CHAPTER IX.
A SINGED GLOVE.
A COMMOTION, suppressed in outward manifestation, agitated Ste. Soure.Very little work was being done in the fields and vineyards. What workwas done had little reference to agriculture.
Men hurried about, but were cautious not to allow it to be seen byanyone at a distance what their occupation was.
In a place like Ste. Soure, in a valley between precipices, nothing waseasier than for a spy to observe all that was going on in a village. Ifon this occasion one commissioned by the Captain of the Free Companythat occupied l'Eglise Guillem had stationed himself at a suitablepoint, he would have seen that Ste. Soure was alive, but would not havebeen able to distinguish what engaged the inhabitants.
He would, indeed, have noticed the peasants bringing together theirfaggots of vine-prunings, have heard the bleating of sheep that werebeing killed, and later, had the wind blown his way, have noticed thatthe air was impregnated with the odour of melted tallow.
That the people of Ste. Soure should be in a condition of moreliveliness than usual would not have surprised him, after the event ofthe rush made on the place by the Free Companions, and the capture ofsome of the householders.
But no spy was sent to observe the doings of the villagers. The usualwatch was kept from the eyrie of the Church of Guillem, but from it thevillage of Ste. Soure and the Castle of Le Peuch were not visible.
The sudden raid had so quelled the inhabitants that no danger wasanticipated from that quarter. What was Ogier del' Peyra but a littleSeigneur? So little that it was not worth while for any of the big menin the neighbourhood to sustain his cause. In those rough times thesmall men were pinched out. Only the great ones held their own. Therewas no security for any man who stood in independence, unless he werevery great indeed. In an earlier age the soil had belonged to manyhundreds and thousands of free landholders, who owed no man anythingexcept a slight tax in money or kind to the Duke of Aquitaine or to theCount of Perigord. But that condition of affairs was past. The littlefreemen had been broken in pieces by the violence of the marauders, ofthe barons, by their own mutual quarrels, and nearly all had surrenderedtheir independence into the hands of great Seigneurs in theirneighbourhood; they had given up their freedom in return for assuranceof protection.
Ogier del' Peyra, however, represented one of the few families which hadnot thus passed into vassalage. For that very reason he was viewedaskance by the barons of the neighbourhood, to whichever faction theybelonged; and as none of them were bound to sustain his cause, not oneof them, as Ogier well knew, would draw sword in his behalf against soredoubtable an adversary as Le Gros Guillem, and would be still lessinclined to advance him money.
Not only did Ogier know this, but the Free Captain knew it also; and,knowing it, thought it not worth the pains to observe the movements ofthe man he had plundered, and whom he despised.
One thing did Guillem regret--that he had not taken Le Peuch, the refugeand stronghold of the Del' Peyras; but just as Ogier knew his weaknessand insulation, so had he accumulated precautions against attack. Hisfortress, or castle, was situated in a similar position to that ofGuillem, at the head of a steep rubble slope, but it was strongerimmeasurably than that of the "Church," for the cliff above it wasvastly more lofty, and it was literally honeycombed with chambers. Itwas precisely due to the fact that the habitation of the family was inthe rock, and of the rock, as already intimated, that they had receivedtheir name of Del' Peyra. Had not the villagers been completely taken bysurprise when the Companions fell on Ste. Soure, they would have carriedoff their valuables, and taken refuge themselves in inaccessible places,and left only their empty houses to be ransacked by the freebooters.
Long exemption from molestation had made them careless.
It was customary with the robber bands not to devastate the hamlets andvillages and farms in their immediate neighbourhood. They needed thedaily supplies of food that the peasants could furnish, and they boughtthese, and maintained a good understanding with the peasantry. When theyforaged it was at a distance. It was precisely because "l'Eglise" was sonear to Ste. Soure that the villagers had not anticipated an onslaught.
Now, although the peasants on the opposite side of the river, who wereunder the shadow of the crags occupied by the _routiers_ knew themselvesto be safe, and found a market for their produce, yet they had no lovefor their tyrannisers. They were sufficiently shrewd to be aware thatthey were exposed to be plundered, their houses wasted, their wives anddaughters carried off by other freebooters, or even by ordinaryCompanions-in-Arms, such as claimed to serve the French. The Counts ofPerigord--who should have been their protectors--were leaders inviolence, at the head of several lawless bands, and usually marchedunder the leopards, so that the ban of the French king had been launchedagainst one Count after another, and he only returned to allegiance fora moment, to break faith at the first occasion. The Castle of Montignac,the headquarters of these countly scoundrels, lay high up the samevalley of the Vezere; and the ruffians of the Count passed up and downit, traversing the fields and villages continually. It was to them amatter of supreme indifference which crown was supposed to exerciseauthority and afford protection where they went, for neither possessedany real authority, neither afforded the smallest protection.
Ogier del' Peyra sat in the porch of the church issuing orders, and hisson was by him.
All at once a child on the roof of the church cried out--
"I see--I see--seven men coming, and a lady riding; and I think one isour Petiton."
"What! our men!" exclaimed Ogier; and Jean ran to the roof of the churchto look.
He was down directly after. "Father, there is no doubt of it. GrosGuillem's daughter is bringing them here."
"As a gift? Does he restore them free of ransom?" exclaimed Ogier. "Ifso we cannot proceed."
"I will run and meet them," said Jean.
The tidings spread like wildfire that the men who had been carried offwere on their way home. Jean hastened to the river side and was ferriedover.
"I have brought them!" said Noemi when she saw him. Her eye was flashingwith pleasure. "See--they are all here."
"Did your father surrender them?"
She laughed. "I bought them. I paid the ransom."
"You! Where did you get the money?"
"See." She exposed her arm with the red cross. "I won my spurs. I robbedthe Jew. Now you do not think so ill of me, say that." She leaned fromher horse to look into his eyes.
He averted his face.
"I thank you for the men. I hate the deed."
"The man was but a Jew!" pleaded Noemi.
"And a robbery is but a robbery," answered Jean.
The girl bit her lips and frowned.
"This is what I get by that I have done, and I have ridden all night togratify you. I asked my father. I entreated that the men might be let gofree. He would not hearken. Then I did this. I could not get the mendischarged in any other way. Let them go back," said the girl sullenly;"back into bonds and be served as was threatened. You are content solong as the Jew has his moneys."
"Not so. The men are free--they cannot go back. I had rather they hadbeen freed by any other means."
"And by any other person--say it all!"
"I will not say that. There, Noemi," said the young man, laying his handon the horse's neck, "I know you meant kindly and right by us. It is notyour fault; it is the fault of your blood; it is the fault of the timesthat you have gone about it in a wrong way."
"There was no other way."
"I do not say that. I was going to Bergerac to raise the money there."
"And pawn your inheritance to a Christian usurer who is worse than aJew. You have your men, you have your land--be content. If wrong isdone, I did it." Noemi abandoned her horse and entered the ferry-boatwith the men and Jean.
The joy, the tears, the passionate affection with which the recoveredmen were welcomed, clung to by their wives
and children and friends,moved the girl, and her cheek grew pale and her eyes filled. Jeanobserved the emotion and said nothing to her, but to himself hebreathed: "She is not heartless! The good is not all dead in her."
Some of the women, supposing rightly that the men owed their release toNoemi, but not knowing who she was, came to her, took her hand, kissedit, knelt and put to their lips the hem of her skirt. She was abashed,and shrank back.
"You shall see," said Jean. "I will show you from what you have savedthese poor fellows!"
He led her into the cottage of the Rossignols, and she remained silent,apparently cold, looking at the crippled man.
"Can you sit up?" she asked, after a long pause.
"Sit up--yes," he said, and moved his elbow and heaved himself up; "butit opens the wounds again."
"And--can you put your feet down?"
"Feet; I'll never do that more."
"Nor stand?"
"God help me! Never stand before man, never kneel before God. I'm ayoung man; I'm five-and-twenty, and have got three children. I'll neverdo aught but lie as a log all the years I have to live!"
"There is a trifle for you," said Noemi, putting money into his hand. "Iwould I had more. Hush! I cannot bear that!"
The poor woman, still half distraught, now worked to further excitementby the return of the seven men safe and sound, while her own husband layin irrecoverable wretchedness, broke into a storm of curses against LeGros Guillem, and of blasphemy against God. It was more horrible to hearher than to see the man, who bore his lot not so much with patience aswith stolidity.
Then in came Ogier del' Peyra.
"So," said he, "you have released my men! Did Le Gros Guillem let thempass out of his hands for nothing?"
"I paid him the hundred livres," said Noemi, speaking with difficulty.Something was in her throat choking her.
"Then," said Ogier, "we owe him no debt?"
"None at all."
"And you are returning there--I mean to him--to the Church?"
"I go to see him again."
"What debt of gratitude we owe is to you--not to him?"
Noemi nodded.
"Then, let me say this: Do not stay at the Church."
"I am not going to stay there. I shall but say farewell to----" the girlhesitated, looked at the crippled Rossignol, at his crazy wife, andconcluded her sentence in an undertone--"to him, and then away toDomme."
"It is well. Mark my words. Do not stay there--not a night--not anight."
"Why so?"
"Why so? Do you ask that? Is not the wrath of God hanging as athundercloud over that rock? Is it not full charged with lightnings?When it bursts will it spare the innocent? Will it not involve all inone sudden destruction? Mark my words: do not tarry there--no, not anhour. Your men who came with you are here. They are at Le Peuch, andready to attend you on your return. Do not tarry. Take counsel. L'Eglisede Guillem is no place for innocent maidens. It is no church where areholy thoughts and devout prayers--it is the Church of the Foul Fiend,and the mouth of the bottomless pit yawns there."
"I thank you," said Noemi. "I know what it is. I am not going to tarrythere."
"There is one favour I ask of you," said the old man. "It is to take amessage from me to--to the Big Guillem."
"I will take it."
"Tell him that when one gentleman is about to do the other the favour ofa visit he sends a notice that he is coming. That is true courtesy. Heforgot to do that to me. I was not ready to receive him withhospitality. Now, render me the grace to hand him this."
Ogier extended to the girl a leather glove singed by fire and the endsof the fingers burnt off.
Noemi hesitated to take it.
"Do not fear," said the old man; "it will not hurt you. It is but atoken. Your fa--I mean Le Gros Guillem, will accept the courtesy. Takeit, and go."
An hour later Noemi was in the Church of Guillem and before her father.
Somewhat hesitatingly she held out to him the singed glove.
"The Sieur del' Peyra sends you this," she said.
Le Gros Guillem took the glove, threw it on the table, and burst outlaughing.
"The mouse defies the lion! Good! This is good! I thank you, Noemi, forbringing me this; it is a right merry jest. I drink to his visit! May hecome speedily."