CHAPTER XL
THE MISSION OF JAMES THE GROSS
From all sides the Douglases were marching upon Edinburgh. After themurder of the young lords the city gates had been closed by order ofthe Chancellor. The castle was put into a thorough state of defence.The camp of the Avondale Douglases, William and James, was already onthe Boroughmuir, and the affrighted citizens looked in terror upon thethickening banners with the bloody Douglas heart upon them, and uponthe array of stalwart and determined men of the south. Curses bothloud and deep were hurled from the besiegers' lines at every head seenabove the walls, together with promises to burn Edinburgh, castle andburgh alike, and to slocken the ashes with the blood of every livingthing within, all for the cause of the Black Dinner and the Bull'sHead set before the brothers of Douglas.
But at midnoon of a glorious day in the late September, a man rode outfrom the west port of the city, a fat man flaccid of body, pale andtallowy of complexion. A couple of serving-men went behind him, withthe Douglas arms broidered on their coats. They looked no littleterrified, and shook upon their horses, as indeed well they might.This little cavalcade rode directly out of the city gates towards thepavilion of the young Douglases of Avondale. As they went two runningfootmen kept them company, one on either side of their leader, and asthat unwieldy horseman swayed this way and that in the saddle, firstone and then the other applied with his open palm the force requisiteto keep the rider erect upon his horse.
It was the new Earl of Douglas, James the Gross, on his way to visitthe camp of his sons. As he approached the sentries who stood on guardupon the broomy braes betwixt Merchiston and Bruntsfield, he waschallenged in a fierce southland shout by one of the Carsphairn levieswho knew him not.
"Stand back there, fat loon, gin ye wantna a quarrel shot intil thatswagging tallow-bag ye ca' your wame!"
"Out of my way, hill varlet!" cried the man on horseback.
But the Carsphairn man stood with his cross-bow pointed straight at theleader of the cavalcade, crying at the same time in a loud,far-carrying voice over his shoulder, "Here awa', Anthon--here awa',Bob! Come and help me to argue wi' this fat rogue."
Several other hillmen came hurrying up, and the little company ofriders was brought to a standstill. Then ensued this colloquy.
"Who are you that dare stop my way?" demanded the Earl.
"Wha may ye be that comes shuggy-shooin' oot o' the bluidy city o'Edinburgh intil oor camp," retorted him of Carsphairn, "sitting yourbeast for all the warld like a lump o' potted-head whammelled oot o' abowl?"
"I am the Earl of Douglas."
"The Yerl o' Dooglas! Then a bonny hand they hae made o' him inEdinburgh. I heard they had only beheaded him."
"I tell you I am Earl of Douglas. I bid you beware. Conduct me to thetent of my sons!"
At this point an aged man of some authority stood forward and gazedintently at James the Gross, looking beneath his hand as at anextensive prospect of which he wished to take in all the details.
"Lads," he said, "hold your hands--it rins i' my head that thiscraitur' may be Jamie, the fat Yerl o' Avondale. We'll let him gang byin peace. His sons are decent lads."
There came from the hillmen a chorus of "Avondale he may be--there'snae sayin' what they can breed up there by Stra'ven. But we are weelassured that he is nae richt Douglas. Na, nae Douglas like yon man wasever cradled or buried in Gallowa'."
At this moment Lord William Douglas, seeing the commotion on theoutposts, came down the brae through the broom. Upon seeing his fatherhe took the plumed bonnet from off his head, and, ordering theCarsphairn men sharply to their places, he set his hand upon thebridle of the gross Earl's horse. So with the two running footmenstill preserving some sort of equilibrium in his unsteady bulk, Jamesof Avondale was brought to the door of a tent from which floated thebanner of the Douglas house, blue with a bleeding heart upon it.
At the entering in of the pavilion, all stained and trodden into thesoil by the feet of passers-by, lay the royal banner of the Stewarts,so placed by headstrong James Douglas the younger, in contempt ofboth tutor and Chancellor, who, being but cowards and murderers, hadusurped the power of the king within the realm.
That sturdy youth came to the door of his pavilion half-dressed as hehad lain down, yawning and stretching reluctantly, for he had been onduty all night perfecting the arrangements for besieging the town.
"James--James," cried his father, catching sight of his favourite sonrubbing sleepily his mass of crisp hair, "what's this that I hear?That you and William are in rebellion and are defying the power o' theanointed king--?"
At this moment the footman undid the girths of his horse, which, beingapparently well used to the operation, stood still with its feetplanted wide apart. Then they ran quickly round to the side towardswhich the swaying bulk threatened to fall, the saddle slipped, and,like a top-heavy forest tree, James the Gross subsided into the armsof his attendants, who, straining and panting, presently set him onhis feet upon the blazoned royal foot-cloth at the threshold of thepavilion.
Almost he had fallen backwards when he saw the use to which his daringsons had put the emblem of royal authority.
"Guid save us a', laddies," he cried, staggering across the flag intothe tent, "ken ye what ye do? The royal banner o' the King o'Scots--to mak' a floor-clout o'! Sirce, sirce, in three weeks I shallbe as childless as the Countess o' Douglas is this day."
"That," said William Douglas, coldly, indicating with his finger thetrampled cloth, "is not the banner of Scotland, but only that of theSeneschal Stewarts. The King of Scots is but a puling brat, and theywho usurp his name are murderous hounds whose necks I shall presentlystretch with the rogue's halter!"
Young James Douglas had set an oaken folding chair for his father atthe upper end of the pavilion, and into this James the Gross fellrather than seated himself.
His sons William and James continued to stand before him, as was thedutiful habit of the time. Their father recovered his breath beforebeginning to speak.
"What's this--what's this I hear?" he exclaimed testily, "is it truethat ye are in flat rebellion against the lawful authority of theking? Laddies, laddies, ye maun come in wi' me to his excellence theChancellor and make instanter your obedience. Ye are young and for mysake he will surely overlook this. I will speak with him."
"Father," said William Douglas, with a cold firmness in his voice, "weare here to punish the murderers of our cousins. We shall indeed enterthe guilty city, but it will be with fire and sword."
"Aye," cried rollicking, headstrong James, "and we will roast theCrichton on a spit and hang that smug traitor, Tutor Livingston, overthe walls of David's Tower, a bonny ferlie for his leman's wonder!"
There came a cunning look into the small pig's eyes of James theGross.
"Na, na, foolish laddies, thae things will ye no do. Mind ye not thetaunts and scorns that the Earl--the late Earl o' Douglas that is--putupon us a'? Think on his pride and vainglory, whilk Scripture saysshall be brocht low. Think in especial how this righteous judgmentthat has fallen on him and on his brother has cleared our way to theEarldom."
The choleric younger brother leaped forward with an oath on his lips,but his calmer senior kept him back with his hand.
"Silence, James!" he said; "I will answer our father. Sir, we haveheard what you say, but our minds are not changed. What cause toassociate yourself with traitors and mansworn you may have, we do notknow and we do not care."
At his son's first words James the Gross rose with a sudden surprisingaccess of dignity remarkable in one of his figure.
"I bid you remember," he said, speaking southland English, as he waswont to do in moments of excitement, "I bid you remember, sirrah, thatI am the Earl of Douglas and Avondale, Justicer of Scotland--and yourfather."
William Douglas bowed, respectful but unmoved.
"My lord," he said, "I forget nothing. I do not judge you. You are inauthority over our house. You shall do what you will with these forceswithout there, so be you can conv
ince them of your right. Blackmurder, whether you knew and approved it or no, has made you Earl ofDouglas. But, sir, if you take part with my cousins' murderers now, orscreen them from our just vengeance and the vengeance of God, I tellyou that from this day you are a man without children. For in thismatter I speak not only for myself, but for all your sons!" He turnedto his brother.
"James," he said, "call in the others." James went to the tent doorand called aloud.
"Archibald, Hugh, and John, come hither quickly."
A moment after three young men of noble build, little more than ladsindeed, but with the dark Douglas allure stamped plainly upon theircountenances, entered, bowed to their father, and stood silent withtheir hands crossed upon the hilts of their swords.
William Douglas went on with the same determinate and relentless calm.
"My lord," he said, very respectfully, "here stand your five sons, allsoldiers and Douglases, waiting to hear your will. Murder has beendone upon the chief of our house by two men of cowardly heart and meanconsideration, Crichton and Livingston, instigated by the falseambassador of the King of France. We have come hither to punish theseslayers of our kin, and we desire to know what you, our father, thinkconcerning the matter."
James the Gross was still standing, steadying himself with his hand onthe arm of the oaken chair in which he had been sitting. He spoke withsome difficulty, which might proceed either from emotion or from theplethoric habit of the man.
"Have I for this brought children into the world," he said, "that theyshould lift up their hands against the father that begat them? Ye knowthat I have ever warned you against the pride and arrogance of yourcousins of Galloway."
"You mean, of the late Earl of Douglas and the boy his brother,"answered William; "the pride of eighteen and fourteen is surely vastlydangerous."
"I mean those who have been tried and executed in Edinburgh by royalauthority for many well-grounded offences against the state," criedthe Earl, loudly.
"Will you deign to condescend upon some of them?" said his son, asquietly as before.
"Your cousins' pride and ostentation of riches and retinue, being farbeyond those of the King, constituted in themselves an eminent dangerto the state. Nay, the turbulence of their followers has more thanonce come before me in my judicial capacity as Justicer of the realm.What more would you have?"
"Were you, my lord, of those who condemned them to death?"
"Not so, William; it had not been seemly in a near kinsman and theheir to their dignities--that is, save and except Galloway, which byill chance goes in the female line, if we find not means to break thatunfortunate reservation. Your cousins were condemned by my LordsCrichton and Livingston."
"We never heard of either of them," said William, calmly.
"In their judicial aspect they may be styled lords, as is the Scottishcustom," said James the Gross, "even as when I was laird of Balvanyand a sitter on the bed of justice, it was my right to be sonominated."
"Then our cousins were condemned with your approval, my Lord ofDouglas and Avondale?" persisted his son.
James the Gross was visibly perturbed.
"Approval, William, is not the word to use--not a word to use in thecircumstances. They were near kinsmen!"
"But upon being consulted you did not openly disapprove--is it not so?And you will not aid us to avenge our cousins' murder now?"
"Hearken, William, it was not possible--I could not openly disapprovewhen I also was in the Chancellor's hands, and I knew not but that hemight include me in the same condemnation. Besides, lads, think of thematter calmly. There is no doubt that the thing happens mostconveniently, and the event falls out well for us. Our own barrenacres have many burdens upon them. What could I do? I have been a poorman all my life, and after the removal of obstacles I saw my way tobecome the richest man in Scotland. How could I openly object?"
William Douglas bowed.
"So--" he said, "that is what we desired to know! Have I yourpermission to speak further?"
His father nodded pleasantly, seating himself again as one that hasfinished a troublesome business. He rubbed his hands together, andsmiled upon his sons.
"Aye, speak gin ye like, William, but sit doon--sit doon, lads. We areall of one family, and it falls out well for you as it does for me.Let us all be pleasant and agreeable together!"
"I thank you, my lord," said his son, "but we will not sit down. Weare no longer of one family. We may be your sons in the eye of the lawand in natural fact. But from this day no one of us will break bread,speak word, hold intimacy or converse with you. So far as in us lieswe will renounce you as our father. We will not, because of thecommandment, rise in rebellion against you. You are Earl of Douglas,and while you live must rule your own. But for me and my brothers wewill never be your children to honour, your sons to succour, nor yourliegemen to fight for you. We go to offer our services to our cousinMargaret, the little Maid of Galloway. We will keep her province withour swords as the last stronghold of the true Douglases of the Black.I have spoken. Fare you well, my lord!"
During his son's speech the countenance of the newly made Earl ofDouglas grew white and mottled, tallowy white and dull red in turnsshowing upon it, like the flesh of a drained ox. He rose unsteadily tohis feet, moving one hand deprecatingly before him, like a helplessman unexpectedly stricken. His nether lip quivered, pendulous andpiteous, in the midst of his grey beard, and for a moment he strove invain with his utterance.
His eyes fell abashed from the cold sternness of his eldest son'sglance, and he seemed to scan the countenances of the younger four forany token of milder mood.
"James," he said, "ye hear William. Surely ye do not hold with him?Remember I am your father, and I was aye particular fond o' you,Jamie. I mind when ye wad rin to sit astride my shoulder. And ye usedto like that fine!"
There were tears in the eyes of the weak, cunning, treacherous-heartedman. The lips of James Douglas quivered a little, and his voice failedhim, as he strove to answer his father. What he would have said noneknows, but ere he could voice a word, the eyes of his brother, sternas the law given to Moses on the mount, were bent upon him. Hestraightened himself up, and, with a look carefully averted from thepalsied man before him, he said, in a steady tone, "What my brotherWilliam says, I say."
His father looked at him again, as if still hoping against hope forsome kinder word. Then he turned to his younger sons.
"Archie, Hugh, little Jockie, ye willna take part against your ainfaither?"
"We hold with our brothers!" said the three, speaking at once.
At this moment there came running in at the door of the tent a lad often--Henry, the youngest of the Avondale brothers. He stopped short inthe midst, glancing wonderingly from one to the other. His littlesword with which he had been playing dropped from his hand. James theGross looked at him.
"Harry," he said, "thy brothers are a' for leavin' me. Will ye gangwi' them, or bide wi' your faither?"
"Father," said the boy, "I will go with you, if ye will let me help tokill Livingston and the Chancellor!"
"Come, laddie," said the Earl, "ye understand not these matters. Iwill explain to you when we gang back to the braw things in Edinbra'toon!"
"No, no," cried the boy, stooping to pick up his sword, "I will bidewith my brothers, and help to kill the murderers of my cousins. WhatWilliam says, I say."
Then the five young men went out and called for their horses, theiryoungest brother following them. And as the flap of the tent fell, andhe was left alone, James the Gross sank his head between his soft,moist palms, and sobbed aloud.
For he was a weak, shifty, unstable man, loving approval, and a burdento himself in soul and body when left to bear the consequences of hisacts.
"Oh, my bairns," he cried over and over, "why was I born? I am notsufficient for these things!"
And even as he sobbed and mourned, the hoofs of his sons' horses rangdown the wind as they rode through the camp towards Galloway. Andlittle Henry rode betwixt William and
James.