CHAPTER XL.
About an hour before the return of the young Earl of Ashby from hisride towards Leicester, his cousin Richard had presented himself in hisante-chamber, expecting to find him within. He was no favourite of theservants of the house, and a feeling of doubt and distrust towards himhad become general amongst them. A cold look from the armourers, and asaucy reply from a page--importing that the Earl was absent, and thatno one could tell when he would come back--was all the satisfactionwhich Richard de Ashby could obtain; and, returning into the court, hepaced slowly across towards the gate where he had left his horses.
Sir William Geary passed him just at that moment, but did not stop,merely saying, with his cold, supercilious look, "Ha, Dickon! thou artin the way to make a great man of thyself, it seems!"
"Stay, Geary, stay!" cried Sir Richard, not very well pleased eitherwith his tone or his look.
But Sir William walked on, replying, "I can't at present, Dickon. Foronce in my life, I am busy."
"They all look cold upon me," muttered Richard de Ashby, as he walkedslowly on; "can anything have been discovered?" His heart sunk at thethought, and the idea of flying crossed his mind for a moment. But hewas, as we have shown, not without a dogged sort of courage, and hemurmured, "No, I will die at the stake sooner. I must find out,however, what has taken place, that I may be prepared."
He somewhat quickened his pace, and had already put his foot in thestirrup, to mount his horse, when he heard a voice calling him by name,and turning round with a sudden start, he beheld Guy de Margan comingafter him with rapid steps.
"I saw you from my window," said the courtier, hastening up, "and havemuch matter for your ear. But let us go down by the back way into thetown, and let your horses follow."
In a moment, Richard de Ashby had banished from his countenance thelook of anxiety and thought which it had just borne, not choosing thatone, who was already somewhat more in his confidence than he liked,should see those traces of painful care, which might, perhaps, leadhim, joined with the knowledge he already possessed, to a suspicion ofthose darker deeds which had not been communicated to him.
"Well, Guy!" he said, as they walked on, "how flies the crow now? Ifind my noble cousin, the Earl, has gone out to take an afternoonride--not the way, methinks, that men usually spend the last few hoursbefore a mortal encounter. But he does it for bravado; and, if he donot mind, his life and his renown will end together in to-morrow'sfield."
"Perhaps 'twere better they did," answered Guy de Margan, shortly; andthen--replying to a look of affected wonder which Richard de Ashbyturned upon him, he continued, "I know not your plans or secrets,Dickon; but I fear you will find your cousin Alured less easy to dealwith than even Hugh de Monthermer. He doubts the truth of the charge hehas brought!"
"Then he should not have brought it!" said Richard de Ashby. "What haveI to do with that?"
"Nothing, perhaps," replied Guy de Margan, "but he loves not any ofthose whose reports induced him to make it. I found that, myself, whileI was sitting with him last night. He was strangely uncivil to me; butyou are foremost on the list, Dickon!"
"Pooh!" cried the other. "Let him but conquer in to-morrow's lists, andthe pride of having done so will make him love us all dearly again. Iknow Alured well, De Margan, and there is no harm done, if that beall!"
"But it is not all!" said Guy de Margan. "While I was sitting with him,an old woman--a withered old woman, the servants told me after--came upto call him to your house, bearing a message, as if from you."
"'Twas false! I was far away--Did he go?" exclaimed Richard de Ashby,now moved indeed.
"That did he immediately," answered his companion. "I walked down withhim, and saw him in."
"Why, in the name of hell, did you not stop him?" cried Richard deAshby. "Old woman! I have no old woman there!"
"Perhaps he went to see the young one you have there," said Guy deMargan, in a careless tone.
"Curse her! if she have--" exclaimed Richard de Ashby; and thensuddenly stopped himself, without finishing his sentence.
"Yes!" proceeded Guy de Margan, with the same affected indifference oftone; "yes, he did go down, and went in, and stayed for more than anhour, for I was at the King's banquet, and saw him come back; and Ispoke with his henchman, Peter, afterwards, who told me that he wasmightily affected all that night, and brought with him, from yourhouse, a paper, which he sealed carefully up. Look to it, Dickon--lookto it!"
They had now come to a flight of steps which led them down over one ofthe rocky descents which were then somewhat more steep than they arenow in the good town of Nottingham, and Richard de Ashby, pausing atthe top, ordered the horses to go round, while he with Guy de Margantook the shorter way. He said nothing till he reached the bottom; butthere, between two houses, neither of which had any windows on thatside, he stopped suddenly, and grasping his companion's arm, regardedhim face to face with a bent brow and searching eye.
"What is it you mean, Guy de Margan?" he asked. "You either know orsuspect something more than you say."
"I know nothing," replied Guy de Margan, "and I wish to know nothing,my good friend. So tell me nothing. I am the least curious man in allthe world. What I suspect is another affair. But now listen to me. Thedeath of Hugh de Monthermer, sweet gentleman though he be, would not beunpleasant to me; the death of the Earl, though you would have to wearmourning for your Earldom, would not, I have reason to believe, be veryinconvenient or unpleasant to you. Now mark me, Dickon; if these twomen meet to-morrow, your cousin Alured, doubting the justice of hiscause, and shaken by foolish scruples, will fall before the lance ofHugh de Monthermer as sure as I live. Every one of the court sees it,and knows it. That would suit your purpose well, you think? But youmight be mistaken even there. Nothing but dire necessity will driveMonthermer to take the Earl's life. The Prince is to be judge of thefield, and he will drop his warder on the very slightest excuse. Thusyou may be frustrated, and both you and I see our hopes marred in aminute.--But there is something more to be said: I do not choose thatyour purpose should be served, and not my own."
"Why, Guy de Margan," exclaimed his companion, in a bitter tone; "youdo not think that I am tenderly anxious for Monthermer's life?"
"No, nor I for Alured de Ashby's," answered de Margan; "but either bothshall die or both shall live, Richard de Ashby. Your cousin's mind isnow in that state, that but three words from me, turning his suspicionsin another channel, will make him retract his charge, and offer amendsto him he has calumniated.--Ay, and worse may come of it than that. NowI will speak these words, Richard de Ashby, in plain terms--I willprevent this conflict, unless you assure me that both shall fall."
"But how can I do that?" demanded Richard de Ashby, gazing upon himwith evident alarm. "How is it possible for me to insure an event whichis in the hand of fate alone?"
"In the hand of fate!" cried Guy de Margan, with a scoff. "To hear theespeak, one would think that thou art as innocent as Noe's dove. Artthou not thy cousin's godfather in the list to-morrow?"
"Ay, so he said," replied Richard de Ashby.
"Then instruct him how to slay his adversary," rejoined Guy de Margan."Tell him not to aim at shield or helmet, but at any spot; hisshoulder--his arm--his throat--his hip, where he can see the barehauberk."
"Alured knows better," said Richard. "He will drive straight upon himwith his lance; and then the toughest wood--the firmest seat--thesteadiest hand--the keenest eye, will give the victory."
"Nay, but tell him," answered Guy de Margan, in a lower tone,"that you know what is passing in his mind, the doubts, thehesitation, and that the conflict on foot is that wherein alone hecan hope to win the day. Ask him if he ever saw Hugh de Monthermerunhorsed by a straight-forward stroke of a lance whoever was hisopponent? But show him that, by striking him at the side, and turninghim in the saddle, he may be brought to the ground without a doubt."
"But still what is this to me?" asked Richard, impatiently; "the one orthe other must w
in the day."
"No--no!" cried Guy de Margan. "I will show you a means by which, ifyou can ensure that Alured de Ashby's lance dips but its point in Hughde Monthermer's blood, it shall carry with it as certain a deathas if it went through and through his heart; a scratch--a simplescratch--will do it.--When I was in the land of the old Romans--nowfilled with priests and sluggards, who have nought on earth to do butto sit and debauch the peasant girls, and hatch means of riddingthemselves of enemies--a good honest man, who took care that noneshould be long his foe, and was possessed of many excellent secrets,gave me, for weighty considerations, a powder of so balmy a quality,that either dropped into a cup or rubbed on a fresh wound, though thequantity be not bigger than will lie on a pin's-head, it will cure themost miserable man of all his sorrows, or within half an hour will takeout the pain of the most terrible injury--for ever!"
"I understand--I understand," said Richard de Ashby. "Give me thepowder; would I had had it long ago. But how can one fix it to thelance's point, so that in the shock of combat it is not brushed off?"
"Mix it with some gentle unguent," answered Guy de Margan; "'twill havethe same effect."
"I will, I will," replied his companion; "then with a thick glove Iwill feel the lance's point, to make sure that all is right, like agood cautious godfather in arms, first carefully trying the wood uponmy knee, with every other seeming caution which the experienced in suchmatters use. No fear but Alured, one way or other, will draw hisblood. Oh yes! and both shall go on the same road.--Half an hour, sayyou?--Will he have strength to end the combat?
"Fully," replied Guy de Margan; "for within two minutes of his death hewill seem as strong as ever. I tried it on a hound--just scratched hishanging lip, then took him to the field, and on he went after the game,eager and strong and loud tongued; but in full cry down dropped he in amoment, quivering and panting, and after beating the air for some twominutes with his struggling paws, lay dead."
"Give it me--give it me!" cried Richard de Ashby, and then burst into afit of laughter, as if it were the merriest joke that ever had beentold.
Guy de Margan put his hand into the small embroidered pouch he woreunder his arm, and took forth an ivory box, not bigger than a largepiece of money.
"What, is this all?" exclaimed Richard de Ashby, taking the littlecase. "Is this enough?"
"To slay more men than fell at Evesham," replied Guy de Margan; "but becareful how you mix it. Remember, the slightest scratch upon your ownhand sends you to the place appointed for you, if but a grain of thatfinds entrance."
"I will take care--I will take care," said Richard de Ashby; "and nowlook upon the deed as done. Ere this time to-morrow, you will have hadyour revenge--and I shall be Earl of Ashby."
"Ha! ha!" cried Guy de Margan, "is the truth out at length? Well, goodRichard, fare thee well; we shall meet to-morrow in deep grief for theevents of this sad field. In the meantime I will go to your cousin,the short-lived Earl, and nerve him for this battle. I will inform himwith mysterious looks that there is a plot afoot to delay the combat,and to make him believe his adversary innocent. You harp on the samestring, when you see him; and I will tell him, too, that he shall haveproof sufficient early to-morrow of Monthermer's guilt. If we but gethim to the field, the matter's done--he will not retract."
"Farewell, De Margan--farewell!" said Richard de Ashby, "I will go homeand make inquiries there;" and as he turned away, he murmured--"If thispowder be so potent, there may be enough for you also, my goodfriend--but I shall have another to deal with first. Kate Greenly, mypretty lady, you have a secret too much to carry far; if you have notbetrayed me already, I will take care that you shall not do so now."
A few minutes brought him to the house he had hired in Nottingham, andknocking hard, the door was almost instantly opened by a young lad whomhe had left behind with his unhappy paramour.
"Where is the lady?" was the first question that the youth's master putto him. "In her own chamber?"
"No, noble sir," replied the servant; "she went forth some time ago."
"Gone forth!" exclaimed his master--"gone forth, when I forbade her tocross the threshold!"
"I could not stay her, sir," rejoined the youth, who had been broughtup in no bad school for learning impudence, as well as other vices."Women will gad, sir, and who can stop them?"
"Hold thy saucy prate, knave!" cried the knight, "and answer me truly.Who has been here since I went?"
"Nobody, sir," replied the boy--"nobody but the old priest."
"What old priest?" demanded his master, with a bent and angry brow.
"The old priest who was here before, noble sir," said the boy, in amore timid tone, for his lord's look frightened him. "He who was herethe night you went to Lindwell."
"Ha!" cried Richard de Ashby; "a priest here that night? 'tis well forhim I caught him not!--When was he here again?"
"Twice, sir," replied the youth; "once in the morning; and last nightshe sent me for him again."
"And no one else?" asked Richard de Ashby.
"No one," answered the boy, firmly; and then added, in a more doubtfultone--"no one that I remember."
"Boy, 'tis a lie!" replied his master. "I see it on thy face: thouknow'st thou liest!"--and as he spoke, he caught him by the breast,giving him a shake that made his breath come short. "Who has been here?If thou speak'st not at a word, thou shalt have a taste of this!" andhe laid his hand upon his dagger.
"No one, indeed--no one that I know of," said the boy. "I maysuspect----"
"And who do you suspect?" asked Richard de Ashby.
"Why, noble sir, last night," replied the boy, "as I was going up thestreet to seek the priest, I saw two gentlemen come near the house; andone of them, who was the noble Earl, your cousin, I am sure, went up asif to the door, and, I think, was let in; the other turned away."
"Did my cousin go in?" demanded Richard. "Say me but yea or nay.--Didhe go in, I say?"
"I think so, sir," replied the youth--"I think so, but cannot be sure;there came a sudden light across the road as if the door opened, but bythat time I was too far up the street to see."
"'Tis as De Margan said," thought the knight; and striding up at onceto the chamber where the corpse was laid, he found the door wide open,and the body fairly laid out and decked, as it was called. A crucifixand some sprigs of holly were on the breast; a small cup of holy waterstood near; a lamp was burning, although the sun was not yet down, andeverything gave plain indication that the man had not died without thesuccour of the church, and that the corpse had been watched by othereyes besides those of poor Kate Greenly.
"I have been betrayed!" said Richard de Ashby to himself.--"I have beenbetrayed! Yet if it be but the priest, there is no great harm done. Thesecret of confession, at all events, is safe. But where is the girlherself, and what has been her communication with Alured? That must beknown ere many hours be over--perhaps I shall know it soon enough.--Andyet what can she tell, but that a wounded man died in my house, broughtin by people who had once visited me, and that, too, while I wasabsent?--'Tis my own conscience makes me fear. If Ellerby would butbetake himself to Wales or France, or anywhere but here, all would besafe enough; but he keeps hovering about, like a moth round a candle.Where are this man's clothes, I wonder?"--and taking up the lamp, forit was now rapidly growing dark, he sought carefully about the room;but neither clothes, nor sword, nor dagger were to be found.
"There is a plot against me," he continued; "'tis evident enough now.She may have gained more information than I think; she may haveoverheard something. A paper!--What paper could she give to Alured!Perhaps the covenant that I foolishly gave to these men! He might havehad it about him. Ellerby may have forgotten it. That were damnation,indeed! Perhaps 'twere better to fly, while there is yet time!--Fly?no, never!--to be a wandering outcast upon the face of the earth,seeking my daily sustenance at the sword's point, or else by art andcunning, when the earldom of Ashby is almost within my grasp! No,never! I will go face it at once, and woe to him that cros
ses me!--If Icould but find that girl--Hark, there is a noise below!" and with anervous start he turned to listen, and soon heard that the soundsproceeded from the servants, whom he had sent round with his horses,talking with the lad in the hall.
"I will go face it at once," he repeated to himself--"I will wait forhim at his lodging, and soon find out what he knows: doubtless he haskept it to his own breast. Alured is not one to cast a stain upon hisrace. No, no; he will not accuse one of the name of Ashby!"
Thus saying, he descended the stairs; and bidding his servants keepgood watch in the house till he returned, he took his way back to thecastle on foot. On reaching the apartments of his cousin, he found anumber of attendants in the outer room, apparently not long returnedfrom a journey. Some time had since passed, however, for they wereeating and drinking merrily, and little did they seem disposed tointerrupt their meal for their lord's poor kinsman.
"My lord is out, Sir Richard," said one, "he is gone to the Prince'slodging."
"Nonsense, Ned!" cried another--"he's come back again; but he toldPeter that he did not wish to be disturbed by any one."
"Of course, he did not thereby mean me," replied Richard de Ashby,sternly. "Go in, Ned, and tell him I am here."
The man obeyed, sullenly enough, and the moment after, the knight heardhis cousin's voice, saying, in a hasty tone--"I want not to see him.Tell him I am engaged--going out on matters, of moment. Yet, stay, sendhim in."
Richard de Ashby's eyes were fixed sternly upon the ground as he heardthe bitter confirmation of his fears, and he muttered to himself--"Aye,he has heard more than he should have known."
When the servant returned, however, and bade him follow to his lord'spresence, he cleared his brow, and went in with as satisfied an air ashe could well assume. The table was laid for supper, and his cousin wasstanding at the end, in the act of setting down from his hand adrinking cup of jewelled agate, the contents of which he hadhalf-drained.
"I would not have disturbed you, Alured," said the knight, "but as I amto go with you to the field, it is necessary that we should talk overour arrangements."
"I have no arrangements to make," cried the young Earl, looking at himaskance, like a fiery horse half inclined to kick at the person whoapproaches. "I am going to fight--that is all. I have had a lance in myhand before now, and know how to use it."
"Yes," replied Richard de Ashby, "and you will use it right well, andto the destruction of your adversary. I am aware of that, Alured; butstill there may be many things to be said between us. When one knowsone's opponent in the lists, consideration and skill may be employed tobaffle his particular mode of fighting his art--his trick, call it whatyou will. Now I have often seen Hugh de Monthermer run a course--you, Ithink, never have but once?"
"I met him hand to hand at Evesham," replied his cousin impatiently;"that is, enough for me. I want neither advice nor assistance, cousinmine; and more, as we are now upon the subject, you go not to the fieldwith me--I will choose another godfather.--Nay, no attitudes orflashing eyes. I tell thee, Dickon, things have come to my knowledgewhich may touch your life, so make the most of the hint. The time isshort, for as soon as the Prince returns, he shall be made acquaintedwith all the facts."
"But, Alured, explain!" exclaimed Richard de Ashby.
"No need of explanation," replied his cousin; "you will hear enough ofit ere long, if you wait. Let your conscience be your guide to stay orfly. At any rate, remain not here. I go for a moment to, shake handswith Hugh de Monthermer, ere I meet him to-morrow at the lance's point,and to tell him that I bear him no ill will, though honour compels meto appear in arms against him. I would not find you here when I return;and let me not see your face at to-morrow's lists, for it would bringdown a curse upon me."
Thus saying, he strode out of the room without waiting for a reply, andRichard de Ashby, in the passion of the moment, writhed his fingers inhis own hair, and tore it out by the roots.
"A curse upon him!" he cried, "a curse upon him! Well, let it fall!Tell the Prince? Blast his own blood? Stain the name of Ashby for ever?Bring me to the block? But I know better," he continued, suddenlyrecovering himself--"he shall never do that;" and looking anxiouslyround the room, he drew from his pouch the small box that Guy de Marganhad given him, approached the door, which his cousin had left partlyopen, pushed it gently to, and then, returning to the table, he poureda small portion of the white, powder it contained into the drinking cupof Alured de Ashby. A triumphant smile lighted up his countenance as hesaw the powder disappear in the wine which still remained in the cup.
"He will drink again when he comes back," said the villain. "I knowhim, Ha! ha! ha!--and he must tell his story soon to Prince Edward'sear, or his tongue may fail him, by chance.--On my life, I think he isa coward, and afraid to face this Monthermer. But doubt and hesitationare past with me. Kate Greenly, 'tis your turn now. She is with thepriest, doubtless--she is with the priest.--Her tongue once silenced,and I Earl of Ashby, who will dare to accuse me then?--Or if they do,why let them! I will unfurl my banner on my castle walls, call aroundme the scattered party of De Montfort, and set Edward at defiance,till, by a soft capitulation, I ensure the past from all inquiries. Butnow for the girl--she must see no more suns rise!"
And thus saying, he quitted the room and castle with a hasty step.