Chapter 7: The Protection Of The Protected.
"Nay, wife, why sit up for him? Since he has taken to these rovinghabits at night there is no depending upon him. I must put an endto them if they are to disturb you so. The boy is safe enough. Whyare you anxious about him tonight?"
It was Farmer Devenish who spoke these words to his wife, half anhour after the rest of the household had retired to rest, and hefound her still sitting beside the fire, which she had piled uphigh on the hearth, as if she meant to remain downstairs for sometime; which indeed she distinctly told him was her intention, asshe did not wish to go to bed until Jack had come in.
"He asked me to sit up for him tonight," she answered, "and henever did so before. I was glad of it; for I have been uneasy forthe boy, wondering what could take him out so often at night."
"Oh, he's going courting, you may depend upon it," laughed thefarmer in his hearty way; "and courting some young lass not of ourvillage, but one who lives a pretty step from here, I'll be bound.I've held my peace, and let the boy go his own way. He'll speak outwhen the time comes, depend upon it."
"I believe he will speak out this very night," answered the mother."He told me he had a surprise in store for me, and begged that Iwould sit up till his return, and stand his friend with you, if youshould be displeased at his choice. One might have thought he wasbringing his bride home with him, to hear him talk; but he wouldnever get wedded without speaking first. He is a good lad and adutiful, and his parents have the right to be told."
The farmer's curiosity was piqued by what he heard, and he resolvedto share his wife's vigil. Jack, their only son, was very dear tothem, and they were proud of him in their own hearts, and thoughtsuch a son had never lived before. Both were anxiously lookingforward to the day when he should bring home a wife to brighten upthe old home, since it had lost the sweet presence of the daughterJoan; and they neither of them believed that Jack's choice wouldfall upon anyone unworthy of him.
The farmer dozed in his chair by the glowing hearth. The woman gota large book from some secret receptacle upstairs, and read withdeep attention, though with cautious glance around her from time totime, as if half afraid of what she was doing. It was long beforethe silence outside was broken by any sound of approachingfootfalls; and when the ring of a horse hoof upon the frosty groundbecame distinctly audible through the silence of the night, thefarmer would not unbar the door until his wife had glided away withthe volume she had been reading.
A minute later and the parents both stood in the doorway, peeringout into the cloudy night, that was not altogether dark.
"By holy St. Anthony, there are two horses and three riders," saidthe farmer, shading his eyes from the glare of the lantern as hepeered out into the darkness beyond.
"Jack, is that you, my son? And who are these that you have broughtwith you?"
"Friends--friends claiming the shelter and protection of your roof,father," answered Jack's hearty voice as he rode up to the door;and then it was seen that he was greatly encumbered by some burdenhe supported before him on his horse. But from the other lighterpalfrey there leaped down a small and graceful creature offairy-like proportions, and Mistress Devenish found herselfsuddenly confronted by the sweetest, fairest face she had ever seenin her life, whilst a pair of soft arms stole caressingly about herneck.
"You are Jack's mother," said a sweet, soft voice in accents ofconfident yet timid appeal that went at once to her heart. "He hastold me so much of you--he has said that you would be a mother tome. And I have so longed for a mother all my life. I never had one.Mine own mother died almost ere I saw the light. He said you wouldlove me; and I have loved you long. Yet it is not of myself I musttalk now, but of yon poor lad whom you know well. We have broughtPaul Stukely back to you. Oh, he has been sorely handled by thosecruel robbers--the band of Black Notley! He has been like a deadman these last miles of the road. But Jack says he is not dead, andthat your kindly skill will make him live again."
And before Mistress Devenish was well aware whether she were not ina dream herself, her husband had lifted into the house theapparently inanimate form of Paul Stukely, and had laid him downupon the oak settle near to the hospitable hearth.
Jack had gone to the stable with the horses; but one of the servingmen having been aroused and having come to his assistance, he wasable quickly to join the party beside the fire, and coming forwardwith a glad and confident step, he took the hand of the fairy-likegirl in his own, and placed it within that of his mother.
"Father, mother," he said, "I have brought you home my bride thatis to be. Listen, and I will tell you a strange story, and I knowyou will not then withhold your love from one who has known littleof it, and who has led a strange, hard life amid all that is badand cruel, and is yet all that you can wish to find in woman--allthat is true and pure and lovely."
And then Jack, with the sort of rude eloquence sometimes found inhis class, told of his wooing of the robber's daughter; told of herhatred and loathing of the scenes she was forced to witness, of thelife she was forced to lead; told of her fierce father's fiercelove gradually waning and turning to anger as he discovered thatshe was not pliable material in his hands, to be bent to his sternwill; told how he had of late wished to wed her to the terribleSimon Dowsett, and how she had felt at last that flight alone withher own lover could save her from that fate.
Then he told of Paul's capture upon the very night for which theflight had been planned; told how gallantly he had defied thecruelty of the robber band, and how his Eva had effected hisliberation and had brought him with her to the trysting place. Theyhad planned before the details of the flight, and it would be deathto her to be sent back; but after her liberation of the captive,the thought of facing that lawless band again was not to be thoughtof.
And the farmer, who had listened to the tale with kindling eyes andmany a smothered ejaculation of anger and pity, suddenly put hisstrong arms about the slight figure of the girl, and gave her ahearty kiss on both cheeks.
"Thou art a good wench and a brave one," he said, "and I am proudthat my roof is the one to shelter thee from those lawless men, whoare the curse of our poor country.
"Jack, I told the mother that you must be going courting, and thatI should be right glad when you brought a bride to the old home.And a bride this brave girl shall be as soon as Holy Church canmake you man and wife; and we will love her none the less for whather father was. I always heard that the Fire Eater, as they callhim, had carried off and married a fair maiden, too good by athousand times for the like of him; and if this is that poor lady'sdaughter, I can well believe the tale. But she is her mother'schild, not her fierce father's, and we will love her as our own.
"Take her to your heart, good mother. A brave lass deserves a warmwelcome to her husband's home."
The gentle but high-spirited Eva had gone through the dangers ofthe night with courage and resolution, but tears sprang to her eyesat hearing these kindly words; and whilst Jack wrung his father'shand and thanked him warmly for his goodwill. The girl buried herface upon the shoulder of Mistress Devenish, and was once morewrapped in a maternal embrace.
And then, having got the question of Eva's adoption as Jack'sbetrothed bride so quickly and happily settled, they all turnedtheir attention to poor Paul, who for a few minutes had been almostforgotten.
There was a warm little chamber scarce larger than a closet openingfrom the room where the farmer and his wife slept, and as there wasa bed therein always in readiness against the arrival of someunlooked-for guest, Paul was quickly transported thither, andtenderly laid between the clean but coarse coverings. He onlymoaned a little, and never opened his eyes or recognized where hewas or by whom he was tended; whilst the sight of his laceratedback and shoulders drew from the woman many an exclamation of pity,and from the farmer those of anger and reprobation.
It was some time before they understood what had happened, orrealized that the young kinsman (as they had called him) of Paul'swas really the Prince of Wales, the son
of the now reigning Henry,and that the two lads had been actually living and travellingtogether with this secret between them. But Eva had heard muchabout both, and told how the presence of the prince in the countryhad become known to her father and his band first through thesuspicions of the peddler, who had seen the one pearl clasp stillowned and kept by the robber chief, and had at once recognized itsfellow; and secondly, from the identification of Paul's companionwith the Prince of Wales by one of the band who had been over toFrance not long ago, and had seen the prince there.
The old likeness between the two youths was remembered well by theband, who had been fooled by it before; and they had been for weeksupon the track of the fugitives, who had, however, left Figeon'sbefore their enemies had convinced themselves of their identity;and in London they were less easily found. Eva did not know thewhole story--it was Paul who supplied the missing links later; butshe told how a great part of the band had gone forth to seek themin the city--how word had presently been brought by a mountedmessenger that the fugitives had escaped, just when they werecertain they had them fast--that all roads were being watched forthem, but that those who still remained in the forest were to keepa close lookout, lest by some chance they should return by the waythey had come.
The band had been scouring the woods all that day in differentdetachments, and they had brought in Paul just before dark. Theprince had escaped their vigilance, and Paul had maintained silenceunder their cruel questioning. Eva knew no more of him than thefarmer, but all were full of hope that he had escaped. Well indeedfor both--if Paul knew his hiding place--that he was out of thepower of the robbers. They would scarce in any case have let himescape with his life, after the ill will many of them bore him; buthad he continued to set them at defiance by his silence, there isno knowing to what lengths their baffled rage might not have gone.Eva had heard of things in bygone days which she could not recallwithout a shudder, and the farmer and Jack, with clenched hands andstern faces, vowed that they would leave no stone unturned untilthe country was rid of these lawless and terrible marauders.
"We have stood enough; this is the last!" cried the burly owner ofFigeon's. "We will raise the whole countryside; we will send adeputation to the bold Earl of Warwick; we will tell him Paul'shistory, and beg him to come himself, or to send a band of fivehundred of his good soldiers, and destroy these bandits root andbranch. If these outrages are committed in the name of the House ofYork, then I and mine will henceforth wear the badge of Lancaster.What we simple country folks want is a king who can keep order inthis distracted land; and if that brave boy who dwelt beneath ourroof, and was kindly and gracious to all, is our future king, well,God bless and keep him, say I, and let the sceptre long be held inhis kindly hands!"
In the village of Much Waltham next day the wildest excitementprevailed. Jack was down at his sister's house with the dawn totell how Paul had been rescued from the hands of the robbers theprevious night, and what cruel treatment he had received at theirhands. He was going off on a secret errand to the Priory that veryday on Paul's behalf, to ask for news of the prince; and when itwas known that the bright-haired lad (Paul's kinsman, as he hadbeen called) who had won all hearts was none other than theirfuture Prince of Wales, a great revulsion of feeling swept over thehearts of the simple and loving rustics, and they became as warm intheir sympathies for Lancaster as they had been loyal hitherto toYork.
But the burning feeling of the hour was the desire to put down by astrong hand the depredations of these lawless robber hordes. Not ahouse in the place but had suffered from them, not a farmer but hadcomplaints to make of hen roost robbed or beasts driven off in thenight. Others had darker tales to tell; and Will Ives clenched hisfists and vowed that he would be glad indeed to see the day when heand Simon Dowsett might meet face to face in equal combat. But itwould be impossible to attack the robbers in their forestfastnesses unless they had military help; and a deputation was tostart forthwith to London, to lay before the mighty earl the storyof the ravages committed, and the deadly peril which had justthreatened the heir of England, from which he might not yet haveescaped.
Jack was in hopes that he might still be at the Priory, and that hemight bring him back and set him at the head of a party of loyalrustics, who should escort him in triumph to his royal father inLondon. But that hope was of short duration; for the news hereceived at the Priory told that the prince was already far away,and safe at sea on his way to France.
He had arrived just at dusk the previous evening, and when he hadtold his adventures and proved his identity to the satisfaction ofthe Prior, strenuous efforts were made to convey him safely awaybefore further peril could menace him. It chanced that one of thebrothers was about to start for the coast on a mission for thePrior; and disguised in a friar's gown, Edward could travel withhim in the most perfect safety. Stout nags were in readiness forthe pair; and after the lad had been well fed, and had enjoyed acouple of hours' sleep beside the fire, he was sufficientlyrefreshed to proceed on his way, only charging the Prior either tosend Paul after him if he should arrive in time, or to keep him insafe hiding if that should not be possible.
Before Jack left the place, the brother who had been the prince'scompanion returned with the news that Edward had been safelyembarked in a small trading vessel bound for France, the captain ofwhich, an ardent Lancastrian, would defend his passenger from everyperil at risk of his own life if need be. The wind was favourableand light, and there was every hope of a rapid and safe passage.Before nightfall this very day Edward would probably be landed uponFrench soil, out of all chance of danger from foeman's steel.
As to the purposed overthrow of the robber band, the brothers mostheartily approved of it. They too, though in some sort protected bythe awe inspired by Holy Church, suffered from the bold dealings ofthese lawless men, and gladly would they see the band scattered orexterminated.
The Prior shook his head somewhat as Jack explained how he wishedto wed the daughter of the chief of the crew; but when the loverpleaded his cause with all the eloquence at his command, andpainted in piteous words the misery the gentle girl had endured inthe midst of her unhallowed surroundings, the kind-heartedecclesiastic relented, and forthwith despatched Brother Lawrence toexamine and counsel the maid, hear her confession, and absolve herfrom her offences, and then, if all seemed well, to perform therite of betrothal, which was almost as binding as the marriageservice itself, and generally preceded it by a few weeks or months,as the case might be. So Jack rode off in high feather, and talkedso unceasingly of his Eva the whole way to the farm, that the goodbrother was almost convinced beforehand of the virtue and devotionof the maid, and was willing enough a few hours later to join theirhands in troth plight. After that, unless the father were preparedto draw upon himself the fulminations of the Church, he could notlay claim to his daughter, or try to give her in wedlock toanother. Her place was now with her betrothed's kindred, where shewould remain until the marriage ceremony itself took place, andmade her indeed the daughter of the farm.
Meantime Paul lay for a while sorely sick, and was tended withmotherly devotion by good Mistress Devenish, who learned to lovehim almost as a son. Hardy and tough as he was, the fatigue andsuffering he had undergone had broken him down, and a fever set inwhich for a time made them fear for his very life. But his hardyconstitution triumphed over the foe, and in a week's time from thenight he first set foot across the threshold of Figeon's Farm hewas held to be out of danger, though excessively weak and ill.
During the long nights when his hostess had watched beside him,thinking that he was either unconscious or delirious, Paul had seenand heard more than she knew. He had heard her read, as if toherself, strange and beautiful words from a book upon herknee--words that had seemed full of peace and light and comfort,and which had sunk into his weary brain with strangely soothingpower. Some of these same words were not quite unfamiliar tohim--at least he knew their equivalents in the Latin tongue; butsomehow when spoken thus in the language of everyday life, theycame home to him
with tenfold greater force, whilst some of thesweetest and deepest and most comforting words were altogether newto him.
And as his strength revived, Paul's anxiety to hear more of suchwords grew with it; and one forenoon, as his nurse sat beside himwith her busy needle flying, he looked up at her and said, "You donot read out of the book any more, and I would fain hear thosewonderful words again."
"I knew not that you had ever heard."
"Yes, I heard much, and it seemed to ease my pain and give me happythoughts. It is a beautiful and a goodly book. May I not hearmore?"
"I would that all the world might hear the life giving words ofthat book, Paul," said the good woman with a sigh. "But they comefrom Wycliffe's Bible, and the holy brothers tell us that it is awicked book, which none of us should read."
"It cannot be a wicked book which holds such goodly words--wordsthat in the Latin tongue the Holy Church herself makes use of,"said Paul stoutly. "It may be bad for unlettered and ignorant mento try to teach and expound the words they read, but the wordsthemselves are good words. May I not see the book myself?"
"You know the risk you run in so doing, Paul?"
"Ay; but I am a good son of the Church, and I fear not to see whatmanner of book this be. If it is bad, I will no more of it."
The woman smiled slightly as she rose from her seat and touched aspring in the wall hard by the chimney. A sliding panel sprang backand disclosed a small shelf, upon which stood a large book, whichthe woman placed in Paul's hands, closing the panel immediately.
He lay still, turning the leaves with his thin hands, andmarvelling what the Church found to condemn in so holy a book asthis seemed, breathing peace and goodwill and truest piety; but aslight stir without the house, and the trampling of horse hoofs inthe court below, caused the woman to raise her head with aninstinct of caution, and Paul to thrust the volume hastily butcautiously deep beneath the pillows on which he lay.
There were strange voices in the house, and the door was opened byBrother Lawrence, who came in with a troubled look upon his face.He was followed by three tall monks in a different habit, and withnone of the rubicund joviality upon their faces that was seen inthose of the brothers of Leighs Priory; whilst last of all, with acunning and malicious leer upon his face, followed the littlepeddler, who, when he met the steady glance of Paul's eyes, shrankback somewhat and looked discomfited.
But the foremost of the tall monks, scarce heeding the respectfulsalutation made him by Paul and the mistress, turned upon thepeddler and said:
"Fellow, come forward and bear your testimony. It was, you who laidthe information that heretical books were hidden in this house, andthat you knew the hiding place. Make good your words, now that youhave brought us to the spot; for our worthy brother here speakswell of those that live beneath this roof."
"May it please your reverence, I know the place well, and thatthere are heretical books concealed there always. If you will pressthat spring in the wall here, you will see for yourself. If youfind not the forbidden Bible there, call me a prating and a lyingknave.",
Brother Lawrence was looking both troubled and curious, but theface of Mistress Devenish was perfectly calm, and Paul commandedhis countenance to a look of simple wonderment and surprise.
The monk obeyed the direction of the peddler; the secret spring,gave a sharp click, and the door flew open. But the little shelfwas bare, and told no tales, and the face of the peddler fell.
"It has been removed--they have had notice of this visitation,"stammered the discomfited man; but Brother Lawrence cut him short.
"Your reverence knows that that is impossible," he said, addressingthe tall monk: "no word of this visitation had reached even ourears till your arrival this very morning. This house has ever beenwell thought of by our fraternity, and pays its dues to Holy Churchas I would all other houses did. I trust your mind is satisfied."
The monk bent his head; but before he could speak, Paul had raisedhimself on his pillows, and was speaking in quick, earnest tones.
"Holy father, listen, I pray you, to me," he said, "and trust notthe testimony of yon traitorous fellow, who, if he had had hiswill, would have done to death the son of our sainted monarch KingHenry.
"Nay, let him not escape," he cried, as he saw the man make anattempt to reach the door, which was promptly frustrated by thesudden appearance of Jack Devenish, who had heard of this suddenincursion of monks, and had rushed to the house in some fear ofwhat might be happening there.
"Hold him fast, Jack," cried Paul, with increasing energy, "till Ihave told my tale;" and forthwith he described in graphic words howthis man had identified the prince, and had striven to sell him tothe enemy, that the House of York might triumph in his death, or inpossession of the heir whose life alone could redeem the cause ofLancaster from destruction. The story was listened to with deepattention and no little sympathy, for the visit, the peril, and theflight of the prince were becoming known in this part of thecountry, and the clergy of all degrees were thankful indeed thatthe heir of England was safe, as they were all deeply attached tothe cause of the Red Rose.
So Paul's story roused a great wave of anger against the meanfellow, who would thus earn his own living by betraying those whosebread he had eaten, or one whose life it should be his care toprotect; and scarce had Paul done speaking before Brother Lawrencetook up the gauntlet, and addressing himself to the tall monk,pointed to Paul, as he lay still white and weak upon his pillows.
"And hear farther, reverend father: this youth who now speaks toyou is he of whom I told you as we rode along, who bore torturewithout yielding up the name of the hiding place to which he knewthe prince had escaped. But for him young Edward might yet havefallen into the hands of these robbers; for they would have watchedour Priory and have set upon all who went or came, and ravaged thewhole country, so that even the habit of the monk would not haveprotected or disguised him. And these good folks here at this farmwere they who rescued him from the hands of the robbers; for themaiden alone, without the help of this stalwart youth, could nothave brought him, ill and fainting as he was, all these long wearymiles. And they took him in; and this woman, whom yon informerwould have you believe is a vile heretic, has nursed him like hisown mother, and brought him back from the very jaws of death. Andis she who has done a service that royal Henry will one day thankher for publicly (for this pallid youth is as a brother in love toyoung Edward, and his especial charge to us till he comes again toclaim him and bestow his well-earned knighthood upon him)--is sheto suffer from the unproven charges of a base spy and Yorkist toollike yon fellow there, who would have betrayed his own king's sonto death? Away with such a fellow from the earth, I say; and letthose who have sheltered England's heir, and rescued this boldyouth from worse than death--let them, I say, live in peace andhonour for the service they have done their country! For I wot thatwhen young Edward comes in his own proper state again, his firstcare will be for those who befriended him in his hour of need, hisfirst chastisement against those who have done aught to harm them,if they be still cumbering the earth."
And with that the usually jovial brother, moved now by a greataccess of wrath, which had given him unwonted eloquence, pointed afinger significantly at the trembling peddler; and Jack, who heldhim by the collar, gave him a shake and said:
"Give me leave to carry him to the village green and tell the goodfolks there the tale, and I warrant that he will not cumber theground much longer."
"Do with him as you will," said the tall monk, "he is no charge ofmine; and if all be true that is said, he well deserves his fate."
The peddler was borne away, crying and entreating, and before anhour had passed, his dead body was hanging on an oak tree nigh tothe blacksmith's forge--a warning to all informers; and when he hadgone the tall monk turned to Paul with a more benign air, and laidhis hand upon his head as he said:
"Thou art a stanch lad; and for their care to thee these honestfolks deserve the gratitude of the Church. I believe none of theaccusations of that lewd
fellow. I trow this is a godly house,where the Lord is rightly honoured in His holy ordinances."
"That indeed is so," answered Paul fervently.
The visitors departed well satisfied; whilst Paul heaved a greatsigh of relief, and wondered if he had in any way sinned by thoughtor word or deed. But his conscience was clear; he could not seethat there was sin in reading holy words from God's own Book. Suchmatters of dispute were too hard for him, and he closed his tiredeyes and was soon sound asleep. He saw the great Bible no morewhilst he remained beneath that roof; but many of its words wereengraved upon his heart, and were a guide to his steps and a lightto his path throughout his subsequent life.
"You have saved us from a great peril this day, Paul," said thefarmer that night, with a moisture in his eyes and a gravity uponhis jolly face. "If we have given shelter and protection to you,your protection of us has been equally great. You must make thisyour home, my boy, so long as you need one."
The next days were full of excitement for Much Waltham. The requestmade by the people of Essex had been listened to by the great earl,and though he could scarce credit the fact that the king's son hadbeen so near, he was convinced at last, and burned to avengehimself on those who had tried to take him captive. A band of armedmen was sent down, and the forest swept clear of the marauders--atleast for a while. Will Ives had his wish, and met Simon Dowsettface to face in a hand-to-hand struggle; and although the latterdid all to deserve his undesirable sobriquet, he was overpowered atlast and slain, and his head carried in triumph to his nativevillage, where, after the savage custom of the day, it was exposedon a pike on the village green.
Paul heard of this fight by report alone, for he was able to getonly as far as the great kitchen fire, where he and Eva spent agreat part of their time in eagerly discussing the questions of theday. Her father, the chief of the band, made his escape with somefew of his followers, and was heard of no more in those parts. Hisdaughter was glad he was not killed, though she could not desire tosee him more; and in a short time she and Jack were married, andshe almost forgot that she had been for so many years livingamongst the robbers of Black Notley.