*III*
I would fain have had further speech with the damsel, to know more fullywhat was intended towards me; 'twas plain that she was of muchconsideration with these ragged ruffians, with whom her lightest wordwas law; and in truth I wondered not at their tame submission, forthough her age was, as I guessed, not above twenty years, she had a mostcommanding and imperial mien, and a manner of speech that enforcedobedience.
Having set me upon my horse, and likewise upon his my Irishman that waswounded, my servant and the other Irishman being compelled to remainafoot, the kernes led us along the path over the hillside, one of thembearing my pistol, another my sword, which he had taken from my belt.Thus as we marched, my mind was busy with these late accidents, and withmy fair saviour, whose hair methought was of the hue of red gold, andher eyes of an incomparable blue. From such meditation I shook myself,to take note, as beseemed one in my case, of the nature of the countrywe were traversing. I perceived that the track, very rugged and narrow,wound steeply up the hillside, giving but few glimpses of any prospect.But on a sudden, coming to the summit, I beheld a very fair anddelightful landscape, that put me in mind of the country in Devon.Betwixt the hill whereon I stood, and another like to it, above a miledistant, there lay a pleasant valley of emerald green, and in the midstthereof a lake or mere, and a silvery stream feeding it from the highground above. But that which held the eye more especially in thisdelectable prospect was a castle in the midst of the lake--a fortress ofstone built in the Norman style, of no great magnitude, but having akeep, a courtyard, and divers appurtenances. 'Twas a goodly spectacle,this hoary shape engoldened by the sunlight, girt about with blue water,and all encompassed by the living green.
At the end of the lake nearest to us, I perceived the semblance of ajetty framed of wood, whereto a vessel like unto our Thames wherries wasmoored; and both on the vessel and the jetty I saw sundry folk, andlikewise a few assembled in the courtyard. In the castle wall was awater-gate, which now lay open, bounded above by the teeth of aportcullis.
We stayed not our march, but descended the hillside towards the lake.And as I drew nearer, I perceived that the castle was in ill repair, thestonework weatherworn and crumbling, and the iron of the portcullisexceeding rusty, so that I misdoubted whether it were possible to beraised. Methought the place was of very ancient date, perchance of thetime when, for our woe, Strongbow set his foot upon thiscountry--destined to be a continual nursery of trouble to her Englishgovernors.
When we were come to the waterside, a man met me from the jetty, andspeaking in the English of a five-years' bairn, invited me to enter thewherry. This I did, with my own men and some of those that were withus, and we were ferried over the lake, and into the castle by thewater-gate, through a covered way that led from the lake into thecourtyard.
Alighting from the wherry and ascending some few ragged stone steps, Ifound myself in the courtyard amid a strange medley of beasts and men.There were cattle, swine, and poultry enclosed in tumbledown pens, andset against the walls were rude cabins of wood overlaid with turfs,which I supposed to be the dwellings of serving men and retainers. Ofmankind there were in the courtyard about a score, men, women andchildren, the men being for the greater part well stricken in years.All these folk gazed upon me as you see peasants gaze at quaintoutlandish monsters in a country fair. My men were taken, by commandalready given, into one of the cabins aforesaid; but I myself wasushered through a postern into the keep, and up a winding stair to achamber barely furnished with a stool and a truckle bed, whereon waslaid in a heap a suit of woollen garments. These I donned with muchcontentment in exchange for my own sodden and miry raiment, a manstanding at the door with his back to me all the time, a courtesy Ilittle expected in such savages. When I was dry clad he conducted medown the stairs into a lofty and spacious hall, where food of theEnglish sort was spread upon a table. With this I was mightilyrefreshed and strengthened, for hard fortune had not bereft me ofappetite, though I acknowledge my satisfaction was tempered by therecollection that I who had fought in campaigns with the greatestcaptains of the age had fallen an inglorious victim to a handful of wildIrish kernes.
Some while after the remains of my repast had been removed, and I wasdrumming my heels alone and in idleness, the door opened, and the maidenentered, and with her an old and withered dame of forbidding aspect andmien. A smile flickered upon the maiden's countenance as she beheld me,clad in coarse and ill-fitting garments, making my bow as courtly as toa queen.
"Our fare is poorer than I could wish," she said, "but 'tis ournecessity at fault, not our good will."
"I thank you, mistress," said I, "and would fain beg that the same faremay be provided for my men, one of whom, I fear, was somewhat incommodedin the late misadventure."
"Their wants are supplied, sir," quoth she coldly; "and as for you, Idesire that you will rest in such comfort as our poor means and thestraitness of our dwelling may afford."
"In troth, mistress," said I, "I have known worse quarters and leanerfare; but desiring that you be at no more pains or charges in my behoof,I purpose with your leave to get me hence with all commendable speed assoon as my garments are dried, not forgetting that I owe my life toyou."
At this she smiled again.
"Of what value your life may be to you or to your countrymen I knownot," she said, "but at this present time it is of some worth to me."
"I am honoured, madam," said I in some puzzlement.
And then, seeing my wonder writ on my face, she laughed outright.
"I fear me, good sir, we are scarcely of one mind," she said. "Loth asI am to enforce you with any restraint, yet needs must I tell you thatfor a time you shall rest content to remain my guest."
"Shall, madam?" said I, with a lift of the eyes.
"Shall, sir," she repeated. "You shall be a hostage, a pledge for thefair treatment of my father."
"What have I to do with your father?" I asked, in my bewilderment.
"This: that your general has sworn to hang my father so soon as he layshands on him, wherefore I have despatched a letter to your general tolet him know that I have you in ward, and will surely execute upon youany violence or indignity that my father may suffer."
"I WILL SURELY EXECUTE UPON YOU ANY VIOLENCE OR INDIGNITYTHAT MY FATHER MAY SUFFER"]
This she said with a firm voice, smiting the table with her little hand;and I knew in my heart that what she said, that the fair termagant wouldsurely do.
"And may I presume to ask, madam," said I, "the name of the gentlemanupon whose safety my own salvation hangs?"
"His name, sir, is Kedagh O'Hagan: and yours?"
"A name of much less mark: Christopher Rudd, at your service."
"A knight?"
"Nay, madam, a plain gentleman."
She smiled a little at this, and continued--
"Well, Master Christopher Rudd, give me the word of a plain gentlemanthat you will use no endeavour to flee away, and I give you the freedomof this castle, such as it is."
"I thank you, madam, for your good will," said I, "but I have a largernotion of freedom. With your leave I will put no fetters on mydiscretion."
"Nor I on your limbs, and yet you shall be confined," said she; andafter the exchange of sundry civil nothings between us, she departedwith the ancient dame, who had stood by the while with arms folded uponher hips, and lips pressed together grimly.
The door was closed upon them, and by the voices that came to me throughthe timber I knew that two men had been set to guard me.
I had much to speculate upon in my solitude. This Kedagh O'Hagan, thedamsel's father, was a notorious rebel, and a doughty lieutenant of theO'Neill. I knew that my general, Sir Arthur Chichester, had vowed tohang him, as she had said; but seeing that the fellow was slippery as aneel and had escaped us not a few times, I saw myself doomed in alllikelihood to a long imprisonment unless peradventure I could make myescape. Moreover, if by any foul chance he should lose his life, thega
llows was my certain destination, an ignominious end which I could notcontemplate with any comfort or serenity.
From meditating on this I came to think of my fair hostess. I had seenfull many a glorious beauty at the Queen's Court, and in France when Iserved King Henry, but none that so bewitched and teased me as thisIrish maiden, with her red-gold hair, and her eyes of unsoundable blue,and her coral lips that curled the one above the other when she smiled.And the dulcet fluting of her voice, breathing out pure English with afaint smack of something outlandish and yet most pleasing, remainedsinging in my ears. Moreover her bold and mettlesome spirit, yet not awhit unmaidenly, liked me well, and I considered within myself that Icould be well content to enjoy her society during the few days which Ineeded for the perfect recovery of my strength. Her converse, methought,would sweeten my confinement until I should make my escape, whereto Iwas resolved.
I remained in that chamber while daylight endured, now ruminating, nowreading in the one or two books that my fair jailer had set there forme--some poems of Master Spenser, Tottel's _Miscellany_, and sundryother volumes which I marvelled to find in that barbarous land; and itchancing that my supper was brought to me by that man that had somesmattering of English, I fell on talk with him, to learn somewhat, if Imight, of his fair mistress. Her name was Sheila, he told me--quaintand pretty to my ears; she was her father's sole child, and the apple ofhis eye. She had dwelt some time in England, her father having beencarried there a hostage, but loved Ireland, said the man. He told mealso that she was vehemently besought in marriage by a young chieftainof that neighbourhood, one Rory Mac Shane, betwixt whose family and herown there was an ancient feud. 'Twas Mac Shane's purpose to end thefeud by this alliance, but he was looked upon with loathing both by themaiden and by her father, not only because of the inveterate enmitybetween the two houses, but also because they misliked the man himself,a robustious unlettered fellow, a foul liver, and one that constantlybesotted himself with usquebagh, a vile drink of the country. Mac Shanehad sworn, so it was told me, to wed the maiden, will she, nill she, forwhich reason had her father conveyed her to this castle in the lake, asbeing more easily defended than his greater seat a few miles distant. Ihad ofttimes heard of the raids made one upon another by these pettyIrish chiefs, and my informant did not question but that some time, whenoccasion served, Mac Shane would seek to attain his end by violence. Inthis case I could not but marvel that O'Hagan had left his daughter, andwithdrawn the main part of his people to assist O'Neill; but reflectedthat he must know his own business best, and so dismissed the matter.