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diff --git a/17100.txt b/17100.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3e7be1 --- /dev/null +++ b/17100.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10995 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beatrix of Clare, by John Reed Scott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Beatrix of Clare + +Author: John Reed Scott + +Illustrator: Clarence F. Underwood + +Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17100] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEATRIX OF CLARE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art.] + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: The Countess raised her hand and pointed at him.] + + + + + + +BEATRIX OF CLARE + + +BY + +JOHN REED SCOTT + + + +AUTHOR OF "THE COLONEL OF THE RED HUZZARS" + + + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD + + + + + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +PUBLISHERS ------- NEW YORK + + + + + +Copyright, 1907, by John Reed Scott + +Published May, 1907 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. RUDDY TRESSES AND GREAT EYES + II. RICHARD OF GLOUCESTER + III. THE VOICE ON THE RAMPARTS + IV. TRAILING CHAINS + V. THE CAPTURED FAVOR + VI. A WAYSIDE SKIRMISH + VII. A FAVOR LOST + VIII. THE INN OF NORTHAMPTON + IX. THE ARREST + X. THE LADY MARY CHANGES BARGES + XI. ON CHAPEL CREEK + XII. THE KING'S WORD + XIII. AT ROYAL WINDSOR + XIV. THE QUEEN OF ARCHERY + XV. THE FROWN OF FATE + XVI. THE FLAT-NOSE REAPPEARS + XVII. IN PURSUIT + XVIII. THE HOUSE IN SHEFFIELD + XIX. BACK TO THE KING + XX. IN ABEYANCE + XXI. BUCKINGHAM'S REVENGE + XXII. THE KNIGHT AND THE ABBOT + XXIII. THREE CHEVRONS GULES + XXIV. "WHEN YOU HAVE TOPPED THESE STAIRS" + XXV. A PAGE FROM THE PAST + XXVI. THE JUDGMENT OF THE KING + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Cover Art + +The Countess raised her hand and pointed at him . . . _Frontispiece_ + +The Duke fastened his eyes upon the young knight's face. + +He struck him a swinging right arm blow that sent him plunging among +the rushes on the floor. + + + + +BEATRIX OF CLARE + + +I + +RUDDY TRESSES AND GREY EYES + +Two archers stepped out into the path,--shafts notched and bows up. + +"A word with your worship," said one. + +The Knight whirled around. + +"A word with your worship," greeted him from the rear. + +He glanced quickly to each side. + +"A word with your worship," met him there. + +He shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the limb of a fallen tree. +Resistance was quite useless, with no weapon save a dagger, and no +armor but silk and velvet. + +"The unanimity of your desires does me much honor," he said; "pray +proceed." + +The leader lowered his bow. + +"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Sir Aymer de Lacy," said he, "and +particularly to be received so graciously." + +"You know me?" + +"We saw you arrive yesterday--but there were so many with you we +hesitated to ask a quiet word aside." + +The Knight smiled. "It is unfortunate--I assure you my talk would have +been much more interesting then." + +"In that case it is we who are the losers." + +De Lacy looked him over carefully. + +"Pardieu, man," said he, "your language shames your business." + +The outlaw bowed with sweeping grace. + +"My thanks, my lord, my deepest thanks." He unstrung his bow and +leaned upon the stave; a fine figure in forest green and velvet bonnet, +a black mask over eyes and nose, a generous mouth and strong chin below +it. "Will your worship favor me with your dagger?" he said. + +The Knight tossed it to him. + +"Thank you . . . a handsome bit of craftsmanship . . . these stones are +true ones, _n'est ce pas_?" + +"If they are not, I was cheated in the price," De Lacy laughed. + +The other examined it critically. + +"Methinks you were not cheated," he said, and drew it through his belt. +"And would your lordship also permit me a closer view of the fine gold +chain that hangs around your neck?" + +De Lacy took it off and flung it over. + +"It I will warrant true," he said. + +The outlaw weighed the links in his hand, then bit one testingly. + +"So will I," said he, and dropped the chain in his pouch. + +"And the ring with the ruby--it is a ruby, is it not?--may I also +examine it? . . . I am very fond of rubies. . . Thank you; you are +most obliging. . . It seems to be an especially fine stone--and +worth . . . how many rose nobles would you say, my lord?" + +"I am truly sorry I cannot aid you there," De Lacy answered; "being +neither a merchant nor a robber, I have never reckoned its value." + +The other smiled. "Of course, by 'merchant,' your worship has no +reference to my good comrades nor myself." + +"None whatever, I assure you." + +"Thank you; I did not think you would be so discourteous. . . But +touching money reminds me that doubtless there is some such about +you--perhaps you will permit me to count it for you." + +The Knight drew out a handful of coins. "Will you have them one by one +or all together?" he asked. + +"All together; on the turf beside you, if you please. . . Thank +you. . . And do you know, Sir Aymer, I am vastly taken with the short +gown of velvet and sable--you brought it from France, I assume; the +fashion smacks of the Continent. I would like much to have your +opinion as to how it looks on me--we are rather of a size, I take +it--though I shall have to forego the pleasure of the opinion until +another day. . . And now that I can see your doublet, I am enamoured +also of it--will you lend it to me for a little while? Truly, my lord, +I mind never to have seen a handsomer, or one that caught my fancy +more." + +De Lacy looked again at the archers and their ready bows. + +"St. Denis, fellow," he said, "leave me enough clothes to return to the +castle." + +"God forbid," exclaimed the bandit, "that I should put a gallant +gentleman to any such embarrassment--but you must admit it were a shame +to have gown and doublet and yet no bonnet to match them. . ." + +The Knight took it off and sent it spinning toward him. + +"Note the feather," he said. "It is rarely long and heavy." + +"I observed that yesterday," was the merry response. + +"Is there anything else about me you care for?" De Lacy asked. + +"Nothing--unless you could give me your rarely generous disposition. +Methinks I never met a more obliging gentleman." + +The Knight arose. "Then, as I am already overdue at Windsor, I shall +give you good morning." + +The archer raised his hand. + +"I am sorry, my lord, but we must impose a trifle further on your good +nature and ask you to remain here a while," and he nodded to the man +beside him, who drew a thin rope from his pouch and came forward. + +De Lacy started back--the leveled arrows met him on every side. + +"You would not bind me!" he exclaimed. + +The outlaw bowed again. + +"It grieves me to the heart to do it, but we have pressing business +elsewhere and must provide against pursuit. Some one will, I hope, +chance upon you before night. . . Proceed, James--yonder beech will +answer." + +The Knight laughed. + +"I thank you for the hope," he said--and, throwing his body into the +blow, smashed the rogue with the rope straight on the chin-point, and +leaping over him closed with the leader. + +It was done so quickly and in such positions that the others dared not +shoot lest they strike either James or their chief--but the struggle +was only for a moment; for they sprang in and dragged the Knight away, +and whipped the rope about his arms. + +"Marry," exclaimed the leader, brushing the dirt from his clothes, "I +am sorry they did not let us have the wrestle out--though you are a +quick hitter, my lord, and powerful strong in the arms. I wager you +showed James more stars than he ever knew existed." + +James, still dazed, was struggling to get up, and one of the others +gave him a hand. + +"By St. Hubert," he growled, rubbing his head in pain and scowling at +De Lacy, "if there be more I have no wish to see them." + +In the fight De Lacy's forearm had struck the point of his own dagger, +where it protruded below the brigand's belt, and the blood was +scarleting the white sleeve of his tunic. + +The leader came over and bared the wound. + +"It is a clean gash, my lord," he said, "but will need a bandage." He +drew a bow-cord around the arm above the elbow; then, "With your +permission," carefully cut away the sleeve and deftly bound up the hurt. + +De Lacy watched him curiously. + +"You are a charming outlaw," he observed; "a skillful surgeon--and I +fancy, if you so cared, you could claim a gentle birth." + +The man stepped back and looked him in the eyes a moment. + +"If I remove the bonds, will you give me your Knightly word to remain +here, speaking to no one until . . . the sun has passed the topmost +branch of yonder oak?" + +The Knight bowed. + +"That I will, and thank you for the courtesy." + +At a nod the rope was loosed, and the next instant the outlaws had +vanished in the forest--but De Lacy's cloak lay at his feet, flung +there by the chief himself. + +"St. Denis!" De Lacy marveled, "has Robin Hood returned to the flesh?" + +Then he looked at the sun, and resumed his seat on the fallen tree. + +"A pretty mess," he mused--"a stranger in England--my first day at +Windsor and the jest of the castle. . . Stripped like a jowly +tradesman . . . taken like a cooing babe . . . purseless . . . +daggerless . . . bonnetless . . . doubletless--aye, naked, but for an +outlaw's generosity . . . cut by my own weapon"--he held up his hand +and looked at the abraded knuckles--"and that is all the credit I have +to show--the mark of a caitiff's chin. . . Methinks I am fit only for +the company of children." + +He glanced again at the sun--it seemed not to have moved at all--then +sat in moody silence; the wound was smarting now, and he frowned at it +every time it gave an extra twinge. . . Would the sun never +move? . . . He got up and paced back and forth, his eyes on the oak at +every turn--truly that tree was growing higher every minute--or the sun +was sinking. . . Not that he was in haste to return to Windsor. . . +There would be a fine tale to tell there--no need to speed to it--it +would speed to him quite soon enough. . . . But to get away from the +accursed place--anywhere . . . back to Windsor even . . . what if some +one found him here in this plight--and he not allowed to speak--unable +to explain--dumb as that oak. . . Would the sun never move! The wound +was stinging sharply, and the arm above the cord was turning black and +swelling fast--the pressure must come off. He felt for his dagger; +then flung out an imprecation, and tried to tear the cord asunder with +his teeth. It was quite futile; it was sunk now so deep in the flesh +he could not seize it--and the knots were drawn too tight to loose. . . +Would the sun never move! + +He fell to searching for a stone--a small one with an edge that could +reach in and rasp the deer-hide cord apart--but vainly; though he tried +many, only to leave his arm torn and bleeding. . . Yet at last the sun +had moved--it was up among the thinner branches. + +Of a sudden, back in the forest rose the deep bay of a mastiff . . . +and presently again--and nearer . . . and a third time--and still +nearer . . . and then down the path came the great tawny dog, tail +arched forward, head up--and behind him a bay horse, a woman in the +saddle. + +"Down, Rollo, down!" she cried, as the mastiff sprang ahead. . . +"Beside me, sir!" and the dog whirled instantly and obeyed. + +De Lacy bethought himself of his cloak, and hurrying to where it lay he +tried to fling it around his shoulders, but with only one hand and his +haste he managed badly and it slipped off and fell to the ground. As +he seized it again the horse halted behind him. + +"You are wounded, sir," she said; "permit me to aid you." + +He turned slowly, bowing as he did so--he dared not speak--then glanced +up, and almost spoke in sheer amazement, as he beheld the slender +figure in green velvet--the sweet, bow-shaped mouth, the high-bred, +sensitive nose, the rounded chin, the tiny ear, the soft, deep grey +eyes, and, crowning all, the great rolls of the auburn hair that +sunbeams spin to gold. + +"Come, sir," said she, "I stopped to aid you, not to be stared at." + +De Lacy flushed and made to speak, then checked himself, and with +another bow held up his arm and motioned for her to cut the cord. + +"Merciful Mother!" she exclaimed, and severed it with a touch of her +bodkin. + +The blood flooded fiercely forward and the wound began to bleed afresh. + +"The bandage needs adjusting--come," and slipping from saddle she +tossed the rein to the dog and went over to the fallen tree. "Sit +down," she ordered. + +With a smile De Lacy obeyed; as yet she did not seem to note his +silence. And it was very pleasant indeed--the touch of her slim +fingers on his bare arm--the perfume of her hair as she bent over the +work--the quick upward glance at times of her grey eyes questioning if +she hurt him. He was sorry now there were not a dozen wounds for her +to dress. + +"There, that will suffice until you get proper attendance," she said, +tying the last knot and tucking under the ends. + +He took her hand and bowing would have kissed it; but she drew it away +sharply and turned to her horse. Then she stopped and looked at him in +sudden recollection. + +"Parbleu, man, where is your tongue?" she demanded. "You had one last +night." + +Where she had seen him he did not know; he had not seen her--and it +only tangled the matter the more, for now she would know he was not +dumb. But how to explain? + +He smiled and bowed. + +"That is the sixth time I have got a bow when a word was due," she +said. "There may be a language of genuflections, but I do not know it." + +He bowed again. + +"Seven," she counted; "the perfect number--stop with it." + +He put his hand to his lips and shook his head in negation--then +pointed to the sun and the tree, and shook his head again--then once +more to the sun and slowly upward to the top of the tree, and nodded in +affirmation. + +She watched him with a puzzled frown. + +"Are you trying to tell me why you do not speak?" she asked. + +He nodded eagerly. + +"Tell me again" . . . and she studied his motions carefully. . . "The +sun and the tree--and the sun and the tree again . . . is that your +meaning? . . . Ah! . . . the _top_ of the tree . . . I think I am +beginning to understand. . . . Where is your doublet?" + +De Lacy pointed into the forest. + +"And your bonnet? . . . with your doublet? . . . and your dagger? . . . +gone with the others? . . . you mean your ring? and it went with them, +too? . . . yes, yes--I see now--outlaws, and your wound got in the +struggle." . . . She turned toward the tree. . . "Ah! I have it:--you +are paroled to silence until the sun has risen above the highest +branch . . . what? . . . and also must remain here until then? . . . I +see--it was that or die . . . no? . . . Oh! that or be bound? . . . +well, truly the knaves were wondrous courteous!" . . . She studied De +Lacy's face a moment--then sat down. "Would you like company?" she +asked. + +Would he like company! Her company! + +She laughed gayly--though a bit of color touched her cheek. + +"Thank you," she said, "I can read your countenance better than your +bows." + +Then suddenly his face grew grave and he motioned no. + +"Yes, and I can understand that, too," she smiled, "and thank you for +it. It may be a trifle uncommon to sit here in the depths of Windsor +forest with a man I never met . . . never even saw until last +night . . . and who has never spoken a single word to me . . . yet" +(glancing at the sun) "the time is not long and . . . the path is +rarely traveled." + +He smiled--but the concern lingered in his eyes and he shook his head +questioningly. + +"Nay, sir, do you not see your very urging me to go proves me safe in +staying?" + +He hesitated, still doubtful--then threw himself on the turf at her +feet. + +"I suppose it is for me to do the talking," she observed. + +And as she talked he fell to watching the sun in her hair--the play of +her lips--the light in her eyes. . . . Never before would he have +believed that grey could be so deep and tender; or that a mouth could +be so tantalizing; or the curve of a cheek so sweet; or ruddy tresses +so alluring. . . . And her voice--was there ever such another!--soft, +low, clear, like silver bells at twilight out at sea. + +And in the watching he lost her words, nor nodded when he +should--until, at length, she sprang up and went over to her horse. +And when in sharp contrition he followed after to apologize, she met +him with a laugh and gracious gesture--then pointed to the sun. + +"The parole is lifted," she said. "Will you put me up?" + +With his sound arm he swung her into saddle--and with Rollo in advance +and him beside her they went slowly back to Windsor. And now he did +the talking--telling first the story of the outlaws. + +When the towers of the huge castle showed afar through the trees, De +Lacy halted. + +"Would you deem me rude if I went no further with you?" he asked. + +She smiled kindly. "On the contrary, I would deem you very wise." + +"I care not to proclaim my adventure with the outlaws. It would make +me a merry jest in the hall." + +"I understand--and yet, wounded and without bonnet or doublet, you will +not pass unnoted; an explanation will be obligatory." + +"The wound is easy," he said; "my own dagger made it, you remember--but +the doublet and bonnet, particularly the doublet, are bothersome." + +She looked at him with quick decision. + +"I will manage that," she said; "your squire shall bring both to you +here." + +De Lacy's face lighted with sudden pleasure, and he put out his hand +toward hers--then drew it sharply back and bowed. + +"Still bowing?" she said naively. + +"I have no words to speak my gratitude," he said. + +"And I no ears that wish to hear them, if you had," she laughed. "This +morning you have had much trouble--I much pleasure--the scales are +balanced--the accounts canceled. We will forget it all. Never will I +mention it to you--nor you to me--nor either to another. When we meet +again it will be as though to-day had never been. . . Nay, sir, it +must be so. You have been unfortunate, I unconventional--it is best +for both we start afresh." + +"But am I not even to know your name?" he protested. + +She shook her head. "Not even that, now, and I ask your word not to +seek to know it--until we meet again." + +"You have it," said he, "until we meet again--to-morrow." + +She smiled vaguely. "It will be a far to-morrow . . . good-bye, my +lord," and rode away--then turned. "Wait for your squire," she called. + +"And for to-morrow," he cried. + +But she made no answer, and with a wave of her hand was gone, the dog +leaping in front of her and baying loud with joy. + + + + +II + +RICHARD OF GLOUCESTER + +But the morrow brought no maid, nor a fortnight of morrows--she had +vanished; and seek as he might at Windsor or through the Tower he could +not find her. Had he been privileged to inquire the quest would have +been ended by a word--but she herself had closed his lips to questions. + +Then the mighty Edward died, and all was confusion in the Court; and +what with the funeral, the goings and the comings, the plottings and +the intrigues, De Lacy was in a maze. The boy King was at Ludlow with +Rivers, and it was Nobility against Queen and Woodville until he came +for his crowning. And in the turmoil De Lacy was forced to cease, for +the nonce, the pursuit of ruddy tresses and grey eyes, and choose where +he would stand. And presently that choice sent him riding into the +North--bearing a message to the man in distant Pontefract, upon whom, +at that moment, all England was waiting and who, as yet, had made no +move, Richard of Gloucester. + +The day was far spent, and before a fireplace in his private apartments +Richard sat alone, in heavy meditation. The pale, clean-shaven, +youthful face, with its beautiful mouth and straight Norman nose, and +the short, slender figure in its mantle and doublet of black velvet +furred with ermine, rich under tunic of white satin, tight-fitting hose +of silk, and dark brown hair hanging bushy to the shoulders, would have +been almost effeminate but for the massively majestic forehead and the +fierce black eyes--brilliant, compelling, stern, proud--that flashed +forth the mighty soul within. + +Although he had just passed his thirtieth year, yet his fame was as +wide as the domain of chivalry, and his name a thing to conjure with in +England. Born in an age when almost as children men of rank and +station were called upon to take their sires' place, Richard had been +famed for his wisdom and statecraft before the years when the period of +youth is now presumed to begin. At the age of eighteen he had led the +flower of the Yorkist army at the great battles of Barnet and +Tewkesbury, and not the dauntless Edward himself, then in the heyday of +his prowess, was more to be feared than the slight boy who swept with +inconceivable fury through the Lancastrian line, carrying death on his +lance-point and making the Boar of Gloucester forever famous in English +heraldry. And since then his hauberk had scarce been off his back, and +while his royal brother was dallying in a life of indulgence amid the +dissipations of his Court, the brave and resolute Richard was leading +his armies, administering his governments, and preserving order on the +Marches of the Border. + +Presently there was a sharp knock on the door and a page entered. + +"Well?" demanded the Duke abruptly. + +"May it please you, my lord," said the boy; "a messenger of importance +who desires immediate audience." + +Richard frowned slightly. + +"Whose badge does he wear?" he asked. + +"No one's, my lord, but the fashion of his armor savors of the Court. +He bade me announce him as Sir Aymer de Lacy." + +"The name, boy, is better recommendation than any fashion. Admit him." + +De Lacy crossed to the center of the apartment with easy grace, and +after a deep obeisance stood erect and silent facing the Duke, who eyed +him critically. A trifle over the average height and rather slender, +and clad in complete mail except for the bascinet which he carried in +his hand, there was something in his appearance and bearing that +impressed even the warlike Richard. His dark hair hung in curls to his +gorget. His hauberk of polished steel was but partially concealed by +the jupon of azure silk emblazoned with a silver stag trippant; his +cuissarts and greaves glistened in the firelight, and his long +sollerets bore on their heels the golden spurs of his rank. Around his +waist was a broad belt wrought in gold, and from it, almost in front, +hung a great two-handed sword whose point reached to within a few +inches of the floor. + +"You are welcome," said Gloucester. "A De Lacy should ever find a +ready greeting at Pontefract. Of what branch of the family are you?" + +"One far removed from that which built this fortress, most noble Duke," +returned the Knight, with a peculiarly soft accent. "My own ancestor +was but distantly connected with the last great Earl of Lincoln whom +the First Edward loved so well." + +"I do not recall your name among those who fought for either York or +Lancaster. Did your family wear the White Rose or the Red?" + +"Neither," said De Lacy. "Providence removed my sire ere the fray +began aright and when I was but a child in arms. When Your Grace won +fame at Tewkesbury I had but turned my thirteenth year." + +"Where is your family seat?" + +"At Gaillard Castle in the shire of Leicester, close by the River +Weak--or at least it stood there when last I saw it. It is ten long +years since I crossed its drawbridge and not twelve months of my life +have been spent within its walls." + +"Your accent smacks of a Southern sun," said the Duke. + +"My mother was of a French house, and to her own land she took me when +my father died;" and, observing the Duke glance at his spurs, he added: +"It was from France's Constable that I received the accolade." + +"Then right well did you deserve it; St. Pol gave no unearned honors." + +"I was favored much beyond my deserts," De Lacy replied, although his +face flushed at a compliment from the renowned Gloucester. + +"Your modesty but proves your merit," returned the Duke. . . "And now +your message. From whom come you?" + +"From the Duke of Buckingham, my lord," said De Lacy; and the keen look +that accompanied the words did not escape the Prince. But De Lacy did +not know the man before whom he stood, else would he have wasted no +energy in any such attempt. As well try to read the visage of a +granite cliff as to discover the thoughts of Richard Plantagenet from +the expression of his face. And if the royal Duke were in aught +concerned as to the communication of the powerful Buckingham, there was +no evidence of it in his voice or in the eminently courteous and +appropriate question as he instantly responded: + +"How did you leave His Grace and where?" + +"He was most hearty when we parted at Gloucester; he for his castle of +Brecknock and I for Pontefract." + +"He had been in London?" + +"Yes, my lord, since before King Edward's demise." + +"Then are his letters very welcome." + +"Your pardon, sir," said De Lacy, "but I bear no letters;" and as +Richard regarded him in sharp interrogation he added: "My message is by +word of mouth." + +"And why," said the Duke in the same calm tone he had employed +throughout the conversation, "should I credit your story, seeing that I +neither know you nor recall your silver trippant stag among the present +devices of our land." + +"My bearing," returned De Lacy tranquilly, "comes to me from my +mother's family, of which she was the heiress, and on English +battlefield it has never shone. And unless this ring attest the +authority of my message it must be unsaid," and drawing from his finger +a broad gold band, in which was set a great flat emerald with a swan +exquisitely cut on its face, he handed it to the Duke. + +Richard examined it for a moment, then returned it with a smile. + +"You are sufficiently accredited," he said. "I will hear your message. +What said Stafford?" + +"The Duke of Buckingham," replied Aymer, "sends to the Duke of +Gloucester his most humble greeting and his very sincere condolence +upon the death of Your Grace's great brother and sire." + +"Pass over the formalities, Sir Aymer," interrupted the Duke curtly. +"It was scarce for them you rode from London to Pontefract." + +Aymer bowed. "Buckingham's message was in these words: 'Tell the Duke +of Gloucester to hasten to London without delay. I have conferred with +the Lords Howard, Hastings, and Stanley, and we are of the one mind +that he must be Lord Protector. Tell him we pledge to him our whole +support if he will give us his countenance in this crucial struggle +against the Woodvilles.'" + +"Did he say nothing as to the present status of the situation?" +inquired Gloucester quietly. "I am far from Court and know little of +its happenings." + +"With them, my lord, I am fully acquainted," said De Lacy, "both from +my own observation and by the Duke himself." + +"How stands the matter, then?" + +"Rather favorable to the Queen's faction than otherwise. The King's +coronation has been fixed for the first Lord's Day of the coming month +and His Majesty is to be escorted from Ludlow by two thousand men. The +Marquis of Dorset has seized the treasure in the Tower and Sir Edward +Woodville has been tampering with the navy, and methinks not without +result. The Queen and the whole family are catering to the populace +and spare no effort to win their favor. Only action sharp and sudden +will enable the Barons to prevail." + +For a moment Gloucester made no response, but sat with his head bent +upon his bosom, as was his habit when in thought. Presently he said: + +"How do you know that the King's escort will number two thousand?" + +"The Council so fixed it, and very much against the wishes of the +Queen." + +"She wanted more, I doubt not," said the Duke meditatively. + +"She long held that less than five thousand would not be fitting the +dignity of a King." + +Gloucester looked up with a trace of a smile around his eyes. + +"Will the Earl of Rivers accompany his nephew?" he asked. + +"It was so reported to His Grace of Buckingham; and further, also, that +they would not start from Ludlow until the feast of St. George had +passed." + +"Did Stafford advise no plan in case I fell in with his desires?" + +"None. The lords will follow whatever course you fix. All that they +urge is haste." + +"How long does Buckingham remain at Brecknock?" + +"Until he receive word from you--or failing in that, until there be but +time sufficient to reach London for the coronation." + +"Was it his purpose that you should carry my answer?" + +"Nay, my lord Duke," said De Lacy. "Here ends my mission for +Buckingham. It was but as friend for friend that I bore this message. +I am not of his household nor was it his business that brought me here." + +"What brought you to Pontefract then, Sir Knight?" said Richard +sternly. "As Buckingham's messenger you have received due honor; that +aside, your name alone commends you." + +"I sought Pontefract," De Lacy replied, "for the single purpose of +tendering my sword to the Duke of Gloucester, hoping in his service to +brighten the dimmed lustre of my House." + +Not for an instant did the searching eyes of Richard leave the young +Knight's face. + +"Why do you prefer the Boar of Gloucester to the Stafford Knot? +Buckingham is most puissant." + +"A De Lacy, my lord," answered Aymer proudly, "follows none but +Plantagenet." + +"Bravely spoken," said Gloucester, suddenly dropping his stern air, +"and worthy of the great name you bear. I accept your sword. Nay, +kneel not, sir; Richard Plantagenet deems himself most fortunate to +have you at his side." + +At that moment the arras was drawn aside and a young and slender woman +entered. Her gown was black, unrelieved by any color, save the girdle +of gold; her face was almost flawless in its symmetry; her complexion +was of a wondrous whiteness; and her eyes, of the deepest blue, soft +and melting, and shaded by lashes long and heavy, were of the sort that +bespeak the utmost confidence and know no guile. She hesitated as she +saw De Lacy and was about to withdraw when the Duke glanced around. + +"Nay, sweetheart," said he, rising and going toward her; "do not +retire. . . . Sir Aymer de Lacy, I present you to the Duchess of +Gloucester." + +De Lacy advanced and sinking upon one knee touched his lips to the hand +she extended to him. + +"Surely, Sir Knight," she said, in a voice whose sweetness struck even +his Southern-bred ear, "a De Lacy should ever be welcome in the halls +of Pontefract." + +"Your words, most gracious lady," answered Aymer, "are almost those +used by my lord, the Duke, and to a wanderer's heart they are very +grateful." + +"You are an errant, then; a Sir Guy or Sir Lancelot," said the Duchess. + +"Nay. Only a poor and simple Knight whose highest honor is that he may +henceforth follow the banner of your great husband." + +"Then must hauberk sit easy as velvet doublet or I know not my lord," +and she smiled at Richard. + +"Do not," said he, "give to Sir Aymer the notion that he has nothing +but hard blows before him--although, indeed, he rode hither on scarce a +peaceful mission, since he bears from Stafford and the Nobility the +tender of the Protectorship and the insistence that I proceed to London +without delay." + +As he spoke the face of the Duchess suddenly became grave, and stepping +swiftly to his side she put her hand upon his arm. + +"You will not go, Richard?" she begged. + +"Why, sweetheart, what ails you? Why should a journey to London and a +possible exchange of blows alarm you?" + +"It is not the journey, dear," she answered. "Many a time have you +taken it; and, for the blows, did I not speed you to the Scottish war? +Yet I have a foreboding--nay, smile not, my lord!--that upon your +course in this matter hangs not only your own fate, but the fate of +Plantagenet as well. Accept it not," taking his hand and speaking with +deep entreaty; "the Protectorship can add nothing to Richard of +Gloucester, and it may work not only your doom but that of the great +House of Anjou." + +"Nay, Anne, you are ill, surely," said Richard, putting his arm around +her. "What has put such uncanny notions into your mind?" + +"I do not know; yet I implore you to humor me in this. . . . You have +not already despatched an answer to Buckingham?" she suddenly demanded. + +"No--not yet," then turned sharply to De Lacy. "It seems, Sir Aymer, +that you are to be admitted to my confidence as well as to Stafford's. +So be it, for I trust you. Yet, believe me, it is well sometimes to +forget." + +De Lacy bowed low, saying simply, "I have forgotten." + +"Forgive me, Richard," said the Duchess. "My heart so ruled my head +that I quite lost myself." + +The Duke took her hand and pressed it affectionately. "Think no more +now of the matter; we will consider it to-morrow." + +"And you will make no decision until then?" + +"None, by St. Paul!" and striking the bell he ordered the page to +summon the Duchess' lady-in-waiting. + +In a moment she appeared: a slender figure in dark blue velvet, with +ruddy tresses and deep grey eyes--the maid of Windsor Forest. + +De Lacy caught his breath and stood staring, like one bereft of sense, +until the dropping of the arras hid her from his sight. Then he saw +Gloucester regarding him with a smile. + +"You are not the first," he observed, "nor, I warrant, will you be the +last." + +"Her name?" said the Knight so eagerly the Duke smiled again. + +"She is Beatrix de Beaumont, in her own right Countess of Clare, and +save our own dear spouse no sweeter woman lives." + +"In truth do I believe it; else has God sent a plague upon the Nobles +of England.'" + +"If disappointed love and blasted hopes can be so reckoned," said +Richard with a shrug, "then does many a fair lord suffer from the +disease. See that you do not become affected also." + +"Nay, my lord Duke," replied De Lacy; "I know better than to allow a +poor Knight's mind to dwell upon the charms of a great heiress--and she +the Countess of Clare." + +"Pardieu!" said Gloucester; "be not so humble. Your birth is equal to +her own; it was only for your peace of mind I cautioned you." + + + + +III + +THE VOICE ON THE RAMPARTS + +On quitting the Duke, De Lacy dispatched a page for his squire and was +then conducted to his quarters on the floor above. + +Tossing his gauntlets and bascinet upon the high bed that stood in the +corner near the door, he crossed to the small deep window and swung +back the sash. Below him lay the broad bailey, that at this hour was +alive with the servitors and retainers of the Duke. Before the +dwellings against the inner wall children were playing, and through the +fading light of the April afternoon rose a medley of sounds. From the +direction of the distant gateway sounded the ring of steel-shod hoofs, +and presently a body of horsemen cantered across the stone pavement and +drew rein before the keep. A gruff command followed, and just as the +rank was broken and the soldiery dispersed the sweet tones of the bell +of All Saints' Chapel came floating over the walls. + +The Knight crossed himself instinctively, and then, leaning on the +ledge, his thoughts turned to his family's past and to why he, though +of the blood of one of the Conqueror's favorite Barons, was a stranger +in England. + +The main branch of the House of Lacy, once so powerful in Britain, had +become extinct almost two centuries before; and although Sir Aymer's +ancestor had borne an honorable part in the wars of the Third Edward +yet, like Chandos, he was content to remain a simple banneret. When +the Second Richard went down before his usurping cousin, the then head +of the family had stood, to the last, true to his rightful King; and +hence it was small wonder that to Sir Richard de Lacy the atmosphere of +the Court of the new Monarch was not agreeable. When Henry of Monmouth +brought France again under English rule, Sir Richard rode no more to +the wars; and the heir being but an infant, his retainers were mustered +under a stranger's banner. During the later struggles of Bedford and +of Warwick to retain the fast relaxing hold of England upon the domains +beyond the Channel, the then Baron had done his devoir full knightly, +but it is not in a losing struggle that families win advancement, and, +to the last Lancastrian King, Sir Edward de Lacy was not known. Then +came the Wars of the Roses and, ere Aymer's sire could bind the White +Rose to his helmet, a sudden illness stilled his hand in death; and +thus, again, had the House lost an opportunity to rise in fame and +power. Much honor had Sir Aymer won in the recent small wars and +constant fightings of the Continent, and in the right of his mother's +family he might have aspired to high rank at the French Court; but +Louis, "the Fell," was not a warrior's King, nor had long residence in +a foreign clime bred in Sir Aymer forgetfulness of the land of his +birth. + +And so, at length, he had furled his pennon, and followed by his +faithful squire and a few of his retainers he sought the English Court. +And with him went the solemn purpose either to restore the once great +name he bore to its place among the chivalry of England or to let it +perish utterly with him. Within a few weeks of his arrival, Edward's +sudden death occurred, and he had been quick to appreciate that his +opportunity lay with Gloucester in the North. A friendship formed with +the Duke of Buckingham some years previous in Paris, and which had been +renewed in London, had stood him in good stead; for being acquainted +with De Lacy's purpose of seeking Pontefract, Stafford had to his great +satisfaction made him his confidential messenger in the very matter +which was then so near to Richard's heart. + +The entry of the squire broke in on the Knight's thoughts, and he +turned from the window. + +"Make haste, Giles," said he, "and get me out of this steel." + +With the skill of long practice it was quickly done; and removing the +suit of thin yellow leather worn under the harness, De Lacy donned a +doublet and short gown of black velvet, and then, throwing himself upon +the bed, he awaited the summons to the evening meal. + +Meanwhile, the squire had laid aside his own armor and stood forth in +his leather suit that was creased and soiled by the iron weight. + +Giles Dauvrey was no fledgling whose apprenticeship had begun among the +dainty pages of my lady's bower. A Gascon, and lowly born, he was a +simple man-at-arms when, in a small affray on the Italian border, he +had chanced to ward from Sir Aymer de Lacy's head the battle-axe that, +falling on him from behind, must else have cleft him to the gorget. +The young Knight had thereupon obtained the man's transfer to his own +following and--becoming assured of his bravery and martial fitness--he +had made him his squire when, a few months later, an Italian cross-bolt +had wrought a vacancy in the post. Stocky in build, wonderfully quick +and thoroughly trained in arms, he also had the rare faculty of +executing an order without the slightest evasion, and could be trusted +in any emergency either of discretion or valor. Right often had the +two stood side by side in the press of skirmish and the rush of +battle,--for they had ever sought the locality of strife--and there had +come to be little choice for the foeman between the accomplished +axe-play of the master and the sweeping blows of the sturdy squire. +And as among the veteran soldiery of the French-Italian borders no name +stood higher than De Lacy, so also was no wearer of the silver spurs +more respected than he who bore the banner of the Trippant Stag. + +"It is a great fortress, Giles," said the Knight. "Never have I seen a +stronger." + +"Marry, no; nor one, I ween, wherein the discipline was sterner. Are +all castles in this land of yours, my lord, so conducted?" + +"All wherein the Duke of Gloucester holds command." + +"Of a truth, then," said Dauvrey, "the tales I have heard of this +Prince are not so wide of the clout." + +"What were the tales?" + +"They were many and various, yet I gathered that he was a great warrior +and fit to be a ruler of men." + +"And you gathered truly," returned De Lacy. "He is the best soldier +and shrewdest man in all this island Kingdom." + +"How looks he to the eye, my lord?" + +"You may judge that for yourself; observe him at the evening meal. +Here comes the summons." + +A step came rapidly up the stairs and a page halted at the half-opened +doorway. + +"His Grace requests that Sir Aymer de Lacy join him in the great hall," +he said. + +The Knight arose and flung his short cloak about him. + +"Lead on," he ordered; "we follow." + +When they entered the hall the Duke was already seated on the dais, +surrounded by the officers of his household. On the right, De Lacy +recognized Sir Robert Wallingford, to whom, as Constable of Pontefract, +he had been conducted upon his arrival; but the others he was not able +to identify, although, of course, he knew by reputation several who +should be among them. The chair on Richard's left was unoccupied, and +he motioned for De Lacy to take it. + +"Sit you here," he said. . . . "Gentlemen, I present Sir Aymer de +Lacy. He is fresh from London and, I doubt not, can give you much news +of the Court and Capital." + +All arose and bowed to De Lacy, who bowed back at them. + +"My knowledge, such as it is," said he, "is freely yours. Yet as I was +only a few weeks in London my budget may be very meagre. But if you +will ask, I will gladly tell you what I know." + +And they did not hesitate to ask, and he was kept busy answering +questions upon every conceivable subject, from the details of the +funeral of the dead King to the fashion of the latest gown. Indeed it +was not until the meal was almost over that he had an opportunity for a +word aside to the Duke. + +"May I ask Your Grace the name of the fair-haired man yonder?" he said. + +"I cry pardon," Richard exclaimed. "I forgot you were a stranger in +England. He is my Chamberlain, Sir William Catesby. . . The +black-moustached Knight with the scar on his forehead, who has just put +down his wine glass, is Sir Richard Ratcliffe. . . The elderly man +beside him with the gray hair and ruddy countenance is Sir Robert +Brackenbury. . . The one with the thin, dark face and broad shoulders +is Lord Darby of Roxford.--The rest are younger men and of less +prominence. . . The one beside Darby is Sir Ralph de Wilton, next to +him is Sir James Dacre, and on Dacre's left is Sir Henry de Vivonne." + +He pushed back his chair and arose. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "you are excused from further attendance." Then +he called to De Wilton. + +"Sir Ralph," he said, "Sir Aymer de Lacy is of the Household. Give +him some idea of his duties, and then sponsor him in Her Grace's +presence chamber." + +And Aymer liked De Wilton on the instant, with his courteous manner and +frank, gracious smile, and for an hour or more they sat in pleasant +conversation. Then Sir Ralph was summoned to the Duke, and De Lacy, +postponing, perforce, his presentation to the Duchess' household until +the morrow, went for a stroll on the ramparts. + +Night had settled down; the sky was clear and through the cool, crisp +air the stars were shining brightly. The turmoil in the bailey had +subsided, but from the quarters of the soldiery rose the hum of voices +that now and then swelled out into the chorus of some drinking or +fighting song. There were lights in many of the dwellings where lived +the married members of the permanent garrison, and from them ever and +anon came the shrill tones of some shrewish, woman scolding her +children or berating her lord and master. For a while Sir Aymer paced +the great wide wall, reflecting upon what had occurred since he came to +Pontefract and the matters he had learned from De Wilton. But through +it all a woman's face kept with him and led his thoughts awry, and +presently he turned aside and leaned upon the parapet. + +He had found her--and by accident; and had lost her the same instant. +Beatrix of Clare, the greatest heiress in England, was not for him--a +wanderer and a stranger. She had warned him plainly that day in +Windsor Forest--though he, not knowing her, had missed the point till +now. He might not presume to speak to her until properly +presented--nor even then to refer to what had passed or so much as +intimate that they had met before. . . And yet had not Gloucester +himself bade him be not so humble--that his birth was equal to her own? +Why should he not aspire . . . why not seek her favor . . . what more +favorable conditions would he ever know than now? How extraordinary it +was that she should be in Pontefract--the length of England from where +he saw her last. Surely the Fates were kind to him! And had she +recognized him? No, for she had not even given him a glance. He had +thought to meet her in the presence chamber this very night; and +now--he must wait until the morrow. Yet the morrow was sure . . . and +then he would see again that sweet face, those ruddy tresses and grey +eyes . . . would hear that silvery voice. . . + +Hark! he heard it now. + +"Why so abstracted, sir?" it seemed to say. + +He stood quite still--would it come again? + +St. Denis! there it was! + +"Is she so far away, Sir Ralph?" it asked. + +Sir Ralph! What had Sir Ralph to do with this music? + +There came a soft laugh and a touch of a hand on his shoulder. + +He whirled around--and stared in wonder at the woman of his dream. + +"Oh!" she said. "Oh! I thought you were Sir Ralph de Wilton . . . the +night is dark--pray, forgive me." + +De Lacy bowed low. + +"I am Sir Ralph de Wilton," he said. + +The Countess smiled. + +"You are very good," she said, and moved away. + +"May not Sir Ralph walk with you?" De Lacy asked. + +She stopped and with head half turned looked at him thoughtfully. + +"Yes, if he wish," she answered. + +For a space they walked in silence; she with head averted. . . +Presently she laughed. + +"Silence is new in Sir Ralph," she said. + +"He was waiting leave to speak." + +"And that is newer still." + +"You like the new?" he asked audaciously. + +"Oh! it is variety for the moment"--with the faintest lift of the +chin--"though doubtless it would get tiresome in time." + +"Let us enjoy the moment then," said he. "I was thinking of you when +you came." + +"I regret, Sir Ralph, I may not be equally flattering." + +"So does Sir Ralph." + +"Though I will admit my thoughts were of a man." + +"He shall have my gage at sunrise." + +She shook her head. "They were not worth it--only idle curiosity +concerning a new member of the Household I noticed in the Duke's +chamber this afternoon." . . . She became interested in her cloak. "I +do not now even recall his name," she added negligently. + +De Lacy smiled and looked at the stars. + +Presently she shot a quick glance up at him. + +"Did you not meet him at the evening meal, Sir Ralph?" + +"He was there--on the Duke's left," De Lacy answered carelessly. + +"And his name?" + +"De Lacy---Aymer de Lacy." + +"A good North of England name," she commented. + +"Aye, it once ran with Clare in Yorkshire," he answered. + +"The Clares are done," said she, and sighed a bit. + +"And the flower of them all bloomed last," he added gravely. + +But she put the words aside. + +"Do not be foolish, Sir Ralph. You know I dislike compliments. Tell +me about this Sir Aymer de Lacy--I never heard of him at Court." + +"He has lived all his life in France." + +"Patriotic, truly!" with a shrug. + +"As to that," said the Knight, "it is fit that he should answer for +himself, and not through Sir Ralph de Wilton; though either Richard of +Gloucester entirely ignored the point or else he was quite satisfied." + +She laughed. "Then it is not for me to raise it; so tell me why he +came to Pontefract." + +"To take service with the Duke, I fancy--and methinks he has already +found one more reason for staying than for coming." + +"The Duke is reason enough for a soldier who wants a man for a master," +she said. Then suddenly faced about. "Let us hasten--I fear I have +overstayed my time." + +As they rounded a bastion near the keep they encountered Lord Darby. + +"Ah, Beatrix, well met," he said, offering his arm and nodding +carelessly to De Lacy. "Her Grace desires you." + +"Did she send you for me?" the Countess asked, ignoring his arm and +hurrying on--and De Lacy noting it, kept beside her. + +Lord Darby forced a smile. "Not exactly; I volunteered to go for you." + +"You are very kind," she said rather tartly; "a moment longer and you +would have been saved the trouble." + +Darby's smile failed completely and he made no answer. + +In the doorway the Countess halted--and gave De Lacy her hand. + +"I thank you for the walk," she said, as he bowed over it; then a merry +gleam came in her eyes--"Good night, Sir . . . Aymer." + + + + +IV + +TRAILING CHAINS + +"Women are queer creatures," De Wilton remarked, as he turned away from +the window and sat down beside De Lacy, who having just completed his +first tour of duty in the Household as Knight-in-waiting was still +lounging in the antechamber. + +"It seems to me," said Aymer, "I have heard that idea advanced once +before in France--or maybe it was in Italy." + +"Doubtless--but the present proof of it is yonder," De Wilton answered, +nodding toward the window. "The Countess has just gone for a ride with +Darby." + +De Lacy looked up from the dagger he was idly polishing on his doublet +sleeve. + +"And the proof in particular is what?" he asked. "Her costume, her +horse, or her escort?" + +"I gave her the horse," said De Wilton. + +"That absolves the horse, and as it could not be the costume, it must +be . . ." + +De Wilton brought his fist down on the bancal with a smash. + +"Darby--and may the Devil fly away with him! . . . Oh! it is not +jealousy," catching Aymer's quick glance. "We were children together +at her father's castle, and she is like a sister to me." + +"And so, as usual, ignores a brother's advice touching her suitors?" De +Lacy observed. + +"Touching only this one." + +"Then you should feel flattered." + +"I offered no advice as to any other." + +Aymer sheathed the dagger and adjusted his cloak. + +"I suppose," said he, "one may assume you are not over-fond of Darby." + +De Wilton nodded. "That you may--and yet if you were to ask my reasons +I could give none, save a thorough detestation." + +"And the Countess has asked for the reason?" + +"Many times." + +De Lacy laughed. "I see," he said. "Now tell me about this Darby--I +think you mentioned he was not of the Household." + +"Thank Heaven, no--or I would not be of it. He has some power in the +West Riding, and came by special summons of the Duke. But that +business ended two days ago--it is the Countess that holds him now." + +"Well," said De Lacy, "I, too, would linger if it meant a ride with the +Countess of Clare and the favor that implies." + +"Oh, as to that, he is favored no more than a dozen others. What irks +me is that she favors him at all." + +"What would you say if I, too, tried for a smile?" De Lacy asked. + +De Wilton ran his eyes very deliberately over the handsome figure +beside him. + +"That you will win it," he said, "and may be more than one--and the +chains that trail behind. . . Beware, the chains are very heavy." + +De Lacy shook his head. "Strong they may be--strong as life--but +heavy, never." + +Sir Ralph looked at him in wondering surprise--then clapped him on the +shoulder. + +"French skies and French blood! Pardieu, man, go in and show this +Darby and the others how the game is played." + +"But the chains------" + +"Wrap them about her also. And by Heaven, why not?--the last of the +Lacys and the last of the Clares. St. George, it would be like old +times in Merry England." + +"Nay, Sir Ralph," said Aymer, laying his hand upon the other's arm, +"your words are quite too flattering. I must be content with the +smile." + +De Wilton raised his eyebrows. "You brought the chains across the +Channel with you?" + +De Lacy arose. "No, but maybe I have found them since." + +Suddenly De Wilton laughed. "My mind surely is getting weak," he said. +"I clean forgot you had never seen the Countess." + +"Oh, yes, I have--on the wall last night." + +"Was it possible you were near when Darby found her?" + +"I was with her." + +"With her!" said De Wilton incredulously. "Surely you do not mean it." + +De Lacy's face straightened. "Be a little more explicit, please," he +said. + +"Tut, man, I meant no offence," was the good-natured answer. "You do +not understand the matter. The Countess never walks alone on the +ramparts after dark with any man save the Duke and me." + +"St. Denis, I forgot. It was _you_ she walked with," said Aymer. + +De Wilton stared at him. "Are you quite sane?" he asked. + +De Lacy linked his arm within the other's. "Come over to the window +and I will tell you how, last night, Sir Ralph de Wilton chanced to +walk with the Countess of Clare on the ramparts of Pontefract." + +"And I suppose then it was you, and not I, who talked with the Duchess +in her presence chamber all the time the Countess of Clare was gone." + +"No, I was on the ramparts, too," De Lacy answered. "Listen--here is +the tale." + +"Good!" exclaimed De Wilton at the end. "She punished Darby well--I +wish I could have seen it; and it cut him to the raw, for all his suave +indifference." Suddenly he struck the wall sharply. "And yet--she +rides with him to-day. St. George! We are back where we started. +Women are queer creatures!" + +Just then Sir James Dacre stopped at the corridor door. + +"Who is for a ride?" he asked. + +"I am," said De Lacy, "if Sir Ralph will excuse me." + +De Wilton nodded. "Go, by all means; it was good of you to keep me +company even for a moment." + +"I might venture to guess," said Dacre, as they cantered across the +bailey toward the gate, "that that black of yours was never foaled in +England." + +"I got Selim in Spain," De Lacy answered, "and with him the story that +he came from the stables of the Soldan of Granada--but of that I cannot +vouch--nor do I care," patting the shining shoulder; "he is my good +friend and companion, and he has never failed me." + +Dacre looked at the small head, with its bright, full, kind eye, broad +forehead, tapered muzzle, thin, sensitive nostrils and ears; at the +arched neck, the deep chest, the rather short barrel, the narrow waist, +powerful flanks, and sinewy, springy, slender legs. + +"He is beautiful," he said. "Methinks I never saw so perfect a horse." + +"And his intelligence is in kind," said Aymer. "He has many +accomplishments, but the one most satisfactory to me is the way he +understands my voice. . . Observe------" + +He dropped the reins over the pommel, and at the word, Selim, without +touch of knee or shift of bit, went through all the gaits and facings, +ending with the most difficult of all--the seven artificial movements +of the horse. + +Sir James Dacre's rather cold face warmed with admiration and he reined +over and stroked the black's soft muzzle. + +"You are a wonder, Selim," he said. "Your equal is not in the Kingdom; +though, in a short dash, the Countess' bay mare might put you to your +speed." + +"Very likely," said Aymer, "but I will wager there is none in England +can beat him from the Solway to Land's End." + +Dacre smiled--"I would rather share the bet than take it." + +Then the talk led to the horses of France and Spain, and thence to the +life there in general, for Sir James had never crossed the Channel, and +he plied his companion with questions. And so they jogged along in +pleasant converse, and De Lacy saw that the reserved and quiet Dacre +was in fact as sincere and good-hearted as the generously impulsive De +Wilton. And he warmed to them both; for he had anticipated cold looks, +hatred, and jealousy, such as under like conditions he would have met +with on the Continent. + +And as they rode there came a faint hail from the front--and thrice +repeated. The track at that point led through a wood and was straight +away for half a mile, then it swung to the left. Just near the turn +were two horsemen; and the rearmost, when he saw his cry had been +heard, waved his hat and gesticulated violently toward the other, who +was several lengths in front. Both were coming at top speed. + +Sir James Dacre puckered his eyes and peered ahead. + +"My sight is rather poor," he said, "but from yonder fellow's motions, +I take it he wants us to stop the other--an escape doubtless." + +Just then the one in the lead shot through a patch of sunlight and both +Knights cried out. + +"A woman!" said De Lacy. + +"The Countess!" exclaimed Dacre. "What may it mean?" + +"She went riding with Lord Darby shortly after mid-day," said Aymer. + +"And that is Darby," added Dacre, as the sun hit the second horseman. +"Pardieu! I do not understand--it cannot be she is fleeing from him." + +They drew rein, and watched the approaching pair. + +"Well, if she is, she is succeeding," Aymer observed. "She is gaining +on him at every jump. St. Denis! how that horse of hers can run!" + +"It is Wilda, the bay mare I spoke of. But see, Darby still waves. +What in Heaven's name ails the man? Can it be the mare has bolted?" + +De Lacy shook his head. "The Countess is making no effort to control +her; the reins are hanging loose." + +Then they heard the first faint beat of the hoofs, growing louder and +louder, and presently with it Darby's cry: + +"Stop her! Stop her!" + +"Maybe, my lord," said De Lacy, leaning forward, his eyes intent upon +the Countess; "if the lady wish it she will signal." + +Two hundred yards away now came Wilda running at terrific speed, but +straight and true. Suddenly De Lacy swung Selim around. + +"It is a runaway," he called to Dacre, "the reins are useless." And +even as he said it the Countess told him the same by a motion of her +hand. + +A moment more and she swept between them; but beside her went the +black, leap for leap with the bay. Then Aymer saw the trouble--the bit +had broken in the bar, tearing the mouth badly, and from each +cheek-strap dangled a useless half, which striking the frightened mare +on the muzzle kept driving her to top speed. + +The Countess gave De Lacy a quick smile. + +"I am trying to enjoy it," she said, "but I think I am dreadfully +frightened." + +Aymer glanced at the road--it was straight and level for another four +hundred yards, then it disappeared, and he remembered it pitched +sharply forward in a rough and twisting descent. Whatever he did must +be done quickly--no horse ever foaled could carry its rider down that +declivity at such a speed. + +"Death waits yonder," he said, pointing to the brow of the hill. "I +must lift you to my saddle. Will you risk it?" + +She hesitated; then suddenly loosed her foot from the stirrup. + +"I am ready," she said--and smiled again. + +De Lacy dropped his reins. + +"Closer, Selim, closer," he commanded. + +The black; drew over until his master's boot was pressing the +Countess's saddle girth. + +"When I give the word," said De Lacy, "free yourself from the pommel +and catch me around the neck." + +The Countess nodded. "I understand," she said, and gave a quick look +forward. The hill was getting very near. + +He reached over and wound his right arm about her slender waist. +"Now!" he said sharply. + +For a second the Countess hung in the air between the plunging horses; +then the bay shot ahead alone--and she rested safely across De Lacy's +saddle, his arms about her and hers about his neck. + +Of his own accord the black had instantly slackened speed, and now at +the word he stopped, and the Countess dropped lightly to the ground. + +"How can I ever thank you?" she said, giving Sir Aymer her hand. + +"By not trying to," he answered, dismounting and kissing her fingers +almost reverently. "Fortune has already blessed me over much." + +She turned to Selim, who was standing quietly beside his master. + +"I may at least thank you, you beauty," she said, and kissed his soft +black muzzle. + +De Lacy smiled. "Never before have I wished I were a horse," he said. + +A bit of color flashed into her cheeks and she busied herself in +twisting into place a roll of ruddy hair that had been shaken from its +fastenings. It took an unusual time, it seemed, and just as she +finished Sir James Dacre rode up. + +"I claim a share in the rescue," he said gayly, and gave the Countess +her hat, that had been lost when she changed horses. Then silently he +held out his hand to De Lacy; and afterward he petted the black and +whispered in his ear. And Selim answered by a playful nip, then rubbed +his nose against his master's palm. + +At that moment Lord Darby dashed up, his horse blown, its sides bloody +with rowelling and flecked with foam. + +"Thank God, Countess," he exclaimed, "you are not injured." + +"Not so much as scratched, thanks to Sir Aymer de Lacy." + +"Aye, Sir Aymer, it was cleverly done," said Darby; "a neater rescue +methinks I never saw." + +De Lacy bowed. "Whatever credit there may be, belongs solely to +Selim," he said. "But for his speed and intelligence I had never +reached the Countess." Then he led the black forward. "And he asks +the honor of carrying her back to Pontefract." + +"Not so," Darby interrupted; "that is my privilege," and he swung his +own horse around. + +The Countess was struggling with her hat. + +"But Wilda," she protested. + +"Is at the castle now, if she made the hill in safety," said Dacre, +watching the scene with the glint of a smile. + +The Countess still hesitated--and Darby stepped confidently forward and +dropped his hand to put her up. + +"Come, my lady," he said. + +De Lacy made no move, nor spoke, but his eyes never left the Countess's +face. And she, if she felt any irritation at the awkward situation so +foolishly forced by Darby, concealed it completely and punished him +with a smiling face. + +"You may put me on Selim, Lord Darby," she said. "He has carried me +part way home, and since he wishes it he shall carry me all the way." + +Darby's dark face flushed and for a moment he drew back his hand in +refusal--then quickly offered it again. But the delay lost him the +favor; for De Lacy, seeing the opportunity, instantly presented his own +palm, and the Countess accepted it, and he swung her to his saddle. + +Then she looked at Darby. "If you are very good," she said, with a +little laugh, "you may put me down at the castle." + +And Darby laughed, too. "But you must give me time," he replied. "I +am not so nimble as Selim's master." + +And so they made their way back to Pontefract, De Lacy walking beside +the Countess, and Lord Darby and Sir James Dacre following on horseback +just behind. Wilda had evidently got down the hill unhurt; in the soft +earth at its foot the deep marks of her running hoofs were very +evident; and a little way from the castle they came upon her, calmly +browsing beside the track. She had lost her bridle and her fright was +quite gone--for she answered to the Countess's call, and permitted De +Lacy to put a strap around her neck and make her captive. + +As they crossed the drawbridge the Duke of Gloucester was standing near +the gate tower and he called Lord Darby to him--and Dacre offering to +take Wilda to the stables, Sir Aymer and the Countess were left to go +on alone to the keep. As they drew up at the entrance, and the +Countess shifted position in the saddle, she dropped her kerchief; De +Lacy secured it and put it in his doublet, then reached up to lift her +down. + +She shook her head. + +"The kerchief first," she said, with calm finality. + +There was no mistaking the tone, and without a word he gave it to her. +She slowly tucked it in her bodice, looking the while toward the gate. + +"I thought Lord Darby was to put me down," she said, and giving De Lacy +a dazzling smile--"but if you care to act as his substitute, I suppose +you may. . . Good-bye, Selim." She gathered up her skirt and moved +toward the steps. On the bottom one she turned. "Do you not think, +Sir Aymer, it is about time for you to be presented?" she asked--then +ran quickly up the stairs and through the doorway. + + + + +V + +THE CAPTURED FAVOR + +St. George's day was dropping into night. Since early morning the +castle had been busy in the various ceremonies with which mediaeval +England observed the feast of her patron Saint; the garrison had been +paraded and inspected; the archers had shot for a gold bugle, and the +men-at-arms had striven for a great two-handed sword; there had been +races on foot and on horseback, and feats of strength and wrestling +bouts; and the Duke himself had presided at the sports and distributed +the prizes. + +It was almost sundown when the last contest was over and the great +crowd of spectators that had congregated within the outer bailey began +to disperse. Richard had dismissed his attendants, with the exception +of Ratcliffe, and leaning on the latter's arm he sauntered slowly +across the stone-paved courtyard toward the keep. + +"Methinks," said De Wilton, as he and De Lacy followed at some +distance, "that the order we have so long expected must come to-morrow. +And I, for one, shall be well content; it is many a long day since I +saw London." + +"Why so certain of to-morrow?" De Lacy asked. + +"Because if His Grace intend to be present at the coronation, he may +dally here no longer. . . Say you not so, Dacre?" as the latter joined +them. + +"Verily, yes," said Dacre, "and I have already directed my squire to +prepare for the journey. Marry! it will be a joyous time in London." + +"It is long since there was a peaceful crowning in fair England," +observed De Lacy, "and I shall be glad indeed to see the pomp." + +"It may not equal the splendors you have seen in France," remarked +Dacre, "but there will be a goodly show nevertheless; something rather +brighter than Yorkshire hills or Scottish heather." + +"I have no quarrel with the heather," replied De Wilton, "but the hills +are . . . well, not--so soft as the cheeks and eyes of the dames of the +Court." + +"In sooth," said De Lacy, "I am with you in that. To me a pretty face +was ever more attractive than a granite crag." + +"Both are handy in their places," said Dacre with a shrug. "Yet, +Pasque Dieu! of the two it were not hard to choose the trustier." + +"Go to!" exclaimed De Wilton; "it was not a gallant speech. You will +have to mend your mind in London." + +"Nay, Sir Ralph, my words, perhaps, but scarce my mind." + +"It is the same thing there," De Wilton laughed. + +At that moment the Master of Horse suddenly left the Duke and turned +toward the stables. + +"Busk yourselves for the road, fair sirs," he called, as he passed. +"We march after matins to-morrow." + +The news spread like the wind through the castle, but it occasioned +neither confusion nor even bustle. The personal following of Richard +of Gloucester were selected from veteran soldiers who were ever ready. +They had but to don harness and mount horse when the route was sounded; +and they could have ridden across the drawbridge at sundown, just as +readily as the next morning. + +In the antechamber that evening there was much discussion by the +younger Knights as to the Duke's probable course; would he head the +Nobility; would he aim for the Protectorship; would he remain quiescent +and let the Woodvilles control? Those older in his service, however, +were content to bide patiently the future, for long since had they +learned the folly of trying to forecast the purposes of their silent +leader. + +And Sir Ralph de Wilton and Sir Henry de Vivonne were hot in the +argument when Sir James Dacre arose and clapped De Lacy on the shoulder. + +"Come along," he said. "These two gentlemen are vastly entertaining, +doubtless, but I am for the presence chamber to make my adieux." + +The Lady Mary Percy was reading aloud Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" when +they were announced, but she quickly laid aside the heavy tome, and the +Duchess paused in her embroidery and greeted them with a smile. + +"I have seen nothing of you since you saved the Countess," she said, +giving each a hand to kiss, "and I owe you both a heavy payment." + +"And which, then, does Your Grace rate the higher: the Countess or her +hat?" Dacre asked. + +"I do not quite understand," said she. + +"Sir Aymer de Lacy saved the Countess, and I saved the hat," he +explained. + +"And what did Lord Darby save?" the Lady Mary asked pertly. + +Dacre smiled placidly. + +"Nothing--not even his temper; the Countess saved that for him," he +answered; and every one laughed--even the Duchess; though she shook her +head at him, the while, in mock reproof. + +"That forfeits your share of the reward," she said; then turned to De +Lacy. "Some time, Sir Aymer, I must have a gallop beside the wonderful +Selim." + +De Lacy bowed low. "Why not on him?" he asked. + +"Well, perhaps--when we all are together again." + +"In London--or at Windsor?" + +A faint shade of concern came into her eyes, and De Lacy's thoughts +instantly recurred to the scene in the Duke's chamber the day he +arrived. + +"At Windsor, let us hope; the roads are charming there," she said, and +then she resumed her embroidery. + +"Be seated, sirs," she commanded. + +"Come hither, Sir Aymer de Lacy," called the Lady Mary, who was sitting +beside the Countess of Clare. . . "It just occurred to me to-day that +I heard of you a year or so ago from a friend in France." + +"It seems to me," said De Lacy, taking the low stool at her feet, "that +I have a sure quarrel with your memory, either because it is laggard or +because it is not." + +"And which do you think it is?" she asked. + +"I might guess the better if I knew your friend's name." + +"Marie." + +"Half the women of France are Maries." + +"You were then at Blois." + +"At the Court, you mean?" + +She nodded. "And but lately returned from an expedition into Navarre." + +De Lacy shook his head. "I cannot guess." + +She gave him a knowing smile. "Who of the Princess Margaret's maids, +think you, it might have been?" + +"It might have been any one of three," he said, "but I will guess +Mademoiselle d'Artois." + +"At last! At last! . . . How rapidly your mind works under pressure. +I wonder, sir, if you will remember us so promptly a year hence." + +"Suppose we wait and see," De Lacy answered, and tried to catch the +Countess' eye, but failed. Indeed, save for a quick smile of greeting +when he joined them, she had given him not a single glance, but had +kept her head bent over her needle. + +Lady Mary drew down her pretty mouth. "If you can forget Marie +d'Artois so soon, what chance have we?" she asked. + +"But I have not forgotten her; we were quite too good friends for that." + +"And she was quite too fascinating," the Lady Mary laughed. + +"Aye, and quite too beautiful." + +"Goodness, Beatrix, listen to the man," she exclaimed. "He has the bad +taste to praise one woman, to another." + +The Countess looked up. "Sir Aymer was lauding Mademoiselle d'Artois +to me, last night," she said. + +"Can it be, Lady Mary," De Lacy asked, "you do not know that two months +since, Marie d'Artois was wedded to the Duc de Boiselle?" + +For a moment Lady Mary was taken aback; then she laughed gayly and +arose. + +"I will leave you to discuss the other two Maries," she said, and moved +away. . . "Perhaps they, too, are married," she added, over her +shoulder. + +De Lacy looked after her contemplatively. + +"I wonder," said he, "why the Lady Mary Percy resents my preferring you +to her." + +"Do you?" the Countess asked--then held up her hand. "Stop, sir, you +may not answer--I did but jest." + +"And may I not answer . . . in jest?" leaning toward her. + +She shook her head. "No, sir, you may not; and if you attempt it, I +shall leave you instantly." + +"Pardieu!" said he; "you are the most alluringly tantalizing woman I +have ever known. The evening of the ride you would scarce look at me, +but talked with Lord Darby all the time." + +"He was making his farewells; he left the following morning." + +De Lacy laughed. "Two hours of farewells! Doubtless, you were +delegated to receive them for the Household." + +The Countess was busy with her needle. "He seemed to wish it so," she +said. + +"And the next evening, when I asked you to walk on the wall, you well +nigh froze me with the chill of your refusal." + +"And will do so again to--Sir Aymer de Lacy." + +"And the following morning, at the first asking, you rode with me for +leagues." + +She flashed a smile at him. "And may do the same again." + +"And yet that very evening, when by accident I touched your hand, you +turned your back upon me and ignored me for a day." + +"And will do the same again," she answered calmly. + +"And the next evening you talked with me for hours." + +"And am ready to do the same to-night. You, too, may take your +farewell of the entire suite through me--unless, of course, you have +tired of my foolish vagaries." + +"Methinks I am quite satisfied to be classed with Lord Darby in the +matter of farewells; and as for the vagaries, they may be tantalizing +but, believe me, they are far more winning." + +She held up a cautioning finger. + +"I prefer your arraignment to your compliments," she said. "Methinks I +told you once before of my dislike for flattery." + +"That was to Sir Ralph de Wilton . . . the night you walked with him on +the wall." + +"True, so it was," she laughed; "but you were there and heard it." + +He casually picked up a skein of silk that had slipped to the floor, +but finding her eyes upon him gave it to her straightway. + +"Why not walk now on the ramparts with Sir Ralph?" he asked very low +and earnestly. + +For an instant she seemed to hesitate; then she looked at him and shook +her head. + +"I may not," she said. "I have promised the evening to Sir Aymer de +Lacy . . . for two hours of farewells." + +But the two hours were very brief, indeed; for almost immediately De +Vivonne and De Wilton arrived, and shortly thereafter came Sir Richard +Ratcliffe and Sir Robert Brackenbury, and the talk became general. And +presently Richard himself entered; and when he withdrew the Duchess +went with him and the gathering broke up; and De Lacy got no more than +a casual word of farewell from the Countess. + +In the morning all was activity. The bailey resounded with the stamp +of hoofs, the neighing of horses, and the rattle of armor, as the three +hundred and more men-at-arms assembled before the keep, awaiting the +order to fall in. The under officers stood apart conversing, but +glancing, ever and anon, toward the main stairway in anticipation of +the coming of the Duke or one of his suite. Presently the dark face of +Ratcliffe appeared at the door; and after a quick glance about he waved +his hand. Instantly the blare of the trumpet lifted every man into +saddle; and in another moment, that which seemed but a confused mass +had disentangled itself and swung into a square of glittering steel, +over which the morning sunbeams rippled in waves of silver as the +horses moved in restlessness. + +De Lacy was standing before the entrance, watching the soldiery, when a +page hurriedly summoned him to the Duke. + +He found Gloucester in the lower hall, booted and spurred for the road, +and pacing slowly back and forth, his head upon his breast. He was +dressed entirely in black, and his heavy cloak, lined with fur, lay on +a near-by bancal. He carried his gauntlets in his right hand, and +every step or two would strike them sharply against the top of his high +boot. Catesby, Brackenbury and Ratcliffe were gathered a bit apart, +talking in low tones. They glanced up when De Lacy appeared, and as he +halted just within the doorway, waiting for the Duke to address him, +Brackenbury spoke: + +"My lord, Sir Aymer de Lacy is here." + +Richard wheeled abruptly. "Come hither," he said, and led the way +toward the window. "Do you know the country or people in the region of +Kirkstall Abbey?" + +"No, my lord," said De Lacy. "I have never been north of Pontefract." + +"Then you are the one for the purpose. A dozen men-at-arms have been +detailed for you; take them and proceed direct to Craigston Castle and +deliver to Sir John de Bury this letter. I ride to York to-day and +South to-morrow. If you hasten, you can rejoin me at Nottingham. Do +you understand?" + +"Perfectly, my lord." + +"Then away. Come, gentlemen!" and the Duke walked briskly to the +stairway. + +As he came within view of those in the courtyard, there arose a mighty +shout that echoed from the walls and keep. Gloucester's calm face +relaxed in a slight smile and he waved his hand in response. Then +scarce touching his foot to the stirrup which Catesby held he leaped +into saddle. The trumpet rang out, and the horsemen, breaking from +square into column, filed out of the courtyard and across the outer +bailey. + +Gloucester had tarried, meanwhile, to speak a final word to Sir Robert +Wallingford; and when he had finished, the last clatter of hoofs on the +drawbridge had ceased. As the Constable stepped back with a farewell +salute, Richard's quick eye discerned the face of the Duchess at an +upper window. Swinging his charger in a demi-volte, he doffed bonnet +and flung her a kiss with his finger tips. + +"_Au revoir, amante_," he called. + +She smiled sweetly upon him and answered his kiss; then stood watching +him as he rode rapidly away, followed by his attendant Knights, until +the dark arch of the distant gateway hid him from her sight. + +A few moments later Sir Aymer de Lacy came riding across the courtyard +with his escort. He had changed his suit of velvet for one of steel; +for being ignorant both of the country into which he was about to +travel and of what manner of adventure might lie before him, he had +deemed it well to have something more than silken doublet between his +heart and a cloth-yard shaft. His visor was raised, and as he passed +the keep, he looked up at every window. All were deserted, however, +and he was about to turn away when, suddenly, a casement swung open and +the Countess of Clare appeared in the stone-framed opening. + +"_Au revoir_," she cried, and waved her kerchief. + +Then by some mischance the bit of lace slipped from her fingers and +floated slowly downward. She made a quick grasp for it, but it had +sunk beyond her reach. A puff of wind spread it wide and carried it +out toward De Lacy. He watched it as it dropped, bringing Selim almost +to a stand to keep beneath it, and at length it rested upon his +extended hand. + +"I claim my favor, fair Countess," he called, and wound it round the +crest of his helmet--then loosened rein and dashed away. + + + + +VI + +A WAYSIDE SKIRMISH + +For a space Sir Aymer rode alone at the head of the column without even +casting a glance behind or addressing a word to his squire. Presently +the road forked and turning half around in his saddle, he inquired: +"Which leads to Kirkstall Abbey?" + +"The straightaway one, my lord; the other would carry you back to +Wakefield," said the elderly under-officer, whose hair, where it had +strayed from under his casquetel, was silvered, and across whose +weather-beaten face, from chin to temple, ran a bright red scar. + +"The battlefield?" + +"The same, sir." + +"Ride beside me," said De Lacy. "Did you fight at Wakefield?" + +"I did, fair sir--it was a bloody field." + +"The Duke of York died that day." + +"Aye, sir--I stood not ten feet from him when he fell. He was a brave +knight, and our own Gloucester much resembles him in countenance." + +"You have seen many battles, my man?" + +"Since the first St. Albans I have missed scarce one. It is a trade +that came into the family with my grandsire's sire." + +"And do your children follow it, as well?" + +"Not so, my lord. Raynor Royk has none to succeed him. And by your +leave it is small matter. In a few years there will be but scant work +for my calling in this land. England has seen her last warrior +King--unless------" + +"Unless what?" said De Lacy. + +The old retainer glanced shrewdly at his young leader; then answered +with apparent carelessness. + +"Unless Richard of Gloucester should wear the crown." + +De Lacy looked at him sharply. + +"Small likelihood of that, my man," said he. "Edward left a goodly +family." + +"In truth yes, my lord," was the answer. "Yet there would be more joy +among the soldiers in the North if Gloucester were our King." + +Doubtless the speech merited rebuke,--it was over near to treason,--but +the man was honest in his devotion to the Duke, and likely meant no +particular disrespect to the young Edward. So De Lacy let it pass, but +straightway changed the subject. + +"Do you know Craigston Castle?" he asked. + +"Most thoroughly." + +"Where is it?" + +"On the North bank of the Wharfe, a short three leagues beyond +Kirkstall Abbey." + +"And the Abbey?" + +"Five leagues or more from Pontefract." + +"A proper distance--we can taste the good monks' hospitality and still +make Craigston before night. Is this the Aire I see shining ahead?" + +"The same; the ford is easy." + +De Lacy nodded; and the veteran taking that as his dismissal drew back +and resumed his place in the column. + +The nones bell had already sounded some little time when they drew rein +before the lodge of the great Cistercian Abbey. The gates were closed, +but the wicket was open and at it was the rotund face of the brother +who served as porter. + +"Be so kind, worthy monk, as to say to your superior that a Knight and +his attendants crave refreshment ere they travel further," said De Lacy. + +"Enter, fair lord," returned the porter, swinging back the gates. "Bid +your men repair to the buttery yonder, while I conduct your worship to +the holy father." + +They found the Abbot pacing the gravel path between the cloister and +the church, with his chancellor at his side. His cowl was thrown back +and the white gown of his Order, which hung full to his feet, was +fastened close to the throat. His face was pale, and the well-cut +features and the small hands betokened his gentle birth. He was, +possibly, about fifty years of age, but his step and bearing were as +easy as De Lacy's own. + +"_Benedicite_, my son," said he, as the Knight bent head to the +uplifted hand, "you are welcome, and just in time to join us at the +noonday meal." + +"It was to ask refreshment for myself and my men that I halted, and +your reverence has in kindness anticipated me," said De Lacy. + +The Abbot turned to the porter: "Brother James," he said, "see that all +are provided for and that the horses have a full allowance of +grain.--And now, there sounds the horn for us. Sir------" + +"Aymer de Lacy," filled in the Knight. + +"A goodly name, my son; and one dear to Yorkshire hereabouts, although, +now, near forgotten. Have you seen Pontefract?" + +"I quit it but this morning." + +"In sooth!" said the Abbot, with sudden interest. "And is His Grace of +Gloucester still in presence there?" + +"He left shortly before I did." + +"For London?" + +"Nay, methinks I heard he rode to York," replied De Lacy, who had +learned enough on the Continent of the ways of churchmen not to tell +them all he knew. + +"To York!" said the Abbot in some surprise. "How many men did he take +with him?" + +"I was not present when the Duke departed and I did not see his +following," returned Aymer. + +The Abbot's keen eyes tried to read behind the answer, but evidently +without success, for his next remark was: "I do not recall your face, +Sir Aymer, among the many Knights who have traversed these parts." + +"Your memory is entirely trustworthy," said De Lacy. "I came from +France but lately, and have never seen this section until to-day." + +"Fare you not to the coronation?" + +"In truth, yes, your reverence; Deo volente." + +"Then must you soon turn bridle; London lies to the South, my son," +said the Abbot, with a smile. + +De Lacy laughed. "Never fear--I shall be there--Deo volente." + +"You have learned the Christian virtue of humility, at all events," +said the priest, as they entered the hall, where the monks were already +seated around the long tables, awaiting the coming of the Abbot. Upon +his appearance they all arose and remained standing while the +Chancellor droned a Latin blessing. Then he took his carved chair at +the smaller table on the dais, with the Knight beside him, and the +repast began. During the meal, the Abbot made no effort to obtain his +guest's destination or mission, but discussed matters of general +import. He, himself, contrary to the usual habits of the monks of his +day, ate but little, and when De Lacy had finished he withdrew with him. + +"You are anxious to be on your way," he said, "and I will not detain +you. These roads are scarce pleasant after night-fall." + +In the courtyard the men-at-arms were drawn up awaiting the order to +mount. + +"Verily, you ride well attended, my son. The roads need not bother +you," said the Abbot, as he ran his eyes over the array. . . "Methinks +I have seen your face before," looking hard at Raynor Royk. + +"Like as not, your reverence," said the old retainer calmly; "I am no +stranger in Yorkshire." + +At that moment Dauvrey led the Knight's horse forward, and Aymer turned +to the monk before he could address another question to Raynor. + +"I am much beholden, my lord Abbot, for your kindly entertainment and I +hope some day I may requite it. Farewell." + +"Farewell, my son," returned the monk. "May the peace of the Holy +Benedict rest upon you." + +He watched them until the last horseman had clattered through the +gateway, then turned away. + +"My mitre on it, they are Gloucester's men," he muttered. + +When they had quit the Abbey, De Lacy again summoned Raynor Royk and +questioned him regarding the Abbot of Kirkstall. The old soldier, like +the majority of his fellows who made fighting a business, had a +contemptuous indifference to the clerical class. A blessing or a curse +was alike of little consequence to men who feared neither God, man, nor +Devil, and who would as readily strip a sleek priest as a good, fat +merchant. Raynor's words were blunt and to the point. He knew nothing +of the Abbot except through the gossip of the camp and guard-room, and +that made him a cadet of a noble family of the South of England, who +for some unknown reason had, in early manhood, suddenly laid aside his +sword and shield and assumed Holy Orders. He had been the Abbot of +Kirkstall for many years, and it was understood had great power and +influence in the Church; though he, himself, rarely went beyond the +limits of his own domain. He was, however, regarded as an intriguing, +political priest, of Lancastrian inclination, but shrewd enough to trim +successfully to whatever faction might be in power. + +Two of the remaining leagues had been covered, and they were within a +mile or so of the Wharfe when, rounding a sharp turn, they came upon a +scene that brought every man's sword from its sheath. The narrow road, +at this point, was through a dense forest of oaks and beeches that +crowded to the very edge of the track and formed an arch over it. The +trees grew close together, and the branches were so interlocked that +the sunlight penetrated with difficulty; and though the day was still +far from spent, yet, here, the shadows had already begun to lengthen +into an early twilight. Some two hundred yards down this road was a +group of figures that swayed, now this way, now that, in the broil of +conflict, while from it came the clash of steel. In the road was the +dead body of a horse, and, upon either side of it, lay two men who +would never draw weapon again. The one had been split almost to the +nose by a single downright blow, and the other had been pierced through +the throat by a thrust of the point. + +At a little distance, with his back against a tree and defending +himself vigorously from the assault of half a dozen men, stood a tall +and elderly Knight. He was not in armor, except for a light corselet +of steel, and already he had been more than once slightly wounded. His +bonnet had been lost in the melee, and his grey hair was smudged with +blood along the temple. Two more men were dead at his feet, and for +the moment the others hesitated to press in and end the fight. That +huge sword could make short work of at least another pair of them +before the hands that held it would relax, and the uncertainty as to +which would be the victims stayed their rush. Suddenly the Knight +leaped forward, cut down the one nearest him, and was back to the tree +before the others had recovered from their surprise. Then with a roar +of anger they flung themselves upon him, and the struggle began anew. +In their rage and impetuosity, however, they fought without method, and +the Knight was able for a short interval, by skilful play, to sweep +aside their points and to parry their blows. But it forced him to +fight wholly on the defensive, and his age and wounds left no doubt as +to the ultimate result. His arm grew tired, and the grip on his sword +hilt weakened. . . His enemies pressed him closer and closer. . . A +blow got past his guard and pierced his thigh. He had strength for +only one more stroke; and he gathered it for a final rush and balanced +himself for the opportunity. So fierce was the conflict that no one +noticed the approach of De Lacy until, with a shout of "_Au secours_!" +he rode down upon them. He had out-stripped all his escort, except his +squire, and even he was several lengths behind. Taken by surprise, the +assailants hesitated a moment, and so lost their only opportunity for +escape. With a sweep of his long sword he shore a head clean from its +shoulders, another man went down before his horse's rush; and then, +swinging in a demi-volte, he split a third through collar-bone and deep +into the breast. Meanwhile, the old Knight had slain one and Giles +Dauvrey had stopped the flight of another. But one escaped, and he, in +the confusion, had darted into the forest and was quickly lost amid its +shadows. + +"By St. Luke, sir!" said the old Knight, as he leaned heavily on his +sword, "your coming was most opportune. My strength was almost spent." + +"It was a gallant fight," said Aymer. "I feared every instant they +would close ere I could reach you. . . But you are wounded!" + +"Nay, they are only scratches and will heal shortly--yet the leg grows +heavy and I would best rest it," and he seated himself on the turf at +the foot of the tree. "This comes of riding in silk instead of +steel--certes, I am old enough to know better." + +De Lacy dismounted and aided him to examine his wounds. The only one +of any consequence was in the leg; it had been made by a sword thrust; +and the point having penetrated only the fleshy part of the thigh, no +material damage was inflicted. + +"Were you alone when assaulted?" asked De Lacy, the while he was +binding a scarf around the injury. + +"Yes--and another piece of childishness. I had despatched my squire on +a sudden errand, a short ways back, and had no notion of danger, when +these rogues suddenly set upon me. I made short work of two of them +and would have got through, without difficulty, but for the death of my +horse. They stabbed him, as you see. Then I got my back against the +tree and managed to keep them off for a period. The rest you know. +And to whom am I so heavily indebted?" + +"My name is Aymer de Lacy." + +"By St. Luke! John de Bury is glad that it is to a De Lacy he owes his +life." + +"Are you Sir John de Bury of Craigston Castle?" + +"The same--although, but for you I would be of the Kingdom of Spirits +instead." + +"It would appear that my coming was very timely for us both," said De +Lacy, "for my mission in these parts is with you." + +"With me?" Sir John de Bury exclaimed, struggling to his feet. "Then, +if you will let me have a horse, I will ride beside you to the +castle--it is less than half a league distant." + +"One moment, Sir John," said Aymer. "Did you recognize any of your +assailants?" + +"Not one, by St. Luke," said De Bury. "Some rascally robbers, I fancy; +there are enough of them in these parts." + +De Lacy motioned to Raynor. + +"Do you know this carrion?" he asked. + +The veteran dismounted and examined the bodies; turning with his foot +those that had fallen face downward. + +"They are strangers to me, my lord," he said. "I never saw hair of +them before. But, perchance, this fellow can give you some +information," and suddenly stooping, he seized one of the seeming dead +men by the neck and jerked him to his feet. "Answer the Knight, +rogue," he said. "Raynor Royk has seen too many dead bodies to be +fooled by one that has not a scratch upon it." + +"By St, Denis!" said Do Lacy, "he is the one my good horse knocked +over. I clean forgot him. How now, fellow," he continued sternly, +"what mean you by assaulting a Knight upon the King's highway; and who +set you up to such work?" + +The man, who had been simulating death, hoping so to escape, regarded +De Lacy with a frown and in sullen silence. + +"Speak," said Raynor, giving him a shake that made his teeth rattle. + +For answer he suddenly plucked a small dagger from a concealed sheath +and, twisting around, struck full and hard at the old soldier's face, +which was unprotected by the steel cap. Raynor sprang back and avoided +the blow, but in so doing he released his hold, and the rogue dashed +instantly for cover. No one was in his way and his escape seemed +certain, for the heavily armed men of De Lacy would have no chance in a +foot race with one lightly clad. With two bounds he had reached the +line of trees and was almost secure when, like a flash, Giles Dauvrey +drew his heavy dagger and hurled it after him. The point struck full +in the centre of the neck and sank deep into flesh and bone. With a +gurgling cry he plunged forward and lay still--dead before his body +touched the turf. + +"By St. Peter! a neat throw, Sir Squire," said Raynor, as he jerked out +the weapon and handed it to Dauvrey. "I mind never to have seen a +better." + +"Toss the other carrion by the roadside," said De Lacy; "we tarry here +no longer." + + + + +VII + +A FAVOR LOST + +When De Lacy, armed for the road, sought his host the following morning +to say farewell, he found him in an easy chair near the fireplace in +the hall, with his wounded leg resting on a stool, and the answer to +Gloucester's letter in his hand. The old Knight made as though to +arise, but the younger quickly placed his hand upon his shoulder and +held him firm in his seat. + +"Not so, Sir John," he insisted. "Do you remain quiet; I know the way +to the courtyard." + +"It grieves me sore that you cannot stay with me longer," said De Bury, +allowing himself to be persuaded. "Yet I hope that we shall soon meet +again. Craigston Castle is ever ready to receive you." + +"And it shall have the chance, I assure you, when I am again in these +parts--though our next meeting is likely to be in London; His Grace +will scarce soon return to the North." + +"Mayhap," replied Sir John; "but for the present, my wound and my +duties keep me here. And, to speak truly, I am not unwilling; when you +have reached my age, Sir Aymer, you will care little for the empty +splendor of the Court--and that reminds me: you may meet there my +niece, the Countess of Clare, and if you do--verily, you have met her," +as De Lacy smiled, "and have been stricken like the rest. Beware, my +son, your corselet is no protection against the shafts of a woman's +eyes." + +"In truth, I know it," De Lacy laughed. "I have met the Countess +and . . . it is needless to say more. Yet it was at Pontefract and not +at Windsor that I saw her. She is with the Duchess of Gloucester." + +"In sooth! . . . And you are with the Duke of Gloucester," said De +Bury, with a shrewd smile. "It is either fortune most rare or fate +most drear. By St. Luke! I believe the debt has shifted and that you +should thank me for having had the opportunity to save her uncle's +life. Nay, I did but jest," he added hastily. "You have seen many a +face, doubtless, in sunny France fairer far than hers; yet is she very +dear to me and winning to my old eyes. Should you see her as you pass +Pontefract--if you return that way--say to her that I am here, and that +a short visit from her would be very welcome." + +"It may be that the Duchess has left the castle," replied Aymer, "but +your message shall reach the Countess." + +"Best deliver it in person," said Sir John, kindly. + +"Trust me for that," De Lacy answered--"and now farewell." + +"A most gallant youth," said De Bury, when Sir Aymer was gone, "and of +the right fighting stock; yet, if I mistake not, that sweet niece of +mine is likely to make trouble for him." + +The shorter route to London was by Sheffield, but De Lacy chose to go +by way of Pontefract. It would, of course, bring him upon the main +highway between York and London further North than by the Sheffield +road; yet he took the chance of the Duke being delayed an extra day at +York, in which event he would be able to await him at Doncaster, and +join him at that place instead of at Nottingham. + +It was still wanting something of noon when the low white walls of +Kirkstall glinted before them. De Lacy rode steadily on, however, +nodding pleasantly to the porter, who was standing in the gateway, but +declining his invitation to enter. It was better, he thought, that +Abbot Aldam should have no opportunity to question his men as to their +destination of yesterday. When they reached the banks of Aire, he +ordered a short halt; then swinging again into saddle, they splashed +through the clear waters and breasting the opposite bank resumed the +march at a rapid walk. Presently a body of horsemen hove in sight and, +as they approached, De Lacy eyed them carefully. They were less than a +dozen in number, and though they displayed no banner, yet the sun +gleamed from steel head-pieces and chamfrons. The man in front, +however, was plainly not in armor and his horse was strangely small. +Then, as the distance was reduced, the horse became an ass and the +rider the Abbot of Kirkstall. + +"You travel early, Lord Abbot," said Aymer, as they met and halted. + +"It is of our calling, my son. Religion knows no night. But you also +must have risen early--on your way to the Coronation--Deo volente?" +with a quizzical smile. + +"As fast as horse will carry me." + +"Perchance you may overtake the Duke of Gloucester; he left York +to-day, I believe." + +"He has rather a long start, methinks, for a stern chase," replied +Aymer. + +"Six hundred men move not so quickly as twelve, my son," said the monk. +"Indeed, you might come up with him at Nottingham," he added carelessly. + +"Peradventure, yes--Deo volente," wondering how much the Abbot knew of +the matter and how much was shrewd conjecture. "But will not your +reverence attend the Coronation? There is sure to be a brave array of +churchmen there." + +"No doubt," returned the Abbot; "but I care little for such gay scenes +or for the intrigues of the Court. A country priest has no training +for such traps. However, I trust we shall soon meet again; and, +meanwhile, Kirkstall's gates are always open to you. _Pax vobiscum_." + +"Hypocritical liar," muttered De Lacy, when the two troops had passed. +"I would think twice ere I trusted myself in your power if I chanced to +be an obstacle to your schemes. Giles, what think you of yon Abbot?" + +"He is much of his kind and I like not the breed," replied Dauvrey. +"Methinks he resembles rather his brethren of Italy than those I have +seen in this land of mist and fog. He has been meddling with us, I +warrant." + +The Knight laughed. + +"He has shown a most Christian solicitude for us, at all events," he +said. + +When De Lacy drew rein before the barbican of Pontefract, there was no +need to wind horn to gain entrance, for the drawbridge was down and +Lord Darby, with a score of attendants, was just departing. + +"Now what in Satan's name brought him back?" Aymer muttered--though he +knew the answer well enough. Then he raised his hand in salute. "I +give you greeting, my lord," he said. + +And Darby was even less pleased, for he was going and De Lacy was +coming; but he, too, masked his face, and gave the welcome back in kind. + +"Methought you would be with the Duke," he observed, drawing aside to +let his men pass. + +"And methought you were by now in London," De Lacy returned. + +Darby smiled at the evasion. "Are you not for the Coronation?" he +asked bluntly. + +De Lacy nodded. "Indeed, yes--unless I am untowardly prevented." + +"If you fare further to-day," said Darby, "I will wait and we can ride +together to Doncaster--a short delay will be well repaid by your +company." + +It was but a play to know if De Lacy intended to stay the night at +Pontefract, and it got its answer instantly. + +"Your Lordship tempts me sorely," said Sir Aymer, "but I am obliged to +remain here until the morrow." Then he smiled blandly at him; "it is +unfortunate you have already started," he added. + +Darby's black eyes brightened. + +"Yes," said he, "it is." + +He glanced quickly toward his escort, which was now at the foot of the +hill, and laid his hand upon his bugle, as though to sound the +recall--then he gave a mocking laugh. + +"The luck is yours, this toss," he said; and with a wave of his hand, +that might have been as much a menace as a farewell, he spurred away. + +There were no faces at the windows as De Lacy crossed the courtyard, +and he despatched a page to acquaint the Countess of Clare of his +arrival and of his desire for a short interview. Presently the boy +returned with the information that the Countess was with the Duchess, +and that she could not see him before evening. + +He sought the presence chamber at the usual hour, but it was deserted; +and after waiting a short while he was on the point of leaving when the +arras suddenly parted and the Countess entered. + +"I am glad to see you," she said, giving him her hand, "even though you +are a laggard and a thief." + +"Why laggard?" De Lacy asked. + +"Because you should be with the Duke and not here." + +"Granted," said he. "Did you call Lord Darby laggard, too?" + +"You will have to ask him; I do not now remember." + +"I passed him at the gate, and from his temper I might guess you called +him even worse." + +"At least I know I did not dub him thief." Then she held out her hand. +"The kerchief," she said peremptorily. + +De Lacy slowly drew forth the bit of lace. + +"Rather would I lose a quartering," he said very gently, "yet, in +honor, I may not keep it against your will." + +"And honor," said she seriously, as she took the kerchief, "is dearer +far than all our quarterings. . . What brings you back to Pontefract?" + +"You," said De Lacy, smilingly. + +"Of course! but what else?--be serious." + +"I am serious. But for you I would be riding fast and hard after the +Duke. I stopped at Pontefract for two purposes; of which, one was to +deliver to you a message from that gallant Knight, Sir John de Bury." + +"My uncle!" she exclaimed. "He is in Scotland." + +De Lacy shook his head. "He is now at Craigston Castle, whence I have +just come, and bring you his loving greetings." + +"The dear old man! How is he?" + +"As strong as an oak, save for a slight wound." + +"Wounded! How--where?" she demanded, with sharp concern. + +"Only a sword thrust in the thigh, got in a skirmish with some brigands +about this hour yesterday," said De Lacy; and told her the story of the +fray in detail. + +At the end the Countess arose. + +"I must go now," she said. "The Duchess will need me; but first, tell +me the other purpose that halted you here." + +"The other," replied De Lacy slowly, "has been accomplished." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +"How so, if it were on my account you tarried?" + +Aymer smiled. + +"That I shall leave for you to guess," he said. + +To his amazement the Countess did not reprove him, but blushed and +looked away. + +He bent eagerly toward her. + +"My lady," he said, "in all the years I have worn spurs, I have yet to +ask gage of woman. To-morrow I fare where there may be fightings +enough, as you well know. Grant me, I pray, some token, and let my +first sword stroke in England be as your Knight." + +"Did you strike no blow yesterday?" she asked. + +"None of which a soldier may be proud--it was but a lot of _canaille_." + +For a moment the Countess looked him steadily in the eyes--then +answered in those tones of finality from which he knew there lay no +appeal. + +"Sir Aymer, you ask for that which no man has ever had from me. Many +times--and I say it without pride--has it been sought by Knights most +worthy; yet to them all have I ever given nay. Beatrix de Beaumont +bestows nor gage nor favor until she plight her troth." + +With a smile, whose sweetness De Lacy long remembered in after days, +she gave him her hand, and he bent low over it and touched it to his +lips. Then suddenly she whisked it from him and was gone behind the +arras. + + + + +VIII + +THE INN OF NORTHAMPTON + +When De Lacy--now in ordinary riding dress, his armor having been +relegated to the baggage beasts--reached the main highway the following +morning, he looked in vain for the dust of Gloucester's column or the +glimmer of sun on steel. The road was deserted. Not a traveler was in +sight, and there being no means of ascertaining if the Duke had passed, +he adopted the only safe course and took up the march for London. +Presently, upon cresting a hill, they met a pair of Black Friars +trudging slowly along towards York; but little information was obtained +from them, for they had not been on the road yesterday, having spent +the last week at a neighboring monastery, which they had quit only that +morning. It was rumored there, however, that the Duke of Gloucester +had passed southward the prior day with a great train of attendants. +This, at least, was some slight indication, and thanking them +courteously De Lacy jogged on; but it was not until they reached +Doncaster, about noon, that accurate knowledge of the Duke was obtained. + +Halting before the inn of the "Silver Sun," a ramshackle old house, +from over whose door, as proclaiming the character of the place, +projected a long pole with a bunch of furze on the end, De Lacy called, +"Ho, within!" + +The landlord, a big, blear-eyed rogue, much the worse for wear and ale, +came shambling out at the summons. His listlessness vanished quickly +enough, however, at sight of the Knight and his following; and bowing +to the ground he asked how he might serve them. + +"With food and drink, good fellow," said De Lacy; "and that right +quickly." + +"Your worship shall be accommodated immediately with what I have," said +the man with another bow that almost overbalanced him, "but if it is +meagre, blame the Duke of Gloucester and his men." + +"His Grace has passed?" asked Aymer. + +"God's truth! he has," said the fellow. "He precedes you by a day. +And, saving your lordship, if you travel to the Coronation, methinks +you will have but scant fare along the road. They eat things clean as +they go--but pay good silver for it." + +"How many has the Duke in his train?" + +"At least six hundred, I should say." + +"He has doubled his force since he left Pontefract," observed Aymer to +his squire, as the inn-keeper retired. "And there may be truth in what +the rogue says--we may find slender provision in the wake of such a +column." + +"If there be enough for the horses, we can soon overtake them," said +the squire; "for the men, it matters little: we all are soldiers." + +De Lacy nodded. "We will push on steadily, and though I know little of +this country, I fancy we will come up with the Duke by to-morrow night." + +"By your lordship's permission," said old Raynor Royk respectfully, who +had overheard the conversation, "we shall not see the White Boar banner +this side Leicester town, and we shall scarce reach there before the +evening of the second day from now." + +And the old veteran, as events proved, was correct in his calculation. + +When De Lacy entered Leicester, he hailed the first soldier he chanced +upon and was informed that Gloucester lodged at the "White Boar," near +the center of the town. It was a large and handsome stone house, with +the second floor of timber overhanging the street; and before it swung +the painted sign: a white boar and a thorn bush, indicating that the +place was named in honor of the Duke. And De Lacy smiled as he thought +how, to his own knowledge, at least half a dozen inns on the Continent +had been hastily compelled to rechristen themselves when, from some +cause or other, the particular individual whose name or arms they bore +fell suddenly into disgrace. That such might happen in this case, +however, never crossed his mind. + +Passing the guards, who knew him and saluted, he entered the house, but +was stopped at once by two strange squires, who informed him that the +Duke was at present engaged. But even as they spoke, the inner door +opened and Sir Richard Ratcliffe came out. + +"Welcome back, Sir Aymer," he exclaimed. "The Duke has inquired for +you. Why were you not announced?" + +"I was told he was engaged," said Aymer. + +"That was because they did not know you were of the Household. Come--" +and himself admitted him. + +The Duke was alone, seated before a rough table with his head upon his +hand, and he did not stir until De Lacy stood directly before him. +Then raising his eyes he fastened them intently upon the young Knight's +face, though without sternness. + +[Illustration: The Duke fastened his eyes upon the young knight's face.] + +"You stopped at Pontefract," he said. + +"I did, so please you," replied Aymer promptly. "I could gain but +little by going farther that evening." + +"And might gain much by staying," said Gloucester, sententiously. +"However, I am glad, since you can give me word of the Duchess. How +fares she?" + +"As when you left, my lord. She sent her loving wishes to you." + +Then drawing out De Bury's letter, he presented it without remark. + +Richard read it carefully, and inquired regarding the journey to +Craigston Castle. De Lacy narrated briefly the incident of the attack +upon Sir John, but detailed at length the conduct of the Abbot of +Kirkstall. The Duke, however, seemed more interested in the assault +than in the priest, and asked particularly concerning the assailants. +But on learning that neither De Bury nor the veteran Royk had +recognized any of them, he dropped the matter with the remark: + +"You have profited by your experience on the Continent. Not many would +have thought to investigate these seeming outlaws." + +De Lacy thanked the Duke for his words, and after being informed that +he was to lodge at the inn with the rest of the suite, and that the +march would be resumed an hour after daybreak, he withdrew, and having +dismissed the squire with the horses went in search of Dacre or De +Wilton. + +It was a brave array that passed out of Leicester that Tuesday morning +behind the royal Duke, and in soldiery fitness, man for man, its like +was not in England. But it was a peculiar march, withal. No flourish +of trumpets heralded the advance; no gaudy costumes clothed the +attending Knights. The bugles were hushed, save where necessary to +convey an order; the banners were bound in sable; upon every man was +the badge of mourning; Richard himself was clad in black, and the +trappings of his horse were raven-hued. Not since the great Henry died +at Vincennes, sixty and more years before, had England mourned for a +King; and as they passed along the highway and through the straggling +villages, the people wondered at the soberly garbed and quiet column, +forgetting, for the moment, that Edward the Fourth was sleeping in the +chapel of St. George at Windsor and that his successor was not yet +crowned. + +All morning Gloucester rode steadily onward, halting near noon at a +wayside hostelry for refreshment. The keeper, unnerved at the sudden +advent of such a guest, could only stand and stare at the Duke, +forgetting in his amazement even the accustomed bow with which he would +have greeted an ordinary wayfarer, until a sharp word from Catesby +brought him to his wits. + +When the meal was almost finished, a sudden commotion arose outside, +and the door was opened to admit one whose appearance showed every +evidence of a rapid ride. + +"Speak," said Richard. + +The messenger saluted. "So please you, my lord, His Majesty will reach +Northampton by four o'clock this afternoon." + +Gloucester nodded; then arose and drew on his gauntlets. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "we may not dally longer. Order up the horses, +Ratcliffe, and let the route be sounded; we must be at Northampton ere +the vespers chime." + +"There will be some shrewd tongue play, methinks, and perchance sharp +action this night," remarked De Wilton to De Lacy as, late in the +afternoon, the towers of Northampton lifted before them. "Rivers and +Grey are with young Edward--it will be Woodville against Plantagenet, +and England for the stakes." + +"A royal game, indeed," said De Lacy; "yet, surely, Edward's kingdom is +secure." + +"Pasque Dieu!" exclaimed De Wilton, "I can answer that better after he +is crowned. All that I think now is that the situation is very grave. +This meeting in yonder town is big with fate." + +"I fear I am too new to my native land to appreciate the present +situation," replied De Lacy; "yet I hope that war may be averted. +There has been bloodshed enough in this fair land since the Roses were +plucked." + +"By St. George! my heart is with yours," returned De Wilton instantly; +"yet, mark me, this night will make history for England. If not, then +I mistake the Duke of Gloucester. It is obvious now that, to him, this +meeting is no accident--it was timed for most adroitly. Why did he +tarry so long at Pontefract, unless because it were easier to prick the +Woodville bubble at Northampton than in London?" + +"You know the Prince far better than I," said De Lacy, "but perchance +you do not know that with Rivers ride two thousand men. If Gloucester +intended such a course, why did he not bring a larger following? He +was fully advised of the number of the King's escort." + +"Because it would have aroused instant suspicion and left him no +recourse but to force. He has some other plan, I warrant. Yet, should +it come to blows, Richard himself is equal to a thousand men." + +"Scarce so much as that, I fancy," said De Lacy, with a laugh. +"Nathless, sooner will I ride behind the Boar of Gloucester with six +hundred swords than under the Woodville banner with thrice the number." + +"Well said, by St. George!" De Wilton exclaimed. "No Lancastrian +upstart for me." + +"Be not so energetic, Sir Ralph," said De Lacy, as Ratcliffe, hearing +the words, looked back. "But tell me, I pray, who are these that +approach?" + +"Your eyes are keener than mine," returned De Wilton, "for I can scarce +discern them at all. Is there any banner displayed?" + +"Aye, but I cannot yet distinguish the device. . . . There are at +least fifty of them, and they are riding most marvellously fast. By +St. Denis! they cannot travel far at such a pace. When the sun next +falls athwart the banner, I will try to make it out. . . There . . . +Pardieu! it is a queer bearing: _argent, a la fasce-canton a desire de +gueules_. Do you know it, or have I not read it aright?" + +"Nay, your heraldry is not amiss," said De Wilton. "It is the red fess +and canton of the Woodvilles. Yonder comes Lord Anthony of Scales and +Rivers." + +"Then the struggle is on, I ween," remarked De Lacy. "Let us move +closer to the Duke. I would not miss this meeting." + +When the horsemen were a short distance away, they broke from a hand +gallop into a walk, and then all halted except the two who were in +front. Of these, one was a man nearing middle age, of most courtly +bearing and noble countenance; while his companion, who resembled him +somewhat, was considerably younger. Meanwhile, Gloucester had kept +steadily on; but when the others dismounted and advanced on foot, he +instantly drew rein, and as Ratcliffe threw himself from the saddle and +held the stirrup he stepped to the ground. + +"Welcome, noble Rivers and Grey!" he exclaimed. "How fares His +Majesty?" + +The two men bent over the Duke's hands, and the elder replied: "Fit as +a King, and most anxious to greet his great and noble uncle." + +"Not more than is his uncle to greet him," said Gloucester; and Rivers +read two meanings in the words. "Therefore, let us proceed; and do you +and Sir Richard ride beside me; I have questions by the score to ask." + +Presently, as they neared the gate of the town, Gloucester turned to +the Earl. + +"Where does the King lodge--at the castle?" he asked. + +"His Majesty," replied Rivers, with a quick glance at the Duke, "has a +boy's eagerness to reach London, and insisted upon pushing on as far as +Stoney Stratford--this afternoon. He had already left Northampton when +we learned of your approach. A moment more and we also would have been +gone, for it found us with foot in stirrup." + +There was a smile on the Duke's lips as he listened to this unexpected +news. + +"I do not wonder at Edward's haste," he answered lightly. "Who would +not be impatient when a crown is waiting for him?--though I regret that +it postpones our meeting till the morrow." + +"You will not follow the King to-night?" asked Rivers quickly. + +"No, I shall lie here if you and Sir Richard will bear me company. But +if you rejoin him, I must perforce go, too--for me now to remain here +alone would be discourteous." + +"Your Grace honors us overmuch; we shall stay and gladly," replied +Rivers readily. "Edward has the others of his Household, and can spare +us for one night." + +"Marry, yes!" said Richard. "Vaughan and Croft and Worcester's Bishop +can hold him tight enough, else has the Welsh air changed them greatly." + +At the large inn near the market-place the party halted, and +Gloucester, after a few words aside with Ratcliffe, summoned Catesby +and retired to his room. An hour later he descended and requested +Rivers and Grey to join him at the evening meal. + +Scarcely had it begun when down the street came the rattle of +bridle-rings and the click of many hoofs. Rivers glanced +apprehensively at the Duke, and then at Grey, and then back again at +the Duke, who was sipping his wine apparently quite oblivious of the +approaching noise. In another moment, at the outer door an imperious +voice demanded: + +"Is His Grace of Gloucester within?" + +At the tones, Rivers started and dropped his knife upon his plate; his +brows contracted slightly and a troubled look dawned in his eyes. + +"Ha, De Lacy, well met!" came the voice again. + +"By St. Denis! my lord, I am glad to see you," was the response. "It +is a pleasure I had not counted on this side of London. Have you seen +the Duke?" + +"I arrived but this moment. Will you take me to him?" + +"Assuredly--he is now at supper, but I shall venture to admit you." + +They crossed the outer room, the door opened, and De Lacy stepped +within and announced: + +"The Duke of Buckingham!" + +The man who entered was full six feet in height and slender, and bore +himself with the easy assurance of one accustomed to respect and +deference. His face was handsome in general outline and effect, though +the features were not accordant with one another. Beneath a mass of +ruddy hair, a broad, high forehead arched a pair of shifty grey eyes +and a large, full nose overhung a mouth of indifferent strength, while +the whole was gripped by a chin that was a fit complement to the +forehead. He paused for an instant, as his glance fell on Gloucester's +companions, and his surprise was very evident--then he doffed bonnet +and came forward. + +"By St. Paul!" exclaimed Richard, rising and extending his hand, "it is +so long since I have seen the Duke of Buckingham that it was well to +announce him formally." + +"It is only those with the fame of a Gloucester that require no +introduction," replied Stafford, with a graceful bow that included also +Rivers and Grey. + +"Come, come, Sir Duke!" said Richard, "this is too much of a family +gathering for the turning of compliments." + +"In truth, yes," returned Buckingham--"a half-brother and three uncles +of our King--but, pardieu! where is His Majesty? Methought you +traveled with him, fair brother-in-law." + +"Edward lies to-night at Stoney Stratford," replied Rivers. + +"Aye, it is unexpected all around, this meeting, it seems," said +Richard suavely. "And, by St. Paul! a happy chance indeed. Come, +Buckingham, the gross chare grow cold; take place and fall to. . . +Catesby, tell the cook to sauce another capon and unbrace a mallard." + +In all history there scarce had been a supper party such as this. +There, about that table in this humble hostelry, were gathered four +noblemen--three of them the most powerful in all England--who were +arrayed against each other as leaders of the two factions that were +playing for the highest stakes a mortal knows. Every one knew the +relative positions of the others (for Rivers naturally judged +Gloucester to be against the Woodvilles); that, within a few short +days, the final move must be made; and that all their gayety and +jocosity were hollow, and assumed but as a mask. At that very moment, +while they smiled and played at friendship, Rivers and Grey were +consumed with anxiety at this sudden appearance of Buckingham, their +arch-enemy, and were hating him and Richard with fierce intensity; +Buckingham was regarding them with all the fervid resentment the old +Nobility had for this upstart family; while Gloucester, with neither +hatred nor resentment in his mind, but with the cool, calm judgment +that ever rose above the pettiness of personal feeling, was viewing +them only as pawns that hampered his game of statecraft and therefore +must be swept from the board. + +It was near midnight when they quit the table and retired to their +rooms above. Richard dismissed Catesby, who as Chamberlain was waiting +for him, and drawing the rude chair to the many-paned window he opened +it, and sat looking out upon the street below. Comparative quiet had +settled over the town, broken now and then by a noise from the camp, or +the shouts of some roistering soldiers far down the road. Around the +inn there was only the tramp of the guards, the rattle of their arms, +or the low word of greeting as they met. Presently there came an easy +knock upon the door and Buckingham entered and shot the bolt behind +him. Gloucester had turned his head at the first sound, but said +nothing until the Duke was beside him. Then, pointing toward the +heavens, he remarked, as he closed the casement: + +"It will be a fair day to-morrow." + +"All days are fair for some purposes," said Buckingham quickly; "and +the sooner the day the fairer to my mind." + +Richard smiled. "Patience, my dear Stafford, patience. It will come +soon enough even for your eagerness, I fancy. Did I not say to-morrow +would be fair?" + +"You are pleased to speak in riddles." + +"Not so; you used the riddle and I but spoke in kind. However, trifles +aside. Your arrival was well timed; you should have seen Rivers' face +when he heard your voice; it was worth a Knight's good fee. For the +first time he began to see how he had blundered. By St. Paul! a child +could have done better. The game is easy now." + +Buckingham looked puzzled. + +"What do you mean, my lord?" he said. "I have been following blindly +your direction in this affair, and I must admit that the point is very +hazy to me." + +"Do you not see," said the Duke, "that by remaining here and sending +young Edward ahead at my approach, Rivers and Grey have overreached +themselves completely? In their desire to keep me from the King--for +plainly they did not know of your coming--they have separated +themselves from Edward and his two thousand men; and in so doing have +lost both Edward and themselves." + +"Yet the two thousand men are still with Edward, are they not?" +Buckingham insisted. "I have three hundred, but methinks even though +you ride with twice that number we would be utterly outmatched." + +"Nay, you do not perceive my plan," said Richard. "It will not be +necessary to fight. I could win now with but a hundred men. We +will------" + +At that moment a clear voice came up from the street. Richard listened +an instant and then opened the casement. + +"De Lacy," he called, "come hither. . . I want you," he said when the +young Knight entered, wrapped in his long cloak, "with all possible +secrecy, to secure all the doors of the inn and bring the keys to me. +At any that cannot be locked, post two of my personal retainers with +orders to permit no one to depart the place. That done, take fifty men +and station them along the road to where it joins the Roman highway +this side the Ouse. Bid them allow no one to travel southward ere +sunrise without express authority from me. Act instantly." + + + + +IX + +THE ARREST + +De Lacy found the landlord dozing beside the chimney in the kitchen. +The fire was still smouldering on the hearth, and the big black kettle +gave forth an odor of garlic and vegetables that made the air most +foul. On the floor, in promiscuous confusion, lay various members of +the establishment, of both sexes, who never even stirred at the +Knight's entrance, either because they were too deep in sleep to hear +him or too tired to care if they were trodden upon. Arousing the host, +Aymer demanded all the keys of the inn, in the name of the Duke of +Gloucester, and before the half-dazed fellow could respond he seized +the big bunch that hung at his girdle and snapped it free. Bidding him +mind his own business and go to sleep, he proceeded to execute his +orders; and then hastened to the house where, by accident, that evening +he had noticed Raynor Royk was quartered. + +Twenty minutes later he rode out of Northampton and crossed the Nene +with the fifty retainers behind him. To Dauvrey and Raynor Royk, he +repeated the Duke's order just as it had been given, deeming it well, +if he were incapacitated, that those next in command should know what +to do. Leaving five men on the south bank of the Nene, he dropped +bands of four at regular intervals along the road, with instructions to +patrol constantly the intervening distances on both sides of them. The +remaining five men he posted at the Roman highway, with orders not to +separate under any circumstances. + +Leaving Raynor in charge of this detail, De Lacy and his squire jogged +slowly back toward Northampton. Hanging in an almost cloudless sky, +the full moon was lighting up with its brilliant uncertainty the +country around. The intense calm of the early morning was upon the +earth, and there was no sound but the tramp of their horses, varied, at +intervals, by the approach of one of the patrols or the passing of a +sentry post. + +About midway to the Nene the squire's horse picked a stone. It stuck +persistently, and he swore at it under his breath as he tried to free +it. Presently it yielded, and he had raised his arm to hurl it far +away when a sharp word from De Lacy arrested him. They had chanced to +halt in the shadow of a bit of woodland which, at that point, fringed +the east side of the road. To the left, for some distance, the ground +was comparatively clear of timber, and crossing this open space, about +a hundred yards away, were two horsemen. They were riding at a rapid +trot, but over the soft turf they made no sound. + +"There," said De Lacy, waving his hand. + +The squire swung noiselessly into saddle. + +"Shall we stop them?" he asked. + +"Of course--be ready if they show fight." + +Suddenly Dauvrey's horse threw up his head and whinnied. At the first +quaver, De Lacy touched Selim and rode out into the moonlight toward +the strangers, who had stopped sharply. + +"Good evening, fair sirs," said he; "you ride late." + +"Not so; we are simply up betimes," replied one, "and therefore, with +your permission, since we are in some haste, we will wish you a very +good morning and proceed." + +"Nay, be not so precipitate. Whither away, I pray, at such strange +hours and over such strange courses?" + +"What business is it of yours," exclaimed he who had first spoken, +"whether we come from the clouds? Out of the way, or take the +consequences," and he flashed forth his sword. + +"You are hardly courteous," replied Aymer, "and therefore scarce angels +in disguise, even though you prate of the clouds. So if you wish to +measure blades I shall not balk you. Nathless," as he slowly freed his +own weapon, "it is a quarrel not of my making." + +"Will you let us pass then?" said the stranger. + +"I never said I would not; I but asked your destination." + +"And I refused to answer--stand aside." + +"Nay, nay! do not get excited," said De Lacy calmly. "Consider a +moment; you ask all and grant nothing. I wish to know whither you +ride--you wish to ride. It is only a fair exchange." + +"It is very evident that you are seeking a quarrel," the other +exclaimed; "and by the Holy Saints! you have found it. I shall ride +on, and if it be over your carcass, on your head be it." + +"I have seen a few dead bodies in my time, fair sir," replied Sir Aymer +with a laugh, "but never one that stood upon its head. It is a pity +then I may not see my own." + +The stranger made no reply, but settling himself well in saddle charged +in. De Lacy, without changing position further than to drop the reins +over the saddle bow, so as to leave both hands free to wield his sword, +awaited the rush. Saving a thin corselet of steel beneath his doublet, +he wore no armor; and as his antagonist was, outwardly at least, +entirely unprotected, a single stroke of the heavy weapons would likely +decide the matter. + +For a space, De Lacy contented himself with parrying the blows aimed at +him and with blocking the other's advance. Repeatedly he could have +ended the fight, but always he forebore. The man was no possible match +for him, and with soldierly generosity he hesitated either to kill or +to wound grievously one who showed so much pluck and grit even when the +struggle was plainly lost. He was waiting the opportunity to disarm +him. + +"Will you not yield?" he asked at last, as again he brushed aside the +other's weapon. + +The only answer was a swinging blow that just missed his forehead. + +De Lacy frowned, and his patience began to ebb. For the first time he +assumed the offensive. Pressing Selim close, he feinted quickly twice, +and catching the other off guard he brought his sword down on the +stranger's with a crash. There was a flash of sparks, a sharp ring of +metal on stones, and of the weapon naught was left but a silver hilt. + +"Yield," said Aymer sternly, presenting his point at the man's throat. +"It is your last chance." + +"I yield," said the other, hurling the bladeless hilt to the ground. +"And may the Devil get the rogue that forged this weapon! And now, +fair Knight,--for I see that your spurs are golden,--I will avow my +destination to be London, and I presume I am at liberty to proceed." + +"Nay, I shall have to ask you to bear me company back to Northampton," +said De Lacy kindly. + +"How so! Am I a prisoner?" + +"Only until daybreak." + +"It is most unusual--but, so be it." Then he turned to his companion. +"Farewell, James," he said, "my misfortune need not affect you. I will +join you in London." + +De Lacy shook his head. "He came with you, and with you he bides. +Giles, see to him." + +"Truly, this is a strange proceeding on the King's highway, and with +His Majesty but a few miles distant," the other exclaimed with +increasing heat. + +"Pardieu! how know you of the King's whereabouts?" said De Lacy, +scanning the man's face. "I believe you are from Northampton." + +A shrug of the shoulders was the only answer. + +At that moment the patrol rode up and was about to proceed when Sir +Aymer stopped him. + +"You know this man?" he demanded. + +The soldier came closer; and after a brief glance answered: "He is a +squire in the household of Lord Rivers, so please you; I have seen him +often." + +De Lacy smiled. "So that explains your knowledge of the King. I +regret, however, that Rivers' message will not reach Edward to-night. +Nathless, I would like to know how you passed the guards thus far." + +"This fellow's statement that I am of Lord Rivers' following does not +establish that I am from him now," replied the squire. "You, yourself, +saw that I struck the highway only at this spot, and that I did not +come from the direction of Northampton." + +"Yet that proves nothing to my mind, except that you thought to avoid +the patrol by a detour and have failed. Come, sir, we will face +Northward, if you please; enough time has been wasted in profitless +debate." + +The squire wheeled his horse to the right, as though to comply; then +suddenly driving home the spurs he cleared the road at a bound and +dashed back the way he had come. + +"After him!" shouted De Lacy; and leaving Dauvrey to guard the other +prisoner, he and the patrol sped in pursuit. The squire had acted so +quickly that he had obtained a lead of at least a hunted feet and Aymer +labored strenuously to overtake him. Being totally ignorant of the +country, he could rely only on sight to indicate the course; whereas +the other evidently was familiar with the by-paths, and once the first +was reached would likely, in the uncertain light, be able to elude him. +He swore at himself heartily for his carelessness, and with anger +growing hotter at every jump he drew his sword, resolved that there +would be no second escape if, when he got within reach, his order to +halt were not instantly obeyed. Yet, strive as he might, Selim could +not, in that short distance, come up with the big bay ahead; and as the +squire entered the heavier timber, he looked back and laughed +mockingly. But this act of foolish defiance worked his destruction; +for at that very instant, his horse stumbled and plunged forward on his +knees, and he, having loosed his thigh grip in turning, was hurled +headlong to the ground and rolled over and over by the impetus. + +"We will see that you play us no more such tricks," said Aymer. "Bind +him with your sword belt." + +The patrol bent over and tried to put the strap around the man's arms. +The body was limp in his grasp. + +"He is unconscious, my lord," he said. + +"It may be a sham," said De Lacy, dismounting. . . "Pasque Dieu! your +belt will not be needed. The man is dead: his neck is broken. . . It +is a graceless thing to do, yet . . . Here, my man, help me carry the +body out into the moonlight yonder . . . now, search it for a +letter--for a letter, mark you, nothing else." + +Kneeling beside it, the soldier did as he was bid, and presently drew +forth a bit of parchment. It was without superscription and De Lacy +broke the wax. + +"As I thought," he muttered, as his eyes fell upon the signature; then, +letting the moonlight fall full upon the page, he read: + + +"Vaughan: + +"Buckingham joined Gloucester this evening. Grey and I are prisoners +in the inn. Send Edward on to London instantly with Croft. If +necessary, use force to keep the King, and then mark well the Dukes. I +may not write more; time is precious. I trust in your discretion. + +"Rivers." + + +"It will go ill with the Earl when Richard sees these words," thought +De Lacy, as he mounted and returned to the road, where Dauvrey was +patiently standing guard over the other prisoner. + +"Come, Giles," he said, "secure his bridle rein. We will drop him at +the next guard post, and in the morning he can return and bury the +squire." + +There was the faintest blush of dawn in the eastern sky as De Lacy and +Dauvrey crossed the Nene and re-entered Northampton. At the inn all +was quiet, and Aymer ascended quickly to Gloucester's room. The Duke +was lying on the bed, fully dressed, and the gown that Catesby had +placed ready to his hand had not been touched. He greeted the young +Knight with a smile and without rising. + +"Well, Sir Aymer?" he said. + +De Lacy gave him the letter. + +"I took it," he explained, "from one of Rivers' squires, midway between +the Roman road and the Nene. He had followed by-paths and so avoided +the guards." + +Walking to the single candle that burnt dimly on the table Richard read +the letter carefully. + +"You have done good service for England this night," he said. "And now +do you retire and rest; I may need you before many hours. But first +return to the landlord his keys; they have served their end." + +An hour later Northampton had thrown off its calm. A thousand +soldiers, retainers of three great nobles, had roused themselves; and +to the ordinary bustle of camp life were added the noisy greetings of +those who, once comrades, had not seen each other for years; or who, +strangers until a few hours aback, were now boon companions. Around +the inn, however, there was strict order; but whether disturbed by the +general confusion, or because their brains were too busy for slumber, +the lords were early astir. Yet, whatever worry there may have been +during the night, it was as well veiled now, as they gathered again +around the table, as when they laughed and gossiped at the same board +the prior evening. And indeed, doubtless, their minds were actually +easier; for Rivers and Grey were believing that their communication had +reached Croft; Buckingham was persuaded that at last his day of triumph +was come; and Gloucester, with Rivers' fatal letter in his pocket, knew +that he had won the first throw in the great game he was playing. + +"When does Your Grace desire to resume the journey?" Rivers asked as +the breakfast was finished. + +"Best start at once.--How say you, Buckingham?" said Richard. + +"The Duke of Gloucester commands here," replied Stafford with a +courtier's suavity. + +"Then let us proceed; it will be more kind to the King in that it will +not detain him unduly. . . I presume he will await us at Stoney +Stratford?" glancing carelessly at Rivers. + +"I so requested by messenger yesterday," the Earl answered. + +"You are a model of thoughtfulness, my lord," said Gloucester with one +of his strange smiles, as he buckled on his sword and led the way +toward the horses. + +Two hours after leaving Northampton the cavalcade, now traveling the +Roman road, approached the crossing of the Ouse at the boundary of +Buckinghamshire. Stoney Stratford lay just south of the river. On the +northern bank of the stream Gloucester drew rein and the column halted. +A moment before he had been laughing, apparently in the best of humor. +Now his face was stern as stone and his voice pitiless as Fate as, +turning to the Earl of Rivers who was riding beside him, he said: + +"My lord, before we proceed farther, there are a few matters between us +that require adjustment." + +Rivers' face paled suddenly, and involuntarily he bore so heavily on +the bit that his horse reared high. Taken unawares, his usually facile +mind was confused by the abruptness of Richard's words and the calm +determination plainly foreshadowed in them. Trained by years of +experience in a Court where intrigue imbrued the very atmosphere, +ordinarily he was equal to any emergency. But all his schemes of the +past were as gossamer to the conspiracy in which he was now entangled, +and since the previous evening--when the unexpected arrival of +Gloucester had hung their whole plot upon his shoulders until he got +the King to London--the strain on his nerves had been terrific. He had +thought to play the game out in the Capital, not on the lonely bank of +a river in distant Northampton; and it is small wonder that under all +the circumstances Anthony Woodville fell before Richard Plantagenet, +whose equal England had known but twice before, in the first +Plantagenet and the first Edward, and knew but twice thereafter, in +Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange. + +"This is scarce a place for discussion, my Lord Duke," said Rivers, +striving to calm his restive horse. "If, as your words imply, there be +aught of controversy between us, it were best to settle it in London. +Yonder is Stoney Stratford, and it will not profit the King for us to +quarrel here." + +"Methinks, Sir Earl, that I am quite as capable as you of judging what +shall work to Edward's profit," replied Gloucester curtly; "and I +choose to settle it here, and not to annoy him with matters too weighty +for his young brain." + +"It is your own profit and not your King's that you seek," said Rivers. +"I decline to hold further discussion or to quarrel with you until I +have done my duty to my Sovereign and have seen him safe in London. +Then I shall be most willing to meet you, with sword, or axe, or +lance--and may God defend the right. Come, Grey, we will ride on +alone." + +Gloucester had listened with darkening brow, and the gnawing of under +lip was ominous; but at the last words he threw his horse in front of +the Earl's. + +"Ere you depart, my Lord of Scales and Rivers," he said, and smiled +peculiarly, "you must hear me out. Of your rash speech I shall make no +account; and you know full well that a Prince of England breaks no +lance nor crosses sword save on the field of battle, whereon are all +men equal. But I fain would ask if you expect to meet Edward the Fifth +in yonder town?" + +"I have already told you that I dispatched a messenger to detain him +until we arrived," retorted the Earl hotly. + +"Aye! And later another messenger to hurry him on," said Richard +laconically. + +"What proof have you for that?" demanded Rivers, reining back. + +"This!" replied the Duke sternly, producing the captured letter. + +"I see nothing but a bit of parchment; yet well I know that it can be +made to tell strange tales for selfish ends." + +"It is parchment, unfortunately for you, my lord, and it tells a +selfish tale," said Gloucester calmly. "It is the letter you +dispatched last night to Edward's Chamberlain, but which was taken by +one of my good Knights, though your Squire died in its defence. You +know its contents--and, mayhap, you also begin to know the depth of +your folly." + +"It is evident that I am in the toils of a plot laid by you and yonder +brother-in-law of mine," said the Earl with haughty contempt. "You +have entrapped me; and the deepest folly that I know would be to hope +for justice in such clutches. I am to be sacrificed because, forsooth, +I am dangerous to the conspiracy that you have afoot; and well can I +foresee what the conspiracy designs. . . Yet did I flatter you +overmuch, my Lord of Buckingham; it is no creature of your brain, this +scheme whose end is treason. You are too vain and empty-headed to be +of any service except to aid its execution--and then, later, to be the +leading figure at your own. Your sires were overmuch Lancastrian for +you to be trusted by a son of York--after your usefulness is ended." + +Gloucester's stern mouth relaxed in a faint smile, but Buckingham +flushed angrily. + +"By the Holy Saints!" he broke out, "were it not that the very touch +would soil a Stafford's gauntlet, I would lay my hand across your +Woodville mouth." + +"It is passing strange then, if we be so degraded," said Rivers +quickly, "that you should have chosen a Woodville for a wife." + +Pushing his horse past Grey, Buckingham leaned forward and would have +struck the Earl had not the calm tones of Gloucester stayed him in the +very act. + +"Hold! Stafford, you forget yourself--and you, Sir Earl, return your +dagger." + +"He shall answer me for those words," Buckingham exclaimed. + +"I am at your service this very instant," returned Rivers, doffing his +bonnet and bowing to his charger's neck. + +"This very instant be it," cried the Duke, springing down and drawing +sword. + +Before the last word was spoken, Rivers was off his horse and +confronting Stafford with bared weapon. But ere the blades could clash +together, Gloucester swung between them and knocked up the Earl's sword +with his own, which he had unsheathed with amazing swiftness. + +"Cease this foolishness," he said sternly. "Buckingham, you forget +yourself. Ratcliffe, arrest the Earl of Rivers and Sir Richard Grey." + +The Master of Horse rode forward. + +"Your sword, my lord," he said to Rivers. + +For a moment the Earl hesitated; then hurled it far out into the river. + +"In the name of the King, whose uncle and governor I am, I protest, +lord Duke, against this unwarranted and outrageous conduct," he cried. + +"And I arrest you in the name of that very King, whose uncle and +guardian I am," replied Richard. "Ratcliffe, execute your orders." + +"I must request you to accompany me forthwith," said Ratcliffe +courteously, to the two noblemen. + +Resistance was utterly hopeless, and without a further word the Earl +remounted; and Grey taking place beside him they passed slowly toward +the rear. Presently, as they neared the end of the long column, a +hundred men detached themselves from the line and fell in behind them. +Rivers observed it with a smile, half sad, half cynical. + +"They honor us, at least, in the size of our guard," he remarked to +Grey; then turned to Ratcliffe. "May I inquire our prison, Sir +Richard?" + +"Certainly, my lord; we ride to Pontefract." + +"Whence two of us shall ne'er return," said the Earl, with calm +conviction. "May the Good Christ watch over Edward now." + + + + +X + +THE LADY MARY CHANGES BADGES + +Five weeks had expired since the _coup d'etat_ at Stoney Stratford and +Richard was now Lord Protector of the Realm. Before his dominating +personality all overt opposition had crumbled, and with Rivers and Grey +in prison, the Queen Dowager in sanctuary at Westminster, and Dorset +and Edward Woodville fled beyond sea the political horizon seemed clear +and bright. + +Meanwhile, the Duchess of Gloucester and her Household had come to +London and were settled at Crosby Hall in Bishopgate Street. When they +neared the Capital, the Duke and a few of his chosen Knights had ridden +out into the country to meet them; and Sir Aymer de Lacy had gone gayly +and expectantly, thinking much of a certain fair face with ruddy +tresses above it. Nor had he been disappointed; and it was her +pleasant, half-familiar greeting that lingered in his mind long after +the words and sweet smile of the Duchess were forgotten. He had +tarried beside the Countess' bridle until the Hall was reached; and as +she seemed quite willing for him to be there, he had been blind to the +efforts of others to displace him. With Selim she had been openly +demonstrative, welcoming him with instant affection and leaning over +many times to stroke him softly on the neck or muzzle. Once, as she +did it, she shot a roguish smile at his master, and he had nodded and +answered that again he was wishing he were a horse--whereupon she +deliberately repeated the caress, glancing at him the while, sidelong +and banteringly. But when he would have pursued the subject further, +she crushed him with a look, and then for the remainder of the ride +held him close to commonplaces. + +And if De Lacy thought to have again the delightful associations and +informal meetings that had obtained at Pontefract, he quickly realized +his error. There, the Household was relatively small, and life had run +along in easy fashion. He had seen the Countess daily--had walked or +ridden with her as his duties permitted, and every evening had attended +in the presence chamber and gossiped with her for a while. Those few +days of unhampered intimacy had let them know each other better than +months of London would have done. Lord Darby had been his only active +rival, and even he was not there constantly. But in the Capital it was +otherwise. Scores of Knights, young and old, now sought her favor and +were ever in attendance. Indeed half the eligible men at Court were +her suitors, and the feeling among some of the more impetuous had +reached a point where it needed only the flimsiest of excuses for such +an exchange of cartels as would keep the lists at Smithfield busy for a +week. But through it all, the Countess moved with calm courtesy and +serene unconcern. She had her favorites, naturally,--and she made no +pretense otherwise,--but that reduced not a whit the fervor of the +others. Like the dogs in the dining hall, they took the scraps flung +to them, and eagerly awaited more. + +And the Lady Mary Percy gibed sweetly at them all, and at the Countess, +too; but she gibed most at Sir Aymer de Lacy. + +"You are a rare wooer, surely," said she one day, as the Lord of Ware +bore the Countess off to his barge for a row on the Thames. "You had +your chance at Pontefract and . . . yonder she goes! One would never +fancy you were bred in France." + +"Nor that you were really a sweet-tempered and charming demoiselle," +Sir Aymer answered good-naturedly. + +She laughed merrily. "One might think I were jealous of the Countess?" + +"Yes . . . or of the Earl of Ware." + +"Or of all the others who hang about her," she added. + +De Lacy looked down at her with an amused smile. + +"Methinks Ware is enough," he said, with calm assertion. + +She tossed her head in quick defiance. "Your penetration, Sir Aymer, +is extraordinary--when it concerns others," she retorted. + +"And when it concerns myself?" + +She answered with a shrug. + +He went over and leaned on the casement beside her. + +"Just how stupid am I?" he asked. + +She turned and measured him with slow eyes. "I am not sure it is +stupidity," she remarked; "some might call it modesty." + +He laughed. "And which does the Lady Mary Percy call it?" + +"I can tell you better a year hence." + +"Why so long a wait?" + +"You will then have won or lost the Countess." + +He shook his head dubiously. + +"How will that decide the matter?" he asked. + +She smiled. "Because only stupidity can lose." + +He looked at her curiously and in silence, a quicker beat at his pulse +and she read his thoughts. + +"Oh, I am betraying no confidences," she said. "Your lady gives +none--save possibly to the Duchess. But I have been of the Household +with Beatrix for two years and------" + +"And . . . what?" he inflected. + +"You can guess the rest--if you are not stupid," she said, turning away. + +But he stayed her. "My barge is at the landing. Shall we follow . . . +the others?" he suggested. + +She hesitated--then, catching up a cloak and scarf that lay on a couch, +she nodded acquiescence. + +"Up stream or down?" he asked, as he handed her in and took place +beside her. + +"Up," she said. + +"Give way," he ordered, and the eight oars that had been raised high in +salute dropped as one, and they shot out into the stream. + +The Lady Mary settled herself among the cushions, one arm thrown +carelessly around the awning post. + +"What nonsense it is," she remarked presently. + +De Lacy nodded. "Doubtless--but what?" + +"This foolish dissimulation we all play at; . . . this assumed +indifference which deceives no one. Here are we, barging together on +the Thames, when you would rather have the Countess . . . and I would +rather have Ware." + +"But would they rather have us?" + +"I am quite sure she would, and" . . . holding up a hand and slowly +flashing the rings . . . "I think he would, too." + +"If you happen to know which way they went," De Lacy laughed, "we might +follow and suggest an exchange." + +She sat up smartly. "Come," said she, "come; if you will venture it +with the Countess, I will with Ware." + +He smiled. "I thought you gave me a year wherein to prove my +stupidity." + +"But would it be stupidity--might it not be rare brilliancy--a master +stroke?" She flashed the rings again. "Lord Darby would risk it were +he in like case." + +"Nay, Darby is no fool." + +"True enough--yet, neither is he afraid to brave the hazard; he is a +hard fighter, in love as well as war." + +"I find no fault with him for that," De Lacy answered, "so long as he +fight fair." + +She gave him a quick glance of interrogation. + +"Would you trust him to fight fair?" she asked. + +"I usually trust every man of noble birth until experience prove him +undeserving." + +"And you have had no experience with Darby?" + +"No--not yet." + +A sly smile crossed her lips and she was about to comment further, when +Lord Ware's barge suddenly swung out from behind a large vessel and met +them. + +"We are going to the Tower," the Countess called. "Will you not meet +us there?" + +The rowers backed water instantly, and the two boats drifted slowly +past each other. + +"We will join you very shortly," Lady Mary answered--then smiled at De +Lacy. + +The Earl of Ware looked curiously at the Countess. + +"Now why this sudden notion for the Tower?" he asked, when the barges +had drawn apart. "But a moment since and you declined to stop there +and preferred to stay afloat." + +"A moment since is far aback with a woman," the Countess laughed--"nor +had I then seen the Lady Mary." + +"Nor the Knight with her," said Ware sententiously. + +She made no answer, save to look him in the face with calm composure. + +"Who is this De Lacy," the Earl asked with, a supercilious shrug; "one +of the new nobility?" + +A faint smile came into her eyes. + +"New? May be, my lord--the term is but relative--yet _I_ would scarce +call him so: his ancestor came with Norman William and built +Pontefract." + +"So . . . one of old Ilbert's stock. Well, even a Ware may not cavil +at that blood . . . though it is passing strange I never heard of him +until within the week." + +"Strange for him or for you?" she asked. + +"For me, of course--seeing that he has been so much at Court." The +tone was bantering, yet the sarcasm was deliberately veiled. + +She turned upon him rather sharply. + +"My lord," said she, "if you would criticise Sir Aymer de Lacy, do not, +I pray, make me your confidant. He is my good friend." + +"And you like him . . . well?" he questioned. + +"Aye, that I do," she retorted instantly. "It is a pity his sort are +growing scarce." + +"His sort!" the Earl inflected. "In family, mean you, or in looks?" + +"In manners, mainly." + +The Earl shrugged his shoulders. "French training," he drawled. +"There never was one came from that Court but caught you all with his +bow and talk." + +"Perchance, my lord, it has never occurred to you that, save in him she +wed, a woman cares only for a man's manners and his speech." + +"And what does she care for in him she weds?" + +"Ask her whom you wed." + +"And what, think you, will the bride of this De Lacy find in him +beneath his bow and speech?" + +She turned and looked him in the eyes. + +"An English gentleman--a trusty Knight," she answered. + +He laughed--and now his air was light and merry. + +"Believe me, my lady, I have no quarrel with your De Lacy," he said; +"I, too, like him well. But I envy him his champion. Marry, how you +rapped me with voice and eye. I wonder, would you do the same for me?" + +"Yes, for you . . . and the Lady Mary." + +"And why the Lady Mary?" he asked, after a pause. + +"If you do not know, then there is no 'why,'" said she, facing about +and looking up stream. "However, she is coming and, perchance, can +answer for herself. Shall I ask her . . . or will you?" + +The touching of the boat just inside the St. Thomas Gate saved him an +answer. Giving the Countess his hand he aided her to alight, and +almost immediately De Lacy's barge ran in; and, he and Lady Mary +disembarking, the four sauntered across the vast courtyard toward the +royal lodge. + +As they turned into one of the shaded walks the Earl of Ware, who +chanced to be a pace in advance, suddenly halted and drew aside, his +bonnet doffed, his attitude deeply respectful. + +"The King!" exclaimed De Lacy, and they all fell back. + +A slender, fair-haired boy was coming slowly down the path, one hand on +the neck of a huge mastiff, whose great head was almost on a level with +his shoulder. His dress was rich, but very simple--black velvet and +silk from head to foot, save the jeweled dagger at his hip and the blue +ribbon of the Garter about his knee. His bearing was wondrous easy, +and there was a calm dignity about him most unusual in one so young. +It may have been the innate consciousness of his exalted rank that +raised the thirteen-year-old boy to the man, and made his majesty sit +so naturally upon him; or it may have been that the resemblance he bore +to his imperious father carried with it also that father's haughty +spirit; but, whatever it was, there could be no mistaking that Edward +the Fifth was a true heir of the Plantagenets, the proudest and bravest +family that ever sat a throne. + +He was unattended, save by the dog, and as he passed he smiled a +courteous greeting. + +"God save Your Majesty!" said the two Knights, bowing with bent knee, +while the Countess and Lady Mary curtsied low. + +He turned slightly and smiled at them again, then proceeded on his way, +as unruffled as a man of thrice his age. + +"A brave youth," said Sir Aymer de Lacy, gazing after him. + +"Aye," the Earl answered, "brave in person and in promise--yet prone to +melancholy, it is said; a queer trait in a child." + +"Inherited?" De Lacy asked. + +Ware shrugged his shoulders. "Doubtless--almost anything could come +through Jacquetta of Luxembourg." + +Meanwhile the Countess and Lady Mary had gone on together, leaving +their escorts to follow, and presently they turned toward the wharf. + +"What say you," the Earl asked as they neared the gate, "what say you +to--an exchange of companions?" + +"I am willing," De Lacy answered instantly, thinking of Lady Mary's +words, "and so is------" then he stopped; that was not for him to tell +Ware, and doubtless she had been only jesting. "Suppose you suggest it +to the Lady Mary," he ended. + +The Earl gave him an amused smile. "Suppose you suggest it to the +Countess." + +Then both laughed. + +Ware rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We might suggest it to them both +together," he said. + +"How, for instance?" + +"Why . . . just intimate casually that . . . that . . . that . . . we +would . . . you know." + +"No," said Aymer, "I do not." + +Ware pondered a space. "We might put them in the wrong boats--by +accident, of course." + +"And have them get out the instant we get in." + +"Then it passes me," said the Earl. "I have supplied the idea; it is +for you to execute it." + +De Lacy shook his head. "It is too deep for me; had I a week I might +contrive a plan." + +"I presume we will go back as we came," the other commented. "Marry, +what a brave pair we are!" + +As they reached the landing, their barges, that lay a little way down +stream, swung around and came quickly up to the gate. The Earl's +entered first, and as he was about to proffer his hand to the Countess +to aid her to embark, the Lady Mary stepped quickly into the boat, and +giving him a smile of bewitching invitation sank languidly among the +cushions. For an instant he was taken aback; but, with a sharp glance +at De Lacy, he sprang aboard, and the oars caught the water. + +The Countess watched them as they sped through the gate and away, then +turned to De Lacy with a roguish look and eyes half veiled. + +"It seems, Sir Aymer, it is for you to take me back to the Hall," she +said. + + + + +XI + +ON CHAPEL GREEN + +On the following morning Sir Aymer de Lacy again sought the Tower; but +this time he went alone. The hour was early, yet the place was full of +life; there was to be a state council at nine, and the nobility were +assembling to greet the Lord Protector when he should arrive. For +although the young King occupied the royal apartments and was supposed +to hold the Court therein, yet, in fact, the real Court was at Crosby +Hall, where the Duke resided and whither all those that sought favor or +position were, for the nonce, obliged to bend their steps. + +Indeed, at this time, Richard was, in all but name, the King of +England; and on this very day, ere the hour of noon had passed, was the +name also to turn toward him, and through the first blood shed by his +new ambition was he to progress to the foot of the throne, the steps of +which were to prove so easy to his feet. + +Just in front of the Wakefield Tower De Lacy came upon Sir Robert +Brackenbury, now Constable of the Fortress, and paused for a word with +him. Then sauntering slowly toward the Chapel, he took possession of a +bench from which he could observe those who crossed the courtyard +between the St. Thomas Gate and the White Tower. A moment later, Sir +Ralph de Wilton came swinging along the walk and De Lacy hailed him. + +"Tarry with me till the Council has gathered," he said. "Here come +their reverences of York and Ely." + +Scarcely had the churchmen entered the White Tower, when along the same +path came two others, bound also for the council chamber. + +The one on the right, the Garter about his knee, with the keen, grey +eyes, sharp, clear, Norman features, and well-knit, active frame, was +William, Lord Hastings; gallant knight, brave warrior, wise counsellor +and chosen friend of the mighty Edward. His long gown and doublet were +of brilliant green velvet, with silk trunks and hose to match; his +bushy brown hair was perfumed and dressed with exquisite care; from his +bonnet of black velvet trailed a long white ostrich plume pinned by +three huge rubies; at the richly chased gold belt dangled a dagger, the +scabbard and hilt glistening with jewels, and his fingers flashed with +many rings. It was the typical costume of a courtier of the +Plantagenets--fops in dress and devils in battle. + +His companion was utterly dissimilar. His garments were of sober +black, without ornament or decoration, and no ring shone on his +fingers. His sandy hair was cut rather shorter than was wont, and +there was no mark of helmet wear along the brow or temples. His frame +was neither active nor powerful, and his walk was sedate, almost to +preciseness. His countenance was peculiar, for in it there was both +cunning and frankness: cunning in the eyes, frankness in the mouth and +chin; a face, withal, that would bear constant watching, and that +contained scarce a trace of virility--only a keen selfishness and a +crafty faithlessness. And of a verity, if ever a human visage revealed +truly the soul within, this one did; for a more scheming sycophant, +vacillating knave and despicable traitor than Thomas, Lord Stanley, +England had not seen since the villain John died at Newark. + +"A powerful pair," said De Wilton, "yet a strange companionship--one +rather of accident than design, I fancy. There is little in either to +attract the other, nor is it any secret that the Lord Chamberlain does +not love the fickle Stanley." + +"No more does Stanley love him, nor any living creature, for the matter +of that," said Sir Aymer. "It passes me why the Lord Protector trusts +him." + +"Pardieu!" exclaimed De Wilton, "the Duke may use him; he will never +trust him. He knows the truckler of old--the first to greet Warwick +when he came to lead Henry from the Tower; the loudest for Edward when +Barnet's day was done." + +"Well, mark me," said De Lacy, with lowered voice, "yonder false lord +will be a troublesome counsellor, even if he be not a faithless baron. +I would have none of him." + +"_Bon jour, mes amis_!" Hastings called out in hearty greeting. "Has +the Protector arrived?" + +"No, my lord," returned De Wilton, as he and De Lacy arose; "he was +engaged, and may be a trifle late for the council." + +"Who has preceded us?" said Stanley; and in contrast to the melodious +voice of the Lord Chamberlain his tones were like melting ice. + +"Only the Lord Chancellor and the Bishop of Ely." + +"Then, Hastings, we shall have time to discuss further the matter I +touched on a moment since," said Stanley, making as though to go on. + +"As you will," Hastings answered indifferently, and without moving, +"but believe me, my lord, it will boot little what may be the record. +Eleanor and Katharine Neville were sisters, true enough, but Eleanor is +dead and you have wed a second time; while Katharine still chatelaines +my castles of Ashby and Calais. The matter has been left to her sweet +judgment, and her wish is my decision. It is quite needless to debate +the subject further." + +Aymer caught the quick look of resentment that flashed through +Stanley's eyes, but Hastings missed it, for he had turned and was +gazing toward the royal lodge. + +And Stanley, with that cool indifference to aught but expediency which +characterized his whole life, let the curt speech pass, seemingly +unheeded. + +In a moment the Lord Chamberlain said courteously, as though regretful +for his recent abruptness: + +"Well, my lord, shall we proceed? It will be well for the Council to +be assembled when Richard comes." + +"In truth, yes," said Stanley suavely; and bowing stiffly to the two +young Knights, the traitor of Bosworth linked arms with Hastings and +went on toward the White Tower. + +"Did you mark that?" De Wilton queried; "and evidently it was a matter +of some moment since Hastings has submitted it to his wife." + +"There are more than royal prerogatives at issue these days," replied +De Lacy, "and private grievance may work deep into the greater game." + +"It will be the only way by which the Stanley can be led to bear a +part," said De Wilton sententiously. "He savors more of the shops in +the Cheap yonder than of Castle or Court." + +"And hence the pity that he has such power of rank and wealth behind +him with his new Countess, the Beaufort heiress." + +"Aye--and what is worse, in her and her son lie the last hope of +Lancaster." + +"You mean the Earl of Richmond?" said Aymer. "I saw him a year or more +ago at the Court of Blois. His appearance gave little promise of +kingly blood or spirit." + +"Nathless, my good friend, our own Duke of Gloucester would give a few +hides of land to have that same Earl safe within these walls. York +sits not firm on England's throne while the Tudor lives in freedom." + +"It is a shrewd test of Stanley's faith--his step-fathership to this +Richmond," De Lacy observed. + +"Of a truth, yes; and one that will find him wanting if the trial ever +come. Had not His late Majesty died so suddenly, this Margaret would +have had a brood of treasons hatched ready for the occasion; and I +doubt not that she and her adherents are, even now, deep in plottings +with the Welsh and France's King." + +"With Stanley's knowledge?" + +De Wilton's only answer was a shrug and a jerk of his head toward the +river. + +"Here are two more of the Council," he remarked; and the Duke of +Buckingham came rapidly up the path in company with Lord Lovel. + +"Are we late or early?" Buckingham called. + +"Late for Stanley and Hastings and their reverences of York and Ely," +said Aymer, "but early for the Lord Protector." + +"Did the Chamberlain and Stanley come together?" Lovel asked. + +"They did, my lord." + +"And their humor?" + +"Not the most sympathetic. They were not entirely agreed about some +matter the Lord Hastings had submitted to his Countess, and that she +had decided, seemingly, against Stanley's wishes." + +"It is the old matter of the Neville sisters that cropped up even in +Bonville's time," said Buckingham. "The more Stanley urges that now, +the better it will fit our purpose. Come, let us stimulate the dispute +if occasion offer," and with a sarcastic laugh he turned away. + +"Methinks, my Lord of Buckingham," observed De Wilton, when he and De +Lacy were again alone, "that you will scarce find another Rivers in +either Hastings or Stanley. It requires a master hand to play Stoney +Stratford twice in six short weeks." + +"No need for another seizure, I fancy," said De Lacy. "Richard's power +is secure now and the King will be crowned on St. John's Day." + +De Wilton looked at him thoughtfully. "It is strange, Sir Aymer, that +you, who have lived under The Fell Louis, should not look deeper into +the minds of men. St. John's Day is but nine days hence, yet will I +wager you ten good rose nobles it brings no coronation with it. I +know"--as De Lacy regarded him incredulously--"that the council has so +fixed it--that the ceremonies have been arranged--that the provisions +for the banquet have been ordered--and that the nobility are gathering +from all England, yet none the less will I make the wager." + +De Lacy was silent for a bit. Then he spoke: + +"It would be foolish to pretend I do not catch your meaning, but I had +never faced the matter in that light. In France there may be strife of +faction, plottings and intrigues and blood-spilling for position in the +State; yet is the Crown ever secure. The struggle is but for place +near the Throne, never for the Throne itself. . . Naturally, I +appreciate our need for a strong King at this crisis. Edward is but a +child, and York's grip on the Crown may grow perilously lax, or even +slip entirely. With Gloucester it would be different. His hand is not +likely to loosen if once it grasp the sceptre. I shall not take your +wager. It would be against my own heart. If Richard's aim is +England's Throne, my poor arm is at his service." + +"Now are you one after my own soul," exclaimed De Wilton. "Up with the +White Boar banner! Hurrah for King Richard the Third!" + +"But that I knew Sir Aymer de Lacy and Sir Ralph de Wilton to be loyal +subjects of Edward the Fifth, so long as he be King of England, I +should be obliged to commit you both to yonder tower," said the stern, +calm voice of the Duke of Gloucester behind them. + +Both Knights sprang to their feet and uncovered. De Wilton was +confused and could make no reply. De Lacy, however, was not so easily +disconcerted and, despite the censure in the words, he felt that they +were not grave offenders. + +"If an honest desire to see the Duke of Gloucester King of England be a +crime," he answered, bowing low, "then we both are guilty. Yet plead +we in clemency, that we shall follow only where the White Boar leads." + +The severe lines of Richard's mouth relaxed a trifle. + +"Let me caution you," he said, and the chill was gone from his voice, +"talk not treason so publicly; even stones have ears at times. I go +now to the Council; await me here or in the inner chapel." + +"What think you of it?" asked De Wilton. + +"Enough to make me glad I refused your wager; there is something +brewing." + +"Whatever it be I hope it will come quickly," said Sir Ralph with half +a sigh. "This is not like the old days when Edward held his state +here. Many is the time I have seen this great place bright with +women's faces and ringing with their laughter; the ramparts crowded, +and scarce a shady seat but held a fair dame and gallant lover. Where +are now the sweet voices and the swishing gowns? Gone--maybe, forever; +Elizabeth is in sanctuary a mile up yonder stream, and Edward is too +young to mate at present." + +"Perchance the Duchess of Gloucester may come here and revive it all." + +De Wilton shook his head. "Richard seems to have small love for this +old pile of stone; and besides he ceases to be Lord Protector when the +King is crowned." + +"In truth!" exclaimed De Lacy. "What then will he be?" + +"Duke of Gloucester and uncle to His Majesty." + +The two men looked at each other and smiled. + +Neither had observed an elderly Knight in dusty riding dress and long +boots hurrying down the courtyard, until he had passed them; then De +Lacy sprang up and hastened after. + +"Sir John de Bury," he called; "stop and speak to a friend." + +The other whirled around. + +"De Lacy!" he exclaimed; "by St. Luke, I am overjoyed to see you, I +seek the Duke--get me an audience at once." + +"Come," said Aymer, and they hastened to the White Tower. + +Just as they reached the upper landing the door of the great council +chamber opened and Gloucester came out, followed by Buckingham. + +"Ha, De Bury! what brings you in such haste?" Richard demanded. "What +is amiss in the North?" + +"It may be much and it may be little, so please you," said Sir John, +removing his bonnet and bowing slightly. + +"Follow me," said the Duke, and descending to the second floor they +entered the small room next the chapel, leaving De Lacy on guard +without. + +Slowly the minutes passed. Once Aymer heard Buckingham's voice raised +as though in sharp argument. Then it ceased abruptly, and he knew that +Richard had silenced him. A little later Stafford laughed, and this +time was joined by De Bury. At length, the door opened and Gloucester +called him: + +"Summon twenty of the guard," he said. "Lead them hither yourself." + +At the outer door De Lacy came upon Raynor Royk. + +"Twenty of the guard instantly," he ordered. + +From across the courtyard De Wilton had seen Aymer, and he was already +sauntering toward him. De Lacy motioned for him to make haste. "It +has come," he said, as De Wilton joined him. + +"Oh, has it! Well, it took you long enough to find it, surely. And +may I ask, what has come?" + +"The next move in the Duke's game." + +"In sooth! When--what--how?" + +"Now, my dear Sir Ralph. The how is yonder with Raynor Royk. If you +wish to know the what, come with me." + +Up the stairway Royk led his men, following close after the two +Knights. On the second landing the Protector was waiting. + +"Now, attend," he said to De Lacy. "I return to the Council. You will +bring the men up very quietly and post them without. The instant I +strike on the table, fling open the door and arrest every man. Do you +yourself stand in the passage and stop any that would escape. Let none +use weapon unless necessary . . . but if an axe were to fall by +accident upon either Stanley or Ely, no punishment would follow," and +he smiled significantly. + +"I think I understand," said De Lacy; and Richard, carelessly brushing +a bit of dust from his black doublet, turned away. + +Raynor Royk chuckled when he learned the orders. + +"I will attend to Stanley myself," he said. "My axe arm at times has +an ugly habit of sudden weakness when the weapon is swung high." + +De Lacy nodded. "Get yourself into position," he replied shortly; for, +of a truth, he little liked the business. Yet there might be no delay, +and he followed after the soldiers with De Wilton at his side. + +Raynor massed his men before the door and he himself was close against +it with his hand upon the latch. From within came numerous voices; +presently these were silent and the Protector spoke in angry tones, +though what he said De Lacy could not distinguish. Then a single voice +replied, and De Wilton had scarce time to whisper, "Hastings," when the +signal came. + +With a crash, Raynor Royk hurled back the heavy door, and the soldiers +rushed in. + +Around the long table in the center of the apartment were gathered the +members of the Council, and at its foot stood the Duke of Gloucester, +one hand upon his dagger, the other pointing at the Lord Chamberlain. +In an instant Hastings was seized by two of the soldiers, and all was +wild confusion. + +Lord Stanley, divining some sinister design as Raynor Royk sprang +toward him with upraised weapon, sought safety in a sudden and +inglorious dive under the table. Yet quick as he was, the old retainer +was quicker. His heavy axe came down with a sweep, and never more +would the fickle Stanley have played the dastard had not a carved chair +arm stayed, for an instant, the weapon's fall. Ere it had shorn its +way through the oak, Stanley was safe from death, though the edge +scraped his head glancingly, sending the blood flying and leaving him +unconscious on the floor. + +The Bishop of Ely escaped the axe aimed at him by a hurried retreat to +the rear of the room out of the general melee; for he was shrewd enough +instantly to comprehend that, while there might be fatal danger to him +in the crowd, there was but little when he stood aloof: God's Bishops +were not wont to be murdered deliberately in public. Yet it did not +save him from arrest, for Raynor glanced at the Protector, and reading +the order in his face stalked back and clapping Morton on the shoulder +said gruffly: "Come, Lord Bishop." + +The whole affair was over almost as quickly as begun, and the Duke of +Gloucester never so much as changed position during the tumult, save to +lower the hand that had menaced Hastings. Then, when all the +counsellors were crowded together and surrounded by the soldiers, he +spoke quietly, addressing Raynor Royk: + +"Commit the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Ely, and Lord Stanley to +the Garden Tower. See that Stanley's hurts be dressed. Release the +others, save the traitor Hastings. Him conduct to the Chapel Green, +and let his head be stricken from his fell carcass without delay, save +for absolution if he so desire it. . . Gentlemen, attend me." + +Adjusting his cloak the Protector quitted the apartment and in silence +descended to the courtyard. There he drew his arm within Stafford's, +and dismissing the others proceeded slowly toward the royal lodge at +the southeast angle of the fortress. + +"Verily will this day live in England's history," said De Wilton. +"Stoney Stratford was but a game of marteaux beside it." + +"But when ends it?" said De Lacy solemnly. + +"Yonder, on the throne in Westminster," De Wilton replied, almost in a +whisper. + +"Nay, I mean the final end. Methinks I hear the rattle of armor and +the splintering of spears." + +At that moment the file of soldiers emerged from the White Tower with +Lord Hastings in their midst, walking with the same grace and ease of +carriage that always distinguished him, his face calm and serene. As +his eyes fell upon the two younger Knights, who were moving slowly +toward the river gate, he said a word to Raynor Royk, and the column +halted. Raising his voice, that had rung over so many stricken fields, +leading the very flower of York's chivalry, he called: + +"Be Lacy! De Wilton! . . . Will you not," as they hurried to him, "by +your oath of pity and humility, accompany me to the block? It is hard +enough, God knows, that one who has both rank and blood should die +without trial or legal judgment; yet that none but hirelings should be +with me at the end is inhuman beyond measure. Look at yonder +sycophants, who but an hour ago hung upon my slightest gesture, now +hurrying from me as though I had the plague." + +"Whatever we can do, my lord," said De Lacy, "pray command. I would we +had power to stay your doom." + +Hastings smiled sadly. "I shall not detain you long. Lead on, my man." + +It was but a step to the Chapel, and seeing that neither block nor +headsman was in waiting he shrugged his shoulders and laughed +sarcastically: + +"Not honored even by the usual participants," he remarked. "Yon log of +timber and a common axe must serve the purpose. A strange undoing for +one who has ridden boot to boot with Edward . . . a Lord Chamberlain +and Captain of Calais." + +"My Lord of Hastings!" said Raynor Royk, with doffed bonnet and in a +voice so changed from its usual gruffness that De Lacy and De Wilton +both marked it with surprise, "it grieves me ill that I, who have +followed the Sable Maunch so oft in battle, should lead you to your +death. Yet I may not shirk my duty, as you, great warrior as you are, +well know. But if there be aught I can do to aid you, that touches not +mine honor (for, my lord, we have what we call honor as well as those +who wear the yellow spurs), speak but the word." + +Hastings stepped forward and placed his hand upon the old retainer's +shoulder. "My good fellow," he said gravely, "there are many with +golden spurs who are far less worthy to wear them than are you. Not +always does honor, nay nor chivalry either, dwell beneath the banner or +pennon of the Knight. Permit me a word apart with these kind friends." + +For answer, Raynor Royk gave a sharp order and the soldiers drew out of +earshot. + +"Need I say to you, Sir Aymer de Lacy, and you, Sir Ralph de Wilton," +said Hastings, "how deeply I appreciate your great kindness in coming +with me here. Place yourselves in my position and you will know the +comfort you have given me. It would be foolish to say I am willing to +die; I love life as well as any man; yet bear me witness that I meet my +doom as becomes a Peer of England. I have but two requests to make of +you, my friends--for though you both are of Gloucester's Household, yet +have you been friends to me this day, as Knight to Knight, for you owe +me no obligation. I ask that when yonder deed be done you recall to +the Lord Protector his brother Edward's dying wish that I might lie by +his side in Windsor Chapel. And lastly, I pray you bear to my sweet +Countess the assurance of my endless love and adoration. Give her this +ring and (pressing it to his lips) say that it bears my dying kiss. +Tell her"--and his voice broke, and for the first time in this man's +life tears started to his eyes and trickled down his ruddy +cheeks--"tell her that my last thought was of her . . . tell her that I +wish not Heaven save it bring her dear face to me." He mastered his +emotion. "Farewell, my friends," extending his hands, and they +silently grasped them, "may God, in His Providence, grant you a kinder +death than mine." + +Then with placid face and voice he turned to Raynor Royk, who stood +leaning on his axe in evident distress of mind. + +"I am at your service, my good man," he said. "Dispatch the business +quickly and do not, I pray you, bungle it at the stroke." + +Removing his handsome cloak, he opened his doublet at the neck, and +with quiet dignity walked to the piece of heavy timber that had been +used in repaving the Chapel only the previous day, and which lay across +the green. Raynor Royk made a motion, and a tall soldier stepped +forth. Hastings knelt as the man stopped beside him and drew back his +doublet, baring his neck for the blow. + +"Strike true, fellow," he said, and calmly placed his head upon the +timber's end. + + + + +XII + +THE KING'S WORD + +From this moment Gloucester moved with no uncertain nor halting steps +toward the object of his ambition. With the death of Hastings was +removed the only man in England who might have blocked his purpose +through either power or ability; and he and Buckingham were left free +to play out to its end the wonderful game that won a kingdom without a +single disturbance or the drawing of a sword. The moves followed one +another in bewildering rapidity, yet with such consummate skill, that +when in the great chamber of Baynard's Castle the final offer of the +Crown was made, and the Lord Protector with seeming diffidence accepted +it on Stafford's urging, it appeared but a natural consequence of +spontaneous events, brought about only by the force of circumstances +and through no deliberate human agency. + +In some of these events Sir Aymer de Lacy was an actor, while in others +he was but a spectator or bore no part at all. From the grim +death-scene in the Tower he had gone back to Crosby Hall and a long +talk with Sir John de Bury, wherein he learned what had brought the old +Knight so hastily to London and the Lord Chamberlain to the block; and +which, ere nightfall, was to send Sir Ralph de Wilton galloping back to +Pontefract, bearing an order constituting the Earl of Northumberland +Lord High Steward, and directing the trial of Rivers, Grey and Vaughan +for the same crime that had proven Hastings' doom: conspiracy against +the Lord Protector. He had chanced to ride by St. Paul's Cross while +Dr. Shaw was in the midst of his sermon on "Bastard slips shall not +take deep root." He had gone with Buckingham to the Guild Hall two +days later; had listened with strong approval to the speech wherein +Stafford boldly advocated the setting aside of the young Edward in +favor of his uncle; and had lent his own voice to the cry: "King +Richard! King Richard!" He had witnessed the tender at Baynard's +Castle and the halting acceptance by the Duke--had heard the heralds +proclaim the new King in the streets of London--and had seen him ascend +the marble seat at Westminster and begin the reign that promised so +bright a future. He had ridden in the cavalcade that accompanied the +King from the Tower on the Saturday preceding the formal coronation, +and had formed one of the throng that participated in the gorgeous +ceremony of that July Sunday, when all the power of England's nobility +passed from the Palace to the Abbey to honor him who was to be the last +of his Line. + +Never for generations was England to see such a gathering of her Peers +and Barons and Churchmen as walked in that procession. There, was the +huge Northumberland, fresh from Pontefract--where but a week aback he +had sent Rivers and his friends to the headsman--now bearing Mercy's +pointless sword; Stanley (his peace made by empty words) with the Mace; +Suffolk with the Sceptre; Norfolk, Earl Marshal of the Realm, with the +Crown; and Richard himself, in purple gown and crimson surcoat; the +Bishop of Durham on his right and the Bishop of Bath on his left; and +behind him, bearing his train, the Duke of Buckingham. . . And then +the Queen's attendants: Huntington with her Sceptre; Lisle with the Rod +and Dove; Wiltshire with her Crown. She, herself, paler than pearls +and fragile as Venetian glass, yet calm and self-contained, moved +slowly in the heavy royal robes; and after her walked Margaret, +Countess of Richmond and mother of him who next would wear the crown, +the usurping Tudor. + +And then the throne was reached--the music swelled in solemn +chorus--the aged Primate raised the crown and placed it on Richard +Plantagenet's head--the "Te Deum" rolled out in thunderous tones--and a +new King reigned in England. + + +It was in the late afternoon of the following day that De Lacy, +strolling along Bishopgate Street, chanced upon Sir John de Bury near +the White Hart Inn, the newest and most popular hostelry in London. + +"By St. Luke," Sir John exclaimed, "you are a welcome sight. Come and +drink a measure of Burgundy, and I will tell you a bit of news." + +They pushed their way through the motley throng in the main room and, +coming upon the landlord, were conducted with many bows and smiles to a +retired corner and in a moment the wine was set before them. Sir John +lifted high the vessel and watched the heavy liquid fall. Then taking +a sip he let it run slowly down his throat. + +"Not bad, by half," he said, smacking his lips with the air of a +connoisseur, and drained his cup at a draught. "What think you of the +Coronation?" + +"It was a noble spectacle, and a proper act for England." + +"Aye, it was--yet I would that Hastings and not Stanley had borne the +Mace." + +"And that Stanley had been sent in Hastings' place to Chapel Green?" De +Lacy asked. + +"By St. Luke, yes!" said Sir John instantly; then he leaned over and +put his hand on Aymer's shoulder--"and truly, it was a gallant thing +you and De Wilton did that mournful morning. Has Gloucester--the King, +I mean--said aught to you of it, or has it not reached his ears?" + +De Lacy laughed. "He knew it ere he left the Tower, but he found no +fault with us." + +"And if I know Richard, he liked you both the better for it. . . Here, +fellow, another measure of wine, and see that it be of the same +barrel. . . These rogues need watching else will they serve poorer +stuff the second time, as you have likely noticed." + +"Human nature, and innkeepers' nature in particular, does not change +between Dover and Calais; yet they would hardly do us the discourtesy +to think that our heads muddled so easily." + +"Nay, lad, I was but following my motto that it is better to warn +before the fight than after." + +"Did you warn before the fight in Yorkshire?" + +"By St. Luke! there was the fitting moment for the motto, but the +villains would give me no breathing space to speak. And that reminds +me: do you recall the smooth-tongued Abbot of Kirkstall?" + +"In truth, I do," said Aymer. "The most inquisitive monk I have +chanced upon in many a day." + +"Well, the notion grips me hard that the Abbot Aldam could tell some +tales about that little incident, and violate no secret of confessional +either. There have been strange rumors lately touching his Abbey and +the style of servitors it employs at times." + +"Then we at least decreased their numbers--but one escaped, if I +remember rightly," Aymer replied. + +"Aye--one; but it is enough. Some day I may chance upon him and +then . . . I shall know the story." + +"Can you recognize the rogue?" + +"Instantly. I marked him well, for I had wounded him in the face by a +thrust he turned but half aside. A short, thick-set, red-haired knave, +with a nose as flat as a sword blade." + +"I shall not forget," said Aymer, "and mayhap I may find the story for +you. But it occurs to me you spoke of a bit of news." + +"By St. Luke, yes! I nigh forgot it, yet it would have mattered +little. It is only that I ride North two days hence." + +"To Craigston Castle?" + +"The same, unless I meet with misadventure on the way." + +"In the guise of a flat-nosed, red-haired knave," said Aymer with a +laugh. + +"A pleasant misadventure, truly! Though, were there any likelihood of +that, you would best accompany me and save me from the rogue a second +time." + +"Nay, my lord, an old bird is not caught twice in the same snare. I +scarce fancy you will be surprised a second time, or that he will again +venture voluntarily within your reach." + +"Then you may not be persuaded to go with me?" + +De Lacy shook his head. "I fear I am not open to persuasion; I could +not leave the Court at present." + +"It is a pity," said Sir John, as he flung the score on the table and +arose, "for I had thought the Countess of Clare might like to have you +with us. But of course, if the King cannot spare you, there is an end +to the matter." + +De Lacy looked at the old Knight quizzically for an instant and then +laughed frankly. + +"It was not fairly done, Sir John," he said; "you caught me foul--you +asked first, and reasoned only after I was helpless." + +"Well, there is no crime in reconsidering. Will you come?" + +"If the King will grant me leave, I shall fare with you." + +"With me or with the Countess?" Sir John laughed. + +Upon leaving De Bury, Sir Aymer de Lacy bent his steps to Baynard +Castle, where the King had come that evening. + +At the main door he encountered the Duke of Buckingham in company with +Sir William Stanley and was passing them with a courteous salutation +when Stafford caught his arm. + +"Here, De Lacy," he exclaimed--and Aymer saw he was excited and angry, +"you know all the facts! Tell Sir William who is most responsible for +the crowning of Gloucester . . . who sent him message to +Pontefract . . . who joined him at Northampton . . . who has done all +the open work here in London?" + +"Nay, Stafford," broke in Stanley, "be not so wrathful. Doubtless His +Majesty will be most fair and liberal in the matter. Give him time to +feel his crown." + +"Time!" retorted the other. "Time! He has had time and to spare. Am +I not co-heir to De Bohun through Aleanore, Hereford's daughter, and +will Richard of Gloucester think to retake what Henry of Monmouth +abjured? By the Lord Omnipotent, let him dare it!"--and with a +fiercely menacing gesture he stalked into the courtyard, and springing +to horse rode noisily away followed by his attendants. + +"His Grace appears a trifle annoyed," said De Lacy. + +Sir William Stanley shrugged his shoulders. "It would seem so; yet it +were unwise to parade it. However, Buckingham was ever hasty of +temper." + +"Nathless, the question was embarrassing and I would not care to answer +it before a Stanley," Aymer reflected, as he ascended the stairs to the +presence chamber. + +Baynard Castle, though large and roomy for a nobleman's town residence, +was not suited to the needs of a monarch, and as the Court was about to +move from Westminster to Windsor, Richard had brought only a few of his +favorite Knights and personal attendants with him for the short time he +intended to tarry in London. When De Lacy entered the Hall, Richard +was not in presence, and lounging at ease on the numerous bancals were +some of the minor officers of the Household. He made his way by them +to join a group that was gathered about the Duke of Norfolk, when +immediately there was a touch upon his arm, and a page summoned him to +the King. + +Richard was standing at an open window that overlooked the courtyard. +He turned as De Lacy entered and demanded abruptly: + +"What said Buckingham and Stanley yonder?" + +Aymer was too used, by this time, to Richard's ways to be surprised, +and he repeated the conversation as accurately as his memory held it +and without comment. + +The King listened with half-closed eyes, an inscrutable smile upon his +lips. + +"It may happen, De Lacy," he said, "that there will come a time when +you must choose between Henry Stafford and Richard Plantagenet." + +"Not so, Sire," Aymer replied. "As against Your Majesty there can +never be a choice for me." + +Richard looked him straight in the eyes. "I believe it," he said. "I +would there were more De Lacys." + +Aymer bowed low. "Your Majesty is very gracious; and it encourages me +to prefer a request." + +"Say on, sir," the King said kindly. + +"I would ask a few weeks' leave from Court." + +"Wherefore?" + +"To accompany Sir John de Bury to Craigston; and to stop at my own +castle of Gaillard on my return." + +Richard laughed lightly. "It is granted, and may success attend you," +he said. "And by St. Paul! if you win the Countess you shall wed her, +else I am not King of England." + +De Lacy blushed like a girl, and the King laughed more heartily. + +"Methinks Sir John is friendly to you," he added, "and in that you are +very fortunate. But you have rivals in plenty, so watch them +carefully. Remember, I do not make the match, but should you two wish +it, none shall make it otherwise." + +"Perchance some day I may remind Your Majesty of those words," said De +Lacy. + +"And shall find me ready to fulfill them, though I bring an army at my +back. . . If need be, you are now excused from attendance until you +return, but report to me to-morrow night; I may have some service for +you on the journey. . . Announce me." + +Swinging back the door, Aymer lifted the arras. + +"The King!" he heralded. + +Instantly quiet reigned and every one sprang to his feet and uncovered. + +"Be seated, gentlemen," said the King. . . "Ah! Norfolk, a word with +you," he said, and led the way to a large window in a far corner of the +apartment. + +"Well, Howard," said he, "the break with Stafford nears--though it +comes quicker than I had thought. Were you here when he left me?" + +"In sooth, yes, and he was wildly angry. He overtook the younger +Stanley at yonder door and his words were high enough to carry back, +though not distinguishable." + +"I know their import. De Lacy met him in the courtyard, and was +appealed to to tell who made Gloucester King." + +"The man is a fool or crazy," the Duke exclaimed; "and thrice so to +make a Stanley his confidant. Methought he would have got a little +wisdom lately by association with Your Majesty." + +"Nay, Stafford has no statecraft in him and can learn none." + +"Yet it would seem he deems himself a second Kingmaker," the Earl +Marshal remarked sententiously. + +"Let him beware then lest he meet a Warwick's death--or one less noble." + +"But, Sire, do you trust entirely this De Lacy if Buckingham grow +discontent? Was he not first vouched for by him?" + +"Did you ever hear of a De Lacy untrue to England's King?" + +"By the Rood, no! they were ever stanch for him who wore the +crown--even as Howard has been." + +"And I trust De Lacy as I trust Howard," with the winning smile he +could use so well when he wished. + +The old Peer bent knee and made to kiss the royal hand. + +"Not so, John," said Richard, raising him; "let that go save where +ceremony demand it. Your honest grip makes faith enough for +Gloucester." + +After some serious consultation Norfolk took his leave, and Richard, +passing on to his apartments and to the window that overlooked the +courtyard, watched him ride off to his own abode. Then with serious +face he turned away. + +"Norfolk and Surrey are trustworthy," he said half aloud, "but who else +of the Peers? . . . By St. Paul! it would seem well to finish Edward's +business of snuffing out the old Nobility. Yet I have no Teuton and +Tewkesbury to work an opportunity, nor are the Yorkists united behind +me. . . It is a hard problem; and the way through is far from +clear. . . Buckingham--the Stanleys--Northumberland--all their +friends--I trust them not . . . yet must favor them with power that ere +long may work my ruin. . . It has become fashionable in England it +would seem, since the Second Richard's time, to crown a new King ere +the old one died. It was so with him of Bordeaux--of Windsor--and my +own dear nephew--and pardieu! it may be the same with me. Yet, no! By +St. Paul, no! If that time ever come, there shall be a change in the +fashion: when the new King feels his crown, Richard of Gloucester will +be dead." + + + + +XIII + +AT ROYAL WINDSOR + +But the following day brought a change of plans. The King had held +council with himself during the night; and in the morning there went +forth the word that in late July he would make a royal progress through +his realm, and in the ancient town of York be crowned a second time. +Of this purpose Richard had promptly informed the Queen at Westminster; +and the same messenger who bore her answer bore also a letter from the +Countess of Clare to Sir John de Bury, advising him that she would not +go North, as had been intended, but would wait and attend Her Majesty; +explaining that not only could she thus make the long journey with no +trouble to him and with more comfort to herself, but also that she was +moved by the express desire of the Queen, who was loath to lose her. + +Sir John straightway sought the castle, and De Lacy had small trouble +in persuading him to remain and ride back to Yorkshire with the King. +That evening Aymer informed His Majesty that, on account of the new +orders, he would not relinquish for the present his duties as Knight of +the Body, and Richard smiled comprehendingly, but made no comment. + +Three days later the Court moved to Windsor. On the morning after the +arrival there, as De Lacy rounded the front of St. George's Chapel, he +came upon the Queen, attended only by the Countess of Clare. He +uncovered, and with a deep obeisance was passing on when the former +addressed him. + +"Sir Aymer," she said, and he halted and bowed low again, "methought +you had left us for distant Yorkshire. We are glad the information was +not sound.--Are we not, Beatrix?" with a sly glance at her companion. + +"Whatever pleases you pleases me," the Countess answered with a frank +smile. + +"And do you know, Sir Aymer," said the Queen, who was in a happy mood, +"that the Countess of Clare had also proposed leaving us for Craigston +Castle . . . and, indeed, upon the very morning you had fixed to go?" + +"What rare fortune to have met her on the way," said Aymer. + +"Greater fortune, think you, than to be with her here at Windsor?" + +The Countess looked at her mistress in blank surprise. + +"Could there be greater fortune than to be where Your Majesty is in +presence?" Aymer asked. + +"Where she is in presence at this particular moment, you mean?" taking +Beatrix's hand. + +"Your Majesty is hardly fair to Sir Aymer or to me," said the Countess +quickly. "You draw his scanty compliments from him like an arrow from +a wound--hurting him all the while." + +The Queen laughed. "If all Sir Aymer's wounds hurt him no more, he is +likely to know little pain." + +"I know he is French-bred and a courtier," Beatrix answered. + +"As you told me once before in Pontefract," De Lacy observed. + +"And as I am very apt to tell you again when you are presumptuous and +flattering." + +"Henceforth I shall be neither." + +"Charming, Sir Aymer, charming . . . if you could." + +"I can." + +"Till you meet another woman." + +"It is not in the other woman that my danger lies." + +Beatrix frowned, and the Queen laughed. + +"The Countess seems to know your failings, Sir Aymer," she said, "and +may be this is a good time for you to know them, too. Nay, Beatrix, +you need not accompany me. . . I am going to the Chapel. Do you take +Sir Aymer in hand and bring him out of his French habits, since you do +not like them. For my part, I think them very charming." + +"Surely she loves you," said De Lacy, when the Queen had gone. + +The Countess gave him her shoulder. + +"She takes a queer way to show it then," she retorted, her foot beating +a tattoo on the stones. + +He smothered a laugh. "Shall we walk?" he asked. + +He got a shrug and a louder tattoo. + +"Since the Queen has left me to your tender mercies," she said coldly, +"I am at your service." + +They walked in silence; he smiling; she stern-eyed and face straight to +the fore. + +"Does it occur to you, my lady," he said after a while, "that you are a +bit unjust?" + +The small head lifted higher . . . then presently, with rising +inflection: "Unjust--to whom?" + +"To the Queen." + +"I am sorry." + +"And unjust to me also." + +No answer--only a faint toss of the ruddy tresses. + +"And to me also," he repeated. + +She surveyed him ignoringly--and turned away, eyebrows lifted. + +De Lacy smiled and waited. + +Presently she gave him a quick, sidelong glance. He was gazing idly +toward the river. . . Again she looked . . . and again--each time a +trifle more deliberately. . . Finally she faced him. + +"You are unusually disagreeable to-day," she said. + +"I am sorry," he answered instantly. "I do not wish to be." + +It was so contrary to what she had expected that she halted in sheer +surprise. + +"I wonder," she said musingly. . . "I wonder . . ." then she laughed +forgivingly. "Come, let us cease this constant banter. We have been +at it ever since we met, and it profits nothing to our friendship." + +"With all my heart," he exclaimed, taking her hand and pressing it with +light fingers. + +She drew it away sharply. + +"Do you think that a fitting way to begin?" + +"Your pardon," he said softly; "I fear I did not think." + +She looked at him with quick scrutiny. + +"We islanders are not given to impulse, Sir Aymer, and do not trust it +deeply. I forgive you--but . . . not again." + +"By St. Denis! I seem to blunder always," he said sadly. "I please +you in nothing and am ever at fault." + +"You are unjust to yourself," she protested. "You please me in much, +and . . . you ought to know it;" then she blushed. . . "Let us go on +the terrace," and hurried across. . . "Now talk to me . . . not about +me," she said rather curtly, as she sat down. + +De Lacy was growing used to these swift shifts of humor, these flashes +of tenderness, veering instantly to aloofness, and then back to a +half-confidential camaraderie, that was alluringly delicious, yet +irritatingly unsatisfying. At first he had tried to force the +situation to his own liking,--to break through her moods and effect an +atmosphere more equable,--but she soon had taught him the folly of it, +and never failed to punish when he forgot. This time she, herself, had +broken through a bit, but that would only make his punishment the +heavier. + +At first the conversation was aimless and disconnected. De Lacy let it +drift and the Countess was rather distrait and steered it uncertainly. +Presently she took a grip upon herself, and, before he realized it, he +was telling her of the French Court; of Louis the King, whom men called +"The Fell," but who was, he said, the ablest of the Valois, and would +do much for France--though not by the means then deemed most +honorable,--being far ahead of his Age. He spoke of the brave, dead +St. Pol, the Constable--after Dunois, the greatest since Du Guesclin's +time. He told her of their palaces . . . of the life of their women, +though he touched but lightly upon its loose gayety . . . of the cities +. . . of the great domains whereon the noble had the "right of high +justice, the middle and the low," and indeed up until very lately had +done his own sweet will toward aught but the King, and in many cases +toward the King himself. . . And at length he mentioned having seen +and met Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, at the Court of Blois. +Concerning him the Countess asked many questions, and Aymer answered +them as best he could. He had not given the Earl much thought, nor had +he offered him any attentions, for he was regarded as little more than +adventurer--though one with strangely plenty of money; and who was +tolerated by the crafty Louis only because he might be useful some time +to play against the Yorkist King of England. + +"Methinks there is more in the Tudor than you credit," said the +Countess. "I have heard much of him, and from one who knows him +well--or did a few years since. He is not a brave Knight or skilled +warrior may be, but he has a certain shrewdness and determination which +would make him a formidable rival for the Crown, if he were able to +muster a following or had an opportunity to arouse any enthusiasm for +his cause." + +"And from what wise person did you learn all this?" De Lacy asked with +an amused smile. + +"From the Countess of Northumberland." + +"And whence comes her knowledge?" + +"If you were not new to England you would not ask," said she. "Henry +Tudor was for years a prisoner of state in her father's castle of +Pembroke. She knows him from daily companionship and should be +competent to judge. Indeed, as the Lady Maude Herbert, it is said she +was betrothed to him." + +"Why did she marry Percy?" + +"That, I can only guess. Her father fell at Edgecote; there were six +other sisters . . . and the great Earl came a-wooing. Besides, +Richmond was in exile, had lost his patrimony and a price was on his +head." + +"And she never loved him?" De Lacy asked. + +"Nay, that I do not know; but she was very young, and if she did it was +not likely a lasting passion. She seems happy enough as chatelaine of +Topcliffe." + +"Doubtless--yet, nevertheless, there is another woman in England than +Stanley's Countess who may be dangerous to Richard if Henry Tudor ever +seek an issue with him." + +"You mean the Countess of Northumberland?" + +"Aye. Percy wields huge power. He and the Stanleys together could +well-nigh topple the throne. Lord Stanley no man trusts--and it was a +Percy whose treason sent the Second Richard to his doom." + +"Richard of Bordeaux was not Richard of Gloucester," she argued. + +"In truth, no, but the conditions then were far more favorable to the +King. Believe me, wore I the Crown, these two women would give me more +concern than all the nobles in my kingdom." + +"What would you do if you _were_ King?" she asked, smiling. + +De Lacy held up his hands. "Do! When I cannot control even one woman, +I would make a merry mess with two and a kingdom besides." + +Just then a horn spoke merrily from the courtyard and De Lacy sprang up. + +"Richard is for a ride in Windsor forest and I must away," he said. "I +would that you went, too." + +"We do go," she said. "Let us haste or I shall be late to horse." + +"May I ride with you?" he asked. + +She nodded. "For a little way." + +"Why not all the way?" he persisted. + +"Because the King would object"--it was the flash of tenderness now. + +"Nay, he would be quite satisfied," De Lacy answered unthinkingly. + +She stopped short. + +"Indeed!" she exclaimed frigidly; "well, I would not;" and turning +abruptly, she entered a private passage and disappeared. + +"Now the Devil take my foolish tongue," Aymer muttered, as the door +clanged behind her. . . Then the horn rang out again, and in vast +disgust and anger he hurried to his room and into riding dress. + +But his haste made him awkward and he lost precious moments; and when +at length he rushed down the stairs and into the courtyard it was to +see Lord Darby swing the Countess of Clare into saddle and dash off +beside her. + +De Lacy swore such a string of good round French oaths that the silent +Giles Dauvrey was so startled from his wonted equanimity that for the +moment he forgot to mount and follow, but stood watching his master in +serious wonder, as Selim raced toward the gate. + +However, anger would not mend the matter and good humor might, so he +put on a smiling front. And when he presently neared the Countess and +Lord Darby he reined close beside her and cantered by with bonnet +doffed. + +"I shall claim your promise presently," he said, his eyes seeking her +face--though he doubted much if she would give it to him. + +But her humor had veered again, and she answered with such a bewitching +smile he was utterly bewildered, and for a time Selim went whither and +how he listed. + +"May I ask what is the promise?" said Lord Darby. + +The Countess raised her eyebrows in annoyed surprise. + +"I promised to ride with him this morning." + +"The promise is cancelled now." + +"And why, my lord?" + +"He was a sluggard at the start." + +She bent forward and put aright a bit of Wilda's mane. + +"Nay, sir, why should you wish him punished," said she lightly, "since +it gives you a little of my society?" + +He leaned suddenly over and laid his hand upon her arm. + +"Will you not give it to me until the end of life?" he asked earnestly. + +She gazed at him a moment in startled surprise--then laughed merrily. + +"You said that with delightful promptness, my lord," she exclaimed. +"Practice makes one proficient, surely." + +A cold light settled in Darby's eyes, and he straightened in the saddle +and faced to the front. + +"If a man be a gallant once, need that condemn his words to disbelief +forever?" he asked. . . "May not even the most confirmed trifler have, +some time, an honest passion?" + +"Doubtless, yes," she said, with a shrug of the shapely shoulders. . . +"Only . . ." + +"Only . . . only what?" + +"Only that it is very rare and its proof requires strong demonstration +and long service." + +"And I am ready to do both," he said eagerly. + +"Then, one day, my lord, you will bring great joy to some loving +heart," she replied, looking him calmly in the eyes. + +An awkward silence followed--that was not broken until Sir Aymer came +galloping back. With a familiarly courteous salute he swung Selim +around; and Lord Darby, seizing the opportunity, bowed low to the +Countess, and with a menacing glare at De Lacy--who met it with a +careless smile--he spurred away. + +The Countess had observed Darby's look and she followed him with a +frown . . . and De Lacy wisely kept silent. + +"I am glad you came," she said presently--then pulled Wilda to a walk. +"Let us loiter; since we are late it is small matter when we reach the +rendezvous." + +"Why reach it at all?" he asked. + +She hesitated. + +"Why not ride?" he persisted. + +She looked at the horses thoughtfully . . . then shook her head. "I +would far rather ride," she said, "but the Queen expects me; duty +calls." + +"St. Denis! I had quite forgot--duty calls me, too." + +But they did not take the horses from their walk, and it was far after +time when they reached the wide open space in the forest, where the +party had assembled. + +Upon one side were pitched three large silk pavilions; the center one +of red and blue--the colors of the Kingdom; the others, gold and +blue--the colors of the House of York. In front and for a wide space +around on the soft turf were spread the thick carpets of the far East. +Before the tents paced two archers of the guard; and stationed at close +intervals around the clearing were a goodly force of those veterans, +all of whom had been among the personal retainers of Richard when he +was Duke of Gloucester. + +Not over two score of the Court had been bidden, and these were +clustered before the royal pavilion when De Lacy and the Countess rode +up. A volley of chaff greeted them as he lifted her from the saddle. +One suggested that they had lost their way . . . another that it was a +shame to bring in horses so utterly exhausted . . . another that they +must have stumbled on the Court by accident . . . another that there +was powder on De Lacy's sleeve. . . And so it went; until Beatrix, in +sheer desperation, gathered her skirts about her and fled into the tent. + +The Queen was alone, resting on a couch in the inner apartment; but she +had heard the noisy greetings outside and had wondered who were the +victims. Beatrix's entrance and snapping eyes told her; and she met +her with a smile of sympathy. + +"Do not mind them, dear," she said. "They mean nothing and you have +beard a dozen others treated so, under similar circumstances." + +"I know . . . I know . . . Your Majesty," she replied, with nervous +energy . . . "but it was most annoying . . . and with Sir Aymer." + +"I doubt not he would give much to know that fact," said the Queen with +an amused smile. + +"It is because I fear he does know it that I am so vexed. By my faith, +I have made a merry mess of it all through this morning." + +"The merriest mess and the best you could make, my dear girl," +motioning her to a place on the couch, "would be to marry Sir Aymer de +Lacy." + +The Countess gave a look of startled surprise--then dropped her head. + +"And methinks," Anne went on, watching her closely, "that you are of +the same mind. Take your Queen's word, aye, and your King's as +well--for Richard has spoken of it--and quarter the red chevrons with +the silver stag." + +The Countess was slowly tracing figures on the carpet with her riding +whip; and her mistress pressed on: + +"You surely cannot hesitate from doubt of his affection. In a thousand +ways he shows you that. And certes you have had enough of suitors to +be able to weigh very scrupulously the faith they bring. He loves you +honestly. He is your equal in birth; and though his English title be +inferior to yours, he is a Count in France. Why not, my dear Beatrix, +be . . . kind to him?" and she put her arm about her. + +"You are an earnest pleader, my dear mistress," said the Countess, +still busy with the carpet . . . "and, may be, not without cause. . . +Sir Aymer is all you aver . . . a braver Knight or truer heart I never +knew. . . And it would be false modesty to pretend I think he does not +love me. I did doubt it until lately, but the doubt has gone now. +Were I as sure of myself as I am of him, I would hold him off not a +moment longer--he might speak when he chose . . . and the quickest +would not be too quick for me . . . Indeed, sometimes I long for him +with eager heart; yet, when he comes, I grow weak in resolution and +from very timidity give him only chilly words." + +The Queen drew her a little closer. "I understand, dear," she said. +"It was so with me when my own dear lord came wooing." + +"And how did you . . . change?" Beatrix asked, and blushed winsomely. + +And Anne blushed, too. "Nay, I do not know. . . One day my heart met +his words and all was peace and happiness." + +The Countess sighed. "I wish it might be so with me," she said, and +tears were in her voice; "for lately I have grown very lonely--and +after you, this man comforts me the most." + +"My sweet Beatrix," said the Queen, "Sir Aymer has you safe enough," +and she put both arms around her and kissed her cheek. + +And so, a moment later, the King found them; and with a smile, half +sympathy and half amusement, he said: + +"Methinks, my dear, you and the Countess are wasting sadly your favors +on each other. And I am acquainted with many a gallant Knight--but one +especial--who would give his quarterings to be prisoner to her as you +are at this moment." + +Beatrix's cheeks and brow went rosy and in sharp embarrassment she hid +her face upon the Queen's shoulder. + +"Pardieu, my dear," said Richard, "I did not mean to distress you--yet +since I have said it, let me say a little more. As the Queen likes +you, so like I De Lacy, and I have given him these words: 'I make not +the match, but if you two wish it, none shall make it otherwise.' And +I give them now to you also. Nay, thank me not," as she arose and +curtsied low; "and while the match would please us well, yet it is our +pleasure to follow your desires. All we need is to know them, and that +in your own good time." And Richard took her hand and kissed it; then +flung aside the curtains and went out as abruptly as he had entered. + + + + +XIV + +THE QUEEN OF ARCHERY + +As the King appeared before the pavilion, a bugle rang out, the +soldiers presented halberds, and all talk ceased sharply. + +"My good friends," said he, "I have brought you here to-day to test +your skill with a weapon that once made an English army the most feared +in all the world. In a word, I am curious to know how steadily you can +draw the cord and lay your bodies to the bow. Yonder are the butts, +and here the staves and the draw line. It is but a poor one hundred +paces to the nearest clout; and as that will be too beggarly a distance +for you, my lords, you shall use the second. The first has been placed +for the fair dames who are to shoot with you, if they will." + +And taking the hand of the Queen, who had come forth with the Countess +of Clare and was standing beside him, he led the way to the near end of +the clearing where, on a rustic table built of boughs, were piled an +assortment of yew staves and arrows of seasoned ash, with cords of deer +hide, wrist gloves, baldrics, and all the paraphernalia essential to +the archer's outfit. + +"Let the lots be drawn," he commanded; and a page came forward with the +disc-bag. + +As soon as De Lacy saw that Beatrix would participate in the contest, +he chose with much care a stave best adapted for her wrist, and picking +out a string to correspond and three grey-goose-feather shafts of a +proper length and thickness, he brought them to her. + +"Do you not shoot?" she asked. + +"Yes--but with small hope. The French do not run to the long bow, and +while once I could ring the blanc I am sadly out of practice." + +"Ring it now . . . you can," she said softly. + +He looked at her hesitatingly. "Tell me," he said, coming a bit +nearer; "tell me . . . will you be sorry if I fail?" + +But the old habit held her and she veered off. "Assuredly . . . it +would be poor friendship if I were not." . . . A bowstring twanged and +the crowd applauded. "Come," she exclaimed, "the match has begun." + +"And is this my answer?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir Insistent . . . until the ride back," and left him. + +The luck of the discs had made the Countess of Clare the last to shoot. +When she came forward to the line the butt was dotted over with the +feathered shafts; but the white eye that looked out from their midst +was still unharmed, though the Duchess of Buckingham and Lady Clifton +had grazed its edge. Beatrix had slipped the arrows through her +girdle, and plucking out one she fitted it to the string with easy +grace. Then without pausing to measure the distance she raised the +bow, and drawing with the swift but steady motion of the right wrist +got only by hard practice, and seemingly without taking aim, she sped +the shaft toward the mark. + +"Bravo!" exclaimed the King, as it quivered in the white. + +Before the word had died, the second arrow rested beside it; and even +as it struck, the string twanged again and the third joined the others +in the blanc. + +"My dear Countess," said Richard, "I did not know we entertained +another Monarch. Behold the Queen of Archery! Hail and welcome to our +Kingdom and our Court! . . . Gentlemen, have you no knee for Her +Majesty?" + +Beatrix blushed and curtsied in return, then quickly withdrew to the +side of the Queen. + +"Methinks, my lords," Richard said, "you have got a hard score to best. +However, it is but two hundred yards to your target; so let it be the +notch to the string, the string to the ear, and the shaft in the white +clout yonder." + +As the King had said, the distance was short for rovers. In all +regular contests the mark was never under two hundred and twenty paces, +and in many districts it was nearer four hundred. Nevertheless, to +strike an object, even at two hundred, that seemed no larger than one's +hand is no easy task; and yet, as one after another took his turn, the +clout was pierced repeatedly; once by some, and twice by others; but +only the Duke of Buckingham and Sir Aymer de Lacy struck it thrice. It +chanced, however, that one of the latter's arrows landed directly in +the center, on the pin that held the cloth, and this gave him the prize. + +"For one who is half a Frenchman, Sir Aymer, you handle a long bow most +amazing well," the King remarked. . . "Pardieu! what say you to a +match between the victors?" + +A murmur of approval greeted the suggestion. + +"May it please you, my liege," said De Lacy, "permit me now to yield. +I am no match for the Queen of Archery." + +"We will not excuse you . . . nor, I fancy, will the Countess," turning +toward her. + +"If Sir Aymer de Lacy will engage to shoot his best and show no favor, +I shall not refuse the trial," she replied, coming forward. + +"By St. Paul!" Richard exclaimed. "I will answer for that . . . here +is the prize," and deftly plucking the lace kerchief from her hand he +passed it to a page. "Substitute this for the clout in the far +target," he said. + +De Lacy thought she would refuse the contest; but to his surprise she +smiled--though with rather indifferent hauteur. + +"It is hardly fitting, Sire," she said, choosing an arrow, "that I +should both contribute the prize and contest for it." + +Then Sir Aymer spoke, bowing low: "May it please Your Majesty, I am +your leal subject, yet I shall not shoot at yonder mark unless the +Countess of Clare consent." + +She gave him a grateful look. + +"I thank you, Sir Aymer, for the courtesy," she said. . . "Shoot and +welcome;" and she stepped to the draw line. + +It may have been that she was careless, or that the scene had made her +nervous, for while her first two arrows struck the blanc truly as +before, the third went a finger's length above it. With a shrug she +turned away, and loosing the string leaned on the long stave, waiting. + +De Lacy had purposed letting her defeat him by a margin so slender as +not to seem intentional, but catching the dark eyes of the King fixed +on him with sharp significance, he understood that he was to win if he +could. So he drew with care, and pierced the kerchief thrice. + +De Lacy received the bit of lace from the page and proffered it to the +Countess. + +"It is quite destroyed," he said. "I am sorry." + +She laughed lightly. "You owe me no apologies, and need feel no +regret. You won it honestly--and I accept it now as a gift; a guerdon +of your prowess and your courtesy." + +He bowed; and as his glance sought the King, the latter nodded, ever so +lightly, in approval. + +An hour later, after the repast was served, the trumpet gave the signal +for departure. As De Lacy stepped forward to hold the stirrup, Richard +waved him aside, and putting one hand on his horse's wither, vaulted +easily into place. + +"Look to the ladies!" he called; "and do you, Sir Aymer, escort the +Countess of Clare. It is meet that the King of the Bow should attend +upon his Queen." + +Then dropping his tones, so that they were audible only to De Lacy, he +said with a familiar earnestness: "And if you do not turn the kerchief +to advantage, you deserve no further aid." + +Reining over beside the Queen, he motioned for the others to follow and +dashed off toward Windsor. In a trice they were gone, and, save for +the servants, the Countess and De Lacy were alone. + +She was standing beside Wilda waiting to be put up, and when Aymer +tried to apologize for the delay, she stopped him. + +"It was no fault of yours," she said--then added archly, head turned +half aside: "and you must blame Richard Plantagenet for being left with +me." + +"Blame him?" he exclaimed, lifting her slowly--very slowly--into +saddle. . . "Blame him! . . . Do you think I call it so?" and fell to +arranging her skirt, and lingering over it so plainly that the Countess +smiled in unreserved amusement. Yet she did not hurry him. And when +he had dallied as long as he thought he dared, he stole a quick glance +upward--and she let him see the smile. + +"Am I very clumsy?" he asked, swinging up on Selim. + +She waited until they had left the clearing and the grooms behind them +and were among the great tall trees: + +"Surely not . . . only very careful," she said teasingly. + +He was puzzled at this new mood that had come with the archery and +still tarried--this careless gayety under circumstances which, +hitherto, would have made her severe and distant. He was so used to +being frowned upon, reproved, and held at the point that he was quite +blind to the change it signaled. He bent his eyes on his horse's mane. +He thought of the King's words as to the kerchief and longed for a bit +of his astute penetration and wonderful tact, that he might solve this +provoking riddle beside him and lead up to what was beating so fiercely +in his breast. In his perplexity he looked appealingly toward her. + +She was watching him with the same amused smile she had worn since the +fixing of the skirt; and was guessing, with womanly intuition, what was +passing in his mind. + +"And forsooth, Sir King of the Bow," she said--and the smile rippled +into a laugh--"are you so puffed up by your victory that you will not +deign to address me, but must needs hold yourself aloof, even when +there is none to see your condescension! . . . Perchance even to ride +beside me will compromise your dignity. Proceed. . . Proceed. . . I +can follow; or wait for the grooms or the scullions with the victual +carts." + +And this only increased De Lacy's amazement and indecision. + +"Why do you treat me so?" he demanded. + +"Do you not like my present mood?" she asked. "Yea, verily, that I do! +but it is so novel I am bewildered. . . My brain is whirling. . . You +are like a German escutcheon: hard to read aright." + +"Then why try the task?" + +"I prefer the task," he answered. "It may be difficult, yet it has its +compensations." + +"You flatterer," she exclaimed; and for an instant the smile became +almost tender. + +"Pardieu! . . . You grow more inexplicable still. . . Yesterday I +would have been rated sharply for such words and called presumptuous +and kindred names." + +"And what of to-day . . . if that were yesterday?" + +"To-day! . . . To-day! . . . It has been the mirror of all the +yesterdays since the happy one that gave me first sight of you at +Pontefract; . . . and the later one when, ere I rode back to London, I +begged a favor--the kerchief you had dropped by accident--and was +denied." . . . He drew Selim nearer. . . "To-day I again secured your +kerchief; and though I wished to keep it sorely as I wished before to +keep the other, yet like it, too, I could only give it back. And now, +even as I begged before, I beg again for the favor. Will you not grant +it?" + +The smile faded and her face went serious. + +"Do you not forget the words of that first refusal," she asked, "that +'Beatrix de Beaumont grants neither gage nor favor until she plights +her troth'?" + +"Nay, I have not forgotten"--and with sudden hope that made his throat +thicken and his fingers chill he reached over and took her hand. + +She did not withdraw it nor reprove him. Instead, she fastened her +eyes on his face as though to read his very heart and soul. +Unconsciously they had checked their horses. Then she blushed, and +averting her eyes in confusion strove to release her hand. But De Lacy +pressed on, though his heart beat fast and his head throbbed. Leaning +across, he put his arm about her waist and drew her--struggling +gently--toward him. + +"And the kerchief, dear one?" he whispered. + +"Nay, Aymer, you surely do not wish it now," she answered brokenly. + +"Now, more than any earthly gift or Heavenly grace. . . Give it to me, +sweetheart." + +She had ceased to resist and his face was getting perilously near her +own. + +Suddenly, and with a smile De Lacy never forgot, she drew forth the bit +of torn lace. "Here, take it, dear," she said. + +"And you with it, sweetheart?" he cried. + +"Unto death, my lord," she answered; and once more the blushes came. + +She tried to hide her face in her hands, but with a joyous laugh Aymer +lifted her from the saddle and swung her across and into his strong +arms. + + + + +XV + +THE FROWN OF FATE + +It was the Countess' wish that the betrothal should remain secret for the +present, and therefore none but Their Majesties and Sir John de Bury were +acquainted with it. The old Knight, when approached by De Lacy on the +subject, had clapped him heartily on the shoulder. + +"Take her, lad," he exclaimed; "and be worthy, even as I think you will. +The King, himself, has spoken in your behalf . . . to say naught of the +maid herself. But by St. Luke! this fortune will bring its drag. The +Countess has had too many suitors for the favored one to escape unhated. +Nay, do not shrug your shoulders . . . or, at least, there is no harm in +shrugging if your wit be keen, your dagger ever ready, and your arm +strong. Remember, De Lacy, that you are a stranger, high in favor with +the King, and that Beatrix has broad acres as well as a fair face." + +"And also that there is a certain, flat-nosed, red-haired knave at large, +who, perchance, may honor me, even as he did you." + +"Spare him, lad, spare him for me! . . . Yet if he should come under +your sword, put a bit more force in the blow for my sake." + +"Trust me for that. . . I shall split him six inches deeper--and tell +him why as I do it." + +"It will make me still more your debtor. By the Holy Evangels! if I were +assured the Abbot Aldam of Kirkstall had aught to do with that attack +upon me, I would harry his worthless old mummery shop so clean a mouse +would starve in it." + +"Hark you, Sir John," said Aymer, "I may resign the Flat-Nose to you, but +I shall claim a hand in that harrying business if the time ever ripen." + +"Sorry the day for the Cistercian when we batter down his gates," the old +Knight laughed, yet with a menacing ring in his words. + +"Sorry, indeed, for those on the other side of the gates," came a voice +from behind the arras, and the King parted the hangings. . . . "Though +may I ask whose gates are in to be battered and for what purpose?" + +"The gates of Kirkstall Abbey, under certain conditions, so please Your +Majesty," said De Bury. + +Richard elevated his eyebrows ever so slightly. + +"And the conditions?" he asked. + +"Proof that the Abbot Aldam was concerned in a recent murderous assault +upon me, or that he harbors a certain flat-nosed ruffian who led it," Sir +John replied. + +"Methinks you told me of this matter at the time," addressing De Lacy. + +"Yes, my liege,--at Leicester." + +Richard nodded. "Perchance, Sir John, you may solve the riddle some day, +and by way of Kirkstall: though it were not best to work sacrilege. +Mother Church is holy with us yet awhile, and must needs be handled +tenderly. Nathless, there is no hurt in keeping a close watch upon the +Cistercian." + +"And if it should be that he plots treason against the King of England?" +De Bury queried. + +Richard smiled and shrugged his shoulders. + +"In that event," he said, "there will be a new mitre to fit at +Kirkstall. . . And mon Dieu! John, how would you like to wear it?" + +De Bury raised his hands in horrified negation. "Now God forefend that +I, in my old age, should come to that. Better take De Lacy; he is young +and blithesome." + +"By St. Paul! John, best not tell your niece you sought to turn De Lacy +monk!" . . . then went on: "Two days hence we fare Northward, but without +Her Majesty, who will join us later . . . at Warwick likely. To you, Sir +John, I give command of her escort . . . De Lacy, you will ride with me. +But of this, more anon," and he moved away--then stopped and said +sternly: "Sir Aymer, go to the Queen and say to her it is my command +that, until we depart, you walk with the Countess of Clare on the +terrace, or ride with her, or do whatever you two may wish." And then he +laughed. + +On the following Thursday, being the thirteenth of July, Richard departed +from Windsor, and behind him rode the most imposing and gorgeous +cavalcade that ever accompanied a King of England in a peaceful progress +through his realm. There, gleamed the silver bend of Howard on its +ground of gules; the red chevron of Stafford in its golden field; the +golden fess of De la Pole amid the leopard faces; the three gold +stagheads of Stanley on the azure bend; the gold bend of Bolton, Lord of +Scrope; the gold and red bars of Lovell; the red lion of De Lisle ramping +on its field of gold; the sable bend engrailled of Ratcliffe; the red +fess and triple torteaux of D'Evereux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley; the +sable twin lions of Catesby; the golden chevron of Hungerford; the red +engrailled cross and sable water bougets of Bourchier; and a score of +others equally prominent and powerful. And with every Baron were his +particular retainers; but varying in number up to the three hundred that +wore the Stafford Knot and ruffled themselves as scarce second even to +the veterans of the King himself. + +Richard was mounted on "White Surray," the famous war horse that he rode +first in the Scottish War, and was to ride for the last time in the +furious charge across Redmore Plain on that fatal August morning when the +Plantagenet Line died, even as it had lived and ruled--hauberk on back +and sword in hand. He wore no armor, but in his rich doublet and +super-tunic of dark blue velvet with the baudikin stripes on the sleeve, +he made as handsome and gallant a figure as one was wont to see, even in +those days of chivalry. And no reign, since his protonymic +predecessor's, gave promise of a brighter future. The people had +accepted him without a murmur of dissatisfaction, well pleased that there +was to be no occasion for the riot of factions and favorites that a child +King always engenders. England had known Richard of Gloucester, even +since his boyhood, as a strong man among strong men--a puissant knight, +an unbeaten general, a wise counsellor, a brilliant administrator; in all +things able, resourceful, proficient; combining, as it were, in the last +of the Angevines, all the keen statesmanship, stern will, and fiery dash +of the great House that had ruled England for three hundred turbulent +years. + +Since the evening in London when Buckingham had quitted the castle in +anger at the denial of the De Bohun inheritance, the matter had not been +mentioned between them; nor did the Duke know that Richard had ever heard +of his outburst. Yet it is sure that from that moment they had +distrusted each other, though they varied not a jot their former bearing. +Stafford remained at Court in constant attendance, and the King continued +to grant him substantial favors and honors, and this day, as they rode +side by side toward Reading (as well as until Buckingham turned aside at +Gloucester for his demesne of Brecknock), the most astute observer could +not have detected in the frank cordiality of their manner, the faintest +trace of unfriendliness on the part of either. + +The King had thrown aside his haughty reserve, and laughed and chatted +gayly with those about him. Toward the inhabitants, who were gathered in +crowds along the highways, he was very gracious, doffing bonnet to the +curtsies of the women, and acknowledging with a gracious sweep of his arm +and hand the respectful salutations of the men. And many were the +enthusiastic cries of "God save the King!" or "God save Your Majesty!" or +"God save King Richard!" And they came from the solitary individual as +well as from the multitude; from the laborers in the country as well as +from the tradesmen and artificers in the hamlets and small towns. + +It was near evening on the twelfth day after leaving Windsor that the +tall towers of Warwick Castle loomed in the distance, the giant "Caesar" +rising high above its huge brothers, the "Gateway" and the "Grey," and +casting its grim shadow far across the country-side. During much of this +day's journey Richard had been very quiet, riding with his head sunk on +his breast; and observing this, his attendants, save only the particular +Knight of the Body on duty, gradually drew further behind so that their +talk would not annoy him. At intervals he summoned one or more of them, +but after a short time his interest waned, his abstraction returned, and +like discreet courtiers, they quickly dropped again to the rear. As they +neared the fortress he roused himself, and when the bombard on the wall +roared out the royal salute he waved his suite to him. At the same time +Sir William Catesby, who had gone on in advance from Worcester the +previous day, came galloping to meet them with Sir James Gascoyne, the +Constable of the Castle. + +Richard supped alone that evening; and then for a while he paced the +floor in meditation, pausing finally at the open window. Presently he +struck the bell. + +"Who waits?" he asked. + +"Sir Aymer de Lacy and Sir Ralph de Wilton," replied the page. + +"De Lacy," he said. . . "Come hither," as Aymer entered; "a crowded +courtyard always entertains me. . . Sometimes much may be learned from +it; and this is very active now. Have you ever seen one so bright and +busy?" + +"But once before in England, Sire." + +"Where?" + +"At Pontefract! the night I first met the Duke of Gloucester." + +"Aye, that may be true--it was crowded in those days. . . Pardieu! it is +scarce three months since then--and yet . . . Holy Paul, what, changes!" +He half closed his eyes in retrospection. . . "It is marvellous what +memory can show us in an instant," he said, and turning sharply from the +casement struck the bell again. . . "Summon the Lord Steward," he +ordered . . . then, to De Lacy, when the page had gone: "And do you +attend to what is said and pay no regard to Stanley's glances of +uneasiness. . . You understand?" + +De Lacy bowed. "I do, and with profound satisfaction." + +"Why satisfaction?" + +"That Your Majesty does not trust him." + +Richard smiled grimly. "Trust him or his brother William? Rather look +for faith and honesty in the Fiend himself. Nathless, I may not slight +them--yet awhile. It is watch and wait--now. And a trying task truly, +for they are the shrewdest brained in the land." + +"Save the King of England," Aymer added. + +"Save none, as you some day may see." + +"God forbid!" De Lacy exclaimed earnestly. + +But Richard only shrugged his shoulders. "Nay, what boots it? As great +Coeur-de-Lion said: 'From the Devil we Plantagenets all come, and to the +Devil shall we all go.'" + +"Then Your Majesty will never be quit of the Stanleys." + +"It would seem so," with a short laugh; "yet it is the live Stanley that +worries me now." + +"The Lord Stanley awaits Your Majesty's pleasure," said the page, +stepping within the arras. + +"Admit him," the King ordered, choosing a place where his own face would +be in the shadow and the other's in the glare. . . "And would it were my +pleasure, rather than my expediency, that awaited him," he added in an +undertone. + +Stanley came forward in his precise and cautious way and bent knee to the +King. + +"Be seated, my lord," said Richard cordially. "I wish your advice upon a +most important matter, if you can spare me a little of your time." + +The Lord Steward bowed. "My time belongs to you, Sire," he said suavely; +"though I fear my poor advice can aid but little your own keen judgment; +yet it is flattering to be asked it." + +Richard made a gesture of dissent. "I did not summon you for flattery," +he said; "if I did not value your discretion you would not be here." + +"Then I trust your gracious confidence may not be misplaced." + +"I am about to test it. . . Tell me, my lord, what is the gravest state +problem that confronts me now?" + +The Lord Steward's crafty blue eyes shot a sharp glance at the King, but +Richard's black ones met it half way and drove it back in quick retreat. +Now, Stanley had one weakness. He was vain of his astuteness and ever +ready to display it; and he thought he had discerned instantly what was +in the King's mind. + +"Your Majesty means the two Princes--Edward's sons," he said. + +Richard's face showed blank surprise. + +"Nay, my lord, I mean nothing in particular," he said. "I sought only +what, in your opinion, was my chief embarrassment and peril. . . And you +answer: the young Princes. . . By St. Paul! you may be right--give me +your reasons." + +Stanley saw his blunder and grew hot with rage. He had been outwitted; +and now, as between him and the King, he must ever bear the burden of +having first suggested Edward's sons as a menace to the State. The trap +was so easy; and yet he had never seen it until it had caught him tight. +And between his anger and the strange influence which Richard exercised +over all men when in his presence, he blundered again--and worse than +before. + +"When, since time began," he asked, "has a new King had peace or comfort +while his supplanted predecessor lived to breed revolt?" + +Richard seized the opening instantly. + +"Great St. George! You do not urge the Princes' death?" he exclaimed. + +And Stanley floundered deeper. + +"Holy Mother, Sire, do not misunderstand me," he answered. "I urge +nothing. But the problem, as I see it, is, not why to act, but how to +refrain." + +"Yet Parliament has declared them bastards and so never eligible to the +crown," Richard objected. + +But Stanley had gone too far now to retreat and he pressed on, knowing +that he, himself, was incurring little or no danger by the advice. +Richard alone would be responsible if he acted upon it, and all the open +shame would fall upon him. + +"The Beauforts were bastards," he answered, "and Parliament specifically +refused them the royal dignity; yet who, to-day, is Lancaster's chief and +claimant for your Crown but the heir of those same Beauforts? Pardieu! +Sire, you need not me to tell you that Parliament belongs to him whose +writ summons it." + +"I would never countenance it," the King answered; "and it would surely +destroy me if I did." + +Stanley smiled shrewdly. "Did the Fourth Henry sit less easy on the +throne when the deposed Richard died suddenly at Pontefract? . . . Did +John tyrannize the less because of Arthur's cruel taking off?" + +The King arose and paced the floor, looking straight before him. Stanley +watched him furtively, trying vainly to read behind the mask of that +passionless face. + +"Tell me, my lord," said Richard presently, halting beside him and +putting a hand on his shoulder, "if you were King of England, what would +you do with the Princes?" + +Stanley evaded the direct question. "Your Majesty is King of England, +and I can never be aught but a subject--how can I know what a King would +do?" + +Richard nodded. "That is but fair, my lord," he said. "To decide as +King one must be King. Yet I would gather from our talk that you deem +the . . . removal . . . most essential--is it not so?" + +Pushed into the corner, the shifty Baron hesitated and sought to evade +again. But he managed badly, for now the King's eyes were hard upon his +face. + +"Of a truth, Sire," he replied, "our talk this night has convinced me it +would be most expedient for Your Majesty." + +Richard's lips softened into the very faintest smile. + +"Our talk------!" he began. + +Then suddenly Stanley started up and pointed to the window. + +"Who is yonder listener?" he exclaimed. + +Richard turned quickly, following the gesture. + +"Are your eyes failing?" he asked. "It is De Lacy--he is on duty +to-night." + +"Did you know he was there?" + +"Most assuredly, my lord." + +Stanley stared at the King in amazed silence, and despite his careful +dissimulation the indignation blazed in his eyes. + +"If Your Majesty deem it wise to discuss such matters before a simple +attendant," he said, "it is not for me to criticise . . . yet, methinks, +if it be not risky, it is at least unusual." + +"Never fear, Lord Steward; I will answer for my Body-Knight," Richard +responded. + +During the colloquy, De Lacy had been leaning on the window edge, +watching idly the courtyard below, but paying strict attention to all +that was said behind him. Now he came forward and bent knee to Richard. + +"My King's confidence," he said, "makes contemptible the insinuations of +the fickle Stanley." + +"How now, Sir------" Stanley began angrily; but Richard silenced him with +an imperious gesture. + +"Hold, my Lord Steward," he said sternly, "no words betwixt you two. And +hark you both, no renewal of this hereafter. You are each acquittanced +of the other now." + +De Lacy drew himself up stiffly and saluted. + +"The King commands," he said. + +"And you, my lord?" asked Richard, eyeing Stanley. + +"Pardieu! Sire, I have no quarrel with Sir Aymer," he answered, and +affably extended his hand. + +Just then there came loud voices from the outer room, followed +immediately by the entrance of the page. + +"May it please Your Majesty," the boy said, as the King's curt nod gave +him leave to speak, "Sir Robert Brackenbury craves instant audience on +business of state." + +"Admit him!" + +The next moment the old Knight strode into the room, spurs jangling and +boots and doublet soiled by travel. + +"Welcome, Robert," said Richard, giving him his hand. "What brings you +in such haste?" + +"Matters which are for your ears alone, Sire," said the Constable of the +Tower, with the abruptness of a favored counsellor. + +The King walked to a distant window. + +"Might the two-faced Lord Steward hear us?" Brackenbury asked. + +"No danger, speak--what is amiss in London?" + +"Enough and to spare. Edward's sons are dead." + +Even Richard's wonderful self-control was unequal to such news, and he +started back. + +"Holy Paul!" he exclaimed, under his breath; then stood with bent +head. . . "How happened it?" + +"No one knows, certainly. As you expressly ordered, either the +lieutenant or myself regularly locked their apartments at sundown and +opened them at dawn. Two nights since I, myself, turned key upon them. +In the morning I found them dead--in each breast a grievous +wound--Edward's bloody dagger on the floor." + +"And your view of it?" + +"That Edward killed Richard and himself. He had lately been oppressed +with heavy melancholy." + +The King shook his head. "Yes, that is doubtless the solution, yet scant +credence will be given it. To the Kingdom it will be murder foul. . . +Yet, pardieu! who else know it?" + +"None but my lieutenant." + +"And his discretion?" + +"Beyond suspicion. He has forgotten it long since." + +Richard called De Lacy to him. "Let Suffolk, Lovel, Ratcliffe, D'Evereux +and Catesby be summoned instantly," he ordered. + +"My friends," said he, when the last of them had come, "I have sore need +of your wisdom and counsel. Hark to the mournful tidings Sir Robert +Brackenbury brings." + +Bluntly and simply the old Knight told the story. When he ended there +was deep concern on every face and all eyes turned toward the King. + +"You perceive, my lords, the gravity of the situation," said Richard. +"What shall be done?" + +None answered. + +"Come, sirs; it is here and we must face it. What say you, Stanley?" + +The Lord Steward swept the circle with a keen glance. + +"Your Majesty has put a direful question and given us scant time for +thought," he replied. "Yet but two courses seem possible: either to +proclaim the Princes dead by natural causes and give them public burial; +or to conceal the death, and by letting the world fancy them life +prisoners so forget them. Each has its advantage; but on the whole, the +latter may be better. Nathless, this much is self-evident--the true tale +dare not be told. Daggers, blood, and death are inexplicable when Kings' +sons are the victims, save on one hypothesis." + +One after another endorsed these words, until finally it came back to the +King for decision. + +For a long while he sat silent, staring into vacancy. Through the open +windows floated the noises of the courtyard--the neigh of a horse, the +call of a soldier, the rattle of steel on stone; from the anteroom came +the hum of voices, the tramp of a foot, the echo of a laugh. But within, +no one spoke nor even stirred. Not a man there but understood the +fatefulness of the moment and the tremendous consequences of the +decision, which, once made, might never be amended. At length he spoke. + +"It is an ill-fated event and leaves a dismal prospect," he said very +quietly. "Sooner or later my nephews' death will be laid on me. To +proclaim them dead would be to declare me guilty now. To conceal their +death will be simply to postpone that guilt a time--a very little time, +it may be. Curiosity will arise over their prolonged disappearance . . . +then will come suspicion . . . and at length suspicion will become +accepted fact. . . So, my lords, their blood will be put on me--either +now or in the future. That is my only choice--now or the future--. . . +and I choose the future. We will not announce the death; and the bodies +shall be buried privately and in an unknown spot. To you, Sir Robert +Brackenbury, I commit the task, trusting you fully. . . And, my lords, +from this moment henceforth, let this council and its sad subject be +forgotten utterly. . . Only I ask that when, in after days, you hear +Richard Plantagenet accused of this deed, you will defend him or his +memory. . . And now, good night." + +One by one they came forward, bent knee and kissed his hand; then quietly +withdrew, leaving him and De Lacy alone together. + +"And yet, forsooth," he exclaimed, "Stanley advised that the Princes be +removed! By St. Paul! if he sought to persuade me to my injury, the +Fates have subserved his wishes well. Him I can baffle, but under their +frown the strongest monarch fails." + + + + +XVI + +THE FLAT-NOSE REAPPEARS + +It was September, and Their Majesties had come to Pontefract with the +immediate Household for a brief rest after the labors and fatigues of +the summer, and which had culminated in the festivities and ceremonies +at York. In the room where Sir Aymer de Lacy first saw Richard of +Gloucester, the King and Queen were alone together. Evening had +fallen, but the brilliancy of a full moon in a cloudless sky had +prolonged the day. Through the open windows came the freshness of the +woods and hills, and the candles flickered and flamed in coquetry with +the gentle breeze. + +"Come, Anne, let us walk. It is too fine an evening to spend indoors," +Richard said, laying aside the papers he had been examining. + +She answered with the sweet smile that was always on her lips for him, +and arm in arm they passed out upon the ramparts. + +The main body of the soldiery were quartered in the town below the +hill, and the castle was very quiet, save only for the tramp of the +guards on the wall, the rattle of their weapons, and an occasional +burst of laughter from the great hall. The peace and calm appealed to +the Queen, and she sighed. + +"How so, sweetheart," said Richard; "what troubles you?" + +"I was thinking how much preferable Pontefract is to London." + +The King laughed. "I believe you would rather be Duchess than Queen." + +"Aye, Richard, much rather, much rather," she replied instantly. + +He put his hand on her fair hair and stroked it softly. "Nay, dear, +the wearisome work is over now, I trust. Henceforth it will be +pleasanter . . . Pardieu! was there ever another woman, I wonder, who +needed encouragement to wear a crown?" + +"A Neville once refused one," she replied. + +"True, indeed; and gave it back to the miserable Henry. . . You +resemble your great father in many ways--and may our own dear son be +like you both." + +"You are very good to me, Richard," she said, taking his hand. + +"But much short of what you deserve, dear one." + +Suddenly a bugle rang loudly from before the barbican, followed in a +moment by the rattle of the drawbridge and the clatter of hoofs on the +planks. + +"It is Beatrix and Sir John returning from their ride," the Queen said. + +"It was not De Bury's call," he answered. + +"Why, it is Sir Aymer de Lacy!" she exclaimed, as a pair of horsemen +cantered across the inner bailey. + +Richard nodded. "And a day earlier than I anticipated . . . but he has +a good excuse." + +"And a bit of disappointment also, that Beatrix is not here to greet +him." + +"He can spare her until he has supped, I fancy." + +"She would not be pleased to think so." + +"A woman wants a man to think of naught but her," he smiled. + +"Yes, she does--and even though she know it to be futile . . . it is +foolish, doubtless." + +"It is more than foolish; it is unfortunate. It annoys the man and +grieves the woman." + +"Nay, Richard, you look at it with a man's view only." + +"And you, my dear?" + +"I?--with the proper view, of course." + +The King laughed aloud; and as De Lacy, who had just dismounted before +the keep, recognized the voice and glanced up, Richard leaned over the +parapet and beckoned to him. + +"We are glad to see you," he said, as the Knight presently bent knee +and kissed the Queen's hand. + +"Yes, Sir Aymer, you are always welcome," she added. + +"Your Majesties overwhelm me." + +"Well, if our greeting overwhelm you," the King remarked, "the Countess +of Clare's wilt likely end your life." + +"I am very anxious to risk it, Sire," De Lacy answered quickly. + +"Beatrix has left the castle," said Richard. + +"Gone!" Aymer exclaimed. + +"Oh . . . only for a ride." + +"A ride--at night?" + +"Surely--why not--on a fine night and with a gallant escort?" + +"Nay, Richard," the Queen broke in, "do not distress him. Sir Aymer, +Beatrix is with her uncle, and as they have been absent since before +vespers, they must soon return." + +De Lacy's face cleared so quickly that Richard smiled. + +"A bad case, truly," he commented, putting his arm about the Queen. +"Has the lady the disease so deep?" + +"I would not tell you even if I knew," she answered. + +"Nay, I only jested. . . But seriously, De Lacy, why should the +wedding be delayed . . . why not have the ceremony here at Pontefract +before we go Southward?" + +"That it has not already taken place is no fault of mine------" + +"It is, sir; you should have won the Countess to consent," the King +interrupted. + +"Her wish runs with mine." + +"Then what ails the matter? . . . Not De Bury surely?" + +"Sir John is as willing as we. It is the behest of the dead Earl that +bars." + +"Beatrix's father?" + +"Yes; she promised him she would not wed before her twenty-fifth +birthday." + +"Peste! A senseless thing to exact; she was little more than child. +As King I can absolve her from it." + +"I fear that would not help the matter, Sire; Beatrix regards it as +sacred--it was given at the Earl's deathbed." + +Richard made a gesture of annoyance. "Does no consideration lift the +obligation from her?" he demanded. + +"Naught, as she views it now, but a question of life, honor, or +imperative necessity." + +"Now may the Devil fly away with such foolishness! Wherefore shall the +dead rule the living? . . . How old is the Countess?" + +"She was four and twenty last month." + +"Great St. George! You have a wait, indeed; and ample time to pray for +the imperative necessity. Meanwhile, best continue to keep the +betrothal secret. It will likely save you both some embarrassment and +considerable gossip at the long delay." + +Just then another bugle blared from the barbican. + +"Sir John and Beatrix!" the Queen exclaimed. + +Richard shook his head. + +"It was Ratcliffe's call," he said. + +A moment later the Master of Horse came at full gallop across the +courtyard. + +Jumping from saddle and letting his horse run loose to be caught by the +grooms, he sprang up the steps. In the anteroom the page met him with +the information that Their Majesties were on the wall and were not to +be disturbed. But at the first word, Ratcliffe dashed into the King's +chamber and thence to the ramparts. Richard saw him coming and went +quickly to meet him. + +"What is it?" he demanded. + +"Where is De Bury?" Ratcliffe asked. + +"Gone for a ride with the Countess." + +"I feared it. I found his horse at the foot of the hill, trotting +toward the castle from the West. There is blood on the saddle cloth, +and the rein is cut in twain at the bit." + +"Foul work!" the King exclaimed. "Send an order to the camp for a +hundred men to scour the country toward the Aire, and let another fifty +muster before the barbican at daybreak; then come to me." . . . and +turning, he sauntered back to the Queen. "Come, my dear, let us go +in," he said, putting his arm through hers, "I must take up some +matters that Ratcliffe has brought. And do you remain, De Lacy; +perchance you can aid me." + +"Will you be occupied very late?" she asked, as he held back the arras. + +"Only a short time, my dear. I will come to you presently," and +himself closed the door behind her. + +"Are you very weary?" he asked De Lacy. + +"Fit for any service Your Majesty may wish." + +"It will be your own service." + +"Mine! Mine! . . . You cannot mean----" taking a step forward. + +"Steady, man, steady! I mean only that Sir John's riderless horse has +just been found near the castle, with severed rein and bloody saddle." + +De Lacy passed his hand across his forehead. + +"And Beatrix?" he asked huskily. + +The King shook his head. + +Again Aymer passed his hand across his eyes; his brain was working very +slowly how. + +"You have given orders?" he asked. + +"One hundred men-at-arms are seeking for a clue. Fifty others will +await you at the barbican at daybreak." + +"Meanwhile I, too, will seek," and he sprang toward the door--and into +Ratcliffe's arms. + +"Stay, Sir Aymer," said the King; "it would do no good for you to +search at night--you may go far astray. All that can be done till +daybreak the scouts will do. . . You gave the orders, Ratcliffe?" + +"I did, and venture to amplify them by sending twenty men along the +North road as far as the Aire for any trace of Sir John or of the +fight--for, of course, there was a fight." + +"And a passing hard one ere De Bury was unhorsed," said Richard. + +"The remaining eighty," Ratcliffe continued, "I divided into bands of +ten and five, bidding them follow every cross-road or bridle-path, and +inquire for information from every traveler and at every habitation. +The instant aught is discovered you will be advised." + +The King turned to De Lacy. "You rescued Sir John when he was attacked +last April near his own castle; might this be the same band?" + +Aymer shook his head. "We killed all of them but one." + +"True, I remember now. . . The flat-nosed one alone escaped. . . Did +De Bury ever speak to you of enemies in these parts?" + +"Never directly; though, as you know, he seemed to dislike the Abbot of +Kirkstall and suspected him of being, at least, party to the other +attack." + +"Well, we must wait for even a plausible solution until we have a few +facts. Yet I would wager much it is an abduction--and God grant it be +so. . . Of course, it may be the villains did not molest the Countess. +In that case, find Sir John and you find her, too." + +"The chance is slight," De Lacy said quickly, "yet I shall ride rapidly +back for a few miles and, perchance, it may be so. If I be not here by +daybreak, Sire, I will join the men en route." + +"It will be a relief for you to be on the move," said Richard kindly; +"but return here for your escort. We may have clues then; and if the +Countess has been abducted, she is quite as likely to be carried South +as North." + +"I shall be here at daybreak," Aymer answered. He saddled Selim with +his own hand, and with Dauvrey beside him hurried away. They rode in +silence with eyes alert, scanning sharply the ground on both sides of +the road that lay like a silver stream before them. A mile from the +castle a soldier rode out from the shadow and reined across the track, +his casquetel and drawn sword glistening in the moonlight. + +"Hold!" he ordered. + +"Yorkshire!" said De Lacy . . . "Any news?" he demanded, as they swept +by. + +"None, my lord." + +At the first cross-road two horsemen barred the way. Aymer paused to +question them, but learning nothing, the pace was resumed. Another +mile was passed, and they had tarried a moment to breathe and water the +horses at a rivulet that gurgled across the road, when Selim suddenly +threw up his head. + +"Some one comes!" said De Lacy . . . "it is news . . . he rides +furiously; he must be stopped." + +They drew out into the middle of the track and waited. Presently a +running horse shot into view ahead, and the rider, seeing the two in +front, shouted the royal messenger's call: "Way! In the King's name! +Way!" + +"Stay, Allen," Giles Dauvrey cried, recognizing him. "What word?" + +"Sir John has been found," the man answered, drawing up short. + +"Dead?" Aymer demanded. + +"No, my lord, not yet." + +"And the Countess of Clare?" + +"Gone, my lord; no trace." + +"God in Heaven! . . . Where Is Sir John?" + +"Half a league further on." + +"Tell the King I have gone thither," Aymer called over his shoulder as +he raced away. + +In a patch of moonlight, fifty feet or so in from the road, lay Sir +John de Bury, his eyes closed, his face upturned, motionless--to all +appearances a corpse. De Lacy sprang down and knelt beside him. + +"He is not dead, my lord," said a soldier. + +Aymer laid back the doublet and shirt, wet and heavy with blood that +had come from a deep wound in the right breast, and was still oozing +slowly. The heart was beating, but very faintly, and forcing the set +jaws apart with his dagger, he poured a measure of cordial down Sir +John's throat. + +"May it please you, sir," said one of the men, "we have arranged a +litter of boughs, and if you think it good we will bear him back to the +castle." + +"It can do him no harm," De Lacy answered. . . "How say you, Giles?" + +"With even step it will not hurt him," the squire replied. + +Lifting the old Knight carefully they placed him on the litter and +Aymer wrapped his own cloak around him, then nodded to the soldiers to +proceed. + +"Go slowly," he ordered, "a jolt may end his life. Watch his heart +closely; if it grow weaker, use the cordial," and he handed them the +flask. + +"The fight was not at this place," said Dauvrey after a moment's +examination of the ground; "there are no mingling hoof marks. De Bury +likely fell from the saddle here and the horse kept on to the castle; +his tracks point thither." + +"Let us follow the back track," De Lacy exclaimed. + +For a score of paces it led them, slowly and laboriously, into the dark +forest, and then vanished, and though they searched in all directions, +no further trace was found. It was a fruitless quest; and at length +the squire persuaded his master to abandon it and await the coming of +the dawn. + +Reluctantly De Lacy remounted and they rode slowly back to Pontefract. +The soldiers bearing Sir John de Bury had reached there some time +before, and he lay on the couch in his own room. There was no material +change in his condition, though under the candle-light there was less +of the ghastly pallor of death in the face; and about the ears were +evidences that the blood was beginning to circulate more strongly. The +King's own physician, Antonio Carcea--an Italian--sat beside him with +his hand on the pulse and, ever and anon, bent to listen to the +respiration. + +At Be Lacy's entrance he glanced up with a frown which faded when he +saw who it was. + +"He will live, Signor," he said in Italian. "He has not yet come to +consciousness, but it is only a matter of a little while." + +"Will he speak by daybreak?" De Lacy asked. + +"Most likely, Signor." + +"Summon me on the instant, and may the Good God aid you." + +Going to his quarters and waving Dauvrey aside when he would have +relieved him of his doublet, Aymer threw himself upon the bed. He had +ridden far that day, and with the coming of the sun would begin what +promised to be a labor long and arduous. He could not sleep--and his +closed eyes but made the fancies of his brain more active and the +visions of his love, abducted and in hideous peril, more real and +agonizing. Yet to serve her he must needs be strong and so he tried to +compose himself and rest his body. There was scanty time until +morning; but an hour of quiet now might breed a day of vigor in the +future. + +Presently there came a sharp knock and Ratcliffe entered. + +"Lie still," he said, as De Lacy would have risen. "I know you found +no trace of the Countess else you would not be here. Yet, perchance, +Sir John may speak or some of the scouts return with a clue. If not, +the sunlight, doubtless, will reveal what the night has hidden. The +King has retired, but he bade me say to you not to depart without word +with him. Meanwhile if any of the scouts come in they are to report to +you." + +Slowly the minutes dragged themselves out. The shadows lengthened more +and more as the moon went to its rest behind the distant Craven hills. +Then of a sudden, light and shadow mingled and all was dark. Presently +a cock crowed; and the sound seemed loud as a roar of a bombard. Again +the cock crowed, and from the retainers' houses another and another +answered, until the shrill cry ran along the outer bailey and across +the wall and on down the hill to the village, growing fainter and +fainter until, at the last, it was like a far distant echo, more memory +than reality. + +De Lacy turned his head toward the window, hoping for some sign of day, +but the East was black. With an impatient sigh he lay back. Was ever +man so sorely tried--so cruelly used--so choked by horrors of the +probable! Then came a troubled slumber--a tossing and a waking--that +was ended by a quick step in the corridor, and with a bound he reached +the door and flung it open. + +"Sir John------" the page began, but got no farther--De Lacy was gone. + +Sir John de Bury lay as when Aymer left him, but the color was coming +back to his face and his eyes were open, and he smiled very faintly in +greeting. + +"He may speak?" De Lacy asked. + +"A few words, Signor," the Italian answered. + +Just then the King entered hastily, a long gown about him. Sir John +tried to raise his hand in salute, but Richard quickly caught the weak +fingers. + +"Nay, nay, my friend," he said; "another time for that." . . . Then to +Carcea: "Has he spoken?" + +"Not yet, Sire; and if it please Your Majesty, it would be well to ask +the questions so that they can be answered by a motion of the head. +The patient's strength will permit few words." + +"Do you understand, John?" Richard asked. + +De Bury smiled faintly and indicated that he did. + +"Were you attacked?" the King went on. + +"Yes," said the nod. + +"By highwaymen?" + +A pause, and then--"No." + +"By men hired for the purpose?" + +"Yes," readily. + +"Do you know by whom?" + +Another pause; then--"No." + +"You have suspicion?" + +"Yes," quickly. + +"More of that in a moment; first, tell me, did they carry off the +Countess?" + +"Yes," and the old eyes glowed fiercely. + +"Was she hurt in the struggle?" + +"No." + +"Were you attacked in the main road?" + +"No." + +"On a by-track?" + +"Yes." + +"North of the main road?" + +"Yes." + +"Near the main road?" + +"Yes." + +"Two leagues from here?" + +"Yes," after a slight pause. + +"More than two?" + +"No." + +"Oh! the path to the Hermit's Cell?" + +"Yes," quickly. + +"How long after you left Pontefract--two hours?" + +"Yes," readily. + +"Can you show the number of your assailants on your fingers?" + +The right hand opened and closed twice. + +"Ten, mean you?" the King exclaimed. + +"Yes," instantly. + +"Pardieu! did you recognize any of them?" + +"One," said the raised finger. + +"Can you whisper his name?" and the King bent low over the bed. + +Sir John's lips twitched. He labored hard to speak, but the strength +was wanting; no sound came; the tongue refused to move. A spasm of +disappointment passed over his face. Then suddenly he fixed his eyes +meaningly upon De Lacy, and Richard understood. + +"Does Sir Aymer know this fellow?" he asked. + +"Yes," was the instant answer. + +"Has he been about the Court?" + +"No." + +"St. Denis!" exclaimed De Lacy, "was it Flat-Nose?" + +"Yes! Yes!" eagerly. + +"One more question," said the King: "Can you suggest whither they +carried the Countess?" + +Again the eyes turned to De Lacy. + +"Kirkstall Abbey?" Aymer asked. + +"Yes," but the hesitating nod signified it was only a suspicion. + +"We will leave you now, old friend," said Richard. "Be not concerned. +Ample precautions were taken hours ago to trace the Countess; and De +Lacy with fifty horsemen rides in pursuit at daybreak--as soon as trail +can be followed. The quest ends only when she is found and saved. +Come, Sir Aymer, morning dawns and a word with you before you mount. +Hark! your troopers muster now within the camp." + + + + +XVII + +IN PURSUIT + +"It is meagre information, yet enough to make a start on," the King +said when they had left the room. "Perchance ere you reach the spot, +you will gather more from the scouts who should be coming in. Yet it +is most improbable that the villains took the main roads with the +Countess. They will travel by secluded paths and through the forests; +and if their destination be distant, they will not trust the highways +inside a day's ride of Pontefract. Therefore, go slowly until the +trail be plain. Then--well, I need not tell you what to do then." + +"By St. Denis, no, Sire! My sword arm knows how to slay." + +"Would that I could go with you," Richard said, his ardor for adventure +and danger working strong. "Yet the King may not, and I do not care to +assume disguise just now. Some day . . . Peste! Some day must care +for itself and wait." . . . He drew a ring from his finger. "Here, De +Lacy," he said, "this bit of gold, bearing my arms and the Boar, may +prove of use. Show it, and your least word will be obeyed--send it to +me, and, if need be, an army brings it back. Guard it well; there are +but four others in the Kingdom. . . Nay--no thanks; Richard trusts +few--them he trusts to the end. Use the ring without stint when +necessary; but hark you, beware the friends of Buckingham. There is +mischief afoot and, maybe, treason brewing at Brecknock." + +"And Your Majesty does naught to stem it?" De Lacy exclaimed. + +A cold smile crossed the King's face. + +"Not yet," he answered. . . "And further, if your course should lie +near Kirkstall, best be mindful of the Abbot. There may be some basis +for De Bury's notion. And now, away.--You have the Queen's prayers, +the Ring of the Boar and your own good sword. You must needs prevail." + +As De Lacy and Dauvrey emerged from the shadow of the barbican a bugle +spoke and Raynor Royk rode forward and saluted. + +"Are you ready?" De Lacy demanded, running his eye along the line. + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Forward, then;" and at a trot he led the way. + +"You know our mission?" he asked. + +"Yes, my lord." + +"And the men, also?" + +"I ventured to tell them." + +"It may be heavy duty and full of danger." + +The old warrior drew himself up sharply. "Your lordship does not doubt +me?" + +"Nay, Raynor, never you. I only want your vouchment for the soldiers." + +"Many would give their lives for you, Sir Aymer; all would die for the +Countess of Clare." + +"And you all may be afforded the opportunity ere the quest be ended," +said De Lacy grimly. "We take the path to the Hermit's Cell; see that +I do not miss it. Furthermore, you know this country intimately, so do +not hesitate to advise me at any time." + +Raynor Royk dropped back to resume his place; then quickly turned: "Two +horsemen gallop after us, my lord." + +De Lacy reined around and raised his arm for the column to halt. + +"They wear armor," said he, "but I discern no jupon." + +Raynor Royk shook his head. "The corselets shine plain, but methinks +it is Sir Ralph de Wilton in front." + +"Aye, it is Sir Ralph!" Dauvrey exclaimed, "or I know not a man's seat +in saddle." + +De Lacy rode back to greet him. + +"Did you come from London at that pace, Ralph?" he asked as they met. + +"Nay, only from Pontefract to overtake you." + +"You have news of the Countess?" + +"Alas, no. I reached Pontefract town from London last night, but too +late to report at the castle before morning. . . Now, His Majesty can +wait until we have found Beatrix. I ride with you, my friend." + +De Lacy put out his hand and De Wilton reached over and took it; and in +the firm grip of their fingers was the confession of the one and the +sympathetic appreciation of the other. + +"We will save her, never fear," Sir Ralph said. Then his eyes fell on +the ring. "By St. George, The Boar! I salute you--for even though you +are not the King, still are you almost as powerful. Whoever wears that +ring has all but the title--aye, and more--he has the King's enemies as +well as his own." + +"And me a stranger!" De Lacy observed tersely. + +"Aye, and what with that, and the Ring, and the Countess, your life is +not worth a third that mine is." + +"It is worth absolutely nothing to me unless Beatrix be found alive." + +"Pardieu! her life is in no danger. At the most, she will be held only +for ransom." + +"Heaven grant it! though I fear the plot is more deeply laid." + +"In that case, my dear De Lacy, when she is rescued let the Church work +quickly its sacrament upon you; there will be less temptation then to +carry her off." + +"Yonder, my lord, lies the way to the Hermit's Cell," came the voice of +Raynor Royk. + +Under the oaks and beeches whose gnarled and twisted arms overlapped +the path the column bent its course; and as it wound along the narrow +way, the shafts of sunlight, breaking through the leaves, rippled over +the steel casquetels and trappings until it was as if a rivulet had +suddenly gushed forth and was flowing down this forest by-path. + +The Hermit's Cell was tenantless. The door had rotted from its +fastenings and lay athwart the entrance. The roof was fallen in. +Mould and rank vegetation choked the place. Long since had its holy +denizen come to the dark River and been lost in the Mists. + +A little way beyond the hut was where Sir John and the Countess had +been attacked. There could be no missing it, for the turf on both +sides of the path was torn and the bushes were crushed and broken. A +brief inspection proved that the Countess had been the quarry, for the +assailants had not cared enough about De Bury to pursue him. They had +gone Northward, as the hoof marks showed, and springing back into +saddle, De Lacy hurried on. A quarter of a mile beyond, the tracks +turned abruptly and struck off through the forest. At length the trees +grew thinner, and presently the highway lay before them, and the trail +ended--nor could they find it again. + +"We will on to Kirkstall and its crafty Abbot," De Lacy exclaimed. + +"Surely you do not think he knows of this affair?" De Wilton asked. + +"When it comes to priests in general and abbots in particular, I never +think," Aymer answered. "It is their game, and few can play it with +them and have a chance to win. I prefer to fight them with my own +weapons," jerking his head toward the fifty men-at-arms. "If the Abbot +know aught of this business, it will do no hurt to let him see these +honest followers of His Majesty. It may loose his tongue." + +"It will take more than steel coats to make Aldam speak, if he be +minded otherwise," said De Wilton. + +"Doubtless; but while we hold converse with him, Raynor Royk shall have +the premises spied over." + +When they reached Kirkstall no porter was in the lodge, but the gates +were open wide, and halting the column, the two Knights with their +squires rode into the courtyard. At the further end of the quadrangle +a dozen horsemen were drawn up, and their leader, his foot in stirrup +ready to mount, was having a last word with the Abbot. + +Hearing their approach they turned quickly. + +"Darby!" exclaimed De Wilton. "Now what brings him here so early in +the day?" + +"Penance and absolution likely," De Lacy answered scornfully. + +"Well, I trust he has got them and feels more easy with the world." + +"My lord Abbot," said Aymer, as they dismounted, "I am a trespasser a +second time, and an ill-timed one I fear, for which I beg your kind +indulgence--and Lord Darby's," and he bowed to the latter. + +"Nay, Sir Aymer de Lacy, you interrupt nothing," Darby responded; "I +was but making my adieu before pushing on to Pontefract." + +"And Sir Aymer knows he is ever welcome at Kirkstall, both on his own +account and because he is of the Household of the royal Richard," the +Abbot answered easily; "and I trust His Majesty and his gracious +consort are in the best of health." + +"We left them at daybreak much distressed over a most dastardly outrage +perpetrated upon the Countess of Clare and Sir John de Bury," said +Aymer abruptly, watching the monk's face--but all he saw there was +blank amazement. + +"Holy Mother! my son, what do you mean?" he cried. + +"That they were set upon last evening near the Hermit's Cell by a band +of cut-throats; Sir John all but murdered, and the Countess carried +off." + +The Cistercian raised his arms in horrified surprise. + +"Incroyable! Incroyable!" he exclaimed. + +And Lord Darby began to swear copiously in French. + +"What were the facts, and what has been done for rescue?" the Abbot +asked. + +Briefly De Lacy told of the riderless horse and the finding of Sir John +de Bury. Of the story revealed by De Bury's finger and head in answer +to the King's questioning and the fact that a hundred men-at-arms had +been searching the country since the late evening of yesterday, and +particularly as to Flat-Nose having led the assailants, he was most +careful to say not a word. + +When he had finished, Lord Darby went off again in a storm of fierce +imprecation; this time, however, in good Anglo-Saxon. And the Abbot +was seemingly so stunned by Aymer's recital that he did not note the +irreverence of his lordship, who was let free to curse away to his +heart's content until brought up by De Wilton. + +"Take a fresh start, Darby; you are repeating yourself. Change off +again into French." + +Darby turned upon the young Knight with a gesture of sharp surprise. + +"None but a weakling could hear Sir Aymer's tale without a rush of hot +resentment," he exclaimed. + +"By the Rood! I observed only a rush of oaths," Sir Ralph laughed. + +Darby's quick anger flamed up; and jerking off his riding gauntlet he +flung it at De Wilton's face. But the Abbot dexterously caught the +glove. + +"For shame, Lord Darby, for shame!" he said, "that you, a man in life's +full prime, should so far forget your knighthood over a bit of innocent +banter. Nor may you, Sir Ralph de Wilton, accept the gage. This is +holy ground; dedicated to the worship of the Humble One; and I charge +you both, by your vows of humility, to let this matter end here and not +to carry it beyond yonder gates. Have I your promise, my lord?" + +"If Sir Ralph de Wilton be willing, I am content. Doubtless I was +hasty," Darby answered with well-assumed frankness, his passion quickly +curbed. + +"And you, Sir Ralph?" the Abbot queried. + +"Am content, even as Lord Darby. I have no cause for quarrel," De +Wilton replied indifferently. + +Darby bowed curtly in acknowledgment; then sprang into saddle. + +"I shall gallop straight to Pontefract;"--addressing De Lacy--"I may +aid in the search. Have you any message for the King?" + +"Only that you left us at Kirkstall." + +Darby gave him a quick, searching look. "It is a very meagre report." + +De Lacy smiled. "There has naught happened since we crossed the Aire; +and what was discovered between the Castle and the river has already +been communicated to the King." + +The Abbot watched Darby pass the gate. "His lordship would have liked +much to know what you found at the Hermit's Cell and in the forest," he +remarked. + +"Doubtless, though it was little enough," said Aymer. "However, it is +but a few leagues to Pontefract and there he will learn all the news of +the Court." + +"True, my son; yet, to an ardent lover and one not without hope of +acceptance if rumor speak correctly, it would have been a satisfaction +to know if you have anything that gives clue to the Countess or her +captors." + +De Lacy shrugged his shoulders. "Small comfort would I give him, then." + +"Peste! my son, I am very stupid. I quite forgot that there are others +than Darby who can see the attractions of the Lady of Clare. And of a +surety will she be grateful to him who rescues her." + +De Lacy made a gesture of dissent. + +"It is scarce honorable, this motive you ascribe to me, my lord Abbot," +he said curtly. + +"Honor and expediency go not always hand in hand," the priest answered +with a half suppressed sneer; then without giving time for retort, he +changed his tones to grave courtesy. "But I am remiss, my lord, I have +not yet done you the civility of inquiring how we of Kirkstall can +serve you." + +"Not at all, I fear; at least upon the matter that brought us here; it +is evident you can give us no information as to the Countess." + +"Alas! no, my son. Would to Heaven I could! . . . Have you then lost +all trace of her?" + +"Aye, a league south of the Aire." + +"I will summon the brother who was on duty last night at the outer +lodge; maybe he noted something that will aid you." + +But Father Ambrose had not seen a single way-farer; though as he had +dozed several times during the night he thought a few persons might +have passed quietly, and not aroused him. + +"You doze!" exclaimed the Abbot in sarcastic displeasure and eyeing the +good monk's ample girth and heavy, jowly face. "Your doze would need a +pole-axe to awaken. An army could have marched by with trumpets +sounding and you never lift an eye. Other duty shall be given you and +a more slender brother assigned to the night watch. You may go. . . +By my faith, sirs, I wonder if you soldiers have as much trouble with +your subordinates as we churchmen have with ours." + +"We, at least, can deal out heavier discipline when occasion demand +it," De Wilton answered. + +"Aye! you men of war tread not after the Merciful One," the Abbot said. + +De Lacy laughed shortly. "Mercy is but relative, and methinks, you +ecclesiastics are no slower in your judgments than are we. The +punishments differ only in kind." + +"But our discipline is a step toward Holiness and Christ, my son." + +"And ours a leap toward Sin and Satan, think you? Nathless, am I quite +as willing to take my chance of Heaven in a coat of mail as in the +priestly gown." + +The Abbot's eyes snapped with irritation, but his speech was easy and +pacific. "You are young, my son; perchance, when you have more grey +hairs there will be a change in your views. Meanwhile you and Sir +Ralph need refreshment, to say naught of the good squires and the +horses." + +De Lacy hesitated. They had already tarried overlong, under the +circumstances, but perchance Raynor Royk had not yet completed his +scrutiny of the Abbey. There was need that this should be thoroughly +done, yet so carefully, withal, as not to arouse suspicion. If Aldam +were to imagine he and his were mistrusted it would make him an enemy +if innocent, and a doubly armed foe if guilty. The doubt, however, was +solved by the entrance of a strange horseman into the courtyard. A +faint frown crossed the Abbot's face as he saw him, and De Lacy +instantly decided to remain. Evidently the newcomer was either +unwelcome or inopportune; and if it were because of their presence, +then undoubtedly here was their place. + +"We will accept with thanks, your reverence," he said. + +Aldam smiled suavely; then went forward to greet the new guest. + +"It is Sir Christopher Urswicke--the priest Knight--the confessor of +Margaret of Richmond," De Wilton whispered. + +"A bit far out of his demesne, methinks," De Lacy muttered. + +"Aye! too far to be passed over without report to His Majesty. Where +Urswicke goes his mistress sends him--and lately she has but one object +in life: to make her son the King of England." + +"And like enough will succeed only in making him shorter by a head," De +Lacy responded. + +Meanwhile Urswicke had greeted the Abbot and dismounting had turned his +horse over to his two attendants--who were neither squires nor yet +ordinary servants, and who doubtless could either fight or pray as +occasion demanded. Their dress partook of the style of their master, +who wore the ordinary riding costume of a Knight, even to the golden +spurs; the only marks of his clerical calling being his short cropped +hair and the string of beads about his neck with the pendant crucifix. +His frame was angular and above the ordinary height. His face was long +and narrow, with a hawk-like nose, pointed chin, thin, straight lips, +prominent cheek bones and deep-set grey eyes that glittered and chilled +like those of a snake. He swept the others from helm to spur with a +single glance, and Aymer saw his eyes fasten for an instant on the Ring +of the Boar. + +But if Urswicke's countenance were forbidding, not so was his voice. +Its clear, sweet tones were in such sharp contrast to the fell face +that De Lacy was startled into showing his surprise. And the priest +noticed it, as he had many times before in others, and smiled in +indifferent contempt. + +During the refection, that was served immediately, Urswicke was most +amiable and paid particular attention to De Lacy and De Wilton. By +most astute and careful conversation he sought to draw from them +information as to the King's programme during the Autumn; how long he +would remain at Pontefract, and whither his course when he left there. +Yet with all the art of an adept, he risked no direct question and +displayed no particular interest in these matters, when by his very +manoeuvring they were touched upon. But De Wilton had been bred in the +atmosphere of Gloucester's household and De Lacy had been trained by +years of service amid Italian and French plotters; and they both +quickly discerned that the Abbot and the Priest-Knight were working +together, and they only smiled and played them off against each other; +and at the end of the meal, what the two had learned of Richard's +intentions was likely to be of scant profit to either Henry Tudor or +his scheming mother. + +"What a precious pair of priestly scoundrels!" De Wilton exclaimed, +when he and De Lacy had mounted and were trotting toward the gate. + +"They will be the first knocked on the head if Raynor Royk has located +the Countess," said Aymer. + +"By the saintly Benedict! why not do the knocking now and then hear +Raynor's report?" De Wilton laughed. + +"It would give me great pleasure and doubtless be altogether proper as +a matter of abstract justice; but I fear rather impolitic. Best wait +for Royk." + +But Royk's search was barren; and so the Abbot Aldam and Sir +Christopher Urswicke were left to their plotting, while Sir Aymer De +Lacy and Sir Ralph De Wilton rode Westward, seeking vainly for a clue +to the lost Lady of Clare. + + + + +XVIII + +THE HOUSE IN SHEFFIELD + +Three weeks later, toward evening, Sir Aymer de Lacy with a dozen weary +and travel-stained men-at-arms rode into Sheffield and drew up before +the Inn of the Red Lion. In fog and rain and sunshine, by day and by +night, they had kept to the search, and all in vain. + +The morning after leaving Kirkstall Abbey, De Lacy and De Wilton had +separated. It was useless to hold so many men together when there was +no immediate prospect of a fight or even a hard stern chase; and there +would be much more profit in dividing them into small bodies and so +spreading over a wider stretch of country. De Wilton with half of the +force turned Northward to cover the section beyond the Wharfe, while De +Lacy with the others kept on toward Lancaster; and these he further +divided and subdivided until there was scarce a hamlet or bridle-path +in the West Riding that had not been visited. + +As the days passed with no fortune for him, and no word from the King +of success elsewhere, he went from fierce anger to stern determination +and from headlong haste to dogged persistency. He had refused to +entertain for an instant the notion that the Countess of Clare was +dead, though he knew that such had become the prevailing view at Court, +and that even Richard himself was growing fearful lest murder had +followed the abduction. + +To the hasty and obsequious greetings of the landlord De Lacy gave only +a short nod and ordered lodging for himself and men. Choosing a small +table in the farthest corner and in the shadow of the big chimney, he +slowly sipped his wine. There were eight others in the room, but +Flat-Nose was not of them. Three were merchants, traveling in company, +possibly for protection on the road, and en route doubtless to York and +its busy marts. They were gathered about an abundant meal spread at +one end of the large table and were talking loudly of their business. +At the other end of the board, their heads close together in subdued +and earnest converse, were two Benedictines in the black tunic and gown +of the Order. De Lacy had early learned on the Continent that a +traveling monk usually meant mischief afoot for some one; and as from +their manner of talk they evidently had not been journeying together, +but were just met, and possibly by prearrangement, it would be well he +thought to keep them under a temporary surveillance. Over near the +window in the rear of the room were two lusty-looking men-at-arms, each +with a big mug of ale at his elbow; and as they wore no badge of +service, they also would bear watching. The eighth and last was of De +Lacy's own rank, but older by at least ten years; and he stared across +with such persistence that Aymer grew annoyed and drew back into the +shadow. + +Until the night when he had lost his betrothed, Aymer de Lacy had been +genial, frank and open-hearted; taking life as it came, meeting man +against man in the open, searching not into the dark. But the outrage +at the Hermit's Cell, and the days of distress which followed had +worked a change. He was growing cold and stern and distrustful; +cautious of speech; reserved and distant in manner; seeking always for +a clue behind even the most friendly face or cordial greeting; and +holding every stranger under the ban of suspicion. + +At length having long since finished his wine, he was about to rap on +the table for the landlord when the front door opened and a young girl +glided into the room. She wore the fancy dress of the tymbestere, a +red bodice slashed and spangled, and a red skirt that came midway +between the knee and the ground, disclosing a pair of trim and shapely +ankles and small feet. But as if to compensate for this display, her +face was hidden by a black mask through which the eyes shone and +smiled, but which effectively concealed her other features. + +Pausing an instant, until satisfied she was observed by all, she began +a slow and stately dance, timing her steps to the soft jingle of her +tambourine. The girl had a lithe gracefulness and stately bearing +unusual in those of her class--whose exhibitions were rather of the +fast and furious kind with a liberal display of their forms--and when +with a last low curtsy she ended, there was plenty of applause from all +save the two monks. They eyed her with a displeasure they took no +trouble to conceal; and when she tripped lightly over to them and +extended her tambourine for an offering they drew back sourly. + +"Avaunt, foul baggage!" the elder exclaimed. "Have you no shame to ply +your lewd vocation before a priest of God? Verily, you do well to hide +your face behind a mask." + +The girl drew back timidly, and with never a word in reply passed on to +the two men-at-arms. Here she got a different sort of greeting. + +"Do not fret your pretty eyes over that pair of hypocrites in black, +yonder," one of them exclaimed loudly and speaking directly at the +Benedictines; "they are holy only in a crowd. If they met you when +none else were near, they would tear off each other's gowns to be the +first in your favors." + +"Right, comrade mine, right!" laughed his companion, bringing his fist +down upon the table until the mugs rattled. + +The two monks turned upon them. + +"You godless men," said one sternly; "it is well you bear no badge of +maintenance, else would your lord have chance to work some wholesome +discipline upon you." + +But the men-at-arms only laughed derisively and made no response. + +Meanwhile the damsel had approached the strange Knight and sought a +gratuity. With ostentatious display he drew out a quarter noble and +dropped it on the tambourine. Then as she curtsied in acknowledgment +he leaned forward, and caught her arm. + +"Come, little one, show me your face," he said. + +With a startled cry the girl sprang back and struggled to get free. +But the Knight only smiled and drew her slowly to his knee, shifting +his arm to her waist. + +"Pardieu! my dear, be not so timid," he scoffed. "Kiss me and I may +release you." + +For answer she struck at him with the tambourine, cutting his chin with +one of the metal discs so that the blood oozed out. + +"Little devil!" he muttered; and without more ado bent back her head, +whispering something the while. + +With a last desperate effort to free herself, which was futile, and +with the dark face drawing with mocking slowness toward her own, she +realized her utter helplessness and cried appealingly for aid. + +In a trice, she was seized and torn away; and between her and her +assailant, and facing him, stood Sir Aymer de Lacy, his arms folded and +a contemptuous smile upon his lips. The next instant, without a word, +the other plucked out his dagger and leaped upon him, aiming a thrust +at his neck. By a quick step to the side Aymer avoided the rush, and +as the other lurched by he struck him a swinging right arm blow behind +the ear that sent him plunging among the rushes on the floor, while the +dagger rolled across to the farther wall. + +[Illustration: He struck him a swinging right arm blow that sent him +plunging among the rushes on the floor.] + +"Bravo! Bravo!" cried the two men-at-arms. "Shall we throw him into +the street, my lord?" + +He waved them back; and the Knight, who had been slightly dazed, +struggled to his feet and looked about him. Then seeing De Lacy, who +had resumed his calmly contemptuous attitude, he grasped the situation +and a wave of red anger crossed his face. But he was not of the +blustering sort, it seemed, and drawing out a handkerchief he proceeded +carefully to fleck the dirt and dust from his doublet and hose. When +he had removed the last speck, he bowed low. + +"Shall we settle this matter with swords or daggers, my lord?" he said, +in French. + +"I think too much of my good weapons to soil them on one who assuredly +has stolen the golden spurs he wears," De Lacy replied scornfully. + +"My name is Sir Philebert de Shaunde and my escutcheon quite as ancient +as your own," with another bow. + +"It is a pity, then, it has fallen upon one who needs more than his own +word to sustain the claim." + +De Shaunde's face went red again and his voice trembled and was very +soft. "His Grace of Buckingham will be my voucher, though it will +misdemean him much as against one who has a tymbestere for mistress and +is a coward, as well." + +De Lacy glanced quickly around the room: + +"She is no longer here to feel your insults," he said, "but it is her +due that I refute them. I never saw the maid until I saved her from +your foul caress. As for my cowardice, good sir, I but protect my +knighthood against a caitiff whose very touch is dark pollution." + +"I shall proclaim your refusal to accept my defiance before King and +Court and let them judge of the quarrel." + +"So be it--you will find me known there," Aymer replied curtly; and +sauntering back to his table he called for another bottle of wine. + +De Shaunde, however, stayed only long enough to give some order to the +landlord, who received it with rather scant courtesy; then with showy +indifference, slapping his gauntlets against his leg as he walked, he +left the room by the street door just as Giles Dauvrey entered. The +squire stood aside to let him pass, then crossed to his master. + +"Did you recognize that fellow?" De Lacy queried. + +"No, my lord." + +"He styles himself 'Sir Philebert de Shaunde.'" + +Dauvrey scratched his head. "I am sure I never saw him before." + +"Well, it is small matter, but as we may see more of him hereafter it +will be wise to keep him in mind"--and he told of the encounter. + +"What became of the damsel?" the squire asked. + +"She disappeared during the scuffle; but doubtless the landlord can +advise you where to find her," De Lacy said good-naturedly. + +"A most extraordinary tymbestere who refuses a Knight's caress," +Dauvrey explained. + +"But would not, you think, refuse a squire's?" + +"Nay, my lord, what I think is that she might bear investigation. She +is in disguise, I will stake my head." + +"How does that concern us?" + +"Only as every mystery concerns us now. To solve one sometimes solves +another." + +"It is a queer notion, Giles, but it will do no harm to question the +host. Meanwhile, I will await you without." + +Night had fallen and it was very dark save when, at intervals, the +narrow crescent of the new moon cut through the clouds that were +crowding one another in heavy ranks across the sky. Before the inn the +street was illumined feebly by the reflection of the torches and +candles from within, and at wide intervals along the roadway light +shone from the houses. But all this only made more dense and visible +the blackness that lay around. + +From far up the street came the sound of singing and laughter; and De +Lacy, recognizing the voices of some of his own men, envied them their +light hearts and freedom from care and sorrow. They lived for the day; +the morrow was sufficient when it came. + +Presently the squire appeared. + +"It is as I suspected," he said. "The girl has never before been seen +about the inn or even in the town. He says he knows all the +tymbesteres for miles around, but this one is not of them." + +"It is a pity we had none to watch her when she left the room," De Lacy +replied. "However, I hear our men making merry out yonder, and after +going with me to see that they are up to no serious mischief you are at +liberty to devote the entire time until the morning in searching for +this mysterious maid--though it will be good sleep wasted, I have no +doubt." + +The two started down the road, keeping well in the centre where the +walking was likely to be easiest. There were no side paths and the way +was rough and full of holes. Stumbling along in the dark they came, +after a little, to a house from the upper story of which a bright light +was shining. De Lacy glanced indifferently at the window--then halted +short and seizing Dauvrey's arm pointed upward. + +Just inside the open casement, and standing so that every line of his +face and shoulders was distinctly visible, was the man De Lacy and all +the royal commanders of England had been seeking for the last three +weeks. + +His thick red hair was bare of casquetel and there could be no +mistaking that great, flat nose, even if there had not been the bright +scar blazed across the face by Sir John de Bury's sword, and the short, +thick-set figure to complete the identification. + +De Lacy's heart gave a great leap. Was this, then, the end of his +chase? Was Beatrix in yonder house? Would he soon hold her in his +arms--or was he about to learn that she was lost to him for ever? In +the tumultuous rush of feeling his power of quick decision left him for +the moment; but Dauvrey's muffled exclamation broke the spell. + +"It is he--Flat-Nose!" + +"Aye!" De Lacy whispered, drawing the squire aside into the shadow. +"He must be seized at once. Summon the men and surround the house. I +will remain on guard. Hasten, Giles! In God's name, hasten!" + +Dauvrey plunged away into the darkness and Aymer, choosing a position +from which he could best watch the window, but at the same time be +himself hidden, settled back to his anxious wait. + +Flat-Nose was not alone; presently he began to speak to some one behind +him, and hoping to overhear the conversation, Aymer worked his way with +great care across the road to the house. There were no lights on the +lower floor, and the upper story, projecting a foot or more over the +street, made him secure from observation. + +But the new position was very little better than the other one; and try +as he might he could not catch anything but an occasional word which, +in itself, had no significance. He began to grow impatient--it seemed +most unduly long since Dauvrey had gone. + +Then a chair was shoved back in the room above and some one began to +move about. Suddenly a head was thrust out and Flat-Nose peered into +the darkness. + +"God in Heaven! what blackness!" he exclaimed. "The Devil's own night +for a ride. . . No danger," he went on, answering some remark from +within. "I know every path in Yorkshire." + +It was evident he was preparing to depart and De Lacy drew his sword +and stood close beside the door. He wished only to disable the fellow; +but he would kill him rather than suffer him to escape. Just then, a +number of forms came slowly out of the darkness and at a motion from +the one in front flitted off toward the rear of the house. It was +Dauvrey and the men, at last, and the Knight gave a sigh of relief. + +To avoid crossing the zone of light in regaining the place where he had +left his master, the squire drew close to the house and so chanced upon +him. + +"Just in time," De Lacy whispered, "Flat-Nose is going." + +An inside door was opened and a heavy step came down the stairs. There +was a fumbling with the fastenings of the street door; then it swung +back and a man stepped out and shut it behind him. + +The next instant two pairs of strong arms closed around him, De Lacy's +hand fastened on his throat, he was borne to the ground, and before he +could struggle his legs were bound above the knees with Dauvrey's belt. +His arms were then quickly secured and a piece of cloth thrust into his +mouth as a gag. A low hiss brought the nearest soldier to guard him +and De Lacy and the squire cautiously entered the house. + +It was darker there even than outside and they listened for a space; +but all was quiet. Then working carefully along the wall, they found +a door which stood ajar. De Lacy whispered to make a light, and the +squire, with as little noise as possible, struck the flint and ignited +the bit of candle he always carried in his pouch. As it flamed timidly +up they peered about them. The place was empty, save for a table and a +few chairs, but on each side was a door and in the rear the stairway to +the upper floor. An examination of the remaining two rooms was barren +of results; one was the kitchen and the other a sleeping chamber, but +the bed had not been disturbed. If the Countess of Clare were in the +house she was on the next floor; and, at least, the man who had been +with Flat-Nose must be there, so it would be two prisoners instead of +one if he were unable to give a good account of himself. + +The stairs were old and shaky and creaked and groaned as they +cautiously ascended. And the noise was heard; for suddenly the door at +the head of the landing swung back--and Flat-Nose himself stood in the +opening. + +"What is amiss, my lord?" he began--then stopped. "De Lacy!" he cried +and springing back hurled the door shut. + +The appearance here of the man they thought was lying bound and +helpless in the road held both De Lacy and Dauvrey for an instant. +Then with sudden fury they flung themselves up the last few steps and +against the door. It yielded easily and they rushed into the +room--just as Flat-Nose leaped from the window ledge. And the fortune +that had befriended him so long still stood true, and a mocking laugh +came back, as the darkness wrapped itself about him. + +De Lacy put his hand on the casement to follow when Dauvrey seized him +from behind. + +"To the front, men, and after him!" he shouted through the window. . . +"Your pardon, my dear lord," he said with deep respect, "but you could +ill afford to take such risk now. Hark, sir, they are already in +pursuit." + +Sir Aymer nodded. "You are right, Giles. It would have gained naught +but perchance a broken bone. He has escaped this time--on such a night +an army would be lost. . . But who, in the Fiend's name, is the fellow +we have below?" + +Seizing the burning candle from the table, they hurried out, and +bending over De Lacy flashed the light across the prisoner's face--and +started back in vast amaze. + +"Holy St. Denis! Lord Darby!" + +For a space he stood looking down upon him; then motioning toward the +house he went within, and behind him Dauvrey and the guard bore the +captive--and none too easy were their hands. + +In the front room De Lacy put down the candle. + +"Release him," he ordered. . . "So, sir, you search for the Countess +of Clare in company with her abductor. Truly, it is wondrous strange +you have not found her. Tell me, my lord, might it be that though we +missed the servant we got the master?" + +"What I can tell you, my French upstart," Darby retorted, "is that this +night's work will bring you heavy punishment." + +"Forsooth! From whom?" + +"From me perchance; from the King surely." + +De Lacy laughed disdainfully. "You always were a braggart, I have +heard; yet you will need all your wits to save your own head when +arraigned before him." + +"Arraigned! Save my head! These are queer expressions for such as you +to use to a Peer of England." + +"No more queer than for a Peer of England to be an abductor of women." + +"You are still pleased to speak in riddles," Darby answered with a +shrug. + +"Pardieu! it will be a riddle for which you have a shrewd answer ready +for His Majesty." + +"Methinks you have lost what little sense ever had and are not +responsible," said Darby; "therefore I have the pleasure of wishing you +a very good night," and he turned toward the door. + +De Lacy laughed scornfully. + +"Not so fast, my lord," he said. "You will have to bear with my poor +company for a space. The King is at Lincoln." + +"What has that to do with me? . . . Stand aside, fellow," as Dauvrey +barred the way. + +For answer the squire drew dagger and the man-at-arms laid a heavy hand +on Darby's shoulder. It was useless to try bare fists against such +odds and he wheeled about. + +"What means this fresh outrage?" he demanded. + +"It means that you are my prisoner." + +"Your prisoner! And wherefore?" + +"As the abductor of the Countess of Clare." + +Darby held up his hands in amazement. "Are you clean daft?" he +exclaimed. + +"It is useless, my lord, longer to play the innocent," said Aymer. +"Either confess what has been done with the Countess or to the King you +go straightway." + +Darby shrugged his shoulders. "Since you have the rogues to obey you +and I have not the information you desire, it must be to the King," he +said. "And the more haste you use to reach him the quicker will come +my time to even scores with you," and he sat down and began to brush +the dirt from his garments. + +De Lacy eyed him in stern silence, his resentment growing fiercer as he +held it in restraint; while the squire, in equal anger, kept shooting +his dagger back and forth in its sheath as if impatient to use it. And +but for the sake of the information Darby could furnish as to Beatrix, +the dagger might have been suffered to do its work and De Lacy raise no +hand to stay it. Nay, rather, would he have stood by and watched it +strike home with grim satisfaction. + +Presently Darby had finished with his clothes and glancing up met De +Lacy's eyes. A taunting smile came to his lips and he began to whistle +softly to himself. It was De Lacy who spoke first. + +"I should like to know," said he, "how one of your craftiness could be +so stupid as to carry off the Countess of Clare? What possible profit +could you think to gain?" + +Darby did not answer at once. When he did, it was with a sneer. + +"Methinks, good sir," he said, "you are too stupid to appreciate that +you have, yourself, unwittingly advanced the best proof of my +innocence. Fools, you know, sometimes speak truth." + +"Aye, but even a fool would know that Flat-Nose and you were together +in yonder upper room. Can you explain that, my dear lord?" + +Darby laughed. "Naught easier, Sir Frenchman, if His Majesty deem it +necessary. You will pardon me, however, if I keep you waiting until +then." + +"So be it. We start for Lincoln at daybreak. Have I your word to ride +quietly and attempt no escape, rescue or no rescue?" + +"And if I refuse the word?" + +"Then shall you go bound hand and foot and strapped to saddle." + +"Pasque Dieu! It would be most uncomfortable riding, so I pass my +word," Darby replied carelessly. "But, understand me, it is no +acknowledgment of your authority either to demand it or to receive it." + +"As to that I am answerable to the King, not to you," said De Lacy. +"And further, Sir Abductor, if you violate your word--which, indeed, I +trust but lightly--you will have an arrow through your carcass ere you +have gone two paces. I wish you good-night," and leaving Dauvrey in +command he returned to the Red Lion. + + + + +XIX + +BACK TO THE KING + +The door of the Inn was barred, and with the hilt of his dagger De Lacy +pounded sharply. It was the host, himself, who admitted him, and as he +passed in the man touched his arm. + +"May I have a word with you, my lord?" he whispered, and led the way +into a small room in the rear. Closing the door very easily he laid +his ear against it, and then seeming satisfied came close over. + +"You are from the Court, my lord?" he said softly. + +"I am of the Court, but not directly from it." + +"Then you do not know if His Majesty fear an uprising in the South?" + +De Lacy was instantly interested, though he answered indifferently +enough. "Uprising! Not likely. Who is so far done with life as to +meditate such folly?" + +"That I think I know, sir; and it is hatching as sure as Dunstan's a +saint." + +"Which is anything but sure, my man. Come to the facts." + +"Do you recall the two monks and the Knight you punished because of the +tymbestere." + +De Lacy nodded. + +"After your lordship went out the Knight returned and the three held +conference together. I myself served them with wine and heard some of +their talk--only a chance word, sir; and they were most suspicious. +They spoke of ships and troops, but I could not gain the sense of it. +Once they let fall the word 'Richmond' and tried to catch it back ere +it were out. Then they went above to the monks' room. Your worship's +room is next to it------" + +"Good, I will go up," Aymer interrupted. + +The landlord stopped him. "It will be too late, sir. They have gone." + +"Diable!" De Lacy exclaimed. "Why did you not try to hear the rest of +their talk?" + +The man smiled shrewdly. "I did my best, sir. There is a spot where +the wall in your lordship's room is very thin. I listened there, and +though I caught a sentence only now and then, yet I made it that the +Earl of Richmond is to land in England with an army on the eighteenth +of this present month. The Knight--De Shaunde, methinks they called +him--comes from the Duke of Buckingham, and the two monks from Lord +Stanley. Stanley declined to fall in with the proposals of Buckingham +and sent him warning to withdraw from the conspiracy at once, for he +was about to advise the King of Richmond's coming. So much I gathered, +sir, from their conversation, though I cannot repeat their words." + +"How long have they been gone?" + +"Some little time, sir. They rode Southward together." + +De Lacy strode to the front door and flung it open. A gust of wind and +rain drove through, extinguishing the torch and blowing the smouldering +fire on the hearth into a flame. Without was a sea of darkness which +made pursuit impossible and hopeless. Clearly there was naught to be +done till daybreak, and with an imprecation he turned away. + +Verily, this night was full of surprises. First, Flat-Nose . . . then, +Darby . . . and now a rebellion, with Buckingham traitor and Stanley +true. Matters were getting complicated and required some +consideration. Of course, his first duty was to the King; to warn him +of this invasion by Richmond and the insurrection in the South. It +superseded even his obligation to the Countess; and with the dogged +faith and discipline of a soldier he accepted the situation and +prepared to act accordingly. + +Haste was essential; and as two could make more speed to Lincoln than a +dozen, the question was whether to go himself or to dispatch trusty +messengers. Each course had its advantages and defects. If he went, +he would be obliged to leave Lord Darby behind and trust Dauvrey to +bring him to the King. Not to go, would be to seem lax in Richard's +service, and possibly to miss the opening moves in the campaign, which +must necessarily begin instantly and hurry Southward, and in which he +would perforce be obliged to take part the moment he did arrive. For +well he foresaw that Richard would have no time to devote to the +Countess' affairs at such a crisis. The business of the individual, +however much a favorite, must needs give place to a struggle for a +Kingdom and a Crown. + +Yet he was loath to let Darby out of his own grasp and, for an instant, +he was minded to stake all on one throw. He was firmly persuaded that +Darby could disclose the Countess' whereabouts, if she were still of +this world. Why not put him to the torture and wring the truth from +him? Success would excuse, nay, approve such measures. . . But to +fail! Mon Dieu! No; decidedly, no! It would be folly pure and +childish. Only the long strain and his stress of feeling would have +suggested it. Then he thought of sending Darby to Pontefract and, on +the authority of the King's ring, place him in confinement there until +a more favorable period. But this, too, was dismissed, and he came +back to the original problem: whether himself to hurry to Lincoln or to +send a message. + +There was but one wise choice, however, as he had appreciated all +along, though he had fought against it; and now he took it but with +sore reluctance. Wrapping his cloak about him, he motioned for the +landlord to unbar the door and plunged out into the storm. In the face +of the gale and pounding rain, through mud and water, he presently +regained the house where he had left his men. + +Drawing the squire aside he related the host's story and his own +purpose of hastening on to warn the King. To Dauvrey he gave command +of the party and full instructions as to the custody of the prisoner +and the course to pursue when Lincoln was, reached. Then directing +that one of the men be sent to the inn at daybreak to attend him, he +returned once more to his lodgings and retired. + +Morning brought no change in the weather; and when he rode off, at the +first touch of light, the rain was still falling with a monotonous +regularity that gave small hope for betterment. + +Save a shirt of Italian steel, worn beneath his doublet, De Lacy was +without armor, only a thick cloak being thrown over his ordinary +clothes. It was a long ride to Lincoln ere nightfall, even in the best +of weather; but to make it now was possible only with the very lightest +weight in the saddle and good horse-flesh between the knees. No one +horse--not even Selim--could do the journey over such roads without a +rest, so he left him for Dauvrey to bring; depending upon being able to +requisition fresh mounts from the royal post that had been established +lately along this highway. Nor was he disappointed. The Boar and his +own name, for he was known now throughout England as one high in the +Household, got him quick service and hearty attention, and he made the +best speed possible under the circumstances; though it was often poor +enough to cause him to grit his teeth in helpless despair and anxiety. +League after league was done no faster than a walk; the horse, at every +step, sinking into the mud far above fetlock, and coming to the relief +station completely exhausted. And all the day the rain poured down +without cessation, and the roads grew heavier and more impassable until +they were little else than running streams of dirty water pierced, here +and there, by the crest of a hill that poked its head out like a +submerged mountain. + +But through it all, with head bent low on his breast, and bonnet pulled +far down over his eyes, De Lacy forged ahead, tarrying only long enough +at the stations to change mounts. + +At mid-day half the distance had been covered, and as evening drew near +they crossed the Trent and, presently, were out of Yorkshire. Then as +night closed about them, the lights of Lincoln glimmered faint in the +fore, and shaking up the tired horses they hastened on. And at last +the castle was reached; the guards at the outer gate, recognizing the +King's Body-Knight, saluted and fell back; and with a sigh of relief, +De Lacy swung down from his saddle, the long ride over at last. + +Just within the corridor he came upon Sir Ralph de Wilton, who started +forward in surprise: + +"By all the Saints! De Lacy! . . . But are you drowned or in the +flesh?" + +"Both, methinks. Where are my quarters--or have none been assigned me?" + +"Your room is next mine. Come, I will show the way; for by my faith, +you need a change of raiment; you are mud and water from bonnet to +spur. What in the Devil's name sent you traveling on such a night?" + +"The King's business, Ralph; ask me no more at present. . . His +Majesty is in the castle?" + +"Aye! and in the best of fettle," De Wilton answered good-naturedly. +"Here are your quarters; and that they are saved for you shows your +position in the Court. The place is crowded to the roof." + +"I fancy I can thank you rather than my position--at any rate, Ralph, +squire me out of these clothes; they cling like Satan's chains." + +"I would I could cast those same chains off as easily," De Wilton +replied, as he unlaced the rain-soaked doublet and flung it on the +couch. "Tell me, Aymer, did you find aught of . . . of her?" + +"No and yes," De Lacy answered, after a silence, "I did not find the +Countess nor any trace of her, but I saw Flat-Nose." + +"The Devil! . . . And took him?" + +De Lacy shook his head. + +"Killed him?" + +"Nor that, either--he escaped me." + +"Damnation! . . . However it is better than that he die with tale +untold." + +"That is my only consolation. Yet I shall kill him whene'er the chance +be given, tale or no tale." + +"Where did you see the knave?" + +"At Sheffield--and with whom, think you?" + +"This whole matter has been so mysterious I cannot even guess," said De +Wilton. + +"And wide would you go of the clout if you did," De Lacy replied, as he +flung a short gown about his shoulders and turned toward the door. "It +was Lord Darby." + +"Darby! Darby! . . . Mon Dieu, man! are you quite sure?" + +Aymer laughed shortly. + +"Methinks I am quite sure," he said. "And now I must away to the King." + + +"So you have come back to us at last," said Richard graciously, as De +Lacy bent knee; "but I fear me, without your lady." + +"Aye, Sire, without her. It is your business that has brought me." + +"Pardieu!" the King exclaimed; "we gave you leave indefinite. Until +you were willing to abandon the search you need not have returned." + +"Your Majesty misunderstands. No vain notion of being needed here has +brought me; but danger to your crown and life--Buckingham is +traitor--Richmond lands this day week as King." + +"So! St. Paul! So!" Richard muttered, gnawing at his lower lip. "At +last . . . at last . . . and earlier by six months than I had +thought. . . Yet, better so; it will be ended all the sooner. . . +Where did you get this news and how?" + +"At Sheffield, last night." + +"Last night!--When did you leave Sheffield?" + +"At daybreak. The rain and darkness delayed me until then." + +"By St. George! plead no excuse. It was an amazing ride in such +weather." + +"I made bold to use the post horses; but it was heavy labor even for +them." + +"And for you as well, my good De Lacy. This King thanks you--perchance +the next one will not," and he laughed queerly. + +"It is this King I serve; not the next one." + +"I believe you," said Richard, putting his hand on Aymer's shoulder. +"Now let me hear the story." + +And De Lacy told it in the fewest words he could; making no mention of +Flat-Nose or Darby. + +For a while Richard sat quiet, pulling at his chin. + +"What a miserable scoundrel Stanley is," he said presently. "He +refuses Stafford because he scents failure ahead; and is ready to make +capital of a trusting friend by betraying him to his doom. For well he +sees that Buckingham has gone too far to recede. I would he had stood +with them,--his own scheming Countess and Buckingham. Then I could +have wiped all of them out at one blow." He struck the bell. "Summon +the Master of Horse," he ordered. + +"Ratcliffe," he said, when the latter entered, "Buckingham revolts on +the eighteenth; Richmond lands in England that same day. Dispatch +instantly to the Lord Chancellor for the great seal, and have +commissions of array drawn. Let messengers start with the sun to all +the royal domains and summon hither every man who can wield a sword or +draw a bow. What's the weather?" + +"There is no improvement, my liege." + +"It will, of a surety, have rained itself out by morning. For it to +continue means a slow muster, and the time is all too short as it is," +the King said meditatively. "And hark you, further," he broke out +suddenly, "let word go to Lord Stanley at Lathom, this night yet, of +this matter, bidding him instantly gather his retainers and report at +Nottingham." + +Ratcliffe hurried away, to return almost instantly with a packet which +he gave the King. + +"From Stanley," he said. "It arrived but this moment." + +Richard flashed a smile across to De Lacy. + +"He moves quickly, by St. Paul!" . . . then with a touch of sarcasm: +"Hold a bit, Ratcliffe; perchance our news may be a trifle old in +Lathom." He broke the seals and spread the parchment under the candles +on the table. It ran: + + +"To Our Sovereign Lord the King: + +"It has come to us that Henry Tudor, styled Earl of Richmond, intends +to sail with an army from St. Malo, on the twelfth day coming of the +present month, and will adventure to land at the town of Plymouth on +the sixth day thereafter, there and then to proclaim himself King. +According, will we muster instantly our Strength and proceed, with all +dispatch, to meet Your Majesty at Nottingham, or wheresoever it may be +we are commanded. + +"Written with humble allegiance and great haste at our Castle of +Lathom, this tenth day of October. + +"Stanley." + + +"It will be unnecessary to advise the Lord Stanley--he has already +learned of the matter," said Richard--and Ratcliffe hurried away. He +passed the letter to De Lacy. "Read it. . . Now you see the depth and +foresight of this man. But for your chance discovery and furious ride +he would have been the first to warn me of this danger. Note his +shrewdness: he does not mention Buckingham, but only the Tudor, his own +step-son; and hence the greater will seem his loyalty. And by St. +Paul! he bests me. I must accept his message at its seeming value; for +he will now follow it by prompt action. Yet his motive is as plain as +God's sun: he would hasten Buckingham to the block, and himself to his +dead friend's offices. Well, so be it. When I can read his purposes I +hold him half disarmed. He shall be Constable of England--have the +title without its dangerous powers. The higher he go the further the +fall when he stumble," and the dagger went down into its sheath with a +click. . . "Pardieu, De Lacy! it would seem that you are ever getting +into my confidences. But then neither do you like the Stanley." + +"So little, Sire, that I shall hope to see that stumble." + +"It will be a passing grateful sight to many another also, I warrant." +Then with one of those quick shifts of thought characteristic of his +active mind: "Did you find naught of the Countess of Clare in all these +weeks?" + +"I came upon a clue last night," De Lacy answered. + +"And let it slip to hasten hither?" + +"Not exactly; the clue will follow me here." + +"Follow you? Explain." + +"I found Flat-Nose in Sheffield." + +"And caught him?" + +"Alas! no; he escaped in the darkness, but we captured his companion. +He is the clue that follows." + +"Was there anything about him to show what lord he serves?" + +"He serves Your Majesty." + +"What, sir!--Serves me?" + +Aymer bowed. "It is Lord Darby." + +The King raised his eyebrows and fell to stroking his chin again; then +arose and began to pace the room. + +"Pardieu, man! but you have brought a budget of surprises," he said. +"Are you sure it was Flat-Nose? You have never seen him." + +"He fit Sir John de Bury's words as the glove the hand--my squire was +as convinced as myself." + +"Give me the full details." + +The King listened with a frown, but at the end he made no comment. + +"Let Lord Darby be brought before me as soon as he arrives," he said +simply. "Meanwhile you are excused from attendance till the morrow. +Good night. . . By St. Paul! this Darby business is untimely," he +soliloquized. "He has some strength in Yorkshire, and it will be +unwise to estrange it at this crisis. Yet appearances are dark against +him, and if he have no adequate explanation he dies. . . But if he +have a good defence, why not accept it for the nonce? And then, after +Buckingham has shot his foolish bolt, look deeper into the matter. . . +Now as to this rebellion," resuming his walk back and forth, "it will +require six days for the seal to come from London. Therefore to-morrow +shall the Commissioners go North and East with an order under my own +seal, and the formal authority can follow after them--they can levy in +the interval and muster later." Pausing at the window he swung back +the casement. "Parbleu! how it rains . . . it will flood every river +in England . . . and it will fight for us. I will destroy the bridges +of the Severn; Buckingham will be unable to pass; his juncture with +Richmond and the Southern rebels will be prevented--and I can mass my +strength and cut them up in detail." + +Then with his own hand he wrote the orders to Sir Thomas Vaughan, Rice +ap Thomas, and others of the royal captains and trusty Yorkist +adherents in Wales and Shropshire; and lastly he indited a +proclamation, wherein Henry Stafford was declared a traitor, and a +reward of a thousand pounds put upon his head. These finished, and +confided to Ratcliffe for forwarding, Richard sought the Queen's +apartments and remained in converse with her for an hour, but said +never a word of the occurrences of the evening lest they disturb her +night's repose. It would be time enough in the morning for her to +begin again the old fear for her lord's life--for his crown she cared +not a whit. + + + + +XX + +IN ABEYANCE + +And on the morrow there was great stir and rustle and preparation. +Those lords and barons in attendance at Court who were from the +vicinity went off to gather their following; and those from distant +parts of the Kingdom sent commands to their constables or stewards to +hasten hither their very last retainer and every man available for +service with the King. + +About noon Richard called his principal officers together in council to +consider who were liable to join with Buckingham in the revolt. That +he had confederates of power and prestige was certain enough; for +despite his oft-repeated boast that as many wore the Stafford Knot as +had once displayed the Bear and Ragged-Staff of the King-Maker, and +reckless as he was, yet it was not likely he would attempt to measure +himself against the King--and that King the great Gloucester--without +substantial assistance and cooperation of others of the Nobility. Nor +was it easy to fix upon these confederates. The old, pronounced +Lancastrian lords were either dead or in exile, and there was little +else than general family relationship or former family affiliation, +that could guide the judgment. And the session was long and tiresome +and not particularly satisfactory, for of all the names gone over, only +the Marquis of Dorset and the Courtneys of Exeter seemed likely +traitors, and yet it was very certain there must be many more. + +As De Lacy passed into the antechamber Lord Darby came forward and +confronted him. + +"I have come as I gave parole," he said haughtily. "It is now +withdrawn, and I demand that you straightway prefer your charge." + +"So be it," said De Lacy, and bowed him into the presence of the King. + +Richard eyed Darby with searching sternness, as he bent knee before +him, nor did he extend his hand for the usual kiss; and his voice was +coldly judicial as without pause or preliminary he began: + +"We are informed, Lord Darby, of the happenings last night in the town +of Sheffield. You have demanded to be brought before the King and have +refused explanation to another. Such is your warrant and privilege as +a Peer of England. You are accused by Sir Aymer de Lacy with being +concerned in the abduction of the Countess of Clare. What have you to +answer?" + +"That I am not guilty, Sire; and I defy the foreign upstart who brings +the accusation." + +The King frowned. "Be so good, my lord, as to answer our questions +without recriminations," he said sharply. "Then, being innocent, will +you explain how it was that you were in conference with the fellow +known as 'Flat-Nose,' who was the leader of the abductors?" + +Lord Darby smiled blandly. + +"Naught easier, my liege. The fellow who was with me at the house in +Sheffield, last night, was not that villain but my own chief +man-at-arms." + +"Has he not a flat nose and------" De Lacy broke in; but Richard +silenced him with a gesture. + +"Describe this retainer of yours," he ordered. + +"He is stout of build and medium in height; his hair is red, his face +broad, and he has a heavy nose, so broken by a sword hilt that it +might, indeed, be termed flat," Darby answered. + +"How long has he been in your service?" + +"For years, Sire--at least a dozen." + +"Where was he on the day and evening of the abduction?" + +"The day, in the evening of which I understand the Countess +disappeared," Darby began with easy confidence, "I rode from my castle +of Roxford in early morning, en route for Pontefract and the Court. +This under officer of mine, Simon Gorges by name, who has, it seems, +been taken for the villain called Flat-Nose, was left at the castle, +where he remained in command until my return some seven days +thereafter. I myself lodged at the Abbey of Kirkstall, that night, and +was making my adieu to the Abbot, the next morning, when this . . . +this . . . Knight"--indicating De Lacy by a motion of his +thumb--"arrived with news of the outrage. Then I hastened to +Pontefract and joined in the search, as Your Majesty knows." + +"You have been most detailed as to your own movements at that time, but +very meagre as to those of your servant," the King remarked dryly. +"You left him, you say, at your castle on the morning of the abduction, +and found him there, a week later, on your return. Bethink you that is +any proof he remained there in your absence?" + +"It is very true there is a wide break in my own observation," Darby +answered with instant frankness; "yet I know absolutely that he was not +beyond my own domain during my absence. It is some queer resemblance +betwixt him and this Flat-Nose. And by my faith, Sire, broken noses +and red hair are not such a rarity that Simon Gorges should be the only +one to possess them." + +"That may be; but they are enough, in this instance, to put that same +Simon Gorges on suspicion, and quite to justify Sir Aymer de Lacy in +arresting you and carrying you hither; and particularly when you +scorned to offer him any explanation. For you must know, my lord, he +wears the Ring of the Boar, and what he does is in my name." + +"Perchance, I was hasty, Sire, but I did not know of the Ring; it was +never shown me. And poor indeed were the manhood that would not resent +the manner of my seizure--the gyves and arrogant address of your +Body-Knight." + +"Will Your Majesty ask Lord Darby," Sir Aymer exclaimed, "why this +flat-nosed Simon Gorges, as quickly as he saw me, sprang from the +window crying: 'De Lacy! De Lacy!' and fled into the darkness? If he +be innocent, wherefore such action?" + +"You hear, my lord?" said Richard. "Can you explain?" + +"That I cannot," Darby replied. "Perchance, Gorges has had trouble +some time with Sir Aymer de Lacy or his household; though, of course, +of that I know nothing. But I do know, Sire, that not I nor mine, with +my knowledge, had aught to do with the outrage upon De Bury and the +Countess. It would be most humiliating to have been under even an +instant's suspicion of such a crime, but to be arrested and arraigned +before one's King. . . Bah! it is deeper degradation than words can +sound," and he folded his arms and stared, vacantly and with drawn +face, straight before him. + +"It is the misfortune of a red-haired, flat-nosed servant, my lord," +said Richard; "best give him his quittance and a new master. +Meanwhile, be not so downcast.--I accept your explanation." + +Lord Darby dropped upon his knee, and now the King gave him his hand. + +"We will put your gratitude and allegiance to the proof," he said, +fixing Darby's eyes with his own and holding them. "The Duke of +Buckingham and the Tudor Henry rise in rebellion seven days hence. We +need an army within that time. Go, collect your retainers, and join me +without an hour's delay." + +"Your Majesty is very gracious to make but my liege service the earnest +of my faith and word. I ride for Roxford this instant," and with a +graceful salute to the King, and a sneering smile at De Lacy he left +the apartment. + +Richard's quick change--after his searching questions and stern +front--in suddenly accepting Darby's assertion of innocence and +dismissing him with honor, came to De Lacy like a blow in the face. +Had he been within reach when Darby flaunted him, not even the royal +presence would have held his arm. As it was, with a stiff bow he was +withdrawing, when Richard laughed. + +"Are you displeased, Sir Aymer?" he said kindly. + +"It is not for me to question the conduct of the King," De Lacy +answered respectfully. + +"You are surprised, then?" + +"Marry, yes! Sire; that I am." + +"Only because you have never had to study men to use them. It is not +Richard Plantagenet's wont to discuss his decisions with another; yet +in this instance, because you are led by no whit of selfishness but +solely by love for your betrothed, I will make exception. Surely, you +saw there was no evidence sufficient to condemn Darby. If you had ever +seen this Flat-Nose it would have been another matter. But +resemblances are not conclusive; and in the face of his explanation and +absolute denial, the case against him fell for want of proof. Mark me, +I do not say that he is innocent; and when the struggle with Buckingham +is over we will go deeper into this mystery." + +"Then Your Majesty has not sacrificed the Countess of Clare for Lord +Darby's retainers?" De Lacy asked pointedly. + +Richard smiled good naturedly. + +"It is a just question, Sir Aymer," he said; "yet be assured I have no +thought to sacrifice Beatrix. At this exigency, I have not an instant +to devote to aught but this insurrection. I do not fear Darby--though +he would desert to the rebels without hesitation if he thought it would +advantage him--but Stanley's course will be his also--it will prove to +him there is no hope for the Tudor. Furthermore, assuming that this +Gorges is Flat-Nose, he has warned those in charge of the Countess--if, +as God grant, she be alive--and to imprison or to kill Darby would be +simply to hang more awful peril over her, and aid not a jot the finding +of her prison. As it is, Darby must bring this Simon Gorges with him, +or raise fresh suspicion by leaving him behind. Yet he has two chances +to escape even if he be guilty. Sir John de Bury is still ill at +Pontefract, and as he alone knows Flat-Nose, Darby may confidently +produce Gorges; and then have him removed by a chance arrow or sword +thrust during the coming campaign. The other chance hangs upon the +triumph of Buckingham and Darby's desertion to him at the critical +instant. In such event, he can frankly acknowledge the abducting of +the Countess without fear of punishment and force her to wed him. The +Tudor would be glad enough to pay the debt so cheaply." + +"Perchance Darby may force the fellow to confess that he alone is +guilty," De Lacy suggested. + +"A man is not so ready to condemn himself to death," Richard answered; +"and to confess would necessitate all the details, and in the maze +Darby could not escape ensnarement." + +"Might it not have been well, Sire, to detain him and dispatch a force +to search Roxford? Many a time were we near it, but then, alas, no +suspicion rested upon him." + +The King shook his head. "That might have been proper a fortnight +since, but it is so no longer. Every soldier is needed with the army +now, and it would require a goodly force to reduce Roxford, if you were +met with a lifted bridge; though methinks you would be received most +courteously--and find your quarry flown; if she was there, Flat-Nose +has removed her since the adventure at Sheffield." + +"Your Majesty is right," said Aymer; "I crave pardon for my ungrateful +doubt." + +"Nay, nay, I do not blame you. Only remember, De Lacy, that Richard +the King is not Richard the man. The man sympathizes with you and +trusts you; but he must be the King to do you service and aid your +quest. . . Nay, do not thank me. When we have crushed Stafford and +Tudor, rescued Beatrix, and you are Earl of Clare, it will be time +enough for gratefulness." + + + + +XXI + +BUCKINGHAM'S REVENGE + +Three weeks from that day Richard Plantagenet, with his army, lay at +Salisbury; the rebellion of Buckingham wholly quelled and the leaders +fugitives with a price upon their heads. + +The conspirators had perfected well their plans and at the same hour +threw off the mask. On the morning of the eighteenth, Sir Thomas St. +Leger--the King's own brother-in-law--the Marquis of Dorset, and the +two Courtneys, proclaimed Henry Tudor in Exeter; Sir John Cheney raised +the standard of revolt in Wiltshire; Sir William Norris and Sir William +Stoner in Berkshire, and Sir John Browne, of Bletchworth, and Sir John +Fogge in Kent. Buckingham with all his force marched from Brecknock +and set out, by way of Weobley and through the forest of Dean, to +Gloucester, there to cross the Severn. That it was his purpose to +throw himself in Richard's path, and risk a battle without waiting for +a juncture with his confederates, is altogether likely. Stafford was +ever rash and foolish; and never more so, indeed, than in this present +enterprise. + +But whatever his intention may have been, it was thwarted by the +visitation of a power more potent than all the hosts of the King. +Nature, herself, frowned upon him and his schemes and swept them all to +ruin in the rush of angry waters. The rain that began the day Sir +Aymer De Lacy made his forced ride from Sheffield to Lincoln had +continued with but indifferent diminution for the whole of the +following week. As a result, the greatest flood the West of England +ever knew poured down through the Severn and its tributaries, +destroying fords and bridges, overwhelming hamlets and villages, and +drowning scores upon scores of the inhabitants. In the face of this +hostile manifestation of Providence, which washed out ardor and bred +disaffection and something of superstitious terror, as it held them +fast behind the impassable river, Buckingham's followers began to +waver; then to drop away; and finally, when it became known that his +very castle of Brecknock had been seized by Sir Thomas Vaughan, and +that almost before he was out of sight of its towers, they forsook him +forthwith, as rats a sinking ship. + +All these matters came to the King by messengers from time to time; for +he had paid no heed to Buckingham, but had hurried Southward, gathering +his forces as he went. His strategy was to throw himself between +Stafford and his confederates; cut the latter up in detail; and then +hurl himself upon the Earl of Richmond at the quickest possible moment. +But as the royal army advanced into the disaffected districts, the +revolt faded away like fog before the sun; and without striking a blow +or laying lance in rest, it marched into Salisbury. And thus it was +that when the Tudor arrived off Plymouth, he found no greeting but an +adverse wind and a hostile populace. So he wore ship and turned back +to Brittany, making no effort to aid those who had proclaimed him at +risk of life and fortune. But such was ever Henry's way. + +In these days of strain and striving Sir Aymer de Lacy had few hours of +leisure. He who was of the Third Richard's household must needs keep +pace with a master in whose slender body was concentrated the energy of +many men, and who in times of war never rested nor grew tired. + +The Darby episode had been whispered through the Court; and speculation +was rife as to the truth of the accusation. Nor was it set at rest +when he overtook the array without the flat-nosed Simon Gorges among +his retainers. The King, however, seemed to treat him as though the +matter were ended; and the courtiers, noting it, were quick to trim to +the royal wind. + +Yet on the very night of Darby's arrival, had Richard held council with +De Lacy, and secret instruction had gone forth to keep him under +constant surveillance and on no account whatever to permit him to +separate from the army. + +"It is suspicious, this course of his," the King said; "but for the +present, it will profit nothing to tax him with it. Let him think +himself trusted; and perchance the doings of the next few weeks may +disclose something that will clear our path of doubt and show the +truth. If not, then shall this Gorges be brought before Sir John de +Bury and in our presence, though we ride to Pontefract for the purpose. +Meanwhile, do you avoid his lordship, and permit no brawling between +his retainers and your own. Ratcliffe shall caution him, also, and +most peremptorily in this particular. Later, if he be acquittanced of +the crime, you may settle the quarrel as you see fit." + +And while there had been sore provocations on both sides, for each went +as near the line of open rupture as he dared, yet when Salisbury was +reached, the command had not been disregarded; though it was very +evident to the Household, and perchance to Richard, too--for he missed +little that went on about him--that at the first skirmish with the +rebels, a certain private feud would be worked out to a conclusion +wherein but one of the participants would be left to couch lance for +the King. + +On this Sunday morning, De Lacy was crossing the courtyard of the Blue +Boar Inn when he was attracted by a shouting and evident excitement +toward the North gate of the town, and which grew rapidly nearer. Then +up the street, at a quick trot, came a clump of spears followed by a +mass of soldiers, camp followers and citizens on a run. All were +brought up sharply by the guards, stationed a hundred yards or so +beyond the royal lodgings; but after a short parley, the horsemen were +permitted to pass. The device on the banneret was new to Aymer, and, +knowing it belonged to none of those now with the army, and curious as +to what could have attracted the rabble, he waited. + +Before the inn, from which floated the royal standard, they drew up, +and the leader, an elderly Knight of heavy countenance and rotund frame +who carried his visor up, dismounted, and, saluting Sir Aymer de Lacy, +whose handsome dress evidenced his condition and rank, demanded instant +audience with the King. + +"His Majesty has but lately returned from Mass," said De Lacy; "but if +your business be of immediate importance, I will announce you." + +The other laughed swaggeringly. + +"I am Sir Thomas Mitten, Sheriff of Shropshire," he said; "and methinks +my business is of most immediate importance, good sir, seeing that I +bring with me the traitor, Henry Stafford." + +"St. Denis! Buckingham a prisoner!" De Lacy exclaimed. + +"Yonder--among my men. Think you not I shall be welcome?" + +For answer, De Lacy turned on his heel, and, leaving the Sheriff to +find his way to the King the best he could, strode over to the +horsemen. Motioning them peremptorily aside, he extended his hand to +the tall, ruddy-haired man in the stained and torn velvet. + +"Believe me, Stafford," he said, "it is a sad day to me that sees you +here. I hoped you had escaped." + +A spasm of anger swept over the Duke's face; then he smiled and seizing +De Lacy's fingers gripped them hard. + +"But for treachery and ingratitude baser than Hell's deepest damned you +would not see me here," he said. "And it is a brave and noble heart +that beneath the Plantagenet's very eye dares show open friendship for +the traitor Buckingham. God knows it is sweet after my life lately; +yet be advised, De Lacy, it is dangerous to your standing and, mayhap, +your liberty as well; best pass me by on the other side." + +Aymer made a gesture of dissent. "The King trusts me," he said. "He +will not doubt my faith." + +Stafford laughed sarcastically. "Pardieu! has the Devil turned saint +that Gloucester has come to trust a mortal man! At least, I shall soon +see if it has changed his fierce spirit, for here is Ratcliffe to lead +me to the Presence. . . Does our Cousin of England desire our company, +Sir Richard? If so, we are quite ready to embrace him." + +But Ratcliffe was not one to do his present duty with levity on his +tongue, and he bowed with stiff formality. + +"Will you come with me, my lord?" he said. + +"_Au revoir_, De Lacy," smiled the Duke. "Now, to brave the Boar in +his lair and see him show his tusks." + +And with an air of easy indifference, this man, for whom the world had +held such vast possibilities if he had but known how to attain them, +went to meet his doom. For that his life was forfeited Stafford well +knew; he had been taken in arms against the King and death would be his +portion. + +Yet the judgment came with a stern swiftness that startled the entire +Court; and within the very hour that Shropshire's Sheriff entered +Salisbury, was the scaffold for the execution being put in place in the +courtyard of the inn. + +From the window of the room in which he was confined, Buckingham idly +watched the work; and as he stood there, the King and the Duke of +Norfolk came forth with a few attendants and rode gayly away. + +A scowl of darkest hatred distorted his face, and he shook his fist at +Richard--then laughed; and the laugh grew into a sneer, that after the +features were composed again still lingered about the mouth. + +"It was well for the Plantagenet he did not grant the interview," he +muttered; "else------" From within his doublet, he took a long silver +comb, such as men used to dress their flowing hair and of which, +naturally, he had not been deprived, and touching a secret spring, drew +from the heavy rim a slender dagger. + +"It is a pretty bit of Italian craft and methinks would have cut sure +and deep," he mused. He felt the blade and tested its temper by +bending it nigh double . . . "Why should I not cheat yonder scaffold +and scorn the tyrant to the end?" . . . then with calm determination +returned it to its sheath. "It would give them cause to dub me coward, +and to say I would have weakened at the final moment. A Stafford dare +not risk it." + +He turned again to the window--and started forward with surprise. +"Darby! By all the devils in Hell! Here, with the King. . . The +false-hearted scoundrel! With him, at least, I can square off." + +He struck the door sharply; it opened and Raynor Royk stepped within +and saluted. + +"Will you deliver a message for me?" Buckingham asked, offering him a +rose-noble. + +The old soldier drew back. + +"I am not for sale, Sir Duke," he said. "What is the message?" + +"For Sir Aymer de Lacy, my good fellow. Tell him I pray a moment's +conversation on a matter of grave importance." + +Without a word Royk faced about and went pounding down the passage. + +Presently a light, quick step came springing up the stairway, and De +Lacy entered and closed the door behind him. + +"You sent for me?" he said. + +"Aye, Sir Aymer, and I thank you for the coming. Tell me, when did +Lord Darby join the King?" + +"About a week since; though he left us at Lincoln on the seventeenth to +gather his retainers." + +"Bah! I might have known it!" the Duke exclaimed. "It was he, then, +that betrayed our plans to Richard. God in Heaven, that I might have +him by the throat!" and he clinched his hands in fury. + +"Was Darby forewarned of your revolt?" De Lacy asked. + +"Forewarned! Forewarned! The dog helped me arrange and mature it. He +swore he hated Richard." + +"Doubtless he did--and does so still, it was not he who betrayed you." + +Stafford stared incredulously. + +"Then how, in Satan's name, comes he here now?" he demanded. + +"I can answer that better after I know his part with you--may I send +for Ratcliffe?" + +"As you wish," was the reply. + +That the Master of Horse was surprised at the summons was very evident; +and he turned to De Lacy questioningly. + +"The Duke has certain information touching Lord Darby which must be +confided to some one else than me," Sir Aymer explained. + +Ratcliffe nodded. "Since your quarrel with Lord Darby such a course +were very wise." + +"I know nothing of Darby's quarrel with Sir Aymer de Lacy," said +Stafford, "but I have seen him here and have learned that he joined +Richard at Lincoln, the day prior to that set for the revolt, so I +denounce him as a double traitor--traitor to the King, forsworn to me. +It was he--he and that hawk-faced priest Morton--who, ere we left +Windsor and on all the march to Gloucester, urged and persuaded me to +turn against the King. He visited me at Brecknock to arrange details; +was there only four days before he deserted me at Lincoln. It was he +who was to lead the rising in West Yorkshire. The only reward he asked +was my promise for the new King that he be permitted to marry the +Countess of Clare." + +"The Countess of Clare!" De Lacy exclaimed. + +"Yes--she of the ruddy locks and handsome face and figure. He said +they loved each other, but that Richard had laughed at their affection +and their prayers and had bade her prepare to marry another. +Consequently, to avoid all danger of her being forced into the nuptials +before the revolt, they had arranged that she be abducted by some of +his men, and then lie concealed in his castle until after Richard were +deposed. And it seems they did effect their plan--at least, so he told +me the last time he came to Brecknock. But methinks he is no better +off now, so far as the Countess is concerned." + +"Rather the worse off, I fancy," said Ratcliffe. "Two months since, +with the King's approbation, the Countess of Clare became the affianced +bride of Sir Aymer de Lacy; and Lord Darby's tale, as to her love for +himself and Richard's treatment of them, is pure falsehood." + +The Duke looked at him in sharp surprise; then shrugged his shoulders. + +"Pasque Dieu! I have been an easy dupe," he said. "A child in +intrigue should have picked the flaw though he were half asleep. Yet +it was a pretty enough story--a loving lady, a frowning King, a false +abduction. . . And all a lie." + +"All but the abduction--that is true enough," said Ratcliffe. + +Buckingham frowned slightly. "I do not follow you, my lord. Methought +you said the Countess was betrothed to Sir Aymer." + +"And so she is--yet she has been abducted, none the less, these four +weeks back, and no trace of her been found. Now, however, you have +furnished the clue." + +"Nay, simply confirmed the one we had," exclaimed Sir Aymer de Lacy, +who from sheer fury had been too choked to speak; "and I have done with +waiting--already two weeks have been wasted. If the King want me let +him send to Roxford Castle."--His hand was on the door when Ratcliffe +seized his arm. + +"Compose yourself, De Lacy," he said kindly yet sternly. "Have you +learned Richard so little as to think that even we of the Ring dare +disobey him?" + +"Nor forget, Sir Aymer," added the Duke quickly, "it will be my word +against Lord Darby's; and I am a condemned traitor. . . Yet, stay a +moment, there is one other knows it. The Abbot of Kirkstall Abbey was +in Darby's secret and engaged to aid his scheme." + +De Lacy, who was handling his drawn dagger, suddenly sent it deep into +the table beside him. + +"We seem to have been a pair of fools, Stafford!" he exclaimed. "The +very morning after the Countess disappeared I found those two villains +together at the Abbey yet suspected them not at all." He drew out the +dagger, then plunged it in again. "Well, so be it. I shall wait until +the King has heard your story. Then I go North--with his permission, +if may be; without it if I must." + +"It will be a triple pleasure," said the Duke, "to revenge myself on +Darby and do some service to the Countess and to you." + +"With your permission, my lord," Ratcliffe observed, "Kendale will take +down your statement and you may sign it. . . His Majesty will not +return till vespers." + +The Duke laughed shortly. "Ere which time I shall be sped, you mean. +Well, summon Kendale, and that promptly, for methinks yon scaffold is +about ready for its office." + +Word for word the King's secretary reduced the narrative. + +"Read it," the Duke commanded when it was done. . . "Is that +sufficiently definite and accurate? . . . Then let me sign it." + +With a labored flourish he attached his name and sealed it with his +ring. Ratcliffe and Kendale duly attested it; and sealing it again +over the outside edge he handed it to De Lacy: + +"When Darby stands against you," he said, "strike one blow for the dead +Buckingham. . . Nay, man, take it not so to heart; it is a hazard we +all must play some time. And who knows, forsooth, but that in the cast +I win a fairer land than this I leave behind?" + +"Aye, perchance it is we who lose," said Ratcliffe thoughtfully. + +"God grant it be so," De Lacy added. + +"Amen!" the Duke rejoined. "For then some day you, too, shall win." + +From below came the measured tramp of men; and though the window was +closed, the murmurings and mutterings of the crowd grow noticeably +louder. The pounding of hammers had ceased and in its place were the +gruff commands as the soldiers forced the rabble back from the +scaffold; followed presently by the ring of grounded halberds. + +The Duke of Buckingham walked to the window and opening the casement +looked for a moment into the courtyard. Then as the tread of the guard +sounded on the stairs, he turned away and, shaking the dust from his +cloak, flung it about his shoulders. + +"Lead on, my man, I am ready," he said indifferently, as Raynor Royk, +death warrant in hand, stepped within. "No need to read it; I know its +message. . . Will you bear me company, good sirs?" he asked rather as +one who invites than requests. "I promise I shall not detain you long." + +For answer, both Ratcliffe and De Lacy sprang forward and offered him +their arms. The Duke shook his head. + +"You are most fair and courteous, but I must walk alone--to be +supported would give ground for evil tongues to slur upon my courage. +Your simple presence will be sustenance enough." + +As the procession of death came out into the courtyard, the crowd that +swayed and surged behind the men-at-arms, went quiet . . . a murmur +gathered, that swelled louder and still louder, until the proud figure +of Buckingham stepped upon the scaffold--then it ceased abruptly, and a +heavy stillness came. And beside the block, in black shirt and hose +and leaning on the long shaft of the huge axe, stood the masked +headsman, motionless and grim. + +For a space Stafford glanced carelessly over the crowd; then lifted his +eyes toward the blue above him, as though fain to see the bourne +whither he was bound. And standing so, suddenly a smile of rarest +beauty broke upon his face, as if, in truth, a flash of immortal vision +had been vouchsafed of the Land beyond the sky. + +Even the stern, prosaic Ratcliffe saw it thus; and in awed tones +whispered to De Lacy, "He has had that sight of Heaven which is said +comes sometimes to those about to die." + +And the Duke, his vision passed, yet with the air of one who has +received the promise of content, turned to the Bishop of Bath and +dropping on one knee bared his head and bent it for the extreme +absolution. At the end, he took Ratcliffe and De Lacy by the hand. + +"You have been friends at a trying time," he said, "and I thank you +from the heart." . . . He drew a chain of gold from within his +doublet: "Here, Sir Aymer de Lacy, is my George; do you return it to +the King--it may suggest to him that you should take my place." + +"You are very thoughtful, my lord," De Lacy answered brokenly. + +"And I am enjoined by the King," said Ratcliffe, "to assure you that +your domains shall not be forfeited or your Line attainted." + +The Duke looked at the Master of Horse steadily for a moment. + +"Verily, Richard is a mystery," he said. "Is he then greedy of naught +save power, that he passes thus my lands and castles?" + +"Methinks there are many who misjudge him," Ratcliffe answered. + +"Perchance! Yet my judgment is of small import now. Nathless, I thank +him for his clemency and consideration toward my wife and son. And +touching my body, I trust it may be decently interred." + +"It will be laid beside your ancestors; and with every ceremony your +family may desire." + +"Truly, this death is not so hard," Stafford said, with a bit of a +laugh. "You have just robbed it of its only terrors. Farewell, my +friends, farewell!"--And again he took their hands. + +Turning to the headsman, who had stood motionless the while, he ran his +eyes over the stalwart figure. + +"Have you been long at the trade, fellow?" he asked. + +"These two and twenty years," came from behind the mask, though the man +moved not at all. + +"Then you should have learned to strike straight." + +"Never but once did I miss my aim," was the grim reply. + +"Well, make not, I pray you, a second miss with me." + +Calmly as though preparing for his couch and a night's repose, he +unlaced his doublet and took it off; and laying back his placard, +nodded to the executioner. + +The sombre figure came suddenly to life, and drawing from his girdle a +pair of heavy shears he swiftly cropped the Duke's long hair where it +hung below the neck--then stepped back and waited. + +"Are you ready?" Buckingham asked. + +The man nodded and resumed his axe. + +With a smile on his lips and with all the proud dignity of his great +House, Stafford walked to the block and laid his head upon it. + +"Strike!" he said sharply. + +The executioner swung the axe aloft and brought it slowly down, staying +it just ere the edge touched the flesh. There, for an instant, he held +it, measuring his distance, while the sunlight flashed along its +polished face. Suddenly it rose again, and sweeping in a wide circle +of shimmering steel fell with the speed of a thunder-bolt. + +And at that very instant, from the camp beyond the town, came the music +of the trumpets sounding the fanfare of the King. + + + + +XXII + +THE KNIGHT AND THE ABBOT + +When the King returned, Sir John Kendale with Sir Aymer de Lacy +hastened to place in his hands the letter containing Buckingham's +statement, at the same time detailing the circumstances under which it +was made. + +Richard read it very carefully, and handed it back to Kendale. + +"So!" he said. "Out of the revolt comes the solution of the mystery, +even as I thought. Now, De Lacy, you see it was wise not to arrest +Darby at Lincoln." + +"Aye, Sire, you were right--and I fancy it is no wiser to arrest him +now." + +"Not unless you would have the Countess hurried to a fresh prison--or +perchance put away altogether--ere you could hope to reach her. For be +assured, Darby has provided that instant information be forwarded if he +be seized." + +"Then all I ask is permission to return forthwith to Yorkshire," said +De Lacy. + +"It is granted," the King replied instantly. "Take with you a few +men-at-arms and Raynor Royk; he knows the country as a priest his +prayers. As many more as you may need draw from Pontefract or any of +our castles--the Ring will be your warrant. Depart quietly and it can +be given out that you are on our special service. Meanwhile Darby +shall be as much a prisoner as though he were already in the Tower. We +march for Exeter to-morrow; and after things grow quiet thereabouts, +and a head or two more has fallen, we shall fare back to London. There +I trust you will bring, ere long, the Lady of Clare." + +An hour later Sir Aymer De Lacy and Giles Dauvrey, with Raynor Royk and +four sturdy men-at-arms, rode out of Salisbury and headed Westward. +But after a league or so they turned abruptly to the right and circling +around gained the main road to the North at a safe distance from the +town and bore away toward Yorkshire. + +Had De Lacy responded to the eagerness in his heart he would have raced +all the way, nor drawn rein save to take refreshment. But no horse nor +pair of horses ever foaled could go the length of England at a gallop, +and there were none worth the having to be obtained along the way: the +army had swept the country clean of them as it marched Southward. And +so the pace was grave and easy; and though Aymer fretted and fumed and +grew more impatient as the end drew nearer, yet he never thought to +hasten their speed; knowing that by going slowly they were, in fact, +going fast. But at length, and in due season, the huge towers of +Pontefract frowned against the sky line; and presently at the name of +De Lacy, the drawbridge fell and they crossed into the courtyard. + +In the small room, where first he saw the Duke of Gloucester, De Lacy +found Sir John de Bury. The old Knight was slow to rally from his +wound; and being scarcely convalescent when Richard drew in his forces, +he had been left in command of Pontefract in place of Sir Robert +Wallingford, who went with the King. But lately his strength was +coming back to him with swift pulsations and he was growing irritably +impatient of his forced inactivity and of the obligation of office +which held him stagnant while his sovereign rode to the wars. For as +yet, no news had reached this distant section of the actual happenings +in the South and the bloodless collapse of the rebellion. + +"Holy St. Luke! has Richard been defeated!" De Bury exclaimed, +springing to his feet. + +"Buckingham is dead and Tudor back in Brittany," Aymer answered. + +"Parbleu! Stafford dead!" + +"Aye--on the block at Salisbury on All-Souls-Day." + +"On the block? . . . Poor fool! . . . Poor fool! . . . Come, tell me +about it. But first, what brings you hither now?" + +"The Countess of Clare." + +"Beatrix! You have found her?" De Bury cried. + +"No--not her; but her abductor." + +"And he is hereabouts?" + +De Lacy shook his head. "He is with the army." + +"Then in God's Name, why are you at Pontefract?" + +"Easy, Sir John, easy," Aymer answered, his hand on the other's +shoulder. "Do you think I would be in Yorkshire if Beatrix were not +there, also?"--and forthwith he plunged into a narrative of the events +from his encounter with Darby at Sheffield to the death of Buckingham. + +"A pretty scheme of Darby's, truly," Sir John commented; "and the dog +has played it well. He has nerve uncommon so to brave the royal +Richard in his very Court. It is well for you there was no battle, or +onfall even, else would you have got an arrow or a sword thrust from +behind. . . Now as to Beatrix; is she at Roxford?" + +"There or at Kirkstall Abbey." + +"True enough; and a most likely place to conceal her the instant Darby +was suspected." + +De Lacy took a quick turn up and down the room. "God in Heaven, Sir +John! has Beatrix come through this without injury or insult?" + +"What! What! Injury or insult! They would not dare------?" De Bury +cried passionately. + +"They have dared to seize and hold her prisoner--would they would dare +no more." + +The old Knight sank back into his chair and covered his face with his +hands. . . "The heiress of the Clares--the favorite of the Queen. . . +They would not dare.--Yet if they have------" + +"Beatrix will be dead," said De Lacy, "and naught left for me but +vengeance." + +"Aye! she was ever a brave lass and would kill herself without a whit +of hesitation. Nathless, the rescue or the vengeance is for me, +also--I ride with you to-morrow?" + +"But are you strong enough to risk it?" + +"By St. Luke! strong enough to ride to Land's End if need be to strike +a blow for Beatrix,"--smiting the table with his fist. + +"Then together be it, and welcome. Here is to the Countess and her +rescue ere the morrow's sun go down!" and he filled two goblets with +wine. + +"And death and confusion to her captors," Sir John echoed, raising high +his glass. + + +Clad in full mail and followed by threescore men-at-arms and as many +archers the two Knights set out from Pontefract the following morning. +After due discussion they had determined that the time for cautious +indirection was passed and that there would be no quibbling with the +Abbot of Kirkstall. He would be called upon to produce the Countess or +to disclose where she was hidden, as well as to confess all that he +knew concerning the abduction. They were not in a mood to argue or to +be trifled with; and ill would it be for Aldam if he tried evasion or +grew stubborn. + +And that they came in spirit scarce pacific was declared by their first +act when the Abbey was reached. With the haft of his battle-axe De +Lacy struck the outer gate a resounding blow; and getting no prompt +response, followed it with a second that rang among the buildings and +corridors within. Straightway there came the shuffle of sandaled feet +and a fumbling at the wicket, which opening slowly, disclosed the +rotund face and heavy, sleepy eyes of Father Ambrose. + +"Well! what means this unseemly bluster?" he began. . . . "Your +lordships' pardon--I will open instantly," and hurried to remove the +bars. + +"We seek speech with the Lord Abbot," said De Lacy, halting beside the +lodge, while the soldiers filed into the courtyard and drew into line +at the farther side. + +The monk watched this proceeding with blank surprise. + +"Hear you not?" Aymer demanded sharply, letting his mailed hand fall +heavily on the other's shoulder. "We seek the Abbot." + +Father Ambrose shrank back in amaze at the tones and action. + +"His reverence is engaged at present in a session of the Chapter," he +faltered. + +"Good--we will interrogate him there," Aymer answered; and Sir John and +he galloped across to the church and dismounted. + +In the Chapter-house, the brothers, both ecclesiastical and lay, were +assembled in convocation. On the dais, in the recess at one side of +the hall, sat the Abbot in his great carved chair of state. He was +leaning slightly forward, chin on hand, regarding with calm and +critical scrutiny the faces of the white-robed throng below him. And +the monks, crowded on their narrow oaken benches, felt the stern eyes +upon them and grew restless; for none knew how soon he might be called +forward for rebuke before them all. And Aldam did not spare words when +he administered his corrections; and not one of the Cistercians but +would have chosen the heaviest task of the fields for four and twenty +hours in preference to a single minute's lashing by his biting tongue. + +On the Abbot's right was Father James, the Prior, whose jolly face and +ample girth were equalled only by the Sub-prior, Father Albert, the +favorite of all the Abbey, who permitted the monks to do their own +sweet wills so long as it did not interfere with the necessary labors +of the farms and religious ceremonies. + +"Let the names of the candidates for admission to full brotherhood in +our holy Order be read," the Abbot ordered. + +The Chancellor stepped forward and with much rattle of parchment opened +the roll and cleared his throat preparatory to intoning. But he got no +further. The religious calm was rudely broken by the clash of steel on +the bare pavement of the ante-chamber, and as Aldam raised his head in +angry surprise the door was flung back and the two Knights, visors up, +strode down the aisle. + +Instantly there was confusion; the monks, like timid children, drew far +away from these impious invaders of their peacefulness; some made as +though to flee; and all broke out into cries of alarm and terror. + +The Abbot sprang to his feet, his eyes flashing, his face pale with +suppressed ire. + +"Silence!" he thundered. "Return this instant to your seats, you +fearful ones!" + +The brothers huddled back into their places, trembling. There was for +them small choice between the anger of their ruler and the armed men in +their midst. + +"Truly this is strange conduct for Sir John de Bury and Sir Aymer de +Lacy," the Abbot exclaimed as they halted before the dais. "Since +when, pray, has it been deemed knightly to offer such affront to Holy +Church?" + +"Since a mitred Abbot of Holy Church has shamed his sacred office," De +Lacy answered curtly. + +"What, sirs!" Aldam cried. "Do you dare insult the Abbot of Kirkstall, +here in his very chapter, and hope to go unpunished either in this +world or the next?" + +Aymer folded his arms over the shaft of his battle axe and laughed +grimly. + +"In this world methinks small need have we to fear your reverence; and +as for the next world we will chance it. But be advised: tax us not +with threats; our patience is likely to be short." + +"And ours is gone entirely--do you, Sir John de Bury, approve this rash +youth's sacrilege?" + +"Aye, that I do," De Bury answered, his face set as stone. + +"Are you both mad?" the Abbot exclaimed. + +"Yea, that we are," replied De Lacy. "Mad with anger and resentment. +Can you guess why?" + +The monk made no answer save a sneer. + +"Listen, and you and your underlings shall hear: One evening a month or +so aback--your memory, good father, will serve you whether it was one, +or two, or three--a certain demoiselle styled Countess of Clare, Maid +to Her Majesty, the Queen of England, while near the Hermit's Cell in +the escort of Sir John de Bury, her uncle and guardian, was waylaid and +by force and violence seized upon and carried off. And though there +was hue and cry and searchings without rest, yet it was unavailing." + +"Certes, we know all these matters," Aldam broke in angrily. + +"Yes, you know them--and much more." + +The Cistercian's face changed its expression not a whit. + +"Are you aware, my lord Abbot, that the Duke of Buckingham has died +upon the block?" De Lacy questioned. + +Aldam shrugged his shoulders. "It was scarce Stafford's death that +brought you to Kirkstall," he scoffed. + +Aymer laughed derisively. "Think you so? Then are you mistaken +woefully. But for it I would be at Salisbury and your foul crime still +unsuspected." + +"Now has patience run its limit!" the Abbot exclaimed. "Brothers of +Benedict! throw me these two godless ones without the gates." And +seizing the huge chair beside him, with strength astonishing in one so +slender, he whirled it high and brought it down at De Lacy's head. + +But the Knight sprang lightly aside, and the heavy missile, tearing +itself by sheer weight from the priest's fingers, crashed upon the +pavement and broke asunder. + +If there had been any possibility of help from his frightened flock it +was ended by this ill-timed blow. The Prior and his fellows on the +dais made not a single motion; and save for an excited swaying and +whispering, the monks sat stolid on their benches, either too +frightened to flee or too indifferent to the Abbot's safety to care to +aid him. For once had the habit of trembling obedience, yoked upon +them by years of stern domination, been loosed by the spirit of fear or +the hope of release. + +And with a sneer of disgust on his face he surveyed them; and the scorn +in his voice must have shamed them to the floor had they been of the +blood of such as feel disgrace. + +"You cowardly curs!" he exclaimed; "have you no spark of manhood left +among you?" + +"Perchance they, in their turn, can dub you cur," said De Lacy tersely, +springing on the dais and taking hold upon the Abbot's arm; "for here, +on the dying word of the Duke of Buckingham, do I accuse you of +complicity in the abduction of the Countess of Clare." + +Aldam shook off the mailed fingers. + +"What! What!" he cried. "Would you lay hands in violence upon one of +God's anointed? . . . Stand back, Sir Aymer de Lacy . . . and you, +too, Sir John de Bury, lest I smite you both with the Church's +anathema." + +A gasp of horror came from the monks, and even the two Priors were +appalled at the threat--dire enough, indeed, to most men in that age, +but little short of Hell itself to such as were cloister-bred. + +De Lacy folded his arms again over his battle-axe. + +"It was no purpose nor intent of mine," he said, "to offer you +violence------" + +"Nathless, it was done," the Abbot broke in arrogantly, "and naught but +sharp penance can atone for it and for your deeds here this day." + +De Lacy smiled contemptuously. "Methinks, lord Abbot, you are +strangely dull of brain to fancy you can fright us so. Believe me, we +care as little for your curse as for your broken chair. Nor did I +speak in apology for my action. I meant no violence then; yet if we do +not get true answer to our questions, be assured there shall be +violence both meant and done." + +The monks groaned aloud; but the Abbot only shrugged his shoulders. + +"You have heard," De Lacy went on with steady menace; "and do not think +it is an idle boast. Answer! have you the Countess of Clare within the +bounds of Kirkstall Abbey?" + +Aldam raised his hand in seeming horror. "Think you that the monks of +Benedict------?" he began. + +"Answer!" cried Aymer, striking the arm of the Prior's chair with his +mailed fist so fiercely that its stout occupant, in sudden terror, fled +to the rear of the dais. + +Instantly the Abbot seated himself in the vacant place. + +"I frighten not so easily as the timid Brother James," he said. "But +as the lady is not with us, you are welcome to that knowledge." + +"Where is she, then?" + +The Cistercian leaned back and stared De Lacy in the face. "If I knew +I would not tell you." + +"You do know--and either you tell or you hang from your own gate beam." + +Aldam half arose from his chair; then dropped back and laughed. + +"You would not dare," he said; "and were I the abductor himself." + +De Lacy faced toward the door. + +"What ho! Without!" he called. + +A score of men-at-arms burst into the room with drawn swords. The +monks set up a fresh cry of terror and fell to chanting prayers, and +Father Alfred and the Chancellor sought refuge in the shadow with the +Prior. But the Abbot never stirred in his seat, save to shift his gaze +to the fresh disturbers of his authority. + +At a sign from De Lacy, the soldiers sheathed their weapons and fell +into double rank near the door, while Raynor Royk advanced to the dais +and saluted. Then the Knight turned again to the Abbot. + +"We shall search this Abbey from loft to cellar,"' he said. "If the +Countess be not here and you still remain obdurate, then shall you +stretch halter, an you were the Pope of Rome himself. . . Raynor, we +commit these good fathers to your custody. Let none quit the room--if +need be, cut down any who attempt it." + +All this time Sir John de Bury was leaning on his long sword, his cold +grey eyes fixed on the Abbot. Now he faced about and, silent still, +tramped out of the Chapter-house beside De Lacy. And with them went +half of the men-at-arms. + + + + +XXIII + +THREE CHEVRONS GULES + +When the Knights had gone Raynor Royk, having posted guards at the +three doors, turned the broken chair over with his foot and sitting +down on one of the fragments so that he could observe the entire room, +fell to polishing his dagger. + +The Abbot watched him furtively for a space, then arose. + +"Are you of De Lacy's or De Bury's household?" he asked with +condescending friendliness. + +No answer. + +"You hear? I asked if De Bury or De Lacy were your master." + +No answer; and the polishing went vigorously on. + +"Are you deaf?" the monk exclaimed angrily, and prod the old retainer +with his foot. + +The next moment the air was full of flying arms and legs and sandals +and fluttering robes; and when it cleared Aldam was lying in a heap on +the floor--and Raynor Royk was working on his dagger, as placidly as +though it were a common enough act with him to seize the foot of a +mitred Abbot and whirl him backward to the earth. + +And the look of mingled fury and pain on the monk's face when, shaking +off the assisting hands of the Prior and the Chancellor, he struggled +to his feet, would have made a less hardened soldier feel a bit uneasy +as to the fate of his soul. But without so much as a glance at the +furious churchman, Raynor returned the dagger to its sheath and went to +work on his sword blade. + +Never in all the years of his life had the stern Aldam been so crossed +and flouted as within this last hour. Speechless with rage, with +clenched hands and heaving breast, he paced the dais. And the monks in +fresh terror huddled closer together, and told their beads anew and +muttered prayer on prayer. Verily, was it a gloomy day for the +Cistercians of Kirkstall Abbey; and one sadly unpropitious to those lay +brothers whose initiatory rites had been so rudely interrupted. + +Presently the Abbot's face grew calmer and he began to prolong +gradually his steps toward the rear of the platform, where the wall +stones were very large and stood out rough and bare. There he would +pause and lean against them as though for rest, his head bent slightly +forward, his eyes closed--a figure of dejection deep and heavy. Yet it +might have been noticed that he always rested at the same place, and +could eyes have pierced his white robe, they would have seen his +slender fingers playing with careful pressure over the wall beside him. + +At length it happened--when the soldiers had grown accustomed to his +pacings and had ceased to watch him, and while Raynor Royk was busy +with his sword work, his head bent low--that Aldam halted at the wall +and leaned against it in his usual way; and as he did so the huge stone +he touched swung back noiselessly, he glided swiftly through the +opening and the stone closed back into its place. + +An excited exclamation by the Prior caused Raynor Royk to look up. +Instantly he missed the Abbot. With a shout he sprang over and seized +the Chancellor, who happened to be nearest. + +"The Abbot? The Abbot?" he demanded fiercely. + +"I know not," the monk stammered, staring about. "I saw him last by +yonder wall." + +The old soldier loosed him straightway and turned upon the Prior. + +"Speak," he thundered, "where is the Abbot?" + +Father James stepped forward. "He went through the wall," he said. + +"What! thou shaveling! Do you take me for a superstitious fool? +Through yonder stones! Think you I believe such nonsense?" + +"That you believe or disbelieve concerns me not at all," the Prior +answered. "Nathless, through that wall he went, for with my own eyes I +saw a part of it roll back and him pass in." + +Raynor crossed to the spot in a single bound and fell to pounding with +his sword hilt. But only a monotonously dull sound answered to the +blows. + +"Do you know this hidden door, or whither it leads?" + +"Methinks I can answer for myself and all my brothers," said the Prior. +"There are certain secret passages in the Abbey which none but our +ruler ever knows. Doubtless this is one of them." + +"Beware, Sir Monk!" Raynor exclaimed, striding over and glaring down +upon him. "If you lie to aid your Abbot you shall hang instead of him." + +The Prior crossed himself devoutly. "Holy St. Benedict, be my witness, +I speak truth. Nor do we love the Abbot Aldam well enough to shield +him at danger to ourselves." + +The veteran regarded him keenly for a moment. "I am prone to believe +you," he said; "for I myself know something of this Aldam. Yet here is +one who will need the convincing," as Sir Aymer de Lacy entered +suddenly. And behind him came an archer with a coil of rope. + +"Seize the Abbot!" the Knight commanded as he crossed the +threshold. . . "Ho, Raynor! Since when are you afraid to touch a +Priest? Seize him, I say." + +The old soldier advanced and saluted. + +"The Abbot has escaped," he said. + +"What!--Escaped!--Hell and Furies!" De Lacy cried, and sprang at him +with arm raised to strike. But instantly the anger passed; and instead +of a blow, his hand fell kindly upon Royk's shoulder. "How did it +happen?" he asked. "It was through some trick, I warrant, and by no +fault of yours." + +"I thank your lordship," Raynor answered, with another salute. "The +Abbot escaped by a secret passage in yonder wall when my eyes were not +upon him. This monk saw the stone open and close," and he pointed to +the Prior. + +De Lacy eyed Father James sharply, then nodded for him to speak. + +At the end, he sent Royk to make another search of the entire Abbey, +and himself turned his attention to the wall. But though he tried +pressure both light and heavy and in all possible positions and +combinations the stone stood firm. + +"Is this the first time you have seen this passage opened?" he asked. + +"It is, my lord; this or any other of its kind. It is a violation of +the Abbot's vows to use the secret ways in presence of another." + +"Do you think he never violated them before?" + +The monk shook his head. "Save possibly for certain damsels, I think +not; he never before had such occasion. Yet I will inquire. . . +Brothers!" he cried, "if there be any among you who knows the trick of +this hidden door or whither it leads, I enjoin him, in the name of the +blessed Benedict and as the ranking officer in this Chapter, that has +not yet been dissolved, to reveal the same." + +The monks whispered among themselves. Then one stood forth. + +"There is none among us who knows the secret, most reverend Prior," he +answered. + +"You hear, sir?" said Father James. + +De Lacy nodded. "Yet I must trouble you to answer me a little further. +Do you know this glove and kerchief? I found them in the room next to +the Abbot's." + +The Prior took them and after a glance held them inquiringly toward the +Chancellor and Father Albert; but each disclaimed all knowledge. + +"I fear me, sir, we cannot help you. . . Women are not unknown in the +Abbot's quarters; yet none of us has ever seen them close enough to +know them. It is thought he uses for them one of the secret passages +which opens somewhere beyond the Abbey walls. Leastwise, you may be +assured no one has ever ventured to refer thereto in the holy Aldam's +hearing. So, my lord, these articles might belong to any of a dozen +demoiselles--with religious inclinations," and he chuckled. . . +"Yet--here is a cognizance upon the kerchief which may tell much to one +acquainted with escutcheons. It is three chevrons gules, I take it." + +"They are the arms of Clare, and the Countess is its heiress," said De +Lacy. + +"Then she you seek has, indeed, been here!" + +"And is here still, though I have failed to find her." + +"Nay--methinks not. There have been no gentle ones with his reverence +these last five days." + +"You are sure of that?" + +The Prior's broad face expanded in a grin. "Well, sir, you see we have +thought it good to keep a religious eye upon our worthy head." + +De Lacy drew off his steel gauntlet. + +"See you this ring?" he said, holding up the Boar. "In the name of the +King I promise you, Sir Prior, the Abbotcy of Kirkstall, and your good +fellows each a grade in rank, if you will aid me to capture this Aldam +and to recover the Countess of Clare." + +Father James's face flushed slightly at the prospect, and the Sub-prior +and the Chancellor drew nearer in sudden interest. + +"It is a tempting offer," the Prior said; "yet though you promised us +all the red hat of a Prince Cardinal, we could give you no more +assistance than we have already done. Nathless, fair sir, we shall do +whatever lies in our power." + +"It is a bargain. When the Abbot is a prisoner or the lady saved, the +new dignities are yours . . . Monks of Kirkstall, harken!" he cried to +those upon the benches. "For inasmuch as Aldam, Abbot of Kirkstall +Abbey, has aided and abetted the enemies of his lawful Sovereign and +has furthered and assisted the abductors of the Countess of Clare, +Maid-in-waiting to Her Majesty; now, I, Aymer de Lacy, Knight of the +Body, under the authority vested in me by this signet and in the name +of the King, do hereby publicly degrade and remove the said Aldam from +his office and do absolve and release every and all of you from any +obligation or duty to him. And further, whosoever shall offer him +comfort or sustenance shall be deemed and held traitor and shall suffer +death. Heed and obey." + +The Prior sprang to the front of the dais. + +"Long live the King!" he shouted. + +And the monks, wild with joy at release from their hard master, jumped +on the benches crying: + +"Long live the Royal Richard! Long live the King!" + + + + +XXIV + +"WHEN YOU HAVE TOPPED THESE STAIRS" + +For an hour Raynor Royk and his men searched every nook and corner of +the Abbey, sounding walls and floors and making a confusion such as the +stately establishment had never known. But they found neither the +Countess nor the Abbot. He had either escaped by one of the passages +through which he introduced his frail companions, or he was hiding in +some secret chamber--whence he would take good care not to issue until +the Knights had departed. + +And to provide for just such contingency De Lacy, on the morrow when +the march was resumed, detailed five of the royal men-at-arms to remain +at Kirkstall. The armed retainers of the Abbey, who had been made +prisoners the instant De Bury and he entered the place, he now relieved +from service there and enrolled them among his own following. They +were sturdy soldiers enough, albeit they had little to do but to wax +fat and sluggish by inaction and much food and, occasionally, to escort +the Abbot when he went abroad. Yet they were glad to be admitted to +the service of one who wore the Boar and they donned corselet and +casquetel with eagerness and haste--as willing now to fight against the +Cistercian as, an hour since, they were ready to defend him. + +The Castle of Roxford lay some four leagues northwest of the Abbey. It +had been the seat of the Lords of Darby for two centuries and more; and +while in no way comparable with the huge Pontefract, in either size or +strength, yet it was deemed a formidable fortress and one, when +properly garrisoned and defended, well able to withstand attack. + +A broad path led from the highway half a league or so through the +forest of oaks and beeches to the castle, which stood on a slight +eminence in the centre of a wide clearing covered with luxuriant turf, +and used for pasturing the domestic animals as well as for the sports +of the garrison. But the morning after the events at Kirkstall, when +Sir Aymer de Lacy and Sir John de Bury halted near the edge of the +timber, this open space was bare of denizen, either brute or human. +Nor did the fortress itself show more animation; for though they rode +slowly around its entire circle, keeping the while well under cover of +the trees, yet not a sign of life did they discover either without or +within. Save for the small sable banner with the three golden +escallops, which fluttered in gentle waves from the gate-tower, there +was no moving thing in all the landscape. + +"It is uncommonly queer, this quiet," said De Bury, shading his eyes +with his hand to see the better. "It would almost seem they had been +warned of our coming." + +"Like enough," De Lacy answered. "They would only need to know that I +was back in Yorkshire; and that, doubtless, reached them quick enough. +There is no hope to catch them with drawbridge down," and they went on +to their following. + +"You know the castle, Sir John; what is the best point to attack?" +Aymer asked. + +The old Knight shook his head. "There is no weak spot, so far as I +have recollection." + +"Where is the postern? I did not note it." + +"No postern will you find in yonder walls," De Bury answered. "A +secret exit runs beneath the moat known only to the ruling lord +himself." + +"Another Kirkstall!" commented Aymer. + +"Aye--yet as Darby is not within, there will be no escape by it." + +With banners to the fore, they marched across the open space to the +barbican and the herald blew the parley. + +No answer came from the outwork. Riding closer, De Lacy discovered it +was without defenders, and passing through he halted on the edge of the +causeway. + +"Sound again!" he commanded--and this time with quick effect. + +A trumpet answered hoarsely from within and a mailed form arose from +behind the crenellated parapet near the gate. + +"Who summons so peremptorily the Castle of the Lords of Darby?" it +asked. + +Sir John's herald blew another blast. + +"It is a most ignorant warder that does not recognize the arms of Sir +John de Bury and Sir Aymer de Lacy," he answered. + +"What seek Sir John de Bury and Sir Aymer de Lacy at the Castle of +Roxford?" was the demand. + +De Lacy waved the herald aside. "We seek the Countess of Clare who, we +have reason to believe, is held in durance here. In the name of the +King, we require you to surrender her forthwith." + +"And if she be not here?" + +"Then after due search, we will leave you undisturbed," the Knight +replied. + +The other laughed tauntingly. + +"You must needs have wings, fair sirs, to gain entrance here;" and with +a scornful gesture he disappeared below the parapet, and the blast of a +trumpet signified that the truce was ended. + +De Lacy closed his visor, and for a time surveyed the fortress with +careful eye. Before him lay a moat full sixty feet across and two +thirds full of water, with no means of passage save the drawbridge, +that hung so high on its chains as to seem almost against the outer +portcullis. From the farther edge the wall rose solid and grim, and, +as he knew from Sir John, with no opening in all its circuit save the +gate directly opposite. + +"It is evident the garrison is very small," De Bury observed, "else +they would not have abandoned the barbican without a blow." + +"Undoubtedly; and if we can reach the gate or scale the wall the rest +is easy." + +"I would we had a bombard or two that are lying idle in the armory at +Pontefract." + +"They will not be needed," De Lacy answered. "We shall sleep in the +castle to-night." + +Sir John smiled. "Have you found the wings the warder recommended?" + +"We shall not require them; the gate is easier entrance than over the +walls--besides being the way naturally intended. This is not the first +time I have forced such a castle and won it by sundown. . . Giles, we +will try the flagons; let the ropes be made ready, and bid the archers +stand to their bows." + +Sir John was regarding De Lacy with vexed surprise. + +"Flagons!" he broke out. "Do you think to win the castle by pouring +wine on the waters of the moat?" + +Aymer laughed. "It is a trick I learned among the Italians, though +they use hollow iron balls. There were none such at Pontefract, so I +substituted flagons; they are filled with powder, the mouth plugged +shut save for the fuse, and the whole is wrapped in a bag, also filled +with powder." + +"How in the name of St. Luke do you expect to use them?" + +"Come," said De Lacy, and led the way to the edge of the moat. + +The squire was there uncoiling a long, stout rope with a broad iron +ball at one end. Fastening the other end to a projection in the +barbican, he whirled the weighted one around his head, then suddenly +let it fly. Like a bird it soared over the moat, and crossing back of +the right lift-chain swung far down near the water. With a wide +grappling hook he caught it above the ball, and drawing it in tied the +two ends together, forming a great loop around the chain where it was +fastened to the bridge. + +Hitherto there had been no opposition from the castle; but now there +was a change. + +As Dauvrey whirled another weighted rope behind the left draw-chain, an +arrow whistled from the wall and rapped him hard upon the hauberk near +the gorget, piercing the outer mail, but being stayed by the inner +shirt of Italian steel. The next instant the shafts came thick and +furious, marking De Bury and De Lacy and the squire at every joint and +seam of their harness, but without effect. + +"By St. Denis, I fancy not those bolts," exclaimed De Lacy, as a +quarrel from an arbalest glanced along his helmet near the eye hole. +"It came from the left gate tower, methought." + +"From the far window," said De Bury. + +"Fetch me a bow," De Lacy ordered Royk. + +Drawing off his right gauntlet he notched the shaft and waited. +Presently a head rose cautiously in the window and the cross-bow was +laid upon the ledge. Instantly De Lacy's fingers touched his cheek, +the string twanged sweetly, and the arrow flashed across and deep into +the brain of the arbalestier. + +The cry he gave as death gripped him was answered by the splash of his +weapon as it sank into the waters of the moat. + +"Bravo! my lord!" Raynor exclaimed. "You are a sight for old eyes." + +"It was a lucky shot," the Knight replied, handing back the stave. + +Meanwhile Dauvrey, minding the arrows rained upon him no more than so +many feathers, had caught the last rope, and so both lift-chains were +encircled by a running loop. In a trice a flagon was fastened to a +strand of each and drawn quickly over until it rested close against the +bridge. All this time the ropes were kept swinging irregularly to +prevent them being cut by arrows from the walls; though the defenders +had ignored them entirely, thinking, doubtless, they were to be used +for crossing and being quite content; for then their assailants' armor +must come off and they be easy marks. + +But when the bags went over they scented danger, and the darts began to +hiss about the ropes. And the gate was flung back and the bridge +lowered a trifle, and up it two men worked their way toward the chains. +They were protected by the flooring from the fire of those at the +barbican, but Dauvrey, foreseeing just such a move, had stationed +archers on each side to meet it; and ere the two had reached the middle +of the span they were pierced by half a score of arrows and rolled back +into the gateway. + +"Now!" cried De Lacy. "Up with them"--and seizing the rope nearest him +he gave it a quick twist that flung the bag upon the bridge and against +the chain; and Dauvrey did the same with the other. + +At the command two archers had sprung forward with lifted bows and +barbs wrapped with burning tow and oil. + +"Shoot!" Sir Aymer ordered; and straight into each bag a blazing arrow +sped. + +Then came a sullen roar--a burst of silvery smoke--a rush of flying +bits of iron and splinters; and as those before the barbican leaped +back at the Knight's warning cry, the drawbridge crashed down upon the +causeway, its lift-chains torn clean away. + +Instantly De Lacy dashed forward with waving axe; and beside him went +Sir John de Bury, and at his shoulder were Dauvrey and Old Raynor Royk. +And they were none too quick; for already those at the entrance were +trying to remove the planks that formed the flooring. But with a cry +of "Clare! Clare!" Aymer and the others were upon them and they fled +within the walls, swinging the gate shut just as the two Knights flung +themselves against it. + +"Keep an eye upward lest they loose a turret and destroy the bridge," +De Lacy shouted, and fell to work on the gate with his heavy axe, while +Dauvrey made haste to prevent the dropping of the portcullis by driving +a spike into the grooves in which it worked. + +But the gate was made of heavy, seasoned oak, studded thick with iron +and bound deep around the edges with well-wrought steel. And though De +Lacy's blows thundered upon it until it swayed and rattled on its +massive hinges, yet it still stood staunch and firm. Presently he +paused, and Giles Dauvrey sprang forward to take his place. But he +stayed him. + +"It is too strong to waste good time and strength upon," he said. "We +must use the powder again." + +Twice the flagons spoke without material result; but the third tore the +gate from its fastenings, and even before the smoke had risen Sir Aymer +de Lacy and Sir John de Bury hurled it back upon its hinges and dashed +through--to be brought up short by two men in complete armor, who +attacked them furiously. + +In the narrow passage, with the walls close on either side and the roof +low over head, the fighting was hampered and awkward. De Lacy and De +Bury were in each other's way and neither could swing a heavy blow; yet +they pressed forward, sword and axe drawing fire as they rasped each +other or scraped against the rough stones of the arch. + +Meanwhile the men-at-arms led by Raynor Royk had poured across the +bridge and were crowding close in the rear. + +"Bear aside, my lords!" the veteran shouted high above the din of the +clashing steel. "We will sweep the way clean by a rush." + +But neither Knight gave heed. Gradually De Lacy was driving his foe +before him. Step by step he forced him back, until presently they were +free of the wall and into the outer bailey. Then he first noticed +that, though his opponent bore no device upon shield or hauberk nor +crest upon helm, his armor was scarcely of the sort wont to be worn by +retainers or simple men-at-arms; it was far too handsome in its lines +and fashion and much too beautifully forged. And as he parried the +sword strokes, waiting for an opening when he could end the conflict by +a crashing blow, he tried to distinguish the face behind the bars of +the visor. At first he had thought it was some retainer masquerading +in one of Lord Darby's suits of mail, but the sword play was manifestly +that of no common soldier; it was too graceful and too skillful to have +been learned amid the turmoil of the camp and battle. And suddenly the +great hope came that it was Darby himself--who had eluded the King and, +following after, had passed him at Pontefract. Instantly the cool +method of his fighting vanished; his fingers took a fresh and tighter +grip; his battle-cry "Clare! Clare!" rang out vengefully; and with all +the fury of his wrongs and pent-up hate he sprang in close. And as he +swept his axe aloft its heavy head caught the other's sword and tore it +clean away, sending it far across the bailey where it fell with a clang. + +To many, here would have been the conflict's end; yet even as the hilt +quit his fingers, the unknown plucked forth his heavy dagger and sprang +straight at De Lacy. + +Aymer met the attack by facing on his right heel swiftly to the left, +and as the other, unable to recover himself, struck wildly at the air, +the axe caught him full upon the shoulder, biting through gorget and +gambeson and deep into the neck beneath. + +Bending over his fallen foe, De Lacy cut the lacings of the helmet and +drew it off--then started back in wonder. + +Instead of the dark curls and face of Roxford's lord there were +disclosed the tonsured head and pale features of the Abbot of Kirkstall. + +"Pardieu!" he exclaimed, gazing down into the face already set in +death. . . "You were my enemy, yet had I known whom this suit encased, +methinks my arm had dealt an easier blow. Nathless, you were a better +knight than churchman and, mayhap, it was a proper death for you to +die." + +Just then, De Bury's antagonist went by, running as easy as though his +mail were silk and shouting: + +"To the keep! To the keep!" to those upon the walls. And behind him +came Sir John, and the squires, and Raynor Royk with all the troop. + +Whirling about, De Lacy sprang after. But here had he and all the +others met their match; for strain as they might, they gained not an +inch; and when the foe reached the steps they were yet fifty feet away. + +The door was open for him and rushing in he flung it shut, but with +such force that it missed the catch and rebounded--and at that instant, +De Lacy thrust in his axe and he and Dauvrey threw themselves against +the door and slowly forced it back. Then of a sudden, it yielded and +they were near to falling headlong. + +Shouting his battle-cry, Aymer strode into the great hall and made for +the wide stairway at the opposite end, where the remnants of the +garrison were gathered for the final stand. There were but nine and of +them only the three in front were garbed in steel; and in the centre +was he who had held the gate against Sir John de Bury. + +Out-matched and out-armed there could be for them but one end to the +melee; for though they held the vantage post yet it counted little +against those who were arrayed below them, eager to begin. +Nevertheless, they stood calm and ready, leaning on their weapons, and +showed no glint of fear. And De Lacy, in admiration and loath to put +them to the sword, raised his axe for silence. + +"You bear yourselves as men deserving of a better cause," he cried, +"and I fain would not have your blood spilled needlessly. Yield +yourselves prisoners, and scathless shall you leave this castle within +the hour--all save one, if he be among you, the flat-nosed retainer of +Lord Darby. Him must I carry to the King." + +A gruff laugh came from the figure in the centre and he swung his visor +up. + +"Aye, sirs, be not surprised. Behold him you have dubbed Flat-Nose--by +true name, Simon Gorges--the leader of your assailants, Sir John de +Bury, when yon Knight saved you--the abductor of the Countess of +Clare--the man who eluded you, Sir Aymer de Lacy, at the house in +Sheffield." And he laughed again. "And now do I thank your worship +for the proffered clemency to my fellows, and for the honor you have in +store for me. Yet am I scarce fit to stand before His Majesty; nor do +the followers of the Master of Roxford accept favor or life from the +enemy of their lord. Here await we the onslaught, fair sirs, and let +it come quickly that it may be quickly done." + +"Stay!" cried De Lacy fiercely. "You have many more sins upon your +soul, doubtless, than those just vaunted, yet will you not do one +redeeming act ere you are sped? For of a verity you shall die ere the +shadows yonder lengthen by a span. Where, I ask you, shall I find the +Countess of Clare?" + +Flat-Nose smiled. + +"You will find her when you have topped these stairs," he answered, and +snapped his visor shut. + +"I claim the villain!" De Bury exclaimed. + +"Take him," said De Lacy--and whispered, to Giles Dauvrey: "Keep behind +Sir John, and if he weaken take his place until I come." + +Then with the old Knight in the middle and Aymer and Raynor Royk on +either hand, they advanced to the fight. + +But whereas at the gate they were on equal footing, here the assailed +had vastly the advantage; for standing on the edge of the landing, +where the stairs divided, they were high above their foes. So the +conflict began warily; and on the third step below the three halted and +made play with the three above, seeking for a chance to rush up and get +on even terms. But the others were not to be confused by tricks or +taken unaware, and were content to act only on the defensive and wait +their opportunity. And so they struggled for a while, with no result +on either side save that the strain grew heavy and the breath came +harder than at first. + +Suddenly, Gorges' heavy blade found an opening, and Sir John de Bury, +with a great hole in his helmet, staggered back and sank into the arms +of the men behind him. But it brought no respite to the victor, for +Giles Dauvrey stepped into the vacant place and his sword and +Flat-Nose's rang viciously together. + +With a groan De Lacy marked the old Knight's fall; then as for an +instant his opponent's eye wandered thither, he sprang up inside his +stroke, and gripping him with both hands about the ankles threw him +over his head and clean to the pavement below. + +At this moment, Raynor Royk cut down his foe and joined his leader on +the landing with the men-at-arms at his back. Then, indeed, was the +fight quickly ended--save where Simon Gorges still held the squire at +bay. + +And while they fought a queer thing happened in the hall below, for Sir +John de Bury got suddenly upon his feet and came toward the stairs. + +"You must strike harder, Flat-Nose, to reach a skull through Spanish +bascinet," he said. "Yet of a verity, did you stun me sore and show me +stars in millions. Have at him, De Lacy, I resign the rogue to you--my +legs are over shaky to stand on yonder stair." + +De Lacy motioned all to move back. + +"Flat-Nose!" he called. "You shall have one more chance. Will you +yield prisoner?" + +Instantly Dauvrey stepped down out of reach and grounded blade. + +"To dangle in a halter from the gate tower?" scoffed Gorges, facing +about. "Not by St. Edward! Cry on your dogs." + +"Has life then grown tiresome to you?" + +"Marry, no! Yet it is but a change of deaths you offer; and I prefer +the one that finds me sword in hand." + +"You have said the Countess of Clare is in this castle. Will you +accept life from her if she decree it; or in steel harness fight me to +the death, if she condemn you?" De Lacy asked. + +Flat-Nose flung down his sword and raised his visor. + +"I accept the offer, Sir Knight," he said. "I will risk the lady's +judgment. Knock upon the door in the farthest corner, and she, +herself, will open to you--there is no lock upon it, save that she has +inside." + +"Will you come with me, Sir John?" De Lacy called, as Dauvrey made +haste to unlace his lord's helmet and lift it off. + +De Bury shook his head. "Nay, lad, it is your right first. Later will +I join you and gladly." + +Without further urging Aymer hurried down the corridor and tapped +lightly at the door, beyond which, if Flat-Nose spoke truly, he would +find his lost betrothed. No answer came, and he rapped again and +louder. But within was silence and he waited vainly for response. +Then with rising suspicion that he had been tricked by Darby's minion, +he struck the panel sharply and with force--and the door swung back +until it was open wide. + +For a moment he hesitated; but when another knock brought no reply, he +ventured across the threshold and into the room a little way. Then as +his eyes chanced upon a hat with long plumes, lying on a table, and +beside it a veil and a woman's gauntlets, he was seized with sudden +fright and turned to flee. + +But on the instant, from behind, two arms were flung about his neck and +a soft cheek was pressed against his own, and a voice, than which to +him the world contained none sweeter, whispered in his ear: + +"Aymer, my lord!" + + + + +XXV + +A PAGE FROM THE PAST + +With a cry of deepest gladness he whirled and caught his lost love to +him, and kissed her brow and ruddy hair, and his voice broke and his +eyes dimmed as he repeated many times: + +"Beatrix! . . . Beatrix! . . . Thank God!" + +And so for a space they stood. Then of a sudden he held her gently off +at arm's length. + +"Are you glad to see me, sweetheart?" he asked. + +"And need I tell you that, dear?" smiling archly. + +"At least you might tell me why my knocks were so ignored," he said, +smiling back. + +"Perchance, sir, I was curious to know how long you would be content to +knock and wait." + +"You knew it was I?" + +She glanced up with a merry sparkle in her grey eyes. + +"Stupid!--do you think the door would have been unbolted to +another?". . . Then with a woman's quick mind: "And dear Sir John! It +is sweet to see that he has his strength again." + +"See? When did you see Sir John?" + +She led him to the window and drew aside the curtain. + +"I saw everything, my lord!" she cried, with a blithesome laugh. +"Everything from when you slew the odious Abbot until the fight ended +on the stairs; and you can never know, dear, the joy with which I +recognized the Stag upon your jupon." + +"Surely you did not see the fight in the hall!" he exclaimed. + +"Every stroke. I was leaning on the railing just above you." + +"And never spoke to me!" + +"Because I feared it might be distracting and do you harm. When all +was over I hurried hither . . . to wait . . . though I feared Sir John +might come with you," and she blushed bewitchingly. + +"His heart is young, if his hair be grey," said De Lacy. "He bade me +go alone and he would follow presently. And ere he comes, dear, tell +me something of your captivity." + +"I will try to sketch it briefly, but if I seem to wander, bear in mind +that to me it is years--long years--since that fateful evening by the +Hermit's Cell." She paused a bit, and then went on: "The attack upon +us was so sharply sudden that Sir John had no chance to defend--the +villains seemed to rise from the very turf on every side. Almost +instantly he was stricken, and as his horse bolted into the forest, a +cloak was flung over my head and wound round about my arms, so that I +was helpless. Then at a sharp trot, that grew quickly into a canter, +we set out. After a while, how long I had no notion, we halted until +the leader--he whom I have come to know as Simon Gorges--had freed me +from the cloak, apologizing very humbly for being obliged to use it. + +"It would likely have been more maidenly had I been tearful and +trembling; but, to my shame then, must I admit that I was neither--only +curious to know who had been so desperate as to commit an act that +would bring the whole of England down upon him. Had I but guessed the +long weeks which were to pass and the sore trials they were to bear, +there would have been weeping without stint that night as, indeed, +there was later; when it began to seem that you and all else on earth +had forsaken me." + +"Nay, Beatrix; surely there was never such doubt of me?" De Lacy asked. + +"Well; not doubt, exactly--only a growing fear that, having searched +for me and vainly, you had given me up for dead." + +"Yet all the while, methinks your heart told you that there was one, at +least, who sought you still," he said, raising her face so he could +look into her eyes. + +"I fear me, Aymer, you are still given to occasional conceit. . . No, +sir--not another kiss until I have finished--and not then, unless you +are good and humble. . . When we arrived before this castle the bridge +was down and all things ready for our coming. The place was strange to +me, and in the faint glimmer of the torches and the uncertain moonlight +I could discern no escutcheon above the gateway and no banner on the +tower. Nor did I have much time for observing, for they hurried me out +of saddle and through the great hall and up to these rooms. Directly, +there came to me an old woman who proffered herself as maid. + +"'Maid!' I exclaimed. 'Maid for one with no gown but a riding habit!' + +"She opened the closet door and showed me apparel in plenty; and when I +said I would wear no other woman's clothes, she told me they were made +for me and had been waiting for a week. + +"'Does this place then deal in abducted maidens?' I demanded; and got +for answer that I was the first woman of quality to cross these halls +since the lord's mother was laid in yonder chapel. + +"Then suddenly my courage left me, and I grew faint and would have +fallen had she not led me to the couch. With the morning came fresh +strength; and ignoring the loose chamber robe she laid out and urged +upon me, I donned my riding skirt and waited. But that day passed; and +the second was in darkness when I heard a trumpet call and then much +commotion in the courtyard; and presently there were steps in the +corridor, followed by a knock upon the door. When I opened it I gave a +cry of glad surprise; instead of the abductor, it was Lord Darby who +entered smiling and gay. + +"I suppose the sharp shift of feeling was too much for my wrought-up +nerves, for I began to cry and laugh by turns; and when I came back to +calmness, I found him at my feet and holding my hand, and . . . talking +foolishness. But my sole idea was to be gone, and I told him so curtly +and started for the door. To my amaze, he stepped in front of me, and +as I would have slipped by he caught my arm. I tried to fling him off, +but unavailingly. Then he gravely led me to a chair and bowed me into +it. + +"'Bear with me, Countess, I pray you,' he said, and fell to talking +foolishness, again. + +"But I told him it was quite useless; that the question had been +finally settled between us at Windsor, as he ought to know, and prayed +him not to weaken my gratitude for the rescue by pressing the subject +further. I did it gently as I could, but I saw his anger rising. + +"He had been kneeling; now he arose and stood with folded arms, looking +down at me. + +"'Tell me, Countess,' he said, 'is this your final answer?' + +"'It is, Lord Darby,' I replied, and springing by him I tried to make +the door. But he was before me and turned the key. + +"It were folly to grow violent in my helplessness, and I swept him a +mocking curtsy. + +"'Will you tell me if I am captive to Lord Darby or to him who rules +this castle?' I asked. + +"He bowed back at me until his plume almost touched the floor. + +"'To both, fair Countess,' he answered, 'for this is Roxford Castle, +and I am its lord and your abductor.' + +"'What a despicable scoundrel you are!' I exclaimed, trying to hold my +voice steady and keep a brave front--though my heart had suddenly +become as lead, and I thanked God for my dagger. + +"'It is a pity you should view your future lord with so poor esteem,' +he returned. 'For here you stay until the bans are tied as tight as +priest can knot them.' + +"'The Church mates not the quick with a corpse,' I answered. + +"He shrugged his shoulders. 'True, Countess,' he replied. 'But one +must risk something; and few women go in search of death. Nathless, it +is the only way you can escape me now.' + +"'You forget the King,' I retorted. + +"He gave his sneering laugh. 'Nay, put no hope in Richard,' he said. +'He soon will have enough of his own troubles, and no time to spare for +missing maids. When Buckingham, Stanley, and Darby rise and Richmond +lands in England, Richard's rule is ended. Then think you the new King +will deny me the Countess of Clare for wife--even though she be a bit +unwilling? Meanwhile, it is already ordered that you be treated as the +chatelaine of Roxford. When next I come it will be to lead you to the +altar, by the kind permission of His Gracious Majesty, King Henry.' + +"He went out leaving the key in the lock, and after a while he rode +away. + +"It would be small profit to detail the weeks that followed. I rarely +left this room, though I had the freedom of the castle, and was denied +nothing save leave either to pass the gates or to communicate with the +outer world. + +"Then, one day, I chanced to be at yonder window when Simon Gorges rode +from out the gate-arch and across the courtyard; his mount staggering +from weariness and both plastered with mud and water. + +"That night Gorges carried me to Kirkstall Abbey; some one met him near +the gate and I was smuggled, blindfolded, through an underground +passage to a small room, furnished in all luxury, and with all the +toilet trifles of our sex. There I abode, seeing no one save a +shrewish looking woman who paid no heed to my questions and ignored me +utterly. And on the third evening Lord Darby entered suddenly, and I +cried out in sheer surprise and terror. + +"'You are not glad to see me, I fear,' he said, with his short, +sneering laugh. + +"I made no answer. His return could mean only that Richard was +dethroned, Henry Tudor, King, and he come to claim me. My hand sought +my hidden dagger; and he must have read my mind, for he laughed +again--Merciful Mother, how I hate that laugh!--and bade me be easy. + +"'I am here before my time,' he said. 'Richard is yet King, and I +stand now with him, and am just come from mustering my following at +Roxford. He has promised me your hand when the rebellion is ended. +Therefore, I have you sure, whoever conquers; for in the battle I shall +so play as to be with him who wins.' . . . He drew back the +arras--then paused as though the thought had just come: 'Perchance it +will interest you to know that a certain Aymer de Lacy has left England +and returned to France.' + +"'It is a lie--a lie of your black heart!' I cried. + +"But he only smiled maliciously and went out. And thank God, since +that evening I have never seen him more. + +"And now is my tale most told. For a week longer I dwelt in that room, +and saw no person but my dumb attendant. At a strange hour on the +night of the seventh day, there came a knock at the door and, without +staying for permission, a robed figure entered. + +"'Be not alarmed, daughter,' it said, as I sprang up. 'I come to take +you hence.' + +"It was the Abbot Aldam himself, and my anger arose. + +"'Since when, Sir Abbot,' I demanded, 'has the Abbey of Kirkstall +become the prison for abducted women?' + +"'Since it pleased me to assist a friend in need,' he answered. + +"Coming near, he scanned my face and figure; and suddenly he put his +arms about me and kissed me on the mouth." + +De Lacy struck his gauntlets against his greaves. + +"God! I am glad I killed him," he gritted. + +"So am I, dear," said the Countess--then went on: "I tried to reach my +dagger, but Aldam caught my hands and kissed me twice again. + +"'Be not so timid,' he laughed. 'There are many of your sex come to +this room, and far different from a simple caress is the toll they pay. +But you are Darby's, so must I stop with that . . . yet I would it were +otherwise,' and his look was so cruelly devouring I fled to the far +side of the room. + +"There I waited, ready if he sought again to touch me, to sink my +dagger in his breast. But he had bound his passions, seemingly, for he +sat down and bade me prepare to leave without delay. And gladly did I +comply, caring little where I went, so that I left this vile priest's +clutches. + +"When I had done, he took my bundle and a candle and led the way +through a hidden panel in the corner opposite the door. We passed +along a narrow corridor, with the roof almost against our heads, and +descended a score of stone stairs into a tunnel, deep and foul. How +far we went I cannot even guess, but presently there was another ascent +of stairs, and after a bit of fumbling, the heavy door swung back and I +felt a rush of night air and saw the moonlight. + +"Thrusting the Abbot aside, I sprang through the opening . . . and into +the arms of Simon Gorges. + +"'Your pardon, my lady,' he said; then freed me, but stood within easy +reach. He was alone, and beside his horse was another with a woman's +saddle. He saw my eyes upon it. + +"We are for Roxford Castle,' he explained. + +"Listen, Gorges,' I said. 'What will you have to take me back to +Pontefract? Name your price, man--I am rich and can pay a royal +ransom--and you shall enter the King's own guard.' + +"He shook his head. 'I have served the Lords of Darby all my life, and +my sire and my grandsire before me. No gold nor rank can buy me from +my duty. To me you have been committed, pending my lord's return; and +so long as I have power to keep you, I must obey.' + +"'It is an ignoble task you are assigned,' I began. + +"But he would not hear me. 'You forget, my lady, that I am of those +you and your station deem ignoble. Yet, none the less, am I ashamed of +this business--though, since my lord commands, it is not for me to +question nor delay. Therefore, I pray you, let us mount and be going?' + +"I saw he neither could be bought nor persuaded, so I let him lift me +into saddle and we set out for Roxford. On the way, I asked why I was +being so moved about, though I had no hope he would tell me; and for a +while he made no answer. Then, to my surprise, he said: 'What do you +think would be the reason?' + +"'Can it be that Lord Darby is suspected of my abduction?' I cried. +And the hope that had almost died came back to life with a bound. + +"'Will you promise never to betray me to him?' + +"'I promise,' I answered, all a tremble. + +"So he detailed how, as Flat-Nose, he had been sought over all England; +how at Sheffield, you, Aymer, had come upon him and Lord Darby +together, and had carried his master to the King at Lincoln; how he, +himself, escaping, had galloped back and hurried me to Kirkstall, +assuming that Roxford would be visited by Richard's order; how Darby +had bested you with the King; and how Buckingham's rebellion had sent +you and Darby with the army to the South. + +"'For the time Roxford will be in no danger of a searching party, so +you are being returned there,' he ended. 'But if I know aught of Sir +Aymer de Lacy, my lord has not yet won his bride.' + +"'Lord Darby told me that the King had promised him my hand--and that +Sir Aymer de Lacy had gone to France.' I said. + +"He looked at me with a smile. + +"'I never contradict my master,' he replied; but there was vast +encouragement for me in his tones. + +"And I slept that night as I had not for weeks; nor troubled that I lay +once more at Roxford Castle. For after my heavy gloom and dark +despair, even the smallest hope was mountain size and promised sure +release. And so I waited; confident and strong. Last evening near +sundown the Abbot Aldam came; and as I saw him, all bedraggled, cross +the courtyard on foot and unattended, I felt that my deliverance was +near. No one of his rank and station would travel so, except his life +were jeopardized, and I cried out in joy at his undoing. Then I sent +for Gorges and learned the Abbot's tale--that he had escaped by the +passage used for me, and that you were even then at Kirkstall. + +"'To-morrow's sun will see Sir Aymer before the barbican, my lady,' he +said. 'And though we shall hold the castle to the final stroke, yet it +will be a losing fight; for we are few in number, and when one falls +there will not be another to step into his place. And so will it be +that you have seen the last of Simon Gorges, whose greatest shame is to +have been your jailer.' + +"He bowed awkwardly and was going when I stopped him. + +"'Your lord and the Abbot of Kirkstall can learn courtesy and chivalry +from you,' I said. 'But what profit can your death be to Lord Darby? +When I am found here, his end is sure. So when the last hope is +gone--the castle lost--promise me that if quarter be offered, you will +not let it pass; take your life and you shall have service under me.' + +"He was embarrassed by my praise and earnestness. 'Your ladyship is +gracious; yet must I think upon the matter,' he stammered; and hurried +out as though afraid I might persuade him more. + +"Therefore, dear, as on the stairway I heard him accept mercy on my +word, you will grant it to him?" + +"He is your prisoner, sweetheart, and we will have him here," said +Aymer. "You are his judge." + +Presently, with helmet in hand and bladeless scabbard by his side, but +still in his harness dinted and hacked in the recent fight, Gorges +appeared; and halting at the threshold, bowed to the Countess; then +saluting the Knight with formal motion, stood at attention. + +"Flat-Nose--for by that name I know you best," said De Lacy, "you +yielded prisoner to the Countess of Clare. Advance and receive your +sentence." + +Gorges came forward and knelt at her feet in silence. + +"Simon," said Beatrix, "you were kind to me when most I needed +kindness; will you now take your life from me in earnest of my +gratitude?" + +"That will I, my lady, and gladly," Gorges answered frankly and at once. + +"And will you wear the badge of Clare and be my chief retainer?" + +The soldier hesitated and glanced uncertainly at De Lacy. + +"You are bound no longer to Lord Darby's service," Sir Aymer +admonished. "He is traitor to the King, and will die on the block +within the month." + +The Gorges raised the hem of the Countess' gown and kissed it; and +taking her hand placed it on his head. + +"I am your man," he said. "Henceforth do with me as to you may seem +good." + + + + +XXVI + +THE JUDGMENT OF THE KING + +In the Painted Chamber of the Palace of Westminster the Court was +gathered. Through the great long room, amid the soft light of scores +upon scores of candles, moved the gorgeously attired throng--waiting +for the King whose usual hour of entrance was long since past. And +curiosity was rife, and uneasiness in the atmosphere. + +For the times were sadly unsettled; and among those who had for an +instant hesitated between Tudor and Plantagenet--and their number was +not small--there was grave anxiety, lest their faint loyalty had come +to Richard's ears. And to such it was scarce a comforting reflection +that, in Exeter, the headsman had just done his grim work upon St. +Leger; albeit he were husband of the King's own sister. If he were +condemned for treason, even though it were open and notorious, who that +were tainted ever so slightly were likely to be spared? + +But all the while, the ladies laughed and chatted gayly, and the +knights bowed and smiled and answered back in kind; and the throng as a +whole seemed to be without a shred of care. + +At one group of young matrons there was much merriment; and as Lord +Darby chanced to stroll by, they hailed him banteringly, inviting him +to join them. But he declined with sarcastic pleasantry. + +"Fie, sir! It was not a gallant speech," cried the Lady Strange, with +a toss of her golden locks; "and if your tongue be as acid always, +there is small wonder that rumor gave another precedence in the favor +of the Countess of Clare." + +Darby halted and bowed low and long--very low and very long. + +"Your ladyship does me too much honor," he said, with well assumed +humility, "in even thinking of the Countess of Clare and my poor self +in the same moment." + +"Doubtless I do--since your devotion was too feeble even to send you to +her rescue." + +"And now you do me deep injustice; I sought the Countess from the day +following the abduction until all hope was gone. Methinks alas! she +has long since been gathered with the Saints." + +The Countess of Ware--the Lady Mary Percy that was--laughed with gibing +intonation. + +"There is one, at least, who has not ceased to hope and to search," she +said. + +"And has been as successful as myself," he retorted, nor hid the sneer. + +"But if he find her?" + +Darby shrugged his shoulders. "Think you there is recognition in the +spirit world?" + +"Then you actually believe the Countess dead?" the Lady Lovel asked. + +"Beyond all question, madam. It is near three months since the +abduction and a trace of her has yet to be discovered;" and was going +on when the Countess of Ware stopped him. + +"Can you tell us what detains the King?" she asked. + +"I have no notion," he replied. "I saw him an hour or so ago and he +was in the best of health and humor." + +"Your news is stale," she laughed; "a King's humor an hour old is very +ancient." + +"True," said Darby, "true indeed, yet here comes one who can doubtless +answer fittingly. . . Sir Ralph, what delays His Majesty?" + +But De Wilton looked him straight in the face, and with never a word in +reply, passed on. + +And at that moment the Black Rod entered, and behind him came the King. + +Save for the crimson lining of his short gown, he was clad in white +from head to foot, an ivory boar with eyes of rubies and tusks of +sapphires, pinned the feather in his bonnet, about his neck hung the +George, and his only weapon was the diamond hilted dagger at his +girdle. With it he toyed, looking neither to the right nor to the +left, nor yet to the front; but rather at the mental picture of one +engrossed in thought. + +Slowly and with the impressive dignity that was the natural heritage of +the Plantagenets, he mounted the steps to the Throne and turning faced +his Court; and all bowed low, and then in silence waited, while his +dark eyes searched them through. + +"You may take your places, my Lord Cardinal and Lord Chancellor," he +said. "Her Majesty will not join us until later." + +Bowing in response, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of +Lincoln assumed their stools on the third step of the dais; and the +crowd, released from the ceremonial calm, began to buzz softly with +conversation, though without taking eye from the King. And they turned +quickly dumb again as Richard raised his hand. + +"We will have to beg your kind indulgences if, for a while, we delay +the games and the dance," he said. "It is a most unhappy chance upon +this evening of all others, when we are about to celebrate our safe +return from rebellious war, that there has come to us evidences of +foulest crime and darkest treason by one high in rank and station, and +who is, even now, within sound of my voice." + +Over the Court ran a shiver of apprehension; and men eyed one another +with misgiving and drew within themselves; while the women, with faces +suddenly gone white and lips a tremble, clutched the hands of those +most dear, as though to shield them from the doom about to fall. For +green in the memory was Hastings, and Rivers, and Buckingham, and St. +Leger, and the stern suddenness of their taking off. + +"Perchance, it were more suitable," the King went on, "that matters of +such import be deferred to the quiet of the council chamber and the +Court of the Lord High Steward; and in particular, that there should be +none of the gentler sex in presence. Yet for reasons which to me seem +adequate and proper, I have determined otherwise. He who is charged +with these crimes is now among you; and by you, my lords and my ladies, +shall he be adjudged. Stand forth, Henry, Lord Darby of Roxford." + +The gasp that soughed through the room as Richard spoke the name was +far more of relief than of wonder, and instantly all eyes sought the +accused. + +And he met them with a shrug of indifference and a smiling face. And +down the aisle that opened to him he went--debonair and easy--until he +stood before the Throne. There he bent knee for an instant; then, +erect and unruffled, he looked the King defiantly in the eye. + +"Here stand I to answer," he said. "Let the charges be preferred." + +Richard turned to the Black Rod. + +"Summon the accusers," he ordered. + +As the Usher backed from the room, there arose a hissing of whispers +that changed sharply to exclamations of surprise as in formal tones he +heralded: + +"Sir John de Bury! Sir Aymer de Lacy!" + +The elder Knight leaned on the other's arm as they advanced; but +dropped it at the Throne and both made deep obeisance. An impatient +glance from the King brought instant quiet. + +"Sir John de Bury and Sir Aymer de Lacy," he, said, "you have made +certain grave accusations touching Henry, Lord Darby of Roxford. He +stands here now to answer. Speak, therefore, in turn." + +De Bury stepped forward and faced Darby, who met him with folded arms +and scornful front. + +"I charge Henry, Lord Darby," he said, "with having abducted and held +prisoner, in his castle of Roxford and elsewhere, my niece, the Lady +Beatrix de Beaumont, Countess of Clare." + +A cry of amazement burst from the Court, but Richard silenced it with a +gesture. + +"You have heard, my lord," he said. "What is your plea?" + +"Not guilty, Sire." + +At a nod from the King, De Lacy took place beside Sir John. + +"I charge Henry, Lord Darby of Roxford," he cried, "with high treason, +in that he aided and a betted the Duke of Buckingham in his late +rebellion, and stood prepared to betray his Sovereign on the field of +battle." + +"You hear, my lord," said the King. "What is your plea?" + +But Darby did not answer; and for a while Richard watched him +curiously, as with half-bared dagger and lips drawn back in rage, he +glowered upon De Lacy, forgetful of all things save his hate. And so +imminent seemed the danger, that Aymer put hand to his own poniard and +fell into the posture to receive attack. And doubtless there, before +the Throne itself, would these two men have fought to the death for +very lust of the other's blood, had not the clear, stern voice of the +King aroused them, like cold water in a sleeping face. + +"Do you not hear, Lord Darby? We await your plea!" + +"Not guilty," Darby answered in tones husky with rage. "And I demand +wager of battle, as against the foul charge of this foreign slanderer +and liar." + +"I pray you, my Liege, to grant it to the traitor," said De Lacy +eagerly. + +But Richard waved him back. "The wager is refused. By the evidence +shall the judgment be. Proceed, Sir Aymer de Lacy, we will hear you +first." + +The Knight drew a packet from his doublet. + +"I offer herewith," he said, "the dying statement of Henry Stafford, +late Duke of Buckingham, touching the part taken in his rebellion by +the accused." + +"I object to it!" Darby cried. + +"For what reason?" + +"Because its execution has not been proven; and because, even if +genuine, it is incompetent as being by a condemned traitor." + +"Let me see the paper," said the King. . . "It is regular, on its +face--signed by Stafford under his own seal and attested by Sir Richard +Ratcliffe and Sir John Kendale. Do you wish their testimony?" + +Lord Darby bowed. + +"Sir Richard Ratcliffe and Sir John Kendale," the King said, as they +stood forth, "do you each testify on honor that these are your +respective signatures, and that you saw Henry Stafford sign and affix +his seal hereto?" + +"We do, upon our knightly honor," they replied. + +"It would appear, Sir John, that the body of this document is in your +handwriting." + +"It is, Your Majesty. I wrote it at request of Stafford and at his +dictation." + +"Where?" + +"In his room in the Blue Boar Inn in the town of Salisbury." + +"When?" + +"On the afternoon of the second day of November last. When the Duke +had signed it he went direct to execution." + +"And this document?" the King questioned. + +"Was kept by me until presented to Your Majesty that same evening; and +by your direction deposited among your private papers, whence I took it +a few minutes since to give to Sir Aymer de Lacy." + +Another murmur of astonishment went up from the Court, but died quickly +under Richard's glance. + +"Methinks, my lord," he said addressing Darby, "the paper has been +sufficiently proven and is competent as a dying declaration of a +co-conspirator. Therefore, we admit it. . . Read it, my Lord +Chancellor." + +The Bishop arose and spreading out the parchment began: + + +"I, Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, being about to suffer on the +block (which even now stands ready before my window) do hereby make, +publish and declare this as and for my dying declaration; trusting that +thereby I may be of service to one who, though my foe in war, has been +my friend in peaceful days, and now, as well, when all others have +forsaken and betrayed me--and may, at the same time, bring to justice a +pair of caitiffs. By these presents, do I denounce and proclaim Henry, +Lord Darby, and John Morton, ycleped Bishop of Ely, as perjured and +forsworn traitors to Richard, King of England, as well as betrayers of +their plighted faith to me. Further, do I hereby admonish Richard +Plantagenet that this Darby (whom I have but this hour observed among +his forces in this town) and the aforesaid priest, Morton, are the +instigators of my rebellion; that these two aided me in all the +scheming of the plot; that to Darby was assigned the proclaiming of +Henry Tudor in Yorkshire and the North; and that, within one week of +the day set for the rising, he was at Brecknock and completed the final +details. That he was a double traitor I knew not until I saw him here +in the courtyard this day. Also, I denounce----" + + +"Stay, my Lord Bishop!" the King interjected. "Read no further for the +present." + +"Since when, I pray, Sire, has it become the law of England to admit +only such part of a paper as may suit the prosecution's plan?" Darby +cried. + +"You wish it read entire?" Richard asked. + +"Marry, that I do. Since I am already judged, it can work me no hurt." + +Richard looked at him fixedly. "You are overbold, sirrah!" + +"Those who speak truth to a King must needs be so," was the curt +rejoinder. + +"Steady your tongue, Lord Darby," said Richard sternly, "else may the +Tower teach you respect for England's King." + +"Think you, then, I should find the young Fifth Edward +there------alive?" sneered Darby. + +For a moment, Richard's eyes flashed like sparks springing from the +clashing of two angry swords. Then he smiled; and the smile was more +ominous than the sparks. + +"Be easy, sir; the remainder of the declaration shall be read in +season," he said very quietly. "But first, will you reply now to +Stafford's allegation, or shall we proceed with Sir John de Bury's +charge?" + +If this were all the evidence of treason Darby was in small danger and +it behooved him to change his bearing. + +"I did Your Majesty grave wrong in presuming you had prejudged me," he +said with a frank smile, "for well I know that on such shallow +falsehoods no man could ever be condemned. And here do I place my own +knightly word against the traitor Buckingham's; and do specifically +deny all that has been read by the Lord Chancellor. And further, do I +solemnly affirm that neither by voice nor deed have I been recreant to +my oath of allegiance, nor false to you. Moreover, Sire, my very +action in the rebellion attests my truth: Did I not hasten to join your +army with all the force at my disposal? Have I not been ever honest +and faithful?" + +And with arms folded proudly on his breast, he waited for the +acquittance that seemed to be his due. + +"As the case stands now, it would be our duty and our pleasure to +pronounce you guiltless," Richard replied. "But it so chances that +there is still another witness on the charge of treason, whose +testimony deals also with the abduction. Wherefore, we shall be +obliged to mingle somewhat the two matters and so to withhold our +judgment until the trial is ended and all the evidence is in. . . My +Lord Chancellor, proceed with the reading." + +The Bishop resumed: + + +"Also, I denounce the said Henry, Lord Darby, as the abductor of the +Countess of Clare whom, he told me, he by pre-arrangement with her had +seized one night in September and had carried to his castle--she loving +him, but being coerced by the King into marrying another. And I, +believing him, promised that he should wed her and receive her lands +and title when Henry Tudor became King. Only to-day did I learn that +he had taken the maid by force, and that his story of her love for him +was pure falsehood. And it gratifies me much that, perchance, these +words may aid in the lady's rescue and her dastardly abductor's +punishment. In testimony to the truth whereof, and in full +appreciation of impending death, I hereunto set my hand and affix my +seal of the Swan. Given at the Inn of the Blue Boar, in the town of +Salisbury, this second day of November, in the year of Grace 1483." + + +The Chancellor folded the parchment. "I have finished, Sire," he said. + +"Now, Lord Darby, you have had your wish and heard the statement full +and entire," the King admonished. "If it has not improved your case, +the next witness, methinks, is scarce likely to better it." + +At a sign, the Black Rod again withdrew, and once more there was +profoundest silence; and upon the doorway in the corner all eyes were +turned, save those of the accused. He stood stolid and defiant glaring +at De Lacy. Then a cry went up, and after it came cheers and loud +applause. Nor did Richard offer to rebuke it, but himself leaned +forward smiling. + +Aroused at this, Lord Darby glanced around--and suddenly his face went +pale, and red, and pale again; and he staggered slightly, passing his +hand across his forehead in a dazed-like way. For there, advancing +toward the Throne, hand in hand with the Queen, was the woman he +thought securely hid in far distant Roxford Castle. + +Then sharp panic seized him and he turned to flee. + +But close behind him was the wall of courtiers, and beyond flashed the +halberds of the guard. Straightway, the terror passed, and he was +again the cool soldier, contemptuous and indifferent--though he saw +full well the case would go against him and that death was drawing +near. And so he waited, utterly forgotten for the moment, amid the +gladsome welcome for the Countess of Clare, whom all long since had +given up for dead. + +At the foot of the dais Beatrix stopped, but the Queen would not have +it so, and with gentle insistence she drew her up the steps. And +Richard met them half way, and with him on one side and the Queen on +the other, she stood before the Court. + +Then the King raised his hand for silence. + +"Behold!" he said, "the lost Lady of Clare!" and kissed her finger +tips, while the cheers swelled forth afresh. + +She curtsied low in response, and sought to descend to her place. But +Richard detained her. + +"Fair Countess," he said, "the Lord Darby stands here accused of your +abduction, and of complicity in the late rebellion; we have sent for +you to testify your knowledge in these matters." + +Beatrix's face grew grave, and for a little while she made no answer. + +"I implore you, Sire, relieve me from the duty," she said. "Safe now +and freed from my captor's power, I want never to look upon him nor to +speak his name, being well content to let God in His Providence punish +the crime against me." + +"Your words are earnest of your gracious heart," said the King. "But +for the honor and name of fair England, it may not be settled so. If +Lord Darby be guilty, then must he suffer punishment, were it for no +other reason than that our laws demand it. If he be innocent, it is +his bounden right to receive full acquittance here in the presence of +those before whom he has been arraigned. Speak! as your Sovereign I +command. Who was your abductor?" + +The Countess clasped her hands before her and hesitated. Then for the +first time, she let her eyes rest upon Darby; and the sight of him +seemed to nerve her; and she raised her arm and pointed at him with +accusing finger, while her voice rang out full and strong: + +"There he stands--Lord Darby of Roxford! By his orders I was seized +and carried to his castle, where he came and sought first to persuade, +and then to force me into marriage with him. And when I scorned him, +he swore with words insulting he would hold me prisoner until he and +Buckingham had made a King of Henry Tudor, when he would wed me whether +I wished or no. Later it seems he somewhat changed his plans, and +instead of joining openly with Henry he remained with you, Sire; yet +with full intention, as he, himself, assured me, to cleave to whatever +side was winning in the battle. So was he sure, he said, to be in +favor with whomever wore the crown. Of all these crimes and treasons +is yonder false lord guilty. And had not Sir John De Bury and Sir +Aymer de Lacy carried by storm his Castle of Roxford, I would yet be a +prisoner to him." + +And the very thought brought quick reaction and her courage ebbed, and +turning her back upon the Court, she covered her face with her hands. + +Through the swift denunciation Lord Darby had stood with impassive face +and eyes that never flinched, looking straight at the Countess; then he +shifted his glance to the King. He knew that the words just uttered +had confirmed his doom--that in all that throng there was no friend for +him, nor even one to do him favor. A score of lies or a flood of +denials would be unavailing to win so much as a glance of sympathy. He +had essayed a game with Destiny; he had lost and must pay penalty--and +he never doubted what that penalty would be with Richard Plantagenet +his judge. But at least, he would wring a cry of pain from the heart +of his enemy--and he smiled and waited. + +Then the King spoke: "We will hear you now, Lord Darby." + +"I thank Your Gracious Majesty for the stern impartialness of this +trial," he said with biting sarcasm. "It was planned as skillfully as +was a certain other in the White Tower, adown the Thames, when Hastings +was the victim"--and he gave his sneering laugh; and then repeated it, +as he remarked the shudder it brought to the Countess. "Nathless I am +not whimpering. I have been rash; and rashness is justified only by +success. For I did abduct the Countess of Clare, and have her carried +to my Castle of Roxford. So much is truth." Then he faced Sir Aymer +de Lacy and went on with a malevolent smile. "But she was not a +prisoner there, nor did I take her against her wish. She went by +prearrangement, and remained with me of her own free will. I thought +she loved me, and believed her protestations of loathing for the +upstart De Lacy who, she said, was pursuing her with his suit, And when +she begged me to take her with me and risk your Majesty's anger, I +yielded; and to the end that we might wed, I did embark, in the +plottings of the Duke of Buckingham, upon his engagement, for the Tudor +Henry, that our union would be sanctioned. Later, when the lady seemed +so happy with me at Roxford, methought the marriage could bide a bit, +and so resolved to wait until the battle to choose between Plantagenet +and Tudor. Having the girl, I could then get the estates as payment of +my service to the victor. But it would seem I risked too much upon the +lady's love. For while I was at the wars, either she tired of me and +so deserted Roxford, or having been found there by De Bury and the +Frenchman, as she says, she deemed it wise to play the innocent and +wronged maiden held in durance by her foul abductor. Leastwise, whoso +desires her now is welcome to her," and he laughed again. + +Then could De Lacy endure it no longer; and casting off De Bury's +restraining arm, he flashed forth his dagger and sprang toward Darby. +But as he leaped Sir Richard Ratcliffe caught him round the neck and +held him for the space that was needful for him to gather back his wits. + +"For God's sake, man, be calm!" he said, as he loosed him. "Let +Richard deal with him." + +And the Countess, as Darby's vile insinuations reached her ears, drew +herself up and gently putting aside the Queen, turned and faced him. +And her mouth set hard, and her fingers clenched her palms +convulsively. So, she heard him to the end, proudly and defiantly; and +when he had done, she raised her hand and pointed at him once again. + +"Though I am a woman," she exclaimed, "here do I tell you, Lord Darby, +you lie in your throat!" + +"Aye, my lady! that he does," a strange voice called; and from the +doorway strode Simon Gorges, the anger on his ugly face flaming red as +the hair above it. + +"May I speak, Sire?" he demanded, halting before the Throne and +saluting the King in brusque, soldier fashion. + +"Say on, my man," said Richard. + +"Then hear you all the truth, touching this dirty business," he cried +loudly. "I am Flat-Nose. At Lord Darby's order, I waylaid and seized +by force the Countess of Clare, and carried her to Roxford Castle. +Never for one moment went she of her own accord, and never for one +moment stayed she willingly. She was prisoner there; ever watched and +guarded, and not allowed outside the walls. In all the weeks she was +there Lord Darby saw her only once. And when he spoke to her of love, +she scorned and lashed him so with words methought he sure would kill +her, for I was just outside the door and heard it all." + +"Truly, Sire, you have arranged an entertainment more effective than I +had thought even your deep brain could scheme," Darby sneered, as +Gorges paused for breath. . . "What was your price, Simon? It should +have been a goodly one." + +"Measure him not by your standard, my fair lord," said the King. "He +held your castle until none but him was left; and even then yielded not +to his assailants, but only to the Countess." + +"And upon the strict engagement that I should not be made to bear +evidence against you," Flat-Nose added. "But even a rough man-at-arms +would be thrice shamed to hear a woman so traduced and not speak in her +favor. Therefore, my lord, I, too, say you lie." + +But Darby only shrugged his shoulders and bowed to the Countess. + +"Your ladyship is irresistible," he said, "since you have wiles for +both the master and the man." + +"Shame! Shame!" exclaimed the grey-haired Norfolk, and the whole +throng joined in the cry. + +Then forth stepped Sir Aymer de Lacy. + +"I pray you, my liege," said he, "grant me leave to avenge upon the +body of yonder lord the wrongs the Countess of Clare has suffered." + +Beatrix made a sharp gesture of dissent and turned to the King +appealingly. + +With a smile he reassured her. + +"Not so, De Lacy," he said kindly. "We do not risk our faithful +subjects in combat with a confessed traitor. There are those appointed +who care for such as he. . . Nay, sir, urge me not--it is altogether +useless." And he motioned Aymer back to his place. + +Then he faced Lord Darby, who met him with a careless smile. + +"Out of your own mouth have you condemned yourself," he said. "And +there is now no need for verdict by your Peers. It remains but to pass +upon you the judgment due your crimes. And first: for your foul wrong +to the Countess of Clare and through her, to all womankind, here, in +her presence and before all the Court, you shall be degraded." + +Darby's face flushed and he took a quick step backward, like one +stricken by a sudden blow. But he made no reply, save from his angry +eyes. + +"What say you, Flat-Nose; will you execute the office?" the King asked. + +"And it please you, Sire, I cannot do such shame upon my former +master," Gorges answered bluntly. + +"It does please me well, sirrah; though truly your face belies your +heart. . . What, ho! the guard! . . . Let the under-officer come +forward." + +In a moment the tall form of Raynor Royk stalked out from the throng, +and halting in the open he raised his halberd in salute. + +"Hew me off the spurs from yonder fellow," the King ordered, with a +move of his hand toward the condemned. + +Saluting again, the old soldier strode over and with two sharp blows of +his weapon struck the golden insignia of Knighthood from Lord Darby's +heels. + +Nor did Darby make resistance; but with arms folded on his breast he +suffered it to be done, though his bosom heaved in the fierce struggle +to be calm, and the flush left his face and it grew gray and drawn, and +bitter agony looked out from his eyes. And many turned away their +heads. And on the dais the Countess had faced about, and the Queen and +she were softly weeping. + +Lifting the spurs from the pavement Raynor Royk held them up. + +"The order is executed, Sire," he said. + +"Fling them into the ditch," the King commanded. "They, too, are +stained with dishonor." + +Then in tones cold and passionless, and wherein there was no shade of +mercy, he went on: "And now, Henry Darby--for Lord and Knight you are +no longer--you have suffered penalty for one crime, hear the judgment +for the other: As false to your oath of fealty and traitor to your +King, the sentence is that you be taken hence to Tyburn and there +hanged by the neck until dead--and may the Lord Omnipotent have pity on +your soul. Remove him." + +"Come," said Raynor Royk, and led him through the crowd, which drew +shudderingly aside to give him passage. + +And Darby--stunned by the stern justice that had sent him to die a +common felon on Tyburn Tree, instead of as a Lord and Peer of England, +on the block on Tower Hill--went with dazed brain and silently; and ere +his faculties returned, he was among the guards in the rear. Then with +a sudden twist he turned about and shouted with all his voice: + +"Long live Henry Tudor!" + +It was his last defiance. The next instant he was dragged outside and +the doors swung shut behind him; while from all the Court went up the +answering cry: + +"Long live Plantagenet! God save the King!" + +And when silence came the Countess and De Lacy were gone. + + +"So," said Sir Aymer, as Beatrix and he reached the quiet of the +Queen's apartments, "your troubles end--the sun shines bright again." + +The Countess sank into a chair and drew him on the arm beside her. + +"My troubles ended when you crossed the courtyard of Roxford," she +replied, taking his hand in both her own, "but yours have not begun." + +"Wherefore, sweetheart?" he asked. "I thought mine, too, had ended +there." + +"No," with a shake of the ruddy head . . . "no. . . Your heaviest +troubles are yet to come." + +He looked at her doubtfully. . . "And when do they begin?" + +She fell to toying with her rings and drawing figures on her gown. + +"That is for you to choose," she said, with a side-long glance. . . +"Next year, may be, . . . to-morrow, if you wish." + +"You mean------?" he cried. + +She sprang away with a merry laugh--then came slowly back to him. + +"I mean, my lord, they will begin . . . when you are Earl of Clare." + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Beatrix of Clare, by John Reed Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEATRIX OF CLARE *** + +***** This file should be named 17100.txt or 17100.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/0/17100/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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