you want with the hide, Joceline," said Dr. Rochecliffe, "that
you lumber it about with you on such an errand?"
"Why, look you, Doctor," he answered, "it is as well to tell you all
about it. The man and Ihe thereyou know whom I meanhad many years
since a quarrel about this deer. For though we were great friends, and
Philip was sometimes allowed by my master's permission to help me in
mine office, yet I knew, for all that, Philip Hazeldine was sometimes a
trespasser. The deer-stealers were very bold at that time, it being
just before the breaking out of the war, when men were becoming
unsettled And so it chanced, that one day, in the Chase, I found two
fellows, with their faces blacked and shirts over their clothes,
carrying as prime a buck between them as any was in the park. I was
upon them in the instantone escaped, but I got hold of the other
fellow, and who should it prove to be but trusty Phil Hazeldine! Well,
I don't know whether it was right or wrong, but he was my old friend
and pot-companion, and I took his word for amendment in future; and he
helped me to hang up the deer on a tree, and I came back with a horse
to carry him to the Lodge, and tell the knight the story, all but
Phil's name. But the rogues had been too clever for me; for they had
flayed and dressed the deer, and quartered him, and carried him off,
and left the hide and horns, with a chime, saying,
'The haunch to thee,
The breast to me,
The hide and the horns for the keeper's fee.'
And this I knew for one of Phil's mad pranks, that he would play in
those days with any lad in the country. But I was so nettled that I
made the deer's hide be curried and dressed by a tanner, and swore that
it should be his winding-sheet or mine; and though I had long repented
my rash oath, yet now, Doctor, you see what it is come tothough I
forgot it, the devil did not."
"It was a very wrong thing to make a vow so sinful," said Rochecliffe;
"but it would have been greatly worse had you endeavoured to keep it.
Therefore, I bid you cheer up," said the good divine; "for in this
unhappy case, I could not have wished, after what I have heard from
Phbe and yourself, that you should have kept your hand still, though I
may regret that the blow has proved fatal. Nevertheless, thou hast done
even that which was done by the great and inspired legislator, when he
beheld an Egyptian tyrannizing over a Hebrew, saving that, in the case
present, it was a female, when, says the Septuagint, Percussum
Egyptium abscondit sabulo; the meaning whereof I will explain to you
another time. Wherefore, I exhort you not to grieve beyond measure; for
although this circumstance is unhappy in time and place, yet, from what
Phbe hath informed me of yonder wretch's opinions, it is much to be
regretted that his brains had not been beaten out in his cradle, rather
than that he had grown up to be one of those Grindlestonians, or
Muggletonians, in whom is the perfection of every foul and blasphemous
heresy, united with such an universal practice of hypocritical
assentation as would deceive their master, even Satan himself."
"Nevertheless, sir," said the forester, "I hope you will bestow some of
the service of the Church on this poor man, as it was his last wish,
naming you, sir, at the same time; and unless this were done, I should
scarce dare to walk out in the dark again for my whole life."
"Thou art a silly fellow; but if," continued the Doctor, "he named me
as he departed, and desired the last rites of the Church, there was, it
may be, a turning from evil and a seeking to good even in his last
moments; and if Heaven granted him grace to form a prayer so fitting,
wherefore should man refuse it? All I fear is the briefness of time."
"Nay, your reverence may cut the service somewhat short," said
Joceline; "assuredly he does not deserve the whole of it; only if
something were not to be done, I believe I should flee the country.
They were his last words; and methinks he sent Bevis with his glove to
put me in mind of them."
"Out, fool! Do you think," said the Doctor, "dead men send gauntlets to
the living, like knights in a romance; or, if so, would they choose
dogs to carry their challenges? I tell thee, fool, the cause was
natural enough. Bevis, questing about, found the body, and brought the
glove to you to intimate where it was lying, and to require assistance;
for such is the high instinct of these animals towards one in peril."
"Nay, if you think so, Doctor," said Joceline"and, doubtless, I must
say, Bevis took an interest in the manif indeed it was not something
worse in the shape of Bevis, for methought his eyes looked wild and
fiery, as if he would have spoken."
As he talked thus, Joceline rather hung back, and, in doing so,
displeased the Doctor, who exclaimed, "Come along, thou lazy laggard!
Art thou a soldier, and a brave one, and so much afraid of a dead man?
Thou hast killed men in battle and in chase, I warrant thee."
"Ay, but their backs were to me," said Joceline. "I never saw one of
them cast back his head, and glare at me as yonder fellow did, his eye
retaining a glance of hatred, mixed with terror and reproach, till it
became fixed like a jelly. And were you not with me, and my master's
concerns, and something else, very deeply at stake, I promise you I
would not again look at him for all Woodstock."
"You must, though," said the Doctor, suddenly pausing, "for here is the
place where he lies. Come hither deep into the copse; take care of
stumblingHere is a place just fitting, and we will draw the briars
over the grave afterwards."
As the Doctor thus issued his directions, he assisted also in the
execution of them; and while his attendant laboured to dig a shallow
and mishapen grave, a task which the state of the soil, perplexed with
roots, and hardened by the influence of the frost, rendered very
difficult, the divine read a few passages out of the funeral service,
partly in order to appease the superstitious terrors of Joceline, and
partly because he held it matter of conscience not to deny the Church's
rites to one who had requested their aid in extremity.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY SECOND.
Case ye, case ye,on with your vizards.
HENRY IV.
The company whom we had left in Victor Lee's parlour were about to
separate for the night, and had risen to take a formal leave of each
other, when a tap was heard at the hall-door. Albert, the vidette of
the party, hastened to open it, enjoining, as he left the room, the
rest to remain quiet, until he had ascertained the cause of the
knocking. When he gained the portal, he called to know who was there,
and what they wanted at so late an hour.
"It is only me," answered a treble voice.
"And what is your name, my little fellow?" said Albert.
"Spitfire, sir," replied the voice without.
"Spitfire?" said Albert.
"Yes, sir," replied the voice; "all the world calls me so, and Colonel
Everard himself. But my name is Spittal for all that."
"Colonel Everard? arrive you from him?" demanded young Lee.
"No, sir; I come, sir, from Roger Wildrake, esquire, of
Squattlesea-mere, if it like you," said the boy; "and I have brought a
token to Mistress Lee, which I am to give into her own hands, if you
would but open the door, sir, and let me inbut I can do nothing with a
three-inch board between us."
"It is some freak of that drunken rakehell," said Albert, in a low
voice, to his sister, who had crept out after him on tiptoe.
"Yet, let us not be hasty in concluding so," said the young lady; "at
this moment the least trifle may be of consequence.What tokens has
Master Wildrake sent me, my little boy?"
"Nay, nothing very valuable neither," replied the boy; "but he was so
anxious you should get it, that he put me out of window as one would
chuck out a kitten, that I might not be stopped by the soldiers."
"Hear you?" said Alice to her brother; "undo the gate, for God's sake."
Her brother, to whom her feelings of suspicion were now sufficiently
communicated, opened the gate in haste, and admitted the boy, whose
appearance, not much dissimilar to that of a skinned rabbit in a
livery, or a monkey at a fair, would at another time have furnished
them with amusement. The urchin messenger entered the hall, making
several odd bows, and delivered the woodcock's feather with much
ceremony to the young lady, assuring her it was the prize she had won
upon a wager about hawking.
"I prithee, my little man," said Albert, "was your master drunk or
sober, when he sent thee all this way with a feather at this time of
night?"
"With reverence, sir," said the boy, "he was what he calls sober, and
what I would call concerned in liquor for any other person."
"Curse on the drunken coxcomb!" said Albert,"There is a tester for
thee, boy, and tell thy master to break his jests on suitable persons,
and at fitting times."
"Stay yet a minute," exclaimed Alice; "we must not go too fastthis
craves wary walking."
"A feather," said Albert; "all this work about a feather! Why, Doctor
Rochecliffe, who can suck intelligence out of every trifle as a magpie
would suck an egg, could make nothing of this."
"Let us try what we can do without him then," said Alice. Then
addressing herself to the boy,"So there are strangers at your
master's?"
"At Colonel Everard's, madam, which is the same thing," said Spitfire.
"And what manner of strangers," said Alice; "guests, I suppose?"
"Ay, mistress," said the boy, "a sort of guests that make themselves
welcome wherever they come, if they meet not a welcome from their
landlordsoldiers, madam."
"The men that have long been lying at Woodstock," said Albert.
"No, sir," said Spitfire, "new comers, with gallant buff-coats and
steel breastplates; and their commanderyour honour and your ladyship
never saw such a manat least I am sure Bill Spitfire never did."
"Was he tall or short?" said Albert, now much alarmed.
"Neither one nor other," said the boy; "stout made, with slouching
shoulders; a nose large, and a face one would not like to say No to. He
had several officers with him, I saw him but for a moment, but I shall
never forget him while I live."
"You are right," said Albert Lee to his sister, pulling her to one
side, "quite rightthe Archfiend himself is upon us!"
"And the feather," said Alice, whom fear had rendered apprehensive of
slight tokens, "means flightand a woodcock is a bird of passage."
"You have hit it," said her brother; "but the time has taken us cruelly
short. Give the boy a trifle morenothing that can excite suspicion,
and dismiss him. I must summon Rochecliffe and Joceline."
He went accordingly, but, unable to find those he sought, he returned
with hasty steps to the parlour, where, in his character of Louis, the
page was exerting himself to detain the old knight, who, while laughing
at the tales he told him, was anxious to go to see what was passing in
the hall.
"What is the matter, Albert?" said the old man; "who calls at the Lodge
at so undue an hour, and wherefore is the hall-door opened to them? I
will not have my rules, and the regulations laid down for keeping this
house, broken through, because I am old and poor. Why answer you not?
why keep a chattering with Louis Kerneguy, and neither of you all the
while minding what I say?Daughter Alice, have you sense and civility
enough to tell me, what or who it is that is admitted here contrary to
my general orders?"
"No one, sir," replied Alice; "a boy brought a message, which I fear is
an alarming one."
"There is only fear, sir," said Albert, stepping forward, "that whereas
we thought to have stayed with you till to-morrow, we must now take
farewell of you to-night."
"Not so, brother," said Alice, "you must stay and aid the defence
hereif you and Master Kerneguy are both missed, the pursuit will be
instant, and probably successful; but if you stay, the hiding-places
about this house will take some time to search. You can change coats
with Kerneguy too."
"Right, noble wench," said Albert; "most excellentyesLouis, I remain
as Kerneguy, you fly as young Master Lee."
"I cannot see the justice of that," said Charles.
"Nor I neither," said the knight, interfering. "Men come and go, lay
schemes, and alter them, in my house, without deigning to consult me!
And who is Master Kerneguy, or what is he to me, that my son must stay
and take the chance of mischief, and this your Scotch page is to escape
in his dress? I will have no such contrivance carried into effect,
though it were the finest cobweb that was ever woven in Doctor
Rochecliffe's brains.I wish you no ill, Louis; thou art a lively boy;
but I have been somewhat too lightly treated in this, man."
"I am fully of your opinion, Sir Henry," replied the person whom he
addressed. "You have been, indeed, repaid for your hospitality by want
of that confidence, which could never have been so justly reposed. But
the moment is come, when I must say, in a word, I am that unfortunate
Charles Stewart, whose lot it has been to become the cause of ruin to
his best friends, and whose present residence in your family threatens
to bring destruction to you, and all around you."
"Master Louis Kerneguy," said the knight very angrily, "I will teach
you to choose the subjects of your mirth better when you address them
to me; and, moreover, very little provocation would make me desire to
have an ounce or two of that malapert blood from you."
"Be still, sir, for God's sake!" said Albert to his father. "This is
indeed THE KING; and such is the danger of his person, that every
moment we waste may bring round a fatal catastrophe."
"Good God!" said the father, clasping his hands together, and about to
drop on his knees, "has my earnest wish been accomplished! and is it in
such a manner as to make me pray it had never taken place!"
He then attempted to bend his knee to the Kingkissed his hand, while
large tears trickled from his eyesthen said, "Pardon, my Lordyour
Majesty, I meanpermit me to sit in your presence but one instant till
my blood beats more freely, and then"
Charles raised his ancient and faithful subject from the ground; and
even in that moment of fear, and anxiety, and danger, insisted on
leading him to his seat, upon which he sunk in apparent exhaustion, his
head drooping upon his long white beard, and big unconscious tears
mingling with its silver hairs. Alice and Albert remained with the
King, arguing and urging his instant departure.
"The horses are at the under-keeper's hut," said Albert, "and the
relays only eighteen or twenty miles off. If the horses can but carry
you so far"
"Will you not rather," interrupted Alice, "trust to the concealments of
this place, so numerous and so well triedRochecliffe's apartments, and
the yet farther places of secrecy?"
"Alas!" said Albert, "I know them only by name. My father was sworn to
confide them to but one man, and he had chosen Rochecliffe."
"I prefer taking the field to any hiding-hole in England," said the
King. "Could I but find my way to this hut where the horses are, I
would try what arguments whip and spur could use to get them to the
rendezvous, where I am to meet Sir Thomas Acland and fresh cattle. Come
with me, Colonel Lee, and let us run for it. The roundheads have beat
us in battle; but if it come to a walk or a race, I think I can show
which has the best mettle."
"But then," said Albert, "we lose all the time which may otherwise be
gained by the defence of this houseleaving none here but my poor
father, incapable from his state of doing any thing; and you will be
instantly pursued by fresh horses, while ours are unfit for the road.
Oh, where is the villain Joceline!"
"What can have become of Doctor Rochecliffe?" said Alice; "he that is
so ready with advice;where can they be gone? Oh, if my father could
but rouse himself!"
"Your father is roused," said Sir Henry, rising and stepping up to
them with all the energy of full manhood in his countenance and
motions"I did but gather my thoughtsfor when did they fail a Lee when
his King needed counsel or aid?" He then began to speak, with the ready
and distinct utterance of a general at the head of an army, ordering
every motion for attack and defenceunmoved himself, and his own energy
compelling obedience, and that cheerful obedience, from all who heard
him. "Daughter," he said, "beat up dame JellicotLet Phbe rise if she
were dying, and secure doors and windows."
"That hath been done regularly sincewe have been thus far honoured,"
said his daughter, looking at the King"yet, let them go through the
chambers once more." And Alice retired to give the orders, and
presently returned.
The old knight proceeded, in the same decided tone of promptitude and
dispatch"Which is your first stage?"
"Gray'sRothebury, by Henley, where Sir Thomas Acland and young Knolles
are to have horses in readiness," said Albert; "but how to get there
with our weary cattle?"
"Trust me for that," said the knight; and proceeding with the same tone
of authority"Your Majesty must instantly to Joceline's lodge," he
said, "there are your horses and your means of flight. The secret
places of this house, well managed, will keep the rebel dogs in play
two or three hours goodRochecliffe is, I fear, kidnapped, and his
Independent hath betrayed himWould I had judged the villain better! I
would have struck him through at one of our trials of fence, with an
unbated weapon, as Will says.But for your guide when on horseback,
half a bowshot from Joceline's hut is that of old Martin the verdurer;
he is a score of years older than I, but as fresh as an old oakbeat up
his quarters, and let him ride with you for death and life. He will
guide you to your relay, for no fox that ever earthed in the Chase
knows the country so well for seven leagues around."
"Excellent, my dearest father, excellent," said Albert; "I had forgot
Martin the verdurer."
"Young men forget all," answered the knight"Alas, that the limbs
should fail, when the head which can best direct themis come perhaps
to its wisest!"
"But the tired horses," said the King"could we not get fresh cattle?"
"Impossible at this time of night," answered Sir Henry; "but tired
horses may do much with care and looking to." He went hastily to the
cabinet which stood in one of the oriel windows, and searched for
something in the drawers, pulling out one after another.
"We lose time, father," said Albert, afraid that the intelligence and
energy which the old man displayed had been but a temporary flash of
the lamp, which was about to relapse into evening twilight.
"Go to, sir boy," said his father, sharply; "is it for thee to tax me
in this presence!Know, that were the whole roundheads that are out of
hell in present assemblage round Woodstock, I could send away the Royal
Hope of England by a way that the wisest of them could never guess.
Alice, my love, ask no questions, but speed to the kitchen, and fetch a
slice or two of beef, or better of venison; cut them long, and thin,
d'ye mark me"
"This is wandering of the mind," said Albert apart to the King. "We do
him wrong, and your Majesty harm, to listen to him."
"I think otherwise," said Alice, "and I know my father better than
you." So saying, she left the room, to fulfil her father's orders.
"I think so, too," said Charles"in Scotland the Presbyterian
ministers, when thundering in their pulpits on my own sins and those of
my house, took the freedom to call me to my face Jeroboam, or Rehoboam,
or some such name, for following the advice of young counsellors
Oddsfish, I will take that of the grey beard for once, for never saw I
more sharpness and decision than in the countenance of that noble old
man."
By this time Sir Henry had found what he was seeking. "In this tin
box," he said, "are six balls prepared of the most cordial spices,
mixed with medicaments of the choicest and most invigorating quality.
Given from hour to hour, wrapt in a covering of good beef or venison, a
horse of spirit will not flag for five hours, at the speed of fifteen
miles an hour; and, please God, the fourth of the time places your
Majesty in safetywhat remains may be useful on some future occasion.
Martin knows how to administer them; and Albert's weary cattle shall be
ready, if walked gently for ten minutes, in running to devour the way,
as old Will saysnay, waste not time in speech, your Majesty does me
but too much honour in using what is your own.Now, see if the coast is
clear, Albert, and let his Majesty set off instantlyWe will play our
parts but ill, if any take the chase after him for these two hours that
are between night and dayChange dresses, as you proposed, in yonder
sleeping apartmentsomething may be made of that too."
"But, good Sir Henry," said the King, "your zeal overlooks a principal
point. I have, indeed, come from the under-keeper's hut you mention to
this place, but it was by daylight, and under guidanceI shall never
find my way thither in utter darkness, and without a guideI fear you
must let the Colonel go with me; and I entreat and command, you will
put yourself to no trouble or risk to defend the houseonly make what
delay you can in showing its secret recesses."
"Rely on me, my royal and liege Sovereign," said Sir Henry; "but Albert
must remain here, and Alice shall guide your Majesty to Joceline's
hut in his stead."
"Alice!" said Charles, stepping back in surprise"why, it is dark
nightandandand" He glanced his eye towards Alice, who had by this
time returned to the apartment, and saw doubt and apprehension in her
look; an intimation, that the reserve under which he had placed his
disposition for gallantry, since the morning of the proposed duel, had
not altogether effaced the recollection of his previous conduct. He
hastened to put a strong negative upon a proposal which appeared so
much to embarrass her. "It is impossible for me, indeed, Sir Henry, to
use Alice's servicesI must walk as if blood-hounds were at my heels."
"Alice shall trip it," said the knight, "with any wench in Oxfordshire;
and what would your Majesty's best speed avail, if you know not the way
to go?"
"Nay, nay, Sir Henry," continued the King, "the night is too darkwe
stay too longI will find it myself."
"Lose no time in exchanging your dress with Albert," said Sir
Henry"leave me to take care of the rest."
Charles, still inclined to expostulate, withdrew, however, into the
apartment where young Lee and he were to exchange clothes; while Sir
Henry said to his daughter, "Get thee a cloak, wench, and put on thy
thickest shoes. Thou might'st have ridden Pixie, but he is something
spirited, and them art a timid horsewoman, and ever wert sothe only
weakness I have known of thee."
"But, my father," said Alice, fixing her eyes earnestly on Sir Henry's
face, "must I really go along with the King? might not Phbe, or dame
Jellicot, go with us?"
"Nonono," answered Sir Henry; "Phbe, the silly slut, has, as you
well know, been in fits to-night, and I take it, such a walk as you
must take is no charm for hystericsDame Jellicot hobbles as slow as a
broken-winded marebesides, her deafness, were there occasion to speak
to herNonoyou shall go alone and entitle yourself to have it written
on your tomb, 'Here lies she who saved the King!'And, hark you, do not
think of returning to-night, but stay at the verdurer's with his
niecethe Park and Chase will shortly be filled with our enemies, and
whatever chances here you will learn early enough in the morning."
"And what is it I may then learn?" said Alice"Alas, who can tell?O,
dearest father, let me stay and share your fate! I will pull off the
timorous woman, and fight for the King, if it be necessary.ButI
cannot think of becoming his only attendant in the dark night, and
through a road so lonely."
"How!" said the knight, raising his voice; "do you bring ceremonious
and silly scruples forward, when the King's safety, nay his life is at
stake! By this mark of loyalty," stroking his grey beard as he spoke,
"could I think thou wert other than becomes a daughter of the house of
Lee, I would"
At this moment the King and Albert interrupted him by entering the
apartment, having exchanged dresses, and, from their stature, bearing
some resemblance to each other, though Charles was evidently a plain,
and Lee a handsome young man. Their complexions were different; but the
difference could not be immediately noticed, Albert having adopted a
black peruque, and darkened his eyebrows.
Albert Lee walked out to the front of the mansion, to give one turn
around the Lodge, in order to discover in what direction any enemies
might be approaching, that they might judge of the road which it was
safest for the royal fugitive to adopt. Meanwhile the King, who was
first in entering the apartment, had heard a part of the angry answer
which the old knight made to his daughter, and was at no loss to guess
the subject of his resentment. He walked up to him with the dignity
which he perfectly knew how to assume when he chose it.
"Sir Henry," he said, "it is our pleasure, nay our command, that you
forbear all exertion of paternal authority in this matter. Mistress
Alice, I am sure, must have good and strong reasons for what she
wishes; and I should never pardon myself were she placed in an
unpleasant situation on my account. I am too well acquainted with woods
and wildernesses to fear losing my way among my native oaks of
Woodstock."
"Your Majesty shall not incur the danger," said Alice, her temporary
hesitation entirely removed by the calm, clear, and candid manner in
which Charles uttered these last words. "You shall run no risk that I
can prevent; and the unhappy chances of the times in which I have lived
have from experience made the forest as well known to me by night as by
day. So, if you scorn not my company, let us away instantly."
"If your company is given with good-will, I accept it with gratitude,"
replied the monarch.
"Willingly," she said, "most willingly. Let me be one of the first to
show that zeal and that confidence, which I trust all England will one
day emulously display in behalf of your Majesty."
She uttered these words with an alacrity of spirit, and made the
trifling change of habit with a speed and dexterity, which showed that
all her fears were gone, and that her heart was entirely in the mission
on which her father had dispatched her.
"All is safe around," said Albert Lee, showing himself; "you may take
which passage you willthe most private is the best."
Charles went gracefully up to Sir Henry Lee ere his departure, and took
him by the hand."I am too proud to make professions," he said, "which
I may be too poor ever to realize. But while Charles Stewart lives, he
lives the obliged and indebted debtor of Sir Henry Lee."
"Say not so, please your Majesty, say not so," exclaimed the old man,
struggling with the hysterical sobs which rose to his throat. "He who
might claim all, cannot become indebted by accepting some small part."
"Farewell, good friend, farewell!" said the King; "think of me as a
son, a brother to Albert and to Alice, who are, I see, already
impatient. Give me a father's blessing, and let me be gone."
"The God, through whom kings reign, bless your Majesty," said Sir
Henry, kneeling and turning his reverend face and clasped hands up to
Heaven"The Lord of Hosts bless you, and save your Majesty from your
present dangers, and bring you in his own good time to the safe
possession of the crown that is your due!"
Charles received this blessing like that of a father, and Alice and he
departed on their journey.
As they left the apartment, the old knight let his hands sink gently as
he concluded this fervent ejaculation, his head sinking at the same
time. His son dared not disturb his meditation, yet feared the strength
of his feelings might overcome that of his constitution, and that he
might fall into a swoon. At length, he ventured to approach and
gradually touch him. The old knight started to his feet, and was at
once the same alert, active-minded, forecasting director, which he had
shown himself a little before.
"You are right, boy," he said, "we must be up and doing. They lie, the
roundheaded traitors, that call him dissolute and worthless! He hath
feelings worthy the son of the blessed Martyr. You saw, even in the
extremity of danger, he would have perilled his safety rather than take
Alice's guidance when the silly wench seemed in doubt about going.
Profligacy is intensely selfish, and thinks not of the feelings of
others. But hast thou drawn bolt and bar after them? I vow I scarce saw
when they left the hall."
"I let them out at the little postern," said the Colonel; "and when I
returned, I was afraid I had found you ill."
"Joyjoy, only joy, AlbertI cannot allow a thought of doubt to cross
my breast. God will not desert the descendant of an hundred kingsthe
rightful heir will not be given up to the ruffians. There was a tear in
his eye as he took leave of meI am sure of it. Wouldst not die for
him, boy?"
"If I lay my life down for him to-night," said Albert, "I would only
regret it, because I should not hear of his escape to-morrow."
"Well, let us to this gear," said the knight; "think'st thou know'st
enough of his manner, clad as thou art in his dress, to induce the
women to believe thee to be the page Kerneguy?"
"Umph," replied Albert, "it is not easy to bear out a personification
of the King, when women are in the case. But there is only a very
little light below, and I can try."
"Do so instantly," said his father; "the knaves will be here
presently." Albert accordingly left the apartment, while the knight
continued"If the women be actually persuaded that Kerneguy be still
here, it will add strength to my plotthe beagles will open on a false
scent, and the royal stag be safe in cover ere they regain the slot of
him. Then to draw them on from hiding-place to hiding-place! Why, the
east will be grey before they have sought the half of them!Yes, I will
play at bob-cherry with them, hold the bait to their nose which they
are never to gorge upon! I will drag a trail for them which will take
them some time to puzzle out.But at what cost do I do this?" continued
the old knight, interrupting his own joyous soliloquy"Oh, Absalom,
Absalom, my son! my son!But let him go; he can but die as his fathers
have died; and in the cause for which they lived. But he
comesHush!Albert, hast thou succeeded? hast thou taken royalty upon
thee so as to pass current?"
"I have, sir," replied Albert; "the women will swear that Louis
Kerneguy was in the house this very last minute."
"Right, for they are good and faithful creatures," said the knight,
"and would swear what was for his Majesty's safety at any rate; yet
they will do it with more nature and effect, if they believe they are
swearing truth.How didst thou impress the deceit upon them?"
"By a trifling adoption of the royal manner, sir, not worth
mentioning."
"Out, rogue!" replied the knight. "I fear the King's character will
suffer under your mummery."
"Umph," said Albert, muttering what he dared not utter aloud"were I to
follow the example close up, I know whose character would be in the
greatest danger."
"Well, now we must adjust the defence of the outworks, the signals, &c.
betwixt us both, and the best way to baffle the enemy for the longest
time possible." He then again had recourse to the secret drawers of his
cabinet, and pulled out a piece of parchment, on which was a plan.
"This," said he, "is a scheme of the citadel, as I call it, which may
hold out long enough after you have been forced to evacuate the places
of retreat you are already acquainted with. The ranger was always sworn
to keep this plan secret, save from one person only, in case of sudden
death.Let us sit down and study it together."
They accordingly adjusted their measures in a manner which will better
show itself from what afterwards took place, than were we to state the
various schemes which they proposed, and provisions made against events
that did not arrive.
At length young Lee, armed and provided with some food and liquor, took
leave of his father, and went and shut himself up in Victor Lee's
apartment, from which was an opening to the labyrinth of private
apartments, or hiding-places, that had served the associates so well in
the fantastic tricks which they had played off at the expense of the
Commissioners of the Commonwealth.
"I trust," said Sir Henry, sitting down by his desk, after having taken
a tender farewell of his son, "that Rochecliffe has not blabbed out the
secret of the plot to yonder fellow Tomkins, who was not unlikely to
prate of it out of school.But here am I seatedperhaps for the last
time, with my Bible on the one hand, and old Will on the other,
prepared, thank God, to die as I have lived.I marvel they come not
yet," he said, after waiting for some time"I always thought the devil
had a smarter spur to give his agents, when they were upon his own
special service."
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-THIRD.
But see, his face is black, and full of blood;
His eye-balls farther out than when he lived,
Staring full ghastly, like a strangled man;
His hair uprear'dhis nostrils stretch'd with struggling,
His hands abroad display'd, as one who grasp'd
And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdued.
HENRY VI. PART I.
Had those whose unpleasant visit Sir Henry expected come straight to
the Lodge, instead of staying for three hours at Woodstock, they would
have secured their prey. But the Familist, partly to prevent the King's
escape, partly to render himself of more importance in the affair, had
represented the party at the Lodge as being constantly on the alert,
and had therefore inculcated upon Cromwell the necessity of his
remaining quiet until he (Tomkins) should appear to give him notice
that the household were retired to rest. On this condition he
undertook, not only to discover the apartment in which the unfortunate
Charles slept, but, if possible, to find some mode of fastening the
door on the outside, so as to render flight impossible. He had also
promised to secure the key of a postern, by which the soldiers might be
admitted into the house without exciting alarm. Nay, the matter might,
by means of his local knowledge, be managed, as he represented it, with
such security, that he would undertake to place his Excellency, or
whomsoever he might appoint for the service, by the side of Charles
Stewart's bed, ere he had slept off the last night's claret. Above all,
he had stated, that, from the style of the old house, there were many
passages and posterns which must be carefully guarded before the least
alarm was caught by those within, otherwise the success of the whole
enterprise might be endangered. He had therefore besought Cromwell to
wait for him at the village, if he found him not there on his arrival;
and assured him that the marching and countermarching of soldiers was
at present so common, that even if any news were carried to the Lodge
that fresh troops had arrived in the borough, so ordinary a
circumstance would not give them the least alarm. He recommended that
the soldiers chosen for this service should be such as could be
depended uponno fainters in spiritnone who turn back from Mount
Gilead for fear of the Amalekites, but men of war, accustomed to strike
with the sword, and to need no second blow. Finally, he represented
that it would be wisely done if the General should put Pearson, or any
other officer whom he could completely trust, into the command of the
detachment, and keep his own person, if he should think it proper to
attend, secret even from the soldiers.
All this man's counsels Cromwell had punctually followed. He had
travelled in the van of this detachment of one hundred picked soldiers,
whom he had selected for the service, men of dauntless resolution, bred
in a thousand dangers, and who were steeled against all feelings of
hesitation and compassion, by the deep and gloomy fanaticism which was
their chief principle of actionmen to whom, as their General, and no
less as the chief among the Elect, the commands of Oliver were like a
commission from the Deity.
Great and deep was the General's mortification at the unexpected
absence of the personage on whose agency he so confidently reckoned,
and many conjectures he formed as to the cause of such mysterious
conduct. Some times he thought Tomkins had been overcome by liquor, a
frailty to which Cromwell knew him to be addicted; and when he held
this opinion he discharged his wrath in maledictions, which, of a
different kind from the wild oaths and curses of the cavaliers, had yet
in them as much blasphemy, and more determined malevolence. At other
times he thought some unexpected alarm, or perhaps some drunken
cavalier revel, had caused the family of Woodstock Lodge to make later
hours than usual. To this conjecture, which appeared the most probable
of any, his mind often recurred; and it was the hope that Tomkins would
still appear at the rendezvous, which induced him to remain at the
borough, anxious to receive communication from his emissary, and afraid
of endangering the success of the enterprise by any premature exertion
on his own part.
In the meantime, Cromwell, finding it no longer possible to conceal his
personal presence, disposed of every thing so as to be ready at a
minute's notice. Half his soldiers he caused to dismount, and had the
horses put into quarters; the other half were directed to keep their
horses saddled, and themselves ready to mount at a moment's notice. The
men were brought into the house by turns, and had some refreshment,
leaving a sufficient guard on the horses, which was changed from time
to time.
Thus Cromwell waited with no little uncertainty, often casting an
anxious eye upon Colonel Everard, who, he suspected, could, if he chose
it, well supply the place of his absent confidant. Everard endured this
calmly, with unaltered countenance, and brow neither ruffled nor
dejected.
Midnight at length tolled, and it became necessary to take some
decisive step. Tomkins might have been treacherous; or, a suspicion
which approached more near to the reality, his intrigue might have been
discovered, and he himself murdered or kidnapped by the vengeful
royalists. In a word, if any use was to be made of the chance which
fortune afforded of securing the most formidable claimant of the
supreme power, which he already aimed at, no farther time was to be
lost. He at length gave orders to Pearson to get the men under arms; he
directed him concerning the mode of forming them, and that they should
march with the utmost possible silence; or as it was given out in the
orders, "Even as Gideon marched in silence when he went down against
the camp of the Midianites, with only Phurah his servant.
Peradventure," continued this strange document, "we too may learn of
what yonder Midianites have dreamed."
A single patrol, followed by a corporal and five steady, experienced
soldiers, formed the advanced guard of the party; then followed the
main body. A rear-guard of ten men guarded Everard and the minister.
Cromwell required the attendance of the former, as it might be
necessary to examine him, or confront him with others; and he carried
Master Holdenough with him, because he might escape if left behind, and
perhaps raise some tumult in the village. The Presbyterians, though
they not only concurred with, but led the way in the civil war, were at
its conclusion highly dissatisfied with the ascendency of the military
sectaries, and not to be trusted as cordial agents in anything where
their interest was concerned. The infantry being disposed of as we have
noticed, marched off from the left of their line, Cromwell and Pearson,
both on foot, keeping at the head of the centre, or main body of the
detachment. They were all armed with petronels, short guns similar to
the modern carabine, and, like them, used by horsemen. They marched in
the most profound silence and with the utmost regularity, the whole
body moving like one man.
About one hundred yards behind the rearmost of the dismounted party,
came the troopers who remained on horseback; and it seemed as if even
the irrational animals were sensible to Cromwell's orders, for the
horses did not neigh, and even appeared to place their feet on the
earth cautiously, and with less noise than usual.
Their leader, full of anxious thoughts, never spoke, save to enforce by
whispers his caution respecting silence, while the men, surprised and
delighted to find themselves under the command of their renowned
General, and destined, doubtless, for some secret service of high
import, used the utmost precaution in attending to his reiterated
orders.
They marched down the street of the little borough in the order we have
mentioned. Few of the townsmen were abroad; and one or two, who had
protracted the orgies of the evening to that unusual hour, were too
happy to escape the notice of a strong party of soldiers, who often
acted in the character of police, to inquire about their purpose for
being under arms so late, or the route which they were pursuing.
The external gate of the Chase had, ever since the party had arrived at
Woodstock, been strictly guarded by three file of troopers, to cut off
all communication between the Lodge and the town. Spitfire, Wildrake's
emissary, who had often been a-bird-nesting, or on similar mischievous
excursions in the forest, had evaded these men's vigilance by climbing
over a breach, with which he was well acquainted, in a different part
of the wall.
Between this party and the advanced guard of Cromwell's detachment, a
whispered challenge was exchanged, according to the rules of
discipline. The infantry entered the Park, and were followed by the
cavalry, who were directed to avoid the hard road, and ride as much as
possible upon the turf which bordered on the avenue. Here, too, an
additional precaution was used, a file or two of foot soldiers being
detached to search the woods on either hand, and make prisoner, or, in
the event of resistance, put to death, any whom they might find lurking
there, under what pretence soever.
Meanwhile, the weather began to show itself as propitious to Cromwell,
as he had found most incidents in the course of his successful career.
The grey mist, which had hitherto obscured everything, and rendered
marching in the wood embarrassing and difficult, had now given way to
the moon, which, after many efforts, at length forced her way through
the vapour, and hung her dim dull cresset in the heavens, which she
enlightened, as the dying lamp of an anchorite does the cell in which
he reposes. The party were in sight of the front of the palace, when
Holdenough whispered to Everard, as they walked near each other"See ye
not, yonder flutters the mysterious light in the turret of the
incontinent Rosamond? This night will try whether the devil of the
Sectaries or the devil of the Malignants shall prove the stronger. O,
sing jubilee, for the kingdom of Satan is divided against itself!"
Here the divine was interrupted by a non-commissioned officer, who came
hastily, yet with noiseless steps, to say, in a low stern whisper
"Silence, prisoner in the rearsilence on pain of death."
A moment afterwards the whole party stopped their march, the word halt
being passed from one to another, and instantly obeyed.
The cause of this interruption was the hasty return of one of the
flanking party to the main body, bringing news to Cromwell that they
had seen a light in the wood at some distance on the left.
"What can it be?" said Cromwell, his low stern voice, even in a
whisper, making itself distinctly heard. "Does it move, or is it
stationary?"
"So far as we can judge, it moveth not," answered the trooper.
"Strangethere is no cottage near the spot where it is seen."
"So please your Excellency, it may be a device of Sathan," said
Corporal Humgudgeon, snuffing through his nose; "he is mighty powerful
in these parts of late."
"So please your idiocy, thou art an ass," said Cromwell; but, instantly
recollecting that the corporal had been one of the adjutators or
tribunes of the common soldiers, and was therefore to be treated with
suitable respect, he said, "Nevertheless, if it be the device of Satan,
please it the Lord we will resist him, and the foul slave shall fly
from us.Pearson," he said, resuming his soldierlike brevity, "take
four file, and see what is yonderNothe knaves may shrink from thee.
Go thou straight to the Lodgeinvest it in the way we agreed, so that a
bird shall not escape out of itform an outward and an inward ring of
sentinels, but give no alarm until I come. Should any attempt to
escape, KILL them."He spoke that command with terrible emphasis."Kill
them on the spot," he repeated, "be they who or what they will. Better
so than trouble the Commonwealth with prisoners."
Pearson heard, and proceeded to obey his commander's orders.
Meanwhile, the future Protector disposed the small force which remained
with him in such a manner that they should approach from different
points at once the light which excited his suspicions, and gave them
orders to creep as near to it as they could, taking care not to lose
each other's support, and to be ready to rush in at the same moment,
when he should give the sign, which was to be a loud whistle. Anxious
to ascertain the truth with his own eyes, Cromwell, who had by instinct
all the habits of military foresight, which, in others, are the result
of professional education and long experience, advanced upon the object
of his curiosity. He skulked from tree to tree with the light step and
prowling sagacity of an Indian bush-fighter; and before any of his men
had approached so near as to descry them, he saw, by the lantern which
was placed on the ground, two men, who had been engaged in digging what
seemed to be an ill-made grave. Near them lay extended something
wrapped in a deer's hide, which greatly resembled the dead body of a
man. They spoke together in a low voice, yet so that their dangerous
auditor could perfectly overhear what they said.
"It is done at last," said one; "the worst and hardest labour I ever
did in my life. I believe there is no luck about me left. My very arms
feel as if they did not belong to me; and, strange to tell, toil as
hard as I would, I could not gather warmth in my limbs."
"I have warmed me enough," said Rochecliffe, breathing short with
fatigue.
"But the cold lies at my heart," said Joceline; "I scarce hope ever to
be warm again. It is strange, and a charm seems to be on us. Here have
we been nigh two hours in doing what Diggon the sexton would have done
to better purpose in half a one."
"We are wretched spadesmen enough," answered Dr. Rochecliffe. "Every
man to his toolsthou to thy bugle-horn, and I to my papers in
cipher.But do not be discouraged; it is the frost on the ground, and
the number of roots, which rendered our task difficult. And now, all
due rites done to this unhappy man, and having read over him the
service of the Church, valeat quantum, let us lay him decently in
this place of last repose; there will be small lack of him above
ground. So cheer up thy heart, man, like a soldier as thou art; we have
read the service over his body; and should times permit it, we will
have him removed to consecrated ground, though he is all unworthy of
such favour. Here, help me to lay him in the earth; we will drag briers
and thorns over the spot, when we have shovelled dust upon dust; and do
thou think of this chance more manfully; and remember, thy secret is in
thine own keeping."
"I cannot answer for that," said Joceline. "Methinks the very night
winds among the leaves will tell of what we have been doingmethinks
the trees themselves will say, 'there is a dead corpse lies among our
roots.' Witnesses are soon found when blood hath been spilled."
"They are so, and that right early," exclaimed Cromwell, starting from
the thicket, laying hold on Joceline, and putting a pistol to his head.
At any other period of his life, the forester would, even against the
odds of numbers, have made a desperate resistance; but the horror he
had felt at the slaughter of an old companion, although in defence of
his own life, together with fatigue and surprise, had altogether
unmanned him, and he was seized as easily as a sheep is secured by the
butcher. Dr. Rochecliffe offered some resistance, but was presently
secured by the soldiers who pressed around him.
"Look, some of you," said Cromwell, "what corpse this is upon whom
these lewd sons of Belial have done a murderCorporal Grace-be-here
Humgudgeon, see if thou knowest the face."
"I profess I do, even as I should do mine own in a mirror," snuffled
the corporal, after looking on the countenance of the dead man by the
help of the lantern. "Of a verity it is our trusty brother in the
faith, Joseph Tomkins."
"Tomkins!" exclaimed Cromwell, springing forward and satisfying himself
with a glance at the features of the corpse"Tomkins!and murdered, as
the fracture of the temple intimates!dogs that ye are, confess the
truthYou have murdered him because you have discovered his treachery
I should say his true spirit towards the Commonwealth of England, and
his hatred of those complots in which you would have engaged his honest
simplicity."
"Ay," said Grace-be-here Humgudgeon, "and then to misuse his dead body
with your papistical doctrines, as if you had crammed cold porridge
into its cold mouth. I pray thee, General, let these men's bonds be
made strong."
"Forbear, corporal," said Cromwell; "our time presses.Friend, to
you,whom I believe to be Doctor Anthony Rochecliffe by name and
surname, I have to give the choice of being hanged at daybreak
to-morrow, or making atonement for the murder of one of the Lord's
people, by telling what thou knowest of the secrets which are in yonder
house."
"Truly, sir," replied Rochecliffe, "you found me but in my duty as a
clergyman, interring the dead; and respecting answering your questions,
I am determined myself, and do advise my fellow-sufferer on this
occasion"
"Remove him," said Cromwell; "I know his stiffneckedness of old, though
I have made him plough in my furrow, when he thought he was turning up
his own swatheRemove him to the rear, and bring hither the other
fellow.Come thou herethis wayclosercloser.Corporal Grace-be-here,
do thou keep thy hand upon the belt with which he is bound. We must
take care of our life for the sake of this distracted country, though,
lack-a-day, for its own proper worth we could peril it for a pin's
point.Now, mark me, fellow, choose betwixt buying thy life by a full
confession, or being tucked presently up to one of these old oaksHow
likest thou that?"
"Truly, master," answered the under-keeper, affecting more rusticity
than was natural to him, (for his frequent intercourse with Sir Henry
Lee had partly softened and polished his manners,) "I think the oak is
like to bear a lusty acornthat is all."
"Dally not with me, friend," continued Oliver; "I profess to thee in
sincerity I am no trifler. What guests have you seen at yonder house
called the Lodge?"
"Many a brave guest in my day, I'se warrant ye, master," said Joceline.
"Ah, to see how the chimneys used to smoke some twelve years back! Ah,
sir, a sniff of it would have dined a poor man."
"Out, rascal!" said the General, "dost thou jeer me? Tell me at once
what guests have been of late in the Lodgeand look thee, friend, be
assured, that in rendering me this satisfaction, thou shalt not only
rescue thy neck from the halter, but render also an acceptable service
to the State, and one which I will see fittingly rewarded. For, truly,
I am not of those who would have the rain fall only on the proud and
stately plants, but rather would, so far as my poor wishes and prayers
are concerned, that it should also fall upon the lowly and humble grass
and corn, that the heart of the husbandman may be rejoiced, and that as
the cedar of Lebanon waxes in its height, in its boughs, and in its
roots, so may the humble and lowly hyssop that groweth upon the walls
flourish, andand, trulyUnderstand'st thou me, knave?"
"Not entirely, if it please your honour," said Joceline; "but it sounds
as if you were preaching a sermon, and has a marvellous twang of
doctrine with it."
"Then, in one wordthou knowest there is one Louis Kerneguy, or
Carnego, or some such name, in hiding at the Lodge yonder?"
"Nay, sir," replied the under-keeper, "there have been many coming and
going since Worcester-field; and how should I know who they are?my
service is out of doors, I trow."
"A thousand pounds," said Cromwell, "do I tell down to thee, if thou
canst place that boy in my power."
"A thousand pounds is a marvellous matter, sir," said Joceline; "but I
have more blood on my hand than I like already. I know not how the
price of life may thriveand, 'scape or hang, I have no mind to try."
"Away with him to the rear," said the General; "and let him not speak
with his yoke-fellow yonderFool that I am, to waste time in expecting
to get milk from mules.Move on towards the Lodge."
They moved with the same silence as formerly, notwithstanding the
difficulties which they encountered from being unacquainted with the
road and its various intricacies. At length they were challenged, in a
low voice, by one of their own sentinels, two concentric circles of
whom had been placed around the Lodge, so close to each other, as to
preclude the possibility of an individual escaping from within. The
outer guard was maintained partly by horse upon the roads and open
lawn, and where the ground was broken and bushy, by infantry. The inner
circle was guarded by foot soldiers only. The whole were in the highest
degree alert, expecting some interesting and important consequences
from the unusual expedition on which they were engaged.
"Any news, Pearson?" said the General to his aide-de-camp, who came
instantly to report to his superior.
He received for answer, "None."
Cromwell led his officer forward just opposite to the door of the
Lodge, and there paused betwixt the circles of guards, so that their
conversation could not be overheard.
He then pursued his enquiry, demanding, "Were there any lightsany
appearances of stirringany attempt at sallyany preparation for
defence?"
"All as silent as the valley of the shadow of deathEven as the vale of
Jehosaphat."
"Pshaw! tell me not of Jehosaphat, Pearson," said Cromwell. "These
words are good for others, but not for thee. Speak plainly, and like a
blunt soldier as thou art. Each man hath his own mode of speech; and
bluntness, not sanctity, is thine."
"Well then, nothing has been stirring," said Pearson."Yet
peradventure"
"Peradventure not me," said Cromwell, "or thou wilt tempt me to knock
thy teeth out. I ever distrust a man when he speaks after another
fashion from his own."
"Zounds! let me speak to an end," answered Pearson, "and I will speak
in what language your Excellency will."
"Thy zounds, friend," said Oliver, "showeth little of grace, but much
of sincerity. Go to thenthou knowest I love and trust thee. Hast thou
kept close watch? It behoves us to know that, before giving the alarm."
"On my soul," said Pearson, "I have watched as closely as a cat at a
mouse-hole. It is beyond possibility that any thing could have eluded
our vigilance, or even stirred within the house, without our being
aware of it."
"'Tis well," said Cromwell; "thy services shall not be forgotten,
Pearson. Thou canst not preach and pray, but thou canst obey thine
orders, Gilbert Pearson, and that may make amends."
"I thank your Excellency," replied Pearson; "but I beg leave to chime
in with the humours of the times. A poor fellow hath no right to hold
himself singular."
He paused, expecting Cromwell's orders what next was to be done, and,
indeed, not a little surprised that the General's active and prompt
spirit had suffered him during a moment so critical to cast away a
thought upon a circumstance so trivial as his officer's peculiar mode
of expressing himself. He wondered still more, when, by a brighter
gleam of moonshine than he had yet enjoyed, he observed that Cromwell
was standing motionless, his hands supported upon his sword, which he
had taken out of the belt, and his stern brows bent on the ground. He
waited for some time impatiently, yet afraid to interfere, lest he
should awaken this unwonted fit of ill-timed melancholy into anger and
impatience. He listened to the muttering sounds which escaped from the
half-opening lips of his principal, in which the words, "hard
necessity," which occurred more than once, were all of which the sense
could be distinguished. "My Lord-General," at length he said, "time
flies."
"Peace, busy fiend, and urge me not!" said Cromwell. "Think'st thou,
like other fools, that I have made a paction with the devil for
success, and am bound to do my work within an appointed hour, lest the
spell should lose its force?"
"I only think, my Lord-General," said Pearson, "that Fortune has put
into your coffer what you have long desired to make prize of, and that
you hesitate."
Cromwell sighed deeply as he answered, "Ah, Pearson, in this troubled
world, a man, who is called like me to work great things in Israel, had
need to be, as the poets feign, a thing made of hardened metal,
immovable to feelings of human charities, impassible, resistless.
Pearson, the world will hereafter, perchance, think of me as being such
a one as I have described, 'an iron man, and made of iron mould.'Yet
they will wrong my memorymy heart is flesh, and my blood is mild as
that of others. When I was a sportsman, I have wept for the gallant
heron that was struck down, by my hawk, and sorrowed for the hare which
lay screaming under the jaws of my greyhound; and canst thou think it a
light thing to me, that, the blood of this lad's father lying in some
measure upon my head, I should now put in peril that of the son? They
are of the kindly race of English sovereigns, and, doubtless, are
adored like to demigods by those of their own party. I am called
Parricide, Blood-thirsty Usurper, already, for shedding the blood of
one man, that the plague might be stayedor as Achan was slain that
Israel might thereafter stand against the face of their enemies.
Nevertheless, who has spoke unto me graciously since that high deed?
Those who acted in the matter with me are willing that I should be the
scape-goat of the atonementthose who looked on and helped not, bear
themselves now as if they had been borne down by violence; and while I
looked that they should shout applause on me, because of the victory of
Worcester, whereof the Lord had made me the poor instrument, they look
aside to say, 'Ha! ha! the King-killer, the Parricidesoon shall his
place be made desolate.'Truly it is a great thing, Gilbert Pearson, to
be lifted above the multitude; but when one feeleth that his exaltation
is rather hailed with hate and scorn than with love and reverencein
sooth, it is still a hard matter for a mild, tender-conscienced, infirm
spirit to bearand God be my witness, that, rather than do this new
deed, I would shed my own best heart's-blood in a pitched field, twenty
against one." Here he fell into a flood of tears, which he sometimes
was wont to do. This extremity of emotion was of a singular character.
It was not actually the result of penitence, and far less that of
absolute hypocrisy, but arose merely from the temperature of that
remarkable man, whose deep policy, and ardent enthusiasm, were
intermingled with a strain of hypochondriacal passion, which often led
him to exhibit scenes of this sort, though seldom, as now, when he was
called to the execution of great undertakings.
Pearson, well acquainted as he was with the peculiarities of his
General, was baffled and confounded by this fit of hesitation and
contrition, by which his enterprising spirit appeared to be so suddenly
paralysed. After a moment's silence, he said, with some dryness of
manner, "If this be the case, it is a pity your Excellency came hither.
Corporal Humgudgeon and I, the greatest saint and greatest sinner in
your army, had done the deed, and divided the guilt and the honour
betwixt us."
"Ha!" said Cromwell, as if touched to the quick, "wouldst thou take the
prey from the lion?"
"If the lion behaves like a village cur," said Pearson boldly, "who now
barks and seems as if he would tear all to pieces, and now flies from a
raised stick or a stone, I know not why I should fear him. If Lambert
had been here, there had been less speaking and more action."
"Lambert! What of Lambert?" said Cromwell, very sharply.
"Only," said Pearson, "that I long since hesitated whether I should
follow your Excellency or himand I begin to be uncertain whether I
have made the best choice, that's all."
"Lambert!" exclaimed Cromwell impatiently, yet softening his voice lest
he should be overheard descanting on the character of his rival,"What
is Lambert?a tulip-fancying fellow, whom nature intended for a Dutch
gardener at Delft or Rotterdam. Ungrateful as thou art, what could
Lambert have done for thee?"
"He would not," answered Pearson, "have stood here hesitating before a
locked door, when fortune presented the means of securing, by one blow,
his own fortune, and that of all who followed him."
"Thou art right, Gilbert Pearson," said Cromwell, grasping his
officer's hand, and strongly pressing it. "Be the half of this bold
accompt thine, whether the reckoning be on earth or heaven."
"Be the whole of it mine hereafter," said Pearson hardily, "so your
Excellency have the advantage of it upon earth. Step back to the rear
till I force the doorthere may be danger, if despair induce them to
make a desperate sally."
"And if they do sally, is there one of my Ironsides who fears fire or
steel less than myself?" said the General. "Let ten of the most
determined men follow us, two with halberts, two with petronels, the
others with pistolsLet all their arms be loaded, and fire without
hesitation, if there is any attempt to resist or to sally forthLet
Corporal Humgudgeon be with them, and do thou remain here, and watch
against escape, as thou wouldst watch for thy salvation."
The General then struck at the door with the hilt of his swordat first
with a single blow or two, then with a reverberation of strokes that
made the ancient building ring again. This noisy summons was repeated
once or twice without producing the least effect.
"What can this mean?" said Cromwell; "they cannot surely have fled, and
left the house empty."
"No," replied Pearson, "I will ensure you against that; but your
Excellency strikes so fiercely, you allow no time for an answer. Hark!
I hear the baying of a hound, and the voice of a man who is quieting
himShall we break in at once, or hold parley?"
"I will speak to them first," said Cromwell."Hollo! who is within
there?"
"Who is it enquires?" answered Sir Henry Lee from the interior; "or
what want you here at this dead hour?"
"We come by warrant of the Commonwealth of England," said the General.
"I must see your warrant ere I undo either bolt or latch," replied the
knight; "we are enough of us to make good the castle: neither I nor my
fellows will deliver it up but upon good quarter and conditions; and we
will not treat for these save in fair daylight."
"Since you will not yield to our right, you must try our might,"
replied Cromwell. "Look to yourselves within; the door will be in the
midst of you in five minutes."
"Look to yourselves without," replied the stout-hearted Sir Henry; "we
will pour our shot upon you, if you attempt the least violence."
But, alas! while he assumed this bold language, his whole garrison
consisted of two poor terrified women; for his son, in conformity with
the plan which they had fixed upon, had withdrawn from the hall into
the secret recesses of the palace.
"What can they be doing now, sir?" said Phbe, hearing a noise as it
were of a carpenter turning screw-nails, mixed with a low buzz of men
talking.
"They are fixing a petard," said the knight, with great composure. "I
have noted thee for a clever wench, Phbe, and I will explain it to
thee: 'Tis a metal pot, shaped much like one of the roguish knaves' own
sugarloaf hats, supposing it had narrower brimsit is charged with some
few pounds of fine gunpowder. Then"
"Gracious! we shall be all blown up!" exclaimed Phbe,the word
gunpowder being the only one which she understood in the knight's
description.
"Not a bit, foolish girl. Pack old Dame Jellicot into the embrasure of
yonder window," said the knight, "on that side of the door, and we will
ensconce ourselves on this, and we shall have time to finish my
explanation, for they have bungling engineers. We had a clever French
fellow at Newark would have done the job in the firing of a pistol."
They had scarce got into the place of security when the knight
proceeded with his description."The petard being formed, as I tell
you, is secured with a thick and strong piece of plank, termed the
madrier, and the whole being suspended, or rather secured against the
gate to be forcedBut thou mindest me not?"
"How can I, Sir Henry," she said, "within reach of such a thing as you
speak of?O Lord! I shall go mad with very terrorwe shall be
crushedblown upin a few minutes!"
"We are secure from the explosion," replied the knight, gravely, "which
will operate chiefly in a forward direction into the middle of the
chamber; and from any fragments that may fly laterally, we are
sufficiently guarded by this deep embrasure."
"But they will slay us when they enter," said Phbe.
"They will give thee fair quarter, wench," said Sir Henry; "and if I do
not bestow a brace of balls on that rogue engineer, it is because I
would not incur the penalty inflicted by martial law, which condemns to
the edge of the sword all persons who attempt to defend an untenable
post. Not that I think the rigour of the law could reach Dame Jellicot
or thyself, Phbe, considering that you carry no arms. If Alice had
been here she might indeed have done somewhat, for she can use a
birding-piece."
Phbe might have appealed to her own deeds of that day, as more allied
to feats of mle and battle, than any which her young lady ever acted;
but she was in an agony of inexpressible terror, expecting, from the
knight's account of the petard, some dreadful catastrophe, of what
nature she did not justly understand, notwithstanding his liberal
communication on the subject.
"They are strangely awkward at it," said Sir Henry; "little Boutirlin
would have blown the house up before now.Ah! he is a fellow would take
the earth like a rabbitif he had been here, never may I stir but he
would have countermined them ere now, and
''Tis sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard.'
as our immortal Shakspeare has it."
"Oh, Lord, the poor mad old gentleman," thought Phbe"Oh, sir, had you
not better leave alone playbooks, and think of your end?" uttered she
aloud, in sheer terror and vexation of spirit.
"If I had not made up my mind to that many days since," answered the
knight, "I had not now met this hour with a free bosom
'As gentle and as jocund as to rest,
Go I to deathtruth hath a quiet breast.'"
As he spoke, a broad glare of light flashed from without, through the
windows of the hall, and betwixt the strong iron stanchions with which
they were secureda broad discoloured light it was, which shed a red
and dusky illumination on the old armour and weapons, as if it had been
the reflection of a conflagration. Phbe screamed aloud, and, forgetful
of reverence in the moment of passion, clung close to the knight's
cloak and arm, while Dame Jellicot, from her solitary niche, having the
use of her eyes, though bereft of her hearing, yelled like an owl when
the moon breaks out suddenly.
"Take care, good Phbe," said the knight; "you will prevent my using my
weapon if you hang upon me thus.The bungling fools cannot fix their
petard without the use of torches! Now let me take the advantage of
this interval.Remember what I told thee, and how to put off time."
"Oh, Lorday, sir," said Phbe, "I will say any thing, Oh, Lord, that
it were but over!Ah! ah!"(two prolonged screams)"I hear something
hissing like a serpent."
"It is the fusee, as we martialists call it," replied the knight; "that
is, Phbe, the match which fires the petard, and which is longer or
shorter, according to the distance."
Here the knight's discourse was cut short by a dreadful explosion,
which, as he had foretold, shattered the door, strong as it was, to
pieces, and brought down the glass clattering from the windows with all
the painted heroes and heroines, who had been recorded on that fragile
place of memory for centuries. The women shrieked incessantly, and were
answered by the bellowing of Bevis, though shut up at a distance from
the scene of action. The knight, shaking Phbe from him with
difficulty, advanced into the hall to meet those who rushed in, with
torches lighted and weapons prepared.
"Death to all who resistlife to those who surrender!" exclaimed
Cromwell, stamping with his foot. "Who commands this garrison?"
"Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley," answered the old knight, stepping forward;
"who, having no other garrison than two weak women, is compelled to
submit to what he would willingly have resisted."
"Disarm the inveterate and malignant rebel," cried Oliver. "Art thou
not ashamed, sir, to detain me before the door of a house which you had
no force to defend? Wearest thou so white a beard, and knowest thou
not, that to refuse surrendering an indefensible post, by the martial
law, deserves hanging?"
"My beard and I," said Sir Henry, "have settled that matter between us,
and agree right cordially. It is better to run the risk of being
hanged, like honest men, than to give up our trust like cowards and
traitors."
"Ha! say'st thou?" said Cromwell; "thou hast powerful motives, I doubt
not, for running thy head into a noose. But I will speak with thee by
and by.Ho! Pearson, Gilbert Pearson, take this scrollTake the elder
woman with theeLet her guide you to the various places therein
mentionedSearch every room therein set down, and arrest, or slay upon
the slightest resistance, whomsoever you find there. Then note those
places marked as commanding points for cutting off intercourse through
the mansionthe landing-places of the great staircase, the great
gallery, and so forth. Use the woman civilly. The plan annexed to the
scroll will point out the posts, even if she prove stupid or
refractory. Meanwhile, the corporal, with a party, will bring the old
man and the girl there to some apartmentthe parlour, I think, called
Victor Lee's, will do as well as another.We will then be out of this
stifling smell of gunpowder."
So saying, and without requiring any farther assistance or guidance, he
walked towards the apartment he had named. Sir Henry had his own
feelings, when he saw the unhesitating decision with which the General
led the way, and which seemed to intimate a more complete acquaintance
with the various localities of Woodstock than was consistent with his
own present design, to engage the Commonwealth party in a fruitless
search through the intricacies of the Lodge.
"I will now ask thee a few questions, old man," said the General, when
they had arrived in the room; "and I warn thee, that hope of pardon for
thy many and persevering efforts against the Commonwealth, can be no
otherwise merited than by the most direct answers to the questions I am
about to ask."
Sir Henry bowed. He would have spoken, but he felt his temper rising
high, and became afraid it might be exhausted before the part he had
settled to play, in order to afford the King time for his escape,
should be brought to an end.
"What household have you had here, Sir Henry Lee, within these few
dayswhat guestswhat visitors? We know that your means of
house-keeping are not so profuse as usual, so the catalogue cannot be
burdensome to your memory."
"Far from it," replied the knight, with unusual command of temper, "my
daughter, and latterly my son, have been my guests; and I have had
these females, and one Joceline Joliffe, to attend upon us."
"I do not ask after the regular members of your household, but after
those who have been within your gates, either as guests, or as
malignant fugitives taking shelter."
"There may have been more of both kinds, sir, than I, if it please your
valour, am able to answer for," replied the knight. "I remember my
kinsman Everard was here one morningAlso, I bethink me, a follower of
his, called Wildrake."
"Did you not also receive a young cavalier, called Louis Garnegey?"
said Cromwell.
"I remember no such name, were I to hang for it," said the knight.
"Kerneguy, or some such word," said the General; "we will not quarrel
for a sound."
"A Scotch lad, called Louis Kerneguy, was a guest of mine," said Sir
Henry, "and left me this morning for Dorsetshire."
"So late!" exclaimed Cromwell, stamping with his foot"How fate
contrives to baffle us, even when she seems most favourable!What
direction did he take, old man?" continued Cromwell"what horse did he
ridewho went with him?"
"My son went with him," replied the knight; "he brought him here as the
son of a Scottish lord.I pray you, sir, to be finished with these
questions; for although I owe thee, as Will Shakspeare says,
Respect for thy great place, and let the devil
Be sometimes honoured for his burning throne,
yet I feel my patience wearing thin."
Cromwell here whispered to the corporal, who in turn uttered orders to
two soldiers, who left the room. "Place the knight aside; we will now
examine the servant damsel," said the General."Dost them know," said
he to Phbe, "of the presence of one Louis Kerneguy, calling himself a
Scotch page, who came here a few days since?"
"Surely, sir," she replied, "I cannot easily forget him; and I warrant
no well-looking wench that comes into his way will be like to forget
him either."
"Aha," said Cromwell, "sayst thou so? truly I believe the woman will
prove the truer witness.When did he leave this house?"
"Nay, I know nothing of his movements, not I," said Phbe; "I am only
glad to keep out of his way. But if he have actually gone hence, I am
sure he was here some two hours since, for he crossed me in the lower
passage, between the hall and the kitchen."
"How did you know it was he?" demanded Cromwell.
"By a rude enough token," said Phbe."La, sir, you do ask such
questions!" she added, hanging down her head.
Humgudgeon here interfered, taking upon himself the freedom of a
co-adjutor. "Verily," he said, "if what the damsel is called to speak
upon hath aught unseemly, I crave your Excellency's permission to
withdraw, not desiring that my nightly meditations may be disturbed
with tales of such a nature."
"Nay, your honour," said Phbe, "I scorn the old man's words, in the
way of seemliness or unseemliness either. Master Louis did but snatch a
kiss, that is the truth of it, if it must be told."
Here Humgudgeon groaned deeply, while his Excellency avoided laughing
with some difficulty. "Thou hast given excellent tokens, Phbe," he
said; "and if they be true, as I think they seem to be, thou shalt not
lack thy reward.And here comes our spy from the stables."
"There are not the least signs," said the trooper, "that horses have
been in the stables for a monththere is no litter in the stalls, no
hay in the racks, the corn-bins are empty, and the mangers are full of
cobwebs."
"Ay, ay," said the old knight, "I have seen when I kept twenty good
horses in these stalls, with many a groom and stable-boy to attend
them."
"In the meanwhile," said Cromwell, "their present state tells little
for the truth of your own story, that there were horses to-day, on
which this Kerneguy and your son fled from justice."
"I did not say that the horses were kept there," said the knight. "I
have horses and stables elsewhere."
"Fie, fie, for shame, for shame!" said the General; "can a
white-bearded man, I ask it once more, be a false witness?"
"Faith, sir," said Sir Henry Lee, "it is a thriving trade, and I wonder
not that you who live on it are so severe in prosecuting interlopers.
But it is the times, and those who rule the times, that make
grey-beards deceivers."
"Thou art facetious friend, as well as daring in thy malignity," said
Cromwell; "but credit me, I will cry quittance with you ere I am done.
Whereunto lead these doors?"
"To bedrooms," answered the knight.
"Bedrooms! only to bedrooms?" said the Republican General, in a voice
which indicated such was the internal occupation of his thoughts, that
he had not fully understood the answer.
"Lord, sir," said the knight, "why should you make it so strange? I say
these doors lead to bedroomsto places where honest men sleep, and
rogues lie awake."
"You are running up a farther account, Sir Henry," said the General;
"but we will balance it once and for all."
During the whole of the scene, Cromwell, whatever might be the internal
uncertainty of his mind, maintained the most strict temperance in
language and manner, just as if he had no farther interest in what was
passing, than as a military man employed in discharging the duty
enjoined him by his superiors. But the restraint upon his passion was
but
"The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below."[1]
[1] But mortal pleasure, what art thou in truth?
The torrent's smoothness ere it dash, below.
CAMPBELL'S Gertrude of Wyoming.
The course of his resolution was hurried on even more forcibly, because
no violence of expression attended or announced its current. He threw
himself into a chair, with a countenance that indicated no indecision
of mind, but a determination which awaited only the signal for action.
Meanwhile the knight, as if resolved in nothing to forego the
privileges of his rank and place, sat himself down in turn, and putting
on his hat, which lay on a table, regarded the General with a calm look
of fearless indifference. The soldiers stood around, some holding the
torches, which illuminated the apartment with a lurid and sombre glare
of light, the others resting upon their weapons. Phbe, with her hands
folded, her eyes turned upwards till the pupils were scarce visible,
and every shade of colour banished from her ruddy cheek, stood like one
in immediate apprehension of the sentence of death being pronounced,
and instant execution commanded.
Heavy steps were at last heard, and Pearson and some of the soldiers
returned. This seemed to be what Cromwell waited for. He started up,
and asked hastily, "Any news, Pearson? any prisonersany malignants
slain in thy defence?"
"None, so please your Excellency," said the officer.
"And are thy sentinels all carefully placed, as Tomkins' scroll gave
direction, and with fitting orders?"
"With the most deliberate care," said Pearson.
"Art thou very sure," said Cromwell, pulling him a little to one side,
"that this is all well and duly cared for? Bethink thee, that when we
engage ourselves in the private communications, all will be lost should
the party we look for have the means of dodging us by an escape into
the more open rooms, and from thence perhaps into the forest."
"My Lord-General," answered Pearson, "if placing the guards on the
places pointed out in this scroll be sufficient, with the strictest
orders to stop, and, if necessary, to stab or shoot, whoever crosses
their post, such orders are given to men who will not fail to execute
them. If more is necessary, your Excellency has only to speak."
"Nonono, Pearson," said the General, "thou hast done well.This night
over, and let it end but as we hope, thy reward shall not be
wanting.And now to business.Sir Henry Lee, undo me the secret spring
of yonder picture of your ancestor. Nay, spare yourself the trouble and
guilt of falsehood or equivocation, and, I say, undo me that spring
presently."
"When I acknowledge you for my master, and wear your livery, I may obey
your commands," answered the knight; "even then I would need first to
understand them."
"Wench," said Cromwell, addressing Phbe, "go thou undo the springyou
could do it fast enough when you aided at the gambols of the demons of
Woodstock, and terrified even Mark Everard, who, I judged, had more
sense."
"Oh Lord, sir, what shall I do?" said Phbe, looking to the knight;
"they know all about it. What shall I do?"
"For thy life, hold out to the last, wench! Every minute is worth a
million."
"Ha! heard you that, Pearson?" said Cromwell to the officer; then,
stamping with his foot, he added, "Undo the spring, or I will else use
levers and wrenching-ironsOr, ha! another petard were well bestowed
Call the engineer."
"O Lord, sir," cried Phbe, "I shall never live another peterI will
open the spring."
"Do as thou wilt," said Sir Henry; "it shall profit them but little."
Whether from real agitation, or from a desire to gain time, Phbe was
some minutes ere she could get the spring to open; it was indeed
secured with art, and the machinery on which it acted was concealed in
the frame of the portrait. The whole, when fastened, appeared quite
motionless, and betrayed, as when examined by Colonel Everard, no
external mark of its being possible to remove it. It was now withdrawn,
however, and showed a narrow recess, with steps which ascended on one
side into the thickness of the wall. Cromwell was now like a greyhound
slipped from the leash with the prey in full view."Up," he cried,
"Pearson, thou art swifter than IUp thou next, corporal." With more
agility than could have been expected from his person or years, which
were past the meridian of life, and exclaiming, "Before, those with the
torches!" he followed the party, like an eager huntsman in the rear of
his hounds, to encourage at once and direct them, as they penetrated
into the labyrinth described by Dr. Rochecliffe in the "Wonders of
Woodstock."
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FOURTH.
The King, therefore, for his defence
Against the furious Queen,
At Woodstock builded such a bower,
As never yet was seen.
Most curiously that bower was built,
Of stone and timber strong;
An hundred and fifty doors
Did to this bower belong;
And they so cunningly contrived,
With turnings round about,
That none but with a clew of thread
Could enter in or out.
BALLAD OF FAIR ROSAMOND.
The tradition of the country, as well as some historical evidence,
confirmed the opinion that there existed, within the old Royal Lodge at
Woodstock, a labyrinth, or connected series of subterranean passages,
built chiefly by Henry II., for the security of his mistress, Rosamond
Clifford, from the jealousy of his Queen, the celebrated Eleanor. Dr.
Rochecliffe, indeed, in one of those fits of contradiction with which
antiquaries are sometimes seized, was bold enough to dispute the
alleged purpose of the perplexed maze of rooms and passages, with which
the walls of the ancient palace were perforated; but the fact was
undeniable, that in raising the fabric some Norman architect had
exerted the utmost of the complicated art, which they have often shown
elsewhere, in creating secret passages, and chambers of retreat and
concealment. There were stairs, which were ascended merely, as it
seemed, for the purpose of descending againpassages, which, after
turning and winding for a considerable way, returned to the place where
they set outthere were trapdoors and hatchways, panels and
portcullises. Although Oliver was assisted by a sort of ground-plan,
made out and transmitted by Joseph Tomkins, whose former employment in
Dr. Rochecliffe's service had made him fully acquainted with the place,
it was found imperfect; and, moreover, the most serious obstacles to
their progress occurred in the shape of strong doors, party-walls, and
iron-gratesso that the party blundered on in the dark, uncertain
whether they were not going farther from, rather than approaching, the
extremity of the labyrinth. They were obliged to send for mechanics,
with sledge-hammers and other instruments, to force one or two of those
doors, which resisted all other means of undoing them. Labouring along
in these dusky passages, where, from time to time, they were like to be
choked by the dust which their acts of violence excited, the soldiers
were obliged to be relieved oftener than once, and the bulky Corporal
Grace-be-here himself puffed and blew like a grampus that has got into
shoal water. Cromwell alone continued, with unabated zeal, to push on
his researchesto encourage the soldiers, by the exhortations which
they best understood, against fainting for lack of faithand to secure,
by sentinels at proper places, possession of the ground which they had
already explored. His acute and observing eye detected, with a sneering
smile, the cordage and machinery by which the bed of poor Desborough
had been inverted, and several remains of the various disguises, as
well as private modes of access, by which Desborough, Bletson, and
Harrison, had been previously imposed upon. He pointed them out to
Pearson, with no farther comment than was implied in the exclamation,
"The simple fools!"
But his assistants began to lose heart and be discouraged, and required
all his spirit to raise theirs. He then called their attention to
voices which they seemed to hear before them, and urged these as
evidence that they were moving on the track of some enemy of the
Commonwealth, who, for the execution of his malignant plots, had
retreated into these extraordinary fastnesses.
The spirits of the men became at last downcast, notwithstanding all
this encouragement. They spoke to each other in whispers, of the devils
of Woodstock, who might be all the while decoying them forward to a
room said to exist in the Palace, where the floor, revolving on an
axis, precipitated those who entered into a bottomless abyss.
Humgudgeon hinted, that he had consulted the Scripture that morning by
way of lot, and his fortune had been to alight on the passage,
"Eutychus fell down from the third loft." The energy and authority of
Cromwell, however, and the refreshment of some food and strong waters,
reconciled them to pursuing their task.
Nevertheless, with all their unwearied exertions, morning dawned on the
search before they had reached Dr. Rochecliffe's sitting apartment,
into which, after all, they obtained entrance by a mode much more
difficult than that which the Doctor himself employed. But here their
ingenuity was long at fault. From the miscellaneous articles that were
strewed around, and the preparations made for food and lodging, it
seemed they had gained the very citadel of the labyrinth; but though
various passages opened from it, they all terminated in places with
which they were already acquainted, or communicated with the other
parts of the house, where their own sentinels assured them none had
passed. Cromwell remained long in deep uncertainty. Meantime he
directed Pearson to take charge of the ciphers, and more important
papers which lay on the table. "Though there is little there," he said,
"that I have not already known, by means of Trusty TomkinsHonest
Josephfor an artful and thorough-paced agent, the like of thee is not
left in England."
After a considerable pause, during which he sounded with the pommel of
his sword almost every stone in the building, and every plank on the
floor, the General gave orders to bring the old knight and Dr.
Rochecliffe to the spot, trusting that he might work out of them some
explanation of the secrets of this apartment.
"So please your Excellency, to let me deal with him," said Pearson, who
was a true soldier of fortune, and had been a buccaneer in the West
Indies, "I think that, by a whipcord twitched tight round their
forehead, and twisted about with a pistol-but, I could make either the
truth start from their lips, or the eyes from their head."
"Out upon thee, Pearson!" said Cromwell, with abhorrence; "we have no
warrant for such cruelty, neither as Englishmen nor Christians. We may
slay malignants as we crush noxious animals, but to torture them is a
deadly sin; for it is written, 'He made them to be pitied of those who
carried them captive.' Nay, I recall the order even for their
examination, trusting that wisdom will be granted us without it, to
discover their most secret devices."
There was a pause accordingly, during which an idea seized upon
Cromwell's imagination"Bring me hither," he said, "yonder stool;" and
placing it beneath one of the windows, of which there were two so high
in the wall as not to be accessible from the floor, he clambered up
into the entrance of the window, which was six or seven feet deep,
corresponding with the thickness of the wall. "Come up hither,
Pearson," said the General; "but ere thou comest, double the guard at
the foot of the turret called Love's Ladder, and bid them bring up the
other petardSo now, come thou hither."
The inferior officer, however brave in the field, was one of those whom
a great height strikes with giddiness and sickness. He shrunk back from
the view of the precipice, on the verge of which Cromwell was standing
with complete indifference, till the General, catching the hand of his
follower, pulled him forward as far as he would advance. "I think,"
said the General, "I have found the clew, but by this light it is no
easy one! See you, we stand in the portal near the top of Rosamond's
Tower; and yon turret, which rises opposite to our feet, is that which
is called Love's Ladder, from which the drawbridge reached that
admitted the profligate Norman tyrant to the bower of his mistress."
"True, my lord, but the drawbridge is gone," said Pearson.
"Ay, Pearson," replied the General; "but an active man might spring
from the spot we stand upon to the battlements of yonder turret."
"I do not think so, my lord," said Pearson.
"What?" said Cromwell; "not if the avenger of blood were behind you,
with his slaughter-weapon in his hand?"
"The fear of instant death might do much," answered Pearson; "but when
I look at that sheer depth on either side, and at the empty chasm
between us and yonder turret, which is, I warrant you, twelve feet
distant, I confess the truth, nothing short of the most imminent danger
should induce me to try. Pahthe thought makes my head grow giddy!I
tremble to see your Highness stand there, balancing yourself as if you
meditated a spring into the empty air. I repeat, I would scarce stand
so near the verge as does your Highness, for the rescue of my life."
"Ah, base and degenerate spirit!" said the General; "soul of mud and
clay, wouldst thou not do it, and much more, for the possession of
empire!that is, peradventure," continued he, changing his tone as one
who has said too much, "shouldst thou be called on to do this, that
thereby becoming a great man in the tribes of Israel, thou mightest
redeem the captivity of Jerusalemay, and it may be, work some great
work for the afflicted people of this land?"
"Your Highness may feel such calls," said the officer; "but they are
not for poor Gilbert Pearson, your faithful follower. You made a jest
of me yesterday, when I tried to speak your language; and I am no more
able to fulfil your designs than to use your mode of speech."
"But, Pearson," said Cromwell, "thou hast thrice, yea, four times,
called me your Highness."
"Did I, my lord? I was not sensible of it. I crave your pardon," said
the officer.
"Nay," said Oliver, "there was no offence. I do indeed stand high, and
I may perchance stand higherthough, alas, it were fitter for a simple
soul like me to return to my plough and my husbandry. Nevertheless, I
will not wrestle against the Supreme will, should I be called on to do
yet more in that worthy cause. For surely he who hath been to our
British Israel as a shield of help, and a sword of excellency, making
her enemies be found liars unto her, will not give over the flock to
those foolish shepherds of Westminster, who shear the sheep and feed
them not, and who are in very deed hirelings, not shepherds."
"I trust to see your lordship quoit them all down stairs," answered
Pearson. "But may I ask why we pursue this discourse even now, until we
have secured the common enemy?"
"I will tarry no jot of time," said the General; "fence the
communication of Love's Ladder, as it is called, below, as I take it
for almost certain, that the party whom we have driven from fastness to
fastness during the night, has at length sprung to the top of yonder
battlements from the place where we now stand. Finding the turret is
guarded below, the place he has chosen for his security will prove a
rat-trap, from whence there is no returning."
"There is a cask of gunpowder in this cabinet," said Pearson; "were it
not better, my lord, to mine the tower, if he will not render himself,
and send the whole turret with its contents one hundred feet in the
air?"
"Ah, silly man," said Cromwell, striking him familiarly on the
shoulder; "if thou hadst done this without telling me, it had been good
service. But we will first summon the turret, and then think whether
the petard will serve our turnit is but mining at last.Blow a summons
there, down below."
The trumpets rang at his bidding, till the old walls echoed from every
recess and vaulted archway. Cromwell, as if he cared not to look upon
the person whom he expected to appear, drew back, like a necromancer
afraid of the spectre which he has evoked.
"He has come to the battlement," said Pearson to his General.
"In what dress or appearance?" answered Cromwell, from within the
chamber.
"A grey riding-suit, passmented with silver, russet walking-boots, a
cut band, a grey hat and plume, black hair."
"It is he, it is he!" said Cromwell; "and another crowning mercy is
vouchsafed!"
Meantime, Pearson and young Lee exchanged defiance from their
respective posts.
"Surrender," said the former, "or we blow you up in your fastness."
"I am come of too high a race to surrender to rebels," said Albert,
assuming the air with which, in such a condition, a king might have
spoken. "I bear you to witness," cried Cromwell, exultingly, "he hath
refused quarter. Of a surety, his blood be on his head.One of you
bring down the barrel of powder. As he loves to soar high, we will add
what can be taken from the soldiers' bandoliers.Come with me, Pearson;
thou understandest this gear.Corporal Grace-be-here, stand thou fast
on the platform of the window where Captain Pearson and I stood but
even now, and bend the point of thy partisan against any who shall
attempt to pass. Thou art as strong as a bull; and I will back thee
against despair itself."
"But," said the corporal, mounting reluctantly, "the place is as the
pinnacle of the Temple; and it is written, that Eutychus fell down from
the third loft and was taken up dead."
"Because he slept upon his post," answered Cromwell readily. "Beware
thou of carelessness, and thus thy feet shall be kept from stumbling.
You four soldiers, remain here to support the corporal, if it be
necessary; and you, as well as the corporal, will draw into the vaulted
passage the minute the trumpets sound a retreat. It is as strong as a
casemate, and you may lie there safe from the effects of the mine.
Thou, Zerubbabel Robins, I know wilt be their lance-prisade."[1]
[1] "Lance-prisade," or "lance-brisade," a private appointed to a
small commanda sort of temporary corporal.
Robins bowed, and the General departed to join those who were without.
As he reached the door of the hall, the petard was heard to explode,
and he saw that it had succeeded; for the soldiers rushed, brandishing
their swords and pistols, in at the postern of the turret, whose gate
had been successfully forced. A thrill of exultation, but not unmingled
with horror shot across the veins of the ambitious soldier.
"Nownow!" he cried; "they are dealing with him!"
His expectations were deceived. Pearson and the others returned
disappointed, and reported they had been stopt by a strong trap-door of
grated iron, extended over the narrow stair; and they could see there
was an obstacle of the same kind some ten feet higher. To remove it by
force, while a desperate and well armed man had the advantage of the
steps above them, might cost many lives. "Which, lack-a-day," said the
General, "it is our duty to be tender of. What dost thou advise,
Gilbert Pearson?"
"We must use powder, my lord," answered Pearson, who saw his master was
too modest to reserve to himself the whole merit of the proceeding
"There may be a chamber easily and conveniently formed under the foot
of the stair. We have a sausage, by good luck, to form the trainand
so"
"Ah!" said Cromwell, "I know thou canst manage such gear wellBut,
Gilbert, I go to visit the posts, and give them orders to retire to a
safe distance when the retreat is sounded. You will allow them five
minutes for this purpose."
"Three is enough for any knave of them all," said Pearson. "They will
be lame indeed, that require more on such a service.I ask but one,
though I fire the train myself."
"Take heed," said Cromwell, "that the poor soul be listened to, if he
asks quarter. It may be, he may repent him of his hard-heartedness and
call for mercy."
"And mercy he shall have," answered Pearson, "provided he calls loud
enough to make me hear him; for the explosion of that damned petard has
made me as deaf as the devil's dam."
"Hush, Gilbert, hush!" said Cromwell; "you offend in your language."
"Zooks, sir, I must speak either in your way, or in my own," said
Pearson, "unless I am to be dumb as well as deaf!Away with you, my
lord, to visit the posts; and you will presently hear me make some
noise in the world."
Cromwell smiled gently at his aide-de-camp's petulance, patted him on
the shoulder, and called him a mad fellow, walked a little way, then
turned back to whisper, "What thou dost, do quickly;" then returned
again towards the outer circle of guards, turning his head from time to
time, as if to assure himself that the corporal, to whom he had
intrusted the duty, still kept guard with his advanced weapon upon the
terrific chasm between Rosamond's Tower and the corresponding turret.
Seeing him standing on his post, the General muttered between his
mustaches, "The fellow hath the strength and courage of a bear; and
yonder is a post where one shall do more to keep back than an hundred
in making way." He cast a last look on the gigantic figure, who stood
in that airy position, like some Gothic statue, the weapon half
levelled against the opposite turret, with the but rested against his
right foot, his steel cap and burnished corslet glittering in the
rising sun.
Cromwell then passed on to give the necessary orders, that such
sentinels as might be endangered at their present posts by the effect
of the mine, should withdraw at the sound of the trumpet to the places
which he pointed out to them. Never, on any occasion of his life, did
he display more calmness and presence of mind. He was kind, nay,
facetious, with the soldiers, who adored him; and yet he resembled the
volcano before the eruption commencesall peaceful and quiet without,
while an hundred contradictory passions were raging in his bosom.
Corporal Humgudgeon, meanwhile, remained steady upon his post; yet,
though as determined a soldier as ever fought among the redoubted
regiment of Ironsides, and possessed of no small share of that exalted
fanaticism which lent so keen an edge to the natural courage of those
stern religionists, the veteran felt his present situation to be highly
uncomfortable. Within a pike's length of him arose a turret, which was
about to be dispersed in massive fragments through the air; and he felt
small confidence in the length of time which might be allowed for his
escape from such a dangerous vicinity. The duty of constant vigilance
upon his post, was partly divided by this natural feeling, which
induced him from time to time to bend his eyes on the miners below,
instead of keeping them riveted on the opposite turret.
At length the interest of the scene arose to the uttermost. After
entering and returning from the turret, and coming out again more than
once, in the course of about twenty minutes Pearson issued, as it might
be supposed, for the last time, carrying in his hand, and uncoiling, as
he went along, the sausage, or linen bag, (so called from its
appearance,) which, strongly sewed together, and crammed with
gunpowder, was to serve as a train betwixt the mine to be sprung, and
the point occupied by the engineer who was to give fire. He was in the
act of finally adjusting it, when the attention of the corporal on the
tower became irresistibly and exclusively riveted upon the preparations
for the explosion. But while he watched the aide-de-camp drawing his
pistol to give fire, and the trumpeter handling his instrument as
waiting the order to sound the retreat, fate rushed on the unhappy
sentinel in a way he least expected.
Young, active, bold, and completely possessed of his presence of mind,
Albert Lee, who had been from the loopholes a watchful observer of
every measure which had been taken by his besiegers, had resolved to
make one desperate effort for self-preservation. While the head of the
sentinel on the opposite platform was turned from him, and bent rather
downwards, he suddenly sprung across the chasm, though the space on
which he lighted was scarce wide enough for two persons, threw the
surprised soldier from his precarious stand, and jumped himself down
into the chamber. The gigantic trooper went sheer down twenty feet,
struck against a projecting battlement, which launched the wretched man
outwards, and then fell on the earth with such tremendous force, that
the head, which first touched the ground, dinted a hole in the soil of
six inches in depth, and was crushed like an eggshell. Scarce knowing
what had happened, yet startled and confounded at the descent of this
heavy body, which fell at no great distance from him, Pearson snapt his
pistol at the train, no previous warning given; the powder caught, and
the mine exploded. Had it been strongly charged with powder, many of
those without might have suffered; but the explosion was only powerful
enough to blow out, in a lateral direction, a part of the wall just
above the foundation, sufficient, however, to destroy the equipoise of
the building. Then, amid a cloud of smoke, which began gradually to
encircle the turret like a shroud, arising slowly from its base to its
summit, it was seen to stagger and shake by all who had courage to look
steadily at a sight so dreadful. Slowly, at first, the building
inclined outwards, then rushed precipitately to its base, and fell to
the ground in huge fragments, the strength of its resistance showing
the excellence of the mason-work. The engineer, so soon as he had fired
the train, fled in such alarm that he wellnigh ran against his General,
who was advancing towards him, while a huge stone from the summit of
the building, flying farther than the rest, lighted within a yard of
them.
"Thou hast been over hasty, Pearson," said Cromwell, with the greatest
composure possible"hath no one fallen in that same tower of Siloe?"
"Some one fell," said Pearson, still in great agitation, "and yonder
lies his body half-buried in the rubbish."
With a quick and resolute step Cromwell approached the spot, and
exclaimed, "Pearson, thou hast ruined methe young Man hath
escaped.This is our own sentinelplague on the idiot! Let him rot
beneath the ruins which crushed him!"
A cry now resounded from the platform of Rosamond's Tower, which
appeared yet taller than formerly, deprived of the neighbouring turret,
which emulated though it did not attain to its height,"A prisoner,
noble Generala prisonerthe fox whom we have chased all night is now
in the snarethe Lord hath delivered him into the hand of his
servants."
"Look you keep him in safe custody," exclaimed Cromwell, "and bring him
presently down to the apartment from which the secret passages have
their principal entrance."
"Your Excellency shall be obeyed."
The proceedings of Albert Lee, to which these exclamations related, had
been unfortunate. He had dashed from the platform, as we have related,
the gigantic strength of the soldier opposed to him, and had instantly
jumped down into Rochecliffe's chamber. But the soldiers stationed
there threw themselves upon him, and after a struggle, which was
hopelessly maintained against such advantage of numbers, had thrown the
young cavalier to the ground, two of them, drawn down by his strenuous
exertions, falling across him. At the same moment a sharp and severe
report was heard, which, like a clap of thunder in the immediate
vicinity, shook all around them, till the strong and solid tower
tottered like the masts of a stately vessel when about to part by the
board. In a few seconds, this was followed by another sullen sound, at
first low, and deep, but augmenting like the roar of a cataract, as it
descends, reeling, bellowing, and rushing, as if to astound both heaven
and earth. So awful, indeed, was the sound of the neighbour tower as it
fell, that both the captive, and those who struggled with him,
continued for a minute or two passive in each other's grasp.
Albert was the first who recovered consciousness and activity. He shook
off those who lay above him, and made a desperate effort to gain his
feet, in which he partly succeeded. But as he had to deal with men
accustomed to every species of danger, and whose energies were
recovered nearly as soon as his own, he was completely secured, and his
arms held down. Loyal and faithful to his trust, and resolved to
sustain to the last the character which he had assumed, he exclaimed,
as his struggles were finally overpowered, "Rebel villains! would you
slay your king?"
"Ha, heard you that?" cried one of the soldiers to the lance-prisade,
who commanded the party. "Shall I not strike this son of a wicked
father under the fifth rib, even as the tyrant of Moab was smitten by
Ehud with a dagger of a cubit's length?"
But Robins answered, "Be it far from us, Merciful Strickalthrow, to
slay in cold blood the captive of our bow and of our spear. Me thinks,
since the storm of Tredagh[2] we have shed enough of bloodtherefore,
on your lives do him no evil; but take from him his arms, and let us
bring him before the chosen Instrument, even our General, that he may
do with him what is meet in his eyes."
[2] Tredagh, or Drogheda, was taken by Cromwell in 1649, by storm, and
the governor and the whole garrison put to the sword.
By this time the soldier, whose exultation had made him the first to
communicate the intelligence from the battlements to Cromwell,
returned, and brought commands corresponding to the orders of their
temporary officer; and Albert Lee, disarmed and bound, was conducted as
a captive into the apartment which derived its name from the victories
of his ancestor, and placed in the presence of General Cromwell.
Running over in his mind the time which had elapsed since the departure
Charles till the siege, if it may be termed so, had terminated in his
own capture, Albert had every reason to hope that his Royal Master must
have had time to accomplish his escape. Yet he determined to maintain
to the last a deceit which might for a time insure the King's safety.
The difference betwixt them could not, he thought, be instantly
discovered, begrimed as he was with dust and smoke, and with blood
issuing from some scratches received in the scuffle.
In this evil plight, but bearing himself with such dignity as was
adapted to the princely character, Albert was ushered into the
apartment of Victor Lee, where, in his father's own chair, reclined the
triumphant enemy of the cause to which the house of Lee had been
hereditarily faithful.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH.
A barren title hast thou bought too dear,
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HENRY IV. PART I.
Oliver Cromwell arose from his seat as the two veteran soldiers,
Zerubbabel Robins and Merciful Strickalthrow, introduced into the
apartment the prisoner, whom they held by the arms, and fixed his stern
hazel eye on Albert long before he could give vent to the ideas which
were swelling in his bosom. Exultation was the most predominant.
"Art not thou," he at length said, "that Egyptian which, before these
days, madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness many
thousand men, who were murderers!Ha, youth, I have hunted thee from
Stirling to Worcester, from Worcester to Woodstock, and we have met at
last!"
"I would," replied Albert, speaking in the character which he had
assumed, "that we had met where I could have shown thee the difference
betwixt a rightful King and an ambitious Usurper!"
"Go to, young man," said Cromwell; "say rather the difference between a
judge raised up for the redemption of England, and the son of those
Kings whom the Lord in his anger permitted to reign over her. But we
will not waste useless words. God knows that it is not of our will that
we are called to such high matters, being as humble in our thoughts as
we are of ourselves; and in our unassisted nature frail and foolish;
and unable to render a reason but for the better spirit within us,
which is not of us.Thou art weary, young man, and thy nature requires
rest and refection, being doubtless dealt with delicately, as one who
hath fed on the fat, and drunk of the sweet, and who hath been clothed
in purple and fine linen."
Here the General suddenly stopt, and then abruptly exclaimed"But is
thisAy! whom have we here? These are not the locks of the swarthy lad
Charles Stewart?A cheat! a cheat!"
Albert hastily cast his eyes on a mirror which stood in the room, and
perceived that a dark peruke, found among Dr. Rochecliffe's
miscellaneous wardrobe, had been disordered in the scuffle with the
soldiery, and that his own light-brown hair was escaping from beneath
it.
"Who is this?" said Cromwell, stamping with fury"Pluck the disguise
from him."
The soldiers did so; and bringing him at the same time towards the
light, the deception could not be maintained for a moment longer with
any possibility of success. Cromwell came up to him with his teeth set,
and grinding against each other as he spoke, his hands clenched, and
trembling with emotion, and speaking with a voice low-pitched, bitterly
and deeply emphatic, such as might have preceded a stab with his
dagger. "Thy name, young man?"
He was answered calmly and firmly, while the countenance of the speaker
wore a cast of triumph, and even contempt.
"Albert Lee of Ditchley, a faithful subject of King Charles."
"I might have guessed it," said Cromwell."Ay, and to King Charles
shalt thou go as soon as it is noon on the dial.Pearson," he
continued, "let him be carried to the others; and let them be executed
at twelve exactly."
"All, sir?" said Pearson, surprised; for Cromwell, though he at times
made formidable examples, was, in general, by no means sanguinary.
"All"repeated Cromwell, fixing his eye on young Lee. "Yes, young
sir, your conduct has devoted to death thy father, thy kinsman, and the
stranger that was in thine household. Such wreck hast thou brought on
thy father's house."
"My father, toomy aged father!" said Albert, looking upward, and
endeavouring to raise his hands in the same direction, which was
prevented by his bonds. "The Lord's will be done!"
"All this havoc can be saved, if," said the General, "thou wilt answer
one questionWhere is the young Charles Stewart, who was called King of
Scotland?"
"Under Heaven's protection, and safe from thy power," was the firm and
unhesitating answer of the young royalist.
"Away with him to prison!" said Cromwell; "and from thence to execution
with the rest of them, as malignants taken in the fact. Let a
courtmartial sit on them presently."
"One word," said young Lee, as they led him from the room. "Stop,
stop," said Cromwell, with the agitation of renewed hope"let him be
heard."
"You love texts of Scripture," said Albert"Let this be the subject of
your next homily'Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?'"
"Away with him," said the General; "let him die the death.I have said
it."
As Cromwell spoke these words, his aide-de-camp observed that he became
unwontedly pale.
"Your Excellency is overtoiled in the public service," said Pearson; "a
course of the stag in the evening will refresh you. The old knight hath
a noble hound here, if we can but get him to hunt without his master,
which may be hard, as he is faithful, and"
"Hang him up!" said Cromwell.
"Whatwhomhang the noble dog? Your Excellency was wont to love a good
hound?"
"It matters not," said Cromwell; "let him be killed. Is it not written,
that they slew in the valley of Achor, not only the accursed Achan,
with his sons and his daughters, but also his oxen and asses, and his
sheep, and every live thing belonging unto him? And even thus shall we
do to the malignant family of Lee, who have aided Sisera in his flight,
when Israel might have been delivered of his trouble for ever. But send
out couriers and patrolsFollow, pursue, watch in every directionLet
my horse be ready at the door in five minutes, or bring me the first
thou canst find."
It seemed to Pearson that this was something wildly spoken, and that
the cold perspiration was standing upon the General's brow as he said
it. He therefore again pressed the necessity of repose, and it would
appear that nature seconded strongly the representation. Cromwell
arose, and made a step or two towards the door of the apartment; but
stopped, staggered, and, after a pause, sate down in a chair. "Truly,
friend Pearson," he said, "this weary carcass of ours is an impediment
to us, even in our most necessary business, and I am fitter to sleep
than to watch, which is not my wont. Place guards, therefore, till we
repose ourselves for an hour or two. Send out in every direction, and
spare not for horses' flesh. Wake me if the court-martial require
instruction, and forget not to see the sentence punctually executed on
the Lees, and those who were arrested with them."
As Cromwell spoke thus, he arose and half-opened a bedroom door, when
Pearson again craved pardon for asking if he had rightly understood his
Excellency, that all the prisoners were to be executed.
"Have I not said it?" answered Cromwell, displeasedly. "Is it because
thou art a man of blood, and hast ever been, that thou dost affect
these scruples to show thyself tenderhearted at my expense? I tell
thee, that if there lack one in the full tale of execution, thine own
life shall pay the forfeit."
So saying, he entered the apartment, followed by the groom of his
chamber, who attended upon Pearson's summons.
When his General had retired, Pearson remained in great perplexity what
he ought to do; and that from no scruples of conscience, but from
uncertainty whether he might not err either in postponing, or in too
hastily and too literally executing, the instructions he had received.
In the meantime, Strickalthrow and Robins had returned, after lodging
Albert in prison, to the room where Pearson was still musing on his
General's commands. Both these men were adjutators in their army, and
old soldiers, whom Cromwell was accustomed to treat with great
familiarity; so that Robins had no hesitation to ask Captain Pearson,
"Whether he meant to execute the commands of the General, even to the
letter?"
Pearson shook his head with an air of doubt, but added, "There was no
choice left."
"Be assured," said the old man, "that if thou dost this folly, thou
wilt cause Israel to sin, and that the General will not be pleased with
your service. Thou knowest, and none better than thou, that Oliver,
although he be like unto David the son of Jesse, in faith, and wisdom,
and courage, yet there are times when the evil spirit cometh upon him
as it did upon Saul, and he uttereth commands which he will not thank
any one for executing."
Pearson was too good a politician to assent directly to a proposition
which he could not denyhe only shook his head once more, and said that
it was easy for those to talk who were not responsible, but the
soldier's duty was to obey his orders, and not to judge of them.
"Very righteous truth," said Merciful Strickalthrow, a grim old
Scotchman; "I marvel where our brother Zerubbabel caught up this
softness of heart?"
"Why, I do but wish," said Zerubbabel, "that four or five human
creatures may draw the breath of God's air for a few hours more; there
can be small harm done by delaying the execution,and the General will
have some time for reflection."
"Ay," said Captain Pearson, "but I in my service must be more pointedly
obsequious, than thou in thy plainness art bound to be, friend
Zerubbabel."
"Then shall the coarse frieze cassock of the private soldier help the
golden gaberdine of the captain to bear out the blast," said
Zerubbabel. "Ay, indeed, I can show you warrant why we be aidful to
each other in doing acts of kindness and long-suffering, seeing the
best of us are poor sinful creatures, who might suffer, being called to
a brief accounting."
"Of a verity you surprise me, brother Zerubbabel," said Strickalthrow;
"that thou, being an old and experienced soldier, whose head hath grown
grey in battle, shouldst give such advice to a young officer. Is not
the General's commission to take away the wicked from the land, and to
root out the Amalekite, and the Jebusite, and the Perizzite, and the
Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite? and are not these men
justly to be compared to the five kings, who took shelter in the cave
of Makedah, who were delivered into the hands of Joshua the son of Nun?
and he caused his captains and his soldiers to come near and tread on
their necksand then he smote them, and he slew them, and then he
hanged them on five trees, even till eveningAnd thou, Gilbert Pearson
by name, be not withheld from the duty which is appointed to thee, but
do even as has been commanded by him who is raised up to judge and to
deliver Israel; for it is written, 'cursed is he who holdeth back his
sword from the slaughter.'"
Thus wrangled the two military theologians, while Pearson, much more
solicitous to anticipate the wishes of Oliver than to know the will of
Heaven, listened to them with great indecision and perplexity.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SIXTH.
But let us now, like soldiers on the watch,
Put the soul's armour on, alike prepared
For all a soldier's warfare brings.
JOANNA BAILLIE.
The reader will recollect, that when Rochecliffe and Joceline were made
prisoners, the party which escorted them had two other captives in
their train, Colonel Everard, namely, and the Rev. Nehemiah Holdenough.
When Cromwell had obtained entrance into Woodstock, and commenced his
search after the fugitive Prince, the prisoners were placed in what had
been an old guardroom, and which was by its strength well calculated to
serve for a prison, and a guard was placed over them by Pearson. No
light was allowed, save that of a glimmering fire of charcoal. The
prisoners remained separated from each other, Colonel Everard
conversing with Nehemiah Holdenough, at a distance from Dr.
Rochecliffe, Sir Henry Lee, and Joceline. The party was soon after
augmented by Wildrake, who was brought down to the Lodge, and thrust in
with so little ceremony, that, his arms being bound, he had very nearly
fallen on his nose in the middle of the prison.
"I thank you, my good friend," he said, looking back to the door, which
they who had pushed him in were securing"Point de crmonieno
apology for tumbling, so we light in good company.Save ye, save ye,
gentlemen allWhat,  la mort, and nothing stirring to keep the
spirits up, and make a night on't?the last we shall have, I take it;
for a make[1] to a million, but we trine to the nubbing cheat[2]
to-morrow.Patronnoble patron, how goes it? This was but a scurvy
trick of Noll so far as you were concerned: as for me, why I might have
deserved something of the kind at his hand."
[1] A half-penny.
[2] Hang on the gallows.
"Prithee, Wildrake, sit down," said Everard; "thou art drunkdisturb us
not."
"Drunk? I drunk?" cried Wildrake, "I have been splicing the mainbrace,
as Jack says at Wappinghave been tasting Noll's brandy in a bumper to
the King's health, and another to his Excellency's confusion, and
another to the dn of Parliamentand it may be one or two more, but all
to devilish good toasts. But I'm not drunk."
"Prithee, friend, be not profane," said Nehemiah Holdenough.
"What, my little Presbyterian Parson, my slender Mass-John? thou shalt
say amen to this world instantly"said Wildrake; "I have had a weary
time in't for one.Ha, noble Sir Henry, I kiss your handI tell thee,
knight, the point of my Toledo was near Cromwell's heart last night, as
ever a button on the breast of his doublet. Rat him, he wears secret
armour.He a soldier! Had it not been for a cursed steel shirt, I would
have spitted him like a lark.Ha, Doctor Rochecliffe!thou knowest I
can wield my weapon."
"Yes," replied the Doctor, "and you know I can use mine."
"I prithee be quiet, Master Wildrake," said Sir Henry.
"Nay, good knight," answered Wildrake, "be somewhat more cordial with a
comrade in distress. This is a different scene from the Brentford
storming-party. The jade Fortune has been a very step-mother to me. I
will sing you a song I made on my own ill-luck."
"At this moment, Captain Wildrake, we are not in a fitting mood for
singing," said Sir Henry, civilly and gravely.
"Nay, it will aid your devotionsEgad, it sounds like a penitential
psalm.
'When I was a young lad,
My fortune was bad,
If ere I do well 'tis a wonder.
I spent all my means
Amid sharpers and queans;
Then I got a commission to plunder.
I have stockings 'tis true,
But the devil a shoe,
I am forced to wear boots in all weather,
Be dd the hoot sole,
Curse on the spur-roll.
Confounded be the upper-leather.'"[3]
[3] Such a song, or something very like it, may be found in Ramsay's
Tea-table Miscellany, among the wild slips of minstrelsy which are
there collected.
The door opened as Wildrake finished this stanza at the top of his
voice, and in rushed a sentinel, who, greeting him by the title of a
"blasphemous bellowing bull of Bashan," bestowed a severe blow, with
his ramrod, on the shoulders of the songster, whose bonds permitted him
no means of returning the compliment.
"Your humble servant again, sir," said Wildrake, shrugging his
shoulders,"sorry I have no means of showing my gratitude. I am bound
over to keep the peace, like Captain BobadilHa, knight, did you hear
my bones clatter? that blow came twankingly offthe fellow might
inflict the bastinado, were it in presence of the Grand Seigniorhe has
no taste for music, knightis no way moved by the 'concord of sweet
sounds.' I will warrant him fit for treason, stratagem, and spoil
Eh?all down in the mouthwellI'll go to sleep to-night on a bench, as
I've done many a night, and I will be ready to be hanged decently in
the morning, which never happened to me before in all my life
When I was a young lad,
My fortune was bad'
Pshaw! This is not the tune it goes to." Here he fell fast asleep, and
sooner or later all his companions in misfortune followed his example.
The benches intended for the repose of the soldiers of the guard,
afforded the prisoners convenience enough to lie down, though their
slumbers, it may be believed, were neither sound nor undisturbed. But
when daylight was but a little while broken, the explosion of gunpowder
which took place, and the subsequent fall of the turret to which the
mine was applied, would have awakened the Seven Sleepers, or Morpheus
himself. The smoke, penetrating through the windows, left them at no
loss for the cause of the din.
"There went my gunpowder," said Rochecliffe, "which has, I trust, blown
up as many rebel villains as it might have been the means of destroying
otherwise in a fair field. It must have caught fire by chance."
"By chance?No," said Sir Henry; "depend on it, my bold Albert has
fired the train, and that in yonder blast Cromwell was flying towards
the heaven whose battlements he will never reachAh, my brave boy! and
perhaps thou art thyself sacrificed, like a youthful Samson among the
rebellious Philistines.But I will not be long behind thee, Albert."
Everard hastened to the door, hoping to obtain from the guard, to whom
his name and rank might be known, some explanation of the noise, which
seemed to announce some dreadful catastrophe.
But Nehemiah Holdenough, whose rest had been broken by the trumpet
which gave signal for the explosion, appeared in the very acme of
horror"It is the trumpet of the Archangel!" he cried,"it is the
crushing of this world of elementsit is the summons to the
Judgment-seat! The dead are obeying the callthey are with usthey are
amongst usthey arise in their bodily framesthey come to summon us!"
As he spoke his eyes were riveted upon Dr. Rochecliffe, who stood
directly opposite to him. In rising hastily, the cap which he commonly
wore, according to a custom then usual both among clergymen and gownmen
of a civil profession, had escaped from his head, and carried with it
the large silk patch which he probably wore for the purpose of
disguise; for the cheek which was disclosed was unscarred, and the eye
as good as that which was usually uncovered.
Colonel Everard returning from the door, endeavoured in vain to make
Master Holdenough comprehend what he learned from the guard without,
that the explosion had involved only the death of one of Cromwell's
soldiers. The Presbyterian divine continued to stare wildly at him of
the Episcopal persuasion.
But Dr. Rochecliffe heard and understood the news brought by Colonel
Everard, and, relieved from the instant anxiety which had kept him
stationary, he advanced towards the retiring Calvinist, extending his
hand in the most friendly manner.
"Avoid theeAvoid thee!" said Holdenough, "the living may not join
hands with the dead."
"But I," said Rochecliffe, "am as much alive as you are."
"Thou alive!thou! Joseph Albany, whom my own eyes saw precipitated
from the battlements of Clidesthrow Castle?"
"Ay," answered the Doctor, "but you did not see me swim ashore on a
marsh covered with sedgesfugit ad salicesafter a manner which I
will explain to you another time."
Holdenough touched his hand with doubt and uncertainty. "Thou art
indeed warm and alive," he said, "and yet after so many blows, and a
fall so tremendousthou canst not be my Joseph Albany."
"I am Joseph Albany Rochecliffe," said the Doctor, "become so in virtue
of my mother's little estate, which fines and confiscations have made
an end of."
"And is it so indeed?" said Holdenough, "and have I recovered mine old
chum?"
"Even so," replied Rochecliffe, "by the same token I appeared to you in
the Mirror ChamberThou wert so bold, Nehemiah, that our whole scheme
would have been shipwrecked, had I not appeared to thee in the shape of
a departed friend. Yet, believe me, it went against my heart to do it."
"Ah, fie on thee, fie on thee," said Holdenough, throwing himself into
his arms, and clasping him to his bosom, "thou wert ever a naughty wag.
How couldst thou play me such a trick?Ah, Albany, dost thou remember
Dr. Purefoy and Caius College?"
"Marry, do I," said the Doctor, thrusting his arm through the
Presbyterian divine's, and guiding him to a seat apart from the other
prisoners, who witnessed this scene with much surprise. "Remember Caius
College?" said Rochecliffe; "ay, and the good ale we drank, and our
parties to mother Huffcap's."
"Vanity of vanities," said Holdenough, smiling kindly at the same time,
and still holding his recovered friend's arm enclosed and hand-locked
in his.
"But the breaking the Principal's orchard, so cleanly done," said the
Doctor; "it was the first plot I ever framed, and much work I had to
prevail on thee to go into it."
"Oh, name not that iniquity," said Nehemiah, "since I may well say, as
the pious Master Baxter, that these boyish offences have had their
punishment in later years, inasmuch as that inordinate appetite for
fruit hath produced stomachic affections under which I yet labour."
"True, true, dear Nehemiah," said Rochecliffe, "but care not for thema
dram of brandy will correct it all. Mr. Baxter was," he was about to
say "an ass," but checked himself, and only filled up the sentence with
"a good man, I dare say, but over scrupulous."
So they sat down together the best of friends, and for half an hour
talked with mutual delight over old college stories. By degrees they
got on the politics of the day; and though then they unclasped their
hands, and there occurred between them such expressions as, "Nay, my
dear brother," and, "there I must needs differ," and, "on this point I
crave leave to think;" yet a hue and cry against the Independents and
other sectarists being started, they followed like brethren in full
hollo, and it was hard to guess which was most forward. Unhappily, in
the course of this amicable intercourse, something was mentioned about
the bishopric of Titus, which at once involved them in the doctrinal
question of Church Government. Then, alas! the floodgates were opened,
and they showered on each other Greek and Hebrew texts, while their
eyes kindled, their cheeks glowed, their hands became clenched, and
they looked more like fierce polemics about to rend each other's eyes
out, than Christian divines.
Roger Wildrake, by making himself an auditor of the debate, contrived
to augment its violence. He took, of course, a most decided part in a
question, the merits of which were totally unknown to him. Somewhat
overawed by Holdenough's ready oratory and learning, the cavalier
watched with a face of anxiety the countenance of Dr. Rochecliffe; but
when he saw the proud eye and steady bearing of the Episcopal champion,
and heard him answer Greek with Greek, and Hebrew with Hebrew, Wildrake
backed his arguments as he closed them, with a stout rap upon the
bench, and an exulting laugh in the face of the antagonist. It was with
some difficulty that Sir Henry and Colonel Everard, having at length
and reluctantly interfered, prevailed on the two alienated friends to
adjourn their dispute, removing at the same time to a distance, and
regarding each other with looks in which old friendship appeared to
have totally given way to mutual animosity.
But while they sat lowering on each other, and longing to renew a
contest in which each claimed the victory, Pearson entered the prison,
and in a low and troubled voice, desired the persons whom it contained
to prepare for instant death.
Sir Henry Lee received the doom with the stern composure which he had
hitherto displayed. Colonel Everard attempted the interposition of a
strong and resentful appeal to the Parliament, against the judgment of
the court-martial and the General. But Pearson declined to receive or
transmit any such remonstrance, and with a dejected look and mien of
melancholy presage, renewed his exhortation to them to prepare for the
hour of noon, and withdrew from the prison.
The operation of this intelligence on the two clerical disputants was
more remarkable. They gazed for a moment on each other with eyes in
which repentant kindness and a feeling of generous shame quenched every
lingering feeling of resentment, and joined in the mutual exclamation
"My brothermy brother, I have sinned, I have sinned in offending
thee!" they rushed into each other's arms, shed tears as they demanded
each other's forgiveness, and, like two warriors, who sacrifice a
personal quarrel to discharge their duty against the common enemy, they
recalled nobler ideas of their sacred character, and assuming the part
which best became them on an occasion so melancholy, began to exhort
those around them to meet the doom that had been announced, with the
firmness and dignity which Christianity alone can give.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SEVENTH.
Most gracious prince, good Cannyng cried,
Leave vengeance to our God,
And lay the iron rule aside,
Be thine the olive rod.
BALLAD OF SIR CHARLES BAWDIN.
The hour appointed for execution had been long past, and it was about
five in the evening when the Protector summoned Pearson to his
presence. He went with fear and reluctance, uncertain how he might be
received. After remaining about a quarter of an hour, the aide-de-camp
returned to Victor Lee's parlour, where he found the old soldier,
Zerubbabel Robins, in attendance for his return.
"How is Oliver?" said the old man, anxiously.
"Why, well," answered Pearson, "and hath asked no questions of the
execution, but many concerning the reports we have been able to make
regarding the flight of the young Man, and is much moved at thinking he
must now be beyond pursuit. Also I gave him certain papers belonging to
the malignant Doctor Rochecliffe."
"Then will I venture upon him," said the adjutator; "so give me a
napkin that I may look like a sewer, and fetch up the food which I
directed should be in readiness."
Two troopers attended accordingly with a ration of beef, such as was
distributed to the private soldiers, and dressed after their fashiona
pewter pot of ale, a trencher with salt, black pepper, and a loaf of
ammunition bread. "Come with me," he said to Pearson, "and fear
notNoll loves an innocent jest." He boldly entered the General's
sleeping apartment, and said aloud, "Arise, thou that art called to be
a judge in Israellet there be no more folding of the hands to sleep.
Lo, I come as a sign to thee; wherefore arise, eat, drink, and let thy
heart be glad within thee; for thou shalt eat with joy the food of him
that laboureth in the trenches, seeing that since thou wert commander
over the host, the poor sentinel hath had such provisions as I have now
placed for thine own refreshment."
"Truly, brother Zerubbabel," said Cromwell, accustomed to such acts of
enthusiasm among his followers, "we would wish that it were so; neither
is it our desire to sleep soft, nor feed more highly than the meanest
that ranks under our banners. Verily, thou hast chosen well for my
refreshment, and the smell of the food is savoury in my nostrils."
He arose from the bed, on which he had lain down half dressed, and
wrapping his cloak around him, sate down by the bedside, and partook
heartily of the plain food which was prepared for him. While he was
eating, Cromwell commanded Pearson to finish his report"You need not
desist for the presence of a worthy soldier, whose spirit is as my
spirit."
"Nay, but," interrupted Robins, "you are to know that Gilbert Pearson
hath not fully executed thy commands, touching a part of those
malignants, all of whom should have died at noon."
"What executionwhat malignants?" said Cromwell, laying down his knife
and fork.
"Those in the prison here at Woodstock," answered Zerubbabel, "whom
your Excellency commanded should be executed at noon, as taken in the
fact of rebellion against the Commonwealth."
"Wretch!" said Cromwell, starting up and addressing Pearson, "thou hast
not touched Mark Everard, in whom there was no guilt, for he was
deceived by him who passed between usneither hast thou put forth thy
hand on the pragmatic Presbyterian minister, to have all those of their
classes cry sacrilege, and alienate them from us for ever?"
"If your Excellency wish them to live, they livetheir life and death
are in the power of a word," said Pearson.
"Enfranchise them; I must gain the Presbyterian interest over to us if
I can."
"Rochecliffe, the arch-plotter," said Pearson, "I thought to have
executed, but"
"Barbarous man," said Cromwell, "alike ungrateful and impoliticwouldst
thou have destroyed our decoy-duck? This doctor is but like a well, a
shallow one indeed, but something deeper than the springs which
discharge their secret tribute into his keeping; then come I with a
pump, and suck it all up to the open air. Enlarge him, and let him have
money if he wants it. I know his haunts; he can go nowhere but our eye
will be upon him.But you look at each other darkly, as if you had more
to say than you durst. I trust you have not done to death Sir Henry
Lee?"
"No. Yet the man," replied Pearson, "is a confirmed malignant, and"
"Ay, but he is also a noble relic of the ancient English Gentleman,"
said the General. "I would I knew how to win the favour of that race.
But we, Pearson, whose royal robes are the armour which we wear on our
bodies, and whose leading staves are our sceptres, are too newly set up
to draw the respect of the proud malignants, who cannot brook to submit
to less than royal lineage. Yet what can they see in the longest kingly
line in Europe, save that it runs back to a successful soldier? I
grudge that one man should be honoured and followed, because he is the
descendant of a victorious commander, while less honour and allegiance
is paid to another, who, in personal qualities, and in success, might
emulate the founder of his rival's dynasty. Well, Sir Henry Lee lives,
and shall live for me. His son, indeed, hath deserved the death which
he has doubtless sustained."
"My lord," stammered Pearson, "since your Excellency has found I am
right in suspending your order in so many instances, I trust you will
not blame me in this alsoI thought it best to await more special
orders."
"Thou art in a mighty merciful humour this morning, Pearson," said
Cromwell, not entirely satisfied.
"If your Excellency please, the halter is ready, and so is the
provost-marshal."
"Nay, if such a bloody fellow as thou hast spared him, it would ill
become me to destroy him," said the General. "But then, here is among
Rochecliffe's papers the engagement of twenty desperadoes to take us
offsome example ought to be made."
"My lord," said Zerubbabel, "consider now how often this young man,
Albert Lee, hath been near you, nay, probably, quite close to your
Excellency, in these dark passages which he knew, and we did not. Had
he been of an assassin's nature, it would have cost him but a
pistol-shot, and the light of Israel was extinguished. Nay, in the
unavoidable confusion which must have ensued, the sentinels quitting
their posts, he might have had a fair chance of escape."
"Enough Zerubbabel; he lives," said the General. "He shall remain in
custody for some time, however, and be then banished from England. The
other two are safe, of course; for you would not dream of considering
such paltry fellows as fit victims for my revenge."
"One fellow, the under-keeper, called Joliffe, deserves death,
however," said Pearson, "since he has frankly admitted that he slew
honest Joseph Tomkins."
"He deserves a reward for saving us a labour," said Cromwell; "that
Tomkins was a most double-hearted villain. I have found evidence among
these papers here, that if we had lost the fight at Worcester, we
should have had reason to regret that we had ever trusted Master
Tomkinsit was only our success which anticipated his treacherywrite
us down debtor, not creditor, to Joceline, an you call him so, and to
his quarter-staff."
"There remains the sacrilegious and graceless cavalier who attempted
your Excellency's life last night," said Pearson.
"Nay," said the General, "that were stooping too low for revenge. His
sword had no more power than had he thrusted with a tobacco-pipe.
Eagles stoop not at mallards, or wild-drakes either."
"Yet, sir," said Pearson, "the fellow should be punished as a libeller.
The quantity of foul and pestilential abuse which we found in his
pockets makes me loth he should go altogether freePlease to look at
them, sir."
"A most vile hand," said Oliver, as he looked at a sheet or two of our
friend Wildrake's poetical miscellanies"The very handwriting seems to
be drunk, and the very poetry not soberWhat have we here?
'When I was a young lad,
My fortune was bad
If e'er I do well, 'tis a wonder'
Why, what trash is this?and then again
'Now a plague on the poll
Of old politic Noll!
We will drink till we bring
In triumph back the King.'
In truth, if it could be done that way, this poet would be a stout
champion. Give the poor knave five pieces, Pearson, and bid him go sell
his ballads. If he come within twenty miles of our person, though, we
will have him flogged till the blood runs down to his heels."
"There remains only one sentenced person," said Pearson, "a noble
wolf-hound, finer than any your Excellency saw in Ireland. He belongs
to the old knight Sir Henry Lee. Should your Excellency not desire to
keep the fine creature yourself, might I presume to beg that I might
have leave?"
"No, Pearson," said Cromwell; "the old man, so faithful himself, shall
not be deprived of his faithful dogI would I had any creature, were
it but a dog, that followed me because it loved me, not for what it
could make of me."
"Your Excellency is unjust to your faithful soldiers," said Zerubbabel,
bluntly, "who follow you like dogs, fight for you like dogs, and have
the grave of a dog on the spot where they happen to fall."
"How now, old grumbler," said the General, "what means this change of
note?"
"Corporal Humgudgeon's remains are left to moulder under the ruins of
yonder tower, and Tomkins is thrust into a hole in a thicket like a
beast."
"True, true," said Cromwell, "they shall be removed to the churchyard,
and every soldier shall attend with cockades of sea-green and blue
ribbonEvery one of the non-commissioned officers and adjutators shall
have a mourning-scarf; we ourselves will lead the procession, and there
shall be a proper dole of wine, burnt brandy, and rosemary. See that it
is done, Pearson. After the funeral, Woodstock shall be dismantled and
destroyed, that its recesses may not again afford shelter to rebels and
malignants."
The commands of the General were punctually obeyed, and when the other
prisoners were dismissed, Albert Lee remained for some time in custody.
He went abroad after his liberation, entered in King Charles's Guards,
where he was promoted by that monarch. But his fate, as we shall see
hereafter, only allowed him a short though bright career.
We return to the liberation of the other prisoners from Woodstock. The
two divines, completely reconciled to each other, retreated arm in arm
to the parsonage-house, formerly the residence of Dr. Rochecliffe, but
which he now visited as the guest of his successor, Nehemiah
Holdenough. The Presbyterian had no sooner installed his friend under
his roof, than he urged upon him an offer to partake it, and the income
annexed to it, as his own. Dr. Rochecliffe was much affected, but
wisely rejected the generous offer, considering the difference of their
tenets on Church government, which each entertained as religiously as
his creed. Another debate, though a light one, on the subject of the
office of Bishops in the Primitive Church, confirmed him in his
resolution. They parted the next day, and their friendship remained
undisturbed by controversy till Mr. Holdenough's death, in 1658; a
harmony which might be in some degree owing to their never meeting
again after their imprisonment. Dr. Rochecliffe was restored to his
living after the Restoration, and ascended from thence to high clerical
preferment.
The inferior personages of the grand jail-delivery at Woodstock Lodge,
easily found themselves temporary accommodations in the town among old
acquaintance; but no one ventured to entertain the old knight,
understood to be so much under the displeasure of the ruling powers;
and even the innkeeper of the George, who had been one of his tenants,
scarce dared to admit him to the common privileges of a traveller, who
has food and lodging for his money. Everard attended him unrequested,
unpermitted, but also unforbidden. The heart of the old man had been
turned once more towards him when he learned how he had behaved at the
memorable rencontre at the King's Oak, and saw that he was an object of
the enmity, rather than the favour, of Cromwell. But there was another
secret feeling which tended to reconcile him to his nephewthe
consciousness that Everard shared with him the deep anxiety which he
experienced on account of his daughter, who had not yet returned from
her doubtful and perilous expedition. He felt that he himself would
perhaps be unable to discover where Alice had taken refuge during the
late events, or to obtain her deliverance if she was taken into
custody. He wished Everard to offer him his service in making a search
for her, but shame prevented his preferring the request; and Everard,
who could not suspect the altered state of his uncle's mind, was afraid
to make the proposal of assistance, or even to name the name of Alice.
The sun had already setthey sat looking each other in the face in
silence, when the trampling of horses was heardthere was knocking at
the doorthere was a light step on the stair, and Alice, the subject of
their anxiety, stood before them. She threw herself joyfully into her
father's arms, who glanced his eye needfully round the room, as he said
in a whisper, "Is all safe?"
"Safe and out of danger, as I trust," replied Alice"I have a token for
you."
Her eye then rested on Everardshe blushed, was embarrassed, and
silent.
"You need not fear your Presbyterian cousin," said the knight, with a
good-humoured smile, "he has himself proved a confessor at least for
loyalty, and ran the risk of being a martyr."
She pulled from her bosom the royal rescript, written on a small and
soiled piece of paper, and tied round with a worsted thread instead of
a seal. Such as it was, Sir Henry ere he opened it pressed the little
packet with oriental veneration to his lips, to his heart, to his
forehead; and it was not before a tear had dropt on it that he found
courage to open and read the billet. It was in these words:
"LOYAL OUR MUCH ESTEEMED FRIEND, AND OUR TRUSTY SUBJECT,"It having
become known to us that a purpose of marriage has been entertained
betwixt Mrs. Alice Lee, your only daughter, and Markham Everard, Esq.
of Eversly Chase, her kinsman, and by affiancy your nephew: And being
assured that this match would be highly agreeable to you, had it not
been for certain respects to our service, which induced you to refuse
your consent theretoWe do therefore acquaint you, that, far from our
affairs suffering by such an alliance, we do exhort, and so far as we
may, require you to consent to the same, as you would wish to do us
good pleasure, and greatly to advance our affairs. Leaving to you,
nevertheless, as becometh a Christian King, the full exercise of your
own discretion concerning other obstacles to such an alliance, which
may exist, independent of those connected with our service. Witness our
hand, together with our thankful recollections of your good services to
our late Royal Father as well as ourselves,
"C. R."
Long and steadily did Sir Henry gaze on the letter, so that it might
almost seem as if he were getting it by heart. He then placed it
carefully in his pocket-book, and asked Alice the account of her
adventures the preceding night. They were briefly told. Their midnight
walk through the Chase had been speedily and safely accomplished. Nor
had the King once made the slightest relapse into the naughty Louis
Kerneguy. When she had seen Charles and his attendant set off, she had
taken some repose in the cottage where they parted. With the morning
came news that Woodstock was occupied by soldiers, so that return
thither might have led to danger, suspicion, and enquiry. Alice,
therefore, did not attempt it, but went to a house in the
neighbourhood, inhabited by a lady of established loyalty, whose
husband had been major of Sir Henry Lee's regiment, and had fallen at
the battle of Naseby. Mrs. Aylmer was a sensible woman, and indeed the
necessities of the singular times had sharpened every one's faculties
for stratagem and intrigue. She sent a faithful servant to scout about
the mansion at Woodstock, who no sooner saw the prisoners dismissed and
in safety, and ascertained the knight's destination for the evening,
than he carried the news to his mistress, and by her orders attended
Alice on horseback to join her father.
There was seldom, perhaps, an evening meal made in such absolute
silence as by this embarrassed party, each occupied with their own
thoughts, and at a loss how to fathom those of the others. At length
the hour came when Alice felt herself at liberty to retire to repose
after a day so fatiguing. Everard handed her to the door of her
apartment, and was then himself about to take leave, when, to his
surprise, his uncle asked him to return, pointed to a chair, and giving
him the King's letter to read, fixed his looks on him steadily during
the perusal; determined that if he could discover aught short of the
utmost delight in the reading, the commands of the King himself should
be disobeyed, rather than Alice should be sacrificed to one who
received not her hand as the greatest blessing earth had to bestow. But
the features of Everard indicated joyful hope, even beyond what the
father could have anticipated, yet mingled with surprise; and when he
raised his eye to the knight's with timidity and doubt, a smile was on
Sir Henry's countenance as he broke silence. "The King," he said, "had
he no other subject in England, should dispose at will of those of the
house of Lee. But methinks the family of Everard have not been so
devoted of late to the crown as to comply with a mandate, inviting its
heir to marry the daughter of a beggar."
"The daughter of Sir Henry Lee," said Everard, kneeling to his uncle,
and perforce kissing his hand, "would grace the house of a duke."
"The girl is well enough," said the knight proudly; "for myself, my
poverty shall neither shame nor encroach on my friends. Some few pieces
I have by Doctor Rochecliffe's kindness, and Joceline and I will strike
out something."
"Nay, my dear uncle, you are richer than you think for," said Everard.
"That part of your estate, which my father redeemed for payment of a
moderate composition, is still your own, and held by trustees in your
name, myself being one of them. You are only our debtor for an advance
of monies, for which, if it will content you, we will count with you
like usurers. My father is incapable of profiting by making a bargain
on his own account for the estate of a distressed friend; and all this
you would have learned long since, but that you would notI mean, time
did not serve for explanationI mean"
"You mean I was too hot to hear reason, Mark, and I believe it is very
true. But I think we understand each other now. To-morrow I go with
my family to Kingston, where is an old house I may still call mine.
Come hither at thy leisure, Mark,or thy best speed, as thou wiltbut
come with thy father's consent."
"With my father in person," said Everard, "if you will permit."
"Be that," answered the knight, "as he and you willI think Joceline
will scarce shut the door in thy face, or Bevis growl as he did after
poor Louis Kerneguy.Nay, no more raptures, but good-night, Mark,
good-night; and if thou art not tired with the fatigue of
yesterdaywhy, if you appear here at seven in the morning, I think we
must bear with your company on the Kingston road."
Once more Everard pressed the knight's hand, caressed Bevis, who
received his kindness graciously, and went home to dreams of happiness,
which were realized, as far as this motley world permits, within a few
months afterwards.
CHAPTER THE THIRTY-EIGHTH.
My life was of a piece.
Spent in your servicedying at your feet.
DON SEBASTIAN.
Years rush by us like the wind. We see not whence the eddy comes, nor
whitherward it is tending, and we seem ourselves to witness their
flight without a sense that we are changed; and yet Time is beguiling
man of his strength, as the winds rob the woods of their foliage.
After the marriage of Alice and Markham Everard, the old knight resided
near them, in an ancient manor-house, belonging to the redeemed portion
of his estate, where Joceline and Phbe, now man and wife, with one or
two domestics, regulated the affairs of his household. When he tired of
Shakspeare and solitude, he was ever a welcome guest at his
son-in-law's, where he went the more frequently that Markham had given
up all concern in public affairs, disapproving of the forcible
dismissal of the Parliament, and submitting to Cromwell's subsequent
domination, rather as that which was the lesser evil, than as to a
government which he regarded as legal. Cromwell seemed ever willing to
show himself his friend; but Everard, resenting highly the proposal to
deliver up the King, which he considered as an insult to his honour,
never answered such advances, and became, on the contrary, of the
opinion, which was now generally prevalent in the nation, that a
settled government could not be obtained without the recall of the
banished family. There is no doubt that the personal kindness which he
had received from Charles, rendered him the more readily disposed to
such a measure. He was peremptory, however, in declining all
engagements during Oliver's life, whose power he considered as too
firmly fixed to be shaken by any plots which could be formed against
it.
Meantime, Wildrake continued to be Everard's protected dependent as
before, though sometimes the connexion tended not a little to his
inconvenience. That respectable person, indeed, while he remained
stationary in his patron's house, or that of the old knight, discharged
many little duties in the family, and won Alice's heart by his
attention to the children, teaching the boys, of whom they had three,
to ride, fence, toss the pike, and many similar exercises; and, above
all, filling up a great blank in her father's existence, with whom he
played at chess and backgammon, or read Shakspeare, or was clerk to
prayers when any sequestrated divine ventured to read the service of
the Church. Or he found game for him while the old gentleman continued
to go a-sporting; and, especially he talked over the storming of
Brentford, and the battles of Edgehill, Banbury, Roundwaydown, and
others, themes which the aged cavalier delighted in, but which he could
not so well enter upon with Colonel Everard, who had gained his laurels
in the Parliament service.
The assistance which he received from Wildrake's society became more
necessary, after Sir Henry was deprived of his gallant and only son,
who was slain in the fatal battle of Dunkirk, where, unhappily, English
colours were displayed on both the contending sides, the French being
then allied with Oliver, who sent to their aid a body of auxiliaries,
and the troops of the banished King fighting in behalf of the
Spaniards. Sir Henry received the melancholy news like an old man, that
is, with more external composure than could have been anticipated. He
dwelt for weeks and months on the lines forwarded by the indefatigable
Dr. Rochecliffe, superscribed in small letters, C. R., and subscribed
Louis Kerneguy, in which the writer conjured him to endure this
inestimable loss with the greater firmness, that he had still left one
son, (intimating himself,) who would always regard him as a father.
But in spite of this balsam, sorrow, acting imperceptibly, and sucking
the blood like a vampire, seemed gradually drying up the springs of
life; and, without any formed illness, or outward complaint, the old
man's strength and vigour gradually abated, and the ministry of
Wildrake proved daily more indispensable.
It was not, however, always to be had. The cavalier was one of those
happy persons whom a strong constitution, an unreflecting mind, and
exuberant spirits, enable to play through their whole lives the part of
a school-boyhappy for the moment, and careless of consequences.
Once or twice every year, when he had collected a few pieces, the
Cavaliero Wildrake made a start to London, where, as he described it,
he went on the ramble, drank as much wine as he could come by, and led
a skeldering life, to use his own phrase, among roystering cavaliers
like himself, till by some rash speech or wild action, he got into the
Marshalsea, the Fleet, or some other prison, from which he was to be
delivered at the expense of interest, money, and sometimes a little
reputation.
At length Cromwell died, his son resigned the government, and the
various changes which followed induced Everard, as well as many others,
to adopt more active measures in the King's behalf. Everard even
remitted considerable sums for his service, but with the utmost
caution, and corresponding with no intermediate agent, but with the
Chancellor himself, to whom he communicated much useful information
upon public affairs. With all his prudence he was very nearly engaged
in the ineffectual rising of Booth and Middleton in the west, and with
great difficulty escaped from the fatal consequences of that ill-timed
attempt. After this, although the estate of the kingdom was trebly
unsettled, yet no card seemed to turn up favourable to the royal cause,
until the movement of General Monk from Scotland. Even then, it was
when at the point of complete success, that the fortunes of Charles
seemed at a lower ebb than ever, especially when intelligence had
arrived at the little Court which he then kept in Brussels, that Monk,
on arriving in London, had put himself under the orders of the
Parliament.
It was at this time, and in the evening, while the King, Buckingham,
Wilmot, and some other gallants of his wandering Court, were engaged in
a convivial party, that the Chancellor (Clarendon) suddenly craved
audience, and, entering with less ceremony than he would have done at
another time, announced extraordinary news. For the messenger, he said,
he could say nothing, saving that he appeared to have drunk much, and
slept little; but that he had brought a sure token of credence from a
man for whose faith he would venture his life. The King demanded to see
the messenger himself.
A man entered, with something the manners of a gentleman, and more
those of a rakebelly debaucheehis eyes swelled and inflamedhis gait
disordered and stumbling, partly through lack of sleep, partly through
the means he had taken to support his fatigue. He staggered without
ceremony to the head of the table, seized the King's hand, which he
mumbled like a piece of gingerbread; while Charles, who began to
recollect him from his mode of salutation, was not very much pleased
that their meeting should have taken place before so many witnesses.
"I bring good news," said the uncouth messenger, "glorious news!the
King shall enjoy his own again!My feet are beautiful on the mountains.
Gad, I have lived with Presbyterians till I have caught their language
but we are all one man's children nowall your Majesty's poor babes.
The Rump is all ruined in LondonBonfires flaming, music playing, rumps
roasting, healths drinking, London in a blaze of light from the Strand
to Rotherhithetankards clattering"
"We can guess at that," said the Duke of Buckingham.
"My old friend, Mark Everard, sent me off with the news; I'm a villain
if I've slept since. Your Majesty recollects me, I am sure. Your
Majesty remembers, sasaat the King's Oak, at Woodstock?
'O, we'll dance, and sing, and play,
For 'twill be a joyous day
When the King shall enjoy his own again.'"
"Master Wildrake, I remember you well," said the King. "I trust the
good news is certain?"
"Certain! your Majesty; did I not hear the bells?did I not see the
bonfires?did I not drink your Majesty's health so often, that my legs
would scarce carry me to the wharf? It is as certain as that I am poor
Roger Wildrake of Squattlesea-mere, Lincoln."
The Duke of Buckingham here whispered to the King, "I have always
suspected your Majesty kept odd company during the escape from
Worcester, but this seems a rare sample."
"Why, pretty much like yourself, and other company I have kept here so
many yearsas stout a heart, as empty a head," said Charles"as much
lace, though somewhat tarnished, as much brass on the brow, and nearly
as much copper in the pocket."
"I would your Majesty would intrust this messenger of good news with
me, to get the truth out of him," said Buckingham.
"Thank your Grace," replied the King; "but he has a will as well as
yourself, and such seldom agree. My Lord Chancellor hath wisdom, and to
that we must trust ourselves.Master Wildrake, you will go with my Lord
Chancellor, who will bring us a report of your tidings; meantime, I
assure you that you shall be no loser for being the first messenger of
good news." So saying, he gave a signal to the Chancellor to take away
Wildrake, whom he judged, in his present humour, to be not unlikely to
communicate some former passages at Woodstock which might rather
entertain than edify the wits of his court.
Corroboration of the joyful intelligence soon arrived, and Wildrake was
presented with a handsome gratuity and small pension, which, by the
King's special desire, had no duty whatever attached to it.
Shortly afterwards, all England was engaged in chorusing his favourite
ditty
"Oh, the twenty-ninth of May,
It was a glorious day,
When the King did enjoy his own again."
On that memorable day, the King prepared to make his progress from
Rochester to London, with a reception on the part of his subjects so
unanimously cordial, as made him say gaily, it must have been his own
fault to stay so long away from a country where his arrival gave so
much joy. On horseback, betwixt his brothers, the Dukes of York and
Gloucester, the Restored Monarch trode slowly over roads strewn with
flowersby conduits running wine, under triumphal arches, and through
streets hung with tapestry. There were citizens in various bands, some
arrayed in coats of black velvet, with gold chains; some in military
suits of cloth of gold, or cloth of silver, followed by all those
craftsmen who, having hooted the father from Whitehall, had now come to
shout the son into possession of his ancestral place. On his progress
through Blackheath, he passed that army which, so long formidable to
England herself, as well as to Europe, had been the means of restoring
the Monarchy which their own hands had destroyed. As the King passed
the last files of this formidable host, he came to an open part of the
heath, where many persons of quality, with others of inferior rank, had
stationed themselves to gratulate him as he passed towards the capital.
There was one group, however, which attracted peculiar attention from
those around, on account of the respect shown to the party by the
soldiers who kept the ground, and who, whether Cavaliers or Roundheads,
seemed to contest emulously which should contribute most to their
accommodation; for both the elder and younger gentlemen of the party
had been distinguished in the Civil War.
It was a family group, of which the principal figure was an old man
seated in a chair, having a complacent smile on his face, and a tear
swelling to his eye, as he saw the banners wave on in interminable
succession, and heard the multitude shouting the long silenced
acclamation, "God save King Charles." His cheek was ashy pale, and his
long beard bleached like the thistle down; his blue eye was cloudless,
yet it was obvious that its vision was failing. His motions were
feeble, and he spoke little, except when he answered the prattle of his
grandchildren, or asked a question of his daughter, who sate beside
him, matured in matronly beauty, or of Colonel Everard who stood
behind. There, too, the stout yeoman, Joceline Joliffe, still in his
silvan dress, leaned, like a second Benaiah, on the quarter-staff that
had done the King good service in its day, and his wife, a buxom matron
as she had been a pretty maiden, laughed at her own consequence; and
ever and anon joined her shrill notes to the stentorian halloo which
her husband added to the general acclamation.
These fine boys and two pretty girls prattled around their grandfather,
who made them such answers as suited their age, and repeatedly passed
his withered hand over the fair locks of the little darlings, while
Alice, assisted by Wildrake, (blazing in a splendid dress, and his eyes
washed with only a single cup of canary,) took off the children's
attention from time to time, lest they should weary their grandfather.
We must not omit one other remarkable figure in the groupa gigantic
dog, which bore the signs of being at the extremity of canine life,
being perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old. But though exhibiting the
ruin only of his former appearance, his eyes dim, his joints stiff, his
head slouched down, and his gallant carriage and graceful motions
exchanged for a stiff, rheumatic, hobbling gait, the noble hound had
lost none of his instinctive fondness for his master. To lie by Sir
Henry's feet in the summer or by the fire in winter, to raise his head
to look on him, to lick his withered hand or his shrivelled cheek from
time to time, seemed now all that Bevis lived for.
Three or four livery servants attended to protect this group from the
thronging multitude, but it needed not. The high respectability and
unpretending simplicity of their appearance gave them, even in the eyes
of the coarsest of the people, an air of patriarchal dignity, which
commanded general regard; and they sat upon the bank which they had
chosen for their station by the way-side, as undisturbed as if they had
been in their own park.
And now the distant clarions announced the Royal Presence. Onward came
pursuivant and trumpetonward came plumes and cloth of gold, and waving
standards displayed, and swords gleaming to the sun; and at length,
heading a group of the noblest in England, and supported by his royal
brothers on either side, onward came King Charles. He had already
halted more than once, in kindness perhaps as well as policy, to
exchange a word with persons whom he recognized among the spectators,
and the shouts of the bystanders applauded a courtesy which seemed so
well timed. But when he had gazed an instant on the party we have
described, it was impossible, if even Alice had been too much changed
to be recognized, not instantly to know Bevis and his venerable master.
The Monarch sprung from his horse, and walked instantly up to the old
knight, amid thundering acclamations which rose from the multitudes
around, when they saw Charles with his own hand oppose the feeble
attempts of the old man to rise to do his homage. Gently replacing him
on his seat"Bless," he said, "fatherbless your son, who has returned
in safety, as you blessed him when he departed in danger."
"May God blessand preserve"muttered the old man, overcome by his
feelings; and the King, to give him a few moments' repose, turned to
Alice
"And you," he said, "my fair guide, how have you been employed since
our perilous night-walk? But I need not ask," glancing around"in the
service of King and Kingdom, bringing up subjects, as loyal as their
ancestors.A fair lineage, by my faith, and a beautiful sight, to the
eye of an English King!Colonel Everard, we shall see you, I trust, at
Whitehall?" Here he nodded to Wildrake. "And thou, Joceline, thou canst
hold thy quarter-staff with one hand, sure?Thrust forward the other
palm."
Looking down in sheer bashfulness, Joceline, like a bull about to push,
extended to the King, over his lady's shoulder, a hand as broad and
hard as a wooden trencher, which the King filled with gold coins. "Buy
a handful for my friend Phbe with some of these," said Charles, "she
too has been doing her duty to Old England."
The King then turned once more to the knight, who seemed making an
effort to speak. He took his aged hand in both his own, and stooped his
head towards him to catch his accents, while the old man, detaining him
with the other hand, said something faltering, of which Charles could
only catch the quotation
"Unthread the rude eye of rebellion,
And welcome home again discarded faith."
Extricating himself, therefore, as gently as possible, from a scene
which began to grow painfully embarrassing, the good-natured King said,
speaking with unusual distinctness to insure the old man's
comprehending him, "This is something too public a place for all we
have to say. But if you come not soon to see King Charles at Whitehall,
he will send down Louis Kerneguy to visit you, that you may see how
rational that mischievous lad is become since his travels."
So saying, he once more pressed affectionately the old man's hand,
bowed to Alice and all around, and withdrew; Sir Henry Lee listening
with a smile, which showed he comprehended the gracious tendency of
what had been said. The old man leaned back on his seat, and muttered
the Nunc dimittas.
"Excuse me for having made you wait, my lords," said the King, as he
mounted his horse; "indeed, had it not been for these good folks, you
might have waited for me long enough to little purpose.Move on, sirs."
The array moved on accordingly; the sound of trumpets and drums again
rose amid the acclamations, which had been silent while the King
stopped; while the effect of the whole procession resuming its motion,
was so splendidly dazzling, that even Alice's anxiety about for her
father's health was for a moment suspended, while her eye followed the
long line of varied brilliancy that proceeded over the heath. When she
looked again at Sir Henry, she was startled to see that his cheek,
which had gained some colour during his conversation with the King, had
relapsed into earthly paleness; that his eyes were closed, and opened
not again; and that his features expressed, amid their quietude, a
rigidity which is not that of sleep. They ran to his assistance, but it
was too late. The light that burned so low in the socket, had leaped
up, and expired in one exhilarating flash.
The rest must be conceived. I have only to add that his faithful dog
did not survive him many days; and that the image of Bevis lies carved
at his master's feet, on the tomb which was erected to the memory of
Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley.[1]