CHAPTER LII
THE HEADSMAN'S RIGHT
"Rise, Justicer of the Wolfmark!" said Otho, smiling mockingly upon melike a fiend.
I started up and gazed about bewildered as the coming terrors of themorning broke upon me.
"'Tis scarcely an hour to sunrise," he continued, "and I warrant thenoble Red Axe will desire to feel the edge of his tool and see that hisassistants are in their places."
The Duke paused as he went out of the door, and looked at me.
"I can promise you a distinguished company at the first publicperformance of your honorable office," he said, with a polite gesture.
So soon as he was gone I rose to my feet. Across the broad, blackoaken stool, whereon from boyhood it had been my habit to place myclothes neatly folded up, I found a suit of new red cloth, plain andrich, with an inscription upon a strip of vellum laid across thebreast, bearing that these were a gift from the most Illustrious DukeOtho of the Wolfmark.
Since, after all, my fate was my fate, there was little use in strainingat the gnat. So I set to and did upon me the garmentry of shame. Theywere made after the fashion of my father's, cap and hosen and shoon allof red, with a cloak of red to cover all.
Then I went to the Playmate's room, and before the niche where her littlePrie-Dieu had stood, I kneeled me down and said such a prayer as at themoment I could compass. But little was needed. For I think God in heavenHimself was praying for us both that day.
When I went forth into the square, few there were who knew or rememberedme, but all knew my attire. Then indeed it did my heart good to hear thegreat unanimous roar of execration which went up from the multitude as Icame out. The soldiers had their work cut out to push a way for me tothe scaffold.
"Butcher him--tear him to pieces--wolf's cub that he is--he that was herfoster-brother to slay our Saint Helena!"
It made me proud to hear them. And as they rushed furiously against theescort, intent to kill me, we swayed from side to side.
"Down with the Red Axe!" they shouted. "Down with the bloody house ofGottfried and all that belong to it!"
And I felt inclined to cry "Amen!"
Then, when I had mounted the few steps which led to the platform on whichstood the black headsman's block, I gazed about me in wonder, holding theRed Axe in my hand. And to my disordered vision I saw the crowd swell andwhirl about me on earth and in the air, bubbling and tossing like a potboiling furiously. Then I bethought me of the work I had to do, andprayed that I might be given strength to do it swiftly and featly, thatthe suffering of my love might not be long. Also I thought of thelecherous evil demons of the Black Riders, and thereat was somewhatcomforted. At the worst I could give my love a better end than that.
Then appeared my Lord Duke Otho. An enclosure had been formed for him bythe palace wall, covered with a red hanging, as though my sweetheart'sdeath were a gala sight. And when he had come to the front and arrangedhis folk, lo! there by his side stood Ysolinde, Princess ofPlassenburg, with her father, Master Gerard. They had a place close bythe Duke, and Otho ofttimes bent over to confer graciously with hiscouncillor. But Ysolinde looked neither to right nor left, nor yet spoketo any, keeping her eyes fixed, as it seemed, on the shining blade ofthe Red Axe in my hand.
Then, as these fine folk stood waiting and gloating among the festoonsof their balcony, the devil or God (I know which, but I will not say,lest I be thought a blasphemer) put an intent into my heart. I walked tothe edge of the scaffold, and I looked at the barrier of the enclosure.They were of the same height, and the distance between them little morethan six feet.
I examined them again, and yet more intently. I saw the steely smileon Duke Otho's face. Already he was tasting the double sweetness ofhis revenge.
"Wait," I said, within my heart, as I also smiled a little, "only wait alittle, Otho, Duke of the Wolfmark. Wait till this bright edge be sulliedwith my sweet love's blood. And then--then will I leap upon you, and theRed Axe shall crash deep into the brain that hatched and fostered thishellish intent. And by the gentle heart of her who is about to die, soalso will I serve Gerard the lawyer, and Ysolinde, his daughter, fortheir treachery against the innocent. Then, amid the flash of steel andthe heady whirl of battle, shall Hugo Gottfried be very content to die!"It would take more than one stroke to dull that which my father hadsharpened. And I lifted up the Red Axe and felt the edge with my thumb.It was razor keen.
But the action was observed, and taken as a proof of callousness. Andthen what a yell of hate surged up around me! I could have taken thoseburghers of Thorn to my heart. And I thought if only our Karl would come.Alas! it was a full day too soon; for I felt sure that these burgherswould proclaim him at the gates, and that the house of Otho and Casimir,the brood of the Wolf, would, like the shadow of the raven as it flits byin the sunshine, pass away. For by that time there would be no Otho. Theywould find him low enough, with an axe cleft in his head.
So soon as the sun's light tipped the eastern clouds with rose, the BlackHussars came riding forth. The guards and matchlock men lined the wayfrom the castle gates. They blew up their matches to be ready. Suddenlyin the midst of the armed throng there appeared a radiant figure comingdown the steps of the castle from the Hall of Judgment.
At the sight the people threw themselves wildly in that direction. Thedark lines of the guard reeled and wavered. There was the sharp click asthe pikes engaged. The shouts of the captains of the matchlock men wereheard. But the trained bands stood fast, and the rush was stayed. Thencame our Helene down towards me, walking delicately, yet proudly erect asa young tree. She was clad all in white and wore her hair plaited highupon her head, so that the shape of her neck was clearly seen.
And I who stood there with the axe in my hand seemed to have a thousandyears to think all these things, and even to mark the lace upon herdress. I saw her come nearer and nearer to me. Yet feeling was deadwithin me. I seemed to sleep and wake and sleep again. And when at last Iawoke, there came a strange feeling to me. It was my wedding-day, and mybride was coming to me, lily pure, clad in whiteness.
Then at the foot of the scaffold there came one forth from the ranks,a captain of the Duke's guard, and with honor and respect offeredHelene his arm.
She declined it with a proud smile, and all that were near could hear herclear voice say, "I thank you, sir, but I need no help. I am strongenough to walk thus far."
And she mounted the steps of the scaffold as though they had been thoseof the grand staircase at Plassenburg.
But when she saw me, standing in my habit of red from head to heel, sheseemed a little taken aback. Quickly, however, she came forward andtook me by the hand, looking up at me with the love-light making hereyes glorious.
"Hugo," she said, "I am glad you are here--glad that I am to die by noless loving hand. That will be sweeter than to live with any other. And,indeed, I deserve so much, for I have not known much joy in my life, savein the old days when I was your Little Playmate."
Then there came a stern voice from the enclosure:
_"Executioner of the Mark, do your duty!"_
It was the voice of Master Gerard.
And then I looked over and saw Gerard von Sturm standing a little infront, with his daughter's wrist held tightly in his hand as though hewould drag her back. With that a loathing came over me, for I said withinme, "Is the woman so anxious for the blood of the innocent whom she hashounded to death that she would intrude on the scaffold itself?"
Then I remembered the duty of the Justicers, ere the sentence was carriedout, to recite the crimes of the condemned.
So I cried aloud, even as I had heard my father do.
"The crimes of Helene, Princess of Plassenburg, sole daughter ofDietrich, lately Prince thereof--guilty of no evil, save that she hasbeen the savior of this people of Thorn and their deliverer in time ofpestilence!"
The people hushed themselves with astonishment at my words. And then acry went up.
"The Red Axe speaks true--she is innocent--innocent!"
But the voice of Gerard von Sturm came again, stern as that of therecording angel:
"_Executioner of the Wolfmark, do your duty_!"
Scarce knowing what I did, I went on with my formal accusation.
"Helene, Princess of Plassenburg, who is about to die, is also guilty ofloving me, Hugo Gottfried, son of Gottfried Gottfried, and of none othercrime. For this the Duke has decreed that she should die. It is her ownwill that she should die by my hand."
Helene came forward and put her hand in mine in token that I spoketruly, and there fell a great silence across the people. I saw the LadyYsolinde straining at her father's hand, like a dog in a leash when thequarry rises.
Then my love kissed me once, just as though she had been sayinggood-night in the Red Tower, simply and sweetly, like a child, and laidher head down on the block as on the white pillow of her own bed.
"_God do so and more also to them on whose heads is the innocent blood ofmy love and my wife_!"
The words burst from me rather than were uttered.
I raised the blade.
But ere the Red Axe could fall there arose a wild scream from the Duke'senclosure. Some one cried, "Let me go! He has said it! He has said it! Iwill not be silent any longer!" It was the Lady Ysolinde, who had brokenaway from her father's hand.
"The girl is his wife," she went on. "He has claimed her--according tothe laws of the Wolfmark, that cannot be broken, he has called her hiswife. It is the Executioner's right. One woman he can claim as hisduring his term of office--one only, and for his wife. Duke Otho, I callupon you to allow it! Chancellor Texel, I call upon you to read the law!I have it here in my hand. Head! Read! _I will save my soul! I will savemy soul_!"
And ere any one could stop her, the Lady Ysolinde, sobbing and laughingboth at once, had overleaped the light barrier, and was thrusting aparchment with a seal into the hands of the Chancellor Michael Texel.
"She is mad. Let the justice of the realm be done!" cried again the voiceof Master Gerard.
And I think the Duke would have ordered it to be so. But there arose notonly a roar from the people, but, what Otho minded far more, an ominousmurmur among the nobles and gentlemen and from the ranks of men-at-arms.
"The law! The law! Read us the law!"
And even Otho dare not trifle with the will of the free companions of theMark. For in all the realm they were now his only supporters. Helene hadrisen to her feet, and stood, pale of face but erect, resting, as was herwont, one hand on my shoulder.
Then Michael Texel read the scroll aloud.
"It is the immemorial privilege of the Hereditary Executioner of theMark, being of the family of Gottfried, a privilege not to be abrogatedor alienated, that during the term of office of each, he may claim--notas a boon, but as a right--the life of one man for a bond-servant, or thelife of one woman for a wife. Thus, by order of the States' Council, tobe the privilege of the Gottfrieds forever, it has been proclaimed!"
As Michael Texel went on, I saw the countenance of the Duke and thelawyer change. I knew that salvation had come to us like lightning from aclear sky, and I hastened to demand the right which was mine own.
So soon as he had finished I shouted with all my power:
"I CLAIM HELENE TO BE MY WIFE!"
Then went up such an acclaim from the people as never had been heard inthe ancient city. Even the gentlemen within the enclosure threw theirhats in the air. The soldiers put their helmets on the points of theirspears, and the captains waved their colors as at a victory. The thunderof the cheering roused the very rooks and jackdaws from the towers ofThorn and the bastions of the Wolfsberg till they went drifting in ablack cloud clamorously over the city.
Then Helene put her arms about my neck, and, upon the scaffold of death,before all the people, we plighted our troth.
"The Bishop--the Bishop Peter!" cried the people.
And, leaping upon an officer's horse, a messenger rode post-haste to thepalace, the crowd making way for him. Duke Otho disappeared through aprivate door, for the thing was over-strong even for him. He knew hisweakness too well to war with the immemorial privileges of the Wolfmark.
Rulers stronger than he had been broken in doing battle against ancientrights and amenities. Besides, the nobility were afraid of their ownperquisites if one of so ancient a charter as that of the HereditaryJusticer were refused.
Then from the palace came the Bishop, with due and decorous attendance ofcrosier and solemn procession. And there, amid a turmoil of joy and theringing of every bell in the city, we, that had gone out to be togetherin death, were joined in the bonds of youth and life.
But the Lady Ysolinde saw not--heard not. For they had carried her outwhite and still from the place where she had fallen fainting at the footof the scaffold.