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 THE 
 
 HEIRESS OF BRUGES; 
 
 A TALE 
 
 OF THE YEAR SIXTEEN HUNDRED. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS COLLEY GRATTAN, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS, 
 "traits of TRAVEL," &C. 
 
 Alassc, alasse ! what a thing Love is ; why it is like to an ostiy faggot, 
 that once set on fire, is as hardly to be quenched, as the bird erocodill driven 
 out of her nest. 
 
 LODGE AND GREEN. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 NEW. BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1830.
 
 LONDON 
 
 HENRY BAYLIS, JOHNSON S-COURT, FLEET-STREET
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 TO 
 
 f THE HON. LADY BAGOT, 
 
 THIS ATTEMPT TO DEPICT REMOTE EVENTS 
 
 AND MANNERS OF A COUNTRY 
 
 IN WHICH SHE FILLS SO ELEVATED A STATION, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY 
 
 HER ladyship's 
 MUCH OBLIGED SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Brussels, May, 1830.
 
 THE 
 
 HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 There is scarcely any where a town that 
 presents so many points of quiet beauty as 
 Bruges. Its aspect is soothing rather than 
 striking. The memory of old times seems to 
 rest upon the place, undisturbed by innovation 
 or caprice. Recollections of splendour and 
 refinement are unmixed with associations of 
 feudal harshness ; while fancy conjures up and 
 embodies the spirit of chivalry in the garb of 
 pure romance. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2f THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 The town may be broken, as it were, into in- 
 numerable fragments. Each street, canal, 
 and square offers several distinct pictures ; but 
 the most pleasing is undoubtedly that from 
 Rozenhoed Quay. It is somewhat strange that 
 even the inhabitants of the quay in question 
 can give no satisfactory derivation for its name. 
 The most common notion is, that the place was 
 so called from having been, for days beyond 
 counting, a chosen spot for the sale of little 
 religious images worn by the lower orders, and 
 specially of the rude rosaries called Roosen- 
 hoedje. The French, during their possession of 
 the country, scorning this etymology, christened 
 it the " Rue des Roses,''"' a sentimental approach 
 to the pronunciation of the unexplained word, 
 and somewhat warranted from the close neigh- 
 bourhood of the flower-market. But under the 
 present government it has recovered its ancient 
 name, and is at present thus alone distinguished. 
 
 It is well, however, for those who value such 
 obscure concerns, that records exist to prove 
 
 \
 
 THE HEIHESS OF BRUGES. 3 
 
 the real origin of this title. The quay was, in 
 fact, built by, and called after, a citizen of 
 some celebrity, between two and three centu- 
 ries back, Siger Van Rozenhoed ; whose best 
 chance with posterity (like the father of Char- 
 lemagne) would have been to have had his 
 tombstone engraven with the name of his child 
 — after this fashion : 
 
 " Here lies the Father of Theresa Van Rozenhoed." • 
 
 We may not now trace the citizen's real epi- 
 taph ; for the cemetery in which he was buried 
 was totally defaced, by unsympathizing im- 
 pro vers, many a year ago ; when mausoleums 
 and tombstones were alike demolished, and 
 with them all the fame conferred by the stone- 
 cutter's chisel. But Van Rozenhoed derived 
 his from a better source — his own talents ; and 
 he did, in truth, and for his own sake alone, 
 merit a monument more lasting than either stone 
 or brass. 
 
 Siger Roozen was by trade a gold-beater ; 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 and, in the year 1580, inhabited that quarter 
 of the town which stretches northward, from 
 the great square to the Asses'* Gate,* at that 
 time a straggling extent, containing several 
 close and ill-built streets, with gardens and 
 orchards intermixed, the houses being either of 
 wood, or preposterous specimens of the worst 
 style of architecture, and then almost all tum- 
 bling into decay. The one occupied by Siger 
 Roozen was one of the oldest and most dilapi- 
 dated. It threatened death and burial at the 
 same time to any one venturous enough to be- 
 come its tenant ; but the hardihood of Siger 
 Roozen braved the danger, for the advantage 
 of possessing in imagination a mansion of a 
 hundred chambers. Such had once been the 
 one in question, as was evidenced by some 
 rotten beams and rafters, with sundry marks 
 against the walls, roofs, and ceilings, of what 
 
 * So called, it is believed by the native antiquarians, from 
 the number of these animals used by the country people coming 
 to market.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 5 
 
 was, a century before, the still inhabited re- 
 mains of a splendid palace. It had been con- 
 structed by the last representative of the noble 
 family of Savenslacht, who was massacred, 
 with many other men of rank, by the rebellious 
 citizens, under the very eyes of their captive 
 sovereign. Count Louis de Creci, in the year 
 1325. The family became extinct in the per- 
 son of this unfortunate victim ; and his large 
 possessions and new built palace being confis- 
 cated, descended through several generations 
 of strangers to his race. These possessors had 
 none of the sympathy of family pride to pre- 
 serve in tact the integrity of the estate, or keep 
 up the unwieldy splendour of the mansion. 
 The first was accordingly sold, resold, and sub- 
 divided ; the latter crumbled away, moulding 
 by moulding, cornice by cornice, wing by wing, 
 galleries, corridors, and parlours ; till at length, 
 in less than three hundred years from its erec- 
 tion, it became a desert shell of bare and wea-
 
 6 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ther-beaten walls, enclosing a mass of ruin and 
 rubbish, and affording but a little corner nook, 
 supported over one of the vast cellars, in which 
 the poor and houseless gold-beater secured a 
 shelter from the storms of the sky and the 
 world. ' 
 
 Life had been up to this period a hard trial 
 for Siger. He had held a long tussle with 
 poverty and ill luck ; and he never dreamt of 
 being able one day to put his foot on their low- 
 bent necks. But he indulged in, without know- 
 ing from whence they arose, long reveries of 
 wealth and grandeur. He used often to look up 
 at the ruin which sheltered him, or gaze from 
 some jutting stone into the void of its wide 
 area, and pace, in fancy, saloons and halls of 
 renovated splendour. He sometimes rubbed 
 his eyes, in hopes of their opening again on 
 realities ; and always turned away with a sigh 
 for these illusive minutes, which were worth an 
 age of his every day life. Even in his sober
 
 THE HEIUESS OF BRUGES. 7 
 
 hours, when the ding of his hammer told him 
 where and what he was, he used to start at the 
 notion that he had freed the prisoned spirit of 
 the metal by his strokes, and that it hovered 
 round him in grateful guardianship. Marvel- 
 ling at these strange vagaries of imagination, 
 he would ask himself what could have put them 
 into his brain ? But he never could solve this 
 oft-repeated question ; and never understood 
 that his visions arose from the fumes of a dof- 
 mant ambition, thus constantly giving notice of 
 an existence which only waited for an excite- 
 ment to be fully developed. 
 
 Siger Roozen was in fact a man of circum- 
 stances — ^not a man to make them. His im- 
 pulses, feelings, and passions, though all 
 integral parts of an energetic combination, 
 required events to draw them out. Had he 
 been a man of genius, these elements would 
 have created events, instead of following them. 
 But as it was, he was only a strong-minded, 
 clever fellow, prompt to seize on and turn to
 
 8 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the best account whatever might offer itself to 
 his purpose. 
 
 He was about thirty years of age when he 
 secured the refuge just described, and he con- 
 tinued in its unrestricted occupation for several 
 months. Siger, whose mind was at once active 
 and speculative, amused himself in his leisure 
 hours, when his hammer was laid at rest, in 
 clearing away a little plot of garden ground, 
 close to the remains of an octagonal pavilion 
 which had tumbled, like the mansion, into pre- 
 mature decay. He worked for several days, 
 with pickaxe and shovel, clearing away the 
 rubbish. One or two stragglers, who saw his 
 work, and did not comprehend the possibility 
 of redeeming sufficient of the soil to form a tur- 
 nip bed, soon set the report afloat that poor 
 Siger Roozen, sick of life, was about to put an 
 end to it, and was digging his own grave. But 
 his intentions were still more profound ; and he 
 soon satisfied his inquisitive neighbours that his 
 object was to make life itself more palatable,
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 9 
 
 by being enabled to add, at small expense, a 
 few pot-herbs to his soup, or a relish of par- 
 snips to his Friday's dinner of salt stock-fish. 
 This candid explanation of his motives relieved 
 him from all the troublesome effects of curiosity. 
 He was allowed to delve at his daily task with- 
 out further observation ; and well it was for 
 him that he was not observed. 
 
 It was about the sixth or seventh evening of 
 his labour, that, having returned from his mas- 
 ter's workshop, and taken the shovel once more 
 in hand, to clear away the last of the fragments 
 of stone and brick which had impeded his pro- 
 gress, he was surprised to find that the instru- 
 ment, at the very first stroke, penetrated through 
 every obstruction, and sunk, half handle up, 
 into a cavity, the bottom of which it did not 
 touch. Siger started back, as if an earthquake 
 had gaped before him. But he recovered him- 
 self in a moment or two ; looked round wist- 
 fully, to be sure that he was unnoticed ; and 
 
 B 3
 
 10 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 returned to his work, with a quicker throbbing 
 of the heart than seemed justified by the occa- 
 sion ; but it was caused by a vague sensation 
 of hope, the extent of which was not known 
 even to himself. Custom had by no means ex- 
 tinguished the dreamy thoughts which had 
 taken possession of Siger's mind, from the very 
 first day he had fixed himself in the skeleton 
 remains of Savenslacht House. He made it his 
 abode, with a vapoury notion of he knew not 
 what, but something like that which makes the 
 holder of a lottery ticket calculate (or at least 
 speculate) in his own despite, on all possibilities, 
 probabilities, and chances. 
 
 Judicial astrology, alchymy, and their con- 
 comitant absurdities, still lingered at this pe- 
 riod in the belief of many people ; and the Low 
 Countries were, in particular, the strong-hold to 
 which they retired, as they were driven out 
 from the popular credulity of other nations. 
 The discovery of the new world, and the sue-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 11 
 
 cesses of the first adventurers, had turned the 
 hopes of gain into channels of greater certainty ; 
 and the vulgar abandoned by degrees the star- 
 gazing philosophers, and listened with all their 
 ears for the chink of transatlantic gold. Had 
 Siger Roozen been an educated man, he, no 
 doubt, like many others, would have prostitut- 
 ed his knowledge in the pursuits of alchymy, 
 for he loved the precious metal in his heart. 
 But being unlearned, he could only hammer It 
 in the practice of his trade, and long for it in 
 his leisure hours. He had lately entertained 
 some serious thoughts of going to the Indies, or 
 to the new found world, without any settled 
 purport beyond that of finding an El Dorado, 
 if he could, or stretching out his arms, like the 
 maiden of the mythology, for any shower of 
 gold which might fall. Something, however, 
 kept Siger steady to his native town ; and that 
 something was merely a want of enterprize ; 
 though the result of his present adventure con- 
 vinced him it was little less than an inspiration.
 
 12 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 We left him a few minutes ago, returned to 
 his labours of excavation, and we may now 
 imagine him embo welled in the earth, nearly 
 shoulder deep, groping curiously with the ex- 
 tended shovel ; his footing steady at bottom of 
 the cavity, but his head swimming, with mixed 
 sensations of hope and apprehension. He at 
 every moment expected to feel his instrument 
 strike against an iron chest, or some hoard of 
 secret treasure, as certainly as though it had 
 been directed by a divining rod. At length, and 
 after near an hour's continued delving in the 
 extensive cavity, the shovel did come in contact 
 with some object that felt different from any 
 thing it had before struck against, and unlike 
 those of our labourer's anticipations. It was a 
 hard body in a soft covering. Siger threw down 
 the shovel, and stooping low, he felt the mate- 
 rial with trembling hand, and ascertained that 
 it was neither more nor less than an old sack, 
 of a texture originally coarse as well as strong. 
 His fingers instinctively dabbled in every fold
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 13 
 
 and crevice of the canvass ; but he could not 
 by this means discover the nature of its contents. 
 Once more throwing a cautious glance above 
 him, and being again assured that the twilight 
 shades concealed no witness to his discovery, 
 he resolved to lift the sack in his arms, heavy 
 as it was, and drag it, for secret inspection, 
 into the furthest corner of the vault, where the 
 faint light from above could barely serve, with- 
 out betraying his purpose. He accordingly 
 raised it up bodily, and with considerable effort; 
 but the pressure of its weighty contents against 
 the opening burst the rotten ligaments which 
 bound it, as well as the worn out stuff of which 
 it was made ; and from its many apertures an 
 actual flood of treasure poured out, at the feet 
 of the amazed and bewildered man. Siger, 
 slipping his hold of the sack, let the torn frag- 
 ments fall with their discharged contents ; and 
 he stood for some seconds, with straining eyes 
 and reeling brain, gazing on the floor of the
 
 14 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 vault, which gave a literal representation of the 
 strand in the Faery Queen, 
 
 " Bestrewed all with rich array, 
 Of pearls and precious stones of great assay ; 
 And all the gravel mix'd with golden ore.'' 
 
 Siger could never recollect how long he stood 
 thus fixed ; for when he came to his recollec- 
 tion, he found himself stretched upon the heap 
 of wealth, cold and benumbed, the moon shin- 
 ing down into the vault. He knew not whe- 
 ther (as is most probable) he had lain in wak- 
 ing reverie, or swooned from excess of wonder- 
 ment and happiness. 
 
 The first instinct of recovered sense made 
 him nervously grasp whole handfuls of the 
 coin and jewels. His next feeling was anxiety 
 to be assured that he was still alone ; and he 
 started on his feet, and looked up into the gar- 
 den. Although again satisfied on this point, 
 he still dreaded interruption ; and, urged by 
 impulse more than reason, he began to scrape
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BItUGES. 15 
 
 over a quantity of sand and rubbish, until he 
 had completely reburied the whole mass of trea- 
 sure. He then cautiously emerged from the 
 place ; and creeping along by the walls and 
 through the tangled shrubs, he gained his hovel. 
 There, however, he could not rest. The hum 
 of street noises filled him with uneasiness ; and 
 the lights in the neighbouring houses made him 
 fancy every inhabitant on the watch to seize 
 upon his treasure. He grasped the first, in-* 
 deed the only, weapon he had at hand — 
 the hammer of his trade ; and with his 
 nerves rigidly wound up for a desperate de- 
 fence against all assailants, he again repaired 
 to the pavilion, and there kept constant watch 
 during the whole night ; nor left his post till 
 the broad daylight convinced him that his re- 
 maining on the spot was in itself as suspicious 
 as it was unnecessary. 
 
 For two days more did Siger suffer tortures 
 of the most various kinds. He feared to return 
 to his secret hoard — he dreaded to quit the place
 
 16 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 for a moment ; slunk in and out, when he sought 
 each poor repast, with the air of a thief, instead 
 of the swagger of a rich man — sat watching by 
 day from his nook, and prowled at night in the 
 garden, close to the spot which contained the 
 hoard, which he panted once more to gloat over, 
 yet dared not. His thirty years of poverty had 
 been bliss, in comparison with his three days of 
 wealth. He had all the suffering of a miser, 
 without any of his enjoyment ; and he feared, at 
 times, with the superstition of his character and 
 that of the age, that some fiend had played him 
 a trick of mere delusion ; or, supposing the 
 whole affair to be real, that some other might 
 spirit away the treasure into the gaping depths 
 of the earth. 
 
 Siger, however, did not long bend under these 
 apprehensions, so degrading to a man of his na- 
 tural strength of mind. The first shock of this 
 sudden change gone by, he recovered himself 
 sooner, perhaps, than most other men would 
 have done, after such a metamorphosis ; for, in
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 17 
 
 fact, one accustomed all his life to crawl close to 
 the earth might well require some preparation, 
 before he could stand erect, and go on two legs. 
 Frequent visits to the vault were now boldly un- 
 dertaken by day, as well as at night, and Siger 
 divided his treasures into various parcels, which 
 he carefully buried in several parts of the pre- 
 mises that held no attraction to intruders. He 
 began to walk more boldly in the streets, as he 
 passed to and fro ; and ventured to offer a couple 
 of the larger coins for exchange, merely averring 
 that he had found them. He had a tolerable 
 notion of their value, and was not cheated, but 
 made a dexterous shew of anxiety about the 
 merest trifle, to remove any chance of suspicion, 
 which an air of indifference might have excited. 
 But he was all the while convinced that he was 
 the actual possessor of almost boundless wealth. 
 The very gold in coins, ornaments, and articles 
 of plate, he saw to be of great value. He was 
 afraid to calculate the worth of the jewels ; 
 arithmetic seemed to want numbers to complete
 
 18 , THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the reckoning, and his head turned whenever he 
 made the attempt. 
 
 His first purchase was a new suit of clothes. 
 His fustian jerkin was flung aside for a doublet 
 of green plush, with a pair of breeches of the 
 same stuff*. A short cloak of grey cloth was 
 thrown across his shoulders ; a beaver hat, with 
 its broad leaf turned up at one side, graced his 
 head. He wore a somewhat coarse, but well 
 stiffened ruff", after the fashion which the Spa- 
 niards had introduced into the Low Countries. 
 He drew on a pair of dark blue hose, with red 
 worked clocks, fastened his broad-toed shoes 
 with rosettes to match the hose ; and stepped 
 forth, the Sunday next but one after his disco- 
 very, a specimen of a good-looking and well- 
 dressed tradesman of the still wealthy town he 
 inhabited. 
 
 As he sallied out of the ruined porch of his 
 retreat, the neighbours stood forth from their 
 dwellings to stare at him ; uncoiffed heads were 
 thrust from the windows — the children left off
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 19 
 
 play— the very curs seemed to look involuntary 
 respect — caps were doffed, and salutations prof- 
 fered — and every one seemed to acknowledge the 
 influence of externals, on the principle of a 
 quaint English writer of about that very time : 
 " The body being the shell of the soul, apparel 
 the huske of that shell ; the huske often telling 
 you what the kernel is." 
 
 Carelessly returning the civilities of hia neigh- 
 hours, Siger passed on, with a buoyant heart and 
 light step, across the open garden ground that 
 sloped down to the Canal of the Lion. He there 
 crossed the two old planks which did loose ser- 
 vice to the passers, the only remnant of a wooden 
 bridge built in the thirteenth century, and which 
 had taken its own name, and given that of the 
 canal, from two clumsy lions, that grinned in 
 old oak from its battlements. As Siger placed 
 his foremost foot on these planks, it slipped 
 through the interstice into the water ; upon 
 which, he piously knelt down, unmindful of his 
 new breeches, and made a vow to build a bridge
 
 20 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 on the spot, and to dedicate it to St. James, the 
 patron saint of the parish. Rising again, and 
 turning to the left, he entered a shop of small 
 dimensions, by the door of which hung the 
 brazen dish with indented edge, the universal 
 sign of a barber in all civilized countries. There 
 did Siger undergo the pleasant operation of 
 having his beard trimmed and pointed ; and 
 having his toilette thus complete, he entered, 
 with an air of decorous humility, into the 
 Church of St. James, just opposite. 
 
 As soon as mass was ended, Siger left the 
 church, with the soothing reflection of having 
 gone through his morning duty, at least in form. 
 He now moved quickly onwards, without further 
 hindrance, across the great square ; turned to the 
 left again, unmindful of the carillon which was 
 loudly pealing above him, and soon traversing 
 the smaller square called the Bourg, looking 
 with a mixture of deference and self-confidence 
 at the palace of the Counts of Flanders and 
 other aristocratical mansions around, he suddenly
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 21 
 
 stopped at the low portal of the Dominican con- 
 vent, which opened into the narrow street close 
 behind the palace walls. 
 
 Siger never held his head so high — ^he never 
 rang the convent bell so boldly ; but he felt, 
 notwithstanding, the reverential sinking of heart 
 which invariably accompanied his visits to the 
 holy place. With a timid step, he followed 
 along the vaulted corridors the menial brother 
 who had answered his call, until at length the 
 latter left him at the door of the cell of Father 
 Wolfert, Siger Roozen's confessor. 
 
 " Wait here. Mynheer,'"* said the monk, who 
 did not recognize, in the well-dressed citizen, 
 the poor artizan whom he had often before ad- 
 mitted : " wait here, till our reverend brother 
 is disengaged ; there is a lady with him just 
 now, and the sacred duties of the confessional 
 must not be disturbed. Stand back when the 
 lady retires from the cell ; then knock, and you 
 will be admitted in your turn." 
 
 Siger bowed assent, and took his station at
 
 22 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the door, sitting down close by, on one of the 
 stone-benches which were placed in the corridor, 
 for the accommodation of attendant penitents, or 
 of the brethren as they needed rest during their 
 hours of in-door exercise. And thus did the 
 richest man in Bruges humbly await the leisure 
 of one of the poorest monks in Flanders.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Father Wolfert, the Dominican, had 
 been at this period about three years an ad- 
 mitted brother of the cloister of White Friars 
 at Bruges. He was then verging towards mid- 
 dle age ; of a proud demeanour, and bold yet 
 sinister expression of countenance ; his complex- 
 ion was dark, his eyes large and black, and his 
 whole aspect significant of a haughty church- 
 man, galled by the fetters of a subordinate 
 station, and having in view the mitre, the red 
 hat or the tiara, each or all. A newly closed
 
 24 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ^car across the forehead, and his left hand 
 shrivelled and contracted by a wound which 
 had pierced it through, proved clearly enough 
 that rapier or halberd had been busy with 
 the novice; but in those troublesome times 
 such marks were too common to excite any par- 
 ticular attention. 
 
 In a little while the new brother took a high 
 station among his fellows. He gained this 
 ascendancy by superior talent. He was elo- 
 quent in the pulpit, indulgent in the con- 
 fessional ; and he soon acquired among the 
 citizens a reputation and an influence, equal 
 at least to that of any individual of the nume- 
 rous orders which were established in Bruges, 
 and he was deep in the secrets of many noble 
 families. Siger Roozen had been the very first 
 man who had knelt to him, and whispered his 
 little transgressions in his ear ; but as the 
 father grew into fashion with the higher classes, 
 he gradually declined the confessions of the 
 poor ; and he had resolved to discard even the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 25 
 
 original sinner, who formed his earliest stepping- 
 stone to celebrity. He had shaken off many 
 pretended penitents, by progressively increasing 
 the severity of his penances. Fanatics were 
 driven away by too much indulgence ; but as 
 Siger Roozen did not decidedly belong to either 
 of these classes, Father Wolfert had not quite 
 determined on the means for relieving himself 
 from his importunities. 
 
 Siger had waited for a long time, more im- 
 patiently than he was wont to do, and he won- 
 dered at this change of feeling, not being quite 
 aware of how sensible he had become to his 
 own importance. At length he heard the inner 
 door of the cell creak on its hinges, and in a 
 moment more. Father Wolfert appeared lead- 
 ing out a lady. Siger caught a full view of 
 her, and saw that she was very lovely, and 
 in tears. She no sooner saw that she was 
 observed by a stranger, than she blushed deeply, 
 held a Venetian mask close to her face with 
 one hand, and with the other she gathered her 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 26 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 cloak around her ; and hurried away, leaving the 
 reverend friar in an attitude of surprise at her 
 sudden escape. He looked round, and observed 
 Siger Roozen, hat in hand, standing close by. 
 
 " How now!" saidFather Wolfert, haughtily, 
 " who is this that prowls at my threshold ? 
 your business, friend.'^" 
 
 While he asked these questions he stood out 
 into the corridor ; but as he uttered what fol- 
 lowed, he gradually stepped back into the cell 
 with Roozen, closed the door, and sat down on 
 an oaken chair. 
 
 *' Why, what''s this.'^ Siger Roozen, in such 
 brave apparel ! This change betokens either 
 good or ill fortune, Siger ; some one has stretched 
 to thee a helping hand, or thou hast put thine 
 own where it should not be. Come in, good fel- 
 low, if I may still call thee so ; but if thou hast 
 aught on thy conscience, unburthen it freely, 
 and quickly, friend ; for prouder, it may be 
 greater, sinners await me. Well, Siger Roozen, 
 of what crime wouldst thou be absolved ?''''
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 27 
 
 " No crirney holy Father ! 'Tis a matter 
 
 that weighs not on my soul, although it agitates 
 
 « 
 
 my mind, on which I would crave your reve- 
 rence's counsel/' 
 
 '' Aye, aye, 'tis ever thus — no crime, no 
 crime — some trifling peccadillo that a short 
 prayer or two may absolve. Thus sinners judge 
 themselves too leniently, friend Siger. But 
 hold— let's see — thy offences, great or little^ 
 spring apace. 'Twas but on the St. Bavon, I 
 last shrove thee, worthy friend, not ten days 
 gone — truly thou then hadst nothing to confess, 
 save some wild and misplaced reveries of gran- 
 deur. Please Heaven and all the saints thou 
 hast not been tempted, Siger ! — haste, haste, 
 man, the bell tolls — what is thy secret sin .^" 
 
 " No sin, holy Father, though I have been 
 tempted indeed." 
 
 *' Come, come to the point — ^be brief. Whence 
 comes this finery ? Who hast thou robbed ? 
 Where is thy buff jerkin, and the fox skin cap 
 that covered so fitly thy frowzed locks, which 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 now curl down so trimly on a kersey cloak ? 
 Tell me all — there''s mercy in our holy mother 
 church — -speak out, friend ?'* 
 
 " This touches me to the quick, reverend 
 father — ^you wrong me. I am no thief ; had I 
 been so, perhaps my guise had been more 
 cautiously chosen. Men dress to please their 
 fancy, Father Wolfert, and the wisest suits 
 his habits to his means — yet I have not done 
 that quite." 
 
 " Why no ; methinks, good Siger, thy out- 
 fit is somewhat unsuited to the fair earnings 
 of a poor mechanic." 
 
 " A poor mechanic ! yes, reverend Father, 
 but / am no longer such. No longer poor, no 
 more a mere mechanic. You marvel that I wear 
 a cut plush doublet and a beaver — know, my 
 good Father, that did I choose it, my body 
 might be covered with velvet and embroidery, ^, 
 
 and this plain hat encircled by a carcanet of 
 diamonds." 
 . The consequential tone of voice, and sw^ag-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 29 
 
 gering air, which accompanied it, gave Father 
 Wolfert some surprise, but he did not betray 
 any. He smiled incredulously. Siger, per- 
 ceiving this, threw his hat on the ground, with 
 apparent indifference, although he could not 
 resist a pang at treating so roughly a new ar- 
 ticle of dress, the best of its kind he had ever 
 worn. His hands being free, he thrust one 
 into each of the side pockets of his loose, 
 breeches, and immediately pulled forth, and 
 placed on the little stone table, two fistsfull of 
 old coins of various kinds. Florins of Italy 
 and Spanish moidores were mixed with golden 
 deniers of Brabant, oboles of Luxembourg 
 and Bar; whihottes and patars of Namur, 
 stamped with a ship ; vishes of the same 
 country, with a fish for the device ; heaumes 
 of Hainault, bearing crosses and roses ; but 
 all were of the smooth-worn coinage of the 
 olden time, the most modern being full three 
 centuries old. Father Wolfert, on seeing 
 these specimens, at once divined the truth of
 
 30 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Siger's good luck, and starting from his seat he 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Why, Siger Roozen, you have discovered 
 a treasure — you have found gold !'' 
 
 " I have, may it please your reverence^ with 
 the blessing of Heaven ! not only gold but 
 jewels. Here, holy Father, accept this poor 
 gift for charity sake, for the funds of your 
 blessed order ;" and with the words he emptied 
 his pockets completely of their contents, and 
 heaped them on the table. " This is the first 
 offering of my gratitude to Heaven. And this 
 for 7/ow, holy Father, my spiritual guide, and 
 the counsellor on whose advice I rely to steer 
 me safely through the perils with which the 
 possession of wealth abounds." 
 
 Siger, suiting the action to the word, drew 
 from an inner pocket of his doublet a large 
 gold ring, in which was set a brilliant of daz- 
 zling lustre and considerable value, which he 
 held forth to the astonished monk. 
 
 <« Why, Siger, my good master, you know
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 31 
 
 not what you offer," exclaimed Father Wolfert. 
 " There is here wherewithal to make the for- 
 tune of a dozen artizans like yourself. The 
 proudest Burgher of Bruges might not for 
 very shame's sake wear this ring on his fore- 
 finger !" 
 
 " Most reverend Father," rejoined Siger, 
 with an air of much humility, " I have an 
 hundred such." 
 
 " Indeed !" exclaimed the monk. '' Sit 
 down, my worthy friend, sit down. A trifling- 
 matter this ! Is it so it must be called ? No, 
 no, good Master Roozen, this is verily a mat- 
 ter of moment. Be seated, and let us talk 
 this over." 
 
 " But your reverence is in haste — we may 
 defer the conference — some sinners wait your 
 holy aid — your reverence told me so just now.'^ 
 
 " Tut, tut, ,my valued friend, let them 
 still wait. Are paltry sinners to be tended, 
 and worthy men laid by ? your gold here shall 
 be the price of their indulgence. We'll pray
 
 32 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 off their penance, for this once, with all those 
 others whom your charity absolves. A hun- 
 dred such, good Siger ! sit closer, man — speak 
 low ; into my very ear ; these walls may listen 
 if they will ; hark, Siger !" 
 
 To prove the mystery of the place, and of 
 his craft, he struck his knuckles against the 
 wall, which sounded thin and hollow, as if it 
 had been framed for purposes of concealment 
 and listening. 
 
 " It is not every one should know this, 
 Master Roozen ; but your bountiful gift en- 
 titles you to the freedom of the cloister ; and 
 this generous pledge of kindness towards my- 
 self, tells me I ought to have no guile with 
 you. So gently whisper to me ; and softer 
 still, in aught that may commit yourself, good 
 Siger. How came you by this treasure ?" 
 
 " Honestly, Father Wolfert ; as any man, 
 with a strong arm, and directed by Heaven, 
 might do. I dug it out of the earth," ex-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 33 
 
 claimed Siger aloud, and standing upright 
 before his confessor. 
 
 " So much the better, so much the better, 
 good Master Roozen. As Providence has 
 guided you to this wealth, prudence must 
 watch over its application. We must pray for 
 support ; and to propitiate the holy St. An- 
 drew, the patron of our cloister, you must 
 give freely to the church. A good beginning 
 insures a happy term. Piety brings profit, 
 and is the foundation stone of fortune !*" 
 
 " I know it all, good Father, and I shall 
 not be forgetful of my duty. I am indeed 
 filled with gratitude for my good luck. My 
 heart overflows with thanksgiving ; and I only 
 wait for a fitting time to perform a pilgri- 
 mage."" 
 
 '' Talk not of pilgrimages. Master Roozen ; 
 honest men need not such trials." 
 
 " IVe made a vow, good Father.'^ 
 
 " I'll free thee from it, Siger. Bear up, 
 man ; there's nothing on thy conscience, 
 
 c 3
 
 34 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Pray, my good Burgher — Burgomaster that 
 will be ! Prostrate your spirit before heaven 
 and yovir saint ; but hold your body straight, 
 and your head high. If you do not over-rate 
 your wealth — if indeed you possess an hun- 
 dred gems, each as much worth as this one — 
 aye or fifty, half as valuable — I promise you 
 a place with the best in the city. None shall 
 o'ertop you, Master Roozen. Away then with 
 penance and pilgrimage ; he who gives freely 
 to the church needs no such means to make his 
 peace with Heaven." 
 
 Siger liked this doctrine, although it was 
 new to him ; and the unction which the monk 
 had laid to his ambition produced its full effect. 
 He suddenly and silently resolved to abandon 
 the pilgrimage ; but finding his thoughts be- 
 coming confused on the subject of his growing 
 greatness, he proposed to his reverend compa- 
 nion to adjourn till the evening all further dis-. 
 cussion on his plans and prospects. Father 
 Wolfert having more than one engagement of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 35 
 
 some import on his hands, consented to this 
 postponement, and fixed the hour of evening 
 between twilight and moonrise to meet Siger 
 on the western rampart, not far from St. 
 James''s Gate, and close to Savenlacht House ; 
 there to hear the details of his wealth, and 
 consider the proper steps for its security and 
 application. 
 
 Siger took his leave, and for the first time 
 received a firm pressure from the hand of his 
 holy friend, a proof of his own importance 
 that thrilled through him. He had quitted 
 the cell and was fairly in the corridor, before 
 he recollected the lady with whose appearance 
 he had been so much struck a little while past. 
 Emboldened by the cordial familiarity of the 
 monk, he scepped back, and putting his hand 
 against the half closed door he said, 
 
 " Please your reverence to excuse my pre- 
 sumption — " 
 
 " Presumption, my dear friend, don't men-
 
 36 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 tion such a word — it has no meaning from you 
 to me — speak freely !" 
 
 " May I then ask, without too far intrud- 
 ing, who was the lady whose beauty so much 
 struck me as she quitted this place just now ?" 
 
 Had leather Wolfert not been standing with 
 his back to the dull light admitted through 
 his little casement, Siger might have discerned 
 a slight frown and slighter blush passing to- 
 gether across his brow. He paused for a mo- 
 ment, and then answered, 
 
 " Oh ! she is one of my peculiar flock. Mas- 
 ter Roozen, of a noble family, a penitent, in 
 short, why do you ask about her ?"" 
 
 "Is she married ?^' demanded Siger. 
 
 " Married ! no, no," said the monk. 
 
 " So much the greater pity," exclaimed Si- 
 ger Roozen ; and repeating his farewell, he 
 quitted the cloister ; loitered about the town 
 in a restless state of mind ; walked into the 
 church of Notre Dame, where he stayed for 
 the celebration of the mid-day mass ; dined at a
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 37 
 
 tavern"; and by various other means contrived 
 to occupy his time, till the hour of meeting 
 with the priest. 
 
 We must not encumber these introductory 
 passages to our story, with details of all that 
 took place between Roozen and Father Wolfert. 
 It is enough to state the results of their con- 
 ferences. The intriguing caution of the one 
 was proportioned to the ambitious enterprize of 
 the other. Wolfert took care to make the 
 ground firm under his friend's foot ; and that 
 once planted, Siger felt himself bold enough 
 for undertakings, which, even in his days of 
 most shadowy hope, seemed far beyond possi- 
 bility. The monk acquired over him a still 
 greater ascendancy than ever ; for without his 
 cunning management, Siger clearly saw that he 
 had no security for the possession of his wealth, 
 and for those advantages which he determined 
 that it should obtain. 
 
 The state of Belgium at that period was one 
 of doubt, danger, and confusion. The contest
 
 38 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 against Spanish tyranny had loosened all the 
 ties which bound society together. In the 
 fierce struggle for liberty every minor consi- 
 deration was forgotten ; and property of all 
 kinds was left insecure, between despotism and 
 anarchy. The city of Bruges, though still 
 a place of great wealth, inhabited by many 
 noble families, and in many ways distinguished, 
 was rapidly declining. The turbulent spirit of 
 its inhabitants in its proud and palmy days, 
 when it was the emporium of Europe, had by 
 degrees deprived it of that high distinction. 
 The richest and most enterprizing of the foreign 
 merchants had one by cme abandoned it. The 
 establishments of the various European powers, 
 those of the Hanseatic Towns, its best privileges 
 and its most lucrative manufactures, were trans- 
 ferred to Antwerp. Emigration and war de- 
 creased its population, improvement became 
 stagnant, property fell in value, speculation 
 died away ; but when an individual shewed 
 more energy than his fellows, and ventured a
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 39 
 
 large purchase or extensive risk, his gains were, 
 if successful, consequently enormous. How- 
 ever, as before mentioned, the insecurity of 
 property at this crisis left little relish for enter- 
 prize ; and most men were contented to repose 
 on the wealth they had inherited, or enjoy a 
 competence, rather than hazard ruin in straining 
 for increase. 
 
 Still enough of its former greatness remained 
 to make Bruges in many ways delightful. It 
 was at the period in question free from the 
 actual presence of war. The riotous character 
 of the people had subsided into one less agitat- 
 ing, though full as exciting. Men's minds 
 became, by degrees, enlightened, instead of 
 being inflamed ; general interests gained a gra- 
 dual, but by no means a complete ascendency 
 over local objects. The weavers, a body of 
 men so desperately notorious in the history of 
 the town, had in the opening of the revolution 
 abandoned their looms, and taken up arms ; not 
 as of old, to sustain some sordid monopoly for
 
 40 THE HEIRESS OF BUUGES. 
 
 private gain, but to fight against an odious 
 enemy for the public good. With purity of 
 motives came refinement of manners ; and the 
 great mart of commerce was changed into the 
 chosen seat of elegance. The arts began to 
 burst vividly through the fumes of intestine 
 war. Painting, sculpture, and music, were 
 protected and encouraged ; luxurious living 
 and splendid apparel had been for ages charac- 
 teristic of this celebrated place ; and even at 
 the period we treat of, the style of the female 
 inhabitants, noble and plebeian, might have 
 excited a remark from any queen who visited it, 
 similar to that of the royal consort of Philip le 
 Bel, in the fourteenth century, that " she found 
 there six hundred ladies as well dressed as her- 
 self." Such were the striking features of the 
 city, when Siger Roozen began to raise his head 
 above the ignoble .crowd, and looked even 
 higher than that, for the indulgence of his 
 aspiring views. 
 
 The motives of Father Wolfert, in giving
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 41 
 
 his aid to the fortunate gold-beater, were mani- 
 fest. He hoped, by the influence of Siger 
 Roozen's wealth, partly expended in large gifts 
 to the church, to gain such credit with its dig- 
 nitaries as would ensure the first objects of his 
 ambition ; and these, once acquired, he had 
 but little doubt that the rest would follow. 
 He therefore set to work to clear away all im- 
 pediments to Siger's uncontrouled and positive 
 possession of his treasure. By his influence 
 with the grandees of the city aad the ofiicial 
 guardians of its rights, he obtained permission 
 for Siger's becoming the purchaser of the ruined 
 walls and deserted premises of Savenslacht 
 House ; representing him as one who had ob- 
 tained a small inheritance by the death of a 
 relative, but who, wishing to establish himself 
 entirely in his native city, had converted his 
 distant property into cash. This point ar- 
 ranged, Siger repaired to Antwerp, where 
 lapidists, merchants, and money-changers 
 abounded ; and he found no difficulty in dis-
 
 42 THE HEIKESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 posing of a portion of his ancient coins, and a 
 few jewels, for the sum required for his pur- 
 chase. This once completed with the autho- 
 rities of the city, into whose hands the dilapi- 
 dated premises had fallen, the deeds duly 
 registered, and possession formally given, the 
 new proprietor had no obstacle to the avowal 
 of his discovery, and to as much of his wealth 
 as he chose to acknowledge. 
 
 Siger's first step (to propitiate the church) 
 was to commence the foundation of a con- 
 vent on the site of the old mansion. He 
 thus compromised with his conscience, by 
 Father Wolfert's suggestion, for his intended 
 pilgrimage. His next measure (to conciliate 
 the town) was an offer to purchase the whole 
 of the waste ground, stretching from the ram- 
 parts, west, to Asses' Street, east, and bounded 
 on the south by the little canal before men- 
 tioned, over which he had crossed, by the aid 
 of a couple of rotten planks, on the Sunday 
 of his confession, to Father Wolfert. The
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 43 
 
 town dignitaries were rejoiced to get a sup- 
 ply to their coffers by the purchase money ; 
 and every one thought that Siger was fling- 
 ing away foolishly the wealth he had so 
 fortunately acqviired, in a purchase which, 
 although made for a sum far below its in- 
 trinsic worth, was pronounced dear at any 
 price in the doubtful circumstances of the 
 country. But Siger did not stop here. He 
 immediately commenced the building of a 
 long and handsome range of houses, extending 
 at each side of the convent, in front of which 
 gardens were laid out and planted down to the 
 edge of the canal. This range of buildings he 
 named Ouden Zac,* in honour of the rotten 
 recipient which had enclosed his treasures ; 
 and though an opposite row of houses has 
 since his time converted this place into a re- 
 gular street, it still bears its primitive appel- 
 lation, which was respected even by the French, 
 during whose authority it was called Rne du 
 
 • Old Sack.
 
 44 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Vieuo) Sac ; and, running in right angles with 
 the convent, a street leading from Ouden Zac 
 to the canal, was soon constructed, and called 
 then, as at present, the Rozendael. 
 
 Another of Siger's improvements was the 
 erection of a bridge across the canal, in pur- 
 suance of his vow, at the place where the old 
 planks were used to lie. This bridge was de- 
 dicated to St. James, after whom it was offi- 
 cially christened ; but, even to this day, it is 
 known by the more common name of Zheger's 
 Brugge,* which was given to it by the popular 
 voice, and which superseded for a time that of 
 " The Lion," its ancient title. The planning 
 of this bridge created a question of some im- 
 portance to the rapidly increasing consequence 
 of its founder. Nicholas Van Block, the 
 stone-mason, who, under the patronage of his 
 old friend and companion, Siger Roozen, was 
 now become Mynheer Van Block, the sculp- 
 tor and architect, protested that such a thing 
 
 Siger's bridge. 
 
 * o.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 45 
 
 was never heard of as a bridge being erected 
 without the arms of the founder being placed 
 in bas relief on the battlements. Siger was 
 sadly puzzled how to reply to this hint. 
 Arms he had none but the stout pair that 
 nature had furnished him ; nor could he guess 
 at any pretension which he could raise to 
 heraldric distinctions of any kind. In this 
 dilemma, as in all others, he had recourse to 
 the ready aid and as ready wit of Father 
 Wolfert ; and neither of them failed him now^ 
 any more than on former occasions. A proper 
 application was made, with a proper way of 
 backing it, to old Wootershoft, the cele- 
 brated herald of those times, whose office at 
 Ghent contained the records, titles, and 
 genealogies of all Flanders. He soon found 
 out that Siger Roozen was the direct des- 
 cendant of a younger branch of the noble 
 house of Van Rozenhoed, which, on the emi- 
 gration of its representative to Germany, 
 above two centuries before, had fallen into
 
 46 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 decay and distress ; and, after the lapse of 
 several generations, had finally dropped the 
 nominal distinction of nobility, and corrupted 
 the orthography of the family name, in the 
 person of Siger's grandfather. This discovery- 
 was officially confused and authenticated by 
 so many intricate technicalities, that opposition 
 would have been vain, had there been any one 
 inclined to oppose. But that not being the 
 case, Siger became, in due form, and by all 
 the privileges of the law, installed in his new 
 name of Van Rozenhoed ; and his pedigree 
 was attested and engrossed on vellum, with 
 the arms richly emblazoned at the head of 
 the scroll. These were argent, a scymitar 
 gules, a scutcheon of Flanders dexter, and one 
 of the empire sinister ; so far being those of 
 the old and now resuscitated house ; quartered 
 with which, at the special and positive desire 
 of the new member, were three hammers, en- 
 pal ; and, for crest, a sack gueule (open- 
 mouthed) discharging a shower of money.
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 4*7 
 
 Siger was determined to specify, by this 
 means, for his own gratification and the in- 
 formation of the descendants he hoped for, 
 the leading features of his history and their 
 ancestry. 
 
 This point being arranged, the bridge was 
 finally built, and the battlements duly sur- 
 mounted by the Lion of Flanders, bearing a 
 shield on which was sculptured the arms, as 
 above minutely detailed ; and the curious 
 may, even yet, be gratified by tracing these, 
 remains of Nicholas Van Block's chiselling, 
 and the record of Siger Van Rozenhoed's 
 munificence. 
 
 But while these various erections of con- 
 vent, bridge, and mansion took effect, Siger 
 was thinking of matrimony. Strange as it 
 may seem, he had never lost sight of the 
 lady whose beauty and whose tears had so 
 much interested him at the door of Father 
 Wolfert's cell ; and the result of his inquiries 
 from the monk satisfied him that she was vir-
 
 48 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 tuous and amiable, though poor and perse- 
 cuted. Her family wished her to take the 
 veil ; she would have preferred taking a hus- 
 band. It so happened, however, that her 
 heart was not actually engaged ; and, in her 
 distress, she had recourse to the advice of her 
 confessor, Father Wolfert. What his motives 
 or early counsels were, we do not profess to 
 know ; but be they what they might, they 
 soon gave place to the strenuous recommenda- 
 tion that she should hearken to the wishes 
 of one of the richest men of Flanders, and 
 mingle the blood of the gallant family of 
 Lovenskerke with that of the lately renovated 
 house of Van Rozenhoed. To tell the result 
 briefly, or, as we say commonly, " in short," 
 Siger having submitted to a probationary year 
 and a day, as was required by an ancient law 
 of Bruges with respect to artizans, was nomi- 
 nated to the inferior dignity of Hoofman of 
 St. Nicholas Sestendeelen, the part of the 
 town in which he had hired a handsome
 
 THE HEIllESS OF BllUGES. 49 
 
 residence ; and having occupied this term 
 of his noviciate in various improvements, 
 mental and personal, he was on the same 
 evening united to Maria de Lovenskerke, in the 
 parish church, by his friend Father Wolfert, 
 who was already advanced to the station of 
 sub-prior of his convent. 
 
 In the course of another year the hoofman 
 was promoted to be one of the thirteen eche- 
 vins, or sheriffs, of the city — the Convent of 
 Jacobines was built, endowed, and consecrated — 
 the sub-prior regularly installed as confessor 
 to the holy house and spiritual comforter of 
 the abbess, and the twelve nuns who composed 
 the sisterhood ; and his worship, the echevin, 
 had become the father of a beautiful female 
 child, who was christened with great distinc- 
 tion in the cathedral church of Notre Dame, 
 by the name of Theresa ; the ceremony being 
 performed by his reverence the sub-prior, and 
 the infant being held at the font by the repre- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 sentatives of two of the most ancient and dis- 
 tinguished families of Bruges. 
 
 Thus far affairs had gone on flourishingly 
 with our friend Siger, and his friend Father 
 Wolfert. The advances which they made in 
 the world, had not, however, by any means, 
 reached their term. Every day added to their 
 importance in their respective situations ; and 
 while the monFs increasing greatness rose up 
 towards his innate pride, the citizen made rapid 
 progress in manners and knowledge, under 
 the influence of a highly bred wife, and his 
 own instinctive aptness to improve advantages. 
 Secured in his possessions, and every day ex- 
 tending his influence in the city, it was evident 
 that if ever the country succeeded in establish- 
 ing its independence, he would be one of the 
 first men (if not the very first man) of Bruges. 
 And leaving our old acquaintance in this pros- 
 perous state, we now take a long leave of him, 
 and his faithful ally, the Dominican.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 51 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Although fifteen years form a long period 
 in reality, they seem to present in retrospect a 
 space but little wider than that which divides 
 the close of our last chapter from the opening 
 of this. 
 
 The concluding event there particularly spe- 
 cified, was the baptismal ceremony of our 
 heroine that is to be, Theresa Van Rozenhoed ; 
 but the progress of two or three years after 
 that circumstance must be taken into account, 
 to allow for her father's and his confessor's 
 
 D 2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF \lUHm
 
 52 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 advances in the world, alluded to in the final 
 paragraph ; so that, by the strict rules of cal- 
 culation, we find our aforesaid heroine to be 
 now eighteen years of age, and we resume our 
 history in the spring of the year of grace 
 1600. 
 
 It was on a beautiful evening in the latter 
 end of April in that year, that the newly elected 
 chief burgomaster of the city of Bruges was 
 sitting in a rustic arm chair, on the terrace of 
 his garden, which looked upon the large square 
 basin forming part of the canal, that extends 
 from the cathedral of Notre Dame, in front of 
 the Dyver and of Steen-Houwer's Dyk. In the 
 unenclosed space which had formerly separated 
 these two handsome quays, and directly oppo- 
 site the basin on its southern side, another had 
 of late years been built, and now joined them 
 together. The houses of this new quay, which 
 was no other than that referred to in our 
 first pages, were of a cheerful construction, 
 less massive and imposing than those at either
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 53 
 
 end. The architecture was light and simple ; 
 and the new range formed a pleasing link, as 
 it were, of the chain which it served to unite. 
 
 The burgomaster's house was situated on the 
 eastern side of the basin, its front looking to- 
 wards that point. The rear commanded one 
 of the loveliest town views that any where 
 existed. The garden was to the north of the 
 mansion, and occupied a tolerably large space, 
 which at this day is covered by the house, ovit- 
 offices, and grounds of the tavern called dear 
 Hollander. 
 
 At the period of our story it was laid out 
 with precious flowers and plants ; and the 
 terrace before mentioned, extended for its whole 
 western length. On the north side, the canal, 
 which there branched off* from the basin, sepa- 
 rated it from that of the stadthouse, whose 
 turrets rose proudly up and overlooked the scene 
 we describe. The canal being narrow, the gar- 
 dens were in a measure united, for the branches 
 of the acacias, weeping willows, and other grace-
 
 54 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ful trees, hung over from both sides, and, inter- 
 lacing together, formed a pleached canopy over 
 the smooth stream (for it was such) that flowed 
 drowsily, and almost imperceptibly beneath. 
 
 Beyond the house, eastward, was a larger 
 space of open ground, now covered by the 
 handsome fishmarket. But in our days, reader, 
 this whole extent left an uninterrupted view of 
 Steen-Houwer's Dyk on the right, and the 
 picturesque buildings and gardens which still 
 border the other side of the canal, including 
 the rear of the Dominican cloister, of which 
 the octagonal turrets, pointed gables, and 
 square windows were seen above its tasteful, 
 though somewhat sombre garden, which was 
 terminated by a small arched doorway, opening 
 directly on the canal. 
 
 To complete the description, we must once 
 more return to the burgomaster's house, and 
 give a short sketch of it, as it then appeared, 
 and indeed may still be recognized. The walls 
 were built of brick — the architraves, and frame-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 55 
 
 work of doors and windows, of stone, curiously 
 carved, according to the florid taste of the 
 times. In front, a handsome porch was as- 
 cended by a flight of steps at each side ; the 
 balustrades richly ornamented, as was the front 
 of the house, with much fantastic carving and 
 gilding. The family arms were in various 
 places ingeniously sculptured ; and a marble 
 figure of the Madonna, a correct but miniature 
 copy from the celebrated statue by Michael 
 Angelo (that graced the church of Notre 
 Dame) was placed, in a niche over the principal 
 entrance. A gilded balustrade surmounted the 
 front of the house ; above which peeped some 
 half dozen unwieldy chimneys, and the pointed 
 tops of two octagonal turrets, by which the 
 mansion was flanked. These turrets rose up 
 from, and were bathed by, the water of the 
 basin. They stood out from the rear of the 
 house, one at each of its extremities. From 
 each of them a door opened on the narrow 
 terrace already mentioned, and that to the
 
 56 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 northward had also a communication with the 
 garden. These turrets had been erected more 
 for ornament than actual use ; but one of them 
 was adapted by the burgomaster for special 
 purposes of his trade ; the other, which was the 
 one next the garden, being intended and fitted 
 up for the accommodation of a tenant, of whom 
 we shall presently speak more particularly. 
 
 We have thus minutely described the ex- 
 ternal appearance of the house and its appur- 
 tenances, which was admitted to be at the time, 
 (and its appearance even now will justify the 
 character,) the most elegant, though by no 
 means the most sumptuous mansion in Bruges. 
 
 In full enjoyment of this enviable residence, 
 in possession of immense wealth, and in all the 
 honours of his long -sought, and but newly ac- 
 quired dignity, the burgomaster sat as already 
 mentioned. He was a man verging on fifty 
 years, of a good presence, inclined to corpulence, 
 and richly dressed ; he seemed, to some ob- 
 servers from the quay, to slumber : and a cu-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. S'J 
 
 riously carved instrument appeared to sustain 
 its position between his teeth at one end, and 
 between his forefinger and thumb at the other, 
 without any waking exertion of the burgo- 
 master'*s will. But a nearer examination would 
 have proved that his worship was absorbed in 
 thought, not in sleep ; while the vapour that 
 escaped in gentle puffs through his lips, and 
 the fragrance it diffused around, told that he 
 indulged in the lately introduced luxury of 
 smoking tobacco. 
 
 He gazed upon the glassy surface of the 
 water, on which a couple of swans were float- 
 ing ; and his eyes glanced from time to time 
 towards the long colonnade of poplars which 
 lined the bank of the canal,— then seemed to 
 look upon the high and clumsy steeple of the 
 cathedral, or wandered back and rested on the 
 spire of the town-hall, the cupola of the bishop's 
 palace, or the turrets of the stadthouse. While 
 thus occupied, the burgomaster's attention 
 seemed suddenly excited towards the farther 
 
 D 3
 
 58 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 end of the terrace, and rising from his chair, 
 he folded his silk Chinese-patterned^ and er- 
 mine-lined robe around him, put his crimson 
 velvet cap on his head, and walked towards the 
 place. He there perceived moving gently along, 
 under the branching shade which covered the 
 canal, the small boat belonging to the Domi- 
 nican cloister, guided by a cowl-enveloped man, 
 while the Prior reclined in a low chair at the 
 stem, apparently not deigning to look on the 
 humble pilot, who pushed the boat forward by 
 means of a long pole. 
 
 The burgomaster, rightly judging that his 
 reverend neighbour and friend was about to 
 honour him with a visit, hastened down the 
 flight of grey marble steps, which descended 
 to the basin, and, bowing with an air of re- 
 spectful familiarity to the churchman, he wel- 
 comed him, and handed him from the boat. 
 A domestic, in rich livery, who attended at a 
 distance for the burgomaster's call, now stepped 
 forward, arranged a second seat beside that his
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 59 
 
 worship had just occupied, and then retired to 
 his former position. 
 
 " Yes, your reverence is, as usual, cordially 
 welcome,*" said the magistrate. " May I pray 
 you, holy Father, be seated. You do not, 
 I humbly hope, feel incommoded by the odour 
 of this far-fetched plant, the leaves of which 
 fill my pipe. — Jans, quit the garden, and let no 
 interruption be offered, while his reverence the 
 Prior of St. Andrew's sojourns here. Refuse 
 admittance even to the echevins themselves." 
 
 " My old and worthy ally," replied the 
 Prior, taking the magistrate's hand, while the 
 servant withdrew, " the vilest fumes from those 
 we love are fragrant in the nostrils of friend- 
 ship. How proud I am to see you thus — how 
 rejoiced to hail you, in fact what I long since 
 prophesied you would one day be !" 
 
 " Thanks to you, good Father ; my success 
 is due to your steady zeal, and fervent inter- 
 cession with the blessed St. Andrew, to whom 
 all praise !"
 
 60 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ^' A good turn merits a return, kind friend,^^ 
 said the priest. " The man whose wealth and 
 worth made me four years ago prior of my con- 
 vent, had a right to the benefit of my prayers, 
 when so many obstacles lay in the way of his 
 elevation to well merited honour !" 
 
 " Aye, Father, and nought else but piety and 
 prayer from such as you could have beat down 
 and discomfited my opponents. Ah, that vile 
 Claas Claassen I that outrageous demagogue ! 
 how impotent were his wishes, and how deep 
 his hypocrisy !" 
 
 " A miscreant heretic, my friend ! — what was 
 to be looked for at his hands but foul play ?'^ 
 
 " Why, your reverence knows what I think, 
 at least what I thought, on that point ; and you 
 must not suppose that my burgomaster's robe, 
 but yesterday thrown over me, has changed 
 me in aught. As to heresy and the like, it is 
 out of my calling — all men are equal in my 
 eyes who look to the country's good. My enemy, 
 Claas Claassen, may worship God in his own
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 61 
 
 way, your reverence, for my part on**t. I leave 
 schismatics to the care of holy church — but I 
 hate him^ because I believe him to be a traitor 
 to our liberties, and ready to sell even hisown.'"' 
 
 " Well, well, good burgomaster,**' said the 
 Prior, with a complacent smile, worthy of the 
 deepest disciple of Loyola ; " I do know your 
 honest, though somewhat narrow views, on 
 points of faith and practice of forms. A true 
 son of mother church, yourself, you wisely 
 meddle not with matters beyond your compre- 
 hension ; and well I trow, you have not forgot- 
 ten the marvellous debt of gratitude you owe 
 to our holy patron's intervention in your yester- 
 day's election." 
 
 "Your reverence has never known me back- 
 ward or ingrate ; two massive candlesticks of 
 purest and most fine-wrought gold, already 
 stand prepared to add to the splendour of St. 
 Andrew's altar !" 
 
 '' And the poor ?" said the monk, with the 
 true tone of insatiate beggary.
 
 62 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " Three bags of a thousand florins each, 
 await your reverence's disposal." 
 
 " They shall be well disposed of, my worthy 
 son : and now the main points being adjusted, 
 for piety and charity are our first duties, let us 
 turn awhile to our poor personal concerns, and 
 those of miserable sinners like ourselves. All 
 promises fair for my designs; the bishoprick must 
 be mine — the archdukes have offered me the 
 abbey of St. Donat"'s, with all its rich applian- 
 ces ; but no ! 'tis the mitre I want, and Prince 
 Maurice and the states assure it to me. Once 
 chosen Bishop of Bruges, and Hereditary Chan- 
 cellor of Flanders, what obstacle may stop my 
 career ?''"' 
 
 " Heaven and St. Andrew grant your reve- 
 
 rence success !" 
 
 " Money I my good friend," said the Prior, 
 in a whisper, and pressing his companion's 
 hand. 
 
 " That shall not fail," said the burgomaster, 
 in the same tone.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 63 
 
 " Enough, enough, then, on that head. Now 
 to my nephew's case. Have you bethought 
 you of my proposal ?" 
 
 " I have, holy Father, with due consideration 
 for your wishes — you know in such a case they 
 are a law for me." 
 
 '' My too kind — but I spare you the expres- 
 sion of my gratitude ; your honest nature needs 
 no thanks. You will, then, take the boy as 
 your apprentice, and reject more than a dozen 
 solicitations from the sons and proteges of the 
 first families in Flanders .'^" 
 
 '' I have resolved to do so — nothing can 
 make me swerve from a decision or a pledge. 
 Your nephew's indentures were drawn out and 
 dated yesterday." 
 
 " And when shall he enter on his duties ? 
 When begins the year's noviciate, which has 
 never failed to lead to honour and distinction ? 
 Fortunate nephew 1 too happy Lambert !*" 
 
 " If the lad be prepared, he may enter on his 
 functions to-morrow. His predecessor, young
 
 64 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Arnoul de Grimberghe, gave up the turret 
 yesterday, and to day he is sub-chamberlain to 
 Prince Maurice." 
 
 " What ! such a post already .^'" 
 
 " Yes, holy Father — such is the poor influ- 
 ence of an old gold-beater." 
 
 The Prior saw the well-known glance of 
 pride that accompanied this affected humility. 
 He had been for many a year used to humour 
 it ; and he did not fail to do so now. 
 
 " Did I not foretell," said he, with a smile, 
 " that you would one day hold your head as 
 high as the highest ? This precious ring, 
 which has never left my finger since the mo- 
 ment of the prophecy, be my token that I had 
 a presentiment of your greatness. So, you 
 now can obtain what peers and princes sue for 
 in vain ? Such is the value of humbleness 
 joined with genius !" 
 
 The burgomaster knew well that he had no 
 genius— that his outward humility was but the 
 covering of inward pride —and that the chief
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 65 
 
 secret of his greatness lay in his money ; but 
 he also felt that he had the merit of profiting 
 by circumstances, and of not abusing good 
 luck ; and the Prior's flattery fell unctuously 
 on his spirit. 
 
 " Aye," resumed he, standing up erect, 
 *' peers and princes do not disdain me — but my 
 own town, good Father, this very Bruges, to 
 which I have done some service, how has it 
 treated me ? For ten years and more has it 
 not refused my well earned honours ?" 
 
 " Yes, my good friend, but you triumphed 
 over all opponents yesterday ; you are now at 
 the summit of your desires. You have now no 
 cause of disquiet." 
 
 " True, as far as I alone am concerned ; but 
 my daughter." 
 
 " And what of her ? Does not a splendid 
 future open out for her ? Surpassing beauty, 
 immense wealth, virtue, education — is not all 
 hers, that earth can produce or heaven bestow ?"' 
 
 " 'Tis most true, yet the besetting dangers
 
 66 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 
 
 of the world fill me with fears for my poor 
 Theresa. Had her dear mother lived, my 
 house would not have been till this day de- 
 prived of my daughter''s presence," said the 
 burgomaster, with a sigh, that sounded in ac- 
 cordance with his speaking tones. 
 
 " Well, well, worthy heart," answered the 
 Prior, cheeringly, " your amiable wife is with 
 the saints in Heaven. Your beautiful daughter 
 will no more have to long for her father's home : 
 she comes from the convent to-night ? Isn't 
 it so ?"" 
 
 This latter question was put with an expres- 
 sion something between doubt and disappoint- 
 ment, for the first was answered by an uncer- 
 tain shake of the head. 
 
 " Why, how now, what has possessed you ? 
 Speak — does not Theresa bid farewell to the 
 holy sisters of St. Anne this evening, and enter 
 for the first time into possession of her rights, 
 as only child and heiress to your house and 
 wealth ? You were resolved a week ago ?''"'
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. &J 
 
 " Yes, reverend Father ; when, in the first 
 impulse of astonishment and indignation, I dis- 
 covered that the sacred convent, founded by 
 myself, was no sanctuary against libertinism, I 
 did resolve to remove my child to my own 
 guardianship, and I have made preparations 
 for her reception suitable to the station she is 
 meant to fill in the world*" — (here the burgo- 
 master seemed to feel the influence of purse- 
 proud excitement) — " but when I consider that 
 I am, perhaps, bringing her into all the temp; 
 tations of public life, and even into a domestic 
 snare ready baited by myself, I bethink me it 
 may be wiser to leave her where she is, till the 
 year of my magistracy and your nephew's ap- 
 prenticeship may have expired." 
 
 " You speak in parables, my friend ; I may 
 not divine the meaning of snares and baits, 
 coupled with your own and my nephew's 
 
 names." 
 
 " Then, to speak plainly, holy Sir, I com- 
 pare my house to a trap, your nephew the bait,
 
 68 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 myself the setter, and my dear Theresa an in- 
 nocent dove, who may flutter into the danger, 
 and be lost before she understands it/' 
 
 " Aha ! Is it so ? Aye, aye, I compre- 
 hend you now ; and well I perceive your 
 wonted sagacity in these misgivings. But 
 such anxieties are uncalled for, believe me. 
 You have nought to fear on the score of my 
 nephew, poor simple boy, who thinks but of 
 st udy, retirement, and music, were there even 
 any risk of the heiress of Van Rozenhoed 
 disgracing her place in life, and the honours of 
 her birth.'* 
 
 The burgomaster seemed to shuffle away 
 from this latter allusion, by dwelling on the 
 first. 
 
 '^ If your nephew be simple," said he, " my 
 daughter is innocent ; and simplicity and inno- 
 cence form a dangerous conjunction, reverend 
 Father.'' 
 
 " Nay, nay, good friend, we must not per- 
 vert caution into cowardice, nor turn our backs
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 69 
 
 to the light, for the sake of making shadows to 
 be scared by. See the thing as it is. To do 
 justice to your daughter you ought to introduce 
 her into life, during your year of dignity. Not 
 to do so, were to mar all those views of a noble 
 alliance which I know your heart is bent on. 
 Keep her still in the obscurity of her convent 
 for this critical year, and in the next you may 
 see her wed the son of your old foe, Claas 
 Claassen the tanner !"" 
 
 " Wed the son of Claas Claassen ! — of him,^ 
 the factious old hide-wetter ! never, never ! I 
 would sooner see her stretched a corpse at my 
 feet — and him pickled in one of his own tan- 
 pits. No, no ; my girl must wed with honour. 
 The whole hope of my life — the vision of my 
 prosperity has been such, she shall not sully 
 the blood of — of— of De Lovenskerke, nor the 
 name of Roozen !" 
 
 Of Van Rozenhoed, my too modest friend," 
 
 (< 
 
 chimed in the Prior, who often found it neces-
 
 70 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 sary to curb the citizen's impetuous candour. 
 '' Then, now is your time," continued he. 
 *' Starting into life in all the splendour which 
 you can throw around your magistracy, seeing 
 and being seen by the first in the land, with 
 all her charms of person, and fortune unlimited, 
 who may not claim the hand of Theresa, and 
 be honoured by the gift ? By the way, we 
 may hope that Prince Maurice himself will be 
 soon master of our city again. "Were the Spa- 
 niards driven out once more — as, St. Andrew be 
 pleased, they will — the prince will march in tri- 
 umphant." 
 
 " And what then .?" asked the burgomaster, 
 almost breathlessly, as one who gazes on the 
 peak of some sublime mountain, which looks 
 beyond his reach, but which he feels to be 
 within it. 
 
 " What then ? Why all the young nobles 
 of Holland, and many of Flanders and Bra- 
 bant, will follow in his train, will be your
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. ^1 
 
 guests, your gossips, your fellows, aye, and 
 the suitors of your daughter, that's all." 
 
 " My best counsellor, my own true friend !" 
 cried the burgomaster, " your reasoning is 
 worthy of Solomon. You have decided, and 
 what is more, convinced me. Theresa comes 
 home to-night ; her apartments are in readi- 
 ness : the whole of this turret close by is 
 hers. That of the apprentice yonder is for 
 the service of your nephew." 
 
 " Thank heaven, you have decided wisely !" 
 answered the Prior, not thinking it necessary 
 to conceal his satisfaction. " And now that 
 your own clear sense has put you in the 
 right way for your daughter's welfare, I will 
 remove all possibility of qualms on the sub- 
 ject of your new apprentice, by letting you 
 see who and what he is." 
 
 With these words, the Prior gathered up 
 his white serge robes about him, and stepping 
 forward on the terrace, he leaned over the
 
 72 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 balustrade, and called out, " Lambert Boo- 
 nen ! Lambert ! Nephew ! Come hither, sir- 
 rah, and know thy worshipful master, the 
 chief magistrate of Bruges," 
 
 The burgomaster was somewhat astonished 
 to see the pilot of the little boat, which lay 
 moored at the foot of the steps, fling oif his 
 monk's cowl at these words, and ascend to 
 the garden with a timid and awkward air. 
 
 " Nay^ reverend Prior,**' exclaimed he, 
 ''- this was ill done, to keep the youth a waiting. 
 It is not thus I would have shewn dishonour 
 to your sister's son." 
 
 '* Had he been my brother's, worthy friend, 
 to wait thy pleasure and leisure would have 
 honoured him. He has learned to attend on his 
 betters. You know he was meant for the church, 
 but Heaven had not set his heart on its service ; 
 and he follows a new, and (not offensively is it 
 spoken) a profane ambition for w orldly advance- 
 ment and distinction. The laws of our renovated.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. ^S 
 
 and soon to be liberated, country, are now his 
 sole study ; and under your patronage, he 
 justly reckons on the highest honours they may 
 lead to." 
 
 " My interest and influence is, as your 
 reverence knows, entirely devoted to your 
 service ; and although the career of arms has 
 been chiefly the choice of my apprentices, 
 still diplomacy and judicature have not been 
 without their aspirants, from among the youths 
 who have hitherto worked in the goldbeater''s 
 turret. 
 
 The Prior now haughtily beckoned for the 
 youth to come forward. He had waited on the 
 terrace, till he saw this summons. He then 
 advanced, and stood before the religious and 
 civil dignitaries with eyes cast on the ground. 
 He was dressed in a plain black jerkin, and 
 short cloak of the same ; he wore a falling 
 collar instead of the high-starched ruff* worn 
 by almost all men of condition ; his unslashed 
 breeches had knots of black ribbon at the 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 knees ; and his shoes of buff leather, were 
 fastened with corresponding ties. A black 
 silk cap, such as was worn by professors and 
 students in those days, closely covered his 
 head ; and the little grey hat which he held in 
 his hands had not even the decoration of a 
 cock's feather. 
 
 The burgomaster saw, or fancied he saw, at 
 a glance, that this was a person nothing dan- 
 gerous ; and he inwardly congratulated him- 
 self that his choice of an inmate to his house, 
 had fallen on si\ch a contrast to the high- 
 born and impetuous youths who had here- 
 tofore been his proteges. He asked a few 
 questions of his new apprentice, as to his 
 tastes and studies. 
 
 " Music, and the laws," were the laconic and 
 modestly-spoken replies. 
 
 " And when, my young friend, would you 
 feel inclined to enter on your new pursuits .?" 
 
 " When it pleases your worship and my 
 uncle ; but if I might crave a few days from
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. ^5 
 
 the present to allow me to make some befits 
 ting additions to my wardrobe and my stock 
 of books, I would esteem myself much fa- 
 voured." 
 
 " Prettily spoken, youngster ; with a proper 
 sense of duty and affection. Your reverence 
 must decide; I am satisfied with the boy's 
 arrangement."" 
 
 *' Be it so then," said the Prior ; " and now, 
 Lambert," addressing the young man, " now 
 that I have introduced thee to the first citizen 
 of Bruges, thou mayest really feel thyself 
 launched into life. Thou hast made the first 
 step towards the great object of thy desires. 
 In a week thou enterest on a station sought for 
 and sure to be envied by some of the proud- 
 est of the land. Hold thy ground firmly, 
 my lad, for perils may beset thee. The dis- 
 appointed look on success as a crime ; and 
 revenge is twin brother to envy. Thy duties 
 here are easily learned : thou wilt implicitly 
 follow the instructions of thy master ; thou 
 
 E 2
 
 76 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 wilt know thy station and keep it. Respect 
 this distinguished citizen as thy patron. Have 
 thine ears only for his words, thine eyes for 
 his gestures, thy words for his service — but 
 be deaf, blind, and dumb for every thing 
 else ; and, above all things, never listen, look, 
 or speak to aught that inhabits tliis turret, 
 opposite to thine own.'' » 
 
 "To so profoundly sensible a discourse," 
 said the burgomaster, " I can add but little ; 
 but this I will say, gentle youth, begin your 
 business boldly, continue it steadily, and pros- 
 per ! Take the hammer in your hand, like an 
 honest gold-beater, and you may find, perhaps, 
 that you are striking the nail of good fortune 
 right on the head." 
 
 After the delivery of these lectures, the 
 youth bowed low ; and then, by the Prior's 
 orders, retreated to the boat. He wrapped 
 his monk's cassock around him, and took the 
 guiding pole in his hand ; and in a few 
 minutes both he and his reverend freight were
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 77 
 
 again gliding down the canal in the direction 
 of the Dominican cloister. 
 
 The burgomaster, after many friendly and 
 respectful farewells, retired into his house.
 
 78 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The conference just recorded will have told 
 the reader a good deal of what we ourselves 
 know relative to the personages who figured in 
 it ; but some things require detail^ which shall 
 be condensed into the smallest possible compass, 
 with due consideration to the impatience of 
 hearers and readers, when a speaker stands up, 
 or a writer sits down, " in explanation." 
 
 Siger Van Rozenhoed, though deeply tinged 
 with the belief in " fate and metaphysical aid," 
 common to his time, had none of the intoler-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 79 
 
 ance of his sect. His character was one of 
 those which mark strongly the difference be- 
 tween superstition and bigotry, and seem to 
 prove them incompatible with each other. 
 Superstition, dealing wholly with the vague 
 and visionary, carries the mind beyond the 
 tangible limits by which bigotry is bounded. 
 Expanse and narrowness are their respective 
 distinctions. Superstition loves to dissolve, as 
 it were, the solidity of reason itself : its 
 notions of nature are but the shadows of 
 thought, which is formed by bigotry into 
 material shapes, all hard, crude, and repul- 
 sive. Van Rozenhoed looked with awe on 
 the mysteries of his religion ; he honoured 
 its agents and obeyed its forms, but his 
 veneration went no farther. He could fix no 
 creed for himself on the needle points of sec- 
 tarian distinctions, nor hate another for his 
 incapacity to comprehend them, any more than 
 for his disability to count the stars. Had his 
 mind, in short, been wholly absorbed by re-
 
 80 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ligion, he might have been inflated into 
 fanaticism ; but he never could have sunk into 
 bigotry. 
 
 It has been seen that he had prospered in 
 life as completely as he deserved to do, but that 
 he had found the cup of prosperity occasionally 
 drugged with the bitters which mix with even 
 its Sweetest draught. He had lost, after a 
 few years, the wife whose judgment had 
 consolidated all his plans, and whose rank, 
 elegance, and good taste, had thrown a graceful 
 veil across his coarse but solid worth. Siger, 
 with an intuitive aptness for distinctions, very 
 soon adapted himself to those which his wealth 
 and marriage procured, and he was quickly 
 able to pass muster, without any betrayal of 
 unnecessary facts, with those to whose equality 
 he was admitted by the alleged privilege of 
 his birth, but in the evident right of his 
 money. He had soon silenced the clamours of 
 all disputants to his property. Fortunately 
 for him the accidental burning, in the year
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 81 
 
 1450, of the tower in which the records and 
 charters of the town had been deposited, de- 
 stroyed the means by which chicanery itself 
 could have long withstood the influence of his 
 own purse, and of Father Wolferfs exertions. 
 He was regularly, and beyond all future cavil, 
 confirmed in the possession of the lands he 
 had purchased ; and he then commenced a 
 series of improvements and speculations, with 
 a spirit rarely equalled in the most prosperous 
 times, and, at the disturbed epoch of his pro- 
 ceedings, without any parallel. His enter- 
 prises were not confined to the city : he was 
 the chief mover of the plan which ended in the 
 formation of the splendid canal between Bruges 
 and Ghent, which the jealousy of the latter 
 town had long counteracted. Siger had a 
 share in almost every undertaking of moment 
 by the great companies of Antwerp; and he 
 was secretly concerned in the chief contracts 
 and loans for the services of the states of 
 Holland during a considerable part of their 
 
 E 3
 
 82 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 long contest against Spain, now happily 
 drawing to a close. The immense increase of 
 fortune acquired by his activity and skill was, 
 however, freely shared with individuals and 
 his country. He had lent many a large 
 sum to private friends ; and in all matters 
 of necessity, he contributed to the public 
 wants, on terms which put to shame the 
 base monopolists and usurers of those days. 
 By such means he had acquired a high cha- 
 racter and influence with the leading patriots. 
 The great Prince of Orange knew him well ; 
 and his heroic son. Prince Maurice, after his 
 succession to his murdered father's rank and 
 fame, had many a time recourse to the aid of 
 Van Rozenhoed's ever ready purse, although 
 personally unacquainted with him ; and he 
 recompensed his public and private worth by 
 a prompt attention to his recommendations, 
 which were always preferred to those of the 
 intriguers by whom the prince was beset. 
 
 The government of the city of Bruges had
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 83 
 
 been for some years, almost ever since it was 
 betrayed to the Spaniards by the Count of 
 Arschot, confided to Don Juan de Trovaldo, an 
 officer of considerable merit, who had prac- 
 tised the study of his art under the notorious 
 Alva, and continued it under the celebrated 
 Duke of Parma. He was appointed to his 
 present command by the latter general, and 
 had proved himself a staunch adherent to the 
 tyranny of Spanish rule on many trying occa- 
 sions. But for several years previous to the 
 
 • 
 
 epoch now under notice, he had but little op- 
 portunity of displaying his military talents, being 
 left in the quiet possession of the city, which 
 he governed in the name of the new sovereign, 
 the Arch-Duke Albert and his wife Isabella, 
 the daughter of Philip II. of Spain, before 
 whose death, even, they entered on their pos- 
 session of those parts of Belgium which had 
 re-siibmitted to his sway. 
 
 Bruges had for a considerable interval been 
 freed from the presence of the conflicting
 
 84 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 armies, and only suff'ered its share of the 
 general privations to which the towns of Han- 
 ders were subject ; while some of the Dutch 
 provinces, and the southern counties of Bra- 
 bant, were scourged with the actual miseries 
 of war. It was owing to this state of armed 
 inaction that a fair field was open to the party 
 intrigues of such men as Claas Claassen, and the 
 patriotic undertakings of Siger Van Rozen- 
 hoed. The uncertainty of the struggle in 
 which these countries were involved had at 
 length softened down the spirit of the contest, 
 and men's interests accomplished what humanity 
 could not. Conciliation was found a better 
 instrument than cruelty. The towns in the 
 possession of the Spaniards were therefore 
 ruled with a milder sway. The exercise of the 
 reformed worship was privately allowed, though 
 prohibited by law, in violation of the peace of 
 religion published at Ghent in 1578. Liberty 
 of ingress and egress was permitted to the 
 burgesses, and to persons carrying certificates
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 85 
 
 signed by the magistrates; so that the com- 
 merce of the patriotic, as well as the Spanish 
 party, with their several friends, was but little 
 interrupted. 
 
 In the city of Bruges these parties were 
 nearly equal ; for the weight of intelligence 
 and respectability on the side of freedom, 
 balanced the apparent preponderance of num- 
 bers, ignorance, aud bigotry. Among the 
 steadiest of the patriots was Siger Van 
 
 Rozenhoed — among the most clamorous Claas 
 
 • 
 Claassen. The former, though a stauncli 
 
 Catholic, could never be reconciled to the Spa- 
 nish sway, having in the early burst of liberty 
 enjoyed its sweets. His opponent in civic 
 honours, a tolerated reformer, hated the op- 
 pressors of his country and his conscience ; 
 yet neither of these men would consent to 
 adopt the privilege which was open to all, of 
 quitting Bruges and settling in Holland. They 
 were both too much attached to the place of
 
 86 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 their birth, the scene of their prosperity, and 
 the source of their importance. 
 
 Claas Claassen had been long the avowed 
 enemy of Siger Van Rozenhoed. In the 
 very opening of the latter's career, Claas 
 had opposed him. He was himself, at that 
 time, one of the wealthiest men in Bruges ; 
 and envy at the greater riches of the lucky 
 gold-beater was the first cause of his hostility, 
 which was strengthened by Siger^s marriage, 
 and his admission into the honours of nobility 
 and ancestry. It was through Claas Claassen's 
 influence that the old and obsolete law was 
 put in force, which refused to all working 
 mechanics admission into the civic offices, until 
 the expiration of a year after their manumis- 
 sion ; and by a long series of intrigues, he 
 succeeded in retarding Siger's advances beyond 
 the insignificant post of Hoofman of his sec- 
 tion, and his being named one of the thirteen 
 echevins, for a period quite inconsistent with
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. S^ 
 
 the functionary's wealth and character. Siger's 
 pride in his own consequence would not con- 
 descend to meet this opposition by the un- 
 worthy methods which upheld it. He never 
 sought an honour or asked for a suffrage, 
 but waited with an irritated forbearance, 
 which he fancied to be dignity, until offered 
 the place which he would not solicit. Many 
 of his fellow townsmen and acquaintances un- 
 derstood this temper, and being quite sure that 
 no apparent slight would abate his efforts for 
 the good of the city, they negatively par- 
 ticipated in the injustice done him, until 
 their own private interests became, by de- 
 grees, dependent on his good offices and in- 
 volved in his promotion. Thus he, at length, ob- 
 tained, at unusually long intervals, honour after 
 honour, and finally came to be what we now 
 know him for, chief burgomaster of the city. 
 
 Siger's main fault was the pride of seeming 
 humble ; and it was most strongly exemplified 
 by a peculiarity which might be gathered from
 
 88 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 liis conversation with the Prior of St. Andrew's, 
 recorded in the last chapter. His shrewdness 
 had, even in the first days of his good fortune, 
 told him to what he would be exposed, from 
 the jealousies and malice of those who witnessed 
 his sudden elevation, if he strove (as is too 
 common with the low born), to stifle the me- 
 mories of others, by a seeming forgetfulness of 
 himself. He therefore resolved to make it his 
 apparent glory to be what he really was ; to 
 acknowledge it on all occasions ; to boast of it 
 as an enhancement of his growing greatness ; 
 and, even in the ranks of nobility itself, to adopt 
 the very insignia of his trade. We have seen 
 that he had quartered three hammers in his 
 coat of arms. The same instrument was stamped 
 on all his articles of plate and furniture ; 
 his portrait was painted, with a hammer in the 
 right hand, by one Rubens, a young artist 
 whom he patronised, and whose painting, had 
 it but survived, would have given to Van 
 Rozenhoed a lease of immortality, as long as is
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 89 
 
 granted to canvass and colouring. But he 
 marked his early situation in life still more 
 strongly than by its emblem. He signed his 
 name on all occasions, 
 
 Zegher Van Rozenhged, 
 
 Goud Slagher. 
 
 and to keep up the more decided avowal of his 
 trade, he openly professed its practice, and kept 
 in his constant employment, an apprentice. ^ 
 It need hardly be told that this office was a 
 sinecure, and all this semblance of artizanship, 
 but a quaint device to neutralize the reflections 
 of envy and malice. Among citizens, like those 
 of Bruges, and with the habits and opinions of 
 the times, it had its full effect ; nor did it offer 
 the least dishonour to Siger in the class into 
 which he had gained admission. On the con- 
 trary, his happy thought of retaining di protege, 
 under the assumed appointment of apprentice, 
 became the means of binding him more closely
 
 90 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 with many of the most distinguished families 
 of Flanders. His patronage, as has been already 
 stated, was the sure means of advancing these 
 youths to honour and dignity ; and their nomi- 
 nal descent into the ranks of trade for one year, 
 was looked on like the habit of a masquerader, 
 adopted for some serious purpose, which was 
 forwarded by the mummery of a night. Above 
 a dozen young men had filled this situation. It 
 had been unsuccessfully sought for by scores. 
 The rejected applicants and their friends 
 formed, as might be supposed, so many enemies 
 to Van Rozenhoed ; and at the time of his 
 appointment to the magistracy, he had to en- 
 counter all the enmity of inevitable disappoint- 
 ments. 
 
 But when it was publicly known that Lam- 
 bert Boonen, the hitherto unheard-of nephew 
 of the Prior, had succeeded to the appointment, 
 the rage of the rejected factions was unbounded. 
 All parties joined in a league of annoyance 
 against the burgomaster, in open designs
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 91 
 
 against his apprentice, and in smothered hatred 
 towards his confessor. The object of the latter 
 was universally pronounced to be the making 
 a match between his nephew and the burgo- 
 master''s daughter, whose approaching introduc- 
 tion to the world was known to every one, and 
 whose wealth and beauty made her a mark for 
 all the fathers, and mothers, and sons of the 
 country. 
 
 Within an hour after the conference between 
 Van Rozenhoed and the Prior, whom the rea- , 
 der must have recognized as his old acquaint- 
 ance Father Wolfert, Theresa, the object of 
 so much public and domestic interest, arrived 
 at her father's mansion, then called Rozenhoed 
 House. She was brought there from the con- 
 vent by the abbess herself, and accompanied by 
 her own faithful attendant Nona, who had (on 
 her mother's death, ten years before), entered 
 with her the sanctuary, where she received her 
 education, and now left it with her, to watch
 
 92 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 over her in the world for which it had been 
 meant to prepare her. This woman, like most 
 of those to whom the care of children is con- 
 fided, was immoderately attached to her charge ; 
 and there was no peril she would not risk, no 
 sacrifice she would not make, for Theresa, pro- 
 vided she was sure of the approval of Father 
 Wolfert, her confessor and patron — (we might 
 almost have said patron saint), for her devotion 
 to him was without limitation. It was through 
 his recommendation she had entered the family 
 of Van Rozenhoed, immediately on his mar- 
 riage; and from the hour of Theresa's birth 
 she had been her nurse, in all things, exclusive 
 of that holiest of duties which nature has con- 
 fided to the mother'^s breast. 
 
 When Van Rozenhoed was left a widower, 
 and Theresa, in the tenderest sense, an orphan, 
 it was resolved, by the advice of Father Wol- 
 fert, then sub-prior of his cloister, to place the 
 child with the sisters of St. Anne, for education 
 and accomplishments suited to the distinguished
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 93 
 
 station to which her father destined her. Fa- 
 ther Wolfert had never mentioned his nephew, 
 nor made application for the apprenticeship, 
 until he had calculated the certainty of Van 
 Rozenhoed's appointment as burgomaster, on 
 which occasion it was decided between them, 
 that Theresa should quit the convent and re- 
 turn to her father's house. The chief motives 
 for these measures with regard to her, have 
 been already mentioned. Those of the Prior, 
 in respect of the new apprentice, required no 
 sifting, at least in the opinions of the baffled 
 candidates for the place. 
 
 Theresa had received such an education at 
 the hands of the sisterhood, as was usual in 
 such establishments as theirs. She was better 
 informed in the various branches of knowledge 
 than girls educated at home ; and in the com- 
 mon accomplishments of those days, her natural 
 taste ensured a proficiency more than usual. 
 She was brought up in strict notions of piety ; 
 and the doctrine of passive obedience to her
 
 94 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 father'^s and her confessor's will was rigidly 
 inculcated. For all matters appertaining to 
 this life, she was instructed to rely on the for- 
 mer ; for all that related to another and a better 
 world, Father Wolfert was pointed out as an 
 infallible guide. On these points of belief, 
 Theresa was a true Catholic. She considered 
 herself born for her father's will, as far as 
 worldly concerns were in question ; and she 
 became imbued with the feeling, that whenever 
 she might quit the convent and return home, 
 it was for the purpose of making a marriage 
 with some one of high distinction, to be chosen 
 by her father^ and, as a matter of course, ac- 
 cepted by her. This notion gradually seemed 
 to make a part of her mind, as if it sprung up 
 there self-formed ; and the ambitious pride 
 which she inherited from her father, as her 
 chief and almost her only fault, involuntarily 
 cherished the idea of a high alliance. 
 
 During Theresa's occasional days of release 
 from her convent duties, she saw some of the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 95 
 
 best society of Bruges, her father's house being 
 frequented by no other. These visits gave her 
 a superficial acquaintance with the world, and 
 a tone of manners superior to what she would 
 have contracted in unbroken seclusion. All 
 persons were excluded on these occasions by 
 the wary Van Rozenhoed, who might at all 
 counteract his own views as to his daughter"'s 
 establishment. But Theresa soon discovered 
 that she was an object of curiosity and even of 
 admiration ; and she was not at all displeased 
 to observe, that while she sailed in her father's 
 boat on the canal, drove in his carriage through 
 the streets, or leant over the garden balustrade 
 to feed the swans in the basin below, she was 
 followed and gazed at by several young men ; 
 and she was best pleased with the looks of 
 those the most richly dressed, and of the 
 proudest mien. 
 
 " Ah, dearest Beatrice," said our heroine one 
 evening, to her chosen friend, a Spanish novice, 
 as they paced a shaded walk in the convent
 
 96 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 garden, which now flourished in the wide ex 
 tent of what was formerly the waste ground of 
 Savenslacht House ; " ah, my friend, how I 
 pant for the hour that is to see my entry into 
 the world ! My only regret will be given to thee ; 
 the good abbess and the sisters, all are con- 
 tented here ; but thou, dear Beatrice, even on 
 this eve of thy solemn vows, thou art not ! 
 Nay, do not start nor blush, even though I 
 have penetrated thy secret.^' 
 
 " My secret, Theresa !" exclaimed the young 
 novice, with a deeper blush, and an accent of 
 alarm. 
 
 " Pardon me, Beatrice, I should have said 
 thy secret wishes. I meant not to reproach 
 thee with the duplicity of keeping aught else 
 from my confidence ; and those I know it is thy 
 duty to conceal even from thyself." 
 
 " I doubt much the virtue of that doctrine," 
 answered Beatrice. " I have followed it till my 
 heart has nearly burst — ^my feelings must have 
 vent— I want a confidant — I have fixed on
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 97 
 
 thee, Theresa — I have not doubted nor delayed, 
 for this is the moment for avowal, and thy 
 remark leads to it. Wilt thou hearken to 
 me ? Thou art not wrong in thy suspicions — 
 I am indeed discontented, but not unhappy. 
 These walls, this dress, my present duties, 
 are all hateful — those intended for me are 
 horrible !" 
 
 The dark eyes of the novice flashed as she 
 uttered these words, and her commanding figure 
 rose to its utmost height. Theresa could 
 scarcely bear to look upon her ; and with a 
 half averted face, she said, 
 
 " You terrify me, Beatrice. This is wonder- 
 ous, indeed — surely thou dost not mock me, my 
 best friend .^" 
 
 The inquiring and suppliant tone of this 
 question softened the novice, and she could not 
 restrain her tears. 
 
 " Alas, alas !" cried she, " I am in no mood 
 for mockery — I grieve to part from thee — I 
 want thy advice — no, not that exactly — but thy 
 
 VOL. I. p ^
 
 98 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 pity, thy consolation, an attentive ear to my 
 confession, a kind heart when thou hast heard 
 it. Wilt thou give me these ? Do not refuse 
 me, Theresa. The day may come when thou 
 mayst want such for thyself."" 
 
 " Speak on, speak on, dear Beatrice. I am 
 shocked and grieved at this distress. What 
 can it mean ?'''' 
 
 "Why, this, Theresa — but let me hold thy 
 hand, lest thou wouldst shun me — I love, 
 deeply and devoutly." 
 
 " Well !" exclaimed Theresa, with a beam- 
 ing look and close pressure of her friend's hand 
 — " well ! and what then ? Is this all that agi- 
 tates thee, and makes thee wretched ? Thou 
 lovest ! I know thou dost, thy guardian, thy 
 brother, me. Our holy church cannot be 
 jealous of such love." 
 
 " Amiable, and happily innocent The- 
 resa ! But I must undeceive thee now. 
 The love I speak of, is for a different object far 
 than those, Theresa. They are all sanctified
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 99 
 
 and pure affections — ^but that other is a passion 
 deep, and they would persuade us unholy. It 
 is that fire which, they say, consumes its vota- 
 ries — in itself a Heaven that but leads us, 
 they pretend, to hell. The man I love, The- 
 resa — "" 
 
 " Wliat, Beatrice, what hast thou said ! 
 Thou lovest a man — and he neither brother, 
 nor parent, nor guardian ! The holy saints pre- 
 serve us both ! How couldst thou confess, or 
 how could I listen to aught so monstrous ! 
 Why, even in me, destined for the world, and 
 for whom marriage is a duty, it would be cri- 
 minal to give my heart without my father's will 
 — but in thee, devoted to Heaven, and on the 
 very point of taking the vows !'' 
 
 '' Theresa, I expected this. Thy innocent 
 mind reveres these maxims, which mine scoffs at 
 and rejects. Thou art a Fleming, by nature 
 cold, by feeling and education a Catholic. I 
 am a Moriscoe, warm and glowing as the cli- 
 mate of my birth-place, and by very instinct of 
 
 F 2
 
 100 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the faith of my fathers. My native Andalusian 
 vale, the memory of my days of childhood, my 
 parents' enthusiasm, the words of the prophet, 
 all have imbued my mind with what only 
 wanted the excitement of love, to transform me 
 from the willing slave you have known me, to 
 the enfranchised being I am now.**' 
 
 " Holy St. Anne, how can I answer this P"*"* 
 exclaimed Theresa, clasping her hands, and 
 throwing on the novice a look of grief and asto- 
 nishment, " How will your guardian, the 
 governor, hear it ?'' 
 
 " My guardian ! The governor f' replied 
 Beatrice, with a bitter sneer. " What care I ? 
 When he hears it, if thou betrayest me not, I 
 shall be far from his base displeasure and baser 
 designs, in the care of one who loves and will 
 protect me. Nay, my Theresa, do not look so 
 harshly on me, nor shrink from my embrace. 
 Pity me the rather — and only see in me a wo- 
 man, weak in feeling, perhaps, but strong in
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 101 
 
 purpose ; unfortunate from her birth, a slave in 
 infancy, doomed to escape from one tyranny 
 but by sacrificing herself to another — and at 
 length finding freedom from both in the dic- 
 tates of nature and the enthusiasm of love." 
 
 '' I understand thee not, Beatrice — thou 
 knowest I do not — neither thy allusions nor 
 thy wild, and, I fear, unliallowed, feelings. 
 Yet I love thee truly, my chosen and most dear 
 friend ! I would do all things in virtue and 
 duty for thee. I am almost stunned by thy 
 strange words ; but if hearkening to them, with 
 all my mind intent upon thy good, can soothe 
 or serve thee, go on, go on ; unburthen thyself 
 to me — but do not, I implore thee, say aught 
 which thy holy state forbids, and which a sim- 
 ple maiden may not virtuously hear."" 
 
 " What dost thou take me for, Theresa? 
 Heaven knows I love and cherish thee too well 
 to wound thee in word or thought. Come this 
 way, then, under the shelter of these lime trees. 
 Sister Jaquelina yonder, even at her prayers,
 
 102 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 old crone that she is, hath eyes and ears for less 
 venerable sinners than herself." 
 
 Theresa suffered herself to be led onwards by 
 her friend, though shocked at the tone of levity 
 which, in reference to the pious old nun, had 
 succeeded to the license of her former speech. 
 
 " Now, then, my friend," resumed Beatrice, 
 " hearken to one part of my history, which thou 
 hast yet to learn. Hitherto thou hast known 
 me but as the ward of Don Juan de Trovaldo, 
 the governor of this town ; destined for a con- 
 vent, by my own choice, and placed here by my 
 own consent. Learn now that I am not his 
 ward, and he. Heaven knows, has never stretch- 
 ed a guardian hand across me. I was his slave, 
 Theresa — ^purchased by my father's blood — by 
 my mother's shame. Trovaldo was the mur- 
 derer of the one, and the violator of the other. 
 He, when a mere youth, accompanied one of 
 those fierce bands let loose by the tyrant Philip 
 into the strong holds of the Apulxara hills, to 
 pursue the remnants of our race with fire and
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 103 
 
 sword, and lead the sad survivors into slavery. 
 My father fell by his hand. My mother's youth 
 and beauty spared her to fill the murderer's 
 arms, until grief brought her to her early grave ; 
 and my brother and myself were doomed to 
 remain the servitors of him who had such claims 
 on our — hatred. My brother, whom you have 
 seen at the grate, Gaspar, as they christened 
 him, but whose true and early name is Aben 
 Farez, the last descendant of a race of chief- 
 tains, is to this day his slave. I grew up, The- 
 resa, as you see me, with form and features »too 
 like, alas ! to my wretched mother's not to ex- 
 cite the vile desires of my master. He reared 
 me for the hateful honour of supplying the 
 place he had forced my mother to fill, and with 
 the grossness of his soldier-mind he strove to 
 train mine away from all the true charms of 
 womanhood. My education better suits me for 
 a camp than a convent. I can wield a lance 
 easier than a bodkin ; and can curb a horse 
 better than I count a rosary. Need I tell thee
 
 104 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 that, with the earliest dawn of knowledge, I 
 loathed Trovaldo ? That abhorrence seemed to 
 force my mind into unusual ripeness. I under- 
 stood his views, when other girls older than 
 myself could not comprehend them. I will not 
 shock thee with the recital of all that followed ; 
 but every art of seduction, every attempted 
 violence failed ; and Trovaldo had no alterna- 
 tive but to force me into this convent, sure that 
 his power over the abbess would leave me at his 
 mercy, when I had finally renounced the world, 
 and was beyond my brother's aid. To him I 
 have never exposed Don Juan's designs. I left 
 that for my last resource ; and trusted to fate 
 to free me without endangering him. Here I 
 have spent a year, that would have been into- 
 lerable, had I not found in thee, Theresa, a 
 spirit, not congenial indeed to mine, but one 
 that it could commune with ; and I here met 
 him who has given my life new worth, in giving 
 it an object. Here, Theresa, in this garden, 
 night after night, while thou hast slept in thy
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 105 
 
 little chamber, happy and undisturbed, and 
 while the poor sisters have drawled out their 
 drowsy orisons, I have crept from my cell and 
 met my lover, who stole in, disguised as a pil- 
 grim, interchanging words of powerful import, 
 till the dawn has found us unconscious that the 
 night was past." 
 
 " You make me shudder, Beatrice. What 
 words are these you utter ? Good God ! do you 
 forget that to-morrow you take the vows — to- 
 morrow enter for ever into the bosom of the 
 church ?'''' ^ 
 
 " Never, never, Theresa ! no vow shall ever 
 pass these regenerated lips — no tie, save love, 
 and feeling, shall ever bind me !" 
 
 *' Cruel, cruel Beatrice, why have you told 
 me this — why made me a party in your criminal 
 thoughts ! My blood is chilled while you 
 speak ; and yours, Beatrice, seems visibly boil- 
 ing through your swollen veins, and burning in 
 your cheeks." 
 
 *' It is, indeed, Theresa ; thou readest me 
 
 f3
 
 106 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 well. Excitement is at the highest pitch. My 
 bosom swells — ^my brain ferments. But call me 
 not cruel in my confidence. It is to prove my 
 love for thee, to save thee from other fears on 
 my account, that I tell thee this. She who has 
 been my only friend shall not at least accuse 
 me of duplicity towards her. Thou knowest 
 me now, Theresa— at last— at the last; the 
 end of our friendship, perhaps — but the open- 
 ing of my existence. I now begin to live ; and 
 thou, Theresa, thou too wilt soon quit these 
 gloomy walls to enter the world, and shine in 
 all the purity of what it calls virtue, and (what 
 it values more) in all the brilliancy of wealth. 
 Mine is another course, more free, but — '' 
 
 " Oh, Beatrice ! For Heaven's sake, for 
 thine own, what dost thou mean ? I tremble 
 while I ask thee. Thou talkest of thy lover — 
 he will be thy husband 9 Since thou wilt brave 
 the dangers of thy course, it will be with un- 
 stained honour, surely ? Say so, I beseech 
 thee !^'
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 107 
 
 " I scorn to deceive thee, my friend. The 
 man I fly with cannot be my husband — he has 
 sworn to marry another." 
 
 '' Enough, enough, Beatrice — no more, my 
 friend, indeed ! Lost as thou art, resolutely, 
 wilfully lost, I can no longer look on thee — 
 but I will not betray thee — may Heaven for- 
 give thee ! yet it is not too late. Pause but 
 one day — ^bethink thee well — I have no words 
 to urge thee back to duty, but thine own 
 strong mind will speak to thee. Thou hast 
 been wildered in a maze of evil thoughts ; hut 
 thy soul is now unburthened of its secret load. 
 Reflect, then — ^reflect." 
 
 " Hush, hush ! here comes the Abbess. 
 Not a word or look between us — go towards 
 the house, Theresa ; I do not say farewell, we 
 shall meet again — go, go." 
 
 With these words the novice pressed The- 
 resa's hands to her lips, and then hurried into 
 the shrubbery. Theresa, not less agitated, 
 hastened by another path into the chapel ;
 
 108 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 witnessed, but scarcely heard, the vesper ser- 
 vice ; then sought her chamber, and sunk on 
 a chair, in a bewildered reverie. The discourse 
 of Beatrice had given rise to a world of new 
 sensations. The facts relating to her life ; 
 Trovaldo's baseness; the desperate design she 
 had formed ; but, above all, the passion she 
 avowed for some unknown object, in terms so 
 passionate and so unmeasured, called up a 
 crowd of ideas, too confused to attain the cir- 
 cumstance of thought. 
 
 She sat in this state of musing till the shades 
 of night had quite closed in, and neither moon 
 nor stars threw light across the heavens, nor 
 formed shadows upon earth. The garden was 
 a mass of gloom -, and a heavy breeze swept 
 through the sultry air, and lazily shook the 
 branches of the lime trees and elms. The con- 
 vent clock struck ten. Theresa started in sur- 
 prise, when she counted the strokes. All was 
 silent in the house. Not a lamp glimmered 
 from a single casement, save that of the infir-
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BllUGES. 109 
 
 mary, where two of the nuns lay, watched by 
 one of the poor sisters, whose duty it was to 
 attend the sick of this and other religious 
 houses, or of the poor citizens, equally with 
 those of their own. 
 
 When Theresa recovered her thoughts suf- 
 ficiently to form them into some purpose, her 
 first impulse was to seek Beatrice, and by all 
 the reasoning she could command to dissuade 
 her from the design she had so imperfectly an- 
 nounced. She accordingly quitted her cham- 
 ber, and stole on tip-toe to the door of the 
 novice's cell. A little lamp, glimmering at 
 the distant end of the corridor, shewed her the 
 door, and her heart sunk on perceiving that 
 it was open. She however entered, and was 
 soon convinced that the cell was empty. The 
 bed was unoccupied and everything in con- 
 fusion. The dress of the novice lay upon the 
 floor ; and as Theresa groped around, her feet 
 struck against several small articles. Among 
 others which she stooped to pick up was the
 
 110 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 crucifix of ebony, which used to hang at 
 Beatrice's girdle, and which she had thus flung 
 behind her, as if to mark her contempt for 
 the faith which she renounced and fled from. 
 Such was the notion which struck Theresa, 
 but even the shock which it caused did not 
 chill the generous impulse that prompted her 
 to seek her friend, while a chance remained of 
 interposing one appeal between her and ruin. 
 
 She accordingly left the cell, and with cau- 
 tious haste descended to the little postern door 
 that opened on the garden. She trembled at 
 the idea of unbolting this door, fearing the 
 noise might disturb the porteress, who slept 
 close by ; but as she came on tip-toe towards 
 it, she felt the night air upon her face and 
 neck, and she found that all obstacle to 
 her egress had been removed. Stooping 
 beneath the archway she stepped into the gar- 
 den, and hurried along from path to path, in 
 the almost hopeless chance of discovering the 
 fugitive.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. Ill 
 
 She at length reached the wall, at that side 
 of the garden which was bounded by the 
 waste grounds lying towards the old gate of 
 St. James. A rustling in the shrubs did not 
 alarm her, but urged her, on the contrary, to 
 examine them closely. She two or three times 
 uttered in a loud whisper the name of Bea- 
 trice ; the rustling of the leaves ceased, and 
 no sound answered her. 
 
 " Oh, Beatrice ! my dear friend," said she, 
 in a somewhat more audible tone, *^ I implore 
 thee to answer me, if indeed thou art not* 
 gone, not lost for ever. Beatrice, Beatrice !" 
 
 A figure immediately emerged from the 
 shrubs ; but Theresa started back, for she 
 thought it was that of a man. 
 
 " Shrink not, Theresa — it is me, Beatrice : 
 I am but disguised in apparel, not changed in 
 mind or purpose. I am on the point of flight. 
 Thanks to thy kind heart for this last proof of 
 friendship — farewell — farewell ! — See, he is 
 descending the ladder."
 
 112 TEE HEIRESS OF BRIJGES. 
 
 " Who, Beatrice ? what ladder ?" asked 
 Theresa in alarm. 
 
 " My lover, Theresa — that ladder of cord 
 which leads to liberty — farewell, dearest girl ! 
 Be happy, and remember me V 
 
 With these words she embraced her affright- 
 ed friend, who could not resist a feeling that 
 made her shrink, as Beatrice's arms, in their 
 male apparel, were cast round her. 
 
 A man now sprang from the wall, of a light 
 and graceful form, as well as Theresa could 
 observe. He took Beatrice by the hand ; and 
 murmuring a few words, his dagger's blade 
 was visible to our heroine, who stood transfixed 
 to the spot, without power to move or speak. 
 
 '' 'Tis nothing to be alarmed at," said Bea- 
 trice, catching the man's uplifted hand, " 'tis only 
 my friend Theresa, of whom we have so often 
 spoken, who has accompanied me in this perilous 
 hour. Theresa, dearest, fear nothing," added 
 she, turning to the trembling girl, and warmly 
 pressing her hand, " this is no time for cere-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 113 
 
 mony ; a hurried presentation must be all I can 
 afford to either, and the name of one I dare not 
 mention. You may know him yet, Theresa, but 
 now that must not be. Here, take her chill 
 hand in yours, as a token of future friendship — 
 and now to mount the ladder ; I feel that all 
 must be secure that leads to liberty. Farewell, 
 farewell, Theresa f 
 
 While Beatrice had been uttering this speech, 
 her lover had firmly fixed the ends of his rope 
 ladder in the earth ; and, as she fearlessly and 
 actively ascended the wall, he obeyed her direc- 
 tion, by taking Theresa's powerless hand in his. 
 He pressed it to his heart ; and while her various 
 emotions rendered her totally passive, he caught 
 her round the waist, held her close to him, and 
 imprinted kiss after kiss, not on her cheeks, as 
 Beatrice had done, but on her lips and her heav- 
 ing bosom, which was exposed to his licentious 
 daring. He spoke not a word; and when at length 
 Beatrice called to him from the other side of the 
 wall, which she had safely descended, he loosed
 
 114 THE HP:IRESS of BRUGES. 
 
 Theresa from his embrace, and placed her gently 
 on a bench that stood in the shade of the trees 
 close to which this scene had been acted. He 
 in a moment gained the top of the wall, and 
 drew up the ladder ; and Theresa heard the ac- 
 tive bound with which he reached the earth be- 
 yond. She started from her seat — rushed to the 
 convent— and reaching her own room, she fas- 
 tened the door, and flung herself on her bed, in 
 an overwhelming tumult of feeling. The per- 
 sonal insult she had suffered revolted and terri- 
 fied her. In its recollection every thing else 
 seemed forgotten ; the criminality of Beatrice, 
 the sacrilege of her lover, and the involuntary 
 share which she herself had borne in each. Her 
 agitation ended in a flood of tears, which had 
 their source in wounded pride and outraged de- 
 licacy, and which deluged, but could not assuage 
 
 them. 
 
 , " Lost, unfortunate Beatrice," cried she, when 
 her feelings could turn into another channel, 
 
 " guilty, without one solace for thy guilt ! for
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 115 
 
 what canst thou expect from the man who, in 
 the very moment of thy abandonment of all for 
 him, could give loose to the libertine impulse 
 that another woman inspired !" 
 
 The sensation excited by Beatrice's flight may 
 be easily imagined. The convent was next 
 morning the scene of consternation and alarm, 
 which soon spread to all the other religious esta- 
 blishments in the city ; thence to the private 
 houses and public places ; and the unusual event 
 became the absorbing topic of conversation, mis- 
 representation, and calumny. The Protestant 
 party made the most of so fair a subject of scan- 
 dal against their Catholic masters ; and they^ 
 in their turn, denounced the heretic citizens en 
 masse, as the instigators of the sacrilege, which 
 must, it was maintained, have been efi*ected by 
 some one of their body. The priests thundered 
 and anathematized, the Prior of the Dominicans 
 more loudly than the rest. The civil authorities 
 of the town put every engine of discovery into 
 action. But the most violent and most power-
 
 116 THE HEIRESS OE BRUGES. 
 
 ful, as well as the most interested of all who in- 
 terfered, was Don Juan de Trovaldo, the go- 
 vernor. His rage was beyond all bounds ; he 
 saw himself baffled in his malice, as he had been 
 in his desires. The intended victim to his worst 
 passions had escaped them all, and another had 
 snatched away in an hour what he had for years 
 struggled to possess. He issued a proclamation, 
 dooming death to the criminals ; and the bishop 
 added his fiat, which faithfully promised them 
 damnation. But besides these dubiously pro- 
 phetic denouncements, every possible inducement 
 of reward, here and hereafter, was held out to 
 all who might discover the attainted pair, and 
 hand them over to justice. 
 
 Along with the many agents engaged by these 
 inducements, was one instigated by sentiments 
 far different. The prospect of wealth and pro- 
 mise of salvation presented no temptation to 
 him, for he despised and hated the sources which 
 had thus proclaimed them. Liberty and ven- 
 geance were the spurs that urged him on. The
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. II7 
 
 first was solemnly sworn to him by Trovaldo, 
 the latter he vowed to himself. This person was 
 Gaspar, as he was commonly named, but, in his 
 own calling, Aben Farez, the Moriscoe, Bea- 
 trice's brother, and the governors slave. 
 
 The first object of reasonable suspicion, on 
 whom the various efforts of these parties could 
 Hx, was Renault Claassenj the youngest son of 
 Claas Claassen, the tanner. This young man 
 was seen by several of the citizens in the close 
 vicinage of the convent, on the night of Bea- 
 trice's escape ; and it was proved that he had 
 been constantly in the habit of walking up and 
 down the Ouden Zac, the Rozendael, and seve- 
 ral other neighbouring streets, for some weeks 
 before, with eyes fixed on the various parts of 
 the convent, as if watching for some one inside, 
 or calculating the means of their evasion. 
 
 To these statements, Renault Claassen, on his 
 examination before the governor and the bur- 
 gomaster, gave a ready assent ; but he utterly 
 denied the inference drawn by them, that he
 
 118 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 was the violater of the sanctuary, and the novice''s 
 paramour. Disappointed as they had hitherto 
 been, they were, however, too happy of a 
 plausible pretext for obtaining such a victim as 
 the son of a recusant so obnoxious to the en- 
 mity of the Spanish faction, of which the then 
 burgomaster formed a part. It was in vain 
 that Renault protested his innocence, declared 
 that he had never even seen Beatrice, and con- 
 fessed that the object of his observation and 
 anxiety was no other than Theresa Van Rozen- 
 hoed, whom he had from time to time remarked 
 with her father in the streets, and listened to as 
 she sang and practised her cithern in the convent, 
 for whom he had conceived a passion, but a pas- 
 sion without hope, in consequence of the hostile 
 feelings reciprocally held by their parents, their 
 difference of religion, and other insurmountable 
 obstacles. 
 
 This defence soon spread abroad, but it cre- 
 ated little effect in any but those of his own 
 party, except in the breast of Theresa. Enough
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BEUGES. 119 
 
 has been told of her character, to explain the 
 many-springing sensations it must have excited. 
 Her love of justice, her hatred of tyranny, her 
 abhorrence of Trovaldo, and as strong as all, 
 perhaps, her sensibility to admiration, were 
 enlisted in favour of the innocent man. She 
 did not hesitate a moment as to what she should 
 do ; but sending for her father, and her con- 
 fessor the Prior, she told them both, in presence 
 of the Abbess, every circumstance that she was 
 informed of concerning the flight of Beatrice. 
 The hour at which it took place was indubitable 
 evidence of Renault Claassen^s innocence, for 
 those who proved against him (as his ready 
 judges choose to term their neutral evidence) 
 averred that they saw him at midnight walking 
 under the convent-walls. Theresa declared her 
 intention of being on no account withheld from 
 appearing before the members of the secret 
 inquest by whom he was trie(i. The Abbess felt 
 somewhat scandalized at this decision ; the Prior 
 discountenanced it ; but Siger Van Rozenhoed,
 
 120 
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 like an honest man and a fair enemy, gave it his 
 full approval. In consequence of this, Theresa 
 appeared before the little tribunal, assembled in 
 the governor''s apartment ; Renault Claassen 
 having previously received intimation of the 
 good fortune that awaited him. Theresa was 
 accompanied by her father, with the Abbess and 
 the Prior, neither of whom could refuse their 
 attendance at Van Rozenhoed''s request ; and 
 Theresa's steady and consistent evidence, in spite 
 of her abashed and diffident demeanour, and the 
 secret wishes of the governor, bishop, and bur- 
 gomaster, fairly acquitted the culprit. 
 
 The effects of these proceedings were mani- 
 fold : Claas Claassen, who loved his son, could 
 not resist the temporary feeling of gratitude 
 which prompted him to aid in the election of 
 his old rival ; Renault was, beyond all hope of 
 cure, enamoured of his fair deliverer ; and 
 Theresa herself, who was greatly struck with 
 the evident feelings he displayed, was, as one 
 of the results of the affair, pronounced liable to
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 121 
 
 prosecution, as an abettor of the guilt of Bea- 
 trice and her seducer. 
 
 This part of the business was, however, 
 merely thrown out as a threat by Trovaldo, and 
 as quickly abandoned, on condition that he 
 should be allowed to enter the lists as a suitor 
 to Theresa, little doubting that his influence 
 would soon carry the point, against the nume- 
 rous rivals which her wealth and beauty were 
 sure to generate. 
 
 Van Rozenhoed hesitated for awhile at this 
 proposal. His hatred of the Spaniards, and his 
 personal antipathy to the governor, urged him 
 to give a direct refusal. But apprehension of 
 his power, and a dread of compromising his 
 daughter's reputation, decided him to follow the 
 Prior's advice, and accept the profi'ered terms ; 
 particularly as the oracular voice of the monk 
 assured him he possessed an infallible method 
 of baffling Trovaldo's views. Almost simul- 
 taneously with this assurance, he proposed his 
 nephew to be Siger's apprentice ; but without 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the most distant hint as to that being the meanF 
 he alluded to. 
 
 Van Rozenhoed felt himself personally wound- 
 ed by the outrage committed against the sacred 
 house of which he had been the founder ; and 
 he would have gone any reasonable lengths 
 to bring the guilty persons to punishment. 
 He acquitted his daughter of any blame in 
 the transaction, but he saw her danger, and 
 he determined to bring her home, as soon as 
 it was possible to make suitable arrangements 
 for her fitting reception at Rozenhoed House. 
 The bustle of the approaching election retarded 
 this awhile, but at length it was over — he was 
 chosen burgomaster ; and then it was that he 
 began to feel those qualms upon the subject, 
 avowed to the Prior in their garden conversation, 
 and soon dissipated, as the reader will recollect, 
 by the skilful hint which the Prior threw out as 
 to the possibility of Prince Maurice himself, 
 the stadtholder, generalissimo and high admiral
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 123 
 
 of the United Provinces, shortly making his 
 appearance in Bruges. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that Theresa 
 entered into her home at Rozenhoed House, 
 and took more peculiar possession of the north- 
 ern turret, allotted especially to her use. 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the night on which Theresa's father 
 affectionately installed her as the mistress of her 
 new home, a scene of a different nature was 
 acting in the private apartments of Don Juan 
 de Trovaldo, in the government mansion, the 
 garden of which was separated by the little 
 canal from that of Rozenhoed House. 
 
 Trovaldo, whose dark mind had been in a 
 state of constant ferment since the discovery 
 of Beatrice's flight, now hurriedly paced the 
 cabinet, which opened from his sleeping chamber.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 125 
 
 while the Venetian mirror, hanging against the 
 wall, shewed him his gaunt figure as he strided 
 past, and the fierce play of his features, which 
 were moved with no common excitement. The 
 lamp of richly worked bronze, suspended from 
 the ceiling, threw its light broadly on the room ; 
 and the shadow of the governor moved along 
 the walls, the floor, and through the open 
 casement on the garden below. He occasion- 
 ally stopped before the mirror, and gazed at 
 the reflection of his countenance, lowering in 
 dark delight, as a magician might contemplate 
 the imp he had conjured up, embodying the 
 likeness of his evil thoughts. 
 
 " At length she shall be mine, in spite of 
 fate itself !" cried Trovaldo, rubbing his hands 
 together, and alternately passing one of them 
 across his forehead, or stroking his beard to- 
 wards a point. " 1 have found her hiding-place 
 — discovered her paramour — broken through 
 the mystery of her cunning and her guilt. 
 She shall be mine for vengeance, if not for
 
 126 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 enjoyment, and he who has dared to come 
 between me and mine own, to brave my power 
 and baulk my will, his fate is sealed.*" 
 
 With these words, the governor rang a silver 
 hand bell which stood on the high mantelpiece, 
 and the soft tone of which proved it to be meant 
 for some closer attendant than the mere varlets 
 of his household, who occupied a distant hall in 
 the mansion. Almost as soon as he could re- 
 place the bell, an opening was made in the 
 tapestry which covered the walls, and a man came 
 forward through a small door, cunningly con- 
 cealed from common observation. It was Gas- 
 par, the Moriscoe, who appeared at the governor's 
 summons. He stopped close to the secret door, 
 which of itself closed behind him, leaving no 
 appearance of an outlet in that part of the room. 
 He was dressed in the usual costume of a Spa- 
 nish serving man, without any visible badge of 
 slavery, except an air of degradation in his mien 
 and countenance, while he stood before his 
 haughty master. His pale olive complexion
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 127 
 
 looked mean in comparison with the bronzed 
 face that confronted him, particularly from the 
 want of beard and whiskers, which so profusely 
 covered it ; and while Trovaldo's frizzled hair 
 curled thickly on his shoulders, according to 
 the fashion of the time, Gaspares black locks 
 hung sleekly down his back. His stature 
 was of the middle size, but it looked dimi- 
 nutive beside his master's commanding height ; 
 and the large and swarthy features of the 
 latter were markedly opposed to the thin- 
 edged outlines which were presented by Gaspar's 
 profile. Yet his aquiline nose, curved nostrils, 
 and well-cut mouth, spoke a firmness and deci- 
 sion more than common ; his eye looked pierc- 
 ingly bright in its dark tranquillity ; and his 
 high clear forehead bespoke a mind, far keener 
 and stronger than that of the personification of 
 power and passion who stood before him, and 
 whom he held in awe. 
 
 Gaspar the Moriscoe feared but one man on 
 earth — his master. He knew many of the
 
 128 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 causes he had to hate him ; his father's death, 
 his mother's dishonour^ his own degradation ; 
 he did hate him, yet he had often, when a mere 
 boy, fought by his side, and more than once 
 saved his life. He had had that life in his 
 power hundreds of times, when a dagger, while 
 Trovaldo slept, or poison as he drank, might at 
 once have revenged his own, and his family's 
 wrongs : but he never had thought of such 
 a means. A mechanical dread had grown up 
 with him from infancy ; an artificial instinct 
 of servility, if it may be so called, was inter- 
 woven with his nature ; and even when he 
 knew his superiority and felt it, when he des- 
 pised his tyrant as thoroughly as he abhorred 
 him, he still obeyed, and trembled ; for he 
 sunk under the power that palsies alike the 
 force of individuals and nations — the spell of 
 slavery was round him. 
 
 " Come boldly in, man ; here, close to me," 
 said the governor, as Gaspar silently stood at 
 his usual respectful distance, waiting the com-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 129 
 
 mands of his master, who had flung himself 
 into a high-backed chair of carved oak, cor- 
 responding in material and workmanship to 
 the other articles of furniture. 
 
 '' Come forward, I say, Caspar," continued 
 he : ^^ walk like a free man, bold and firm ; thy 
 hour of liberty is nigh." 
 
 A slight start, and a passing contraction of 
 the brows and lips, the latter movement some- 
 what resembling a smile, were the tokens 
 that the Moriscoe heard, and understood his 
 master. 
 
 " What, Caspar, has that word no meaning 
 for thee ? Dost thou not snuff the gale of 
 freedom, blowing fully towards thee ?*" 
 
 " Don Juan, I am not yet free,'' replied the 
 Moriscoe ; " I know your state, and my own 
 station." 
 
 *'Tut, tut, man, thou art too nice. Thou 
 mayst surely move when thy good fortune 
 moves, and meet it half way." 
 
 " Alas ! 'tis a deception, Senor ! The pro- 
 
 G 3
 
 130 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 mised blessing flies from me, as I pursue ; 
 all hope of success is vain." 
 
 "I tell thee, Gaspar, once and for all, the 
 charter of manumission is nearer than thou 
 thinkest." 
 
 " How far ?" asked the slave, with a des- 
 pairing and sarcastic smile. 
 
 " The length of thy dagger's blade." 
 
 " Hah !" exclaimed Gaspar, seizing the 
 dagger, and advancing three or four paces, 
 while his eye seemed to measure the gover- 
 nor's body as the fitting sheath for his weapon. 
 
 " Right, Gaspar, right," cried Trovaldo, 
 with a look so confident, as instantly to check 
 the impulse that prompted the Moriscoe's 
 thoughts. The upraised hand fell down, and 
 the dagger seemed mechanically to slip into 
 its usual place, as the governor continued, 
 
 " This is the spirit I wish to revive — that 
 is the look and attitude I love to see thee 
 wear. Art thou ready to avenge thy sister, to 
 walk abroad in freedom .'^"
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BBUGES. 131 
 
 " Point out the way — name my victim — 
 Beatrice shall be revenged, and my soul and 
 body free/' 
 
 " Spoken like the man thou hast been, and 
 worthy of what thou wilt prove thyself anon. 
 That is the slight but sinewy arm, that 
 struck down the Dutchman at Gertruydenburg, 
 when his arquebuss was pointed at my head. 
 Thy present bearing, Gaspar, reminds me of 
 thee in that bloody day. Thou art now again 
 in arms, for the best united causes that can 
 nerve a man — honour and freedom !" 
 
 *'Don Juan, your excitements torture me ; 
 let me act ! who is my sister ""s seducer ? where, 
 where is she ? and he f This last word 
 was uttered with fierce emphasis, and his 
 eyes seemed urged beyond their sockets by 
 the force of his emotion. 
 
 " Come closer then — every word I utter 
 lessens the distance between us — one blow 
 will make us equal.''' 
 
 The looks of the Moriscoe once more
 
 132 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 changed to a sullen desperation, and his 
 hand grasped his weapon's hilt. But this 
 was a momentary act, and he did not advance 
 his foot. 
 
 u y^iiQ am I to strike ?" asked he gloomily. 
 " Listen," replied Trovaldo, placing his broad 
 hand on his chest. " If thou hadst but to 
 raise thy arm and strike, this breast had 
 been thy mark. Nay, Gaspar, look not so 
 fearfully resolved ; the time is not yet come. 
 Thou hast much to dare, and to overcome, 
 before the deed can be done. Thy foe is no 
 
 common one." 
 
 " Nor my cause, Senor ! I am able to 
 contend with any thing : it is futile to work 
 me up to a higher pitch. Who, and what is 
 this man ?'''* 
 
 " Hast thou not heard of De Bassenvelt, 
 chief of the black Walloons ?""* 
 
 " Who, Count I von ? I have, Senor." 
 
 " Dost thou shrink, Gaspar, from that 
 name ?^''
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 133 
 
 " The question dishonours my whole race. 
 But what do I say ? How durst I talk of 
 honour — am I not a slave ?" 
 
 " The point of thy blade in Count Ivon's 
 heart, will start a stream to wash out all stains, 
 good Gaspar. Beatrice lies this night within 
 his arms." 
 
 " Hell and furies !" cried the Moriscoe, 
 fiercely stamping, pressing his clenched fists 
 against his forehead, and gnashing his teeth. 
 
 "Aye, let it move thee as it ought — let it 
 stir up every drop of Andalusian blood — let it 
 rankle in thy heart V 
 
 ^' It does, it does, Senor, I am ready for my 
 work. Where is De Bassenvelt ? let me rush 
 against his throat !" 
 
 Trovaldo rose from his seat, and replied, 
 " Not so, not so : softly, good Gaspar. Thou 
 rememberest, when thou wert a child we 
 saw together in Africa a lion steal upon a 
 negro. He sprang on his prey, when sure of 
 being within his reach. But he wound on
 
 134 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 and followed him ere then, through brake and 
 bush ; moved when he moved, stopped when 
 he stopped, crouched, rose up, crept close — 
 his eye fixed, his jaws apart, with trembling 
 limbs and panting chest; but when sure of 
 him, Gaspar, he bounded on the wretch, struck 
 him down and plunged his tusks — " Ere the 
 sentence was thus broken, the half maddened 
 Moriscoe, who had, step by step, enacted his 
 master''s words, as the latter paced the room, 
 leapt forward, as if in the very act of the 
 fierce animal's bound, so theatrically described 
 by the governor. 
 
 " Halloa ! hold, fellow!" exclaimed Trovaldo, 
 standing up erect, and seizing his slave at full 
 arm's length, at the moment in which he was 
 actively darting upon him. 
 
 " What does this mean, Gaspar ? Why thou 
 art phrenzy-struck on the head of thy revenge !" 
 
 " Forgive, forgive me, honoured master, I 
 am indeed frantic ; you have made me less ra- 
 tional than man, aye, than the very brute you
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 135 
 
 spoke of," said the slave, affrighted at his self- 
 forgetfulness, and falling at Trovaldo's feet. 
 
 *' Rise, Gaspar ; that posture becomes thee 
 not. Up, up ! 'Tis not for him who has freedom 
 in his reach, to crouch before man," said the 
 governor. 
 
 '* Except like the lion, about to spring upon 
 his prey," exclaimed Gaspar, quickly starting 
 up ; and adding with a ghastly smile, " Thus 
 I will bound upon De Bassenvelt !" he darted 
 towards the wall, and struck his dagger through 
 the tapestry which covered it. ♦ 
 
 " Traitor !" cried he, without seeking reason 
 for the application of this readiest epithet of 
 reproach. 
 
 " Traitor, indeed !" said the governor, 
 hoarsely laughing at this action of his furious 
 bondsman ; " thou hast pierced Judas, and 
 torn the master-piece of Jans's loom." 
 
 And, in fact, Gaspar had in his abstraction 
 inflicted a serious wound on the body of the 
 traitor disciple, in a beautiful copy of Leonardo
 
 136 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 da Yincrs *' Last Supper," worked by the cele- 
 brated founder of the Gobelins, who had lately 
 left Bruges, his native town, to settle in Paris, 
 at the pressing invitation of Henry IV. The 
 clumsy stitching up of the rent in the faded 
 tapestry, is evident at the present time. 
 
 Trovaldo's laugh brought the Moriscoe to 
 a sense of the ludicrous part into which his 
 violence had hurried him ; and as if abashed, 
 or for the purpose of calming his fermented 
 thoughts, he placed his open hands across his 
 eyes, and stood motionless for a while. 
 
 " Rouse up, Gaspar, rouse thee, and hearken 
 to the means of tracking thy sister's para- 
 mour," said the governor ; and as Gaspar lis- 
 tened, with an attention as intense, but not so 
 violent as before, he gave him minute instruc- 
 tions for his journey to the Castle of Welbasch 
 on the banks of the Meuse, in the Walloon 
 country, and on the skirts of Eastern Brabant. 
 
 *' There, in his fancied safety, lies the liber- 
 tine with his associate band, not less profligate
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 137 
 
 than he is. Darest thou penetrate into that 
 strong hold ? Wilt thou there do the deed — 
 there strike him to the heart, encircled by his 
 lawless troop, even in thy polluted sister's 
 arms ?" 
 
 "Aye, both with one blow," uttered Gaspar, 
 in a gloomy steadiness of tone, widely con- 
 trasted with his late vehemence. 
 
 " What dost thou say. Gasper ? not both, 
 not thy own flesh and blood ! Beware, man, 
 lest thou goest too far. Remember, thou killest 
 De Bassenvelt for me : Beatrice is the child, 
 the property, the right of our holy church," 
 
 " Kill him for you^ Don Juan ! I find that 
 even now, you know me not. I am your slave, 
 'tis true, but not your sword blade. I kill, 
 Senor, but for myself — for my own wrong, or 
 in my line of duty — but I am no man's bravo, 
 not even your's, my master ; and as for Bea- 
 trice, she must die : not to revenge the church, 
 but to retrieve her fame. Death must stand in 
 the stead of honour ; and whose but her bro- 
 ther's hand shall consummate the sacrifice ?'''*
 
 138 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 '' Gaspar, this cannot be ; Beatrice must be 
 reserved, an offering to the religion she has 
 outraged. Pledge thyself to do her no harm, 
 or thou quittest me not. Some other hand 
 shall snatch the glorious vengeance that should 
 have been thine ; and I swear by the host of 
 saints, thou shalt rest a slave for ever." 
 
 " That's a long term of bondage, Don 
 Juan," calmly answered Gaspar, with a smile 
 so bitterly contemptuous, as to be reconciled 
 with his late servility, only by our experience 
 of the degrading vacillation of human nature. 
 He added in a similar tone, and a gesture that 
 gave force to his words, " The dagger that 
 may kill a freeman, can set a bondsman free.'" 
 
 "Come, come, good Gaspar — ^no more of this," 
 said the governor, with haughty condescension. 
 " I know thou art brave to recklessness ; but 
 life is worth its value, is it not .f*"" 
 
 " And is not death, Senor, honourable 
 death ? But when that pays the price of free- 
 dom, what can estimate its value ? The wealth 
 of a thousand worlds, the purchase of a thou-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 139 
 
 sand lives, fall short of the good it buys, and 
 necessarily reach not its intrinsic worth." 
 
 " Thou art a subtle reasoner, Gaspar, and I 
 leave to thee this estimate. I know not the 
 abstract worth of liberty." 
 
 "Because you never knew its loss." 
 
 " Well, well, so be it ! This is no time for 
 mooting points like that — thy sister !" 
 
 " Ha ! true, I know what you would add. 
 Beatrice is free, but her's is the liberty of 
 guilt, mine shall be gained with honour — let 
 me away then — I am ready." 
 
 " Well then we are agreed : one culprit sa- 
 crificed to thy just revenge, the other is left to 
 the church. Thou swearest not to harm thy 
 sister .?" 
 
 " I swear it, Senor : I will spare her life." 
 
 " Now then to horse, good Gaspar ! Take 
 the brown Flemish gelding, that I seized from 
 the disbanded captain of the lancers of St. 
 Mark : thy own Andalusian steed might 
 suggest uneasy questions. Thou art a soldier
 
 140 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 of the lancers, mark me, discontented with the 
 dulne^s of this garrison, and longing to ex- 
 change its sluggard duties for active service 
 under De Bassenvelt. Procure a uniform suit. 
 Arm thyself well ; ride on — here is thy pass, 
 all ready — Antonio Laredo is thy name. Go 
 freely on, thou hast no hindrance to encounter. 
 At the outermost guard of Brussels, a fresh 
 horse will be furnished in virtue of this 
 pass. On the left bank of the Meuse, right 
 opposite to the Castle of Welbasch, where 
 thou canst well arrive by sunset to morrow, 
 an alder grove stretches across the marsh from 
 the river'*s bank ; wait there until a boat is put 
 forward by a man, just as twilight becomes 
 extinct, and darkness is setting in. He will 
 be dressed in a light blue doublet, trimmed 
 with fur, and a cap of the same. His face 
 may be concealed ; if so, make no remark, nor 
 question him in aught. But hand him this 
 ring, graven with the head of our late illus- 
 trious monarch, Philip. Follow his instruc-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 141 
 
 tions, and they will lead thee to the easy 
 cx)nsummation of thy task. Now then, farewell. 
 There is my open casket, take money for thy 
 wants, and away !" 
 
 * ' They will be few for a man who may die 
 within a day or two," said Caspar, taking some 
 gold pieces. 
 
 " What rustling is that ? Is the wind rising P" 
 asked Trovaldo, abruptly moving towards the 
 half open casement ; and as he put forth his 
 head, he continued, " No, all is calm. Perhaps 
 some passing breeze just shook the old ches- 
 nut tree f and as Gaspar looked forward, he 
 observed the branches close to the window still 
 vibrating, as though some sudden movement 
 had shaken them. 
 
 " How solemn the night looks," said Tro- 
 valdo. 
 
 " 'Tis dark and still," replied the slave. 
 
 " Fitting thy enterprise, my brave Gaspar." 
 
 "Daylight or gloom are all the same to 
 me, Senor ; I am neither ashamed nor afraid."
 
 142 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " How tranquil every thing looks ! Heaven 
 and earth seem to sleep. The water alone 
 shews life, as the beam of my lamp dances 
 through it. And see ! look at Van Rozenhoed's 
 turret, Caspar ; it is lighted up ; there are 
 people moving there. By my poignard's hilt" 
 (and he raised the weapon, and pressed its cru- 
 ciform handle to his lips,) " it is Theresa that 
 walks to and fro, with her duenna. She has 
 then left the convent and come home. By and 
 by my thoughts must turn to her. Hark ! 
 His music — some low-bred burghers welcoming 
 their magistrate's daughter." 
 
 As Trovaldo leant from the stone balcony 
 that hung beyond his window, and Gaspar stood 
 beside him, the following stanza was sung, in 
 the French language, in a full toned but deli- 
 cate voice, being neatly accompanied on a Spa- 
 nish guitar. It was from a well known romance 
 of Dirk Coornhert —the Secretary to the States 
 General of Holland, addressed by him to his 
 imprisoned mistress, Melinsenda, Countess of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 143 
 
 Velthen, and full of the fanciful conceits of the 
 times — 
 
 Wake not, maiden ! stilly lie, 
 With lids sleep laden, humid eye, 
 
 And lips apart ; 
 Emblems of a mind at rest, 
 
 Feeling breast. 
 
 And open heart. 
 
 " By Heaven, though," exclaimed Trovaldo, 
 as the stanza was finished, " that is no mean 
 musician ! Young Claassen, and such as he, 
 would have raised a coarser strain. Hist ! 
 Gaspar, he begins anew."" 
 
 " Pardon, Senor, I have no soul for music 
 now. Its sounds distract me. I must away." 
 
 ' ' Begone, then ; and Heaven prosper thy 
 revenge !" 
 
 The Moriscoe bowed profoundly, and retired 
 through the private entrance. Trovaldo turned 
 again into the balcony ; and bending on the 
 balustrade, listened as acutely to the song, thus 
 continued, as though unconscious that he had 
 just despatched an agent to commit a murder.
 
 144 THE HEIRESS OF BHUGES. 
 
 Thou art risen — as the lark, 
 In wiry prison, lone and dark, 
 
 That flaps its wing 
 With sad time-keeping *gainst the cage ; 
 
 Is it in rage 
 
 That free birds sing ? 
 
 No, ladye ! rather like the dove. 
 Whose charm'd ears gather notes of love. 
 
 In its soft nest, 
 Thou hearkenest to the murmvuring soft 
 
 Sent up aloft 
 
 From a true breast. 
 
 <e 
 
 How sweetly, how feelingly this fellow 
 sings !" exclaimed the governor. But he was 
 not the only listener. One of the little case- 
 ments of the opposite turret shewed a female 
 form, leaning through it, from the moment that 
 the prelude was struck on the instrument. 
 
 '' Where can this voice come from, and 
 whose is it.?" asked Trovaldo to himself. 
 " What ! am I moved at this ? Already jea- 
 lous, and of a sound ? For shame — for shame ! 
 No, this fair girl must not distract me from the 
 deep object next my heart, much less her vul- 
 gar serenaders. Ah ! there the fellow goes,
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 145 
 
 no doubt," and his eyes strained to observe the 
 motion of a little boat, that softly glided down 
 the canal, towards the Dominican cloister. 
 
 In a few minutes more, another serenade was 
 begun, but of a kind less pleasing than the last. 
 Instead of the simple melody of one sweet 
 voice and the vibration of a single instrument 
 slightly touched, the harmony of several, and 
 the chorus of three or four singers, broke across 
 the water from Rozenhoed Quay, where the 
 performers were stationed. 
 
 " Aye,'' cried the governor, " there go the 
 noisy throats of the coarse citizens. That suits 
 the taste of the young tanner, perhaps, but not 
 mine. Paltry fellows all, single or in herds ! 
 When / sound my amorous wooing to the fair, 
 the rich Theresa, it shall be with a flourish of 
 trumpets !" 
 
 With these words, he retired from the win- 
 dow, closed it loudly behind him, stamped on 
 the floor for one of his personal attendants, and 
 passed into his sleeping-room. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 It would appear, that the crash of the band 
 harmonised as little with the feeling of the 
 turrets fair tenant ; for the figure withdrew 
 from the casement, and the light moved away 
 into another room.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 147 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Gaspar was soon equipped in his assumed 
 character, mounted on his horse, and close to 
 the gate of the city, which led to the Ghent 
 Road. But previous to its being opened to 
 admit of his exit, the necessary forms of ex- 
 amining his pass and entering it in the night's 
 report, were to be gone through by the officer 
 of the guard. While these proceedings were 
 going on, Gaspar perceived a man, who stood 
 at the guard-house door, holding the bridle of 
 a horse, and apparently waiting for the lower- 
 
 H 2
 
 148 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ing of the drawbridge, which was to admit of 
 his also passing from the town. He wore a 
 cloak with a high standing collar buttoned 
 close above his chin ; his face was amply con- 
 cealed by a broad leafed brown beaver hat, 
 such as the Spaniards call a sombrero. Gaspar, 
 with his natural acuteness and suspicion, 
 watched this figure closely ; but he could only 
 discover, or fancy he discovered, that the 
 stranger contrived to keep his head turned, so 
 as to have an eye fixed on him, as he went 
 through the formalities above mentioned. 
 
 When all was finished the guard was ordered 
 to turn out under arms ; the sentinels on the 
 walls above were warned to look sharply for- 
 ward, to see that all was right beyond the ram- 
 parts ; the ponderous gates then creaked back 
 on their hinges ; the draw-bridge came clanking 
 down into its grooves ; and the way was ready 
 for the two travellers. 
 
 " Mount, cavaliers," said the serjeant of the 
 guard ; "it is lucky that ye travel the same
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 149 
 
 road, for good company cheers a dark night ; 
 and if you fall in with the Picaroons, between 
 the Senne and the Sambre, why one of you may 
 have a chance to gallop back, to tell that the 
 other is defunct.*" 
 
 Neither of the travellers seemed to relish 
 this coarse attempt at pleasantry, for they main- 
 tained a complete silence, and they merely 
 waved their hands, as they passed through the 
 portcullis, in return to the audible civilities of 
 the Serjeant, the porter, and his assistants. 
 
 As soon as the noise of the chains hauling up 
 the bridge, and of the bolts and bars fastening 
 the gates, had subsided, and the outer defences 
 of the place were cleared, the stranger seemed 
 to throw oif his reserve, but not his conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 He turned towards Gaspar and addressed 
 him, his voice betokening a considerable degree 
 of hoarsness, real or feigned. 
 
 " So it seems we journey the same road,
 
 150 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Senor ?" said he, in Spanish, in a doubtful tone 
 of interrogatory or mere remark. 
 
 Gaspar, who did not feel inclined to enter 
 into conversation, chose to take it in the latter 
 sense, and made no reply. 
 
 '' I ask many pardons, Signior," returned 
 the stranger, in Italian, " I thought you were 
 a countryman of our noble governor there ; but 
 I suppose you come from beyond the Alps ?" 
 
 This was a more palpable question than the 
 last ; yet Gaspar, who knew its purport though 
 he did not understand the language well, felt 
 himself absolved from any obligation to notice 
 
 it. 
 
 " What, mistaken again !'' exclaimed the 
 horseman, and now speaking French, " ventre 
 St. Gris /"' (an oath just before then made 
 fashionable by the great Henry,) " if Monsieur 
 be not French, my stock of language is spent, 
 unless, indeed, he can smatter the patois of the 
 Walloon country. But if Holland or England
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 151 
 
 boasts the honour of his birth, I can do little 
 in their tongues. I can say, Mynheer in the 
 one, and Master in the other, and that goes but 
 a short way in a night's march. Come, Senor," 
 added he, spurring his horse close to Gaspares, 
 and once more addressing him in Spanish, 
 "let's be sociable— we are going further toge- 
 ther than you think, and our errands may not 
 be wide of the same mark either. Let me whis- 
 per one word in your ear — Beatrice !' 
 
 As the man had pressed towards him. Gas- 
 par instinctively grasped a petronel, a kind of 
 huge pistol, that filled one of his holsters ; but 
 the last sentence made him pause with surprise, 
 the concluding word caused him suddenly to 
 start in his saddle, and as he pulled up his 
 bridle the well trained steed stepped short. 
 The stranger followed the movement, and reined 
 in his horse : then, putting his head still closer 
 to the Moriscoe, he added, 
 
 "Why should a word of friendship or a
 
 152 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. . 
 
 name of kindred startle you, Senor ? — your hand 
 on our joint success, our purpose is the same." 
 
 " How's this ? What mean you ?" asked the 
 wary Moriscoe, recovering his self-command. 
 
 " Mean ? why to do what you are about to 
 do, — to reach the Castle of Welbasch, soon and 
 secretly — need I add the rest ?'''' 
 
 '' Don Juan said nought of such a one as 
 you," replied Gaspar, still doubtingly, but ex- 
 cited to a partial indiscretion, by the stranger's 
 last allusion. 
 
 " Yes, but he did though. Might I not 
 be known on horseback, as well as in a boat ? 
 Is not a brown cloak as good a token as a 
 furred doublet ? If my zeal brought me to 
 meet you on land, am I less genuine than if I 
 had found you on water V 
 
 " Why this concealment of your person .?*" 
 
 " Did not Don Juan prepare you for that ? 
 Why do you change your appearance, your 
 name and apparel ? I ask no reply to my
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 153 
 
 questions — let yours rest unanswered: we 
 shall know each other when our poignards 
 clash in De Bassenvelfs body ! Your hand, 
 
 Senor !" 
 
 " Take it," cried Gaspar, with nervous 
 emotion ; " I can have no further scruples. Par- 
 don my hesitation— but mystery begets dis- 
 trust—'' 
 
 « And ensures success ; so let us travel on 
 together, darkly, but confidentially : we are as 
 
 one man." 
 
 « Lead me to my revenge, and I am yours 
 
 for ever !" 
 
 " We shall go together, Gaspar : no leading, 
 no following ; our object is the redress of Bea- 
 trice's wrongs, and the punishment of him who 
 sought her ruin." 
 
 " Who completed it !" exclaimed Gaspar. 
 
 « As you like," said the stranger. 
 
 « Would that it might be as I like," mut- 
 tered Gaspar. 
 
 « It shall be so !" replied the stranger, with 
 
 H 3
 
 154 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 a deep emphasis that bespoke power as well as 
 promise. 
 
 The companions journeyed on during the 
 whole night. They stopped but once^ to bait 
 their horses, in a solitary part of the country 
 between Bruges and Ghent, which is now a 
 thickly inhabited and cultivated district, inter- 
 sected by the great canal, which had then made 
 some advances from either end, but was^ as yet^ 
 unfinished. 
 
 Being both well mounted, they had made 
 considerable progress along the causeway they 
 had so far travelled, and their horses shewed 
 but little fatigue as they ravenously attacked 
 the mixed mess of oats, beans, and brown 
 bread, prepared for them under the inspection 
 of their riders. Gaspar saw that his com- 
 panion was no stranger at the lone cottage 
 where, by his recommendation, they had 
 halted. The man who owned it seemed to 
 expect him. It was not yet daylight when 
 they arrived ; yet he was up, and ready for
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 155 
 
 the reception of at least one guest. A rude 
 repast was spread on the kitchen table, and 
 the fire-balls, composed of moistened slack and 
 clay hardened in the sun, were blazing hotly, if 
 not cheerfully, on the hearth. 
 
 Still, no words were interchanged that 
 avowed any acquaintanceship ; and after both 
 men and beasts had had a hearty meal and 
 an bourn's repose, they were once more on the 
 road. 
 
 During the remaining time of their comti- 
 nuance in company, as well as previously to 
 the stoppage just mentioned, Gaspar and his 
 companion had held much converse together, 
 with occasional pauses, as each sunk into the 
 depths of unuttered thought. The Moriscoe 
 more frequently than the other, lapsed into 
 silence. The dark purpose within him seemed 
 to draw every faculty into its vortex. If 
 the stranger had an equal weight on his 
 mind, it sat more lightly there. His fits of 
 silence were short, his conversation fluent.
 
 156 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 his questions acute, and his allusion to De 
 Bassenvelt, of whom he had avowed himself 
 the intended assassin, bore none of the viru- 
 lence which might be thought to form a 
 component part of his design and its impulse. 
 Gaspar, at times, felt uncertain as to his com- 
 panion, and doubted his fitness for the task ; but 
 he was re-assured again by the air of careless 
 decision which marked the stranger'^s words 
 and manner. He had, in fact, begun already 
 to feel the superiority of this man, without its 
 being at all obtruded on him. He seemed 
 carried away in the current of his inquiries 
 and remarks. He answered his minutest ques- 
 tion as to the habits and feelings of Don Juan 
 de Trovaldo, and as to the temper and state of 
 the garrison of Bruges, with a facility and a 
 sort of obedience that seemed due only to the 
 commands of a master ; and if Gaspar was by 
 chance occasionally close or hesitating in his 
 replies, some skilful turn of subject, or hint 
 of their joint object, or a sentence in open
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 15? 
 
 praise of Beatrice, (of whom the stranger 
 spoke all through with a tone of deep sin- 
 cerity,) was sure to bring him to his purpose, 
 which he thus attained, as a river reaches the 
 sea, by continuous windings round every ob- 
 struction, steadily pursuing, while apparently 
 changing its course. 
 
 Daylight brought with it no abatement in the 
 stranger's caution : it added to it the rather ; 
 and Gaspar found it impossible to obtain a 
 sight of his face, or even his person, so 
 closely were they concealed by his large horse- 
 man's cloak and slouched hat. He did not 
 know, in fact, whether he was travelling 
 with an old man or a young one, a fat one or a 
 lean, and not positively whether he was tall or 
 short ; but on the latter point he could venture 
 to decide, to his own satisfaction, that the 
 stranger was not remarkably the one or the 
 other. While he sat in his saddle, and when 
 he dismounted from his horse, he appeared to 
 be of that happy middle height which enables
 
 158 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 men to go through life on a level with their 
 fellows — a particular advantage for those who 
 shuffle through it in disguise and mystery, as 
 seemed clearly the case with the subject of 
 our and Gaspar's remarks. 
 
 They had ridden twelve hours, including a 
 second stoppage for the refreshment of their 
 horses ; and they had passed within view of 
 the tall spires of Brussels, which lay low to 
 the left, the city not having at that time crept 
 quite to the summit of the hill, which is now 
 covered by its most beautiful streets and 
 squares, but which was then occupied by a 
 large extent of park, where game was shot, 
 and deer were hunted by the Archduke and 
 the courtiers, as engravings of the period still 
 attest. 
 
 The travellers arrived at Grand Bygard, the 
 station appointed by Don Juan for Gaspar's 
 change of horse. This had now become a ne- 
 cessary measure; for the one he rode, though 
 a gallant one, was beginning to flag after his
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 159 
 
 long journey. The stranger and his steed, 
 which was of a lighter and finer breed than 
 Gaspar''s, shewed no symptoms of fatigue. 
 Both seemed as fresh for the road, after a slight 
 repast suited to their separate tastes, as if 
 they had not travelled a league, yet they had 
 gone full twenty ; and they seemed as if ready 
 to double the distance, when they re -appeared 
 at the skirts of the forest Soignies, (or tlie So- 
 711671 Bosch,* as it is still called in the native 
 language) where the stranger had given Gas-» 
 par rendezvous. For he did not approach the 
 military post, at which the latter had pre- 
 sented himself in virtue of Don Juan's pass ; 
 but took a road that led into the forest, say- 
 ing that he knew where to provide himself 
 and his good beast, with all that they re- 
 quired. 
 
 The Senne was now fairly passed, and the way 
 lay straight before them to the Sambre, wliich 
 Gaspar''s directions told him to cross, a couple of 
 • Forest of the Sun : the probable remains of some old idolatry.
 
 160 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 leagues above its confluence with the Meuse, un- 
 der the ramparts of Namur. He would then fall 
 into a road leading in almost a direct line across 
 the hilly country, beyond which the last men- 
 tioned river winds along in imbedded beauty, 
 between wooded acclivities that slope up gra- 
 dually from teeming meadows, or naked rocks 
 that shoot perpendicularly from the water's 
 edge, and throw their shadows far across the 
 stream, 
 
 " Well, Gaspar, we approach the term of 
 our journey,"" said the stranger familiarly, as 
 they emerged from a narrow path, which led 
 through the intricacies of the forest. 
 
 " Your new steed, though not worth the 
 last, is a good one, and it may stand you in 
 need. Fresh horse fresh courage, as the old 
 proverb of Hembyse says — you know the Pi- 
 caroons are abroad; by and by we shall be 
 in their peculiar district." 
 
 '' I am prepared to meet risks ; the whole
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 161 
 
 of this Walloon country is infested with them, 
 is it not ?" 
 
 " Not all. The banks of the Meuse are 
 free, thanks to De Bassenvelt and his black 
 chasseurs." 
 
 *' Thanks to him, Senor ! I should not have 
 expected that courtesy from your lips." 
 
 " Come, come, let's give even the devil his 
 due, Caspar. He has done good service, in 
 scouring the country and driving these ruffian 
 hordes before him." 
 
 " I know nought of him but his name and 
 his crime, for which my hand — '^ 
 
 ^* Well, well, let him die for justice sake if 
 he be guilty, but — " 
 
 " 7/" he be guilty !" exclaimed Caspar, inter- 
 rupting, in his turn, the stranger's expression, 
 
 " Yes, ^/*, Caspar. Let us examine things 
 scrupulously ; what proof have you of his 
 guilt r 
 
 " My master's word," answered the Moriscoe, 
 bitterly.
 
 162 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " Good proof, no doubt," said the stranger, 
 with something (at least Gaspar thought so) of 
 a sneer, conveyed even in the expression of his 
 feigned voice, " good proof ; but what is his 
 authority ?*" 
 
 " That I know not ; nor is it my wont to 
 question, or examine into, his assertions. I 
 should have thought that you were more in his 
 confidence on this point ; and haply it is you 
 that may best answer your own demand." 
 
 " Spoken like a trust- worthy friend, rather 
 than an un-emancipated servitor,*" briskly ex- 
 claimed the stranger. " This was but to try 
 you, comrade, and in somewise, perhaps, to 
 probe Don Juan's depth. I see he has not gone 
 too far. AlPs well, then — you have your task 
 to perform — do it, but do it discreetly. Let 
 not your feelings hurry you away ; strike no 
 blow till I strike with you. It must not only 
 be struck home, but we must be held as harm- 
 less."
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 163 
 
 " I have no fear of results," said GavSpar, sul- 
 lenly. 
 
 "But others must be considered as well as 
 self," added the stranger. " Beatrice's safety 
 and Trovaldo's character must neither be com- 
 promised. Were you disavowed as the doer, 
 the deed would be visited on them. Besides, I 
 too am entitled to a share in the act ; you know 
 not yet how closely I am concerned in this." 
 
 " That is your own affair, Senor ; I ask but 
 one blow — the first ! follow it up as you please. • 
 I will act under your guidance till my naked 
 knife is in my upraised hand — then I am free!" 
 
 " So far so well," said the stranger ; " now, 
 Gaspar, we understand each other quite." 
 
 "^ You know me thoroughly, Senor, but — " 
 
 " No huts, good Gaspar : you cavilled at my 
 ifs ; wait patiently awhile, I will unfold myself 
 in proper season," remarked the stranger, in his 
 usual abrupt way of cutting short the Moriscoe's 
 sentences ; but he added, in a more serious 
 one : " And now then, hold well to your saddle,
 
 164) THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 and keep your horse in hand : let your spurs 
 feel his flanks, and have eyes and ears for all 
 around. We are step by step entering into the 
 outlaws'* own domain. In these intricate passes 
 of ravine, and wood, and wild, not even may 
 Bassenvelt's chasseurs cope with them." 
 
 " And should we fall in with these brigands, 
 what course may be best pursued, Senor ?''"' 
 
 "> That to which your horse's head may at the 
 time be pointed. At the first sight or sound of 
 the freebooters, fly, friend Gaspar ! Firm 
 fixed knees, heels well set, tight hand and 
 cool head, is then the order of the minute. For- 
 ward, away ! is the word. But a turn of your 
 beast's head, aye, or of your own, comrade, will 
 be waste of time, that may bring loss of life. 
 Let no picaroon reach as far as your crupper, 
 or by the mass you are a dead man, Gaspar !" 
 
 " You know these robbers well it would 
 seem, Senor V* 
 
 '^ Aye, and they know me ; for which reason, 
 if we fall in with them, neither you nor I
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 165 
 
 - must stand on ceremony. Each for each ! 
 must be then the cry, and so we may chance to 
 separate." 
 
 " And what then, Senor?" asked Gaspar. 
 
 " Why, then, if their rapiers cannot reach 
 or their petronels overtake us, we dash on as we 
 may, pass the Sambre as we can, and make the 
 Meuse at our leisure. You know your rendez- 
 vous, the Alder Grove opposite the Castle of 
 Welbasch ? If the boat does not come by 
 twilight to the spot, you may judge that some, 
 ill has befallen your pilot. Then shift for 
 yourself, and forget me."" 
 
 ^' We must hope the best, Senor ; I have 
 no fear of the brigands for myself, and less for 
 you : your horse seems one that nought can 
 tire, and few can come up with." 
 
 " My horse ! Yes, he is a good one — a true 
 Arab — pure blood — high mettle — fleet foot ; a 
 beast beyond price." And as the stranger said 
 this, he patted affectionately the neck of the 
 animal, which acknowledged the kindness by a
 
 166 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 whinnying reply, and a snort, as he tossed his 
 head up and down. 
 
 "Hush! hush!'"' said the rider, roughly 
 slapping his hand against the neck he had 
 before so gently stroked; " this is no time 
 for talk, Rolando : that voice of your's in a 
 picaroon's ear, would sound like a warning- 
 trumpet.'" 
 
 " It would take no small count of florins, 
 Senor, to buy your favourite from you,'' said 
 Gaspar. 
 
 " Three thousand have been offered, but 
 failed to tempt me, Gaspar. But take one word 
 more of caution from me. Should we part 
 sooner than we think of, and that fate lets us 
 meet again at our appointed station, nothing 
 may pass between us to denote we had met 
 before. Step into the boat, and speak if I 
 speak, but not even in a whisper, in allusion to 
 this journey. The very stream has ears for De 
 Bassenvelt. All within sight of his castle seems 
 to have hearing for his service. Don Juan
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 167 
 
 warned you, did he not, that your guide might 
 use concealment ?" 
 
 " He did ; I am prepared for that." 
 
 " Then let nought surprise you in this 
 perilous enterprise. Keep a firm heart, and a 
 cool head — once more I say it. And for both 
 our sakes — for the sake of her who is dear and 
 precious to us both — for the sake of justice, 
 and the ensurance of a right revenge, swear to 
 me by the holiest oath, that thou will not, 
 under any circumstance, strike Bassenvelt's 
 death-blow, till / say strike f' 
 
 To this demand, which gained peculiar so- 
 lemnity, from the deeply concealed voice that 
 spoke it; Gaspar as solemnly replied, but in a 
 tone of elevated firmness — 
 
 " I swear by the faith of my father, by the 
 revenge I have vowed, by my love for my de- 
 graded sister, and my hatred for her undoer, 
 to act as you desire ! I can make no stronger 
 pledge." 
 
 " 'Tis more than enough. Once then again.
 
 168 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 thy hand — I know thee well, far better than 
 thou canst believe ; and on no slight grounds I 
 swear to thee, friendship, freedom, and happi- 
 ness ! But, hark ! Dost thou hear nothing ?''' 
 
 The sound of a not distant horn was clearly 
 repeated. The stranger fixed himself in his 
 seat, caught up his reins in his bridle hand, 
 waved the other towards Gaspar, and ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 " By Heaven, 'tis the picaroons' horn ! 
 They are out and in force, or that blast would 
 not affront the land. Keep my counsel and 
 your own courage, Gaspar. I cannot dally, 
 nor risk a life on which the fate and fame of 
 others is hanging. Farewell ! We must part 
 here — you cannot follow me ; but singly we 
 may both escape. Away, on your course !" 
 
 With these words, the stranger turned his 
 horse suddenly in the narrow road they tra- 
 velled, the right hand side of which was 
 bounded by steep hills, and the left by a wall of 
 loose and rudely cut stones, that formed an
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 169 
 
 enclosure without any opening as far as was to 
 to be seen, in either the direction thev came, or 
 that before them. At this wall, the stranger, 
 without hesitation, ran his horse ; and in a 
 moment the beautiful and highly-trained animal 
 sprang across, striking fire and dust from its 
 topmost edge with his hind feet, which thus 
 gave a new impetus to the bound that carried 
 him beyond. 
 
 Gaspar rose in his stirrups, gazing in astonish- 
 ment at the leap, which was of a height totally 
 impracticable for the heavy war horse he rode. 
 He strained to gain a view of the stranger 
 across the wall, but in vain ; and two or three 
 seconds elapsed ere he heard the horse land at 
 the other side, while a voice, which seemed 
 scarcely that he had so lately spoken with, hal- 
 looed out — 
 
 " Safe and sound, thanks to my saint, and to 
 thee, Rolando ! Away, Gaspar, away !" 
 
 The sounds of fleet galloping confirmed this 
 hurried announcement, and brought quickly to 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 t< 
 
 170 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the Moriscoe's mind the sense of his own dan- 
 o;er. With the natural steadiness of a reflective 
 temperament, he paused; and calling up all 
 the energy of caution with that of courage, a 
 rush of recollection as to what had lately 
 passed, and of cogitation as to what was to be 
 now done, flashed in a moment upon him ; a 
 crowd of notions swept past him, leaving no 
 palpable conviction behind. Could he have 
 been betrayed ? Who was this stranger ? Some 
 impostor— some creature of De Bassenvelt, 
 duping Don Juan, and bent on removing him, 
 and frustrating hrs revenge ? One of the very 
 picaroons he seemed to shun, entrapping him 
 into the toils ? What now to do ? Retreat ! 
 abandon his enterprise ! Disgrace, worse than 
 death, lay that way ; and the horns sounded 
 now in that direction ! Away then in front ! 
 Straight onward, through thick and thin ! 
 
 Quick as the thought was formed, a petronel 
 was pulled from its holster, and cocked in the 
 right hand of the intrepid Moriscoe ; his bridle,
 
 «-# 
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BB.UGES. I7I 
 
 tightly held, employed the other ; and in a 
 moment the brave steed was on his utmost 
 stretch, the narrow pass in which he tore along 
 ploughed up and echoing to his iron tread. 
 
 As he pressed forward, the sound of the horns 
 ceased, at least he heard them not ; and he 
 dashed on, for a time, without anv hin- 
 drance or any evidence of danger. In a few 
 minutes, however, the road suddenly opened 
 out to the right and left. On the one side was 
 a deep precipice, on the other a thick and appa- 
 rently impenetrable wood. The extensive 
 space between was covered with high grass 
 at either side of the narrow road, which was 
 again closely embraced by overhanging trees, 
 at about one hundred yards opposite to the 
 opening from which Gaspar now emerged. 
 But no sooner did he find himself on the vero;e 
 of this space than he reined in his horse so 
 suddenly, that the animal, thrown back on his 
 haunches, stood erect, plunged forward again, 
 and gave ample work to all the rider's address 
 
 I 2
 
 172 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 in horsemanship to manage him. The cause of 
 this sudden check was the pang of terrified 
 surprise, with which Caspar saw the whole of 
 the space before him covered with appalling 
 proofs that he had rushed into the midst of the 
 danger which he thought he fled from. Full 
 twenty armed men, with their horses, seemed 
 to occupy the place. Caspar's hurried glance 
 might have exaggerated the number ; and the 
 loose manner in which they had scattered them- 
 selves over it, added perhaps to the illusion. 
 But enough was there to make the bravest blood 
 run chill. 
 
 Men and steeds were standing or lying at 
 their pleasure, the latter grazing freely in the 
 rich pasture ; some of the motley band were 
 snatching a repast of such provision as their 
 haversacks afforded ; others slept in the shade 
 of the trees, or lounged on the low wall that 
 edged the precipice to the left, and seemed to 
 contemplate the country below, which they were 
 perhaps about to ravage. All bore witness of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 173 
 
 a halt, indulged without order or discipline, 
 in contempt of precaution, or in confidence of 
 security. Gaspar saw he was in the midst of 
 the picaroons. 
 
 The moment that sufficed for these remarks 
 was sufficient to fill the brigands with their 
 portion of astonishment, conjecture, and alarm. 
 Gaspar bore the uniform of a Spanish dragoon. 
 No doubt could be entertained of his being 
 aught but the advanced vidette of a detach- 
 ment, sent out from the garrison of Brussels in 
 their pursuit. This electric thought ran througli 
 the different groups. In a moment every man 
 was on his feet, or springing into his saddle. 
 Safety and flight were the only ideas for which 
 each had room ; and this desperate troop of 
 marauders was seized with a panic that the 
 merest dastards might have shewn. Some 
 plunged on foot into the forests ; others cleared 
 the wall, and scrambled down the precipice ; 
 a few, who quickly mounted, gallopped off on 
 the very road which Gaspar meant to pursue.
 
 174 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 His heart rose at the aspect of this confusion ; 
 but it sank as quickly, when he heard the 
 blasts of the horn gaining on his rear ; and he 
 felt all the peril of his situation, as he saw not 
 far behind him an advance of the same ruffian 
 freebooters as those whom his presence had 
 dispersed. Despair has no ear for reflection. 
 Like a wild beast bounding from his lair into 
 the very toils of the hunters, did the Moriscoe 
 now dart forward. The restive horse sprang 
 out at the fierce pressure of the spurs ; and 
 with head towards the earth, and long tail 
 lashing his goaded sides, he plunged on with a 
 speed the rider could no more controul. 
 
 Thus flying and pursuing, in terror and in 
 triumph, Gaspar was borne forward, and soon 
 passed by several of the robbers, who seemed 
 paralyzed by fear. One only, the foremost of 
 the fugitives, but the last of Gaspar's obstruc- 
 tions, either ashamed at having fled from a 
 single foe, or resolved in despair to sell his life 
 dearly, turned his horse's head, and drawing
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 175 
 
 his long sword, seemed resolved to block up 
 the passage. The Moriscoe''s finger pressed on 
 the trigger of his petronel, and ere the sound 
 could reach the robber''s ear, he fell wounded to 
 the earth. 
 
 The way seemed now clear, and Gaspar 
 began to breathe more freely ; but the loud 
 blasts of the horns behind him, the clatter of 
 horses feet, the shouts of the enraged stragglers, 
 who discovered that they had fled from a single 
 fugitive, kept his alarm at its height, and he 
 still urged the almost exhausted horse to the 
 top of his speed. He felt that his safety now 
 depended upon that. But his feelings deceived 
 him, for the chance of escape was past. He 
 suddenly saw before him a large body of fresh 
 assailants, who, warned by the signal sounds of 
 the horn and by the clattering of coming 
 hoofs, stood across the road, prepared for the 
 approach of friend or foe. Gaspar now found 
 he had nothing for it but to dash on. In a 
 moment two or three carabines were discharged
 
 I'JG THE HEIRESS OF BKUGES. 
 
 unerringly at their mark, and the brave courser 
 that had bore him so far and so well, fell dead 
 under him ; and he rolled with the quivering 
 carcase to and fro in the dust, till extricated by 
 the robbers, who now rushed round him from 
 all sides. 
 
 While some of them seized him, and dragged 
 him up upon his feet, his eye was fixed on one, 
 who by the air of resolute command, rather 
 than any richness of apparel, seemed evidently 
 the chief. 
 
 This man, having dismounted from his horse, 
 stood calmly by, without speaking a word, 
 while the Moriscoe was placed before him. 
 One of the robbers fancying that he read in 
 this stem silence a not unwonted signal for the 
 prisoner's death, drew his dagger, and was in 
 the act of striking Gaspar to the heart, when 
 the chieftain suddenly raised the long sword on 
 which lie leant, and with a powerful blow 
 almost severed the man's arm from his body. 
 As the intended murderer reeled from the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 177 
 
 shock, and let his weapon fall from his hand, 
 the chief motioned to have him removed. A 
 slight murmur ran through tlie band ; but a 
 stern look from him, while he placed his hand 
 on one of the several pistols that filled his 
 leathern girdle, instantly hushed the sound ; 
 and at this moment three or four of the robbers 
 came up, bearing the fellow whom Gaspar had 
 wounded. 
 
 As soon as the captain saw this bleeding 
 victim, he shewed some slight and passing 
 emotion, and he briefly demanded an explana- 
 tion of the circumstances that had excited so 
 much alarm and brought Gaspar into his 
 presence. The wounded man it appeared had 
 had the command of the advanced party which 
 Gaspar had surprised. He faintly answered 
 the stern questions of the captain, who seemed ^ 
 intuitively to read the whole affair. As the 
 explanation went on, a lowering frown settled 
 on his brow, and little by little, he drew the 
 pistol from his belt and cocked it. 
 
 I 3
 
 178 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " Then, Jacob Wooperman, the case is this : 
 First, you were surprised ?" slowly asked the 
 captain. 
 
 " I confess it," said the wounded man, as 
 slowly. 
 
 " And then you fled ?" 
 
 '' I retreated on the main body." 
 
 " You Jled — ^fled before a single man !" 
 
 " Be it as you like !" was the sullen answer 
 to this fiercely uttered sentence, which sounded 
 more like judgment than accusation. 
 
 '^ You all hear this .^" said the captain, 
 turning round to the assembled banditti. 
 
 " Yes, we do ; we hear it ; it is true ;" 
 and the like admissions were gloomily pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 *' Good !" exclaimed the captain ; and then 
 staring darkly on the wounded man, whose pale 
 face and quivering lips shewed a stronger 
 emotion than that of mere bodily pain, he 
 added, 
 
 " To you I entrusted the command of our
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 179 
 
 advance ; our whole safety .was in your care ; 
 you neglected it ; our ruin might have fol- 
 lowed ; you fled, in panic and infamy ; you are 
 not worthy of life ; it is doubly forfeited by the 
 rules of our band." 
 
 He waved his hand to those who supported 
 the culprit. They instantly obeyed the motion, 
 and each quitted his hold. The trembling 
 wretch staggered, and was falling to the ground, 
 but ere his body sank on it, he was a corpse. 
 A brace of bullets from the captain's pistol 
 had been lodged in his breast; and this joiat 
 judge and executioner exclaimed, 
 
 " Away with him, throw the black mantle 
 on his carcase, and never let the name of the 
 coward be even whispered among the brave V 
 
 A black cloak, profusely marked with blood 
 in broad and clotted patches, (the evidence of 
 former murders), was instantly thrown over the 
 body, in obedience to this morose and merciless 
 order. The dark countenances around were 
 fixed in stern observance.
 
 180 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Gaspar was petrified with horror at the scene ; 
 and he was only awoke to consciousness by the 
 rough grasp of two of the robbers, who bound 
 a cord tightly round his arms, and bore him 
 along, in obedience to the signal of the ruthless 
 man who had just saved his life ; but, as it 
 seemed, to prolong it for some more tedious 
 termination than what he had dealt to his 
 hapless lieutenant.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 181 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The cold-blooded desperado who com-' 
 mitted the act just recorded, was the noto- 
 rious (or, as his other deeds have entitled him 
 to be called in history,) the celebrated Martin 
 Schenck. He was forced up into this rank 
 celebrity by the heat of civil war, acting on a 
 fierce and inflammable mind. He was one of 
 those reckless bravos in whom boldness is mis- 
 taken for ambition, and brutality for valour. 
 Animal courage he possessed to an odious 
 excess, for it smothered the moral sense
 
 182 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 that should make men value life, and en- 
 gendered a ferocity that is not a natural at- 
 tribute of man. Blood and rapine were the 
 revelries of Martin Schenck ; and he slept at 
 night as soundly? as if his hands had not 
 reeked all day. His restless energy kept him 
 constantly in action, but his acts were those 
 of a bandit rather than a warrior ; yet he 
 had served in the Spanish army, before the 
 period at which we have introduced him, 
 with great distinction. Rising from some 
 obscure and unrecorded source, he had secured 
 promotion and command. He surprised an 
 important fortress ; and because the Spanish 
 general refused him the government of a dis- 
 trict, he turned from the side he had fought 
 for, and became as ruthless a partisan in the 
 cause of freedom, as he had been a ready instru- 
 ment in the hands of tyranny. 
 
 In his personal character he was loathsome ; 
 none of the graceful gallantry of chivalry 
 softened down the fury of the mere soldier.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 183 
 
 He fought from impulse, not for fame. He 
 drank deeply, but from no social sentiment. 
 Wine did not open his heart, nor relax his 
 ferocity. He was never seen to smile. When 
 most drunk, he was most reserved and col- 
 lected ; and, drunk or sober, he inflexibly did 
 such savage deeds as those which we have 
 pictured. Yet such was his influence over the 
 fiercest men, that they submitted to him like 
 children, and followed him like slaves. 
 
 Having quitted the Spanish service in 
 gloomy hatred, he balanced for a while whaf 
 step to take : but his rankling revenge threw 
 him quickly into the occupation in which we 
 now pourtray him. He joined one of the in- 
 dependent bands of outlaws, formed by 
 deserters of all nations from the Royalist 
 troops ; and he was ferociously hailed as their 
 cliief, by spirits congenial, though inferior to 
 his own. 
 
 Such was the man before whom Gaspar the 
 Moriscoe was dragged, uncertain of the doom
 
 184 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 that might await him, and lost in bewildering 
 conjectures as to the fearful individual, who in 
 so short a space had been his protector, was 
 his judge, and might become his destroyer. 
 
 As the chief strode on before him, Gaspar 
 close following, measured him with his eye. 
 His height answered to the whisperings of sus- 
 picion which told liim he gazed on no other 
 than his late mysterious companion. He strove 
 to recal the tones of the harsh voice which held 
 converse with him so long ; and comparing it 
 with the unguarded accents that came up from 
 beyond the wall after the horseman's desperate 
 leap, he would have identified them with the 
 gloomy sounds uttered by this man, in the 
 hurried examination of the ill-fated wretch he 
 had murdered. 
 
 But Gaspar could form no conclusion on the 
 point. Ready as he was to steep his own hand 
 in blood, to revenge an unproved wrong, yet he 
 shrunk from the being who could remorselessly 
 slay one associate and maim another, for
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 185 
 
 offences or intentions not personal to himself. 
 And again, considering the whole mien and 
 conduct of this man, he could not bring him- 
 self to do such injustice to the free and social 
 bearing of the strange horseman as to believe 
 them one and the same. 
 
 The whole band of picaroons being now 
 assembled and joined by the party whose 
 sounding horns had at first so alarmed the 
 Moriscoe, they composed a very formidable 
 body. They were altogether not less than two 
 hundred men ; and such men as might defy and 
 strike terror into others, double that number. 
 Desperation was stamped on their mien ; and 
 they looked the very spirit of the motto, 
 worked on a red banner, which one of them 
 carried. 
 
 " TO DARE IS TO DO !" 
 
 Mingled with the air of ruffian villany which 
 pervaded the whole, there was also one of 
 service, which proved them to be soldiers, how- 
 ever relaxed their discipline. Arms well kept.
 
 186 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 horses and accoutrements shewing marks of 
 care, and the remains of regular though 
 various uniforms distinctly preserved, shewed 
 a pride in what they had been, and a readi- 
 ness to resume their calling. For the present 
 they stood aloof from both the contending 
 parties ; holding themselves free to join with 
 either, and in the mean time ravaging the 
 country with atrocious impartiality. 
 
 After having walked a couple of hundred 
 yards from the spot where Gaspar was cap- 
 tured, Schenck and his followers reached 
 another small detachment of his troop, who 
 were mounted and in good order, forming the 
 rear guard which he had there posted previous 
 to the halt. Under the charge of this body 
 was the slight baggage of the troop, consisting 
 of a few rude tents, and large baskets of pro- 
 vender, with utensils for coarse cookery, some 
 small barrels of gunpowder, bullets, and flints, 
 and a quantity of spare arms of various kinds. 
 These were slung across the backs of mules or
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 187 
 
 horses; and about a dozen of the least heavy 
 sort of waggons, shaped in the solid clumsiness 
 of those days, were appropriated to the convey- 
 ance of the sick and wounded, with half a 
 dozen beings who looked of the doubtful 
 gender, but who were really women ; and a 
 squalid creature in the costume of the priest- 
 hood, of which he was a degraded member. 
 Such a person was a constant appendage to 
 troops like those before us. Robbers and 
 murderers as they were, they were still strict 
 Catholics, in all the superstition of their sect ; 
 and absolution at the hands of Fray Pedro, an 
 unfrocked monk, and their flying chaplain, 
 held them quite exempt to their own con- 
 sciences from all other duties inculcated by 
 Christianity, or the forms required by the 
 church. This Spanish friar was ever ready to 
 lay the salve of his forgiveness on their con- 
 sciences, and his presence was sure to doubly 
 damnify their deeds by its outrageous mockery 
 of religion.
 
 188 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 The only one who claimed exemption from 
 this reverend authority was the captain, Martin 
 Schenck. Had nature not refused him the 
 power of laughing, he would no doubt have 
 laughed at the impious farces played by Fray 
 Pedro. But tragedy was his forte ; and he 
 left the lighter parts to be filled by the 
 wretches under his command, he standing 
 aloof, indifferent to the scenes they acted. 
 
 Besides the objects thus enumerated, Gaspar 
 saw before him in the little valley they occu- 
 pied, two other individuals of a totally dif- 
 ferent character. These were two men in his 
 own state of captivity, but bearing the evidence 
 of infinitely worse treatment than he had suf- 
 fered. One of them was old, and as venerable 
 as grey locks and beard could make him, and 
 he bore the badges of official respectability, in 
 the silver chain and medal and white staff, 
 which spoke him to be Provost Marshal of 
 Flanders. The other, of middle age and vigo- 
 rous form, was Louis Dranckaert of Liege,
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 189 
 
 the assistant of tlie former, under the title of 
 lieutenant. This poor fellow shewed frightful 
 marks of violence, having had both his ears 
 recently cut off. Gaspar, stern as he could be 
 on occasion, turned away disgusted from 
 the pale and bleeding lieutenant, but to cast 
 his eyes on the mangled bodies of ten or a 
 dozen men, who bore the Provost's livery, and 
 had been all put to death by the robbers after 
 an encounter which had just taken place ; and 
 the troop whose approach had led to the 
 Moriscee's premature arrival amidst these * 
 scenes, had been returning from completing 
 the destruction of the small escort, backed by 
 which the Provost had had the temerity to 
 summon the picaroons to surrender. 
 
 The miserable . unctionary, his grey head un- 
 covered, and his garments torn and disfigured, 
 lay on the ground beside his maimed assistant. 
 They were tied back to back, and presented a 
 doleful contrast in appearance ; which afforded, 
 however, matter of mingled merriment and
 
 190 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 abuse to the abandoned women, who danced 
 round them, with scurrilous gestures and vile 
 jests. 
 
 As Schenck advanced into the little valley, 
 he spoke, from time to time, a few words of 
 command ; and some of his officers galloped off 
 in different directions, posting videttes, and 
 making dispositions that indicated a regular 
 halt for the night. The mules were unladen, 
 and provisions spread on the earth ; some tents 
 were pitched, and portions of provender served 
 out for the horses. All these operations went 
 on quite independently of the dark business 
 about to be acted ; and to prepare for which 
 the captain had taken his station in the middle 
 of the vale. Surrounded by the greater part of 
 the troops, he stood there for a while, silently, 
 and leaning on his huge rapier, his hands on the 
 hilt, and his chin resting upon them. He had, 
 however, given some signal, or whispered some 
 orders to those near him, for the Provost and 
 liis lieutenant were roughly raised from the 

 
 THE HEIRESS OF ERUGES. 191 
 
 earth, the cords which bound them together 
 loosened, and they separately brought to stand 
 opposite to Schenck. A similar signal, with- 
 out any word being spoken, caused Gaspar to 
 be dragged forward. The gloomy captain then 
 spoke, with malignant irony of look and ac- 
 cent. 
 
 ■ " Most worshipful Provost Marshal, hear 
 me ! In virtue of your servile function, you 
 dared to cope with me. I have smote you, and 
 your base crew. Are you ready to die .?"" 
 
 '' Martin Schenck," replied the old man, " I * 
 have nov\ght to expect from your mercy. I 
 know my hour is come. I am ready, since it 
 must be so ; and may Heaven pardon my 
 sins !" 
 
 " Louis Dranckaert, thou cropped lieute- 
 nant, thy persecutions against many a brave 
 man cry out for vengeance. Prepare for 
 death !" 
 
 " Martin Schenck, thou cruel renegade, I 
 scorn your ribaldry, and defy you, with my last
 
 192 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 breath," said the lieutenant, in accents of de- 
 spairing bitterness. 
 
 Schenck bit his lips and grinded his teeth, 
 with suppressed rage. 
 
 " On with the work," cried he. " Let Fray 
 Pedro do his duty." 
 
 The cords that bound the prisoners' arms 
 were drawn still more tightly, and they writhed 
 with pain. Large drops stood on the forehead 
 of the old man, and rage and agony mingled 
 together in the expression of Drank aert''s 
 ghastly visage. They were removed to a little 
 distance from the circle, by a band of eight or 
 ten too ready executioners ; and Gaspar expect - 
 ed every moment to see them struck to the 
 ground by blade or bullet, or strtmg up like 
 dogs to the branches of some overhanging tree. 
 But a more shocking fate was meant for them, 
 what in common phrase would be called a re- 
 finement of cruelty, but we cannot apply that 
 epithet in any sense to the brutality that ima- 
 gined it.
 
 dK 
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 193 
 
 Standing out a little way from the skirts of 
 the forest which surrounded the valley at all 
 sides, were the crumbling remains of an old cork 
 tree. It had been blasted by lightning, and 
 had withered away by age, and all that was 
 left was the shell of its trunk, dried up to the 
 consistency of tinder, in which was a cavity 
 capable of containing two men. Round this 
 tree materials for a fire had been prepared by 
 the odious women before mentioned ; and at the 
 last words uttered by Schenck, a light was 
 placed to it, and it was instantly in flames. The 
 trunk soon caught fire, and the blaze rose all 
 around it, leaving unharmed the dark hollow 
 within, looking black as the purpose it was 
 meant to serve. 
 
 The victims looked on this frightful place of 
 death, and they saw what was intended for 
 them. The Provost cast his eyes towards Hea- 
 ven, and his hands opened out convulsively, but 
 could not join together, so tightly was he 
 pinioned. He prayed fervently, but did not 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 attempt to move from the spot. Dranckaert's 
 visage, as he gazed on the cruel means of tor- 
 ture, assumed all the wildness of despair, but 
 of that manly kind which does not shrink from, 
 but rushes to a struggle with fate. He clench- 
 ed his hands ; stamped against the earth ; 
 gnashed his teeth ; and loudly cursed his tor- 
 turers. Some laughed at this, and mocked his 
 rage. Others struck him, and strove to force 
 him to silence, but in vain. Gaspar looked on 
 at the scene, himself pinioned like a felon, and 
 doubtful if he were not meant to share the doom 
 of the others. But he forgot the fear of his 
 own probable doom, while looking on the cer- 
 tainty of theirs ; and he felt a thrill of horror, as 
 he turned his eyes towards the furnace-looking 
 tree, and the group close to it. The prisoners 
 were forcibly placed on their knees ; the furious 
 lieutenant held down by four powerful men, 
 who, with handkerchiefs upon his mouth, stop- 
 ped the utterance of his imprecations. The 
 women and a large part of the men knelt
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 195 
 
 around, attentively listening to the service for 
 the dead, mumbled by Fray Pedro, who stood 
 in the centre, close to the prisoners. This mock- 
 ery of the priesthood held a crucifix before 
 him, 
 
 " And in his hand his breviary he bore, 
 That much was worn, but therein little read, 
 For of devotion he had little store ;" 
 
 and enveloped in the smoke that curled towards 
 him from the burning tree, he might be thought 
 a fiend of hell, reading the sentence of con- 
 demnation to the damned. 
 
 The ruffian who had the charge of the execu- 
 tion at length waved his sword, and caused a 
 trumpet to sound, as the friar motioned to him 
 that the rites were concluded. In a moment 
 the kneeling guard arose, the women sprang up, 
 and the doomed men were seized and hurried 
 towards the tree. The Provost, exhausted by 
 fear or resigned by fortitude, svibmitted pati- 
 ently, and was thrust into the cavity through 
 the encircling flames. But the united force of 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 as many men as could lay hands on Dranckaert 
 was insufficient to master the gigantic strength 
 he put forth. Bounding and struggling against 
 all their efforts, his power seemed more than 
 human. As they strove to tie his legs, his des- 
 perate plunges defied them. He struck several 
 to the ground ; and tossing his head to and fro, 
 like a baited bull, he made it a weapon fiercely 
 effective. Several pistols and swords were held 
 close to him ; but death by such means would 
 have been mercy, and he courted their assault. 
 
 " Not a shot, not a stroke !" cried the ruffian 
 in command. " In with him, in with him, 
 alive into the flames !"" 
 
 By this time Dranckaert had succeeded in 
 freeing himself from the cloth which had been 
 forced into his mouth and tied round his head. 
 Then burst forth a torrent of execration from 
 his foaming lips, which rose above the hoarse 
 curses of his executioners, the screams of the 
 female fiends, and the continued blast of the 
 horns and trumpets.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 197 
 
 iC 
 
 Fire and flame for ever on ye, dastard 
 villains ! Is this a death for a man ! Cow- 
 ards ! slaves ! you cannot, you shall not ! 
 Heaven shall crush ye ! hell swallow you first ! 
 — Help, help, against these monsters ! — Is 
 there not one man among you, to send a bullet 
 through my brains ! Miscreants, set me free, 
 or kill me as a soldier and a man ! And 
 you, Martin Schenck — I see you ! cold-hearted 
 wretch ! Look at that old man — see his grey 
 hairs scorching — ^his limbs cramped — see him 
 suffocating, smothering, and burning ! Curs'e 
 on you ; desperate and agonizing death to you ! 
 By flame or flood you shall perish !" 
 
 This fearful harangue was now attempted 
 to be broken by the loathsome Fra Pedro, who 
 in a fatal moment for himself, advanced his 
 squalid face close to Dranckaert*'s, and, with 
 mock solemnity, warned him to be in peace with 
 all men, on pain of eternal, instead of tempo- 
 rary, fire ! As if the sight of this odious thing 
 h^d roused Dranckaert's expiring strength
 
 198 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 above all previous effort, he now with one 
 bound burst the thick cords that held him, and 
 with a sudden grasp, he seized the friar by the 
 throat in both his bony hands. While some 
 of the robbers strove in vain to extricate their 
 chaplain, the greater number pressed forward 
 the group towards the flaming tree, which now 
 began to crackle. The fire penetrated to the 
 cavity, and deep groans from the Provost told 
 they had reached his body. But Dranckaert's 
 fingers were close locked together, in a gripe 
 that no force but his own will, or the stroke of 
 death might unclose. He did not now speak. 
 But as if satisfied with his revenge, he was 
 pushed resistingly into the hollowed trunk, 
 dragging the body of the priest close to him, 
 and fixing his eyes on the features, convulsed 
 by strangulation, and scorched by the flames. 
 
 At this instant a pistol shot was heard, 
 Schenck, ever watchful, saw through an opening 
 in the wood one of his videttes darting towards
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGE& 
 
 them ; and he heard the loud war-cry ttiat he 
 loved the least, in fast pursuit. 
 
 " A Bassenvelt ! a Bassenvelt !" was screamed 
 in full chorus from a hundred throats ; and a 
 volley of carbine shots whistled through the 
 forest. 
 
 " Up, up, and to arms !" cried the intrepid 
 Schenck, and the call was echoed by his men. 
 He was in an instant in his saddle ; and, taking 
 the command of this guard, he posted himself 
 the foremost towards what had been the rear, 
 but was now changed to the front of his posi- 
 tion. His eye seemed everywhere at once ; 
 and the alarm spread from front to centre of 
 the whole body, as though it ran along an elec- 
 tric chain. But the band that had been 
 charged with the murderous task of destruction 
 on the provost and his dauntless assistant, did 
 not resign their work. There seemed still time 
 enough for its completion ; but, happily, there 
 was not. 
 
 Schenck and his followers expected, as usual.
 
 200 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 a charge of cavalry from Bassenvelt's hussars ; 
 and they knew that in this narrow pass a con- 
 test, if even ending in defeat and flight on their 
 parts, might be a long one. But on this 
 occasion the commander of the Walloon force 
 adopted the better plan of making his men 
 dismount at the entrance of the forest, and they 
 immediately appeared on foot, their pikes and 
 rapiers glistening through the trees. 
 
 ••' Retreat ! retreat !" shouted the wary 
 Schenck — " off with the baggage mules, and let 
 the waggons block up the road !" 
 
 As he uttered these words, and turned round 
 to see them obeyed, a fresh volley was poured 
 from the advancing foe, when his horse, struck 
 by a bullet in the very brain, made one upward 
 plunge, and then fell with his still undis- 
 mounted rider to the earth. 
 
 At sight of this, the picaroons fled in every 
 direction, the murdering executioners and the 
 women along with the rest. Only two men 
 remained near their fallen commander, and of
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. ^201 
 
 these one was mortally wounded, and the other 
 dead. Their horses sprang away, and the 
 whole band dispersed. Before Schenck could 
 extricate himself from under his struggling 
 charger, several of De Bassenvelt's men came 
 up, and seeing who they had before them, 
 they refused his demand for death, and pre- 
 pared to secure him. Others, attracted by the 
 blazing fire and the faint groans of the sufferers, 
 ran forward and dragged them forth. Some 
 released the Moriscoe, who ran towards the 
 spot of the barbarous scene he had shudder*- 
 ingly witnessed. 
 
 The Provost was fearfully burnt, and appa- 
 rently at his last gasp. Dranckaert soon re- 
 vived ; but when he loosened his grasp from 
 the friar's throat, it was proved to have been 
 indeed the grasp of death, for the miserable 
 wretch lay strangled on the grass. 
 
 As soon as the bustle of Gaspar''s feelings 
 allowed him a moment for thought, and having 
 ascertained that the old provost was not be- 
 
 k3
 
 202 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 yond the reach of recovery, he hurried to the 
 place where Schenck had fallen, with a view 
 to save him from violence, for he remembered 
 that but for him the robber's dagger had 
 pierced his heart. He found him on his legs 
 and unhurt, silently and sullenly listening to 
 the harangue of an important looking per- 
 sonage, who evidently was the chief in com* 
 mand of the hostile troops ; while the dis- 
 mounted detachment, of full a hundred more, 
 whose quick attack had so completely suc^^ 
 ceeded, advanced in regular order through the 
 woods. A body of horsemen of still larger 
 force came trooping forward, and dashed on 
 at full speed along the road ; the personage 
 just mentioned gave his loud command in the 
 Walloon jargon, made even worse than it is in 
 itself by a thick Spanish accent — *' No quarter 
 for the outlaws ! — extermination to the pica- 
 roons — no prisoner but this one !" 
 
 The person who spoke this with stentorian 
 lungs, was a tall, gaunt man, mounted on a
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 203 
 
 fine horse of true Flanders breed, and, in the 
 custom of the commanders of those days, 
 dressed in a half suit of mail. He wore a 
 black cuirass and helmet, but his thighs and 
 legs had no protection beyond thick buff 
 breeches and huge boots. His loose sleeves 
 were of dark purple cloth, the uniform of the 
 regiment ; a blue silk scarf hung from his left 
 shoulder, and from his right a baldrick of 
 black leather, in which was the shining steel 
 scabbard of the rapier that he flourished in his 
 hand. His high-peaked saddle was almost « 
 breast- work before, and a thickly-folded brown 
 cloak formed a back-work behind : and there 
 hung at either side a leathern bag for pro- 
 visions for man and beast. His heels were 
 garnished with spurs of immense length. A 
 brace of brass-mounted petronels filled his 
 bear-skin holsters; a long lance stood in its 
 rest in the right side stirrup ; and he thus pre- 
 sented the figure of a fully accoutred officer 
 of De Bassenvelt's black Walloons.
 
 204 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 The common soldiers differed in tlieir cos- 
 tume only by the absence of the scarf, and the 
 addition of a belt, holding a bandelier for pow- 
 der and bullets for their carabines, the use of 
 which, for cavalry, had been lately adopted in 
 the regiment, in imitation of a change made by 
 Prince Maurice in the equipment of the Dutch 
 troops. Gaspar, who had a quick eye for mi- 
 litary matters, thought as these troopers defiled 
 along, each man leading a horse for those who 
 did the service of foot soldiers, or Fantassins, 
 as they were called, that he had never seen 
 among the boasted veterans of the great Duke 
 of Parma, such fine looking, gallant, and well 
 appointed fellows. During the few minutes 
 consumed in their passing by, the commander 
 gave his instructions to the several officers un- 
 der his orders for the dispersion, and, if pos- 
 sible, the destruction of the marauders ; and 
 reserving but a few men with him, he renewed 
 the harangue which he had been addressing to 
 the captive Schenck, when Gaspar hastened to 
 the spot.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 205 
 
 " No, Martin Schenck, death is a boon not 
 to be granted to a man like you. My orders 
 were to spare you — to force life upon you ; 
 and a hard task it was for me, who have 
 given death to hundreds — to me, whose sword 
 blade wears an everlasting blush from the 
 slaughter this arm has done ! Know that 
 you are now prisoner to none other than 
 Don Diego Leonis, so called from having 
 killed single handed three lions on the Barbary 
 coast, lieutenant-colonel in De Bassenvelt's hus- 
 sars, and one who should be, if honours were 
 the meed of valour, a Knight of the Golden 
 Fleece long since. Knovv that — " 
 
 " Be you who you may, obey your orders 
 — take me hence, but do not smother me with 
 the smoke of your boastings,''"' said Schenck, 
 with a sternness that utterly discomfited the 
 vapouring Spaniard. He turned himself two 
 or three times half round in his demipique 
 saddle, under the pretence of looking to his 
 detachment, although they were all out of
 
 206 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 sight and in hot pursuit of the picaroons, 
 as was told by the straggling shots sounding 
 tlirough the wood. 
 
 Don Diego, however, recovered his presence 
 of speech, and rising up awfully in his broad 
 stirrups, he looked fiercely at Schenck,and said — 
 
 " You know the impunity with which you 
 may wag a tongue at one who only wields a 
 sword. You are my prisoner, and I pity 
 your misfortune, while I brook your insolence : 
 but were you free, Martin Schenck, by our 
 holy Lady of Lerida, I would lift you from 
 the earth, and toss you up so high towards 
 heaven, that you should be dead before you 
 touched terra-firma again !" 
 
 " A good rhodomontade, my brave brag- 
 gart ! and, depend on"'t, when I am free, you 
 shall have an opportunity of redeeming your 
 boast ! Lead me away !" 
 
 " Well ordered, great commander, with 
 nought to command ! But you must now 
 learn to obey, instead of bullying ! Another
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BllUGES. 207 
 
 word will draw my gauntlet towards your 
 mouth ; and if I once place my hand upon it, 
 the blazing breath of Vesuvius could not re- 
 move it till yoiirs be stifled !" 
 
 Satisfied with this volcanic burst of elo- 
 quence, and afraid of some unceremonious 
 retort, the Don proceeded once more to give 
 out his orders for the safe conduct of his 
 prisoner, and the care-taking of the Provost 
 and his lieutenant, to whose rescue he had 
 specially advanced. He also, with the caution 
 of a good soldier, attended to the advice 
 brought back to him at intervals by scouts 
 from the party in advance ; and being satisfied 
 that the outlaws made no effectual resistance^, 
 and that the purport of his expedition was 
 fully answered, he prepared with no small 
 triumph to convey his several trophies to 
 Welbasch Castle, where he stated his colonel, 
 Count I von, to be waiting, " not doubtingly, 
 for he knows his man — but anxiously, for the 
 accomplishment of this arduous task."
 
 208 THE IIEIllESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 As these preparations were making, and 
 while the Provost and Louis Dranckaert were 
 carefully placed on rudely constructed litters, 
 and Schenck securely fastened on the back of 
 a large mule, Don Diego's eye fell upon 
 Gaspar ; and he was not slow in inquiring 
 every particular as to his place of abode, his 
 destination, and his sojourn with the robbers. 
 When the Moriscoe told as much of himself 
 as he chose to reveal, and stated that he was 
 bound to Welbasch Castle with the intention 
 of joining De Bassenvelfs force, the com- 
 mander instantly assured him of safe conduct, 
 and the speedy means of arrival. He pointed 
 to one of the robbers' horses, which had fled 
 on the discharge which killed its owner, and 
 which had been caught and secured by a man 
 of Don Diego's body guard. 
 
 " There," said he to Gaspar, " is the just 
 return for the loss of your own steed, good 
 fellow. Mount it — pursue your way, and have 
 the glory of bearing the first news of my
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 209 
 
 victory ! Speak moderately of my valour, for 
 it needs no trumpeter. Talk not of my cle- 
 mency ; be silent as to my magnanimity. The 
 name of Don Diego Leonis is in itself a war- 
 rant of all. Say only you were sent by me^ 
 and Fate itself will turn pale at the very 
 shadow which my coming casts before it. 
 Away ! and speed you ! The echo of your 
 horse''s hoofs shall herald the advance of a 
 hero !" 
 
 Gaspar, scarcely venturing to believe the 
 reality of this fortunate termination to his ad- 
 venture, mounted his new steed, and found him 
 at once of high mettle and tractable. He 
 obeyed most willingly the orders of Don Diego, 
 and departed at good speed, and recovering 
 his composure by the time he passed the 
 Sambre without let or difficulty, he turned his 
 thoughts once more to the absorbing subject 
 of his mission, and seemed to look upon the 
 stirring interruptions it had experienced, but as 
 visioned fancies rising on his brain.
 
 210 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The broad disk of the evening sun, was 
 sinking behind the forests of Hul and Mar- 
 liere. The little stream that separates them 
 was tinged by the red gleams which, reflected 
 from a mass of fleecy clouds, spread far across 
 the Meuse, and full upon every object on its 
 eastern bank. The most prominent of those, 
 in that part where the river runs its course 
 directly northward from Dinant to Namur, 
 (and nearly midway between the villages of 
 Rouillon and Bouvignes,) was the Castle of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 211 
 
 Welbasch, on a high ridge, that presents an 
 ahnost perpendicular face of granite to the 
 scorching rays which strike against it from 
 noon to sunset. 
 
 All the way down this steep descent, nature 
 had formed stations of almost impregnable 
 defence. Bastions and ramparts rose, in ap- 
 pearance, in regular lines, so as to deceive the 
 most practised eye which viewed them from 
 the western side of the stream, into the belief 
 that the art of fortification had been labori- 
 ously practised there. At the foot was the close 
 built and gothic village, containing forty or 
 fifty houses, and an old ruinous church, which 
 claimed an antiquity even more remote than 
 the castle that crowned the heights. An in^ 
 scription, scarcely legible, vouched that it was 
 built by Hugo de Warfusee, (better known in 
 the old chronicles as the rich Miller of Awys,) 
 somewhile about the year 1100. The castle 
 was nearly fifty years younger, being com- 
 menced by Messire Libert, the grandson of
 
 212 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Hugo, and finished by continual additions • 
 of his three sons and successors, until it 
 became one of the most extensive, and in- 
 comparably the most important, of the fort- 
 resses that guarded that line of frontier. 
 Passing through several generations of this 
 ancient race, in direct descent from one of the 
 sons of Raes de Warfusee, it finally came into 
 the family of Bassenvelt, in the person of 
 Gerard, surnamed the Saracen, from a strange 
 fancy which possessed him after his return 
 from the Holy Land, and of which the castle 
 itself bore evidence, up to the very time of 
 which we now treat. 
 
 This Gerard, who had in the furor of 
 enthusiasm sold all his estates, with the excep- 
 tion of this castle and its grounds, and fol- 
 lowed, about the year 1275, in the train of the 
 latest fanatics that formed the eighth crusade, 
 was made prisoner by an Egyptian chieftain, 
 and passed several years in slavery. By some 
 lucky but unrecorded chance, he saved the life
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 213 
 
 of his master, who set him free, on the con- 
 dition of his never again bearing arms against 
 the followers of the Prophet. Gerard returned 
 safely to his native land, and in the fantastic 
 spirit of the times, he approached his own cas- 
 tle disguised as a pilgrim, intending to himself 
 and his Chatelaine, the delight of a romantic 
 surprise. A night's lodging was accorded him 
 and a supper as well. During the convivial 
 discourse of the menials at the repast, the dis- 
 guised master was inspired with suspicions 
 not favourable to his own honour or the fide- 
 lity of his spouse. He accordingly repaired, 
 in the silent hour of midnight, when the castle 
 was wrapped in sleep, to the well-remembered 
 chamber of the Chatelaine. She was not alone. 
 A handsome young page supplied the place of 
 her long-absent lord. In the excess of his 
 rage, Gerard killed his wife on the spot, but 
 reserved the page for a more lingering revenge. 
 The furious chieftain made himself known, 
 was placed in the possession of his rights, and
 
 2J4 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 was soon after seized with a phrenzy, quite 
 unique. He believed himself to be a Turk ; 
 adopted the Asiatic costume ; decorated his 
 chateau in the style of an eastern harem ; filled 
 it with the daughters of his villagers, whom 
 he forcibly seized from their fathers and lovers, 
 and made the guilty page take the place of 
 their guardian, with every possible security 
 against his repeating his old offence. 
 
 In three years this madman died ; but in 
 that period he had found means to metamor- 
 phose the exterior of his castle, in complete 
 unison with its internal masquerade. Over 
 the fine substratum of gothic architecture, he 
 had placed a layer, as might be said, of that 
 entitled saracenic. Towers and turrets, ogives 
 and eyletholes, were all intermixed and sur- 
 mounted with decorations suited to the Mina- 
 rets of the east ; and under the cornices and 
 parapets were rows of turbaned heads looking 
 grimly down, in different burlesque expressions, 
 as suited the pleasantry of the sculptor. So
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 215 
 
 the castle remained, for centuries after the death 
 of Count Gerard, who did not, however, extend 
 his innovations to any of the more important 
 characteristics of the place. It gained under 
 his descendants continual additions to its 
 strength, and at the epoch of our story it was 
 (in the possession of Count Ivon, and garrisoned 
 by his regiment of Walloons) looked on as a 
 place of such consequence, as to make its occu- 
 pier independent, in proportion as it was deemed 
 impregnable.* 
 
 On the skirts of the little alder grove, the 
 outmost plants of which dipped their branches 
 at every breath of wind into the river, stood 
 Caspar the Moriscoe, gazing vipwards on this 
 
 * Many of these traditional particulars have been attached to 
 the Chateau de Camblin-Chatelain, near Bethune, in Artois ; 
 and there is an old provincial ballad recording the story, com- 
 mencing thus : 
 
 " De la dame de Camblin 
 
 Qui veut ouir Taventure ?" 
 and ending 
 
 " Que les Turcs les plus mechans 
 
 Ne sont par les mecreans.''
 
 216 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 grotesque yet formidable fortress, and anxiously 
 watching the rays of the setting sun, as they 
 sloped down the opposite granite ridge and 
 gradually left the lower crags in shade. The 
 Moriscoe had no keen perception of the beauties 
 of inanimate nature, or he would have paused 
 long, and looked with delight on the exquisite 
 landscape around him. But his glances all 
 turned inwards, to the contemplation of his 
 own deep thoughts, or went abroad into a 
 scene of fancied triumph, when he should 
 mark Beatrice's seducer bleeding at his foot. 
 He stood sufficiently concealed among the 
 brushwood to avoid observation from the castle 
 or village ; and while his horse snatched a few 
 mouthfuls of young leaves from the tree to 
 which he was tied, Gaspar gazed with mortal 
 ken upon the castle, while his mental vision 
 pierced the recesses it could not enlighten. 
 
 The sun at length went down, and his dis- 
 appearance from the horizon was announced by
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 217 
 
 the discharge of one gun from the castle bat- 
 tlements, which echoed far across the river into 
 the distant forest. A dc"rk curl was on the 
 stream ; and the trout rose eagerly at the spring 
 flies which already came out in swarms. The 
 light alder twigs were ruffled; and the river 
 trembled, as the chill north breeze came 
 freshly up against the current. But Gaspar 
 saw not these little accidents of beauty, which 
 float on the bosom of creation, like the glitter- 
 ing insects sporting on the water's surface. 
 He only watched for the approach of the 
 promised boat and his mysterious guide, if 
 indeed it were not still possible that he had 
 left him behind, in the person of Schenck, to 
 whom his suspicions seemed magnetically to 
 turn. 
 
 Armed, as the Moriscoe now might call 
 himself, with the privilege of Don Diego's 
 message, he could calculate on safe entry into 
 Welbasch Castle, and fair welcome to himself 
 and his intelligence. But a repugnance to steal 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 into the bosom he meant to stab, to follow up 
 the words of friendship with the blow of death, 
 rose upon Gaspares conscience, which was not 
 callous to generous impressions. He had 
 rather not have been Don Diego's messenger. 
 He wished for no more than entrance to Count 
 Ivon's castle, as a mere stranger, and admission 
 to his presence, as on a simple matter of 
 business. He therefore resolved to wait 
 patiently awhile, to see if his promised com- 
 panion would appear, ere he presented himself 
 as the special and confidential herald of good 
 news, which was so soon to be forgotten, in 
 the deed he meant to perpetrate. Thus Gaspar 
 reasoned with himself ; but he, in fact, began 
 to feel the want of support. The better part 
 of his nature already faltered, as he pictured 
 to himself this chieftain, in his pride of com- 
 mand, in his revelry of love, to be struck to 
 the heart by his hand, and turning his last 
 looks and thoughts towards her, whose exis- 
 tence might be severed by the stroke which
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 219 
 
 was to end her bliss. It was guilty, to be 
 sure — so was she — so was he — yet they were 
 but mortals, and flesh was weak, and passion 
 strong ; and so the Moriscoe argued with him- 
 self, and half for them ; when, as if to force 
 down these thoughts of weakness, the looked- 
 for boat came silently across the stream, rowed 
 by a single man, whose cap and furred doublet 
 of light blue were clearly visible before he had 
 passed half way. A cloak which hung on his 
 shoulders was left open at the breast, as if 
 purposely to shew this token by which the 
 Moriscoe was to recognize him. 
 
 As soon as Gaspar saw this associate, his 
 heart bounded, but scarcely with joy. It 
 seemed, certainly, to fling away the doubts 
 and misgivings that had begun to press on it ; 
 yet it felt the removal not a relief, but rather 
 as a stripping off" of a mantle which had com- 
 fortably clothed the naked purport with which 
 it was filled. Gaspar did not thrill with that 
 wild energy which had before inspired him, as 
 
 L 2
 
 220 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 he stepped into the boat, leading his horse 
 along with him, in obedience to the silent 
 beckon of the masked person by whom it was 
 guided. But as he trod upon the side, he 
 almost started back again. He seemed to 
 plant his foot on the threshold of crime ; and 
 the question flashed irresistibly on his mind, 
 " Have I a right to kill this man?" He 
 hesitated, and must have looked what he felt, 
 for the boatman whispered to him, 
 
 '' Come in, come in ! There is no time for 
 hesitation noAv, we shall be observed and sus- 
 pected." 
 
 Gaspar made a sudden spring forward, and 
 stood fixed and statue-like in the boat. But 
 his emotion did not stand still. He was at 
 once convinced that his present companion was 
 not the strange horseman. Not only was the 
 whispering voice quite different, but the stature 
 of this person, though he sat while he plied his 
 oar, was evidently much taller, and in no 
 respect but in an air of youth and activity the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 221 
 
 same. As he looked on him, a doubt of 
 treachery once more ran through his mind. 
 Then a feeling that his former companion had 
 fallen into the hands of the robbers ; and then 
 those perplexing doubts of others, which are 
 natural to a man not sure of nor satisfied 
 with himself. But the rower pulled his boat 
 across, with no display of suspicion that he 
 was suspected; and in the few minutes thus 
 occupied, the following short colloquy took 
 
 place. 
 
 '* Have you the token ?" 
 
 " I have r and with these words Gaspar 
 handed over the Governor's ring. 
 
 " You are the brother of Beatrice ?'' 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 « You are ready to revenge her ?'' 
 
 " I am r 
 
 " You are sent by Don Juan de Trovaldo for 
 
 that purpose ?" 
 '' Yes." 
 " Then falter not. The blow once struck,
 
 222 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the dishonour of your race is revenged, you 
 are no more a slave ; and I shall have ample 
 means of rewarding your courage, and repairing 
 her wrongs. Speak not a word to me. Follow 
 my guidance ; enter the castle ; announce your 
 assumed name and pretended purpose ; and 
 demand to see the captain on duty for the day. 
 Through him ask a private interview with De 
 Bassenvelt — and then do your duty !"" 
 
 A finger slipped under the mask, and placed 
 on the speaker's lip, was the signal for 
 silence on both sides, and not a word more 
 was uttered. The boat was moored just above 
 the village. The passengers both landed ; and 
 Gaspar advanced, leading his horse close to his 
 guide, who took a winding path outside the 
 village skirts, that led to the first of a succession 
 of gates visible up the liill, communicating 
 with the fortress above. To this gate the guide 
 pointed, then raised his clenched fist above his 
 head, shaking it the while, in a manner to 
 denote some impressive meaning ; and imme-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 223 
 
 diately disappeared round one of the craggy 
 points of rock. 
 
 Gaspar, left thus once more to himself, hurried 
 forward without a moment's pause ; and having 
 undergone the strict examination of person and 
 purpose to which strangers of all classes were 
 subject, he was admitted into the precincts of 
 the fortress; and passing along under an 
 escort from the guard, he successively traversed 
 the various outworks, bridges, and moats, and 
 finally found himself within the castle walls. 
 Thus in the very heart of his enterprise, all the 
 boldness of his nature returned. He was no 
 longer irresolute. The struggle between good 
 feeling and fierce passion was over. The latter 
 had triumphed completely ; and his mind had 
 no room for thoughts or images, but those of 
 injury sustained and vengeance to come. 
 
 During the time occupied in the Moriscoe's 
 movements, the evening repast of the garrison 
 of Welbasch Castle had been merrily going 
 forward. Count Ivon de Bassenvelt sat at the
 
 224 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 head of his table, doing its honours with all 
 the grace of well-bred conviviality, blending 
 the joyous tone of social life with a sufficiency 
 of ceremonial — the medium between the bois- 
 terous manners of the country, and the un- 
 joyous etiquette of the court. Count Ivon's 
 whole bearing gave evidence of a close ac- 
 quaintance with the best society in vari- 
 ous countries ; and a natural current of good 
 fellowship was passed, as it were, through 
 the gauze of refinement, but it was not over- 
 strained. He was a Walloon by birth and 
 early education ; hardy, active, and bravC;, as 
 his countrymen have at all times been. But 
 much of his life had been spent in the Spanish 
 capital, after he had finished his education at 
 Salamanca, with intervals of service in the 
 armies of Philip II. in France and Italy. He 
 was, at the time of his introduction to our 
 readers, in his twenty-fifth year ; and he had 
 even then obtained the reputation of being one
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 225 
 
 of the most valiant soldiers and accomplished 
 libertines of his age. 
 
 On the accession of Albert and Isabella to 
 the sovereignty of the Low Countries (arch- 
 dukes, as they were called, without distinction 
 of genders), Count Ivon was chosen by Albert, 
 under whom he had served at the sieo^es of 
 Calais, Ardres, and Amiens, as one of the suite 
 by which he was accompanied into Brabant. 
 Ivon gladly accepted his appointment. All the 
 feelings of home attachment were awakened. 
 Earlv recollections crowded on his mind ; love 
 of change gave a fresh impulse to his satisfac- 
 tion. But a deeper sentiment than any of these 
 made him rejoice in this new turn in his destiny. 
 He had in him an inherent love of liberty, and 
 a prompt sense of justice, which joined to 
 excite his sympathy in the struggle which had 
 so long been maintained by the Netherlands 
 against the powerful tyranny of Spain. He 
 marked every step of the country towards the 
 freedom she fought for ; but he grieved to 
 
 L 3
 
 226 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 find his native province degraded again under 
 the Spanish yoke from the position it had 
 for some time held, as a member of " the peace 
 of religion," by virtue of which, a community 
 of interests and an equality of rights, a 
 merging of sectarian opinions in the common 
 cause, had been fixed as the basis of the na- 
 tional charter. Ivon felt that Brabant might 
 be regenerated ; and he glowed with the thought 
 that he might be the means. 
 
 With these views, he obtained the Arch- 
 duke'^s permission to visit his old paternal castle, 
 and the remnant of property attached to it ; 
 and when once there, he contemplated with 
 delight the facilities offered by the place 
 towards the furtherance of his design. He had 
 the old furniture polished up, and established 
 a hasty and imperfect household. The country 
 was just at that period infested by such ma- 
 rauders as those whom we have brought before 
 our readers. Long arrears of pay gave an 
 excuse for the numerous desertions from the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 227 
 
 archduke''s army, which ran to an alarming 
 extent through the Spanish and Italian veterans; 
 and many bands were formed, made up of all 
 that could be conceived of desperate and dan- 
 gerous. To oppose these brigands, heavy taxes 
 were levied on the people of the country ; and 
 they were often forced to contribute in person 
 as well as purse toward the suppression of the 
 common pest. Independent levies were raised 
 by several of the seigneurs, to act for a limited 
 time against them ; and among others, De 
 
 • 
 
 Bassenvelt applied for and obtained a com- 
 mission to oro'anise a remment of six hundred 
 men. 
 
 With military talent and tact far above the 
 common, ardour and activity of mind and 
 body, and the inspiring object next his heart. 
 Count Ivon raised and equipped his regiment 
 in an incredibly short period. In the free 
 system of recruiting at that time practised, 
 he found no difficulty in obtaining well disci- 
 plined veterans, discharged from or volun-
 
 228 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 tarily giving up the service of the archdukes, or 
 the neighbouring German states, where Pal- 
 graves and Rhinegraves retained for temporary 
 occasions bodies of armed followers, trained 
 for warfare and tried in its pursuit. The 
 funds for this purpose were obtained by Count 
 Ivon solely from his own resources. He sold 
 to the readiest bidder (which he considered to 
 the best advantage) all that remained of his 
 inheritance, but the castle and its immediate 
 appurtenances, and the village, which might 
 be considered a part of them. He laid in a 
 store of provisions and ammunition. He re- 
 jected offers of assistance from the states of the 
 province (to their great satisfaction, the want 
 of money being at its most ruinous height), for 
 he would incur no obligation that might be 
 turned to a reproach in the course which he 
 meant to follow. 
 
 In a very few months De Bassenvelt's pre- 
 parations for the avowal of his project were 
 nearly ripe ; but before they were, and ere
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 229 
 
 the complete formation of his troop, he had 
 made himself and it formidable to the free- 
 booters, and famous throughout the provinces, 
 by a series of deeds, the success of which gave 
 to temerity the stamp of prudence. He soon 
 cleared his own neighbourhood for leagues 
 around, of the cruel bands that had so long 
 ravaged it ; and the gratitude of the people of 
 several districts raised their admiration almost 
 to idolatry. He was already in their minds 
 a hero; but he had, as yet, done nothing to 
 make him appear so to his own, except, per- 
 haps, in one instance of self-denial and self- 
 command, which was, however, of a personal 
 and not a political nature. Added to this 
 sketch, the acknowledgment that he was too 
 notoriously addicted to the licentious habits 
 of the times and of his peculiar course of 
 life, and a tolerably correct notion may be 
 formed of Count Ivon de Bassenvelt, as he 
 presided at the supper table, where we have 
 introduced him to the reader.
 
 230 THE mCIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 The eating-hall of the castle of Welbasch 
 differed in no wise from those common to 
 such ancient buildings, and a hundred times 
 described, except in its characteristic addi- 
 tions of eastern ornaments, and even these 
 had in a great measure crumbled away, or 
 been defaced by the successors of Gerard the 
 Saracen. The black oak floor and wainscot- 
 ting — the high, narrow casements, with squares 
 of stained glass irregularly mixed with those 
 of the common kind, which replaced each 
 broken pane of costly manufacture — the mas- 
 sive mantelpiece of black marble, dug from 
 the celebrated quarries of Namur, were all dis- 
 tinctive of the old buildings contiguous to that 
 we describe ; and, in the fashion of the days, 
 helmets, banners, and battle-pieces hung round 
 the walls, to remind the feasters of their fa- 
 thers'* calling and their own. 
 
 In this room were laid out every day at noon, 
 and again at sunset, two tables. The one at the 
 upper end was composed of covers for twenty or
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 231 
 
 more, and at it sat the count, the chaplain, the 
 officers of De Bassenvelt's regiment who were 
 present at the castle, and not on outward duty, 
 and such visitors as might claim the hospitality 
 of the place. The second table was meant 
 for the inferior members of the household 
 above the rank of mere domestics, such as 
 the genealogist, the librarian, the master of 
 the horse, the chapel organist, and two or 
 three more, with a few vacant places for such 
 persons of the same grades as might accom- 
 pany the visitors, or who might by chance 
 come separately to the castle. 
 
 On the present occasion. Count Ivon filled 
 his chair at the head of the board, dressed in 
 a suit of finest purple broad cloth of Liege, 
 richly embroidered with silver lace ; his pour- 
 point profusely studded with fillagree buttons ; 
 a surcoat, lined with white taffeta, hanging 
 from his shoulders; and his loose breeches, 
 slashed with blue silk ; while boots of chamois 
 leather wrinkled down his legs, and shewed his
 
 232 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 silk hose and well-turned limbs. His dark 
 hair, curling loosely on his shoulders, gave a 
 softened expression to his countenance, which 
 was attractive rather from its animated and 
 versatile character than from the possession of 
 any distinct line of beauty. Beside him sat a 
 youth in a handsome suit of grey. Eight or 
 ten officers, in the uniform of the corps, had 
 their seats midway down, leaving several va- 
 cant at intervals ; and at the foot sat another, 
 who, unlike the rest, was fully armed and 
 accoutred in the same style as Don Diego 
 Leonis had appeared to Gaspar. This was 
 the captain of the day, Count Lyderic de 
 Roulemonde, a young man of fine appearance, 
 the chosen friend and confidant of his colonel, 
 who, in his tour of duty appeared, as was the 
 custom, thus armed and ready for immediate 
 service. 
 
 As the evening gun was fired, this officer 
 had left the castle to go his rounds to the 
 battlements and outposts, to see that the dif-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 233 
 
 ferent guards were on the alert, and receive 
 their various reports. Supper had been begun 
 ere he returned; and as he re-entered the 
 hall he found De Bassenvelt, in his wonted 
 manner, passing the wine-flask round, and 
 stimulating his friends by social example, and 
 taking every occasion to instil into them a 
 portion of his own spirit, thus preparing 
 them for the great purpose he had not yet 
 avowed. 
 
 *' Well, well, reverend Sir," said he, turn- 
 ing to Father Jerome, the chaplain and also 
 curate of the little parish and village of 
 Welbasch, " it may all be true for what we 
 know ; but the real witchcraft is that which 
 inspires brave men with the love of country, 
 and bright women with enthusiasm for the 
 pursuits of those they love ! So fill, gentle- 
 men, another goblet of Rhein-wine to pa- 
 triotism and love !" 
 
 " Yes, my son, that is very well from your 
 mouth ; but you must not stop mine, nor
 
 234) THE HPJIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 slur over my argument with slight and ri- 
 baldry. I repeat that a belief in magic is 
 consistent with sound theology, in unison with 
 holy writ, and proved to be just by this very 
 book of Martin Delrio, of Antwerp, one of 
 the most learned and pious men of these mi- 
 serable and troublous days.'" 
 
 The good old priest having uttered these 
 words peevishly, laid his hand on the huge 
 Latin volume he had that morning received 
 from Brussels, and which had led to this dis- 
 cussion ; and he was inclined to translate again 
 into the barbarous dialect of the province se- 
 veral of the passages which had before pro- 
 voked the laughter of his irreverent auditors. 
 But Count I von had heard enough of the fana- 
 tic author of the absurd work in question, and 
 he was resolved to stifle the garrulity of the 
 old curate, whose after-supper topic was sure 
 to be some abstruse theological quirk or sec- 
 tarian quibble, started by the fierce disputes 
 just then in fashion. When, therefore, the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 235 
 
 old man quoted, as from some oracle, the 
 ravings of Francis Coster, of Mechlin, called 
 by his admirers " the Hammerer of the Here- 
 tics,"" or some burst of bigotry from the Jesuits 
 of Louvain, De Bassenvelt contrived to turn 
 the subject into channels leading to his own 
 purposes, but was rarely able to do so without 
 receiving some tart reproof from the testy 
 chaplain. 
 
 " No, Father Jerome," said he, in reply to 
 the old man's last retort, ''I lay my protest 
 against further citations. You have read 
 enough to confuse us all, who cannot cope with 
 your folio. We are true believers, and admit 
 every thing ; and as we swallow all your 
 authorities, you must not refuse to do as much 
 by ours. Here, boy V added he to the varlet 
 who stood behind his chair, " another flagon 
 of Hocheim, and place a fresh one beside 
 Count Lyderic — I hear his spurs and rapier 
 rattling along the passage. Come, gentlemen, 
 and you, my good father, I pledge ye all
 
 236 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 
 
 in a bumper to friendship — and here comes 
 its living illustration — health to you, Lyderic ! 
 we drank to you in spirit, if not by name ! 
 Why, how now, valiant captain ! you look as 
 gloomy as if an enemy were at the walls !" 
 
 Lyderic, who had entered while Count Ivon 
 thus addressed him, (and as the testy old chap- 
 lain retired, his oracle under his arm,) ad- 
 vanced with a serious air to the head of the 
 table, to deliver the written guard-reports to 
 his colonel. He smiled, but as if smiling 
 were a pain to him, as the latter rallied him on 
 his grave looks, and answered— 
 
 '' Excuse me if I seem serious while on 
 duty. When the reports are read, I shall 
 wash down my gravity with a full horn of 
 Rhein-wine, and return my commander's 
 pledge with due humility for the honour 
 he vouchsafed me." 
 
 A scowling and satirical leer accompanied 
 this speech, as Lyderic strode to his former 
 place, looking downwards the while, except
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 237 
 
 while he threw one glance that spoke some- 
 thing, and that obscurely, to the youth who 
 sat at De Bassenvelt's side. 
 
 " All is right, it seems/' said the latter, as 
 he ran his quick eye over the reports, not 
 paying any apparent attention to the answer 
 he had received. '* You found nothing to 
 mention specially ?''"' 
 
 " No — if I may not except the arrival of a 
 stranger, whom I observed crossing the ferry 
 above the village."" 
 
 *' Who passed him over ?"''' 
 
 "A view from the southern postern could 
 scarcely let me distinguish that," answered 
 Lyderic, as if some offence had been conveyed 
 in the question. 
 
 '' No matter,*" exclaimed Count I von ; "if 
 his business be to us, we shall soon know his 
 introduction. What sort of person may he 
 
 her 
 
 " I should think him a Spanish soldier, from 
 his plumed morion and his horses-housings.^'
 
 238 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 *' Then he is likely to come from Brussels. 
 Another message, I warrant it, from the arch- 
 duke to appear at court ; but they may sum- 
 mon me in vain ! Time is too precious at a 
 juncture like this, to be wasted at court revel- 
 ries. I record my refusal ere the invitation 
 comes. You all bear witness, my friends, that 
 while my distracted country needs my pre- 
 sence, I shall move in no direction that her 
 interests do not point to. Fill up once more, 
 gentlemen ! and he who loves Brabant will see 
 his liquor on a level with his goblet^s brim ! 
 This round is to the regeneration of our pro- 
 vince, for it is ours, all of us, by adoption 
 even if not by birth. Drink, my friends, and 
 then think I Let reflection aid the digestion 
 of your wine ! We are all Walloons to- 
 day !" 
 
 "Ay, are we, Count,'' exclaimed a rough 
 Saxon, the major of the corps, whose blue 
 eye and fair hair and beard gave an air of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 239 
 
 mildness to a countenance expressing in its 
 other parts a daring almost ferocious. 
 
 " We are Walloons in heart and mind — the 
 bright coin you have so profusely given us 
 has naturalized us all. This is the age for 
 soldiers of fortune ! The land that pays the 
 best is mine ! Then here's to Brabant ! and 
 may her iron mines be alchymized into gold !'"* 
 and he emptied his brimming goblet at a 
 draught. 
 
 " I cannot, with your permission. Colonel, 
 let the sentiment of my friend and comrade 
 here pass by without some comment," said a 
 tall, rawboned, and red- headed Scotch captain, 
 with a puritanical whine more unpleasantly 
 flavouring his northern pronunciation of the 
 Walloon French, spoken by the whole party : 
 " such a speech might have come well from a 
 Schwarzreiter or Lanznecht of a century back ; 
 but I hope that these mercenary notions do 
 not apply to gentlemen who sell their swords 
 in a just quarrel, to root out robbers, or cut
 
 240 THE HEIRESS OF BRUOES. 
 
 off corruption. I therefore drink regeneration 
 to Brabant ! and I hope it will begin at the 
 right end, by letting in the pure light of refor- 
 mation, and — " 
 
 " Hold there !" cried three or four Walloons 
 and a Spaniard, rising at once, and joining 
 their voices together. " No fling at our holy 
 church — no Calvinistic doctrines here — we 
 are Catholics — no image breakers !" 
 
 " Gentlemen, if you will but hear me,**^ cried 
 the Scot, outvoicing all the others — " if you 
 will but let me finish my sentence — " 
 
 " No, no !" exclaimed they, " retract your 
 aspersions. Count Ivon ! Colonel ! we call on 
 you to preserve the compact of the regimental 
 rule — no man is to speak of religion but Fa- 
 ther Jerome, the chaplain ; and he only in 
 Latin, which few of us understand. The sub- 
 ject is forbidden. No man shall insult our pure 
 Catholic faith !" 
 
 " Who talked of your faith, or imagined 
 there was such a thing among you ?''"' vociferated
 
 THE HEIHESS OF BRUGES. 241 
 
 the choleric Saxon, striking the table fiercely 
 with his fist. " Is this the example you give 
 of regeneration, forsooth ! Do you mean to set 
 upon this brave foreigner, and put him down ? 
 He is a Calvinist — ye are Catholics — well, what 
 of that ? I am neither one nor the other, nor 
 do I see a tankard of Schwarz-bier of difference 
 between you on that point. But I will stand 
 by him against foul play/"* 
 
 At these words several hands were placed on 
 liilts, and blades began to shine out. The. 
 chairs were flung aside and every one stood up 
 except De Bassenvelt and the youth by his 
 side, Count Lyderic, and another officer, an 
 Irishman, and who was called on by the con- 
 tending parties several times before he stirred 
 or spoke. But when he saw them all ranged 
 for fight, he stood up, and drawing his sword, 
 coolly exclaimed, in French that was larded 
 with even a broader brogue than that of the 
 Scot, 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, that ye are really ready 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE HEIRESS OF BllUGES. 
 
 for M ork, I am at your service. I see how the 
 matter is. You are seven against two — no 
 great odds, if courage is at the weak side. You 
 are seven good Catholics against two heretics. 
 Then, in the name of the blessed Virgin, and 
 my own Saint Patrick, here I stand in a line 
 with the other two. My heart is Catholic, but 
 my sword must be heretic — for the devil him- 
 self, or Luther into the bargain, should have 
 fair play, if the quarrel was his.'^ 
 
 Then devoutly crossing himself, he took his 
 place beside the Scot, and cried out, 
 
 " Now, Colonel, for the love of Christianity, 
 give us the word !" 
 
 Lyderic looked on with indifference a-t the 
 brawl ; but De Bassenvelt, with a strong ex- 
 pression of dignified resentment in his air and 
 voice, now stood up and spoke. 
 
 ^^ Gentlemen, officers of my regiment, com- 
 rades, is this as it ought to be ? Is this our 
 bond of friendship together ? Is this your re- 
 gard for me ? — and must I remind you of it — •
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 243 
 
 is this a scene to act before a woman ? Does 
 the kersey jerkin that covers a fair form, shut 
 out the respect due to the sex it conceals ? For 
 shame, for shame ! put up your swords — sit 
 down to table again ; let each man fill his neigh- 
 bour's cup, and laugh at his own wrath. Come, 
 Beatrice, stand up and vouch to these fiery 
 men that their swords shall soon have better 
 tilting places than the breasts of friends and 
 patriots. Listen, comrades — she speaks to 
 you." 
 
 *' Gentlemen,""' said the apparent youth, ris- 
 ing firmly, yet gracefully, an air of chivalry 
 thrown into a feminine demeanour, " I thought 
 my sex no secret to you — you have, until 
 now, respected it. I see you are ashamed of 
 this child's play. I can add nothing to what 
 your colonel has said. But be assured there 
 is better work preparing for you than such as 
 this. You will soon see this feeble hand wield- 
 ing what weapon it can best grasp, in the cause 
 of him who cannot afford to lose one arm of 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 yours. Up bumpers to the brim ! and quaff 
 to the name of the deliverer of Brabant, Ivon 
 de Bassenvelt !" 
 
 As Beatrice spoke this, her face beamed 
 beauty, in brightness almost too dazzling. It 
 was more than mere woman's fondness that fill- 
 ed her eyes, as she fixed them on Count Ivofl. 
 Her inspiring air threw a contagion on those 
 she addressed. In a moment every rapier rat- 
 tled in its sheath. Every hand, so lately hos- 
 tile, was clasped in friendly pressure with ano- 
 ther ; and the old helms that hung round the 
 walls echoed with the chorus of loud shouts to 
 the name of De Bassenvelt. 
 
 As soon as these acclamations subsided a 
 little, he once more spoke : 
 
 " Enough, my friends — more than the men- 
 tion of my name can merit. This has been 
 perhaps abrupt — 'tis premature at least. But 
 by and bye, when our brave companions return 
 from their expedition ; when the work of our 
 commission is announced, for I feel already it
 
 THE HEIRESS OP BRUGES. 245 
 
 is done, and the country freed from its unli- 
 censed spoilers, my whole design shall be told. 
 This very night shall make ye masters of news 
 that I hope will fill ye with rejoicing. And 
 now let the Lethe of good fellowship close o'er 
 the scene of this hour. — It is gone for ever from 
 your minds ! Let each man place his hand on 
 his heart. Spirits like you require no words. 
 A warrior's hand is a warrior's guarantee. 
 Enough ! the bond is signed," continued Count 
 Ivon, as each brawny hand was laid upon its 
 bearer's breast. " Now we may fitly receive 
 the stranger, even though he bear the bidding 
 of a tyrant." 
 
 Scarcely were the words finished, and the 
 cheerful hum of harmony restored, when a de- 
 mand for the captain of the day to see a Spa- 
 nish recruit was sent in ; and on Lyderic rising 
 from the chair where he had sullenly sat dur- 
 ing the late exciting scene, Count Ivon told him 
 to take his place again, and ordered the inquirer 
 to be brought directly into the full assembly.
 
 426 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 Gaspar the Moriscoe was accordingly ushered 
 into the room ; and he «tood fol* a minute or 
 two near the door, with a fixed look of gloom 
 upon his sallow face.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 247 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 All eyes were immediately turned on the 
 stranger, while Count Ivon asked him to de- 
 clare his name, and the purport of his visit. 
 He replied according to Don Juan's instruc- 
 tions, but not with the steady coolness he had 
 promised to himself, for he had instantly re- 
 cognised his sister, and the agitation of his 
 high-wrought feelings could scarcely be re- 
 pressed. 
 
 " Well, my brave soldier, I have done you 
 injustice, in supposing you the herald of ty-
 
 I 
 
 548 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES, 
 
 ranny," said Count I von, in answer to Gaspar's 
 request to be admitted into the regiment, he 
 having' produced his various certificates, and 
 handed them to Lyderic. " We have still 
 room for you. Our regiment is full ; but in 
 times like these a supplementary reserve of gal- 
 lant fellows is good to have, and we have such. 
 To-morrow you shall be enrolled, Pass me 
 those papers, Lyderic. You will take charge 
 of this recruit, and attach him to your troop. 
 I see here," continued he, again addressing 
 Gaspar, " you are stated to be a Biscayan, 
 But your character of face would rather speak 
 you from the south : Murcia or Andalusia pro- 
 duces such as yours. I have seen such in the 
 valley of the Alpuxarras." 
 
 The careless tone of these remarks did not 
 call for a reply, but Gaspar feared they might 
 attract the observation of Beatrice, and draw 
 her looks upon him. He therefore turned his 
 eyes aside, and gazed with apparent ease, but 
 real anxiety, on the objects around.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 249 
 
 Count I von continued to examine the papers 
 with an air of business, which is the sure ac- 
 companiment of real talent ; and as his eye fix- 
 ed on the feigned discharge of the supposed 
 trooper from the Spanish service, he looked full 
 upon Gaspar, and asked him if he had any per- 
 sonal knowledge of Don Juan de Trovaldo, 
 whose name was affixed to his discharge ? Gas- 
 par, taken by surprise at this abrupt question, 
 altogether unprepared for so public an examin- 
 ing, and afraid of betraying himself to Bea- 
 trice, hesitated awhile, and thus added to his 
 confusion. He was at length about to stam- 
 mer forth an answer, when De Bassenvelt ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 " No matter— I shall press no question that 
 may embarrass you, my friend. We shall have 
 time enough for such inquiries as I need to 
 make. But I know Don Juan means me a kind 
 service ; and on information not long since con- 
 veyed to me, I was led to believe that I might 
 look for it at your hands. But sit you down 
 
 M 3
 
 250 -THE HEIRESS OF DRUSES. 
 
 at yonder table. Our worthy genealogist will 
 do its honoursf, in a way fitting the habits of my 
 ancestry, whose ways he knows almost better 
 than he does my own. Hark-ye, Paul Cuyper, 
 see that our recruit is made free of the castled 
 Lyderic, as I mean him for your troop, you 
 will look that he has good quarters. After 
 supper, I myself will talk with him. You have 
 nought, my friend, to speak that needs imme^ 
 diate utterance ?" 
 
 Gaspar wholly thrown out of the track he 
 had expected to follow, by the rapidity and ease 
 of Count Ivon*'s half expressed accusation, 
 could not at once reply to the simplest ques- 
 tion. The whole scene in which he found him-^ 
 self, tended to confuse him. "He had been used 
 to military life and soldier men ; but those 
 he had mixed with were servile agents, without 
 thought or enthusiasm ; while they whom he 
 now looked at had an air of free and unem- 
 barrassed excitement quite new to him. 
 Beatrice's presence, in the habiliments of man-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 251 
 
 hood and by the side of her seducer, shame- 
 lessly joining in orgies unsuited to her sex, of 
 itself caused a conflict between anger and grief; 
 and to complete the Moriscoe's disquiet, the 
 sight of his intended victim depressed instead 
 of inflaming him. He had no presence of 
 mind, as we call the faculty of prompt com- 
 binations of thought. There was a singleness 
 and intensity of purpose within him, which (as 
 with all men who can do but one thing at a 
 time) disabled him from attending to auxiliary 
 points on which the success of the main purpose 
 depended. It was no wonder then, if the em- 
 barrassed Moriscoe became an object of sus- 
 picion to the man he meant to murder. 
 
 Attempting, however, to recover his self- 
 possession, Gaspar, in a faltering manner, de- 
 livered the substance of his adventure with 
 the picaroons ; and finally announced Don 
 Diego"'s triumphant approach with his single 
 prisoner. 
 
 " What ! Martin Schenck at last in my
 
 252 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 power !" cried De Bassenvelt, rising from his 
 seat with great vivacity ; " this is intelligence 
 of price ! This, my friends, is indeed good 
 news; but patience, patience awhile. No 
 ignoble warfare against robber bands is to be 
 yours henceforth. If Schenck be taken, the 
 confederacy is dissolved. He was the pivot on 
 which its whole machinery turned." 
 
 " Then," said the Saxon major, " I suppose 
 we are now free, to starve or seek new service, 
 Count ? Our term of engagement is expired ; 
 we may look for some fresh adventure, join the 
 Palatine for the promise of pay, or the Arch- 
 dukes for the honour of the thing — but 
 Heaven help him who expects more gold in 
 these beggarly days." 
 
 '• Not so, Major," said De Bassenvelt ; 
 " you are all destined for better things than 
 a menial search for service such as these. Tell 
 me, gentlemen, have ye been satisfied under my 
 command .P" 
 
 " We have, we have, all of us !'' cried every
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 253 
 
 voice, save Lyderic''s, who sat unmoved and 
 silent. 
 
 " Then if so, will ye be content to share my 
 fate under that of another .?" 
 
 " Willingly,'" cried the Saxon, " provided 
 he pays as you did." 
 
 " Never mind payment. Count. I am his 
 man, if he's as fond of fair fighting as yourself,"" 
 said the Irishman. 
 
 " Money and fighting are both good in their 
 way," coolly observed the Scot, " and no one 
 doubts my countrymen's appreciation of either. 
 But for my own part, before pledging myself 
 to any particular situation, I will beg leave, 
 Count I von, to know something of the prin- 
 ciples and motives of him I am to act under." 
 
 " The wish of our Colonel is enough for us ! 
 I speak for us five Brabancons. The name of 
 De Bassenvelt is our pledge ! His word is our 
 warrant," loudly exclaimed one of the Wal- 
 loons ; and the single Spaniard bowed his head 
 in grave assent. Lyderic looked sullenly pas-
 
 254 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES; 
 
 sive; and the universal suffrage seemed thus 
 given. 
 
 " My brave and gallant friends, ye shall 
 all be satisfied !" exclaimed De Bassenvelt. 
 " The commander we shall be enrolled under 
 is a hero : wisdom, worth, and valour are 
 vouched for by his very name. In a little 
 while you shall know it, and all that I expect 
 from ye — that I reckon on, rather let me say. 
 By and bye our friends will be returned— their 
 voices will join with yours, and then all will 
 be ready for the avowal that I long to make, 
 and you will rejoice to hear. In the mean time 
 let the wine flow freely. It is the life-blood of 
 good fellowship — the very soul of society.. 
 Come, varlets ; fresh flagons on the board ! 
 Bring Champaign and Auvernat. We must 
 not let the Rhein-wein turn sour : up goblets 
 again. Here''s to our valiant lion, Don Diego, 
 whose words, though they be but fume, ever 
 follow the flame of his deeds. Let the culve- 
 rins and falconets of Turk's-head bastion fire a
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 255 
 
 salvo to salute him as he crosses the stream. 
 Look to it, Lyderic !" 
 
 Scarcely had these orders been given, when 
 the sound of trumpets, followed by a running 
 volley of fire arms, was heard from the other 
 side of the river. Count Lyderic, as the cap- 
 tain on duty, had passed forward De Bassen- 
 velt's orders ; and the cannoneers sent back the 
 sounds, as if a hundred echoes had united their 
 reverberations, to return Don Diego''s report 
 of his coming. All was in movement at these 
 inspiring sounds; several of the party rose from 
 table, to gaze through the twilight from the bal- 
 cony that hung above the precipice and looked 
 upon the river. Count Ivon addressed a few 
 words to Beatrice, who replied by a smile that 
 spoke high meaning ; and he then seemed for 
 awhile absorbed in thought Lyderic sat still, 
 morosely unmoved by what was passing : others 
 plied the bottle, from the charms of which they 
 felt no more powerful attraction. Gaspar re-
 
 256 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 mained fixed in bewilderment of thought, and 
 indecision as to action. 
 
 But a short time elapsed before the creaking 
 of bolts, bars, and chains, the clatter of horses'* 
 hoofs, and the rattling of arms and accoutre- 
 ments announced the arrival in the castle court 
 of Don Diego and his party. He soon came 
 stalking along the flagged corridor ; and 
 stooping low, he passed beneath the gothic 
 archway of the entrance door, and strode two 
 or three paces into the eating hall. The ludi- 
 crous air of bombast which had raised many a 
 smile at this warrior, was now forgotten in con- 
 sideration of his important achievement ; and 
 Count Ivon interrupted the opening of a pom- 
 pous oration, by rising from his seat, ad- 
 vancing, and cordially embracing the victorious 
 Don. 
 
 " My brave Diego," said he, " let us spare 
 words on this occasion ; you have done a deed 
 of greater value than your modesty would 
 allow you to think. You have gained a title
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 257 
 
 to a much higher honour than my simple 
 thanks. Where is your prisoner .^^^ 
 
 "Count Ivon,'' exclaimed the Don, stretching 
 up to the utmost limits of the perpendicular, 
 " I have done my poor service in obedience to 
 your commands. I looked on the enemy, and 
 they dispersed as mists before the sun. I held 
 up my finger, and their leader trembled, as a 
 partridge that sees a falcon's talon. Had I 
 given him but one fillip, he had fallen, like 
 a tree struck by thunder ; but I spared him, as • 
 you ordered, and I have him safe for your ac- 
 ceptance." 
 
 " Let me see him forthwith," said De Bassen- 
 velt impatiently ; and on the word Don Diego 
 turned round, and gave a violent pull to a 
 cord which was now perceived to be attached 
 to his girdle, and trailing behind him through 
 the door way. Obeying the rough and de- 
 grading summons, Schenck came involuntarily 
 forward, his arms tightly pinioned, and guarded
 
 258 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 by a soldier at each side. His head was un- 
 covered, and his stern and unanimated counte- 
 nance formed a strong contrast to the blustering 
 glow on that of his captor. As the latter 
 shortening his hold, chucked the cord towards 
 him, the fierce freebooter was dragged stumb- 
 ling in, and with so ludicrous a movement that 
 a roar of laughter burst from the officers. But 
 Count Ivon, apparently shocked at the indig- 
 nities thus offered to the prisoner, snatched the 
 cord from Don Diego's hand, and untied the 
 knots, exclaiming the while, with looks of re- 
 proof cast at those around him, 
 
 "Is this treatment for a soldier of repute ? 
 Is a man like this to be used as a dog, dragged 
 in a halter, and the mark of ridicule ? No, 
 my friends, we must respect the vanquished, 
 and not trample on the fallen. Colonel Schenck, 
 you will pardon me for insults I never meant, 
 and cannot sanction." 
 
 Schenck looked at his bonds, but spoke not. 
 
 " With due submission, Count Ivon de
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 259 
 
 Bassenvelt," cried Don Diego, in high dud- 
 geon, " I must say that no disgrace nor 
 punishment can be too marked for the cold 
 blooded murderer of their Highnesses' Provost, 
 and him who cut the ears off the very venerable 
 Provost's lieutenant. The cord you are now 
 unloosing is that which bound the sufferers to 
 the stake, where they were burned alive."" An 
 exclamation of horror ran through the group, 
 and several swords were half drawn to inflict 
 summary justice on the perpetrator of these . 
 deeds ; when Don Diego interposed between 
 his own denunciation and the culprit, crying 
 out loudly, " burned alive, in part — wholly, 
 in intention, gentlemen — but the outrage was 
 not consummated, for / waved my hand, the 
 lion shook his mane, and the flames ceased; 
 and as I spoke the words of deliverance, the 
 victims walked forth, with no harm but a 
 scorched skin, and a pair of ears the less." 
 
 At this explanation of the unaccomplished 
 crime, the hearers were disposed to absolve
 
 260 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 completely the equally guilty prisoner, such is 
 the effect produced by exaggerated accusations ; 
 and Don Diego's burlesque extravagance turned 
 the rising indignation aside, so that Count Ivon 
 found in his officers ready assistants for Schenck''s 
 relief. The cords were soon cut, and the un- 
 shackled captive placed in the chair next to 
 Count Ivon. Don Diego was seated at the 
 other side, drinking freely of brandtwein, which 
 he called for in preference to less potent cor- 
 dials ; and the remaining officers of his squadron 
 now joined the party, having first, by De Bas- 
 senvelt's desire, seen the Provost and his lieu- 
 tenant safely lodged in the castle infirmary, 
 where they were instantly attended by the 
 household surgeon. 
 
 The table, now completely filled, presented 
 an aspect of revelry that trenched on the boun- 
 daries of debauch. Gaspar looked on at this 
 strange spectacle of manners to which his ab- 
 stemious experience had never produced any 
 parallel. Paul Cuyper, the jovial genealogist,
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 261 
 
 who upheld the character of his provmce, 
 pressed the Moriscoe to drink, with many an 
 argument drawn from the records of generations 
 gone by, and proverbs of which his own coun- 
 try furnished him plenty. 
 
 " You must learn to howl while you are 
 with wolves, my good Biscayan, and to drink 
 with honest fellows," cried he, slapping Gaspar 
 on the shoulder. " Cheer up, my brave recruit : 
 it is only snails and assassins that shrink into 
 themselves, at a shower of rain, or a flow of 
 liquor. Why, cheer up, man ; I mean no 
 offence — clear off to the health and long life of 
 our noble entertainer — see how he fills and 
 drinks !'' 
 
 The Moriscoe, thus pressed, and wincing 
 under the genealogist's unintended severities, 
 followed his counsel, and the example of the 
 rest ; but listened attentively, at the same time, 
 to what was passing at the principal table, and 
 sat with his dark eye fixed on the scene, in 
 which he could not sympathize nor feel himself
 
 262 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 a partaker. Preparations for a second supper 
 were now made, in accordance with the custom 
 of the times and the country. Hams and 
 tongues, dried and smoked, but undressed ; 
 vsalmon of the Scheldt, preserved at Amster- 
 dam ; herrings, cured by the best recipe of the 
 celebrated Buckelz of Bruges ; crusts of fried 
 bread, with pepper and salt ; and various other 
 ingenious devices to serve up (what we call) 
 devils in disguise, were set out. Fresh glasses 
 and fresh flagons appeared, and all made 
 ready to renew the revelry ; those who had been 
 so employed since the sun went down, as if he 
 were still in the meridian, and the new comers, 
 as though he had but just risen. 
 
 Conversation, as we may by courtesy call it, 
 ran high. Tongues wagged, and words flowed 
 with great facility ; but little was said worth 
 record or remark by full eighteen twentieths 
 of the party. In this large proportion we in- 
 clude Lyderic, who spoke not a word, but in 
 reply to some question directly addressed to
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BHUGES. 263 
 
 him ; and Beatrice, whose whole attention was 
 fixed on Count Ivon and Schenck, who dis- 
 coursed together, in a deep under tone that was 
 uninterrupted by the boisterous conviviality 
 around them. The inferior actors in the scene 
 were on their parts absorbed in their own chat- 
 ter, their rough pleasantries, and the main 
 business in hand — filling the bowl and passing 
 the flask. 
 
 One of the most actively employed in this 
 way was Don Diego Leonis, who eat, drank, 
 and rhodomontaded, in a style worthy to 
 be recorded by Brantome himself, as much 
 of it was in reality. He related his late 
 enterprize, in all the fustian of exaggeration ; 
 while the sharp ears of Martin Schenck caught, 
 at the other side of the table, assertions and 
 insinuations which he could not brook. But 
 he did not contradict them, letting the Don un- 
 disturbedly intoxicate himself with brandtwein 
 and vanity, and reserving to his own choice the 
 proper time for reply or notice. Schenck himself
 
 2(54 THE HEIRESS OF BHUGES. 
 
 drank deep on this occasion ; but at every gob- 
 let he emptied, he seemed to grow more cir- 
 cumspect. The share he had at first taken in 
 the discourse with Count Ivon gradually de- 
 creased to monosyllabic answers, and finally to 
 affirmative nods, or dissentient shakes of the 
 head. v 
 
 De Bassenvelt, who knew human nature 
 well, and was not easily deceived, saw that the 
 time was now fairly arrived for his final propo- 
 sition to his followers. Accordingly he rose 
 up, and with an air of blended dignity and 
 social ease, which won their attention and en- 
 sured their assent, he addressed them. Every 
 tongue was silent the moment his voice was 
 heard ; and the full goblets were arrested, ere 
 they reached the ever-thirsty lips that opened 
 to receive the draught. 
 
 " My brave companions," said he, holding 
 his full glass in his hand, " in the true spirit of 
 ancient custom, I am about to drink to the 
 health of a hero, and pour a libation to the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 265 
 
 finest cause that can animate the mind of man. 
 It has been said that our Belgian ancestors 
 thought that ' to live was to drink ; '* and of a 
 Walloon generally, — 
 
 '^ If truth be hid in grapes or wine, 
 He'll suck the secret from the vine."t 
 
 Let it be so, my friends ! We have good 
 authority for the custom. Our neighbours, the 
 Gerans, the Swimss, the English — all lovers of 
 liberty as of good cheer — drink deepest when 
 
 • 
 
 affairs of state are to be settled. The seven 
 wise men of Greece discussed the profoundest 
 problems over cups of Falernian. And we are 
 to-night assembled, not for a mere debauch, 
 but for a glorious purpose that will immortalize 
 us all. We drank, just now, to the regenera- 
 tion of Brabant ; we have in our own power the 
 accomplishment of our hope. Its realization 
 
 * Germanis vivere est bibere. 
 
 t The original, perhaps, of Owen's epigram r— 
 
 *^ 8ilaetet in vino verum, ut proverbia dicunt 
 
 Invenit verum teuto, vel invenit." 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 depends on ourselves, for they who strike the 
 first blow for liberty win half the battle. Our 
 province has long been degraded. Instead of 
 being an integral part of a free nation, it is a 
 mere appendage of a distant despotism. The 
 archdukes, in their mock sovereignty, are but 
 the puppets of Spain, the links to bind these 
 fine countries in perpetual servitude to that. 
 But look to the northern states. See them in- 
 dependent and glorious ; honoured by all the 
 world ; rich, flourishing, and happy ; with no 
 foreign foot upon their soil — while Flanders 
 and Brabant are poor and desolated, trampled 
 down by the heavy tread of strangers and op- 
 pressors. There are amongst you whom I 
 address, men born in other lands, of different 
 creeds, but cast in a common mould of thought 
 and feeling. From you 1 fear no invidious 
 jealousies. Brabrant is indebted to you for 
 good service ; and you will not forsake her 
 when she calls on your arms, and your hearts 
 once more.""
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 26^ 
 
 " No, by Heavens, we will not ! We are 
 ready ! lead us on !"" exclaimed three or four, 
 in different accents and idioms ; and some of 
 the foreigners, carried away by the impulse of 
 the moment, spoke their own languages. 
 
 " Corazon del fuego ! Yo vos seguire a la 
 muerte !" cried a Spaniard, with hands and eyes 
 
 upturned. 
 
 " I'll drain the last drap o' bluid in my heart 
 for sic a gallant !"" said the Scotchman, laying 
 his broad hand solemnly on his breast. • 
 
 " Verdammt ! Ich bin dir mit herz und seele, 
 verbunden — Ich wurde durch's feur und wasser 
 mit dir gehen !" muttered the Saxon. 
 
 '' Dash away, my fine fellow ! I'll stick to 
 you through thick and thin, if there wasn t 
 another. Whoop ! Whack !" vociferated the 
 Irishman, giving a thump on the table that 
 made all its paraphernalia dance and ring. 
 
 " This is as I expected,"' exclaimed De Bas- 
 senvelt. " Now then, my friends, up all ! Let 
 every man stand firm, with a heart as full as 
 
 n2
 
 268 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 his glass, and a head as erect as pride itself, to 
 do honour to the name which is on my lips — 
 " Maurice of Nassau !"" 
 
 A shout of applause followed the gulp with 
 which this toast was swallowed. Several 
 of the party were prepared for the mention of 
 this name, by Count Ivon's previous observa- 
 tions. Some took it as they would any other 
 that was accompanied with a bumper of wine ; 
 and a few felt but the flavour of the draught, 
 scarcely knowing to whose health it was poured 
 down. The purpose of Count I von was, how- 
 ever, gained. His whole corps of oflicers were 
 now pledged in the cause he had espoused. He 
 briefly proceeded to explain to them a few par- 
 ticulars, which it was essential they should 
 know. 
 
 '' Within these three days," said he, " I 
 have seen the prince. He is filled with bene- 
 volence towards us, and ready to receive us 
 under his protection and into the confedera- 
 tion of the free states. I have ridden hard.
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BEUGES. 269 
 
 gentlemen, since I left ye ; and three days and 
 nights have not been idly spent. This is the 
 crowning of all. The good luck that threw 
 this brave officer among us, the chance that 
 made Martin Schenck my guest, and the readi- 
 ness with which he has just now acceded to 
 the offers I was authorised to make him, have 
 set the seal upon our success. While he re- 
 mained our enemy, or rather not decidedly our 
 friend, no enterprize like ours could have been 
 ventured on. We only waited to secure him. 
 He is now allied to us by the pledge of honour, 
 — a soldier''s bond. He is now full colonel in 
 the service of the states of Holland, the rank 
 he held in the ungrateful armies of the tyrant. 
 Here, gentlemen, is his commission, signed by 
 the prince's hand — and here is mine — and 
 your's, my friends, each and every one ; so 
 surely did I answer for your unanimous accord- 
 ance in my views." 
 
 With these words he produced a leather 
 case which had lain beside him, and taking out
 
 270 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 the different documents, he handed each officer 
 that which transferred him into the service of 
 the States, confirming to each the rank which 
 he held in De Bassenvelt's regiment of Black 
 Walloons. 
 
 Then, on a signal given by I von to an atten- 
 dant, the latter brought forward another case. 
 This he unlocked, and produced from it a 
 number of chaplets, formed of white beads 
 strung together with silver clasps. He spread 
 a quantity of these on the table ; and holding 
 up one in his hand, he said, 
 
 " Look on this, my friends ! All will 
 understand, though few may recognise, this 
 badge of Walloon freedom. I need scarcely 
 say that such was the distinctive mark, borne 
 in the brief yet brilliant era of the junction of 
 our province with those happier states which 
 have not relapsed into slavery. To-night we 
 revive it. Each one of these chaplets has been 
 woven by fair fingers. Here is the heroine, 
 who, devoted to our glorious cause, has thrown
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 271 
 
 the charm of female sympathy around it. She 
 shall instal us each with this insignia. And the 
 remembrance that it was twined round our 
 necks by the hands of Beauty, will not lessen 
 its virtue in the keeping of the gallantry which 
 consecrates our cause. Here, Beatrice ; I bow 
 to receive this sacred pledge from thee."" 
 
 Beatrice, gracefully rising at the call, placed 
 a chaplet round Count Ivon's neck, and clasped 
 it there. She successively did the same by 
 each of the officers, who all advanced for the^ 
 purpose ; and then, taking one of these simple 
 collars of an order of which Patriotism and 
 Valour were the founders, she attached it round 
 her own neck, and exclaimed, 
 
 " I thus consecrate myself to the deliverance 
 of Brabant, and the faithful service of its rege- 
 nerator, Ivon de Bassenvelt ! I devote my ser- 
 vices of mind and body to the cause in which 
 he has embarked. I will follow him in the 
 contest, in danger, even to death. I cast aside 
 from this moment all the weakness of woman-
 
 272 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 hood — and I live but for his glory and his 
 country's freedom !" 
 
 A burst of deep-felt applause followed these 
 words. Every man pressed his hand to his 
 breast, in signal that he adopted the vow of 
 Beatrice as his own ; then seized on the docu- 
 ment that ensured his rank and service ; and 
 in the triple enthusiasm of adventure, gal- 
 lantry, and wine, each firmly believed himself 
 a hero.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 273 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Lyderic de Roulemonde alone formed an 
 exception to the general excitement just de- 
 scribed. He sat, throughout the changes of 
 this evening, as if his mind had fled to some 
 other sphere, casting a dark shadow o'er the 
 frame it had abandoned. His fine face was 
 marked with traces of discontent, which had 
 evidently worked from within. No furrow 
 from common causes was there. He was young 
 and vigorous, and ought to have been happy. 
 He had qualifications enough to ensure him 
 
 N 3
 
 274 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 success and enjoyment in almost any pursuit. 
 But he wanted that springy charm of character 
 which grows from the confidence of inward 
 worth, and strengthens in the pride of thinking 
 and acting from one's self. The fruits of his 
 mind were not indigenous. Every word, every 
 act, and almost every thought was imitation ; 
 and while conscious of inferiority to those he 
 copied, he hated the original, because it forced 
 nim to despise the counterfeit. Envy was the 
 vulture that gnawed his heart — that con- 
 temptible passion, which leads men to magnify 
 the qualities of others, and sinks their own 
 even below their level ; and is followed by 
 " hatred, malice, and uncharitableness," in a 
 sequence more natural than was perhaps calcu- 
 lated by the framers of the sublime homily in 
 which they so succeed each other. 
 
 An envious man can never rise beyond his 
 station, nor be happy in it. He is always 
 measuring himself with those above him ; not 
 with the noble emidation of raising himself,
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 2^5 
 
 but in the paltry hope of dragging them 
 down. He has therefore no enjoyment in their 
 merit. He is dazzled, not enlightened, when 
 he looks at them, and chilled when he turns 
 his gaze upon himself. His best feelings expire 
 under the influence of one mean vice; and 
 thoughts and deeds of baseness supervene, witli 
 a speed that shocks, and a force that overwhelms 
 him. 
 
 Such a man was Lyderic de Roulemonde. 
 Of an ancient house, he had squandered his 
 inheritance. Like most of the young nobles of 
 Brabant, he was educated in Spain, and entered 
 early into the army. He met Ivon de Bas- 
 senvelt as companions in arms may meet — in 
 the dissipations of military life, when all float 
 alike on the surface of the world, nor dive into 
 the depths of nature, to know their own or 
 fathom that of others. In the careless way in 
 which friendships of the kind are formed, De 
 Bassenvelt formed his. He saw in Lyderic no lack 
 of what are considered in camps as the soldier's
 
 276 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 best qualities — courage and profusion ; and he 
 entered into a close and confidential intercourse 
 with him, the more readily, perhaps, because 
 Lyderic thought highly of his talents and 
 esteemed his character. For I von was not in- 
 sensible to the pleasure of exciting approbation, 
 nor ungrateful for its expression. He did 
 justice to his new friend's accomplishments, 
 even on points where he felt them to be superior 
 to his own. In short, his friendship was the 
 free and cordial sentiment of a noble nature, 
 seeing and putting forth the merits of its object, 
 and feeling itself illuminated, not eclipsed by 
 their display. 
 
 The feelings of Lyderic were the direct con- 
 trary to this. As soon as his friend's advantages 
 shone forth, he felt as though his own became 
 extinct. He had no sympathy with another's 
 success. The praises of Ivon became discord 
 to his ears. The admiration excited by his va- 
 lour, his enterprize, and his taste, appeared over- 
 strained or misplaced. Lyderic was ashamed
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 277 
 
 of this turn of feeling, yet he would not confess 
 and shake it oiF; but, like the Spartan youth 
 who held the stolen reptile beneath his cloak, 
 the closer he concealed the passion the fiercer 
 it gnawed, till his heart was eaten to the core. 
 
 Ivon, unconscious of this altered state of feel- 
 ing, knew not how to account for the bursts of 
 moroseness occasionally escaping from Lyderic. 
 Judging by himself, he thought, that had any 
 abatement of his friend'^s regard taken place, he 
 would have honestly displayed it, and broken 
 off their intei'course. But seeing the usual 
 semblance of attachment, he attributed to some 
 passing caprice an occasional change that ex- 
 cited his pity rather than his resentment. 
 Hoping to alleviate, he fed the evil, in heaping 
 kindness upon him whom he still thought his 
 friend. For while a generous mind rejoices in 
 receiving almost as much as in conferring a 
 benefit, a mean one writhes under obligation ; 
 and even in granting it, is only pleased by the 
 belief that it inflicts a degradation.
 
 278 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 All that thus rankled in Lyderic's mind was 
 of slow development. He continued long in 
 seeming what he ought to have been in fact. 
 He was, by Ivon's interest, appointed to the 
 train of the archdukes ; and he was the first 
 named officer in his regiment. Only two others 
 had superior rank to him, the Saxon major, a 
 hardy veteran, and Don Diego Leonis, his senior 
 in years and standing, chosen to the station of 
 lieutenant-colonel by De Bassenvelt, who knew 
 that a boaster is not (as is commonly thought) 
 of necessity a coward ; and who had seen enough 
 of the Don to be certain that he was valiant, 
 faithful, and discreet. 
 
 Lyderic did his duty in his new post, as a 
 task, not as a pleasure. Still I von unsuspi- 
 ciously entrusted to him even the secret inten- 
 tions which were only publicly avowed the 
 night we have described. And he admitted 
 him to a share in another project, which had 
 for some time previously occupied him not a 
 little — the carrying off Beatrice from the con-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 279 
 
 vent at Bruges. They had frequently been 
 reciprocal confidents of each other's adventures 
 of gallantry. An avoidance of a friend's pur- 
 suits in that way was high among the points of 
 chivalry then existing. A violation of that 
 trust was looked on as the deadliest breach of 
 faith. Confidences of the kind were therefore 
 more frequently given than in later days ; when 
 the true point of honour became better under- 
 stood, and refinement having broken down the 
 barriers raised by chivalry, men learned to trust 
 in no one when interest or passion might tempt 
 to treachery. 
 
 The moment that Lyderic saw Beatrice, on 
 her arrival at the Castle of Welbasch under 
 Ivon's triumphant care, a passion apparently 
 deep as it was violent, took possession of him. 
 In a few days, it seemed wholly to absorb him. 
 She appeared imbued with a spirit of female 
 heroism, which in those times exerted such 
 powerful sway ; and the male attire which she 
 constantly preserved, threw a barrier, as it were,
 
 280 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 before her charms, without communicating any 
 notion of indelicacy, which, in our days, would 
 have weakened their effect. She at once de- 
 lighted and awed Lyderic ; and he suiFered 
 tortures, in witnessing the tone of cordial free- 
 dom with which De Bassenvelt preserved, as he 
 had gained, her heart. 
 
 Inflamed by this passion, which had its foun- 
 dation, perhaps, as much in envious jealousy of 
 Ivon's success as in a sudden desire for its object, 
 Lyderic was hurried on by these mixed emotions, 
 with an impetuosity the greater in proportion to 
 his long constraint. He at once resolved on 
 the possession of Beatrice, and the destruction 
 of the man she loved ; and seizing the advan- 
 tage of Ivon's last absence for a final conference 
 with Prince Maurice, he despatched an anony- 
 mous communication to Trovaldo, informing 
 him of the place of Beatrice's retreat, and into 
 whose hands she had fallen. He assured him 
 of a ready co-operation in the castle, should he 
 send forward to the rendezvous appointed the
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 281 
 
 brother of Beatrice (with such token of his iden- 
 tity as Gaspar was provided with), to revenge 
 her seduction and his own dishonour. He, how- 
 ever, carefully guarded against any expression 
 that might betray him to be the author of this 
 treachery ; and in meeting the Moriscoe, and 
 facilitating his entrance into the castle, he pre- 
 served his cautious concealment, as has been 
 seen. 
 
 When Ivon had given orders for Schenck's 
 accommodation, as befitted his present rank, he 
 proposed a parting goblet to the sound slumber 
 of all, and the fair rising of the morrow's inde- 
 pendence. After this pledge being cordially 
 passed round, with much wine spilt on the 
 board, and not a few glasses broken in the ope- 
 ration of clinking them together (as the type of 
 an amity as brittle, perhaps, as they), Beatrice 
 set the example of retiring. She took her leave 
 with much gracefulness, being waited on at the 
 door by a female attendant, a somewhat incon- 
 gruous association with her attire, and the
 
 282 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 readiness with which she adopted the ways as 
 well as the dress of men. 
 
 No sooner had she disappeared, than Schenck, 
 to whom De Bassenvelt had previously made 
 known her sex, addressed his host as follows. 
 
 " Count I von de Bassenvelt, the absence of 
 that lady allows me to speak on a subject which 
 nothing but the presence of a female could 
 have hitherto restrained. We are here now as 
 equals, colonels in the same service, fellow 
 soldiers, and bound for life and death in the 
 same cause. I hold in my hand the commission 
 which you have been authorized to offer me. 
 In accepting it I feel that every reproach is 
 washed away, which might have attached to a 
 reputation not entirely obscure, from my late 
 association with men, driven by the baseness of 
 those who rewarded my services with neglect 
 to throw themselves on the world and their 
 good weapons for support. The motives which 
 led me to join such men are for my own con- 
 science. For my acts, while at their head, this
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 283 
 
 document absolves me, for I own no authority 
 in these realms but the free states of Holland, 
 and that of the provinces we are now joined 
 together to liberate from the yoke of Spain. 
 But — and I here address ye all, my brother 
 soldiers — one stain has been rudely flung upon 
 my personal feelings, and by myself alone can 
 that be expunged. One man has dared to 
 beard me, and degraded himself by an attempt 
 to debase me while in his power, but, even 
 there, his superior beyond the span of measure- , 
 ment. I cannot condescend to specify the 
 outrage, which was witnessed by ye all. 
 
 '' Count I von de Bassenvelt, never has 
 mortal man heard Martin Schenck make so 
 long a speech as this. Words signify little. 
 Deeds only speak. I demand the rights of 
 chivalry. I throw myself on your hospitality. 
 I disclaim all slight to you or your regiment. 
 But I single out the miscreant thus, and thus 
 I dare him to instant and mortal combat.'"* 
 
 With these words he dashed his heavy glove
 
 284 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 across the table, and full in the face of Don 
 I>iego Leonis. This rather unknightly mode 
 of flinging down his gage took the Don by 
 absolute surprise. The force of the appeal, 
 aiding the influence of the copious draughts 
 he had been pouring down his throat, made 
 him stagger from his equilibrium. A murmur 
 ran round the table. The insult was shock- 
 ing — no accommodation — no delay could be 
 thought of — blood must flow. Schenck called 
 on De Bassenvelt for a sword. Don Diego 
 recovering his balance and recalling his senses, 
 had his weapon already out of its sheath. 
 Before I von could interpose his authority or 
 advice, Lieutenant Gallagher, the young Irish- 
 man before spoken of, had drawn his rapier, 
 and placed it in Schenck's asking hand, which 
 grasped it with a force and wielded it with 
 a management that belied the evidence of the 
 large potations he had swallowed. The wine 
 seemed to have produced on him only the 
 effect of steadying his arm, clearing his head.
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 285 
 
 and brightening his eye. The latter was fixed 
 on his opponent with deadly lustre, as though 
 it would have killed him at a glance. 
 
 In a moment the length of the table was 
 passed at either side by the furious pair, and 
 they took their stand in the open space between 
 that and the second board, at which still sat, 
 in awful observance, Gaspar and the rest of 
 the party with whom he had been at first placed, 
 and, by De Bassenvelfs orders, retained in the 
 hall. Lyderic and the other officers formed a 
 ring round the combatants ; and Count Ivon 
 himself, finding that interference would be vain, 
 stood forward in the circle, to see that all 
 should be as fair as the inequality of the men's 
 intellects permitted. 
 
 The long rapiers soon clashed, and at every 
 pass made and parried, the blades sounded 
 like a subtle breeze rushing through some 
 crevice in a broken pane of glass. The lights 
 from the lamps suspended from the ceiling, 
 or those brought from all quarters of the
 
 286 THE HEIRESS OE BRUGES. 
 
 chamber and placed upon the floor, shewed 
 plainly to each combatant the person of his 
 foe, and the different rays, falling obliquely 
 across each fierce visage, allowed the desperate 
 expression of each to be fully displayed. 
 
 Lounge after lounge was made at either side. 
 Schenck stood firm and rigid on one spot. 
 Don Diego attacked, advanced, and sprang 
 back again, with a skill and vigour that proved 
 the eff^ects of wine to have yielded to the deadly 
 passion aroused in his breast. No wound was 
 observed to be received, yet blood soon trickled 
 on the floor, just between each, and where their 
 arms were crossed in the heat of the assault, so 
 that it was impossible to ascertain from which 
 it flowed. 
 
 " Hold, gentlemen ! Enough !" cried Ivon. 
 " Blood has been drawn — the quarrel is decided 
 — part them— part them !" 
 
 On hearing these words, Don Diego threw 
 his sword wide from his guard, and paused ; 
 but Schenck, seeing the press forward made
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 287 
 
 by Ivon and the rest to separate him from his 
 prey, and marking the Don's unwary move- 
 ment, he uttered a hoarse yell, and cried 
 out, 
 
 " Who durst step between me and my 
 revenge ! Again, miscreant, at you !"*' 
 
 And with a skilful turn of his arm he crossed 
 Don Diego's blade, and struck it from his 
 hand. He then bounded on him, grappled 
 him, with his left hand, by the throat, shorten- 
 ing his sword the while; and, after a brief 
 struggle, he flung the Spaniard to the floor, 
 and fell upon him designedly with his whole 
 weight. 
 
 " Now, caitiff, beg your life, or die !" said 
 he, sternly, raising his sword-arm with a few 
 deadly inches of the steel — ^but enough by 
 practised measurement — pointed to Don Diego's 
 breast. 
 
 " Diego Leonis beg his life from a base- 
 born hound like thee !" exclaimed the gallant 
 Don, struggling with every nerve — '' from
 
 288 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 thee, thou burner of grey-bearded men ! thou 
 butcherly cutter off of ears !*" — 
 
 " To thy heart, then !" cried Schenck, jerk- 
 ing back his arm a span, to add force to the 
 final blow ; when it was instantly arrested from 
 behind, and the weapon suddenly drawn 
 through his hand, with the infliction of a 
 severe wound, by another which grasped the 
 hilt. Schenck, starting up, in the double in- 
 fluence of pain and rage, looked round, and 
 saw the figure of a young and lovely female 
 close to him, her hair flowing disordered, his 
 sword in her hand, and Count Ivon, with 
 looks of pleased surprise, holding her in his 
 arms. It was Beatrice, who had, after leav- 
 ing the hall, but just loosed her hair, thrown off 
 the doublet and cloak, from whose imprison- 
 ment she had panted*^ to get free, and flung 
 her dressing-robe around her, when she heard 
 the clashing of swords, and hurried to the 
 spot, where, unmindful of the chivalrous eti- 
 quette or feminine decorum which might com-
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 289 
 
 mand a dignified non-interference in an act of 
 murder, she interposed, to baulk the bloody 
 aim of one, and to save the life of another — 
 she knew not and asked not whom. 
 
 Don Diego, released from the grasp of his 
 merciless foe, raised his huge length, and was 
 soon helped upon his legs by his surrounding 
 friends. Although wounded in the arm, he 
 attempted to renew the fight ; but he and 
 Schenck were separately encompassed by the 
 spectators, and each hurried away in different* 
 directions. 
 
 De Bassenvelt, folding one arm round Bea- 
 trice, tenderly and respectfully supported her 
 from this scene of her first contact with wea- 
 pons and bloodshed. Having seen her safe in 
 her apartments with her handmaid Trinette, a 
 simple girl from the village below, who, more 
 timid than her mistress, had nearly fainted at 
 the clash of swords and the tumult of loud 
 sounds, De Bassenvelt returned to the hall. 
 Schenck and Don Diego were by this time 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 # 
 
 290 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 removed; almost all the officers had retired; 
 and the persons composing the second table had 
 broken up into two or three groups at the 
 lower end of the apartment. Gaspar alone 
 still sat in his place, with a fixed stare that 
 seemed to embody vacancy, or people it with 
 objects of his own fancy. 
 
 " Lyderic, come hither," said De Bassenvelt, 
 taking him under the arm, and leading him 
 to the distant part of the hall — " I have much 
 to say to you in a brief space. What think 
 you of our recruit, yonder? Is he no more 
 than what he seems ?'''' 
 
 " Why put these questions to me, De Bas- 
 senvelt ? Am I the expounder of every riddle 
 that takes a mortal shape ?''"' 
 
 " Nay, be not angry, nor let this peevish 
 mood of yours take head to-night. It is enough 
 to know I have good cause to guard against 
 this man; I shall therefore take him wholly 
 under my own care. I will by and by lead 
 him to my private chamber, and sift him and
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 291 
 
 his character thoroughly. If I do not err, I 
 may succeed in making him no mean agent in 
 my plans. And now, Lyderic, for yourself a 
 word or two. A matter of equal import to 
 the common cause, and of infinitely more for 
 my own individual sake, leads me to urge 
 your immediate departure for Bruges. You 
 are aware of the vast import of that place to 
 the views of the confederate states. Agents 
 and emissaries from Prince Maurice have 
 already sounded the burghers ; but much re- ' 
 mains to be done. The place is divided into 
 mean factions, which counteract, from mere local 
 jealousies, the general interests of all : but a 
 great step has been gained in the choice of 
 the new burgomasters. The chief and leading 
 one is the well known Van Rozenhoed, the 
 gold-beater, the richest and the honestest man 
 in Bruges, or, perhaps, in Flanders. He is an 
 open advocate of liberty, and a warm partizan 
 of the free states. His only daughter, Bea- 
 trice's convent friend, of whom I have so
 
 292 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 much discoursed with you, is now at home 
 with her father. Four days hence he gives 
 his grand installation feast ; when suitors be- 
 yond counting, and from various quarters, are 
 formally to put in their claims for the hand 
 of this rich and beautiful heiress. 
 
 '^ And now for the great point. Start not, 
 my friend ! — I mean to place my name on the 
 wooing list, and ask this paragon to wife !" 
 
 " You, De Bassenvelt ! renounce your li- 
 bertine career, and, on the eve of an attempt in 
 which life may not be worth the purchase of 
 an hour, dream of an encumbrance such as 
 
 this r 
 
 " Even so, Lyderic. Mighty motives urge 
 the step. Wealth I must have. You know I 
 have cast all on the hazard of this die. Save 
 the bare walls of this castle, I have nought 
 but what is embarked in the cause. I hope for 
 success ; and to hope for has been hitherto to 
 have with me. But the tide may turn, and 
 this Maid of Bruges must be my harbour of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES, 293 
 
 safety if all else be wrecked. But, hark ye, 
 Lyderic, one other feeling exists — ^burns in — 
 consumes me : — I love her ! Canst thou not 
 imagine such an impulse as that ? In short, 
 she must be mine." 
 
 " What ! have you seen her, then ? How, 
 when, and where ?" 
 
 " No matter. I have seen her— and more, 
 and to my cost, perhaps, I know that she 
 abhors me, without knowing whom she abhors .; 
 and when she hears my name, its sound will 
 shock her very heart. I have outraged her 
 delicacy, but I will heal the wound ; and you 
 must tell her so. You must woo her for me, 
 Lyderic. I durst not present myself to her, even 
 if I could ; for even now my carrying off the 
 novice, and robbing the church of its prey must 
 be bruited through Bruges with loathing and 
 execration." 
 
 " How could the truth have come to light ?''' 
 asked Lyderic, looking askance. 
 
 " I care not how, nor mean to inquire,'' 
 
 o 2
 
 294 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 said Ivon, in his usual reckless way. . " I am 
 now abroad ; the hunters have found my lair ; 
 but I at once brave and despise them all, they 
 who have sought, or him who has betrayed 
 me. Beatrice'*s being here was known to many. 
 It had been better, perhaps, had I confided the 
 fact to you, my trusty friend. But now/' 
 continued he, without giving his companion 
 time to shew embarrassment which conscience 
 might have caused, " now to the main point. 
 You will accept my mission ? Wooing in my 
 place, Lyderic; will sit easy on you, eh ?" 
 
 Lyderic did not wish to encounter the scru- 
 tinizing glance of an eye that he knew pierced 
 deeply when it would. He replied, still look- 
 ing downwards, that he was willing to under- 
 take the task, but scarcely thought he could 
 appear publicly in Bruges, as the news of their 
 revolt must soon spread far and near. 
 
 *''Tis to obviate that objection that I must 
 urge your instant departure," replied Ivon. 
 " That may well bear the appearance of dissent
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 295 
 
 and flight from our rebel proceedings. At the 
 court of the archdukes, it will be a passport to 
 high favour, and if you manage well, your best 
 introduction to the governor of Bruges. Under 
 this safe protection you may forward my object 
 with the burgomaster's daughter ; and for my 
 sake I am sure you will not shrink from a little 
 apparent treachery, Lyderic .?" 
 
 The person thus appealed to felt conscience 
 smite him hard, and he began to fear that 
 Beatrice might have aroused Count Ivon's . jea- 
 lousy. He became therefore as anxious as Ivon 
 was to hurry his departure from the castle. 
 He thought it would be well to be absent 
 during the perpetration of Gaspar's tragedy. 
 He liked the plan, so clearly traced for him, of 
 making good terms with the archdukes ; he 
 reckoned on having a fair field opened for his 
 designs on Beatrice, as soon as De Bassenvelt 
 should be despatched ; and he was suddenly 
 and powerfully struck with the occasion that 
 offered of preferring his own suit fo the so
 
 296 THE HEIRESS OF BEUGES. 
 
 much sought for heiress of Brviges, his trea- 
 chery, envy, and cupidity being all roused into 
 action by Ivon's words and views. He there- 
 fore gave an immediate assent to the pressing 
 solicitations of the latter for his instant depar- 
 ture, under the promise of receiving a letter 
 from him, with full details as to his pro- 
 ceedings on arriving at Bruges. 
 
 Count Ivon then gave orders to an attendant 
 to conduct the recruit into the anti-chamber 
 of his private apartment, intimating to Gaspar 
 that he would soon join him. Lyderic saw the 
 Moriscoe follow the guide from the hall ; and 
 as the door closed on him, while Ivon pressed 
 his new ambassador's hand, and wished him a 
 safe journey, the latter felt a shudder that 
 crept through every nerve. It was the last 
 struggle of good feeling, crushed beneath the 
 tread of crime. 
 
 " Be it so !" murmured he, as he paced the 
 long corridor leading to his own apartment. 
 " He facilitates his fate. It is his doom, and
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 297 
 
 who may cope with destiny ! Be it so V and he 
 hurried into the concealment of his chamber, as 
 one who fires the train of a mine, and runs into 
 shelter from the coming explosion. After a 
 short interval of hurried preparation, he has- 
 tened from the castle, mounted his horse, 
 which his varlet had quickly prepared ; and 
 then passing through the outposts of the for- 
 tress, he crossed the river, in the boat in which 
 he had, a few hours before, ferried over the 
 Moriscoe. He took the road on the left bank 
 leading to Namur, avoiding the scene of the 
 late dispersion of the Picaroons, where some 
 remnant stragglers of the band might be 
 abroad. As he fled, he at times involunta- 
 rily turned round and listened, and again 
 galloped fiercely on and endeavoured to stop 
 his ears, lest sounds of murder and wailing 
 might be borne on the wind that seemed to pur- 
 sue him. 
 
 Gaspar, the Moriscoe, stood in Count Ivon's 
 anti-chamber, his hand firmly clenching his dag-
 
 298 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 ger's hilt. The scenes of the evening, which he 
 had witnessed with such various emotions, were 
 still confusedly flitting before him. He was yet 
 agitated by all that had so deeply affected him. 
 De Bassenvelt's gallant and chivalric de- 
 meanour, his high sentiments, so energetically 
 expressed, and the surprising power he seemed 
 to wield so lightly over the minds of all in 
 contact with him, filled Gaspar with involun- 
 tiary admiration for the man. Yet the too evi- 
 dent station which Beatrice held as his avowed 
 mistress, had at times awakened his slumbering 
 frenzy ; and he was almost on the point of exe- 
 cuting his desperate intention, as he saw him, 
 so familiarly, yet so affectionately, lead her 
 from the hall, when she was nearly exhausted 
 by the effort that saved Don Diego's life. From 
 that moment the Moriscoe''s feelings had not 
 subsided ; and when the summons to repair to 
 De Bassenvelfs room, and wait his coming, 
 broke the reverie in which he had sat, it seemed 
 to him that destiny had sounded the death doom
 
 THE HEIEESS OF BRUGES. 299 
 
 of his victim. He started up, and mecha- 
 nically followed his conductor. 
 
 When the door of the anti-room was closed 
 on him, he stood, as we have described him, 
 transfixed in one spot. He heard voices in the 
 chamber beyond; and he soon distinguished 
 that of his sister, in converse with another. 
 Imagination swiftly pictured Beatrice, in the 
 act of undressing, and preparing, in all her 
 feminine charms, to press the dishonouring bed 
 of her seducer. The Moriscoe trembled in 
 every joint — yet his teeth were firmly set, and 
 a fierce tension contracted his brow. He stood 
 prepared. 
 
 At length he heard footsteps coming along 
 the gallery. He stepped forward one or two 
 paces, and raised his hand. The door opened ; 
 and the lamp that dimly lighted the anti-room 
 gleamed on the cloak-wrapped figure of tlie 
 strange horseman, the companion of his journey. 
 He knew him at once, by his hat, his mantle, 
 and the whole air of his figure.
 
 300 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " Now, Gaspar," said the man, in his hoarse 
 whisper, and walking close up to the Moriscoe, 
 whose dagger shone in his half-raised hand — 
 " I am as good as my word. Be firm and 
 steady. You remember your oath .f^" 
 
 Gaspar could not answer. Nervousness of 
 feeling, and astonishment at this apparition 
 of the avowed accomplice who had so long 
 been lost to him, deprived him of all power of 
 utterance. 
 
 " Come on — keep close to me !" continued 
 the mysterious stranger, preserving completely 
 his self-command, with as much ease as when 
 they trotted together along the causeway, or 
 through the windings of the So7ue7i Bosch. 
 He took Gaspar firmly by the right arm, and 
 led him directly to the opposite folding doors, 
 which with a bold movement he flung wide 
 open. Gaspar started back, as if the gates of 
 an unknown world had suddenly expanded 
 before him. Instead of the bed -room which he 
 had pictured to himself, with all its parade of
 
 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 301 
 
 wanton voluptuousness, he looked into a plainly 
 decorated saloon, where chastity might sit 
 enthroned ; and as if to embody the idea, the 
 vow-breaking novice, the unblushing partner of 
 De Bassenvelt''s revelry, Beatrice herself occu- 
 pied an oaken chair in the centre of the room, 
 dressed in a simple robe of white, a wreath of 
 orange flowers twined through her jetty locks ; 
 and the maiden cestus, common to the damsels 
 of the Moriscoe race, clasped by a brooch of 
 virgin gold round her waist. She rose to meet 
 her brother, with a look beaming brightness and 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 " Stand off, in thy burlesque trappings of 
 virtue !" cried Gaspar, shrinking back at her 
 approach. '' Where is he, thy paramour — the 
 instigator of this loathsome mockery — where is 
 De Bassenvelt ?'''' 
 
 " Here !" said the stranger, unclasping his 
 mantle, and flinging it and his hat aside ; and 
 Count I von stood boldly up, with open arms, 
 before his intended murderer. 
 
 VOT., I. p
 
 302 THE HEIRESS OF BRUGES. 
 
 " Shades of my fathers, guide me !" cried 
 the Moriscoe, again raising his dagger — *' Can 
 guilt assume this aspect — can infamy wear looks 
 like these ?" 
 
 " Let thy heart answer thee !" exclaimed 
 Beatrice, rushing into his embrace. " Seek not 
 the subtleties of moral distinctions, but hearken 
 to the voice of nature and affection. Coidd 
 infamy wear looks like these ?" 
 
 Gaspar gazed for a moment firmly on her, as 
 he held her in his outstretched arms ; then, 
 overpowered by the tide of his emotions, he 
 clasped her closely to his bosom ; and, for the 
 first time in his existence, he burst into tears. 
 
 El^D OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 SHACKELL AND BAYLIS JOHNSON's-COUKT, FLEET-STBEET.
 
 ^.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0I8-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 046410574