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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5313-0.txt b/5313-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a2e2d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/5313-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5547 @@ +Project Gutenberg’s The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +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: The Herd Boy and His Hermit + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5313] +Last Updated: October 12, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + + + + +Produced by Sandra Laythorpe + + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + +By Charlotte M. Yonge + + + + + Henry, thou of holy birth, + Thou, to whom thy Windsor gave + Nativity and name and grave + Heavily upon his head + Ancestral crimes were visited. + Meek in heart and undefiled, + Patiently his soul resigned, + Blessing, while he kissed the rod, + His Redeemer and his God. + SOUTHEY + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + +I. IN THE MOSS + +II. THE SNOW-STORM + +III. OVER THE MOOR + +IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS + +V. MOTHER AND SON + +VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + +VII. ON DERWENT BANKS + +VIII. THE HERMIT + +IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR + +X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + +XI. THE RED ROSE + +XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION + +XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS + +XIV. THE JOURNEY + +XV. BLETSO + +XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + +XVII. A CAPTIVE KING + +XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES + +XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE + +XX. BARNET + +XXI. TEWKESBURY + +XXII. THE NUT BROWN MAID + +XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + + + + +CHAPTER I. -- IN THE MOSS + + + + I can conduct you, lady, to a low + But loyal cottage where you may be safe + Till further quest.--MILTON. + + +On a moorland slope where sheep and goats were dispersed among the +rocks, there lay a young lad on his back, in a stout canvas cassock +over his leathern coat, and stout leathern leggings over wooden shoes. +Twilight was fast coming on; only a gleam of purple light rested on the +top of the eastern hills, but was gradually fading away, though the sky +to the westward still preserved a little pale golden light by the help +of the descending crescent moon. + +‘Go away, horned moon,’ murmured the boy. ‘I want to see my stars come +out before Hob comes to call me home, and the goats are getting up +already. Moon, moon, thou mayst go quicker. Thou wilt have longer time +to-morrow--and be higher in the sky, as well as bigger, and thou mightst +let me see my star to-night! Ah! there is one high in the sunset, pale +and fair, but not mine! That’s the evening star--one of the wanderers. +Is it the same as comes in the morning betimes, when we do not have +it at night? Like that it shines with steady light and twinkles not. I +would that I knew! There! there’s mine, my own star, far up, only paling +while the sun glaring blazes in the sky; mine own, he that from afar +drives the stars in Charles’s Wain. There they come, the good old +twinkling team of three, and the four of the Wain! Old Billy Goat knows +them too! Up he gets, and all in his wake “Ha-ha-ha” he calls, and the +Nannies answer. Ay, and the sheep are rising up too! How white they look +in the moonshine! Piers--deaf as he is--waking at their music. Ba, they +call the lambs! Nay, that’s no call of sheep or goat! ‘Tis some child +crying, all astray! Ha! Hilloa, where beest thou? Tarry till I come! +Move not, or thou mayst be in the bogs and mosses! Come, Watch’--to a +great unwieldy collie puppy--‘let us find her.’ + +A feeble piteous sound answered him, and following the direction of the +reply, he strode along, between the rocks and thorn-bushes that guarded +the slope of the hill, to a valley covered with thick moss, veiling +treacherously marshy ground in which it was easy to sink. + +The cry came from the further side, where a mountain stream had force +enough to struggle through the swamp. There were stepping-stones across +the brook, which the boy knew, and he made his way from one to the +other, calling out cheerily to the little figure that he began to +discern in the fading light, and who answered him with tones evidently +girlish, ‘O come, come, shepherd! Here I am! I am lost and lorn! They +will reward thee! Oh, come fast!’ + +‘All in good time, lassie! Haste is no good here! I must look to my +footing.’ + +Presently he was by the side of the wanderer, and could see that it was +a maiden of ten or twelve years old, who somehow, even in the darkness, +had not the air of one of the few inhabitants of that wild mountain +district. + +‘Lost art thou, maiden,’ he said, as he stood beside her; ‘where is +thine home?’ + +‘I am at Greystone Priory,’ replied the girl. ‘I went out hawking to-day +with the Mother Prioress and the rest. My pony fell with me when we were +riding after a heron. No one saw me or heard me, and my pony galloped +home. I saw none of them, and I have been wandering miles and miles! Oh +take me back, good lad; the Mother Prioress will give thee--’ + +‘’Tis too far to take thee back to-night,’ he said. ‘Thou must come with +me to Hob Hogward, where Doll will give thee supper and bed, and we will +have thee home in the morning.’ + +‘I never lay in a hogward’s house,’ she said primly. + +‘Belike, but there be worse spots to be harboured in. Here, I must carry +thee over the burn, it gets wider below! Nay, ‘tis no use trying to leap +it in the dark, thou wouldst only sink in. There!’ + +And as he raised her in his arms, the touch of her garment was delicate, +and she on her side felt that his speech, gestures and touch were not +those of a rustic shepherd boy; but nothing was said till he had waded +through the little narrow stream, and set her down on a fairly firm +clump of grass on the other side. Then she asked, ‘What art thou, +lad?--Who art thou?’ + +‘They call me Hal,’ was the answer; ‘but this is no time for questions. +Look to thy feet, maid, or thou wilt be in a swamp-hole whence I may +hardly drag thee out.’ + +He held her hand, for he could hardly carry her farther, since she +was almost as tall as himself, and more plump; and the rest of the +conversation for some little time consisted of, ‘There!’ ‘Where?’ ‘Oh, +I was almost down!’ ‘Take heed; give me thy other hand! Thou must leap +this!’ ‘Oh! what a place! Is there much more of it?’ ‘Not much! Come +bravely on! There’s a good maid.’ ‘Oh, I must get my breath.’ ‘Don’t +stand still. That means sinking. Leap! Leap! That’s right. No, not that +way, turn to the big stair.’ ‘Oh--h!’ ‘That’s my brave wench! Not far +now.’ ‘I’m down, I’m down!’ ‘Up! Here, this is safe! On that white +stone! Now, here’s sound ground! Hark!’ Wherewith he emitted a strange +wild whoop, and added, ‘That’s Hob come out to call me!’ He holloaed +again. ‘We shall soon be at home now. There’s Mother Doll’s light! Her +light below, the star above,’ he added to himself. + +By this time it was too dark for the two young people to see more than +dim shapes of one another, but the boy knew that the hand he still held +was a soft and delicate one, and the girl that those which had grasped +and lifted her were rough with country labours. She began to assert her +dignity and say again, ‘Who art thou, lad? We will guerdon thee well for +aiding me. The Lord St. John is my father. And who art thou?’ + +‘I? Oh, I am Hob Hogward’s lad,’ he answered in an odd off-hand tone, +before whooping again his answer to the shouts of Hob, which were coming +nearer. + +‘I am so hungry!’ said the little lady, in a weak, famished tone. ‘Hast +aught to eat?’ + +‘I have finished my wallet, more’s the pity!’ said the boy, ‘but never +fear! Hold out but a few steps more, and Mother Doll will give thee bite +and sup and bed.’ + +‘Alack! Is it much further! My feet! they are so sore and weary--’ + +‘Poor maiden, let me bear thee on!’ + +Hal took her up again, but they went more slowly, and were glad to see a +tall figure before them, and hear the cry, ‘How now, Hal boy, where hast +been? What hast thou there?’ + +‘A sorely weary little lady, Daddy Hob, lost from the hawking folk from +the Priory,’ responded Hal, panting a little as he set his burthen down, +and Hob’s stronger arms received her. + +Hal next asked whether the flock had come back under charge of Piers, +and was answered that all were safely at home, and after ‘telling the +tale’ Hob had set out to find him. ‘Thou shouldst not stray so far,’ he +said. + +‘I heard the maid cry, and went after her,’ said Hal, ‘all the way to +the Blackreed Moss, and the springs, and ‘twas hard getting over the +swamp.’ + +‘Well indeed ye were not both swallowed in it,’ said Hob; ‘God be +praised for bringing you through! Poor wee bairn! Thou hast come far! +From whence didst say?’ + +‘From Greystone Priory,’ wearily said the girl, who had her head down on +Hob’s shoulder, and seemed ready to fall asleep there. + +‘Her horse fell with her, and they were too bent on their sport to heed +her,’ explained the boy, as he trudged along beside Hob and his charge, +‘so she wandered on foot till by good hap I heard her moan.’ + +‘Ay, there will be a rare coil to-night for having missed her,’ said +Hob; ‘but I’ve heard tell, my Lady Prioress heeds her hawks more than +her nuns! But be she who she may, we’ll have her home, and Mother Doll +shall see to her, for she needs it sure, poor bairn. She is asleep +already.’ + +So she was, with her head nestled into the shepherd’s neck, nor did she +waken when after a tramp of more than a mile the bleatings of the folded +sheep announced that they were nearly arrived, and in the low doorway +there shone a light, and in the light stood a motherly form, in a white +woollen hood and dark serge dress. Tired as he was, Hal ran on to her, +exclaiming ‘All well, Mammy Doll?’ + +‘Ah well!’ she answered, ‘thank the good God! I was in fear for thee, my +boy! What’s that Daddy hath? A strayed lamb?’ + +‘Nay, Mammy, but a strayed maiden! ‘Twas that kept me so long. I had to +bear her through the burn at Blackreed, and drag her on as best I might, +and she is worn out and weary.’ + +‘Ay,’ said Hob, as he came up. ‘How now, my bit lassie?’ as he put her +into the outstretched arms of his wife, who sat down on the settle to +receive her, still not half awake. + +‘She is well-nigh clemmed,’ said Hal. ‘She has had no bite nor sup all +day, since her pony fell with her out a-hawking, and all were so hot on +the chase that none heeded her.’ + +Mother Doll’s exclamations of pity were profuse. There was a kettle of +broth on the peat fire, and after placing the girl in a corner of the +settle, she filled three wooden bowls, two of which she placed before +Hal and the shepherd, making signs to the heavy-browed Piers to wait; +and getting no reply from her worn-out guest, she took her in her arms, +and fed her from a wooden spoon. Though without clear waking, mouthfuls +were swallowed down, till the bowl was filled again and set before +Piers. + +‘There, that will be enough this day!’ said the good dame. ‘Poor bairn! +‘Twas scurvy treatment. Now will we put her to bed, and in the morn we +will see how to deal with her.’ + +Hal insisted that the little lady should have his own bed--a +chaff-stuffed mattress, covered with a woollen rug, in the recess behind +the projecting hearth--a strange luxury for a farm boy; and Doll yielded +very unwillingly when he spoke in a tone that savoured of command. +The shaggy Piers had already curled himself up in a corner and gone to +sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER II. -- THE SNOW-STORM + + + + Yet stay, fair lady, rest awhile + Beneath the cottage wall; + See, through the hawthorns blows the cold wind, + And drizzling rain doth fall.--OLD BALLAD. + + +Though Hal had gone to sleep very tired the night before, and only on +a pile of hay, curled up with Watch, having yielded his own bed to the +strange guest, he was awake before the sun, for it was the decline of +the year, and the dawn was not early. + +He was not the first awake--Hob and Piers were already busy on the +outside, and Mother Doll had emerged from the box bed which made almost +a separate apartment, and was raking together the peat, so as to revive +the slumbering fire. The hovel, for it was hardly more, was built of +rough stone and thatched with reeds, with large stones to keep the +roof down in the high mountain blasts. There was only one room, earthen +floored, and with no furniture save a big chest, a rude table, a settle +and a few stools, besides the big kettle and a few crocks and wooden +bowls. Yet whereas all was clean, it had an air of comfort and +civilisation beyond any of the cabins in the neighbourhood, more +especially as there was even a rude chimney-piece projecting far into +the room, and in the niche behind this lay the little girl in her +clothes, fast asleep. + +Very young and childish she looked as she lay, her lips partly unclosed, +her dark hair straying beyond her hand, and her black lashes resting on +her delicate brunette cheeks, slightly flushed with sleep. Hal could +not help standing for a minute gazing at her in a sort of wondering +curiosity, till roused by the voice of Mother Doll. + +‘Go thy ways, my bairn, to wash in the burn. Here’s thy comb. I must +have the lassie up before the shepherd comes back, though ‘tis amost +a pity to wake her! There, she is stirring! Best be off with thee, my +bonnie lad.’ + +It was spoken more in the tone of nurse to nursling than of mother +to son, still less that of mistress to farm boy; but Hal obeyed, only +observing, ‘Take care of her.’ + +‘Ay, my pretty, will not I,’ murmured the old woman, as the child turned +round on her pillow, put up a hand, rubbed her eyes, and disclosed a +pair of sleepy brown orbs, gazed about, and demanded, ‘What’s this? +Who’s this?’ + +‘’Tis Hob Hogward’s hut, my bonnie lamb, where you are full welcome! +Here, take a sup of warm milk.’ + +‘I mind me now,’ said the girl, sitting up, and holding out her hands +for the bowl. ‘They all left me, and the lad brought me--a great lubber +lout--’ + +‘Nay, nay, mistress, you’ll scarce say so when you see him by day--a +well-grown youth as can bear himself with any.’ + +‘Where is he?’ asked the girl, gazing round; ‘I want him to take me +back. This place is not one for me. The Sisters will be seeking me! Oh, +what a coil they must be in!’ + +‘We will have you back, my bairn, so soon as my goodman can go with you, +but now I would have you up and dressed, ay, and washed, ere he and Hal +come in. Then after meat and prayer you will be ready to go.’ + +‘To Greystone Priory,’ returned the girl. ‘Yea, I would have thee to +know,’ she added, with a little dignity that sat drolly on her bare feet +and disordered hair and cap as she rose out of bed, ‘that the Sisters +are accountable for me. I am the Lady Anne St. John. My father is a lord +in Bedfordshire, but he is gone to the wars in Burgundy, and bestowed +me in a convent at York while he was abroad, but the Mother thought her +house would be safer if I were away at the cell at Greystone when Queen +Margaret and the Red Rose came north.’ + +‘And is that the way they keep you safe?’ asked the hostess, who +meanwhile was attending to her in a way that, if the Lady Anne had known +it, was like the tendance of her own nurse at home, instead of that of a +rough peasant woman. + +‘Oh, we all like the chase, and the Mother had a new cast of hawks that +she wanted to fly. There came out a heron, and she threw off the new +one, and it went careering up--and up--and we all rode after, and just +as the bird was about to pounce down, into a dyke went my pony, Imp, and +not one of them saw! Not Bertram Selby, the Sisters, nor the groom, nor +the rabble rout that had come out of Greystone; and before I could get +free they were off; and the pony, Imp of Evil that he is, has not learnt +to know me or my voice, and would not let me catch him, but cantered +off--either after the other horses or to the Priory. I knew not where I +was, and halloaed myself hoarse, but no one heard, and I went on and on, +and lost my way!’ + +‘I did hear tell that the Lady Prioress minded her hawks more than her +Hours,’ said Mother Doll. + +‘And that’s sooth,’ said the Lady Anne, beginning to prove herself a +chatterbox. ‘The merlins have better hoods than the Sisters; and as +to the Hours, no one ever gets up in the night to say Nocturns or even +Matins but old Sister Scholastica, and she is as strict and cross as may +be.’ + +Here the flow of confidence was interrupted by the return of Hal, who +gazed eagerly, though in a shamefaced way, at the guest as he set down a +bowl of ewe milk. She was a well-grown girl of ten, slender, and bearing +herself like one high bred and well trained in deportment; and her face +was delicately tinted on an olive skin, with fine marked eyebrows, and +dark bright eyes, and her little hunting dress of green, and the hood, +set on far back, became the dark locks that curled in rings beneath. + +She saw a slender lad, dark-haired and dark-eyed, ruddy and embrowned +by mountain sun and air; and the bow with which he bent before her had +something of the rustic lout, and there was a certain shyness over him +that hindered him from addressing her. + +‘So, shepherd,’ she said, ‘when wilt thou take me back to Greystone?’ + +‘Father will fix that,’ interposed the housewife; ‘meanwhile, ye had +best eat your porridge. Here is Father, in good time with the cows’ +milk.’ + +The rugged broad-shouldered shepherd made his salutation duly to the +young lady, and uttered the information that there was a black cloud, +like snow, coming up over the fells to the south-west. + +‘But I must fare back to Greystone!’ said the damsel. ‘They will be in a +mighty coil what has become of me.’ + +‘They would be in a worse coil if they found your bones under a snow +wreath.’ + +Hal went to the door and spied out, as if the tidings were rather +pleasant to him than otherwise. The goodwife shivered, and reached out +to close the shutter, and there being no glass to the windows, all the +light that came in was through the chinks. + +‘It would serve them right for not minding me better,’ said the maiden +composedly. ‘Nay, it is as merry here as at Greystone, with Sister +Margaret picking out one’s broidery, and Father Cuthbert making one pore +over his crabbed parchments.’ + +‘Oh, does this Father teach Latin?’ exclaimed Hal with eager interest. + +‘Of course he doth! The Mother at York promised I should learn whatever +became a damsel of high degree,’ said the girl, drawing herself up. + +‘I would he would teach me!’ sighed the boy. + +‘Better break thy fast and mind thy sheep,’ said the old woman, as if +she feared his getting on dangerous ground; and placing the bowl of +porridge on the rough table, she added, ‘Say the Benedicite, lad, and +fall to.’ Then, as he uttered the blessing, she asked the guest whether +she preferred ewes’ milk or cows’ milk, a luxury no one else was +allowed, all eating their porridge contentedly with a pinch of salt, Hob +showing scant courtesy, the less since his guest’s rank had been made +known. + +By the time they had finished, snowflakes--an early autumn storm--were +drifting against the shutter, and a black cloud was lowering over the +hills. Hob foretold a heavy fall of snow, and called on Hal to help +him and Piers fold the flock more securely, sleepy Watch and his old +long-haired collie mother rising at the same call. Lady Anne sprang up +at the same time, insisting that she must go and help to feed the poor +sheep, but she was withheld, much against her will, by Mother Dolly, +though she persisted that snow was nothing to her, and it was a fine +jest to be out of the reach of the Sisters, who mewed her up in a +cell, like a messan dog. However, she was much amused by watching, +and thinking she assisted in, Mother Dolly’s preparations for ewe milk +cheese-making; and by-and-by Hal came in, shaking the snow off the +sheepskin he had worn over his leathern coat. Hob had sent him in, as +the weather was too bad for him, and he and Anne crouched on opposite +sides of the wide hearth as he dried and warmed himself, and cosseted +the cat which Anne had tried to caress, but which showed a decided +preference for the older friend. + +‘Our Baudrons at Greystone loves me better than that,’ said Anne. ‘She +will come to me sooner than even to Sister Scholastica!’ + +‘My Tib came with us when we came here. Ay, Tib! purr thy best!’ as he +held his fingers over her, and she rubbed her smooth head against him. + +‘Can she leap? Baudrons leaps like a horse in the tilt-yard.’ + +‘Cannot she! There, my lady pussy, show what thou canst do to please the +demoiselle,’ and he held his arms forward with clasped hands, so that +the grey cat might spring over them, and Lady Anne cried out with +delight. + +Again and again the performance was repeated, and pussy was induced +to dance after a string dangled before her, to roll over and play in +apparent ecstasy with a flake of wool, as if it were a mouse, and Watch +joined in the game in full amity. Mother Dolly, busy with her distaff, +looked on, not displeased, except when she had to guard her spindle from +the kitten’s pranks, but she was less happy when the children began to +talk. + +‘You have seen a tilt-yard?’ + +‘Yea, indeed,’ he answered dreamily. ‘The poor squire was hurt--I did +not like it! It is gruesome.’ + +‘Oh, no! It is a noble sport! I loved our tilt-yard at Bletso. Two +knights could gallop at one another in the lists, as if they were out +hunting. Oh! to hear the lances ring against the shields made one’s +heart leap up! Where was yours?’ + +Here Dolly interrupted hastily, ‘Hal, lad, gang out to the shed and +bring in some more sods of turf. The fire is getting low.’ + +‘Here’s a store, mother--I need not go out,’ said Hal, passing to a pile +in the corner. ‘It is too dark for thee to see it.’ + +‘But where was your castle?’ continued the girl. ‘I am sure you have +lived in a castle.’ + +Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another changed the +homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less grammatical, second +person plural. The boy laughed, nodded his head, and said, ‘You are a +little witch.’ + +‘No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in +Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be +Scots!’ + +‘I am not from Bedfordshire,’ said the lad, looking much amused at her +perplexity. + +‘Who art thou then?’ she cried peremptorily. + +‘I? I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.’ + +‘No shepherd boy are you! Come, tell me true.’ + +Dolly thought it time to interfere. She heard an imaginary bleat, and +ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering the girl by force +from running after him, for the snow was coming down in larger flakes +than ever. Nevertheless, when her husband was heard outside she threw a +cloak over her head and hurried out to speak with him. ‘That maid will +make our lad betray himself ere another hour is over their heads!’ + +‘Doth she do it wittingly?’ asked the shepherd gravely. + +‘Nay, ‘tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of gentle +blood, and women’s wits be sharp and prying, and the maid will never +rest till she has wormed out who he is.’ + +‘He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.’ + +‘Thee! Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the wiles of a +young maid!’ + +‘Lord Hal is a lad of his word. Peace with thy lords and ladies, woman, +thou’lt have the archers after him at once.’ + +‘She makes no secret of being of gentle blood--a St. John of Bletso.’ + +‘A pestilent White Rose lot! We shall have them on the scent ere many +days are over our head! An unlucky chance this same snow, or I should +have had the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange a word.’ + +‘Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm. Ill for the maid to have +fallen into a drift!’ + +‘Well for the lad if she never came out of it!’ muttered the gruff +old shepherd. ‘Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the clacking +wenches at York--Yorkists every one of them.’ + +Mother Dolly’s eyes grew round. ‘Mind thee, Hob!’ she said; ‘I ken thy +bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know that if aught +befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall hold thee--and so +will my Lady--guilty of a foul deed.’ + +‘No fouler than was done on the stripling’s father,’ muttered the +shepherd. ‘Get thee in, wife! Who knows what folly those two may be +after while thou art away? Mind thee, if the maid gets an inkling of who +the boy is, it will be the worse for her.’ + +‘Oh!’ murmured the goodwife, ‘I moaned once that our Piers there should +be deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now! No fear of +perilous word going out through him, or I durst not have kept my poor +sister’s son!’ + +Mother Doll trusted that her husband would never have the heart to leave +the pretty dark-haired girl in the snow, but she was relieved to find +Hal marking down on the wide flat hearth-stone, with a bit of charcoal, +all the stars he had observed. ‘Hob calls that the Plough--those seven!’ +he said; ‘I call it Charles’s Wain!’ + +‘Methinks I have seen that!’ she said, ‘winter and summer both.’ + +‘Ay, he is a meuseful husbandman, that Charles! And see here! This +middle mare of the team has a little foal running beside her’--he made +a small spot beside the mark that stood for the central star of what we +call the Bear’s Tail. + +‘I never saw that!’ + +‘No, ‘tis only to be seen on a clear bright night. I have seen it, but +Hob mocks at it. He thinks the only use of the Wain is to find the North +Star, up beyond there, pointing by the back of the Plough, and go by it +when you are lost.’ + +‘What good would finding the North Star do? It would not have helped me +home if you had not found me!’ + +‘Look here, Lady Anne! Which way does Greystone lie?’ + +‘How should I tell?’ + +‘Which way did the sun lie when you crossed the moor?’ + +Anne could not remember at first, but by-and-by recollected that it +dazzled her eyes just as she was looking for the runaway pony; and Hal +declared that it proved that the convent must have been to the south of +the spot of her fall; but his astronomy, though eagerly demonstrated, +was not likely to have brought her back to Greystone. Still Doll +was thankful for the safe subject, as he went on to mark out what he +promised that she should see in the winter--the swarm of glow-worms, +as he called the Pleiades; and ‘Our Lady’s Rock,’ namely, distaff, +the northern name for Orion; and then he talked of the stars that so +perplexed him, namely, the planets, that never stayed in their places. + +By-and-by, when Mother Dolly’s work was over the kettle was on the fire, +and she was able to take out her own spinning, she essayed to fill up +the time by telling them lengthily the old stories and ballads handed +down from minstrel to minstrel, from nurse to nurse, and they sat +entranced, listening to the stories, more than even Hal knew she +possessed, and holding one another by the hand as they listened. + +Meantime the snow had ceased--it was but a scud of early autumn on +the mountains--the sun came out with bright slanting beams before his +setting, there was a soft south wind; and Hob, when he came in, growled +out that the thaw had set in, and he should be able to take the maid +back in the morning. He sat scowling and silent during supper, and +ordered Hal about with sharp sternness, sending him out to attend to the +litter of the cattle, before all had finished, and manifestly treated +him as the shepherd’s boy, the drudge of the house, and threatening +him with a staff if he lingered, soon following himself. Mother Dolly +insisted on putting the little lady to bed before they should return, +and convent-bred Anne had sufficient respect for proprieties to see that +it was becoming. She heard no more that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III. -- OVER THE MOOR + + + + In humblest, simplest habit clad, + But these were all to me.--GOLDSMITH. + + +‘Hal! What is your name?’ + +She stood at the door of the hovel, the rising sun lighting up her +bright dark eyes, and smiling in the curly rings of her hair while Hal +stood by, and Watch bounded round them. + +‘You have heard,’ he said, half smiling, and half embarrassed. + +‘Hal! That’s no name.’ + +‘Harry, an it like you better.’ + +‘Harry what?’ with a little stamp of her foot. + +‘Harry Hogward, as you see, or Shepherd, so please you.’ + +‘You are no Hogward, nor shepherd! These folk be no kin to you, I can +see. Come, an you love me, tell me true! I told you true who I am, Red +Rose though I see you be! Why not trust me the same?’ + +‘Lady, I verily ken no name save Harry. I would trust you, verily I +would, but I know not myself.’ + +‘I guess! I guess!’ she cried, clapping her hands, but at the moment +Dolly laid a hand on her shoulder. + +‘Do not guess, maiden,’ she said. ‘If thou wouldst not bring evil on the +lad that found thee, and the roof that sheltered thee, guess not, yea, +and utter not a word save that thou hast lain in a shepherd’s hut. +Forget all, as though thou hadst slept in the castle on the hill that +fades away with the day.’ + +She ended hastily, for her husband was coming up with a rough pony’s +halter in his hand. He was in haste to be off, lest a search for the +lost child might extend to his abode, and his gloomy displeasure and +ill-masked uneasiness reduced every-one to silence in his presence. + +‘Up and away, lady wench!’ he said. ‘No time to lose if you are to be at +Greystone ere night! Thou Hal, thou lazy lubber, go with Piers and the +sheep--’ + +‘I shall go with you,’ replied Hal, in a grave tone of resolution. ‘I +will only go within view of the convent, but go with you I will.’ + +He spoke with a decided tone of authority, and Hob Hogward muttered a +little to himself, but yielded. + +Hal assisted the young lady to mount, and they set off along the track +of the moss, driving the cows, sheep, and goats before them--not a very +considerable number--till they came to another hut, much smaller and +more rude than that where they had left Mother Doll. + +Piers was a wild, shaggy-haired lad, with a sheepskin over his +shoulders, and legs bare below the knee, and to him the charge of +the flock was committed, with signs which he evidently understood and +replied to with a gruff ‘Ay, ay!’ The three went on the way, over the +slope of a hill, partly clothed with heather, holly and birch trees, as +it rose above the moss. Hob led the pony, and there was something in his +grim air and manner that hindered any conversation between the two young +people. Only Hal from time to time gathered a flower for the young lady, +scabious and globe flowers, and once a very pink wild rose, mingled +with white ones. Lady Anne took them with a meaning smile, and a merry +gesture, as though she were going to brush Hal’s face with the petals. +Hal laughed, and said, ‘You will make them shed.’ + +‘Well and good, so the disputes be shed,’ said Anne, with more meaning +than perhaps Hal understood. ‘And the white overcomes the red.’ + +‘May be the red will have its way with spring--’ + +But there Hob looked round on them, and growled out, ‘Have done with +that folly! What has a herd boy like thee to do with roses and frippery? +Come away from the lady’s rein. Thou art over-held to thrust thyself +upon her.’ + +Nevertheless, as Hal fell back, the dark eyes shot a meaning glance +at him, and the party went on in silence, except that now and then +Hob launched at Hal an order that he endeavoured to render savagely +contemptuous and harsh, so that Lady Anne interfered to say, ‘Nay, the +poor lad is doing no harm.’ + +‘Scathe enough,’ answered Hob. ‘He always will be doing ill if he can. +Heed him not, lady, it only makes him the more malapert.’ + +‘Malapert,’ repeated Anne, not able to resist a little teasing of +the grim escort; ‘that’s scarce a word of the dales. ‘Tis more like a +man-at-arms.’ + +This Hob would not hear, and if he did, it produced a rough imprecation +on the pony, and a sharp cut with his switch. + +They had crossed another burn, travelled through the moss, and mounted +to the brow of another hill, when, far away against the sky, on the top +of yet another height, were to be seen moving figures, not cattle, but +Anne recognised them at once. ‘Men-at-arms! archers! lances! A search +party for me! The Prioress must have sent to the Warden’s tower.’ + +‘Off with thee, lad!’ said Hob, at once turning round upon Hal. ‘I’ll +not have thee lingering to gape at the men-at-arms! Off I say, or--’ + +He raised his stout staff as though to beat the boy, who looked up in +his face with a laugh, as if in very little alarm at his threat, +smiled up in the young lady’s face, and as she held out her hand with +‘Farewell, Hal; I’ll keep your rose-leaves in my breviary,’ he bent over +and kissed the fingers. + +‘How now! This impudence passes! As if thou wert of the same blood as +the damsel!’ exclaimed Hob in considerable anger, bringing down his +stick. ‘Away with thee, ill-bred lubber! Back to thy sheep, thou lazy +loiterer! Get thee gone and thy whelp with thee!’ + +Hal obeyed, though not without a parting grin at Anne, and had sped away +down the side of the hill, among the hollies and birches, which entirely +concealed him and the bounding puppy. + +Hob went on in a gruff tone: ‘The insolence of these loutish lads! See +you, lady, he is a stripling that I took up off the roadside out of mere +charity, and for the love of Heaven--a mere foundling as you may say, +and this is the way he presumes!’ + +‘A foundling, sayest thou?’ said Anne, unable to resist teasing him a +little, and trying to gratify her own curiosity. + +‘Ay, you may say so! There’s a whole sort of these orphans, after all +the bad luck to the land, to be picked up on every wayside.’ + +‘On Towton Moor, mayhap,’ said Anne demurely, as she saw her surly guide +start. But he was equal to the occasion, and answered: + +‘Ay, ay, Towton Moor; ‘twas shame to see such bloody work; and there +were motherless and fatherless children, stray lambs, to be met with, +weeping their little hearts out, and starving all around unless some +good Christian took pity on them.’ + +‘Was Hal one of these?’ asked Lady Anne. + +‘I tell you, lady, I looked into a church that was full of weeping +and wailing folk, women and children in deadly fear of the cruel, +bloody-minded York folk, and the Lord of March that is himself King +Edward now, a murrain on him!’ + +‘Don’t let those folk hear you say so!’ laughed Lady Anne. ‘They would +think nothing of hauling thee off for a black traitor, or hanging thee +up on the first tree stout enough to bear thee.’ + +She said it half mischievously, but the only effect was a grunt, and a +stolid shrug of his shoulders, nor did he vouchsafe another word for the +rest of the way before they came through the valley, and through the low +brushwood on the bank, and were in sight of the search party, who set up +a joyful halloo of welcome on perceiving her. + +A young man, the best mounted and armed, evidently an esquire, rode +forward, exclaiming, ‘Well met, fair Lady Anne! Great have been the +Mother Prioress’s fears for you, and she has called up half the country +side, lest you should be fallen into the hands of Robin of Redesdale, or +some other Lancastrian rogue.’ + +‘Much she heeded me in comparison with hawk and heron!’ responded Anne. +‘Thanks for your heed, Master Bertram.’ + +‘I must part from thee and thy sturdy pony. Thanks for the use of it,’ +added she, as the squire proceeded to take her from the pony. He would +have lifted her down, but she only touched his hand lightly and sprang +to the ground, then stood patting its neck. ‘Thanks again, good pony. I +am much beholden to thee, Gaffer Hob! Stay a moment.’ + +‘Nay, lady, it would be well to mount you behind Archie. His beast is +best to carry a lady.’ + +Archie was an elderly man, stout but active, attached to the service of +the convent. He had leapt down, and was putting on a belt, and arranging +a pad for the damsel, observing, ‘Ill hap we lost you, damsel! I saw you +not fall.’ + +‘Ay,’ returned Anne, ‘your merlin charmed you far more. Master Bertram, +the loan of your purse. I would reward the honest man who housed me.’ + +Bertram laughed and said, tossing up the little bag that hung to his +girdle, ‘Do you think, fair damsel, that a poor Border squire carries +about largesse in gold and silver? Let your clown come with us to +Greystone, and thence have what meed the Prioress may bestow on him, for +a find that your poor servant would have given worlds to make.’ + +‘Hearest thou, Hob?’ said Anne. ‘Come with us to the convent, and thou +shalt have thy guerdon.’ + +Hob, however, scratched his head, with a more boorish air than he had +before manifested, and muttered something about a cow that needed his +attention, and that he could not spare the time from his herd for all +that the Prioress was like to give him. + +‘Take this, then,’ said Anne, disengaging a gold clasp from her neck, +and giving it to him. ‘Bear it to the goodwife and bid her recollect me +in her prayers.’ + +‘I shall come and redeem it from thee, sulky carle as thou art,’ said +Bertram. ‘Such jewels are not for greasy porridge-fed housewives. Hark +thee, have it ready for me! I shall be at thy hovel ere long’--as Anne +waved to Hob when she was lifted to her seat. + +But Hob had already turned away, and Anne, as she held on by Archie’s +leathern belt, in her gay tone was beginning to defend him by declaring +that porridge and grease did not go together, so the nickname was not +rightly bestowed on the kindly goodwife. + +‘Ay! Greasy from his lord’s red deer,’ said Bertram, ‘or his tainted +mutton. Trust one of these herds, and a sheep is tainted whenever he +wants a good supper. Beshrew me but that stout fellow looks lusty and +hearty enough, as if he lived well.’ + +‘They were good and kind, and treated me well,’ said Anne. ‘I should be +dead if they had not succoured me.’ + +‘The marvel is you are not dead with the stench of their hovel, and the +foulness of their food.’ + +‘It was very good food--milk, meat, and oaten porridge,’ replied Anne. + +‘Marvellous, I say!’ cried Bertram with a sudden thought. ‘Was it not +said that there were some of those traitorous Lancastrian folk +lurking about the mountains and fells? That rogue had the bearing of +a man-at-arms, far more than of a mere herd. Deemedst thou not so, +Archie?’ to the elderly man who rode before the young damsel. + +‘Herdsmen here are good with the quarter-staff. They know how to stand +against the Scots, and do not get bowed like our Midland serfs,’ put +in Anne, before Archie could answer, which he did with something of a +snarl, as Bertram laughed somewhat jeeringly, and declared that the Lady +Anne had become soft-hearted. She looked down at her roses, but in the +dismounting and mounting again the petals of the red rose had floated +away, and nothing was left of it save a slender pink bud enclosed within +a dark calyx. + +Archie, hard pressed, declared, ‘There are poor fellows lurking about +here and there, but bad blood is over among us. No need to ferret about +for them.’ + +‘Eh! Not when there may be a lad among them for whose head the king and +his brothers would give the weight of it in gold nobles?’ + +Anne shivered a little at this, but she cried out, ‘Shame on you, Master +Bertram Selby, if you would take a price for the head of a brave foe! +You, to aspire to be a knight!’ + +‘Nay, lady, I was but pointing out to Archie and the other grooms here, +how they might fill their pouches if they would. I verily believe thou +knowst of some lurking-place, thou art so prompt to argue! Did I not +see another with thee, who made off when we came in view? Say! Was he +a blood-stained Clifford? I heard of the mother having married in these +parts.’ + +‘He was Hob Hogward’s herd boy,’ answered Anne, as composedly as she +could. ‘He hied him back to mind his sheep.’ + +Nor would Anne allow another word to be extracted from her ere the grey +walls of the Priory of Greystone rose before her, and the lay Sister at +the gate shrieked for joy at seeing her riding behind Archie. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- A SPORTING PRIORESS + + + + Yet nothing stern was she in cell, + And the nuns loved their abbess well.--SCOTT. + + +The days of the Wars of the Roses were evil times for the discipline of +convents, which, together with the entire Western Church, suffered from +the feuds of the Popes with the Italian princes. + +Small remote houses, used as daughters or auxiliaries to the large +convents, were especially apt to fall into a lax state, and in truth +the little priory of Greystone, with its half-dozen of Sisters, had been +placed under the care of the Lady Agnes Selby because she was too highly +connected to be dealt with sharply, and too turbulent and unmanageable +for the soberminded house at York. So there she was sent, with the +deeply devout and strict Sister Scholastica, to keep the establishment +in order, and deal with the younger nuns and lay Sisters. Being not +entirely out of reach of a raid from the Scottish border, it was +hardly a place for the timid, although the better sort of moss troopers +generally spared monastic houses. Anne St. John had been sent thither at +the time when Queen Margaret was making her attempt in the north, where +the city of York was Lancastrian, as the Mother Abbess feared that her +presence might bring vengeance upon the Sisterhood. + +There was no great harm in the Mother Agnes, only she was a maiden +whom nothing but family difficulties could have forced into a monastic +life--a lively, high-spirited, out-of-door creature, whom the close +conventionalities of castle life and even whipping could not tame, and +who had been the despair of her mother and of the discreet dames to whom +her first childhood had been committed, to say nothing of a Lady Abbess +or two. Indeed, from the Mother of Sopwell, Dame Julian Berners, she +had imbibed nothing but a vehement taste for hawk, horse, and hound. +The recluses of St. Mary, York, after being heartily scandalised by her +habits, were far from sorry to have a good excuse for despatching her to +their outlying cell, where, as they observed, she would know how to show +a good face in case the Armstrongs came over the Border. + +She came flying down on the first rumour of Lady Anne’s return, her veil +turned back, her pace not at all accordant with the solemn gait of a +Prioress, her arms outstretched, her face, not young nor handsome, but +sunburnt, weather-beaten and healthy, and full of delight. ‘My child, +my Nan, here thou art! I was just mounting to seek for thee to the west, +while Bertram sought again over the mosses where we sent yester morn. +Where hast thou been in the snow?’ + +‘A shepherd took me to his hut, Lady Mother,’ answered Anne rather +coldly. + +‘Little didst thou think of our woe and grief when thy palfrey was found +standing riderless at the stable door, and Sister Scholastica told us +that there he had been since nones! And she had none to send in quest +but Cuddie, the neatherd.’ + +‘My palfrey fell with me when you were in full chase of hawk and heron, +‘and none ever turned a head towards me nor heard me call.’ + +‘Poor maid! But it was such a chase as never you did watch. On and on +went the heron, the falcon ever mounting higher and higher, till she was +but a speck in the clouds, and Tam Falconer shouting and galloping, mad +lest she should go down the wind. Methought she would have been back to +Norroway, the foul jade!’ + +‘Did you capture her, Mother?’ asked Anne. + +‘Ay, she pounced at last, and well-nigh staked herself on the heron’s +beak! But we had a long ride, and were well-nigh at the Tyne before we +had caught her. Full of pranks, but a noble hawk, as I shall write to my +brother by the next messenger that comes our way. I call it a hawk worth +her meat that leads one such a gallop.’ + +‘What would you have done, reverend Mother, if she had crossed the +Border?’ asked Bertram. + +‘Ridden after her. No Scot would touch a Lady Prioress on the chase,’ +responded Mother Agnes, looking not at all like a reverend Mother. ‘Now, +poor Anne, thou must be hungered. Thou shalt eat with Master Bertram and +me in the refectory anon. Take her, Sister Joan, and make her ready to +break her fast with us.’ + +Anne quickly went to her chamber. It was not quite a cell, the bare +stone walls being hung with faded woollen tapestry, the floor covered +with a deerskin, the small window filled with dark green glass, a chest +serving the double purpose of seat and wardrobe, and further, a bed hung +with thick curtains, in which she slept with the lay Sister, Joan, who +further fetched a wooden bowl of water from the fountain in the +court that she might wash her face and hands. She changed her soiled +riding-dress for a tight-fitting serge garment of dark green with long +hanging sleeves, assisted by Joan, who also arranged her dark hair in +two plaits, and put over it a white veil, fastened over a framework to +keep it from hanging too closely. + +All the time Joan talked, telling of the fright the Mother had been +in when the loss of the Lady Anne had been discovered, and how it was +feared that she had been seized by Scottish reivers, or lost in the snow +on the hills, or captured by the Lancastrians. + +‘For there be many of the Red Rose rogues about on the mosses--comrades, +‘tis said, of that noted thief Robin of Redesdale.’ + +‘I was with good folk, in a shepherd’s sheiling,’ replied Anne. + +‘Ay, ay. Out on the north hill, methinks.’ + +‘Nay. Beyond Deadman’s Pool,’ said Anne. ‘By Blackreed Moss. That was +where the pony fell.’ + +‘Blackreed Moss! That moor belongs to the De Vescis, the blackest +Lancaster fellow of all! His daughter is the widow of the red-handed +Clifford, who slew young Earl Edmund on Wakefield Bridge. They say her +young son is in hiding in some moss in his lands, for the King holds him +in deadly feud for his brother’s death.’ + +‘He was a babe, and had nought to do with it,’ said Anne. + +‘He is of his father’s blood,’ returned Sister Joan, who in her convent +was still a true north country woman. ‘Ay, Lady Anne, you from your +shires know nought of how deep goes the blood feud in us of the +Borderland! Ay, lady, was not mine own grandfather slain by the Musgrave +of Leit Hill, and did not my father have his revenge on his son by +Solway Firth? Yea, and now not a Graeme can meet a Musgrave but they +come to blows.’ + +‘Nay, but that is not what the good Fathers teach,’ Anne interposed. + +‘The Fathers have neither chick nor child to take up their quarrel. They +know nought about blood crying for blood! If King Edward caught that +brat of Clifford he would make him know what ‘tis to be born of a bloody +house.’ + +Anne tried to say something, but the lay Sister pushed her along. +‘There, there, go you down--you know nothing about what honour requires +of you! You are but a south country maid, and have no notion of what is +due to them one came from.’ + +Joan Graeme was only a lay Sister, her father a small farmer when not a +moss trooper; but all the Border, on both sides, had the strongest +ideas of persistent vendetta, such as happily had never been held in the +midland and southern counties, where there was less infusion of Celtic +blood. Anne was a good deal shocked at the doctrine propounded by the +attendant Sister, a mild, good-natured woman in daily life, but the +conversation confirmed her suspicions, and put her on her guard as she +remembered Hob’s warning. She had liked the shepherd lad far too much, +and was far too grateful to him, to utter a word that might give him up +to the revengers of blood. + +At the foot of the stone stairs that led into the quadrangle she met the +black-robed, heavily hooded Sister Scholastica on her way to the chapel. +The old nun held out her arms. ‘Safely returned, my child! God be +thanked! Art thou come to join thy thanksgiving with ours at this hour +of nones?’ + +‘Nay, I am bound to break my fast with the Mother and Master Bertram.’ + +‘Ah! thou must needs be hungered! It is well! But do but utter thy +thanks to Him Who kept thee safe from the storm and from foul doers.’ + +Anne did not break away from the good Sister, but went as far as the +chapel porch, was touched with holy water, and bending her knee, uttered +in a low voice her ‘Gratias ago,’ then hastened across the court to the +refectory, where the Prioress received her with a laugh and, ‘So Sister +Scholastica laid hands on thee; I thought I should have to come and +rescue thee ere the grouse grew cold.’ + +Bertram, as a courteous squire of dames, came forward bowing low, and +the party were soon seated at the board--literally a board, supported +upon trestles, only large enough to receive the Prioress, the squire and +the recovered girl, but daintily veiled in delicate white napery. + +It was screened off from the rest of the refectory, where the few +Sisters had already had their morning’s meal after Holy Communion; and +from it there was a slight barrier, on the other side of which Bertram +Selby ought to have been, but rules sat very lightly on the Prioress +Selby. Bertram was of kin to her, and she had no demur as to admitting +him to her private table. He was, in fact, a squire of the household +of the Marquess of Montagu, brother of the Kingmaker and had been +despatched with letters to the south. He had made a halt at his cousin’s +priory, had been persuaded to join in flying the new hawks, and then had +first been detained by the snow-storm, and then joined in the quest for +the lost Lady Anne St. John. + +No doubt had then arisen that the Nevils were firm in their attachment +to Edward IV., and, as a consequence, in enmity to the House of +Clifford, and both these scions of Selby had been excited at a rumour +that the widow of the Baron who had slain young Edmund of York had +married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Threlkeld, and that her eldest son, +the heir of the line, might be hidden somewhere on the De Vesci estates. + +Bertram had already told the Prioress that his men had spied a lad +accompanying the shepherd who escorted the lady, and who, he thought, +had a certain twang of south country speech; and no sooner had he carved +for the ladies, according to the courtly duty of an esquire, than the +inquiry began as to who had found the maiden and where she had been +lodged. Prioress Agnes, who had already broken her fast, sat meantime +with the favourite hawk on her wrist and a large dog beside her, feeding +them alternately with the bones of the grouse. + +‘Come, tell us all, sweet Nan! Where wast thou in that untimely +snow-storm? In a cave, starved with cold, eh?’ + +‘I was safe in a cabin with a kind old gammer.’ + +‘Eh! And how cam’st thou there? Wandering thither?’ + +‘Nay, the shepherd heard me call.’ + +‘The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?’ + +‘He carried me to the hut.’ + +Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there only +one shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side where +Bertram met her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of him? The +shepherd sent him back, he had been too long away from his flock. What +was his name? What was the shepherd’s name? Who was his master? Anne did +not know--she had heard no names save Hob and Hal, she had seen no arms, +she had heard nothing southland. The lad was a mere herd-boy, ordered +out to milk ewes and tend the sheep. She answered briefly, and with a +certain sullenness, and young Selby at last turned on her. ‘Look thee +here, fair lady, there’s a saying abroad that the heir of the red-handed +House of Clifford is lurking here, on the look-out to favour Queen +Margaret and her son. Couldst thou put us on the scent, King Edward +would favour thee and make thee a great dame, and have thee to his +Court--nay, maybe give thee what is left of the barony of Clifford.’ + +‘I know nothing of young lords,’ sulkily growled Anne, who had been +hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the table. + +‘And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,’ exclaimed the Prioress, ‘that if thou +art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in these parts, it +is not the part of an honest man to seek him out for his destruction, +and still less to try to make the maid he rescued betray him. Well done, +little Anne, thou knowest how to hold thy tongue.’ + +‘Reverend Mother,’ expostulated Bertram, ‘if you knew what some would +give to be on the scent of the wolf-cub!’ + +‘I know not, nor do I wish to know, for what price a Selby would sell +his honour and his bowels of mercy,’ said Mother Agnes. ‘Come away, Nan; +thou hast done well.’ + +Bertram muttered something about having thought her a better Yorkist, +women not understanding, and mischief that might be brewing; but +the Prioress, taking Anne by the hand, went her way, leaving Bertram +standing confused. + +‘Oh, mother,’ sighed Anne, ‘do you think he will go after him? He will +think I was treacherous!’ + +‘I doubt me whether he will dare,’ said the Prioress. ‘Moreover, it is +too late in the day for a search, and another snow-shower seems coming +up again. I cannot turn the youth, my kinsman, from my door, and he is +safer here than on his quest, but he shall see no more of thee or me +to-night. I may hold that Edward of March has the right, but that does +not mean hunting down an orphan child.’ + +‘Mother, mother, you are good indeed!’ cried Anne, almost weeping for +joy. + +Bertram, though hurt and offended, was obliged by advance of evening to +remain all night in the hospitium, with only the chaplain to bear him +company, and it was reported that though he rode past Blackpool, no +trace of shepherd or hovel was found. + + + + +CHAPTER V. -- MOTHER AND SON + + + + My own, my own, thy fellow-guest + I may not be, but rest thee, rest-- + The lowly shepherd’s life is best. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +The Lady Threlkeld stood in the lower storey of her castle, a sort of +rough-built hall or crypt, with a stone stair leading upward to the +real castle hall above, while this served as a place where she met her +husband’s retainers and the poor around, and administered to their wants +with her own hands, assisted by the maidens of her household. + +Among the various hungry and diseased there limped in a sturdy +beggar with a wallet on his back, and a broad shady hat, as though on +pilgrimage. He was evidently a stranger among the rest, and had his leg +and foot bound up, leaning heavily on a stout staff. + +‘Italy pilgrim, what ails thee?’ demanded the lady, as he approached +her. + +‘Alack, noble dame! we poor pilgrims must ever be moving on, however +much it irks foot and limb, over these northern stones,’ he answered, +and his accent and tone were such that a thrill seemed to pass over the +lady’s whole person, but she controlled it, and only said, ‘Tarry till +these have received their alms, then will I see to thee and thy maimed +foot. Give him a stool, Alice, while he waits.’ + +The various patients who claimed the lady’s assistance were attended +to, those who needed food were relieved, and in due time the hall was +cleared, excepting of the lady, an old female servant, and Hob, who +had sat all the time with his foot on a stool, and his back against +the wall, more than half asleep after the toils and long journey of the +night. + +Then the Lady Threlkeld came to him, and making him a sign not to rise, +said aloud, ‘Good Gaffer, let me see what ails thy leg.’ Then kneeling +down and busying herself with the bandages, she looked up piteously in +his face, with the partly breathed inquiry, ‘My son?’ + +‘Well, my lady, and grown into a stalwart lad,’ was Hob’s answer, with +an eye on the door, and in a voice as low as his gruff tones would +permit. + +‘And wherefore? What is it?’ she asked anxiously. ‘Be they on the track +of my poor boy?’ + +‘They may be,’ answered Hob, ‘wherefore I deemed it well to shift our +quarters. As hap would have it, the lad fell upon a little wench lost in +the mosses, and there was nothing for it but to bring her home for the +night. I would have had her away as soon as day dawned, and no questions +asked, but the witches, or the foul fiend himself, must needs bring up a +snow-storm, and there was nothing for it but to let her bide in the cot +all day, giving tongue as none but womenfolk can do; and behold she is +the child of the Lord St. John of Bletso.’ + +‘Nay, what should bring her north?’ + +‘She wonnes at Greystone with the wild Prioress Selby, who lost her out +hawking. Her father is a black Yorkist. I saw him up to his stirrups in +blood at St. Albans!’ + +‘But sure my boy did not make himself known to her?’ exclaimed the lady. + +‘I trow not. He has been well warned, and is a lad of his word; but the +two bairns, left to themselves, could scarce help finding out that each +was of gentle blood and breeding, and how much more my goodwife cannot +tell. I took the maid back so soon as it was safe yester morn, and sent +back my young lord, much against his will, half-way to Greystone. And +well was it I did so, for he was scarce over the ridge when a plump of +spears came in sight on the search for him, and led by the young squire +of Selby.’ + +‘Ah! and if the damsel does but talk, even if she knows nought, the foe +will draw their conclusions!’ said the lady, clasping her hands. ‘Oh, +would that I had sent him abroad with his little brothers!’ + +‘Nay, then might he have fallen into the hands of Bletso himself, and +they say Burgundy is all for the Yorkists now,’ said Hob. ‘This is what +I have done, gracious lady. I bade my good woman carry off all she could +from the homestead and burn the rest; and for him we wot on, I sent +him and his flock off westward, appointing each of them the same +trysting-place--on the slope beneath Derwent Hill, my lady--whence I +thought, if it were your will and the good knight Sir Lancelot’s, we +might go nigher to the sea and the firth, where the Selby clan have no +call, being at deadly feud with the Ridleys. So if the maiden’s tongue +goes fast, and the Prioress follows up the quest with young Selby, they +will find nought for their pains.’ + +‘Thou art a good guardian, Hob! Ah! where would my boy be save for thee? +And thou sayest he is even now at the very border of the forest ground! +Sure, there can be no cause that I should not go and see him. My heart +hungers for my children. Oh, let me go with thee!’ + +‘Sir Lancelot--’ began Hob. + +‘He is away at the Warden’s summons. He will scarce be back for a week +or more. I will, I must go with thee, good Hob.’ + +‘Not in your own person, good madam,’ stipulated Hob. ‘As thou knowest, +there are those in Sir Lancelot’s following who might be too apt to +report of secret visits, and that were as ill as the Priory folk.’ + +It was then decided that the lady should put on the disguise of a +countrywoman bringing eggs and meat to sell at the castle, and meet Hob +near the postern, whence a path led to Penrith. + +Hob, having received a lump of oatcake and a draught of very small ale, +limped out of the court, and, so soon as he could find a convenient spot +behind the gorse bushes, divested himself of his bandages, and +changed the side of his shepherd’s plaid to one much older and more +weather-beaten; also his pilgrim’s hat for one in his pouch--a blue +bonnet, more like the national Scottish head-gear, hiding the hat in the +gorse. + +Then he lay down and waited, where he could see a window, whence a red +kerchief was to be fluttered to show when the lady would be ready for +him to attend her. He waited long, for she had first to disarm suspicion +by presiding at the general meal of the household, and showing no undue +haste. + +At last, though not till after he had more than once fallen asleep and +feared that he had missed the signal, or that his wife and ‘Hal’ might +be tempted to some imprudence while waiting, he beheld the kerchief +waving in the sunset light of the afternoon, and presently, shrouded in +such a black and white shepherd’s maud as his own, and in a russet gown +with a basket on her arm, his lady came forth and joined him. + +His first thought was how would she return again, when the darkness was +begun, but her only answer was, ‘Heed not that! My child, I must see.’ + +Indeed, she was almost too breathless and eager with haste, as he guided +her over the rough and difficult path, or rather track, to answer his +inquiries as to what was to be done next. Her view, however, agreed with +his, that they must lurk in the borders of the woodland for a day or two +till Sir Lancelot’s return, when he would direct them to a place where +he could put them under the protection of one of the tenants of his +manor. It was a long walk, longer than Hob had perhaps felt when he had +undertaken to conduct the lady through it, for ladies, though inured to +many dangers in those days, were unaccustomed to travelling on their own +feet; but the mother’s heart seemed to heed no obstacle, though moments +came when she had to lean heavily on her companion, and he even had to +lift her over brooks or pools; but happily the sun had not set when they +made their way through the tangles of the wood, and at last saw before +them the fitful glow of a fire of dead leaves, branches and twigs, while +the bark of a dog greeted the rustling, they made. + +‘Sweetheart, my faithful!’ then shouted Hob, and in another moment there +was a cry, ‘Ha! Halloa! Master Hob--beest there?’ + +‘His voice!--my son’s!’ gasped the lady, and sank for a moment of +overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy dog +leapt upon them both. + +‘Ay, lad, here--and some one else.’ + +The boy crashed through the underwood, and stood on the path in a +moment’s hesitation. Mother and son were face to face! + +The years that had passed had changed the lad from almost a babe into a +well-grown strong boy but the mother was little altered, and as she held +out her arms no word was wasted ere he sprang into them, and his face +was hidden on her neck as when he knew his way into her embrace of old! + +When the intense rapturous hold was loosed they were aware of Goodwife +Dolly looking on with clasped hands and streaming eyes, giving thanks +for the meeting of her dear lady and the charge whom she and her husband +had so faithfully kept. + +When the mother and son had leisure to look round, and there was a +pleased survey of the boy’s height and strength, Goodwife Dolly came +forward to beg the lady to come to her fire, and rest under the gipsy +tent which she and nephew Piers--her _real_ herd-boy, a rough, shaggy, +almost dumb and imbecile lad--had raised with branches, skins and +canvas, to protect their few articles of property. There was a +smouldering fire, over which Doll had prepared a rabbit which the dog +had caught, and which she had intended for Hal’s supper and that of her +husband if he came home in time. While the lady lavished thanks upon her +for all she had done for the boy she was intent on improving the rude +meal, so as to strengthen her mistress after her long walk, and for the +return. The lady, however, could see and think of nothing but her son, +while he returned her tearful gaze with open eyes, gathering up his old +recollections of her. + +‘Mother!’ he said--with a half-wondering tone, as the recollections of +six years old came back to him more fully, and then he nestled again in +her arms as if she were far more real to him than at first--‘Mother!’ +And then, as she sobbed over him, ‘The little one?’ + +‘The babe is well, when last I heard of her, in a convent at York. Thou +rememberest her?’ + +‘Ay--my little sister! Ay,’ he said, with a considering interrogative +sound, ‘I mind her well, and old Bunce too, that taught me to ride.’ + +But Hob interrupted the reminiscences by bringing up the pony on which +Anne had ridden, and insisting that the lady should not tarry longer. +‘He,’ indicating Hal, might walk beside her through the wood, and thus +prolong their interview, but, as she well knew, it was entirely unsafe +to remain any longer away from the castle. + +There were embraces and sobbing thanks exchanged between the lady and +her son’s old nurse, and then Hal, at a growling hint from Hob, came +forward, and awkwardly helped her to her saddle. He walked by her side +through the wood, holding her rein, while Hob, going before, did his +best in the twilight to clear away the tangled branches and brambles +that fell across the path, and were near of striking the lady across the +face as she rode. + +On the way she talked to her son about his remembrances, anxious to +know how far his dim recollections went of the old paternal castle in +Bedfordshire, of his infant sister and brother, and his father. Of him +he had little recollection, only of being lifted in his arms, kissed +and blessed, and seeing him ride away with his troop, clanking in their +armour. After that he remembered nothing, save the being put into a +homelier dress, and travelling on Nurse Dolly’s lap in a wain, up and +down, it seemed to him, for ever, till at last clearer recollections +awoke in him, and he knew himself as Hal the shepherd’s boy, with the +sheep around him, and the blue starry sky above him. + +‘Dost thou remember what thou wast called in those times?’ asked his +mother. + +‘I was always Hal. The little one was Meg,’ he said. + +‘Even so, my boy, my dear boy! But knowst thou no more than this?’ + +‘Methinks, methinks there were serving-men that called me the young +Lord. Ay, so! But nurse said I must forget all that. Mother dear, +when that maiden came and talked of tilts and lances, meseemed that I +recollected somewhat. Was then my father a knight?’ + +‘Alack! alack! my child, that thou shouldst not know!’ + +‘Memories came back with that maiden’s voice and thine,’ said Hal, in a +bewildered tone. ‘My father! Was he then slain when he rode farther?’ + +‘Ah! I may tell thee now thou art old enough to guard thyself,’ she +said. ‘Thy father, whom our blessed Lord assoilzie, was the Lord +Clifford, slain by savage hands on Towton field for his faith to King +Harry! Thou, my poor boy, art the Baron of Clifford, though while this +cruel House of York be in power thou must keep in hiding from them in +this mean disguise. Woe worth the day!’ + +‘And am I then a baron--a lord?’ said the boy. ‘Great lords have books. +Were there not some big ones on the hall window seats? Did not Brother +Eldred begin to teach me my letters? I would that I could go on to learn +more!’ + +‘Oh, I would that thou couldst have all knightly training, and learn to +use sword and lance like thy gallant father!’ + +‘Nay, but I saw a poor man fall off his horse and lie hurt, I do not +want those hard, cruel ways. And my father was slain. Must a lord go to +battle?’ + +‘Boy, boy, thou wilt not belie thy Clifford blood,’ cried the lady in +consternation, which was increased when he said, ‘I have no mind to go +out and kill folks or be killed. I had rather mark the stars and tend my +sheep.’ + +‘Alack! alack! This comes of keeping company with the sheep. That my +son, and my lord’s son, should be infected with their sheepish nature!’ + +‘Never fear, madam,’ said Hob. ‘When occasion comes, and strength is +grown, his blood will show itself.’ + +‘If I could only give him knightly breeding!’ sighed the lady. ‘Sir +Lancelot may find the way. I cannot see him grow up a mere shepherd +boy.’ + +‘Content you, madam,’ said Hob. ‘Never did I see a shepherd boy with the +wisdom and the thought there is in that curly pate!’ + +‘Wisdom! thought!’ muttered the lady. ‘Those did not save our good King, +only made him a saint. I had rather hear the boy talk of sword and lance +than prate of books and stars! And that wench, whom to our misfortune +thou didst find! What didst tell her?’ + +‘I told her nought, mother, for I had nought to tell.’ + +‘She scented mystery, though,’ said Hob. ‘She saw he was no herd boy.’ + +‘Nay? Though he holds himself like a lout untrained! Would that I could +have thee in hand, my son, to make thee meet to tread in thy brave +father’s steps! But now, comrade of sheep thou art, and I fear me thou +wilt ever be! But that maid, I trust that she perceived nothing in thy +bearing or speech?’ + +‘She will not betray whatever she perceived,’ said Hal stoutly. + +The wood was by this time nearly past, and the moment of parting had +come. The lady had decided on going on foot to the little grey stone +church whose low square tower could be seen rising like another rock. +Thither she could repair in her plaid, and by-and-by throw it off, and +return in her own character to the castle, as though she had gone forth +to worship there. When lifted off the shaggy pony she threw her arms +round Hal, kissed him passionately, and bade him never breathe a word +of it, but never to forget that a baron he was, and bound to be a good +brave knight, fit to avenge his father’s death! + +Hal came to understand from Dolly’s explanations that his recent +abode had been on the estate of his grandfather, Baron de Vesci, at +Londesborough, but his mother had since married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld, +and had intimated that her boy should be removed thither as soon as +might be expedient, and therefore the house on the Yorkshire moor had +been broken up. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + + + + Thou tree of covert and of rest + For this young bird that was distrest. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +A baron--bound to be a good knight, and to avenge my father’s death! +What does it all mean?’ murmured Hal to himself as he lay on his back in +the morning sunshine, on the hill-side, the wood behind him, and before +him a distance of undulating ground, ending in the straight mysterious +blue-grey line that Hob Hogward had told him was the sea. + +‘Baron! Lord Clifford, like my father! He was a man in steel armour; I +remember how it rang, and how his gorget--yes, that was the thing round +his throat--how it hurt me when he lifted me up to kiss me, and how they +blamed me for crying out. Ay, and he lived in a castle with dark, dull, +narrow chambers, all save the hall, where there was ever a tramping and +a clamouring, and smells of hot burning meat, and horses, and all sorts +of things, and they sat and sat over their meat and wine, and drank +health to King Harry and the Red Rose. I mind now how they shouted and +roared, and how I wanted to go and hide on the stairs, and my father +would have me shout with them, and drink confusion to York out of his +cup, and shook me and cuffed me when I cried. Oh! must one be like that +to be a knight? I had rather live on these free green hills with the +clear blue sky above me, and my good old ewe for my comrade’--and he +fell to caressing the face of an old sheep which had come up to him, +a white, mountain-bleached sheep with fine and delicate limbs. ‘Yes, +I love thee, good, gentle, little ewe, and thee, faithful Watch,’ as +a young collie pressed up to him, thrusting a long nose into his hand, +‘far better than those great baying hounds, or the fierce-eyed hawks +that only want to kill. If I be a baron, must it be in that sort? +Avenge! avenge! what does that mean? Is it, as in Goodwife Dolly’s +ballads, going forth to kill? Why should I? I had rather let them be! +Hark! Yea, Watch,’ as the dog pricked his ears and raised his graceful +head, then sprang up and uttered a deep-mouthed bark. The sheep darted +away to her companions, and Hal rose to his feet, as the dog began to +wave his tail, and Hob came forward accompanied by a tall, grave-looking +gentleman. ‘Here he be, sir. Hal, come thou and ask the blessing of thy +knightly stepfather.’ + +Hal obeyed the summons, and coming forward put a knee to the ground, +while Sir Lancelot Threlkeld uttered the conventional blessing, +adding, ‘Fair son, I am glad to see thee. Would that we might be better +acquainted, but I fear it is not safe for thee to come and be trained +for knighthood in my poor house. Thou art a well grown lad, I rejoice to +see, and strong and hearty I have no doubt.’ + +‘Ay, sir, he is strong enow, I wis; we have done our best for him,’ +responded Hob, while Hal stood shy and shamefaced; but there was +something about his bearing that made Sir Lancelot observe, ‘Ay, ay, he +shows what he comes of more than his mother made me fear. Only thou must +not slouch, my fair son. Raise thy head more. Put thy shoulders back. +So! so! Nay.’ + +Poor Hal tried to obey, the colour mounting in his face, but he +only became more and more stiff when he tried to be upright, and his +expression was such that Sir Lancelot cried out, ‘Put not on the visage +of one of thine own sheep! Ah! how shalt thou be trained to be a worthy +knight? I cannot take thee to mine house, for I have men there who might +inform King Edward that thy mother harboured thee. And unless I could +first make interest with Montagu or Salisbury, that would be thy death, +if not mine.’ + +The boy had nothing to say to this, and stood shy by, while his +stepfather explained his designs to Hal. It was needful to remove the +young Baron as far as possible from the suspicion of the greater part +of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld’s household, and the present resting-place, +within a walk of his castle, was therefore unsafe; besides that, +freebooters might be another danger, so near the outskirts of the wood, +since the northern districts of moor and wood were by no means clear of +the remnants of the contending armies, people who were generally of the +party opposite to that which they intended to rob. + +But on the banks of the Derwent, not far from its fall into the sea, Sir +Lancelot had granted a tenure to an old retainer of the De Vescis, +who had followed his mistress in her misfortunes; and on his lands Hob +Hogward might be established as a guardian of the herds with his family, +which would excite no suspicion. Moreover, he could train the young +Baron in martial exercises, the only other way of fitting him for his +station unless he could be sent to France or Burgundy like his brother; +but besides that the journey was a difficulty, it was always uncertain +whether there would be revengeful exiles of one or other side in the +service of their King, who might wreak the wrongs of their party on +Clifford’s eldest son. There was reported to be a hermit on the coast, +who, if he was a scholar, might teach the young gentleman. To Sir +Lancelot’s surprise, his stepson’s face lighted up more at this +suggestion than at that of being trained in arms. + +Hob had done nothing in that way, not even begun to teach him the +quarterstaff, though he avouched that when there was cause the young +lord was no craven, no more than any Clifford ever was--witness when he +drove off the great hound, which some said was a wolf, when it fell upon +the flock, or when none could hold him from climbing down the Giant’s +Cliff after the lamb that had fallen. No fear but he had heart enough to +make his hand keep his own or other folks’ heads. + +‘That is well,’ said Sir Lancelot, looking at the lad, who stood +twisting his hands in the speechless silence induced by being the +subject of discussion; ‘but it would be better, as my lady saith, if he +could only learn not to bear himself so like a clown.’ + +However, there was no more time, for Simon Bunce, the old man-at-arms +whom Sir Lancelot had appointed to meet him there, came in sight through +the trees, riding an old grey war-horse, much resembling himself in the +battered and yet strong and effective air of both. Springing down, the +old man bent very low before the young Baron, raising his cap as he gave +thanks to Heaven for permitting him to see his master’s son. Then, after +obeisance to his present master, he and Hob eagerly shook hands as old +comrades and fellow-soldiers who had thought never to meet again. + +Then turning again to the young noble, he poured out his love, devotion +and gratitude for being able to serve his beloved lord’s noble son; +while poor Hal stood under the discomfort of being surrounded with +friends who knew exactly what to say and do to him, their superior, +while he himself was entirely at a loss how to show himself gracious or +grateful as he knew he ought to do. It was a relief when Sir Lancelot +said ‘Enough, good Simon! Forget his nobility for the present while he +goes with thee to Derwentside as herd boy to Halbert Halstead here; only +thou must forget both their names, and know them only as Hal and Hob.’ + +With a gesture of obedience, Simon listened to the further directions, +and how he was to explain that these south country folks had been sent +up in charge of an especial flock of my lady’s which she wished to have +on the comparatively sheltered valley of the Derwent. Perhaps further +directions as to the training of the young Baron were added later, but +Hal did not hear them. He was glad to be dismissed to find Piers and +gather the sheep together in preparation for the journey to their new +quarters. Yet he did not fail to hear the sigh with which his stepfather +noted that his parting salutation was far too much in the character of +the herd boy. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- ON DERWENT BANKS + + + + When under cloud of fear he lay + A shepherd clad in homely grey. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +Simon Bunce came himself to conduct his new tenants to their abode. It +was a pleasant spot, a ravine, down which the clear stream rushed on +its course to mingle its waters with those of the ocean. The rocks and +brushwood veiled the approach to an open glade where stood a rude stone +hovel, rough enough, but possessing two rooms, a hearth and a chimney, +and thus superior to the hut that had been left on the moor. There were +sheds for the cattle around, and the grass was fresh and green so that +the sheep, the goat and the cow began eagerly feeding, as did the pony +which Hal and Piers were unloading. + +On one side stretched the open moor rising into the purple hills, just +touched with snow. On the other was the wooded valley of the Derwent, +growing wider ever before it debouched amid rocks into the sea. The +goodwife at once discovered that there had been recent habitation, and +asked what had become of the former dwellers there. + +‘The woman fretted for company,’ said Simon, ‘and vowed she was in fear +of the Scots, so I even let her have her way and go down to the town.’ + +The town in north country parlance only meant a small village, and Hob +asked where it lay. + +It was near the junction of the two streams, where Simon lived himself +in a slightly fortified farmhouse, just high up enough to be fairly safe +from flood tides. He did not advise his newly arrived tenants to be much +seen at this place, where there were people who might talk. They were +almost able to provide for their daily needs themselves, excepting for +meal and for ale, and he would himself see to this being supplied from +a more distant farm on the coast, which Hob and Piers might visit from +time to time with the pony. + +Goodwife Dolly inquired whether they might safely go to church, from +which she had been debarred all the time they had been on the move. ‘So +ill for both us and the lad,’ she said. + +Simon looked doubtful. ‘If thou canst not save thy soul without,’ he +said, ‘thou mightst go on some feast day, when there is such a concourse +of folk that thou mightst not be noticed, and come away at once without +halting for idle clavers, as they call them here.’ + +‘That’s what the women folk are keen for with their church-going,’ said +Hob with a grin. + +‘Now, husband, thou knowst,’ said Dolly, injured, though she was more +than aware he spoke with intent to tease her. ‘Have I not lived all this +while with none to speak to save thee and the blessed lads, and never +murmured.’ + +‘Though thy tongue be sore for want of speech!’ laughed Hob, ‘thou beest +a good wife, Dolly, and maybe thy faithfulness will tell as much in the +saving of thy soul as going to church.’ + +‘Nay, but,’ said Hal with eagerness, ‘is there not a priest?’ + +‘The priest comes of a White Rose house--I trust not him. Ay, goodwife, +beware of showing thyself to him. I give him my dues, that he may have +no occasion against me or Sir Lancelot, but I would not have him pry +into knowledge that concerns him not.’ + +‘Did not Sir Lancelot say somewhat of a scholarly hermit who might learn +me in what I ought to know?’ asked the boy. + +‘Never you fear, sir! Here are Hob Halstead and I, able to train any +young noble in what behoves him most to know.’ + +‘Yea, in arms and sports. They must be learnt I know, but a noble needs +booklore too,’ said the boy. ‘Cannot this same hermit help me? Sir +Lancelot--’ + +Simon Bunce interrupted sharply. ‘Sir Lancelot knows nought of the +hermit! He is--he is--a holy man.’ + +‘A priest,’ broke in Dolly, ‘a priest!’ + +‘No such thing, dame, no clerk at all, I tell thee. And ye lads had best +not molest him! He is for ever busy with his prayers, and wants none +near him.’ + +Hal was disappointed, for his mind was far less set on the exercises of +a young knight than on the desire to acquire knowledge, that study which +seemed to be thrown away on the unwilling ears of Anne St. John. + +Hob had been awakened by contact with his lady and her husband, as well +as with the old comrade, Simon Bunce, to perceive that if there were any +chance of the young Lord Clifford’s recovering his true position he +must not be allowed to lounge and slouch about like Piers, and he was +continually calling him to order, making him sit and stand upright, as +he had seen the young pages forced to do at the castle, learn how to +handle a sword, and use the long stick which was the substitute for a +lance, and to mount and sit on the old pony as a knight should do, till +poor Hal had no peace, and was glad to get away upon the moor with Piers +and the sheep, where there was no one to criticise him, or predict that +nothing would ever make him do honour to his name if he were proved ten +times a baron. + +It was still worse when Bunce came over, and brought a taller horse, and +such real weapons as he deemed that the young lord might be taught to +use, and there were doleful auguries and sharp reproofs, designed in +comically respectful phrases, till he was almost beside himself with +being thus tormented, and ready to wish never to hear of being a baron. + +His relief was to wander away upon the moors, watch the lights and +shadows on the wondrous mountains, or dream on the banks of the river, +by which he could make his way to the seashore, a place of endless +wonder and contemplation, as he marvelled why the waters flowed in and +retreated again, watched the white crests, and the glassy rolls of +the waves, felt his mind and aspiration stretched as by something +illimitable, even as when he looked up to the sky, and saw star beyond +star, differing from one another in brightness. There were those white +birds too, differing from all the night-jars and plovers he had seen on +the moor, floating now over the waves, now up aloft and away, as if they +were soaring into the very skies. Oh, would that he could follow them, +and rise with them to know what were those great grey or white clouds, +and what was above or below in those blue vastnesses! And whence came +all those strange things that the water spread at his feet the long, +brown, wet streamers, or the delicate red tracery that could be seen in +the clear pools, where were sometimes those lumps like raw flesh when +closed, but which opened into flowers? Or the things like the snails on +the heath, yet not snails, and all the strange creatures that hopped and +danced in the water? + +Why would no one explain such things to him? Nay, what a pity everyone +treated it as mere childish folly in him to be thus interested! They did +not quite dare to beat him for it--that was one use of being a baron. +Indeed, one day when Simon Bunce struck him sharply and hard over the +shoulders for dragging home a great piece of sea-weed with numerous +curious creatures upon it, Goodwife Dolly rushed out and made such an +outcry that the esquire was fain to excuse himself by declaring that it +was time that my lord should know how to bide a buffet, and answer it. +He was ready and glad to meet the stroke in return! ‘Come on, sir!’ + +And Hob put a stout headless lance in the boy’s hand, while Simon stood +up straight before him. Hob adjusted the weapon in his inert hand, and +told him how and where to strike. But ‘It is not in sooth. I don’t want +to hurt Master Simon,’ said the child, as they laughed, and yet with +displeasure as his blow fell weak and uncertain. + +‘Is it a mouse’s tail?’ cried Simon in derision. + +‘Come, sir, try again,’ said Hob. ‘Strike as you did when the black bull +came down. Why cannot you do the like now, when you are tingling from +Bunce’s stroke?’ + +‘Ah! then I thought the bull would fall on Piers,’ said Hal. + +‘Come on, think so now, sir. One blow to do my heart good, and show you +have the arm of your forebears.’ + +Thus incited, with Hob calling out to him to take heart of grace, while +Simon made a feint of trying to beat Mother Dolly, Hal started forward +and dealt a blow sufficient to make Simon cry out, ‘Ha, well struck, +sir, if you had had a better grip of your lance! I even feel it through +my buff coat.’ + +He spoke as though it had been a kiss; but oh! and alack! why were these +rough and dreary exercises all that these guardians--yea, and even Sir +Lancelot and his mother--thought worth his learning, when there was so +much more that awoke his delight and interest? Was it really childish to +heed these things? Yet even to his young, undeveloped brain it seemed +as if there must be mysteries in sky and sea, the unravelling of which +would make life more worth having than the giving and taking of blows, +which was all they heeded. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- THE HERMIT + + + + No hermit e’er so welcome crost + A child’s lone path in woodland lost. + --KEBLE. + + +Hal had wandered farther than his wont, rather hoping to be out of call +if Simon arrived to give him a lesson in chivalrous sports. He found +himself on the slope of one of the gorges down which smaller streams +rushed in wet weather to join the Derwent. There was a sound of tinkling +water, and leaning forward, Hal saw that a tiny thread of water dropped +between the ferns and the stones. Therewith a low, soft chant in a manly +voice, mingling with the drip of the water. + +The words were strange to him&& + + + Lucis Creator optime, + Lucem dierum proferens&& + + +but they were very sweet, and in leaning forward to look between the +rowan branches and hear and see more, his foot slipped, and with Watch +barking round him, he rolled helplessly down the rock, and found himself +before a tall light-haired man, in a dark dress, who gave a hand to +raise him, asking kindly, ‘Art hurt, my child?’ + +‘Oh, no, sir! Off, off, Watch!’ as the dog was about to resent anyone’s +touching his master. ‘Holy sir, thanks, great thanks,’ as a long fair +hand helped him to his feet, and brushed his soiled garment. + +‘Unhurt, I see,’ said that sweet voice. ‘Hast thou lost thy way? Good +dog, thou lovest thy master! Art thou astray?’ + +‘No, sir, thank you, I know my way home.’ + +‘Thou art the boy who lives with the shepherd at Derwentside, on Bunce’s +ground?’ + +‘Ay, Hob Hogward’s herd boy,’ said Hal. ‘Oh, sir, are you the holy +hermit of the Derwent vale?’ + +‘A hermit for the nonce I am,’ was the answer, with something of a smile +responsive to the eager face. + +‘Oh, sir, if you be not too holy to look at me or speak to me! If +you would help me to some better knowledge--not only of sword and +single-stick!’ + +‘Better knowledge, my child! Of thy God?’ said the hermit, a sweet look +of joy spreading over his face. + +‘Goodwife Dolly has told me of Him, and taught me my Pater and Credo, +but we have lived far off, and she has not been able to go to church +for weeks and years. But what I long after is to tell me what means all +this--yonder sea, and all the stars up above. And they will call me a +simpleton for marking such as these, and only want me to heed how to +shoot an arrow, or give a stroke hard enough to hurt another. Do such +rude doings alone, fit for a bull or a ram as meseems, go to the making +of a knight, fair sir?’ + +‘They go to the knight’s keeping of his own, for others whom he ought +to defend,’ said the hermit sadly; ‘I would have thee learn and practise +them. But for the rest, thou knowest, sure, who made the stars?’ + +‘Oh yes! Nurse Dolly told me. She saw it all in a mystery play long long +ago--when a Hand came out, and put in the stars and sun and moon.’ + +‘Knowest thou whose Hand was figured there, my child?’ + +‘The Hand of God,’ said Hal, removing his cap. ‘They be sparks to show +His glory! But why do some move about among the others--one big one +moves from the Bull’s face one winter to half-way beyond it. And is the +morning star the evening one?’ + +‘Ah! thou shouldst know Ptolemy and the Almagest,’ said the hermit +smiling, ‘to understand the circuits of those wandering stars--Coeli +enarrant gloriam Dei.’ + +‘That is Latin,’ said the boy, startled. ‘Are you a priest, sir?’ + +‘No, not I--I am not worthy,’ was the answer, ‘but in some things I may +aid thee, and I shall be blessed in so doing. Canst say thy prayers?’ + +‘Oh, yes! nurse makes me say them when I lie down and when I get +up--Credo and Pater. She says the old parson used to teach them our own +tongue for them, but she has well-nigh forgot. Can you tell me, holy +man?’ + +‘That will I, with all my heart,’ responded the hermit, laying his long +delicate hand on Hal’s head. ‘Blessed be He who has sent thee to me!’ + +The boy sat at the hermit’s feet, listening with the eagerness of one +whose soul and mind had alike been under starvation, and how time went +neither knew till there was a rustling and a step. Watch sprang up, +but in another moment Simon Bunce, cap in hand, stood before the hut, +beginning with ‘How now, sir?’ + +The hermit raised his hand, as if to make a sign, saying, ‘Thou seest I +have a guest, good friend.’ + +Bunce started back with ‘Oh! the young Lord! Sworn to silence, I trust! +I bade him not meddle with you, sir.’ + +‘It was against his will, I trow,’ said the hermit. ‘He fell over the +rock by the waterfall, but since he is here, I will answer for him that +he does no hurt by word or deed!’ + +‘Never, holy sir!’ eagerly exclaimed Hal. ‘Hob Hogward knows that I can +keep my mouth shut. And may I come again?’ + +Simon was shaking his head, but the hermit took on him to say, ‘Gladly +will I welcome thee, my fair child, whensoever thou canst find thy way +to the weary old anchoret! Go thy way now! Or hast thou lost it?’ + +‘No, sir; I ken the woodland and can soon be at home,’ replied Hal; +then, putting a knee to the ground, ‘May I have your blessing, holy +man?’ + +‘Alack, I told thee I am no priest,’ said the hermit; ‘but for such as I +am, I bless thee with all my soul, thou fatherless lad,’ and he laid +his hand on the young lad’s wondering brow, then bade him begone, since +Simon and himself had much to say to one another. + +Hal summoned Watch, and turned to a path through the wood, leading +towards the coast, wondering as he walked how the hermit seemed to know +him--him whose presence had been so sedulously concealed. Could it be +that so very holy a man had something of the spirit of prophecy? + +He kept his promise of silence, and indeed his guardians were so much +accustomed to his long wanderings that he encountered no questions, only +one of Hob’s growls that he should always steal away whenever there was +a chance of Master Bunce’s coming to try to make a man of him. + +However, Bunce himself arrived shortly after, and informed Hob that +since young folks always pried where they were least wanted, and my lord +had stumbled incontinently on the anchoret’s den, it was the holy man’s +will that he might come there whenever he chose. A pity and shame +it was, but it would make him more than ever a mere priestling, ever +hankering after books and trash! + +‘Were it not better to ask my lady and Sir Lancelot if they would have +it so? I could walk over to Threlkeld!’ + +‘No, no, no, on your life not,’ exclaimed Simon, striking his staff on +the ground in his vehemence. ‘Never a word to the Threlkeld or any of +his kin! Let well alone! I only wish the lad had never gone a-roaming +there! But holy men must not be gainsaid, even if it does make a poor +craven scholar out of his father’s son.’ + +And thus began a time of great contentment to the Lord Clifford. There +were few days on which he did not visit the hermitage. It was a small +log hut, but raised with some care, and made weatherproof with moss and +clay in the crevices, and there was an inner apartment, with a little +oil lamp burning before a rough wooden cross, where Hal, if the hermit +were not outside, was certain to find him saying his prayers. Food was +supplied by Simon himself, and, since Hal’s admission, was often carried +by him, and the hermit seemed to spend his time either in prayer or in +a gentle dreamy state of meditation, though he always lighted up into +animation at the arrival of the boy whom he had made his friend. Hal had +thought him old at first, on the presumption that all hermits must be +aged, nor was it likely that age should be estimated by one living such +a life, but the light hair, untouched with grey, the smooth cheeks and +the graceful figure did not belong to more than a year or two above +forty. And he had no air of ill health, yet this calm solitary residence +in the wooded valley seemed to be infinite rest to him. + +Hal had no knowledge nor experience to make him wonder, and accepted the +great quiet and calm of the hermit as the token of his extreme holiness +and power of meditation. He himself was always made welcome with Watch +by his side, and encouraged to talk and ask questions, which the hermit +answered with what seemed to the boy the utmost wisdom, but older heads +would have seen not to be that of a clever man, but of one who had been +fairly educated for the time, had had experience of courts and camps, +and referred all the inquiries and wonderments which were far beyond him +direct to Almighty Power. + +The mind of the boy advanced much in this intercourse with the first +cultivated person he had encountered, and who made a point of actually +teaching and explaining to him all those mysteries of religion which +poor old Dolly only blindly accepted and imparted as blindly to her +nursling. Of actual instruction, nothing was attempted. A little +portuary, or abbreviated manual of the service, was all that the hermit +possessed, treasured with his small crucifix in his bosom, and of course +it was in Latin. The Hours of the Church he knew by heart, and never +failed to observe them, training his young pupil in the repetition and +English meaning of such as occurred during his visits. He also told much +of the history of the world, as he knew it, and of the Church and the +saints, to the eager mind that absorbed everything and reflected on it, +coming with fresh questions that would have been too deep and perplexing +for his friend if he had not always determined everything with ‘Such is +the will of God.’ + +Somewhat to the surprise of Simon Bunce and Hob Hogward, Hal improved +greatly, not only in speech but in bearing; he showed no such dislike +or backwardness in chivalrous exercises as previously; and when once Sir +Lancelot Threlkeld came over to see him, he was absolutely congratulated +on looking so much more like a young knight. + +‘Ay,’ said Bunce, taking all the merit to himself, ‘there’s nought like +having an old squire trained in the wars in France to show a stripling +how to hold a lance.’ + +Hal had been too well tutored to utter a word of him to whom his +improvement was really due, not by actual training, but partly by +unconscious example in dignified grace and courtesy of demeanour, and +partly by the rather sad assurances that it was well that a man born to +his station, if he ever regained it, should be able to defend himself +and others, and not be a helpless burthen on their hands. Tales of +the Seven Champions of Christendom and of King Arthur and his Knights +likewise had their share in the moulding of the youthful Lord Clifford. + +His great desire was to learn to read, but it was not encouraged by the +hermit, nor was there any book available save the portuary, crookedly +and contractedly written on vellum, so as to be illegible to anyone +unfamiliar with writing, with Latin, or the service. However, the +anchoret yielded to his importunity so far as to let him learn the +alphabet, traced on the door in charcoal, and identify the more sacred +words in the book--which, indeed, were all in gold, red and blue. + +He did not advance more than this, for his teacher was apt to go off in +a musing dream of meditation, repeating over and over in low sweet tones +the holy phrases, and not always rousing himself when his pupil made +a remark or asked a question. Yet he was always concerned at his own +inattention when awakened, and would apologise in a tone of humility +that always made Hal feel grieved and ashamed of having been +importunate. For there was a dignity and gentleness about the hermit +that always made the boy feel the contrast with his own roughness and +uncouthness, and reverence him as something from a holier world. + +‘Nurse, I do think he is a saint,’ one day said Hal. + +‘Nay, nay, my laddie, saints don’t come down from heaven in these days +of evil.’ + +‘I would thou could see him when one comes upon him at his prayers. +His face is like the angel at the cross I saw so long ago in the castle +chapel.’ + +‘Dost thou remember that chapel? Thou wert a babe when we quitted it.’ + +‘I had well nigh forgotten it, but the good hermit’s face brought all +back again, and the voice of the father when he said the Service.’ + +‘That thou shouldst mind so long! This hermit is no priest, thou sayst?’ + +‘No, he said he was not worthy; but sure all saints were not priests, +nurse.’ + +‘Nay, it is easy to be more worthy than the Jack Priests I have known. +Though I would they would let me go to church. But look thee here, +Hal, if he be such a saint as thou sayst, maybe thou couldst get him to +bestow a blessing on poor Piers, and give him his hearing and voice.’ + +Hal was sure that his own special saint was holy enough for anything, +and accordingly asked permission of him to bring his silent companion +for blessing and healing. + +The mild blue eye lighted for a moment. ‘Is the poor child then +afflicted with the King’s Evil?’ the hermit asked. + +‘Nay, he is sound enough in skin and limb. It is that he can neither +hear nor speak, and if you, holy sir, would lay thine hand on him, and +sign him with the rood, and pray, mayhap your holiness--’ + +‘Peace, peace,’ cried the hermit impetuously, lifting up his hand. ‘Dost +not know that I am a sinner like unto the rest--nay, a greater sinner, +in that a burthen was laid on me that I had not the soul to rise to, so +that the sin and wickedness of thousands have been caused by my craven +faint heart for well nigh two score years? O miserere Domine.’ + +He threw himself on the ground with clasped hands, and Hal, standing +by in awestruck amazement, heard no more save sobs, mingled with the +supplications of the fifty-first Psalm. + +He was obliged at last to go away without having been able to recall +the attention of his friend from his agony of prayer. With the reticence +that had grown upon him, he did not mention at home the full effect of +his request, but when he thought it over he was all the more convinced +that his friend was a great saint. Had he not always heard that saints +believed themselves great sinners, and went through many penances? And +why did he speak as if he could have cured the King’s Evil? He asked +Dolly what it was, and she replied that it was the sickness that only +the King’s touch could heal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- HENRY OF WINDSOR + + + + My crown is in my heart, not on my head; + Not deck’d with diamonds, and Indian stones, + Nor to be seen. My crown is call’d Content. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summer had faded, and an early frost had tinted the fern-leaves with +gold here and there, and made the hermit wrap himself close in a cloak +lined with thick brown fur. + +Simon, who was accustomed very respectfully to take the command of him, +insisted that he should have a fire always burning on a rock close to +his door, and that Piers, if not Hal, should always take care that it +never went out, smothering it with peat, as every shepherd boy knew how +to do, so as to keep it alight, or, in case of need, to conceal it with +turf. + +One afternoon, as Hal lay on the grass, whiling away the time by +alternately playing with Watch and trying to unravel the mysteries of a +flower of golden-rod, until the hermit should have finished his prayers +and be ready to attend to him, Piers came through the wood, evidently +sent on a message, and made him understand that he was immediately +wanted at home. + +Hal turned to take leave of his host, but the hermit’s eyes were raised +in such rapt contemplation as to see nought, and, indeed, it might +be matter of doubt whether he had ever perceived the presence of his +visitor. + +Hal directed Piers to arrange the fire, and hurried away, becoming +conscious as he came in sight of the cottage that there were horses +standing before it, and guessing at once that it must be a visit from +Sir Lancelot Threlkeld. + +It was Simon Bunce, however, who, with demonstrations of looking for +him, came out to meet him as he emerged from the brushwood, and said +in a gruff whisper, clutching his shoulder hard, ‘Not a word to give a +clue! Mum! More than your life hangs on it.’ + +No more could pass, to explain the clue intended, whether to the +presence of the young Lord Clifford himself, which was his first +thought, or to the inhabitant of the hermitage. For Sir Lancelot’s +cheerful voice was exclaiming, ‘Here he is, my lady! Here’s your son! +How now, my young lord? Thou hast learnt to hold up thy head! Ay, and to +bow in better sort,’ as, bending with due grace, Hal paused for a second +ere hurrying forward to kneel before his mother, who raised him in her +arms and kissed him with fervent affection. ‘My son! mine own dear +boy, how art thou grown! Thou hast well nigh a knightly bearing!’ she +exclaimed. ‘Master Bunce hath done well by thee.’ + +‘Good blood will out, my lady,’ quoth Simon, well pleased at her praise. + +‘He hath had no training but thine?’ said Sir Lancelot, looking full at +Simon. + +‘None, Sir Knight, unless it be honest Halstead’s here.’ + +‘Methought I heard somewhat of the hermit in the glen,’ put in the lady. + +‘He is a saint!’ declared two or three voices, as if this precluded his +being anything more. + +‘A saint,’ repeated the lady. ‘Anchorets are always saints. What doth +he?’ + +‘Prayeth,’ answered Simon. ‘Never doth a man come in but he is at his +prayers. ‘Tis always one hour or another!’ + +‘Ay?’ said Sir Lancelot, interrogatively. ‘Sayest thou so? Is he an old +man?’ + +Simon put in his word before Hal could speak: ‘Men get so knocked about +in these wars that there’s no guessing their age. I myself should deem +that the poor rogue had had some clouts on the head that dazed him and +made him fit for nought save saying his prayers.’ + +Here Sir Lancelot beckoned Simon aside, and walked him away, so as to +leave the mother and son alone together. + +Lady Threlkeld questioned closely as to the colour of the eyes and +hair, and the general appearance of the hermit, and Hal replied, without +suspicion, that the eyes were blue, the hair, he thought, of a light +colour, the frame tall and slight, graceful though stooping; he had +thought at first that the hermit must be old, very old, but had since +come to a different conclusion. His dress was a plain brown gown like +a countryman’s. There was nobody like him, no one whom Hal so loved and +venerated, and he could not help, as he stood by his mother, pouring out +to her all his feeling for the hermit, and the wise patient words that +now and then dropped from him, such as ‘Patience is the armour and +conquest of the godly;’ or, ‘Shall a man complain for the punishment of +his sins?’ ‘Yet,’ said Hal, ‘what sins could the anchoret have? Never +did I know that a man could be so holy here on earth. I deemed that was +only for the saints in heaven.’ + +The lady kissed the boy and said, ‘I trow thou hast enjoyed a great +honour, my child.’ + +But she did not say what it was, and when her husband summoned her, +she joined him to repair to Penrith, where they were keeping an autumn +retirement at a monastery, and had contrived to leave their escort and +make this expedition on their way. + +Simon examined Hal closely on what he had said to his mother, sighed +heavily, and chided him for prating when he had been warned against it, +but that was what came of dealing with children and womenfolk. + +‘What can be the hurt?’ asked Hal. ‘Sir Lancelot knows well who I am! No +lack of prudence in him would put men on my track.’ + +‘Hear him!’ cried Simon; ‘he thinks there is no nobler quarry in the +woods than his lordship!’ + +‘The hermit! Oh, Simon, who is he?’ + +But Simon began to shout for Hob Hogward, and would not hear any further +questions before he rode away, as far as Hal could see, in the opposite +direction to the hermitage. But when he repaired thither the next day +he was startled by hearing voices and the stamp of horses, and as he +reconnoitred through the trees he saw half a dozen rough-looking men, +with bows and arrows, buff coats, and steel-guarded caps--outlaws and +robbers as he believed. + +His first thought was that they meant harm to the gentle hermit, and his +impulse was to start forward to his protection or assistance, but as +he sprang into sight one of the strangers cried out: ‘How now! Here’s +a shepherd thrusting himself in. Back, lad, or ‘twill be the worse for +you.’ + +‘The hermit! the hermit! Do not meddle with him! He’s a saint,’ shouted +Hal. + +But even as he spoke he became aware of Simon, who called out: ‘Hold, +sir; back, Giles; this is one well nigh in as much need of hiding as him +yonder. Well come, since you be come, my lord, for we cannot get _him_ +there away without a message to you, and ‘tis well he should be off ere +the sleuth-hounds can get on the scent.’ + +‘What! Where! Who?’ demanded the bewildered boy, breaking off, as at +that moment his friend appeared at the door of the hovel, no longer +in the brown anchoret’s gown but in riding gear, partially defended +by slight armour, and with a cap on his head, which made him look much +younger than he had before done. + +‘Child, art thou there? It is well; I could scarce have gone without +bidding thee farewell,’ he said in his sweet voice; ‘thou, the dear +companion of my loneliness.’ + +‘O sir, sir, and are you going away?’ + +‘Yea, so they will have it! These good fellows are come to guard me.’ + +‘Oh! may I not go with thee?’ + +‘Nay, my fair son. Thou art beneath thy mother’s wing, while I am like +one who was hunted as a partridge on the mountains.’ + +‘Whither, oh whither?’ gasped Hal. + +‘That I know not! It is in the breasts of these good men, who are +charged by my brave wife to have me in their care.’ + +‘Oh! sir, sir, what shall I do without you? You that have helped me, and +taught me, and opened mine eyes to all I need to know.’ + +‘Hush, hush; it is a better master than I could ever be that thou +needest. But,’ as tokens of impatience manifested themselves among the +rude escort, ‘take thou this,’ giving him the little service-book, as he +knelt to receive it, scarce knowing why. ‘One day thou wilt be able to +read it. Poor child! whose lot it is to be fatherless and landless for +me and mine, I would I could do more for thee.’ + +‘Oh! you have done all,’ sobbed Hal. + +‘Nay, now, but this be our covenant, my boy! If thou, and if mine own +son both come to your own, thou wilt be a true and loyal man to him, +even as thy father was to me, and may God Almighty make it go better +with you both.’ + +‘I will, I will! I swear by all that is holy!’ gasped Hal Clifford, with +a flash of perception, as he knelt. + +‘Come, my liege, we have far to go ere night. No time for more parting +words and sighs.’ + +Hal scarcely knew more except that the hands were laid on his head, and +the voice he had learnt to love so well said: ‘The blessing of God +the Father be upon thee, thou fatherless boy, and may He reward thee +sevenfold for what thy father was, who died for his faithfulness to me, +a sinner! Fare thee well, my boy.’ + +As the hand that Hal was fervently kissing was withdrawn from him he +sank upon his face, weeping as one heartbroken. He scarce heard the +sounds of mounting and the trampling of feet, and when he raised his +head he was alone, the woods and rocks were forsaken. + +He sprang up and ran along at his utmost speed on the trampled path, +but when he emerged from it he could only see a dark party, containing +a horseman or two, so far on the way that it was hopeless to overtake +them. + +He turned back slowly to the deserted hut, and again threw himself on +the ground, weeping bitterly. He knew now that his friend and master had +been none other than the fugitive King, Henry of Windsor. + + + + +CHAPTER X. -- THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + + + Not in proud pomp nor courtly state; + Him his own thoughts did elevate, + Most happy in the shy recess. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +The departure of King Henry was the closing of the whole intellectual +and religious world that had been opened to the young Lord Clifford. To +the men of his own court, practical men of the world, there were times +when poor Henry seemed almost imbecile, and no doubt his attack of +melancholy insanity, the saddest of his ancestral inheritances, had +shattered his powers of decision and action; but he was one who ‘saw far +on holy ground,’ and he was a well-read man in human learning, besides +having the ordinary experience of having lived in the outer world, so +that in every way his companionship was delightful to a thoughtful boy, +wakening to the instincts of his race. + +To think of being left to the society of the sheep, of dumb Piers and +his peasant parents was dreariness in the extreme to one who had begun +to know something like conversation, and to have his countless questions +answered, or at any rate attended to. Add to this, he had a deep +personal love and reverence for his saint, long before the knowing him +as his persecuted King, and thus his sorrow might well be profound, +as well as rendered more acute by the terror lest his even unconscious +description to his mother might have been treason! + +He wept till he could weep no longer, and lay on the ground in his +despair till darkness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled him up, +indicating by gestures and uncouth sounds that he must go home. Goodwife +Dolly was anxiously looking out for him. + +‘Laddie, there thou beest at last! I had begun to fear me whether the +robber gang had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he saw Master Simon +with them. Have they mishandled thee, mine own lad nurse’s darling? Thou +lookest quite distraught.’ + +All Hal’s answer was to hide his head in her lap and weep like a babe, +though she could, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from him but +that his hermit was gone. No, no, the outlaws had not hurt him, but they +had taken him away, and he would never come back. + +‘Ay, ay, thou didst love him and he was a holy man, no doubt, but one of +these days thou shalt have a true knight, and that is better for a young +baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven than for earth! Come +now, stand up and eat thy supper. Don’t let Hob come in and find thee +crying like a swaddled babe.’ + +With which worldly consolations and exhortations Goodwife Dolly brought +him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he could not swallow +much, and soon put it aside and sought his bed. + +It was not till late the next day that Simon Bunce was seen riding +his rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to him at once, with the +breathless inquiry, ‘Where is he?’ + +‘In safe hands! Never you fear, sir! But best know nought.’ + +‘O Simon, was I--? Did I do him any scathe?--I--I never knew--I only +told my lady mother it was a saint.’ + +‘Ay, ay, lad, more’s the pity that he is more saint than king! If my +lady guessed aught, she would be loyal as became your father’s wife, and +methinks she would not press you hard for fear she should be forced to +be aware of the truth.’ + +‘But Sir Lancelot?’ + +‘As far as I can gather,’ explained Simon, ‘Sir Lancelot is one that +hath kept well with both sides, and so is able to be a protector. But +down came orders from York and his crew that King Harry is reported to +be lurking in some of these moors, and the Countess Clifford being his +wife, he fell under suspicion of harbouring him. Nay, there was some +perilous talk in his own household, so that, as I understand the matter, +he saw the need of being able to show that he knew nothing; or, if he +found that the King was living within these lands, of sending him a +warning ere avowing that he had been there. So I read what was said to +me.’ + +‘He knew nothing from me! Neither he nor my lady mother,’ eagerly said +Hal. ‘When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short when I described +the hermit too closely, lest no doubt she should guess who he was.’ + +‘Belike! It would be like my lady, who is a loyal Lancastrian at heart, +though much bent on not offending her husband lest his protection should +be withdrawn from you.’ + +‘Better--O, a thousand times better!--he gave me up than the King!’ + +‘Hush! What good would that do? A boy like you? Unless they took you +in hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands if you would +swear allegiance to King Edward, as he calls himself.’ + +‘Never, though I were cut into quarters!’ averred Hal, with a fierce +gesture, clasping his staff. ‘But the King? Where and what have they +done with him?’ + +‘Best not to know, my lord,’ said Simon. ‘In sooth, I myself do not know +whither he is gone, only that he is with friends.’ + +‘But who--what were they? They looked like outlaws!’ + +‘So they were; many a good fellow is of Robin of Redesdale’s train. +There are scores of them haunting the fells and woods, all Red Rose men, +keeping a watch on the King,’ replied Simon. ‘We had made up our minds +that he had been long enough in one place, and that he must have taken +shelter the winter through, when I got notice of these notions of Sir +Lancelot, and forthwith sent word to them to have him away before worse +came of it.’ + +‘Oh! why did you not let me go with him? I would have saved him, waited +on him, fought for him.’ + +‘Fine fighting--when there’s no getting you to handle a lance, except +as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you have been +better of late, little as your hermit seemed the man to teach you.’ + +‘He said it was right and became a man! Would I were with him! He, my +true King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simon. I, that am +his true and loving liegeman, should be with him.’ + +‘Ay! when you are a man to keep his head and your own.’ + +‘But I could wait on him.’ + +‘Would you have us bested to take care of two instead of one, and my +lady, moreover, in a pother about her son, and Sir Lancelot stirred to +make a hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in peace in the safe +homestead where you are sheltered, and learn to be a man, minding your +exercises as well as may be till the time shall come.’ + +‘When I shall be a man and a knight, and do deeds of derring-do in his +cause,’ cried Hal. + +And the stimulus drove him on to continual calls to Hob, in Simon’s +default, to jousts with sword or spear, represented generally by staves; +and when these could not be had, he was making arrows and practising +with them, so as to become a terror to the wild ducks and other +neighbours on the wolds, the great geese and strange birds that came +in from the sea in the cold weather. When it was not possible to go far +afield in the frosts and snows, he conned King Henry’s portuary, trying +to identify the written words with those he knew by heart, and sometimes +trying to trace the shapes of the letters on the snow with a stick; +visiting, too, the mountains and looking into the limpid grey waters of +the lakes, striving hard to guess why, when the sea rose in tides, they +were still. More than ever, too, did the starry skies fill him with +contemplation and wonder, as he dwelt on the scraps alike of astronomy, +astrology, and devotion which he had gathered from his oracle in the +hermitage, and longed more and more for the time to return when he +should again meet his teacher, his saint, and his King. + +Alas! that time was never to come. The outlawed partisans of the +Red Rose had secret communications which spread intelligence rapidly +throughout the country, and long before Sir Lancelot and his lady knew, +and thus it was that Simon Bunce learnt, through the outlaws, that poor +King Henry had been betrayed by treachery, and seized by John Talbot +at Waddington Hall in Lancashire. Deep were the curses that the outlaws +uttered, and fierce were the threats against the Talbot if ever he +should venture himself on the Cumbrian moors; and still hotter was their +wrath, more bitter the tears of the shepherd lord, when the further +tidings were received that the Earl of Warwick had brought the gentle, +harmless prince, to whom he had repeatedly sworn fealty, into London +with his feet tied to the stirrups of a sorry jade, and men crying +before him, ‘Behold the traitor!’ + +The very certainty that the meek and patient King would bear all with +rejoicing in the shame and reproach that led him in the steps of his +Master, only added to the misery of Hal as he heard the tale; and he lay +on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth with rage and longing +to take revenge on Warwick, Edward, Talbot--he knew not whom--and +grasping at the rocks as if they were the stones of the Tower which he +longed to tear down and liberate his beloved saint. + +Nor, from that time, was there any slackness in acquiring or practising +all skill in chivalrous exercises. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- THE RED ROSE + + + + That Edward is escaped from your brother + And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Years passed on, and still Henry Clifford continued to be the shepherd. +Matters were still too unsettled, and there were too many Yorkists in +the north, keeping up the deadly hatred of the family against that of +Clifford, for it to be safe for him to show himself openly. He was a +tall, well-made, strong youth, and his stepfather spoke of his going to +learn war in Burgundy; but not only was his mother afraid to venture him +there, but he could not bear to leave England while there was a hope +of working in the cause of the captive King, though the Red Rose hung +withered on the branches. + +Reports of misunderstandings between King Edward and the Earl of Warwick +came from time to time, and that Queen Margaret and her son were busy +beyond seas, which kept up hope; and in the meantime Hal grew in the +knowledge of all country lore, of herd and wood, and added to it all his +own earnest love of the out-of-door world, of sun, moon, and stars, +sea and hills, beast and bird. The hermit King, who had been a +well-educated, well-read man in his earlier days, had given him the +framework of such natural science as had come down to the fifteenth +century, backed by the deepest faith in scriptural descriptions; and +these inferences and this philosophy were enough to lead a far acuter +and more able intellect, with greater opportunities of observation, much +further into the fields of the mystery of nature than ever the King had +gone. + +He said nothing, for never had he met one who understood a word he said +apart from fortune telling, excepting the royal teacher after whom +he longed; but he watched, he observed, and he dreamt, and came to +conclusions that his King’s namesake cousin, Enrique of Portugal, the +discoverer, in his observatory at St. Vincent, might have profited by. +Brother Brian, a friar, for whose fidelity Simon Bunce’s outlaw could +absolutely answer, and who was no Friar Tuck, in spite of his rough +life, gave Dolly much comfort religiously, carried on some of the +education for which Hal longed, and tried to teach him astrology. Some +of the yearnings of his young soul were thus gratified, but they were +the more extended as he grew nearer manhood, and many a day he stood +with eyes stretched over the sea to the dim line of the horizon, with +arms spread for a moment as if he would join the flight of the sea-gulls +floating far, far away, then clasped over his breast in a sort of +despair at being bound to one spot, then pressed the tighter in the +strong purpose of fighting for his imprisoned King when the time should +come. + +For this he diligently practised with bow and arrow when alone, or only +with Piers, and learnt all the feats of arms that Simon Runce or Giles +Spearman could teach him. Spearman was evidently an accomplished knight +or esquire; he had fought in France as well as in the home wars, and +knew all the refinements of warfare in an age when the extreme weight +of the armour rendered training and skill doubly necessary. Spearman +was evidently not his real name, and it was evident that he had some +knowledge of Hal’s real rank, though he never hazarded mention of other +name or title. The great drawback was the want of horses. The little +mountain ponies did not adequately represent the warhorses trained +to charge under an enormous load, and the buff jerkins and steel +breast-plates of the outlaws were equally far from showing how to move +under ‘mail and plates of Milan steel.’ Nor would Sir Lancelot Threlkeld +lend or give what was needful. Indeed, he was more cautious than ever, +and seemed really alarmed as well as surprised to see how tall and manly +his step-son was growing, and how like his father. He would not hear +of a visit to Threlkeld under any disguise, though Lady Clifford was +in failing health, nor would he do anything to forward the young lord’s +knightly training. In effect, he only wanted to keep as quiet and +unobserved as possible, for everything was in a most unsettled and +dangerous condition, and there was no knowing what course was the safest +for one by no means prepared to lose life or lands in any cause. + +The great Earl of Warwick, on whom the fate of England had hitherto +hinged, was reported to have never forgiven King Edward for his marriage +with Dame Elizabeth Grey, and to be meditating insurrection. Encouraged +by this there was a great rising in Yorkshire of the peasants under +Robin of Redesdale, and a message was brought to Giles Spearman and his +followers to join them, but he and Brother Brian demurred, and news soon +came that the Marquess of Montagu had defeated the rising and beheaded +Redesdale. + +Sir Lancelot congratulated his step-son on having been too late to take +up arms, and maintained that the only safe policy was to do nothing, a +plan which suited age much better than youth. + +He still lived with Hob and Piers, and slept at the hut, but he went +further and further afield among the hills and mosses, often with no +companion save Watch, so that he might without interruption watch the +clear streams and wonder what filled their fountains, and why the sea +was never full, or stand on the sea-shore studying the tides, and +trying to construct a theory about them. King Henry was satisfied with +‘Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther,’ but He who gave that decree +must have placed some cause or rule in nature thus to affect them. Could +it be the moon? The waves assuredly obeyed the changes of the moon, and +Hal was striving to keep a record in strokes marked by a stick on soft +earth or rows of pebbles, so as to establish a rule. ‘Aye, aye,’ quoth +Hob. ‘Poor fellow, he is not much wiser than the hermit. See how he +plays with pebbles and stones. You’ll make nought of him, fine grown lad +as he is. Why, he’ll sit dazed and moonstruck half a day, and all the +night, staring up at the stars as if he would count them!’ + +So spoke the stout shepherd to Simon Bunce, pointing to the young man, +who lay at his length upon the grass calculating the proportions of the +stones that marked the relations of hours of the flood tide and those +of the height of the moon. Above and beyond was a sundial cut out in the +turf, from his own observations after the hints that the hermit and the +friar had given him. + +‘Ha now, my lord, I have rare news for you.’ + +The unwonted title did not strike Hal’s unaccustomed ears, and he +continued moving his lips, ‘High noon, spring tide.’ + +‘There, d’ye see?’ said Hob, ‘he heeds nothing. ‘That I and my goodwife +should have bred up a mooncalf! Here, Hal, don’t you know Simon? Hear +his tidings!’ + +‘Tidings enow! King Henry is freed, King Edward is fled. My Lord +of Warwick has turned against him for good and all. King Henry is +proclaimed in all the market-places! I heard it with my own ears at +Penrith!’ And throwing up his cap into the air, while the example +was followed by Hob, with ‘God save King Henry, and you my Lord of +Clifford.’ + +The sound was echoed by a burst of voices, and out of the brake suddenly +stood the whole band of outlaws, headed by Giles Spearman, but Hal still +stood like one dazed. ‘King Harry, the hermit, free and on his throne,’ +he murmured, as one in a dream. + +‘Ay, all things be upset and reversed,’ said Spearman, with a hand on +his shoulder. ‘No herd boy now, but my Lord of Clifford.’ + +‘Come to his kingdom,’ repeated Hal. ‘My own King Harry the hermit! I +would fain go and see him.’ + +‘So you shall, my brave youth, and carry him your homage and mine,’ +said Spearman. ‘He will know me for poor Giles Musgrave, who upheld +his standard in many a bloody field. We will off to Sir Lancelot at +Threlkeld now! Spite of his policy of holes and corners, he will not now +refuse to own you for what you are, aye, and fit you out as becomes a +knight.’ + +‘God grant he may!’ muttered Bunce, ‘without his hum and ha, and swaying +this way and that, till he never moves at all! Betwixt his caution, +and this lad’s moonstruck ways, you have a fair course before you, Sir +Giles! See, what’s the lad doing now?’ + +The lad was putting into his pouch the larger white pebbles that had +represented tens in his calculation, and murmuring the numbers they +stood for. ‘He will understand,’ he said almost to himself, but he +showed himself ready to go with the party to Threlkeld, merely pausing +at Hob’s cottage to pick up a few needful equipments. In the skin of a +rabbit, carefully prepared, and next wrapped in a silken kerchief, +and kept under his chaff pillow, was the hermit’s portuary, which was +carefully and silently transferred by Hal to his own bosom. Sir Giles +Musgrave objected to Watch, in city or camp, and Hal was obliged to +leave him to Goodwife Dolly and to Piers. + +With each it was a piteous parting, for Dolly had been as a mother to +him for almost all his boyhood, and had supplied the tenderness that +his mother’s fears and Sir Lancelot’s precautions had prevented his +receiving at Threlkeld. He was truly as a son to her, and she sobbed +over him, declaring that she never would see him again, even if he came +to his own, which she did not believe was possible, and who would see to +his clean shirts? + +‘Never fear, goodwife,’ said Giles Musgrave; ‘he shall be looked to as +mine own son.’ + +‘And what’s that to a gentle lad that has always been tended as becomes +him?’ + +‘Heed not, mother! Be comforted! I must have gone to the wars, anyway. +If so be I thrive, I’ll send for thee to mine own castle, to reign there +as I remember of old. Here now! Comfort Piers as thou only canst do.’ + +Piers, poor fellow, wept bitterly, only able to understand that +something had befallen his comrade of seven years, which would take him +away from field and moor. He clung to Hal, and both lads shed tears, +till Hob roughly snatched Piers away and threw him to his aunt, with +threats that drew indignant, though useless, interference from Hal, +though Simon Bunce was muttering, ‘As lief take one lad as the other!’ +while Dolly’s angry defence of her nursling’s wisdom broke the sadness +of the parting. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- A PRUDENT RECEPTION + + + + So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts, + What may befall him to his harm and ours. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Through the woods the party went to the fortified house of Threlkeld, +where the gateway was evidently prepared to resist any passing attack, +by stout gates and a little watch-tower. + +Sir Giles blew a long blast on his bugle-horn, and had to repeat it +twice before a porter looked cautiously out at a wicket opening in the +heavy door, and demanded ‘Who comes?’ + +‘Open, porter, open in the name of King Harry, to the Lords of Clifford +and of Peelholm.’ + +The porter fell back, observing, ‘Sir, pardon, while I have speech with +my master, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.’ + +Some delay and some sounds of conversation were heard, then, on a +renewed and impatient blast on Sir Giles’s horn, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld +himself came to the wicket, and his thin anxious voice might be heard +demanding, ‘What madness is this?’ + +‘The madness is past, soundness is come,’ responded Sir Giles. ‘King +Harry is on his throne, the traitors are fled, and your own fair son +comes forth in his proper person to uphold the lawful sovereign; but he +would fain first see his lady mother, and take her blessing with him.’ + +‘And by his impatience destroy himself, after all the burthen of care +and peril he hath been to me all these years,’ lamented Sir Lancelot. +‘But come in, fair lad. Open the gates, porter. I give you welcome, Lord +Musgrave of Peelholm. But who are these?’ he added, looking at the troop +of buff-coated archers in the rear. + +‘They are bold champions of the Red Rose, returned Sir Giles, ‘who +have lived with me in the wolds, and now are on the way to maintain our +King’s quarrel.’’ + +Sir Lancelot, however, would not hear of admitting the outlaws. Young +Clifford and the Lord of Peelholm should be welcome, or more truly he +could not help receiving them, but the archers must stay outside, their +entertainment in beef and ale being committed to Bunce and the chief +warder, while the two noblemen were conducted to the castle hall. For +the first time in his life Clifford was received in his mother’s home, +and accepted openly, as he knelt before her to ask her blessing. A fine, +active, handsome youth was he, with bright, keen eyes, close-curled +black locks and hardy complexion, telling of his out-of-door life, and +a free use of his limbs, and upright carriage, though still with more +of the grace of the free mountain than of the training of pagedom and +squiredom. + +Nor could he speak openly and freely to her, not knowing how much he +might say of his past intercourse with King Henry, and of her endeavour +to discover it; and he sat beside her, neither of them greatly at ease, +at the long table, which, by the array of silver cups, of glasses +and the tall salt cellar separating the nobility and their followers, +recalled to him dim recollections of the scenes of his youth. + +He asked for his sister--he knew his little brother had died in the +Netherlands--and he heard that she had been in the Priory of St. +Helen’s, and was now in the household of my Lady of Hungerford, who +had promised to find a good match for her. There was but one son of the +union with the knight of Threlkeld, and him Hal had never seen; nor was +he at home, being a page in the household of the Earl of Westmoreland, +according to the prevailing fashion of the castles of the great feudal +nobles becoming schools of arms, courtesy and learning for the young +gentlemen around. Indeed, Lady Clifford surveyed her eldest son with +a sigh that such breeding was denied him, as she observed one or two +little deficiencies in what would be called his table manners--not very +important, but revealing that he had grown up in the byre instead of +the castle, where there was a very strict and punctilious code, which +figured in catechisms for the young. + +She longed to keep him, and train him for his station, but in the first +place, Sir Lancelot still held that it could not safely be permitted, +since he had little confidence in the adherence of the House of Nevil +to the Red Rose; and moreover Hal himself utterly refused to remain +concealed in Cumberland instead of carrying his service to the King he +loved. + +In fact, when he heard the proposal of leaving him in the north, he +stood up, and, with far more energy than had been expected from him, +said, ‘Go I must, to my lawful King’s banner, and my father’s cause. To +King Harry I carry my homage and whatever my hand can do!’ + +Such an expression of energy lighted his hitherto dreamy eyes, that all +beholders turned their glances on his face with a look of wonder. Sir +Lancelot again objected that he would be rushing to his ruin. + +‘Be it so,’ replied Hal. ‘It is my duty.’ + +‘The time seems to me to be come,’ added Musgrave, ‘that my young lord +should put himself forward, though it may be only in a losing cause. Not +so much for the sake of success, as to make himself a man and a noble.’ + +‘But what can he do?’ persisted Threlkeld; ‘he has none of the training +of a knight. How can you tilt in plate armour, you who have never +bestridden a charger? These are not the days of Du Guesclin, when a lad +came in from the byre and bore down all foes before him.’ + +The objection was of force, for the defensive armour of the fifteenth +century had reached a pitch of cumbrousness that required long practice +for a man to be capable of moving under it. + +‘So please you, sir,’ said Hal, ‘I am not wholly unskilled. The good Sir +Giles and Simon Bunce have taught me enough to strike a blow with a good +will for a good cause.’ + +‘With horse and arms as befits him,’ began Musgrave. + +‘I know not that a horse is here that could be depended on,’ began +Threlkeld. ‘Armour too requires to be fitted and proved.’ + +He spoke in a hesitating voice that showed his unwillingness, and Hal +exclaimed, ‘My longbow is mine own, and so are my feet. Sir Giles, +will you own me as an archer in your troop, where I will strive not to +disgrace you or my name?’ + +‘Bravely spoken, young lord,’ said Sir Giles heartily; ‘right willingly +will I be your godfather in chivalry, since you find not one nigher +home.’ + +‘So may it best be,’ observed his mother, ‘since he is bent on going. +Thus his name and rank may be kept back till it be plain whether the +enmity of my Lords of Warwick and Montagu still remain against our poor +house.’ + +There was no desire on either side to object when the Lord Musgrave +of Peelholm decided on departing early on the morrow. Their host was +evidently not sorry to speed them on their way, and his reluctant +hospitality made them anxious to cumber him no longer than needful; and +his mind was relieved when it was decided that the heir of the De Vescis +and Cliffords should be known as Harry of Derwentdale. + +Only, when all was preparation in the morning, and a hearty service had +been said in the chapel, the lady called her son aside, and looking up +into his dark eyes, said in a low voice, ‘Be not angered with my lord +husband’s prudence, my son. Remember it is only by caution that he has +saved thine head, or mine, or thy sister’s!’ + +‘Ay, ay, mother, I know,’ he said, more impatiently than perhaps he +knew. + +‘It was by the same care that he preserved us all when Edgecotefield was +fought. Chafe not at him. Thou mayst be thankful even now, mayhap, to +find a shelter preserved, while that rogue and robber Nevil holds our +lands.’ + +‘I am more like to have to protect thee, lady mother, and bring thee to +thy true home again!’ said Hal. + +‘Meantime, my child, take this purse and equip thyself at York or +whenever thou canst. Nay, thou needst not shrug and refuse! How like thy +father the gesture, though I would it were more gracious and seemly. +But this is mine, mine own, none of my husband’s, though he would be +willing. It comes from the De Vesci lands, and those will be thine after +me, and thine if thou winnest not back thy Clifford inheritance. And oh! +my son, crave of Sir Giles to teach thee how to demean thyself that they +may not say thou art but a churl.’ + +‘I trust to be no churl in heart, if I be in manners,’ said Hal, looking +down on his small clinging mother. + +‘Only be cautious, my son. Remember that you are the last of the name, +and it is your part to bring it to honour.’ + +‘Which I shall scarce do by being cautious,’ he said, with something of +a smile. ‘That was not my father’s way.’ + +‘Ah me! You have his spirit in you, and how did it end?’ + +‘My Lord of Clifford,’ said a voice from the court, ‘you are waited +for!’ + +‘And remember,’ cried his mother, with a last embrace, ‘there will be +safety here whenever thou shalt need it.’ + +‘With God’s grace, I am more like to protect you and your husband,’ said +the lad, bending for another kiss and hurrying away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- FELLOW TRAVELLERS + + + + And sickerlie she was of great disport, + And full pleasant and amiable of port; + Of small hounds had she that she fed + With roasted flesh and milk and wastel bread. + --CHAUCER. + + +Sir Giles Musgrave of Peelholm was an old campaigner, and when Hal came +out beyond the gate of the Threlkeld fortalice, he found him reviewing +his troop; a very disorderly collection, as Sir Lancelot pronounced with +a sneer, looking out on them, and strongly advising his step-son not to +cast in his lot with them, but to wait and see what would befall, and +whether the Nevils were in earnest in their desertion of the House of +York. + +Hal restrained himself with difficulty enough to take a courteous leave +of his mother’s husband, to whose prudence and forbearance he was really +much beholden; though, with his spirit newly raised and burning for his +King, it was hard to have patience with neutrality. + +He found Sir Giles employed in examining his followers, and rigidly +sending home all not properly equipped with bow, sheaf of arrows, strong +knife or pike, buff coat, head-piece and stout shoes; also a wallet of +provisions for three days, or a certain amount of coin. He would have +no marauding on the way, and refused to take any mere lawless camp +follower, thus disposing of a good many disreputable-looking fellows who +had flocked in his wake. Sir Lancelot’s steward seconded him heartily +by hunting back his master’s retainers; and there remained only about +five-and-twenty--mostly, in fact, yeomen or their sons--men who had +been in arms for Queen Margaret and had never made their submission, +but lived on unmolested in the hills, really outlawed, but not coming in +collision with the authorities enough to have their condition inquired +into. They had sometimes attacked Yorkist parties, sometimes resisted +Scottish raids, or even made a foray in return, and they were well used +to arms. These all had full equipments, and some more coin in their +pouches than they cared to avow. Three or four of them brought an ox, +calf or sheep, or a rough pony loaded with provisions, and driven by a +herd boy or a son eager to see life and ‘the wars.’ Simon Bunce, well +armed, was of this party. Hob Hogward, though he had come to see what +became of his young lord, was pronounced too stiff and aged to join the +band, which might now really be called a troop, not a mere lawless +crowd of rough lads. There were three trained men-at-arms, the regular +retainers of Sir Giles, who held a little peel tower on the borders +where nobody durst molest him, and these marshalled the little band in +fair order. + +It was no season for roses, but a feather was also the cognisance of +Henry VI., and every one’s barret-cap mounted a feather, generally +borrowed from the goodwife’s poultry yard at home, but sometimes picked +up on the moors, and showing the barred black and brown patterns of the +hawk’s or the owl’s plumage. It was a heron’s feather that Hal assumed, +on the counsel of Sir Giles, who told him it was an old badge of the +Cliffords, and it became well his bright dark hair and brown face. + +On they went, a new and wonderful march to Hal, who had only looked with +infant eyes on anything beyond the fells, and had very rarely been into +a little moorland church, or seen enough people together for a market +day in Penrith. Sir Giles directed their course along the sides of the +hills till he should gain further intelligence, and know how they would +be received. For the most part the people were well inclined to King +Henry, though unwilling to stir on his behalf in fear of Edward’s +cruelty. + +However, it was as they had come down from the hills intending to +obtain fresh provisions at one of the villages, and Hal was beginning +to recognise the moors he had known in earlier childhood, that they +perceived a party on the old Roman road before them, which the outlaws’ +keen eyes at once discovered to be somewhat of their own imputed trade. +There seemed to be a waggon upset, persons bound, and a buzz of men, +like wasps around a honeycomb preying on it. Something like women’s +veiled forms could be seen. ‘Ha! Mere robbery. This must not be. Upon +them! Form! Charge!’ were the brief commands of the leader, and the +compact body ran at a rapid but a regulated pace down the little slope +that gave them an advantage of ground with some concealment by a brake +of gorse. ‘Halt! Pikes forward!’ was the next order. The little band +were already close upon the robbers, in whom they began to recognise +some of those whom Sir Giles had dismissed as mere ruffians unequipped +a few days before. It was with a yell of indignation that the troop fell +on them, Sir Giles with a sharp blow severing the bridle of a horse that +a man was leading, but there was a cry back, ‘We are for King Harry! +These be Yorkists!’ + +‘Nay! nay!’ came back the voices of the overthrown. ‘Help! help! for +King Harry and Queen Margaret! These be rank thieves who have set on us! +Holy women are here!’ + +These exclamations came broken and in utter confusion, mingled with +cries for mercy and asseverations on the part of the thieves, and fierce +shouts from Sir Giles’s men. All was hubbub, barking dogs, shouting +men, and Hal scarcely knew anything till he was aware of two or three +shrouded nuns, as it seemed, standing by their ponies, of merchantmen +or carters trying to quiet and harness frightened mules, of waggons +overturned, of a general confusion over which arose Lord Musgrave’s +powerful authoritative voice. + +‘Kit of Clumber! Why should I not hang you for thieving on yonder tree, +with your fellow thieves?’ + +‘Yorkists, sir! It was all in the good cause,’ responded a sullen voice, +as a grim red and scarred face was seen on a ruffian held by two of the +archers. + +‘No Yorkists we, sir!’ began a stout figure, coming forward from the +waggon. ‘We be peaceable merchants and this is a holy dame, the--’ + +‘The Prioress Selby of Greystone,’ interrupted one of the nuns, coming +forward with a hawk on her wrist. ‘Sir Giles of Musgrave, I am beholden +to you! I was on my way to take the young damsel of Bletso to her +father, the Lord St. John, with Earl Warwick in London. He sent us an +escort, but they being arrant cravens, as it seems, we thought it well +to join company with these same merchants, and thus we became a bait for +the outlaws of the Border.’ + +‘Lady, lady,’ burst from one of the prisoners, ‘I swear that we kenned +not holy dames to be of the company! Sir, my lord, we thought to serve +the cause of King Harry, and how any man is to guess which side is Earl +Warwick’s is past an honest man.’ + +‘An honest man whose cause is his own pouch!’ returned Sir Giles. +‘Miscreants all! But I trow we are scarce yet out of the land of +misrule! So if the Lady Prioress will say a word for such a sort of +sorners, I’ll e’en let you go on your way.’ + +‘They have had a warning, the poor rogues, and that will suffice for +this time! Nay, now, fellows, let my wimple alone! You’ll not find +another lord to let you off so easy, nor another Prioress to stand your +friend. Get off, I say.’ + +An archer enforced her words with a blow, and by some means, rough or +otherwise, a certain amount of order was restored, the ruffians slinking +off among the gorse bushes, their flight hastened by the pointing of +pikes and levelling of arrows at them. While the merchants, diving into +their packages, produced horns of ale which a younger man offered to +their defenders, the chief of the party, a portly fellow, interrupted +certain civilities between the Prioress and Sir Giles by praying them to +partake of a cup of malmsey, and adding an entreaty that they might be +allowed to join company with so brave an escort, explaining that he was +a poor merchant of London and the Hans towns who had been beguiled into +an expedition to Scotland to the young King James, who was said to have +a fair taste. He waved his hands as if his sufferings had been beyond +description. + +‘Went for wool and came back shorn!’ said the Prioress, laughing. ‘Well, +my Lord Musgrave, what say you to letting us join company?--as I see +your band is afoot it will be no great delay, and the more the safer as +well as the merrier! Here, let me present to you my young maid, the Lady +Anne of Bletso, whom I in person am about to deliver to her father.’ + +‘And let me present privately to both ladies,’ said Sir Giles, ‘the +young squire Harry of Derwentdale, who hath been living as a shepherd in +the hills during the York rule.’ + +‘Ha! my lord, methinks this may not be the first meeting between Lady +Anne and you, though she would not know who the herd boy was who found +her, a stray lambkin on the moor.’ + +The young people looked at each other with eyes of recognition, and as +Hal made his best bow, he said, ‘Forsooth, lady, I did not know myself +till afterwards.’ + +‘Your shepherd and his wife gave me to understand that I should do hurt +by inquiring too much,’ said the young lady smiling, and holding out her +hand, which Hal did not know whether to kiss or to shake. ‘I hope the +kind old goodwife is well, who cosseted me so lovingly.’ + +‘She fares well, indeed, lady, only grieved at parting with me.’ + +‘There now,’ said the Prioress, ‘since we are quit of the robbers, +methinks we cannot do better than halt awhile for Master Lorimer’s folk +to mend the tackling of their gear, while we make our noonday meal and +provide for our further journey. Allow me to be your hostess for the +nonce, my lords.’ + +And between the lady’s sumpter mules and the merchant’s stores a far +more sumptuous meal was produced than would have otherwise been the +share of the Lancastrian party. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. -- THE JOURNEY + + + + ‘Twas sweet to see these holy maids, + Like birds escaped to greenwood shades, + --SCOTT. + + +The Prioress Agnes Selby of Greystone was a person who would have made +a much fitter lady of a castle than head of a nunnery. She would have +worked for and with her lord, defended his lands for him, governed his +house and managed her sons with untiring zest and energy. But a vow +of her parents had consigned her to a monastic life at York, where she +could only work off her vigour by teasing the more devout and grave +sisters, and when honourably banished to the more remote Greystone, +in field sports, and in fortifying her convent against Scots or +Lancastrians who, somewhat to her disappointment, never did attack her. +No complaint or scandal had ever attached itself to her name, and she +let Mother Scholastica manage the nuns, and regulate the devotions, +while Greystone was known as a place where a thirsty warrior might be +refreshed, where tales and ballads of Border raids were welcome, and +where good hawk or hound was not despised. + +It had occurred to the Lord St. John of Bletso that the little daughter +whom he had left at York might be come to a marriageable age, and he had +listened to the proposal of one of the cousins of the house of Nevil +for a contract between her and his son, sending an escort northwards to +fetch her, properly accompanied. + +She had been all these years at Greystone, and the Prioress immediately +decided that this would be an excellent opportunity of seeing the +southern world, and going on a round of pilgrimages which would make the +expedition highly decorous. The ever restless spirit within her rose +in delight, and the Sisterhood of York were ready to acquiesce, having +faith in Mother Agnes’ good sense to guide her and her pupil to his +castle in Bedfordshire by the help of Father Martin through any tangles +of the White and Red Roses that might await her, as well to her real +principle for avoiding actual evil, though she might startle monastic +proprieties. + +There was no doubt but that conversation, when she could have it, was as +great a joy to her as ever was galloping after a deer; and there she sat +with her beautiful hound by her side, and her hawk on a pole, exchanging +sentiments of speculation as to Warwick’s change of front with Sir Giles +Musgrave, Father Martin, and Master Ralph Lorimer, while discussing +a pasty certainly very superior to anything that had come out of the +Penrith stores. + +Young Clifford and Lady Anne sat on the grass near, too shy for the +present to renew their acquaintance, but looking up at one another under +their eyelashes, and the first time their eyes met, the girl breaking +into a laugh, but it was not till towards the end of the refection that +they were startled into intercourse by a general growling and leaping +up of the great hound, and of the two big ungainly dogs chained to the +waggon, as wet, lean, bristling but ecstatic, Watch dashed in among +them, and fell on his master. + +For four days (unless he was tied up at first) the good dog must have +been tracking him. ‘Off! off!’ cried the Prioress, holding back her +deer-hound by main strength. ‘Off, Florimond! he sets thee a pattern of +faithfulness! Be quiet and learn thy devoir!’ + +‘O sir, I cannot send him back!’ entreated Hal, also embracing and +caressing the shaggy neck. + +‘Send him back! Nay, indeed. As saith the Reverend Mother, it were well +if some earls and lords minded his example,’ said Sir Giles. + +‘Here! Watch, I mind thee well,’ added Anne. ‘Here’s a slice of pasty +to reward thee. Oh! thou art very hungry,’ as the big mouth bolted it +whole. + +‘Nearly famished, poor rogue!’ said Hal, administering a bone. ‘How far +hast thou run, mine own lad! Art fain to come with thy master and see +the hermit?’ + +‘Thou must e’en go,’ growled Simon Bunce, ‘unless the lady’s dog make an +end of thee! ‘Tis ever the worthless that turn up.’ + +‘I would Florimond would show himself as true,’ said the Prioress. +‘Don’t show thy teeth, sir! I can honour Watch, yet love thee.’ + +‘’Tis jealousy as upsets faith,’ said the merchant. ‘The hound is a +knightly beast with his proud head, but he brooks not to see a Woodville +creep in.’ + +‘Nay, or a Beaufort!’ suggested Sir Giles. + +‘No treason, Lord Musgrave!’ said the Prioress, laughing. + +‘Ah, madam,’ responded Sir Giles, ‘what is treason?’ + +‘Whatever is against him that has the best of it,’ observed Master +Lorimer. ‘Well that it is not the business of a poor dealer in +horse-gear and leather-work. He asks not which way his bridles are to +turn! How now, Tray and Blackchaps? Never growl and gird. You have no +part in the fray!’ + +For they were chained, and could only champ, bark and howl, while +Florimond and Watch turned one another over, and had to be pulled +forcibly back, by Hal on the one hand and on the other by the Mother +Agnes, who would let nobody touch Florimond except herself. After +this, the two dogs subsided into armed neutrality, and gradually became +devoted friends. + +The curiously composed cavalcade moved on their way southward. The +Prioress was mounted on the fine chestnut horse that Sir Giles had +rescued. She was attended by a nun, Sister Mabel, and a lay Sister, +both as hardy as herself, and riding sturdy mountain ponies; but her +chaplain, a thin delicate-looking man with a bad cough, only ventured +upon a sturdy ass; Anne St. John had a pretty little white palfrey and +two men-at-arms. There were two grooms, countrymen, who had run away on +the onset of the thieves, but came sneaking back again, to be soundly +rated by the Prioress, who threatened to send them home again or have +them well scourged, but finally laughed and forgave them. + +The merchant, Master Lorimer--who dealt primarily in all sorts of horse +furniture, but added thereto leather-work for knights and men-at-arms, +and all that did not too closely touch the armourer’s trade--had +three sturdy attendants, having lost one in an attack by the Scottish +Borderers, and he had four huge Flemish horses, who sped along the +better for their loads having been lightened by sales in Edinburgh, +where he had hardly obtained skins enough to make up for the weight. +His headquarters, he said, were at Barnet, since tanning and +leather-dressing, necessary to his work, though a separate guild, +literally stank in the nostrils of the citizens of London. + +To these were added Sir Giles Musgrave’s twenty archers, making a very +fair troop, wherewith to proceed, and the Prioress decided on not going +to York. She was not particularly anxious for an interview with the +Abbess of her Order, and it would have considerably lengthened the +journey, which both Musgrave and Lorimer were anxious to make as short +as possible. They preferred likewise to keep to the country, that was +still chiefly open and wild, with all its destiny in manufactories +yet to come, though there were occasionally such towns, villages and +convents on the way where provisions and lodging could be obtained. + +Every fresh scene of civilisation was a new wonder to Hal Clifford, +and scarcely less so to Anne St. John, though her life in the moorland +convent had begun when she was not quite so young as he had been when +taken to the hills of Londesborough. He had only been two or three times +in the church at Threlkeld, which was simple and bare, and the full +display of a monastic church was an absolute amazement, making him kneel +almost breathless with awe, recollecting what the royal hermit had told +him. He was too illiterate to follow the service, but the music and the +majestic flow of the chants overwhelmed him, and he listened with hands +clasped over his face, not daring to raise his eyes to the dazzling gold +of the altar, lighted by innumerable wax tapers. + +The Prioress was amused. ‘Art dazed, my friend? This is but a poor +country cell; we will show you something much finer when we get to +Derby.’ + +Hal drew a long breath. ‘Is that meant to be like the saints in Heaven?’ +he said. ‘Is that the way they sing there?’ + +‘I should hope they pronounce their Latin better,’ responded the +Prioress, who, it may be feared, was rather a light-minded woman. At any +rate there was a chill upon Hal which prevented him from directing any +of his remarks or questions to her for the future. The chaplain told him +something of what he wanted to know, but he met with the most sympathy +from the Lady Anne. + +‘Which, think you, is the fittest temple and worship?’ he said; as they +rode out together, after hearing an early morning service, gone through +in haste, and partaking of a hurried meal. The sun was rising over the +hills of Derbyshire, dyeing them of a red purple, standing out sharply +against a flaming sky, flecked here and there with rosy clouds, and +fading into blue that deepened as it rose higher. The elms and beeches +that bordered the monastic fields had begun to put on their autumn +livery, and yellow leaves here and there were like sparks caught from +the golden light. + +Hal drew off his cap as in homage to the glorious sight. + +‘Ah, it is fine!’ said Anne, ‘it is like the sunrise upon our own moors, +when one breathes freely, and the clouds grow white instead of grey.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Hal, ‘I used to go out to the high ground and say the prayer +the hermit taught me--“Jam Lucis,” it began. He said it was about the +morning light.’ + +‘I know that “Jam Lucis,”’ said Anne; ‘the Sisters sing it at prime, and +Sister Scholastica makes us think how it means about light coming and +our being kept from ill,’ and she hummed the chant of the first verse. + +‘I think this blue sky and royal sun, and the moon and stars at night, +are God’s great hall of praise,’ said Hal, still keeping his cap off, as +he had done through Anne’s chant of praise. + +‘Verily it is! It is the temple of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and +earth, as the Credo says,’ replied Anne, ‘but, maybe, we come nearer +still to Him in God the Son when we are in church.’ + +‘I do not know. The dark vaulted roof and the dimness seem to crush me +down,’ said the mountain lad, ‘though the singing lifts me sometimes, +though at others it comes like a wailing gust, all mournful and sad! If +I could only understand! My royal hermit would tell me when I can come +to him.’ + +‘Do you think, now he is a king again, he will be able to take heed to +you?’ + +‘I know he cares for me,’ said Hal with confidence. + +‘Ah yea, but will the folk about him care to let him talk to you? I have +heard say that he was but a puppet in their hands. Yea, you are a great +lord, that is true, but will that great masterful Earl Warwick let you +to him, or say all these thoughts of his and yours are but fancies for +babes?’ + +‘Simon Bunce did mutter such things, and that one of us was as great an +innocent as the other,’ said Hal, ‘but I trust my hermit’s love.’ + +‘Ay, you know you are going to someone you love, and who loves you,’ +sighed Anne, ‘but how will it be with me?’ + +‘Your father?’ suggested Hal. + +‘My father! What knows he of me or I of him? I tell thee, Harry +Clifford, he left me at York when I was not eight years old, and I have +never seen him since. He gave a charge on his lands to a goldsmith at +York to pay for my up-bringing, and I verily believe thought no more of +me than if I had been a messan dog. He wedded a lady in Flanders and +had a son or twain, but I have never seen them nor my stepdame; and now +Gilbert there, who brought the letter to the Mother Prioress, says +she is dead, and the little heir, whose birth makes me nobody, is at +a monastery school at Ghent. But my Lord of Redgrave must needs make +overtures to my father for me, whether for his son or himself Gilbert +cannot say. So my father sends to bring me back for a betrothal. The +good Prioress goes with me. She saith that if it be the old Lord, who is +a fierce old rogue with as ill a name as Tiptoft himself, the butcher, +she will make my Lord St. John know the reason why! But what will he +care?’ + +‘It would be hard not to hear my Lady Prioress!’ said Hal, looking +back at the determined black figure, gesticulating as she talked to Sir +Giles. + +Anne laughed, half sadly, ‘So you think! But you have never seen the +grim faces at Bletso! They will say she is but a woman and a nun, and +what are her words to alliance with a friend of the Lord of Warwick? Ah! +it is a heartless hope, when I come to that castle!’ + +‘Nay, Anne, if my King gives me my place then&& + +‘Lady Anne! Lady Anne!’ called Sir Giles Musgrave, ‘the Mother Prioress +thinks it not safe for you to keep so much in the front. There might be +ill-doers in the thickets.’ + +Anne perforce reined in, but Hal fed on the idea that had suddenly +flashed on him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. -- BLETSO + + + + Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me. + --SHAKESPEARE, + + +The cavalcade journeyed on not very quickly, as the riders accommodated +themselves to those on foot. They avoided the towns when they came into +the more inhabited country, the Prioress preferring the smaller hostels +for pilgrims and travellers, and, it may be suspected, monasteries to +the nunneries, where she said the ladies had nothing to talk about but +wonder at her journey, and advice to stay in shelter till after the +winter weather. Meantime it was a fine autumn still, and with bright +colours on the woods, where deer, hare, rabbit, or partridge tempted the +hounds, not to say their mistress, but she kept them well in leash, and +her falcon with hood and jesses, she being too well nurtured not to +be well aware of the strict laws of the chase, except when some +good-natured monk gave her leave and accompanied her--generally +Augustinians, who were more of country squires than ecclesiastics. Watch +needed no leash--he kept close to his master, except when occasionally +tempted to a little amateur shepherding, from which Hal could easily +call him off. The great stag-hounds evidently despised him, and the curs +of the waggon hated him, and snarled whenever he came near them, but the +Prioress respected him, and could well believe that the hermit King had +loved him. ‘He had just the virtues to suit the good King Harry,’ she +said, ‘dutifulness and harmlessness.’ + +The Prioress was the life of the party, with her droll descriptions of +the ways of the nuns who received her, while the males of the party had +to be content with the hostel outside. Sir Giles and Master Lorimer, +riding on each side of her, might often be heard laughing with her. The +young people were much graver, especially as there were fewer and fewer +days’ journeys to Bletso, and Anne’s unknown future would begin with +separation from all she had ever known, unless the Mother Prioress +should be able to remain with her. + +And to Harry Clifford the loss of her presence grew more and more to +be dreaded as each day’s companionship drew them nearer together in +sympathy, and he began to build fanciful hopes of the King’s influence +upon the plans of Lord St. John, unless the contract of betrothal had +been actually made, and therewith came a certain zest in looking to his +probable dignity such as he had never felt before. + +The last day’s journey had come. The escort who had acted as guides were +in familiar fields and lanes, and one, the leader, rode up to Lady Anne +and pointed to the grey outline among the trees of her home, while he +sent the other to hurry forward and announce her. + +Anne shivered a little, and Hal kept close to her. He had made the +journey on foot, because he had chosen to be reckoned among Musgrave’s +archers till he had received full knightly training; and, besides, he +had more freedom to attach himself to Anne’s bridle rein, and be at hand +to help through difficult passages. Now he came up close to her, and she +held out her hand. He pressed it warmly. + +‘You will not forget?’ + +‘Never, never! That red rose in the snow--I have the leaf in my +breviary. And Goodwife Dolly, tell her I’ll never forget how she +cosseted the wildered lamb.’ + +‘Poor Mother Dolly, when shall I see her?’ + +‘Oh! you will be able to have her to share your state, and Watch too! I +take none with me.’ + +‘If we are all in King Harry’s cause, there will be hope of meeting, and +then if--’ + +‘Ah! I see a horseman coming! Is it my father?’ + +It was a horseman who met them, taking off his cap of maintenance and +bowing low to the Prioress and the young lady, but it was the seneschal +of the castle, not the father whom Anne so dreaded, but an old +gentleman, Walter Wenlock, with whom there was a greeting as of an old +friend. My lord had gone with the Earl of Warwick to Queen Margaret in +France, and had sent a messenger with a letter to meet his daughter +at York, and tell her to go to the house of the Poor Clares in London +instead of coming home, ‘and there await him.’ + +The route that had been taken by the party accounted for their not +having met the messenger and it was plain that they must go on to +London. The evening was beginning to draw in, and a night’s lodging was +necessary. Anne assumed a little dignity. + +‘My good friends who have guarded me, I hope you will do me the honour +to rest for the night in my father’s castle.’ + +The seneschal bowed acquiescence, but the poor man was evidently sorely +perplexed by such an extensive invitation on the part of his young lady +on his peace establishment, though the Prioress did her best to assist +Anne to set him at ease. ‘Here is Sir Giles Musgrave, the Lord of +Peelholm on the Borders, a staunch friend of King Harry, with a band of +stout archers, and this gentleman from the north is with him.’ (It had +been agreed that the Clifford name should not be mentioned till the way +had been felt with Warwick, one of whose cousins had been granted the +lands of the Black Lord Clifford.) + +The seneschal bent before Musgrave courteously, saying he was happy +to welcome so good and brave a knight, and he prayed his followers to +excuse if their fare was scant and homely, being that he was unprovided +for the honour. + +‘No matter, sir,’ returned Musgrave; ‘we are used to soldiers’ fare.’ + +‘And,’ proceeded Anne, ‘Master Lorimer must lie here, and his wains.’ + +‘Master Lorimer,’ said the Prioress, ‘with whom belike--Lorimer of +Barnet--Sir Seneschal has had dealings,’ and she put forward the +merchant, who had been falling back to his waggon. + +‘Yea,’ said Walter Wenlock frankly, holding out his hand. ‘We have +bought your wares and made proof of them, good sir. I am glad to welcome +you, though I never saw you to the face before.’ + +‘Great thanks, good seneschal. All that I would ask would be licence for +my wains to stand in your court to-night while my fellows and I sup and +lodge at the hostel.’ + +The hospitality of Bletso could not suffer this, and both Anne and the +seneschal were urgent that all should remain, Wenlock reflecting that if +the store for winter consumption were devoured, even to the hog waiting +to be killed, he could obtain fresh supplies from the tenants, so he +ushered all into the court, and summoned steward, cooks, and scullions +to do their best. It was not a castle, only a castellated house, which +would not have been capable of long resistance in time of danger, but +the court and stables gave ample accommodation for the animals and the +waggons, and the men were bestowed in the great open hall, reaching to +the top of the house, where all would presently sup. + +In the meantime the seneschal conducted the ladies and their two +attendants to a tiny chamber, where an enormous bed was being made ready +by the steward’s wife and her son, and in which all four ladies would +sleep, the Prioress and Anne one way, the other two foot to foot with +them! They had done so before, so were not surprised, and the lack of +furniture was a matter of course. Their mails were brought up, a pitcher +of water and a bowl, and they made their preparations for supper. Anne +was in high spirits at the dreaded meeting, and still more dreaded +parting, having been deferred, and she skipped about the room, trying to +gather up her old recollections. ‘Yes, I remember that bit of tapestry, +and the man that stands there among the sheep. Is it King David, think +you, Mother, about to throw his stone at the lion and the bear?’ + +‘Lion and bear, child! ‘Tis the three goddesses and Paris choosing the +fairest to give the golden apple.’ + +‘Methought that was the lion’s mane, but I see a face.’ + +‘What would the Lady Venus say to have her golden locks taken for a +lion’s mane?’ + +‘I like black hair,’ said Anne. + +‘Better not fix thy mind on any hue! We poor women have no choice save +what fathers make for us.’ + +‘O good my mother, peace! They are all in France, and there’s no need +to spoil this breathing time with thinking of what is coming! Good +old Wenlock! I used to ride on his shoulder! I’m right glad to see him +again! I must tell him in his ear to put Hal well above the salt! May +not I tell him in his ear who he is?’ + +‘Safer not, my maid, till we know what King Harry can do for him. Better +that his name should not get abroad till he can have his own.’ + +A great bell brought all down, and Anne was pleased to see that her +seneschal made no question about placing Harry Clifford beside the +Prioress, who sat next to the Lord of Peelholm, who sat next to the +young daughter of the house in the seat of honour. + +The nuns, Master Lorimer, and one of the archers, who was a Border +squire, besides Master Wenlock, occupied the high table on the dais, and +the archers, grooms, and the rest of the household were below. + +The fare was not scanty nor unsubstantial, but evidently hastily +prepared, being chiefly broiled slices of beef, on which salting had +begun; but there was a lack of bread, even of barley, though there was +no want of drink. + +However, the Prioress was good-humoured, and forestalled all excuses by +jests about travellers’ meals and surprises in the way of guests, and +both she and Sir Giles were anxious for Wenlock’s news of the state of +things. + +He knew much more of the course of affairs than they in their northern +homes and on their journey. + +‘The realm is divided,’ he said. ‘Those who hold to King Harry, as you +gentles do, are in high joy, but there be many, spoken with respect, who +cannot face about so fast, and hold still for York, though they mislike +the Queen’s kindred. Of such are the merchantmen of London.’ + +‘Is it so?’ asked Lorimer. ‘If King Edward be as deep in debt to them +as to me for housings and bridle reins methinks he should not be in good +odour in their nostrils.’ + +‘Yea,’ said Wenlock, ‘but if he be gone a beggar to Burgundy what +becomes of their debt?’ + +‘I would not give much for it were he restored a score of times,’ said +the Prioress. ‘What would he do but plunge deeper?’ + +‘There would be hope, though, of getting an order on the royal demesne, +or the crown jewels, or the taxes,’ said Lorimer. ‘Nay, I hold one even +now that will be but waste if he come not back.’ + +‘And this poor King spendeth nothing save on priests and masses,’ said +Wenlock. + +Hal started forward, eager to hear of his King, and Musgrave said, ‘A +holy man is he.’ + +‘Too holy for a King,’ said the seneschal. ‘He looked like a woolsack +across a horse when my Lord of Warwick led him down Cheapside; and only +the rabble cried out “Long live King Harry!” but some scoffed and said +they saw a mere gross monk with a baby face where they had been wont to +see a comely prince full of manhood, with a sword instead of beads.’ + +‘His son will please them,’ said Musgrave. ‘He was a goodly child, full +of spirit, when last I saw him.’ + +‘If so be he have not too much of the Frenchwoman, his mother, in him,’ +said Wenlock. ‘A losing lot, as poor as any rats, and as proud as very +peacocks.’ + +‘She was gracious enough and won all hearts on the Border,’ replied +Musgrave. + +‘Come, come!’ put in the Prioress, ‘you may have the chance yet to break +a lance on her behalf. No fear but she is royal enough to shine down +King Edward’s low-born love, the Widow Grey!’ + +‘Ay, there lay the cause of discontent,’ said Lorimer; ‘the upstart ways +of her kin were not to be borne. To hear Dick Woodville chaffer +about the blazoning of his horse-gear when he was wedding the +fourscore-year-old Duchess of Norfolk, one would have thought he was an +emperor at the very least.’ + +‘Widow Grey has done something for her husband’s cause,’ said the +seneschal, ‘in bringing him at last a fair son, all in his exile, and +she in sanctuary at Westminster. The London citizens are ever touched +through all the fat about their hearts by whatever would sound well in +the mouth of a ballad-monger.’ + +‘My King, my King, what of him?’ sighed Hal in the Prioress’s ear, +and she made the inquiry for him: ‘What said you of King Henry, Sir +Seneschal? How did he fare in his captivity?’ + +‘Not so ill, methinks,’ said the seneschal. ‘He had the range of the +Tower, and St. Peter’s in the Fetters to pray in, which was what he +heeded most; also he had a messan dog, and a tame bird. Indeed, men said +he had laid on much flesh since he had been mewed up there; and my lord, +who went with my Lord of Warwick to fetch him, said his garments were +scarce so cleanly as befitted. ‘Twas hard to make him understand. First +he clasped his hands, and bowed his head, crying out that he forgave +those who came to slay him, and when he found it was all the other way, +he stood like one dazed, let his hand be kissed, and they say is still +in the hands of my Lord Archbishop of York just as if he were the waxen +image of St. John in a procession.’ + +‘The Earl and the Queen will have to do the work,’ said the Prioress, +‘and they will no more hold together than a couple of wild hawks will +hunt in company. How long do you give them to tear out one another’s +eyes?’ + +‘Son and daughter may keep them together,’ said Musgrave, + +‘Hatred of the Woodvilles is more like, a poor band though it be,’ +said the Prioress. ‘These are stirring times! I’ll not go back to +my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of them! +Meantime, to our beds, sweet Anne, since ‘tis an early start tomorrow.’ + +The Prioress, who had become warmly interested in Hal, and had divined +the feeling between him and Anne, thought that if she could obtain +access to the Archbishop of York, Warwick’s brother George, she could +deal with him to procure Clifford’s restitution in name and in blood, +and at least his De Vesci inheritance, if Dick Nevil, who had grasped +the Clifford lands, could not be induced to give them up. + +‘I have seen George Nevil,’ she said, ‘when I was instituted to +Greystone. He is of kindlier mood than his brothers, and more a valiant +trencherman and hunter than aught else. If I had him on the moors and +could show him some sport with a red deer, I could turn him round my +finger.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. -- THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + + + + Thy pity hath been balm to heal their wounds, + Thy mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs, + Thy mercy dried their ever flowing tears. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Early in the morning, while the wintry sun was struggling with mists, +and grass and leaves were dark with frost, the Prioress was in her +saddle. Perhaps the weather might have constrained a longer stay, but +that it was clear to her keen eyes that, however welcome Wenlock might +make his young lady, there was little provision and no welcome for +thorough-going Lancastrians like Sir Giles’s troop, who had besides a +doubtful Robin Hood-like reputation; and as neither she nor Anne wished +to ride forward without them, they decided to go on all together as +before. + +And a very wet and slightly snowy journey they had, ‘meeting in snow +and parting in snow,’ as Hal said, as he marched by Anne’s bridle-rein, +leading her pony, so as to leave her hands free to hold cloak and hood +close about her. + +She sighed, and put one hand on his, but a gust of wind took that +opportunity of getting under her cloak and sending it fluttering over +her back, so that he had to catch it and return it to her grasp. + +‘Let us take that as a prophecy that storms shall not hinder our further +meeting! It may be! It may be! Who knows what my King may do for us?’ + +‘Only a storm can bring us together! But that may--’ + +Her breath was blown away again before the sentence was finished, if +it was meant to be finished, and Master Lorimer came to insist on the +ladies taking shelter in his covered waggon, where the Prioress was +already installed. + +Through rain and sleet they reached Chipping Barnet in due time on the +third day’s journey, and here they were to part from the merchant’s +wains. He had sent forward, and ample cheer was provided at the handsome +timbered and gabled house at the porch of which stood his portly wife, +with son, daughter, and son-in-law, ready to welcome the party, bringing +them in to be warmed and dried before sitting down to the excellent +meal which it had been Mistress Lorimer’s pride and pleasure to provide. +There was a small nunnery at Barnet, but not very near, and the Prioress +Agnes did not think herself bound to make her way thither in the dark +and snow, so she remained, most devoutly waited on by her hostess, and +discussed the very last tidings, which had been brought that morning +by the foreman whom Mistress Lorimer had sent to bring the news to her +husband. + +It was probable that the Lord of Bletso was with Warwick and the Queen, +as he had not been heard of at his home. The King was in the royal +apartments of the Tower, under the charge of the Chancellor. The Earl of +Oxford, a steady partisan of the Red Rose, was Constable of the Kingdom, +and was guarding the Tower. + +On hearing this, Musgrave decided to repair at once to the Earl, one of +the few men in whom there was confidence, since he had never changed +his allegiance, and to take his counsel as to the recognition of young +Clifford. On the way to the Tower they would leave the Prioress and her +suite at the Sister Minoresses’, till news could be heard of the Baron +St. John. + +So for the last time the travellers rode forth in slightly improved +weather. Harry’s heart beat high with the longing soon to be in the +presence of him who had opened so many doors of life to his young mind, +whom he so heartily loved, and who, it might be, could give him that +which he began to feel would be the joy of his life. + +The archers, who had been lodged in the warehouses, were drawn up in a +compact body, and Master Lorimer, who had a shop in Cheapside, decided +on accompanying them, partly to be at the scene of action and partly to +facilitate their entrance. + +So Hal walked by the side of Anne St. John’s bridle-rein, with a very +full heart, swelling with sensations he did not understand, and which +kept him absolutely silent, untrained as he was in the conventionalities +which would have made speech easier to him. Nor had Anne much more +command of tongue, and all she did was to keep her hand upon the +shoulder of her squire; but there was much involuntary meaning in the +yearning grasp of those fingers, and both fed on the hopes the Prioress +had given them. + +Christmas was close at hand, and fatted cattle on their way to market +impeded the way, so that Hal’s time was a good deal taken up in steering +the pony along, and in preventing Watch from getting into a battle with +the savage dogs that guarded them. Penrith market, where once he had +been, had never shown him anything like such a concourse, and he could +hear muttered exclamations from the archers, who walked by Sir Giles’s +orders in a double line on each side the horses, their pikes keeping off +the blundering approach of bullocks or sheep. ‘By the halidome, if +the Scots were among them, they might victual their whole kingdom till +Domesday!’ + +The tall spire of old St. Paul’s and the four turrets of the Tower began +to rise on them, and were pointed out by Master Lorimer, for even Sir +Giles had only once in his life visited the City, and no one else of the +whole band from the north had ever been there. The road was bordered by +the high walls of monasteries, overshadowed by trees, and at the deep +gateway of one of these Lorimer called a halt. It was the house of the +Minoresses or Poor Clares, where the ladies were to remain. The six +weeks’ companionship would come to an end, and the Prioress was heartily +sorry for it. ‘I shall scarce meet such good company at the Clares’,’ +she said, laughing, as she took leave of Lord Musgrave, ‘Mayhap when +I go back to my hills I shall remember your goodwife’s offer of +hospitality, Master Lorimer.’ + +Master Lorimer bowed low, expressed his delight in the prospect, and +kissed the Prioress’s hand, but the heavy door was already being opened, +and with an expressive look of drollery and resignation, the good lady +withdrew her hand, hastily brought her Benedictine hood and veil closely +over her face, and rode into the court, followed by her suite. Anne had +time to let her hand be kissed by Sir Giles and Hal, who felt as if a +world had closed on him as the heavy doors clanged together behind the +Sisters. But the previous affection of his young life lay before him as +Sir Giles rode on to the fortified Aldgate, and after a challenge from +the guard, answered by a watchword from Lorimer, and an inquiry for whom +the knight held, they were admitted, and went on through an increasing +crowd trailing boughs of holly and mistletoe, to the north gateway of +the Tower. Here they parted with Lorimer, with friendly greetings and +promises to come and see his stall at Cheapside. + +There was a man-at-arms with the star of the De Veres emblazoned on his +breast, and a red rosette on his steel cap, but he would not admit the +new-comers till Sir Giles had given his name, and it had been sent in by +another of the garrison to the Earl of Oxford. + +Presently, after some waiting in the rain, and looking up with awe at +the massive defences, two knights appeared with outstretched hands of +welcome. Down went the drawbridge, up went the portcullis, the horses +clattered over the moat, and the reception was hearty indeed. ‘Well met, +my Lord of Musgrave! I knew you would soon be where Red Roses grew.’ + +‘Welcome, Sir Giles! Methought you had escaped after the fight at +Hexham.’ + +‘Glad indeed to meet you, brave Sir John, and you, good Lord of +Holmdale! Is all well with the King?’ + +‘As well as ever it will be. The Constable is nigh at hand! You have +brought us a stout band of archers, I see! We will find a use for them +if March chooses to show his presumptuous nose here again!’ + +‘And hither comes my Lord Constable! It rejoices his heart to hear of +such staunch following.’ + +The Earl of Oxford, a stern, grave man of early middle age, was coming +across the court-yard, and received Sir Giles with the heartiness that +became the welcome of a proved and trustworthy ally. After a few words, +Musgrave turned and beckoned to Hal, who advanced, shy and colouring. + +‘Ha! young Lord Clifford! I am glad to see you! I knew your father well, +rest his soul! The King spoke to me of the son of a loyal house living +among the moors.’ + +‘The King was very good to me,’ faltered Hal, crimson with eagerness. + +‘Ay, ay! I sent not after you, having enough to do here; and besides, +till we have the strong hand, and can do without that heady kinsman +of Warwick, it will be ill for you to disturb the rogue--what’s his +name--to whom your lands have been granted, and who might turn against +the cause and maybe make a speedy end of you if he knew you present. +Be known for the present as Sir Giles counsels. Better not put his name +forward,’ he added to Musgrave. + +‘I care not for lands,’ said Hal, ‘only to see the King.’ + +‘See him you shall, my young lord, and if he be not in one of his +trances, he will be right glad to see you and remember you. But he is +scarce half a man,’ added Oxford, turning to Musgrave. ‘Cares for nought +but his prayers! Keeps his Hours like a monk! We can hardly bring him to +sit in the Council, and when he is there he sits scarce knowing what we +say. ‘Tis my belief, when the Queen and Prince come, that we shall have +to make the Prince rule in his name, and let him alone to his prayers! +He will be in the church. ‘Tis nones, or some hour as they call it, and +he makes one stretch out to another.’ + +They entered the low archway of St. Peter ad Vincula, and there Hal +perceived a figure in a dark mantle just touched with gold, kneeling +near the chancel step, almost crouching. Did he not know the attitude, +though the back was broader than of old? He paused, as did his +companions; but there was one who did not pause, and would not be left +outside. Watch unseen had pattered up, and was rearing up, jumping and +fawning. There was a call of ‘Watch! here sirrah!’ but ‘Watch! Watch! +Good dog! Is it thou indeed?’ was exclaimed at the same moment, and with +Watch springing up, King Henry stood on his feet looking round with his +dazed glance. + +‘My King! my hermit father! Forgive! Down, Watch!’ cried Hal, falling +down at his feet, with one arm holding down Watch, who tried to lick his +face and the King’s hand by turns. + +‘Is it thou, my child, my shepherd?’ said Henry, his hands on the lad’s +head. ‘Bless thee! Oh, bless thee, much loved child of my wanderings! I +have longed after thee, and prayed for thee, and now God hath given thee +to me at this shrine! Kneel and give the Lord thy best thanks, my +lad! Ah! how tall thou art! I should not have known thee, Hal, but for +Watch.’ + +‘It is well,’ muttered Oxford to Musgrave. ‘I have not seen him so well +nor so cheery all this day. The lad will waken him up and do him good.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. -- A CAPTIVE KING + + + + And we see far on holy ground, + If duly purged our mental view.--KEBLE. + + +The King held Harry Clifford by the hand as he left St. Peter’s Church. +‘My child, my shepherd boy,’ he said, and he called Watch after him, and +interested himself in establishing a kind of suspicious peace between +the shaggy collie and his own ‘Minion,’ a small white curly-haired dog, +which belonged to a family that had been brought by Queen Margaret from +Provence. + +His attendant knight, Sir Nicolas Romford, told Sir Giles Musgrave +that he had really never seemed so happy since his deliverance, and Sir +Nicolas had waited on him ever since his capture, six years previously. +He led the youth along to the royal rooms, asking on the way after his +sheep and the goodwife who had sent him presents of eggs, then showing +him the bullfinch, that greeted his return with loving chirps, and when +released from its cage came and sat upon his shoulder and played with +his hair, ‘A better pet than a fierce hawk, eh, Hal?’ he said. + +He laughed when he found that Harry thought he had spent all this time +in a dark underground dungeon with fetters on his feet. + +‘Oh no!’ he said; ‘they were kindly jailors. They dealt better with me +than with my Master.’ + +‘Sir, sir, that terrible ride through Cheapside!’ said Harry. ‘We heard +of it at Derwent-side, and we longed to have our pikes at the throats of +the villain traitors.’ + +The King looked as if he hardly remembered that cruel procession, when +he was set upon a sorry jade with his feet tied to the stirrups, and +shouts of ‘Behold the traitor!’ around him. Then with a sweet smile of +sudden recollection, he said, ‘Ah! I recall it, and how I rejoiced to +be led in the steps of my Lord, and how the cries sounded, “We will not +have this man to reign over us!” Gratias ago, unworthy me, who by my own +fault could not reign.’ + +Harry was silenced, awe-struck, and by-and-by the King took him to see +his old chamber in the White Tower, up a winding stone stair. It was +not much inferior to the royal lodgings, except in the matter of dais, +canopy, and tapestry, and the window looked out into the country, so +that the King said he had loved it, and it had many a happy thought +connected with it. + +Hal followed him in a sort of silent wonder, if not awe, not daring +to answer him in monosyllables. This was not quite the hermit of +Derwentdale. It was a broader man--not with the breadth of full +strength, but of inactivity and advance of years, though the fiftieth +year was only lately completed--and the royal robe of crimson, touched +with gold, suited him far less than the brown serge of the anchoret. +The face was no longer thin, sunburnt, and worn, but pale, and his +checks slightly puffed, and the eyes and smile, with more of the strange +look of innocent happiness than of old, and of that which seemed to +bring back to his young visitor the sense of peace and well-being that +the saintly hermit had always given him. + +There was consultation that evening between Lord Oxford and Sir Giles +Musgrave. It was better, they agreed, to let young Clifford remain with +the King as much as possible, but without divulging his name. The +King knew it, and indeed had known it, when he received the boy at his +hermitage, but he seemed to have forgotten it, as he had much besides. +Oxford said that though he could be roused into actual fulfilment of +such forms as were required of him, and understood what was set before +him, his memory and other powers seemed to have been much impaired, and +it was held wiser not to call on him more than could be helped, till +the Queen and her son should come to supply the energy that was wanting. +They would make the gay and brilliant appearance that the Londoners had +admired in Edward of York, and which could not be obtained from poor +Henry. + +His memory for actual matters was much impaired. Never for two days +together could he recollect that his son and Warwick’s daughter were +married, and it was always by an effort that he remembered that the +Prince of Wales was not the eight-years-old child whom he had last +seen. As to young Clifford, he sometimes seemed to think the tall +nineteen-years-old stripling was just where he had left the child of +twelve or thirteen, and if he perceived the age, was so far confused +that it was not quite certain that he might not mix him up with his own +son, though the knight in constant attendance was sure that he was clear +on that point, and only looked on ‘Hal’ as the child of his teaching and +prayers. + +But Harry Clifford could not persuade him to enter into that which more +and more lay near the youthful heart, the rescuing Anne St. John from +the suitor of whom little that was hopeful was heard; and the obtaining +her from his father. Of course this could not be unless Harry could win +his father’s property, and no longer be under the attaint in blood, so +as to be able to lay claim to the lands of the De Vescis through his +mother; but though the King listened with kindly interest to the +story of the children’s adventure on the Londesborough moor, and the +subsequent meeting in Westmorland, the rescue from the outlaws, and the +journey together, it was all like a romance to him--he would nod +his head and promise to do what he could, if he could, but he never +remembered it for two days together, and if Hal ventured on anything +like pressure, the only answer was, ‘Patience, my son, patience must +have her work! It is the will of God, it will be right.’ + +And when Hal began to despair and work himself up and seek to do more +with one so impracticable, Lord Oxford and Sir Giles warned him not to +force his real name and claims too much, for he did not need too many +enemies nor to have Lord St. John and the Nevil who held his lands both +anxious to sweep him from their path. + +Nor was anything heard from or of the Prioress of Greystone, and +whenever the name of George Nevil, the Chancellor and Archbishop of +York, was heard, Hal’s heart burnt with anxiety, and fear that the lady +had forgotten him, though as Dick Nevil, who held the lands of Clifford, +was known to be in his suite, it was probable that she was acting out of +prudence. + +The turmoil of anxious impatience seemed to be quelled when Hal sat on +a stool before the King, with Watch leaning against his knee. The +instruction or meditation seemed to be taken up much where it had been +left six years before, with the same unanswerable questions, only the +youth had thought out a great deal more, and the hermit had advanced in +a wisdom which was not that of the rough, practical world. + +Part of Clifford’s day was spent in the tilt-yard, where his two +friends, as well as himself, were anxious that he should acquire +proficiency and ease such as would become his station, when he recovered +it; and a martinet old squire of Oxford proved himself nearly as hard a +master as ever Simon Bunce had been. + +One very joyous day came to Henry in his regal capacity. Christmas Day +had been quietly spent. There was much noisy revelling in the city, +and the guards in the castle had their feastings, but Warwick was +daily expected to return from France, and neither his brother nor +the Archbishop thought that there was much policy in making a public +spectacle of a puppet King. + +But there was one ceremony from which Henry would not be debarred. He +would make the public offering on the Epiphany in Westminster Abbey. He +had done so ever since he was old enough to totter up to the altar and +hold the offerings; and his heart was set on doing so once more. So a +large and quiet cream-coloured Flemish horse was brought for him, he was +robed in purple and ermine, with a coronal around the cap that covered +his hair, fast becoming white. His train in full array followed him, and +the streets were thronged, but there was an ominous lack of applause, +and even a few audible jeers at the monk dressed up like the jackdaw +in peacock’s plumes, and comparisons with Edward, in sooth a king worth +looking at. + +Henry seemed not to heed or hear. His blue eyes looked upward, his face +was set in peaceful contemplation, his lips were moving, and those who +were near enough caught murmurs of ‘Vidimus enim stellam Ejus in Oriente +et venimus adorare Eum.’ Truly the one might be a king to suit the +kingdoms of this world, the other had a soul near the Kingdom of Heaven. + +The Dean and choir received him at the west door, and with the same rapt +countenance he paced up to the sanctuary, and knelt before the chair +appropriated to him, while the grand Epiphany Celebration was gone +through, in all its glory and beauty of sound and sight, and with the +King kneeling with clasped hands, and a radiant look of happiness almost +transfiguring that worn face. + +When the offertory anthem was sung, he rose up, and advanced to the +altar. A salver of gold coins was presented to him, which he took and +solemnly laid on the altar, but paused for a moment, and removed his +crown with both hands, placing it likewise on the altar, and kneeling +for a moment ere he turned to take the vase whence breathed the fragrant +odour of frankincense; and presenting this, and afterwards kneeling and +bowing low with clasped hands, he again took the salver in which the +myrrh was laid. This again he placed on the altar, and remained kneeling +in intense devotion through the remainder of the service, only looking +up at the ‘Sursum Corda,’ when those near enough to see his countenance +said that they never knew before the full import of those words, nor how +the heart could be uplifted. + +It was the first time that Hal Clifford had ever joined in the full +ceremonial of the Church, or in such splendid accompaniment, for though +there had been the rightful ritual at St. Peter’s in the Tower, the +space had been confined, and the clergy few, and the whole, even on +Christmas Day, had been more or less a training to him to enter into +what he now saw and heard. He had in these last weeks gathered much +of the meaning of all this from the King, who perhaps never fully +disentangled the full-grown youth from the boy he had taught at +Derwentdale, but who, perhaps for that very cause, really suited better +the strange mixture of ignorance, simplicity, observation and aspiration +of the shepherd lord. + +The King did not help more but less than he had done before in Hal’s +researches and wonderings about natural objects; he had forgotten +the philosophies he had once read, and the supposed circuits of moon, +planets and stars only perplexed and worried his brain. It was much more +satisfactory to refer all to ‘He hath made them fast for ever and ever, +He hath given them a law which shall not be broken,’ and he could not +understand Hal’s desire to find out what that law was, and far less his +calculations about the tides. He had scarcely ever seen the sea, and as +to its motions, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther’ was sufficient +explanation, and when Hal tried to show him the correspondence between +spring tides and full moons he either waved him away or fell asleep. + +But on the spiritual side of his mind there was no torpor. He loved to +explain the sense of the prayers to his willing pupil, and to tell +him the Gospel story, dwelling on whatever could waken or carry on the +Christian life; and between the tiltyard and the oratory Hal spent a +strange life. + +That question which had occurred to him on the journey Hal ventured to +lay before his King--‘Was it really and truly better and more acceptable +worship that came to breathe through him when alone with God under the +open vault of Heaven, with endless stars above and beyond, or was the +best that which was beautified and guided by priests, with all that +man’s devices could lavish upon its embellishment?’ Such, though in more +broken and hesitating words, was the herd boy’s difficulty, and Henry +put his head back, and after having once said, ‘Adam had the one, God +directed the other,’ he shut his eyes, and Hal feared he would put it +aside as he had with the moon and the tides, but after some delay, he +leant forward and said, ‘My son, if man had always been innocent, that +worship as Adam and Eve had it might--nay, would--have sufficed them. +The more innocent man is, the better his heart rises. But sin came into +the world, and expiation was needed, not only here on earth, but before +the just God in Heaven above. Therefore doth He, who hath once offered +Himself in sacrifice for us, eternally present His offering in Heaven +before the Mercy-Seat, and we endeavour as much as our poor feeble +efforts can, to take part in what He does above, and bring it home to +our senses by all that can represent to us the glories of Heaven.’ + +There was much in this that went beyond Hal, who knitted his brow, +and would have asked further, but the King fell into a state of +contemplation, and noticed nothing, until presently he broke out into +a thanksgiving: ‘Blessed be my Lord, who hath granted me once more to +follow in the steps of the kings of the East, though but as in a dream, +and lay my crown and my prayer before Him. Once more I thank Thee, O my +true King of kings, and Lord of lords.’ + +‘Oh, do not say once more!’ exclaimed Hal. ‘Again and again, I trust, +sir. It is no dream. It is real.’ + +The King smiled and shook his head. ‘It is all a dream to me,’ he said, +‘the pageants and the whole. They will not last! Oh, no! It is all but +an empty show.’ + +Hal looked up anxiously, and the King went on: ‘Well do I remember the +day when, scarce able to walk, and weighed down by my robes, I tottered +up to the altar and was well pleased to make my offering, and how my +Lord of Warwick, who was then, took me in his arms, and showed me my +great father’s figure on his grave, and told me I was bound to be such a +king as he! Alas! was it mine own error that I so failed?&& + + + Henry born at Monmouth shall short live and gain all, + Henry born at Windsor shall long live and lose all.’ + + +‘Oh, sir, sir, do not speak of that old saw!’ + +Still the King smiled. ‘It has come true, my child. All is lost, and +it may be well for my soul that thus it should be, and that I should +go into the presence of my God freed from the load of what was gained +unjustly. I know not whether, if my hand had been stronger, I should +have striven to have borne up the burthen of these two realms, but they +never ought to have been mine, and if the sins of the forefathers be +visited on the children to the third and fourth generation, no marvel +that my brain and mine arm could but sink under the weight. Would that +I had yielded at once, and spared the bloodshed and sacrilege! Miserere +mei! My son was a temptation. Oh, my poor boy! is he to be the heir to +all that has come on me? Have pity on him, good Lord!’ + +‘Nay, sir, your brave son will come home to comfort you, and help you +and make all well.’ + +‘I know not! I know not! I cannot believe that I shall see him again, +or that the visitation of these crimes is not still to come! My son, my +sweet son, I can only pray that he might give up his soul sackless and +freer of guilt than his father can be, when I remember all that I ought +to have hindered when I could think and use my will! Now, now all is but +confusion! God has taken away my judgment, even as He did with my French +grandsire, and I can only let others act as they will, and pray for them +and for myself.’ + +He had never spoken at such length, nor so clearly, and whenever he was +required to come forward, he merely walked, rode, sat or signed rolls +as he was told to do, and continually made mistakes as to the persons +brought to him, generally calling them by their fathers’ names, if +he recognised them at all, but still to his nearest attendants, and +especially to his beloved herd boy, he was the same gentle, affectionate +being, never so happy as at his prayers, and sometimes speaking of holy +things as one almost inspired. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. -- AT THE MINORESSES’ + + + + The bird that hath been limed in a bush, + With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +One day, soon after that Twelfth Day, Hal accompanied Sir Giles Musgrave +to the shop or stall of Master Lorimer in Cheapside, a wide space, open +by day but closed by shutters at night, where all sorts of gilded and +emblazoned leather-works for man or horse were displayed, and young +‘prentices called, ‘What d’ye lack?’ ‘Saddle of the newest make?’ ‘Buff +coat fit to keep out the spear of Black Douglas himself?’ + +‘’Tis Master Lorimer himself I lack,’ said Musgrave with a good-humoured +smile, and the merchant appeared from a room in the rear, something +between a counting-house and a bedroom, where he welcomed his former +companions, and insisted on their tasting the good sherris sack that had +been sent with his last cargo of Spanish leather. + +‘I would I could send a flask to our good Prioress,’ he said, ‘to cheer +her heart. I went to the Minoresses’ as she bade me, to settle some +matters of account with her, and after some ado, Sister Mabel came down +to the parlour and told me the Prioress is very sick with a tertian +fever, and they misdoubt her recovering.’ + +‘And the young Lady of St. John.’ + +‘She is well enough, but sadly woeful as to the Mother Prioress, and +likewise as to what they hear of the Lord Redgrave. It is the old man, +not his son, a hard and stark old man, as I remember. He would have +bargained with me for the coats of the poor rogues slain at St. Albans, +and right evil was his face as he spoke thereof, he being then for Queen +Margaret; but then he went over to King Edward, and glutted himself with +slaughter at Towton, and here he calls himself Red Rose again. Ill-luck +to the poor young maid if she falls to him!’ + +It was terrible news for Hal, and Musgrave could not but gratify him +by riding by the Minories to endeavour to hear further tidings of the +Prioress. + +It was a grand building in fine pointed architecture, for the Clares, +though once poor, in imitation of St. Clara and St. Francis, had been +dispensed collectively from their vow of poverty, and though singly +incapable of holding property, had a considerable accumulation en masse. +They were themselves a strict Order, but they often gave lodgings to +ladies either in retreat or for any cause detained near London. + +Sir Giles and Harry were only admitted to the outer court, whence the +portress went with their message of inquiry. They waited a long time, +and then the Greystone lay Sister who had been the companion of their +journey came back in company with the portress. + +‘Benedicite, dear gentles,’ she said; ‘oh, you are a sight for sair +een.’ + +‘And how fares the good Mother Prioress?’ asked the Lord of Peelholm. + +‘Alack! she is woefully ill when the fever takes her, and she is wasted +away so that you would scarce know her; but this is one of the better +days, and if you, sir, will come into the parlour, she will see you. She +was arraying herself as I came down. She was neither to have nor to hold +when she heard you were there, and said a north country face would be +better to her than all the Sisters’ potions!’ + +They were accordingly conducted through a graceful cloister, overgrown +with trailing ivy, to a bare room, with mullioned windows, and frescoes +on the Walls with the history of St. Francis relieving beggars, +preaching to the birds, &c., and with a stout open work barrier cutting +off half the room. + +Presently the Prioress tottered in, leaning heavily on the arms of +Sister Mabel and of Anne St. John, while her own lay Sister and another +placed a seat for her; but before she would sit down, she would go up +to the opening, and turning back her veil, put out a hand to be grasped. +‘Right glad am I to see you, good Sir Giles and young Harry. Are you +going back to the wholesome winds of our moors?’ + +‘Not yet, holy Mother. It grieves me to see you faring so ill.’ + +‘Ah! a breeze from the north would bring life back to my old bones. Aye, +Giles, this place has made an old woman of me.’ And truly her bright +ruddy face was faded to a purple hue, and her cheeks hung haggard and +almost withered, but as her visitors expressed their grief and sympathy, +she went on in her own tone. ‘And tell me somewhat of how things are +going. How doth Richard of Warwick comport himself to the King? Hath +your King zest enough to reign? Is my White Rose King still abroad in +Burgundy?’ And as Sir Giles replied to each inquiry in turn, and told +all he could of political matters, she exclaimed: ‘Ah! that is better +than the hearing whether the black hen hath laid an egg, or the skein of +yellow silk matches. I am weary, O! I am weary. Moreover, young Hal, I +know as matters are that could I see George Nevil face to face I could +do somewhat with him, and I laid my plans to obtain a meeting, but +therewith, what with vexation and weariness and lack of air, comes this +sickness, and I am laid aside and can do nought but pray, and lay my +plans to meet him some day in the fields, and show him what a hawk can +do, then shame him into listening to my tale. But I must be a sound +woman first! And maybe his brother Warwick, being a sturdy gentleman who +loves a brave man, will be better to deal with. I am a sinful woman, +and maybe my devotions here will help me to be more worthy to be heard. +Moreover, I hoped you had done somewhat in thine own cause with thy King +and Earl Oxford,’ she proceeded. ‘Thou hast an esquire’s coat; hast thou +any hope of thy lands?’ + +‘I must strive to earn them by deeds,’ said Hal. ‘And--’ + +‘Well spoken, lad! ‘Tis the manly way; but methought you hadst interest +with this King of thine, or hath he only a royal memory for services?’ + +‘He is good to me. Yea, most good,’ began Harry. + +‘Ay, he loves the boy,’ said Sir Giles, ‘no question about that; but his +memory for all that is about him hath failed, and there is nothing for +it save to wait for the Queen and the Prince, who will bear the boy’s +father’s services in mind.’ + +‘And wherefore tarries the French woman? This maid’s father is to come +over with her. He is forming her English court, I trow; she can have few +beside from England.’ + +‘When he comes,’ said Harry, with a look into Anne’s eyes that made +them droop and her cheeks burn, ‘then shall we put it to the touch. Then +shall I know whether I have mine own, and what is more than mine own.’ + +‘Thine own,’ whispered Anne. ‘Oh, better live in the sheepfolds with +thee than with this Baron! I shudder at the thought.’ + +This, and a few more such words were an aside, while the Prioress +continued her conversation with Sir Giles, and went on to say that she +was sure she should never recover till she was out of these walls, and +away from London smoke and London smells, and she naughtily added in a +whisper the weary talk of these good nuns, who had never flown a hawk or +chased a deer in their lives, and thought Florimond a mere wolf, if +not the evil one himself, and kept the poor hound chained up like a +malefactor in gyves, till she was fain to send him away with Master +Lorimer to keep for her. + +She would not go back to her Priory till Anne’s fate was settled, being +in hopes of doing something yet for the poor wench; but meantime she +should die if she stayed there much longer, and she meant to set forth +on pilgrimage in good time, before she had scandalised the good ladies +enough to make them gossip to the dames of St. Helen’s, who would be +only too glad to have a story against the Benedictines. A ride over the +Kentish downs was the only cure for her or for Anne, who had been pining +ever since they had been mewed up here, though, looking across at the +girl, whose head was leaning against the bars, Sir Giles seemed to have +brought a remedy to judge by those cheeks. + +‘Would that we could hope it would be an effectual and lasting remedy,’ +sighed Sir Giles; ‘but unless this poor King could be roused to insist, +or the Earl of Warwick fell out with his cousin, I do not see much +chance for the lad.’ + +‘Is it Warwick who is his chief foe or King Edward?’ asked the Prioress. + +‘King Edward, doubtless, for his father’s slaughter of young Rutland at +Wakefield.’ + +‘That bodes ill,’ said the lady. ‘By all I gather, King Edward is a +tiger when once roused, but at other times is like that same tiger, +purring and slow to move. But there’s a bell that warns us to vespers. +They are mightily more strict here than ever we are at Greystone. Ah! +you won’t tell tales, Sir Giles! You’ll soon hear of me at St. Thomas’s +shrine at Canterbury.’ + +The knight took his leave. It was impossible not to like and pity the +Prioress, though the life among devout nuns was clearly beyond her +powers. + +The dreamy peaceful days of the Tower of London were stirred by the +arrival of the great Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as people already +called him. He took up his residence in his own mighty establishment at +Warwick House near St. Paul’s; and the day after his arrival, he came +clanking over London Bridge with a great following of knights and +squires to pay his respects to King Henry. + +Henry Clifford was not disposed to meet him, and only watched from +a window when the drawbridge was lowered, and the sturdy man, with +grizzled hair and marked, determined features, rode into the gateway, +where he was received by the Earl of Oxford. + +The interview was long, and when it was finished, the two Earls made +the round of the defences, and Oxford drew up his garrison on the Tower +Green to be inspected. + +When Warwick had taken his leave, Hal was summoned to the Constable’s +hall. ‘We must be jogging, my young master,’ he said. ‘There are rumours +of King Edward making another attempt for his crown, and my Lord of +Warwick would have me go and watch the eastern seaboard. And you had +best go with me.’ + +‘The King--’ began Hal. + +‘You will come back to the King by-and-by if so be he misses you, but +he was more dazed than ever to-day, and perhaps it was well, for Warwick +brought with him Dick Nevil, who has got your lands of Clifford, and +might be tempted to put you out of the way in one of the dungeons that +lie so handy.’ + +‘No one save the King knows who I am,’ said Hal, ‘and he forgets from +day to day all save that I am the herd boy, and I think it cheers him to +have me with him. I will stay beside him even as a varlet.’ + +‘Nay, my lord, that may not be. ‘Tis true he loves thee, but he will +forget anon, and I may not suffer the risk. Too many know or guess.’ + +Harry Clifford repeated that he recked not of the risk when he could +serve and comfort his beloved King, and, indeed, his mind was made up +on the subject. He had taken measures for remaining as one of the +men-at-arms of the garrison; but King Henry himself surprised him by +saying, ‘My young Lord of Clifford, fare thee well. Thou goest forth +to-morrow with the Constable of Oxford. Take my blessing with thee, my +child. Thou hast been granted to me to make life very sweet to me of +late, and I thank God for it, but the time is come that thou must part +from me.’ + +‘Oh, sir, never! None was ever so dear to me! For weal or woe I will +be with you! Suffer me to be your meanest varlet, and serve you as none +other can do.’ + +Henry shook his head. ‘It may not be, my child, let not thy blood also +be on my head! Go with Oxford and his men. Thou hast learnt to draw +sword and use lance. Thou wilt be serving me still if again there be, +which Heaven forefend, stricken fields in my cause or my son’s.’ + +‘Sir, if I must fight, let no less holy hand than thine lay knighthood +on my shoulder,’ sobbed Hal, kneeling. + +Henry smiled. ‘I have well-nigh forgotten the fashion. But if it will +please thee, my son, give me thy sword, Oxford. In the name of God and +St. George of England I dub thee knight. For the Church, for the honour +of God, for a good cause, fight. Arise, Sir Henry Clifford!’ + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. -- A STRANGE EASTER EVE + + + + And spare, O spare + The meek usurper’s holy head. + --GRAY. + + +Once more, at the close of morning service, while it was still dark, did +Harry Clifford, the new-made knight, kneel before King Henry and feel +his hand in blessing on his head. Then he went forth to join Musgrave +and the troop that the Earl of Oxford was leading from the Tower to +raise the counties of East Anglia and watch the coast against a descent +of King Edward from the Low Countries. + +As they passed the walls enclosing the Minories Convent, and Hal gazed +at it wistfully, the wide gateway was opened and out came a party of +black-hooded nuns, mounted on ponies and mules, evidently waiting till +Oxford’s band had gone by. Harry drew Sir Giles’s attention, and they +lingered, as they became certain that they beheld the Prioress Selby of +Greystone, hawk, hound and all, riding forth, nearly smothered in her +hood, and not so upright as of old. + +‘Ay, here I am!’ she said, as he reined up and bowed his greeting. ‘Here +I am on my pilgrimage! I got Father Ridley, the Benedictine head, to +order me forth. Methinks he was glad, being a north countryman, to send +me out before I either died on the Poor Clares’ hands, or gave them a +fuller store of tales against us of St. Bennet’s! Not but that they are +good women, too godly and devout for a poor wild north country Selby +like me, who cannot live without air. + + + O the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, + They flourish best at home in the north countree. + + +Flori, Flori, whither away? Ah! thou hast found thine old friend. Birds +of a feather. Eh? the young folk have foregathered likewise. Watch! And +thou, sir knight, whither are you away?’ + +‘On our way to Norfolk in case the Duke of York should show himself on +the coast. And yours, reverend Mother?’ + +‘To Canterbury first by easy journeys. We sleep to-night at the Tabard, +where we shall meet other pilgrims.’ + +‘Here, alack! our way severs from yours. Farewell, holy Mother, may you +find health on your pilgrimage.’ + +‘Every breath I take in is health,’ said the Mother, who had already +manoeuvred an opening in her veil, and gasped to throw it back as soon +as she should attain an unfrequented place. ‘There are so many coming +and going here that all the air is used up by their greasy nostrils! +Well! good luck, and God’s blessing go with you, and you, young Hal, I +may say so far, whichever side ye be, but still I hold that York has the +right, and yours may be a saint, but not a king.’ + +Hal had meantime ‘forgathered’ as the Prioress said with Anne, marching, +in spite of his new honours, close to her stirrup, and venturing to +whisper to her that he was now her knight, and ‘her colours,’ which he +was to wear for her, were only a tiny scrap of ribbon from her glove, +which he cut off with his dagger, and kissed, saying he should wear it +next his heart, though he might not do so openly. + +Their love was more implied than ever it had been before, and she +repeated her confidence that the kind Prioress would never leave her +till she had done her utmost for them both. + +‘But you, my good stripling, I am ashamed to see you. I have done +nothing for you. I sent a humble message to ask to see the Archbishop, +but had no answer, and by-and-by, when I stirred again, who should come +to sec me but young Bertram Selby, and “Kinswoman,” said he, “you had +best keep quiet. The Archbishop hath asked me whether rumours were sooth +that yours was scarce a regular Priory.” The squire stood up for me and +said, as became one of the family, that an outlying cell, where there +were ill neighbours of Scots, thieves, borderers, and the like, could +scarce look to be as trim as a city nunnery, and that none had ever +heard harm of Mother Agnes. But then one of his priests took on him to +whisper in his ear, and he demanded whether we had not gone so far as to +hide traitors from justice, to which Bertram returned a stout denial as +well he might, though he thought it well to give me warning, but for the +present there was no use in attempting anything more. The Archbishop was +exceedingly busy with the work of his office and the defence of London +in case of Edward’s threatened return; but he had not yet come, and no +one thought there was a reasonable doubt that Warwick, the Kingmaker, +would not be victorious, and he had carried his son-in-law, the Duke of +Clarence, with him.’ After the cause of the Red Rose was won, there was +no fear but that the services of Clifford would be remembered. So Harry +Clifford parted with Anne, promising himself and her that there should +be fresh Clifford services, winning a recognition of the De Vesci +inheritance if of no more. + +The ladies went on their way in the track which Chaucer has made +memorable, laying their count to meet Queen Margaret and her son, and +win their ears beforehand, and wondering that they came not. Kentish +breezes soon revived the Prioress, and she went through many strange +devotions at the shrine of Becket, which, it might be feared, did not +improve her spiritual, so much as her bodily, health, while Anne’s +chiefly resolved themselves into prayers that Harry Clifford might +be guarded and restored, and that she herself might be saved from the +dreaded Lord Redgrave. + +They did not set out on the return to London till they had inhaled +plenty of sea breezes by visiting the shrine of St. Mildred in the isle +of Thanet, and St. Eanswith at Folkestone, till Lent had begun, and +the first fresh tidings that they met were that Edward had landed in +Yorkshire, but his fleet had been dispersed by storms, and the people +did not rise to join him, so that he was fain to proclaim that he only +came to assert his right to his father’s inheritance of the Dukedom of +York. + +At the Minoresses’ Convent they found that a messenger had arrived, +bidding Anne go to meet her father at his castle in Bedfordshire. He was +coming over with the Queen whenever she could obtain a convoy from King +Louis of France. Lord Redgrave was with him, and the marriage should +take place as soon as they arrived. + +‘Never fear, child,’ said the Prioress; ‘many is the slip between the +cup and the lip.’ + +Further tidings came that Edward had thrown off his first plea, that he +had passed Warwick’s brother Montagu at Pontefract, and that men from +his own hereditary estates were flocking to his royal banner. Warwick +was calling up his men in all directions, and both armies were advancing +on London. Then it was known that ‘false, fleeting, perjured Clarence’ +had deserted his father-in-law, and returned to his brother; and +worthless as he individually was, it boded ill for Lancaster, though +still hope continued in the uniform success of the Kingmaker. Warwick +was about twenty miles in advance of Edward, till that King actually +passed him and reached the town of Warwick itself. Still the Earl wrote +to his brother that if he could only hold out London for forty-eight +hours all would be well. + +Once more poor King Henry was set on horseback and paraded through the +streets. Brother Martin went out with the chaplain of the Poor Clares to +gaze upon him, and they came back declaring that he was more than ever +like the image carried in a procession, seeming quite as helpless and +indifferent, except, said Brother Martin, when he passed a church, and +then a heavenly look came over his still features as he bowed his head; +but none of the crowd who came out to gaze cried ‘Save King Harry!’ or +‘God bless him!’ + +There were two or three thousand Yorkists in the various sanctuaries of +London, and they were preparing to rise in favour of their King Edward, +and only a few hundred were mustering in St. Paul’s Churchyard for the +Red Rose. + +The Poor Clares were in much terror, though nunneries and religious +houses, and indeed non-combatants in general, were usually respected +by each side in these wars; but the Prioress of Greystone was not sorry +that the summons to her protegee called her party off on the way to +Bedfordshire, and they all set forward together, intending to make +Master Lorimer’s household at Chipping Barnet their first stage, as they +had engaged to do. + +Their intention had been notified to Lorimer’s people in his London +shop, who had sent on word to their master, and the good man came out +to meet them, full of surprise at the valour of the ladies in attempting +the journey. But they could not possibly go further. King Edward was at +St. Albans, and was on his way to London, and the Earl of Warwick was +coming up from Dunstable with the Earls of Somerset and Oxford. For +ladies, even of religious orders, to ride on between the two hosts was +manifestly impossible, and he and his wife were delighted to entertain +the Lady Prioress till the roads should be safe. + +The Prioress was nothing loth. She always enjoyed the freedom of a +secular household, and she was glad to remain within hearing of the last +news in this great crisis of York and Lancaster. + +‘I marvel if there will be a battle,’ she said. ‘Never have I had the +good luck to see or hear one.’ + +‘Oh! Mother, are you not afraid?’ cried Sister Mabel. + +‘Afraid! What should I be afraid of, silly maid? Do you think the +men-at-arms are wolves to snap you up?’ + +‘And,’ murmured Anne, ‘we shall know how it goes with my Lord of +Oxford’s people.’ + +These were the last days of Lent, and were carefully kept in the matter +of food by the household, but the religious observances were much +disturbed by the tidings that poured in. King Henry and Archbishop Nevil +had taken refuge in the house of Bishop Kemp of London, Urswick the +Recorder, with the consent of the Aldermen, had opened the gates to +Edward, and the Good Friday Services at Barnet, the Psalms and prayers +in the church, were disturbed by men-at-arms galloping to and fro, and +reports coming in continually. + +There could be no going out to gather flowers to deck the Church the +next day, for King Edward was on the London side, and Warwick with +his army had reached the low hills of Hadley, and their tents, their +banners, and the glint of their armour might be seen over the heathy +slope between them and the lanes and fields, surrounded by hedges, that +fenced in the valley of Barnet. The little town itself, though lying +between the two armies, remained unoccupied by either party, and only +men-at-arms came down into it, not as plunderers, but to buy food. + +Warwick’s cannon, however, thundered all night, a very awful sound to +such unaccustomed ears, but they were so directed that the charges flew +far away from Barnet, under a false impression as to the situation of +the Yorkist forces. + +Mistress Lorimer had heard them before, but accompanied every report +with a pious prayer; Sister Mabel screamed at each, then joined in; the +Prioress was greatly excited, and walked about with Master Lorimer, +now on the roof, trying to see, now at the gate, trying to hear. Anne +fancied it meant victory to Hal’s party, but knelt, tried to pray while +she listened, and the dogs barked incessantly. And that Hal must be in +the army above the little town they guessed, for in the evening Watch +came floundering into the courtyard, hungry and muddy, but full of +affectionate recognition of his old friends and the quarters he had +learnt to know. Florimond, who happened to be loose, had a romp with +him in their old fashion, and to the vexation and alarm of his mistress, +they both ran off together, and must have gone hunting on the heath, for +there was no response to her silver whistle. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. -- BARNET + + + + A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day + Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came + A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew + The mist aside. + --TENNYSON. + + +And Sir Henry Clifford? Still he was Hal of Derwentdale, for the +perilous usurper, Sir Richard Nevil, was known to be continually with +Warwick, and Musgrave was convinced that the concealment was safest. + +The youth then remained with the Peelholm men, and became a good deal +more practised in warlike affairs, and accustomed to campaigning, during +the three months when Oxford was watching the eastern coast. On this +Easter night he lay down on the hill-side with Watch beside him, his +shepherd’s plaid round him, his heart rising as he thought himself +near upon gaining fame and honour wherewith to win his early love, and +winning victory and safety for his beloved King, or rather his hermit. +For as his hermit did that mild unearthly face always come before him. +He could not think of it wearing that golden crown, which seemed alien +to it, but rather, as he lay on his back, after his old habit looking +up at the stars, either he saw and recognised the Northern Crown, or his +dazed and sleepy fancy wove a radiant coronet of stars above that meek +countenance that he knew and loved so well; and as at intervals the +cannon boomed and wakened him, he looked on at the bright Northern Cross +and dreamily linked together the cross and crown. + +Easter Sunday morning came dawning, but no one looked to see the sun +dance, even if the morning had not been dull and grey, a thick fog +covering everything; but through it came a dull and heavy sound, and +the clang of armour. Even by their own force the radiant star of the De +Veres could hardly be seen on the banner, as the Earl of Oxford rode up +and down, putting his men in battle array. Hal was on foot as an archer, +meaning to deserve the spurs that he had not yet worn. The hosts were +close to one another, and at first only the continual rain of arrows +darkened the air; but as the sun rose and the two armies saw one +another, Oxford’s star was to be seen carried into the very midst of the +opposing force under Lord Hastings. On, on, with cries of victory, the +knights rode, the archers ran across the heath carrying all before them, +never doubting that the day was theirs, but not knowing where they were +till trumpets sounded, halt was called, and they were drawn up together, +as best they might, round their leading star. But as they advanced, +behold there was an unexpected shout of treason. Arrows came thickly +on them, men-at-arms bearing Warwick’s ragged staff came thundering +headlong upon them. ‘Treason, treason,’ echoed on all sides, and with +that sound in his ears Harry Clifford was cut down, and fell under a +huge horse and man, and lay senseless under a gorse-bush. + +He knew no more but that horses and men seemed for ever trampling over +him and treading him down, and then all was lost to him--for how long he +knew not, but for one second he was roused so far as to hear a furious +growling and barking of Watch, but with dazed senses he thought it +was over the sheep, tried to raise himself, could not, thought himself +dying, and sank back again. + +The next thing he knew was ‘Here, Master Lorimer, you know this gear +better than I; unfasten this buff coat. There, he can breathe. Drink +this, my lad.’ + +It was the Prioress’s voice! He felt a jolt as of a waggon, and opened +his eyes. It was dark, but he knew he was under the tilt of Lorimer’s +waggon, which was moving on. The Prioress was kneeling over him on one +side, Lorimer on the other, and his head was on a soft lap--nay, a warm +tear dropped on his face, a sweet though stifled voice said, ‘Is he +truly better?’ + +Then came sounds of ‘hushing,’ yet of reassurance; and when there was a +halt, and clearer consciousness began to revive, while kind hands were +busy about him, and a cordial was poured down his throat, by the light +of a lantern cautiously shown, Hal found speech to say, as he felt a +long soft tongue on his face, ‘Watch, Watch, is it thou, man?’ + +‘Ay, Watch it is,’ said the Prioress. ‘Well may you thank him! It is to +him you owe all, and to my good Florimond.’ + +‘But what--how--where am I?’ asked Hal, trying to look round, but +feeling sharp thrills and shoots of pain at every motion. + +‘Lie still till they bring their bandages, and I will tell you. Gently, +Nan, gently--thy sobs shake him!’ But, as he managed to hold and press +Anne’s hand, the Prioress went on, ‘You are in good Lorimer’s warehouse. +Safer thus, though it is too odorous, for the men of York do not respect +sanctuary in the hour of victory.’ + +The word roused Hal further. ‘The victory was ours!’ he said. ‘We had +driven Hastings’ banner off the field! Say, was there a cry of treason?’ + +‘Even so, my son. So far as Master Lorimer understands, Lord Oxford’s +banner of the beaming star was mistaken for the sun of York, and the men +of Warwick turned on you as you came back from the chase, but all was +utter confusion. No one knows who was staunch and who not, and the +fields and lanes are full of blood and slaughtered men; and Edward’s +royal banner is set up on the market cross, and trumpets were sounding +round it. And here come Master Lorimer and the goodwife to bind these +wounds.’ + +‘But Sir Giles Musgrave?’ still asked Hal. + +‘Belike fled with Lord Oxford and his men, who all made off at the cry +of treason,’ was the answer. + +Lorimer returned with his wife and various appliances, and likewise with +fresh tidings. There was no doubt that the brothers Warwick and Montagu +had been slain. They had been found--Warwick under a hedge impeded by +his heavy armour, and Montagu on the field itself. Each body had been +thrown over a horse, and shown at the market cross; and they would be +carried to London on the morrow. ‘And so end,’ said Lorimer, ‘two brave +and open-handed gentlemen as ever lived, with whom I have had many +friendly dealings.’ + +One thing more Hal longed to hear--namely, how he had been saved. He +remembered that Watch had come back to him with Florimond the evening +before. They had probably been hunting together, and the hound, who had +always been very fond of him on the journey, had accompanied Watch to +his side before going back to his chain in Barnet; but he had lost sight +of them in the morning, and regretted that he could not find Watch to +provide for his safety. He knew, he said, by the presence of Florimond, +who must be in Barnet. And he also had a dim recollection of being +licked by Watch’s tongue as he lay, and likewise of hearing a furious +barking, yelling and growling, whether of one or both dogs he was not +sure. + +It seemed that towards the evening, when the battle-cries had grown +fainter, and the sun was going down, Florimond had burst in on his +mistress, panting and blood-stained--but not with his own blood, as was +soon ascertained--and made vehement demonstrations by which, as a true +dog-lover, the Prioress perceived that he wanted her to follow him. And +Anne, who thought she saw a piece of Hal’s plaid caught in his collar, +was ‘neither to have nor to hold,’ as the Mother said, till Master +Lorimer was found, and entreated to follow the hound, ay, and to take +them with him. He demurred much as to their safety, but the Prioress +declared that it was the part of the religious to take care of the +wounded, and not inconsistent with her vow. See the Sisters of St. +Katharine’s of the Tower! And though her interpretation was a broad one, +and would have shocked alike her own Abbess and her of the Minoresses, +he was fain to accept it in such a cause; but he commanded his waggoners +to bring the wain in the rear, both as an excuse, and a possible +protection for the ladies, and, it might be, a conveyance for the +wounded. + +Florimond, who had sprung about, barked, fawned and made entreating +sounds all this time (longer in narrative than in reality) led them, not +through the central field of slaughter, but somewhat to the left, among +the heath--where, in fact, Oxford had lost his way in the fog, and his +own allies had charged him, but had not followed far beyond the place +of Hal’s fall, discovering the fatal error that spread confusion through +their ranks, where everyone distrusted his fellow leader. + +There, after a weary and perilous way, diversified by the horrid shouts +of plunderers of the slain, happily not near at hand, and when Lorimer, +but for the ladies, would have given up the quest as useless, they were +greeted by Watch’s bark, and found him lying with his fine head alert +and ready over his senseless master. + +There was no doubt but that the two good creatures, both powerful and +formidable animals, must have saved him from the spoilers, and then been +sagacious enough to let the hound go down to fetch assistance while the +sheep-dog remained as his master’s faithful guardian. How honoured and +caressed they were can hardly be described, but all will know. + +The joy and gratitude of knowing of Anne’s devotion, and the pleasure of +his good dog’s faithfulness, helped Hal through the painful process +of having his hurts dealt with. Surgeons, even barbers, were fully +occupied, and Lorimer did not wish to have it known that a Lancastrian +was in his house. His wife and her old nurse, as well as the Prioress, +had some knowledge of simple practical surgery; and Hal’s disasters +proved to be a severe cut on the head, a slash on the shoulder, various +bruises, and a broken rib and thigh-bone, all which were within their +capabilities, with assistance from the master’s stronger hand. No one +could tell whether the savage nature of the York brothers might not +slake their revenge in a general massacre of their antagonists; so +Lorimer caused Hal’s bed to be made in the waggon in the warehouse, +where he was safe from detection until the victorious army should have +quitted Barnet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. -- TEWKESBURY + + + + The last shoot of that ancient tree + Was budding fair as fair might be; + Its buds they crop + Its branches lop + Then leave the sapless stem to die. + --SOPHOCLES (Anstice). + + +Harry Clifford lay fevered, and knowing little of what passed, for +several days, only murmuring sometimes of his flock at home, sometimes +of the royal hermit, and sometimes in distress of the men-at-arms with +whom he had been thrown, and whose habits and language had plainly been +a great shock to his innocent mind, trained by the company of the sheep, +and the hermit. He took the Prioress’s hand for Good-wife Dolly’s, but +he generally knew Anne, who could soothe him better than any other. + +Master Lorimer was fully occupied by combatants who came to have their +equipments renewed or repaired, and he spent the days in his shop in +London, but rode home in the long evenings with his budget of news. King +Henry was in the Tower again, as passive as ever, but on the very day of +the battle of Barnet Queen Margaret had landed at Weymouth with her son, +and the war would be renewed in Somersetshire. + +Search for prisoners being over at Barnet, Hal was removed to the guest +chamber of his hosts, where he lay in a huge square bed, and in the +better air began to recover, understand what was going on round him, +and be anxious for his friends, especially Sir Giles Musgrave and Simon +Bunce. The ladies still attended to him, as Lorimer pronounced the +journey to be absolutely unsafe, while so many soldiers disbanded, or on +their way to the Queen’s army, were roaming about, and the Burgundians +brought by Edward might not be respectful to an English Prioress. It was +safer to wait for tidings from Lord St. John, which were certain to come +either from Bletso or the Minoresses’. + +So May had begun when Lorimer hurried home with the tidings that a +messenger had come in haste from King Edward from the battlefield of +Tewkesbury, with the tidings of a complete victory. Prince Edward, the +fair and spirited hope of Lancaster, was slain, Somerset and his friends +had taken sanctuary in the Abbey Church, Queen Margaret and the young +wife of the prince in a small convent, and beyond all had been flight +and slaughter. + +For a few days no more was known, but then came fuller and sadder +tidings. The young prince had been brutally slain by his cousins, +Edward, George, and Richard, excited as they were to tiger-like ferocity +by the late revolt. The nobles in the sanctuary, who had for one night +been protected by a cord drawn in front of them by a priest, had in the +morning been dragged out and beheaded. Among them was Anne’s father, +Lord St. John of Bletso, and on the field the heralds had recognised the +corpse of her suitor, Lord Redgrave. To expect that Anne felt any acute +sorrow for a father whom she had never seen since she was six years old, +and who then had never seemed to care for her, was not possible. + +And what was to be her fate? Her young brother, the heir of Bletso, was +in Flanders with his foreign mother, and she knew not what might be +her own claims through her own mother, though the Prioress and Master +Lorimer knew that it could be ascertained through the seneschal at +Bletso, if he had not perished with his lord, or the agents at York +through whom Anne’s pension had been paid. If she were an heiress, she +would become a ward of the Crown, a dreary prospect, for it meant to be +disposed of to some unknown minion of the Court. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. -- THE NUT-BROWN MAID + + + + All my wellfare to trouble and care + Should change if you were gone, + For in my mynde, of all mankind + I love but you alone. + --NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +Anne St. John, in her ‘doul’ or deep mourning, sat by Hal’s couch or +daybed in tears, as he lay in the deep bay of the mullioned window, and +told him of the consultation that had been held. + +‘Ah, dear lady!’ he said, ‘now am I grieved that I have not mine own to +endow you with! Well would I remain the landless shepherd were it not +for you.’ + +‘Nay,’ she said, looking up through her tears, ‘and wherefore should I +not share your shepherd’s lot?’ + +‘You! Nan, sweet Nan, tenderly nurtured in the convent while I have ever +lived as a rough hardy shepherd!’ + +‘And I have ever been a moorland maid,’ she answered, ‘bred to no soft +ways. I know not how to be the lady of a castle--I shall be a much +better herdsman’s wife, like your good old Dolly, whom I have always +loved and envied.’ + +‘You never saw us snowed up in winter with all things scarce, and hardly +able to milk a goat.’ + +‘Have not we been snowed up at Greystone for five weeks at a time?’ + +‘Ay, but with thick walls round and a stack of peat at hand,’ said Hal, +his heart beating violently as more and more he felt that the maiden did +not speak in jest, but in full earnestness of love. + +‘Verily one would deem you took me for a fine dainty dame, such as I saw +at the Minoresses’, shivering at the least gust of fresh wind, and not +daring to wet their satin shoes if there had been a shower of rain +in the cloisters. Were we not all stifled within the walls, and never +breathed till we were out of them? Nay, Hal, there is none to come +between us now. Take me to your moors and hills! I will be your good +housewife and shepherdess, and make you such a home! And you will teach +me of the stars and of the flowers and all the holy lore of your good +royal hermit.’ + +‘Ah! my hermit, my master, how fares it with him? Would that I could go +and see!’ + +‘Which do you love best--me or the hermit?’ asked Anne archly, lifting +up her head, which was lying on his shoulder. + +‘I love you, mine own love and sweetheart, with all my heart,’ he said, +regaining her hand, ‘but my King and master with my soul; and oh! that +I had any strength to give him! I love him as my master in holy things, +and as my true prince, and what would I not give to know how it is with +him and how he bears these dreadful tidings!’ + +He bent his head, choking with sobs as he spoke, and Anne wept with him, +her momentary jealousy subdued by the picture of the lonely prisoner, +his friends slain in his cause, and his only child cut off in early +prime; but she tried the comfort of hoping that his Queen would be with +him. Thus talking now of love, now of grief, now of the future, now of +the past, the Prioress found them, and as she was inclined to blame +Anne for letting her patient weep, the maiden looked up to her and said, +‘Dear Mother, we are disputing--I want this same Hal to wed me so soon +as he can stand and walk. Then I would go home with him to Derwentside, +and take care of him.’ + +The Prioress burst out laughing. ‘Make porridge, milk the ewes and spin +their wool? Eh? Meet work for a baron’s daughter!’ + +‘So I tell her,’ said Harry. ‘She knows not how hard the life is.’ + +‘Do I not?’ said Anne. ‘Have I not spent a night and day, the happiest +my childhood knew, in your hut? Has it not been a dream of joy ever +since?’ + +‘Ay, a summer’s dream!’ said Hal. ‘Tell her the folly of it.’ + +‘I verily believe he does not want me. If he had not a lame leg, I trow +he would be trying to be mewed up with his King!’ + +‘It would be my duty,’ murmured Hal, ‘nor should I love thee the less.’ + +‘’Tis a duty beyond your reach,’ said the Prioress. ‘Master Lorimer +hears that none have access to King Henry, God help him! and he sits as +in a trance, as though he understood and took heed of nothing--not even +of this last sore battle.’ + +‘God aid him! Aye, and his converse is with Him,’ said Hal, with a gush +of tears. ‘He minds nought of earth, not even earthly griefs.’ + +‘But we, we are of earth still, and have our years before us,’ said +Anne, ‘and I will not spend mine the dreary lady of a dull castle. +Either I will back and take my vows in your Priory, reverend Mother, if +Hal there disdains to have me.’ + +‘Nan, Nan! when you know that all I dread is to have you mewed behind +a wall of snow as thick as the walls of the Tower and freezing to the +bone!’ + +‘With you behind it telling all the tales. Mother, prithee prove to him +that I am not made of sugar like the Clares, but that I love a fresh +wind and the open moorlands.’ + +The Prioress laughed and took her away, but in private the maiden +convinced her that the proposal, however wild, was in full earnest, and +not in utter ignorance of the way of life that was preferred. + +Afterwards the good lady discussed it with the Lorimers. ‘For my part,’ +she said, ‘I see nought to gainsay the children having their way. They +are equal in birth and breeding, and love one another heartily, and the +times may turn about to bring them to their own proper station.’ + +‘But the hardness and the roughness of the life,’ objected Mistress +Lorimer, ‘for a dainty, convent-bred lady.’ + +‘My convent--God, forgive me!--is not like the Poor Clares. We knew +there what cold and hunger mean, as well as what free air and mountains +are. Moreover, though the maid thinks not of it, I do not believe the +life will be so bare and comfortless. The lad’s mother hath not let him +want, and there is a heritage through the Vescis that must come to him, +even if he never can claim the lands of Clifford.’ + +‘And now that all Lancaster is gone, King Edward may be less vindictive +against the Red Rose,’ said Lorimer. + +‘There must be a dowry secured to the maid,’ said the Prioress. ‘Let +them only lie quiet for a time till the remains of the late tempest have +blown over, and all will be well with them. Ay, and Master Lorimer, the +Lady Threlkeld, as well as myself, will fully acquit ourselves of the +heavy charges you have been put to for your hospitality to us.’ + +Master Lorimer disclaimed all save his delight in the honour paid to +his poor house, and appealed to his wife, who seconded him courteously, +though perhaps the expenses of a wounded knight, three nuns, a noble +damsel and their horses, were felt by her enough to make the promise +gratifying. + +While the elders talked, a horseman was heard in the court, asking +whether the young demoiselle of Bletso were lodged there. It was the +seneschal Wenlock, who had come with what might be called the official +report of his lord’s death, and to consider of the disposal of the young +lady, being glad to find the Prioress of Greystone, to whom she had +originally been committed by her father. + +Before summoning her, he explained to the Prioress that a small estate +which had belonged to her mother devolved upon her. The proceeds of the +property were not large, but they had been sufficient to keep her at the +convent, on the moderate charges of the time. Anne was only eighteen, +and at no time of their lives were women, even widows, reckoned able to +dispose of themselves. She would naturally become a ward of the Crown, +and Lord Redgrave having been killed, the seneschal was about to go and +inform King Edward of the situation. + +‘But,’ said the Prioress, ‘suppose you found her already betrothed to +a gentleman of equal birth, and with claims to an even greater +inheritance? Would you not be silent till the match was concluded, and +the King had no chance of breaking it?’ + +‘If it were well for the maid’s honour and fortune,’ said the seneschal. +‘If you, reverend Mother, have found a fair marriage for her, it might +be better to let well alone.’ + +Then the Prioress set forth the situation and claims of young Clifford, +and the certainty, that even if it were more prudent not to advance +them at present, yet the ruin of the house of Nevil removed one great +barrier, and at least the Vesci inheritance held by his mother must come +to him, and she was the more likely to make a portion over to him when +she found that he had married nobly. + +The seneschal acquiesced, even though the Prioress confessed that the +betrothal had not actually taken place. In fact he was relieved that the +maiden, whom he had known as a fair child, should be off his hands, and +secured from the greed of some Yorkist partisan needing a reward. + +When Anne, her dark eyes and hair shaded by her mourning veil, came +down, and had heard his greeting, with such details of her father’s +death and the state of the family as he could give her, she rose and +said: ‘Sir, there have been passages between Sir Harry Clifford and +myself, and I would wed none other than him.’ + +Nor did the seneschal gainsay her. + +All that he desired was that what was decided upon should be done +quickly, before heralds or lawyers brought to the knowledge of the +Woodvilles that there was any sort of prize to be had in the damsel of +St. John, and he went off, early the next morning, back to Bletso, that +he might seem to know nothing of the matter. + +The Prioress laughed at men being so much more afraid than women. She +was willing to bear all the consequences, but then the Plantagenets were +not in the habit of treating ladies as traitors. However, all agreed +that it would be wiser to be out of reach of London as soon as possible, +and Master Lorimer, who had become deeply interested in this romance of +true love, arranged to send one of his wains to York, in which the bride +and bridegroom might travel unsuspected, until the latter should be able +to ride and all were out of reach of pursuit. The Prioress would go thus +far with them, ‘And then! And then,’ she said sighing, ‘I shall have to +dree my penance for all my friskings!’ + +‘But, oh, what kindly friskings!’ cried Anne, throwing herself into +those tender arms. + +‘Little they will reck of kindness out of rule,’ sighed the Prioress. +‘If only they will send me back to Greystone, then shall I hear of thee, +and thou hadst better take Florimond, poor hound, or the Sisters at York +may put him to penance too!’ + +Henry Clifford was able to walk again, though still lame, when, in the +early morning of Ascension Day, he and Anne St. John were married in the +hall of Master Lorimer’s house by a trusty priest of Barnet, and in the +afternoon, when the thanksgiving worship at the church had been gone +through, they started in the waggon for the first stage of the journey, +to be overtaken at the halting-place by the Prioress and Master Lorimer, +who had had to ride into London to finish some business. + +And he brought tidings that rendered that wedding-day one of mournful, +if peaceful, remembrances. + +For he had seen, borne from the Tower, along Cheapside, the bier on +which lay the body of King Henry, his hands clasped on his breast, his +white face upturned with that heavenly expression which Hal knew so +well, enhanced into perfect peace, every toil, every grief at an end. + +Whether blood dropped as the procession moved along, Lorimer could not +certainly tell. Whether so it was, or whoever shed it, there was no +marring the absolute rest and joy that had crowned the ‘meek usurper’s +holy head,’ after his dreary half-century of suffering under the +retribution of the ancestral sins of two lines of forefathers. All had +been undergone in a deep and holy trust and faith such as could render +even his hereditary insanity an actual shield from the poignancy of +grief. + +Tears were shed, not bitter nor vengeful. Such thoughts would have +seemed out of place with the memory of the gentle countenance of love, +good-will and peace, and as Harry and Anne joined in the service +that the Prioress had requested to have in the early daylight before +starting, Hal felt that to the hermit saint of his boyhood he verily +owed his own self. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. -- BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + + And now am I an Earlis son, + And not a banished man. + --NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +That journey northward in the long summer days was a honeymoon to the +young couple. The Prioress left them as much to themselves as possible, +trying to rejoice fully in their gladness, and not to think what might +have been hers but for that vow of her parents, keeping her hours +diligently in preparation for the stricter rule awaiting her. + +When they parted she sent Florimond with them, to be restored if she +were allowed to return to Greystone, and Anne parted with her with many +tears as the truest mother and friend she had ever known. + +By this time Harry was able to ride, and the two, with a couple of +men-at-arms hired as escort, made their way over the moors, Harry’s +head throbbing with gladness, as, with a shout of joy, he hailed his own +mountain-heads, Helvellyn and Saddleback, in all their purple cloud-like +majesty. + +They agreed first to go to Dolly’s homestead, drawn as much by affection +as by prudence. Delight it was to Hal to point out the rocks and bushes +of his home; but when he came in sight of Piers and the sheep, the dumb +boy broke out into a cry of terror, and rushed away headlong, nor did +he turn till he felt Watch’s very substantial paws bounding on him in +ecstasy. + +Watch was indeed a forerunner, for Dolly and her husband could scarcely +be induced by his solid presence and caresses to come out and see for +themselves that the tall knight and lady were no ghostly shades, nor +bewildered travellers, but that this was their own nursling Hal, whom +Simon Bunce had reported to be lying dead under a gorse-bush at Barnet, +and further that the lovely brunette lady was the little lost child whom +Dolly had mothered for a night. + +While the happy goodwife was regaling them with the best she had to +offer, Hob set forth to announce their arrival at Threlkeld, being not +certain what the cautious Sir Lancelot would deem advisable, since the +Lancaster race had perished, and York was in the ascendant. + +There was a long time to wait, but finally Sir Lancelot himself came +riding through the wood, no longer afraid to welcome his stepson at the +castle, and the more willing since the bride newly arrived was no maiden +of low degree, but a damsel of equal birth and with unquestioned rights. + +So all was well, and the lady no longer had to embrace her son in fear +and trembling, but to see him a handsome and thoughtful young man, well +able to take his place in her halls. + +Since he had been actually in arms against King Edward it was not +thought safe to assert his claims to his father’s domains, but the lady +gave up to him a portion of her own inheritance from the Vescis, where +he and Anne were able to live in Barden Tower in Yorkshire, not far from +Bolton Abbey. So Hal’s shepherd days were over, though he still loved +country habits and ways. Hob came to be once more his attendant, Dolly +was Anne’s bower-woman, and Simon Bunce Sir Harry’s squire, though he +never ceased blaming himself for having left his master, dead as he +thought, when even a poor hound was more trusty. + +Florimond was restored to the Prioress, who was reinstated at Greystone, +a graver woman than before she had set forth, the better for having +watched deeper devotion at the Minoresses’, and still more for the +terrible realities of the battle of Barnet. At Bolton Abbey Harry found +monks who encouraged his craving for information on natural science, +and could carry him on much farther in these researches than his hermit, +though he always maintained that the royal anchorite and prisoner saw +farther into heavenly things than any other whom he had known, and +that his soul and insight rose the higher with his outward troubles and +bodily decay. + +So peacefully went the world with them till Henry was one-and-thirty, +and then the tidings of Bosworth Field came north. The great tragedy of +Plantagenet was complete, and the ambitious and blood-stained house +of York, who had avenged the usurpation of Henry of Lancaster, had +perished, chiefly by the hands of each other, and the distantly related +descendant of John of Gaunt, Henry Tudor, triumphed. + +The Threlkelds were not slow to recollect that it was time for the +Cliffords to show their heads; moreover, that the St. Johns of Bletso +were related to the Tudors. Though now an aged woman, she descended +from her hills, called upon her son and his wife with their little +nine-year-old son to come with her, and pay homage to the new sovereign +in their own names, and rode with them to Westminster. + +There a very different monarch from the saint of Harry’s memory received +and favoured him. The lands of Westmoreland were granted to him as his +right, and on their return, Master Lorimer coming by special invitation, +the family were welcomed at Brougham Castle, the cradle of their +race, where Harry Clifford, no longer an outlaw, began the career thus +described: + + + Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, + His daily teachers had been woods and rills, + The silence that is in the starry sky, + The sleep that is among the lonely hills. + + In him the savage virtue of the race, + Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead, + Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place + The wisdom that adversity had bred. + + Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth, + The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more, + And ages after he was laid in earth + The Good Lord Clifford was the name he bore. + + + +FINIS + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. 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Yonge + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +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: The Herd Boy and His Hermit + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5313] +Last Updated: October 12, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + + + + +Produced by Sandra Laythorpe and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Charlotte M. Yonge + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Henry, thou of holy birth, + Thou, to whom thy Windsor gave + Nativity and name and grave + Heavily upon his head + Ancestral crimes were visited. + Meek in heart and undefiled, + Patiently his soul resigned, + Blessing, while he kissed the rod, + His Redeemer and his God. + SOUTHEY +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. — IN THE MOSS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. — THE SNOW-STORM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. — OVER THE MOOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. — A SPORTING PRIORESS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. — MOTHER AND SON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. — A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. — ON DERWENT BANKS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. — THE HERMIT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. — HENRY OF WINDSOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. — THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. — THE RED ROSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. — A PRUDENT RECEPTION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. — FELLOW TRAVELLERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. — THE JOURNEY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. — BLETSO </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. — THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. — A CAPTIVE KING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. — AT THE MINORESSES’ </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. — A STRANGE EASTER EVE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. — BARNET </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI. — TEWKESBURY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII. — THE NUT-BROWN MAID </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII. — BROUGHAM CASTLE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — IN THE MOSS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I can conduct you, lady, to a low + But loyal cottage where you may be safe + Till further quest.—MILTON. +</pre> + <p> + On a moorland slope where sheep and goats were dispersed among the rocks, + there lay a young lad on his back, in a stout canvas cassock over his + leathern coat, and stout leathern leggings over wooden shoes. Twilight was + fast coming on; only a gleam of purple light rested on the top of the + eastern hills, but was gradually fading away, though the sky to the + westward still preserved a little pale golden light by the help of the + descending crescent moon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go away, horned moon,’ murmured the boy. ‘I want to see my stars come out + before Hob comes to call me home, and the goats are getting up already. + Moon, moon, thou mayst go quicker. Thou wilt have longer time to-morrow—and + be higher in the sky, as well as bigger, and thou mightst let me see my + star to-night! Ah! there is one high in the sunset, pale and fair, but not + mine! That’s the evening star—one of the wanderers. Is it the same + as comes in the morning betimes, when we do not have it at night? Like + that it shines with steady light and twinkles not. I would that I knew! + There! there’s mine, my own star, far up, only paling while the sun + glaring blazes in the sky; mine own, he that from afar drives the stars in + Charles’s Wain. There they come, the good old twinkling team of three, and + the four of the Wain! Old Billy Goat knows them too! Up he gets, and all + in his wake “Ha-ha-ha” he calls, and the Nannies answer. Ay, and the sheep + are rising up too! How white they look in the moonshine! Piers—deaf + as he is—waking at their music. Ba, they call the lambs! Nay, that’s + no call of sheep or goat! ‘Tis some child crying, all astray! Ha! Hilloa, + where beest thou? Tarry till I come! Move not, or thou mayst be in the + bogs and mosses! Come, Watch’—to a great unwieldy collie puppy—‘let + us find her.’ + </p> + <p> + A feeble piteous sound answered him, and following the direction of the + reply, he strode along, between the rocks and thorn-bushes that guarded + the slope of the hill, to a valley covered with thick moss, veiling + treacherously marshy ground in which it was easy to sink. + </p> + <p> + The cry came from the further side, where a mountain stream had force + enough to struggle through the swamp. There were stepping-stones across + the brook, which the boy knew, and he made his way from one to the other, + calling out cheerily to the little figure that he began to discern in the + fading light, and who answered him with tones evidently girlish, ‘O come, + come, shepherd! Here I am! I am lost and lorn! They will reward thee! Oh, + come fast!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All in good time, lassie! Haste is no good here! I must look to my + footing.’ + </p> + <p> + Presently he was by the side of the wanderer, and could see that it was a + maiden of ten or twelve years old, who somehow, even in the darkness, had + not the air of one of the few inhabitants of that wild mountain district. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lost art thou, maiden,’ he said, as he stood beside her; ‘where is thine + home?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am at Greystone Priory,’ replied the girl. ‘I went out hawking to-day + with the Mother Prioress and the rest. My pony fell with me when we were + riding after a heron. No one saw me or heard me, and my pony galloped + home. I saw none of them, and I have been wandering miles and miles! Oh + take me back, good lad; the Mother Prioress will give thee—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis too far to take thee back to-night,’ he said. ‘Thou must come with + me to Hob Hogward, where Doll will give thee supper and bed, and we will + have thee home in the morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I never lay in a hogward’s house,’ she said primly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Belike, but there be worse spots to be harboured in. Here, I must carry + thee over the burn, it gets wider below! Nay, ‘tis no use trying to leap + it in the dark, thou wouldst only sink in. There!’ + </p> + <p> + And as he raised her in his arms, the touch of her garment was delicate, + and she on her side felt that his speech, gestures and touch were not + those of a rustic shepherd boy; but nothing was said till he had waded + through the little narrow stream, and set her down on a fairly firm clump + of grass on the other side. Then she asked, ‘What art thou, lad?—Who + art thou?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They call me Hal,’ was the answer; ‘but this is no time for questions. + Look to thy feet, maid, or thou wilt be in a swamp-hole whence I may + hardly drag thee out.’ + </p> + <p> + He held her hand, for he could hardly carry her farther, since she was + almost as tall as himself, and more plump; and the rest of the + conversation for some little time consisted of, ‘There!’ ‘Where?’ ‘Oh, I + was almost down!’ ‘Take heed; give me thy other hand! Thou must leap + this!’ ‘Oh! what a place! Is there much more of it?’ ‘Not much! Come + bravely on! There’s a good maid.’ ‘Oh, I must get my breath.’ ‘Don’t stand + still. That means sinking. Leap! Leap! That’s right. No, not that way, + turn to the big stair.’ ‘Oh—h!’ ‘That’s my brave wench! Not far + now.’ ‘I’m down, I’m down!’ ‘Up! Here, this is safe! On that white stone! + Now, here’s sound ground! Hark!’ Wherewith he emitted a strange wild + whoop, and added, ‘That’s Hob come out to call me!’ He holloaed again. ‘We + shall soon be at home now. There’s Mother Doll’s light! Her light below, + the star above,’ he added to himself. + </p> + <p> + By this time it was too dark for the two young people to see more than dim + shapes of one another, but the boy knew that the hand he still held was a + soft and delicate one, and the girl that those which had grasped and + lifted her were rough with country labours. She began to assert her + dignity and say again, ‘Who art thou, lad? We will guerdon thee well for + aiding me. The Lord St. John is my father. And who art thou?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I? Oh, I am Hob Hogward’s lad,’ he answered in an odd off-hand tone, + before whooping again his answer to the shouts of Hob, which were coming + nearer. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am so hungry!’ said the little lady, in a weak, famished tone. ‘Hast + aught to eat?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have finished my wallet, more’s the pity!’ said the boy, ‘but never + fear! Hold out but a few steps more, and Mother Doll will give thee bite + and sup and bed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack! Is it much further! My feet! they are so sore and weary—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor maiden, let me bear thee on!’ + </p> + <p> + Hal took her up again, but they went more slowly, and were glad to see a + tall figure before them, and hear the cry, ‘How now, Hal boy, where hast + been? What hast thou there?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A sorely weary little lady, Daddy Hob, lost from the hawking folk from + the Priory,’ responded Hal, panting a little as he set his burthen down, + and Hob’s stronger arms received her. + </p> + <p> + Hal next asked whether the flock had come back under charge of Piers, and + was answered that all were safely at home, and after ‘telling the tale’ + Hob had set out to find him. ‘Thou shouldst not stray so far,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘I heard the maid cry, and went after her,’ said Hal, ‘all the way to the + Blackreed Moss, and the springs, and ‘twas hard getting over the swamp.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well indeed ye were not both swallowed in it,’ said Hob; ‘God be praised + for bringing you through! Poor wee bairn! Thou hast come far! From whence + didst say?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘From Greystone Priory,’ wearily said the girl, who had her head down on + Hob’s shoulder, and seemed ready to fall asleep there. + </p> + <p> + ‘Her horse fell with her, and they were too bent on their sport to heed + her,’ explained the boy, as he trudged along beside Hob and his charge, + ‘so she wandered on foot till by good hap I heard her moan.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, there will be a rare coil to-night for having missed her,’ said Hob; + ‘but I’ve heard tell, my Lady Prioress heeds her hawks more than her nuns! + But be she who she may, we’ll have her home, and Mother Doll shall see to + her, for she needs it sure, poor bairn. She is asleep already.’ + </p> + <p> + So she was, with her head nestled into the shepherd’s neck, nor did she + waken when after a tramp of more than a mile the bleatings of the folded + sheep announced that they were nearly arrived, and in the low doorway + there shone a light, and in the light stood a motherly form, in a white + woollen hood and dark serge dress. Tired as he was, Hal ran on to her, + exclaiming ‘All well, Mammy Doll?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah well!’ she answered, ‘thank the good God! I was in fear for thee, my + boy! What’s that Daddy hath? A strayed lamb?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, Mammy, but a strayed maiden! ‘Twas that kept me so long. I had to + bear her through the burn at Blackreed, and drag her on as best I might, + and she is worn out and weary.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay,’ said Hob, as he came up. ‘How now, my bit lassie?’ as he put her + into the outstretched arms of his wife, who sat down on the settle to + receive her, still not half awake. + </p> + <p> + ‘She is well-nigh clemmed,’ said Hal. ‘She has had no bite nor sup all + day, since her pony fell with her out a-hawking, and all were so hot on + the chase that none heeded her.’ + </p> + <p> + Mother Doll’s exclamations of pity were profuse. There was a kettle of + broth on the peat fire, and after placing the girl in a corner of the + settle, she filled three wooden bowls, two of which she placed before Hal + and the shepherd, making signs to the heavy-browed Piers to wait; and + getting no reply from her worn-out guest, she took her in her arms, and + fed her from a wooden spoon. Though without clear waking, mouthfuls were + swallowed down, till the bowl was filled again and set before Piers. + </p> + <p> + ‘There, that will be enough this day!’ said the good dame. ‘Poor bairn! + ‘Twas scurvy treatment. Now will we put her to bed, and in the morn we + will see how to deal with her.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal insisted that the little lady should have his own bed—a + chaff-stuffed mattress, covered with a woollen rug, in the recess behind + the projecting hearth—a strange luxury for a farm boy; and Doll + yielded very unwillingly when he spoke in a tone that savoured of command. + The shaggy Piers had already curled himself up in a corner and gone to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — THE SNOW-STORM + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Yet stay, fair lady, rest awhile + Beneath the cottage wall; + See, through the hawthorns blows the cold wind, + And drizzling rain doth fall.—OLD BALLAD. +</pre> + <p> + Though Hal had gone to sleep very tired the night before, and only on a + pile of hay, curled up with Watch, having yielded his own bed to the + strange guest, he was awake before the sun, for it was the decline of the + year, and the dawn was not early. + </p> + <p> + He was not the first awake—Hob and Piers were already busy on the + outside, and Mother Doll had emerged from the box bed which made almost a + separate apartment, and was raking together the peat, so as to revive the + slumbering fire. The hovel, for it was hardly more, was built of rough + stone and thatched with reeds, with large stones to keep the roof down in + the high mountain blasts. There was only one room, earthen floored, and + with no furniture save a big chest, a rude table, a settle and a few + stools, besides the big kettle and a few crocks and wooden bowls. Yet + whereas all was clean, it had an air of comfort and civilisation beyond + any of the cabins in the neighbourhood, more especially as there was even + a rude chimney-piece projecting far into the room, and in the niche behind + this lay the little girl in her clothes, fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + Very young and childish she looked as she lay, her lips partly unclosed, + her dark hair straying beyond her hand, and her black lashes resting on + her delicate brunette cheeks, slightly flushed with sleep. Hal could not + help standing for a minute gazing at her in a sort of wondering curiosity, + till roused by the voice of Mother Doll. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go thy ways, my bairn, to wash in the burn. Here’s thy comb. I must have + the lassie up before the shepherd comes back, though ‘tis amost a pity to + wake her! There, she is stirring! Best be off with thee, my bonnie lad.’ + </p> + <p> + It was spoken more in the tone of nurse to nursling than of mother to son, + still less that of mistress to farm boy; but Hal obeyed, only observing, + ‘Take care of her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, my pretty, will not I,’ murmured the old woman, as the child turned + round on her pillow, put up a hand, rubbed her eyes, and disclosed a pair + of sleepy brown orbs, gazed about, and demanded, ‘What’s this? Who’s + this?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis Hob Hogward’s hut, my bonnie lamb, where you are full welcome! Here, + take a sup of warm milk.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I mind me now,’ said the girl, sitting up, and holding out her hands for + the bowl. ‘They all left me, and the lad brought me—a great lubber + lout—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, mistress, you’ll scarce say so when you see him by day—a + well-grown youth as can bear himself with any.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where is he?’ asked the girl, gazing round; ‘I want him to take me back. + This place is not one for me. The Sisters will be seeking me! Oh, what a + coil they must be in!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We will have you back, my bairn, so soon as my goodman can go with you, + but now I would have you up and dressed, ay, and washed, ere he and Hal + come in. Then after meat and prayer you will be ready to go.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To Greystone Priory,’ returned the girl. ‘Yea, I would have thee to + know,’ she added, with a little dignity that sat drolly on her bare feet + and disordered hair and cap as she rose out of bed, ‘that the Sisters are + accountable for me. I am the Lady Anne St. John. My father is a lord in + Bedfordshire, but he is gone to the wars in Burgundy, and bestowed me in a + convent at York while he was abroad, but the Mother thought her house + would be safer if I were away at the cell at Greystone when Queen Margaret + and the Red Rose came north.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And is that the way they keep you safe?’ asked the hostess, who meanwhile + was attending to her in a way that, if the Lady Anne had known it, was + like the tendance of her own nurse at home, instead of that of a rough + peasant woman. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, we all like the chase, and the Mother had a new cast of hawks that + she wanted to fly. There came out a heron, and she threw off the new one, + and it went careering up—and up—and we all rode after, and + just as the bird was about to pounce down, into a dyke went my pony, Imp, + and not one of them saw! Not Bertram Selby, the Sisters, nor the groom, + nor the rabble rout that had come out of Greystone; and before I could get + free they were off; and the pony, Imp of Evil that he is, has not learnt + to know me or my voice, and would not let me catch him, but cantered off—either + after the other horses or to the Priory. I knew not where I was, and + halloaed myself hoarse, but no one heard, and I went on and on, and lost + my way!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did hear tell that the Lady Prioress minded her hawks more than her + Hours,’ said Mother Doll. + </p> + <p> + ‘And that’s sooth,’ said the Lady Anne, beginning to prove herself a + chatterbox. ‘The merlins have better hoods than the Sisters; and as to the + Hours, no one ever gets up in the night to say Nocturns or even Matins but + old Sister Scholastica, and she is as strict and cross as may be.’ + </p> + <p> + Here the flow of confidence was interrupted by the return of Hal, who + gazed eagerly, though in a shamefaced way, at the guest as he set down a + bowl of ewe milk. She was a well-grown girl of ten, slender, and bearing + herself like one high bred and well trained in deportment; and her face + was delicately tinted on an olive skin, with fine marked eyebrows, and + dark bright eyes, and her little hunting dress of green, and the hood, set + on far back, became the dark locks that curled in rings beneath. + </p> + <p> + She saw a slender lad, dark-haired and dark-eyed, ruddy and embrowned by + mountain sun and air; and the bow with which he bent before her had + something of the rustic lout, and there was a certain shyness over him + that hindered him from addressing her. + </p> + <p> + ‘So, shepherd,’ she said, ‘when wilt thou take me back to Greystone?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Father will fix that,’ interposed the housewife; ‘meanwhile, ye had best + eat your porridge. Here is Father, in good time with the cows’ milk.’ + </p> + <p> + The rugged broad-shouldered shepherd made his salutation duly to the young + lady, and uttered the information that there was a black cloud, like snow, + coming up over the fells to the south-west. + </p> + <p> + ‘But I must fare back to Greystone!’ said the damsel. ‘They will be in a + mighty coil what has become of me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They would be in a worse coil if they found your bones under a snow + wreath.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal went to the door and spied out, as if the tidings were rather pleasant + to him than otherwise. The goodwife shivered, and reached out to close the + shutter, and there being no glass to the windows, all the light that came + in was through the chinks. + </p> + <p> + ‘It would serve them right for not minding me better,’ said the maiden + composedly. ‘Nay, it is as merry here as at Greystone, with Sister + Margaret picking out one’s broidery, and Father Cuthbert making one pore + over his crabbed parchments.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, does this Father teach Latin?’ exclaimed Hal with eager interest. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course he doth! The Mother at York promised I should learn whatever + became a damsel of high degree,’ said the girl, drawing herself up. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would he would teach me!’ sighed the boy. + </p> + <p> + ‘Better break thy fast and mind thy sheep,’ said the old woman, as if she + feared his getting on dangerous ground; and placing the bowl of porridge + on the rough table, she added, ‘Say the Benedicite, lad, and fall to.’ + Then, as he uttered the blessing, she asked the guest whether she + preferred ewes’ milk or cows’ milk, a luxury no one else was allowed, all + eating their porridge contentedly with a pinch of salt, Hob showing scant + courtesy, the less since his guest’s rank had been made known. + </p> + <p> + By the time they had finished, snowflakes—an early autumn storm—were + drifting against the shutter, and a black cloud was lowering over the + hills. Hob foretold a heavy fall of snow, and called on Hal to help him + and Piers fold the flock more securely, sleepy Watch and his old + long-haired collie mother rising at the same call. Lady Anne sprang up at + the same time, insisting that she must go and help to feed the poor sheep, + but she was withheld, much against her will, by Mother Dolly, though she + persisted that snow was nothing to her, and it was a fine jest to be out + of the reach of the Sisters, who mewed her up in a cell, like a messan + dog. However, she was much amused by watching, and thinking she assisted + in, Mother Dolly’s preparations for ewe milk cheese-making; and by-and-by + Hal came in, shaking the snow off the sheepskin he had worn over his + leathern coat. Hob had sent him in, as the weather was too bad for him, + and he and Anne crouched on opposite sides of the wide hearth as he dried + and warmed himself, and cosseted the cat which Anne had tried to caress, + but which showed a decided preference for the older friend. + </p> + <p> + ‘Our Baudrons at Greystone loves me better than that,’ said Anne. ‘She + will come to me sooner than even to Sister Scholastica!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My Tib came with us when we came here. Ay, Tib! purr thy best!’ as he + held his fingers over her, and she rubbed her smooth head against him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can she leap? Baudrons leaps like a horse in the tilt-yard.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Cannot she! There, my lady pussy, show what thou canst do to please the + demoiselle,’ and he held his arms forward with clasped hands, so that the + grey cat might spring over them, and Lady Anne cried out with delight. + </p> + <p> + Again and again the performance was repeated, and pussy was induced to + dance after a string dangled before her, to roll over and play in apparent + ecstasy with a flake of wool, as if it were a mouse, and Watch joined in + the game in full amity. Mother Dolly, busy with her distaff, looked on, + not displeased, except when she had to guard her spindle from the kitten’s + pranks, but she was less happy when the children began to talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have seen a tilt-yard?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yea, indeed,’ he answered dreamily. ‘The poor squire was hurt—I did + not like it! It is gruesome.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no! It is a noble sport! I loved our tilt-yard at Bletso. Two knights + could gallop at one another in the lists, as if they were out hunting. Oh! + to hear the lances ring against the shields made one’s heart leap up! + Where was yours?’ + </p> + <p> + Here Dolly interrupted hastily, ‘Hal, lad, gang out to the shed and bring + in some more sods of turf. The fire is getting low.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here’s a store, mother—I need not go out,’ said Hal, passing to a + pile in the corner. ‘It is too dark for thee to see it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But where was your castle?’ continued the girl. ‘I am sure you have lived + in a castle.’ + </p> + <p> + Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another changed the + homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less grammatical, second + person plural. The boy laughed, nodded his head, and said, ‘You are a + little witch.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in + Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be Scots!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am not from Bedfordshire,’ said the lad, looking much amused at her + perplexity. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who art thou then?’ she cried peremptorily. + </p> + <p> + ‘I? I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No shepherd boy are you! Come, tell me true.’ + </p> + <p> + Dolly thought it time to interfere. She heard an imaginary bleat, and + ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering the girl by force + from running after him, for the snow was coming down in larger flakes than + ever. Nevertheless, when her husband was heard outside she threw a cloak + over her head and hurried out to speak with him. ‘That maid will make our + lad betray himself ere another hour is over their heads!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Doth she do it wittingly?’ asked the shepherd gravely. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, ‘tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of gentle + blood, and women’s wits be sharp and prying, and the maid will never rest + till she has wormed out who he is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thee! Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the wiles of a + young maid!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lord Hal is a lad of his word. Peace with thy lords and ladies, woman, + thou’lt have the archers after him at once.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She makes no secret of being of gentle blood—a St. John of Bletso.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A pestilent White Rose lot! We shall have them on the scent ere many days + are over our head! An unlucky chance this same snow, or I should have had + the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange a word.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm. Ill for the maid to have + fallen into a drift!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well for the lad if she never came out of it!’ muttered the gruff old + shepherd. ‘Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the clacking wenches + at York—Yorkists every one of them.’ + </p> + <p> + Mother Dolly’s eyes grew round. ‘Mind thee, Hob!’ she said; ‘I ken thy + bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know that if aught + befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall hold thee—and so + will my Lady—guilty of a foul deed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No fouler than was done on the stripling’s father,’ muttered the + shepherd. ‘Get thee in, wife! Who knows what folly those two may be after + while thou art away? Mind thee, if the maid gets an inkling of who the boy + is, it will be the worse for her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ murmured the goodwife, ‘I moaned once that our Piers there should be + deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now! No fear of perilous + word going out through him, or I durst not have kept my poor sister’s + son!’ + </p> + <p> + Mother Doll trusted that her husband would never have the heart to leave + the pretty dark-haired girl in the snow, but she was relieved to find Hal + marking down on the wide flat hearth-stone, with a bit of charcoal, all + the stars he had observed. ‘Hob calls that the Plough—those seven!’ + he said; ‘I call it Charles’s Wain!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Methinks I have seen that!’ she said, ‘winter and summer both.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, he is a meuseful husbandman, that Charles! And see here! This middle + mare of the team has a little foal running beside her’—he made a + small spot beside the mark that stood for the central star of what we call + the Bear’s Tail. + </p> + <p> + ‘I never saw that!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, ‘tis only to be seen on a clear bright night. I have seen it, but Hob + mocks at it. He thinks the only use of the Wain is to find the North Star, + up beyond there, pointing by the back of the Plough, and go by it when you + are lost.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What good would finding the North Star do? It would not have helped me + home if you had not found me!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here, Lady Anne! Which way does Greystone lie?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How should I tell?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which way did the sun lie when you crossed the moor?’ + </p> + <p> + Anne could not remember at first, but by-and-by recollected that it + dazzled her eyes just as she was looking for the runaway pony; and Hal + declared that it proved that the convent must have been to the south of + the spot of her fall; but his astronomy, though eagerly demonstrated, was + not likely to have brought her back to Greystone. Still Doll was thankful + for the safe subject, as he went on to mark out what he promised that she + should see in the winter—the swarm of glow-worms, as he called the + Pleiades; and ‘Our Lady’s Rock,’ namely, distaff, the northern name for + Orion; and then he talked of the stars that so perplexed him, namely, the + planets, that never stayed in their places. + </p> + <p> + By-and-by, when Mother Dolly’s work was over the kettle was on the fire, + and she was able to take out her own spinning, she essayed to fill up the + time by telling them lengthily the old stories and ballads handed down + from minstrel to minstrel, from nurse to nurse, and they sat entranced, + listening to the stories, more than even Hal knew she possessed, and + holding one another by the hand as they listened. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the snow had ceased—it was but a scud of early autumn on + the mountains—the sun came out with bright slanting beams before his + setting, there was a soft south wind; and Hob, when he came in, growled + out that the thaw had set in, and he should be able to take the maid back + in the morning. He sat scowling and silent during supper, and ordered Hal + about with sharp sternness, sending him out to attend to the litter of the + cattle, before all had finished, and manifestly treated him as the + shepherd’s boy, the drudge of the house, and threatening him with a staff + if he lingered, soon following himself. Mother Dolly insisted on putting + the little lady to bed before they should return, and convent-bred Anne + had sufficient respect for proprieties to see that it was becoming. She + heard no more that night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — OVER THE MOOR + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In humblest, simplest habit clad, + But these were all to me.—GOLDSMITH. +</pre> + <p> + ‘Hal! What is your name?’ + </p> + <p> + She stood at the door of the hovel, the rising sun lighting up her bright + dark eyes, and smiling in the curly rings of her hair while Hal stood by, + and Watch bounded round them. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have heard,’ he said, half smiling, and half embarrassed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hal! That’s no name.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Harry, an it like you better.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Harry what?’ with a little stamp of her foot. + </p> + <p> + ‘Harry Hogward, as you see, or Shepherd, so please you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are no Hogward, nor shepherd! These folk be no kin to you, I can see. + Come, an you love me, tell me true! I told you true who I am, Red Rose + though I see you be! Why not trust me the same?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lady, I verily ken no name save Harry. I would trust you, verily I would, + but I know not myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I guess! I guess!’ she cried, clapping her hands, but at the moment Dolly + laid a hand on her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do not guess, maiden,’ she said. ‘If thou wouldst not bring evil on the + lad that found thee, and the roof that sheltered thee, guess not, yea, and + utter not a word save that thou hast lain in a shepherd’s hut. Forget all, + as though thou hadst slept in the castle on the hill that fades away with + the day.’ + </p> + <p> + She ended hastily, for her husband was coming up with a rough pony’s + halter in his hand. He was in haste to be off, lest a search for the lost + child might extend to his abode, and his gloomy displeasure and ill-masked + uneasiness reduced every-one to silence in his presence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Up and away, lady wench!’ he said. ‘No time to lose if you are to be at + Greystone ere night! Thou Hal, thou lazy lubber, go with Piers and the + sheep—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall go with you,’ replied Hal, in a grave tone of resolution. ‘I will + only go within view of the convent, but go with you I will.’ + </p> + <p> + He spoke with a decided tone of authority, and Hob Hogward muttered a + little to himself, but yielded. + </p> + <p> + Hal assisted the young lady to mount, and they set off along the track of + the moss, driving the cows, sheep, and goats before them—not a very + considerable number—till they came to another hut, much smaller and + more rude than that where they had left Mother Doll. + </p> + <p> + Piers was a wild, shaggy-haired lad, with a sheepskin over his shoulders, + and legs bare below the knee, and to him the charge of the flock was + committed, with signs which he evidently understood and replied to with a + gruff ‘Ay, ay!’ The three went on the way, over the slope of a hill, + partly clothed with heather, holly and birch trees, as it rose above the + moss. Hob led the pony, and there was something in his grim air and manner + that hindered any conversation between the two young people. Only Hal from + time to time gathered a flower for the young lady, scabious and globe + flowers, and once a very pink wild rose, mingled with white ones. Lady + Anne took them with a meaning smile, and a merry gesture, as though she + were going to brush Hal’s face with the petals. Hal laughed, and said, + ‘You will make them shed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well and good, so the disputes be shed,’ said Anne, with more meaning + than perhaps Hal understood. ‘And the white overcomes the red.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘May be the red will have its way with spring—’ + </p> + <p> + But there Hob looked round on them, and growled out, ‘Have done with that + folly! What has a herd boy like thee to do with roses and frippery? Come + away from the lady’s rein. Thou art over-held to thrust thyself upon her.’ + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, as Hal fell back, the dark eyes shot a meaning glance at + him, and the party went on in silence, except that now and then Hob + launched at Hal an order that he endeavoured to render savagely + contemptuous and harsh, so that Lady Anne interfered to say, ‘Nay, the + poor lad is doing no harm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Scathe enough,’ answered Hob. ‘He always will be doing ill if he can. + Heed him not, lady, it only makes him the more malapert.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Malapert,’ repeated Anne, not able to resist a little teasing of the grim + escort; ‘that’s scarce a word of the dales. ‘Tis more like a man-at-arms.’ + </p> + <p> + This Hob would not hear, and if he did, it produced a rough imprecation on + the pony, and a sharp cut with his switch. + </p> + <p> + They had crossed another burn, travelled through the moss, and mounted to + the brow of another hill, when, far away against the sky, on the top of + yet another height, were to be seen moving figures, not cattle, but Anne + recognised them at once. ‘Men-at-arms! archers! lances! A search party for + me! The Prioress must have sent to the Warden’s tower.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Off with thee, lad!’ said Hob, at once turning round upon Hal. ‘I’ll not + have thee lingering to gape at the men-at-arms! Off I say, or—’ + </p> + <p> + He raised his stout staff as though to beat the boy, who looked up in his + face with a laugh, as if in very little alarm at his threat, smiled up in + the young lady’s face, and as she held out her hand with ‘Farewell, Hal; + I’ll keep your rose-leaves in my breviary,’ he bent over and kissed the + fingers. + </p> + <p> + ‘How now! This impudence passes! As if thou wert of the same blood as the + damsel!’ exclaimed Hob in considerable anger, bringing down his stick. + ‘Away with thee, ill-bred lubber! Back to thy sheep, thou lazy loiterer! + Get thee gone and thy whelp with thee!’ + </p> + <p> + Hal obeyed, though not without a parting grin at Anne, and had sped away + down the side of the hill, among the hollies and birches, which entirely + concealed him and the bounding puppy. + </p> + <p> + Hob went on in a gruff tone: ‘The insolence of these loutish lads! See + you, lady, he is a stripling that I took up off the roadside out of mere + charity, and for the love of Heaven—a mere foundling as you may say, + and this is the way he presumes!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A foundling, sayest thou?’ said Anne, unable to resist teasing him a + little, and trying to gratify her own curiosity. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, you may say so! There’s a whole sort of these orphans, after all the + bad luck to the land, to be picked up on every wayside.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘On Towton Moor, mayhap,’ said Anne demurely, as she saw her surly guide + start. But he was equal to the occasion, and answered: + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay, Towton Moor; ‘twas shame to see such bloody work; and there were + motherless and fatherless children, stray lambs, to be met with, weeping + their little hearts out, and starving all around unless some good + Christian took pity on them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Was Hal one of these?’ asked Lady Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘I tell you, lady, I looked into a church that was full of weeping and + wailing folk, women and children in deadly fear of the cruel, + bloody-minded York folk, and the Lord of March that is himself King Edward + now, a murrain on him!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t let those folk hear you say so!’ laughed Lady Anne. ‘They would + think nothing of hauling thee off for a black traitor, or hanging thee up + on the first tree stout enough to bear thee.’ + </p> + <p> + She said it half mischievously, but the only effect was a grunt, and a + stolid shrug of his shoulders, nor did he vouchsafe another word for the + rest of the way before they came through the valley, and through the low + brushwood on the bank, and were in sight of the search party, who set up a + joyful halloo of welcome on perceiving her. + </p> + <p> + A young man, the best mounted and armed, evidently an esquire, rode + forward, exclaiming, ‘Well met, fair Lady Anne! Great have been the Mother + Prioress’s fears for you, and she has called up half the country side, + lest you should be fallen into the hands of Robin of Redesdale, or some + other Lancastrian rogue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Much she heeded me in comparison with hawk and heron!’ responded Anne. + ‘Thanks for your heed, Master Bertram.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I must part from thee and thy sturdy pony. Thanks for the use of it,’ + added she, as the squire proceeded to take her from the pony. He would + have lifted her down, but she only touched his hand lightly and sprang to + the ground, then stood patting its neck. ‘Thanks again, good pony. I am + much beholden to thee, Gaffer Hob! Stay a moment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, lady, it would be well to mount you behind Archie. His beast is best + to carry a lady.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie was an elderly man, stout but active, attached to the service of + the convent. He had leapt down, and was putting on a belt, and arranging a + pad for the damsel, observing, ‘Ill hap we lost you, damsel! I saw you not + fall.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay,’ returned Anne, ‘your merlin charmed you far more. Master Bertram, + the loan of your purse. I would reward the honest man who housed me.’ + </p> + <p> + Bertram laughed and said, tossing up the little bag that hung to his + girdle, ‘Do you think, fair damsel, that a poor Border squire carries + about largesse in gold and silver? Let your clown come with us to + Greystone, and thence have what meed the Prioress may bestow on him, for a + find that your poor servant would have given worlds to make.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hearest thou, Hob?’ said Anne. ‘Come with us to the convent, and thou + shalt have thy guerdon.’ + </p> + <p> + Hob, however, scratched his head, with a more boorish air than he had + before manifested, and muttered something about a cow that needed his + attention, and that he could not spare the time from his herd for all that + the Prioress was like to give him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Take this, then,’ said Anne, disengaging a gold clasp from her neck, and + giving it to him. ‘Bear it to the goodwife and bid her recollect me in her + prayers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall come and redeem it from thee, sulky carle as thou art,’ said + Bertram. ‘Such jewels are not for greasy porridge-fed housewives. Hark + thee, have it ready for me! I shall be at thy hovel ere long’—as + Anne waved to Hob when she was lifted to her seat. + </p> + <p> + But Hob had already turned away, and Anne, as she held on by Archie’s + leathern belt, in her gay tone was beginning to defend him by declaring + that porridge and grease did not go together, so the nickname was not + rightly bestowed on the kindly goodwife. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay! Greasy from his lord’s red deer,’ said Bertram, ‘or his tainted + mutton. Trust one of these herds, and a sheep is tainted whenever he wants + a good supper. Beshrew me but that stout fellow looks lusty and hearty + enough, as if he lived well.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They were good and kind, and treated me well,’ said Anne. ‘I should be + dead if they had not succoured me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The marvel is you are not dead with the stench of their hovel, and the + foulness of their food.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was very good food—milk, meat, and oaten porridge,’ replied + Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘Marvellous, I say!’ cried Bertram with a sudden thought. ‘Was it not said + that there were some of those traitorous Lancastrian folk lurking about + the mountains and fells? That rogue had the bearing of a man-at-arms, far + more than of a mere herd. Deemedst thou not so, Archie?’ to the elderly + man who rode before the young damsel. + </p> + <p> + ‘Herdsmen here are good with the quarter-staff. They know how to stand + against the Scots, and do not get bowed like our Midland serfs,’ put in + Anne, before Archie could answer, which he did with something of a snarl, + as Bertram laughed somewhat jeeringly, and declared that the Lady Anne had + become soft-hearted. She looked down at her roses, but in the dismounting + and mounting again the petals of the red rose had floated away, and + nothing was left of it save a slender pink bud enclosed within a dark + calyx. + </p> + <p> + Archie, hard pressed, declared, ‘There are poor fellows lurking about here + and there, but bad blood is over among us. No need to ferret about for + them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Eh! Not when there may be a lad among them for whose head the king and + his brothers would give the weight of it in gold nobles?’ + </p> + <p> + Anne shivered a little at this, but she cried out, ‘Shame on you, Master + Bertram Selby, if you would take a price for the head of a brave foe! You, + to aspire to be a knight!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, lady, I was but pointing out to Archie and the other grooms here, + how they might fill their pouches if they would. I verily believe thou + knowst of some lurking-place, thou art so prompt to argue! Did I not see + another with thee, who made off when we came in view? Say! Was he a + blood-stained Clifford? I heard of the mother having married in these + parts.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He was Hob Hogward’s herd boy,’ answered Anne, as composedly as she + could. ‘He hied him back to mind his sheep.’ + </p> + <p> + Nor would Anne allow another word to be extracted from her ere the grey + walls of the Priory of Greystone rose before her, and the lay Sister at + the gate shrieked for joy at seeing her riding behind Archie. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — A SPORTING PRIORESS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Yet nothing stern was she in cell, + And the nuns loved their abbess well.—SCOTT. +</pre> + <p> + The days of the Wars of the Roses were evil times for the discipline of + convents, which, together with the entire Western Church, suffered from + the feuds of the Popes with the Italian princes. + </p> + <p> + Small remote houses, used as daughters or auxiliaries to the large + convents, were especially apt to fall into a lax state, and in truth the + little priory of Greystone, with its half-dozen of Sisters, had been + placed under the care of the Lady Agnes Selby because she was too highly + connected to be dealt with sharply, and too turbulent and unmanageable for + the soberminded house at York. So there she was sent, with the deeply + devout and strict Sister Scholastica, to keep the establishment in order, + and deal with the younger nuns and lay Sisters. Being not entirely out of + reach of a raid from the Scottish border, it was hardly a place for the + timid, although the better sort of moss troopers generally spared monastic + houses. Anne St. John had been sent thither at the time when Queen + Margaret was making her attempt in the north, where the city of York was + Lancastrian, as the Mother Abbess feared that her presence might bring + vengeance upon the Sisterhood. + </p> + <p> + There was no great harm in the Mother Agnes, only she was a maiden whom + nothing but family difficulties could have forced into a monastic life—a + lively, high-spirited, out-of-door creature, whom the close + conventionalities of castle life and even whipping could not tame, and who + had been the despair of her mother and of the discreet dames to whom her + first childhood had been committed, to say nothing of a Lady Abbess or + two. Indeed, from the Mother of Sopwell, Dame Julian Berners, she had + imbibed nothing but a vehement taste for hawk, horse, and hound. The + recluses of St. Mary, York, after being heartily scandalised by her + habits, were far from sorry to have a good excuse for despatching her to + their outlying cell, where, as they observed, she would know how to show a + good face in case the Armstrongs came over the Border. + </p> + <p> + She came flying down on the first rumour of Lady Anne’s return, her veil + turned back, her pace not at all accordant with the solemn gait of a + Prioress, her arms outstretched, her face, not young nor handsome, but + sunburnt, weather-beaten and healthy, and full of delight. ‘My child, my + Nan, here thou art! I was just mounting to seek for thee to the west, + while Bertram sought again over the mosses where we sent yester morn. + Where hast thou been in the snow?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A shepherd took me to his hut, Lady Mother,’ answered Anne rather coldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Little didst thou think of our woe and grief when thy palfrey was found + standing riderless at the stable door, and Sister Scholastica told us that + there he had been since nones! And she had none to send in quest but + Cuddie, the neatherd.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My palfrey fell with me when you were in full chase of hawk and heron, + ‘and none ever turned a head towards me nor heard me call.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor maid! But it was such a chase as never you did watch. On and on went + the heron, the falcon ever mounting higher and higher, till she was but a + speck in the clouds, and Tam Falconer shouting and galloping, mad lest she + should go down the wind. Methought she would have been back to Norroway, + the foul jade!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Did you capture her, Mother?’ asked Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, she pounced at last, and well-nigh staked herself on the heron’s + beak! But we had a long ride, and were well-nigh at the Tyne before we had + caught her. Full of pranks, but a noble hawk, as I shall write to my + brother by the next messenger that comes our way. I call it a hawk worth + her meat that leads one such a gallop.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What would you have done, reverend Mother, if she had crossed the + Border?’ asked Bertram. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ridden after her. No Scot would touch a Lady Prioress on the chase,’ + responded Mother Agnes, looking not at all like a reverend Mother. ‘Now, + poor Anne, thou must be hungered. Thou shalt eat with Master Bertram and + me in the refectory anon. Take her, Sister Joan, and make her ready to + break her fast with us.’ + </p> + <p> + Anne quickly went to her chamber. It was not quite a cell, the bare stone + walls being hung with faded woollen tapestry, the floor covered with a + deerskin, the small window filled with dark green glass, a chest serving + the double purpose of seat and wardrobe, and further, a bed hung with + thick curtains, in which she slept with the lay Sister, Joan, who further + fetched a wooden bowl of water from the fountain in the court that she + might wash her face and hands. She changed her soiled riding-dress for a + tight-fitting serge garment of dark green with long hanging sleeves, + assisted by Joan, who also arranged her dark hair in two plaits, and put + over it a white veil, fastened over a framework to keep it from hanging + too closely. + </p> + <p> + All the time Joan talked, telling of the fright the Mother had been in + when the loss of the Lady Anne had been discovered, and how it was feared + that she had been seized by Scottish reivers, or lost in the snow on the + hills, or captured by the Lancastrians. + </p> + <p> + ‘For there be many of the Red Rose rogues about on the mosses—comrades, + ‘tis said, of that noted thief Robin of Redesdale.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was with good folk, in a shepherd’s sheiling,’ replied Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay. Out on the north hill, methinks.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay. Beyond Deadman’s Pool,’ said Anne. ‘By Blackreed Moss. That was + where the pony fell.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Blackreed Moss! That moor belongs to the De Vescis, the blackest + Lancaster fellow of all! His daughter is the widow of the red-handed + Clifford, who slew young Earl Edmund on Wakefield Bridge. They say her + young son is in hiding in some moss in his lands, for the King holds him + in deadly feud for his brother’s death.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He was a babe, and had nought to do with it,’ said Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is of his father’s blood,’ returned Sister Joan, who in her convent + was still a true north country woman. ‘Ay, Lady Anne, you from your shires + know nought of how deep goes the blood feud in us of the Borderland! Ay, + lady, was not mine own grandfather slain by the Musgrave of Leit Hill, and + did not my father have his revenge on his son by Solway Firth? Yea, and + now not a Graeme can meet a Musgrave but they come to blows.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, but that is not what the good Fathers teach,’ Anne interposed. + </p> + <p> + ‘The Fathers have neither chick nor child to take up their quarrel. They + know nought about blood crying for blood! If King Edward caught that brat + of Clifford he would make him know what ‘tis to be born of a bloody + house.’ + </p> + <p> + Anne tried to say something, but the lay Sister pushed her along. ‘There, + there, go you down—you know nothing about what honour requires of + you! You are but a south country maid, and have no notion of what is due + to them one came from.’ + </p> + <p> + Joan Graeme was only a lay Sister, her father a small farmer when not a + moss trooper; but all the Border, on both sides, had the strongest ideas + of persistent vendetta, such as happily had never been held in the midland + and southern counties, where there was less infusion of Celtic blood. Anne + was a good deal shocked at the doctrine propounded by the attendant + Sister, a mild, good-natured woman in daily life, but the conversation + confirmed her suspicions, and put her on her guard as she remembered Hob’s + warning. She had liked the shepherd lad far too much, and was far too + grateful to him, to utter a word that might give him up to the revengers + of blood. + </p> + <p> + At the foot of the stone stairs that led into the quadrangle she met the + black-robed, heavily hooded Sister Scholastica on her way to the chapel. + The old nun held out her arms. ‘Safely returned, my child! God be thanked! + Art thou come to join thy thanksgiving with ours at this hour of nones?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, I am bound to break my fast with the Mother and Master Bertram.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! thou must needs be hungered! It is well! But do but utter thy thanks + to Him Who kept thee safe from the storm and from foul doers.’ + </p> + <p> + Anne did not break away from the good Sister, but went as far as the + chapel porch, was touched with holy water, and bending her knee, uttered + in a low voice her ‘Gratias ago,’ then hastened across the court to the + refectory, where the Prioress received her with a laugh and, ‘So Sister + Scholastica laid hands on thee; I thought I should have to come and rescue + thee ere the grouse grew cold.’ + </p> + <p> + Bertram, as a courteous squire of dames, came forward bowing low, and the + party were soon seated at the board—literally a board, supported + upon trestles, only large enough to receive the Prioress, the squire and + the recovered girl, but daintily veiled in delicate white napery. + </p> + <p> + It was screened off from the rest of the refectory, where the few Sisters + had already had their morning’s meal after Holy Communion; and from it + there was a slight barrier, on the other side of which Bertram Selby ought + to have been, but rules sat very lightly on the Prioress Selby. Bertram + was of kin to her, and she had no demur as to admitting him to her private + table. He was, in fact, a squire of the household of the Marquess of + Montagu, brother of the Kingmaker and had been despatched with letters to + the south. He had made a halt at his cousin’s priory, had been persuaded + to join in flying the new hawks, and then had first been detained by the + snow-storm, and then joined in the quest for the lost Lady Anne St. John. + </p> + <p> + No doubt had then arisen that the Nevils were firm in their attachment to + Edward IV., and, as a consequence, in enmity to the House of Clifford, and + both these scions of Selby had been excited at a rumour that the widow of + the Baron who had slain young Edmund of York had married Sir Lancelot + Threlkeld of Threlkeld, and that her eldest son, the heir of the line, + might be hidden somewhere on the De Vesci estates. + </p> + <p> + Bertram had already told the Prioress that his men had spied a lad + accompanying the shepherd who escorted the lady, and who, he thought, had + a certain twang of south country speech; and no sooner had he carved for + the ladies, according to the courtly duty of an esquire, than the inquiry + began as to who had found the maiden and where she had been lodged. + Prioress Agnes, who had already broken her fast, sat meantime with the + favourite hawk on her wrist and a large dog beside her, feeding them + alternately with the bones of the grouse. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, tell us all, sweet Nan! Where wast thou in that untimely + snow-storm? In a cave, starved with cold, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was safe in a cabin with a kind old gammer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Eh! And how cam’st thou there? Wandering thither?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, the shepherd heard me call.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He carried me to the hut.’ + </p> + <p> + Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there only one + shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side where Bertram met + her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of him? The shepherd sent him + back, he had been too long away from his flock. What was his name? What + was the shepherd’s name? Who was his master? Anne did not know—she + had heard no names save Hob and Hal, she had seen no arms, she had heard + nothing southland. The lad was a mere herd-boy, ordered out to milk ewes + and tend the sheep. She answered briefly, and with a certain sullenness, + and young Selby at last turned on her. ‘Look thee here, fair lady, there’s + a saying abroad that the heir of the red-handed House of Clifford is + lurking here, on the look-out to favour Queen Margaret and her son. + Couldst thou put us on the scent, King Edward would favour thee and make + thee a great dame, and have thee to his Court—nay, maybe give thee + what is left of the barony of Clifford.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know nothing of young lords,’ sulkily growled Anne, who had been + hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,’ exclaimed the Prioress, ‘that if thou + art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in these parts, it is + not the part of an honest man to seek him out for his destruction, and + still less to try to make the maid he rescued betray him. Well done, + little Anne, thou knowest how to hold thy tongue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Reverend Mother,’ expostulated Bertram, ‘if you knew what some would give + to be on the scent of the wolf-cub!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know not, nor do I wish to know, for what price a Selby would sell his + honour and his bowels of mercy,’ said Mother Agnes. ‘Come away, Nan; thou + hast done well.’ + </p> + <p> + Bertram muttered something about having thought her a better Yorkist, + women not understanding, and mischief that might be brewing; but the + Prioress, taking Anne by the hand, went her way, leaving Bertram standing + confused. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, mother,’ sighed Anne, ‘do you think he will go after him? He will + think I was treacherous!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I doubt me whether he will dare,’ said the Prioress. ‘Moreover, it is too + late in the day for a search, and another snow-shower seems coming up + again. I cannot turn the youth, my kinsman, from my door, and he is safer + here than on his quest, but he shall see no more of thee or me to-night. I + may hold that Edward of March has the right, but that does not mean + hunting down an orphan child.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mother, mother, you are good indeed!’ cried Anne, almost weeping for joy. + </p> + <p> + Bertram, though hurt and offended, was obliged by advance of evening to + remain all night in the hospitium, with only the chaplain to bear him + company, and it was reported that though he rode past Blackpool, no trace + of shepherd or hovel was found. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — MOTHER AND SON + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My own, my own, thy fellow-guest + I may not be, but rest thee, rest— + The lowly shepherd’s life is best. + —WORDSWORTH. +</pre> + <p> + The Lady Threlkeld stood in the lower storey of her castle, a sort of + rough-built hall or crypt, with a stone stair leading upward to the real + castle hall above, while this served as a place where she met her + husband’s retainers and the poor around, and administered to their wants + with her own hands, assisted by the maidens of her household. + </p> + <p> + Among the various hungry and diseased there limped in a sturdy beggar with + a wallet on his back, and a broad shady hat, as though on pilgrimage. He + was evidently a stranger among the rest, and had his leg and foot bound + up, leaning heavily on a stout staff. + </p> + <p> + ‘Italy pilgrim, what ails thee?’ demanded the lady, as he approached her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack, noble dame! we poor pilgrims must ever be moving on, however much + it irks foot and limb, over these northern stones,’ he answered, and his + accent and tone were such that a thrill seemed to pass over the lady’s + whole person, but she controlled it, and only said, ‘Tarry till these have + received their alms, then will I see to thee and thy maimed foot. Give him + a stool, Alice, while he waits.’ + </p> + <p> + The various patients who claimed the lady’s assistance were attended to, + those who needed food were relieved, and in due time the hall was cleared, + excepting of the lady, an old female servant, and Hob, who had sat all the + time with his foot on a stool, and his back against the wall, more than + half asleep after the toils and long journey of the night. + </p> + <p> + Then the Lady Threlkeld came to him, and making him a sign not to rise, + said aloud, ‘Good Gaffer, let me see what ails thy leg.’ Then kneeling + down and busying herself with the bandages, she looked up piteously in his + face, with the partly breathed inquiry, ‘My son?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, my lady, and grown into a stalwart lad,’ was Hob’s answer, with an + eye on the door, and in a voice as low as his gruff tones would permit. + </p> + <p> + ‘And wherefore? What is it?’ she asked anxiously. ‘Be they on the track of + my poor boy?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They may be,’ answered Hob, ‘wherefore I deemed it well to shift our + quarters. As hap would have it, the lad fell upon a little wench lost in + the mosses, and there was nothing for it but to bring her home for the + night. I would have had her away as soon as day dawned, and no questions + asked, but the witches, or the foul fiend himself, must needs bring up a + snow-storm, and there was nothing for it but to let her bide in the cot + all day, giving tongue as none but womenfolk can do; and behold she is the + child of the Lord St. John of Bletso.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, what should bring her north?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She wonnes at Greystone with the wild Prioress Selby, who lost her out + hawking. Her father is a black Yorkist. I saw him up to his stirrups in + blood at St. Albans!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But sure my boy did not make himself known to her?’ exclaimed the lady. + </p> + <p> + ‘I trow not. He has been well warned, and is a lad of his word; but the + two bairns, left to themselves, could scarce help finding out that each + was of gentle blood and breeding, and how much more my goodwife cannot + tell. I took the maid back so soon as it was safe yester morn, and sent + back my young lord, much against his will, half-way to Greystone. And well + was it I did so, for he was scarce over the ridge when a plump of spears + came in sight on the search for him, and led by the young squire of + Selby.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! and if the damsel does but talk, even if she knows nought, the foe + will draw their conclusions!’ said the lady, clasping her hands. ‘Oh, + would that I had sent him abroad with his little brothers!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, then might he have fallen into the hands of Bletso himself, and they + say Burgundy is all for the Yorkists now,’ said Hob. ‘This is what I have + done, gracious lady. I bade my good woman carry off all she could from the + homestead and burn the rest; and for him we wot on, I sent him and his + flock off westward, appointing each of them the same trysting-place—on + the slope beneath Derwent Hill, my lady—whence I thought, if it were + your will and the good knight Sir Lancelot’s, we might go nigher to the + sea and the firth, where the Selby clan have no call, being at deadly feud + with the Ridleys. So if the maiden’s tongue goes fast, and the Prioress + follows up the quest with young Selby, they will find nought for their + pains.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thou art a good guardian, Hob! Ah! where would my boy be save for thee? + And thou sayest he is even now at the very border of the forest ground! + Sure, there can be no cause that I should not go and see him. My heart + hungers for my children. Oh, let me go with thee!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir Lancelot—’ began Hob. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is away at the Warden’s summons. He will scarce be back for a week or + more. I will, I must go with thee, good Hob.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not in your own person, good madam,’ stipulated Hob. ‘As thou knowest, + there are those in Sir Lancelot’s following who might be too apt to report + of secret visits, and that were as ill as the Priory folk.’ + </p> + <p> + It was then decided that the lady should put on the disguise of a + countrywoman bringing eggs and meat to sell at the castle, and meet Hob + near the postern, whence a path led to Penrith. + </p> + <p> + Hob, having received a lump of oatcake and a draught of very small ale, + limped out of the court, and, so soon as he could find a convenient spot + behind the gorse bushes, divested himself of his bandages, and changed the + side of his shepherd’s plaid to one much older and more weather-beaten; + also his pilgrim’s hat for one in his pouch—a blue bonnet, more like + the national Scottish head-gear, hiding the hat in the gorse. + </p> + <p> + Then he lay down and waited, where he could see a window, whence a red + kerchief was to be fluttered to show when the lady would be ready for him + to attend her. He waited long, for she had first to disarm suspicion by + presiding at the general meal of the household, and showing no undue + haste. + </p> + <p> + At last, though not till after he had more than once fallen asleep and + feared that he had missed the signal, or that his wife and ‘Hal’ might be + tempted to some imprudence while waiting, he beheld the kerchief waving in + the sunset light of the afternoon, and presently, shrouded in such a black + and white shepherd’s maud as his own, and in a russet gown with a basket + on her arm, his lady came forth and joined him. + </p> + <p> + His first thought was how would she return again, when the darkness was + begun, but her only answer was, ‘Heed not that! My child, I must see.’ + </p> + <p> + Indeed, she was almost too breathless and eager with haste, as he guided + her over the rough and difficult path, or rather track, to answer his + inquiries as to what was to be done next. Her view, however, agreed with + his, that they must lurk in the borders of the woodland for a day or two + till Sir Lancelot’s return, when he would direct them to a place where he + could put them under the protection of one of the tenants of his manor. It + was a long walk, longer than Hob had perhaps felt when he had undertaken + to conduct the lady through it, for ladies, though inured to many dangers + in those days, were unaccustomed to travelling on their own feet; but the + mother’s heart seemed to heed no obstacle, though moments came when she + had to lean heavily on her companion, and he even had to lift her over + brooks or pools; but happily the sun had not set when they made their way + through the tangles of the wood, and at last saw before them the fitful + glow of a fire of dead leaves, branches and twigs, while the bark of a dog + greeted the rustling, they made. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sweetheart, my faithful!’ then shouted Hob, and in another moment there + was a cry, ‘Ha! Halloa! Master Hob—beest there?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His voice!—my son’s!’ gasped the lady, and sank for a moment of + overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy dog leapt + upon them both. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, lad, here—and some one else.’ + </p> + <p> + The boy crashed through the underwood, and stood on the path in a moment’s + hesitation. Mother and son were face to face! + </p> + <p> + The years that had passed had changed the lad from almost a babe into a + well-grown strong boy but the mother was little altered, and as she held + out her arms no word was wasted ere he sprang into them, and his face was + hidden on her neck as when he knew his way into her embrace of old! + </p> + <p> + When the intense rapturous hold was loosed they were aware of Goodwife + Dolly looking on with clasped hands and streaming eyes, giving thanks for + the meeting of her dear lady and the charge whom she and her husband had + so faithfully kept. + </p> + <p> + When the mother and son had leisure to look round, and there was a pleased + survey of the boy’s height and strength, Goodwife Dolly came forward to + beg the lady to come to her fire, and rest under the gipsy tent which she + and nephew Piers—her <i>real</i> herd-boy, a rough, shaggy, almost + dumb and imbecile lad—had raised with branches, skins and canvas, to + protect their few articles of property. There was a smouldering fire, over + which Doll had prepared a rabbit which the dog had caught, and which she + had intended for Hal’s supper and that of her husband if he came home in + time. While the lady lavished thanks upon her for all she had done for the + boy she was intent on improving the rude meal, so as to strengthen her + mistress after her long walk, and for the return. The lady, however, could + see and think of nothing but her son, while he returned her tearful gaze + with open eyes, gathering up his old recollections of her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mother!’ he said—with a half-wondering tone, as the recollections + of six years old came back to him more fully, and then he nestled again in + her arms as if she were far more real to him than at first—‘Mother!’ + And then, as she sobbed over him, ‘The little one?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The babe is well, when last I heard of her, in a convent at York. Thou + rememberest her?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay—my little sister! Ay,’ he said, with a considering interrogative + sound, ‘I mind her well, and old Bunce too, that taught me to ride.’ + </p> + <p> + But Hob interrupted the reminiscences by bringing up the pony on which + Anne had ridden, and insisting that the lady should not tarry longer. + ‘He,’ indicating Hal, might walk beside her through the wood, and thus + prolong their interview, but, as she well knew, it was entirely unsafe to + remain any longer away from the castle. + </p> + <p> + There were embraces and sobbing thanks exchanged between the lady and her + son’s old nurse, and then Hal, at a growling hint from Hob, came forward, + and awkwardly helped her to her saddle. He walked by her side through the + wood, holding her rein, while Hob, going before, did his best in the + twilight to clear away the tangled branches and brambles that fell across + the path, and were near of striking the lady across the face as she rode. + </p> + <p> + On the way she talked to her son about his remembrances, anxious to know + how far his dim recollections went of the old paternal castle in + Bedfordshire, of his infant sister and brother, and his father. Of him he + had little recollection, only of being lifted in his arms, kissed and + blessed, and seeing him ride away with his troop, clanking in their + armour. After that he remembered nothing, save the being put into a + homelier dress, and travelling on Nurse Dolly’s lap in a wain, up and + down, it seemed to him, for ever, till at last clearer recollections awoke + in him, and he knew himself as Hal the shepherd’s boy, with the sheep + around him, and the blue starry sky above him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dost thou remember what thou wast called in those times?’ asked his + mother. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was always Hal. The little one was Meg,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + ‘Even so, my boy, my dear boy! But knowst thou no more than this?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Methinks, methinks there were serving-men that called me the young Lord. + Ay, so! But nurse said I must forget all that. Mother dear, when that + maiden came and talked of tilts and lances, meseemed that I recollected + somewhat. Was then my father a knight?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack! alack! my child, that thou shouldst not know!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Memories came back with that maiden’s voice and thine,’ said Hal, in a + bewildered tone. ‘My father! Was he then slain when he rode farther?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! I may tell thee now thou art old enough to guard thyself,’ she said. + ‘Thy father, whom our blessed Lord assoilzie, was the Lord Clifford, slain + by savage hands on Towton field for his faith to King Harry! Thou, my poor + boy, art the Baron of Clifford, though while this cruel House of York be + in power thou must keep in hiding from them in this mean disguise. Woe + worth the day!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And am I then a baron—a lord?’ said the boy. ‘Great lords have + books. Were there not some big ones on the hall window seats? Did not + Brother Eldred begin to teach me my letters? I would that I could go on to + learn more!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I would that thou couldst have all knightly training, and learn to + use sword and lance like thy gallant father!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, but I saw a poor man fall off his horse and lie hurt, I do not want + those hard, cruel ways. And my father was slain. Must a lord go to + battle?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Boy, boy, thou wilt not belie thy Clifford blood,’ cried the lady in + consternation, which was increased when he said, ‘I have no mind to go out + and kill folks or be killed. I had rather mark the stars and tend my + sheep.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack! alack! This comes of keeping company with the sheep. That my son, + and my lord’s son, should be infected with their sheepish nature!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never fear, madam,’ said Hob. ‘When occasion comes, and strength is + grown, his blood will show itself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If I could only give him knightly breeding!’ sighed the lady. ‘Sir + Lancelot may find the way. I cannot see him grow up a mere shepherd boy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Content you, madam,’ said Hob. ‘Never did I see a shepherd boy with the + wisdom and the thought there is in that curly pate!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wisdom! thought!’ muttered the lady. ‘Those did not save our good King, + only made him a saint. I had rather hear the boy talk of sword and lance + than prate of books and stars! And that wench, whom to our misfortune thou + didst find! What didst tell her?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I told her nought, mother, for I had nought to tell.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She scented mystery, though,’ said Hob. ‘She saw he was no herd boy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay? Though he holds himself like a lout untrained! Would that I could + have thee in hand, my son, to make thee meet to tread in thy brave + father’s steps! But now, comrade of sheep thou art, and I fear me thou + wilt ever be! But that maid, I trust that she perceived nothing in thy + bearing or speech?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She will not betray whatever she perceived,’ said Hal stoutly. + </p> + <p> + The wood was by this time nearly past, and the moment of parting had come. + The lady had decided on going on foot to the little grey stone church + whose low square tower could be seen rising like another rock. Thither she + could repair in her plaid, and by-and-by throw it off, and return in her + own character to the castle, as though she had gone forth to worship + there. When lifted off the shaggy pony she threw her arms round Hal, + kissed him passionately, and bade him never breathe a word of it, but + never to forget that a baron he was, and bound to be a good brave knight, + fit to avenge his father’s death! + </p> + <p> + Hal came to understand from Dolly’s explanations that his recent abode had + been on the estate of his grandfather, Baron de Vesci, at Londesborough, + but his mother had since married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld, and had intimated + that her boy should be removed thither as soon as might be expedient, and + therefore the house on the Yorkshire moor had been broken up. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Thou tree of covert and of rest + For this young bird that was distrest. + —WORDSWORTH. +</pre> + <p> + A baron—bound to be a good knight, and to avenge my father’s death! + What does it all mean?’ murmured Hal to himself as he lay on his back in + the morning sunshine, on the hill-side, the wood behind him, and before + him a distance of undulating ground, ending in the straight mysterious + blue-grey line that Hob Hogward had told him was the sea. + </p> + <p> + ‘Baron! Lord Clifford, like my father! He was a man in steel armour; I + remember how it rang, and how his gorget—yes, that was the thing + round his throat—how it hurt me when he lifted me up to kiss me, and + how they blamed me for crying out. Ay, and he lived in a castle with dark, + dull, narrow chambers, all save the hall, where there was ever a tramping + and a clamouring, and smells of hot burning meat, and horses, and all + sorts of things, and they sat and sat over their meat and wine, and drank + health to King Harry and the Red Rose. I mind now how they shouted and + roared, and how I wanted to go and hide on the stairs, and my father would + have me shout with them, and drink confusion to York out of his cup, and + shook me and cuffed me when I cried. Oh! must one be like that to be a + knight? I had rather live on these free green hills with the clear blue + sky above me, and my good old ewe for my comrade’—and he fell to + caressing the face of an old sheep which had come up to him, a white, + mountain-bleached sheep with fine and delicate limbs. ‘Yes, I love thee, + good, gentle, little ewe, and thee, faithful Watch,’ as a young collie + pressed up to him, thrusting a long nose into his hand, ‘far better than + those great baying hounds, or the fierce-eyed hawks that only want to + kill. If I be a baron, must it be in that sort? Avenge! avenge! what does + that mean? Is it, as in Goodwife Dolly’s ballads, going forth to kill? Why + should I? I had rather let them be! Hark! Yea, Watch,’ as the dog pricked + his ears and raised his graceful head, then sprang up and uttered a + deep-mouthed bark. The sheep darted away to her companions, and Hal rose + to his feet, as the dog began to wave his tail, and Hob came forward + accompanied by a tall, grave-looking gentleman. ‘Here he be, sir. Hal, + come thou and ask the blessing of thy knightly stepfather.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal obeyed the summons, and coming forward put a knee to the ground, while + Sir Lancelot Threlkeld uttered the conventional blessing, adding, ‘Fair + son, I am glad to see thee. Would that we might be better acquainted, but + I fear it is not safe for thee to come and be trained for knighthood in my + poor house. Thou art a well grown lad, I rejoice to see, and strong and + hearty I have no doubt.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, sir, he is strong enow, I wis; we have done our best for him,’ + responded Hob, while Hal stood shy and shamefaced; but there was something + about his bearing that made Sir Lancelot observe, ‘Ay, ay, he shows what + he comes of more than his mother made me fear. Only thou must not slouch, + my fair son. Raise thy head more. Put thy shoulders back. So! so! Nay.’ + </p> + <p> + Poor Hal tried to obey, the colour mounting in his face, but he only + became more and more stiff when he tried to be upright, and his expression + was such that Sir Lancelot cried out, ‘Put not on the visage of one of + thine own sheep! Ah! how shalt thou be trained to be a worthy knight? I + cannot take thee to mine house, for I have men there who might inform King + Edward that thy mother harboured thee. And unless I could first make + interest with Montagu or Salisbury, that would be thy death, if not mine.’ + </p> + <p> + The boy had nothing to say to this, and stood shy by, while his stepfather + explained his designs to Hal. It was needful to remove the young Baron as + far as possible from the suspicion of the greater part of Sir Lancelot + Threlkeld’s household, and the present resting-place, within a walk of his + castle, was therefore unsafe; besides that, freebooters might be another + danger, so near the outskirts of the wood, since the northern districts of + moor and wood were by no means clear of the remnants of the contending + armies, people who were generally of the party opposite to that which they + intended to rob. + </p> + <p> + But on the banks of the Derwent, not far from its fall into the sea, Sir + Lancelot had granted a tenure to an old retainer of the De Vescis, who had + followed his mistress in her misfortunes; and on his lands Hob Hogward + might be established as a guardian of the herds with his family, which + would excite no suspicion. Moreover, he could train the young Baron in + martial exercises, the only other way of fitting him for his station + unless he could be sent to France or Burgundy like his brother; but + besides that the journey was a difficulty, it was always uncertain whether + there would be revengeful exiles of one or other side in the service of + their King, who might wreak the wrongs of their party on Clifford’s eldest + son. There was reported to be a hermit on the coast, who, if he was a + scholar, might teach the young gentleman. To Sir Lancelot’s surprise, his + stepson’s face lighted up more at this suggestion than at that of being + trained in arms. + </p> + <p> + Hob had done nothing in that way, not even begun to teach him the + quarterstaff, though he avouched that when there was cause the young lord + was no craven, no more than any Clifford ever was—witness when he + drove off the great hound, which some said was a wolf, when it fell upon + the flock, or when none could hold him from climbing down the Giant’s + Cliff after the lamb that had fallen. No fear but he had heart enough to + make his hand keep his own or other folks’ heads. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is well,’ said Sir Lancelot, looking at the lad, who stood twisting + his hands in the speechless silence induced by being the subject of + discussion; ‘but it would be better, as my lady saith, if he could only + learn not to bear himself so like a clown.’ + </p> + <p> + However, there was no more time, for Simon Bunce, the old man-at-arms whom + Sir Lancelot had appointed to meet him there, came in sight through the + trees, riding an old grey war-horse, much resembling himself in the + battered and yet strong and effective air of both. Springing down, the old + man bent very low before the young Baron, raising his cap as he gave + thanks to Heaven for permitting him to see his master’s son. Then, after + obeisance to his present master, he and Hob eagerly shook hands as old + comrades and fellow-soldiers who had thought never to meet again. + </p> + <p> + Then turning again to the young noble, he poured out his love, devotion + and gratitude for being able to serve his beloved lord’s noble son; while + poor Hal stood under the discomfort of being surrounded with friends who + knew exactly what to say and do to him, their superior, while he himself + was entirely at a loss how to show himself gracious or grateful as he knew + he ought to do. It was a relief when Sir Lancelot said ‘Enough, good + Simon! Forget his nobility for the present while he goes with thee to + Derwentside as herd boy to Halbert Halstead here; only thou must forget + both their names, and know them only as Hal and Hob.’ + </p> + <p> + With a gesture of obedience, Simon listened to the further directions, and + how he was to explain that these south country folks had been sent up in + charge of an especial flock of my lady’s which she wished to have on the + comparatively sheltered valley of the Derwent. Perhaps further directions + as to the training of the young Baron were added later, but Hal did not + hear them. He was glad to be dismissed to find Piers and gather the sheep + together in preparation for the journey to their new quarters. Yet he did + not fail to hear the sigh with which his stepfather noted that his parting + salutation was far too much in the character of the herd boy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — ON DERWENT BANKS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + When under cloud of fear he lay + A shepherd clad in homely grey. + —WORDSWORTH. +</pre> + <p> + Simon Bunce came himself to conduct his new tenants to their abode. It was + a pleasant spot, a ravine, down which the clear stream rushed on its + course to mingle its waters with those of the ocean. The rocks and + brushwood veiled the approach to an open glade where stood a rude stone + hovel, rough enough, but possessing two rooms, a hearth and a chimney, and + thus superior to the hut that had been left on the moor. There were sheds + for the cattle around, and the grass was fresh and green so that the + sheep, the goat and the cow began eagerly feeding, as did the pony which + Hal and Piers were unloading. + </p> + <p> + On one side stretched the open moor rising into the purple hills, just + touched with snow. On the other was the wooded valley of the Derwent, + growing wider ever before it debouched amid rocks into the sea. The + goodwife at once discovered that there had been recent habitation, and + asked what had become of the former dwellers there. + </p> + <p> + ‘The woman fretted for company,’ said Simon, ‘and vowed she was in fear of + the Scots, so I even let her have her way and go down to the town.’ + </p> + <p> + The town in north country parlance only meant a small village, and Hob + asked where it lay. + </p> + <p> + It was near the junction of the two streams, where Simon lived himself in + a slightly fortified farmhouse, just high up enough to be fairly safe from + flood tides. He did not advise his newly arrived tenants to be much seen + at this place, where there were people who might talk. They were almost + able to provide for their daily needs themselves, excepting for meal and + for ale, and he would himself see to this being supplied from a more + distant farm on the coast, which Hob and Piers might visit from time to + time with the pony. + </p> + <p> + Goodwife Dolly inquired whether they might safely go to church, from which + she had been debarred all the time they had been on the move. ‘So ill for + both us and the lad,’ she said. + </p> + <p> + Simon looked doubtful. ‘If thou canst not save thy soul without,’ he said, + ‘thou mightst go on some feast day, when there is such a concourse of folk + that thou mightst not be noticed, and come away at once without halting + for idle clavers, as they call them here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s what the women folk are keen for with their church-going,’ said + Hob with a grin. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, husband, thou knowst,’ said Dolly, injured, though she was more than + aware he spoke with intent to tease her. ‘Have I not lived all this while + with none to speak to save thee and the blessed lads, and never murmured.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Though thy tongue be sore for want of speech!’ laughed Hob, ‘thou beest a + good wife, Dolly, and maybe thy faithfulness will tell as much in the + saving of thy soul as going to church.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, but,’ said Hal with eagerness, ‘is there not a priest?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The priest comes of a White Rose house—I trust not him. Ay, + goodwife, beware of showing thyself to him. I give him my dues, that he + may have no occasion against me or Sir Lancelot, but I would not have him + pry into knowledge that concerns him not.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Did not Sir Lancelot say somewhat of a scholarly hermit who might learn + me in what I ought to know?’ asked the boy. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never you fear, sir! Here are Hob Halstead and I, able to train any young + noble in what behoves him most to know.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yea, in arms and sports. They must be learnt I know, but a noble needs + booklore too,’ said the boy. ‘Cannot this same hermit help me? Sir + Lancelot—’ + </p> + <p> + Simon Bunce interrupted sharply. ‘Sir Lancelot knows nought of the hermit! + He is—he is—a holy man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A priest,’ broke in Dolly, ‘a priest!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No such thing, dame, no clerk at all, I tell thee. And ye lads had best + not molest him! He is for ever busy with his prayers, and wants none near + him.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal was disappointed, for his mind was far less set on the exercises of a + young knight than on the desire to acquire knowledge, that study which + seemed to be thrown away on the unwilling ears of Anne St. John. + </p> + <p> + Hob had been awakened by contact with his lady and her husband, as well as + with the old comrade, Simon Bunce, to perceive that if there were any + chance of the young Lord Clifford’s recovering his true position he must + not be allowed to lounge and slouch about like Piers, and he was + continually calling him to order, making him sit and stand upright, as he + had seen the young pages forced to do at the castle, learn how to handle a + sword, and use the long stick which was the substitute for a lance, and to + mount and sit on the old pony as a knight should do, till poor Hal had no + peace, and was glad to get away upon the moor with Piers and the sheep, + where there was no one to criticise him, or predict that nothing would + ever make him do honour to his name if he were proved ten times a baron. + </p> + <p> + It was still worse when Bunce came over, and brought a taller horse, and + such real weapons as he deemed that the young lord might be taught to use, + and there were doleful auguries and sharp reproofs, designed in comically + respectful phrases, till he was almost beside himself with being thus + tormented, and ready to wish never to hear of being a baron. + </p> + <p> + His relief was to wander away upon the moors, watch the lights and shadows + on the wondrous mountains, or dream on the banks of the river, by which he + could make his way to the seashore, a place of endless wonder and + contemplation, as he marvelled why the waters flowed in and retreated + again, watched the white crests, and the glassy rolls of the waves, felt + his mind and aspiration stretched as by something illimitable, even as + when he looked up to the sky, and saw star beyond star, differing from one + another in brightness. There were those white birds too, differing from + all the night-jars and plovers he had seen on the moor, floating now over + the waves, now up aloft and away, as if they were soaring into the very + skies. Oh, would that he could follow them, and rise with them to know + what were those great grey or white clouds, and what was above or below in + those blue vastnesses! And whence came all those strange things that the + water spread at his feet the long, brown, wet streamers, or the delicate + red tracery that could be seen in the clear pools, where were sometimes + those lumps like raw flesh when closed, but which opened into flowers? Or + the things like the snails on the heath, yet not snails, and all the + strange creatures that hopped and danced in the water? + </p> + <p> + Why would no one explain such things to him? Nay, what a pity everyone + treated it as mere childish folly in him to be thus interested! They did + not quite dare to beat him for it—that was one use of being a baron. + Indeed, one day when Simon Bunce struck him sharply and hard over the + shoulders for dragging home a great piece of sea-weed with numerous + curious creatures upon it, Goodwife Dolly rushed out and made such an + outcry that the esquire was fain to excuse himself by declaring that it + was time that my lord should know how to bide a buffet, and answer it. He + was ready and glad to meet the stroke in return! ‘Come on, sir!’ + </p> + <p> + And Hob put a stout headless lance in the boy’s hand, while Simon stood up + straight before him. Hob adjusted the weapon in his inert hand, and told + him how and where to strike. But ‘It is not in sooth. I don’t want to hurt + Master Simon,’ said the child, as they laughed, and yet with displeasure + as his blow fell weak and uncertain. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it a mouse’s tail?’ cried Simon in derision. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, sir, try again,’ said Hob. ‘Strike as you did when the black bull + came down. Why cannot you do the like now, when you are tingling from + Bunce’s stroke?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! then I thought the bull would fall on Piers,’ said Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come on, think so now, sir. One blow to do my heart good, and show you + have the arm of your forebears.’ + </p> + <p> + Thus incited, with Hob calling out to him to take heart of grace, while + Simon made a feint of trying to beat Mother Dolly, Hal started forward and + dealt a blow sufficient to make Simon cry out, ‘Ha, well struck, sir, if + you had had a better grip of your lance! I even feel it through my buff + coat.’ + </p> + <p> + He spoke as though it had been a kiss; but oh! and alack! why were these + rough and dreary exercises all that these guardians—yea, and even + Sir Lancelot and his mother—thought worth his learning, when there + was so much more that awoke his delight and interest? Was it really + childish to heed these things? Yet even to his young, undeveloped brain it + seemed as if there must be mysteries in sky and sea, the unravelling of + which would make life more worth having than the giving and taking of + blows, which was all they heeded. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — THE HERMIT + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + No hermit e’er so welcome crost + A child’s lone path in woodland lost. + —KEBLE. +</pre> + <p> + Hal had wandered farther than his wont, rather hoping to be out of call if + Simon arrived to give him a lesson in chivalrous sports. He found himself + on the slope of one of the gorges down which smaller streams rushed in wet + weather to join the Derwent. There was a sound of tinkling water, and + leaning forward, Hal saw that a tiny thread of water dropped between the + ferns and the stones. Therewith a low, soft chant in a manly voice, + mingling with the drip of the water. + </p> + <p> + The words were strange to him&& + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Lucis Creator optime, + Lucem dierum proferens&& +</pre> + <p> + but they were very sweet, and in leaning forward to look between the rowan + branches and hear and see more, his foot slipped, and with Watch barking + round him, he rolled helplessly down the rock, and found himself before a + tall light-haired man, in a dark dress, who gave a hand to raise him, + asking kindly, ‘Art hurt, my child?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no, sir! Off, off, Watch!’ as the dog was about to resent anyone’s + touching his master. ‘Holy sir, thanks, great thanks,’ as a long fair hand + helped him to his feet, and brushed his soiled garment. + </p> + <p> + ‘Unhurt, I see,’ said that sweet voice. ‘Hast thou lost thy way? Good dog, + thou lovest thy master! Art thou astray?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, sir, thank you, I know my way home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thou art the boy who lives with the shepherd at Derwentside, on Bunce’s + ground?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, Hob Hogward’s herd boy,’ said Hal. ‘Oh, sir, are you the holy hermit + of the Derwent vale?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A hermit for the nonce I am,’ was the answer, with something of a smile + responsive to the eager face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, sir, if you be not too holy to look at me or speak to me! If you + would help me to some better knowledge—not only of sword and + single-stick!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Better knowledge, my child! Of thy God?’ said the hermit, a sweet look of + joy spreading over his face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Goodwife Dolly has told me of Him, and taught me my Pater and Credo, but + we have lived far off, and she has not been able to go to church for weeks + and years. But what I long after is to tell me what means all this—yonder + sea, and all the stars up above. And they will call me a simpleton for + marking such as these, and only want me to heed how to shoot an arrow, or + give a stroke hard enough to hurt another. Do such rude doings alone, fit + for a bull or a ram as meseems, go to the making of a knight, fair sir?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They go to the knight’s keeping of his own, for others whom he ought to + defend,’ said the hermit sadly; ‘I would have thee learn and practise + them. But for the rest, thou knowest, sure, who made the stars?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh yes! Nurse Dolly told me. She saw it all in a mystery play long long + ago—when a Hand came out, and put in the stars and sun and moon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Knowest thou whose Hand was figured there, my child?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Hand of God,’ said Hal, removing his cap. ‘They be sparks to show His + glory! But why do some move about among the others—one big one moves + from the Bull’s face one winter to half-way beyond it. And is the morning + star the evening one?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! thou shouldst know Ptolemy and the Almagest,’ said the hermit + smiling, ‘to understand the circuits of those wandering stars—Coeli + enarrant gloriam Dei.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That is Latin,’ said the boy, startled. ‘Are you a priest, sir?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, not I—I am not worthy,’ was the answer, ‘but in some things I + may aid thee, and I shall be blessed in so doing. Canst say thy prayers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes! nurse makes me say them when I lie down and when I get up—Credo + and Pater. She says the old parson used to teach them our own tongue for + them, but she has well-nigh forgot. Can you tell me, holy man?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That will I, with all my heart,’ responded the hermit, laying his long + delicate hand on Hal’s head. ‘Blessed be He who has sent thee to me!’ + </p> + <p> + The boy sat at the hermit’s feet, listening with the eagerness of one + whose soul and mind had alike been under starvation, and how time went + neither knew till there was a rustling and a step. Watch sprang up, but in + another moment Simon Bunce, cap in hand, stood before the hut, beginning + with ‘How now, sir?’ + </p> + <p> + The hermit raised his hand, as if to make a sign, saying, ‘Thou seest I + have a guest, good friend.’ + </p> + <p> + Bunce started back with ‘Oh! the young Lord! Sworn to silence, I trust! I + bade him not meddle with you, sir.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was against his will, I trow,’ said the hermit. ‘He fell over the rock + by the waterfall, but since he is here, I will answer for him that he does + no hurt by word or deed!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never, holy sir!’ eagerly exclaimed Hal. ‘Hob Hogward knows that I can + keep my mouth shut. And may I come again?’ + </p> + <p> + Simon was shaking his head, but the hermit took on him to say, ‘Gladly + will I welcome thee, my fair child, whensoever thou canst find thy way to + the weary old anchoret! Go thy way now! Or hast thou lost it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, sir; I ken the woodland and can soon be at home,’ replied Hal; then, + putting a knee to the ground, ‘May I have your blessing, holy man?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack, I told thee I am no priest,’ said the hermit; ‘but for such as I + am, I bless thee with all my soul, thou fatherless lad,’ and he laid his + hand on the young lad’s wondering brow, then bade him begone, since Simon + and himself had much to say to one another. + </p> + <p> + Hal summoned Watch, and turned to a path through the wood, leading towards + the coast, wondering as he walked how the hermit seemed to know him—him + whose presence had been so sedulously concealed. Could it be that so very + holy a man had something of the spirit of prophecy? + </p> + <p> + He kept his promise of silence, and indeed his guardians were so much + accustomed to his long wanderings that he encountered no questions, only + one of Hob’s growls that he should always steal away whenever there was a + chance of Master Bunce’s coming to try to make a man of him. + </p> + <p> + However, Bunce himself arrived shortly after, and informed Hob that since + young folks always pried where they were least wanted, and my lord had + stumbled incontinently on the anchoret’s den, it was the holy man’s will + that he might come there whenever he chose. A pity and shame it was, but + it would make him more than ever a mere priestling, ever hankering after + books and trash! + </p> + <p> + ‘Were it not better to ask my lady and Sir Lancelot if they would have it + so? I could walk over to Threlkeld!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, no, no, on your life not,’ exclaimed Simon, striking his staff on the + ground in his vehemence. ‘Never a word to the Threlkeld or any of his kin! + Let well alone! I only wish the lad had never gone a-roaming there! But + holy men must not be gainsaid, even if it does make a poor craven scholar + out of his father’s son.’ + </p> + <p> + And thus began a time of great contentment to the Lord Clifford. There + were few days on which he did not visit the hermitage. It was a small log + hut, but raised with some care, and made weatherproof with moss and clay + in the crevices, and there was an inner apartment, with a little oil lamp + burning before a rough wooden cross, where Hal, if the hermit were not + outside, was certain to find him saying his prayers. Food was supplied by + Simon himself, and, since Hal’s admission, was often carried by him, and + the hermit seemed to spend his time either in prayer or in a gentle dreamy + state of meditation, though he always lighted up into animation at the + arrival of the boy whom he had made his friend. Hal had thought him old at + first, on the presumption that all hermits must be aged, nor was it likely + that age should be estimated by one living such a life, but the light + hair, untouched with grey, the smooth cheeks and the graceful figure did + not belong to more than a year or two above forty. And he had no air of + ill health, yet this calm solitary residence in the wooded valley seemed + to be infinite rest to him. + </p> + <p> + Hal had no knowledge nor experience to make him wonder, and accepted the + great quiet and calm of the hermit as the token of his extreme holiness + and power of meditation. He himself was always made welcome with Watch by + his side, and encouraged to talk and ask questions, which the hermit + answered with what seemed to the boy the utmost wisdom, but older heads + would have seen not to be that of a clever man, but of one who had been + fairly educated for the time, had had experience of courts and camps, and + referred all the inquiries and wonderments which were far beyond him + direct to Almighty Power. + </p> + <p> + The mind of the boy advanced much in this intercourse with the first + cultivated person he had encountered, and who made a point of actually + teaching and explaining to him all those mysteries of religion which poor + old Dolly only blindly accepted and imparted as blindly to her nursling. + Of actual instruction, nothing was attempted. A little portuary, or + abbreviated manual of the service, was all that the hermit possessed, + treasured with his small crucifix in his bosom, and of course it was in + Latin. The Hours of the Church he knew by heart, and never failed to + observe them, training his young pupil in the repetition and English + meaning of such as occurred during his visits. He also told much of the + history of the world, as he knew it, and of the Church and the saints, to + the eager mind that absorbed everything and reflected on it, coming with + fresh questions that would have been too deep and perplexing for his + friend if he had not always determined everything with ‘Such is the will + of God.’ + </p> + <p> + Somewhat to the surprise of Simon Bunce and Hob Hogward, Hal improved + greatly, not only in speech but in bearing; he showed no such dislike or + backwardness in chivalrous exercises as previously; and when once Sir + Lancelot Threlkeld came over to see him, he was absolutely congratulated + on looking so much more like a young knight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay,’ said Bunce, taking all the merit to himself, ‘there’s nought like + having an old squire trained in the wars in France to show a stripling how + to hold a lance.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal had been too well tutored to utter a word of him to whom his + improvement was really due, not by actual training, but partly by + unconscious example in dignified grace and courtesy of demeanour, and + partly by the rather sad assurances that it was well that a man born to + his station, if he ever regained it, should be able to defend himself and + others, and not be a helpless burthen on their hands. Tales of the Seven + Champions of Christendom and of King Arthur and his Knights likewise had + their share in the moulding of the youthful Lord Clifford. + </p> + <p> + His great desire was to learn to read, but it was not encouraged by the + hermit, nor was there any book available save the portuary, crookedly and + contractedly written on vellum, so as to be illegible to anyone unfamiliar + with writing, with Latin, or the service. However, the anchoret yielded to + his importunity so far as to let him learn the alphabet, traced on the + door in charcoal, and identify the more sacred words in the book—which, + indeed, were all in gold, red and blue. + </p> + <p> + He did not advance more than this, for his teacher was apt to go off in a + musing dream of meditation, repeating over and over in low sweet tones the + holy phrases, and not always rousing himself when his pupil made a remark + or asked a question. Yet he was always concerned at his own inattention + when awakened, and would apologise in a tone of humility that always made + Hal feel grieved and ashamed of having been importunate. For there was a + dignity and gentleness about the hermit that always made the boy feel the + contrast with his own roughness and uncouthness, and reverence him as + something from a holier world. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nurse, I do think he is a saint,’ one day said Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, nay, my laddie, saints don’t come down from heaven in these days of + evil.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would thou could see him when one comes upon him at his prayers. His + face is like the angel at the cross I saw so long ago in the castle + chapel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dost thou remember that chapel? Thou wert a babe when we quitted it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I had well nigh forgotten it, but the good hermit’s face brought all back + again, and the voice of the father when he said the Service.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That thou shouldst mind so long! This hermit is no priest, thou sayst?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, he said he was not worthy; but sure all saints were not priests, + nurse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, it is easy to be more worthy than the Jack Priests I have known. + Though I would they would let me go to church. But look thee here, Hal, if + he be such a saint as thou sayst, maybe thou couldst get him to bestow a + blessing on poor Piers, and give him his hearing and voice.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal was sure that his own special saint was holy enough for anything, and + accordingly asked permission of him to bring his silent companion for + blessing and healing. + </p> + <p> + The mild blue eye lighted for a moment. ‘Is the poor child then afflicted + with the King’s Evil?’ the hermit asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, he is sound enough in skin and limb. It is that he can neither hear + nor speak, and if you, holy sir, would lay thine hand on him, and sign him + with the rood, and pray, mayhap your holiness—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Peace, peace,’ cried the hermit impetuously, lifting up his hand. ‘Dost + not know that I am a sinner like unto the rest—nay, a greater + sinner, in that a burthen was laid on me that I had not the soul to rise + to, so that the sin and wickedness of thousands have been caused by my + craven faint heart for well nigh two score years? O miserere Domine.’ + </p> + <p> + He threw himself on the ground with clasped hands, and Hal, standing by in + awestruck amazement, heard no more save sobs, mingled with the + supplications of the fifty-first Psalm. + </p> + <p> + He was obliged at last to go away without having been able to recall the + attention of his friend from his agony of prayer. With the reticence that + had grown upon him, he did not mention at home the full effect of his + request, but when he thought it over he was all the more convinced that + his friend was a great saint. Had he not always heard that saints believed + themselves great sinners, and went through many penances? And why did he + speak as if he could have cured the King’s Evil? He asked Dolly what it + was, and she replied that it was the sickness that only the King’s touch + could heal. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — HENRY OF WINDSOR + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My crown is in my heart, not on my head; + Not deck’d with diamonds, and Indian stones, + Nor to be seen. My crown is call’d Content. + —SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Summer had faded, and an early frost had tinted the fern-leaves with gold + here and there, and made the hermit wrap himself close in a cloak lined + with thick brown fur. + </p> + <p> + Simon, who was accustomed very respectfully to take the command of him, + insisted that he should have a fire always burning on a rock close to his + door, and that Piers, if not Hal, should always take care that it never + went out, smothering it with peat, as every shepherd boy knew how to do, + so as to keep it alight, or, in case of need, to conceal it with turf. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon, as Hal lay on the grass, whiling away the time by + alternately playing with Watch and trying to unravel the mysteries of a + flower of golden-rod, until the hermit should have finished his prayers + and be ready to attend to him, Piers came through the wood, evidently sent + on a message, and made him understand that he was immediately wanted at + home. + </p> + <p> + Hal turned to take leave of his host, but the hermit’s eyes were raised in + such rapt contemplation as to see nought, and, indeed, it might be matter + of doubt whether he had ever perceived the presence of his visitor. + </p> + <p> + Hal directed Piers to arrange the fire, and hurried away, becoming + conscious as he came in sight of the cottage that there were horses + standing before it, and guessing at once that it must be a visit from Sir + Lancelot Threlkeld. + </p> + <p> + It was Simon Bunce, however, who, with demonstrations of looking for him, + came out to meet him as he emerged from the brushwood, and said in a gruff + whisper, clutching his shoulder hard, ‘Not a word to give a clue! Mum! + More than your life hangs on it.’ + </p> + <p> + No more could pass, to explain the clue intended, whether to the presence + of the young Lord Clifford himself, which was his first thought, or to the + inhabitant of the hermitage. For Sir Lancelot’s cheerful voice was + exclaiming, ‘Here he is, my lady! Here’s your son! How now, my young lord? + Thou hast learnt to hold up thy head! Ay, and to bow in better sort,’ as, + bending with due grace, Hal paused for a second ere hurrying forward to + kneel before his mother, who raised him in her arms and kissed him with + fervent affection. ‘My son! mine own dear boy, how art thou grown! Thou + hast well nigh a knightly bearing!’ she exclaimed. ‘Master Bunce hath done + well by thee.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good blood will out, my lady,’ quoth Simon, well pleased at her praise. + </p> + <p> + ‘He hath had no training but thine?’ said Sir Lancelot, looking full at + Simon. + </p> + <p> + ‘None, Sir Knight, unless it be honest Halstead’s here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Methought I heard somewhat of the hermit in the glen,’ put in the lady. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is a saint!’ declared two or three voices, as if this precluded his + being anything more. + </p> + <p> + ‘A saint,’ repeated the lady. ‘Anchorets are always saints. What doth he?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Prayeth,’ answered Simon. ‘Never doth a man come in but he is at his + prayers. ‘Tis always one hour or another!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay?’ said Sir Lancelot, interrogatively. ‘Sayest thou so? Is he an old + man?’ + </p> + <p> + Simon put in his word before Hal could speak: ‘Men get so knocked about in + these wars that there’s no guessing their age. I myself should deem that + the poor rogue had had some clouts on the head that dazed him and made him + fit for nought save saying his prayers.’ + </p> + <p> + Here Sir Lancelot beckoned Simon aside, and walked him away, so as to + leave the mother and son alone together. + </p> + <p> + Lady Threlkeld questioned closely as to the colour of the eyes and hair, + and the general appearance of the hermit, and Hal replied, without + suspicion, that the eyes were blue, the hair, he thought, of a light + colour, the frame tall and slight, graceful though stooping; he had + thought at first that the hermit must be old, very old, but had since come + to a different conclusion. His dress was a plain brown gown like a + countryman’s. There was nobody like him, no one whom Hal so loved and + venerated, and he could not help, as he stood by his mother, pouring out + to her all his feeling for the hermit, and the wise patient words that now + and then dropped from him, such as ‘Patience is the armour and conquest of + the godly;’ or, ‘Shall a man complain for the punishment of his sins?’ + ‘Yet,’ said Hal, ‘what sins could the anchoret have? Never did I know that + a man could be so holy here on earth. I deemed that was only for the + saints in heaven.’ + </p> + <p> + The lady kissed the boy and said, ‘I trow thou hast enjoyed a great + honour, my child.’ + </p> + <p> + But she did not say what it was, and when her husband summoned her, she + joined him to repair to Penrith, where they were keeping an autumn + retirement at a monastery, and had contrived to leave their escort and + make this expedition on their way. + </p> + <p> + Simon examined Hal closely on what he had said to his mother, sighed + heavily, and chided him for prating when he had been warned against it, + but that was what came of dealing with children and womenfolk. + </p> + <p> + ‘What can be the hurt?’ asked Hal. ‘Sir Lancelot knows well who I am! No + lack of prudence in him would put men on my track.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hear him!’ cried Simon; ‘he thinks there is no nobler quarry in the woods + than his lordship!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The hermit! Oh, Simon, who is he?’ + </p> + <p> + But Simon began to shout for Hob Hogward, and would not hear any further + questions before he rode away, as far as Hal could see, in the opposite + direction to the hermitage. But when he repaired thither the next day he + was startled by hearing voices and the stamp of horses, and as he + reconnoitred through the trees he saw half a dozen rough-looking men, with + bows and arrows, buff coats, and steel-guarded caps—outlaws and + robbers as he believed. + </p> + <p> + His first thought was that they meant harm to the gentle hermit, and his + impulse was to start forward to his protection or assistance, but as he + sprang into sight one of the strangers cried out: ‘How now! Here’s a + shepherd thrusting himself in. Back, lad, or ‘twill be the worse for you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The hermit! the hermit! Do not meddle with him! He’s a saint,’ shouted + Hal. + </p> + <p> + But even as he spoke he became aware of Simon, who called out: ‘Hold, sir; + back, Giles; this is one well nigh in as much need of hiding as him + yonder. Well come, since you be come, my lord, for we cannot get <i>him</i> + there away without a message to you, and ‘tis well he should be off ere + the sleuth-hounds can get on the scent.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What! Where! Who?’ demanded the bewildered boy, breaking off, as at that + moment his friend appeared at the door of the hovel, no longer in the + brown anchoret’s gown but in riding gear, partially defended by slight + armour, and with a cap on his head, which made him look much younger than + he had before done. + </p> + <p> + ‘Child, art thou there? It is well; I could scarce have gone without + bidding thee farewell,’ he said in his sweet voice; ‘thou, the dear + companion of my loneliness.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘O sir, sir, and are you going away?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yea, so they will have it! These good fellows are come to guard me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! may I not go with thee?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, my fair son. Thou art beneath thy mother’s wing, while I am like one + who was hunted as a partridge on the mountains.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Whither, oh whither?’ gasped Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘That I know not! It is in the breasts of these good men, who are charged + by my brave wife to have me in their care.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! sir, sir, what shall I do without you? You that have helped me, and + taught me, and opened mine eyes to all I need to know.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush, hush; it is a better master than I could ever be that thou needest. + But,’ as tokens of impatience manifested themselves among the rude escort, + ‘take thou this,’ giving him the little service-book, as he knelt to + receive it, scarce knowing why. ‘One day thou wilt be able to read it. + Poor child! whose lot it is to be fatherless and landless for me and mine, + I would I could do more for thee.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! you have done all,’ sobbed Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, now, but this be our covenant, my boy! If thou, and if mine own son + both come to your own, thou wilt be a true and loyal man to him, even as + thy father was to me, and may God Almighty make it go better with you + both.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will, I will! I swear by all that is holy!’ gasped Hal Clifford, with a + flash of perception, as he knelt. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, my liege, we have far to go ere night. No time for more parting + words and sighs.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal scarcely knew more except that the hands were laid on his head, and + the voice he had learnt to love so well said: ‘The blessing of God the + Father be upon thee, thou fatherless boy, and may He reward thee sevenfold + for what thy father was, who died for his faithfulness to me, a sinner! + Fare thee well, my boy.’ + </p> + <p> + As the hand that Hal was fervently kissing was withdrawn from him he sank + upon his face, weeping as one heartbroken. He scarce heard the sounds of + mounting and the trampling of feet, and when he raised his head he was + alone, the woods and rocks were forsaken. + </p> + <p> + He sprang up and ran along at his utmost speed on the trampled path, but + when he emerged from it he could only see a dark party, containing a + horseman or two, so far on the way that it was hopeless to overtake them. + </p> + <p> + He turned back slowly to the deserted hut, and again threw himself on the + ground, weeping bitterly. He knew now that his friend and master had been + none other than the fugitive King, Henry of Windsor. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Not in proud pomp nor courtly state; + Him his own thoughts did elevate, + Most happy in the shy recess. + —WORDSWORTH. +</pre> + <p> + The departure of King Henry was the closing of the whole intellectual and + religious world that had been opened to the young Lord Clifford. To the + men of his own court, practical men of the world, there were times when + poor Henry seemed almost imbecile, and no doubt his attack of melancholy + insanity, the saddest of his ancestral inheritances, had shattered his + powers of decision and action; but he was one who ‘saw far on holy + ground,’ and he was a well-read man in human learning, besides having the + ordinary experience of having lived in the outer world, so that in every + way his companionship was delightful to a thoughtful boy, wakening to the + instincts of his race. + </p> + <p> + To think of being left to the society of the sheep, of dumb Piers and his + peasant parents was dreariness in the extreme to one who had begun to know + something like conversation, and to have his countless questions answered, + or at any rate attended to. Add to this, he had a deep personal love and + reverence for his saint, long before the knowing him as his persecuted + King, and thus his sorrow might well be profound, as well as rendered more + acute by the terror lest his even unconscious description to his mother + might have been treason! + </p> + <p> + He wept till he could weep no longer, and lay on the ground in his despair + till darkness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled him up, indicating + by gestures and uncouth sounds that he must go home. Goodwife Dolly was + anxiously looking out for him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Laddie, there thou beest at last! I had begun to fear me whether the + robber gang had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he saw Master Simon with + them. Have they mishandled thee, mine own lad nurse’s darling? Thou + lookest quite distraught.’ + </p> + <p> + All Hal’s answer was to hide his head in her lap and weep like a babe, + though she could, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from him but that + his hermit was gone. No, no, the outlaws had not hurt him, but they had + taken him away, and he would never come back. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay, thou didst love him and he was a holy man, no doubt, but one of + these days thou shalt have a true knight, and that is better for a young + baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven than for earth! Come now, + stand up and eat thy supper. Don’t let Hob come in and find thee crying + like a swaddled babe.’ + </p> + <p> + With which worldly consolations and exhortations Goodwife Dolly brought + him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he could not swallow + much, and soon put it aside and sought his bed. + </p> + <p> + It was not till late the next day that Simon Bunce was seen riding his + rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to him at once, with the breathless + inquiry, ‘Where is he?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In safe hands! Never you fear, sir! But best know nought.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘O Simon, was I—? Did I do him any scathe?—I—I never + knew—I only told my lady mother it was a saint.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay, lad, more’s the pity that he is more saint than king! If my lady + guessed aught, she would be loyal as became your father’s wife, and + methinks she would not press you hard for fear she should be forced to be + aware of the truth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But Sir Lancelot?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As far as I can gather,’ explained Simon, ‘Sir Lancelot is one that hath + kept well with both sides, and so is able to be a protector. But down came + orders from York and his crew that King Harry is reported to be lurking in + some of these moors, and the Countess Clifford being his wife, he fell + under suspicion of harbouring him. Nay, there was some perilous talk in + his own household, so that, as I understand the matter, he saw the need of + being able to show that he knew nothing; or, if he found that the King was + living within these lands, of sending him a warning ere avowing that he + had been there. So I read what was said to me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He knew nothing from me! Neither he nor my lady mother,’ eagerly said + Hal. ‘When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short when I described the + hermit too closely, lest no doubt she should guess who he was.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Belike! It would be like my lady, who is a loyal Lancastrian at heart, + though much bent on not offending her husband lest his protection should + be withdrawn from you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Better—O, a thousand times better!—he gave me up than the + King!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush! What good would that do? A boy like you? Unless they took you in + hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands if you would swear + allegiance to King Edward, as he calls himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never, though I were cut into quarters!’ averred Hal, with a fierce + gesture, clasping his staff. ‘But the King? Where and what have they done + with him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Best not to know, my lord,’ said Simon. ‘In sooth, I myself do not know + whither he is gone, only that he is with friends.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But who—what were they? They looked like outlaws!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So they were; many a good fellow is of Robin of Redesdale’s train. There + are scores of them haunting the fells and woods, all Red Rose men, keeping + a watch on the King,’ replied Simon. ‘We had made up our minds that he had + been long enough in one place, and that he must have taken shelter the + winter through, when I got notice of these notions of Sir Lancelot, and + forthwith sent word to them to have him away before worse came of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! why did you not let me go with him? I would have saved him, waited on + him, fought for him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Fine fighting—when there’s no getting you to handle a lance, except + as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you have been + better of late, little as your hermit seemed the man to teach you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He said it was right and became a man! Would I were with him! He, my true + King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simon. I, that am his + true and loving liegeman, should be with him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay! when you are a man to keep his head and your own.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I could wait on him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Would you have us bested to take care of two instead of one, and my lady, + moreover, in a pother about her son, and Sir Lancelot stirred to make a + hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in peace in the safe homestead + where you are sheltered, and learn to be a man, minding your exercises as + well as may be till the time shall come.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘When I shall be a man and a knight, and do deeds of derring-do in his + cause,’ cried Hal. + </p> + <p> + And the stimulus drove him on to continual calls to Hob, in Simon’s + default, to jousts with sword or spear, represented generally by staves; + and when these could not be had, he was making arrows and practising with + them, so as to become a terror to the wild ducks and other neighbours on + the wolds, the great geese and strange birds that came in from the sea in + the cold weather. When it was not possible to go far afield in the frosts + and snows, he conned King Henry’s portuary, trying to identify the written + words with those he knew by heart, and sometimes trying to trace the + shapes of the letters on the snow with a stick; visiting, too, the + mountains and looking into the limpid grey waters of the lakes, striving + hard to guess why, when the sea rose in tides, they were still. More than + ever, too, did the starry skies fill him with contemplation and wonder, as + he dwelt on the scraps alike of astronomy, astrology, and devotion which + he had gathered from his oracle in the hermitage, and longed more and more + for the time to return when he should again meet his teacher, his saint, + and his King. + </p> + <p> + Alas! that time was never to come. The outlawed partisans of the Red Rose + had secret communications which spread intelligence rapidly throughout the + country, and long before Sir Lancelot and his lady knew, and thus it was + that Simon Bunce learnt, through the outlaws, that poor King Henry had + been betrayed by treachery, and seized by John Talbot at Waddington Hall + in Lancashire. Deep were the curses that the outlaws uttered, and fierce + were the threats against the Talbot if ever he should venture himself on + the Cumbrian moors; and still hotter was their wrath, more bitter the + tears of the shepherd lord, when the further tidings were received that + the Earl of Warwick had brought the gentle, harmless prince, to whom he + had repeatedly sworn fealty, into London with his feet tied to the + stirrups of a sorry jade, and men crying before him, ‘Behold the traitor!’ + </p> + <p> + The very certainty that the meek and patient King would bear all with + rejoicing in the shame and reproach that led him in the steps of his + Master, only added to the misery of Hal as he heard the tale; and he lay + on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth with rage and longing to + take revenge on Warwick, Edward, Talbot—he knew not whom—and + grasping at the rocks as if they were the stones of the Tower which he + longed to tear down and liberate his beloved saint. + </p> + <p> + Nor, from that time, was there any slackness in acquiring or practising + all skill in chivalrous exercises. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — THE RED ROSE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + That Edward is escaped from your brother + And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy. + —SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Years passed on, and still Henry Clifford continued to be the shepherd. + Matters were still too unsettled, and there were too many Yorkists in the + north, keeping up the deadly hatred of the family against that of + Clifford, for it to be safe for him to show himself openly. He was a tall, + well-made, strong youth, and his stepfather spoke of his going to learn + war in Burgundy; but not only was his mother afraid to venture him there, + but he could not bear to leave England while there was a hope of working + in the cause of the captive King, though the Red Rose hung withered on the + branches. + </p> + <p> + Reports of misunderstandings between King Edward and the Earl of Warwick + came from time to time, and that Queen Margaret and her son were busy + beyond seas, which kept up hope; and in the meantime Hal grew in the + knowledge of all country lore, of herd and wood, and added to it all his + own earnest love of the out-of-door world, of sun, moon, and stars, sea + and hills, beast and bird. The hermit King, who had been a well-educated, + well-read man in his earlier days, had given him the framework of such + natural science as had come down to the fifteenth century, backed by the + deepest faith in scriptural descriptions; and these inferences and this + philosophy were enough to lead a far acuter and more able intellect, with + greater opportunities of observation, much further into the fields of the + mystery of nature than ever the King had gone. + </p> + <p> + He said nothing, for never had he met one who understood a word he said + apart from fortune telling, excepting the royal teacher after whom he + longed; but he watched, he observed, and he dreamt, and came to + conclusions that his King’s namesake cousin, Enrique of Portugal, the + discoverer, in his observatory at St. Vincent, might have profited by. + Brother Brian, a friar, for whose fidelity Simon Bunce’s outlaw could + absolutely answer, and who was no Friar Tuck, in spite of his rough life, + gave Dolly much comfort religiously, carried on some of the education for + which Hal longed, and tried to teach him astrology. Some of the yearnings + of his young soul were thus gratified, but they were the more extended as + he grew nearer manhood, and many a day he stood with eyes stretched over + the sea to the dim line of the horizon, with arms spread for a moment as + if he would join the flight of the sea-gulls floating far, far away, then + clasped over his breast in a sort of despair at being bound to one spot, + then pressed the tighter in the strong purpose of fighting for his + imprisoned King when the time should come. + </p> + <p> + For this he diligently practised with bow and arrow when alone, or only + with Piers, and learnt all the feats of arms that Simon Runce or Giles + Spearman could teach him. Spearman was evidently an accomplished knight or + esquire; he had fought in France as well as in the home wars, and knew all + the refinements of warfare in an age when the extreme weight of the armour + rendered training and skill doubly necessary. Spearman was evidently not + his real name, and it was evident that he had some knowledge of Hal’s real + rank, though he never hazarded mention of other name or title. The great + drawback was the want of horses. The little mountain ponies did not + adequately represent the warhorses trained to charge under an enormous + load, and the buff jerkins and steel breast-plates of the outlaws were + equally far from showing how to move under ‘mail and plates of Milan + steel.’ Nor would Sir Lancelot Threlkeld lend or give what was needful. + Indeed, he was more cautious than ever, and seemed really alarmed as well + as surprised to see how tall and manly his step-son was growing, and how + like his father. He would not hear of a visit to Threlkeld under any + disguise, though Lady Clifford was in failing health, nor would he do + anything to forward the young lord’s knightly training. In effect, he only + wanted to keep as quiet and unobserved as possible, for everything was in + a most unsettled and dangerous condition, and there was no knowing what + course was the safest for one by no means prepared to lose life or lands + in any cause. + </p> + <p> + The great Earl of Warwick, on whom the fate of England had hitherto + hinged, was reported to have never forgiven King Edward for his marriage + with Dame Elizabeth Grey, and to be meditating insurrection. Encouraged by + this there was a great rising in Yorkshire of the peasants under Robin of + Redesdale, and a message was brought to Giles Spearman and his followers + to join them, but he and Brother Brian demurred, and news soon came that + the Marquess of Montagu had defeated the rising and beheaded Redesdale. + </p> + <p> + Sir Lancelot congratulated his step-son on having been too late to take up + arms, and maintained that the only safe policy was to do nothing, a plan + which suited age much better than youth. + </p> + <p> + He still lived with Hob and Piers, and slept at the hut, but he went + further and further afield among the hills and mosses, often with no + companion save Watch, so that he might without interruption watch the + clear streams and wonder what filled their fountains, and why the sea was + never full, or stand on the sea-shore studying the tides, and trying to + construct a theory about them. King Henry was satisfied with ‘Hitherto + shalt thou come and no farther,’ but He who gave that decree must have + placed some cause or rule in nature thus to affect them. Could it be the + moon? The waves assuredly obeyed the changes of the moon, and Hal was + striving to keep a record in strokes marked by a stick on soft earth or + rows of pebbles, so as to establish a rule. ‘Aye, aye,’ quoth Hob. ‘Poor + fellow, he is not much wiser than the hermit. See how he plays with + pebbles and stones. You’ll make nought of him, fine grown lad as he is. + Why, he’ll sit dazed and moonstruck half a day, and all the night, staring + up at the stars as if he would count them!’ + </p> + <p> + So spoke the stout shepherd to Simon Bunce, pointing to the young man, who + lay at his length upon the grass calculating the proportions of the stones + that marked the relations of hours of the flood tide and those of the + height of the moon. Above and beyond was a sundial cut out in the turf, + from his own observations after the hints that the hermit and the friar + had given him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha now, my lord, I have rare news for you.’ + </p> + <p> + The unwonted title did not strike Hal’s unaccustomed ears, and he + continued moving his lips, ‘High noon, spring tide.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There, d’ye see?’ said Hob, ‘he heeds nothing. ‘That I and my goodwife + should have bred up a mooncalf! Here, Hal, don’t you know Simon? Hear his + tidings!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Tidings enow! King Henry is freed, King Edward is fled. My Lord of + Warwick has turned against him for good and all. King Henry is proclaimed + in all the market-places! I heard it with my own ears at Penrith!’ And + throwing up his cap into the air, while the example was followed by Hob, + with ‘God save King Henry, and you my Lord of Clifford.’ + </p> + <p> + The sound was echoed by a burst of voices, and out of the brake suddenly + stood the whole band of outlaws, headed by Giles Spearman, but Hal still + stood like one dazed. ‘King Harry, the hermit, free and on his throne,’ he + murmured, as one in a dream. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, all things be upset and reversed,’ said Spearman, with a hand on his + shoulder. ‘No herd boy now, but my Lord of Clifford.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Come to his kingdom,’ repeated Hal. ‘My own King Harry the hermit! I + would fain go and see him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So you shall, my brave youth, and carry him your homage and mine,’ said + Spearman. ‘He will know me for poor Giles Musgrave, who upheld his + standard in many a bloody field. We will off to Sir Lancelot at Threlkeld + now! Spite of his policy of holes and corners, he will not now refuse to + own you for what you are, aye, and fit you out as becomes a knight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘God grant he may!’ muttered Bunce, ‘without his hum and ha, and swaying + this way and that, till he never moves at all! Betwixt his caution, and + this lad’s moonstruck ways, you have a fair course before you, Sir Giles! + See, what’s the lad doing now?’ + </p> + <p> + The lad was putting into his pouch the larger white pebbles that had + represented tens in his calculation, and murmuring the numbers they stood + for. ‘He will understand,’ he said almost to himself, but he showed + himself ready to go with the party to Threlkeld, merely pausing at Hob’s + cottage to pick up a few needful equipments. In the skin of a rabbit, + carefully prepared, and next wrapped in a silken kerchief, and kept under + his chaff pillow, was the hermit’s portuary, which was carefully and + silently transferred by Hal to his own bosom. Sir Giles Musgrave objected + to Watch, in city or camp, and Hal was obliged to leave him to Goodwife + Dolly and to Piers. + </p> + <p> + With each it was a piteous parting, for Dolly had been as a mother to him + for almost all his boyhood, and had supplied the tenderness that his + mother’s fears and Sir Lancelot’s precautions had prevented his receiving + at Threlkeld. He was truly as a son to her, and she sobbed over him, + declaring that she never would see him again, even if he came to his own, + which she did not believe was possible, and who would see to his clean + shirts? + </p> + <p> + ‘Never fear, goodwife,’ said Giles Musgrave; ‘he shall be looked to as + mine own son.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And what’s that to a gentle lad that has always been tended as becomes + him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Heed not, mother! Be comforted! I must have gone to the wars, anyway. If + so be I thrive, I’ll send for thee to mine own castle, to reign there as I + remember of old. Here now! Comfort Piers as thou only canst do.’ + </p> + <p> + Piers, poor fellow, wept bitterly, only able to understand that something + had befallen his comrade of seven years, which would take him away from + field and moor. He clung to Hal, and both lads shed tears, till Hob + roughly snatched Piers away and threw him to his aunt, with threats that + drew indignant, though useless, interference from Hal, though Simon Bunce + was muttering, ‘As lief take one lad as the other!’ while Dolly’s angry + defence of her nursling’s wisdom broke the sadness of the parting. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — A PRUDENT RECEPTION + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts, + What may befall him to his harm and ours. + —SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Through the woods the party went to the fortified house of Threlkeld, + where the gateway was evidently prepared to resist any passing attack, by + stout gates and a little watch-tower. + </p> + <p> + Sir Giles blew a long blast on his bugle-horn, and had to repeat it twice + before a porter looked cautiously out at a wicket opening in the heavy + door, and demanded ‘Who comes?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Open, porter, open in the name of King Harry, to the Lords of Clifford + and of Peelholm.’ + </p> + <p> + The porter fell back, observing, ‘Sir, pardon, while I have speech with my + master, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.’ + </p> + <p> + Some delay and some sounds of conversation were heard, then, on a renewed + and impatient blast on Sir Giles’s horn, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld himself + came to the wicket, and his thin anxious voice might be heard demanding, + ‘What madness is this?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The madness is past, soundness is come,’ responded Sir Giles. ‘King Harry + is on his throne, the traitors are fled, and your own fair son comes forth + in his proper person to uphold the lawful sovereign; but he would fain + first see his lady mother, and take her blessing with him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And by his impatience destroy himself, after all the burthen of care and + peril he hath been to me all these years,’ lamented Sir Lancelot. ‘But + come in, fair lad. Open the gates, porter. I give you welcome, Lord + Musgrave of Peelholm. But who are these?’ he added, looking at the troop + of buff-coated archers in the rear. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are bold champions of the Red Rose, returned Sir Giles, ‘who have + lived with me in the wolds, and now are on the way to maintain our King’s + quarrel.‘’ + </p> + <p> + Sir Lancelot, however, would not hear of admitting the outlaws. Young + Clifford and the Lord of Peelholm should be welcome, or more truly he + could not help receiving them, but the archers must stay outside, their + entertainment in beef and ale being committed to Bunce and the chief + warder, while the two noblemen were conducted to the castle hall. For the + first time in his life Clifford was received in his mother’s home, and + accepted openly, as he knelt before her to ask her blessing. A fine, + active, handsome youth was he, with bright, keen eyes, close-curled black + locks and hardy complexion, telling of his out-of-door life, and a free + use of his limbs, and upright carriage, though still with more of the + grace of the free mountain than of the training of pagedom and squiredom. + </p> + <p> + Nor could he speak openly and freely to her, not knowing how much he might + say of his past intercourse with King Henry, and of her endeavour to + discover it; and he sat beside her, neither of them greatly at ease, at + the long table, which, by the array of silver cups, of glasses and the + tall salt cellar separating the nobility and their followers, recalled to + him dim recollections of the scenes of his youth. + </p> + <p> + He asked for his sister—he knew his little brother had died in the + Netherlands—and he heard that she had been in the Priory of St. + Helen’s, and was now in the household of my Lady of Hungerford, who had + promised to find a good match for her. There was but one son of the union + with the knight of Threlkeld, and him Hal had never seen; nor was he at + home, being a page in the household of the Earl of Westmoreland, according + to the prevailing fashion of the castles of the great feudal nobles + becoming schools of arms, courtesy and learning for the young gentlemen + around. Indeed, Lady Clifford surveyed her eldest son with a sigh that + such breeding was denied him, as she observed one or two little + deficiencies in what would be called his table manners—not very + important, but revealing that he had grown up in the byre instead of the + castle, where there was a very strict and punctilious code, which figured + in catechisms for the young. + </p> + <p> + She longed to keep him, and train him for his station, but in the first + place, Sir Lancelot still held that it could not safely be permitted, + since he had little confidence in the adherence of the House of Nevil to + the Red Rose; and moreover Hal himself utterly refused to remain concealed + in Cumberland instead of carrying his service to the King he loved. + </p> + <p> + In fact, when he heard the proposal of leaving him in the north, he stood + up, and, with far more energy than had been expected from him, said, ‘Go I + must, to my lawful King’s banner, and my father’s cause. To King Harry I + carry my homage and whatever my hand can do!’ + </p> + <p> + Such an expression of energy lighted his hitherto dreamy eyes, that all + beholders turned their glances on his face with a look of wonder. Sir + Lancelot again objected that he would be rushing to his ruin. + </p> + <p> + ‘Be it so,’ replied Hal. ‘It is my duty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The time seems to me to be come,’ added Musgrave, ‘that my young lord + should put himself forward, though it may be only in a losing cause. Not + so much for the sake of success, as to make himself a man and a noble.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what can he do?’ persisted Threlkeld; ‘he has none of the training of + a knight. How can you tilt in plate armour, you who have never bestridden + a charger? These are not the days of Du Guesclin, when a lad came in from + the byre and bore down all foes before him.’ + </p> + <p> + The objection was of force, for the defensive armour of the fifteenth + century had reached a pitch of cumbrousness that required long practice + for a man to be capable of moving under it. + </p> + <p> + ‘So please you, sir,’ said Hal, ‘I am not wholly unskilled. The good Sir + Giles and Simon Bunce have taught me enough to strike a blow with a good + will for a good cause.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With horse and arms as befits him,’ began Musgrave. + </p> + <p> + ‘I know not that a horse is here that could be depended on,’ began + Threlkeld. ‘Armour too requires to be fitted and proved.’ + </p> + <p> + He spoke in a hesitating voice that showed his unwillingness, and Hal + exclaimed, ‘My longbow is mine own, and so are my feet. Sir Giles, will + you own me as an archer in your troop, where I will strive not to disgrace + you or my name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bravely spoken, young lord,’ said Sir Giles heartily; ‘right willingly + will I be your godfather in chivalry, since you find not one nigher home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So may it best be,’ observed his mother, ‘since he is bent on going. Thus + his name and rank may be kept back till it be plain whether the enmity of + my Lords of Warwick and Montagu still remain against our poor house.’ + </p> + <p> + There was no desire on either side to object when the Lord Musgrave of + Peelholm decided on departing early on the morrow. Their host was + evidently not sorry to speed them on their way, and his reluctant + hospitality made them anxious to cumber him no longer than needful; and + his mind was relieved when it was decided that the heir of the De Vescis + and Cliffords should be known as Harry of Derwentdale. + </p> + <p> + Only, when all was preparation in the morning, and a hearty service had + been said in the chapel, the lady called her son aside, and looking up + into his dark eyes, said in a low voice, ‘Be not angered with my lord + husband’s prudence, my son. Remember it is only by caution that he has + saved thine head, or mine, or thy sister’s!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay, mother, I know,’ he said, more impatiently than perhaps he knew. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was by the same care that he preserved us all when Edgecotefield was + fought. Chafe not at him. Thou mayst be thankful even now, mayhap, to find + a shelter preserved, while that rogue and robber Nevil holds our lands.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am more like to have to protect thee, lady mother, and bring thee to + thy true home again!’ said Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Meantime, my child, take this purse and equip thyself at York or whenever + thou canst. Nay, thou needst not shrug and refuse! How like thy father the + gesture, though I would it were more gracious and seemly. But this is + mine, mine own, none of my husband’s, though he would be willing. It comes + from the De Vesci lands, and those will be thine after me, and thine if + thou winnest not back thy Clifford inheritance. And oh! my son, crave of + Sir Giles to teach thee how to demean thyself that they may not say thou + art but a churl.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust to be no churl in heart, if I be in manners,’ said Hal, looking + down on his small clinging mother. + </p> + <p> + ‘Only be cautious, my son. Remember that you are the last of the name, and + it is your part to bring it to honour.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which I shall scarce do by being cautious,’ he said, with something of a + smile. ‘That was not my father’s way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah me! You have his spirit in you, and how did it end?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My Lord of Clifford,’ said a voice from the court, ‘you are waited for!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And remember,’ cried his mother, with a last embrace, ‘there will be + safety here whenever thou shalt need it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With God’s grace, I am more like to protect you and your husband,’ said + the lad, bending for another kiss and hurrying away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — FELLOW TRAVELLERS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And sickerlie she was of great disport, + And full pleasant and amiable of port; + Of small hounds had she that she fed + With roasted flesh and milk and wastel bread. + —CHAUCER. +</pre> + <p> + Sir Giles Musgrave of Peelholm was an old campaigner, and when Hal came + out beyond the gate of the Threlkeld fortalice, he found him reviewing his + troop; a very disorderly collection, as Sir Lancelot pronounced with a + sneer, looking out on them, and strongly advising his step-son not to cast + in his lot with them, but to wait and see what would befall, and whether + the Nevils were in earnest in their desertion of the House of York. + </p> + <p> + Hal restrained himself with difficulty enough to take a courteous leave of + his mother’s husband, to whose prudence and forbearance he was really much + beholden; though, with his spirit newly raised and burning for his King, + it was hard to have patience with neutrality. + </p> + <p> + He found Sir Giles employed in examining his followers, and rigidly + sending home all not properly equipped with bow, sheaf of arrows, strong + knife or pike, buff coat, head-piece and stout shoes; also a wallet of + provisions for three days, or a certain amount of coin. He would have no + marauding on the way, and refused to take any mere lawless camp follower, + thus disposing of a good many disreputable-looking fellows who had flocked + in his wake. Sir Lancelot’s steward seconded him heartily by hunting back + his master’s retainers; and there remained only about five-and-twenty—mostly, + in fact, yeomen or their sons—men who had been in arms for Queen + Margaret and had never made their submission, but lived on unmolested in + the hills, really outlawed, but not coming in collision with the + authorities enough to have their condition inquired into. They had + sometimes attacked Yorkist parties, sometimes resisted Scottish raids, or + even made a foray in return, and they were well used to arms. These all + had full equipments, and some more coin in their pouches than they cared + to avow. Three or four of them brought an ox, calf or sheep, or a rough + pony loaded with provisions, and driven by a herd boy or a son eager to + see life and ‘the wars.’ Simon Bunce, well armed, was of this party. Hob + Hogward, though he had come to see what became of his young lord, was + pronounced too stiff and aged to join the band, which might now really be + called a troop, not a mere lawless crowd of rough lads. There were three + trained men-at-arms, the regular retainers of Sir Giles, who held a little + peel tower on the borders where nobody durst molest him, and these + marshalled the little band in fair order. + </p> + <p> + It was no season for roses, but a feather was also the cognisance of Henry + VI., and every one’s barret-cap mounted a feather, generally borrowed from + the goodwife’s poultry yard at home, but sometimes picked up on the moors, + and showing the barred black and brown patterns of the hawk’s or the owl’s + plumage. It was a heron’s feather that Hal assumed, on the counsel of Sir + Giles, who told him it was an old badge of the Cliffords, and it became + well his bright dark hair and brown face. + </p> + <p> + On they went, a new and wonderful march to Hal, who had only looked with + infant eyes on anything beyond the fells, and had very rarely been into a + little moorland church, or seen enough people together for a market day in + Penrith. Sir Giles directed their course along the sides of the hills till + he should gain further intelligence, and know how they would be received. + For the most part the people were well inclined to King Henry, though + unwilling to stir on his behalf in fear of Edward’s cruelty. + </p> + <p> + However, it was as they had come down from the hills intending to obtain + fresh provisions at one of the villages, and Hal was beginning to + recognise the moors he had known in earlier childhood, that they perceived + a party on the old Roman road before them, which the outlaws’ keen eyes at + once discovered to be somewhat of their own imputed trade. There seemed to + be a waggon upset, persons bound, and a buzz of men, like wasps around a + honeycomb preying on it. Something like women’s veiled forms could be + seen. ‘Ha! Mere robbery. This must not be. Upon them! Form! Charge!’ were + the brief commands of the leader, and the compact body ran at a rapid but + a regulated pace down the little slope that gave them an advantage of + ground with some concealment by a brake of gorse. ‘Halt! Pikes forward!’ + was the next order. The little band were already close upon the robbers, + in whom they began to recognise some of those whom Sir Giles had dismissed + as mere ruffians unequipped a few days before. It was with a yell of + indignation that the troop fell on them, Sir Giles with a sharp blow + severing the bridle of a horse that a man was leading, but there was a cry + back, ‘We are for King Harry! These be Yorkists!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay! nay!’ came back the voices of the overthrown. ‘Help! help! for King + Harry and Queen Margaret! These be rank thieves who have set on us! Holy + women are here!’ + </p> + <p> + These exclamations came broken and in utter confusion, mingled with cries + for mercy and asseverations on the part of the thieves, and fierce shouts + from Sir Giles’s men. All was hubbub, barking dogs, shouting men, and Hal + scarcely knew anything till he was aware of two or three shrouded nuns, as + it seemed, standing by their ponies, of merchantmen or carters trying to + quiet and harness frightened mules, of waggons overturned, of a general + confusion over which arose Lord Musgrave’s powerful authoritative voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit of Clumber! Why should I not hang you for thieving on yonder tree, + with your fellow thieves?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yorkists, sir! It was all in the good cause,’ responded a sullen voice, + as a grim red and scarred face was seen on a ruffian held by two of the + archers. + </p> + <p> + ‘No Yorkists we, sir!’ began a stout figure, coming forward from the + waggon. ‘We be peaceable merchants and this is a holy dame, the—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Prioress Selby of Greystone,’ interrupted one of the nuns, coming + forward with a hawk on her wrist. ‘Sir Giles of Musgrave, I am beholden to + you! I was on my way to take the young damsel of Bletso to her father, the + Lord St. John, with Earl Warwick in London. He sent us an escort, but they + being arrant cravens, as it seems, we thought it well to join company with + these same merchants, and thus we became a bait for the outlaws of the + Border.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lady, lady,’ burst from one of the prisoners, ‘I swear that we kenned not + holy dames to be of the company! Sir, my lord, we thought to serve the + cause of King Harry, and how any man is to guess which side is Earl + Warwick’s is past an honest man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘An honest man whose cause is his own pouch!’ returned Sir Giles. + ‘Miscreants all! But I trow we are scarce yet out of the land of misrule! + So if the Lady Prioress will say a word for such a sort of sorners, I’ll + e’en let you go on your way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have had a warning, the poor rogues, and that will suffice for this + time! Nay, now, fellows, let my wimple alone! You’ll not find another lord + to let you off so easy, nor another Prioress to stand your friend. Get + off, I say.’ + </p> + <p> + An archer enforced her words with a blow, and by some means, rough or + otherwise, a certain amount of order was restored, the ruffians slinking + off among the gorse bushes, their flight hastened by the pointing of pikes + and levelling of arrows at them. While the merchants, diving into their + packages, produced horns of ale which a younger man offered to their + defenders, the chief of the party, a portly fellow, interrupted certain + civilities between the Prioress and Sir Giles by praying them to partake + of a cup of malmsey, and adding an entreaty that they might be allowed to + join company with so brave an escort, explaining that he was a poor + merchant of London and the Hans towns who had been beguiled into an + expedition to Scotland to the young King James, who was said to have a + fair taste. He waved his hands as if his sufferings had been beyond + description. + </p> + <p> + ‘Went for wool and came back shorn!’ said the Prioress, laughing. ‘Well, + my Lord Musgrave, what say you to letting us join company?—as I see + your band is afoot it will be no great delay, and the more the safer as + well as the merrier! Here, let me present to you my young maid, the Lady + Anne of Bletso, whom I in person am about to deliver to her father.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And let me present privately to both ladies,’ said Sir Giles, ‘the young + squire Harry of Derwentdale, who hath been living as a shepherd in the + hills during the York rule.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha! my lord, methinks this may not be the first meeting between Lady Anne + and you, though she would not know who the herd boy was who found her, a + stray lambkin on the moor.’ + </p> + <p> + The young people looked at each other with eyes of recognition, and as Hal + made his best bow, he said, ‘Forsooth, lady, I did not know myself till + afterwards.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your shepherd and his wife gave me to understand that I should do hurt by + inquiring too much,’ said the young lady smiling, and holding out her + hand, which Hal did not know whether to kiss or to shake. ‘I hope the kind + old goodwife is well, who cosseted me so lovingly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She fares well, indeed, lady, only grieved at parting with me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There now,’ said the Prioress, ‘since we are quit of the robbers, + methinks we cannot do better than halt awhile for Master Lorimer’s folk to + mend the tackling of their gear, while we make our noonday meal and + provide for our further journey. Allow me to be your hostess for the + nonce, my lords.’ + </p> + <p> + And between the lady’s sumpter mules and the merchant’s stores a far more + sumptuous meal was produced than would have otherwise been the share of + the Lancastrian party. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. — THE JOURNEY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Twas sweet to see these holy maids, + Like birds escaped to greenwood shades, + —SCOTT. +</pre> + <p> + The Prioress Agnes Selby of Greystone was a person who would have made a + much fitter lady of a castle than head of a nunnery. She would have worked + for and with her lord, defended his lands for him, governed his house and + managed her sons with untiring zest and energy. But a vow of her parents + had consigned her to a monastic life at York, where she could only work + off her vigour by teasing the more devout and grave sisters, and when + honourably banished to the more remote Greystone, in field sports, and in + fortifying her convent against Scots or Lancastrians who, somewhat to her + disappointment, never did attack her. No complaint or scandal had ever + attached itself to her name, and she let Mother Scholastica manage the + nuns, and regulate the devotions, while Greystone was known as a place + where a thirsty warrior might be refreshed, where tales and ballads of + Border raids were welcome, and where good hawk or hound was not despised. + </p> + <p> + It had occurred to the Lord St. John of Bletso that the little daughter + whom he had left at York might be come to a marriageable age, and he had + listened to the proposal of one of the cousins of the house of Nevil for a + contract between her and his son, sending an escort northwards to fetch + her, properly accompanied. + </p> + <p> + She had been all these years at Greystone, and the Prioress immediately + decided that this would be an excellent opportunity of seeing the southern + world, and going on a round of pilgrimages which would make the expedition + highly decorous. The ever restless spirit within her rose in delight, and + the Sisterhood of York were ready to acquiesce, having faith in Mother + Agnes’ good sense to guide her and her pupil to his castle in Bedfordshire + by the help of Father Martin through any tangles of the White and Red + Roses that might await her, as well to her real principle for avoiding + actual evil, though she might startle monastic proprieties. + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt but that conversation, when she could have it, was as + great a joy to her as ever was galloping after a deer; and there she sat + with her beautiful hound by her side, and her hawk on a pole, exchanging + sentiments of speculation as to Warwick’s change of front with Sir Giles + Musgrave, Father Martin, and Master Ralph Lorimer, while discussing a + pasty certainly very superior to anything that had come out of the Penrith + stores. + </p> + <p> + Young Clifford and Lady Anne sat on the grass near, too shy for the + present to renew their acquaintance, but looking up at one another under + their eyelashes, and the first time their eyes met, the girl breaking into + a laugh, but it was not till towards the end of the refection that they + were startled into intercourse by a general growling and leaping up of the + great hound, and of the two big ungainly dogs chained to the waggon, as + wet, lean, bristling but ecstatic, Watch dashed in among them, and fell on + his master. + </p> + <p> + For four days (unless he was tied up at first) the good dog must have been + tracking him. ‘Off! off!’ cried the Prioress, holding back her deer-hound + by main strength. ‘Off, Florimond! he sets thee a pattern of faithfulness! + Be quiet and learn thy devoir!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘O sir, I cannot send him back!’ entreated Hal, also embracing and + caressing the shaggy neck. + </p> + <p> + ‘Send him back! Nay, indeed. As saith the Reverend Mother, it were well if + some earls and lords minded his example,’ said Sir Giles. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here! Watch, I mind thee well,’ added Anne. ‘Here’s a slice of pasty to + reward thee. Oh! thou art very hungry,’ as the big mouth bolted it whole. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nearly famished, poor rogue!’ said Hal, administering a bone. ‘How far + hast thou run, mine own lad! Art fain to come with thy master and see the + hermit?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thou must e’en go,’ growled Simon Bunce, ‘unless the lady’s dog make an + end of thee! ‘Tis ever the worthless that turn up.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would Florimond would show himself as true,’ said the Prioress. ‘Don’t + show thy teeth, sir! I can honour Watch, yet love thee.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis jealousy as upsets faith,’ said the merchant. ‘The hound is a + knightly beast with his proud head, but he brooks not to see a Woodville + creep in.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, or a Beaufort!’ suggested Sir Giles. + </p> + <p> + ‘No treason, Lord Musgrave!’ said the Prioress, laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, madam,’ responded Sir Giles, ‘what is treason?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Whatever is against him that has the best of it,’ observed Master + Lorimer. ‘Well that it is not the business of a poor dealer in horse-gear + and leather-work. He asks not which way his bridles are to turn! How now, + Tray and Blackchaps? Never growl and gird. You have no part in the fray!’ + </p> + <p> + For they were chained, and could only champ, bark and howl, while + Florimond and Watch turned one another over, and had to be pulled forcibly + back, by Hal on the one hand and on the other by the Mother Agnes, who + would let nobody touch Florimond except herself. After this, the two dogs + subsided into armed neutrality, and gradually became devoted friends. + </p> + <p> + The curiously composed cavalcade moved on their way southward. The + Prioress was mounted on the fine chestnut horse that Sir Giles had + rescued. She was attended by a nun, Sister Mabel, and a lay Sister, both + as hardy as herself, and riding sturdy mountain ponies; but her chaplain, + a thin delicate-looking man with a bad cough, only ventured upon a sturdy + ass; Anne St. John had a pretty little white palfrey and two men-at-arms. + There were two grooms, countrymen, who had run away on the onset of the + thieves, but came sneaking back again, to be soundly rated by the + Prioress, who threatened to send them home again or have them well + scourged, but finally laughed and forgave them. + </p> + <p> + The merchant, Master Lorimer—who dealt primarily in all sorts of + horse furniture, but added thereto leather-work for knights and + men-at-arms, and all that did not too closely touch the armourer’s trade—had + three sturdy attendants, having lost one in an attack by the Scottish + Borderers, and he had four huge Flemish horses, who sped along the better + for their loads having been lightened by sales in Edinburgh, where he had + hardly obtained skins enough to make up for the weight. His headquarters, + he said, were at Barnet, since tanning and leather-dressing, necessary to + his work, though a separate guild, literally stank in the nostrils of the + citizens of London. + </p> + <p> + To these were added Sir Giles Musgrave’s twenty archers, making a very + fair troop, wherewith to proceed, and the Prioress decided on not going to + York. She was not particularly anxious for an interview with the Abbess of + her Order, and it would have considerably lengthened the journey, which + both Musgrave and Lorimer were anxious to make as short as possible. They + preferred likewise to keep to the country, that was still chiefly open and + wild, with all its destiny in manufactories yet to come, though there were + occasionally such towns, villages and convents on the way where provisions + and lodging could be obtained. + </p> + <p> + Every fresh scene of civilisation was a new wonder to Hal Clifford, and + scarcely less so to Anne St. John, though her life in the moorland convent + had begun when she was not quite so young as he had been when taken to the + hills of Londesborough. He had only been two or three times in the church + at Threlkeld, which was simple and bare, and the full display of a + monastic church was an absolute amazement, making him kneel almost + breathless with awe, recollecting what the royal hermit had told him. He + was too illiterate to follow the service, but the music and the majestic + flow of the chants overwhelmed him, and he listened with hands clasped + over his face, not daring to raise his eyes to the dazzling gold of the + altar, lighted by innumerable wax tapers. + </p> + <p> + The Prioress was amused. ‘Art dazed, my friend? This is but a poor country + cell; we will show you something much finer when we get to Derby.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal drew a long breath. ‘Is that meant to be like the saints in Heaven?’ + he said. ‘Is that the way they sing there?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I should hope they pronounce their Latin better,’ responded the Prioress, + who, it may be feared, was rather a light-minded woman. At any rate there + was a chill upon Hal which prevented him from directing any of his remarks + or questions to her for the future. The chaplain told him something of + what he wanted to know, but he met with the most sympathy from the Lady + Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘Which, think you, is the fittest temple and worship?’ he said; as they + rode out together, after hearing an early morning service, gone through in + haste, and partaking of a hurried meal. The sun was rising over the hills + of Derbyshire, dyeing them of a red purple, standing out sharply against a + flaming sky, flecked here and there with rosy clouds, and fading into blue + that deepened as it rose higher. The elms and beeches that bordered the + monastic fields had begun to put on their autumn livery, and yellow leaves + here and there were like sparks caught from the golden light. + </p> + <p> + Hal drew off his cap as in homage to the glorious sight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, it is fine!’ said Anne, ‘it is like the sunrise upon our own moors, + when one breathes freely, and the clouds grow white instead of grey.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Hal, ‘I used to go out to the high ground and say the prayer + the hermit taught me—“Jam Lucis,” it began. He said it was about the + morning light.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know that “Jam Lucis,”’ said Anne; ‘the Sisters sing it at prime, and + Sister Scholastica makes us think how it means about light coming and our + being kept from ill,’ and she hummed the chant of the first verse. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think this blue sky and royal sun, and the moon and stars at night, are + God’s great hall of praise,’ said Hal, still keeping his cap off, as he + had done through Anne’s chant of praise. + </p> + <p> + ‘Verily it is! It is the temple of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and + earth, as the Credo says,’ replied Anne, ‘but, maybe, we come nearer still + to Him in God the Son when we are in church.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I do not know. The dark vaulted roof and the dimness seem to crush me + down,’ said the mountain lad, ‘though the singing lifts me sometimes, + though at others it comes like a wailing gust, all mournful and sad! If I + could only understand! My royal hermit would tell me when I can come to + him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you think, now he is a king again, he will be able to take heed to + you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know he cares for me,’ said Hal with confidence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah yea, but will the folk about him care to let him talk to you? I have + heard say that he was but a puppet in their hands. Yea, you are a great + lord, that is true, but will that great masterful Earl Warwick let you to + him, or say all these thoughts of his and yours are but fancies for + babes?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Simon Bunce did mutter such things, and that one of us was as great an + innocent as the other,’ said Hal, ‘but I trust my hermit’s love.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, you know you are going to someone you love, and who loves you,’ + sighed Anne, ‘but how will it be with me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Your father?’ suggested Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘My father! What knows he of me or I of him? I tell thee, Harry Clifford, + he left me at York when I was not eight years old, and I have never seen + him since. He gave a charge on his lands to a goldsmith at York to pay for + my up-bringing, and I verily believe thought no more of me than if I had + been a messan dog. He wedded a lady in Flanders and had a son or twain, + but I have never seen them nor my stepdame; and now Gilbert there, who + brought the letter to the Mother Prioress, says she is dead, and the + little heir, whose birth makes me nobody, is at a monastery school at + Ghent. But my Lord of Redgrave must needs make overtures to my father for + me, whether for his son or himself Gilbert cannot say. So my father sends + to bring me back for a betrothal. The good Prioress goes with me. She + saith that if it be the old Lord, who is a fierce old rogue with as ill a + name as Tiptoft himself, the butcher, she will make my Lord St. John know + the reason why! But what will he care?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It would be hard not to hear my Lady Prioress!’ said Hal, looking back at + the determined black figure, gesticulating as she talked to Sir Giles. + </p> + <p> + Anne laughed, half sadly, ‘So you think! But you have never seen the grim + faces at Bletso! They will say she is but a woman and a nun, and what are + her words to alliance with a friend of the Lord of Warwick? Ah! it is a + heartless hope, when I come to that castle!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, Anne, if my King gives me my place then&& + </p> + <p> + ‘Lady Anne! Lady Anne!’ called Sir Giles Musgrave, ‘the Mother Prioress + thinks it not safe for you to keep so much in the front. There might be + ill-doers in the thickets.’ + </p> + <p> + Anne perforce reined in, but Hal fed on the idea that had suddenly flashed + on him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. — BLETSO + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me. + —SHAKESPEARE, +</pre> + <p> + The cavalcade journeyed on not very quickly, as the riders accommodated + themselves to those on foot. They avoided the towns when they came into + the more inhabited country, the Prioress preferring the smaller hostels + for pilgrims and travellers, and, it may be suspected, monasteries to the + nunneries, where she said the ladies had nothing to talk about but wonder + at her journey, and advice to stay in shelter till after the winter + weather. Meantime it was a fine autumn still, and with bright colours on + the woods, where deer, hare, rabbit, or partridge tempted the hounds, not + to say their mistress, but she kept them well in leash, and her falcon + with hood and jesses, she being too well nurtured not to be well aware of + the strict laws of the chase, except when some good-natured monk gave her + leave and accompanied her—generally Augustinians, who were more of + country squires than ecclesiastics. Watch needed no leash—he kept + close to his master, except when occasionally tempted to a little amateur + shepherding, from which Hal could easily call him off. The great + stag-hounds evidently despised him, and the curs of the waggon hated him, + and snarled whenever he came near them, but the Prioress respected him, + and could well believe that the hermit King had loved him. ‘He had just + the virtues to suit the good King Harry,’ she said, ‘dutifulness and + harmlessness.’ + </p> + <p> + The Prioress was the life of the party, with her droll descriptions of the + ways of the nuns who received her, while the males of the party had to be + content with the hostel outside. Sir Giles and Master Lorimer, riding on + each side of her, might often be heard laughing with her. The young people + were much graver, especially as there were fewer and fewer days’ journeys + to Bletso, and Anne’s unknown future would begin with separation from all + she had ever known, unless the Mother Prioress should be able to remain + with her. + </p> + <p> + And to Harry Clifford the loss of her presence grew more and more to be + dreaded as each day’s companionship drew them nearer together in sympathy, + and he began to build fanciful hopes of the King’s influence upon the + plans of Lord St. John, unless the contract of betrothal had been actually + made, and therewith came a certain zest in looking to his probable dignity + such as he had never felt before. + </p> + <p> + The last day’s journey had come. The escort who had acted as guides were + in familiar fields and lanes, and one, the leader, rode up to Lady Anne + and pointed to the grey outline among the trees of her home, while he sent + the other to hurry forward and announce her. + </p> + <p> + Anne shivered a little, and Hal kept close to her. He had made the journey + on foot, because he had chosen to be reckoned among Musgrave’s archers + till he had received full knightly training; and, besides, he had more + freedom to attach himself to Anne’s bridle rein, and be at hand to help + through difficult passages. Now he came up close to her, and she held out + her hand. He pressed it warmly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You will not forget?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never, never! That red rose in the snow—I have the leaf in my + breviary. And Goodwife Dolly, tell her I’ll never forget how she cosseted + the wildered lamb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Mother Dolly, when shall I see her?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! you will be able to have her to share your state, and Watch too! I + take none with me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If we are all in King Harry’s cause, there will be hope of meeting, and + then if—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! I see a horseman coming! Is it my father?’ + </p> + <p> + It was a horseman who met them, taking off his cap of maintenance and + bowing low to the Prioress and the young lady, but it was the seneschal of + the castle, not the father whom Anne so dreaded, but an old gentleman, + Walter Wenlock, with whom there was a greeting as of an old friend. My + lord had gone with the Earl of Warwick to Queen Margaret in France, and + had sent a messenger with a letter to meet his daughter at York, and tell + her to go to the house of the Poor Clares in London instead of coming + home, ‘and there await him.’ + </p> + <p> + The route that had been taken by the party accounted for their not having + met the messenger and it was plain that they must go on to London. The + evening was beginning to draw in, and a night’s lodging was necessary. + Anne assumed a little dignity. + </p> + <p> + ‘My good friends who have guarded me, I hope you will do me the honour to + rest for the night in my father’s castle.’ + </p> + <p> + The seneschal bowed acquiescence, but the poor man was evidently sorely + perplexed by such an extensive invitation on the part of his young lady on + his peace establishment, though the Prioress did her best to assist Anne + to set him at ease. ‘Here is Sir Giles Musgrave, the Lord of Peelholm on + the Borders, a staunch friend of King Harry, with a band of stout archers, + and this gentleman from the north is with him.’ (It had been agreed that + the Clifford name should not be mentioned till the way had been felt with + Warwick, one of whose cousins had been granted the lands of the Black Lord + Clifford.) + </p> + <p> + The seneschal bent before Musgrave courteously, saying he was happy to + welcome so good and brave a knight, and he prayed his followers to excuse + if their fare was scant and homely, being that he was unprovided for the + honour. + </p> + <p> + ‘No matter, sir,’ returned Musgrave; ‘we are used to soldiers’ fare.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And,’ proceeded Anne, ‘Master Lorimer must lie here, and his wains.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Master Lorimer,’ said the Prioress, ‘with whom belike—Lorimer of + Barnet—Sir Seneschal has had dealings,’ and she put forward the + merchant, who had been falling back to his waggon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yea,’ said Walter Wenlock frankly, holding out his hand. ‘We have bought + your wares and made proof of them, good sir. I am glad to welcome you, + though I never saw you to the face before.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Great thanks, good seneschal. All that I would ask would be licence for + my wains to stand in your court to-night while my fellows and I sup and + lodge at the hostel.’ + </p> + <p> + The hospitality of Bletso could not suffer this, and both Anne and the + seneschal were urgent that all should remain, Wenlock reflecting that if + the store for winter consumption were devoured, even to the hog waiting to + be killed, he could obtain fresh supplies from the tenants, so he ushered + all into the court, and summoned steward, cooks, and scullions to do their + best. It was not a castle, only a castellated house, which would not have + been capable of long resistance in time of danger, but the court and + stables gave ample accommodation for the animals and the waggons, and the + men were bestowed in the great open hall, reaching to the top of the + house, where all would presently sup. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime the seneschal conducted the ladies and their two + attendants to a tiny chamber, where an enormous bed was being made ready + by the steward’s wife and her son, and in which all four ladies would + sleep, the Prioress and Anne one way, the other two foot to foot with + them! They had done so before, so were not surprised, and the lack of + furniture was a matter of course. Their mails were brought up, a pitcher + of water and a bowl, and they made their preparations for supper. Anne was + in high spirits at the dreaded meeting, and still more dreaded parting, + having been deferred, and she skipped about the room, trying to gather up + her old recollections. ‘Yes, I remember that bit of tapestry, and the man + that stands there among the sheep. Is it King David, think you, Mother, + about to throw his stone at the lion and the bear?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lion and bear, child! ‘Tis the three goddesses and Paris choosing the + fairest to give the golden apple.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Methought that was the lion’s mane, but I see a face.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What would the Lady Venus say to have her golden locks taken for a lion’s + mane?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I like black hair,’ said Anne. + </p> + <p> + ‘Better not fix thy mind on any hue! We poor women have no choice save + what fathers make for us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘O good my mother, peace! They are all in France, and there’s no need to + spoil this breathing time with thinking of what is coming! Good old + Wenlock! I used to ride on his shoulder! I’m right glad to see him again! + I must tell him in his ear to put Hal well above the salt! May not I tell + him in his ear who he is?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Safer not, my maid, till we know what King Harry can do for him. Better + that his name should not get abroad till he can have his own.’ + </p> + <p> + A great bell brought all down, and Anne was pleased to see that her + seneschal made no question about placing Harry Clifford beside the + Prioress, who sat next to the Lord of Peelholm, who sat next to the young + daughter of the house in the seat of honour. + </p> + <p> + The nuns, Master Lorimer, and one of the archers, who was a Border squire, + besides Master Wenlock, occupied the high table on the dais, and the + archers, grooms, and the rest of the household were below. + </p> + <p> + The fare was not scanty nor unsubstantial, but evidently hastily prepared, + being chiefly broiled slices of beef, on which salting had begun; but + there was a lack of bread, even of barley, though there was no want of + drink. + </p> + <p> + However, the Prioress was good-humoured, and forestalled all excuses by + jests about travellers’ meals and surprises in the way of guests, and both + she and Sir Giles were anxious for Wenlock’s news of the state of things. + </p> + <p> + He knew much more of the course of affairs than they in their northern + homes and on their journey. + </p> + <p> + ‘The realm is divided,’ he said. ‘Those who hold to King Harry, as you + gentles do, are in high joy, but there be many, spoken with respect, who + cannot face about so fast, and hold still for York, though they mislike + the Queen’s kindred. Of such are the merchantmen of London.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it so?’ asked Lorimer. ‘If King Edward be as deep in debt to them as + to me for housings and bridle reins methinks he should not be in good + odour in their nostrils.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yea,’ said Wenlock, ‘but if he be gone a beggar to Burgundy what becomes + of their debt?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I would not give much for it were he restored a score of times,’ said the + Prioress. ‘What would he do but plunge deeper?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There would be hope, though, of getting an order on the royal demesne, or + the crown jewels, or the taxes,’ said Lorimer. ‘Nay, I hold one even now + that will be but waste if he come not back.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And this poor King spendeth nothing save on priests and masses,’ said + Wenlock. + </p> + <p> + Hal started forward, eager to hear of his King, and Musgrave said, ‘A holy + man is he.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Too holy for a King,’ said the seneschal. ‘He looked like a woolsack + across a horse when my Lord of Warwick led him down Cheapside; and only + the rabble cried out “Long live King Harry!” but some scoffed and said + they saw a mere gross monk with a baby face where they had been wont to + see a comely prince full of manhood, with a sword instead of beads.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘His son will please them,’ said Musgrave. ‘He was a goodly child, full of + spirit, when last I saw him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If so be he have not too much of the Frenchwoman, his mother, in him,’ + said Wenlock. ‘A losing lot, as poor as any rats, and as proud as very + peacocks.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She was gracious enough and won all hearts on the Border,’ replied + Musgrave. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, come!’ put in the Prioress, ‘you may have the chance yet to break a + lance on her behalf. No fear but she is royal enough to shine down King + Edward’s low-born love, the Widow Grey!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, there lay the cause of discontent,’ said Lorimer; ‘the upstart ways + of her kin were not to be borne. To hear Dick Woodville chaffer about the + blazoning of his horse-gear when he was wedding the fourscore-year-old + Duchess of Norfolk, one would have thought he was an emperor at the very + least.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Widow Grey has done something for her husband’s cause,’ said the + seneschal, ‘in bringing him at last a fair son, all in his exile, and she + in sanctuary at Westminster. The London citizens are ever touched through + all the fat about their hearts by whatever would sound well in the mouth + of a ballad-monger.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My King, my King, what of him?’ sighed Hal in the Prioress’s ear, and she + made the inquiry for him: ‘What said you of King Henry, Sir Seneschal? How + did he fare in his captivity?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not so ill, methinks,’ said the seneschal. ‘He had the range of the + Tower, and St. Peter’s in the Fetters to pray in, which was what he heeded + most; also he had a messan dog, and a tame bird. Indeed, men said he had + laid on much flesh since he had been mewed up there; and my lord, who went + with my Lord of Warwick to fetch him, said his garments were scarce so + cleanly as befitted. ‘Twas hard to make him understand. First he clasped + his hands, and bowed his head, crying out that he forgave those who came + to slay him, and when he found it was all the other way, he stood like one + dazed, let his hand be kissed, and they say is still in the hands of my + Lord Archbishop of York just as if he were the waxen image of St. John in + a procession.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Earl and the Queen will have to do the work,’ said the Prioress, ‘and + they will no more hold together than a couple of wild hawks will hunt in + company. How long do you give them to tear out one another’s eyes?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Son and daughter may keep them together,’ said Musgrave, + </p> + <p> + ‘Hatred of the Woodvilles is more like, a poor band though it be,’ said + the Prioress. ‘These are stirring times! I’ll not go back to my anchoress + lodge in the north till I see what works out of them! Meantime, to our + beds, sweet Anne, since ‘tis an early start tomorrow.’ + </p> + <p> + The Prioress, who had become warmly interested in Hal, and had divined the + feeling between him and Anne, thought that if she could obtain access to + the Archbishop of York, Warwick’s brother George, she could deal with him + to procure Clifford’s restitution in name and in blood, and at least his + De Vesci inheritance, if Dick Nevil, who had grasped the Clifford lands, + could not be induced to give them up. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have seen George Nevil,’ she said, ‘when I was instituted to Greystone. + He is of kindlier mood than his brothers, and more a valiant trencherman + and hunter than aught else. If I had him on the moors and could show him + some sport with a red deer, I could turn him round my finger.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. — THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Thy pity hath been balm to heal their wounds, + Thy mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs, + Thy mercy dried their ever flowing tears. + —SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Early in the morning, while the wintry sun was struggling with mists, and + grass and leaves were dark with frost, the Prioress was in her saddle. + Perhaps the weather might have constrained a longer stay, but that it was + clear to her keen eyes that, however welcome Wenlock might make his young + lady, there was little provision and no welcome for thorough-going + Lancastrians like Sir Giles’s troop, who had besides a doubtful Robin + Hood-like reputation; and as neither she nor Anne wished to ride forward + without them, they decided to go on all together as before. + </p> + <p> + And a very wet and slightly snowy journey they had, ‘meeting in snow and + parting in snow,’ as Hal said, as he marched by Anne’s bridle-rein, + leading her pony, so as to leave her hands free to hold cloak and hood + close about her. + </p> + <p> + She sighed, and put one hand on his, but a gust of wind took that + opportunity of getting under her cloak and sending it fluttering over her + back, so that he had to catch it and return it to her grasp. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let us take that as a prophecy that storms shall not hinder our further + meeting! It may be! It may be! Who knows what my King may do for us?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only a storm can bring us together! But that may—’ + </p> + <p> + Her breath was blown away again before the sentence was finished, if it + was meant to be finished, and Master Lorimer came to insist on the ladies + taking shelter in his covered waggon, where the Prioress was already + installed. + </p> + <p> + Through rain and sleet they reached Chipping Barnet in due time on the + third day’s journey, and here they were to part from the merchant’s wains. + He had sent forward, and ample cheer was provided at the handsome timbered + and gabled house at the porch of which stood his portly wife, with son, + daughter, and son-in-law, ready to welcome the party, bringing them in to + be warmed and dried before sitting down to the excellent meal which it had + been Mistress Lorimer’s pride and pleasure to provide. There was a small + nunnery at Barnet, but not very near, and the Prioress Agnes did not think + herself bound to make her way thither in the dark and snow, so she + remained, most devoutly waited on by her hostess, and discussed the very + last tidings, which had been brought that morning by the foreman whom + Mistress Lorimer had sent to bring the news to her husband. + </p> + <p> + It was probable that the Lord of Bletso was with Warwick and the Queen, as + he had not been heard of at his home. The King was in the royal apartments + of the Tower, under the charge of the Chancellor. The Earl of Oxford, a + steady partisan of the Red Rose, was Constable of the Kingdom, and was + guarding the Tower. + </p> + <p> + On hearing this, Musgrave decided to repair at once to the Earl, one of + the few men in whom there was confidence, since he had never changed his + allegiance, and to take his counsel as to the recognition of young + Clifford. On the way to the Tower they would leave the Prioress and her + suite at the Sister Minoresses’, till news could be heard of the Baron St. + John. + </p> + <p> + So for the last time the travellers rode forth in slightly improved + weather. Harry’s heart beat high with the longing soon to be in the + presence of him who had opened so many doors of life to his young mind, + whom he so heartily loved, and who, it might be, could give him that which + he began to feel would be the joy of his life. + </p> + <p> + The archers, who had been lodged in the warehouses, were drawn up in a + compact body, and Master Lorimer, who had a shop in Cheapside, decided on + accompanying them, partly to be at the scene of action and partly to + facilitate their entrance. + </p> + <p> + So Hal walked by the side of Anne St. John’s bridle-rein, with a very full + heart, swelling with sensations he did not understand, and which kept him + absolutely silent, untrained as he was in the conventionalities which + would have made speech easier to him. Nor had Anne much more command of + tongue, and all she did was to keep her hand upon the shoulder of her + squire; but there was much involuntary meaning in the yearning grasp of + those fingers, and both fed on the hopes the Prioress had given them. + </p> + <p> + Christmas was close at hand, and fatted cattle on their way to market + impeded the way, so that Hal’s time was a good deal taken up in steering + the pony along, and in preventing Watch from getting into a battle with + the savage dogs that guarded them. Penrith market, where once he had been, + had never shown him anything like such a concourse, and he could hear + muttered exclamations from the archers, who walked by Sir Giles’s orders + in a double line on each side the horses, their pikes keeping off the + blundering approach of bullocks or sheep. ‘By the halidome, if the Scots + were among them, they might victual their whole kingdom till Domesday!’ + </p> + <p> + The tall spire of old St. Paul’s and the four turrets of the Tower began + to rise on them, and were pointed out by Master Lorimer, for even Sir + Giles had only once in his life visited the City, and no one else of the + whole band from the north had ever been there. The road was bordered by + the high walls of monasteries, overshadowed by trees, and at the deep + gateway of one of these Lorimer called a halt. It was the house of the + Minoresses or Poor Clares, where the ladies were to remain. The six weeks’ + companionship would come to an end, and the Prioress was heartily sorry + for it. ‘I shall scarce meet such good company at the Clares’,’ she said, + laughing, as she took leave of Lord Musgrave, ‘Mayhap when I go back to my + hills I shall remember your goodwife’s offer of hospitality, Master + Lorimer.’ + </p> + <p> + Master Lorimer bowed low, expressed his delight in the prospect, and + kissed the Prioress’s hand, but the heavy door was already being opened, + and with an expressive look of drollery and resignation, the good lady + withdrew her hand, hastily brought her Benedictine hood and veil closely + over her face, and rode into the court, followed by her suite. Anne had + time to let her hand be kissed by Sir Giles and Hal, who felt as if a + world had closed on him as the heavy doors clanged together behind the + Sisters. But the previous affection of his young life lay before him as + Sir Giles rode on to the fortified Aldgate, and after a challenge from the + guard, answered by a watchword from Lorimer, and an inquiry for whom the + knight held, they were admitted, and went on through an increasing crowd + trailing boughs of holly and mistletoe, to the north gateway of the Tower. + Here they parted with Lorimer, with friendly greetings and promises to + come and see his stall at Cheapside. + </p> + <p> + There was a man-at-arms with the star of the De Veres emblazoned on his + breast, and a red rosette on his steel cap, but he would not admit the + new-comers till Sir Giles had given his name, and it had been sent in by + another of the garrison to the Earl of Oxford. + </p> + <p> + Presently, after some waiting in the rain, and looking up with awe at the + massive defences, two knights appeared with outstretched hands of welcome. + Down went the drawbridge, up went the portcullis, the horses clattered + over the moat, and the reception was hearty indeed. ‘Well met, my Lord of + Musgrave! I knew you would soon be where Red Roses grew.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Welcome, Sir Giles! Methought you had escaped after the fight at Hexham.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Glad indeed to meet you, brave Sir John, and you, good Lord of Holmdale! + Is all well with the King?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As well as ever it will be. The Constable is nigh at hand! You have + brought us a stout band of archers, I see! We will find a use for them if + March chooses to show his presumptuous nose here again!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And hither comes my Lord Constable! It rejoices his heart to hear of such + staunch following.’ + </p> + <p> + The Earl of Oxford, a stern, grave man of early middle age, was coming + across the court-yard, and received Sir Giles with the heartiness that + became the welcome of a proved and trustworthy ally. After a few words, + Musgrave turned and beckoned to Hal, who advanced, shy and colouring. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ha! young Lord Clifford! I am glad to see you! I knew your father well, + rest his soul! The King spoke to me of the son of a loyal house living + among the moors.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The King was very good to me,’ faltered Hal, crimson with eagerness. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, ay! I sent not after you, having enough to do here; and besides, till + we have the strong hand, and can do without that heady kinsman of Warwick, + it will be ill for you to disturb the rogue—what’s his name—to + whom your lands have been granted, and who might turn against the cause + and maybe make a speedy end of you if he knew you present. Be known for + the present as Sir Giles counsels. Better not put his name forward,’ he + added to Musgrave. + </p> + <p> + ‘I care not for lands,’ said Hal, ‘only to see the King.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘See him you shall, my young lord, and if he be not in one of his trances, + he will be right glad to see you and remember you. But he is scarce half a + man,’ added Oxford, turning to Musgrave. ‘Cares for nought but his + prayers! Keeps his Hours like a monk! We can hardly bring him to sit in + the Council, and when he is there he sits scarce knowing what we say. ‘Tis + my belief, when the Queen and Prince come, that we shall have to make the + Prince rule in his name, and let him alone to his prayers! He will be in + the church. ‘Tis nones, or some hour as they call it, and he makes one + stretch out to another.’ + </p> + <p> + They entered the low archway of St. Peter ad Vincula, and there Hal + perceived a figure in a dark mantle just touched with gold, kneeling near + the chancel step, almost crouching. Did he not know the attitude, though + the back was broader than of old? He paused, as did his companions; but + there was one who did not pause, and would not be left outside. Watch + unseen had pattered up, and was rearing up, jumping and fawning. There was + a call of ‘Watch! here sirrah!’ but ‘Watch! Watch! Good dog! Is it thou + indeed?’ was exclaimed at the same moment, and with Watch springing up, + King Henry stood on his feet looking round with his dazed glance. + </p> + <p> + ‘My King! my hermit father! Forgive! Down, Watch!’ cried Hal, falling down + at his feet, with one arm holding down Watch, who tried to lick his face + and the King’s hand by turns. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it thou, my child, my shepherd?’ said Henry, his hands on the lad’s + head. ‘Bless thee! Oh, bless thee, much loved child of my wanderings! I + have longed after thee, and prayed for thee, and now God hath given thee + to me at this shrine! Kneel and give the Lord thy best thanks, my lad! Ah! + how tall thou art! I should not have known thee, Hal, but for Watch.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is well,’ muttered Oxford to Musgrave. ‘I have not seen him so well + nor so cheery all this day. The lad will waken him up and do him good.’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. — A CAPTIVE KING + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And we see far on holy ground, + If duly purged our mental view.—KEBLE. +</pre> + <p> + The King held Harry Clifford by the hand as he left St. Peter’s Church. + ‘My child, my shepherd boy,’ he said, and he called Watch after him, and + interested himself in establishing a kind of suspicious peace between the + shaggy collie and his own ‘Minion,’ a small white curly-haired dog, which + belonged to a family that had been brought by Queen Margaret from + Provence. + </p> + <p> + His attendant knight, Sir Nicolas Romford, told Sir Giles Musgrave that he + had really never seemed so happy since his deliverance, and Sir Nicolas + had waited on him ever since his capture, six years previously. He led the + youth along to the royal rooms, asking on the way after his sheep and the + goodwife who had sent him presents of eggs, then showing him the + bullfinch, that greeted his return with loving chirps, and when released + from its cage came and sat upon his shoulder and played with his hair, ‘A + better pet than a fierce hawk, eh, Hal?’ he said. + </p> + <p> + He laughed when he found that Harry thought he had spent all this time in + a dark underground dungeon with fetters on his feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh no!’ he said; ‘they were kindly jailors. They dealt better with me + than with my Master.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir, sir, that terrible ride through Cheapside!’ said Harry. ‘We heard of + it at Derwent-side, and we longed to have our pikes at the throats of the + villain traitors.’ + </p> + <p> + The King looked as if he hardly remembered that cruel procession, when he + was set upon a sorry jade with his feet tied to the stirrups, and shouts + of ‘Behold the traitor!’ around him. Then with a sweet smile of sudden + recollection, he said, ‘Ah! I recall it, and how I rejoiced to be led in + the steps of my Lord, and how the cries sounded, “We will not have this + man to reign over us!” Gratias ago, unworthy me, who by my own fault could + not reign.’ + </p> + <p> + Harry was silenced, awe-struck, and by-and-by the King took him to see his + old chamber in the White Tower, up a winding stone stair. It was not much + inferior to the royal lodgings, except in the matter of dais, canopy, and + tapestry, and the window looked out into the country, so that the King + said he had loved it, and it had many a happy thought connected with it. + </p> + <p> + Hal followed him in a sort of silent wonder, if not awe, not daring to + answer him in monosyllables. This was not quite the hermit of Derwentdale. + It was a broader man—not with the breadth of full strength, but of + inactivity and advance of years, though the fiftieth year was only lately + completed—and the royal robe of crimson, touched with gold, suited + him far less than the brown serge of the anchoret. The face was no longer + thin, sunburnt, and worn, but pale, and his checks slightly puffed, and + the eyes and smile, with more of the strange look of innocent happiness + than of old, and of that which seemed to bring back to his young visitor + the sense of peace and well-being that the saintly hermit had always given + him. + </p> + <p> + There was consultation that evening between Lord Oxford and Sir Giles + Musgrave. It was better, they agreed, to let young Clifford remain with + the King as much as possible, but without divulging his name. The King + knew it, and indeed had known it, when he received the boy at his + hermitage, but he seemed to have forgotten it, as he had much besides. + Oxford said that though he could be roused into actual fulfilment of such + forms as were required of him, and understood what was set before him, his + memory and other powers seemed to have been much impaired, and it was held + wiser not to call on him more than could be helped, till the Queen and her + son should come to supply the energy that was wanting. They would make the + gay and brilliant appearance that the Londoners had admired in Edward of + York, and which could not be obtained from poor Henry. + </p> + <p> + His memory for actual matters was much impaired. Never for two days + together could he recollect that his son and Warwick’s daughter were + married, and it was always by an effort that he remembered that the Prince + of Wales was not the eight-years-old child whom he had last seen. As to + young Clifford, he sometimes seemed to think the tall nineteen-years-old + stripling was just where he had left the child of twelve or thirteen, and + if he perceived the age, was so far confused that it was not quite certain + that he might not mix him up with his own son, though the knight in + constant attendance was sure that he was clear on that point, and only + looked on ‘Hal’ as the child of his teaching and prayers. + </p> + <p> + But Harry Clifford could not persuade him to enter into that which more + and more lay near the youthful heart, the rescuing Anne St. John from the + suitor of whom little that was hopeful was heard; and the obtaining her + from his father. Of course this could not be unless Harry could win his + father’s property, and no longer be under the attaint in blood, so as to + be able to lay claim to the lands of the De Vescis through his mother; but + though the King listened with kindly interest to the story of the + children’s adventure on the Londesborough moor, and the subsequent meeting + in Westmorland, the rescue from the outlaws, and the journey together, it + was all like a romance to him—he would nod his head and promise to + do what he could, if he could, but he never remembered it for two days + together, and if Hal ventured on anything like pressure, the only answer + was, ‘Patience, my son, patience must have her work! It is the will of + God, it will be right.’ + </p> + <p> + And when Hal began to despair and work himself up and seek to do more with + one so impracticable, Lord Oxford and Sir Giles warned him not to force + his real name and claims too much, for he did not need too many enemies + nor to have Lord St. John and the Nevil who held his lands both anxious to + sweep him from their path. + </p> + <p> + Nor was anything heard from or of the Prioress of Greystone, and whenever + the name of George Nevil, the Chancellor and Archbishop of York, was + heard, Hal’s heart burnt with anxiety, and fear that the lady had + forgotten him, though as Dick Nevil, who held the lands of Clifford, was + known to be in his suite, it was probable that she was acting out of + prudence. + </p> + <p> + The turmoil of anxious impatience seemed to be quelled when Hal sat on a + stool before the King, with Watch leaning against his knee. The + instruction or meditation seemed to be taken up much where it had been + left six years before, with the same unanswerable questions, only the + youth had thought out a great deal more, and the hermit had advanced in a + wisdom which was not that of the rough, practical world. + </p> + <p> + Part of Clifford’s day was spent in the tilt-yard, where his two friends, + as well as himself, were anxious that he should acquire proficiency and + ease such as would become his station, when he recovered it; and a + martinet old squire of Oxford proved himself nearly as hard a master as + ever Simon Bunce had been. + </p> + <p> + One very joyous day came to Henry in his regal capacity. Christmas Day had + been quietly spent. There was much noisy revelling in the city, and the + guards in the castle had their feastings, but Warwick was daily expected + to return from France, and neither his brother nor the Archbishop thought + that there was much policy in making a public spectacle of a puppet King. + </p> + <p> + But there was one ceremony from which Henry would not be debarred. He + would make the public offering on the Epiphany in Westminster Abbey. He + had done so ever since he was old enough to totter up to the altar and + hold the offerings; and his heart was set on doing so once more. So a + large and quiet cream-coloured Flemish horse was brought for him, he was + robed in purple and ermine, with a coronal around the cap that covered his + hair, fast becoming white. His train in full array followed him, and the + streets were thronged, but there was an ominous lack of applause, and even + a few audible jeers at the monk dressed up like the jackdaw in peacock’s + plumes, and comparisons with Edward, in sooth a king worth looking at. + </p> + <p> + Henry seemed not to heed or hear. His blue eyes looked upward, his face + was set in peaceful contemplation, his lips were moving, and those who + were near enough caught murmurs of ‘Vidimus enim stellam Ejus in Oriente + et venimus adorare Eum.’ Truly the one might be a king to suit the + kingdoms of this world, the other had a soul near the Kingdom of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + The Dean and choir received him at the west door, and with the same rapt + countenance he paced up to the sanctuary, and knelt before the chair + appropriated to him, while the grand Epiphany Celebration was gone + through, in all its glory and beauty of sound and sight, and with the King + kneeling with clasped hands, and a radiant look of happiness almost + transfiguring that worn face. + </p> + <p> + When the offertory anthem was sung, he rose up, and advanced to the altar. + A salver of gold coins was presented to him, which he took and solemnly + laid on the altar, but paused for a moment, and removed his crown with + both hands, placing it likewise on the altar, and kneeling for a moment + ere he turned to take the vase whence breathed the fragrant odour of + frankincense; and presenting this, and afterwards kneeling and bowing low + with clasped hands, he again took the salver in which the myrrh was laid. + This again he placed on the altar, and remained kneeling in intense + devotion through the remainder of the service, only looking up at the + ‘Sursum Corda,’ when those near enough to see his countenance said that + they never knew before the full import of those words, nor how the heart + could be uplifted. + </p> + <p> + It was the first time that Hal Clifford had ever joined in the full + ceremonial of the Church, or in such splendid accompaniment, for though + there had been the rightful ritual at St. Peter’s in the Tower, the space + had been confined, and the clergy few, and the whole, even on Christmas + Day, had been more or less a training to him to enter into what he now saw + and heard. He had in these last weeks gathered much of the meaning of all + this from the King, who perhaps never fully disentangled the full-grown + youth from the boy he had taught at Derwentdale, but who, perhaps for that + very cause, really suited better the strange mixture of ignorance, + simplicity, observation and aspiration of the shepherd lord. + </p> + <p> + The King did not help more but less than he had done before in Hal’s + researches and wonderings about natural objects; he had forgotten the + philosophies he had once read, and the supposed circuits of moon, planets + and stars only perplexed and worried his brain. It was much more + satisfactory to refer all to ‘He hath made them fast for ever and ever, He + hath given them a law which shall not be broken,’ and he could not + understand Hal’s desire to find out what that law was, and far less his + calculations about the tides. He had scarcely ever seen the sea, and as to + its motions, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther’ was sufficient + explanation, and when Hal tried to show him the correspondence between + spring tides and full moons he either waved him away or fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + But on the spiritual side of his mind there was no torpor. He loved to + explain the sense of the prayers to his willing pupil, and to tell him the + Gospel story, dwelling on whatever could waken or carry on the Christian + life; and between the tiltyard and the oratory Hal spent a strange life. + </p> + <p> + That question which had occurred to him on the journey Hal ventured to lay + before his King—‘Was it really and truly better and more acceptable + worship that came to breathe through him when alone with God under the + open vault of Heaven, with endless stars above and beyond, or was the best + that which was beautified and guided by priests, with all that man’s + devices could lavish upon its embellishment?’ Such, though in more broken + and hesitating words, was the herd boy’s difficulty, and Henry put his + head back, and after having once said, ‘Adam had the one, God directed the + other,’ he shut his eyes, and Hal feared he would put it aside as he had + with the moon and the tides, but after some delay, he leant forward and + said, ‘My son, if man had always been innocent, that worship as Adam and + Eve had it might—nay, would—have sufficed them. The more + innocent man is, the better his heart rises. But sin came into the world, + and expiation was needed, not only here on earth, but before the just God + in Heaven above. Therefore doth He, who hath once offered Himself in + sacrifice for us, eternally present His offering in Heaven before the + Mercy-Seat, and we endeavour as much as our poor feeble efforts can, to + take part in what He does above, and bring it home to our senses by all + that can represent to us the glories of Heaven.’ + </p> + <p> + There was much in this that went beyond Hal, who knitted his brow, and + would have asked further, but the King fell into a state of contemplation, + and noticed nothing, until presently he broke out into a thanksgiving: + ‘Blessed be my Lord, who hath granted me once more to follow in the steps + of the kings of the East, though but as in a dream, and lay my crown and + my prayer before Him. Once more I thank Thee, O my true King of kings, and + Lord of lords.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, do not say once more!’ exclaimed Hal. ‘Again and again, I trust, sir. + It is no dream. It is real.’ + </p> + <p> + The King smiled and shook his head. ‘It is all a dream to me,’ he said, + ‘the pageants and the whole. They will not last! Oh, no! It is all but an + empty show.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal looked up anxiously, and the King went on: ‘Well do I remember the day + when, scarce able to walk, and weighed down by my robes, I tottered up to + the altar and was well pleased to make my offering, and how my Lord of + Warwick, who was then, took me in his arms, and showed me my great + father’s figure on his grave, and told me I was bound to be such a king as + he! Alas! was it mine own error that I so failed?&& + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Henry born at Monmouth shall short live and gain all, + Henry born at Windsor shall long live and lose all.’ +</pre> + <p> + ‘Oh, sir, sir, do not speak of that old saw!’ + </p> + <p> + Still the King smiled. ‘It has come true, my child. All is lost, and it + may be well for my soul that thus it should be, and that I should go into + the presence of my God freed from the load of what was gained unjustly. I + know not whether, if my hand had been stronger, I should have striven to + have borne up the burthen of these two realms, but they never ought to + have been mine, and if the sins of the forefathers be visited on the + children to the third and fourth generation, no marvel that my brain and + mine arm could but sink under the weight. Would that I had yielded at + once, and spared the bloodshed and sacrilege! Miserere mei! My son was a + temptation. Oh, my poor boy! is he to be the heir to all that has come on + me? Have pity on him, good Lord!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, sir, your brave son will come home to comfort you, and help you and + make all well.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know not! I know not! I cannot believe that I shall see him again, or + that the visitation of these crimes is not still to come! My son, my sweet + son, I can only pray that he might give up his soul sackless and freer of + guilt than his father can be, when I remember all that I ought to have + hindered when I could think and use my will! Now, now all is but + confusion! God has taken away my judgment, even as He did with my French + grandsire, and I can only let others act as they will, and pray for them + and for myself.’ + </p> + <p> + He had never spoken at such length, nor so clearly, and whenever he was + required to come forward, he merely walked, rode, sat or signed rolls as + he was told to do, and continually made mistakes as to the persons brought + to him, generally calling them by their fathers’ names, if he recognised + them at all, but still to his nearest attendants, and especially to his + beloved herd boy, he was the same gentle, affectionate being, never so + happy as at his prayers, and sometimes speaking of holy things as one + almost inspired. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. — AT THE MINORESSES’ + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The bird that hath been limed in a bush, + With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush. + —SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + One day, soon after that Twelfth Day, Hal accompanied Sir Giles Musgrave + to the shop or stall of Master Lorimer in Cheapside, a wide space, open by + day but closed by shutters at night, where all sorts of gilded and + emblazoned leather-works for man or horse were displayed, and young + ‘prentices called, ‘What d’ye lack?’ ‘Saddle of the newest make?’ ‘Buff + coat fit to keep out the spear of Black Douglas himself?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis Master Lorimer himself I lack,’ said Musgrave with a good-humoured + smile, and the merchant appeared from a room in the rear, something + between a counting-house and a bedroom, where he welcomed his former + companions, and insisted on their tasting the good sherris sack that had + been sent with his last cargo of Spanish leather. + </p> + <p> + ‘I would I could send a flask to our good Prioress,’ he said, ‘to cheer + her heart. I went to the Minoresses’ as she bade me, to settle some + matters of account with her, and after some ado, Sister Mabel came down to + the parlour and told me the Prioress is very sick with a tertian fever, + and they misdoubt her recovering.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And the young Lady of St. John.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She is well enough, but sadly woeful as to the Mother Prioress, and + likewise as to what they hear of the Lord Redgrave. It is the old man, not + his son, a hard and stark old man, as I remember. He would have bargained + with me for the coats of the poor rogues slain at St. Albans, and right + evil was his face as he spoke thereof, he being then for Queen Margaret; + but then he went over to King Edward, and glutted himself with slaughter + at Towton, and here he calls himself Red Rose again. Ill-luck to the poor + young maid if she falls to him!’ + </p> + <p> + It was terrible news for Hal, and Musgrave could not but gratify him by + riding by the Minories to endeavour to hear further tidings of the + Prioress. + </p> + <p> + It was a grand building in fine pointed architecture, for the Clares, + though once poor, in imitation of St. Clara and St. Francis, had been + dispensed collectively from their vow of poverty, and though singly + incapable of holding property, had a considerable accumulation en masse. + They were themselves a strict Order, but they often gave lodgings to + ladies either in retreat or for any cause detained near London. + </p> + <p> + Sir Giles and Harry were only admitted to the outer court, whence the + portress went with their message of inquiry. They waited a long time, and + then the Greystone lay Sister who had been the companion of their journey + came back in company with the portress. + </p> + <p> + ‘Benedicite, dear gentles,’ she said; ‘oh, you are a sight for sair een.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And how fares the good Mother Prioress?’ asked the Lord of Peelholm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Alack! she is woefully ill when the fever takes her, and she is wasted + away so that you would scarce know her; but this is one of the better + days, and if you, sir, will come into the parlour, she will see you. She + was arraying herself as I came down. She was neither to have nor to hold + when she heard you were there, and said a north country face would be + better to her than all the Sisters’ potions!’ + </p> + <p> + They were accordingly conducted through a graceful cloister, overgrown + with trailing ivy, to a bare room, with mullioned windows, and frescoes on + the Walls with the history of St. Francis relieving beggars, preaching to + the birds, &c., and with a stout open work barrier cutting off half + the room. + </p> + <p> + Presently the Prioress tottered in, leaning heavily on the arms of Sister + Mabel and of Anne St. John, while her own lay Sister and another placed a + seat for her; but before she would sit down, she would go up to the + opening, and turning back her veil, put out a hand to be grasped. ‘Right + glad am I to see you, good Sir Giles and young Harry. Are you going back + to the wholesome winds of our moors?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not yet, holy Mother. It grieves me to see you faring so ill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! a breeze from the north would bring life back to my old bones. Aye, + Giles, this place has made an old woman of me.’ And truly her bright ruddy + face was faded to a purple hue, and her cheeks hung haggard and almost + withered, but as her visitors expressed their grief and sympathy, she went + on in her own tone. ‘And tell me somewhat of how things are going. How + doth Richard of Warwick comport himself to the King? Hath your King zest + enough to reign? Is my White Rose King still abroad in Burgundy?’ And as + Sir Giles replied to each inquiry in turn, and told all he could of + political matters, she exclaimed: ‘Ah! that is better than the hearing + whether the black hen hath laid an egg, or the skein of yellow silk + matches. I am weary, O! I am weary. Moreover, young Hal, I know as matters + are that could I see George Nevil face to face I could do somewhat with + him, and I laid my plans to obtain a meeting, but therewith, what with + vexation and weariness and lack of air, comes this sickness, and I am laid + aside and can do nought but pray, and lay my plans to meet him some day in + the fields, and show him what a hawk can do, then shame him into listening + to my tale. But I must be a sound woman first! And maybe his brother + Warwick, being a sturdy gentleman who loves a brave man, will be better to + deal with. I am a sinful woman, and maybe my devotions here will help me + to be more worthy to be heard. Moreover, I hoped you had done somewhat in + thine own cause with thy King and Earl Oxford,’ she proceeded. ‘Thou hast + an esquire’s coat; hast thou any hope of thy lands?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I must strive to earn them by deeds,’ said Hal. ‘And—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well spoken, lad! ‘Tis the manly way; but methought you hadst interest + with this King of thine, or hath he only a royal memory for services?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He is good to me. Yea, most good,’ began Harry. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, he loves the boy,’ said Sir Giles, ‘no question about that; but his + memory for all that is about him hath failed, and there is nothing for it + save to wait for the Queen and the Prince, who will bear the boy’s + father’s services in mind.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And wherefore tarries the French woman? This maid’s father is to come + over with her. He is forming her English court, I trow; she can have few + beside from England.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘When he comes,’ said Harry, with a look into Anne’s eyes that made them + droop and her cheeks burn, ‘then shall we put it to the touch. Then shall + I know whether I have mine own, and what is more than mine own.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thine own,’ whispered Anne. ‘Oh, better live in the sheepfolds with thee + than with this Baron! I shudder at the thought.’ + </p> + <p> + This, and a few more such words were an aside, while the Prioress + continued her conversation with Sir Giles, and went on to say that she was + sure she should never recover till she was out of these walls, and away + from London smoke and London smells, and she naughtily added in a whisper + the weary talk of these good nuns, who had never flown a hawk or chased a + deer in their lives, and thought Florimond a mere wolf, if not the evil + one himself, and kept the poor hound chained up like a malefactor in + gyves, till she was fain to send him away with Master Lorimer to keep for + her. + </p> + <p> + She would not go back to her Priory till Anne’s fate was settled, being in + hopes of doing something yet for the poor wench; but meantime she should + die if she stayed there much longer, and she meant to set forth on + pilgrimage in good time, before she had scandalised the good ladies enough + to make them gossip to the dames of St. Helen’s, who would be only too + glad to have a story against the Benedictines. A ride over the Kentish + downs was the only cure for her or for Anne, who had been pining ever + since they had been mewed up here, though, looking across at the girl, + whose head was leaning against the bars, Sir Giles seemed to have brought + a remedy to judge by those cheeks. + </p> + <p> + ‘Would that we could hope it would be an effectual and lasting remedy,’ + sighed Sir Giles; ‘but unless this poor King could be roused to insist, or + the Earl of Warwick fell out with his cousin, I do not see much chance for + the lad.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it Warwick who is his chief foe or King Edward?’ asked the Prioress. + </p> + <p> + ‘King Edward, doubtless, for his father’s slaughter of young Rutland at + Wakefield.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That bodes ill,’ said the lady. ‘By all I gather, King Edward is a tiger + when once roused, but at other times is like that same tiger, purring and + slow to move. But there’s a bell that warns us to vespers. They are + mightily more strict here than ever we are at Greystone. Ah! you won’t + tell tales, Sir Giles! You’ll soon hear of me at St. Thomas’s shrine at + Canterbury.’ + </p> + <p> + The knight took his leave. It was impossible not to like and pity the + Prioress, though the life among devout nuns was clearly beyond her powers. + </p> + <p> + The dreamy peaceful days of the Tower of London were stirred by the + arrival of the great Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as people already + called him. He took up his residence in his own mighty establishment at + Warwick House near St. Paul’s; and the day after his arrival, he came + clanking over London Bridge with a great following of knights and squires + to pay his respects to King Henry. + </p> + <p> + Henry Clifford was not disposed to meet him, and only watched from a + window when the drawbridge was lowered, and the sturdy man, with grizzled + hair and marked, determined features, rode into the gateway, where he was + received by the Earl of Oxford. + </p> + <p> + The interview was long, and when it was finished, the two Earls made the + round of the defences, and Oxford drew up his garrison on the Tower Green + to be inspected. + </p> + <p> + When Warwick had taken his leave, Hal was summoned to the Constable’s + hall. ‘We must be jogging, my young master,’ he said. ‘There are rumours + of King Edward making another attempt for his crown, and my Lord of + Warwick would have me go and watch the eastern seaboard. And you had best + go with me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The King—’ began Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘You will come back to the King by-and-by if so be he misses you, but he + was more dazed than ever to-day, and perhaps it was well, for Warwick + brought with him Dick Nevil, who has got your lands of Clifford, and might + be tempted to put you out of the way in one of the dungeons that lie so + handy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No one save the King knows who I am,’ said Hal, ‘and he forgets from day + to day all save that I am the herd boy, and I think it cheers him to have + me with him. I will stay beside him even as a varlet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay, my lord, that may not be. ‘Tis true he loves thee, but he will + forget anon, and I may not suffer the risk. Too many know or guess.’ + </p> + <p> + Harry Clifford repeated that he recked not of the risk when he could serve + and comfort his beloved King, and, indeed, his mind was made up on the + subject. He had taken measures for remaining as one of the men-at-arms of + the garrison; but King Henry himself surprised him by saying, ‘My young + Lord of Clifford, fare thee well. Thou goest forth to-morrow with the + Constable of Oxford. Take my blessing with thee, my child. Thou hast been + granted to me to make life very sweet to me of late, and I thank God for + it, but the time is come that thou must part from me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, sir, never! None was ever so dear to me! For weal or woe I will be + with you! Suffer me to be your meanest varlet, and serve you as none other + can do.’ + </p> + <p> + Henry shook his head. ‘It may not be, my child, let not thy blood also be + on my head! Go with Oxford and his men. Thou hast learnt to draw sword and + use lance. Thou wilt be serving me still if again there be, which Heaven + forefend, stricken fields in my cause or my son’s.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sir, if I must fight, let no less holy hand than thine lay knighthood on + my shoulder,’ sobbed Hal, kneeling. + </p> + <p> + Henry smiled. ‘I have well-nigh forgotten the fashion. But if it will + please thee, my son, give me thy sword, Oxford. In the name of God and St. + George of England I dub thee knight. For the Church, for the honour of + God, for a good cause, fight. Arise, Sir Henry Clifford!’ + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. — A STRANGE EASTER EVE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And spare, O spare + The meek usurper’s holy head. + —GRAY. +</pre> + <p> + Once more, at the close of morning service, while it was still dark, did + Harry Clifford, the new-made knight, kneel before King Henry and feel his + hand in blessing on his head. Then he went forth to join Musgrave and the + troop that the Earl of Oxford was leading from the Tower to raise the + counties of East Anglia and watch the coast against a descent of King + Edward from the Low Countries. + </p> + <p> + As they passed the walls enclosing the Minories Convent, and Hal gazed at + it wistfully, the wide gateway was opened and out came a party of + black-hooded nuns, mounted on ponies and mules, evidently waiting till + Oxford’s band had gone by. Harry drew Sir Giles’s attention, and they + lingered, as they became certain that they beheld the Prioress Selby of + Greystone, hawk, hound and all, riding forth, nearly smothered in her + hood, and not so upright as of old. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, here I am!’ she said, as he reined up and bowed his greeting. ‘Here I + am on my pilgrimage! I got Father Ridley, the Benedictine head, to order + me forth. Methinks he was glad, being a north countryman, to send me out + before I either died on the Poor Clares’ hands, or gave them a fuller + store of tales against us of St. Bennet’s! Not but that they are good + women, too godly and devout for a poor wild north country Selby like me, + who cannot live without air. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + O the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, + They flourish best at home in the north countree. +</pre> + <p> + Flori, Flori, whither away? Ah! thou hast found thine old friend. Birds of + a feather. Eh? the young folk have foregathered likewise. Watch! And thou, + sir knight, whither are you away?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘On our way to Norfolk in case the Duke of York should show himself on the + coast. And yours, reverend Mother?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To Canterbury first by easy journeys. We sleep to-night at the Tabard, + where we shall meet other pilgrims.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here, alack! our way severs from yours. Farewell, holy Mother, may you + find health on your pilgrimage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Every breath I take in is health,’ said the Mother, who had already + manoeuvred an opening in her veil, and gasped to throw it back as soon as + she should attain an unfrequented place. ‘There are so many coming and + going here that all the air is used up by their greasy nostrils! Well! + good luck, and God’s blessing go with you, and you, young Hal, I may say + so far, whichever side ye be, but still I hold that York has the right, + and yours may be a saint, but not a king.’ + </p> + <p> + Hal had meantime ‘forgathered’ as the Prioress said with Anne, marching, + in spite of his new honours, close to her stirrup, and venturing to + whisper to her that he was now her knight, and ‘her colours,’ which he was + to wear for her, were only a tiny scrap of ribbon from her glove, which he + cut off with his dagger, and kissed, saying he should wear it next his + heart, though he might not do so openly. + </p> + <p> + Their love was more implied than ever it had been before, and she repeated + her confidence that the kind Prioress would never leave her till she had + done her utmost for them both. + </p> + <p> + ‘But you, my good stripling, I am ashamed to see you. I have done nothing + for you. I sent a humble message to ask to see the Archbishop, but had no + answer, and by-and-by, when I stirred again, who should come to sec me but + young Bertram Selby, and “Kinswoman,” said he, “you had best keep quiet. + The Archbishop hath asked me whether rumours were sooth that yours was + scarce a regular Priory.” The squire stood up for me and said, as became + one of the family, that an outlying cell, where there were ill neighbours + of Scots, thieves, borderers, and the like, could scarce look to be as + trim as a city nunnery, and that none had ever heard harm of Mother Agnes. + But then one of his priests took on him to whisper in his ear, and he + demanded whether we had not gone so far as to hide traitors from justice, + to which Bertram returned a stout denial as well he might, though he + thought it well to give me warning, but for the present there was no use + in attempting anything more. The Archbishop was exceedingly busy with the + work of his office and the defence of London in case of Edward’s + threatened return; but he had not yet come, and no one thought there was a + reasonable doubt that Warwick, the Kingmaker, would not be victorious, and + he had carried his son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, with him.’ After the + cause of the Red Rose was won, there was no fear but that the services of + Clifford would be remembered. So Harry Clifford parted with Anne, + promising himself and her that there should be fresh Clifford services, + winning a recognition of the De Vesci inheritance if of no more. + </p> + <p> + The ladies went on their way in the track which Chaucer has made + memorable, laying their count to meet Queen Margaret and her son, and win + their ears beforehand, and wondering that they came not. Kentish breezes + soon revived the Prioress, and she went through many strange devotions at + the shrine of Becket, which, it might be feared, did not improve her + spiritual, so much as her bodily, health, while Anne’s chiefly resolved + themselves into prayers that Harry Clifford might be guarded and restored, + and that she herself might be saved from the dreaded Lord Redgrave. + </p> + <p> + They did not set out on the return to London till they had inhaled plenty + of sea breezes by visiting the shrine of St. Mildred in the isle of + Thanet, and St. Eanswith at Folkestone, till Lent had begun, and the first + fresh tidings that they met were that Edward had landed in Yorkshire, but + his fleet had been dispersed by storms, and the people did not rise to + join him, so that he was fain to proclaim that he only came to assert his + right to his father’s inheritance of the Dukedom of York. + </p> + <p> + At the Minoresses’ Convent they found that a messenger had arrived, + bidding Anne go to meet her father at his castle in Bedfordshire. He was + coming over with the Queen whenever she could obtain a convoy from King + Louis of France. Lord Redgrave was with him, and the marriage should take + place as soon as they arrived. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never fear, child,’ said the Prioress; ‘many is the slip between the cup + and the lip.’ + </p> + <p> + Further tidings came that Edward had thrown off his first plea, that he + had passed Warwick’s brother Montagu at Pontefract, and that men from his + own hereditary estates were flocking to his royal banner. Warwick was + calling up his men in all directions, and both armies were advancing on + London. Then it was known that ‘false, fleeting, perjured Clarence’ had + deserted his father-in-law, and returned to his brother; and worthless as + he individually was, it boded ill for Lancaster, though still hope + continued in the uniform success of the Kingmaker. Warwick was about + twenty miles in advance of Edward, till that King actually passed him and + reached the town of Warwick itself. Still the Earl wrote to his brother + that if he could only hold out London for forty-eight hours all would be + well. + </p> + <p> + Once more poor King Henry was set on horseback and paraded through the + streets. Brother Martin went out with the chaplain of the Poor Clares to + gaze upon him, and they came back declaring that he was more than ever + like the image carried in a procession, seeming quite as helpless and + indifferent, except, said Brother Martin, when he passed a church, and + then a heavenly look came over his still features as he bowed his head; + but none of the crowd who came out to gaze cried ‘Save King Harry!’ or + ‘God bless him!’ + </p> + <p> + There were two or three thousand Yorkists in the various sanctuaries of + London, and they were preparing to rise in favour of their King Edward, + and only a few hundred were mustering in St. Paul’s Churchyard for the Red + Rose. + </p> + <p> + The Poor Clares were in much terror, though nunneries and religious + houses, and indeed non-combatants in general, were usually respected by + each side in these wars; but the Prioress of Greystone was not sorry that + the summons to her protegee called her party off on the way to + Bedfordshire, and they all set forward together, intending to make Master + Lorimer’s household at Chipping Barnet their first stage, as they had + engaged to do. + </p> + <p> + Their intention had been notified to Lorimer’s people in his London shop, + who had sent on word to their master, and the good man came out to meet + them, full of surprise at the valour of the ladies in attempting the + journey. But they could not possibly go further. King Edward was at St. + Albans, and was on his way to London, and the Earl of Warwick was coming + up from Dunstable with the Earls of Somerset and Oxford. For ladies, even + of religious orders, to ride on between the two hosts was manifestly + impossible, and he and his wife were delighted to entertain the Lady + Prioress till the roads should be safe. + </p> + <p> + The Prioress was nothing loth. She always enjoyed the freedom of a secular + household, and she was glad to remain within hearing of the last news in + this great crisis of York and Lancaster. + </p> + <p> + ‘I marvel if there will be a battle,’ she said. ‘Never have I had the good + luck to see or hear one.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! Mother, are you not afraid?’ cried Sister Mabel. + </p> + <p> + ‘Afraid! What should I be afraid of, silly maid? Do you think the + men-at-arms are wolves to snap you up?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And,’ murmured Anne, ‘we shall know how it goes with my Lord of Oxford’s + people.’ + </p> + <p> + These were the last days of Lent, and were carefully kept in the matter of + food by the household, but the religious observances were much disturbed + by the tidings that poured in. King Henry and Archbishop Nevil had taken + refuge in the house of Bishop Kemp of London, Urswick the Recorder, with + the consent of the Aldermen, had opened the gates to Edward, and the Good + Friday Services at Barnet, the Psalms and prayers in the church, were + disturbed by men-at-arms galloping to and fro, and reports coming in + continually. + </p> + <p> + There could be no going out to gather flowers to deck the Church the next + day, for King Edward was on the London side, and Warwick with his army had + reached the low hills of Hadley, and their tents, their banners, and the + glint of their armour might be seen over the heathy slope between them and + the lanes and fields, surrounded by hedges, that fenced in the valley of + Barnet. The little town itself, though lying between the two armies, + remained unoccupied by either party, and only men-at-arms came down into + it, not as plunderers, but to buy food. + </p> + <p> + Warwick’s cannon, however, thundered all night, a very awful sound to such + unaccustomed ears, but they were so directed that the charges flew far + away from Barnet, under a false impression as to the situation of the + Yorkist forces. + </p> + <p> + Mistress Lorimer had heard them before, but accompanied every report with + a pious prayer; Sister Mabel screamed at each, then joined in; the + Prioress was greatly excited, and walked about with Master Lorimer, now on + the roof, trying to see, now at the gate, trying to hear. Anne fancied it + meant victory to Hal’s party, but knelt, tried to pray while she listened, + and the dogs barked incessantly. And that Hal must be in the army above + the little town they guessed, for in the evening Watch came floundering + into the courtyard, hungry and muddy, but full of affectionate recognition + of his old friends and the quarters he had learnt to know. Florimond, who + happened to be loose, had a romp with him in their old fashion, and to the + vexation and alarm of his mistress, they both ran off together, and must + have gone hunting on the heath, for there was no response to her silver + whistle. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. — BARNET + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day + Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came + A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew + The mist aside. + —TENNYSON. +</pre> + <p> + And Sir Henry Clifford? Still he was Hal of Derwentdale, for the perilous + usurper, Sir Richard Nevil, was known to be continually with Warwick, and + Musgrave was convinced that the concealment was safest. + </p> + <p> + The youth then remained with the Peelholm men, and became a good deal more + practised in warlike affairs, and accustomed to campaigning, during the + three months when Oxford was watching the eastern coast. On this Easter + night he lay down on the hill-side with Watch beside him, his shepherd’s + plaid round him, his heart rising as he thought himself near upon gaining + fame and honour wherewith to win his early love, and winning victory and + safety for his beloved King, or rather his hermit. For as his hermit did + that mild unearthly face always come before him. He could not think of it + wearing that golden crown, which seemed alien to it, but rather, as he lay + on his back, after his old habit looking up at the stars, either he saw + and recognised the Northern Crown, or his dazed and sleepy fancy wove a + radiant coronet of stars above that meek countenance that he knew and + loved so well; and as at intervals the cannon boomed and wakened him, he + looked on at the bright Northern Cross and dreamily linked together the + cross and crown. + </p> + <p> + Easter Sunday morning came dawning, but no one looked to see the sun + dance, even if the morning had not been dull and grey, a thick fog + covering everything; but through it came a dull and heavy sound, and the + clang of armour. Even by their own force the radiant star of the De Veres + could hardly be seen on the banner, as the Earl of Oxford rode up and + down, putting his men in battle array. Hal was on foot as an archer, + meaning to deserve the spurs that he had not yet worn. The hosts were + close to one another, and at first only the continual rain of arrows + darkened the air; but as the sun rose and the two armies saw one another, + Oxford’s star was to be seen carried into the very midst of the opposing + force under Lord Hastings. On, on, with cries of victory, the knights + rode, the archers ran across the heath carrying all before them, never + doubting that the day was theirs, but not knowing where they were till + trumpets sounded, halt was called, and they were drawn up together, as + best they might, round their leading star. But as they advanced, behold + there was an unexpected shout of treason. Arrows came thickly on them, + men-at-arms bearing Warwick’s ragged staff came thundering headlong upon + them. ‘Treason, treason,’ echoed on all sides, and with that sound in his + ears Harry Clifford was cut down, and fell under a huge horse and man, and + lay senseless under a gorse-bush. + </p> + <p> + He knew no more but that horses and men seemed for ever trampling over him + and treading him down, and then all was lost to him—for how long he + knew not, but for one second he was roused so far as to hear a furious + growling and barking of Watch, but with dazed senses he thought it was + over the sheep, tried to raise himself, could not, thought himself dying, + and sank back again. + </p> + <p> + The next thing he knew was ‘Here, Master Lorimer, you know this gear + better than I; unfasten this buff coat. There, he can breathe. Drink this, + my lad.’ + </p> + <p> + It was the Prioress’s voice! He felt a jolt as of a waggon, and opened his + eyes. It was dark, but he knew he was under the tilt of Lorimer’s waggon, + which was moving on. The Prioress was kneeling over him on one side, + Lorimer on the other, and his head was on a soft lap—nay, a warm + tear dropped on his face, a sweet though stifled voice said, ‘Is he truly + better?’ + </p> + <p> + Then came sounds of ‘hushing,’ yet of reassurance; and when there was a + halt, and clearer consciousness began to revive, while kind hands were + busy about him, and a cordial was poured down his throat, by the light of + a lantern cautiously shown, Hal found speech to say, as he felt a long + soft tongue on his face, ‘Watch, Watch, is it thou, man?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, Watch it is,’ said the Prioress. ‘Well may you thank him! It is to + him you owe all, and to my good Florimond.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what—how—where am I?’ asked Hal, trying to look round, + but feeling sharp thrills and shoots of pain at every motion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lie still till they bring their bandages, and I will tell you. Gently, + Nan, gently—thy sobs shake him!’ But, as he managed to hold and + press Anne’s hand, the Prioress went on, ‘You are in good Lorimer’s + warehouse. Safer thus, though it is too odorous, for the men of York do + not respect sanctuary in the hour of victory.’ + </p> + <p> + The word roused Hal further. ‘The victory was ours!’ he said. ‘We had + driven Hastings’ banner off the field! Say, was there a cry of treason?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Even so, my son. So far as Master Lorimer understands, Lord Oxford’s + banner of the beaming star was mistaken for the sun of York, and the men + of Warwick turned on you as you came back from the chase, but all was + utter confusion. No one knows who was staunch and who not, and the fields + and lanes are full of blood and slaughtered men; and Edward’s royal banner + is set up on the market cross, and trumpets were sounding round it. And + here come Master Lorimer and the goodwife to bind these wounds.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But Sir Giles Musgrave?’ still asked Hal. + </p> + <p> + ‘Belike fled with Lord Oxford and his men, who all made off at the cry of + treason,’ was the answer. + </p> + <p> + Lorimer returned with his wife and various appliances, and likewise with + fresh tidings. There was no doubt that the brothers Warwick and Montagu + had been slain. They had been found—Warwick under a hedge impeded by + his heavy armour, and Montagu on the field itself. Each body had been + thrown over a horse, and shown at the market cross; and they would be + carried to London on the morrow. ‘And so end,’ said Lorimer, ‘two brave + and open-handed gentlemen as ever lived, with whom I have had many + friendly dealings.’ + </p> + <p> + One thing more Hal longed to hear—namely, how he had been saved. He + remembered that Watch had come back to him with Florimond the evening + before. They had probably been hunting together, and the hound, who had + always been very fond of him on the journey, had accompanied Watch to his + side before going back to his chain in Barnet; but he had lost sight of + them in the morning, and regretted that he could not find Watch to provide + for his safety. He knew, he said, by the presence of Florimond, who must + be in Barnet. And he also had a dim recollection of being licked by + Watch’s tongue as he lay, and likewise of hearing a furious barking, + yelling and growling, whether of one or both dogs he was not sure. + </p> + <p> + It seemed that towards the evening, when the battle-cries had grown + fainter, and the sun was going down, Florimond had burst in on his + mistress, panting and blood-stained—but not with his own blood, as + was soon ascertained—and made vehement demonstrations by which, as a + true dog-lover, the Prioress perceived that he wanted her to follow him. + And Anne, who thought she saw a piece of Hal’s plaid caught in his collar, + was ‘neither to have nor to hold,’ as the Mother said, till Master Lorimer + was found, and entreated to follow the hound, ay, and to take them with + him. He demurred much as to their safety, but the Prioress declared that + it was the part of the religious to take care of the wounded, and not + inconsistent with her vow. See the Sisters of St. Katharine’s of the + Tower! And though her interpretation was a broad one, and would have + shocked alike her own Abbess and her of the Minoresses, he was fain to + accept it in such a cause; but he commanded his waggoners to bring the + wain in the rear, both as an excuse, and a possible protection for the + ladies, and, it might be, a conveyance for the wounded. + </p> + <p> + Florimond, who had sprung about, barked, fawned and made entreating sounds + all this time (longer in narrative than in reality) led them, not through + the central field of slaughter, but somewhat to the left, among the heath—where, + in fact, Oxford had lost his way in the fog, and his own allies had + charged him, but had not followed far beyond the place of Hal’s fall, + discovering the fatal error that spread confusion through their ranks, + where everyone distrusted his fellow leader. + </p> + <p> + There, after a weary and perilous way, diversified by the horrid shouts of + plunderers of the slain, happily not near at hand, and when Lorimer, but + for the ladies, would have given up the quest as useless, they were + greeted by Watch’s bark, and found him lying with his fine head alert and + ready over his senseless master. + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt but that the two good creatures, both powerful and + formidable animals, must have saved him from the spoilers, and then been + sagacious enough to let the hound go down to fetch assistance while the + sheep-dog remained as his master’s faithful guardian. How honoured and + caressed they were can hardly be described, but all will know. + </p> + <p> + The joy and gratitude of knowing of Anne’s devotion, and the pleasure of + his good dog’s faithfulness, helped Hal through the painful process of + having his hurts dealt with. Surgeons, even barbers, were fully occupied, + and Lorimer did not wish to have it known that a Lancastrian was in his + house. His wife and her old nurse, as well as the Prioress, had some + knowledge of simple practical surgery; and Hal’s disasters proved to be a + severe cut on the head, a slash on the shoulder, various bruises, and a + broken rib and thigh-bone, all which were within their capabilities, with + assistance from the master’s stronger hand. No one could tell whether the + savage nature of the York brothers might not slake their revenge in a + general massacre of their antagonists; so Lorimer caused Hal’s bed to be + made in the waggon in the warehouse, where he was safe from detection + until the victorious army should have quitted Barnet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. — TEWKESBURY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The last shoot of that ancient tree + Was budding fair as fair might be; + Its buds they crop + Its branches lop + Then leave the sapless stem to die. + —SOPHOCLES (Anstice). +</pre> + <p> + Harry Clifford lay fevered, and knowing little of what passed, for several + days, only murmuring sometimes of his flock at home, sometimes of the + royal hermit, and sometimes in distress of the men-at-arms with whom he + had been thrown, and whose habits and language had plainly been a great + shock to his innocent mind, trained by the company of the sheep, and the + hermit. He took the Prioress’s hand for Good-wife Dolly’s, but he + generally knew Anne, who could soothe him better than any other. + </p> + <p> + Master Lorimer was fully occupied by combatants who came to have their + equipments renewed or repaired, and he spent the days in his shop in + London, but rode home in the long evenings with his budget of news. King + Henry was in the Tower again, as passive as ever, but on the very day of + the battle of Barnet Queen Margaret had landed at Weymouth with her son, + and the war would be renewed in Somersetshire. + </p> + <p> + Search for prisoners being over at Barnet, Hal was removed to the guest + chamber of his hosts, where he lay in a huge square bed, and in the better + air began to recover, understand what was going on round him, and be + anxious for his friends, especially Sir Giles Musgrave and Simon Bunce. + The ladies still attended to him, as Lorimer pronounced the journey to be + absolutely unsafe, while so many soldiers disbanded, or on their way to + the Queen’s army, were roaming about, and the Burgundians brought by + Edward might not be respectful to an English Prioress. It was safer to + wait for tidings from Lord St. John, which were certain to come either + from Bletso or the Minoresses’. + </p> + <p> + So May had begun when Lorimer hurried home with the tidings that a + messenger had come in haste from King Edward from the battlefield of + Tewkesbury, with the tidings of a complete victory. Prince Edward, the + fair and spirited hope of Lancaster, was slain, Somerset and his friends + had taken sanctuary in the Abbey Church, Queen Margaret and the young wife + of the prince in a small convent, and beyond all had been flight and + slaughter. + </p> + <p> + For a few days no more was known, but then came fuller and sadder tidings. + The young prince had been brutally slain by his cousins, Edward, George, + and Richard, excited as they were to tiger-like ferocity by the late + revolt. The nobles in the sanctuary, who had for one night been protected + by a cord drawn in front of them by a priest, had in the morning been + dragged out and beheaded. Among them was Anne’s father, Lord St. John of + Bletso, and on the field the heralds had recognised the corpse of her + suitor, Lord Redgrave. To expect that Anne felt any acute sorrow for a + father whom she had never seen since she was six years old, and who then + had never seemed to care for her, was not possible. + </p> + <p> + And what was to be her fate? Her young brother, the heir of Bletso, was in + Flanders with his foreign mother, and she knew not what might be her own + claims through her own mother, though the Prioress and Master Lorimer knew + that it could be ascertained through the seneschal at Bletso, if he had + not perished with his lord, or the agents at York through whom Anne’s + pension had been paid. If she were an heiress, she would become a ward of + the Crown, a dreary prospect, for it meant to be disposed of to some + unknown minion of the Court. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII. — THE NUT-BROWN MAID + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + All my wellfare to trouble and care + Should change if you were gone, + For in my mynde, of all mankind + I love but you alone. + —NUT-BROWN MAID. +</pre> + <p> + Anne St. John, in her ‘doul’ or deep mourning, sat by Hal’s couch or + daybed in tears, as he lay in the deep bay of the mullioned window, and + told him of the consultation that had been held. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, dear lady!’ he said, ‘now am I grieved that I have not mine own to + endow you with! Well would I remain the landless shepherd were it not for + you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nay,’ she said, looking up through her tears, ‘and wherefore should I not + share your shepherd’s lot?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You! Nan, sweet Nan, tenderly nurtured in the convent while I have ever + lived as a rough hardy shepherd!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And I have ever been a moorland maid,’ she answered, ‘bred to no soft + ways. I know not how to be the lady of a castle—I shall be a much + better herdsman’s wife, like your good old Dolly, whom I have always loved + and envied.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You never saw us snowed up in winter with all things scarce, and hardly + able to milk a goat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have not we been snowed up at Greystone for five weeks at a time?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, but with thick walls round and a stack of peat at hand,’ said Hal, + his heart beating violently as more and more he felt that the maiden did + not speak in jest, but in full earnestness of love. + </p> + <p> + ‘Verily one would deem you took me for a fine dainty dame, such as I saw + at the Minoresses’, shivering at the least gust of fresh wind, and not + daring to wet their satin shoes if there had been a shower of rain in the + cloisters. Were we not all stifled within the walls, and never breathed + till we were out of them? Nay, Hal, there is none to come between us now. + Take me to your moors and hills! I will be your good housewife and + shepherdess, and make you such a home! And you will teach me of the stars + and of the flowers and all the holy lore of your good royal hermit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! my hermit, my master, how fares it with him? Would that I could go + and see!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Which do you love best—me or the hermit?’ asked Anne archly, + lifting up her head, which was lying on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘I love you, mine own love and sweetheart, with all my heart,’ he said, + regaining her hand, ‘but my King and master with my soul; and oh! that I + had any strength to give him! I love him as my master in holy things, and + as my true prince, and what would I not give to know how it is with him + and how he bears these dreadful tidings!’ + </p> + <p> + He bent his head, choking with sobs as he spoke, and Anne wept with him, + her momentary jealousy subdued by the picture of the lonely prisoner, his + friends slain in his cause, and his only child cut off in early prime; but + she tried the comfort of hoping that his Queen would be with him. Thus + talking now of love, now of grief, now of the future, now of the past, the + Prioress found them, and as she was inclined to blame Anne for letting her + patient weep, the maiden looked up to her and said, ‘Dear Mother, we are + disputing—I want this same Hal to wed me so soon as he can stand and + walk. Then I would go home with him to Derwentside, and take care of him.’ + </p> + <p> + The Prioress burst out laughing. ‘Make porridge, milk the ewes and spin + their wool? Eh? Meet work for a baron’s daughter!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So I tell her,’ said Harry. ‘She knows not how hard the life is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do I not?’ said Anne. ‘Have I not spent a night and day, the happiest my + childhood knew, in your hut? Has it not been a dream of joy ever since?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, a summer’s dream!’ said Hal. ‘Tell her the folly of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I verily believe he does not want me. If he had not a lame leg, I trow he + would be trying to be mewed up with his King!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It would be my duty,’ murmured Hal, ‘nor should I love thee the less.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis a duty beyond your reach,’ said the Prioress. ‘Master Lorimer hears + that none have access to King Henry, God help him! and he sits as in a + trance, as though he understood and took heed of nothing—not even of + this last sore battle.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘God aid him! Aye, and his converse is with Him,’ said Hal, with a gush of + tears. ‘He minds nought of earth, not even earthly griefs.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But we, we are of earth still, and have our years before us,’ said Anne, + ‘and I will not spend mine the dreary lady of a dull castle. Either I will + back and take my vows in your Priory, reverend Mother, if Hal there + disdains to have me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nan, Nan! when you know that all I dread is to have you mewed behind a + wall of snow as thick as the walls of the Tower and freezing to the bone!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With you behind it telling all the tales. Mother, prithee prove to him + that I am not made of sugar like the Clares, but that I love a fresh wind + and the open moorlands.’ + </p> + <p> + The Prioress laughed and took her away, but in private the maiden + convinced her that the proposal, however wild, was in full earnest, and + not in utter ignorance of the way of life that was preferred. + </p> + <p> + Afterwards the good lady discussed it with the Lorimers. ‘For my part,’ + she said, ‘I see nought to gainsay the children having their way. They are + equal in birth and breeding, and love one another heartily, and the times + may turn about to bring them to their own proper station.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But the hardness and the roughness of the life,’ objected Mistress + Lorimer, ‘for a dainty, convent-bred lady.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My convent—God, forgive me!—is not like the Poor Clares. We + knew there what cold and hunger mean, as well as what free air and + mountains are. Moreover, though the maid thinks not of it, I do not + believe the life will be so bare and comfortless. The lad’s mother hath + not let him want, and there is a heritage through the Vescis that must + come to him, even if he never can claim the lands of Clifford.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And now that all Lancaster is gone, King Edward may be less vindictive + against the Red Rose,’ said Lorimer. + </p> + <p> + ‘There must be a dowry secured to the maid,’ said the Prioress. ‘Let them + only lie quiet for a time till the remains of the late tempest have blown + over, and all will be well with them. Ay, and Master Lorimer, the Lady + Threlkeld, as well as myself, will fully acquit ourselves of the heavy + charges you have been put to for your hospitality to us.’ + </p> + <p> + Master Lorimer disclaimed all save his delight in the honour paid to his + poor house, and appealed to his wife, who seconded him courteously, though + perhaps the expenses of a wounded knight, three nuns, a noble damsel and + their horses, were felt by her enough to make the promise gratifying. + </p> + <p> + While the elders talked, a horseman was heard in the court, asking whether + the young demoiselle of Bletso were lodged there. It was the seneschal + Wenlock, who had come with what might be called the official report of his + lord’s death, and to consider of the disposal of the young lady, being + glad to find the Prioress of Greystone, to whom she had originally been + committed by her father. + </p> + <p> + Before summoning her, he explained to the Prioress that a small estate + which had belonged to her mother devolved upon her. The proceeds of the + property were not large, but they had been sufficient to keep her at the + convent, on the moderate charges of the time. Anne was only eighteen, and + at no time of their lives were women, even widows, reckoned able to + dispose of themselves. She would naturally become a ward of the Crown, and + Lord Redgrave having been killed, the seneschal was about to go and inform + King Edward of the situation. + </p> + <p> + ‘But,’ said the Prioress, ‘suppose you found her already betrothed to a + gentleman of equal birth, and with claims to an even greater inheritance? + Would you not be silent till the match was concluded, and the King had no + chance of breaking it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If it were well for the maid’s honour and fortune,’ said the seneschal. + ‘If you, reverend Mother, have found a fair marriage for her, it might be + better to let well alone.’ + </p> + <p> + Then the Prioress set forth the situation and claims of young Clifford, + and the certainty, that even if it were more prudent not to advance them + at present, yet the ruin of the house of Nevil removed one great barrier, + and at least the Vesci inheritance held by his mother must come to him, + and she was the more likely to make a portion over to him when she found + that he had married nobly. + </p> + <p> + The seneschal acquiesced, even though the Prioress confessed that the + betrothal had not actually taken place. In fact he was relieved that the + maiden, whom he had known as a fair child, should be off his hands, and + secured from the greed of some Yorkist partisan needing a reward. + </p> + <p> + When Anne, her dark eyes and hair shaded by her mourning veil, came down, + and had heard his greeting, with such details of her father’s death and + the state of the family as he could give her, she rose and said: ‘Sir, + there have been passages between Sir Harry Clifford and myself, and I + would wed none other than him.’ + </p> + <p> + Nor did the seneschal gainsay her. + </p> + <p> + All that he desired was that what was decided upon should be done quickly, + before heralds or lawyers brought to the knowledge of the Woodvilles that + there was any sort of prize to be had in the damsel of St. John, and he + went off, early the next morning, back to Bletso, that he might seem to + know nothing of the matter. + </p> + <p> + The Prioress laughed at men being so much more afraid than women. She was + willing to bear all the consequences, but then the Plantagenets were not + in the habit of treating ladies as traitors. However, all agreed that it + would be wiser to be out of reach of London as soon as possible, and + Master Lorimer, who had become deeply interested in this romance of true + love, arranged to send one of his wains to York, in which the bride and + bridegroom might travel unsuspected, until the latter should be able to + ride and all were out of reach of pursuit. The Prioress would go thus far + with them, ‘And then! And then,’ she said sighing, ‘I shall have to dree + my penance for all my friskings!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But, oh, what kindly friskings!’ cried Anne, throwing herself into those + tender arms. + </p> + <p> + ‘Little they will reck of kindness out of rule,’ sighed the Prioress. ‘If + only they will send me back to Greystone, then shall I hear of thee, and + thou hadst better take Florimond, poor hound, or the Sisters at York may + put him to penance too!’ + </p> + <p> + Henry Clifford was able to walk again, though still lame, when, in the + early morning of Ascension Day, he and Anne St. John were married in the + hall of Master Lorimer’s house by a trusty priest of Barnet, and in the + afternoon, when the thanksgiving worship at the church had been gone + through, they started in the waggon for the first stage of the journey, to + be overtaken at the halting-place by the Prioress and Master Lorimer, who + had had to ride into London to finish some business. + </p> + <p> + And he brought tidings that rendered that wedding-day one of mournful, if + peaceful, remembrances. + </p> + <p> + For he had seen, borne from the Tower, along Cheapside, the bier on which + lay the body of King Henry, his hands clasped on his breast, his white + face upturned with that heavenly expression which Hal knew so well, + enhanced into perfect peace, every toil, every grief at an end. + </p> + <p> + Whether blood dropped as the procession moved along, Lorimer could not + certainly tell. Whether so it was, or whoever shed it, there was no + marring the absolute rest and joy that had crowned the ‘meek usurper’s + holy head,’ after his dreary half-century of suffering under the + retribution of the ancestral sins of two lines of forefathers. All had + been undergone in a deep and holy trust and faith such as could render + even his hereditary insanity an actual shield from the poignancy of grief. + </p> + <p> + Tears were shed, not bitter nor vengeful. Such thoughts would have seemed + out of place with the memory of the gentle countenance of love, good-will + and peace, and as Harry and Anne joined in the service that the Prioress + had requested to have in the early daylight before starting, Hal felt that + to the hermit saint of his boyhood he verily owed his own self. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII. — BROUGHAM CASTLE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And now am I an Earlis son, + And not a banished man. + —NUT-BROWN MAID. +</pre> + <p> + That journey northward in the long summer days was a honeymoon to the + young couple. The Prioress left them as much to themselves as possible, + trying to rejoice fully in their gladness, and not to think what might + have been hers but for that vow of her parents, keeping her hours + diligently in preparation for the stricter rule awaiting her. + </p> + <p> + When they parted she sent Florimond with them, to be restored if she were + allowed to return to Greystone, and Anne parted with her with many tears + as the truest mother and friend she had ever known. + </p> + <p> + By this time Harry was able to ride, and the two, with a couple of + men-at-arms hired as escort, made their way over the moors, Harry’s head + throbbing with gladness, as, with a shout of joy, he hailed his own + mountain-heads, Helvellyn and Saddleback, in all their purple cloud-like + majesty. + </p> + <p> + They agreed first to go to Dolly’s homestead, drawn as much by affection + as by prudence. Delight it was to Hal to point out the rocks and bushes of + his home; but when he came in sight of Piers and the sheep, the dumb boy + broke out into a cry of terror, and rushed away headlong, nor did he turn + till he felt Watch’s very substantial paws bounding on him in ecstasy. + </p> + <p> + Watch was indeed a forerunner, for Dolly and her husband could scarcely be + induced by his solid presence and caresses to come out and see for + themselves that the tall knight and lady were no ghostly shades, nor + bewildered travellers, but that this was their own nursling Hal, whom + Simon Bunce had reported to be lying dead under a gorse-bush at Barnet, + and further that the lovely brunette lady was the little lost child whom + Dolly had mothered for a night. + </p> + <p> + While the happy goodwife was regaling them with the best she had to offer, + Hob set forth to announce their arrival at Threlkeld, being not certain + what the cautious Sir Lancelot would deem advisable, since the Lancaster + race had perished, and York was in the ascendant. + </p> + <p> + There was a long time to wait, but finally Sir Lancelot himself came + riding through the wood, no longer afraid to welcome his stepson at the + castle, and the more willing since the bride newly arrived was no maiden + of low degree, but a damsel of equal birth and with unquestioned rights. + </p> + <p> + So all was well, and the lady no longer had to embrace her son in fear and + trembling, but to see him a handsome and thoughtful young man, well able + to take his place in her halls. + </p> + <p> + Since he had been actually in arms against King Edward it was not thought + safe to assert his claims to his father’s domains, but the lady gave up to + him a portion of her own inheritance from the Vescis, where he and Anne + were able to live in Barden Tower in Yorkshire, not far from Bolton Abbey. + So Hal’s shepherd days were over, though he still loved country habits and + ways. Hob came to be once more his attendant, Dolly was Anne’s + bower-woman, and Simon Bunce Sir Harry’s squire, though he never ceased + blaming himself for having left his master, dead as he thought, when even + a poor hound was more trusty. + </p> + <p> + Florimond was restored to the Prioress, who was reinstated at Greystone, a + graver woman than before she had set forth, the better for having watched + deeper devotion at the Minoresses’, and still more for the terrible + realities of the battle of Barnet. At Bolton Abbey Harry found monks who + encouraged his craving for information on natural science, and could carry + him on much farther in these researches than his hermit, though he always + maintained that the royal anchorite and prisoner saw farther into heavenly + things than any other whom he had known, and that his soul and insight + rose the higher with his outward troubles and bodily decay. + </p> + <p> + So peacefully went the world with them till Henry was one-and-thirty, and + then the tidings of Bosworth Field came north. The great tragedy of + Plantagenet was complete, and the ambitious and blood-stained house of + York, who had avenged the usurpation of Henry of Lancaster, had perished, + chiefly by the hands of each other, and the distantly related descendant + of John of Gaunt, Henry Tudor, triumphed. + </p> + <p> + The Threlkelds were not slow to recollect that it was time for the + Cliffords to show their heads; moreover, that the St. Johns of Bletso were + related to the Tudors. Though now an aged woman, she descended from her + hills, called upon her son and his wife with their little nine-year-old + son to come with her, and pay homage to the new sovereign in their own + names, and rode with them to Westminster. + </p> + <p> + There a very different monarch from the saint of Harry’s memory received + and favoured him. The lands of Westmoreland were granted to him as his + right, and on their return, Master Lorimer coming by special invitation, + the family were welcomed at Brougham Castle, the cradle of their race, + where Harry Clifford, no longer an outlaw, began the career thus + described: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, + His daily teachers had been woods and rills, + The silence that is in the starry sky, + The sleep that is among the lonely hills. + + In him the savage virtue of the race, + Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead, + Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place + The wisdom that adversity had bred. + + Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth, + The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more, + And ages after he was laid in earth + The Good Lord Clifford was the name he bore. +</pre> + <p> + FINIS + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. 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Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5313] +Last Updated: August 15, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + + + + +Produced by Sandra Laythorpe + + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + +By Charlotte M. Yonge + + + + + Henry, thou of holy birth, + Thou, to whom thy Windsor gave + Nativity and name and grave + Heavily upon his head + Ancestral crimes were visited. + Meek in heart and undefiled, + Patiently his soul resigned, + Blessing, while he kissed the rod, + His Redeemer and his God. + SOUTHEY + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + +I. IN THE MOSS + +II. THE SNOW-STORM + +III. OVER THE MOOR + +IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS + +V. MOTHER AND SON + +VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + +VII. ON DERWENT BANKS + +VIII. THE HERMIT + +IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR + +X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + +XI. THE RED ROSE + +XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION + +XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS + +XIV. THE JOURNEY + +XV. BLETSO + +XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + +XVII. A CAPTIVE KING + +XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES + +XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE + +XX. BARNET + +XXI. TEWKESBURY + +XXII. THE NUT BROWN MAID + +XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + + + + +CHAPTER I. -- IN THE MOSS + + + + I can conduct you, lady, to a low + But loyal cottage where you may be safe + Till further quest.--MILTON. + + +On a moorland slope where sheep and goats were dispersed among the +rocks, there lay a young lad on his back, in a stout canvas cassock +over his leathern coat, and stout leathern leggings over wooden shoes. +Twilight was fast coming on; only a gleam of purple light rested on the +top of the eastern hills, but was gradually fading away, though the sky +to the westward still preserved a little pale golden light by the help +of the descending crescent moon. + +'Go away, horned moon,' murmured the boy. 'I want to see my stars come +out before Hob comes to call me home, and the goats are getting up +already. Moon, moon, thou mayst go quicker. Thou wilt have longer time +to-morrow--and be higher in the sky, as well as bigger, and thou mightst +let me see my star to-night! Ah! there is one high in the sunset, pale +and fair, but not mine! That's the evening star--one of the wanderers. +Is it the same as comes in the morning betimes, when we do not have +it at night? Like that it shines with steady light and twinkles not. I +would that I knew! There! there's mine, my own star, far up, only paling +while the sun glaring blazes in the sky; mine own, he that from afar +drives the stars in Charles's Wain. There they come, the good old +twinkling team of three, and the four of the Wain! Old Billy Goat knows +them too! Up he gets, and all in his wake "Ha-ha-ha" he calls, and the +Nannies answer. Ay, and the sheep are rising up too! How white they look +in the moonshine! Piers--deaf as he is--waking at their music. Ba, they +call the lambs! Nay, that's no call of sheep or goat! 'Tis some child +crying, all astray! Ha! Hilloa, where beest thou? Tarry till I come! +Move not, or thou mayst be in the bogs and mosses! Come, Watch'--to a +great unwieldy collie puppy--'let us find her.' + +A feeble piteous sound answered him, and following the direction of the +reply, he strode along, between the rocks and thorn-bushes that guarded +the slope of the hill, to a valley covered with thick moss, veiling +treacherously marshy ground in which it was easy to sink. + +The cry came from the further side, where a mountain stream had force +enough to struggle through the swamp. There were stepping-stones across +the brook, which the boy knew, and he made his way from one to the +other, calling out cheerily to the little figure that he began to +discern in the fading light, and who answered him with tones evidently +girlish, 'O come, come, shepherd! Here I am! I am lost and lorn! They +will reward thee! Oh, come fast!' + +'All in good time, lassie! Haste is no good here! I must look to my +footing.' + +Presently he was by the side of the wanderer, and could see that it was +a maiden of ten or twelve years old, who somehow, even in the darkness, +had not the air of one of the few inhabitants of that wild mountain +district. + +'Lost art thou, maiden,' he said, as he stood beside her; 'where is +thine home?' + +'I am at Greystone Priory,' replied the girl. 'I went out hawking to-day +with the Mother Prioress and the rest. My pony fell with me when we were +riding after a heron. No one saw me or heard me, and my pony galloped +home. I saw none of them, and I have been wandering miles and miles! Oh +take me back, good lad; the Mother Prioress will give thee--' + +''Tis too far to take thee back to-night,' he said. 'Thou must come with +me to Hob Hogward, where Doll will give thee supper and bed, and we will +have thee home in the morning.' + +'I never lay in a hogward's house,' she said primly. + +'Belike, but there be worse spots to be harboured in. Here, I must carry +thee over the burn, it gets wider below! Nay, 'tis no use trying to leap +it in the dark, thou wouldst only sink in. There!' + +And as he raised her in his arms, the touch of her garment was delicate, +and she on her side felt that his speech, gestures and touch were not +those of a rustic shepherd boy; but nothing was said till he had waded +through the little narrow stream, and set her down on a fairly firm +clump of grass on the other side. Then she asked, 'What art thou, +lad?--Who art thou?' + +'They call me Hal,' was the answer; 'but this is no time for questions. +Look to thy feet, maid, or thou wilt be in a swamp-hole whence I may +hardly drag thee out.' + +He held her hand, for he could hardly carry her farther, since she +was almost as tall as himself, and more plump; and the rest of the +conversation for some little time consisted of, 'There!' 'Where?' 'Oh, +I was almost down!' 'Take heed; give me thy other hand! Thou must leap +this!' 'Oh! what a place! Is there much more of it?' 'Not much! Come +bravely on! There's a good maid.' 'Oh, I must get my breath.' 'Don't +stand still. That means sinking. Leap! Leap! That's right. No, not that +way, turn to the big stair.' 'Oh--h!' 'That's my brave wench! Not far +now.' 'I'm down, I'm down!' 'Up! Here, this is safe! On that white +stone! Now, here's sound ground! Hark!' Wherewith he emitted a strange +wild whoop, and added, 'That's Hob come out to call me!' He holloaed +again. 'We shall soon be at home now. There's Mother Doll's light! Her +light below, the star above,' he added to himself. + +By this time it was too dark for the two young people to see more than +dim shapes of one another, but the boy knew that the hand he still held +was a soft and delicate one, and the girl that those which had grasped +and lifted her were rough with country labours. She began to assert her +dignity and say again, 'Who art thou, lad? We will guerdon thee well for +aiding me. The Lord St. John is my father. And who art thou?' + +'I? Oh, I am Hob Hogward's lad,' he answered in an odd off-hand tone, +before whooping again his answer to the shouts of Hob, which were coming +nearer. + +'I am so hungry!' said the little lady, in a weak, famished tone. 'Hast +aught to eat?' + +'I have finished my wallet, more's the pity!' said the boy, 'but never +fear! Hold out but a few steps more, and Mother Doll will give thee bite +and sup and bed.' + +'Alack! Is it much further! My feet! they are so sore and weary--' + +'Poor maiden, let me bear thee on!' + +Hal took her up again, but they went more slowly, and were glad to see a +tall figure before them, and hear the cry, 'How now, Hal boy, where hast +been? What hast thou there?' + +'A sorely weary little lady, Daddy Hob, lost from the hawking folk from +the Priory,' responded Hal, panting a little as he set his burthen down, +and Hob's stronger arms received her. + +Hal next asked whether the flock had come back under charge of Piers, +and was answered that all were safely at home, and after 'telling the +tale' Hob had set out to find him. 'Thou shouldst not stray so far,' he +said. + +'I heard the maid cry, and went after her,' said Hal, 'all the way to +the Blackreed Moss, and the springs, and 'twas hard getting over the +swamp.' + +'Well indeed ye were not both swallowed in it,' said Hob; 'God be +praised for bringing you through! Poor wee bairn! Thou hast come far! +From whence didst say?' + +'From Greystone Priory,' wearily said the girl, who had her head down on +Hob's shoulder, and seemed ready to fall asleep there. + +'Her horse fell with her, and they were too bent on their sport to heed +her,' explained the boy, as he trudged along beside Hob and his charge, +'so she wandered on foot till by good hap I heard her moan.' + +'Ay, there will be a rare coil to-night for having missed her,' said +Hob; 'but I've heard tell, my Lady Prioress heeds her hawks more than +her nuns! But be she who she may, we'll have her home, and Mother Doll +shall see to her, for she needs it sure, poor bairn. She is asleep +already.' + +So she was, with her head nestled into the shepherd's neck, nor did she +waken when after a tramp of more than a mile the bleatings of the folded +sheep announced that they were nearly arrived, and in the low doorway +there shone a light, and in the light stood a motherly form, in a white +woollen hood and dark serge dress. Tired as he was, Hal ran on to her, +exclaiming 'All well, Mammy Doll?' + +'Ah well!' she answered, 'thank the good God! I was in fear for thee, my +boy! What's that Daddy hath? A strayed lamb?' + +'Nay, Mammy, but a strayed maiden! 'Twas that kept me so long. I had to +bear her through the burn at Blackreed, and drag her on as best I might, +and she is worn out and weary.' + +'Ay,' said Hob, as he came up. 'How now, my bit lassie?' as he put her +into the outstretched arms of his wife, who sat down on the settle to +receive her, still not half awake. + +'She is well-nigh clemmed,' said Hal. 'She has had no bite nor sup all +day, since her pony fell with her out a-hawking, and all were so hot on +the chase that none heeded her.' + +Mother Doll's exclamations of pity were profuse. There was a kettle of +broth on the peat fire, and after placing the girl in a corner of the +settle, she filled three wooden bowls, two of which she placed before +Hal and the shepherd, making signs to the heavy-browed Piers to wait; +and getting no reply from her worn-out guest, she took her in her arms, +and fed her from a wooden spoon. Though without clear waking, mouthfuls +were swallowed down, till the bowl was filled again and set before +Piers. + +'There, that will be enough this day!' said the good dame. 'Poor bairn! +'Twas scurvy treatment. Now will we put her to bed, and in the morn we +will see how to deal with her.' + +Hal insisted that the little lady should have his own bed--a +chaff-stuffed mattress, covered with a woollen rug, in the recess behind +the projecting hearth--a strange luxury for a farm boy; and Doll yielded +very unwillingly when he spoke in a tone that savoured of command. +The shaggy Piers had already curled himself up in a corner and gone to +sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER II. -- THE SNOW-STORM + + + + Yet stay, fair lady, rest awhile + Beneath the cottage wall; + See, through the hawthorns blows the cold wind, + And drizzling rain doth fall.--OLD BALLAD. + + +Though Hal had gone to sleep very tired the night before, and only on +a pile of hay, curled up with Watch, having yielded his own bed to the +strange guest, he was awake before the sun, for it was the decline of +the year, and the dawn was not early. + +He was not the first awake--Hob and Piers were already busy on the +outside, and Mother Doll had emerged from the box bed which made almost +a separate apartment, and was raking together the peat, so as to revive +the slumbering fire. The hovel, for it was hardly more, was built of +rough stone and thatched with reeds, with large stones to keep the +roof down in the high mountain blasts. There was only one room, earthen +floored, and with no furniture save a big chest, a rude table, a settle +and a few stools, besides the big kettle and a few crocks and wooden +bowls. Yet whereas all was clean, it had an air of comfort and +civilisation beyond any of the cabins in the neighbourhood, more +especially as there was even a rude chimney-piece projecting far into +the room, and in the niche behind this lay the little girl in her +clothes, fast asleep. + +Very young and childish she looked as she lay, her lips partly unclosed, +her dark hair straying beyond her hand, and her black lashes resting on +her delicate brunette cheeks, slightly flushed with sleep. Hal could +not help standing for a minute gazing at her in a sort of wondering +curiosity, till roused by the voice of Mother Doll. + +'Go thy ways, my bairn, to wash in the burn. Here's thy comb. I must +have the lassie up before the shepherd comes back, though 'tis amost +a pity to wake her! There, she is stirring! Best be off with thee, my +bonnie lad.' + +It was spoken more in the tone of nurse to nursling than of mother +to son, still less that of mistress to farm boy; but Hal obeyed, only +observing, 'Take care of her.' + +'Ay, my pretty, will not I,' murmured the old woman, as the child turned +round on her pillow, put up a hand, rubbed her eyes, and disclosed a +pair of sleepy brown orbs, gazed about, and demanded, 'What's this? +Who's this?' + +''Tis Hob Hogward's hut, my bonnie lamb, where you are full welcome! +Here, take a sup of warm milk.' + +'I mind me now,' said the girl, sitting up, and holding out her hands +for the bowl. 'They all left me, and the lad brought me--a great lubber +lout--' + +'Nay, nay, mistress, you'll scarce say so when you see him by day--a +well-grown youth as can bear himself with any.' + +'Where is he?' asked the girl, gazing round; 'I want him to take me +back. This place is not one for me. The Sisters will be seeking me! Oh, +what a coil they must be in!' + +'We will have you back, my bairn, so soon as my goodman can go with you, +but now I would have you up and dressed, ay, and washed, ere he and Hal +come in. Then after meat and prayer you will be ready to go.' + +'To Greystone Priory,' returned the girl. 'Yea, I would have thee to +know,' she added, with a little dignity that sat drolly on her bare feet +and disordered hair and cap as she rose out of bed, 'that the Sisters +are accountable for me. I am the Lady Anne St. John. My father is a lord +in Bedfordshire, but he is gone to the wars in Burgundy, and bestowed +me in a convent at York while he was abroad, but the Mother thought her +house would be safer if I were away at the cell at Greystone when Queen +Margaret and the Red Rose came north.' + +'And is that the way they keep you safe?' asked the hostess, who +meanwhile was attending to her in a way that, if the Lady Anne had known +it, was like the tendance of her own nurse at home, instead of that of a +rough peasant woman. + +'Oh, we all like the chase, and the Mother had a new cast of hawks that +she wanted to fly. There came out a heron, and she threw off the new +one, and it went careering up--and up--and we all rode after, and just +as the bird was about to pounce down, into a dyke went my pony, Imp, and +not one of them saw! Not Bertram Selby, the Sisters, nor the groom, nor +the rabble rout that had come out of Greystone; and before I could get +free they were off; and the pony, Imp of Evil that he is, has not learnt +to know me or my voice, and would not let me catch him, but cantered +off--either after the other horses or to the Priory. I knew not where I +was, and halloaed myself hoarse, but no one heard, and I went on and on, +and lost my way!' + +'I did hear tell that the Lady Prioress minded her hawks more than her +Hours,' said Mother Doll. + +'And that's sooth,' said the Lady Anne, beginning to prove herself a +chatterbox. 'The merlins have better hoods than the Sisters; and as +to the Hours, no one ever gets up in the night to say Nocturns or even +Matins but old Sister Scholastica, and she is as strict and cross as may +be.' + +Here the flow of confidence was interrupted by the return of Hal, who +gazed eagerly, though in a shamefaced way, at the guest as he set down a +bowl of ewe milk. She was a well-grown girl of ten, slender, and bearing +herself like one high bred and well trained in deportment; and her face +was delicately tinted on an olive skin, with fine marked eyebrows, and +dark bright eyes, and her little hunting dress of green, and the hood, +set on far back, became the dark locks that curled in rings beneath. + +She saw a slender lad, dark-haired and dark-eyed, ruddy and embrowned +by mountain sun and air; and the bow with which he bent before her had +something of the rustic lout, and there was a certain shyness over him +that hindered him from addressing her. + +'So, shepherd,' she said, 'when wilt thou take me back to Greystone?' + +'Father will fix that,' interposed the housewife; 'meanwhile, ye had +best eat your porridge. Here is Father, in good time with the cows' +milk.' + +The rugged broad-shouldered shepherd made his salutation duly to the +young lady, and uttered the information that there was a black cloud, +like snow, coming up over the fells to the south-west. + +'But I must fare back to Greystone!' said the damsel. 'They will be in a +mighty coil what has become of me.' + +'They would be in a worse coil if they found your bones under a snow +wreath.' + +Hal went to the door and spied out, as if the tidings were rather +pleasant to him than otherwise. The goodwife shivered, and reached out +to close the shutter, and there being no glass to the windows, all the +light that came in was through the chinks. + +'It would serve them right for not minding me better,' said the maiden +composedly. 'Nay, it is as merry here as at Greystone, with Sister +Margaret picking out one's broidery, and Father Cuthbert making one pore +over his crabbed parchments.' + +'Oh, does this Father teach Latin?' exclaimed Hal with eager interest. + +'Of course he doth! The Mother at York promised I should learn whatever +became a damsel of high degree,' said the girl, drawing herself up. + +'I would he would teach me!' sighed the boy. + +'Better break thy fast and mind thy sheep,' said the old woman, as if +she feared his getting on dangerous ground; and placing the bowl of +porridge on the rough table, she added, 'Say the Benedicite, lad, and +fall to.' Then, as he uttered the blessing, she asked the guest whether +she preferred ewes' milk or cows' milk, a luxury no one else was +allowed, all eating their porridge contentedly with a pinch of salt, Hob +showing scant courtesy, the less since his guest's rank had been made +known. + +By the time they had finished, snowflakes--an early autumn storm--were +drifting against the shutter, and a black cloud was lowering over the +hills. Hob foretold a heavy fall of snow, and called on Hal to help +him and Piers fold the flock more securely, sleepy Watch and his old +long-haired collie mother rising at the same call. Lady Anne sprang up +at the same time, insisting that she must go and help to feed the poor +sheep, but she was withheld, much against her will, by Mother Dolly, +though she persisted that snow was nothing to her, and it was a fine +jest to be out of the reach of the Sisters, who mewed her up in a +cell, like a messan dog. However, she was much amused by watching, +and thinking she assisted in, Mother Dolly's preparations for ewe milk +cheese-making; and by-and-by Hal came in, shaking the snow off the +sheepskin he had worn over his leathern coat. Hob had sent him in, as +the weather was too bad for him, and he and Anne crouched on opposite +sides of the wide hearth as he dried and warmed himself, and cosseted +the cat which Anne had tried to caress, but which showed a decided +preference for the older friend. + +'Our Baudrons at Greystone loves me better than that,' said Anne. 'She +will come to me sooner than even to Sister Scholastica!' + +'My Tib came with us when we came here. Ay, Tib! purr thy best!' as he +held his fingers over her, and she rubbed her smooth head against him. + +'Can she leap? Baudrons leaps like a horse in the tilt-yard.' + +'Cannot she! There, my lady pussy, show what thou canst do to please the +demoiselle,' and he held his arms forward with clasped hands, so that +the grey cat might spring over them, and Lady Anne cried out with +delight. + +Again and again the performance was repeated, and pussy was induced +to dance after a string dangled before her, to roll over and play in +apparent ecstasy with a flake of wool, as if it were a mouse, and Watch +joined in the game in full amity. Mother Dolly, busy with her distaff, +looked on, not displeased, except when she had to guard her spindle from +the kitten's pranks, but she was less happy when the children began to +talk. + +'You have seen a tilt-yard?' + +'Yea, indeed,' he answered dreamily. 'The poor squire was hurt--I did +not like it! It is gruesome.' + +'Oh, no! It is a noble sport! I loved our tilt-yard at Bletso. Two +knights could gallop at one another in the lists, as if they were out +hunting. Oh! to hear the lances ring against the shields made one's +heart leap up! Where was yours?' + +Here Dolly interrupted hastily, 'Hal, lad, gang out to the shed and +bring in some more sods of turf. The fire is getting low.' + +'Here's a store, mother--I need not go out,' said Hal, passing to a pile +in the corner. 'It is too dark for thee to see it.' + +'But where was your castle?' continued the girl. 'I am sure you have +lived in a castle.' + +Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another changed the +homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less grammatical, second +person plural. The boy laughed, nodded his head, and said, 'You are a +little witch.' + +'No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in +Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be +Scots!' + +'I am not from Bedfordshire,' said the lad, looking much amused at her +perplexity. + +'Who art thou then?' she cried peremptorily. + +'I? I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.' + +'No shepherd boy are you! Come, tell me true.' + +Dolly thought it time to interfere. She heard an imaginary bleat, and +ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering the girl by force +from running after him, for the snow was coming down in larger flakes +than ever. Nevertheless, when her husband was heard outside she threw a +cloak over her head and hurried out to speak with him. 'That maid will +make our lad betray himself ere another hour is over their heads!' + +'Doth she do it wittingly?' asked the shepherd gravely. + +'Nay, 'tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of gentle +blood, and women's wits be sharp and prying, and the maid will never +rest till she has wormed out who he is.' + +'He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.' + +'Thee! Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the wiles of a +young maid!' + +'Lord Hal is a lad of his word. Peace with thy lords and ladies, woman, +thou'lt have the archers after him at once.' + +'She makes no secret of being of gentle blood--a St. John of Bletso.' + +'A pestilent White Rose lot! We shall have them on the scent ere many +days are over our head! An unlucky chance this same snow, or I should +have had the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange a word.' + +'Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm. Ill for the maid to have +fallen into a drift!' + +'Well for the lad if she never came out of it!' muttered the gruff +old shepherd. 'Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the clacking +wenches at York--Yorkists every one of them.' + +Mother Dolly's eyes grew round. 'Mind thee, Hob!' she said; 'I ken thy +bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know that if aught +befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall hold thee--and so +will my Lady--guilty of a foul deed.' + +'No fouler than was done on the stripling's father,' muttered the +shepherd. 'Get thee in, wife! Who knows what folly those two may be +after while thou art away? Mind thee, if the maid gets an inkling of who +the boy is, it will be the worse for her.' + +'Oh!' murmured the goodwife, 'I moaned once that our Piers there should +be deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now! No fear of +perilous word going out through him, or I durst not have kept my poor +sister's son!' + +Mother Doll trusted that her husband would never have the heart to leave +the pretty dark-haired girl in the snow, but she was relieved to find +Hal marking down on the wide flat hearth-stone, with a bit of charcoal, +all the stars he had observed. 'Hob calls that the Plough--those seven!' +he said; 'I call it Charles's Wain!' + +'Methinks I have seen that!' she said, 'winter and summer both.' + +'Ay, he is a meuseful husbandman, that Charles! And see here! This +middle mare of the team has a little foal running beside her'--he made +a small spot beside the mark that stood for the central star of what we +call the Bear's Tail. + +'I never saw that!' + +'No, 'tis only to be seen on a clear bright night. I have seen it, but +Hob mocks at it. He thinks the only use of the Wain is to find the North +Star, up beyond there, pointing by the back of the Plough, and go by it +when you are lost.' + +'What good would finding the North Star do? It would not have helped me +home if you had not found me!' + +'Look here, Lady Anne! Which way does Greystone lie?' + +'How should I tell?' + +'Which way did the sun lie when you crossed the moor?' + +Anne could not remember at first, but by-and-by recollected that it +dazzled her eyes just as she was looking for the runaway pony; and Hal +declared that it proved that the convent must have been to the south of +the spot of her fall; but his astronomy, though eagerly demonstrated, +was not likely to have brought her back to Greystone. Still Doll +was thankful for the safe subject, as he went on to mark out what he +promised that she should see in the winter--the swarm of glow-worms, +as he called the Pleiades; and 'Our Lady's Rock,' namely, distaff, +the northern name for Orion; and then he talked of the stars that so +perplexed him, namely, the planets, that never stayed in their places. + +By-and-by, when Mother Dolly's work was over the kettle was on the fire, +and she was able to take out her own spinning, she essayed to fill up +the time by telling them lengthily the old stories and ballads handed +down from minstrel to minstrel, from nurse to nurse, and they sat +entranced, listening to the stories, more than even Hal knew she +possessed, and holding one another by the hand as they listened. + +Meantime the snow had ceased--it was but a scud of early autumn on +the mountains--the sun came out with bright slanting beams before his +setting, there was a soft south wind; and Hob, when he came in, growled +out that the thaw had set in, and he should be able to take the maid +back in the morning. He sat scowling and silent during supper, and +ordered Hal about with sharp sternness, sending him out to attend to the +litter of the cattle, before all had finished, and manifestly treated +him as the shepherd's boy, the drudge of the house, and threatening +him with a staff if he lingered, soon following himself. Mother Dolly +insisted on putting the little lady to bed before they should return, +and convent-bred Anne had sufficient respect for proprieties to see that +it was becoming. She heard no more that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III. -- OVER THE MOOR + + + + In humblest, simplest habit clad, + But these were all to me.--GOLDSMITH. + + +'Hal! What is your name?' + +She stood at the door of the hovel, the rising sun lighting up her +bright dark eyes, and smiling in the curly rings of her hair while Hal +stood by, and Watch bounded round them. + +'You have heard,' he said, half smiling, and half embarrassed. + +'Hal! That's no name.' + +'Harry, an it like you better.' + +'Harry what?' with a little stamp of her foot. + +'Harry Hogward, as you see, or Shepherd, so please you.' + +'You are no Hogward, nor shepherd! These folk be no kin to you, I can +see. Come, an you love me, tell me true! I told you true who I am, Red +Rose though I see you be! Why not trust me the same?' + +'Lady, I verily ken no name save Harry. I would trust you, verily I +would, but I know not myself.' + +'I guess! I guess!' she cried, clapping her hands, but at the moment +Dolly laid a hand on her shoulder. + +'Do not guess, maiden,' she said. 'If thou wouldst not bring evil on the +lad that found thee, and the roof that sheltered thee, guess not, yea, +and utter not a word save that thou hast lain in a shepherd's hut. +Forget all, as though thou hadst slept in the castle on the hill that +fades away with the day.' + +She ended hastily, for her husband was coming up with a rough pony's +halter in his hand. He was in haste to be off, lest a search for the +lost child might extend to his abode, and his gloomy displeasure and +ill-masked uneasiness reduced every-one to silence in his presence. + +'Up and away, lady wench!' he said. 'No time to lose if you are to be at +Greystone ere night! Thou Hal, thou lazy lubber, go with Piers and the +sheep--' + +'I shall go with you,' replied Hal, in a grave tone of resolution. 'I +will only go within view of the convent, but go with you I will.' + +He spoke with a decided tone of authority, and Hob Hogward muttered a +little to himself, but yielded. + +Hal assisted the young lady to mount, and they set off along the track +of the moss, driving the cows, sheep, and goats before them--not a very +considerable number--till they came to another hut, much smaller and +more rude than that where they had left Mother Doll. + +Piers was a wild, shaggy-haired lad, with a sheepskin over his +shoulders, and legs bare below the knee, and to him the charge of +the flock was committed, with signs which he evidently understood and +replied to with a gruff 'Ay, ay!' The three went on the way, over the +slope of a hill, partly clothed with heather, holly and birch trees, as +it rose above the moss. Hob led the pony, and there was something in his +grim air and manner that hindered any conversation between the two young +people. Only Hal from time to time gathered a flower for the young lady, +scabious and globe flowers, and once a very pink wild rose, mingled +with white ones. Lady Anne took them with a meaning smile, and a merry +gesture, as though she were going to brush Hal's face with the petals. +Hal laughed, and said, 'You will make them shed.' + +'Well and good, so the disputes be shed,' said Anne, with more meaning +than perhaps Hal understood. 'And the white overcomes the red.' + +'May be the red will have its way with spring--' + +But there Hob looked round on them, and growled out, 'Have done with +that folly! What has a herd boy like thee to do with roses and frippery? +Come away from the lady's rein. Thou art over-held to thrust thyself +upon her.' + +Nevertheless, as Hal fell back, the dark eyes shot a meaning glance +at him, and the party went on in silence, except that now and then +Hob launched at Hal an order that he endeavoured to render savagely +contemptuous and harsh, so that Lady Anne interfered to say, 'Nay, the +poor lad is doing no harm.' + +'Scathe enough,' answered Hob. 'He always will be doing ill if he can. +Heed him not, lady, it only makes him the more malapert.' + +'Malapert,' repeated Anne, not able to resist a little teasing of +the grim escort; 'that's scarce a word of the dales. 'Tis more like a +man-at-arms.' + +This Hob would not hear, and if he did, it produced a rough imprecation +on the pony, and a sharp cut with his switch. + +They had crossed another burn, travelled through the moss, and mounted +to the brow of another hill, when, far away against the sky, on the top +of yet another height, were to be seen moving figures, not cattle, but +Anne recognised them at once. 'Men-at-arms! archers! lances! A search +party for me! The Prioress must have sent to the Warden's tower.' + +'Off with thee, lad!' said Hob, at once turning round upon Hal. 'I'll +not have thee lingering to gape at the men-at-arms! Off I say, or--' + +He raised his stout staff as though to beat the boy, who looked up in +his face with a laugh, as if in very little alarm at his threat, +smiled up in the young lady's face, and as she held out her hand with +'Farewell, Hal; I'll keep your rose-leaves in my breviary,' he bent over +and kissed the fingers. + +'How now! This impudence passes! As if thou wert of the same blood as +the damsel!' exclaimed Hob in considerable anger, bringing down his +stick. 'Away with thee, ill-bred lubber! Back to thy sheep, thou lazy +loiterer! Get thee gone and thy whelp with thee!' + +Hal obeyed, though not without a parting grin at Anne, and had sped away +down the side of the hill, among the hollies and birches, which entirely +concealed him and the bounding puppy. + +Hob went on in a gruff tone: 'The insolence of these loutish lads! See +you, lady, he is a stripling that I took up off the roadside out of mere +charity, and for the love of Heaven--a mere foundling as you may say, +and this is the way he presumes!' + +'A foundling, sayest thou?' said Anne, unable to resist teasing him a +little, and trying to gratify her own curiosity. + +'Ay, you may say so! There's a whole sort of these orphans, after all +the bad luck to the land, to be picked up on every wayside.' + +'On Towton Moor, mayhap,' said Anne demurely, as she saw her surly guide +start. But he was equal to the occasion, and answered: + +'Ay, ay, Towton Moor; 'twas shame to see such bloody work; and there +were motherless and fatherless children, stray lambs, to be met with, +weeping their little hearts out, and starving all around unless some +good Christian took pity on them.' + +'Was Hal one of these?' asked Lady Anne. + +'I tell you, lady, I looked into a church that was full of weeping +and wailing folk, women and children in deadly fear of the cruel, +bloody-minded York folk, and the Lord of March that is himself King +Edward now, a murrain on him!' + +'Don't let those folk hear you say so!' laughed Lady Anne. 'They would +think nothing of hauling thee off for a black traitor, or hanging thee +up on the first tree stout enough to bear thee.' + +She said it half mischievously, but the only effect was a grunt, and a +stolid shrug of his shoulders, nor did he vouchsafe another word for the +rest of the way before they came through the valley, and through the low +brushwood on the bank, and were in sight of the search party, who set up +a joyful halloo of welcome on perceiving her. + +A young man, the best mounted and armed, evidently an esquire, rode +forward, exclaiming, 'Well met, fair Lady Anne! Great have been the +Mother Prioress's fears for you, and she has called up half the country +side, lest you should be fallen into the hands of Robin of Redesdale, or +some other Lancastrian rogue.' + +'Much she heeded me in comparison with hawk and heron!' responded Anne. +'Thanks for your heed, Master Bertram.' + +'I must part from thee and thy sturdy pony. Thanks for the use of it,' +added she, as the squire proceeded to take her from the pony. He would +have lifted her down, but she only touched his hand lightly and sprang +to the ground, then stood patting its neck. 'Thanks again, good pony. I +am much beholden to thee, Gaffer Hob! Stay a moment.' + +'Nay, lady, it would be well to mount you behind Archie. His beast is +best to carry a lady.' + +Archie was an elderly man, stout but active, attached to the service of +the convent. He had leapt down, and was putting on a belt, and arranging +a pad for the damsel, observing, 'Ill hap we lost you, damsel! I saw you +not fall.' + +'Ay,' returned Anne, 'your merlin charmed you far more. Master Bertram, +the loan of your purse. I would reward the honest man who housed me.' + +Bertram laughed and said, tossing up the little bag that hung to his +girdle, 'Do you think, fair damsel, that a poor Border squire carries +about largesse in gold and silver? Let your clown come with us to +Greystone, and thence have what meed the Prioress may bestow on him, for +a find that your poor servant would have given worlds to make.' + +'Hearest thou, Hob?' said Anne. 'Come with us to the convent, and thou +shalt have thy guerdon.' + +Hob, however, scratched his head, with a more boorish air than he had +before manifested, and muttered something about a cow that needed his +attention, and that he could not spare the time from his herd for all +that the Prioress was like to give him. + +'Take this, then,' said Anne, disengaging a gold clasp from her neck, +and giving it to him. 'Bear it to the goodwife and bid her recollect me +in her prayers.' + +'I shall come and redeem it from thee, sulky carle as thou art,' said +Bertram. 'Such jewels are not for greasy porridge-fed housewives. Hark +thee, have it ready for me! I shall be at thy hovel ere long'--as Anne +waved to Hob when she was lifted to her seat. + +But Hob had already turned away, and Anne, as she held on by Archie's +leathern belt, in her gay tone was beginning to defend him by declaring +that porridge and grease did not go together, so the nickname was not +rightly bestowed on the kindly goodwife. + +'Ay! Greasy from his lord's red deer,' said Bertram, 'or his tainted +mutton. Trust one of these herds, and a sheep is tainted whenever he +wants a good supper. Beshrew me but that stout fellow looks lusty and +hearty enough, as if he lived well.' + +'They were good and kind, and treated me well,' said Anne. 'I should be +dead if they had not succoured me.' + +'The marvel is you are not dead with the stench of their hovel, and the +foulness of their food.' + +'It was very good food--milk, meat, and oaten porridge,' replied Anne. + +'Marvellous, I say!' cried Bertram with a sudden thought. 'Was it not +said that there were some of those traitorous Lancastrian folk +lurking about the mountains and fells? That rogue had the bearing of +a man-at-arms, far more than of a mere herd. Deemedst thou not so, +Archie?' to the elderly man who rode before the young damsel. + +'Herdsmen here are good with the quarter-staff. They know how to stand +against the Scots, and do not get bowed like our Midland serfs,' put +in Anne, before Archie could answer, which he did with something of a +snarl, as Bertram laughed somewhat jeeringly, and declared that the Lady +Anne had become soft-hearted. She looked down at her roses, but in the +dismounting and mounting again the petals of the red rose had floated +away, and nothing was left of it save a slender pink bud enclosed within +a dark calyx. + +Archie, hard pressed, declared, 'There are poor fellows lurking about +here and there, but bad blood is over among us. No need to ferret about +for them.' + +'Eh! Not when there may be a lad among them for whose head the king and +his brothers would give the weight of it in gold nobles?' + +Anne shivered a little at this, but she cried out, 'Shame on you, Master +Bertram Selby, if you would take a price for the head of a brave foe! +You, to aspire to be a knight!' + +'Nay, lady, I was but pointing out to Archie and the other grooms here, +how they might fill their pouches if they would. I verily believe thou +knowst of some lurking-place, thou art so prompt to argue! Did I not +see another with thee, who made off when we came in view? Say! Was he +a blood-stained Clifford? I heard of the mother having married in these +parts.' + +'He was Hob Hogward's herd boy,' answered Anne, as composedly as she +could. 'He hied him back to mind his sheep.' + +Nor would Anne allow another word to be extracted from her ere the grey +walls of the Priory of Greystone rose before her, and the lay Sister at +the gate shrieked for joy at seeing her riding behind Archie. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- A SPORTING PRIORESS + + + + Yet nothing stern was she in cell, + And the nuns loved their abbess well.--SCOTT. + + +The days of the Wars of the Roses were evil times for the discipline of +convents, which, together with the entire Western Church, suffered from +the feuds of the Popes with the Italian princes. + +Small remote houses, used as daughters or auxiliaries to the large +convents, were especially apt to fall into a lax state, and in truth +the little priory of Greystone, with its half-dozen of Sisters, had been +placed under the care of the Lady Agnes Selby because she was too highly +connected to be dealt with sharply, and too turbulent and unmanageable +for the soberminded house at York. So there she was sent, with the +deeply devout and strict Sister Scholastica, to keep the establishment +in order, and deal with the younger nuns and lay Sisters. Being not +entirely out of reach of a raid from the Scottish border, it was +hardly a place for the timid, although the better sort of moss troopers +generally spared monastic houses. Anne St. John had been sent thither at +the time when Queen Margaret was making her attempt in the north, where +the city of York was Lancastrian, as the Mother Abbess feared that her +presence might bring vengeance upon the Sisterhood. + +There was no great harm in the Mother Agnes, only she was a maiden +whom nothing but family difficulties could have forced into a monastic +life--a lively, high-spirited, out-of-door creature, whom the close +conventionalities of castle life and even whipping could not tame, and +who had been the despair of her mother and of the discreet dames to whom +her first childhood had been committed, to say nothing of a Lady Abbess +or two. Indeed, from the Mother of Sopwell, Dame Julian Berners, she +had imbibed nothing but a vehement taste for hawk, horse, and hound. +The recluses of St. Mary, York, after being heartily scandalised by her +habits, were far from sorry to have a good excuse for despatching her to +their outlying cell, where, as they observed, she would know how to show +a good face in case the Armstrongs came over the Border. + +She came flying down on the first rumour of Lady Anne's return, her veil +turned back, her pace not at all accordant with the solemn gait of a +Prioress, her arms outstretched, her face, not young nor handsome, but +sunburnt, weather-beaten and healthy, and full of delight. 'My child, +my Nan, here thou art! I was just mounting to seek for thee to the west, +while Bertram sought again over the mosses where we sent yester morn. +Where hast thou been in the snow?' + +'A shepherd took me to his hut, Lady Mother,' answered Anne rather +coldly. + +'Little didst thou think of our woe and grief when thy palfrey was found +standing riderless at the stable door, and Sister Scholastica told us +that there he had been since nones! And she had none to send in quest +but Cuddie, the neatherd.' + +'My palfrey fell with me when you were in full chase of hawk and heron, +'and none ever turned a head towards me nor heard me call.' + +'Poor maid! But it was such a chase as never you did watch. On and on +went the heron, the falcon ever mounting higher and higher, till she was +but a speck in the clouds, and Tam Falconer shouting and galloping, mad +lest she should go down the wind. Methought she would have been back to +Norroway, the foul jade!' + +'Did you capture her, Mother?' asked Anne. + +'Ay, she pounced at last, and well-nigh staked herself on the heron's +beak! But we had a long ride, and were well-nigh at the Tyne before we +had caught her. Full of pranks, but a noble hawk, as I shall write to my +brother by the next messenger that comes our way. I call it a hawk worth +her meat that leads one such a gallop.' + +'What would you have done, reverend Mother, if she had crossed the +Border?' asked Bertram. + +'Ridden after her. No Scot would touch a Lady Prioress on the chase,' +responded Mother Agnes, looking not at all like a reverend Mother. 'Now, +poor Anne, thou must be hungered. Thou shalt eat with Master Bertram and +me in the refectory anon. Take her, Sister Joan, and make her ready to +break her fast with us.' + +Anne quickly went to her chamber. It was not quite a cell, the bare +stone walls being hung with faded woollen tapestry, the floor covered +with a deerskin, the small window filled with dark green glass, a chest +serving the double purpose of seat and wardrobe, and further, a bed hung +with thick curtains, in which she slept with the lay Sister, Joan, who +further fetched a wooden bowl of water from the fountain in the +court that she might wash her face and hands. She changed her soiled +riding-dress for a tight-fitting serge garment of dark green with long +hanging sleeves, assisted by Joan, who also arranged her dark hair in +two plaits, and put over it a white veil, fastened over a framework to +keep it from hanging too closely. + +All the time Joan talked, telling of the fright the Mother had been +in when the loss of the Lady Anne had been discovered, and how it was +feared that she had been seized by Scottish reivers, or lost in the snow +on the hills, or captured by the Lancastrians. + +'For there be many of the Red Rose rogues about on the mosses--comrades, +'tis said, of that noted thief Robin of Redesdale.' + +'I was with good folk, in a shepherd's sheiling,' replied Anne. + +'Ay, ay. Out on the north hill, methinks.' + +'Nay. Beyond Deadman's Pool,' said Anne. 'By Blackreed Moss. That was +where the pony fell.' + +'Blackreed Moss! That moor belongs to the De Vescis, the blackest +Lancaster fellow of all! His daughter is the widow of the red-handed +Clifford, who slew young Earl Edmund on Wakefield Bridge. They say her +young son is in hiding in some moss in his lands, for the King holds him +in deadly feud for his brother's death.' + +'He was a babe, and had nought to do with it,' said Anne. + +'He is of his father's blood,' returned Sister Joan, who in her convent +was still a true north country woman. 'Ay, Lady Anne, you from your +shires know nought of how deep goes the blood feud in us of the +Borderland! Ay, lady, was not mine own grandfather slain by the Musgrave +of Leit Hill, and did not my father have his revenge on his son by +Solway Firth? Yea, and now not a Graeme can meet a Musgrave but they +come to blows.' + +'Nay, but that is not what the good Fathers teach,' Anne interposed. + +'The Fathers have neither chick nor child to take up their quarrel. They +know nought about blood crying for blood! If King Edward caught that +brat of Clifford he would make him know what 'tis to be born of a bloody +house.' + +Anne tried to say something, but the lay Sister pushed her along. +'There, there, go you down--you know nothing about what honour requires +of you! You are but a south country maid, and have no notion of what is +due to them one came from.' + +Joan Graeme was only a lay Sister, her father a small farmer when not a +moss trooper; but all the Border, on both sides, had the strongest +ideas of persistent vendetta, such as happily had never been held in the +midland and southern counties, where there was less infusion of Celtic +blood. Anne was a good deal shocked at the doctrine propounded by the +attendant Sister, a mild, good-natured woman in daily life, but the +conversation confirmed her suspicions, and put her on her guard as she +remembered Hob's warning. She had liked the shepherd lad far too much, +and was far too grateful to him, to utter a word that might give him up +to the revengers of blood. + +At the foot of the stone stairs that led into the quadrangle she met the +black-robed, heavily hooded Sister Scholastica on her way to the chapel. +The old nun held out her arms. 'Safely returned, my child! God be +thanked! Art thou come to join thy thanksgiving with ours at this hour +of nones?' + +'Nay, I am bound to break my fast with the Mother and Master Bertram.' + +'Ah! thou must needs be hungered! It is well! But do but utter thy +thanks to Him Who kept thee safe from the storm and from foul doers.' + +Anne did not break away from the good Sister, but went as far as the +chapel porch, was touched with holy water, and bending her knee, uttered +in a low voice her 'Gratias ago,' then hastened across the court to the +refectory, where the Prioress received her with a laugh and, 'So Sister +Scholastica laid hands on thee; I thought I should have to come and +rescue thee ere the grouse grew cold.' + +Bertram, as a courteous squire of dames, came forward bowing low, and +the party were soon seated at the board--literally a board, supported +upon trestles, only large enough to receive the Prioress, the squire and +the recovered girl, but daintily veiled in delicate white napery. + +It was screened off from the rest of the refectory, where the few +Sisters had already had their morning's meal after Holy Communion; and +from it there was a slight barrier, on the other side of which Bertram +Selby ought to have been, but rules sat very lightly on the Prioress +Selby. Bertram was of kin to her, and she had no demur as to admitting +him to her private table. He was, in fact, a squire of the household +of the Marquess of Montagu, brother of the Kingmaker and had been +despatched with letters to the south. He had made a halt at his cousin's +priory, had been persuaded to join in flying the new hawks, and then had +first been detained by the snow-storm, and then joined in the quest for +the lost Lady Anne St. John. + +No doubt had then arisen that the Nevils were firm in their attachment +to Edward IV., and, as a consequence, in enmity to the House of +Clifford, and both these scions of Selby had been excited at a rumour +that the widow of the Baron who had slain young Edmund of York had +married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Threlkeld, and that her eldest son, +the heir of the line, might be hidden somewhere on the De Vesci estates. + +Bertram had already told the Prioress that his men had spied a lad +accompanying the shepherd who escorted the lady, and who, he thought, +had a certain twang of south country speech; and no sooner had he carved +for the ladies, according to the courtly duty of an esquire, than the +inquiry began as to who had found the maiden and where she had been +lodged. Prioress Agnes, who had already broken her fast, sat meantime +with the favourite hawk on her wrist and a large dog beside her, feeding +them alternately with the bones of the grouse. + +'Come, tell us all, sweet Nan! Where wast thou in that untimely +snow-storm? In a cave, starved with cold, eh?' + +'I was safe in a cabin with a kind old gammer.' + +'Eh! And how cam'st thou there? Wandering thither?' + +'Nay, the shepherd heard me call.' + +'The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?' + +'He carried me to the hut.' + +Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there only +one shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side where +Bertram met her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of him? The +shepherd sent him back, he had been too long away from his flock. What +was his name? What was the shepherd's name? Who was his master? Anne did +not know--she had heard no names save Hob and Hal, she had seen no arms, +she had heard nothing southland. The lad was a mere herd-boy, ordered +out to milk ewes and tend the sheep. She answered briefly, and with a +certain sullenness, and young Selby at last turned on her. 'Look thee +here, fair lady, there's a saying abroad that the heir of the red-handed +House of Clifford is lurking here, on the look-out to favour Queen +Margaret and her son. Couldst thou put us on the scent, King Edward +would favour thee and make thee a great dame, and have thee to his +Court--nay, maybe give thee what is left of the barony of Clifford.' + +'I know nothing of young lords,' sulkily growled Anne, who had been +hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the table. + +'And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,' exclaimed the Prioress, 'that if thou +art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in these parts, it +is not the part of an honest man to seek him out for his destruction, +and still less to try to make the maid he rescued betray him. Well done, +little Anne, thou knowest how to hold thy tongue.' + +'Reverend Mother,' expostulated Bertram, 'if you knew what some would +give to be on the scent of the wolf-cub!' + +'I know not, nor do I wish to know, for what price a Selby would sell +his honour and his bowels of mercy,' said Mother Agnes. 'Come away, Nan; +thou hast done well.' + +Bertram muttered something about having thought her a better Yorkist, +women not understanding, and mischief that might be brewing; but +the Prioress, taking Anne by the hand, went her way, leaving Bertram +standing confused. + +'Oh, mother,' sighed Anne, 'do you think he will go after him? He will +think I was treacherous!' + +'I doubt me whether he will dare,' said the Prioress. 'Moreover, it is +too late in the day for a search, and another snow-shower seems coming +up again. I cannot turn the youth, my kinsman, from my door, and he is +safer here than on his quest, but he shall see no more of thee or me +to-night. I may hold that Edward of March has the right, but that does +not mean hunting down an orphan child.' + +'Mother, mother, you are good indeed!' cried Anne, almost weeping for +joy. + +Bertram, though hurt and offended, was obliged by advance of evening to +remain all night in the hospitium, with only the chaplain to bear him +company, and it was reported that though he rode past Blackpool, no +trace of shepherd or hovel was found. + + + + +CHAPTER V. -- MOTHER AND SON + + + + My own, my own, thy fellow-guest + I may not be, but rest thee, rest-- + The lowly shepherd's life is best. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +The Lady Threlkeld stood in the lower storey of her castle, a sort of +rough-built hall or crypt, with a stone stair leading upward to the +real castle hall above, while this served as a place where she met her +husband's retainers and the poor around, and administered to their wants +with her own hands, assisted by the maidens of her household. + +Among the various hungry and diseased there limped in a sturdy +beggar with a wallet on his back, and a broad shady hat, as though on +pilgrimage. He was evidently a stranger among the rest, and had his leg +and foot bound up, leaning heavily on a stout staff. + +'Italy pilgrim, what ails thee?' demanded the lady, as he approached +her. + +'Alack, noble dame! we poor pilgrims must ever be moving on, however +much it irks foot and limb, over these northern stones,' he answered, +and his accent and tone were such that a thrill seemed to pass over the +lady's whole person, but she controlled it, and only said, 'Tarry till +these have received their alms, then will I see to thee and thy maimed +foot. Give him a stool, Alice, while he waits.' + +The various patients who claimed the lady's assistance were attended +to, those who needed food were relieved, and in due time the hall was +cleared, excepting of the lady, an old female servant, and Hob, who +had sat all the time with his foot on a stool, and his back against +the wall, more than half asleep after the toils and long journey of the +night. + +Then the Lady Threlkeld came to him, and making him a sign not to rise, +said aloud, 'Good Gaffer, let me see what ails thy leg.' Then kneeling +down and busying herself with the bandages, she looked up piteously in +his face, with the partly breathed inquiry, 'My son?' + +'Well, my lady, and grown into a stalwart lad,' was Hob's answer, with +an eye on the door, and in a voice as low as his gruff tones would +permit. + +'And wherefore? What is it?' she asked anxiously. 'Be they on the track +of my poor boy?' + +'They may be,' answered Hob, 'wherefore I deemed it well to shift our +quarters. As hap would have it, the lad fell upon a little wench lost in +the mosses, and there was nothing for it but to bring her home for the +night. I would have had her away as soon as day dawned, and no questions +asked, but the witches, or the foul fiend himself, must needs bring up a +snow-storm, and there was nothing for it but to let her bide in the cot +all day, giving tongue as none but womenfolk can do; and behold she is +the child of the Lord St. John of Bletso.' + +'Nay, what should bring her north?' + +'She wonnes at Greystone with the wild Prioress Selby, who lost her out +hawking. Her father is a black Yorkist. I saw him up to his stirrups in +blood at St. Albans!' + +'But sure my boy did not make himself known to her?' exclaimed the lady. + +'I trow not. He has been well warned, and is a lad of his word; but the +two bairns, left to themselves, could scarce help finding out that each +was of gentle blood and breeding, and how much more my goodwife cannot +tell. I took the maid back so soon as it was safe yester morn, and sent +back my young lord, much against his will, half-way to Greystone. And +well was it I did so, for he was scarce over the ridge when a plump of +spears came in sight on the search for him, and led by the young squire +of Selby.' + +'Ah! and if the damsel does but talk, even if she knows nought, the foe +will draw their conclusions!' said the lady, clasping her hands. 'Oh, +would that I had sent him abroad with his little brothers!' + +'Nay, then might he have fallen into the hands of Bletso himself, and +they say Burgundy is all for the Yorkists now,' said Hob. 'This is what +I have done, gracious lady. I bade my good woman carry off all she could +from the homestead and burn the rest; and for him we wot on, I sent +him and his flock off westward, appointing each of them the same +trysting-place--on the slope beneath Derwent Hill, my lady--whence I +thought, if it were your will and the good knight Sir Lancelot's, we +might go nigher to the sea and the firth, where the Selby clan have no +call, being at deadly feud with the Ridleys. So if the maiden's tongue +goes fast, and the Prioress follows up the quest with young Selby, they +will find nought for their pains.' + +'Thou art a good guardian, Hob! Ah! where would my boy be save for thee? +And thou sayest he is even now at the very border of the forest ground! +Sure, there can be no cause that I should not go and see him. My heart +hungers for my children. Oh, let me go with thee!' + +'Sir Lancelot--' began Hob. + +'He is away at the Warden's summons. He will scarce be back for a week +or more. I will, I must go with thee, good Hob.' + +'Not in your own person, good madam,' stipulated Hob. 'As thou knowest, +there are those in Sir Lancelot's following who might be too apt to +report of secret visits, and that were as ill as the Priory folk.' + +It was then decided that the lady should put on the disguise of a +countrywoman bringing eggs and meat to sell at the castle, and meet Hob +near the postern, whence a path led to Penrith. + +Hob, having received a lump of oatcake and a draught of very small ale, +limped out of the court, and, so soon as he could find a convenient spot +behind the gorse bushes, divested himself of his bandages, and +changed the side of his shepherd's plaid to one much older and more +weather-beaten; also his pilgrim's hat for one in his pouch--a blue +bonnet, more like the national Scottish head-gear, hiding the hat in the +gorse. + +Then he lay down and waited, where he could see a window, whence a red +kerchief was to be fluttered to show when the lady would be ready for +him to attend her. He waited long, for she had first to disarm suspicion +by presiding at the general meal of the household, and showing no undue +haste. + +At last, though not till after he had more than once fallen asleep and +feared that he had missed the signal, or that his wife and 'Hal' might +be tempted to some imprudence while waiting, he beheld the kerchief +waving in the sunset light of the afternoon, and presently, shrouded in +such a black and white shepherd's maud as his own, and in a russet gown +with a basket on her arm, his lady came forth and joined him. + +His first thought was how would she return again, when the darkness was +begun, but her only answer was, 'Heed not that! My child, I must see.' + +Indeed, she was almost too breathless and eager with haste, as he guided +her over the rough and difficult path, or rather track, to answer his +inquiries as to what was to be done next. Her view, however, agreed with +his, that they must lurk in the borders of the woodland for a day or two +till Sir Lancelot's return, when he would direct them to a place where +he could put them under the protection of one of the tenants of his +manor. It was a long walk, longer than Hob had perhaps felt when he had +undertaken to conduct the lady through it, for ladies, though inured to +many dangers in those days, were unaccustomed to travelling on their own +feet; but the mother's heart seemed to heed no obstacle, though moments +came when she had to lean heavily on her companion, and he even had to +lift her over brooks or pools; but happily the sun had not set when they +made their way through the tangles of the wood, and at last saw before +them the fitful glow of a fire of dead leaves, branches and twigs, while +the bark of a dog greeted the rustling, they made. + +'Sweetheart, my faithful!' then shouted Hob, and in another moment there +was a cry, 'Ha! Halloa! Master Hob--beest there?' + +'His voice!--my son's!' gasped the lady, and sank for a moment of +overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy dog +leapt upon them both. + +'Ay, lad, here--and some one else.' + +The boy crashed through the underwood, and stood on the path in a +moment's hesitation. Mother and son were face to face! + +The years that had passed had changed the lad from almost a babe into a +well-grown strong boy but the mother was little altered, and as she held +out her arms no word was wasted ere he sprang into them, and his face +was hidden on her neck as when he knew his way into her embrace of old! + +When the intense rapturous hold was loosed they were aware of Goodwife +Dolly looking on with clasped hands and streaming eyes, giving thanks +for the meeting of her dear lady and the charge whom she and her husband +had so faithfully kept. + +When the mother and son had leisure to look round, and there was a +pleased survey of the boy's height and strength, Goodwife Dolly came +forward to beg the lady to come to her fire, and rest under the gipsy +tent which she and nephew Piers--her _real_ herd-boy, a rough, shaggy, +almost dumb and imbecile lad--had raised with branches, skins and +canvas, to protect their few articles of property. There was a +smouldering fire, over which Doll had prepared a rabbit which the dog +had caught, and which she had intended for Hal's supper and that of her +husband if he came home in time. While the lady lavished thanks upon her +for all she had done for the boy she was intent on improving the rude +meal, so as to strengthen her mistress after her long walk, and for the +return. The lady, however, could see and think of nothing but her son, +while he returned her tearful gaze with open eyes, gathering up his old +recollections of her. + +'Mother!' he said--with a half-wondering tone, as the recollections of +six years old came back to him more fully, and then he nestled again in +her arms as if she were far more real to him than at first--'Mother!' +And then, as she sobbed over him, 'The little one?' + +'The babe is well, when last I heard of her, in a convent at York. Thou +rememberest her?' + +'Ay--my little sister! Ay,' he said, with a considering interrogative +sound, 'I mind her well, and old Bunce too, that taught me to ride.' + +But Hob interrupted the reminiscences by bringing up the pony on which +Anne had ridden, and insisting that the lady should not tarry longer. +'He,' indicating Hal, might walk beside her through the wood, and thus +prolong their interview, but, as she well knew, it was entirely unsafe +to remain any longer away from the castle. + +There were embraces and sobbing thanks exchanged between the lady and +her son's old nurse, and then Hal, at a growling hint from Hob, came +forward, and awkwardly helped her to her saddle. He walked by her side +through the wood, holding her rein, while Hob, going before, did his +best in the twilight to clear away the tangled branches and brambles +that fell across the path, and were near of striking the lady across the +face as she rode. + +On the way she talked to her son about his remembrances, anxious to +know how far his dim recollections went of the old paternal castle in +Bedfordshire, of his infant sister and brother, and his father. Of him +he had little recollection, only of being lifted in his arms, kissed +and blessed, and seeing him ride away with his troop, clanking in their +armour. After that he remembered nothing, save the being put into a +homelier dress, and travelling on Nurse Dolly's lap in a wain, up and +down, it seemed to him, for ever, till at last clearer recollections +awoke in him, and he knew himself as Hal the shepherd's boy, with the +sheep around him, and the blue starry sky above him. + +'Dost thou remember what thou wast called in those times?' asked his +mother. + +'I was always Hal. The little one was Meg,' he said. + +'Even so, my boy, my dear boy! But knowst thou no more than this?' + +'Methinks, methinks there were serving-men that called me the young +Lord. Ay, so! But nurse said I must forget all that. Mother dear, +when that maiden came and talked of tilts and lances, meseemed that I +recollected somewhat. Was then my father a knight?' + +'Alack! alack! my child, that thou shouldst not know!' + +'Memories came back with that maiden's voice and thine,' said Hal, in a +bewildered tone. 'My father! Was he then slain when he rode farther?' + +'Ah! I may tell thee now thou art old enough to guard thyself,' she +said. 'Thy father, whom our blessed Lord assoilzie, was the Lord +Clifford, slain by savage hands on Towton field for his faith to King +Harry! Thou, my poor boy, art the Baron of Clifford, though while this +cruel House of York be in power thou must keep in hiding from them in +this mean disguise. Woe worth the day!' + +'And am I then a baron--a lord?' said the boy. 'Great lords have books. +Were there not some big ones on the hall window seats? Did not Brother +Eldred begin to teach me my letters? I would that I could go on to learn +more!' + +'Oh, I would that thou couldst have all knightly training, and learn to +use sword and lance like thy gallant father!' + +'Nay, but I saw a poor man fall off his horse and lie hurt, I do not +want those hard, cruel ways. And my father was slain. Must a lord go to +battle?' + +'Boy, boy, thou wilt not belie thy Clifford blood,' cried the lady in +consternation, which was increased when he said, 'I have no mind to go +out and kill folks or be killed. I had rather mark the stars and tend my +sheep.' + +'Alack! alack! This comes of keeping company with the sheep. That my +son, and my lord's son, should be infected with their sheepish nature!' + +'Never fear, madam,' said Hob. 'When occasion comes, and strength is +grown, his blood will show itself.' + +'If I could only give him knightly breeding!' sighed the lady. 'Sir +Lancelot may find the way. I cannot see him grow up a mere shepherd +boy.' + +'Content you, madam,' said Hob. 'Never did I see a shepherd boy with the +wisdom and the thought there is in that curly pate!' + +'Wisdom! thought!' muttered the lady. 'Those did not save our good King, +only made him a saint. I had rather hear the boy talk of sword and lance +than prate of books and stars! And that wench, whom to our misfortune +thou didst find! What didst tell her?' + +'I told her nought, mother, for I had nought to tell.' + +'She scented mystery, though,' said Hob. 'She saw he was no herd boy.' + +'Nay? Though he holds himself like a lout untrained! Would that I could +have thee in hand, my son, to make thee meet to tread in thy brave +father's steps! But now, comrade of sheep thou art, and I fear me thou +wilt ever be! But that maid, I trust that she perceived nothing in thy +bearing or speech?' + +'She will not betray whatever she perceived,' said Hal stoutly. + +The wood was by this time nearly past, and the moment of parting had +come. The lady had decided on going on foot to the little grey stone +church whose low square tower could be seen rising like another rock. +Thither she could repair in her plaid, and by-and-by throw it off, and +return in her own character to the castle, as though she had gone forth +to worship there. When lifted off the shaggy pony she threw her arms +round Hal, kissed him passionately, and bade him never breathe a word +of it, but never to forget that a baron he was, and bound to be a good +brave knight, fit to avenge his father's death! + +Hal came to understand from Dolly's explanations that his recent +abode had been on the estate of his grandfather, Baron de Vesci, at +Londesborough, but his mother had since married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld, +and had intimated that her boy should be removed thither as soon as +might be expedient, and therefore the house on the Yorkshire moor had +been broken up. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + + + + Thou tree of covert and of rest + For this young bird that was distrest. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +A baron--bound to be a good knight, and to avenge my father's death! +What does it all mean?' murmured Hal to himself as he lay on his back in +the morning sunshine, on the hill-side, the wood behind him, and before +him a distance of undulating ground, ending in the straight mysterious +blue-grey line that Hob Hogward had told him was the sea. + +'Baron! Lord Clifford, like my father! He was a man in steel armour; I +remember how it rang, and how his gorget--yes, that was the thing round +his throat--how it hurt me when he lifted me up to kiss me, and how they +blamed me for crying out. Ay, and he lived in a castle with dark, dull, +narrow chambers, all save the hall, where there was ever a tramping and +a clamouring, and smells of hot burning meat, and horses, and all sorts +of things, and they sat and sat over their meat and wine, and drank +health to King Harry and the Red Rose. I mind now how they shouted and +roared, and how I wanted to go and hide on the stairs, and my father +would have me shout with them, and drink confusion to York out of his +cup, and shook me and cuffed me when I cried. Oh! must one be like that +to be a knight? I had rather live on these free green hills with the +clear blue sky above me, and my good old ewe for my comrade'--and he +fell to caressing the face of an old sheep which had come up to him, +a white, mountain-bleached sheep with fine and delicate limbs. 'Yes, +I love thee, good, gentle, little ewe, and thee, faithful Watch,' as +a young collie pressed up to him, thrusting a long nose into his hand, +'far better than those great baying hounds, or the fierce-eyed hawks +that only want to kill. If I be a baron, must it be in that sort? +Avenge! avenge! what does that mean? Is it, as in Goodwife Dolly's +ballads, going forth to kill? Why should I? I had rather let them be! +Hark! Yea, Watch,' as the dog pricked his ears and raised his graceful +head, then sprang up and uttered a deep-mouthed bark. The sheep darted +away to her companions, and Hal rose to his feet, as the dog began to +wave his tail, and Hob came forward accompanied by a tall, grave-looking +gentleman. 'Here he be, sir. Hal, come thou and ask the blessing of thy +knightly stepfather.' + +Hal obeyed the summons, and coming forward put a knee to the ground, +while Sir Lancelot Threlkeld uttered the conventional blessing, +adding, 'Fair son, I am glad to see thee. Would that we might be better +acquainted, but I fear it is not safe for thee to come and be trained +for knighthood in my poor house. Thou art a well grown lad, I rejoice to +see, and strong and hearty I have no doubt.' + +'Ay, sir, he is strong enow, I wis; we have done our best for him,' +responded Hob, while Hal stood shy and shamefaced; but there was +something about his bearing that made Sir Lancelot observe, 'Ay, ay, he +shows what he comes of more than his mother made me fear. Only thou must +not slouch, my fair son. Raise thy head more. Put thy shoulders back. +So! so! Nay.' + +Poor Hal tried to obey, the colour mounting in his face, but he +only became more and more stiff when he tried to be upright, and his +expression was such that Sir Lancelot cried out, 'Put not on the visage +of one of thine own sheep! Ah! how shalt thou be trained to be a worthy +knight? I cannot take thee to mine house, for I have men there who might +inform King Edward that thy mother harboured thee. And unless I could +first make interest with Montagu or Salisbury, that would be thy death, +if not mine.' + +The boy had nothing to say to this, and stood shy by, while his +stepfather explained his designs to Hal. It was needful to remove the +young Baron as far as possible from the suspicion of the greater part +of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld's household, and the present resting-place, +within a walk of his castle, was therefore unsafe; besides that, +freebooters might be another danger, so near the outskirts of the wood, +since the northern districts of moor and wood were by no means clear of +the remnants of the contending armies, people who were generally of the +party opposite to that which they intended to rob. + +But on the banks of the Derwent, not far from its fall into the sea, Sir +Lancelot had granted a tenure to an old retainer of the De Vescis, +who had followed his mistress in her misfortunes; and on his lands Hob +Hogward might be established as a guardian of the herds with his family, +which would excite no suspicion. Moreover, he could train the young +Baron in martial exercises, the only other way of fitting him for his +station unless he could be sent to France or Burgundy like his brother; +but besides that the journey was a difficulty, it was always uncertain +whether there would be revengeful exiles of one or other side in the +service of their King, who might wreak the wrongs of their party on +Clifford's eldest son. There was reported to be a hermit on the coast, +who, if he was a scholar, might teach the young gentleman. To Sir +Lancelot's surprise, his stepson's face lighted up more at this +suggestion than at that of being trained in arms. + +Hob had done nothing in that way, not even begun to teach him the +quarterstaff, though he avouched that when there was cause the young +lord was no craven, no more than any Clifford ever was--witness when he +drove off the great hound, which some said was a wolf, when it fell upon +the flock, or when none could hold him from climbing down the Giant's +Cliff after the lamb that had fallen. No fear but he had heart enough to +make his hand keep his own or other folks' heads. + +'That is well,' said Sir Lancelot, looking at the lad, who stood +twisting his hands in the speechless silence induced by being the +subject of discussion; 'but it would be better, as my lady saith, if he +could only learn not to bear himself so like a clown.' + +However, there was no more time, for Simon Bunce, the old man-at-arms +whom Sir Lancelot had appointed to meet him there, came in sight through +the trees, riding an old grey war-horse, much resembling himself in the +battered and yet strong and effective air of both. Springing down, the +old man bent very low before the young Baron, raising his cap as he gave +thanks to Heaven for permitting him to see his master's son. Then, after +obeisance to his present master, he and Hob eagerly shook hands as old +comrades and fellow-soldiers who had thought never to meet again. + +Then turning again to the young noble, he poured out his love, devotion +and gratitude for being able to serve his beloved lord's noble son; +while poor Hal stood under the discomfort of being surrounded with +friends who knew exactly what to say and do to him, their superior, +while he himself was entirely at a loss how to show himself gracious or +grateful as he knew he ought to do. It was a relief when Sir Lancelot +said 'Enough, good Simon! Forget his nobility for the present while he +goes with thee to Derwentside as herd boy to Halbert Halstead here; only +thou must forget both their names, and know them only as Hal and Hob.' + +With a gesture of obedience, Simon listened to the further directions, +and how he was to explain that these south country folks had been sent +up in charge of an especial flock of my lady's which she wished to have +on the comparatively sheltered valley of the Derwent. Perhaps further +directions as to the training of the young Baron were added later, but +Hal did not hear them. He was glad to be dismissed to find Piers and +gather the sheep together in preparation for the journey to their new +quarters. Yet he did not fail to hear the sigh with which his stepfather +noted that his parting salutation was far too much in the character of +the herd boy. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- ON DERWENT BANKS + + + + When under cloud of fear he lay + A shepherd clad in homely grey. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +Simon Bunce came himself to conduct his new tenants to their abode. It +was a pleasant spot, a ravine, down which the clear stream rushed on +its course to mingle its waters with those of the ocean. The rocks and +brushwood veiled the approach to an open glade where stood a rude stone +hovel, rough enough, but possessing two rooms, a hearth and a chimney, +and thus superior to the hut that had been left on the moor. There were +sheds for the cattle around, and the grass was fresh and green so that +the sheep, the goat and the cow began eagerly feeding, as did the pony +which Hal and Piers were unloading. + +On one side stretched the open moor rising into the purple hills, just +touched with snow. On the other was the wooded valley of the Derwent, +growing wider ever before it debouched amid rocks into the sea. The +goodwife at once discovered that there had been recent habitation, and +asked what had become of the former dwellers there. + +'The woman fretted for company,' said Simon, 'and vowed she was in fear +of the Scots, so I even let her have her way and go down to the town.' + +The town in north country parlance only meant a small village, and Hob +asked where it lay. + +It was near the junction of the two streams, where Simon lived himself +in a slightly fortified farmhouse, just high up enough to be fairly safe +from flood tides. He did not advise his newly arrived tenants to be much +seen at this place, where there were people who might talk. They were +almost able to provide for their daily needs themselves, excepting for +meal and for ale, and he would himself see to this being supplied from +a more distant farm on the coast, which Hob and Piers might visit from +time to time with the pony. + +Goodwife Dolly inquired whether they might safely go to church, from +which she had been debarred all the time they had been on the move. 'So +ill for both us and the lad,' she said. + +Simon looked doubtful. 'If thou canst not save thy soul without,' he +said, 'thou mightst go on some feast day, when there is such a concourse +of folk that thou mightst not be noticed, and come away at once without +halting for idle clavers, as they call them here.' + +'That's what the women folk are keen for with their church-going,' said +Hob with a grin. + +'Now, husband, thou knowst,' said Dolly, injured, though she was more +than aware he spoke with intent to tease her. 'Have I not lived all this +while with none to speak to save thee and the blessed lads, and never +murmured.' + +'Though thy tongue be sore for want of speech!' laughed Hob, 'thou beest +a good wife, Dolly, and maybe thy faithfulness will tell as much in the +saving of thy soul as going to church.' + +'Nay, but,' said Hal with eagerness, 'is there not a priest?' + +'The priest comes of a White Rose house--I trust not him. Ay, goodwife, +beware of showing thyself to him. I give him my dues, that he may have +no occasion against me or Sir Lancelot, but I would not have him pry +into knowledge that concerns him not.' + +'Did not Sir Lancelot say somewhat of a scholarly hermit who might learn +me in what I ought to know?' asked the boy. + +'Never you fear, sir! Here are Hob Halstead and I, able to train any +young noble in what behoves him most to know.' + +'Yea, in arms and sports. They must be learnt I know, but a noble needs +booklore too,' said the boy. 'Cannot this same hermit help me? Sir +Lancelot--' + +Simon Bunce interrupted sharply. 'Sir Lancelot knows nought of the +hermit! He is--he is--a holy man.' + +'A priest,' broke in Dolly, 'a priest!' + +'No such thing, dame, no clerk at all, I tell thee. And ye lads had best +not molest him! He is for ever busy with his prayers, and wants none +near him.' + +Hal was disappointed, for his mind was far less set on the exercises of +a young knight than on the desire to acquire knowledge, that study which +seemed to be thrown away on the unwilling ears of Anne St. John. + +Hob had been awakened by contact with his lady and her husband, as well +as with the old comrade, Simon Bunce, to perceive that if there were any +chance of the young Lord Clifford's recovering his true position he +must not be allowed to lounge and slouch about like Piers, and he was +continually calling him to order, making him sit and stand upright, as +he had seen the young pages forced to do at the castle, learn how to +handle a sword, and use the long stick which was the substitute for a +lance, and to mount and sit on the old pony as a knight should do, till +poor Hal had no peace, and was glad to get away upon the moor with Piers +and the sheep, where there was no one to criticise him, or predict that +nothing would ever make him do honour to his name if he were proved ten +times a baron. + +It was still worse when Bunce came over, and brought a taller horse, and +such real weapons as he deemed that the young lord might be taught to +use, and there were doleful auguries and sharp reproofs, designed in +comically respectful phrases, till he was almost beside himself with +being thus tormented, and ready to wish never to hear of being a baron. + +His relief was to wander away upon the moors, watch the lights and +shadows on the wondrous mountains, or dream on the banks of the river, +by which he could make his way to the seashore, a place of endless +wonder and contemplation, as he marvelled why the waters flowed in and +retreated again, watched the white crests, and the glassy rolls of +the waves, felt his mind and aspiration stretched as by something +illimitable, even as when he looked up to the sky, and saw star beyond +star, differing from one another in brightness. There were those white +birds too, differing from all the night-jars and plovers he had seen on +the moor, floating now over the waves, now up aloft and away, as if they +were soaring into the very skies. Oh, would that he could follow them, +and rise with them to know what were those great grey or white clouds, +and what was above or below in those blue vastnesses! And whence came +all those strange things that the water spread at his feet the long, +brown, wet streamers, or the delicate red tracery that could be seen in +the clear pools, where were sometimes those lumps like raw flesh when +closed, but which opened into flowers? Or the things like the snails on +the heath, yet not snails, and all the strange creatures that hopped and +danced in the water? + +Why would no one explain such things to him? Nay, what a pity everyone +treated it as mere childish folly in him to be thus interested! They did +not quite dare to beat him for it--that was one use of being a baron. +Indeed, one day when Simon Bunce struck him sharply and hard over the +shoulders for dragging home a great piece of sea-weed with numerous +curious creatures upon it, Goodwife Dolly rushed out and made such an +outcry that the esquire was fain to excuse himself by declaring that it +was time that my lord should know how to bide a buffet, and answer it. +He was ready and glad to meet the stroke in return! 'Come on, sir!' + +And Hob put a stout headless lance in the boy's hand, while Simon stood +up straight before him. Hob adjusted the weapon in his inert hand, and +told him how and where to strike. But 'It is not in sooth. I don't want +to hurt Master Simon,' said the child, as they laughed, and yet with +displeasure as his blow fell weak and uncertain. + +'Is it a mouse's tail?' cried Simon in derision. + +'Come, sir, try again,' said Hob. 'Strike as you did when the black bull +came down. Why cannot you do the like now, when you are tingling from +Bunce's stroke?' + +'Ah! then I thought the bull would fall on Piers,' said Hal. + +'Come on, think so now, sir. One blow to do my heart good, and show you +have the arm of your forebears.' + +Thus incited, with Hob calling out to him to take heart of grace, while +Simon made a feint of trying to beat Mother Dolly, Hal started forward +and dealt a blow sufficient to make Simon cry out, 'Ha, well struck, +sir, if you had had a better grip of your lance! I even feel it through +my buff coat.' + +He spoke as though it had been a kiss; but oh! and alack! why were these +rough and dreary exercises all that these guardians--yea, and even Sir +Lancelot and his mother--thought worth his learning, when there was so +much more that awoke his delight and interest? Was it really childish to +heed these things? Yet even to his young, undeveloped brain it seemed +as if there must be mysteries in sky and sea, the unravelling of which +would make life more worth having than the giving and taking of blows, +which was all they heeded. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- THE HERMIT + + + + No hermit e'er so welcome crost + A child's lone path in woodland lost. + --KEBLE. + + +Hal had wandered farther than his wont, rather hoping to be out of call +if Simon arrived to give him a lesson in chivalrous sports. He found +himself on the slope of one of the gorges down which smaller streams +rushed in wet weather to join the Derwent. There was a sound of tinkling +water, and leaning forward, Hal saw that a tiny thread of water dropped +between the ferns and the stones. Therewith a low, soft chant in a manly +voice, mingling with the drip of the water. + +The words were strange to him&& + + + Lucis Creator optime, + Lucem dierum proferens&& + + +but they were very sweet, and in leaning forward to look between the +rowan branches and hear and see more, his foot slipped, and with Watch +barking round him, he rolled helplessly down the rock, and found himself +before a tall light-haired man, in a dark dress, who gave a hand to +raise him, asking kindly, 'Art hurt, my child?' + +'Oh, no, sir! Off, off, Watch!' as the dog was about to resent anyone's +touching his master. 'Holy sir, thanks, great thanks,' as a long fair +hand helped him to his feet, and brushed his soiled garment. + +'Unhurt, I see,' said that sweet voice. 'Hast thou lost thy way? Good +dog, thou lovest thy master! Art thou astray?' + +'No, sir, thank you, I know my way home.' + +'Thou art the boy who lives with the shepherd at Derwentside, on Bunce's +ground?' + +'Ay, Hob Hogward's herd boy,' said Hal. 'Oh, sir, are you the holy +hermit of the Derwent vale?' + +'A hermit for the nonce I am,' was the answer, with something of a smile +responsive to the eager face. + +'Oh, sir, if you be not too holy to look at me or speak to me! If +you would help me to some better knowledge--not only of sword and +single-stick!' + +'Better knowledge, my child! Of thy God?' said the hermit, a sweet look +of joy spreading over his face. + +'Goodwife Dolly has told me of Him, and taught me my Pater and Credo, +but we have lived far off, and she has not been able to go to church +for weeks and years. But what I long after is to tell me what means all +this--yonder sea, and all the stars up above. And they will call me a +simpleton for marking such as these, and only want me to heed how to +shoot an arrow, or give a stroke hard enough to hurt another. Do such +rude doings alone, fit for a bull or a ram as meseems, go to the making +of a knight, fair sir?' + +'They go to the knight's keeping of his own, for others whom he ought +to defend,' said the hermit sadly; 'I would have thee learn and practise +them. But for the rest, thou knowest, sure, who made the stars?' + +'Oh yes! Nurse Dolly told me. She saw it all in a mystery play long long +ago--when a Hand came out, and put in the stars and sun and moon.' + +'Knowest thou whose Hand was figured there, my child?' + +'The Hand of God,' said Hal, removing his cap. 'They be sparks to show +His glory! But why do some move about among the others--one big one +moves from the Bull's face one winter to half-way beyond it. And is the +morning star the evening one?' + +'Ah! thou shouldst know Ptolemy and the Almagest,' said the hermit +smiling, 'to understand the circuits of those wandering stars--Coeli +enarrant gloriam Dei.' + +'That is Latin,' said the boy, startled. 'Are you a priest, sir?' + +'No, not I--I am not worthy,' was the answer, 'but in some things I may +aid thee, and I shall be blessed in so doing. Canst say thy prayers?' + +'Oh, yes! nurse makes me say them when I lie down and when I get +up--Credo and Pater. She says the old parson used to teach them our own +tongue for them, but she has well-nigh forgot. Can you tell me, holy +man?' + +'That will I, with all my heart,' responded the hermit, laying his long +delicate hand on Hal's head. 'Blessed be He who has sent thee to me!' + +The boy sat at the hermit's feet, listening with the eagerness of one +whose soul and mind had alike been under starvation, and how time went +neither knew till there was a rustling and a step. Watch sprang up, +but in another moment Simon Bunce, cap in hand, stood before the hut, +beginning with 'How now, sir?' + +The hermit raised his hand, as if to make a sign, saying, 'Thou seest I +have a guest, good friend.' + +Bunce started back with 'Oh! the young Lord! Sworn to silence, I trust! +I bade him not meddle with you, sir.' + +'It was against his will, I trow,' said the hermit. 'He fell over the +rock by the waterfall, but since he is here, I will answer for him that +he does no hurt by word or deed!' + +'Never, holy sir!' eagerly exclaimed Hal. 'Hob Hogward knows that I can +keep my mouth shut. And may I come again?' + +Simon was shaking his head, but the hermit took on him to say, 'Gladly +will I welcome thee, my fair child, whensoever thou canst find thy way +to the weary old anchoret! Go thy way now! Or hast thou lost it?' + +'No, sir; I ken the woodland and can soon be at home,' replied Hal; +then, putting a knee to the ground, 'May I have your blessing, holy +man?' + +'Alack, I told thee I am no priest,' said the hermit; 'but for such as I +am, I bless thee with all my soul, thou fatherless lad,' and he laid +his hand on the young lad's wondering brow, then bade him begone, since +Simon and himself had much to say to one another. + +Hal summoned Watch, and turned to a path through the wood, leading +towards the coast, wondering as he walked how the hermit seemed to know +him--him whose presence had been so sedulously concealed. Could it be +that so very holy a man had something of the spirit of prophecy? + +He kept his promise of silence, and indeed his guardians were so much +accustomed to his long wanderings that he encountered no questions, only +one of Hob's growls that he should always steal away whenever there was +a chance of Master Bunce's coming to try to make a man of him. + +However, Bunce himself arrived shortly after, and informed Hob that +since young folks always pried where they were least wanted, and my lord +had stumbled incontinently on the anchoret's den, it was the holy man's +will that he might come there whenever he chose. A pity and shame +it was, but it would make him more than ever a mere priestling, ever +hankering after books and trash! + +'Were it not better to ask my lady and Sir Lancelot if they would have +it so? I could walk over to Threlkeld!' + +'No, no, no, on your life not,' exclaimed Simon, striking his staff on +the ground in his vehemence. 'Never a word to the Threlkeld or any of +his kin! Let well alone! I only wish the lad had never gone a-roaming +there! But holy men must not be gainsaid, even if it does make a poor +craven scholar out of his father's son.' + +And thus began a time of great contentment to the Lord Clifford. There +were few days on which he did not visit the hermitage. It was a small +log hut, but raised with some care, and made weatherproof with moss and +clay in the crevices, and there was an inner apartment, with a little +oil lamp burning before a rough wooden cross, where Hal, if the hermit +were not outside, was certain to find him saying his prayers. Food was +supplied by Simon himself, and, since Hal's admission, was often carried +by him, and the hermit seemed to spend his time either in prayer or in +a gentle dreamy state of meditation, though he always lighted up into +animation at the arrival of the boy whom he had made his friend. Hal had +thought him old at first, on the presumption that all hermits must be +aged, nor was it likely that age should be estimated by one living such +a life, but the light hair, untouched with grey, the smooth cheeks and +the graceful figure did not belong to more than a year or two above +forty. And he had no air of ill health, yet this calm solitary residence +in the wooded valley seemed to be infinite rest to him. + +Hal had no knowledge nor experience to make him wonder, and accepted the +great quiet and calm of the hermit as the token of his extreme holiness +and power of meditation. He himself was always made welcome with Watch +by his side, and encouraged to talk and ask questions, which the hermit +answered with what seemed to the boy the utmost wisdom, but older heads +would have seen not to be that of a clever man, but of one who had been +fairly educated for the time, had had experience of courts and camps, +and referred all the inquiries and wonderments which were far beyond him +direct to Almighty Power. + +The mind of the boy advanced much in this intercourse with the first +cultivated person he had encountered, and who made a point of actually +teaching and explaining to him all those mysteries of religion which +poor old Dolly only blindly accepted and imparted as blindly to her +nursling. Of actual instruction, nothing was attempted. A little +portuary, or abbreviated manual of the service, was all that the hermit +possessed, treasured with his small crucifix in his bosom, and of course +it was in Latin. The Hours of the Church he knew by heart, and never +failed to observe them, training his young pupil in the repetition and +English meaning of such as occurred during his visits. He also told much +of the history of the world, as he knew it, and of the Church and the +saints, to the eager mind that absorbed everything and reflected on it, +coming with fresh questions that would have been too deep and perplexing +for his friend if he had not always determined everything with 'Such is +the will of God.' + +Somewhat to the surprise of Simon Bunce and Hob Hogward, Hal improved +greatly, not only in speech but in bearing; he showed no such dislike +or backwardness in chivalrous exercises as previously; and when once Sir +Lancelot Threlkeld came over to see him, he was absolutely congratulated +on looking so much more like a young knight. + +'Ay,' said Bunce, taking all the merit to himself, 'there's nought like +having an old squire trained in the wars in France to show a stripling +how to hold a lance.' + +Hal had been too well tutored to utter a word of him to whom his +improvement was really due, not by actual training, but partly by +unconscious example in dignified grace and courtesy of demeanour, and +partly by the rather sad assurances that it was well that a man born to +his station, if he ever regained it, should be able to defend himself +and others, and not be a helpless burthen on their hands. Tales of +the Seven Champions of Christendom and of King Arthur and his Knights +likewise had their share in the moulding of the youthful Lord Clifford. + +His great desire was to learn to read, but it was not encouraged by the +hermit, nor was there any book available save the portuary, crookedly +and contractedly written on vellum, so as to be illegible to anyone +unfamiliar with writing, with Latin, or the service. However, the +anchoret yielded to his importunity so far as to let him learn the +alphabet, traced on the door in charcoal, and identify the more sacred +words in the book--which, indeed, were all in gold, red and blue. + +He did not advance more than this, for his teacher was apt to go off in +a musing dream of meditation, repeating over and over in low sweet tones +the holy phrases, and not always rousing himself when his pupil made +a remark or asked a question. Yet he was always concerned at his own +inattention when awakened, and would apologise in a tone of humility +that always made Hal feel grieved and ashamed of having been +importunate. For there was a dignity and gentleness about the hermit +that always made the boy feel the contrast with his own roughness and +uncouthness, and reverence him as something from a holier world. + +'Nurse, I do think he is a saint,' one day said Hal. + +'Nay, nay, my laddie, saints don't come down from heaven in these days +of evil.' + +'I would thou could see him when one comes upon him at his prayers. +His face is like the angel at the cross I saw so long ago in the castle +chapel.' + +'Dost thou remember that chapel? Thou wert a babe when we quitted it.' + +'I had well nigh forgotten it, but the good hermit's face brought all +back again, and the voice of the father when he said the Service.' + +'That thou shouldst mind so long! This hermit is no priest, thou sayst?' + +'No, he said he was not worthy; but sure all saints were not priests, +nurse.' + +'Nay, it is easy to be more worthy than the Jack Priests I have known. +Though I would they would let me go to church. But look thee here, +Hal, if he be such a saint as thou sayst, maybe thou couldst get him to +bestow a blessing on poor Piers, and give him his hearing and voice.' + +Hal was sure that his own special saint was holy enough for anything, +and accordingly asked permission of him to bring his silent companion +for blessing and healing. + +The mild blue eye lighted for a moment. 'Is the poor child then +afflicted with the King's Evil?' the hermit asked. + +'Nay, he is sound enough in skin and limb. It is that he can neither +hear nor speak, and if you, holy sir, would lay thine hand on him, and +sign him with the rood, and pray, mayhap your holiness--' + +'Peace, peace,' cried the hermit impetuously, lifting up his hand. 'Dost +not know that I am a sinner like unto the rest--nay, a greater sinner, +in that a burthen was laid on me that I had not the soul to rise to, so +that the sin and wickedness of thousands have been caused by my craven +faint heart for well nigh two score years? O miserere Domine.' + +He threw himself on the ground with clasped hands, and Hal, standing +by in awestruck amazement, heard no more save sobs, mingled with the +supplications of the fifty-first Psalm. + +He was obliged at last to go away without having been able to recall +the attention of his friend from his agony of prayer. With the reticence +that had grown upon him, he did not mention at home the full effect of +his request, but when he thought it over he was all the more convinced +that his friend was a great saint. Had he not always heard that saints +believed themselves great sinners, and went through many penances? And +why did he speak as if he could have cured the King's Evil? He asked +Dolly what it was, and she replied that it was the sickness that only +the King's touch could heal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- HENRY OF WINDSOR + + + + My crown is in my heart, not on my head; + Not deck'd with diamonds, and Indian stones, + Nor to be seen. My crown is call'd Content. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summer had faded, and an early frost had tinted the fern-leaves with +gold here and there, and made the hermit wrap himself close in a cloak +lined with thick brown fur. + +Simon, who was accustomed very respectfully to take the command of him, +insisted that he should have a fire always burning on a rock close to +his door, and that Piers, if not Hal, should always take care that it +never went out, smothering it with peat, as every shepherd boy knew how +to do, so as to keep it alight, or, in case of need, to conceal it with +turf. + +One afternoon, as Hal lay on the grass, whiling away the time by +alternately playing with Watch and trying to unravel the mysteries of a +flower of golden-rod, until the hermit should have finished his prayers +and be ready to attend to him, Piers came through the wood, evidently +sent on a message, and made him understand that he was immediately +wanted at home. + +Hal turned to take leave of his host, but the hermit's eyes were raised +in such rapt contemplation as to see nought, and, indeed, it might +be matter of doubt whether he had ever perceived the presence of his +visitor. + +Hal directed Piers to arrange the fire, and hurried away, becoming +conscious as he came in sight of the cottage that there were horses +standing before it, and guessing at once that it must be a visit from +Sir Lancelot Threlkeld. + +It was Simon Bunce, however, who, with demonstrations of looking for +him, came out to meet him as he emerged from the brushwood, and said +in a gruff whisper, clutching his shoulder hard, 'Not a word to give a +clue! Mum! More than your life hangs on it.' + +No more could pass, to explain the clue intended, whether to the +presence of the young Lord Clifford himself, which was his first +thought, or to the inhabitant of the hermitage. For Sir Lancelot's +cheerful voice was exclaiming, 'Here he is, my lady! Here's your son! +How now, my young lord? Thou hast learnt to hold up thy head! Ay, and to +bow in better sort,' as, bending with due grace, Hal paused for a second +ere hurrying forward to kneel before his mother, who raised him in her +arms and kissed him with fervent affection. 'My son! mine own dear +boy, how art thou grown! Thou hast well nigh a knightly bearing!' she +exclaimed. 'Master Bunce hath done well by thee.' + +'Good blood will out, my lady,' quoth Simon, well pleased at her praise. + +'He hath had no training but thine?' said Sir Lancelot, looking full at +Simon. + +'None, Sir Knight, unless it be honest Halstead's here.' + +'Methought I heard somewhat of the hermit in the glen,' put in the lady. + +'He is a saint!' declared two or three voices, as if this precluded his +being anything more. + +'A saint,' repeated the lady. 'Anchorets are always saints. What doth +he?' + +'Prayeth,' answered Simon. 'Never doth a man come in but he is at his +prayers. 'Tis always one hour or another!' + +'Ay?' said Sir Lancelot, interrogatively. 'Sayest thou so? Is he an old +man?' + +Simon put in his word before Hal could speak: 'Men get so knocked about +in these wars that there's no guessing their age. I myself should deem +that the poor rogue had had some clouts on the head that dazed him and +made him fit for nought save saying his prayers.' + +Here Sir Lancelot beckoned Simon aside, and walked him away, so as to +leave the mother and son alone together. + +Lady Threlkeld questioned closely as to the colour of the eyes and +hair, and the general appearance of the hermit, and Hal replied, without +suspicion, that the eyes were blue, the hair, he thought, of a light +colour, the frame tall and slight, graceful though stooping; he had +thought at first that the hermit must be old, very old, but had since +come to a different conclusion. His dress was a plain brown gown like +a countryman's. There was nobody like him, no one whom Hal so loved and +venerated, and he could not help, as he stood by his mother, pouring out +to her all his feeling for the hermit, and the wise patient words that +now and then dropped from him, such as 'Patience is the armour and +conquest of the godly;' or, 'Shall a man complain for the punishment of +his sins?' 'Yet,' said Hal, 'what sins could the anchoret have? Never +did I know that a man could be so holy here on earth. I deemed that was +only for the saints in heaven.' + +The lady kissed the boy and said, 'I trow thou hast enjoyed a great +honour, my child.' + +But she did not say what it was, and when her husband summoned her, +she joined him to repair to Penrith, where they were keeping an autumn +retirement at a monastery, and had contrived to leave their escort and +make this expedition on their way. + +Simon examined Hal closely on what he had said to his mother, sighed +heavily, and chided him for prating when he had been warned against it, +but that was what came of dealing with children and womenfolk. + +'What can be the hurt?' asked Hal. 'Sir Lancelot knows well who I am! No +lack of prudence in him would put men on my track.' + +'Hear him!' cried Simon; 'he thinks there is no nobler quarry in the +woods than his lordship!' + +'The hermit! Oh, Simon, who is he?' + +But Simon began to shout for Hob Hogward, and would not hear any further +questions before he rode away, as far as Hal could see, in the opposite +direction to the hermitage. But when he repaired thither the next day +he was startled by hearing voices and the stamp of horses, and as he +reconnoitred through the trees he saw half a dozen rough-looking men, +with bows and arrows, buff coats, and steel-guarded caps--outlaws and +robbers as he believed. + +His first thought was that they meant harm to the gentle hermit, and his +impulse was to start forward to his protection or assistance, but as +he sprang into sight one of the strangers cried out: 'How now! Here's +a shepherd thrusting himself in. Back, lad, or 'twill be the worse for +you.' + +'The hermit! the hermit! Do not meddle with him! He's a saint,' shouted +Hal. + +But even as he spoke he became aware of Simon, who called out: 'Hold, +sir; back, Giles; this is one well nigh in as much need of hiding as him +yonder. Well come, since you be come, my lord, for we cannot get _him_ +there away without a message to you, and 'tis well he should be off ere +the sleuth-hounds can get on the scent.' + +'What! Where! Who?' demanded the bewildered boy, breaking off, as at +that moment his friend appeared at the door of the hovel, no longer +in the brown anchoret's gown but in riding gear, partially defended +by slight armour, and with a cap on his head, which made him look much +younger than he had before done. + +'Child, art thou there? It is well; I could scarce have gone without +bidding thee farewell,' he said in his sweet voice; 'thou, the dear +companion of my loneliness.' + +'O sir, sir, and are you going away?' + +'Yea, so they will have it! These good fellows are come to guard me.' + +'Oh! may I not go with thee?' + +'Nay, my fair son. Thou art beneath thy mother's wing, while I am like +one who was hunted as a partridge on the mountains.' + +'Whither, oh whither?' gasped Hal. + +'That I know not! It is in the breasts of these good men, who are +charged by my brave wife to have me in their care.' + +'Oh! sir, sir, what shall I do without you? You that have helped me, and +taught me, and opened mine eyes to all I need to know.' + +'Hush, hush; it is a better master than I could ever be that thou +needest. But,' as tokens of impatience manifested themselves among the +rude escort, 'take thou this,' giving him the little service-book, as he +knelt to receive it, scarce knowing why. 'One day thou wilt be able to +read it. Poor child! whose lot it is to be fatherless and landless for +me and mine, I would I could do more for thee.' + +'Oh! you have done all,' sobbed Hal. + +'Nay, now, but this be our covenant, my boy! If thou, and if mine own +son both come to your own, thou wilt be a true and loyal man to him, +even as thy father was to me, and may God Almighty make it go better +with you both.' + +'I will, I will! I swear by all that is holy!' gasped Hal Clifford, with +a flash of perception, as he knelt. + +'Come, my liege, we have far to go ere night. No time for more parting +words and sighs.' + +Hal scarcely knew more except that the hands were laid on his head, and +the voice he had learnt to love so well said: 'The blessing of God +the Father be upon thee, thou fatherless boy, and may He reward thee +sevenfold for what thy father was, who died for his faithfulness to me, +a sinner! Fare thee well, my boy.' + +As the hand that Hal was fervently kissing was withdrawn from him he +sank upon his face, weeping as one heartbroken. He scarce heard the +sounds of mounting and the trampling of feet, and when he raised his +head he was alone, the woods and rocks were forsaken. + +He sprang up and ran along at his utmost speed on the trampled path, +but when he emerged from it he could only see a dark party, containing +a horseman or two, so far on the way that it was hopeless to overtake +them. + +He turned back slowly to the deserted hut, and again threw himself on +the ground, weeping bitterly. He knew now that his friend and master had +been none other than the fugitive King, Henry of Windsor. + + + + +CHAPTER X. -- THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + + + Not in proud pomp nor courtly state; + Him his own thoughts did elevate, + Most happy in the shy recess. + --WORDSWORTH. + + +The departure of King Henry was the closing of the whole intellectual +and religious world that had been opened to the young Lord Clifford. To +the men of his own court, practical men of the world, there were times +when poor Henry seemed almost imbecile, and no doubt his attack of +melancholy insanity, the saddest of his ancestral inheritances, had +shattered his powers of decision and action; but he was one who 'saw far +on holy ground,' and he was a well-read man in human learning, besides +having the ordinary experience of having lived in the outer world, so +that in every way his companionship was delightful to a thoughtful boy, +wakening to the instincts of his race. + +To think of being left to the society of the sheep, of dumb Piers and +his peasant parents was dreariness in the extreme to one who had begun +to know something like conversation, and to have his countless questions +answered, or at any rate attended to. Add to this, he had a deep +personal love and reverence for his saint, long before the knowing him +as his persecuted King, and thus his sorrow might well be profound, +as well as rendered more acute by the terror lest his even unconscious +description to his mother might have been treason! + +He wept till he could weep no longer, and lay on the ground in his +despair till darkness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled him up, +indicating by gestures and uncouth sounds that he must go home. Goodwife +Dolly was anxiously looking out for him. + +'Laddie, there thou beest at last! I had begun to fear me whether the +robber gang had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he saw Master Simon +with them. Have they mishandled thee, mine own lad nurse's darling? Thou +lookest quite distraught.' + +All Hal's answer was to hide his head in her lap and weep like a babe, +though she could, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from him but +that his hermit was gone. No, no, the outlaws had not hurt him, but they +had taken him away, and he would never come back. + +'Ay, ay, thou didst love him and he was a holy man, no doubt, but one of +these days thou shalt have a true knight, and that is better for a young +baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven than for earth! Come +now, stand up and eat thy supper. Don't let Hob come in and find thee +crying like a swaddled babe.' + +With which worldly consolations and exhortations Goodwife Dolly brought +him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he could not swallow +much, and soon put it aside and sought his bed. + +It was not till late the next day that Simon Bunce was seen riding +his rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to him at once, with the +breathless inquiry, 'Where is he?' + +'In safe hands! Never you fear, sir! But best know nought.' + +'O Simon, was I--? Did I do him any scathe?--I--I never knew--I only +told my lady mother it was a saint.' + +'Ay, ay, lad, more's the pity that he is more saint than king! If my +lady guessed aught, she would be loyal as became your father's wife, and +methinks she would not press you hard for fear she should be forced to +be aware of the truth.' + +'But Sir Lancelot?' + +'As far as I can gather,' explained Simon, 'Sir Lancelot is one that +hath kept well with both sides, and so is able to be a protector. But +down came orders from York and his crew that King Harry is reported to +be lurking in some of these moors, and the Countess Clifford being his +wife, he fell under suspicion of harbouring him. Nay, there was some +perilous talk in his own household, so that, as I understand the matter, +he saw the need of being able to show that he knew nothing; or, if he +found that the King was living within these lands, of sending him a +warning ere avowing that he had been there. So I read what was said to +me.' + +'He knew nothing from me! Neither he nor my lady mother,' eagerly said +Hal. 'When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short when I described +the hermit too closely, lest no doubt she should guess who he was.' + +'Belike! It would be like my lady, who is a loyal Lancastrian at heart, +though much bent on not offending her husband lest his protection should +be withdrawn from you.' + +'Better--O, a thousand times better!--he gave me up than the King!' + +'Hush! What good would that do? A boy like you? Unless they took you +in hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands if you would +swear allegiance to King Edward, as he calls himself.' + +'Never, though I were cut into quarters!' averred Hal, with a fierce +gesture, clasping his staff. 'But the King? Where and what have they +done with him?' + +'Best not to know, my lord,' said Simon. 'In sooth, I myself do not know +whither he is gone, only that he is with friends.' + +'But who--what were they? They looked like outlaws!' + +'So they were; many a good fellow is of Robin of Redesdale's train. +There are scores of them haunting the fells and woods, all Red Rose men, +keeping a watch on the King,' replied Simon. 'We had made up our minds +that he had been long enough in one place, and that he must have taken +shelter the winter through, when I got notice of these notions of Sir +Lancelot, and forthwith sent word to them to have him away before worse +came of it.' + +'Oh! why did you not let me go with him? I would have saved him, waited +on him, fought for him.' + +'Fine fighting--when there's no getting you to handle a lance, except +as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you have been +better of late, little as your hermit seemed the man to teach you.' + +'He said it was right and became a man! Would I were with him! He, my +true King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simon. I, that am +his true and loving liegeman, should be with him.' + +'Ay! when you are a man to keep his head and your own.' + +'But I could wait on him.' + +'Would you have us bested to take care of two instead of one, and my +lady, moreover, in a pother about her son, and Sir Lancelot stirred to +make a hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in peace in the safe +homestead where you are sheltered, and learn to be a man, minding your +exercises as well as may be till the time shall come.' + +'When I shall be a man and a knight, and do deeds of derring-do in his +cause,' cried Hal. + +And the stimulus drove him on to continual calls to Hob, in Simon's +default, to jousts with sword or spear, represented generally by staves; +and when these could not be had, he was making arrows and practising +with them, so as to become a terror to the wild ducks and other +neighbours on the wolds, the great geese and strange birds that came +in from the sea in the cold weather. When it was not possible to go far +afield in the frosts and snows, he conned King Henry's portuary, trying +to identify the written words with those he knew by heart, and sometimes +trying to trace the shapes of the letters on the snow with a stick; +visiting, too, the mountains and looking into the limpid grey waters of +the lakes, striving hard to guess why, when the sea rose in tides, they +were still. More than ever, too, did the starry skies fill him with +contemplation and wonder, as he dwelt on the scraps alike of astronomy, +astrology, and devotion which he had gathered from his oracle in the +hermitage, and longed more and more for the time to return when he +should again meet his teacher, his saint, and his King. + +Alas! that time was never to come. The outlawed partisans of the +Red Rose had secret communications which spread intelligence rapidly +throughout the country, and long before Sir Lancelot and his lady knew, +and thus it was that Simon Bunce learnt, through the outlaws, that poor +King Henry had been betrayed by treachery, and seized by John Talbot +at Waddington Hall in Lancashire. Deep were the curses that the outlaws +uttered, and fierce were the threats against the Talbot if ever he +should venture himself on the Cumbrian moors; and still hotter was their +wrath, more bitter the tears of the shepherd lord, when the further +tidings were received that the Earl of Warwick had brought the gentle, +harmless prince, to whom he had repeatedly sworn fealty, into London +with his feet tied to the stirrups of a sorry jade, and men crying +before him, 'Behold the traitor!' + +The very certainty that the meek and patient King would bear all with +rejoicing in the shame and reproach that led him in the steps of his +Master, only added to the misery of Hal as he heard the tale; and he lay +on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth with rage and longing +to take revenge on Warwick, Edward, Talbot--he knew not whom--and +grasping at the rocks as if they were the stones of the Tower which he +longed to tear down and liberate his beloved saint. + +Nor, from that time, was there any slackness in acquiring or practising +all skill in chivalrous exercises. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- THE RED ROSE + + + + That Edward is escaped from your brother + And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Years passed on, and still Henry Clifford continued to be the shepherd. +Matters were still too unsettled, and there were too many Yorkists in +the north, keeping up the deadly hatred of the family against that of +Clifford, for it to be safe for him to show himself openly. He was a +tall, well-made, strong youth, and his stepfather spoke of his going to +learn war in Burgundy; but not only was his mother afraid to venture him +there, but he could not bear to leave England while there was a hope +of working in the cause of the captive King, though the Red Rose hung +withered on the branches. + +Reports of misunderstandings between King Edward and the Earl of Warwick +came from time to time, and that Queen Margaret and her son were busy +beyond seas, which kept up hope; and in the meantime Hal grew in the +knowledge of all country lore, of herd and wood, and added to it all his +own earnest love of the out-of-door world, of sun, moon, and stars, +sea and hills, beast and bird. The hermit King, who had been a +well-educated, well-read man in his earlier days, had given him the +framework of such natural science as had come down to the fifteenth +century, backed by the deepest faith in scriptural descriptions; and +these inferences and this philosophy were enough to lead a far acuter +and more able intellect, with greater opportunities of observation, much +further into the fields of the mystery of nature than ever the King had +gone. + +He said nothing, for never had he met one who understood a word he said +apart from fortune telling, excepting the royal teacher after whom +he longed; but he watched, he observed, and he dreamt, and came to +conclusions that his King's namesake cousin, Enrique of Portugal, the +discoverer, in his observatory at St. Vincent, might have profited by. +Brother Brian, a friar, for whose fidelity Simon Bunce's outlaw could +absolutely answer, and who was no Friar Tuck, in spite of his rough +life, gave Dolly much comfort religiously, carried on some of the +education for which Hal longed, and tried to teach him astrology. Some +of the yearnings of his young soul were thus gratified, but they were +the more extended as he grew nearer manhood, and many a day he stood +with eyes stretched over the sea to the dim line of the horizon, with +arms spread for a moment as if he would join the flight of the sea-gulls +floating far, far away, then clasped over his breast in a sort of +despair at being bound to one spot, then pressed the tighter in the +strong purpose of fighting for his imprisoned King when the time should +come. + +For this he diligently practised with bow and arrow when alone, or only +with Piers, and learnt all the feats of arms that Simon Runce or Giles +Spearman could teach him. Spearman was evidently an accomplished knight +or esquire; he had fought in France as well as in the home wars, and +knew all the refinements of warfare in an age when the extreme weight +of the armour rendered training and skill doubly necessary. Spearman +was evidently not his real name, and it was evident that he had some +knowledge of Hal's real rank, though he never hazarded mention of other +name or title. The great drawback was the want of horses. The little +mountain ponies did not adequately represent the warhorses trained +to charge under an enormous load, and the buff jerkins and steel +breast-plates of the outlaws were equally far from showing how to move +under 'mail and plates of Milan steel.' Nor would Sir Lancelot Threlkeld +lend or give what was needful. Indeed, he was more cautious than ever, +and seemed really alarmed as well as surprised to see how tall and manly +his step-son was growing, and how like his father. He would not hear +of a visit to Threlkeld under any disguise, though Lady Clifford was +in failing health, nor would he do anything to forward the young lord's +knightly training. In effect, he only wanted to keep as quiet and +unobserved as possible, for everything was in a most unsettled and +dangerous condition, and there was no knowing what course was the safest +for one by no means prepared to lose life or lands in any cause. + +The great Earl of Warwick, on whom the fate of England had hitherto +hinged, was reported to have never forgiven King Edward for his marriage +with Dame Elizabeth Grey, and to be meditating insurrection. Encouraged +by this there was a great rising in Yorkshire of the peasants under +Robin of Redesdale, and a message was brought to Giles Spearman and his +followers to join them, but he and Brother Brian demurred, and news soon +came that the Marquess of Montagu had defeated the rising and beheaded +Redesdale. + +Sir Lancelot congratulated his step-son on having been too late to take +up arms, and maintained that the only safe policy was to do nothing, a +plan which suited age much better than youth. + +He still lived with Hob and Piers, and slept at the hut, but he went +further and further afield among the hills and mosses, often with no +companion save Watch, so that he might without interruption watch the +clear streams and wonder what filled their fountains, and why the sea +was never full, or stand on the sea-shore studying the tides, and +trying to construct a theory about them. King Henry was satisfied with +'Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther,' but He who gave that decree +must have placed some cause or rule in nature thus to affect them. Could +it be the moon? The waves assuredly obeyed the changes of the moon, and +Hal was striving to keep a record in strokes marked by a stick on soft +earth or rows of pebbles, so as to establish a rule. 'Aye, aye,' quoth +Hob. 'Poor fellow, he is not much wiser than the hermit. See how he +plays with pebbles and stones. You'll make nought of him, fine grown lad +as he is. Why, he'll sit dazed and moonstruck half a day, and all the +night, staring up at the stars as if he would count them!' + +So spoke the stout shepherd to Simon Bunce, pointing to the young man, +who lay at his length upon the grass calculating the proportions of the +stones that marked the relations of hours of the flood tide and those +of the height of the moon. Above and beyond was a sundial cut out in the +turf, from his own observations after the hints that the hermit and the +friar had given him. + +'Ha now, my lord, I have rare news for you.' + +The unwonted title did not strike Hal's unaccustomed ears, and he +continued moving his lips, 'High noon, spring tide.' + +'There, d'ye see?' said Hob, 'he heeds nothing. 'That I and my goodwife +should have bred up a mooncalf! Here, Hal, don't you know Simon? Hear +his tidings!' + +'Tidings enow! King Henry is freed, King Edward is fled. My Lord +of Warwick has turned against him for good and all. King Henry is +proclaimed in all the market-places! I heard it with my own ears at +Penrith!' And throwing up his cap into the air, while the example +was followed by Hob, with 'God save King Henry, and you my Lord of +Clifford.' + +The sound was echoed by a burst of voices, and out of the brake suddenly +stood the whole band of outlaws, headed by Giles Spearman, but Hal still +stood like one dazed. 'King Harry, the hermit, free and on his throne,' +he murmured, as one in a dream. + +'Ay, all things be upset and reversed,' said Spearman, with a hand on +his shoulder. 'No herd boy now, but my Lord of Clifford.' + +'Come to his kingdom,' repeated Hal. 'My own King Harry the hermit! I +would fain go and see him.' + +'So you shall, my brave youth, and carry him your homage and mine,' +said Spearman. 'He will know me for poor Giles Musgrave, who upheld +his standard in many a bloody field. We will off to Sir Lancelot at +Threlkeld now! Spite of his policy of holes and corners, he will not now +refuse to own you for what you are, aye, and fit you out as becomes a +knight.' + +'God grant he may!' muttered Bunce, 'without his hum and ha, and swaying +this way and that, till he never moves at all! Betwixt his caution, +and this lad's moonstruck ways, you have a fair course before you, Sir +Giles! See, what's the lad doing now?' + +The lad was putting into his pouch the larger white pebbles that had +represented tens in his calculation, and murmuring the numbers they +stood for. 'He will understand,' he said almost to himself, but he +showed himself ready to go with the party to Threlkeld, merely pausing +at Hob's cottage to pick up a few needful equipments. In the skin of a +rabbit, carefully prepared, and next wrapped in a silken kerchief, +and kept under his chaff pillow, was the hermit's portuary, which was +carefully and silently transferred by Hal to his own bosom. Sir Giles +Musgrave objected to Watch, in city or camp, and Hal was obliged to +leave him to Goodwife Dolly and to Piers. + +With each it was a piteous parting, for Dolly had been as a mother to +him for almost all his boyhood, and had supplied the tenderness that +his mother's fears and Sir Lancelot's precautions had prevented his +receiving at Threlkeld. He was truly as a son to her, and she sobbed +over him, declaring that she never would see him again, even if he came +to his own, which she did not believe was possible, and who would see to +his clean shirts? + +'Never fear, goodwife,' said Giles Musgrave; 'he shall be looked to as +mine own son.' + +'And what's that to a gentle lad that has always been tended as becomes +him?' + +'Heed not, mother! Be comforted! I must have gone to the wars, anyway. +If so be I thrive, I'll send for thee to mine own castle, to reign there +as I remember of old. Here now! Comfort Piers as thou only canst do.' + +Piers, poor fellow, wept bitterly, only able to understand that +something had befallen his comrade of seven years, which would take him +away from field and moor. He clung to Hal, and both lads shed tears, +till Hob roughly snatched Piers away and threw him to his aunt, with +threats that drew indignant, though useless, interference from Hal, +though Simon Bunce was muttering, 'As lief take one lad as the other!' +while Dolly's angry defence of her nursling's wisdom broke the sadness +of the parting. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- A PRUDENT RECEPTION + + + + So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts, + What may befall him to his harm and ours. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Through the woods the party went to the fortified house of Threlkeld, +where the gateway was evidently prepared to resist any passing attack, +by stout gates and a little watch-tower. + +Sir Giles blew a long blast on his bugle-horn, and had to repeat it +twice before a porter looked cautiously out at a wicket opening in the +heavy door, and demanded 'Who comes?' + +'Open, porter, open in the name of King Harry, to the Lords of Clifford +and of Peelholm.' + +The porter fell back, observing, 'Sir, pardon, while I have speech with +my master, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.' + +Some delay and some sounds of conversation were heard, then, on a +renewed and impatient blast on Sir Giles's horn, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld +himself came to the wicket, and his thin anxious voice might be heard +demanding, 'What madness is this?' + +'The madness is past, soundness is come,' responded Sir Giles. 'King +Harry is on his throne, the traitors are fled, and your own fair son +comes forth in his proper person to uphold the lawful sovereign; but he +would fain first see his lady mother, and take her blessing with him.' + +'And by his impatience destroy himself, after all the burthen of care +and peril he hath been to me all these years,' lamented Sir Lancelot. +'But come in, fair lad. Open the gates, porter. I give you welcome, Lord +Musgrave of Peelholm. But who are these?' he added, looking at the troop +of buff-coated archers in the rear. + +'They are bold champions of the Red Rose, returned Sir Giles, 'who +have lived with me in the wolds, and now are on the way to maintain our +King's quarrel.'' + +Sir Lancelot, however, would not hear of admitting the outlaws. Young +Clifford and the Lord of Peelholm should be welcome, or more truly he +could not help receiving them, but the archers must stay outside, their +entertainment in beef and ale being committed to Bunce and the chief +warder, while the two noblemen were conducted to the castle hall. For +the first time in his life Clifford was received in his mother's home, +and accepted openly, as he knelt before her to ask her blessing. A fine, +active, handsome youth was he, with bright, keen eyes, close-curled +black locks and hardy complexion, telling of his out-of-door life, and +a free use of his limbs, and upright carriage, though still with more +of the grace of the free mountain than of the training of pagedom and +squiredom. + +Nor could he speak openly and freely to her, not knowing how much he +might say of his past intercourse with King Henry, and of her endeavour +to discover it; and he sat beside her, neither of them greatly at ease, +at the long table, which, by the array of silver cups, of glasses +and the tall salt cellar separating the nobility and their followers, +recalled to him dim recollections of the scenes of his youth. + +He asked for his sister--he knew his little brother had died in the +Netherlands--and he heard that she had been in the Priory of St. +Helen's, and was now in the household of my Lady of Hungerford, who +had promised to find a good match for her. There was but one son of the +union with the knight of Threlkeld, and him Hal had never seen; nor was +he at home, being a page in the household of the Earl of Westmoreland, +according to the prevailing fashion of the castles of the great feudal +nobles becoming schools of arms, courtesy and learning for the young +gentlemen around. Indeed, Lady Clifford surveyed her eldest son with +a sigh that such breeding was denied him, as she observed one or two +little deficiencies in what would be called his table manners--not very +important, but revealing that he had grown up in the byre instead of +the castle, where there was a very strict and punctilious code, which +figured in catechisms for the young. + +She longed to keep him, and train him for his station, but in the first +place, Sir Lancelot still held that it could not safely be permitted, +since he had little confidence in the adherence of the House of Nevil +to the Red Rose; and moreover Hal himself utterly refused to remain +concealed in Cumberland instead of carrying his service to the King he +loved. + +In fact, when he heard the proposal of leaving him in the north, he +stood up, and, with far more energy than had been expected from him, +said, 'Go I must, to my lawful King's banner, and my father's cause. To +King Harry I carry my homage and whatever my hand can do!' + +Such an expression of energy lighted his hitherto dreamy eyes, that all +beholders turned their glances on his face with a look of wonder. Sir +Lancelot again objected that he would be rushing to his ruin. + +'Be it so,' replied Hal. 'It is my duty.' + +'The time seems to me to be come,' added Musgrave, 'that my young lord +should put himself forward, though it may be only in a losing cause. Not +so much for the sake of success, as to make himself a man and a noble.' + +'But what can he do?' persisted Threlkeld; 'he has none of the training +of a knight. How can you tilt in plate armour, you who have never +bestridden a charger? These are not the days of Du Guesclin, when a lad +came in from the byre and bore down all foes before him.' + +The objection was of force, for the defensive armour of the fifteenth +century had reached a pitch of cumbrousness that required long practice +for a man to be capable of moving under it. + +'So please you, sir,' said Hal, 'I am not wholly unskilled. The good Sir +Giles and Simon Bunce have taught me enough to strike a blow with a good +will for a good cause.' + +'With horse and arms as befits him,' began Musgrave. + +'I know not that a horse is here that could be depended on,' began +Threlkeld. 'Armour too requires to be fitted and proved.' + +He spoke in a hesitating voice that showed his unwillingness, and Hal +exclaimed, 'My longbow is mine own, and so are my feet. Sir Giles, +will you own me as an archer in your troop, where I will strive not to +disgrace you or my name?' + +'Bravely spoken, young lord,' said Sir Giles heartily; 'right willingly +will I be your godfather in chivalry, since you find not one nigher +home.' + +'So may it best be,' observed his mother, 'since he is bent on going. +Thus his name and rank may be kept back till it be plain whether the +enmity of my Lords of Warwick and Montagu still remain against our poor +house.' + +There was no desire on either side to object when the Lord Musgrave +of Peelholm decided on departing early on the morrow. Their host was +evidently not sorry to speed them on their way, and his reluctant +hospitality made them anxious to cumber him no longer than needful; and +his mind was relieved when it was decided that the heir of the De Vescis +and Cliffords should be known as Harry of Derwentdale. + +Only, when all was preparation in the morning, and a hearty service had +been said in the chapel, the lady called her son aside, and looking up +into his dark eyes, said in a low voice, 'Be not angered with my lord +husband's prudence, my son. Remember it is only by caution that he has +saved thine head, or mine, or thy sister's!' + +'Ay, ay, mother, I know,' he said, more impatiently than perhaps he +knew. + +'It was by the same care that he preserved us all when Edgecotefield was +fought. Chafe not at him. Thou mayst be thankful even now, mayhap, to +find a shelter preserved, while that rogue and robber Nevil holds our +lands.' + +'I am more like to have to protect thee, lady mother, and bring thee to +thy true home again!' said Hal. + +'Meantime, my child, take this purse and equip thyself at York or +whenever thou canst. Nay, thou needst not shrug and refuse! How like thy +father the gesture, though I would it were more gracious and seemly. +But this is mine, mine own, none of my husband's, though he would be +willing. It comes from the De Vesci lands, and those will be thine after +me, and thine if thou winnest not back thy Clifford inheritance. And oh! +my son, crave of Sir Giles to teach thee how to demean thyself that they +may not say thou art but a churl.' + +'I trust to be no churl in heart, if I be in manners,' said Hal, looking +down on his small clinging mother. + +'Only be cautious, my son. Remember that you are the last of the name, +and it is your part to bring it to honour.' + +'Which I shall scarce do by being cautious,' he said, with something of +a smile. 'That was not my father's way.' + +'Ah me! You have his spirit in you, and how did it end?' + +'My Lord of Clifford,' said a voice from the court, 'you are waited +for!' + +'And remember,' cried his mother, with a last embrace, 'there will be +safety here whenever thou shalt need it.' + +'With God's grace, I am more like to protect you and your husband,' said +the lad, bending for another kiss and hurrying away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- FELLOW TRAVELLERS + + + + And sickerlie she was of great disport, + And full pleasant and amiable of port; + Of small hounds had she that she fed + With roasted flesh and milk and wastel bread. + --CHAUCER. + + +Sir Giles Musgrave of Peelholm was an old campaigner, and when Hal came +out beyond the gate of the Threlkeld fortalice, he found him reviewing +his troop; a very disorderly collection, as Sir Lancelot pronounced with +a sneer, looking out on them, and strongly advising his step-son not to +cast in his lot with them, but to wait and see what would befall, and +whether the Nevils were in earnest in their desertion of the House of +York. + +Hal restrained himself with difficulty enough to take a courteous leave +of his mother's husband, to whose prudence and forbearance he was really +much beholden; though, with his spirit newly raised and burning for his +King, it was hard to have patience with neutrality. + +He found Sir Giles employed in examining his followers, and rigidly +sending home all not properly equipped with bow, sheaf of arrows, strong +knife or pike, buff coat, head-piece and stout shoes; also a wallet of +provisions for three days, or a certain amount of coin. He would have +no marauding on the way, and refused to take any mere lawless camp +follower, thus disposing of a good many disreputable-looking fellows who +had flocked in his wake. Sir Lancelot's steward seconded him heartily +by hunting back his master's retainers; and there remained only about +five-and-twenty--mostly, in fact, yeomen or their sons--men who had +been in arms for Queen Margaret and had never made their submission, +but lived on unmolested in the hills, really outlawed, but not coming in +collision with the authorities enough to have their condition inquired +into. They had sometimes attacked Yorkist parties, sometimes resisted +Scottish raids, or even made a foray in return, and they were well used +to arms. These all had full equipments, and some more coin in their +pouches than they cared to avow. Three or four of them brought an ox, +calf or sheep, or a rough pony loaded with provisions, and driven by a +herd boy or a son eager to see life and 'the wars.' Simon Bunce, well +armed, was of this party. Hob Hogward, though he had come to see what +became of his young lord, was pronounced too stiff and aged to join the +band, which might now really be called a troop, not a mere lawless +crowd of rough lads. There were three trained men-at-arms, the regular +retainers of Sir Giles, who held a little peel tower on the borders +where nobody durst molest him, and these marshalled the little band in +fair order. + +It was no season for roses, but a feather was also the cognisance of +Henry VI., and every one's barret-cap mounted a feather, generally +borrowed from the goodwife's poultry yard at home, but sometimes picked +up on the moors, and showing the barred black and brown patterns of the +hawk's or the owl's plumage. It was a heron's feather that Hal assumed, +on the counsel of Sir Giles, who told him it was an old badge of the +Cliffords, and it became well his bright dark hair and brown face. + +On they went, a new and wonderful march to Hal, who had only looked with +infant eyes on anything beyond the fells, and had very rarely been into +a little moorland church, or seen enough people together for a market +day in Penrith. Sir Giles directed their course along the sides of the +hills till he should gain further intelligence, and know how they would +be received. For the most part the people were well inclined to King +Henry, though unwilling to stir on his behalf in fear of Edward's +cruelty. + +However, it was as they had come down from the hills intending to +obtain fresh provisions at one of the villages, and Hal was beginning +to recognise the moors he had known in earlier childhood, that they +perceived a party on the old Roman road before them, which the outlaws' +keen eyes at once discovered to be somewhat of their own imputed trade. +There seemed to be a waggon upset, persons bound, and a buzz of men, +like wasps around a honeycomb preying on it. Something like women's +veiled forms could be seen. 'Ha! Mere robbery. This must not be. Upon +them! Form! Charge!' were the brief commands of the leader, and the +compact body ran at a rapid but a regulated pace down the little slope +that gave them an advantage of ground with some concealment by a brake +of gorse. 'Halt! Pikes forward!' was the next order. The little band +were already close upon the robbers, in whom they began to recognise +some of those whom Sir Giles had dismissed as mere ruffians unequipped +a few days before. It was with a yell of indignation that the troop fell +on them, Sir Giles with a sharp blow severing the bridle of a horse that +a man was leading, but there was a cry back, 'We are for King Harry! +These be Yorkists!' + +'Nay! nay!' came back the voices of the overthrown. 'Help! help! for +King Harry and Queen Margaret! These be rank thieves who have set on us! +Holy women are here!' + +These exclamations came broken and in utter confusion, mingled with +cries for mercy and asseverations on the part of the thieves, and fierce +shouts from Sir Giles's men. All was hubbub, barking dogs, shouting +men, and Hal scarcely knew anything till he was aware of two or three +shrouded nuns, as it seemed, standing by their ponies, of merchantmen +or carters trying to quiet and harness frightened mules, of waggons +overturned, of a general confusion over which arose Lord Musgrave's +powerful authoritative voice. + +'Kit of Clumber! Why should I not hang you for thieving on yonder tree, +with your fellow thieves?' + +'Yorkists, sir! It was all in the good cause,' responded a sullen voice, +as a grim red and scarred face was seen on a ruffian held by two of the +archers. + +'No Yorkists we, sir!' began a stout figure, coming forward from the +waggon. 'We be peaceable merchants and this is a holy dame, the--' + +'The Prioress Selby of Greystone,' interrupted one of the nuns, coming +forward with a hawk on her wrist. 'Sir Giles of Musgrave, I am beholden +to you! I was on my way to take the young damsel of Bletso to her +father, the Lord St. John, with Earl Warwick in London. He sent us an +escort, but they being arrant cravens, as it seems, we thought it well +to join company with these same merchants, and thus we became a bait for +the outlaws of the Border.' + +'Lady, lady,' burst from one of the prisoners, 'I swear that we kenned +not holy dames to be of the company! Sir, my lord, we thought to serve +the cause of King Harry, and how any man is to guess which side is Earl +Warwick's is past an honest man.' + +'An honest man whose cause is his own pouch!' returned Sir Giles. +'Miscreants all! But I trow we are scarce yet out of the land of +misrule! So if the Lady Prioress will say a word for such a sort of +sorners, I'll e'en let you go on your way.' + +'They have had a warning, the poor rogues, and that will suffice for +this time! Nay, now, fellows, let my wimple alone! You'll not find +another lord to let you off so easy, nor another Prioress to stand your +friend. Get off, I say.' + +An archer enforced her words with a blow, and by some means, rough or +otherwise, a certain amount of order was restored, the ruffians slinking +off among the gorse bushes, their flight hastened by the pointing of +pikes and levelling of arrows at them. While the merchants, diving into +their packages, produced horns of ale which a younger man offered to +their defenders, the chief of the party, a portly fellow, interrupted +certain civilities between the Prioress and Sir Giles by praying them to +partake of a cup of malmsey, and adding an entreaty that they might be +allowed to join company with so brave an escort, explaining that he was +a poor merchant of London and the Hans towns who had been beguiled into +an expedition to Scotland to the young King James, who was said to have +a fair taste. He waved his hands as if his sufferings had been beyond +description. + +'Went for wool and came back shorn!' said the Prioress, laughing. 'Well, +my Lord Musgrave, what say you to letting us join company?--as I see +your band is afoot it will be no great delay, and the more the safer as +well as the merrier! Here, let me present to you my young maid, the Lady +Anne of Bletso, whom I in person am about to deliver to her father.' + +'And let me present privately to both ladies,' said Sir Giles, 'the +young squire Harry of Derwentdale, who hath been living as a shepherd in +the hills during the York rule.' + +'Ha! my lord, methinks this may not be the first meeting between Lady +Anne and you, though she would not know who the herd boy was who found +her, a stray lambkin on the moor.' + +The young people looked at each other with eyes of recognition, and as +Hal made his best bow, he said, 'Forsooth, lady, I did not know myself +till afterwards.' + +'Your shepherd and his wife gave me to understand that I should do hurt +by inquiring too much,' said the young lady smiling, and holding out her +hand, which Hal did not know whether to kiss or to shake. 'I hope the +kind old goodwife is well, who cosseted me so lovingly.' + +'She fares well, indeed, lady, only grieved at parting with me.' + +'There now,' said the Prioress, 'since we are quit of the robbers, +methinks we cannot do better than halt awhile for Master Lorimer's folk +to mend the tackling of their gear, while we make our noonday meal and +provide for our further journey. Allow me to be your hostess for the +nonce, my lords.' + +And between the lady's sumpter mules and the merchant's stores a far +more sumptuous meal was produced than would have otherwise been the +share of the Lancastrian party. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. -- THE JOURNEY + + + + 'Twas sweet to see these holy maids, + Like birds escaped to greenwood shades, + --SCOTT. + + +The Prioress Agnes Selby of Greystone was a person who would have made +a much fitter lady of a castle than head of a nunnery. She would have +worked for and with her lord, defended his lands for him, governed his +house and managed her sons with untiring zest and energy. But a vow +of her parents had consigned her to a monastic life at York, where she +could only work off her vigour by teasing the more devout and grave +sisters, and when honourably banished to the more remote Greystone, +in field sports, and in fortifying her convent against Scots or +Lancastrians who, somewhat to her disappointment, never did attack her. +No complaint or scandal had ever attached itself to her name, and she +let Mother Scholastica manage the nuns, and regulate the devotions, +while Greystone was known as a place where a thirsty warrior might be +refreshed, where tales and ballads of Border raids were welcome, and +where good hawk or hound was not despised. + +It had occurred to the Lord St. John of Bletso that the little daughter +whom he had left at York might be come to a marriageable age, and he had +listened to the proposal of one of the cousins of the house of Nevil +for a contract between her and his son, sending an escort northwards to +fetch her, properly accompanied. + +She had been all these years at Greystone, and the Prioress immediately +decided that this would be an excellent opportunity of seeing the +southern world, and going on a round of pilgrimages which would make the +expedition highly decorous. The ever restless spirit within her rose +in delight, and the Sisterhood of York were ready to acquiesce, having +faith in Mother Agnes' good sense to guide her and her pupil to his +castle in Bedfordshire by the help of Father Martin through any tangles +of the White and Red Roses that might await her, as well to her real +principle for avoiding actual evil, though she might startle monastic +proprieties. + +There was no doubt but that conversation, when she could have it, was as +great a joy to her as ever was galloping after a deer; and there she sat +with her beautiful hound by her side, and her hawk on a pole, exchanging +sentiments of speculation as to Warwick's change of front with Sir Giles +Musgrave, Father Martin, and Master Ralph Lorimer, while discussing +a pasty certainly very superior to anything that had come out of the +Penrith stores. + +Young Clifford and Lady Anne sat on the grass near, too shy for the +present to renew their acquaintance, but looking up at one another under +their eyelashes, and the first time their eyes met, the girl breaking +into a laugh, but it was not till towards the end of the refection that +they were startled into intercourse by a general growling and leaping +up of the great hound, and of the two big ungainly dogs chained to the +waggon, as wet, lean, bristling but ecstatic, Watch dashed in among +them, and fell on his master. + +For four days (unless he was tied up at first) the good dog must have +been tracking him. 'Off! off!' cried the Prioress, holding back her +deer-hound by main strength. 'Off, Florimond! he sets thee a pattern of +faithfulness! Be quiet and learn thy devoir!' + +'O sir, I cannot send him back!' entreated Hal, also embracing and +caressing the shaggy neck. + +'Send him back! Nay, indeed. As saith the Reverend Mother, it were well +if some earls and lords minded his example,' said Sir Giles. + +'Here! Watch, I mind thee well,' added Anne. 'Here's a slice of pasty +to reward thee. Oh! thou art very hungry,' as the big mouth bolted it +whole. + +'Nearly famished, poor rogue!' said Hal, administering a bone. 'How far +hast thou run, mine own lad! Art fain to come with thy master and see +the hermit?' + +'Thou must e'en go,' growled Simon Bunce, 'unless the lady's dog make an +end of thee! 'Tis ever the worthless that turn up.' + +'I would Florimond would show himself as true,' said the Prioress. +'Don't show thy teeth, sir! I can honour Watch, yet love thee.' + +''Tis jealousy as upsets faith,' said the merchant. 'The hound is a +knightly beast with his proud head, but he brooks not to see a Woodville +creep in.' + +'Nay, or a Beaufort!' suggested Sir Giles. + +'No treason, Lord Musgrave!' said the Prioress, laughing. + +'Ah, madam,' responded Sir Giles, 'what is treason?' + +'Whatever is against him that has the best of it,' observed Master +Lorimer. 'Well that it is not the business of a poor dealer in +horse-gear and leather-work. He asks not which way his bridles are to +turn! How now, Tray and Blackchaps? Never growl and gird. You have no +part in the fray!' + +For they were chained, and could only champ, bark and howl, while +Florimond and Watch turned one another over, and had to be pulled +forcibly back, by Hal on the one hand and on the other by the Mother +Agnes, who would let nobody touch Florimond except herself. After +this, the two dogs subsided into armed neutrality, and gradually became +devoted friends. + +The curiously composed cavalcade moved on their way southward. The +Prioress was mounted on the fine chestnut horse that Sir Giles had +rescued. She was attended by a nun, Sister Mabel, and a lay Sister, +both as hardy as herself, and riding sturdy mountain ponies; but her +chaplain, a thin delicate-looking man with a bad cough, only ventured +upon a sturdy ass; Anne St. John had a pretty little white palfrey and +two men-at-arms. There were two grooms, countrymen, who had run away on +the onset of the thieves, but came sneaking back again, to be soundly +rated by the Prioress, who threatened to send them home again or have +them well scourged, but finally laughed and forgave them. + +The merchant, Master Lorimer--who dealt primarily in all sorts of horse +furniture, but added thereto leather-work for knights and men-at-arms, +and all that did not too closely touch the armourer's trade--had +three sturdy attendants, having lost one in an attack by the Scottish +Borderers, and he had four huge Flemish horses, who sped along the +better for their loads having been lightened by sales in Edinburgh, +where he had hardly obtained skins enough to make up for the weight. +His headquarters, he said, were at Barnet, since tanning and +leather-dressing, necessary to his work, though a separate guild, +literally stank in the nostrils of the citizens of London. + +To these were added Sir Giles Musgrave's twenty archers, making a very +fair troop, wherewith to proceed, and the Prioress decided on not going +to York. She was not particularly anxious for an interview with the +Abbess of her Order, and it would have considerably lengthened the +journey, which both Musgrave and Lorimer were anxious to make as short +as possible. They preferred likewise to keep to the country, that was +still chiefly open and wild, with all its destiny in manufactories +yet to come, though there were occasionally such towns, villages and +convents on the way where provisions and lodging could be obtained. + +Every fresh scene of civilisation was a new wonder to Hal Clifford, +and scarcely less so to Anne St. John, though her life in the moorland +convent had begun when she was not quite so young as he had been when +taken to the hills of Londesborough. He had only been two or three times +in the church at Threlkeld, which was simple and bare, and the full +display of a monastic church was an absolute amazement, making him kneel +almost breathless with awe, recollecting what the royal hermit had told +him. He was too illiterate to follow the service, but the music and the +majestic flow of the chants overwhelmed him, and he listened with hands +clasped over his face, not daring to raise his eyes to the dazzling gold +of the altar, lighted by innumerable wax tapers. + +The Prioress was amused. 'Art dazed, my friend? This is but a poor +country cell; we will show you something much finer when we get to +Derby.' + +Hal drew a long breath. 'Is that meant to be like the saints in Heaven?' +he said. 'Is that the way they sing there?' + +'I should hope they pronounce their Latin better,' responded the +Prioress, who, it may be feared, was rather a light-minded woman. At any +rate there was a chill upon Hal which prevented him from directing any +of his remarks or questions to her for the future. The chaplain told him +something of what he wanted to know, but he met with the most sympathy +from the Lady Anne. + +'Which, think you, is the fittest temple and worship?' he said; as they +rode out together, after hearing an early morning service, gone through +in haste, and partaking of a hurried meal. The sun was rising over the +hills of Derbyshire, dyeing them of a red purple, standing out sharply +against a flaming sky, flecked here and there with rosy clouds, and +fading into blue that deepened as it rose higher. The elms and beeches +that bordered the monastic fields had begun to put on their autumn +livery, and yellow leaves here and there were like sparks caught from +the golden light. + +Hal drew off his cap as in homage to the glorious sight. + +'Ah, it is fine!' said Anne, 'it is like the sunrise upon our own moors, +when one breathes freely, and the clouds grow white instead of grey.' + +'Ah!' said Hal, 'I used to go out to the high ground and say the prayer +the hermit taught me--"Jam Lucis," it began. He said it was about the +morning light.' + +'I know that "Jam Lucis,"' said Anne; 'the Sisters sing it at prime, and +Sister Scholastica makes us think how it means about light coming and +our being kept from ill,' and she hummed the chant of the first verse. + +'I think this blue sky and royal sun, and the moon and stars at night, +are God's great hall of praise,' said Hal, still keeping his cap off, as +he had done through Anne's chant of praise. + +'Verily it is! It is the temple of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and +earth, as the Credo says,' replied Anne, 'but, maybe, we come nearer +still to Him in God the Son when we are in church.' + +'I do not know. The dark vaulted roof and the dimness seem to crush me +down,' said the mountain lad, 'though the singing lifts me sometimes, +though at others it comes like a wailing gust, all mournful and sad! If +I could only understand! My royal hermit would tell me when I can come +to him.' + +'Do you think, now he is a king again, he will be able to take heed to +you?' + +'I know he cares for me,' said Hal with confidence. + +'Ah yea, but will the folk about him care to let him talk to you? I have +heard say that he was but a puppet in their hands. Yea, you are a great +lord, that is true, but will that great masterful Earl Warwick let you +to him, or say all these thoughts of his and yours are but fancies for +babes?' + +'Simon Bunce did mutter such things, and that one of us was as great an +innocent as the other,' said Hal, 'but I trust my hermit's love.' + +'Ay, you know you are going to someone you love, and who loves you,' +sighed Anne, 'but how will it be with me?' + +'Your father?' suggested Hal. + +'My father! What knows he of me or I of him? I tell thee, Harry +Clifford, he left me at York when I was not eight years old, and I have +never seen him since. He gave a charge on his lands to a goldsmith at +York to pay for my up-bringing, and I verily believe thought no more of +me than if I had been a messan dog. He wedded a lady in Flanders and +had a son or twain, but I have never seen them nor my stepdame; and now +Gilbert there, who brought the letter to the Mother Prioress, says +she is dead, and the little heir, whose birth makes me nobody, is at +a monastery school at Ghent. But my Lord of Redgrave must needs make +overtures to my father for me, whether for his son or himself Gilbert +cannot say. So my father sends to bring me back for a betrothal. The +good Prioress goes with me. She saith that if it be the old Lord, who is +a fierce old rogue with as ill a name as Tiptoft himself, the butcher, +she will make my Lord St. John know the reason why! But what will he +care?' + +'It would be hard not to hear my Lady Prioress!' said Hal, looking +back at the determined black figure, gesticulating as she talked to Sir +Giles. + +Anne laughed, half sadly, 'So you think! But you have never seen the +grim faces at Bletso! They will say she is but a woman and a nun, and +what are her words to alliance with a friend of the Lord of Warwick? Ah! +it is a heartless hope, when I come to that castle!' + +'Nay, Anne, if my King gives me my place then&& + +'Lady Anne! Lady Anne!' called Sir Giles Musgrave, 'the Mother Prioress +thinks it not safe for you to keep so much in the front. There might be +ill-doers in the thickets.' + +Anne perforce reined in, but Hal fed on the idea that had suddenly +flashed on him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. -- BLETSO + + + + Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me. + --SHAKESPEARE, + + +The cavalcade journeyed on not very quickly, as the riders accommodated +themselves to those on foot. They avoided the towns when they came into +the more inhabited country, the Prioress preferring the smaller hostels +for pilgrims and travellers, and, it may be suspected, monasteries to +the nunneries, where she said the ladies had nothing to talk about but +wonder at her journey, and advice to stay in shelter till after the +winter weather. Meantime it was a fine autumn still, and with bright +colours on the woods, where deer, hare, rabbit, or partridge tempted the +hounds, not to say their mistress, but she kept them well in leash, and +her falcon with hood and jesses, she being too well nurtured not to +be well aware of the strict laws of the chase, except when some +good-natured monk gave her leave and accompanied her--generally +Augustinians, who were more of country squires than ecclesiastics. Watch +needed no leash--he kept close to his master, except when occasionally +tempted to a little amateur shepherding, from which Hal could easily +call him off. The great stag-hounds evidently despised him, and the curs +of the waggon hated him, and snarled whenever he came near them, but the +Prioress respected him, and could well believe that the hermit King had +loved him. 'He had just the virtues to suit the good King Harry,' she +said, 'dutifulness and harmlessness.' + +The Prioress was the life of the party, with her droll descriptions of +the ways of the nuns who received her, while the males of the party had +to be content with the hostel outside. Sir Giles and Master Lorimer, +riding on each side of her, might often be heard laughing with her. The +young people were much graver, especially as there were fewer and fewer +days' journeys to Bletso, and Anne's unknown future would begin with +separation from all she had ever known, unless the Mother Prioress +should be able to remain with her. + +And to Harry Clifford the loss of her presence grew more and more to +be dreaded as each day's companionship drew them nearer together in +sympathy, and he began to build fanciful hopes of the King's influence +upon the plans of Lord St. John, unless the contract of betrothal had +been actually made, and therewith came a certain zest in looking to his +probable dignity such as he had never felt before. + +The last day's journey had come. The escort who had acted as guides were +in familiar fields and lanes, and one, the leader, rode up to Lady Anne +and pointed to the grey outline among the trees of her home, while he +sent the other to hurry forward and announce her. + +Anne shivered a little, and Hal kept close to her. He had made the +journey on foot, because he had chosen to be reckoned among Musgrave's +archers till he had received full knightly training; and, besides, he +had more freedom to attach himself to Anne's bridle rein, and be at hand +to help through difficult passages. Now he came up close to her, and she +held out her hand. He pressed it warmly. + +'You will not forget?' + +'Never, never! That red rose in the snow--I have the leaf in my +breviary. And Goodwife Dolly, tell her I'll never forget how she +cosseted the wildered lamb.' + +'Poor Mother Dolly, when shall I see her?' + +'Oh! you will be able to have her to share your state, and Watch too! I +take none with me.' + +'If we are all in King Harry's cause, there will be hope of meeting, and +then if--' + +'Ah! I see a horseman coming! Is it my father?' + +It was a horseman who met them, taking off his cap of maintenance and +bowing low to the Prioress and the young lady, but it was the seneschal +of the castle, not the father whom Anne so dreaded, but an old +gentleman, Walter Wenlock, with whom there was a greeting as of an old +friend. My lord had gone with the Earl of Warwick to Queen Margaret in +France, and had sent a messenger with a letter to meet his daughter +at York, and tell her to go to the house of the Poor Clares in London +instead of coming home, 'and there await him.' + +The route that had been taken by the party accounted for their not +having met the messenger and it was plain that they must go on to +London. The evening was beginning to draw in, and a night's lodging was +necessary. Anne assumed a little dignity. + +'My good friends who have guarded me, I hope you will do me the honour +to rest for the night in my father's castle.' + +The seneschal bowed acquiescence, but the poor man was evidently sorely +perplexed by such an extensive invitation on the part of his young lady +on his peace establishment, though the Prioress did her best to assist +Anne to set him at ease. 'Here is Sir Giles Musgrave, the Lord of +Peelholm on the Borders, a staunch friend of King Harry, with a band of +stout archers, and this gentleman from the north is with him.' (It had +been agreed that the Clifford name should not be mentioned till the way +had been felt with Warwick, one of whose cousins had been granted the +lands of the Black Lord Clifford.) + +The seneschal bent before Musgrave courteously, saying he was happy +to welcome so good and brave a knight, and he prayed his followers to +excuse if their fare was scant and homely, being that he was unprovided +for the honour. + +'No matter, sir,' returned Musgrave; 'we are used to soldiers' fare.' + +'And,' proceeded Anne, 'Master Lorimer must lie here, and his wains.' + +'Master Lorimer,' said the Prioress, 'with whom belike--Lorimer of +Barnet--Sir Seneschal has had dealings,' and she put forward the +merchant, who had been falling back to his waggon. + +'Yea,' said Walter Wenlock frankly, holding out his hand. 'We have +bought your wares and made proof of them, good sir. I am glad to welcome +you, though I never saw you to the face before.' + +'Great thanks, good seneschal. All that I would ask would be licence for +my wains to stand in your court to-night while my fellows and I sup and +lodge at the hostel.' + +The hospitality of Bletso could not suffer this, and both Anne and the +seneschal were urgent that all should remain, Wenlock reflecting that if +the store for winter consumption were devoured, even to the hog waiting +to be killed, he could obtain fresh supplies from the tenants, so he +ushered all into the court, and summoned steward, cooks, and scullions +to do their best. It was not a castle, only a castellated house, which +would not have been capable of long resistance in time of danger, but +the court and stables gave ample accommodation for the animals and the +waggons, and the men were bestowed in the great open hall, reaching to +the top of the house, where all would presently sup. + +In the meantime the seneschal conducted the ladies and their two +attendants to a tiny chamber, where an enormous bed was being made ready +by the steward's wife and her son, and in which all four ladies would +sleep, the Prioress and Anne one way, the other two foot to foot with +them! They had done so before, so were not surprised, and the lack of +furniture was a matter of course. Their mails were brought up, a pitcher +of water and a bowl, and they made their preparations for supper. Anne +was in high spirits at the dreaded meeting, and still more dreaded +parting, having been deferred, and she skipped about the room, trying to +gather up her old recollections. 'Yes, I remember that bit of tapestry, +and the man that stands there among the sheep. Is it King David, think +you, Mother, about to throw his stone at the lion and the bear?' + +'Lion and bear, child! 'Tis the three goddesses and Paris choosing the +fairest to give the golden apple.' + +'Methought that was the lion's mane, but I see a face.' + +'What would the Lady Venus say to have her golden locks taken for a +lion's mane?' + +'I like black hair,' said Anne. + +'Better not fix thy mind on any hue! We poor women have no choice save +what fathers make for us.' + +'O good my mother, peace! They are all in France, and there's no need +to spoil this breathing time with thinking of what is coming! Good +old Wenlock! I used to ride on his shoulder! I'm right glad to see him +again! I must tell him in his ear to put Hal well above the salt! May +not I tell him in his ear who he is?' + +'Safer not, my maid, till we know what King Harry can do for him. Better +that his name should not get abroad till he can have his own.' + +A great bell brought all down, and Anne was pleased to see that her +seneschal made no question about placing Harry Clifford beside the +Prioress, who sat next to the Lord of Peelholm, who sat next to the +young daughter of the house in the seat of honour. + +The nuns, Master Lorimer, and one of the archers, who was a Border +squire, besides Master Wenlock, occupied the high table on the dais, and +the archers, grooms, and the rest of the household were below. + +The fare was not scanty nor unsubstantial, but evidently hastily +prepared, being chiefly broiled slices of beef, on which salting had +begun; but there was a lack of bread, even of barley, though there was +no want of drink. + +However, the Prioress was good-humoured, and forestalled all excuses by +jests about travellers' meals and surprises in the way of guests, and +both she and Sir Giles were anxious for Wenlock's news of the state of +things. + +He knew much more of the course of affairs than they in their northern +homes and on their journey. + +'The realm is divided,' he said. 'Those who hold to King Harry, as you +gentles do, are in high joy, but there be many, spoken with respect, who +cannot face about so fast, and hold still for York, though they mislike +the Queen's kindred. Of such are the merchantmen of London.' + +'Is it so?' asked Lorimer. 'If King Edward be as deep in debt to them +as to me for housings and bridle reins methinks he should not be in good +odour in their nostrils.' + +'Yea,' said Wenlock, 'but if he be gone a beggar to Burgundy what +becomes of their debt?' + +'I would not give much for it were he restored a score of times,' said +the Prioress. 'What would he do but plunge deeper?' + +'There would be hope, though, of getting an order on the royal demesne, +or the crown jewels, or the taxes,' said Lorimer. 'Nay, I hold one even +now that will be but waste if he come not back.' + +'And this poor King spendeth nothing save on priests and masses,' said +Wenlock. + +Hal started forward, eager to hear of his King, and Musgrave said, 'A +holy man is he.' + +'Too holy for a King,' said the seneschal. 'He looked like a woolsack +across a horse when my Lord of Warwick led him down Cheapside; and only +the rabble cried out "Long live King Harry!" but some scoffed and said +they saw a mere gross monk with a baby face where they had been wont to +see a comely prince full of manhood, with a sword instead of beads.' + +'His son will please them,' said Musgrave. 'He was a goodly child, full +of spirit, when last I saw him.' + +'If so be he have not too much of the Frenchwoman, his mother, in him,' +said Wenlock. 'A losing lot, as poor as any rats, and as proud as very +peacocks.' + +'She was gracious enough and won all hearts on the Border,' replied +Musgrave. + +'Come, come!' put in the Prioress, 'you may have the chance yet to break +a lance on her behalf. No fear but she is royal enough to shine down +King Edward's low-born love, the Widow Grey!' + +'Ay, there lay the cause of discontent,' said Lorimer; 'the upstart ways +of her kin were not to be borne. To hear Dick Woodville chaffer +about the blazoning of his horse-gear when he was wedding the +fourscore-year-old Duchess of Norfolk, one would have thought he was an +emperor at the very least.' + +'Widow Grey has done something for her husband's cause,' said the +seneschal, 'in bringing him at last a fair son, all in his exile, and +she in sanctuary at Westminster. The London citizens are ever touched +through all the fat about their hearts by whatever would sound well in +the mouth of a ballad-monger.' + +'My King, my King, what of him?' sighed Hal in the Prioress's ear, +and she made the inquiry for him: 'What said you of King Henry, Sir +Seneschal? How did he fare in his captivity?' + +'Not so ill, methinks,' said the seneschal. 'He had the range of the +Tower, and St. Peter's in the Fetters to pray in, which was what he +heeded most; also he had a messan dog, and a tame bird. Indeed, men said +he had laid on much flesh since he had been mewed up there; and my lord, +who went with my Lord of Warwick to fetch him, said his garments were +scarce so cleanly as befitted. 'Twas hard to make him understand. First +he clasped his hands, and bowed his head, crying out that he forgave +those who came to slay him, and when he found it was all the other way, +he stood like one dazed, let his hand be kissed, and they say is still +in the hands of my Lord Archbishop of York just as if he were the waxen +image of St. John in a procession.' + +'The Earl and the Queen will have to do the work,' said the Prioress, +'and they will no more hold together than a couple of wild hawks will +hunt in company. How long do you give them to tear out one another's +eyes?' + +'Son and daughter may keep them together,' said Musgrave, + +'Hatred of the Woodvilles is more like, a poor band though it be,' +said the Prioress. 'These are stirring times! I'll not go back to +my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of them! +Meantime, to our beds, sweet Anne, since 'tis an early start tomorrow.' + +The Prioress, who had become warmly interested in Hal, and had divined +the feeling between him and Anne, thought that if she could obtain +access to the Archbishop of York, Warwick's brother George, she could +deal with him to procure Clifford's restitution in name and in blood, +and at least his De Vesci inheritance, if Dick Nevil, who had grasped +the Clifford lands, could not be induced to give them up. + +'I have seen George Nevil,' she said, 'when I was instituted to +Greystone. He is of kindlier mood than his brothers, and more a valiant +trencherman and hunter than aught else. If I had him on the moors and +could show him some sport with a red deer, I could turn him round my +finger.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. -- THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + + + + Thy pity hath been balm to heal their wounds, + Thy mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs, + Thy mercy dried their ever flowing tears. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +Early in the morning, while the wintry sun was struggling with mists, +and grass and leaves were dark with frost, the Prioress was in her +saddle. Perhaps the weather might have constrained a longer stay, but +that it was clear to her keen eyes that, however welcome Wenlock might +make his young lady, there was little provision and no welcome for +thorough-going Lancastrians like Sir Giles's troop, who had besides a +doubtful Robin Hood-like reputation; and as neither she nor Anne wished +to ride forward without them, they decided to go on all together as +before. + +And a very wet and slightly snowy journey they had, 'meeting in snow +and parting in snow,' as Hal said, as he marched by Anne's bridle-rein, +leading her pony, so as to leave her hands free to hold cloak and hood +close about her. + +She sighed, and put one hand on his, but a gust of wind took that +opportunity of getting under her cloak and sending it fluttering over +her back, so that he had to catch it and return it to her grasp. + +'Let us take that as a prophecy that storms shall not hinder our further +meeting! It may be! It may be! Who knows what my King may do for us?' + +'Only a storm can bring us together! But that may--' + +Her breath was blown away again before the sentence was finished, if +it was meant to be finished, and Master Lorimer came to insist on the +ladies taking shelter in his covered waggon, where the Prioress was +already installed. + +Through rain and sleet they reached Chipping Barnet in due time on the +third day's journey, and here they were to part from the merchant's +wains. He had sent forward, and ample cheer was provided at the handsome +timbered and gabled house at the porch of which stood his portly wife, +with son, daughter, and son-in-law, ready to welcome the party, bringing +them in to be warmed and dried before sitting down to the excellent +meal which it had been Mistress Lorimer's pride and pleasure to provide. +There was a small nunnery at Barnet, but not very near, and the Prioress +Agnes did not think herself bound to make her way thither in the dark +and snow, so she remained, most devoutly waited on by her hostess, and +discussed the very last tidings, which had been brought that morning +by the foreman whom Mistress Lorimer had sent to bring the news to her +husband. + +It was probable that the Lord of Bletso was with Warwick and the Queen, +as he had not been heard of at his home. The King was in the royal +apartments of the Tower, under the charge of the Chancellor. The Earl of +Oxford, a steady partisan of the Red Rose, was Constable of the Kingdom, +and was guarding the Tower. + +On hearing this, Musgrave decided to repair at once to the Earl, one of +the few men in whom there was confidence, since he had never changed +his allegiance, and to take his counsel as to the recognition of young +Clifford. On the way to the Tower they would leave the Prioress and her +suite at the Sister Minoresses', till news could be heard of the Baron +St. John. + +So for the last time the travellers rode forth in slightly improved +weather. Harry's heart beat high with the longing soon to be in the +presence of him who had opened so many doors of life to his young mind, +whom he so heartily loved, and who, it might be, could give him that +which he began to feel would be the joy of his life. + +The archers, who had been lodged in the warehouses, were drawn up in a +compact body, and Master Lorimer, who had a shop in Cheapside, decided +on accompanying them, partly to be at the scene of action and partly to +facilitate their entrance. + +So Hal walked by the side of Anne St. John's bridle-rein, with a very +full heart, swelling with sensations he did not understand, and which +kept him absolutely silent, untrained as he was in the conventionalities +which would have made speech easier to him. Nor had Anne much more +command of tongue, and all she did was to keep her hand upon the +shoulder of her squire; but there was much involuntary meaning in the +yearning grasp of those fingers, and both fed on the hopes the Prioress +had given them. + +Christmas was close at hand, and fatted cattle on their way to market +impeded the way, so that Hal's time was a good deal taken up in steering +the pony along, and in preventing Watch from getting into a battle with +the savage dogs that guarded them. Penrith market, where once he had +been, had never shown him anything like such a concourse, and he could +hear muttered exclamations from the archers, who walked by Sir Giles's +orders in a double line on each side the horses, their pikes keeping off +the blundering approach of bullocks or sheep. 'By the halidome, if +the Scots were among them, they might victual their whole kingdom till +Domesday!' + +The tall spire of old St. Paul's and the four turrets of the Tower began +to rise on them, and were pointed out by Master Lorimer, for even Sir +Giles had only once in his life visited the City, and no one else of the +whole band from the north had ever been there. The road was bordered by +the high walls of monasteries, overshadowed by trees, and at the deep +gateway of one of these Lorimer called a halt. It was the house of the +Minoresses or Poor Clares, where the ladies were to remain. The six +weeks' companionship would come to an end, and the Prioress was heartily +sorry for it. 'I shall scarce meet such good company at the Clares',' +she said, laughing, as she took leave of Lord Musgrave, 'Mayhap when +I go back to my hills I shall remember your goodwife's offer of +hospitality, Master Lorimer.' + +Master Lorimer bowed low, expressed his delight in the prospect, and +kissed the Prioress's hand, but the heavy door was already being opened, +and with an expressive look of drollery and resignation, the good lady +withdrew her hand, hastily brought her Benedictine hood and veil closely +over her face, and rode into the court, followed by her suite. Anne had +time to let her hand be kissed by Sir Giles and Hal, who felt as if a +world had closed on him as the heavy doors clanged together behind the +Sisters. But the previous affection of his young life lay before him as +Sir Giles rode on to the fortified Aldgate, and after a challenge from +the guard, answered by a watchword from Lorimer, and an inquiry for whom +the knight held, they were admitted, and went on through an increasing +crowd trailing boughs of holly and mistletoe, to the north gateway of +the Tower. Here they parted with Lorimer, with friendly greetings and +promises to come and see his stall at Cheapside. + +There was a man-at-arms with the star of the De Veres emblazoned on his +breast, and a red rosette on his steel cap, but he would not admit the +new-comers till Sir Giles had given his name, and it had been sent in by +another of the garrison to the Earl of Oxford. + +Presently, after some waiting in the rain, and looking up with awe at +the massive defences, two knights appeared with outstretched hands of +welcome. Down went the drawbridge, up went the portcullis, the horses +clattered over the moat, and the reception was hearty indeed. 'Well met, +my Lord of Musgrave! I knew you would soon be where Red Roses grew.' + +'Welcome, Sir Giles! Methought you had escaped after the fight at +Hexham.' + +'Glad indeed to meet you, brave Sir John, and you, good Lord of +Holmdale! Is all well with the King?' + +'As well as ever it will be. The Constable is nigh at hand! You have +brought us a stout band of archers, I see! We will find a use for them +if March chooses to show his presumptuous nose here again!' + +'And hither comes my Lord Constable! It rejoices his heart to hear of +such staunch following.' + +The Earl of Oxford, a stern, grave man of early middle age, was coming +across the court-yard, and received Sir Giles with the heartiness that +became the welcome of a proved and trustworthy ally. After a few words, +Musgrave turned and beckoned to Hal, who advanced, shy and colouring. + +'Ha! young Lord Clifford! I am glad to see you! I knew your father well, +rest his soul! The King spoke to me of the son of a loyal house living +among the moors.' + +'The King was very good to me,' faltered Hal, crimson with eagerness. + +'Ay, ay! I sent not after you, having enough to do here; and besides, +till we have the strong hand, and can do without that heady kinsman +of Warwick, it will be ill for you to disturb the rogue--what's his +name--to whom your lands have been granted, and who might turn against +the cause and maybe make a speedy end of you if he knew you present. +Be known for the present as Sir Giles counsels. Better not put his name +forward,' he added to Musgrave. + +'I care not for lands,' said Hal, 'only to see the King.' + +'See him you shall, my young lord, and if he be not in one of his +trances, he will be right glad to see you and remember you. But he is +scarce half a man,' added Oxford, turning to Musgrave. 'Cares for nought +but his prayers! Keeps his Hours like a monk! We can hardly bring him to +sit in the Council, and when he is there he sits scarce knowing what we +say. 'Tis my belief, when the Queen and Prince come, that we shall have +to make the Prince rule in his name, and let him alone to his prayers! +He will be in the church. 'Tis nones, or some hour as they call it, and +he makes one stretch out to another.' + +They entered the low archway of St. Peter ad Vincula, and there Hal +perceived a figure in a dark mantle just touched with gold, kneeling +near the chancel step, almost crouching. Did he not know the attitude, +though the back was broader than of old? He paused, as did his +companions; but there was one who did not pause, and would not be left +outside. Watch unseen had pattered up, and was rearing up, jumping and +fawning. There was a call of 'Watch! here sirrah!' but 'Watch! Watch! +Good dog! Is it thou indeed?' was exclaimed at the same moment, and with +Watch springing up, King Henry stood on his feet looking round with his +dazed glance. + +'My King! my hermit father! Forgive! Down, Watch!' cried Hal, falling +down at his feet, with one arm holding down Watch, who tried to lick his +face and the King's hand by turns. + +'Is it thou, my child, my shepherd?' said Henry, his hands on the lad's +head. 'Bless thee! Oh, bless thee, much loved child of my wanderings! I +have longed after thee, and prayed for thee, and now God hath given thee +to me at this shrine! Kneel and give the Lord thy best thanks, my +lad! Ah! how tall thou art! I should not have known thee, Hal, but for +Watch.' + +'It is well,' muttered Oxford to Musgrave. 'I have not seen him so well +nor so cheery all this day. The lad will waken him up and do him good.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. -- A CAPTIVE KING + + + + And we see far on holy ground, + If duly purged our mental view.--KEBLE. + + +The King held Harry Clifford by the hand as he left St. Peter's Church. +'My child, my shepherd boy,' he said, and he called Watch after him, and +interested himself in establishing a kind of suspicious peace between +the shaggy collie and his own 'Minion,' a small white curly-haired dog, +which belonged to a family that had been brought by Queen Margaret from +Provence. + +His attendant knight, Sir Nicolas Romford, told Sir Giles Musgrave +that he had really never seemed so happy since his deliverance, and Sir +Nicolas had waited on him ever since his capture, six years previously. +He led the youth along to the royal rooms, asking on the way after his +sheep and the goodwife who had sent him presents of eggs, then showing +him the bullfinch, that greeted his return with loving chirps, and when +released from its cage came and sat upon his shoulder and played with +his hair, 'A better pet than a fierce hawk, eh, Hal?' he said. + +He laughed when he found that Harry thought he had spent all this time +in a dark underground dungeon with fetters on his feet. + +'Oh no!' he said; 'they were kindly jailors. They dealt better with me +than with my Master.' + +'Sir, sir, that terrible ride through Cheapside!' said Harry. 'We heard +of it at Derwent-side, and we longed to have our pikes at the throats of +the villain traitors.' + +The King looked as if he hardly remembered that cruel procession, when +he was set upon a sorry jade with his feet tied to the stirrups, and +shouts of 'Behold the traitor!' around him. Then with a sweet smile of +sudden recollection, he said, 'Ah! I recall it, and how I rejoiced to +be led in the steps of my Lord, and how the cries sounded, "We will not +have this man to reign over us!" Gratias ago, unworthy me, who by my own +fault could not reign.' + +Harry was silenced, awe-struck, and by-and-by the King took him to see +his old chamber in the White Tower, up a winding stone stair. It was +not much inferior to the royal lodgings, except in the matter of dais, +canopy, and tapestry, and the window looked out into the country, so +that the King said he had loved it, and it had many a happy thought +connected with it. + +Hal followed him in a sort of silent wonder, if not awe, not daring +to answer him in monosyllables. This was not quite the hermit of +Derwentdale. It was a broader man--not with the breadth of full +strength, but of inactivity and advance of years, though the fiftieth +year was only lately completed--and the royal robe of crimson, touched +with gold, suited him far less than the brown serge of the anchoret. +The face was no longer thin, sunburnt, and worn, but pale, and his +checks slightly puffed, and the eyes and smile, with more of the strange +look of innocent happiness than of old, and of that which seemed to +bring back to his young visitor the sense of peace and well-being that +the saintly hermit had always given him. + +There was consultation that evening between Lord Oxford and Sir Giles +Musgrave. It was better, they agreed, to let young Clifford remain with +the King as much as possible, but without divulging his name. The +King knew it, and indeed had known it, when he received the boy at his +hermitage, but he seemed to have forgotten it, as he had much besides. +Oxford said that though he could be roused into actual fulfilment of +such forms as were required of him, and understood what was set before +him, his memory and other powers seemed to have been much impaired, and +it was held wiser not to call on him more than could be helped, till +the Queen and her son should come to supply the energy that was wanting. +They would make the gay and brilliant appearance that the Londoners had +admired in Edward of York, and which could not be obtained from poor +Henry. + +His memory for actual matters was much impaired. Never for two days +together could he recollect that his son and Warwick's daughter were +married, and it was always by an effort that he remembered that the +Prince of Wales was not the eight-years-old child whom he had last +seen. As to young Clifford, he sometimes seemed to think the tall +nineteen-years-old stripling was just where he had left the child of +twelve or thirteen, and if he perceived the age, was so far confused +that it was not quite certain that he might not mix him up with his own +son, though the knight in constant attendance was sure that he was clear +on that point, and only looked on 'Hal' as the child of his teaching and +prayers. + +But Harry Clifford could not persuade him to enter into that which more +and more lay near the youthful heart, the rescuing Anne St. John from +the suitor of whom little that was hopeful was heard; and the obtaining +her from his father. Of course this could not be unless Harry could win +his father's property, and no longer be under the attaint in blood, so +as to be able to lay claim to the lands of the De Vescis through his +mother; but though the King listened with kindly interest to the +story of the children's adventure on the Londesborough moor, and the +subsequent meeting in Westmorland, the rescue from the outlaws, and the +journey together, it was all like a romance to him--he would nod +his head and promise to do what he could, if he could, but he never +remembered it for two days together, and if Hal ventured on anything +like pressure, the only answer was, 'Patience, my son, patience must +have her work! It is the will of God, it will be right.' + +And when Hal began to despair and work himself up and seek to do more +with one so impracticable, Lord Oxford and Sir Giles warned him not to +force his real name and claims too much, for he did not need too many +enemies nor to have Lord St. John and the Nevil who held his lands both +anxious to sweep him from their path. + +Nor was anything heard from or of the Prioress of Greystone, and +whenever the name of George Nevil, the Chancellor and Archbishop of +York, was heard, Hal's heart burnt with anxiety, and fear that the lady +had forgotten him, though as Dick Nevil, who held the lands of Clifford, +was known to be in his suite, it was probable that she was acting out of +prudence. + +The turmoil of anxious impatience seemed to be quelled when Hal sat on +a stool before the King, with Watch leaning against his knee. The +instruction or meditation seemed to be taken up much where it had been +left six years before, with the same unanswerable questions, only the +youth had thought out a great deal more, and the hermit had advanced in +a wisdom which was not that of the rough, practical world. + +Part of Clifford's day was spent in the tilt-yard, where his two +friends, as well as himself, were anxious that he should acquire +proficiency and ease such as would become his station, when he recovered +it; and a martinet old squire of Oxford proved himself nearly as hard a +master as ever Simon Bunce had been. + +One very joyous day came to Henry in his regal capacity. Christmas Day +had been quietly spent. There was much noisy revelling in the city, +and the guards in the castle had their feastings, but Warwick was +daily expected to return from France, and neither his brother nor +the Archbishop thought that there was much policy in making a public +spectacle of a puppet King. + +But there was one ceremony from which Henry would not be debarred. He +would make the public offering on the Epiphany in Westminster Abbey. He +had done so ever since he was old enough to totter up to the altar and +hold the offerings; and his heart was set on doing so once more. So a +large and quiet cream-coloured Flemish horse was brought for him, he was +robed in purple and ermine, with a coronal around the cap that covered +his hair, fast becoming white. His train in full array followed him, and +the streets were thronged, but there was an ominous lack of applause, +and even a few audible jeers at the monk dressed up like the jackdaw +in peacock's plumes, and comparisons with Edward, in sooth a king worth +looking at. + +Henry seemed not to heed or hear. His blue eyes looked upward, his face +was set in peaceful contemplation, his lips were moving, and those who +were near enough caught murmurs of 'Vidimus enim stellam Ejus in Oriente +et venimus adorare Eum.' Truly the one might be a king to suit the +kingdoms of this world, the other had a soul near the Kingdom of Heaven. + +The Dean and choir received him at the west door, and with the same rapt +countenance he paced up to the sanctuary, and knelt before the chair +appropriated to him, while the grand Epiphany Celebration was gone +through, in all its glory and beauty of sound and sight, and with the +King kneeling with clasped hands, and a radiant look of happiness almost +transfiguring that worn face. + +When the offertory anthem was sung, he rose up, and advanced to the +altar. A salver of gold coins was presented to him, which he took and +solemnly laid on the altar, but paused for a moment, and removed his +crown with both hands, placing it likewise on the altar, and kneeling +for a moment ere he turned to take the vase whence breathed the fragrant +odour of frankincense; and presenting this, and afterwards kneeling and +bowing low with clasped hands, he again took the salver in which the +myrrh was laid. This again he placed on the altar, and remained kneeling +in intense devotion through the remainder of the service, only looking +up at the 'Sursum Corda,' when those near enough to see his countenance +said that they never knew before the full import of those words, nor how +the heart could be uplifted. + +It was the first time that Hal Clifford had ever joined in the full +ceremonial of the Church, or in such splendid accompaniment, for though +there had been the rightful ritual at St. Peter's in the Tower, the +space had been confined, and the clergy few, and the whole, even on +Christmas Day, had been more or less a training to him to enter into +what he now saw and heard. He had in these last weeks gathered much +of the meaning of all this from the King, who perhaps never fully +disentangled the full-grown youth from the boy he had taught at +Derwentdale, but who, perhaps for that very cause, really suited better +the strange mixture of ignorance, simplicity, observation and aspiration +of the shepherd lord. + +The King did not help more but less than he had done before in Hal's +researches and wonderings about natural objects; he had forgotten +the philosophies he had once read, and the supposed circuits of moon, +planets and stars only perplexed and worried his brain. It was much more +satisfactory to refer all to 'He hath made them fast for ever and ever, +He hath given them a law which shall not be broken,' and he could not +understand Hal's desire to find out what that law was, and far less his +calculations about the tides. He had scarcely ever seen the sea, and as +to its motions, 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther' was sufficient +explanation, and when Hal tried to show him the correspondence between +spring tides and full moons he either waved him away or fell asleep. + +But on the spiritual side of his mind there was no torpor. He loved to +explain the sense of the prayers to his willing pupil, and to tell +him the Gospel story, dwelling on whatever could waken or carry on the +Christian life; and between the tiltyard and the oratory Hal spent a +strange life. + +That question which had occurred to him on the journey Hal ventured to +lay before his King--'Was it really and truly better and more acceptable +worship that came to breathe through him when alone with God under the +open vault of Heaven, with endless stars above and beyond, or was the +best that which was beautified and guided by priests, with all that +man's devices could lavish upon its embellishment?' Such, though in more +broken and hesitating words, was the herd boy's difficulty, and Henry +put his head back, and after having once said, 'Adam had the one, God +directed the other,' he shut his eyes, and Hal feared he would put it +aside as he had with the moon and the tides, but after some delay, he +leant forward and said, 'My son, if man had always been innocent, that +worship as Adam and Eve had it might--nay, would--have sufficed them. +The more innocent man is, the better his heart rises. But sin came into +the world, and expiation was needed, not only here on earth, but before +the just God in Heaven above. Therefore doth He, who hath once offered +Himself in sacrifice for us, eternally present His offering in Heaven +before the Mercy-Seat, and we endeavour as much as our poor feeble +efforts can, to take part in what He does above, and bring it home to +our senses by all that can represent to us the glories of Heaven.' + +There was much in this that went beyond Hal, who knitted his brow, +and would have asked further, but the King fell into a state of +contemplation, and noticed nothing, until presently he broke out into +a thanksgiving: 'Blessed be my Lord, who hath granted me once more to +follow in the steps of the kings of the East, though but as in a dream, +and lay my crown and my prayer before Him. Once more I thank Thee, O my +true King of kings, and Lord of lords.' + +'Oh, do not say once more!' exclaimed Hal. 'Again and again, I trust, +sir. It is no dream. It is real.' + +The King smiled and shook his head. 'It is all a dream to me,' he said, +'the pageants and the whole. They will not last! Oh, no! It is all but +an empty show.' + +Hal looked up anxiously, and the King went on: 'Well do I remember the +day when, scarce able to walk, and weighed down by my robes, I tottered +up to the altar and was well pleased to make my offering, and how my +Lord of Warwick, who was then, took me in his arms, and showed me my +great father's figure on his grave, and told me I was bound to be such a +king as he! Alas! was it mine own error that I so failed?&& + + + Henry born at Monmouth shall short live and gain all, + Henry born at Windsor shall long live and lose all.' + + +'Oh, sir, sir, do not speak of that old saw!' + +Still the King smiled. 'It has come true, my child. All is lost, and +it may be well for my soul that thus it should be, and that I should +go into the presence of my God freed from the load of what was gained +unjustly. I know not whether, if my hand had been stronger, I should +have striven to have borne up the burthen of these two realms, but they +never ought to have been mine, and if the sins of the forefathers be +visited on the children to the third and fourth generation, no marvel +that my brain and mine arm could but sink under the weight. Would that +I had yielded at once, and spared the bloodshed and sacrilege! Miserere +mei! My son was a temptation. Oh, my poor boy! is he to be the heir to +all that has come on me? Have pity on him, good Lord!' + +'Nay, sir, your brave son will come home to comfort you, and help you +and make all well.' + +'I know not! I know not! I cannot believe that I shall see him again, +or that the visitation of these crimes is not still to come! My son, my +sweet son, I can only pray that he might give up his soul sackless and +freer of guilt than his father can be, when I remember all that I ought +to have hindered when I could think and use my will! Now, now all is but +confusion! God has taken away my judgment, even as He did with my French +grandsire, and I can only let others act as they will, and pray for them +and for myself.' + +He had never spoken at such length, nor so clearly, and whenever he was +required to come forward, he merely walked, rode, sat or signed rolls +as he was told to do, and continually made mistakes as to the persons +brought to him, generally calling them by their fathers' names, if +he recognised them at all, but still to his nearest attendants, and +especially to his beloved herd boy, he was the same gentle, affectionate +being, never so happy as at his prayers, and sometimes speaking of holy +things as one almost inspired. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. -- AT THE MINORESSES' + + + + The bird that hath been limed in a bush, + With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush. + --SHAKESPEARE. + + +One day, soon after that Twelfth Day, Hal accompanied Sir Giles Musgrave +to the shop or stall of Master Lorimer in Cheapside, a wide space, open +by day but closed by shutters at night, where all sorts of gilded and +emblazoned leather-works for man or horse were displayed, and young +'prentices called, 'What d'ye lack?' 'Saddle of the newest make?' 'Buff +coat fit to keep out the spear of Black Douglas himself?' + +''Tis Master Lorimer himself I lack,' said Musgrave with a good-humoured +smile, and the merchant appeared from a room in the rear, something +between a counting-house and a bedroom, where he welcomed his former +companions, and insisted on their tasting the good sherris sack that had +been sent with his last cargo of Spanish leather. + +'I would I could send a flask to our good Prioress,' he said, 'to cheer +her heart. I went to the Minoresses' as she bade me, to settle some +matters of account with her, and after some ado, Sister Mabel came down +to the parlour and told me the Prioress is very sick with a tertian +fever, and they misdoubt her recovering.' + +'And the young Lady of St. John.' + +'She is well enough, but sadly woeful as to the Mother Prioress, and +likewise as to what they hear of the Lord Redgrave. It is the old man, +not his son, a hard and stark old man, as I remember. He would have +bargained with me for the coats of the poor rogues slain at St. Albans, +and right evil was his face as he spoke thereof, he being then for Queen +Margaret; but then he went over to King Edward, and glutted himself with +slaughter at Towton, and here he calls himself Red Rose again. Ill-luck +to the poor young maid if she falls to him!' + +It was terrible news for Hal, and Musgrave could not but gratify him +by riding by the Minories to endeavour to hear further tidings of the +Prioress. + +It was a grand building in fine pointed architecture, for the Clares, +though once poor, in imitation of St. Clara and St. Francis, had been +dispensed collectively from their vow of poverty, and though singly +incapable of holding property, had a considerable accumulation en masse. +They were themselves a strict Order, but they often gave lodgings to +ladies either in retreat or for any cause detained near London. + +Sir Giles and Harry were only admitted to the outer court, whence the +portress went with their message of inquiry. They waited a long time, +and then the Greystone lay Sister who had been the companion of their +journey came back in company with the portress. + +'Benedicite, dear gentles,' she said; 'oh, you are a sight for sair +een.' + +'And how fares the good Mother Prioress?' asked the Lord of Peelholm. + +'Alack! she is woefully ill when the fever takes her, and she is wasted +away so that you would scarce know her; but this is one of the better +days, and if you, sir, will come into the parlour, she will see you. She +was arraying herself as I came down. She was neither to have nor to hold +when she heard you were there, and said a north country face would be +better to her than all the Sisters' potions!' + +They were accordingly conducted through a graceful cloister, overgrown +with trailing ivy, to a bare room, with mullioned windows, and frescoes +on the Walls with the history of St. Francis relieving beggars, +preaching to the birds, &c., and with a stout open work barrier cutting +off half the room. + +Presently the Prioress tottered in, leaning heavily on the arms of +Sister Mabel and of Anne St. John, while her own lay Sister and another +placed a seat for her; but before she would sit down, she would go up +to the opening, and turning back her veil, put out a hand to be grasped. +'Right glad am I to see you, good Sir Giles and young Harry. Are you +going back to the wholesome winds of our moors?' + +'Not yet, holy Mother. It grieves me to see you faring so ill.' + +'Ah! a breeze from the north would bring life back to my old bones. Aye, +Giles, this place has made an old woman of me.' And truly her bright +ruddy face was faded to a purple hue, and her cheeks hung haggard and +almost withered, but as her visitors expressed their grief and sympathy, +she went on in her own tone. 'And tell me somewhat of how things are +going. How doth Richard of Warwick comport himself to the King? Hath +your King zest enough to reign? Is my White Rose King still abroad in +Burgundy?' And as Sir Giles replied to each inquiry in turn, and told +all he could of political matters, she exclaimed: 'Ah! that is better +than the hearing whether the black hen hath laid an egg, or the skein of +yellow silk matches. I am weary, O! I am weary. Moreover, young Hal, I +know as matters are that could I see George Nevil face to face I could +do somewhat with him, and I laid my plans to obtain a meeting, but +therewith, what with vexation and weariness and lack of air, comes this +sickness, and I am laid aside and can do nought but pray, and lay my +plans to meet him some day in the fields, and show him what a hawk can +do, then shame him into listening to my tale. But I must be a sound +woman first! And maybe his brother Warwick, being a sturdy gentleman who +loves a brave man, will be better to deal with. I am a sinful woman, +and maybe my devotions here will help me to be more worthy to be heard. +Moreover, I hoped you had done somewhat in thine own cause with thy King +and Earl Oxford,' she proceeded. 'Thou hast an esquire's coat; hast thou +any hope of thy lands?' + +'I must strive to earn them by deeds,' said Hal. 'And--' + +'Well spoken, lad! 'Tis the manly way; but methought you hadst interest +with this King of thine, or hath he only a royal memory for services?' + +'He is good to me. Yea, most good,' began Harry. + +'Ay, he loves the boy,' said Sir Giles, 'no question about that; but his +memory for all that is about him hath failed, and there is nothing for +it save to wait for the Queen and the Prince, who will bear the boy's +father's services in mind.' + +'And wherefore tarries the French woman? This maid's father is to come +over with her. He is forming her English court, I trow; she can have few +beside from England.' + +'When he comes,' said Harry, with a look into Anne's eyes that made +them droop and her cheeks burn, 'then shall we put it to the touch. Then +shall I know whether I have mine own, and what is more than mine own.' + +'Thine own,' whispered Anne. 'Oh, better live in the sheepfolds with +thee than with this Baron! I shudder at the thought.' + +This, and a few more such words were an aside, while the Prioress +continued her conversation with Sir Giles, and went on to say that she +was sure she should never recover till she was out of these walls, and +away from London smoke and London smells, and she naughtily added in a +whisper the weary talk of these good nuns, who had never flown a hawk or +chased a deer in their lives, and thought Florimond a mere wolf, if +not the evil one himself, and kept the poor hound chained up like a +malefactor in gyves, till she was fain to send him away with Master +Lorimer to keep for her. + +She would not go back to her Priory till Anne's fate was settled, being +in hopes of doing something yet for the poor wench; but meantime she +should die if she stayed there much longer, and she meant to set forth +on pilgrimage in good time, before she had scandalised the good ladies +enough to make them gossip to the dames of St. Helen's, who would be +only too glad to have a story against the Benedictines. A ride over the +Kentish downs was the only cure for her or for Anne, who had been pining +ever since they had been mewed up here, though, looking across at the +girl, whose head was leaning against the bars, Sir Giles seemed to have +brought a remedy to judge by those cheeks. + +'Would that we could hope it would be an effectual and lasting remedy,' +sighed Sir Giles; 'but unless this poor King could be roused to insist, +or the Earl of Warwick fell out with his cousin, I do not see much +chance for the lad.' + +'Is it Warwick who is his chief foe or King Edward?' asked the Prioress. + +'King Edward, doubtless, for his father's slaughter of young Rutland at +Wakefield.' + +'That bodes ill,' said the lady. 'By all I gather, King Edward is a +tiger when once roused, but at other times is like that same tiger, +purring and slow to move. But there's a bell that warns us to vespers. +They are mightily more strict here than ever we are at Greystone. Ah! +you won't tell tales, Sir Giles! You'll soon hear of me at St. Thomas's +shrine at Canterbury.' + +The knight took his leave. It was impossible not to like and pity the +Prioress, though the life among devout nuns was clearly beyond her +powers. + +The dreamy peaceful days of the Tower of London were stirred by the +arrival of the great Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as people already +called him. He took up his residence in his own mighty establishment at +Warwick House near St. Paul's; and the day after his arrival, he came +clanking over London Bridge with a great following of knights and +squires to pay his respects to King Henry. + +Henry Clifford was not disposed to meet him, and only watched from +a window when the drawbridge was lowered, and the sturdy man, with +grizzled hair and marked, determined features, rode into the gateway, +where he was received by the Earl of Oxford. + +The interview was long, and when it was finished, the two Earls made +the round of the defences, and Oxford drew up his garrison on the Tower +Green to be inspected. + +When Warwick had taken his leave, Hal was summoned to the Constable's +hall. 'We must be jogging, my young master,' he said. 'There are rumours +of King Edward making another attempt for his crown, and my Lord of +Warwick would have me go and watch the eastern seaboard. And you had +best go with me.' + +'The King--' began Hal. + +'You will come back to the King by-and-by if so be he misses you, but +he was more dazed than ever to-day, and perhaps it was well, for Warwick +brought with him Dick Nevil, who has got your lands of Clifford, and +might be tempted to put you out of the way in one of the dungeons that +lie so handy.' + +'No one save the King knows who I am,' said Hal, 'and he forgets from +day to day all save that I am the herd boy, and I think it cheers him to +have me with him. I will stay beside him even as a varlet.' + +'Nay, my lord, that may not be. 'Tis true he loves thee, but he will +forget anon, and I may not suffer the risk. Too many know or guess.' + +Harry Clifford repeated that he recked not of the risk when he could +serve and comfort his beloved King, and, indeed, his mind was made up +on the subject. He had taken measures for remaining as one of the +men-at-arms of the garrison; but King Henry himself surprised him by +saying, 'My young Lord of Clifford, fare thee well. Thou goest forth +to-morrow with the Constable of Oxford. Take my blessing with thee, my +child. Thou hast been granted to me to make life very sweet to me of +late, and I thank God for it, but the time is come that thou must part +from me.' + +'Oh, sir, never! None was ever so dear to me! For weal or woe I will +be with you! Suffer me to be your meanest varlet, and serve you as none +other can do.' + +Henry shook his head. 'It may not be, my child, let not thy blood also +be on my head! Go with Oxford and his men. Thou hast learnt to draw +sword and use lance. Thou wilt be serving me still if again there be, +which Heaven forefend, stricken fields in my cause or my son's.' + +'Sir, if I must fight, let no less holy hand than thine lay knighthood +on my shoulder,' sobbed Hal, kneeling. + +Henry smiled. 'I have well-nigh forgotten the fashion. But if it will +please thee, my son, give me thy sword, Oxford. In the name of God and +St. George of England I dub thee knight. For the Church, for the honour +of God, for a good cause, fight. Arise, Sir Henry Clifford!' + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. -- A STRANGE EASTER EVE + + + + And spare, O spare + The meek usurper's holy head. + --GRAY. + + +Once more, at the close of morning service, while it was still dark, did +Harry Clifford, the new-made knight, kneel before King Henry and feel +his hand in blessing on his head. Then he went forth to join Musgrave +and the troop that the Earl of Oxford was leading from the Tower to +raise the counties of East Anglia and watch the coast against a descent +of King Edward from the Low Countries. + +As they passed the walls enclosing the Minories Convent, and Hal gazed +at it wistfully, the wide gateway was opened and out came a party of +black-hooded nuns, mounted on ponies and mules, evidently waiting till +Oxford's band had gone by. Harry drew Sir Giles's attention, and they +lingered, as they became certain that they beheld the Prioress Selby of +Greystone, hawk, hound and all, riding forth, nearly smothered in her +hood, and not so upright as of old. + +'Ay, here I am!' she said, as he reined up and bowed his greeting. 'Here +I am on my pilgrimage! I got Father Ridley, the Benedictine head, to +order me forth. Methinks he was glad, being a north countryman, to send +me out before I either died on the Poor Clares' hands, or gave them a +fuller store of tales against us of St. Bennet's! Not but that they are +good women, too godly and devout for a poor wild north country Selby +like me, who cannot live without air. + + + O the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, + They flourish best at home in the north countree. + + +Flori, Flori, whither away? Ah! thou hast found thine old friend. Birds +of a feather. Eh? the young folk have foregathered likewise. Watch! And +thou, sir knight, whither are you away?' + +'On our way to Norfolk in case the Duke of York should show himself on +the coast. And yours, reverend Mother?' + +'To Canterbury first by easy journeys. We sleep to-night at the Tabard, +where we shall meet other pilgrims.' + +'Here, alack! our way severs from yours. Farewell, holy Mother, may you +find health on your pilgrimage.' + +'Every breath I take in is health,' said the Mother, who had already +manoeuvred an opening in her veil, and gasped to throw it back as soon +as she should attain an unfrequented place. 'There are so many coming +and going here that all the air is used up by their greasy nostrils! +Well! good luck, and God's blessing go with you, and you, young Hal, I +may say so far, whichever side ye be, but still I hold that York has the +right, and yours may be a saint, but not a king.' + +Hal had meantime 'forgathered' as the Prioress said with Anne, marching, +in spite of his new honours, close to her stirrup, and venturing to +whisper to her that he was now her knight, and 'her colours,' which he +was to wear for her, were only a tiny scrap of ribbon from her glove, +which he cut off with his dagger, and kissed, saying he should wear it +next his heart, though he might not do so openly. + +Their love was more implied than ever it had been before, and she +repeated her confidence that the kind Prioress would never leave her +till she had done her utmost for them both. + +'But you, my good stripling, I am ashamed to see you. I have done +nothing for you. I sent a humble message to ask to see the Archbishop, +but had no answer, and by-and-by, when I stirred again, who should come +to sec me but young Bertram Selby, and "Kinswoman," said he, "you had +best keep quiet. The Archbishop hath asked me whether rumours were sooth +that yours was scarce a regular Priory." The squire stood up for me and +said, as became one of the family, that an outlying cell, where there +were ill neighbours of Scots, thieves, borderers, and the like, could +scarce look to be as trim as a city nunnery, and that none had ever +heard harm of Mother Agnes. But then one of his priests took on him to +whisper in his ear, and he demanded whether we had not gone so far as to +hide traitors from justice, to which Bertram returned a stout denial as +well he might, though he thought it well to give me warning, but for the +present there was no use in attempting anything more. The Archbishop was +exceedingly busy with the work of his office and the defence of London +in case of Edward's threatened return; but he had not yet come, and no +one thought there was a reasonable doubt that Warwick, the Kingmaker, +would not be victorious, and he had carried his son-in-law, the Duke of +Clarence, with him.' After the cause of the Red Rose was won, there was +no fear but that the services of Clifford would be remembered. So Harry +Clifford parted with Anne, promising himself and her that there should +be fresh Clifford services, winning a recognition of the De Vesci +inheritance if of no more. + +The ladies went on their way in the track which Chaucer has made +memorable, laying their count to meet Queen Margaret and her son, and +win their ears beforehand, and wondering that they came not. Kentish +breezes soon revived the Prioress, and she went through many strange +devotions at the shrine of Becket, which, it might be feared, did not +improve her spiritual, so much as her bodily, health, while Anne's +chiefly resolved themselves into prayers that Harry Clifford might +be guarded and restored, and that she herself might be saved from the +dreaded Lord Redgrave. + +They did not set out on the return to London till they had inhaled +plenty of sea breezes by visiting the shrine of St. Mildred in the isle +of Thanet, and St. Eanswith at Folkestone, till Lent had begun, and +the first fresh tidings that they met were that Edward had landed in +Yorkshire, but his fleet had been dispersed by storms, and the people +did not rise to join him, so that he was fain to proclaim that he only +came to assert his right to his father's inheritance of the Dukedom of +York. + +At the Minoresses' Convent they found that a messenger had arrived, +bidding Anne go to meet her father at his castle in Bedfordshire. He was +coming over with the Queen whenever she could obtain a convoy from King +Louis of France. Lord Redgrave was with him, and the marriage should +take place as soon as they arrived. + +'Never fear, child,' said the Prioress; 'many is the slip between the +cup and the lip.' + +Further tidings came that Edward had thrown off his first plea, that he +had passed Warwick's brother Montagu at Pontefract, and that men from +his own hereditary estates were flocking to his royal banner. Warwick +was calling up his men in all directions, and both armies were advancing +on London. Then it was known that 'false, fleeting, perjured Clarence' +had deserted his father-in-law, and returned to his brother; and +worthless as he individually was, it boded ill for Lancaster, though +still hope continued in the uniform success of the Kingmaker. Warwick +was about twenty miles in advance of Edward, till that King actually +passed him and reached the town of Warwick itself. Still the Earl wrote +to his brother that if he could only hold out London for forty-eight +hours all would be well. + +Once more poor King Henry was set on horseback and paraded through the +streets. Brother Martin went out with the chaplain of the Poor Clares to +gaze upon him, and they came back declaring that he was more than ever +like the image carried in a procession, seeming quite as helpless and +indifferent, except, said Brother Martin, when he passed a church, and +then a heavenly look came over his still features as he bowed his head; +but none of the crowd who came out to gaze cried 'Save King Harry!' or +'God bless him!' + +There were two or three thousand Yorkists in the various sanctuaries of +London, and they were preparing to rise in favour of their King Edward, +and only a few hundred were mustering in St. Paul's Churchyard for the +Red Rose. + +The Poor Clares were in much terror, though nunneries and religious +houses, and indeed non-combatants in general, were usually respected +by each side in these wars; but the Prioress of Greystone was not sorry +that the summons to her protegee called her party off on the way to +Bedfordshire, and they all set forward together, intending to make +Master Lorimer's household at Chipping Barnet their first stage, as they +had engaged to do. + +Their intention had been notified to Lorimer's people in his London +shop, who had sent on word to their master, and the good man came out +to meet them, full of surprise at the valour of the ladies in attempting +the journey. But they could not possibly go further. King Edward was at +St. Albans, and was on his way to London, and the Earl of Warwick was +coming up from Dunstable with the Earls of Somerset and Oxford. For +ladies, even of religious orders, to ride on between the two hosts was +manifestly impossible, and he and his wife were delighted to entertain +the Lady Prioress till the roads should be safe. + +The Prioress was nothing loth. She always enjoyed the freedom of a +secular household, and she was glad to remain within hearing of the last +news in this great crisis of York and Lancaster. + +'I marvel if there will be a battle,' she said. 'Never have I had the +good luck to see or hear one.' + +'Oh! Mother, are you not afraid?' cried Sister Mabel. + +'Afraid! What should I be afraid of, silly maid? Do you think the +men-at-arms are wolves to snap you up?' + +'And,' murmured Anne, 'we shall know how it goes with my Lord of +Oxford's people.' + +These were the last days of Lent, and were carefully kept in the matter +of food by the household, but the religious observances were much +disturbed by the tidings that poured in. King Henry and Archbishop Nevil +had taken refuge in the house of Bishop Kemp of London, Urswick the +Recorder, with the consent of the Aldermen, had opened the gates to +Edward, and the Good Friday Services at Barnet, the Psalms and prayers +in the church, were disturbed by men-at-arms galloping to and fro, and +reports coming in continually. + +There could be no going out to gather flowers to deck the Church the +next day, for King Edward was on the London side, and Warwick with +his army had reached the low hills of Hadley, and their tents, their +banners, and the glint of their armour might be seen over the heathy +slope between them and the lanes and fields, surrounded by hedges, that +fenced in the valley of Barnet. The little town itself, though lying +between the two armies, remained unoccupied by either party, and only +men-at-arms came down into it, not as plunderers, but to buy food. + +Warwick's cannon, however, thundered all night, a very awful sound to +such unaccustomed ears, but they were so directed that the charges flew +far away from Barnet, under a false impression as to the situation of +the Yorkist forces. + +Mistress Lorimer had heard them before, but accompanied every report +with a pious prayer; Sister Mabel screamed at each, then joined in; the +Prioress was greatly excited, and walked about with Master Lorimer, +now on the roof, trying to see, now at the gate, trying to hear. Anne +fancied it meant victory to Hal's party, but knelt, tried to pray while +she listened, and the dogs barked incessantly. And that Hal must be in +the army above the little town they guessed, for in the evening Watch +came floundering into the courtyard, hungry and muddy, but full of +affectionate recognition of his old friends and the quarters he had +learnt to know. Florimond, who happened to be loose, had a romp with +him in their old fashion, and to the vexation and alarm of his mistress, +they both ran off together, and must have gone hunting on the heath, for +there was no response to her silver whistle. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. -- BARNET + + + + A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day + Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came + A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew + The mist aside. + --TENNYSON. + + +And Sir Henry Clifford? Still he was Hal of Derwentdale, for the +perilous usurper, Sir Richard Nevil, was known to be continually with +Warwick, and Musgrave was convinced that the concealment was safest. + +The youth then remained with the Peelholm men, and became a good deal +more practised in warlike affairs, and accustomed to campaigning, during +the three months when Oxford was watching the eastern coast. On this +Easter night he lay down on the hill-side with Watch beside him, his +shepherd's plaid round him, his heart rising as he thought himself +near upon gaining fame and honour wherewith to win his early love, and +winning victory and safety for his beloved King, or rather his hermit. +For as his hermit did that mild unearthly face always come before him. +He could not think of it wearing that golden crown, which seemed alien +to it, but rather, as he lay on his back, after his old habit looking +up at the stars, either he saw and recognised the Northern Crown, or his +dazed and sleepy fancy wove a radiant coronet of stars above that meek +countenance that he knew and loved so well; and as at intervals the +cannon boomed and wakened him, he looked on at the bright Northern Cross +and dreamily linked together the cross and crown. + +Easter Sunday morning came dawning, but no one looked to see the sun +dance, even if the morning had not been dull and grey, a thick fog +covering everything; but through it came a dull and heavy sound, and +the clang of armour. Even by their own force the radiant star of the De +Veres could hardly be seen on the banner, as the Earl of Oxford rode up +and down, putting his men in battle array. Hal was on foot as an archer, +meaning to deserve the spurs that he had not yet worn. The hosts were +close to one another, and at first only the continual rain of arrows +darkened the air; but as the sun rose and the two armies saw one +another, Oxford's star was to be seen carried into the very midst of the +opposing force under Lord Hastings. On, on, with cries of victory, the +knights rode, the archers ran across the heath carrying all before them, +never doubting that the day was theirs, but not knowing where they were +till trumpets sounded, halt was called, and they were drawn up together, +as best they might, round their leading star. But as they advanced, +behold there was an unexpected shout of treason. Arrows came thickly +on them, men-at-arms bearing Warwick's ragged staff came thundering +headlong upon them. 'Treason, treason,' echoed on all sides, and with +that sound in his ears Harry Clifford was cut down, and fell under a +huge horse and man, and lay senseless under a gorse-bush. + +He knew no more but that horses and men seemed for ever trampling over +him and treading him down, and then all was lost to him--for how long he +knew not, but for one second he was roused so far as to hear a furious +growling and barking of Watch, but with dazed senses he thought it +was over the sheep, tried to raise himself, could not, thought himself +dying, and sank back again. + +The next thing he knew was 'Here, Master Lorimer, you know this gear +better than I; unfasten this buff coat. There, he can breathe. Drink +this, my lad.' + +It was the Prioress's voice! He felt a jolt as of a waggon, and opened +his eyes. It was dark, but he knew he was under the tilt of Lorimer's +waggon, which was moving on. The Prioress was kneeling over him on one +side, Lorimer on the other, and his head was on a soft lap--nay, a warm +tear dropped on his face, a sweet though stifled voice said, 'Is he +truly better?' + +Then came sounds of 'hushing,' yet of reassurance; and when there was a +halt, and clearer consciousness began to revive, while kind hands were +busy about him, and a cordial was poured down his throat, by the light +of a lantern cautiously shown, Hal found speech to say, as he felt a +long soft tongue on his face, 'Watch, Watch, is it thou, man?' + +'Ay, Watch it is,' said the Prioress. 'Well may you thank him! It is to +him you owe all, and to my good Florimond.' + +'But what--how--where am I?' asked Hal, trying to look round, but +feeling sharp thrills and shoots of pain at every motion. + +'Lie still till they bring their bandages, and I will tell you. Gently, +Nan, gently--thy sobs shake him!' But, as he managed to hold and press +Anne's hand, the Prioress went on, 'You are in good Lorimer's warehouse. +Safer thus, though it is too odorous, for the men of York do not respect +sanctuary in the hour of victory.' + +The word roused Hal further. 'The victory was ours!' he said. 'We had +driven Hastings' banner off the field! Say, was there a cry of treason?' + +'Even so, my son. So far as Master Lorimer understands, Lord Oxford's +banner of the beaming star was mistaken for the sun of York, and the men +of Warwick turned on you as you came back from the chase, but all was +utter confusion. No one knows who was staunch and who not, and the +fields and lanes are full of blood and slaughtered men; and Edward's +royal banner is set up on the market cross, and trumpets were sounding +round it. And here come Master Lorimer and the goodwife to bind these +wounds.' + +'But Sir Giles Musgrave?' still asked Hal. + +'Belike fled with Lord Oxford and his men, who all made off at the cry +of treason,' was the answer. + +Lorimer returned with his wife and various appliances, and likewise with +fresh tidings. There was no doubt that the brothers Warwick and Montagu +had been slain. They had been found--Warwick under a hedge impeded by +his heavy armour, and Montagu on the field itself. Each body had been +thrown over a horse, and shown at the market cross; and they would be +carried to London on the morrow. 'And so end,' said Lorimer, 'two brave +and open-handed gentlemen as ever lived, with whom I have had many +friendly dealings.' + +One thing more Hal longed to hear--namely, how he had been saved. He +remembered that Watch had come back to him with Florimond the evening +before. They had probably been hunting together, and the hound, who had +always been very fond of him on the journey, had accompanied Watch to +his side before going back to his chain in Barnet; but he had lost sight +of them in the morning, and regretted that he could not find Watch to +provide for his safety. He knew, he said, by the presence of Florimond, +who must be in Barnet. And he also had a dim recollection of being +licked by Watch's tongue as he lay, and likewise of hearing a furious +barking, yelling and growling, whether of one or both dogs he was not +sure. + +It seemed that towards the evening, when the battle-cries had grown +fainter, and the sun was going down, Florimond had burst in on his +mistress, panting and blood-stained--but not with his own blood, as was +soon ascertained--and made vehement demonstrations by which, as a true +dog-lover, the Prioress perceived that he wanted her to follow him. And +Anne, who thought she saw a piece of Hal's plaid caught in his collar, +was 'neither to have nor to hold,' as the Mother said, till Master +Lorimer was found, and entreated to follow the hound, ay, and to take +them with him. He demurred much as to their safety, but the Prioress +declared that it was the part of the religious to take care of the +wounded, and not inconsistent with her vow. See the Sisters of St. +Katharine's of the Tower! And though her interpretation was a broad one, +and would have shocked alike her own Abbess and her of the Minoresses, +he was fain to accept it in such a cause; but he commanded his waggoners +to bring the wain in the rear, both as an excuse, and a possible +protection for the ladies, and, it might be, a conveyance for the +wounded. + +Florimond, who had sprung about, barked, fawned and made entreating +sounds all this time (longer in narrative than in reality) led them, not +through the central field of slaughter, but somewhat to the left, among +the heath--where, in fact, Oxford had lost his way in the fog, and his +own allies had charged him, but had not followed far beyond the place +of Hal's fall, discovering the fatal error that spread confusion through +their ranks, where everyone distrusted his fellow leader. + +There, after a weary and perilous way, diversified by the horrid shouts +of plunderers of the slain, happily not near at hand, and when Lorimer, +but for the ladies, would have given up the quest as useless, they were +greeted by Watch's bark, and found him lying with his fine head alert +and ready over his senseless master. + +There was no doubt but that the two good creatures, both powerful and +formidable animals, must have saved him from the spoilers, and then been +sagacious enough to let the hound go down to fetch assistance while the +sheep-dog remained as his master's faithful guardian. How honoured and +caressed they were can hardly be described, but all will know. + +The joy and gratitude of knowing of Anne's devotion, and the pleasure of +his good dog's faithfulness, helped Hal through the painful process +of having his hurts dealt with. Surgeons, even barbers, were fully +occupied, and Lorimer did not wish to have it known that a Lancastrian +was in his house. His wife and her old nurse, as well as the Prioress, +had some knowledge of simple practical surgery; and Hal's disasters +proved to be a severe cut on the head, a slash on the shoulder, various +bruises, and a broken rib and thigh-bone, all which were within their +capabilities, with assistance from the master's stronger hand. No one +could tell whether the savage nature of the York brothers might not +slake their revenge in a general massacre of their antagonists; so +Lorimer caused Hal's bed to be made in the waggon in the warehouse, +where he was safe from detection until the victorious army should have +quitted Barnet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. -- TEWKESBURY + + + + The last shoot of that ancient tree + Was budding fair as fair might be; + Its buds they crop + Its branches lop + Then leave the sapless stem to die. + --SOPHOCLES (Anstice). + + +Harry Clifford lay fevered, and knowing little of what passed, for +several days, only murmuring sometimes of his flock at home, sometimes +of the royal hermit, and sometimes in distress of the men-at-arms with +whom he had been thrown, and whose habits and language had plainly been +a great shock to his innocent mind, trained by the company of the sheep, +and the hermit. He took the Prioress's hand for Good-wife Dolly's, but +he generally knew Anne, who could soothe him better than any other. + +Master Lorimer was fully occupied by combatants who came to have their +equipments renewed or repaired, and he spent the days in his shop in +London, but rode home in the long evenings with his budget of news. King +Henry was in the Tower again, as passive as ever, but on the very day of +the battle of Barnet Queen Margaret had landed at Weymouth with her son, +and the war would be renewed in Somersetshire. + +Search for prisoners being over at Barnet, Hal was removed to the guest +chamber of his hosts, where he lay in a huge square bed, and in the +better air began to recover, understand what was going on round him, +and be anxious for his friends, especially Sir Giles Musgrave and Simon +Bunce. The ladies still attended to him, as Lorimer pronounced the +journey to be absolutely unsafe, while so many soldiers disbanded, or on +their way to the Queen's army, were roaming about, and the Burgundians +brought by Edward might not be respectful to an English Prioress. It was +safer to wait for tidings from Lord St. John, which were certain to come +either from Bletso or the Minoresses'. + +So May had begun when Lorimer hurried home with the tidings that a +messenger had come in haste from King Edward from the battlefield of +Tewkesbury, with the tidings of a complete victory. Prince Edward, the +fair and spirited hope of Lancaster, was slain, Somerset and his friends +had taken sanctuary in the Abbey Church, Queen Margaret and the young +wife of the prince in a small convent, and beyond all had been flight +and slaughter. + +For a few days no more was known, but then came fuller and sadder +tidings. The young prince had been brutally slain by his cousins, +Edward, George, and Richard, excited as they were to tiger-like ferocity +by the late revolt. The nobles in the sanctuary, who had for one night +been protected by a cord drawn in front of them by a priest, had in the +morning been dragged out and beheaded. Among them was Anne's father, +Lord St. John of Bletso, and on the field the heralds had recognised the +corpse of her suitor, Lord Redgrave. To expect that Anne felt any acute +sorrow for a father whom she had never seen since she was six years old, +and who then had never seemed to care for her, was not possible. + +And what was to be her fate? Her young brother, the heir of Bletso, was +in Flanders with his foreign mother, and she knew not what might be +her own claims through her own mother, though the Prioress and Master +Lorimer knew that it could be ascertained through the seneschal at +Bletso, if he had not perished with his lord, or the agents at York +through whom Anne's pension had been paid. If she were an heiress, she +would become a ward of the Crown, a dreary prospect, for it meant to be +disposed of to some unknown minion of the Court. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. -- THE NUT-BROWN MAID + + + + All my wellfare to trouble and care + Should change if you were gone, + For in my mynde, of all mankind + I love but you alone. + --NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +Anne St. John, in her 'doul' or deep mourning, sat by Hal's couch or +daybed in tears, as he lay in the deep bay of the mullioned window, and +told him of the consultation that had been held. + +'Ah, dear lady!' he said, 'now am I grieved that I have not mine own to +endow you with! Well would I remain the landless shepherd were it not +for you.' + +'Nay,' she said, looking up through her tears, 'and wherefore should I +not share your shepherd's lot?' + +'You! Nan, sweet Nan, tenderly nurtured in the convent while I have ever +lived as a rough hardy shepherd!' + +'And I have ever been a moorland maid,' she answered, 'bred to no soft +ways. I know not how to be the lady of a castle--I shall be a much +better herdsman's wife, like your good old Dolly, whom I have always +loved and envied.' + +'You never saw us snowed up in winter with all things scarce, and hardly +able to milk a goat.' + +'Have not we been snowed up at Greystone for five weeks at a time?' + +'Ay, but with thick walls round and a stack of peat at hand,' said Hal, +his heart beating violently as more and more he felt that the maiden did +not speak in jest, but in full earnestness of love. + +'Verily one would deem you took me for a fine dainty dame, such as I saw +at the Minoresses', shivering at the least gust of fresh wind, and not +daring to wet their satin shoes if there had been a shower of rain +in the cloisters. Were we not all stifled within the walls, and never +breathed till we were out of them? Nay, Hal, there is none to come +between us now. Take me to your moors and hills! I will be your good +housewife and shepherdess, and make you such a home! And you will teach +me of the stars and of the flowers and all the holy lore of your good +royal hermit.' + +'Ah! my hermit, my master, how fares it with him? Would that I could go +and see!' + +'Which do you love best--me or the hermit?' asked Anne archly, lifting +up her head, which was lying on his shoulder. + +'I love you, mine own love and sweetheart, with all my heart,' he said, +regaining her hand, 'but my King and master with my soul; and oh! that +I had any strength to give him! I love him as my master in holy things, +and as my true prince, and what would I not give to know how it is with +him and how he bears these dreadful tidings!' + +He bent his head, choking with sobs as he spoke, and Anne wept with him, +her momentary jealousy subdued by the picture of the lonely prisoner, +his friends slain in his cause, and his only child cut off in early +prime; but she tried the comfort of hoping that his Queen would be with +him. Thus talking now of love, now of grief, now of the future, now of +the past, the Prioress found them, and as she was inclined to blame +Anne for letting her patient weep, the maiden looked up to her and said, +'Dear Mother, we are disputing--I want this same Hal to wed me so soon +as he can stand and walk. Then I would go home with him to Derwentside, +and take care of him.' + +The Prioress burst out laughing. 'Make porridge, milk the ewes and spin +their wool? Eh? Meet work for a baron's daughter!' + +'So I tell her,' said Harry. 'She knows not how hard the life is.' + +'Do I not?' said Anne. 'Have I not spent a night and day, the happiest +my childhood knew, in your hut? Has it not been a dream of joy ever +since?' + +'Ay, a summer's dream!' said Hal. 'Tell her the folly of it.' + +'I verily believe he does not want me. If he had not a lame leg, I trow +he would be trying to be mewed up with his King!' + +'It would be my duty,' murmured Hal, 'nor should I love thee the less.' + +''Tis a duty beyond your reach,' said the Prioress. 'Master Lorimer +hears that none have access to King Henry, God help him! and he sits as +in a trance, as though he understood and took heed of nothing--not even +of this last sore battle.' + +'God aid him! Aye, and his converse is with Him,' said Hal, with a gush +of tears. 'He minds nought of earth, not even earthly griefs.' + +'But we, we are of earth still, and have our years before us,' said +Anne, 'and I will not spend mine the dreary lady of a dull castle. +Either I will back and take my vows in your Priory, reverend Mother, if +Hal there disdains to have me.' + +'Nan, Nan! when you know that all I dread is to have you mewed behind +a wall of snow as thick as the walls of the Tower and freezing to the +bone!' + +'With you behind it telling all the tales. Mother, prithee prove to him +that I am not made of sugar like the Clares, but that I love a fresh +wind and the open moorlands.' + +The Prioress laughed and took her away, but in private the maiden +convinced her that the proposal, however wild, was in full earnest, and +not in utter ignorance of the way of life that was preferred. + +Afterwards the good lady discussed it with the Lorimers. 'For my part,' +she said, 'I see nought to gainsay the children having their way. They +are equal in birth and breeding, and love one another heartily, and the +times may turn about to bring them to their own proper station.' + +'But the hardness and the roughness of the life,' objected Mistress +Lorimer, 'for a dainty, convent-bred lady.' + +'My convent--God, forgive me!--is not like the Poor Clares. We knew +there what cold and hunger mean, as well as what free air and mountains +are. Moreover, though the maid thinks not of it, I do not believe the +life will be so bare and comfortless. The lad's mother hath not let him +want, and there is a heritage through the Vescis that must come to him, +even if he never can claim the lands of Clifford.' + +'And now that all Lancaster is gone, King Edward may be less vindictive +against the Red Rose,' said Lorimer. + +'There must be a dowry secured to the maid,' said the Prioress. 'Let +them only lie quiet for a time till the remains of the late tempest have +blown over, and all will be well with them. Ay, and Master Lorimer, the +Lady Threlkeld, as well as myself, will fully acquit ourselves of the +heavy charges you have been put to for your hospitality to us.' + +Master Lorimer disclaimed all save his delight in the honour paid to +his poor house, and appealed to his wife, who seconded him courteously, +though perhaps the expenses of a wounded knight, three nuns, a noble +damsel and their horses, were felt by her enough to make the promise +gratifying. + +While the elders talked, a horseman was heard in the court, asking +whether the young demoiselle of Bletso were lodged there. It was the +seneschal Wenlock, who had come with what might be called the official +report of his lord's death, and to consider of the disposal of the young +lady, being glad to find the Prioress of Greystone, to whom she had +originally been committed by her father. + +Before summoning her, he explained to the Prioress that a small estate +which had belonged to her mother devolved upon her. The proceeds of the +property were not large, but they had been sufficient to keep her at the +convent, on the moderate charges of the time. Anne was only eighteen, +and at no time of their lives were women, even widows, reckoned able to +dispose of themselves. She would naturally become a ward of the Crown, +and Lord Redgrave having been killed, the seneschal was about to go and +inform King Edward of the situation. + +'But,' said the Prioress, 'suppose you found her already betrothed to +a gentleman of equal birth, and with claims to an even greater +inheritance? Would you not be silent till the match was concluded, and +the King had no chance of breaking it?' + +'If it were well for the maid's honour and fortune,' said the seneschal. +'If you, reverend Mother, have found a fair marriage for her, it might +be better to let well alone.' + +Then the Prioress set forth the situation and claims of young Clifford, +and the certainty, that even if it were more prudent not to advance +them at present, yet the ruin of the house of Nevil removed one great +barrier, and at least the Vesci inheritance held by his mother must come +to him, and she was the more likely to make a portion over to him when +she found that he had married nobly. + +The seneschal acquiesced, even though the Prioress confessed that the +betrothal had not actually taken place. In fact he was relieved that the +maiden, whom he had known as a fair child, should be off his hands, and +secured from the greed of some Yorkist partisan needing a reward. + +When Anne, her dark eyes and hair shaded by her mourning veil, came +down, and had heard his greeting, with such details of her father's +death and the state of the family as he could give her, she rose and +said: 'Sir, there have been passages between Sir Harry Clifford and +myself, and I would wed none other than him.' + +Nor did the seneschal gainsay her. + +All that he desired was that what was decided upon should be done +quickly, before heralds or lawyers brought to the knowledge of the +Woodvilles that there was any sort of prize to be had in the damsel of +St. John, and he went off, early the next morning, back to Bletso, that +he might seem to know nothing of the matter. + +The Prioress laughed at men being so much more afraid than women. She +was willing to bear all the consequences, but then the Plantagenets were +not in the habit of treating ladies as traitors. However, all agreed +that it would be wiser to be out of reach of London as soon as possible, +and Master Lorimer, who had become deeply interested in this romance of +true love, arranged to send one of his wains to York, in which the bride +and bridegroom might travel unsuspected, until the latter should be able +to ride and all were out of reach of pursuit. The Prioress would go thus +far with them, 'And then! And then,' she said sighing, 'I shall have to +dree my penance for all my friskings!' + +'But, oh, what kindly friskings!' cried Anne, throwing herself into +those tender arms. + +'Little they will reck of kindness out of rule,' sighed the Prioress. +'If only they will send me back to Greystone, then shall I hear of thee, +and thou hadst better take Florimond, poor hound, or the Sisters at York +may put him to penance too!' + +Henry Clifford was able to walk again, though still lame, when, in the +early morning of Ascension Day, he and Anne St. John were married in the +hall of Master Lorimer's house by a trusty priest of Barnet, and in the +afternoon, when the thanksgiving worship at the church had been gone +through, they started in the waggon for the first stage of the journey, +to be overtaken at the halting-place by the Prioress and Master Lorimer, +who had had to ride into London to finish some business. + +And he brought tidings that rendered that wedding-day one of mournful, +if peaceful, remembrances. + +For he had seen, borne from the Tower, along Cheapside, the bier on +which lay the body of King Henry, his hands clasped on his breast, his +white face upturned with that heavenly expression which Hal knew so +well, enhanced into perfect peace, every toil, every grief at an end. + +Whether blood dropped as the procession moved along, Lorimer could not +certainly tell. Whether so it was, or whoever shed it, there was no +marring the absolute rest and joy that had crowned the 'meek usurper's +holy head,' after his dreary half-century of suffering under the +retribution of the ancestral sins of two lines of forefathers. All had +been undergone in a deep and holy trust and faith such as could render +even his hereditary insanity an actual shield from the poignancy of +grief. + +Tears were shed, not bitter nor vengeful. Such thoughts would have +seemed out of place with the memory of the gentle countenance of love, +good-will and peace, and as Harry and Anne joined in the service +that the Prioress had requested to have in the early daylight before +starting, Hal felt that to the hermit saint of his boyhood he verily +owed his own self. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. -- BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + + And now am I an Earlis son, + And not a banished man. + --NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +That journey northward in the long summer days was a honeymoon to the +young couple. The Prioress left them as much to themselves as possible, +trying to rejoice fully in their gladness, and not to think what might +have been hers but for that vow of her parents, keeping her hours +diligently in preparation for the stricter rule awaiting her. + +When they parted she sent Florimond with them, to be restored if she +were allowed to return to Greystone, and Anne parted with her with many +tears as the truest mother and friend she had ever known. + +By this time Harry was able to ride, and the two, with a couple of +men-at-arms hired as escort, made their way over the moors, Harry's +head throbbing with gladness, as, with a shout of joy, he hailed his own +mountain-heads, Helvellyn and Saddleback, in all their purple cloud-like +majesty. + +They agreed first to go to Dolly's homestead, drawn as much by affection +as by prudence. Delight it was to Hal to point out the rocks and bushes +of his home; but when he came in sight of Piers and the sheep, the dumb +boy broke out into a cry of terror, and rushed away headlong, nor did +he turn till he felt Watch's very substantial paws bounding on him in +ecstasy. + +Watch was indeed a forerunner, for Dolly and her husband could scarcely +be induced by his solid presence and caresses to come out and see for +themselves that the tall knight and lady were no ghostly shades, nor +bewildered travellers, but that this was their own nursling Hal, whom +Simon Bunce had reported to be lying dead under a gorse-bush at Barnet, +and further that the lovely brunette lady was the little lost child whom +Dolly had mothered for a night. + +While the happy goodwife was regaling them with the best she had to +offer, Hob set forth to announce their arrival at Threlkeld, being not +certain what the cautious Sir Lancelot would deem advisable, since the +Lancaster race had perished, and York was in the ascendant. + +There was a long time to wait, but finally Sir Lancelot himself came +riding through the wood, no longer afraid to welcome his stepson at the +castle, and the more willing since the bride newly arrived was no maiden +of low degree, but a damsel of equal birth and with unquestioned rights. + +So all was well, and the lady no longer had to embrace her son in fear +and trembling, but to see him a handsome and thoughtful young man, well +able to take his place in her halls. + +Since he had been actually in arms against King Edward it was not +thought safe to assert his claims to his father's domains, but the lady +gave up to him a portion of her own inheritance from the Vescis, where +he and Anne were able to live in Barden Tower in Yorkshire, not far from +Bolton Abbey. So Hal's shepherd days were over, though he still loved +country habits and ways. Hob came to be once more his attendant, Dolly +was Anne's bower-woman, and Simon Bunce Sir Harry's squire, though he +never ceased blaming himself for having left his master, dead as he +thought, when even a poor hound was more trusty. + +Florimond was restored to the Prioress, who was reinstated at Greystone, +a graver woman than before she had set forth, the better for having +watched deeper devotion at the Minoresses', and still more for the +terrible realities of the battle of Barnet. At Bolton Abbey Harry found +monks who encouraged his craving for information on natural science, +and could carry him on much farther in these researches than his hermit, +though he always maintained that the royal anchorite and prisoner saw +farther into heavenly things than any other whom he had known, and +that his soul and insight rose the higher with his outward troubles and +bodily decay. + +So peacefully went the world with them till Henry was one-and-thirty, +and then the tidings of Bosworth Field came north. The great tragedy of +Plantagenet was complete, and the ambitious and blood-stained house +of York, who had avenged the usurpation of Henry of Lancaster, had +perished, chiefly by the hands of each other, and the distantly related +descendant of John of Gaunt, Henry Tudor, triumphed. + +The Threlkelds were not slow to recollect that it was time for the +Cliffords to show their heads; moreover, that the St. Johns of Bletso +were related to the Tudors. Though now an aged woman, she descended +from her hills, called upon her son and his wife with their little +nine-year-old son to come with her, and pay homage to the new sovereign +in their own names, and rode with them to Westminster. + +There a very different monarch from the saint of Harry's memory received +and favoured him. The lands of Westmoreland were granted to him as his +right, and on their return, Master Lorimer coming by special invitation, +the family were welcomed at Brougham Castle, the cradle of their +race, where Harry Clifford, no longer an outlaw, began the career thus +described: + + + Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, + His daily teachers had been woods and rills, + The silence that is in the starry sky, + The sleep that is among the lonely hills. + + In him the savage virtue of the race, + Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead, + Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place + The wisdom that adversity had bred. + + Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth, + The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more, + And ages after he was laid in earth + The Good Lord Clifford was the name he bore. + + + +FINIS + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. 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Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5313] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + + + + +This Project Gutenberg Etext of The Herdboy and His Hermit was prepared +by Sandra Laythorpe, laythorpe@tiscali.co.uk. +A web page for Charlotte M Yonge may be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm + + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + +BY + +CHARLOTTE M. YONGE + + + + +Henry, thou of holy birth, +Thou, to whom thy Windsor gave +Nativity and name and grave +Heavily upon his head +Ancestral crimes were visited. +Meek in heart and undefiled, +Patiently his soul resigned, +Blessing, while he kissed the rod, +His Redeemer and his God. + SOUTHEY + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I. IN THE MOSS + +II. THE SNOW-STORM + +III. OVER THE MOOR + +IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS + +V. MOTHER AND SON + +VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + +VII. ON DERWENT BANKS + +VIII. THE HERMIT + +IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR + +X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + +XI. THE RED ROSE + +XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION + +XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS + +XIV. THE JOURNEY + +XV. BLETSO + +XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + +XVII. A CAPTIVE KING + +XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES + +XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE + +XX. BARNET + +XXI. TEWKESBURY + +XXII. THE NUT BROWN MAID + +XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + + + +THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT + + + + +CHAPTER I. IN THE MOSS + + + +I can conduct you, lady, to a low +But loyal cottage where you may be safe +Till further quest.--MILTON. + + +On a moorland slope where sheep and goats were dispersed among the +rocks, there lay a young lad on his back, in a stout canvas cassock +over his leathern coat, and stout leathern leggings over wooden +shoes. Twilight was fast coming on; only a gleam of purple light +rested on the top of the eastern hills, but was gradually fading +away, though the sky to the westward still preserved a little pale +golden light by the help of the descending crescent moon. + +'Go away, horned moon,' murmured the boy. 'I want to see my stars +come out before Hob comes to call me home, and the goats are getting +up already. Moon, moon, thou mayst go quicker. Thou wilt have +longer time to-morrow--and be higher in the sky, as well as bigger, +and thou mightst let me see my star to-night! Ah! there is one high +in the sunset, pale and fair, but not mine! That's the evening star +--one of the wanderers. Is it the same as comes in the morning +betimes, when we do not have it at night? Like that it shines with +steady light and twinkles not. I would that I knew! There! there's +mine, my own star, far up, only paling while the sun glaring blazes +in the sky; mine own, he that from afar drives the stars in Charles's +Wain. There they come, the good old twinkling team of three, and the +four of the Wain! Old Billy Goat knows them too! Up he gets, and +all in his wake "Ha-ha-ha" he calls, and the Nannies answer. Ay, and +the sheep are rising up too! How white they look in the moonshine! +Piers--deaf as he is--waking at their music. Ba, they call the +lambs! Nay, that's no call of sheep or goat! 'Tis some child +crying, all astray! Ha! Hilloa, where beest thou? Tarry till I +come! Move not, or thou mayst be in the bogs and mosses! Come, +Watch'--to a great unwieldy collie puppy--'let us find her.' + +A feeble piteous sound answered him, and following the direction of +the reply, he strode along, between the rocks and thorn-bushes that +guarded the slope of the hill, to a valley covered with thick moss, +veiling treacherously marshy ground in which it was easy to sink. + +The cry came from the further side, where a mountain stream had force +enough to struggle through the swamp. There were stepping-stones +across the brook, which the boy knew, and he made his way from one to +the other, calling out cheerily to the little figure that he began to +discern in the fading light, and who answered him with tones +evidently girlish, 'O come, come, shepherd! Here I am! I am lost +and lorn! They will reward thee! Oh, come fast!' + +'All in good time, lassie! Haste is no good here! I must look to my +footing.' + +Presently he was by the side of the wanderer, and could see that it +was a maiden of ten or twelve years old, who somehow, even in the +darkness, had not the air of one of the few inhabitants of that wild +mountain district. + +'Lost art thou, maiden,' he said, as he stood beside her; 'where is +thine home?' + +'I am at Greystone Priory,' replied the girl. 'I went out hawking +to-day with the Mother Prioress and the rest. My pony fell with me +when we were riding after a heron. No one saw me or heard me, and my +pony galloped home. I saw none of them, and I have been wandering +miles and miles! Oh take me back, good lad; the Mother Prioress will +give thee--' + +''Tis too far to take thee back to-night,' he said. 'Thou must come +with me to Hob Hogward, where Doll will give thee supper and bed, and +we will have thee home in the morning.' + +'I never lay in a hogward's house,' she said primly. + +'Belike, but there be worse spots to be harboured in. Here, I must +carry thee over the burn, it gets wider below! Nay, 'tis no use +trying to leap it in the dark, thou wouldst only sink in. There!' + +And as he raised her in his arms, the touch of her garment was +delicate, and she on her side felt that his speech, gestures and +touch were not those of a rustic shepherd boy; but nothing was said +till he had waded through the little narrow stream, and set her down +on a fairly firm clump of grass on the other side. Then she asked, +'What art thou, lad?--Who art thou?' + +'They call me Hal,' was the answer; 'but this is no time for +questions. Look to thy feet, maid, or thou wilt be in a swamp-hole +whence I may hardly drag thee out.' + +He held her hand, for he could hardly carry her farther, since she +was almost as tall as himself, and more plump; and the rest of the +conversation for some little time consisted of, 'There!' 'Where?' +'Oh, I was almost down!' 'Take heed; give me thy other hand! Thou +must leap this!' 'Oh! what a place! Is there much more of it?' +'Not much! Come bravely on! There's a good maid.' 'Oh, I must get +my breath.' 'Don't stand still. That means sinking. Leap! Leap! +That's right. No, not that way, turn to the big stair.' 'Oh--h!' +'That's my brave wench! Not far now.' 'I'm down, I'm down!' 'Up! +Here, this is safe! On that white stone! Now, here's sound ground! +Hark!' Wherewith he emitted a strange wild whoop, and added, 'That's +Hob come out to call me!' He holloaed again. 'We shall soon be at +home now. There's Mother Doll's light! Her light below, the star +above,' he added to himself. + +By this time it was too dark for the two young people to see more +than dim shapes of one another, but the boy knew that the hand he +still held was a soft and delicate one, and the girl that those which +had grasped and lifted her were rough with country labours. She +began to assert her dignity and say again, 'Who art thou, lad? We +will guerdon thee well for aiding me. The Lord St. John is my +father. And who art thou?' + +'I? Oh, I am Hob Hogward's lad,' he answered in an odd off-hand +tone, before whooping again his answer to the shouts of Hob, which +were coming nearer. + +'I am so hungry!' said the little lady, in a weak, famished tone. +'Hast aught to eat?' + +'I have finished my wallet, more's the pity!' said the boy, 'but +never fear! Hold out but a few steps more, and Mother Doll will give +thee bite and sup and bed.' + +'Alack! Is it much further! My feet! they are so sore and weary--' + +'Poor maiden, let me bear thee on!' + +Hal took her up again, but they went more slowly, and were glad to +see a tall figure before them, and hear the cry, 'How now, Hal boy, +where hast been? What hast thou there?' + +'A sorely weary little lady, Daddy Hob, lost from the hawking folk +from the Priory,' responded Hal, panting a little as he set his +burthen down, and Hob's stronger arms received her. + +Hal next asked whether the flock had come back under charge of Piers, +and was answered that all were safely at home, and after 'telling the +tale' Hob had set out to find him. 'Thou shouldst not stray so far,' +he said. + +'I heard the maid cry, and went after her,' said Hal, 'all the way to +the Blackreed Moss, and the springs, and 'twas hard getting over the +swamp.' + +'Well indeed ye were not both swallowed in it,' said Hob; 'God be +praised for bringing you through! Poor wee bairn! Thou hast come +far! From whence didst say?' + +'From Greystone Priory,' wearily said the girl, who had her head down +on Hob's shoulder, and seemed ready to fall asleep there. + +'Her horse fell with her, and they were too bent on their sport to +heed her,' explained the boy, as he trudged along beside Hob and his +charge, 'so she wandered on foot till by good hap I heard her moan.' + +'Ay, there will be a rare coil to-night for having missed her,' said +Hob; 'but I've heard tell, my Lady Prioress heeds her hawks more than +her nuns! But be she who she may, we'll have her home, and Mother +Doll shall see to her, for she needs it sure, poor bairn. She is +asleep already.' + +So she was, with her head nestled into the shepherd's neck, nor did +she waken when after a tramp of more than a mile the bleatings of the +folded sheep announced that they were nearly arrived, and in the low +doorway there shone a light, and in the light stood a motherly form, +in a white woollen hood and dark serge dress. Tired as he was, Hal +ran on to her, exclaiming 'All well, Mammy Doll?' + +'Ah well!' she answered, 'thank the good God! I was in fear for +thee, my boy! What's that Daddy hath? A strayed lamb?' + +'Nay, Mammy, but a strayed maiden! 'Twas that kept me so long. I +had to bear her through the burn at Blackreed, and drag her on as +best I might, and she is worn out and weary.' + +'Ay,' said Hob, as he came up. 'How now, my bit lassie?' as he put +her into the outstretched arms of his wife, who sat down on the +settle to receive her, still not half awake. + +'She is well-nigh clemmed,' said Hal. 'She has had no bite nor sup +all day, since her pony fell with her out a-hawking, and all were so +hot on the chase that none heeded her.' + +Mother Doll's exclamations of pity were profuse. There was a kettle +of broth on the peat fire, and after placing the girl in a corner of +the settle, she filled three wooden bowls, two of which she placed +before Hal and the shepherd, making signs to the heavy-browed Piers +to wait; and getting no reply from her worn-out guest, she took her +in her arms, and fed her from a wooden spoon. Though without clear +waking, mouthfuls were swallowed down, till the bowl was filled again +and set before Piers. + +'There, that will be enough this day!' said the good dame. 'Poor +bairn! 'Twas scurvy treatment. Now will we put her to bed, and in +the morn we will see how to deal with her.' + +Hal insisted that the little lady should have his own bed--a chaff- +stuffed mattress, covered with a woollen rug, in the recess behind +the projecting hearth--a strange luxury for a farm boy; and Doll +yielded very unwillingly when he spoke in a tone that savoured of +command. The shaggy Piers had already curled himself up in a corner +and gone to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE SNOW-STORM + + + +Yet stay, fair lady, rest awhile +Beneath the cottage wall; +See, through the hawthorns blows the cold wind, +And drizzling rain doth fall.--OLD BALLAD. + + +Though Hal had gone to sleep very tired the night before, and only on +a pile of hay, curled up with Watch, having yielded his own bed to +the strange guest, he was awake before the sun, for it was the +decline of the year, and the dawn was not early. + +He was not the first awake--Hob and Piers were already busy on the +outside, and Mother Doll had emerged from the box bed which made +almost a separate apartment, and was raking together the peat, so as +to revive the slumbering fire. The hovel, for it was hardly more, +was built of rough stone and thatched with reeds, with large stones +to keep the roof down in the high mountain blasts. There was only +one room, earthen floored, and with no furniture save a big chest, a +rude table, a settle and a few stools, besides the big kettle and a +few crocks and wooden bowls. Yet whereas all was clean, it had an +air of comfort and civilisation beyond any of the cabins in the +neighbourhood, more especially as there was even a rude chimney-piece +projecting far into the room, and in the niche behind this lay the +little girl in her clothes, fast asleep. + +Very young and childish she looked as she lay, her lips partly +unclosed, her dark hair straying beyond her hand, and her black +lashes resting on her delicate brunette cheeks, slightly flushed with +sleep. Hal could not help standing for a minute gazing at her in a +sort of wondering curiosity, till roused by the voice of Mother Doll. + +'Go thy ways, my bairn, to wash in the burn. Here's thy comb. I +must have the lassie up before the shepherd comes back, though 'tis +amost a pity to wake her! There, she is stirring! Best be off with +thee, my bonnie lad.' + +It was spoken more in the tone of nurse to nursling than of mother to +son, still less that of mistress to farm boy; but Hal obeyed, only +observing, 'Take care of her.' + +'Ay, my pretty, will not I,' murmured the old woman, as the child +turned round on her pillow, put up a hand, rubbed her eyes, and +disclosed a pair of sleepy brown orbs, gazed about, and demanded, +'What's this? Who's this?' + +''Tis Hob Hogward's hut, my bonnie lamb, where you are full welcome! +Here, take a sup of warm milk.' + +'I mind me now,' said the girl, sitting up, and holding out her hands +for the bowl. 'They all left me, and the lad brought me--a great +lubber lout--' + +'Nay, nay, mistress, you'll scarce say so when you see him by day--a +well-grown youth as can bear himself with any.' + +'Where is he?' asked the girl, gazing round; 'I want him to take me +back. This place is not one for me. The Sisters will be seeking me! +Oh, what a coil they must be in!' + +'We will have you back, my bairn, so soon as my goodman can go with +you, but now I would have you up and dressed, ay, and washed, ere he +and Hal come in. Then after meat and prayer you will be ready to +go.' + +'To Greystone Priory,' returned the girl. 'Yea, I would have thee to +know,' she added, with a little dignity that sat drolly on her bare +feet and disordered hair and cap as she rose out of bed, 'that the +Sisters are accountable for me. I am the Lady Anne St. John. My +father is a lord in Bedfordshire, but he is gone to the wars in +Burgundy, and bestowed me in a convent at York while he was abroad, +but the Mother thought her house would be safer if I were away at the +cell at Greystone when Queen Margaret and the Red Rose came north.' + +'And is that the way they keep you safe?' asked the hostess, who +meanwhile was attending to her in a way that, if the Lady Anne had +known it, was like the tendance of her own nurse at home, instead of +that of a rough peasant woman. + +'Oh, we all like the chase, and the Mother had a new cast of hawks +that she wanted to fly. There came out a heron, and she threw off +the new one, and it went careering up--and up--and we all rode after, +and just as the bird was about to pounce down, into a dyke went my +pony, Imp, and not one of them saw! Not Bertram Selby, the Sisters, +nor the groom, nor the rabble rout that had come out of Greystone; +and before I could get free they were off; and the pony, Imp of Evil +that he is, has not learnt to know me or my voice, and would not let +me catch him, but cantered off--either after the other horses or to +the Priory. I knew not where I was, and halloaed myself hoarse, but +no one heard, and I went on and on, and lost my way!' + +'I did hear tell that the Lady Prioress minded her hawks more than +her Hours,' said Mother Doll. + +'And that's sooth,' said the Lady Anne, beginning to prove herself a +chatterbox. 'The merlins have better hoods than the Sisters; and as +to the Hours, no one ever gets up in the night to say Nocturns or +even Matins but old Sister Scholastica, and she is as strict and +cross as may be.' + +Here the flow of confidence was interrupted by the return of Hal, who +gazed eagerly, though in a shamefaced way, at the guest as he set +down a bowl of ewe milk. She was a well-grown girl of ten, slender, +and bearing herself like one high bred and well trained in +deportment; and her face was delicately tinted on an olive skin, with +fine marked eyebrows, and dark bright eyes, and her little hunting +dress of green, and the hood, set on far back, became the dark locks +that curled in rings beneath. + +She saw a slender lad, dark-haired and dark-eyed, ruddy and embrowned +by mountain sun and air; and the bow with which he bent before her +had something of the rustic lout, and there was a certain shyness +over him that hindered him from addressing her. + +'So, shepherd,' she said, 'when wilt thou take me back to Greystone?' + +'Father will fix that,' interposed the housewife; 'meanwhile, ye had +best eat your porridge. Here is Father, in good time with the cows' +milk.' + +The rugged broad-shouldered shepherd made his salutation duly to the +young lady, and uttered the information that there was a black cloud, +like snow, coming up over the fells to the south-west. + +'But I must fare back to Greystone!' said the damsel. 'They will be +in a mighty coil what has become of me.' + +'They would be in a worse coil if they found your bones under a snow +wreath.' + +Hal went to the door and spied out, as if the tidings were rather +pleasant to him than otherwise. The goodwife shivered, and reached +out to close the shutter, and there being no glass to the windows, +all the light that came in was through the chinks. + +'It would serve them right for not minding me better,' said the +maiden composedly. 'Nay, it is as merry here as at Greystone, with +Sister Margaret picking out one's broidery, and Father Cuthbert +making one pore over his crabbed parchments.' + +'Oh, does this Father teach Latin?' exclaimed Hal with eager +interest. + +'Of course he doth! The Mother at York promised I should learn +whatever became a damsel of high degree,' said the girl, drawing +herself up. + +'I would he would teach me!' sighed the boy. + +'Better break thy fast and mind thy sheep,' said the old woman, as if +she feared his getting on dangerous ground; and placing the bowl of +porridge on the rough table, she added, 'Say the Benedicite, lad, and +fall to.' Then, as he uttered the blessing, she asked the guest +whether she preferred ewes' milk or cows' milk, a luxury no one else +was allowed, all eating their porridge contentedly with a pinch of +salt, Hob showing scant courtesy, the less since his guest's rank had +been made known. + +By the time they had finished, snowflakes--an early autumn storm-- +were drifting against the shutter, and a black cloud was lowering +over the hills. Hob foretold a heavy fall of snow, and called on Hal +to help him and Piers fold the flock more securely, sleepy Watch and +his old long-haired collie mother rising at the same call. Lady Anne +sprang up at the same time, insisting that she must go and help to +feed the poor sheep, but she was withheld, much against her will, by +Mother Dolly, though she persisted that snow was nothing to her, and +it was a fine jest to be out of the reach of the Sisters, who mewed +her up in a cell, like a messan dog. However, she was much amused by +watching, and thinking she assisted in, Mother Dolly's preparations +for ewe milk cheese-making; and by-and-by Hal came in, shaking the +snow off the sheepskin he had worn over his leathern coat. Hob had +sent him in, as the weather was too bad for him, and he and Anne +crouched on opposite sides of the wide hearth as he dried and warmed +himself, and cosseted the cat which Anne had tried to caress, but +which showed a decided preference for the older friend. + +'Our Baudrons at Greystone loves me better than that,' said Anne. +'She will come to me sooner than even to Sister Scholastica!' + +'My Tib came with us when we came here. Ay, Tib! purr thy best!' as +he held his fingers over her, and she rubbed her smooth head against +him. + +'Can she leap? Baudrons leaps like a horse in the tilt-yard.' + +'Cannot she! There, my lady pussy, show what thou canst do to please +the demoiselle,' and he held his arms forward with clasped hands, so +that the grey cat might spring over them, and Lady Anne cried out +with delight. + +Again and again the performance was repeated, and pussy was induced +to dance after a string dangled before her, to roll over and play in +apparent ecstasy with a flake of wool, as if it were a mouse, and +Watch joined in the game in full amity. Mother Dolly, busy with her +distaff, looked on, not displeased, except when she had to guard her +spindle from the kitten's pranks, but she was less happy when the +children began to talk. + +'You have seen a tilt-yard?' + +'Yea, indeed,' he answered dreamily. 'The poor squire was hurt--I +did not like it! It is gruesome.' + +'Oh, no! It is a noble sport! I loved our tilt-yard at Bletso. Two +knights could gallop at one another in the lists, as if they were out +hunting. Oh! to hear the lances ring against the shields made one's +heart leap up! Where was yours?' + +Here Dolly interrupted hastily, 'Hal, lad, gang out to the shed and +bring in some more sods of turf. The fire is getting low.' + +'Here's a store, mother--I need not go out,' said Hal, passing to a +pile in the corner. 'It is too dark for thee to see it.' + +'But where was your castle?' continued the girl. 'I am sure you have +lived in a castle.' + +Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another changed the +homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less grammatical, +second person plural. The boy laughed, nodded his head, and said, +'You are a little witch.' + +'No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in +Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be +Scots!' + +'I am not from Bedfordshire,' said the lad, looking much amused at +her perplexity. + +'Who art thou then?' she cried peremptorily. + +'I? I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.' + +'No shepherd boy are you! Come, tell me true.' + +Dolly thought it time to interfere. She heard an imaginary bleat, +and ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering the girl by +force from running after him, for the snow was coming down in larger +flakes than ever. Nevertheless, when her husband was heard outside +she threw a cloak over her head and hurried out to speak with him. +'That maid will make our lad betray himself ere another hour is over +their heads!' + +'Doth she do it wittingly?' asked the shepherd gravely. + +'Nay, 'tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of gentle +blood, and women's wits be sharp and prying, and the maid will never +rest till she has wormed out who he is.' + +'He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.' + +'Thee! Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the wiles +of a young maid!' + +'Lord Hal is a lad of his word. Peace with thy lords and ladies, +woman, thou'lt have the archers after him at once.' + +'She makes no secret of being of gentle blood--a St. John of Bletso.' + +'A pestilent White Rose lot! We shall have them on the scent ere +many days are over our head! An unlucky chance this same snow, or I +should have had the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange a +word.' + +'Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm. Ill for the maid to +have fallen into a drift!' + +'Well for the lad if she never came out of it!' muttered the gruff +old shepherd. 'Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the +clacking wenches at York--Yorkists every one of them.' + +Mother Dolly's eyes grew round. 'Mind thee, Hob!' she said; 'I ken +thy bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know that +if aught befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall hold +thee--and so will my Lady--guilty of a foul deed.' + +'No fouler than was done on the stripling's father,' muttered the +shepherd. 'Get thee in, wife! Who knows what folly those two may be +after while thou art away? Mind thee, if the maid gets an inkling of +who the boy is, it will be the worse for her.' + +'Oh!' murmured the goodwife, 'I moaned once that our Piers there +should be deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now! No +fear of perilous word going out through him, or I durst not have kept +my poor sister's son!' + +Mother Doll trusted that her husband would never have the heart to +leave the pretty dark-haired girl in the snow, but she was relieved +to find Hal marking down on the wide flat hearth-stone, with a bit of +charcoal, all the stars he had observed. 'Hob calls that the Plough-- +those seven!' he said; 'I call it Charles's Wain!' + +'Methinks I have seen that!' she said, 'winter and summer both.' + +'Ay, he is a meuseful husbandman, that Charles! And see here! This +middle mare of the team has a little foal running beside her'--he +made a small spot beside the mark that stood for the central star of +what we call the Bear's Tail. + +'I never saw that!' + +'No, 'tis only to be seen on a clear bright night. I have seen it, +but Hob mocks at it. He thinks the only use of the Wain is to find +the North Star, up beyond there, pointing by the back of the Plough, +and go by it when you are lost.' + +'What good would finding the North Star do? It would not have helped +me home if you had not found me!' + +'Look here, Lady Anne! Which way does Greystone lie?' + +'How should I tell?' + +'Which way did the sun lie when you crossed the moor?' + +Anne could not remember at first, but by-and-by recollected that it +dazzled her eyes just as she was looking for the runaway pony; and +Hal declared that it proved that the convent must have been to the +south of the spot of her fall; but his astronomy, though eagerly +demonstrated, was not likely to have brought her back to Greystone. +Still Doll was thankful for the safe subject, as he went on to mark +out what he promised that she should see in the winter--the swarm of +glow-worms, as he called the Pleiades; and 'Our Lady's Rock,' namely, +distaff, the northern name for Orion; and then he talked of the stars +that so perplexed him, namely, the planets, that never stayed in +their places. + +By-and-by, when Mother Dolly's work was over the kettle was on the +fire, and she was able to take out her own spinning, she essayed to +fill up the time by telling them lengthily the old stories and +ballads handed down from minstrel to minstrel, from nurse to nurse, +and they sat entranced, listening to the stories, more than even Hal +knew she possessed, and holding one another by the hand as they +listened. + +Meantime the snow had ceased--it was but a scud of early autumn on +the mountains--the sun came out with bright slanting beams before his +setting, there was a soft south wind; and Hob, when he came in, +growled out that the thaw had set in, and he should be able to take +the maid back in the morning. He sat scowling and silent during +supper, and ordered Hal about with sharp sternness, sending him out +to attend to the litter of the cattle, before all had finished, and +manifestly treated him as the shepherd's boy, the drudge of the +house, and threatening him with a staff if he lingered, soon +following himself. Mother Dolly insisted on putting the little lady +to bed before they should return, and convent-bred Anne had +sufficient respect for proprieties to see that it was becoming. She +heard no more that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III. OVER THE MOOR + + + +In humblest, simplest habit clad, +But these were all to me.--GOLDSMITH. + + +'Hal! What is your name?' + +She stood at the door of the hovel, the rising sun lighting up her +bright dark eyes, and smiling in the curly rings of her hair while +Hal stood by, and Watch bounded round them. + +'You have heard,' he said, half smiling, and half embarrassed. + +'Hal! That's no name.' + +'Harry, an it like you better.' + +'Harry what?' with a little stamp of her foot. + +'Harry Hogward, as you see, or Shepherd, so please you.' + +'You are no Hogward, nor shepherd! These folk be no kin to you, I +can see. Come, an you love me, tell me true! I told you true who I +am, Red Rose though I see you be! Why not trust me the same?' + +'Lady, I verily ken no name save Harry. I would trust you, verily I +would, but I know not myself.' + +'I guess! I guess!' she cried, clapping her hands, but at the moment +Dolly laid a hand on her shoulder. + +'Do not guess, maiden,' she said. 'If thou wouldst not bring evil on +the lad that found thee, and the roof that sheltered thee, guess not, +yea, and utter not a word save that thou hast lain in a shepherd's +hut. Forget all, as though thou hadst slept in the castle on the +hill that fades away with the day.' + +She ended hastily, for her husband was coming up with a rough pony's +halter in his hand. He was in haste to be off, lest a search for the +lost child might extend to his abode, and his gloomy displeasure and +ill-masked uneasiness reduced every-one to silence in his presence. + +'Up and away, lady wench!' he said. 'No time to lose if you are to +be at Greystone ere night! Thou Hal, thou lazy lubber, go with Piers +and the sheep--' + +'I shall go with you,' replied Hal, in a grave tone of resolution. +'I will only go within view of the convent, but go with you I will.' + +He spoke with a decided tone of authority, and Hob Hogward muttered a +little to himself, but yielded. + +Hal assisted the young lady to mount, and they set off along the +track of the moss, driving the cows, sheep, and goats before them-- +not a very considerable number--till they came to another hut, much +smaller and more rude than that where they had left Mother Doll. + +Piers was a wild, shaggy-haired lad, with a sheepskin over his +shoulders, and legs bare below the knee, and to him the charge of the +flock was committed, with signs which he evidently understood and +replied to with a gruff 'Ay, ay!' The three went on the way, over +the slope of a hill, partly clothed with heather, holly and birch +trees, as it rose above the moss. Hob led the pony, and there was +something in his grim air and manner that hindered any conversation +between the two young people. Only Hal from time to time gathered a +flower for the young lady, scabious and globe flowers, and once a +very pink wild rose, mingled with white ones. Lady Anne took them +with a meaning smile, and a merry gesture, as though she were going +to brush Hal's face with the petals. Hal laughed, and said, 'You +will make them shed.' + +'Well and good, so the disputes be shed,' said Anne, with more +meaning than perhaps Hal understood. 'And the white overcomes the +red.' + +'May be the red will have its way with spring--' + +But there Hob looked round on them, and growled out, 'Have done with +that folly! What has a herd boy like thee to do with roses and +frippery? Come away from the lady's rein. Thou art over-held to +thrust thyself upon her.' + +Nevertheless, as Hal fell back, the dark eyes shot a meaning glance +at him, and the party went on in silence, except that now and then +Hob launched at Hal an order that he endeavoured to render savagely +contemptuous and harsh, so that Lady Anne interfered to say, 'Nay, +the poor lad is doing no harm.' + +'Scathe enough,' answered Hob. 'He always will be doing ill if he +can. Heed him not, lady, it only makes him the more malapert.' + +'Malapert,' repeated Anne, not able to resist a little teasing of the +grim escort; 'that's scarce a word of the dales. 'Tis more like a +man-at-arms.' + +This Hob would not hear, and if he did, it produced a rough +imprecation on the pony, and a sharp cut with his switch. + +They had crossed another burn, travelled through the moss, and +mounted to the brow of another hill, when, far away against the sky, +on the top of yet another height, were to be seen moving figures, not +cattle, but Anne recognised them at once. 'Men-at-arms! archers! +lances! A search party for me! The Prioress must have sent to the +Warden's tower.' + +'Off with thee, lad!' said Hob, at once turning round upon Hal. +'I'll not have thee lingering to gape at the men-at-arms! Off I say, +or--' + +He raised his stout staff as though to beat the boy, who looked up in +his face with a laugh, as if in very little alarm at his threat, +smiled up in the young lady's face, and as she held out her hand with +'Farewell, Hal; I'll keep your rose-leaves in my breviary,' he bent +over and kissed the fingers. + +'How now! This impudence passes! As if thou wert of the same blood +as the damsel!' exclaimed Hob in considerable anger, bringing down +his stick. 'Away with thee, ill-bred lubber! Back to thy sheep, +thou lazy loiterer! Get thee gone and thy whelp with thee!' + +Hal obeyed, though not without a parting grin at Anne, and had sped +away down the side of the hill, among the hollies and birches, which +entirely concealed him and the bounding puppy. + +Hob went on in a gruff tone: 'The insolence of these loutish lads! +See you, lady, he is a stripling that I took up off the roadside out +of mere charity, and for the love of Heaven--a mere foundling as you +may say, and this is the way he presumes!' + +'A foundling, sayest thou?' said Anne, unable to resist teasing him a +little, and trying to gratify her own curiosity. + +'Ay, you may say so! There's a whole sort of these orphans, after +all the bad luck to the land, to be picked up on every wayside.' + +'On Towton Moor, mayhap,' said Anne demurely, as she saw her surly +guide start. But he was equal to the occasion, and answered: + +'Ay, ay, Towton Moor; 'twas shame to see such bloody work; and there +were motherless and fatherless children, stray lambs, to be met with, +weeping their little hearts out, and starving all around unless some +good Christian took pity on them.' + +'Was Hal one of these?' asked Lady Anne. + +'I tell you, lady, I looked into a church that was full of weeping +and wailing folk, women and children in deadly fear of the cruel, +bloody-minded York folk, and the Lord of March that is himself King +Edward now, a murrain on him!' + +'Don't let those folk hear you say so!' laughed Lady Anne. 'They +would think nothing of hauling thee off for a black traitor, or +hanging thee up on the first tree stout enough to bear thee.' + +She said it half mischievously, but the only effect was a grunt, and +a stolid shrug of his shoulders, nor did he vouchsafe another word +for the rest of the way before they came through the valley, and +through the low brushwood on the bank, and were in sight of the +search party, who set up a joyful halloo of welcome on perceiving +her. + +A young man, the best mounted and armed, evidently an esquire, rode +forward, exclaiming, 'Well met, fair Lady Anne! Great have been the +Mother Prioress's fears for you, and she has called up half the +country side, lest you should be fallen into the hands of Robin of +Redesdale, or some other Lancastrian rogue.' + +'Much she heeded me in comparison with hawk and heron!' responded +Anne. 'Thanks for your heed, Master Bertram.' + +'I must part from thee and thy sturdy pony. Thanks for the use of +it,' added she, as the squire proceeded to take her from the pony. +He would have lifted her down, but she only touched his hand lightly +and sprang to the ground, then stood patting its neck. 'Thanks +again, good pony. I am much beholden to thee, Gaffer Hob! Stay a +moment.' + +'Nay, lady, it would be well to mount you behind Archie. His beast +is best to carry a lady.' + +Archie was an elderly man, stout but active, attached to the service +of the convent. He had leapt down, and was putting on a belt, and +arranging a pad for the damsel, observing, 'Ill hap we lost you, +damsel! I saw you not fall.' + +'Ay,' returned Anne, 'your merlin charmed you far more. Master +Bertram, the loan of your purse. I would reward the honest man who +housed me.' + +Bertram laughed and said, tossing up the little bag that hung to his +girdle, 'Do you think, fair damsel, that a poor Border squire carries +about largesse in gold and silver? Let your clown come with us to +Greystone, and thence have what meed the Prioress may bestow on him, +for a find that your poor servant would have given worlds to make.' + +'Hearest thou, Hob?' said Anne. 'Come with us to the convent, and +thou shalt have thy guerdon.' + +Hob, however, scratched his head, with a more boorish air than he had +before manifested, and muttered something about a cow that needed his +attention, and that he could not spare the time from his herd for all +that the Prioress was like to give him. + +'Take this, then,' said Anne, disengaging a gold clasp from her neck, +and giving it to him. 'Bear it to the goodwife and bid her recollect +me in her prayers.' + +'I shall come and redeem it from thee, sulky carle as thou art,' said +Bertram. 'Such jewels are not for greasy porridge-fed housewives. +Hark thee, have it ready for me! I shall be at thy hovel ere long'-- +as Anne waved to Hob when she was lifted to her seat. + +But Hob had already turned away, and Anne, as she held on by Archie's +leathern belt, in her gay tone was beginning to defend him by +declaring that porridge and grease did not go together, so the +nickname was not rightly bestowed on the kindly goodwife. + +'Ay! Greasy from his lord's red deer,' said Bertram, 'or his tainted +mutton. Trust one of these herds, and a sheep is tainted whenever he +wants a good supper. Beshrew me but that stout fellow looks lusty +and hearty enough, as if he lived well.' + +'They were good and kind, and treated me well,' said Anne. 'I should +be dead if they had not succoured me.' + +'The marvel is you are not dead with the stench of their hovel, and +the foulness of their food.' + +'It was very good food--milk, meat, and oaten porridge,' replied +Anne. + +'Marvellous, I say!' cried Bertram with a sudden thought. 'Was it +not said that there were some of those traitorous Lancastrian folk +lurking about the mountains and fells? That rogue had the bearing of +a man-at-arms, far more than of a mere herd. Deemedst thou not so, +Archie?' to the elderly man who rode before the young damsel. + +'Herdsmen here are good with the quarter-staff. They know how to +stand against the Scots, and do not get bowed like our Midland +serfs,' put in Anne, before Archie could answer, which he did with +something of a snarl, as Bertram laughed somewhat jeeringly, and +declared that the Lady Anne had become soft-hearted. She looked down +at her roses, but in the dismounting and mounting again the petals of +the red rose had floated away, and nothing was left of it save a +slender pink bud enclosed within a dark calyx. + +Archie, hard pressed, declared, 'There are poor fellows lurking about +here and there, but bad blood is over among us. No need to ferret +about for them.' + +'Eh! Not when there may be a lad among them for whose head the king +and his brothers would give the weight of it in gold nobles?' + +Anne shivered a little at this, but she cried out, 'Shame on you, +Master Bertram Selby, if you would take a price for the head of a +brave foe! You, to aspire to be a knight!' + +'Nay, lady, I was but pointing out to Archie and the other grooms +here, how they might fill their pouches if they would. I verily +believe thou knowst of some lurking-place, thou art so prompt to +argue! Did I not see another with thee, who made off when we came in +view? Say! Was he a blood-stained Clifford? I heard of the mother +having married in these parts.' + +'He was Hob Hogward's herd boy,' answered Anne, as composedly as she +could. 'He hied him back to mind his sheep.' + +Nor would Anne allow another word to be extracted from her ere the +grey walls of the Priory of Greystone rose before her, and the lay +Sister at the gate shrieked for joy at seeing her riding behind +Archie. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS + + + +Yet nothing stern was she in cell, +And the nuns loved their abbess well.--SCOTT. + + +The days of the Wars of the Roses were evil times for the discipline +of convents, which, together with the entire Western Church, suffered +from the feuds of the Popes with the Italian princes. + +Small remote houses, used as daughters or auxiliaries to the large +convents, were especially apt to fall into a lax state, and in truth +the little priory of Greystone, with its half-dozen of Sisters, had +been placed under the care of the Lady Agnes Selby because she was +too highly connected to be dealt with sharply, and too turbulent and +unmanageable for the soberminded house at York. So there she was +sent, with the deeply devout and strict Sister Scholastica, to keep +the establishment in order, and deal with the younger nuns and lay +Sisters. Being not entirely out of reach of a raid from the Scottish +border, it was hardly a place for the timid, although the better sort +of moss troopers generally spared monastic houses. Anne St. John had +been sent thither at the time when Queen Margaret was making her +attempt in the north, where the city of York was Lancastrian, as the +Mother Abbess feared that her presence might bring vengeance upon the +Sisterhood. + +There was no great harm in the Mother Agnes, only she was a maiden +whom nothing but family difficulties could have forced into a +monastic life--a lively, high-spirited, out-of-door creature, whom +the close conventionalities of castle life and even whipping could +not tame, and who had been the despair of her mother and of the +discreet dames to whom her first childhood had been committed, to say +nothing of a Lady Abbess or two. Indeed, from the Mother of Sopwell, +Dame Julian Berners, she had imbibed nothing but a vehement taste for +hawk, horse, and hound. The recluses of St. Mary, York, after being +heartily scandalised by her habits, were far from sorry to have a +good excuse for despatching her to their outlying cell, where, as +they observed, she would know how to show a good face in case the +Armstrongs came over the Border. + +She came flying down on the first rumour of Lady Anne's return, her +veil turned back, her pace not at all accordant with the solemn gait +of a Prioress, her arms outstretched, her face, not young nor +handsome, but sunburnt, weather-beaten and healthy, and full of +delight. 'My child, my Nan, here thou art! I was just mounting to +seek for thee to the west, while Bertram sought again over the mosses +where we sent yester morn. Where hast thou been in the snow?' + +'A shepherd took me to his hut, Lady Mother,' answered Anne rather +coldly. + +'Little didst thou think of our woe and grief when thy palfrey was +found standing riderless at the stable door, and Sister Scholastica +told us that there he had been since nones! And she had none to send +in quest but Cuddie, the neatherd.' + +'My palfrey fell with me when you were in full chase of hawk and +heron, 'and none ever turned a head towards me nor heard me call.' + +'Poor maid! But it was such a chase as never you did watch. On and +on went the heron, the falcon ever mounting higher and higher, till +she was but a speck in the clouds, and Tam Falconer shouting and +galloping, mad lest she should go down the wind. Methought she would +have been back to Norroway, the foul jade!' + +'Did you capture her, Mother?' asked Anne. + +'Ay, she pounced at last, and well-nigh staked herself on the heron's +beak! But we had a long ride, and were well-nigh at the Tyne before +we had caught her. Full of pranks, but a noble hawk, as I shall +write to my brother by the next messenger that comes our way. I call +it a hawk worth her meat that leads one such a gallop.' + +'What would you have done, reverend Mother, if she had crossed the +Border?' asked Bertram. + +'Ridden after her. No Scot would touch a Lady Prioress on the +chase,' responded Mother Agnes, looking not at all like a reverend +Mother. 'Now, poor Anne, thou must be hungered. Thou shalt eat with +Master Bertram and me in the refectory anon. Take her, Sister Joan, +and make her ready to break her fast with us.' + +Anne quickly went to her chamber. It was not quite a cell, the bare +stone walls being hung with faded woollen tapestry, the floor covered +with a deerskin, the small window filled with dark green glass, a +chest serving the double purpose of seat and wardrobe, and further, a +bed hung with thick curtains, in which she slept with the lay Sister, +Joan, who further fetched a wooden bowl of water from the fountain in +the court that she might wash her face and hands. She changed her +soiled riding-dress for a tight-fitting serge garment of dark green +with long hanging sleeves, assisted by Joan, who also arranged her +dark hair in two plaits, and put over it a white veil, fastened over +a framework to keep it from hanging too closely. + +All the time Joan talked, telling of the fright the Mother had been +in when the loss of the Lady Anne had been discovered, and how it was +feared that she had been seized by Scottish reivers, or lost in the +snow on the hills, or captured by the Lancastrians. + +'For there be many of the Red Rose rogues about on the mosses-- +comrades, 'tis said, of that noted thief Robin of Redesdale.' + +'I was with good folk, in a shepherd's sheiling,' replied Anne. + +'Ay, ay. Out on the north hill, methinks.' + +'Nay. Beyond Deadman's Pool,' said Anne. 'By Blackreed Moss. That +was where the pony fell.' + +'Blackreed Moss! That moor belongs to the De Vescis, the blackest +Lancaster fellow of all! His daughter is the widow of the red-handed +Clifford, who slew young Earl Edmund on Wakefield Bridge. They say +her young son is in hiding in some moss in his lands, for the King +holds him in deadly feud for his brother's death.' + +'He was a babe, and had nought to do with it,' said Anne. + +'He is of his father's blood,' returned Sister Joan, who in her +convent was still a true north country woman. 'Ay, Lady Anne, you +from your shires know nought of how deep goes the blood feud in us of +the Borderland! Ay, lady, was not mine own grandfather slain by the +Musgrave of Leit Hill, and did not my father have his revenge on his +son by Solway Firth? Yea, and now not a Graeme can meet a Musgrave +but they come to blows.' + +'Nay, but that is not what the good Fathers teach,' Anne interposed. + +'The Fathers have neither chick nor child to take up their quarrel. +They know nought about blood crying for blood! If King Edward caught +that brat of Clifford he would make him know what 'tis to be born of +a bloody house.' + +Anne tried to say something, but the lay Sister pushed her along. +'There, there, go you down--you know nothing about what honour +requires of you! You are but a south country maid, and have no +notion of what is due to them one came from.' + +Joan Graeme was only a lay Sister, her father a small farmer when not +a moss trooper; but all the Border, on both sides, had the strongest +ideas of persistent vendetta, such as happily had never been held in +the midland and southern counties, where there was less infusion of +Celtic blood. Anne was a good deal shocked at the doctrine +propounded by the attendant Sister, a mild, good-natured woman in +daily life, but the conversation confirmed her suspicions, and put +her on her guard as she remembered Hob's warning. She had liked the +shepherd lad far too much, and was far too grateful to him, to utter +a word that might give him up to the revengers of blood. + +At the foot of the stone stairs that led into the quadrangle she met +the black-robed, heavily hooded Sister Scholastica on her way to the +chapel. The old nun held out her arms. 'Safely returned, my child! +God be thanked! Art thou come to join thy thanksgiving with ours at +this hour of nones?' + +'Nay, I am bound to break my fast with the Mother and Master +Bertram.' + +'Ah! thou must needs be hungered! It is well! But do but utter thy +thanks to Him Who kept thee safe from the storm and from foul doers.' + +Anne did not break away from the good Sister, but went as far as the +chapel porch, was touched with holy water, and bending her knee, +uttered in a low voice her 'Gratias ago,' then hastened across the +court to the refectory, where the Prioress received her with a laugh +and, 'So Sister Scholastica laid hands on thee; I thought I should +have to come and rescue thee ere the grouse grew cold.' + +Bertram, as a courteous squire of dames, came forward bowing low, and +the party were soon seated at the board--literally a board, supported +upon trestles, only large enough to receive the Prioress, the squire +and the recovered girl, but daintily veiled in delicate white napery. + +It was screened off from the rest of the refectory, where the few +Sisters had already had their morning's meal after Holy Communion; +and from it there was a slight barrier, on the other side of which +Bertram Selby ought to have been, but rules sat very lightly on the +Prioress Selby. Bertram was of kin to her, and she had no demur as +to admitting him to her private table. He was, in fact, a squire of +the household of the Marquess of Montagu, brother of the Kingmaker +and had been despatched with letters to the south. He had made a +halt at his cousin's priory, had been persuaded to join in flying the +new hawks, and then had first been detained by the snow-storm, and +then joined in the quest for the lost Lady Anne St. John. + +No doubt had then arisen that the Nevils were firm in their +attachment to Edward IV., and, as a consequence, in enmity to the +House of Clifford, and both these scions of Selby had been excited at +a rumour that the widow of the Baron who had slain young Edmund of +York had married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Threlkeld, and that her +eldest son, the heir of the line, might be hidden somewhere on the De +Vesci estates. + +Bertram had already told the Prioress that his men had spied a lad +accompanying the shepherd who escorted the lady, and who, he thought, +had a certain twang of south country speech; and no sooner had he +carved for the ladies, according to the courtly duty of an esquire, +than the inquiry began as to who had found the maiden and where she +had been lodged. Prioress Agnes, who had already broken her fast, +sat meantime with the favourite hawk on her wrist and a large dog +beside her, feeding them alternately with the bones of the grouse. + +'Come, tell us all, sweet Nan! Where wast thou in that untimely +snow-storm? In a cave, starved with cold, eh?' + +'I was safe in a cabin with a kind old gammer.' + +'Eh! And how cam'st thou there? Wandering thither?' + +'Nay, the shepherd heard me call.' + +'The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?' + +'He carried me to the hut.' + +Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there +only one shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side +where Bertram met her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of +him? The shepherd sent him back, he had been too long away from his +flock. What was his name? What was the shepherd's name? Who was +his master? Anne did not know--she had heard no names save Hob and +Hal, she had seen no arms, she had heard nothing southland. The lad +was a mere herd-boy, ordered out to milk ewes and tend the sheep. +She answered briefly, and with a certain sullenness, and young Selby +at last turned on her. 'Look thee here, fair lady, there's a saying +abroad that the heir of the red-handed House of Clifford is lurking +here, on the look-out to favour Queen Margaret and her son. Couldst +thou put us on the scent, King Edward would favour thee and make thee +a great dame, and have thee to his Court--nay, maybe give thee what +is left of the barony of Clifford.' + +'I know nothing of young lords,' sulkily growled Anne, who had been +hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the table. + +'And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,' exclaimed the Prioress, 'that if +thou art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in these +parts, it is not the part of an honest man to seek him out for his +destruction, and still less to try to make the maid he rescued betray +him. Well done, little Anne, thou knowest how to hold thy tongue.' + +'Reverend Mother,' expostulated Bertram, 'if you knew what some would +give to be on the scent of the wolf-cub!' + +'I know not, nor do I wish to know, for what price a Selby would sell +his honour and his bowels of mercy,' said Mother Agnes. 'Come away, +Nan; thou hast done well.' + +Bertram muttered something about having thought her a better Yorkist, +women not understanding, and mischief that might be brewing; but the +Prioress, taking Anne by the hand, went her way, leaving Bertram +standing confused. + +'Oh, mother,' sighed Anne, 'do you think he will go after him? He +will think I was treacherous!' + +'I doubt me whether he will dare,' said the Prioress. 'Moreover, it +is too late in the day for a search, and another snow-shower seems +coming up again. I cannot turn the youth, my kinsman, from my door, +and he is safer here than on his quest, but he shall see no more of +thee or me to-night. I may hold that Edward of March has the right, +but that does not mean hunting down an orphan child.' + +'Mother, mother, you are good indeed!' cried Anne, almost weeping for +joy. + +Bertram, though hurt and offended, was obliged by advance of evening +to remain all night in the hospitium, with only the chaplain to bear +him company, and it was reported that though he rode past Blackpool, +no trace of shepherd or hovel was found. + + + + +CHAPTER V. MOTHER AND SON + + + +My own, my own, thy fellow-guest +I may not be, but rest thee, rest-- +The lowly shepherd's life is best.--WORDSWORTH. + + +The Lady Threlkeld stood in the lower storey of her castle, a sort of +rough-built hall or crypt, with a stone stair leading upward to the +real castle hall above, while this served as a place where she met +her husband's retainers and the poor around, and administered to +their wants with her own hands, assisted by the maidens of her +household. + +Among the various hungry and diseased there limped in a sturdy beggar +with a wallet on his back, and a broad shady hat, as though on +pilgrimage. He was evidently a stranger among the rest, and had his +leg and foot bound up, leaning heavily on a stout staff. + +'Italy pilgrim, what ails thee?' demanded the lady, as he approached +her. + +'Alack, noble dame! we poor pilgrims must ever be moving on, however +much it irks foot and limb, over these northern stones,' he answered, +and his accent and tone were such that a thrill seemed to pass over +the lady's whole person, but she controlled it, and only said, 'Tarry +till these have received their alms, then will I see to thee and thy +maimed foot. Give him a stool, Alice, while he waits.' + +The various patients who claimed the lady's assistance were attended +to, those who needed food were relieved, and in due time the hall was +cleared, excepting of the lady, an old female servant, and Hob, who +had sat all the time with his foot on a stool, and his back against +the wall, more than half asleep after the toils and long journey of +the night. + +Then the Lady Threlkeld came to him, and making him a sign not to +rise, said aloud, 'Good Gaffer, let me see what ails thy leg.' Then +kneeling down and busying herself with the bandages, she looked up +piteously in his face, with the partly breathed inquiry, 'My son?' + +'Well, my lady, and grown into a stalwart lad,' was Hob's answer, +with an eye on the door, and in a voice as low as his gruff tones +would permit. + +'And wherefore? What is it?' she asked anxiously. 'Be they on the +track of my poor boy?' + +'They may be,' answered Hob, 'wherefore I deemed it well to shift our +quarters. As hap would have it, the lad fell upon a little wench +lost in the mosses, and there was nothing for it but to bring her +home for the night. I would have had her away as soon as day dawned, +and no questions asked, but the witches, or the foul fiend himself, +must needs bring up a snow-storm, and there was nothing for it but to +let her bide in the cot all day, giving tongue as none but womenfolk +can do; and behold she is the child of the Lord St. John of Bletso.' + +'Nay, what should bring her north?' + +'She wonnes at Greystone with the wild Prioress Selby, who lost her +out hawking. Her father is a black Yorkist. I saw him up to his +stirrups in blood at St. Albans!' + +'But sure my boy did not make himself known to her?' exclaimed the +lady. + +'I trow not. He has been well warned, and is a lad of his word; but +the two bairns, left to themselves, could scarce help finding out +that each was of gentle blood and breeding, and how much more my +goodwife cannot tell. I took the maid back so soon as it was safe +yester morn, and sent back my young lord, much against his will, +half-way to Greystone. And well was it I did so, for he was scarce +over the ridge when a plump of spears came in sight on the search for +him, and led by the young squire of Selby.' + +'Ah! and if the damsel does but talk, even if she knows nought, the +foe will draw their conclusions!' said the lady, clasping her hands. +'Oh, would that I had sent him abroad with his little brothers!' + +'Nay, then might he have fallen into the hands of Bletso himself, and +they say Burgundy is all for the Yorkists now,' said Hob. 'This is +what I have done, gracious lady. I bade my good woman carry off all +she could from the homestead and burn the rest; and for him we wot +on, I sent him and his flock off westward, appointing each of them +the same trysting-place--on the slope beneath Derwent Hill, my lady-- +whence I thought, if it were your will and the good knight Sir +Lancelot's, we might go nigher to the sea and the firth, where the +Selby clan have no call, being at deadly feud with the Ridleys. So +if the maiden's tongue goes fast, and the Prioress follows up the +quest with young Selby, they will find nought for their pains.' + +'Thou art a good guardian, Hob! Ah! where would my boy be save for +thee? And thou sayest he is even now at the very border of the +forest ground! Sure, there can be no cause that I should not go and +see him. My heart hungers for my children. Oh, let me go with +thee!' + +'Sir Lancelot--' began Hob. + +'He is away at the Warden's summons. He will scarce be back for a +week or more. I will, I must go with thee, good Hob.' + +'Not in your own person, good madam,' stipulated Hob. 'As thou +knowest, there are those in Sir Lancelot's following who might be too +apt to report of secret visits, and that were as ill as the Priory +folk.' + +It was then decided that the lady should put on the disguise of a +countrywoman bringing eggs and meat to sell at the castle, and meet +Hob near the postern, whence a path led to Penrith. + +Hob, having received a lump of oatcake and a draught of very small +ale, limped out of the court, and, so soon as he could find a +convenient spot behind the gorse bushes, divested himself of his +bandages, and changed the side of his shepherd's plaid to one much +older and more weather-beaten; also his pilgrim's hat for one in his +pouch--a blue bonnet, more like the national Scottish head-gear, +hiding the hat in the gorse. + +Then he lay down and waited, where he could see a window, whence a +red kerchief was to be fluttered to show when the lady would be ready +for him to attend her. He waited long, for she had first to disarm +suspicion by presiding at the general meal of the household, and +showing no undue haste. + +At last, though not till after he had more than once fallen asleep +and feared that he had missed the signal, or that his wife and 'Hal' +might be tempted to some imprudence while waiting, he beheld the +kerchief waving in the sunset light of the afternoon, and presently, +shrouded in such a black and white shepherd's maud as his own, and in +a russet gown with a basket on her arm, his lady came forth and +joined him. + +His first thought was how would she return again, when the darkness +was begun, but her only answer was, 'Heed not that! My child, I must +see.' + +Indeed, she was almost too breathless and eager with haste, as he +guided her over the rough and difficult path, or rather track, to +answer his inquiries as to what was to be done next. Her view, +however, agreed with his, that they must lurk in the borders of the +woodland for a day or two till Sir Lancelot's return, when he would +direct them to a place where he could put them under the protection +of one of the tenants of his manor. It was a long walk, longer than +Hob had perhaps felt when he had undertaken to conduct the lady +through it, for ladies, though inured to many dangers in those days, +were unaccustomed to travelling on their own feet; but the mother's +heart seemed to heed no obstacle, though moments came when she had to +lean heavily on her companion, and he even had to lift her over +brooks or pools; but happily the sun had not set when they made their +way through the tangles of the wood, and at last saw before them the +fitful glow of a fire of dead leaves, branches and twigs, while the +bark of a dog greeted the rustling, they made. + +'Sweetheart, my faithful!' then shouted Hob, and in another moment +there was a cry, 'Ha! Halloa! Master Hob--beest there?' + +'His voice!--my son's!' gasped the lady, and sank for a moment of +overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy dog +leapt upon them both. + +'Ay, lad, here--and some one else.' + +The boy crashed through the underwood, and stood on the path in a +moment's hesitation. Mother and son were face to face! + +The years that had passed had changed the lad from almost a babe into +a well-grown strong boy but the mother was little altered, and as she +held out her arms no word was wasted ere he sprang into them, and his +face was hidden on her neck as when he knew his way into her embrace +of old! + +When the intense rapturous hold was loosed they were aware of +Goodwife Dolly looking on with clasped hands and streaming eyes, +giving thanks for the meeting of her dear lady and the charge whom +she and her husband had so faithfully kept. + +When the mother and son had leisure to look round, and there was a +pleased survey of the boy's height and strength, Goodwife Dolly came +forward to beg the lady to come to her fire, and rest under the gipsy +tent which she and nephew Piers--her _real_ herd-boy, a rough, +shaggy, almost dumb and imbecile lad--had raised with branches, skins +and canvas, to protect their few articles of property. There was a +smouldering fire, over which Doll had prepared a rabbit which the dog +had caught, and which she had intended for Hal's supper and that of +her husband if he came home in time. While the lady lavished thanks +upon her for all she had done for the boy she was intent on improving +the rude meal, so as to strengthen her mistress after her long walk, +and for the return. The lady, however, could see and think of +nothing but her son, while he returned her tearful gaze with open +eyes, gathering up his old recollections of her. + +'Mother!' he said--with a half-wondering tone, as the recollections +of six years old came back to him more fully, and then he nestled +again in her arms as if she were far more real to him than at first-- +'Mother!' And then, as she sobbed over him, 'The little one?' + +'The babe is well, when last I heard of her, in a convent at York. +Thou rememberest her?' + +'Ay--my little sister! Ay,' he said, with a considering +interrogative sound, 'I mind her well, and old Bunce too, that taught +me to ride.' + +But Hob interrupted the reminiscences by bringing up the pony on +which Anne had ridden, and insisting that the lady should not tarry +longer. 'He,' indicating Hal, might walk beside her through the +wood, and thus prolong their interview, but, as she well knew, it was +entirely unsafe to remain any longer away from the castle. + +There were embraces and sobbing thanks exchanged between the lady and +her son's old nurse, and then Hal, at a growling hint from Hob, came +forward, and awkwardly helped her to her saddle. He walked by her +side through the wood, holding her rein, while Hob, going before, did +his best in the twilight to clear away the tangled branches and +brambles that fell across the path, and were near of striking the +lady across the face as she rode. + +On the way she talked to her son about his remembrances, anxious to +know how far his dim recollections went of the old paternal castle in +Bedfordshire, of his infant sister and brother, and his father. Of +him he had little recollection, only of being lifted in his arms, +kissed and blessed, and seeing him ride away with his troop, clanking +in their armour. After that he remembered nothing, save the being +put into a homelier dress, and travelling on Nurse Dolly's lap in a +wain, up and down, it seemed to him, for ever, till at last clearer +recollections awoke in him, and he knew himself as Hal the shepherd's +boy, with the sheep around him, and the blue starry sky above him. + +'Dost thou remember what thou wast called in those times?' asked his +mother. + +'I was always Hal. The little one was Meg,' he said. + +'Even so, my boy, my dear boy! But knowst thou no more than this?' + +'Methinks, methinks there were serving-men that called me the young +Lord. Ay, so! But nurse said I must forget all that. Mother dear, +when that maiden came and talked of tilts and lances, meseemed that I +recollected somewhat. Was then my father a knight?' + +'Alack! alack! my child, that thou shouldst not know!' + +'Memories came back with that maiden's voice and thine,' said Hal, in +a bewildered tone. 'My father! Was he then slain when he rode +farther?' + +'Ah! I may tell thee now thou art old enough to guard thyself,' she +said. 'Thy father, whom our blessed Lord assoilzie, was the Lord +Clifford, slain by savage hands on Towton field for his faith to King +Harry! Thou, my poor boy, art the Baron of Clifford, though while +this cruel House of York be in power thou must keep in hiding from +them in this mean disguise. Woe worth the day!' + +'And am I then a baron--a lord?' said the boy. 'Great lords have +books. Were there not some big ones on the hall window seats? Did +not Brother Eldred begin to teach me my letters? I would that I +could go on to learn more!' + +'Oh, I would that thou couldst have all knightly training, and learn +to use sword and lance like thy gallant father!' + +'Nay, but I saw a poor man fall off his horse and lie hurt, I do not +want those hard, cruel ways. And my father was slain. Must a lord +go to battle?' + +'Boy, boy, thou wilt not belie thy Clifford blood,' cried the lady in +consternation, which was increased when he said, 'I have no mind to +go out and kill folks or be killed. I had rather mark the stars and +tend my sheep.' + +'Alack! alack! This comes of keeping company with the sheep. That +my son, and my lord's son, should be infected with their sheepish +nature!' + +'Never fear, madam,' said Hob. 'When occasion comes, and strength is +grown, his blood will show itself.' + +'If I could only give him knightly breeding!' sighed the lady. 'Sir +Lancelot may find the way. I cannot see him grow up a mere shepherd +boy.' + +'Content you, madam,' said Hob. 'Never did I see a shepherd boy with +the wisdom and the thought there is in that curly pate!' + +'Wisdom! thought!' muttered the lady. 'Those did not save our good +King, only made him a saint. I had rather hear the boy talk of sword +and lance than prate of books and stars! And that wench, whom to our +misfortune thou didst find! What didst tell her?' + +'I told her nought, mother, for I had nought to tell.' + +'She scented mystery, though,' said Hob. 'She saw he was no herd +boy.' + +'Nay? Though he holds himself like a lout untrained! Would that I +could have thee in hand, my son, to make thee meet to tread in thy +brave father's steps! But now, comrade of sheep thou art, and I fear +me thou wilt ever be! But that maid, I trust that she perceived +nothing in thy bearing or speech?' + +'She will not betray whatever she perceived,' said Hal stoutly. + +The wood was by this time nearly past, and the moment of parting had +come. The lady had decided on going on foot to the little grey stone +church whose low square tower could be seen rising like another rock. +Thither she could repair in her plaid, and by-and-by throw it off, +and return in her own character to the castle, as though she had gone +forth to worship there. When lifted off the shaggy pony she threw +her arms round Hal, kissed him passionately, and bade him never +breathe a word of it, but never to forget that a baron he was, and +bound to be a good brave knight, fit to avenge his father's death! + +Hal came to understand from Dolly's explanations that his recent +abode had been on the estate of his grandfather, Baron de Vesci, at +Londesborough, but his mother had since married Sir Lancelot +Threlkeld, and had intimated that her boy should be removed thither +as soon as might be expedient, and therefore the house on the +Yorkshire moor had been broken up. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER + + + +Thou tree of covert and of rest +For this young bird that was distrest.--WORDSWORTH. + + +A baron--bound to be a good knight, and to avenge my father's death! +What does it all mean?' murmured Hal to himself as he lay on his back +in the morning sunshine, on the hill-side, the wood behind him, and +before him a distance of undulating ground, ending in the straight +mysterious blue-grey line that Hob Hogward had told him was the sea. + +'Baron! Lord Clifford, like my father! He was a man in steel +armour; I remember how it rang, and how his gorget--yes, that was the +thing round his throat--how it hurt me when he lifted me up to kiss +me, and how they blamed me for crying out. Ay, and he lived in a +castle with dark, dull, narrow chambers, all save the hall, where +there was ever a tramping and a clamouring, and smells of hot burning +meat, and horses, and all sorts of things, and they sat and sat over +their meat and wine, and drank health to King Harry and the Red Rose. +I mind now how they shouted and roared, and how I wanted to go and +hide on the stairs, and my father would have me shout with them, and +drink confusion to York out of his cup, and shook me and cuffed me +when I cried. Oh! must one be like that to be a knight? I had +rather live on these free green hills with the clear blue sky above +me, and my good old ewe for my comrade'--and he fell to caressing the +face of an old sheep which had come up to him, a white, mountain- +bleached sheep with fine and delicate limbs. 'Yes, I love thee, +good, gentle, little ewe, and thee, faithful Watch,' as a young +collie pressed up to him, thrusting a long nose into his hand, 'far +better than those great baying hounds, or the fierce-eyed hawks that +only want to kill. If I be a baron, must it be in that sort? +Avenge! avenge! what does that mean? Is it, as in Goodwife Dolly's +ballads, going forth to kill? Why should I? I had rather let them +be! Hark! Yea, Watch,' as the dog pricked his ears and raised his +graceful head, then sprang up and uttered a deep-mouthed bark. The +sheep darted away to her companions, and Hal rose to his feet, as the +dog began to wave his tail, and Hob came forward accompanied by a +tall, grave-looking gentleman. 'Here he be, sir. Hal, come thou and +ask the blessing of thy knightly stepfather.' + +Hal obeyed the summons, and coming forward put a knee to the ground, +while Sir Lancelot Threlkeld uttered the conventional blessing, +adding, 'Fair son, I am glad to see thee. Would that we might be +better acquainted, but I fear it is not safe for thee to come and be +trained for knighthood in my poor house. Thou art a well grown lad, +I rejoice to see, and strong and hearty I have no doubt.' + +'Ay, sir, he is strong enow, I wis; we have done our best for him,' +responded Hob, while Hal stood shy and shamefaced; but there was +something about his bearing that made Sir Lancelot observe, 'Ay, ay, +he shows what he comes of more than his mother made me fear. Only +thou must not slouch, my fair son. Raise thy head more. Put thy +shoulders back. So! so! Nay.' + +Poor Hal tried to obey, the colour mounting in his face, but he only +became more and more stiff when he tried to be upright, and his +expression was such that Sir Lancelot cried out, 'Put not on the +visage of one of thine own sheep! Ah! how shalt thou be trained to +be a worthy knight? I cannot take thee to mine house, for I have men +there who might inform King Edward that thy mother harboured thee. +And unless I could first make interest with Montagu or Salisbury, +that would be thy death, if not mine.' + +The boy had nothing to say to this, and stood shy by, while his +stepfather explained his designs to Hal. It was needful to remove +the young Baron as far as possible from the suspicion of the greater +part of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld's household, and the present resting- +place, within a walk of his castle, was therefore unsafe; besides +that, freebooters might be another danger, so near the outskirts of +the wood, since the northern districts of moor and wood were by no +means clear of the remnants of the contending armies, people who were +generally of the party opposite to that which they intended to rob. + +But on the banks of the Derwent, not far from its fall into the sea, +Sir Lancelot had granted a tenure to an old retainer of the De +Vescis, who had followed his mistress in her misfortunes; and on his +lands Hob Hogward might be established as a guardian of the herds +with his family, which would excite no suspicion. Moreover, he could +train the young Baron in martial exercises, the only other way of +fitting him for his station unless he could be sent to France or +Burgundy like his brother; but besides that the journey was a +difficulty, it was always uncertain whether there would be revengeful +exiles of one or other side in the service of their King, who might +wreak the wrongs of their party on Clifford's eldest son. There was +reported to be a hermit on the coast, who, if he was a scholar, might +teach the young gentleman. To Sir Lancelot's surprise, his stepson's +face lighted up more at this suggestion than at that of being trained +in arms. + +Hob had done nothing in that way, not even begun to teach him the +quarterstaff, though he avouched that when there was cause the young +lord was no craven, no more than any Clifford ever was--witness when +he drove off the great hound, which some said was a wolf, when it +fell upon the flock, or when none could hold him from climbing down +the Giant's Cliff after the lamb that had fallen. No fear but he had +heart enough to make his hand keep his own or other folks' heads. + +'That is well,' said Sir Lancelot, looking at the lad, who stood +twisting his hands in the speechless silence induced by being the +subject of discussion; 'but it would be better, as my lady saith, if +he could only learn not to bear himself so like a clown.' + +However, there was no more time, for Simon Bunce, the old man-at-arms +whom Sir Lancelot had appointed to meet him there, came in sight +through the trees, riding an old grey war-horse, much resembling +himself in the battered and yet strong and effective air of both. +Springing down, the old man bent very low before the young Baron, +raising his cap as he gave thanks to Heaven for permitting him to see +his master's son. Then, after obeisance to his present master, he +and Hob eagerly shook hands as old comrades and fellow-soldiers who +had thought never to meet again. + +Then turning again to the young noble, he poured out his love, +devotion and gratitude for being able to serve his beloved lord's +noble son; while poor Hal stood under the discomfort of being +surrounded with friends who knew exactly what to say and do to him, +their superior, while he himself was entirely at a loss how to show +himself gracious or grateful as he knew he ought to do. It was a +relief when Sir Lancelot said 'Enough, good Simon! Forget his +nobility for the present while he goes with thee to Derwentside as +herd boy to Halbert Halstead here; only thou must forget both their +names, and know them only as Hal and Hob.' + +With a gesture of obedience, Simon listened to the further +directions, and how he was to explain that these south country folks +had been sent up in charge of an especial flock of my lady's which +she wished to have on the comparatively sheltered valley of the +Derwent. Perhaps further directions as to the training of the young +Baron were added later, but Hal did not hear them. He was glad to be +dismissed to find Piers and gather the sheep together in preparation +for the journey to their new quarters. Yet he did not fail to hear +the sigh with which his stepfather noted that his parting salutation +was far too much in the character of the herd boy. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. ON DERWENT BANKS + + + +When under cloud of fear he lay +A shepherd clad in homely grey.--WORDSWORTH. + + +Simon Bunce came himself to conduct his new tenants to their abode. +It was a pleasant spot, a ravine, down which the clear stream rushed +on its course to mingle its waters with those of the ocean. The +rocks and brushwood veiled the approach to an open glade where stood +a rude stone hovel, rough enough, but possessing two rooms, a hearth +and a chimney, and thus superior to the hut that had been left on the +moor. There were sheds for the cattle around, and the grass was +fresh and green so that the sheep, the goat and the cow began eagerly +feeding, as did the pony which Hal and Piers were unloading. + +On one side stretched the open moor rising into the purple hills, +just touched with snow. On the other was the wooded valley of the +Derwent, growing wider ever before it debouched amid rocks into the +sea. The goodwife at once discovered that there had been recent +habitation, and asked what had become of the former dwellers there. + +'The woman fretted for company,' said Simon, 'and vowed she was in +fear of the Scots, so I even let her have her way and go down to the +town.' + +The town in north country parlance only meant a small village, and +Hob asked where it lay. + +It was near the junction of the two streams, where Simon lived +himself in a slightly fortified farmhouse, just high up enough to be +fairly safe from flood tides. He did not advise his newly arrived +tenants to be much seen at this place, where there were people who +might talk. They were almost able to provide for their daily needs +themselves, excepting for meal and for ale, and he would himself see +to this being supplied from a more distant farm on the coast, which +Hob and Piers might visit from time to time with the pony. + +Goodwife Dolly inquired whether they might safely go to church, from +which she had been debarred all the time they had been on the move. +'So ill for both us and the lad,' she said. + +Simon looked doubtful. 'If thou canst not save thy soul without,' he +said, 'thou mightst go on some feast day, when there is such a +concourse of folk that thou mightst not be noticed, and come away at +once without halting for idle clavers, as they call them here.' + +'That's what the women folk are keen for with their church-going,' +said Hob with a grin. + +'Now, husband, thou knowst,' said Dolly, injured, though she was more +than aware he spoke with intent to tease her. 'Have I not lived all +this while with none to speak to save thee and the blessed lads, and +never murmured.' + +'Though thy tongue be sore for want of speech!' laughed Hob, 'thou +beest a good wife, Dolly, and maybe thy faithfulness will tell as +much in the saving of thy soul as going to church.' + +'Nay, but,' said Hal with eagerness, 'is there not a priest?' + +'The priest comes of a White Rose house--I trust not him. Ay, +goodwife, beware of showing thyself to him. I give him my dues, that +he may have no occasion against me or Sir Lancelot, but I would not +have him pry into knowledge that concerns him not.' + +'Did not Sir Lancelot say somewhat of a scholarly hermit who might +learn me in what I ought to know?' asked the boy. + +'Never you fear, sir! Here are Hob Halstead and I, able to train any +young noble in what behoves him most to know.' + +'Yea, in arms and sports. They must be learnt I know, but a noble +needs booklore too,' said the boy. 'Cannot this same hermit help me? +Sir Lancelot--' + +Simon Bunce interrupted sharply. 'Sir Lancelot knows nought of the +hermit! He is--he is--a holy man.' + +'A priest,' broke in Dolly, 'a priest!' + +'No such thing, dame, no clerk at all, I tell thee. And ye lads had +best not molest him! He is for ever busy with his prayers, and wants +none near him.' + +Hal was disappointed, for his mind was far less set on the exercises +of a young knight than on the desire to acquire knowledge, that study +which seemed to be thrown away on the unwilling ears of Anne St. +John. + +Hob had been awakened by contact with his lady and her husband, as +well as with the old comrade, Simon Bunce, to perceive that if there +were any chance of the young Lord Clifford's recovering his true +position he must not be allowed to lounge and slouch about like +Piers, and he was continually calling him to order, making him sit +and stand upright, as he had seen the young pages forced to do at the +castle, learn how to handle a sword, and use the long stick which was +the substitute for a lance, and to mount and sit on the old pony as a +knight should do, till poor Hal had no peace, and was glad to get +away upon the moor with Piers and the sheep, where there was no one +to criticise him, or predict that nothing would ever make him do +honour to his name if he were proved ten times a baron. + +It was still worse when Bunce came over, and brought a taller horse, +and such real weapons as he deemed that the young lord might be +taught to use, and there were doleful auguries and sharp reproofs, +designed in comically respectful phrases, till he was almost beside +himself with being thus tormented, and ready to wish never to hear of +being a baron. + +His relief was to wander away upon the moors, watch the lights and +shadows on the wondrous mountains, or dream on the banks of the +river, by which he could make his way to the seashore, a place of +endless wonder and contemplation, as he marvelled why the waters +flowed in and retreated again, watched the white crests, and the +glassy rolls of the waves, felt his mind and aspiration stretched as +by something illimitable, even as when he looked up to the sky, and +saw star beyond star, differing from one another in brightness. +There were those white birds too, differing from all the night-jars +and plovers he had seen on the moor, floating now over the waves, now +up aloft and away, as if they were soaring into the very skies. Oh, +would that he could follow them, and rise with them to know what were +those great grey or white clouds, and what was above or below in +those blue vastnesses! And whence came all those strange things that +the water spread at his feet the long, brown, wet streamers, or the +delicate red tracery that could be seen in the clear pools, where +were sometimes those lumps like raw flesh when closed, but which +opened into flowers? Or the things like the snails on the heath, yet +not snails, and all the strange creatures that hopped and danced in +the water? + +Why would no one explain such things to him? Nay, what a pity +everyone treated it as mere childish folly in him to be thus +interested! They did not quite dare to beat him for it--that was one +use of being a baron. Indeed, one day when Simon Bunce struck him +sharply and hard over the shoulders for dragging home a great piece +of sea-weed with numerous curious creatures upon it, Goodwife Dolly +rushed out and made such an outcry that the esquire was fain to +excuse himself by declaring that it was time that my lord should know +how to bide a buffet, and answer it. He was ready and glad to meet +the stroke in return! 'Come on, sir!' + +And Hob put a stout headless lance in the boy's hand, while Simon +stood up straight before him. Hob adjusted the weapon in his inert +hand, and told him how and where to strike. But 'It is not in sooth. +I don't want to hurt Master Simon,' said the child, as they laughed, +and yet with displeasure as his blow fell weak and uncertain. + +'Is it a mouse's tail?' cried Simon in derision. + +'Come, sir, try again,' said Hob. 'Strike as you did when the black +bull came down. Why cannot you do the like now, when you are +tingling from Bunce's stroke?' + +'Ah! then I thought the bull would fall on Piers,' said Hal. + +'Come on, think so now, sir. One blow to do my heart good, and show +you have the arm of your forebears.' + +Thus incited, with Hob calling out to him to take heart of grace, +while Simon made a feint of trying to beat Mother Dolly, Hal started +forward and dealt a blow sufficient to make Simon cry out, 'Ha, well +struck, sir, if you had had a better grip of your lance! I even feel +it through my buff coat.' + +He spoke as though it had been a kiss; but oh! and alack! why were +these rough and dreary exercises all that these guardians--yea, and +even Sir Lancelot and his mother--thought worth his learning, when +there was so much more that awoke his delight and interest? Was it +really childish to heed these things? Yet even to his young, +undeveloped brain it seemed as if there must be mysteries in sky and +sea, the unravelling of which would make life more worth having than +the giving and taking of blows, which was all they heeded. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE HERMIT + + + +No hermit e'er so welcome crost +A child's lone path in woodland lost.--KEBLE. + + +Hal had wandered farther than his wont, rather hoping to be out of +call if Simon arrived to give him a lesson in chivalrous sports. He +found himself on the slope of one of the gorges down which smaller +streams rushed in wet weather to join the Derwent. There was a sound +of tinkling water, and leaning forward, Hal saw that a tiny thread of +water dropped between the ferns and the stones. Therewith a low, +soft chant in a manly voice, mingling with the drip of the water. + +The words were strange to him-- + + + Lucis Creator optime, + Lucem dierum proferens-- + + +but they were very sweet, and in leaning forward to look between the +rowan branches and hear and see more, his foot slipped, and with +Watch barking round him, he rolled helplessly down the rock, and +found himself before a tall light-haired man, in a dark dress, who +gave a hand to raise him, asking kindly, 'Art hurt, my child?' + +'Oh, no, sir! Off, off, Watch!' as the dog was about to resent +anyone's touching his master. 'Holy sir, thanks, great thanks,' as a +long fair hand helped him to his feet, and brushed his soiled +garment. + +'Unhurt, I see,' said that sweet voice. 'Hast thou lost thy way? +Good dog, thou lovest thy master! Art thou astray?' + +'No, sir, thank you, I know my way home.' + +'Thou art the boy who lives with the shepherd at Derwentside, on +Bunce's ground?' + +'Ay, Hob Hogward's herd boy,' said Hal. 'Oh, sir, are you the holy +hermit of the Derwent vale?' + +'A hermit for the nonce I am,' was the answer, with something of a +smile responsive to the eager face. + +'Oh, sir, if you be not too holy to look at me or speak to me! If +you would help me to some better knowledge--not only of sword and +single-stick!' + +'Better knowledge, my child! Of thy God?' said the hermit, a sweet +look of joy spreading over his face. + +'Goodwife Dolly has told me of Him, and taught me my Pater and Credo, +but we have lived far off, and she has not been able to go to church +for weeks and years. But what I long after is to tell me what means +all this--yonder sea, and all the stars up above. And they will call +me a simpleton for marking such as these, and only want me to heed +how to shoot an arrow, or give a stroke hard enough to hurt another. +Do such rude doings alone, fit for a bull or a ram as meseems, go to +the making of a knight, fair sir?' + +'They go to the knight's keeping of his own, for others whom he ought +to defend,' said the hermit sadly; 'I would have thee learn and +practise them. But for the rest, thou knowest, sure, who made the +stars?' + +'Oh yes! Nurse Dolly told me. She saw it all in a mystery play long +long ago--when a Hand came out, and put in the stars and sun and +moon.' + +'Knowest thou whose Hand was figured there, my child?' + +'The Hand of God,' said Hal, removing his cap. 'They be sparks to +show His glory! But why do some move about among the others--one big +one moves from the Bull's face one winter to half-way beyond it. And +is the morning star the evening one?' + +'Ah! thou shouldst know Ptolemy and the Almagest,' said the hermit +smiling, 'to understand the circuits of those wandering stars--Coeli +enarrant gloriam Dei.' + +'That is Latin,' said the boy, startled. 'Are you a priest, sir?' + +'No, not I--I am not worthy,' was the answer, 'but in some things I +may aid thee, and I shall be blessed in so doing. Canst say thy +prayers?' + +'Oh, yes! nurse makes me say them when I lie down and when I get up-- +Credo and Pater. She says the old parson used to teach them our own +tongue for them, but she has well-nigh forgot. Can you tell me, holy +man?' + +'That will I, with all my heart,' responded the hermit, laying his +long delicate hand on Hal's head. 'Blessed be He who has sent thee +to me!' + +The boy sat at the hermit's feet, listening with the eagerness of one +whose soul and mind had alike been under starvation, and how time +went neither knew till there was a rustling and a step. Watch sprang +up, but in another moment Simon Bunce, cap in hand, stood before the +hut, beginning with 'How now, sir?' + +The hermit raised his hand, as if to make a sign, saying, 'Thou seest +I have a guest, good friend.' + +Bunce started back with 'Oh! the young Lord! Sworn to silence, I +trust! I bade him not meddle with you, sir.' + +'It was against his will, I trow,' said the hermit. 'He fell over +the rock by the waterfall, but since he is here, I will answer for +him that he does no hurt by word or deed!' + +'Never, holy sir!' eagerly exclaimed Hal. 'Hob Hogward knows that I +can keep my mouth shut. And may I come again?' + +Simon was shaking his head, but the hermit took on him to say, +'Gladly will I welcome thee, my fair child, whensoever thou canst +find thy way to the weary old anchoret! Go thy way now! Or hast +thou lost it?' + +'No, sir; I ken the woodland and can soon be at home,' replied Hal; +then, putting a knee to the ground, 'May I have your blessing, holy +man?' + +'Alack, I told thee I am no priest,' said the hermit; 'but for such +as I am, I bless thee with all my soul, thou fatherless lad,' and he +laid his hand on the young lad's wondering brow, then bade him +begone, since Simon and himself had much to say to one another. + +Hal summoned Watch, and turned to a path through the wood, leading +towards the coast, wondering as he walked how the hermit seemed to +know him--him whose presence had been so sedulously concealed. Could +it be that so very holy a man had something of the spirit of +prophecy? + +He kept his promise of silence, and indeed his guardians were so much +accustomed to his long wanderings that he encountered no questions, +only one of Hob's growls that he should always steal away whenever +there was a chance of Master Bunce's coming to try to make a man of +him. + +However, Bunce himself arrived shortly after, and informed Hob that +since young folks always pried where they were least wanted, and my +lord had stumbled incontinently on the anchoret's den, it was the +holy man's will that he might come there whenever he chose. A pity +and shame it was, but it would make him more than ever a mere +priestling, ever hankering after books and trash! + +'Were it not better to ask my lady and Sir Lancelot if they would +have it so? I could walk over to Threlkeld!' + +'No, no, no, on your life not,' exclaimed Simon, striking his staff +on the ground in his vehemence. 'Never a word to the Threlkeld or +any of his kin! Let well alone! I only wish the lad had never gone +a-roaming there! But holy men must not be gainsaid, even if it does +make a poor craven scholar out of his father's son.' + +And thus began a time of great contentment to the Lord Clifford. +There were few days on which he did not visit the hermitage. It was +a small log hut, but raised with some care, and made weatherproof +with moss and clay in the crevices, and there was an inner apartment, +with a little oil lamp burning before a rough wooden cross, where +Hal, if the hermit were not outside, was certain to find him saying +his prayers. Food was supplied by Simon himself, and, since Hal's +admission, was often carried by him, and the hermit seemed to spend +his time either in prayer or in a gentle dreamy state of meditation, +though he always lighted up into animation at the arrival of the boy +whom he had made his friend. Hal had thought him old at first, on +the presumption that all hermits must be aged, nor was it likely that +age should be estimated by one living such a life, but the light +hair, untouched with grey, the smooth cheeks and the graceful figure +did not belong to more than a year or two above forty. And he had no +air of ill health, yet this calm solitary residence in the wooded +valley seemed to be infinite rest to him. + +Hal had no knowledge nor experience to make him wonder, and accepted +the great quiet and calm of the hermit as the token of his extreme +holiness and power of meditation. He himself was always made welcome +with Watch by his side, and encouraged to talk and ask questions, +which the hermit answered with what seemed to the boy the utmost +wisdom, but older heads would have seen not to be that of a clever +man, but of one who had been fairly educated for the time, had had +experience of courts and camps, and referred all the inquiries and +wonderments which were far beyond him direct to Almighty Power. + +The mind of the boy advanced much in this intercourse with the first +cultivated person he had encountered, and who made a point of +actually teaching and explaining to him all those mysteries of +religion which poor old Dolly only blindly accepted and imparted as +blindly to her nursling. Of actual instruction, nothing was +attempted. A little portuary, or abbreviated manual of the service, +was all that the hermit possessed, treasured with his small crucifix +in his bosom, and of course it was in Latin. The Hours of the Church +he knew by heart, and never failed to observe them, training his +young pupil in the repetition and English meaning of such as occurred +during his visits. He also told much of the history of the world, as +he knew it, and of the Church and the saints, to the eager mind that +absorbed everything and reflected on it, coming with fresh questions +that would have been too deep and perplexing for his friend if he had +not always determined everything with 'Such is the will of God.' + +Somewhat to the surprise of Simon Bunce and Hob Hogward, Hal improved +greatly, not only in speech but in bearing; he showed no such dislike +or backwardness in chivalrous exercises as previously; and when once +Sir Lancelot Threlkeld came over to see him, he was absolutely +congratulated on looking so much more like a young knight. + +'Ay,' said Bunce, taking all the merit to himself, 'there's nought +like having an old squire trained in the wars in France to show a +stripling how to hold a lance.' + +Hal had been too well tutored to utter a word of him to whom his +improvement was really due, not by actual training, but partly by +unconscious example in dignified grace and courtesy of demeanour, and +partly by the rather sad assurances that it was well that a man born +to his station, if he ever regained it, should be able to defend +himself and others, and not be a helpless burthen on their hands. +Tales of the Seven Champions of Christendom and of King Arthur and +his Knights likewise had their share in the moulding of the youthful +Lord Clifford. + +His great desire was to learn to read, but it was not encouraged by +the hermit, nor was there any book available save the portuary, +crookedly and contractedly written on vellum, so as to be illegible +to anyone unfamiliar with writing, with Latin, or the service. +However, the anchoret yielded to his importunity so far as to let him +learn the alphabet, traced on the door in charcoal, and identify the +more sacred words in the book--which, indeed, were all in gold, red +and blue. + +He did not advance more than this, for his teacher was apt to go off +in a musing dream of meditation, repeating over and over in low sweet +tones the holy phrases, and not always rousing himself when his pupil +made a remark or asked a question. Yet he was always concerned at +his own inattention when awakened, and would apologise in a tone of +humility that always made Hal feel grieved and ashamed of having been +importunate. For there was a dignity and gentleness about the hermit +that always made the boy feel the contrast with his own roughness and +uncouthness, and reverence him as something from a holier world. + +'Nurse, I do think he is a saint,' one day said Hal. + +'Nay, nay, my laddie, saints don't come down from heaven in these +days of evil.' + +'I would thou could see him when one comes upon him at his prayers. +His face is like the angel at the cross I saw so long ago in the +castle chapel.' + +'Dost thou remember that chapel? Thou wert a babe when we quitted +it.' + +'I had well nigh forgotten it, but the good hermit's face brought all +back again, and the voice of the father when he said the Service.' + +'That thou shouldst mind so long! This hermit is no priest, thou +sayst?' + +'No, he said he was not worthy; but sure all saints were not priests, +nurse.' + +'Nay, it is easy to be more worthy than the Jack Priests I have +known. Though I would they would let me go to church. But look thee +here, Hal, if he be such a saint as thou sayst, maybe thou couldst +get him to bestow a blessing on poor Piers, and give him his hearing +and voice.' + +Hal was sure that his own special saint was holy enough for anything, +and accordingly asked permission of him to bring his silent companion +for blessing and healing. + +The mild blue eye lighted for a moment. 'Is the poor child then +afflicted with the King's Evil?' the hermit asked. + +'Nay, he is sound enough in skin and limb. It is that he can neither +hear nor speak, and if you, holy sir, would lay thine hand on him, +and sign him with the rood, and pray, mayhap your holiness--' + +'Peace, peace,' cried the hermit impetuously, lifting up his hand. +'Dost not know that I am a sinner like unto the rest--nay, a greater +sinner, in that a burthen was laid on me that I had not the soul to +rise to, so that the sin and wickedness of thousands have been caused +by my craven faint heart for well nigh two score years? O miserere +Domine.' + +He threw himself on the ground with clasped hands, and Hal, standing +by in awestruck amazement, heard no more save sobs, mingled with the +supplications of the fifty-first Psalm. + +He was obliged at last to go away without having been able to recall +the attention of his friend from his agony of prayer. With the +reticence that had grown upon him, he did not mention at home the +full effect of his request, but when he thought it over he was all +the more convinced that his friend was a great saint. Had he not +always heard that saints believed themselves great sinners, and went +through many penances? And why did he speak as if he could have +cured the King's Evil? He asked Dolly what it was, and she replied +that it was the sickness that only the King's touch could heal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR + + + +My crown is in my heart, not on my head; +Not deck'd with diamonds, and Indian stones, +Nor to be seen. My crown is call'd Content.--SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summer had faded, and an early frost had tinted the fern-leaves with +gold here and there, and made the hermit wrap himself close in a +cloak lined with thick brown fur. + +Simon, who was accustomed very respectfully to take the command of +him, insisted that he should have a fire always burning on a rock +close to his door, and that Piers, if not Hal, should always take +care that it never went out, smothering it with peat, as every +shepherd boy knew how to do, so as to keep it alight, or, in case of +need, to conceal it with turf. + +One afternoon, as Hal lay on the grass, whiling away the time by +alternately playing with Watch and trying to unravel the mysteries of +a flower of golden-rod, until the hermit should have finished his +prayers and be ready to attend to him, Piers came through the wood, +evidently sent on a message, and made him understand that he was +immediately wanted at home. + +Hal turned to take leave of his host, but the hermit's eyes were +raised in such rapt contemplation as to see nought, and, indeed, it +might be matter of doubt whether he had ever perceived the presence +of his visitor. + +Hal directed Piers to arrange the fire, and hurried away, becoming +conscious as he came in sight of the cottage that there were horses +standing before it, and guessing at once that it must be a visit from +Sir Lancelot Threlkeld. + +It was Simon Bunce, however, who, with demonstrations of looking for +him, came out to meet him as he emerged from the brushwood, and said +in a gruff whisper, clutching his shoulder hard, 'Not a word to give +a clue! Mum! More than your life hangs on it.' + +No more could pass, to explain the clue intended, whether to the +presence of the young Lord Clifford himself, which was his first +thought, or to the inhabitant of the hermitage. For Sir Lancelot's +cheerful voice was exclaiming, 'Here he is, my lady! Here's your +son! How now, my young lord? Thou hast learnt to hold up thy head! +Ay, and to bow in better sort,' as, bending with due grace, Hal +paused for a second ere hurrying forward to kneel before his mother, +who raised him in her arms and kissed him with fervent affection. +'My son! mine own dear boy, how art thou grown! Thou hast well nigh +a knightly bearing!' she exclaimed. 'Master Bunce hath done well by +thee.' + +'Good blood will out, my lady,' quoth Simon, well pleased at her +praise. + +'He hath had no training but thine?' said Sir Lancelot, looking full +at Simon. + +'None, Sir Knight, unless it be honest Halstead's here.' + +'Methought I heard somewhat of the hermit in the glen,' put in the +lady. + +'He is a saint!' declared two or three voices, as if this precluded +his being anything more. + +'A saint,' repeated the lady. 'Anchorets are always saints. What +doth he?' + +'Prayeth,' answered Simon. 'Never doth a man come in but he is at +his prayers. 'Tis always one hour or another!' + +'Ay?' said Sir Lancelot, interrogatively. 'Sayest thou so? Is he an +old man?' + +Simon put in his word before Hal could speak: 'Men get so knocked +about in these wars that there's no guessing their age. I myself +should deem that the poor rogue had had some clouts on the head that +dazed him and made him fit for nought save saying his prayers.' + +Here Sir Lancelot beckoned Simon aside, and walked him away, so as to +leave the mother and son alone together. + +Lady Threlkeld questioned closely as to the colour of the eyes and +hair, and the general appearance of the hermit, and Hal replied, +without suspicion, that the eyes were blue, the hair, he thought, of +a light colour, the frame tall and slight, graceful though stooping; +he had thought at first that the hermit must be old, very old, but +had since come to a different conclusion. His dress was a plain +brown gown like a countryman's. There was nobody like him, no one +whom Hal so loved and venerated, and he could not help, as he stood +by his mother, pouring out to her all his feeling for the hermit, and +the wise patient words that now and then dropped from him, such as +'Patience is the armour and conquest of the godly;' or, 'Shall a man +complain for the punishment of his sins?' 'Yet,' said Hal, 'what +sins could the anchoret have? Never did I know that a man could be +so holy here on earth. I deemed that was only for the saints in +heaven.' + +The lady kissed the boy and said, 'I trow thou hast enjoyed a great +honour, my child.' + +But she did not say what it was, and when her husband summoned her, +she joined him to repair to Penrith, where they were keeping an +autumn retirement at a monastery, and had contrived to leave their +escort and make this expedition on their way. + +Simon examined Hal closely on what he had said to his mother, sighed +heavily, and chided him for prating when he had been warned against +it, but that was what came of dealing with children and womenfolk. + +'What can be the hurt?' asked Hal. 'Sir Lancelot knows well who I +am! No lack of prudence in him would put men on my track.' + +'Hear him!' cried Simon; 'he thinks there is no nobler quarry in the +woods than his lordship!' + +'The hermit! Oh, Simon, who is he?' + +But Simon began to shout for Hob Hogward, and would not hear any +further questions before he rode away, as far as Hal could see, in +the opposite direction to the hermitage. But when he repaired +thither the next day he was startled by hearing voices and the stamp +of horses, and as he reconnoitred through the trees he saw half a +dozen rough-looking men, with bows and arrows, buff coats, and steel- +guarded caps--outlaws and robbers as he believed. + +His first thought was that they meant harm to the gentle hermit, and +his impulse was to start forward to his protection or assistance, but +as he sprang into sight one of the strangers cried out: 'How now! +Here's a shepherd thrusting himself in. Back, lad, or 'twill be the +worse for you.' + +'The hermit! the hermit! Do not meddle with him! He's a saint,' +shouted Hal. + +But even as he spoke he became aware of Simon, who called out: 'Hold, +sir; back, Giles; this is one well nigh in as much need of hiding as +him yonder. Well come, since you be come, my lord, for we cannot get +_him_ there away without a message to you, and 'tis well he should be +off ere the sleuth-hounds can get on the scent.' + +'What! Where! Who?' demanded the bewildered boy, breaking off, as +at that moment his friend appeared at the door of the hovel, no +longer in the brown anchoret's gown but in riding gear, partially +defended by slight armour, and with a cap on his head, which made him +look much younger than he had before done. + +'Child, art thou there? It is well; I could scarce have gone without +bidding thee farewell,' he said in his sweet voice; 'thou, the dear +companion of my loneliness.' + +'O sir, sir, and are you going away?' + +'Yea, so they will have it! These good fellows are come to guard +me.' + +'Oh! may I not go with thee?' + +'Nay, my fair son. Thou art beneath thy mother's wing, while I am +like one who was hunted as a partridge on the mountains.' + +'Whither, oh whither?' gasped Hal. + +'That I know not! It is in the breasts of these good men, who are +charged by my brave wife to have me in their care.' + +'Oh! sir, sir, what shall I do without you? You that have helped me, +and taught me, and opened mine eyes to all I need to know.' + +'Hush, hush; it is a better master than I could ever be that thou +needest. But,' as tokens of impatience manifested themselves among +the rude escort, 'take thou this,' giving him the little service- +book, as he knelt to receive it, scarce knowing why. 'One day thou +wilt be able to read it. Poor child! whose lot it is to be +fatherless and landless for me and mine, I would I could do more for +thee.' + +'Oh! you have done all,' sobbed Hal. + +'Nay, now, but this be our covenant, my boy! If thou, and if mine +own son both come to your own, thou wilt be a true and loyal man to +him, even as thy father was to me, and may God Almighty make it go +better with you both.' + +'I will, I will! I swear by all that is holy!' gasped Hal Clifford, +with a flash of perception, as he knelt. + +'Come, my liege, we have far to go ere night. No time for more +parting words and sighs.' + +Hal scarcely knew more except that the hands were laid on his head, +and the voice he had learnt to love so well said: 'The blessing of +God the Father be upon thee, thou fatherless boy, and may He reward +thee sevenfold for what thy father was, who died for his faithfulness +to me, a sinner! Fare thee well, my boy.' + +As the hand that Hal was fervently kissing was withdrawn from him he +sank upon his face, weeping as one heartbroken. He scarce heard the +sounds of mounting and the trampling of feet, and when he raised his +head he was alone, the woods and rocks were forsaken. + +He sprang up and ran along at his utmost speed on the trampled path, +but when he emerged from it he could only see a dark party, +containing a horseman or two, so far on the way that it was hopeless +to overtake them. + +He turned back slowly to the deserted hut, and again threw himself on +the ground, weeping bitterly. He knew now that his friend and master +had been none other than the fugitive King, Henry of Windsor. + + + + +CHAPTER X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS + + +Not in proud pomp nor courtly state; +Him his own thoughts did elevate, +Most happy in the shy recess.--WORDSWORTH. + + +The departure of King Henry was the closing of the whole intellectual +and religious world that had been opened to the young Lord Clifford. +To the men of his own court, practical men of the world, there were +times when poor Henry seemed almost imbecile, and no doubt his attack +of melancholy insanity, the saddest of his ancestral inheritances, +had shattered his powers of decision and action; but he was one who +'saw far on holy ground,' and he was a well-read man in human +learning, besides having the ordinary experience of having lived in +the outer world, so that in every way his companionship was +delightful to a thoughtful boy, wakening to the instincts of his +race. + +To think of being left to the society of the sheep, of dumb Piers and +his peasant parents was dreariness in the extreme to one who had +begun to know something like conversation, and to have his countless +questions answered, or at any rate attended to. Add to this, he had +a deep personal love and reverence for his saint, long before the +knowing him as his persecuted King, and thus his sorrow might well be +profound, as well as rendered more acute by the terror lest his even +unconscious description to his mother might have been treason! + +He wept till he could weep no longer, and lay on the ground in his +despair till darkness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled him +up, indicating by gestures and uncouth sounds that he must go home. +Goodwife Dolly was anxiously looking out for him. + +'Laddie, there thou beest at last! I had begun to fear me whether +the robber gang had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he saw Master +Simon with them. Have they mishandled thee, mine own lad nurse's +darling? Thou lookest quite distraught.' + +All Hal's answer was to hide his head in her lap and weep like a +babe, though she could, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from +him but that his hermit was gone. No, no, the outlaws had not hurt +him, but they had taken him away, and he would never come back. + +'Ay, ay, thou didst love him and he was a holy man, no doubt, but one +of these days thou shalt have a true knight, and that is better for a +young baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven than for earth! +Come now, stand up and eat thy supper. Don't let Hob come in and +find thee crying like a swaddled babe.' + +With which worldly consolations and exhortations Goodwife Dolly +brought him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he could +not swallow much, and soon put it aside and sought his bed. + +It was not till late the next day that Simon Bunce was seen riding +his rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to him at once, with the +breathless inquiry, 'Where is he?' + +'In safe hands! Never you fear, sir! But best know nought.' + +'O Simon, was I--? Did I do him any scathe?--I--I never knew--I only +told my lady mother it was a saint.' + +'Ay, ay, lad, more's the pity that he is more saint than king! If my +lady guessed aught, she would be loyal as became your father's wife, +and methinks she would not press you hard for fear she should be +forced to be aware of the truth.' + +'But Sir Lancelot?' + +'As far as I can gather,' explained Simon, 'Sir Lancelot is one that +hath kept well with both sides, and so is able to be a protector. +But down came orders from York and his crew that King Harry is +reported to be lurking in some of these moors, and the Countess +Clifford being his wife, he fell under suspicion of harbouring him. +Nay, there was some perilous talk in his own household, so that, as I +understand the matter, he saw the need of being able to show that he +knew nothing; or, if he found that the King was living within these +lands, of sending him a warning ere avowing that he had been there. +So I read what was said to me.' + +'He knew nothing from me! Neither he nor my lady mother,' eagerly +said Hal. 'When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short when I +described the hermit too closely, lest no doubt she should guess who +he was.' + +'Belike! It would be like my lady, who is a loyal Lancastrian at +heart, though much bent on not offending her husband lest his +protection should be withdrawn from you.' + +'Better--O, a thousand times better!--he gave me up than the King!' + +'Hush! What good would that do? A boy like you? Unless they took +you in hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands if you +would swear allegiance to King Edward, as he calls himself.' + +'Never, though I were cut into quarters!' averred Hal, with a fierce +gesture, clasping his staff. 'But the King? Where and what have +they done with him?' + +'Best not to know, my lord,' said Simon. 'In sooth, I myself do not +know whither he is gone, only that he is with friends.' + +'But who--what were they? They looked like outlaws!' + +'So they were; many a good fellow is of Robin of Redesdale's train. +There are scores of them haunting the fells and woods, all Red Rose +men, keeping a watch on the King,' replied Simon. 'We had made up +our minds that he had been long enough in one place, and that he must +have taken shelter the winter through, when I got notice of these +notions of Sir Lancelot, and forthwith sent word to them to have him +away before worse came of it.' + +'Oh! why did you not let me go with him? I would have saved him, +waited on him, fought for him.' + +'Fine fighting--when there's no getting you to handle a lance, except +as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you have +been better of late, little as your hermit seemed the man to teach +you.' + +'He said it was right and became a man! Would I were with him! He, +my true King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simon. I, +that am his true and loving liegeman, should be with him.' + +'Ay! when you are a man to keep his head and your own.' + +'But I could wait on him.' + +'Would you have us bested to take care of two instead of one, and my +lady, moreover, in a pother about her son, and Sir Lancelot stirred +to make a hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in peace in +the safe homestead where you are sheltered, and learn to be a man, +minding your exercises as well as may be till the time shall come.' + +'When I shall be a man and a knight, and do deeds of derring-do in +his cause,' cried Hal. + +And the stimulus drove him on to continual calls to Hob, in Simon's +default, to jousts with sword or spear, represented generally by +staves; and when these could not be had, he was making arrows and +practising with them, so as to become a terror to the wild ducks and +other neighbours on the wolds, the great geese and strange birds that +came in from the sea in the cold weather. When it was not possible +to go far afield in the frosts and snows, he conned King Henry's +portuary, trying to identify the written words with those he knew by +heart, and sometimes trying to trace the shapes of the letters on the +snow with a stick; visiting, too, the mountains and looking into the +limpid grey waters of the lakes, striving hard to guess why, when the +sea rose in tides, they were still. More than ever, too, did the +starry skies fill him with contemplation and wonder, as he dwelt on +the scraps alike of astronomy, astrology, and devotion which he had +gathered from his oracle in the hermitage, and longed more and more +for the time to return when he should again meet his teacher, his +saint, and his King. + +Alas! that time was never to come. The outlawed partisans of the Red +Rose had secret communications which spread intelligence rapidly +throughout the country, and long before Sir Lancelot and his lady +knew, and thus it was that Simon Bunce learnt, through the outlaws, +that poor King Henry had been betrayed by treachery, and seized by +John Talbot at Waddington Hall in Lancashire. Deep were the curses +that the outlaws uttered, and fierce were the threats against the +Talbot if ever he should venture himself on the Cumbrian moors; and +still hotter was their wrath, more bitter the tears of the shepherd +lord, when the further tidings were received that the Earl of Warwick +had brought the gentle, harmless prince, to whom he had repeatedly +sworn fealty, into London with his feet tied to the stirrups of a +sorry jade, and men crying before him, 'Behold the traitor!' + +The very certainty that the meek and patient King would bear all with +rejoicing in the shame and reproach that led him in the steps of his +Master, only added to the misery of Hal as he heard the tale; and he +lay on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth with rage and +longing to take revenge on Warwick, Edward, Talbot--he knew not whom-- +and grasping at the rocks as if they were the stones of the Tower +which he longed to tear down and liberate his beloved saint. + +Nor, from that time, was there any slackness in acquiring or +practising all skill in chivalrous exercises. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE RED ROSE + + + +That Edward is escaped from your brother +And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy.--SHAKESPEARE. + + +Years passed on, and still Henry Clifford continued to be the +shepherd. Matters were still too unsettled, and there were too many +Yorkists in the north, keeping up the deadly hatred of the family +against that of Clifford, for it to be safe for him to show himself +openly. He was a tall, well-made, strong youth, and his stepfather +spoke of his going to learn war in Burgundy; but not only was his +mother afraid to venture him there, but he could not bear to leave +England while there was a hope of working in the cause of the captive +King, though the Red Rose hung withered on the branches. + +Reports of misunderstandings between King Edward and the Earl of +Warwick came from time to time, and that Queen Margaret and her son +were busy beyond seas, which kept up hope; and in the meantime Hal +grew in the knowledge of all country lore, of herd and wood, and +added to it all his own earnest love of the out-of-door world, of +sun, moon, and stars, sea and hills, beast and bird. The hermit +King, who had been a well-educated, well-read man in his earlier +days, had given him the framework of such natural science as had come +down to the fifteenth century, backed by the deepest faith in +scriptural descriptions; and these inferences and this philosophy +were enough to lead a far acuter and more able intellect, with +greater opportunities of observation, much further into the fields of +the mystery of nature than ever the King had gone. + +He said nothing, for never had he met one who understood a word he +said apart from fortune telling, excepting the royal teacher after +whom he longed; but he watched, he observed, and he dreamt, and came +to conclusions that his King's namesake cousin, Enrique of Portugal, +the discoverer, in his observatory at St. Vincent, might have +profited by. Brother Brian, a friar, for whose fidelity Simon +Bunce's outlaw could absolutely answer, and who was no Friar Tuck, in +spite of his rough life, gave Dolly much comfort religiously, carried +on some of the education for which Hal longed, and tried to teach him +astrology. Some of the yearnings of his young soul were thus +gratified, but they were the more extended as he grew nearer manhood, +and many a day he stood with eyes stretched over the sea to the dim +line of the horizon, with arms spread for a moment as if he would +join the flight of the sea-gulls floating far, far away, then clasped +over his breast in a sort of despair at being bound to one spot, then +pressed the tighter in the strong purpose of fighting for his +imprisoned King when the time should come. + +For this he diligently practised with bow and arrow when alone, or +only with Piers, and learnt all the feats of arms that Simon Runce or +Giles Spearman could teach him. Spearman was evidently an +accomplished knight or esquire; he had fought in France as well as in +the home wars, and knew all the refinements of warfare in an age when +the extreme weight of the armour rendered training and skill doubly +necessary. Spearman was evidently not his real name, and it was +evident that he had some knowledge of Hal's real rank, though he +never hazarded mention of other name or title. The great drawback +was the want of horses. The little mountain ponies did not adequately +represent the warhorses trained to charge under an enormous load, and +the buff jerkins and steel breast-plates of the outlaws were equally +far from showing how to move under 'mail and plates of Milan steel.' +Nor would Sir Lancelot Threlkeld lend or give what was needful. +Indeed, he was more cautious than ever, and seemed really alarmed as +well as surprised to see how tall and manly his step-son was growing, +and how like his father. He would not hear of a visit to Threlkeld +under any disguise, though Lady Clifford was in failing health, nor +would he do anything to forward the young lord's knightly training. +In effect, he only wanted to keep as quiet and unobserved as +possible, for everything was in a most unsettled and dangerous +condition, and there was no knowing what course was the safest for +one by no means prepared to lose life or lands in any cause. + +The great Earl of Warwick, on whom the fate of England had hitherto +hinged, was reported to have never forgiven King Edward for his +marriage with Dame Elizabeth Grey, and to be meditating insurrection. +Encouraged by this there was a great rising in Yorkshire of the +peasants under Robin of Redesdale, and a message was brought to Giles +Spearman and his followers to join them, but he and Brother Brian +demurred, and news soon came that the Marquess of Montagu had +defeated the rising and beheaded Redesdale. + +Sir Lancelot congratulated his step-son on having been too late to +take up arms, and maintained that the only safe policy was to do +nothing, a plan which suited age much better than youth. + +He still lived with Hob and Piers, and slept at the hut, but he went +further and further afield among the hills and mosses, often with no +companion save Watch, so that he might without interruption watch the +clear streams and wonder what filled their fountains, and why the sea +was never full, or stand on the sea-shore studying the tides, and +trying to construct a theory about them. King Henry was satisfied +with 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther,' but He who gave that +decree must have placed some cause or rule in nature thus to affect +them. Could it be the moon? The waves assuredly obeyed the changes +of the moon, and Hal was striving to keep a record in strokes marked +by a stick on soft earth or rows of pebbles, so as to establish a +rule. 'Aye, aye,' quoth Hob. 'Poor fellow, he is not much wiser +than the hermit. See how he plays with pebbles and stones. You'll +make nought of him, fine grown lad as he is. Why, he'll sit dazed +and moonstruck half a day, and all the night, staring up at the stars +as if he would count them!' + +So spoke the stout shepherd to Simon Bunce, pointing to the young +man, who lay at his length upon the grass calculating the proportions +of the stones that marked the relations of hours of the flood tide +and those of the height of the moon. Above and beyond was a sundial +cut out in the turf, from his own observations after the hints that +the hermit and the friar had given him. + +'Ha now, my lord, I have rare news for you.' + +The unwonted title did not strike Hal's unaccustomed ears, and he +continued moving his lips, 'High noon, spring tide.' + +'There, d'ye see?' said Hob, 'he heeds nothing. 'That I and my +goodwife should have bred up a mooncalf! Here, Hal, don't you know +Simon? Hear his tidings!' + +'Tidings enow! King Henry is freed, King Edward is fled. My Lord of +Warwick has turned against him for good and all. King Henry is +proclaimed in all the market-places! I heard it with my own ears at +Penrith!' And throwing up his cap into the air, while the example +was followed by Hob, with 'God save King Henry, and you my Lord of +Clifford.' + +The sound was echoed by a burst of voices, and out of the brake +suddenly stood the whole band of outlaws, headed by Giles Spearman, +but Hal still stood like one dazed. 'King Harry, the hermit, free +and on his throne,' he murmured, as one in a dream. + +'Ay, all things be upset and reversed,' said Spearman, with a hand on +his shoulder. 'No herd boy now, but my Lord of Clifford.' + +'Come to his kingdom,' repeated Hal. 'My own King Harry the hermit! +I would fain go and see him.' + +'So you shall, my brave youth, and carry him your homage and mine,' +said Spearman. 'He will know me for poor Giles Musgrave, who upheld +his standard in many a bloody field. We will off to Sir Lancelot at +Threlkeld now! Spite of his policy of holes and corners, he will not +now refuse to own you for what you are, aye, and fit you out as +becomes a knight.' + +'God grant he may!' muttered Bunce, 'without his hum and ha, and +swaying this way and that, till he never moves at all! Betwixt his +caution, and this lad's moonstruck ways, you have a fair course +before you, Sir Giles! See, what's the lad doing now?' + +The lad was putting into his pouch the larger white pebbles that had +represented tens in his calculation, and murmuring the numbers they +stood for. 'He will understand,' he said almost to himself, but he +showed himself ready to go with the party to Threlkeld, merely +pausing at Hob's cottage to pick up a few needful equipments. In the +skin of a rabbit, carefully prepared, and next wrapped in a silken +kerchief, and kept under his chaff pillow, was the hermit's portuary, +which was carefully and silently transferred by Hal to his own bosom. +Sir Giles Musgrave objected to Watch, in city or camp, and Hal was +obliged to leave him to Goodwife Dolly and to Piers. + +With each it was a piteous parting, for Dolly had been as a mother to +him for almost all his boyhood, and had supplied the tenderness that +his mother's fears and Sir Lancelot's precautions had prevented his +receiving at Threlkeld. He was truly as a son to her, and she sobbed +over him, declaring that she never would see him again, even if he +came to his own, which she did not believe was possible, and who +would see to his clean shirts? + +'Never fear, goodwife,' said Giles Musgrave; 'he shall be looked to +as mine own son.' + +'And what's that to a gentle lad that has always been tended as +becomes him?' + +'Heed not, mother! Be comforted! I must have gone to the wars, +anyway. If so be I thrive, I'll send for thee to mine own castle, to +reign there as I remember of old. Here now! Comfort Piers as thou +only canst do.' + +Piers, poor fellow, wept bitterly, only able to understand that +something had befallen his comrade of seven years, which would take +him away from field and moor. He clung to Hal, and both lads shed +tears, till Hob roughly snatched Piers away and threw him to his +aunt, with threats that drew indignant, though useless, interference +from Hal, though Simon Bunce was muttering, 'As lief take one lad as +the other!' while Dolly's angry defence of her nursling's wisdom +broke the sadness of the parting. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION + + + +So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts, +What may befall him to his harm and ours.--SHAKESPEARE. + + +Through the woods the party went to the fortified house of Threlkeld, +where the gateway was evidently prepared to resist any passing +attack, by stout gates and a little watch-tower. + +Sir Giles blew a long blast on his bugle-horn, and had to repeat it +twice before a porter looked cautiously out at a wicket opening in +the heavy door, and demanded 'Who comes?' + +'Open, porter, open in the name of King Harry, to the Lords of +Clifford and of Peelholm.' + +The porter fell back, observing, 'Sir, pardon, while I have speech +with my master, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.' + +Some delay and some sounds of conversation were heard, then, on a +renewed and impatient blast on Sir Giles's horn, Sir Lancelot +Threlkeld himself came to the wicket, and his thin anxious voice +might be heard demanding, 'What madness is this?' + +'The madness is past, soundness is come,' responded Sir Giles. 'King +Harry is on his throne, the traitors are fled, and your own fair son +comes forth in his proper person to uphold the lawful sovereign; but +he would fain first see his lady mother, and take her blessing with +him.' + +'And by his impatience destroy himself, after all the burthen of care +and peril he hath been to me all these years,' lamented Sir Lancelot. +'But come in, fair lad. Open the gates, porter. I give you welcome, +Lord Musgrave of Peelholm. But who are these?' he added, looking at +the troop of buff-coated archers in the rear. + +'They are bold champions of the Red Rose, returned Sir Giles, 'who +have lived with me in the wolds, and now are on the way to maintain +our King's quarrel.'' + +Sir Lancelot, however, would not hear of admitting the outlaws. +Young Clifford and the Lord of Peelholm should be welcome, or more +truly he could not help receiving them, but the archers must stay +outside, their entertainment in beef and ale being committed to Bunce +and the chief warder, while the two noblemen were conducted to the +castle hall. For the first time in his life Clifford was received in +his mother's home, and accepted openly, as he knelt before her to ask +her blessing. A fine, active, handsome youth was he, with bright, +keen eyes, close-curled black locks and hardy complexion, telling of +his out-of-door life, and a free use of his limbs, and upright +carriage, though still with more of the grace of the free mountain +than of the training of pagedom and squiredom. + +Nor could he speak openly and freely to her, not knowing how much he +might say of his past intercourse with King Henry, and of her +endeavour to discover it; and he sat beside her, neither of them +greatly at ease, at the long table, which, by the array of silver +cups, of glasses and the tall salt cellar separating the nobility and +their followers, recalled to him dim recollections of the scenes of +his youth. + +He asked for his sister--he knew his little brother had died in the +Netherlands--and he heard that she had been in the Priory of St. +Helen's, and was now in the household of my Lady of Hungerford, who +had promised to find a good match for her. There was but one son of +the union with the knight of Threlkeld, and him Hal had never seen; +nor was he at home, being a page in the household of the Earl of +Westmoreland, according to the prevailing fashion of the castles of +the great feudal nobles becoming schools of arms, courtesy and +learning for the young gentlemen around. Indeed, Lady Clifford +surveyed her eldest son with a sigh that such breeding was denied +him, as she observed one or two little deficiencies in what would be +called his table manners--not very important, but revealing that he +had grown up in the byre instead of the castle, where there was a +very strict and punctilious code, which figured in catechisms for the +young. + +She longed to keep him, and train him for his station, but in the +first place, Sir Lancelot still held that it could not safely be +permitted, since he had little confidence in the adherence of the +House of Nevil to the Red Rose; and moreover Hal himself utterly +refused to remain concealed in Cumberland instead of carrying his +service to the King he loved. + +In fact, when he heard the proposal of leaving him in the north, he +stood up, and, with far more energy than had been expected from him, +said, 'Go I must, to my lawful King's banner, and my father's cause. +To King Harry I carry my homage and whatever my hand can do!' + +Such an expression of energy lighted his hitherto dreamy eyes, that +all beholders turned their glances on his face with a look of wonder. +Sir Lancelot again objected that he would be rushing to his ruin. + +'Be it so,' replied Hal. 'It is my duty.' + +'The time seems to me to be come,' added Musgrave, 'that my young +lord should put himself forward, though it may be only in a losing +cause. Not so much for the sake of success, as to make himself a man +and a noble.' + +'But what can he do?' persisted Threlkeld; 'he has none of the +training of a knight. How can you tilt in plate armour, you who have +never bestridden a charger? These are not the days of Du Guesclin, +when a lad came in from the byre and bore down all foes before him.' + +The objection was of force, for the defensive armour of the fifteenth +century had reached a pitch of cumbrousness that required long +practice for a man to be capable of moving under it. + +'So please you, sir,' said Hal, 'I am not wholly unskilled. The good +Sir Giles and Simon Bunce have taught me enough to strike a blow with +a good will for a good cause.' + +'With horse and arms as befits him,' began Musgrave. + +'I know not that a horse is here that could be depended on,' began +Threlkeld. 'Armour too requires to be fitted and proved.' + +He spoke in a hesitating voice that showed his unwillingness, and Hal +exclaimed, 'My longbow is mine own, and so are my feet. Sir Giles, +will you own me as an archer in your troop, where I will strive not +to disgrace you or my name?' + +'Bravely spoken, young lord,' said Sir Giles heartily; 'right +willingly will I be your godfather in chivalry, since you find not +one nigher home.' + +'So may it best be,' observed his mother, 'since he is bent on going. +Thus his name and rank may be kept back till it be plain whether the +enmity of my Lords of Warwick and Montagu still remain against our +poor house.' + +There was no desire on either side to object when the Lord Musgrave +of Peelholm decided on departing early on the morrow. Their host was +evidently not sorry to speed them on their way, and his reluctant +hospitality made them anxious to cumber him no longer than needful; +and his mind was relieved when it was decided that the heir of the De +Vescis and Cliffords should be known as Harry of Derwentdale. + +Only, when all was preparation in the morning, and a hearty service +had been said in the chapel, the lady called her son aside, and +looking up into his dark eyes, said in a low voice, 'Be not angered +with my lord husband's prudence, my son. Remember it is only by +caution that he has saved thine head, or mine, or thy sister's!' + +'Ay, ay, mother, I know,' he said, more impatiently than perhaps he +knew. + +'It was by the same care that he preserved us all when Edgecotefield +was fought. Chafe not at him. Thou mayst be thankful even now, +mayhap, to find a shelter preserved, while that rogue and robber +Nevil holds our lands.' + +'I am more like to have to protect thee, lady mother, and bring thee +to thy true home again!' said Hal. + +'Meantime, my child, take this purse and equip thyself at York or +whenever thou canst. Nay, thou needst not shrug and refuse! How +like thy father the gesture, though I would it were more gracious and +seemly. But this is mine, mine own, none of my husband's, though he +would be willing. It comes from the De Vesci lands, and those will +be thine after me, and thine if thou winnest not back thy Clifford +inheritance. And oh! my son, crave of Sir Giles to teach thee how to +demean thyself that they may not say thou art but a churl.' + +'I trust to be no churl in heart, if I be in manners,' said Hal, +looking down on his small clinging mother. + +'Only be cautious, my son. Remember that you are the last of the +name, and it is your part to bring it to honour.' + +'Which I shall scarce do by being cautious,' he said, with something +of a smile. 'That was not my father's way.' + +'Ah me! You have his spirit in you, and how did it end?' + +'My Lord of Clifford,' said a voice from the court, 'you are waited +for!' + +'And remember,' cried his mother, with a last embrace, 'there will be +safety here whenever thou shalt need it.' + +'With God's grace, I am more like to protect you and your husband,' +said the lad, bending for another kiss and hurrying away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS + + + +And sickerlie she was of great disport, +And full pleasant and amiable of port; +Of small hounds had she that she fed +With roasted flesh and milk and wastel bread.--CHAUCER. + + +Sir Giles Musgrave of Peelholm was an old campaigner, and when Hal +came out beyond the gate of the Threlkeld fortalice, he found him +reviewing his troop; a very disorderly collection, as Sir Lancelot +pronounced with a sneer, looking out on them, and strongly advising +his step-son not to cast in his lot with them, but to wait and see +what would befall, and whether the Nevils were in earnest in their +desertion of the House of York. + +Hal restrained himself with difficulty enough to take a courteous +leave of his mother's husband, to whose prudence and forbearance he +was really much beholden; though, with his spirit newly raised and +burning for his King, it was hard to have patience with neutrality. + +He found Sir Giles employed in examining his followers, and rigidly +sending home all not properly equipped with bow, sheaf of arrows, +strong knife or pike, buff coat, head-piece and stout shoes; also a +wallet of provisions for three days, or a certain amount of coin. He +would have no marauding on the way, and refused to take any mere +lawless camp follower, thus disposing of a good many disreputable- +looking fellows who had flocked in his wake. Sir Lancelot's steward +seconded him heartily by hunting back his master's retainers; and +there remained only about five-and-twenty--mostly, in fact, yeomen or +their sons--men who had been in arms for Queen Margaret and had never +made their submission, but lived on unmolested in the hills, really +outlawed, but not coming in collision with the authorities enough to +have their condition inquired into. They had sometimes attacked +Yorkist parties, sometimes resisted Scottish raids, or even made a +foray in return, and they were well used to arms. These all had full +equipments, and some more coin in their pouches than they cared to +avow. Three or four of them brought an ox, calf or sheep, or a rough +pony loaded with provisions, and driven by a herd boy or a son eager +to see life and 'the wars.' Simon Bunce, well armed, was of this +party. Hob Hogward, though he had come to see what became of his +young lord, was pronounced too stiff and aged to join the band, which +might now really be called a troop, not a mere lawless crowd of rough +lads. There were three trained men-at-arms, the regular retainers of +Sir Giles, who held a little peel tower on the borders where nobody +durst molest him, and these marshalled the little band in fair order. + +It was no season for roses, but a feather was also the cognisance of +Henry VI., and every one's barret-cap mounted a feather, generally +borrowed from the goodwife's poultry yard at home, but sometimes +picked up on the moors, and showing the barred black and brown +patterns of the hawk's or the owl's plumage. It was a heron's +feather that Hal assumed, on the counsel of Sir Giles, who told him +it was an old badge of the Cliffords, and it became well his bright +dark hair and brown face. + +On they went, a new and wonderful march to Hal, who had only looked +with infant eyes on anything beyond the fells, and had very rarely +been into a little moorland church, or seen enough people together +for a market day in Penrith. Sir Giles directed their course along +the sides of the hills till he should gain further intelligence, and +know how they would be received. For the most part the people were +well inclined to King Henry, though unwilling to stir on his behalf +in fear of Edward's cruelty. + +However, it was as they had come down from the hills intending to +obtain fresh provisions at one of the villages, and Hal was beginning +to recognise the moors he had known in earlier childhood, that they +perceived a party on the old Roman road before them, which the +outlaws' keen eyes at once discovered to be somewhat of their own +imputed trade. There seemed to be a waggon upset, persons bound, and +a buzz of men, like wasps around a honeycomb preying on it. +Something like women's veiled forms could be seen. 'Ha! Mere +robbery. This must not be. Upon them! Form! Charge!' were the +brief commands of the leader, and the compact body ran at a rapid but +a regulated pace down the little slope that gave them an advantage of +ground with some concealment by a brake of gorse. 'Halt! Pikes +forward!' was the next order. The little band were already close +upon the robbers, in whom they began to recognise some of those whom +Sir Giles had dismissed as mere ruffians unequipped a few days +before. It was with a yell of indignation that the troop fell on +them, Sir Giles with a sharp blow severing the bridle of a horse that +a man was leading, but there was a cry back, 'We are for King Harry! +These be Yorkists!' + +'Nay! nay!' came back the voices of the overthrown. 'Help! help! for +King Harry and Queen Margaret! These be rank thieves who have set on +us! Holy women are here!' + +These exclamations came broken and in utter confusion, mingled with +cries for mercy and asseverations on the part of the thieves, and +fierce shouts from Sir Giles's men. All was hubbub, barking dogs, +shouting men, and Hal scarcely knew anything till he was aware of two +or three shrouded nuns, as it seemed, standing by their ponies, of +merchantmen or carters trying to quiet and harness frightened mules, +of waggons overturned, of a general confusion over which arose Lord +Musgrave's powerful authoritative voice. + +'Kit of Clumber! Why should I not hang you for thieving on yonder +tree, with your fellow thieves?' + +'Yorkists, sir! It was all in the good cause,' responded a sullen +voice, as a grim red and scarred face was seen on a ruffian held by +two of the archers. + +'No Yorkists we, sir!' began a stout figure, coming forward from the +waggon. 'We be peaceable merchants and this is a holy dame, the--' + +'The Prioress Selby of Greystone,' interrupted one of the nuns, +coming forward with a hawk on her wrist. 'Sir Giles of Musgrave, I +am beholden to you! I was on my way to take the young damsel of +Bletso to her father, the Lord St. John, with Earl Warwick in London. +He sent us an escort, but they being arrant cravens, as it seems, we +thought it well to join company with these same merchants, and thus +we became a bait for the outlaws of the Border.' + +'Lady, lady,' burst from one of the prisoners, 'I swear that we +kenned not holy dames to be of the company! Sir, my lord, we thought +to serve the cause of King Harry, and how any man is to guess which +side is Earl Warwick's is past an honest man.' + +'An honest man whose cause is his own pouch!' returned Sir Giles. +'Miscreants all! But I trow we are scarce yet out of the land of +misrule! So if the Lady Prioress will say a word for such a sort of +sorners, I'll e'en let you go on your way.' + +'They have had a warning, the poor rogues, and that will suffice for +this time! Nay, now, fellows, let my wimple alone! You'll not find +another lord to let you off so easy, nor another Prioress to stand +your friend. Get off, I say.' + +An archer enforced her words with a blow, and by some means, rough or +otherwise, a certain amount of order was restored, the ruffians +slinking off among the gorse bushes, their flight hastened by the +pointing of pikes and levelling of arrows at them. While the +merchants, diving into their packages, produced horns of ale which a +younger man offered to their defenders, the chief of the party, a +portly fellow, interrupted certain civilities between the Prioress +and Sir Giles by praying them to partake of a cup of malmsey, and +adding an entreaty that they might be allowed to join company with so +brave an escort, explaining that he was a poor merchant of London and +the Hans towns who had been beguiled into an expedition to Scotland +to the young King James, who was said to have a fair taste. He waved +his hands as if his sufferings had been beyond description. + +'Went for wool and came back shorn!' said the Prioress, laughing. +'Well, my Lord Musgrave, what say you to letting us join company?--as +I see your band is afoot it will be no great delay, and the more the +safer as well as the merrier! Here, let me present to you my young +maid, the Lady Anne of Bletso, whom I in person am about to deliver +to her father.' + +'And let me present privately to both ladies,' said Sir Giles, 'the +young squire Harry of Derwentdale, who hath been living as a shepherd +in the hills during the York rule.' + +'Ha! my lord, methinks this may not be the first meeting between Lady +Anne and you, though she would not know who the herd boy was who +found her, a stray lambkin on the moor.' + +The young people looked at each other with eyes of recognition, and +as Hal made his best bow, he said, 'Forsooth, lady, I did not know +myself till afterwards.' + +'Your shepherd and his wife gave me to understand that I should do +hurt by inquiring too much,' said the young lady smiling, and holding +out her hand, which Hal did not know whether to kiss or to shake. 'I +hope the kind old goodwife is well, who cosseted me so lovingly.' + +'She fares well, indeed, lady, only grieved at parting with me.' + +'There now,' said the Prioress, 'since we are quit of the robbers, +methinks we cannot do better than halt awhile for Master Lorimer's +folk to mend the tackling of their gear, while we make our noonday +meal and provide for our further journey. Allow me to be your +hostess for the nonce, my lords.' + +And between the lady's sumpter mules and the merchant's stores a far +more sumptuous meal was produced than would have otherwise been the +share of the Lancastrian party. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE JOURNEY + + + +'Twas sweet to see these holy maids, + Like birds escaped to greenwood shades,--SCOTT. + + +The Prioress Agnes Selby of Greystone was a person who would have +made a much fitter lady of a castle than head of a nunnery. She +would have worked for and with her lord, defended his lands for him, +governed his house and managed her sons with untiring zest and +energy. But a vow of her parents had consigned her to a monastic +life at York, where she could only work off her vigour by teasing the +more devout and grave sisters, and when honourably banished to the +more remote Greystone, in field sports, and in fortifying her convent +against Scots or Lancastrians who, somewhat to her disappointment, +never did attack her. No complaint or scandal had ever attached +itself to her name, and she let Mother Scholastica manage the nuns, +and regulate the devotions, while Greystone was known as a place +where a thirsty warrior might be refreshed, where tales and ballads +of Border raids were welcome, and where good hawk or hound was not +despised. + +It had occurred to the Lord St. John of Bletso that the little +daughter whom he had left at York might be come to a marriageable +age, and he had listened to the proposal of one of the cousins of the +house of Nevil for a contract between her and his son, sending an +escort northwards to fetch her, properly accompanied. + +She had been all these years at Greystone, and the Prioress +immediately decided that this would be an excellent opportunity of +seeing the southern world, and going on a round of pilgrimages which +would make the expedition highly decorous. The ever restless spirit +within her rose in delight, and the Sisterhood of York were ready to +acquiesce, having faith in Mother Agnes' good sense to guide her and +her pupil to his castle in Bedfordshire by the help of Father Martin +through any tangles of the White and Red Roses that might await her, +as well to her real principle for avoiding actual evil, though she +might startle monastic proprieties. + +There was no doubt but that conversation, when she could have it, was +as great a joy to her as ever was galloping after a deer; and there +she sat with her beautiful hound by her side, and her hawk on a pole, +exchanging sentiments of speculation as to Warwick's change of front +with Sir Giles Musgrave, Father Martin, and Master Ralph Lorimer, +while discussing a pasty certainly very superior to anything that had +come out of the Penrith stores. + +Young Clifford and Lady Anne sat on the grass near, too shy for the +present to renew their acquaintance, but looking up at one another +under their eyelashes, and the first time their eyes met, the girl +breaking into a laugh, but it was not till towards the end of the +refection that they were startled into intercourse by a general +growling and leaping up of the great hound, and of the two big +ungainly dogs chained to the waggon, as wet, lean, bristling but +ecstatic, Watch dashed in among them, and fell on his master. + +For four days (unless he was tied up at first) the good dog must have +been tracking him. 'Off! off!' cried the Prioress, holding back her +deer-hound by main strength. 'Off, Florimond! he sets thee a pattern +of faithfulness! Be quiet and learn thy devoir!' + +'O sir, I cannot send him back!' entreated Hal, also embracing and +caressing the shaggy neck. + +'Send him back! Nay, indeed. As saith the Reverend Mother, it were +well if some earls and lords minded his example,' said Sir Giles. + +'Here! Watch, I mind thee well,' added Anne. 'Here's a slice of +pasty to reward thee. Oh! thou art very hungry,' as the big mouth +bolted it whole. + +'Nearly famished, poor rogue!' said Hal, administering a bone. 'How +far hast thou run, mine own lad! Art fain to come with thy master +and see the hermit?' + +'Thou must e'en go,' growled Simon Bunce, 'unless the lady's dog make +an end of thee! 'Tis ever the worthless that turn up.' + +'I would Florimond would show himself as true,' said the Prioress. +'Don't show thy teeth, sir! I can honour Watch, yet love thee.' + +''Tis jealousy as upsets faith,' said the merchant. 'The hound is a +knightly beast with his proud head, but he brooks not to see a +Woodville creep in.' + +'Nay, or a Beaufort!' suggested Sir Giles. + +'No treason, Lord Musgrave!' said the Prioress, laughing. + +'Ah, madam,' responded Sir Giles, 'what is treason?' + +'Whatever is against him that has the best of it,' observed Master +Lorimer. 'Well that it is not the business of a poor dealer in +horse-gear and leather-work. He asks not which way his bridles are +to turn! How now, Tray and Blackchaps? Never growl and gird. You +have no part in the fray!' + +For they were chained, and could only champ, bark and howl, while +Florimond and Watch turned one another over, and had to be pulled +forcibly back, by Hal on the one hand and on the other by the Mother +Agnes, who would let nobody touch Florimond except herself. After +this, the two dogs subsided into armed neutrality, and gradually +became devoted friends. + +The curiously composed cavalcade moved on their way southward. The +Prioress was mounted on the fine chestnut horse that Sir Giles had +rescued. She was attended by a nun, Sister Mabel, and a lay Sister, +both as hardy as herself, and riding sturdy mountain ponies; but her +chaplain, a thin delicate-looking man with a bad cough, only ventured +upon a sturdy ass; Anne St. John had a pretty little white palfrey +and two men-at-arms. There were two grooms, countrymen, who had run +away on the onset of the thieves, but came sneaking back again, to be +soundly rated by the Prioress, who threatened to send them home again +or have them well scourged, but finally laughed and forgave them. + +The merchant, Master Lorimer--who dealt primarily in all sorts of +horse furniture, but added thereto leather-work for knights and men- +at-arms, and all that did not too closely touch the armourer's trade-- +had three sturdy attendants, having lost one in an attack by the +Scottish Borderers, and he had four huge Flemish horses, who sped +along the better for their loads having been lightened by sales in +Edinburgh, where he had hardly obtained skins enough to make up for +the weight. His headquarters, he said, were at Barnet, since tanning +and leather-dressing, necessary to his work, though a separate guild, +literally stank in the nostrils of the citizens of London. + +To these were added Sir Giles Musgrave's twenty archers, making a +very fair troop, wherewith to proceed, and the Prioress decided on +not going to York. She was not particularly anxious for an interview +with the Abbess of her Order, and it would have considerably +lengthened the journey, which both Musgrave and Lorimer were anxious +to make as short as possible. They preferred likewise to keep to the +country, that was still chiefly open and wild, with all its destiny +in manufactories yet to come, though there were occasionally such +towns, villages and convents on the way where provisions and lodging +could be obtained. + +Every fresh scene of civilisation was a new wonder to Hal Clifford, +and scarcely less so to Anne St. John, though her life in the +moorland convent had begun when she was not quite so young as he had +been when taken to the hills of Londesborough. He had only been two +or three times in the church at Threlkeld, which was simple and bare, +and the full display of a monastic church was an absolute amazement, +making him kneel almost breathless with awe, recollecting what the +royal hermit had told him. He was too illiterate to follow the +service, but the music and the majestic flow of the chants +overwhelmed him, and he listened with hands clasped over his face, +not daring to raise his eyes to the dazzling gold of the altar, +lighted by innumerable wax tapers. + +The Prioress was amused. 'Art dazed, my friend? This is but a poor +country cell; we will show you something much finer when we get to +Derby.' + +Hal drew a long breath. 'Is that meant to be like the saints in +Heaven?' he said. 'Is that the way they sing there?' + +'I should hope they pronounce their Latin better,' responded the +Prioress, who, it may be feared, was rather a light-minded woman. At +any rate there was a chill upon Hal which prevented him from +directing any of his remarks or questions to her for the future. The +chaplain told him something of what he wanted to know, but he met +with the most sympathy from the Lady Anne. + +'Which, think you, is the fittest temple and worship?' he said; as +they rode out together, after hearing an early morning service, gone +through in haste, and partaking of a hurried meal. The sun was +rising over the hills of Derbyshire, dyeing them of a red purple, +standing out sharply against a flaming sky, flecked here and there +with rosy clouds, and fading into blue that deepened as it rose +higher. The elms and beeches that bordered the monastic fields had +begun to put on their autumn livery, and yellow leaves here and there +were like sparks caught from the golden light. + +Hal drew off his cap as in homage to the glorious sight. + +'Ah, it is fine!' said Anne, 'it is like the sunrise upon our own +moors, when one breathes freely, and the clouds grow white instead of +grey.' + +'Ah!' said Hal, 'I used to go out to the high ground and say the +prayer the hermit taught me--"Jam Lucis," it began. He said it was +about the morning light.' + +'I know that "Jam Lucis,"' said Anne; 'the Sisters sing it at prime, +and Sister Scholastica makes us think how it means about light coming +and our being kept from ill,' and she hummed the chant of the first +verse. + +'I think this blue sky and royal sun, and the moon and stars at +night, are God's great hall of praise,' said Hal, still keeping his +cap off, as he had done through Anne's chant of praise. + +'Verily it is! It is the temple of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven +and earth, as the Credo says,' replied Anne, 'but, maybe, we come +nearer still to Him in God the Son when we are in church.' + +'I do not know. The dark vaulted roof and the dimness seem to crush +me down,' said the mountain lad, 'though the singing lifts me +sometimes, though at others it comes like a wailing gust, all +mournful and sad! If I could only understand! My royal hermit would +tell me when I can come to him.' + +'Do you think, now he is a king again, he will be able to take heed +to you?' + +'I know he cares for me,' said Hal with confidence. + +'Ah yea, but will the folk about him care to let him talk to you? I +have heard say that he was but a puppet in their hands. Yea, you are +a great lord, that is true, but will that great masterful Earl +Warwick let you to him, or say all these thoughts of his and yours +are but fancies for babes?' + +'Simon Bunce did mutter such things, and that one of us was as great +an innocent as the other,' said Hal, 'but I trust my hermit's love.' + +'Ay, you know you are going to someone you love, and who loves you,' +sighed Anne, 'but how will it be with me?' + +'Your father?' suggested Hal. + +'My father! What knows he of me or I of him? I tell thee, Harry +Clifford, he left me at York when I was not eight years old, and I +have never seen him since. He gave a charge on his lands to a +goldsmith at York to pay for my up-bringing, and I verily believe +thought no more of me than if I had been a messan dog. He wedded a +lady in Flanders and had a son or twain, but I have never seen them +nor my stepdame; and now Gilbert there, who brought the letter to the +Mother Prioress, says she is dead, and the little heir, whose birth +makes me nobody, is at a monastery school at Ghent. But my Lord of +Redgrave must needs make overtures to my father for me, whether for +his son or himself Gilbert cannot say. So my father sends to bring +me back for a betrothal. The good Prioress goes with me. She saith +that if it be the old Lord, who is a fierce old rogue with as ill a +name as Tiptoft himself, the butcher, she will make my Lord St. John +know the reason why! But what will he care?' + +'It would be hard not to hear my Lady Prioress!' said Hal, looking +back at the determined black figure, gesticulating as she talked to +Sir Giles. + +Anne laughed, half sadly, 'So you think! But you have never seen the +grim faces at Bletso! They will say she is but a woman and a nun, +and what are her words to alliance with a friend of the Lord of +Warwick? Ah! it is a heartless hope, when I come to that castle!' + +'Nay, Anne, if my King gives me my place then-- + +'Lady Anne! Lady Anne!' called Sir Giles Musgrave, 'the Mother +Prioress thinks it not safe for you to keep so much in the front. +There might be ill-doers in the thickets.' + +Anne perforce reined in, but Hal fed on the idea that had suddenly +flashed on him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. BLETSO + + + +Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me.--SHAKESPEARE, + + +The cavalcade journeyed on not very quickly, as the riders +accommodated themselves to those on foot. They avoided the towns +when they came into the more inhabited country, the Prioress +preferring the smaller hostels for pilgrims and travellers, and, it +may be suspected, monasteries to the nunneries, where she said the +ladies had nothing to talk about but wonder at her journey, and +advice to stay in shelter till after the winter weather. Meantime it +was a fine autumn still, and with bright colours on the woods, where +deer, hare, rabbit, or partridge tempted the hounds, not to say their +mistress, but she kept them well in leash, and her falcon with hood +and jesses, she being too well nurtured not to be well aware of the +strict laws of the chase, except when some good-natured monk gave her +leave and accompanied her--generally Augustinians, who were more of +country squires than ecclesiastics. Watch needed no leash--he kept +close to his master, except when occasionally tempted to a little +amateur shepherding, from which Hal could easily call him off. The +great stag-hounds evidently despised him, and the curs of the waggon +hated him, and snarled whenever he came near them, but the Prioress +respected him, and could well believe that the hermit King had loved +him. 'He had just the virtues to suit the good King Harry,' she +said, 'dutifulness and harmlessness.' + +The Prioress was the life of the party, with her droll descriptions +of the ways of the nuns who received her, while the males of the +party had to be content with the hostel outside. Sir Giles and +Master Lorimer, riding on each side of her, might often be heard +laughing with her. The young people were much graver, especially as +there were fewer and fewer days' journeys to Bletso, and Anne's +unknown future would begin with separation from all she had ever +known, unless the Mother Prioress should be able to remain with her. + +And to Harry Clifford the loss of her presence grew more and more to +be dreaded as each day's companionship drew them nearer together in +sympathy, and he began to build fanciful hopes of the King's +influence upon the plans of Lord St. John, unless the contract of +betrothal had been actually made, and therewith came a certain zest +in looking to his probable dignity such as he had never felt before. + +The last day's journey had come. The escort who had acted as guides +were in familiar fields and lanes, and one, the leader, rode up to +Lady Anne and pointed to the grey outline among the trees of her +home, while he sent the other to hurry forward and announce her. + +Anne shivered a little, and Hal kept close to her. He had made the +journey on foot, because he had chosen to be reckoned among +Musgrave's archers till he had received full knightly training; and, +besides, he had more freedom to attach himself to Anne's bridle rein, +and be at hand to help through difficult passages. Now he came up +close to her, and she held out her hand. He pressed it warmly. + +'You will not forget?' + +'Never, never! That red rose in the snow--I have the leaf in my +breviary. And Goodwife Dolly, tell her I'll never forget how she +cosseted the wildered lamb.' + +'Poor Mother Dolly, when shall I see her?' + +'Oh! you will be able to have her to share your state, and Watch too! +I take none with me.' + +'If we are all in King Harry's cause, there will be hope of meeting, +and then if--' + +'Ah! I see a horseman coming! Is it my father?' + +It was a horseman who met them, taking off his cap of maintenance and +bowing low to the Prioress and the young lady, but it was the +seneschal of the castle, not the father whom Anne so dreaded, but an +old gentleman, Walter Wenlock, with whom there was a greeting as of +an old friend. My lord had gone with the Earl of Warwick to Queen +Margaret in France, and had sent a messenger with a letter to meet +his daughter at York, and tell her to go to the house of the Poor +Clares in London instead of coming home, 'and there await him.' + +The route that had been taken by the party accounted for their not +having met the messenger and it was plain that they must go on to +London. The evening was beginning to draw in, and a night's lodging +was necessary. Anne assumed a little dignity. + +'My good friends who have guarded me, I hope you will do me the +honour to rest for the night in my father's castle.' + +The seneschal bowed acquiescence, but the poor man was evidently +sorely perplexed by such an extensive invitation on the part of his +young lady on his peace establishment, though the Prioress did her +best to assist Anne to set him at ease. 'Here is Sir Giles Musgrave, +the Lord of Peelholm on the Borders, a staunch friend of King Harry, +with a band of stout archers, and this gentleman from the north is +with him.' (It had been agreed that the Clifford name should not be +mentioned till the way had been felt with Warwick, one of whose +cousins had been granted the lands of the Black Lord Clifford.) + +The seneschal bent before Musgrave courteously, saying he was happy +to welcome so good and brave a knight, and he prayed his followers to +excuse if their fare was scant and homely, being that he was +unprovided for the honour. + +'No matter, sir,' returned Musgrave; 'we are used to soldiers' fare.' + +'And,' proceeded Anne, 'Master Lorimer must lie here, and his wains.' + +'Master Lorimer,' said the Prioress, 'with whom belike--Lorimer of +Barnet--Sir Seneschal has had dealings,' and she put forward the +merchant, who had been falling back to his waggon. + +'Yea,' said Walter Wenlock frankly, holding out his hand. 'We have +bought your wares and made proof of them, good sir. I am glad to +welcome you, though I never saw you to the face before.' + +'Great thanks, good seneschal. All that I would ask would be licence +for my wains to stand in your court to-night while my fellows and I +sup and lodge at the hostel.' + +The hospitality of Bletso could not suffer this, and both Anne and +the seneschal were urgent that all should remain, Wenlock reflecting +that if the store for winter consumption were devoured, even to the +hog waiting to be killed, he could obtain fresh supplies from the +tenants, so he ushered all into the court, and summoned steward, +cooks, and scullions to do their best. It was not a castle, only a +castellated house, which would not have been capable of long +resistance in time of danger, but the court and stables gave ample +accommodation for the animals and the waggons, and the men were +bestowed in the great open hall, reaching to the top of the house, +where all would presently sup. + +In the meantime the seneschal conducted the ladies and their two +attendants to a tiny chamber, where an enormous bed was being made +ready by the steward's wife and her son, and in which all four ladies +would sleep, the Prioress and Anne one way, the other two foot to +foot with them! They had done so before, so were not surprised, and +the lack of furniture was a matter of course. Their mails were +brought up, a pitcher of water and a bowl, and they made their +preparations for supper. Anne was in high spirits at the dreaded +meeting, and still more dreaded parting, having been deferred, and +she skipped about the room, trying to gather up her old +recollections. 'Yes, I remember that bit of tapestry, and the man +that stands there among the sheep. Is it King David, think you, +Mother, about to throw his stone at the lion and the bear?' + +'Lion and bear, child! 'Tis the three goddesses and Paris choosing +the fairest to give the golden apple.' + +'Methought that was the lion's mane, but I see a face.' + +'What would the Lady Venus say to have her golden locks taken for a +lion's mane?' + +'I like black hair,' said Anne. + +'Better not fix thy mind on any hue! We poor women have no choice +save what fathers make for us.' + +'O good my mother, peace! They are all in France, and there's no +need to spoil this breathing time with thinking of what is coming! +Good old Wenlock! I used to ride on his shoulder! I'm right glad to +see him again! I must tell him in his ear to put Hal well above the +salt! May not I tell him in his ear who he is?' + +'Safer not, my maid, till we know what King Harry can do for him. +Better that his name should not get abroad till he can have his own.' + +A great bell brought all down, and Anne was pleased to see that her +seneschal made no question about placing Harry Clifford beside the +Prioress, who sat next to the Lord of Peelholm, who sat next to the +young daughter of the house in the seat of honour. + +The nuns, Master Lorimer, and one of the archers, who was a Border +squire, besides Master Wenlock, occupied the high table on the dais, +and the archers, grooms, and the rest of the household were below. + +The fare was not scanty nor unsubstantial, but evidently hastily +prepared, being chiefly broiled slices of beef, on which salting had +begun; but there was a lack of bread, even of barley, though there +was no want of drink. + +However, the Prioress was good-humoured, and forestalled all excuses +by jests about travellers' meals and surprises in the way of guests, +and both she and Sir Giles were anxious for Wenlock's news of the +state of things. + +He knew much more of the course of affairs than they in their +northern homes and on their journey. + +'The realm is divided,' he said. 'Those who hold to King Harry, as +you gentles do, are in high joy, but there be many, spoken with +respect, who cannot face about so fast, and hold still for York, +though they mislike the Queen's kindred. Of such are the merchantmen +of London.' + +'Is it so?' asked Lorimer. 'If King Edward be as deep in debt to +them as to me for housings and bridle reins methinks he should not be +in good odour in their nostrils.' + +'Yea,' said Wenlock, 'but if he be gone a beggar to Burgundy what +becomes of their debt?' + +'I would not give much for it were he restored a score of times,' +said the Prioress. 'What would he do but plunge deeper?' + +'There would be hope, though, of getting an order on the royal +demesne, or the crown jewels, or the taxes,' said Lorimer. 'Nay, I +hold one even now that will be but waste if he come not back.' + +'And this poor King spendeth nothing save on priests and masses,' +said Wenlock. + +Hal started forward, eager to hear of his King, and Musgrave said, 'A +holy man is he.' + +'Too holy for a King,' said the seneschal. 'He looked like a +woolsack across a horse when my Lord of Warwick led him down +Cheapside; and only the rabble cried out "Long live King Harry!" but +some scoffed and said they saw a mere gross monk with a baby face +where they had been wont to see a comely prince full of manhood, with +a sword instead of beads.' + +'His son will please them,' said Musgrave. 'He was a goodly child, +full of spirit, when last I saw him.' + +'If so be he have not too much of the Frenchwoman, his mother, in +him,' said Wenlock. 'A losing lot, as poor as any rats, and as proud +as very peacocks.' + +'She was gracious enough and won all hearts on the Border,' replied +Musgrave. + +'Come, come!' put in the Prioress, 'you may have the chance yet to +break a lance on her behalf. No fear but she is royal enough to +shine down King Edward's low-born love, the Widow Grey!' + +'Ay, there lay the cause of discontent,' said Lorimer; 'the upstart +ways of her kin were not to be borne. To hear Dick Woodville chaffer +about the blazoning of his horse-gear when he was wedding the +fourscore-year-old Duchess of Norfolk, one would have thought he was +an emperor at the very least.' + +'Widow Grey has done something for her husband's cause,' said the +seneschal, 'in bringing him at last a fair son, all in his exile, and +she in sanctuary at Westminster. The London citizens are ever +touched through all the fat about their hearts by whatever would +sound well in the mouth of a ballad-monger.' + +'My King, my King, what of him?' sighed Hal in the Prioress's ear, +and she made the inquiry for him: 'What said you of King Henry, Sir +Seneschal? How did he fare in his captivity?' + +'Not so ill, methinks,' said the seneschal. 'He had the range of the +Tower, and St. Peter's in the Fetters to pray in, which was what he +heeded most; also he had a messan dog, and a tame bird. Indeed, men +said he had laid on much flesh since he had been mewed up there; and +my lord, who went with my Lord of Warwick to fetch him, said his +garments were scarce so cleanly as befitted. 'Twas hard to make him +understand. First he clasped his hands, and bowed his head, crying +out that he forgave those who came to slay him, and when he found it +was all the other way, he stood like one dazed, let his hand be +kissed, and they say is still in the hands of my Lord Archbishop of +York just as if he were the waxen image of St. John in a procession.' + +'The Earl and the Queen will have to do the work,' said the Prioress, +'and they will no more hold together than a couple of wild hawks will +hunt in company. How long do you give them to tear out one another's +eyes?' + +'Son and daughter may keep them together,' said Musgrave, + +'Hatred of the Woodvilles is more like, a poor band though it be,' +said the Prioress. 'These are stirring times! I'll not go back to +my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of them! +Meantime, to our beds, sweet Anne, since 'tis an early start +tomorrow.' + +The Prioress, who had become warmly interested in Hal, and had +divined the feeling between him and Anne, thought that if she could +obtain access to the Archbishop of York, Warwick's brother George, +she could deal with him to procure Clifford's restitution in name and +in blood, and at least his De Vesci inheritance, if Dick Nevil, who +had grasped the Clifford lands, could not be induced to give them up. + +'I have seen George Nevil,' she said, 'when I was instituted to +Greystone. He is of kindlier mood than his brothers, and more a +valiant trencherman and hunter than aught else. If I had him on the +moors and could show him some sport with a red deer, I could turn him +round my finger.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER + + + +Thy pity hath been balm to heal their wounds, +Thy mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs, +Thy mercy dried their ever flowing tears.--SHAKESPEARE. + + +Early in the morning, while the wintry sun was struggling with mists, +and grass and leaves were dark with frost, the Prioress was in her +saddle. Perhaps the weather might have constrained a longer stay, +but that it was clear to her keen eyes that, however welcome Wenlock +might make his young lady, there was little provision and no welcome +for thorough-going Lancastrians like Sir Giles's troop, who had +besides a doubtful Robin Hood-like reputation; and as neither she nor +Anne wished to ride forward without them, they decided to go on all +together as before. + +And a very wet and slightly snowy journey they had, 'meeting in snow +and parting in snow,' as Hal said, as he marched by Anne's bridle- +rein, leading her pony, so as to leave her hands free to hold cloak +and hood close about her. + +She sighed, and put one hand on his, but a gust of wind took that +opportunity of getting under her cloak and sending it fluttering over +her back, so that he had to catch it and return it to her grasp. + +'Let us take that as a prophecy that storms shall not hinder our +further meeting! It may be! It may be! Who knows what my King may +do for us?' + +'Only a storm can bring us together! But that may--' + +Her breath was blown away again before the sentence was finished, if +it was meant to be finished, and Master Lorimer came to insist on the +ladies taking shelter in his covered waggon, where the Prioress was +already installed. + +Through rain and sleet they reached Chipping Barnet in due time on +the third day's journey, and here they were to part from the +merchant's wains. He had sent forward, and ample cheer was provided +at the handsome timbered and gabled house at the porch of which stood +his portly wife, with son, daughter, and son-in-law, ready to welcome +the party, bringing them in to be warmed and dried before sitting +down to the excellent meal which it had been Mistress Lorimer's pride +and pleasure to provide. There was a small nunnery at Barnet, but +not very near, and the Prioress Agnes did not think herself bound to +make her way thither in the dark and snow, so she remained, most +devoutly waited on by her hostess, and discussed the very last +tidings, which had been brought that morning by the foreman whom +Mistress Lorimer had sent to bring the news to her husband. + +It was probable that the Lord of Bletso was with Warwick and the +Queen, as he had not been heard of at his home. The King was in the +royal apartments of the Tower, under the charge of the Chancellor. +The Earl of Oxford, a steady partisan of the Red Rose, was Constable +of the Kingdom, and was guarding the Tower. + +On hearing this, Musgrave decided to repair at once to the Earl, one +of the few men in whom there was confidence, since he had never +changed his allegiance, and to take his counsel as to the recognition +of young Clifford. On the way to the Tower they would leave the +Prioress and her suite at the Sister Minoresses', till news could be +heard of the Baron St. John. + +So for the last time the travellers rode forth in slightly improved +weather. Harry's heart beat high with the longing soon to be in the +presence of him who had opened so many doors of life to his young +mind, whom he so heartily loved, and who, it might be, could give him +that which he began to feel would be the joy of his life. + +The archers, who had been lodged in the warehouses, were drawn up in +a compact body, and Master Lorimer, who had a shop in Cheapside, +decided on accompanying them, partly to be at the scene of action and +partly to facilitate their entrance. + +So Hal walked by the side of Anne St. John's bridle-rein, with a very +full heart, swelling with sensations he did not understand, and which +kept him absolutely silent, untrained as he was in the +conventionalities which would have made speech easier to him. Nor +had Anne much more command of tongue, and all she did was to keep her +hand upon the shoulder of her squire; but there was much involuntary +meaning in the yearning grasp of those fingers, and both fed on the +hopes the Prioress had given them. + +Christmas was close at hand, and fatted cattle on their way to market +impeded the way, so that Hal's time was a good deal taken up in +steering the pony along, and in preventing Watch from getting into a +battle with the savage dogs that guarded them. Penrith market, where +once he had been, had never shown him anything like such a concourse, +and he could hear muttered exclamations from the archers, who walked +by Sir Giles's orders in a double line on each side the horses, their +pikes keeping off the blundering approach of bullocks or sheep. 'By +the halidome, if the Scots were among them, they might victual their +whole kingdom till Domesday!' + +The tall spire of old St. Paul's and the four turrets of the Tower +began to rise on them, and were pointed out by Master Lorimer, for +even Sir Giles had only once in his life visited the City, and no one +else of the whole band from the north had ever been there. The road +was bordered by the high walls of monasteries, overshadowed by trees, +and at the deep gateway of one of these Lorimer called a halt. It +was the house of the Minoresses or Poor Clares, where the ladies were +to remain. The six weeks' companionship would come to an end, and +the Prioress was heartily sorry for it. 'I shall scarce meet such +good company at the Clares',' she said, laughing, as she took leave +of Lord Musgrave, 'Mayhap when I go back to my hills I shall remember +your goodwife's offer of hospitality, Master Lorimer.' + +Master Lorimer bowed low, expressed his delight in the prospect, and +kissed the Prioress's hand, but the heavy door was already being +opened, and with an expressive look of drollery and resignation, the +good lady withdrew her hand, hastily brought her Benedictine hood and +veil closely over her face, and rode into the court, followed by her +suite. Anne had time to let her hand be kissed by Sir Giles and Hal, +who felt as if a world had closed on him as the heavy doors clanged +together behind the Sisters. But the previous affection of his young +life lay before him as Sir Giles rode on to the fortified Aldgate, +and after a challenge from the guard, answered by a watchword from +Lorimer, and an inquiry for whom the knight held, they were admitted, +and went on through an increasing crowd trailing boughs of holly and +mistletoe, to the north gateway of the Tower. Here they parted with +Lorimer, with friendly greetings and promises to come and see his +stall at Cheapside. + +There was a man-at-arms with the star of the De Veres emblazoned on +his breast, and a red rosette on his steel cap, but he would not +admit the new-comers till Sir Giles had given his name, and it had +been sent in by another of the garrison to the Earl of Oxford. + +Presently, after some waiting in the rain, and looking up with awe at +the massive defences, two knights appeared with outstretched hands of +welcome. Down went the drawbridge, up went the portcullis, the +horses clattered over the moat, and the reception was hearty indeed. +'Well met, my Lord of Musgrave! I knew you would soon be where Red +Roses grew.' + +'Welcome, Sir Giles! Methought you had escaped after the fight at +Hexham.' + +'Glad indeed to meet you, brave Sir John, and you, good Lord of +Holmdale! Is all well with the King?' + +'As well as ever it will be. The Constable is nigh at hand! You +have brought us a stout band of archers, I see! We will find a use +for them if March chooses to show his presumptuous nose here again!' + +'And hither comes my Lord Constable! It rejoices his heart to hear +of such staunch following.' + +The Earl of Oxford, a stern, grave man of early middle age, was +coming across the court-yard, and received Sir Giles with the +heartiness that became the welcome of a proved and trustworthy ally. +After a few words, Musgrave turned and beckoned to Hal, who advanced, +shy and colouring. + +'Ha! young Lord Clifford! I am glad to see you! I knew your father +well, rest his soul! The King spoke to me of the son of a loyal +house living among the moors.' + +'The King was very good to me,' faltered Hal, crimson with eagerness. + +'Ay, ay! I sent not after you, having enough to do here; and +besides, till we have the strong hand, and can do without that heady +kinsman of Warwick, it will be ill for you to disturb the rogue-- +what's his name--to whom your lands have been granted, and who might +turn against the cause and maybe make a speedy end of you if he knew +you present. Be known for the present as Sir Giles counsels. Better +not put his name forward,' he added to Musgrave. + +'I care not for lands,' said Hal, 'only to see the King.' + +'See him you shall, my young lord, and if he be not in one of his +trances, he will be right glad to see you and remember you. But he +is scarce half a man,' added Oxford, turning to Musgrave. 'Cares for +nought but his prayers! Keeps his Hours like a monk! We can hardly +bring him to sit in the Council, and when he is there he sits scarce +knowing what we say. 'Tis my belief, when the Queen and Prince come, +that we shall have to make the Prince rule in his name, and let him +alone to his prayers! He will be in the church. 'Tis nones, or some +hour as they call it, and he makes one stretch out to another.' + +They entered the low archway of St. Peter ad Vincula, and there Hal +perceived a figure in a dark mantle just touched with gold, kneeling +near the chancel step, almost crouching. Did he not know the +attitude, though the back was broader than of old? He paused, as did +his companions; but there was one who did not pause, and would not be +left outside. Watch unseen had pattered up, and was rearing up, +jumping and fawning. There was a call of 'Watch! here sirrah!' but +'Watch! Watch! Good dog! Is it thou indeed?' was exclaimed at the +same moment, and with Watch springing up, King Henry stood on his +feet looking round with his dazed glance. + +'My King! my hermit father! Forgive! Down, Watch!' cried Hal, +falling down at his feet, with one arm holding down Watch, who tried +to lick his face and the King's hand by turns. + +'Is it thou, my child, my shepherd?' said Henry, his hands on the +lad's head. 'Bless thee! Oh, bless thee, much loved child of my +wanderings! I have longed after thee, and prayed for thee, and now +God hath given thee to me at this shrine! Kneel and give the Lord +thy best thanks, my lad! Ah! how tall thou art! I should not have +known thee, Hal, but for Watch.' + +'It is well,' muttered Oxford to Musgrave. 'I have not seen him so +well nor so cheery all this day. The lad will waken him up and do +him good.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. A CAPTIVE KING + + + +And we see far on holy ground, +If duly purged our mental view.--KEBLE. + + +The King held Harry Clifford by the hand as he left St. Peter's +Church. 'My child, my shepherd boy,' he said, and he called Watch +after him, and interested himself in establishing a kind of +suspicious peace between the shaggy collie and his own 'Minion,' a +small white curly-haired dog, which belonged to a family that had +been brought by Queen Margaret from Provence. + +His attendant knight, Sir Nicolas Romford, told Sir Giles Musgrave +that he had really never seemed so happy since his deliverance, and +Sir Nicolas had waited on him ever since his capture, six years +previously. He led the youth along to the royal rooms, asking on the +way after his sheep and the goodwife who had sent him presents of +eggs, then showing him the bullfinch, that greeted his return with +loving chirps, and when released from its cage came and sat upon his +shoulder and played with his hair, 'A better pet than a fierce hawk, +eh, Hal?' he said. + +He laughed when he found that Harry thought he had spent all this +time in a dark underground dungeon with fetters on his feet. + +'Oh no!' he said; 'they were kindly jailors. They dealt better with +me than with my Master.' + +'Sir, sir, that terrible ride through Cheapside!' said Harry. 'We +heard of it at Derwent-side, and we longed to have our pikes at the +throats of the villain traitors.' + +The King looked as if he hardly remembered that cruel procession, +when he was set upon a sorry jade with his feet tied to the stirrups, +and shouts of 'Behold the traitor!' around him. Then with a sweet +smile of sudden recollection, he said, 'Ah! I recall it, and how I +rejoiced to be led in the steps of my Lord, and how the cries +sounded, "We will not have this man to reign over us!" Gratias ago, +unworthy me, who by my own fault could not reign.' + +Harry was silenced, awe-struck, and by-and-by the King took him to +see his old chamber in the White Tower, up a winding stone stair. It +was not much inferior to the royal lodgings, except in the matter of +dais, canopy, and tapestry, and the window looked out into the +country, so that the King said he had loved it, and it had many a +happy thought connected with it. + +Hal followed him in a sort of silent wonder, if not awe, not daring +to answer him in monosyllables. This was not quite the hermit of +Derwentdale. It was a broader man--not with the breadth of full +strength, but of inactivity and advance of years, though the fiftieth +year was only lately completed--and the royal robe of crimson, +touched with gold, suited him far less thaft the brown serge of the +anchoret. The face was no longer thin, sunburnt, and worn, but pale, +and his checks slightly puffed, and the eyes and smile, with more of +the strange look of innocent happiness than of old, and of that which +seemed to bring back to his young visitor the sense of peace and +well-being that the saintly hermit had always given him. + +There was consultation that evening between Lord Oxford and Sir Giles +Musgrave. It was better, they agreed, to let young Clifford remain +with the King as much as possible, but without divulging his name. +The King knew it, and indeed had known it, when he received the boy +at his hermitage, but he seemed to have forgotten it, as he had much +besides. Oxford said that though he could be roused into actual +fulfilment of such forms as were required of him, and understood what +was set before him, his memory and other powers seemed to have been +much impaired, and it was held wiser not to call on him more than +could be helped, till the Queen and her son should come to supply the +energy that was wanting. They would make the gay and brilliant +appearance that the Londoners had admired in Edward of York, and +which could not be obtained from poor Henry. + +His memory for actual matters was much impaired. Never for two days +together could he recollect that his son and Warwick's daughter were +married, and it was always by an effort that he remembered that the +Prince of Wales was not the eight-years-old child whom he had last +seen. As to young Clifford, he sometimes seemed to think the tall +nineteen-years-old stripling was just where he had left the child of +twelve or thirteen, and if he perceived the age, was so far confused +that it was not quite certain that he might not mix him up with his +own son, though the knight in constant attendance was sure that he +was clear on that point, and only looked on 'Hal' as the child of his +teaching and prayers. + +But Harry Clifford could not persuade him to enter into that which +more and more lay near the youthful heart, the rescuing Anne St. John +from the suitor of whom little that was hopeful was heard; and the +obtaining her from his father. Of course this could not be unless +Harry could win his father's property, and no longer be under the +attaint in blood, so as to be able to lay claim to the lands of the +De Vescis through his mother; but though the King listened with +kindly interest to the story of the children's adventure on the +Londesborough moor, and the subsequent meeting in Westmorland, the +rescue from the outlaws, and the journey together, it was all like a +romance to him--he would nod his head and promise to do what he +could, if he could, but he never remembered it for two days together, +and if Hal ventured on anything like pressure, the only answer was, +'Patience, my son, patience must have her work! It is the will of +God, it will be right.' + +And when Hal began to despair and work himself up and seek to do more +with one so impracticable, Lord Oxford and Sir Giles warned him not +to force his real name and claims too much, for he did not need too +many enemies nor to have Lord St. John and the Nevil who held his +lands both anxious to sweep him from their path. + +Nor was anything heard from or of the Prioress of Greystone, and +whenever the name of George Nevil, the Chancellor and Archbishop of +York, was heard, Hal's heart burnt with anxiety, and fear that the +lady had forgotten him, though as Dick Nevil, who held the lands of +Clifford, was known to be in his suite, it was probable that she was +acting out of prudence. + +The turmoil of anxious impatience seemed to be quelled when Hal sat +on a stool before the King, with Watch leaning against his knee. The +instruction or meditation seemed to be taken up much where it had +been left six years before, with the same unanswerable questions, +only the youth had thought out a great deal more, and the hermit had +advanced in a wisdom which was not that of the rough, practical +world. + +Part of Clifford's day was spent in the tilt-yard, where his two +friends, as well as himself, were anxious that he should acquire +proficiency and ease such as would become his station, when he +recovered it; and a martinet old squire of Oxford proved himself +nearly as hard a master as ever Simon Bunce had been. + +One very joyous day came to Henry in his regal capacity. Christmas +Day had been quietly spent. There was much noisy revelling in the +city, and the guards in the castle had their feastings, but Warwick +was daily expected to return from France, and neither his brother nor +the Archbishop thought that there was much policy in making a public +spectacle of a puppet King. + +But there was one ceremony from which Henry would not be debarred. +He would make the public offering on the Epiphany in Westminster +Abbey. He had done so ever since he was old enough to totter up to +the altar and hold the offerings; and his heart was set on doing so +once more. So a large and quiet cream-coloured Flemish horse was +brought for him, he was robed in purple and ermine, with a coronal +around the cap that covered his hair, fast becoming white. His train +in full array followed him, and the streets were thronged, but there +was an ominous lack of applause, and even a few audible jeers at the +monk dressed up like the jackdaw in peacock's plumes, and comparisons +with Edward, in sooth a king worth looking at. + +Henry seemed not to heed or hear. His blue eyes looked upward, his +face was set in peaceful contemplation, his lips were moving, and +those who were near enough caught murmurs of 'Vidimus enim stellam +Ejus in Oriente et venimus adorare Eum.' Truly the one might be a +king to suit the kingdoms of this world, the other had a soul near +the Kingdom of Heaven. + +The Dean and choir received him at the west door, and with the same +rapt countenance he paced up to the sanctuary, and knelt before the +chair appropriated to him, while the grand Epiphany Celebration was +gone through, in all its glory and beauty of sound and sight, and +with the King kneeling with clasped hands, and a radiant look of +happiness almost transfiguring that worn face. + +When the offertory anthem was sung, he rose up, and advanced to the +altar. A salver of gold coins was presented to him, which he took +and solemnly laid on the altar, but paused for a moment, and removed +his crown with both hands, placing it likewise on the altar, and +kneeling for a moment ere he turned to take the vase whence breathed +the fragrant odour of frankincense; and presenting this, and +afterwards kneeling and bowing low with clasped hands, he again took +the salver in which the myrrh was laid. This again he placed on the +altar, and remained kneeling in intense devotion through the +remainder of the service, only looking up at the 'Sursum Corda,' when +those near enough to see his countenance said that they never knew +before the full import of those words, nor how the heart could be +uplifted. + +It was the first time that Hal Clifford had ever joined in the full +ceremonial of the Church, or in such splendid accompaniment, for +though there had been the rightful ritual at St. Peter's in the +Tower, the space had been confined, and the clergy few, and the +whole, even on Christmas Day, had been more or less a training to him +to enter into what he now saw and heard. He had in these last weeks +gathered much of the meaning of all this from the King, who perhaps +never fully disentangled the full-grown youth from the boy he had +taught at Derwentdale, but who, perhaps for that very cause, really +suited better the strange mixture of ignorance, simplicity, +observation and aspiration of the shepherd lord. + +The King did not help more but less than he had done before in Hal's +researches and wonderings about natural objects; he had forgotten the +philosophies he had once read, and the supposed circuits of moon, +planets and stars only perplexed and worried his brain. It was much +more satisfactory to refer all to 'He hath made them fast for ever +and ever, He hath given them a law which shall not be broken,' and he +could not understand Hal's desire to find out what that law was, and +far less his calculations about the tides. He had scarcely ever seen +the sea, and as to its motions, 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no +farther' was sufficient explanation, and when Hal tried to show him +the correspondence between spring tides and full moons he either +waved him away or fell asleep. + +But on the spiritual side of his mind there was no torpor. He loved +to explain the sense of the prayers to his willing pupil, and to tell +him the Gospel story, dwelling on whatever could waken or carry on +the Christian life; and between the tiltyard and the oratory Hal +spent a strange life. + +That question which had occurred to him on the journey Hal ventured +to lay before his King--'Was it really and truly better and more +acceptable worship that came to breathe through him when alone with +God under the open vault of Heaven, with endless stars above and +beyond, or was the best that which was beautified and guided by +priests, with all that man's devices could lavish upon its +embellishment?' Such, though in more broken and hesitating words, +was the herd boy's difficulty, and Henry put his head back, and after +having once said, 'Adam had the one, God directed the other,' he shut +his eyes, and Hal feared he would put it aside as he had with the +moon and the tides, but after some delay, he leant forward and said, +'My son, if man had always been innocent, that worship as Adam and +Eve had it might--nay, would--have sufficed them. The more innocent +man is, the better his heart rises. But sin came into the world, and +expiation was needed, not only here on earth, but before the just God +in Heaven above. Therefore doth He, who hath once offered Himself in +sacrifice for us, eternally present His offering in Heaven before the +Mercy-Seat, and we endeavour as much as our poor feeble efforts can, +to take part in what He does above, and bring it home to our senses +by all that can represent to us the glories of Heaven.' + +There was much in this that went beyond Hal, who knitted his brow, +and would have asked further, but the King fell into a state of +contemplation, and noticed nothing, until presently he broke out into +a thanksgiving: 'Blessed be my Lord, who hath granted me once more to +follow in the steps of the kings of the East, though but as in a +dream, and lay my crown and my prayer before Him. Once more I thank +Thee, O my true King of kings, and Lord of lords.' + +'Oh, do not say once more!' exclaimed Hal. 'Again and again, I +trust, sir. It is no dream. It is real.' + +The King smiled and shook his head. 'It is all a dream to me,' he +said, 'the pageants and the whole. They will not last! Oh, no! It +is all but an empty show.' + +Hal looked up anxiously, and the King went on: 'Well do I remember +the day when, scarce able to walk, and weighed down by my robes, I +tottered up to the altar and was well pleased to make my offering, +and how my Lord of Warwick, who was then, took me in his arms, and +showed me my great father's figure on his grave, and told me I was +bound to be such a king as he! Alas! was it mine own error that I so +failed?-- + + + Henry born at Monmouth shall short live and gain all, + Henry born at Windsor shall long live and lose all.' + + +'Oh, sir, sir, do not speak of that old saw!' + +Still the King smiled. 'It has come true, my child. All is lost, +and it may be well for my soul that thus it should be, and that I +should go into the presence of my God freed from the load of what was +gained unjustly. I know not whether, if my hand had been stronger, I +should have striven to have borne up the burthen of these two realms, +but they never ought to have been mine, and if the sins of the +forefathers be visited on the children to the third and fourth +generation, no marvel that my brain and mine arm could but sink under +the weight. Would that I had yielded at once, and spared the +bloodshed and sacrilege! Miserere mei! My son was a temptation. +Oh, my poor boy! is he to be the heir to all that has come on me? +Have pity on him, good Lord!' + +'Nay, sir, your brave son will come home to comfort you, and help you +and make all well.' + +'I know not! I know not! I cannot believe that I shall see him +again, or that the visitation of these crimes is not still to come! +My son, my sweet son, I can only pray that he might give up his soul +sackless and freer of guilt than his father can be, when I remember +all that I ought to have hindered when I could think and use my will! +Now, now all is but confusion! God has taken away my judgment, even +as He did with my French grandsire, and I can only let others act as +they will, and pray for them and for myself.' + +He had never spoken at such length, nor so clearly, and whenever he +was required to come forward, he merely walked, rode, sat or signed +rolls as he was told to do, and continually made mistakes as to the +persons brought to him, generally calling them by their fathers' +names, if he recognised them at all, but still to his nearest +attendants, and especially to his beloved herd boy, he was the same +gentle, affectionate being, never so happy as at his prayers, and +sometimes speaking of holy things as one almost inspired. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES' + + + +The bird that hath been limed in a bush, +With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush. + SHAKESPEARE. + + +One day, soon after that Twelfth Day, Hal accompanied Sir Giles +Musgrave to the shop or stall of Master Lorimer in Cheapside, a wide +space, open by day but closed by shutters at night, where all sorts +of gilded and emblazoned leather-works for man or horse were +displayed, and young 'prentices called, 'What d'ye lack?' 'Saddle of +the newest make?' 'Buff coat fit to keep out the spear of Black +Douglas himself?' + +''Tis Master Lorimer himself I lack,' said Musgrave with a good- +humoured smile, and the merchant appeared from a room in the rear, +something between a counting-house and a bedroom, where he welcomed +his former companions, and insisted on their tasting the good sherris +sack that had been sent with his last cargo of Spanish leather. + +'I would I could send a flask to our good Prioress,' he said, 'to +cheer her heart. I went to the Minoresses' as she bade me, to settle +some matters of account with her, and after some ado, Sister Mabel +came down to the parlour and told me the Prioress is very sick with a +tertian fever, and they misdoubt her recovering.' + +'And the young Lady of St. John.' + +'She is well enough, but sadly woeful as to the Mother Prioress, and +likewise as to what they hear of the Lord Redgrave. It is the old +man, not his son, a hard and stark old man, as I remember. He would +have bargained with me for the coats of the poor rogues slain at St. +Albans, and right evil was his face as he spoke thereof, he being +then for Queen Margaret; but then he went over to King Edward, and +glutted himself with slaughter at Towton, and here he calls himself +Red Rose again. Ill-luck to the poor young maid if she falls to +him!' + +It was terrible news for Hal, and Musgrave could not but gratify him +by riding by the Minories to endeavour to hear further tidings of the +Prioress. + +It was a grand building in fine pointed architecture, for the Clares, +though once poor, in imitation of St. Clara and St. Francis, had been +dispensed collectively from their vow of poverty, and though singly +incapable of holding property, had a considerable accumulation en +masse. They were themselves a strict Order, but they often gave +lodgings to ladies either in retreat or for any cause detained near +London. + +Sir Giles and Harry were only admitted to the outer court, whence the +portress went with their message of inquiry. They waited a long +time, and then the Greystone lay Sister who had been the companion of +their journey came back in company with the portress. + +'Benedicite, dear gentles,' she said; 'oh, you are a sight for sair +een.' + +'And how fares the good Mother Prioress?' asked the Lord of Peelholm. + +'Alack! she is woefully ill when the fever takes her, and she is +wasted away so that you would scarce know her; but this is one of the +better days, and if you, sir, will come into the parlour, she will +see you. She was arraying herself as I came down. She was neither +to have nor to hold when she heard you were there, and said a north +country face would be better to her than all the Sisters' potions!' + +They were accordingly conducted through a graceful cloister, +overgrown with trailing ivy, to a bare room, with mullioned windows, +and frescoes on the Walls with the history of St. Francis relieving +beggars, preaching to the birds, &c., and with a stout open work +barrier cutting off half the room. + +Presently the Prioress tottered in, leaning heavily on the arms of +Sister Mabel and of Anne St. John, while her own lay Sister and +another placed a seat for her; but before she would sit down, she +would go up to the opening, and turning back her veil, put out a hand +to be grasped. 'Right glad am I to see you, good Sir Giles and young +Harry. Are you going back to the wholesome winds of our moors?' + +'Not yet, holy Mother. It grieves me to see you faring so ill.' + +'Ah! a breeze from the north would bring life back to my old bones. +Aye, Giles, this place has made an old woman of me.' And truly her +bright ruddy face was faded to a purple hue, and her cheeks hung +haggard and almost withered, but as her visitors expressed their +grief and sympathy, she went on in her own tone. 'And tell me +somewhat of how things are going. How doth Richard of Warwick +comport himself to the King? Hath your King zest enough to reign? +Is my White Rose King still abroad in Burgundy?' And as Sir Giles +replied to each inquiry in turn, and told all he could of political +matters, she exclaimed: 'Ah! that is better than the hearing whether +the black hen hath laid an egg, or the skein of yellow silk matches. +I am weary, O! I am weary. Moreover, young Hal, I know as matters +are that could I see George Nevil face to face I could do somewhat +with him, and I laid my plans to obtain a meeting, but therewith, +what with vexation and weariness and lack of air, comes this +sickness, and I am laid aside and can do nought but pray, and lay my +plans to meet him some day in the fields, and show him what a hawk +can do, then shame him into listening to my tale. But I must be a +sound woman first! And maybe his brother Warwick, being a sturdy +gentleman who loves a brave man, will be better to deal with. I am a +sinful woman, and maybe my devotions here will help me to be more +worthy to be heard. Moreover, I hoped you had done somewhat in thine +own cause with thy King and Earl Oxford,' she proceeded. 'Thou hast +an esquire's coat; hast thou any hope of thy lands?' + +'I must strive to earn them by deeds,' said Hal. 'And--' + +'Well spoken, lad! 'Tis the manly way; but methought you hadst +interest with this King of thine, or hath he only a royal memory for +services?' + +'He is good to me. Yea, most good,' began Harry. + +'Ay, he loves the boy,' said Sir Giles, 'no question about that; but +his memory for all that is about him hath failed, and there is +nothing for it save to wait for the Queen and the Prince, who will +bear the boy's father's services in mind.' + +'And wherefore tarries the French woman? This maid's father is to +come over with her. He is forming her English court, I trow; she can +have few beside from England.' + +'When he comes,' said Harry, with a look into Anne's eyes that made +them droop and her cheeks burn, 'then shall we put it to the touch. +Then shall I know whether I have mine own, and what is more than mine +own.' + +'Thine own,' whispered Anne. 'Oh, better live in the sheepfolds with +thee than with this Baron! I shudder at the thought.' + +This, and a few more such words were an aside, while the Prioress +continued her conversation with Sir Giles, and went on to say that +she was sure she should never recover till she was out of these +walls, and away from London smoke and London smells, and she +naughtily added in a whisper the weary talk of these good nuns, who +had never flown a hawk or chased a deer in their lives, and thought +Florimond a mere wolf, if not the evil one himself, and kept the poor +hound chained up like a malefactor in gyves, till she was fain to +send him away with Master Lorimer to keep for her. + +She would not go back to her Priory till Anne's fate was settled, +being in hopes of doing something yet for the poor wench; but +meantime she should die if she stayed there much longer, and she +meant to set forth on pilgrimage in good time, before she had +scandalised the good ladies enough to make them gossip to the dames +of St. Helen's, who would be only too glad to have a story against +the Benedictines. A ride over the Kentish downs was the only cure +for her or for Anne, who had been pining ever since they had been +mewed up here, though, looking across at the girl, whose head was +leaning against the bars, Sir Giles seemed to have brought a remedy +to judge by those cheeks. + +'Would that we could hope it would be an effectual and lasting +remedy,' sighed Sir Giles; 'but unless this poor King could be roused +to insist, or the Earl of Warwick fell out with his cousin, I do not +see much chance for the lad.' + +'Is it Warwick who is his chief foe or King Edward?' asked the +Prioress. + +'King Edward, doubtless, for his father's slaughter of young Rutland +at Wakefield.' + +'That bodes ill,' said the lady. 'By all I gather, King Edward is a +tiger when once roused, but at other times is like that same tiger, +purring and slow to move. But there's a bell that warns us to +vespers. They are mightily more strict here than ever we are at +Greystone. Ah! you won't tell tales, Sir Giles! You'll soon hear of +me at St. Thomas's shrine at Canterbury.' + +The knight took his leave. It was impossible not to like and pity +the Prioress, though the life among devout nuns was clearly beyond +her powers. + +The dreamy peaceful days of the Tower of London were stirred by the +arrival of the great Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as people +already called him. He took up his residence in his own mighty +establishment at Warwick House near St. Paul's; and the day after his +arrival, he came clanking over London Bridge with a great following +of knights and squires to pay his respects to King Henry. + +Henry Clifford was not disposed to meet him, and only watched from a +window when the drawbridge was lowered, and the sturdy man, with +grizzled hair and marked, determined features, rode into the gateway, +where he was received by the Earl of Oxford. + +The interview was long, and when it was finished, the two Earls made +the round of the defences, and Oxford drew up his garrison on the +Tower Green to be inspected. + +When Warwick had taken his leave, Hal was summoned to the Constable's +hall. 'We must be jogging, my young master,' he said. 'There are +rumours of King Edward making another attempt for his crown, and my +Lord of Warwick would have me go and watch the eastern seaboard. And +you had best go with me.' + +'The King--' began Hal. + +'You will come back to the King by-and-by if so be he misses you, but +he was more dazed than ever to-day, and perhaps it was well, for +Warwick brought with him Dick Nevil, who has got your lands of +Clifford, and might be tempted to put you out of the way in one of +the dungeons that lie so handy.' + +'No one save the King knows who I am,' said Hal, 'and he forgets from +day to day all save that I am the herd boy, and I think it cheers him +to have me with him. I will stay beside him even as a varlet.' + +'Nay, my lord, that may not be. 'Tis true he loves thee, but he will +forget anon, and I may not suffer the risk. Too many know or guess.' + +Harry Clifford repeated that he recked not of the risk when he could +serve and comfort his beloved King, and, indeed, his mind was made up +on the subject. He had taken measures for remaining as one of the +men-at-arms of the garrison; but King Henry himself surprised him by +saying, 'My young Lord of Clifford, fare thee well. Thou goest forth +to-morrow with the Constable of Oxford. Take my blessing with thee, +my child. Thou hast been granted to me to make life very sweet to me +of late, and I thank God for it, but the time is come that thou must +part from me.' + +'Oh, sir, never! None was ever so dear to me! For weal or woe I +will be with you! Suffer me to be your meanest varlet, and serve you +as none other can do.' + +Henry shook his head. 'It may not be, my child, let not thy blood +also be on my head! Go with Oxford and his men. Thou hast learnt to +draw sword and use lance. Thou wilt be serving me still if again +there be, which Heaven forefend, stricken fields in my cause or my +son's.' + +'Sir, if I must fight, let no less holy hand than thine lay +knighthood on my shoulder,' sobbed Hal, kneeling. + +Henry smiled. 'I have well-nigh forgotten the fashion. But if it +will please thee, my son, give me thy sword, Oxford. In the name of +God and St. George of England I dub thee knight. For the Church, for +the honour of God, for a good cause, fight. Arise, Sir Henry +Clifford!' + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE + + + +And spare, O spare +The meek usurper's holy head.--GRAY. + + +Once more, at the close of morning service, while it was still dark, +did Harry Clifford, the new-made knight, kneel before King Henry and +feel his hand in blessing on his head. Then he went forth to join +Musgrave and the troop that the Earl of Oxford was leading from the +Tower to raise the counties of East Anglia and watch the coast +against a descent of King Edward from the Low Countries. + +As they passed the walls enclosing the Minories Convent, and Hal +gazed at it wistfully, the wide gateway was opened and out came a +party of black-hooded nuns, mounted on ponies and mules, evidently +waiting till Oxford's band had gone by. Harry drew Sir Giles's +attention, and they lingered, as they became certain that they beheld +the Prioress Selby of Greystone, hawk, hound and all, riding forth, +nearly smothered in her hood, and not so upright as of old. + +'Ay, here I am!' she said, as he reined up and bowed his greeting. +'Here I am on my pilgrimage! I got Father Ridley, the Benedictine +head, to order me forth. Methinks he was glad, being a north +countryman, to send me out before I either died on the Poor Clares' +hands, or gave them a fuller store of tales against us of St. +Bennet's! Not but that they are good women, too godly and devout for +a poor wild north country Selby like me, who cannot live without air. + + + O the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, + They flourish best at home in the north countree. + + +Flori, Flori, whither away? Ah! thou hast found thine old friend. +Birds of a feather. Eh? the young folk have foregathered likewise. +Watch! And thou, sir knight, whither are you away?' + +'On our way to Norfolk in case the Duke of York should show himself +on the coast. And yours, reverend Mother?' + +'To Canterbury first by easy journeys. We sleep to-night at the +Tabard, where we shall meet other pilgrims.' + +'Here, alack! our way severs from yours. Farewell, holy Mother, may +you find health on your pilgrimage.' + +'Every breath I take in is health,' said the Mother, who had already +manoeuvred an opening in her veil, and gasped to throw it back as +soon as she should attain an unfrequented place. 'There are so many +coming and going here that all the air is used up by their greasy +nostrils! Well! good luck, and God's blessing go with you, and you, +young Hal, I may say so far, whichever side ye be, but still I hold +that York has the right, and yours may be a saint, but not a king.' + +Hal had meantime 'forgathered' as the Prioress said with Anne, +marching, in spite of his new honours, close to her stirrup, and +venturing to whisper to her that he was now her knight, and 'her +colours,' which he was to wear for her, were only a tiny scrap of +ribbon from her glove, which he cut off with his dagger, and kissed, +saying he should wear it next his heart, though he might not do so +openly. + +Their love was more implied than ever it had been before, and she +repeated her confidence that the kind Prioress would never leave her +till she had done her utmost for them both. + +'But you, my good stripling, I am ashamed to see you. I have done +nothing for you. I sent a humble message to ask to see the +Archbishop, but had no answer, and by-and-by, when I stirred again, +who should come to sec me but young Bertram Selby, and "Kinswoman," +said he, "you had best keep quiet. The Archbishop hath asked me +whether rumours were sooth that yours was scarce a regular Priory." +The squire stood up for me and said, as became one of the family, +that an outlying cell, where there were ill neighbours of Scots, +thieves, borderers, and the like, could scarce look to be as trim as +a city nunnery, and that none had ever heard harm of Mother Agnes. +But then one of his priests took on him to whisper in his ear, and he +demanded whether we had not gone so far as to hide traitors from +justice, to which Bertram returned a stout denial as well he might, +though he thought it well to give me warning, but for the present +there was no use in attempting anything more. The Archbishop was +exceedingly busy with the work of his office and the defence of +London in case of Edward's threatened return; but he had not yet +come, and no one thought there was a reasonable doubt that Warwick, +the Kingmaker, would not be victorious, and he had carried his son- +in-law, the Duke of Clarence, with him.' After the cause of the Red +Rose was won, there was no fear but that the services of Clifford +would be remembered. So Harry Clifford parted with Anne, promising +himself and her that there should be fresh Clifford services, winning +a recognition of the De Vesci inheritance if of no more. + +The ladies went on their way in the track which Chaucer has made +memorable, laying their count to meet Queen Margaret and her son, and +win their ears beforehand, and wondering that they came not. Kentish +breezes soon revived the Prioress, and she went through many strange +devotions at the shrine of Becket, which, it might be feared, did not +improve her spiritual, so much as her bodily, health, while Anne's +chiefly resolved themselves into prayers that Harry Clifford might be +guarded and restored, and that she herself might be saved from the +dreaded Lord Redgrave. + +They did not set out on the return to London till they had inhaled +plenty of sea breezes by visiting the shrine of St. Mildred in the +isle of Thanet, and St. Eanswith at Folkestone, till Lent had begun, +and the first fresh tidings that they met were that Edward had landed +in Yorkshire, but his fleet had been dispersed by storms, and the +people did not rise to join him, so that he was fain to proclaim that +he only came to assert his right to his father's inheritance of the +Dukedom of York. + +At the Minoresses' Convent they found that a messenger had arrived, +bidding Anne go to meet her father at his castle in Bedfordshire. He +was coming over with the Queen whenever she could obtain a convoy +from King Louis of France. Lord Redgrave was with him, and the +marriage should take place as soon as they arrived. + +'Never fear, child,' said the Prioress; 'many is the slip between the +cup and the lip.' + +Further tidings came that Edward had thrown off his first plea, that +he had passed Warwick's brother Montagu at Pontefract, and that men +from his own hereditary estates were flocking to his royal banner. +Warwick was calling up his men in all directions, and both armies +were advancing on London. Then it was known that 'false, fleeting, +perjured Clarence' had deserted his father-in-law, and returned to +his brother; and worthless as he individually was, it boded ill for +Lancaster, though still hope continued in the uniform success of the +Kingmaker. Warwick was about twenty miles in advance of Edward, till +that King actually passed him and reached the town of Warwick itself. +Still the Earl wrote to his brother that if he could only hold out +London for forty-eight hours all would be well. + +Once more poor King Henry was set on horseback and paraded through +the streets. Brother Martin went out with the chaplain of the Poor +Clares to gaze upon him, and they came back declaring that he was +more than ever like the image carried in a procession, seeming quite +as helpless and indifferent, except, said Brother Martin, when he +passed a church, and then a heavenly look came over his still +features as he bowed his head; but none of the crowd who came out to +gaze cried 'Save King Harry!' or 'God bless him!' + +There were two or three thousand Yorkists in the various sanctuaries +of London, and they were preparing to rise in favour of their King +Edward, and only a few hundred were mustering in St. Paul's +Churchyard for the Red Rose. + +The Poor Clares were in much terror, though nunneries and religious +houses, and indeed non-combatants in general, were usually respected +by each side in these wars; but the Prioress of Greystone was not +sorry that the summons to her protegee called her party off on the +way to Bedfordshire, and they all set forward together, intending to +make Master Lorimer's household at Chipping Barnet their first stage, +as they had engaged to do. + +Their intention had been notified to Lorimer's people in his London +shop, who had sent on word to their master, and the good man came out +to meet them, full of surprise at the valour of the ladies in +attempting the journey. But they could not possibly go further. +King Edward was at St. Albans, and was on his way to London, and the +Earl of Warwick was coming up from Dunstable with the Earls of +Somerset and Oxford. For ladies, even of religious orders, to ride +on between the two hosts was manifestly impossible, and he and his +wife were delighted to entertain the Lady Prioress till the roads +should be safe. + +The Prioress was nothing loth. She always enjoyed the freedom of a +secular household, and she was glad to remain within hearing of the +last news in this great crisis of York and Lancaster. + +'I marvel if there will be a battle,' she said. 'Never have I had +the good luck to see or hear one.' + +'Oh! Mother, are you not afraid?' cried Sister Mabel. + +'Afraid! What should I be afraid of, silly maid? Do you think the +men-at-arms are wolves to snap you up?' + +'And,' murmured Anne, 'we shall know how it goes with my Lord of +Oxford's people.' + +These were the last days of Lent, and were carefully kept in the +matter of food by the household, but the religious observances were +much disturbed by the tidings that poured in. King Henry and +Archbishop Nevil had taken refuge in the house of Bishop Kemp of +London, Urswick the Recorder, with the consent of the Aldermen, had +opened the gates to Edward, and the Good Friday Services at Barnet, +the Psalms and prayers in the church, were disturbed by men-at-arms +galloping to and fro, and reports coming in continually. + +There could be no going out to gather flowers to deck the Church the +next day, for King Edward was on the London side, and Warwick with +his army had reached the low hills of Hadley, and their tents, their +banners, and the glint of their armour might be seen over the heathy +slope between them and the lanes and fields, surrounded by hedges, +that fenced in the valley of Barnet. The little town itself, though +lying between the two armies, remained unoccupied by either party, +and only men-at-arms came down into it, not as plunderers, but to buy +food. + +Warwick's cannon, however, thundered all night, a very awful sound to +such unaccustomed ears, but they were so directed that the charges +flew far away from Barnet, under a false impression as to the +situation of the Yorkist forces. + +Mistress Lorimer had heard them before, but accompanied every report +with a pious prayer; Sister Mabel screamed at each, then joined in; +the Prioress was greatly excited, and walked about with Master +Lorimer, now on the roof, trying to see, now at the gate, trying to +hear. Anne fancied it meant victory to Hal's party, but knelt, tried +to pray while she listened, and the dogs barked incessantly. And +that Hal must be in the army above the little town they guessed, for +in the evening Watch came floundering into the courtyard, hungry and +muddy, but full of affectionate recognition of his old friends and +the quarters he had learnt to know. Florimond, who happened to be +loose, had a romp with him in their old fashion, and to the vexation +and alarm of his mistress, they both ran off together, and must have +gone hunting on the heath, for there was no response to her silver +whistle. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. BARNET + + + +A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day +Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came +A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew +The mist aside.--TENNYSON. + + +And Sir Henry Clifford? Still he was Hal of Derwentdale, for the +perilous usurper, Sir Richard Nevil, was known to be continually with +Warwick, and Musgrave was convinced that the concealment was safest. + +The youth then remained with the Peelholm men, and became a good deal +more practised in warlike affairs, and accustomed to campaigning, +during the three months when Oxford was watching the eastern coast. +On this Easter night he lay down on the hill-side with Watch beside +him, his shepherd's plaid round him, his heart rising as he thought +himself near upon gaining fame and honour wherewith to win his early +love, and winning victory and safety for his beloved King, or rather +his hermit. For as his hermit did that mild unearthly face always +come before him. He could not think of it wearing that golden crown, +which seemed alien to it, but rather, as he lay on his back, after +his old habit looking up at the stars, either he saw and recognised +the Northern Crown, or his dazed and sleepy fancy wove a radiant +coronet of stars above that meek countenance that he knew and loved +so well; and as at intervals the cannon boomed and wakened him, he +looked on at the bright Northern Cross and dreamily linked together +the cross and crown. + +Easter Sunday morning came dawning, but no one looked to see the sun +dance, even if the morning had not been dull and grey, a thick fog +covering everything; but through it came a dull and heavy sound, and +the clang of armour. Even by their own force the radiant star of the +De Veres could hardly be seen on the banner, as the Earl of Oxford +rode up and down, putting his men in battle array. Hal was on foot +as an archer, meaning to deserve the spurs that he had not yet worn. +The hosts were close to one another, and at first only the continual +rain of arrows darkened the air; but as the sun rose and the two +armies saw one another, Oxford's star was to be seen carried into the +very midst of the opposing force under Lord Hastings. On, on, with +cries of victory, the knights rode, the archers ran across the heath +carrying all before them, never doubting that the day was theirs, but +not knowing where they were till trumpets sounded, halt was called, +and they were drawn up together, as best they might, round their +leading star. But as they advanced, behold there was an unexpected +shout of treason. Arrows came thickly on them, men-at-arms bearing +Warwick's ragged staff came thundering headlong upon them. 'Treason, +treason,' echoed on all sides, and with that sound in his ears Harry +Clifford was cut down, and fell under a huge horse and man, and lay +senseless under a gorse-bush. + +He knew no more but that horses and men seemed for ever trampling +over him and treading him down, and then all was lost to him--for how +long he knew not, but for one second he was roused so far as to hear +a furious growling and barking of Watch, but with dazed senses he +thought it was over the sheep, tried to raise himself, could not, +thought himself dying, and sank back again. + +The next thing he knew was 'Here, Master Lorimer, you know this gear +better than I; unfasten this buff coat. There, he can breathe. +Drink this, my lad.' + +It was the Prioress's voice! He felt a jolt as of a waggon, and +opened his eyes. It was dark, but he knew he was under the tilt of +Lorimer's waggon, which was moving on. The Prioress was kneeling +over him on one side, Lorimer on the other, and his head was on a +soft lap--nay, a warm tear dropped on his face, a sweet though +stifled voice said, 'Is he truly better?' + +Then came sounds of 'hushing,' yet of reassurance; and when there was +a halt, and clearer consciousness began to revive, while kind hands +were busy about him, and a cordial was poured down his throat, by the +light of a lantern cautiously shown, Hal found speech to say, as he +felt a long soft tongue on his face, 'Watch, Watch, is it thou, man?' + +'Ay, Watch it is,' said the Prioress. 'Well may you thank him! It +is to him you owe all, and to my good Florimond.' + +'But what--how--where am I?' asked Hal, trying to look round, but +feeling sharp thrills and shoots of pain at every motion. + +'Lie still till they bring their bandages, and I will tell you. +Gently, Nan, gently--thy sobs shake him!' But, as he managed to hold +and press Anne's hand, the Prioress went on, 'You are in good +Lorimer's warehouse. Safer thus, though it is too odorous, for the +men of York do not respect sanctuary in the hour of victory.' + +The word roused Hal further. 'The victory was ours!' he said. 'We +had driven Hastings' banner off the field! Say, was there a cry of +treason?' + +'Even so, my son. So far as Master Lorimer understands, Lord +Oxford's banner of the beaming star was mistaken for the sun of York, +and the men of Warwick turned on you as you came back from the chase, +but all was utter confusion. No one knows who was staunch and who +not, and the fields and lanes are full of blood and slaughtered men; +and Edward's royal banner is set up on the market cross, and trumpets +were sounding round it. And here come Master Lorimer and the +goodwife to bind these wounds.' + +'But Sir Giles Musgrave?' still asked Hal. + +'Belike fled with Lord Oxford and his men, who all made off at the +cry of treason,' was the answer. + +Lorimer returned with his wife and various appliances, and likewise +with fresh tidings. There was no doubt that the brothers Warwick and +Montagu had been slain. They had been found--Warwick under a hedge +impeded by his heavy armour, and Montagu on the field itself. Each +body had been thrown over a horse, and shown at the market cross; and +they would be carried to London on the morrow. 'And so end,' said +Lorimer, 'two brave and open-handed gentlemen as ever lived, with +whom I have had many friendly dealings.' + +One thing more Hal longed to hear--namely, how he had been saved. He +remembered that Watch had come back to him with Florimond the evening +before. They had probably been hunting together, and the hound, who +had always been very fond of him on the journey, had accompanied +Watch to his side before going back to his chain in Barnet; but he +had lost sight of them in the morning, and regretted that he could +not find Watch to provide for his safety. He knew, he said, by the +presence of Florimond, who must be in Barnet. And he also had a dim +recollection of being licked by Watch's tongue as he lay, and +likewise of hearing a furious barking, yelling and growling, whether +of one or both dogs he was not sure. + +It seemed that towards the evening, when the battle-cries had grown +fainter, and the sun was going down, Florimond had burst in on his +mistress, panting and blood-stained--but not with his own blood, as +was soon ascertained--and made vehement demonstrations by which, as a +true dog-lover, the Prioress perceived that he wanted her to follow +him. And Anne, who thought she saw a piece of Hal's plaid caught in +his collar, was 'neither to have nor to hold,' as the Mother said, +till Master Lorimer was found, and entreated to follow the hound, ay, +and to take them with him. He demurred much as to their safety, but +the Prioress declared that it was the part of the religious to take +care of the wounded, and not inconsistent with her vow. See the +Sisters of St. Katharine's of the Tower! And though her +interpretation was a broad one, and would have shocked alike her own +Abbess and her of the Minoresses, he was fain to accept it in such a +cause; but he commanded his waggoners to bring the wain in the rear, +both as an excuse, and a possible protection for the ladies, and, it +might be, a conveyance for the wounded. + +Florimond, who had sprung about, barked, fawned and made entreating +sounds all this time (longer in narrative than in reality) led them, +not through the central field of slaughter, but somewhat to the left, +among the heath--where, in fact, Oxford had lost his way in the fog, +and his own allies had charged him, but had not followed far beyond +the place of Hal's fall, discovering the fatal error that spread +confusion through their ranks, where everyone distrusted his fellow +leader. + +There, after a weary and perilous way, diversified by the horrid +shouts of plunderers of the slain, happily not near at hand, and when +Lorimer, but for the ladies, would have given up the quest as +useless, they were greeted by Watch's bark, and found him lying with +his fine head alert and ready over his senseless master. + +There was no doubt but that the two good creatures, both powerful and +formidable animals, must have saved him from the spoilers, and then +been sagacious enough to let the hound go down to fetch assistance +while the sheep-dog remained as his master's faithful guardian. How +honoured and caressed they were can hardly be described, but all will +know. + +The joy and gratitude of knowing of Anne's devotion, and the pleasure +of his good dog's faithfulness, helped Hal through the painful +process of having his hurts dealt with. Surgeons, even barbers, were +fully occupied, and Lorimer did not wish to have it known that a +Lancastrian was in his house. His wife and her old nurse, as well as +the Prioress, had some knowledge of simple practical surgery; and +Hal's disasters proved to be a severe cut on the head, a slash on the +shoulder, various bruises, and a broken rib and thigh-bone, all which +were within their capabilities, with assistance from the master's +stronger hand. No one could tell whether the savage nature of the +York brothers might not slake their revenge in a general massacre of +their antagonists; so Lorimer caused Hal's bed to be made in the +waggon in the warehouse, where he was safe from detection until the +victorious army should have quitted Barnet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. TEWKESBURY + + + +The last shoot of that ancient tree +Was budding fair as fair might be; + Its buds they crop + Its branches lop +Then leave the sapless stem to die. + SOPHOCLES (Anstice). + + +Harry Clifford lay fevered, and knowing little of what passed, for +several days, only murmuring sometimes of his flock at home, +sometimes of the royal hermit, and sometimes in distress of the men- +at-arms with whom he had been thrown, and whose habits and language +had plainly been a great shock to his innocent mind, trained by the +company of the sheep, and the hermit. He took the Prioress's hand +for Good-wife Dolly's, but he generally knew Anne, who could soothe +him better than any other. + +Master Lorimer was fully occupied by combatants who came to have +their equipments renewed or repaired, and he spent the days in his +shop in London, but rode home in the long evenings with his budget of +news. King Henry was in the Tower again, as passive as ever, but on +the very day of the battle of Barnet Queen Margaret had landed at +Weymouth with her son, and the war would be renewed in Somersetshire. + +Search for prisoners being over at Barnet, Hal was removed to the +guest chamber of his hosts, where he lay in a huge square bed, and in +the better air began to recover, understand what was going on round +him, and be anxious for his friends, especially Sir Giles Musgrave +and Simon Bunce. The ladies still attended to him, as Lorimer +pronounced the journey to be absolutely unsafe, while so many +soldiers disbanded, or on their way to the Queen's army, were roaming +about, and the Burgundians brought by Edward might not be respectful +to an English Prioress. It was safer to wait for tidings from Lord +St. John, which were certain to come either from Bletso or the +Minoresses'. + +So May had begun when Lorimer hurried home with the tidings that a +messenger had come in haste from King Edward from the battlefield of +Tewkesbury, with the tidings of a complete victory. Prince Edward, +the fair and spirited hope of Lancaster, was slain, Somerset and his +friends had taken sanctuary in the Abbey Church, Queen Margaret and +the young wife of the prince in a small convent, and beyond all had +been flight and slaughter. + +For a few days no more was known, but then came fuller and sadder +tidings. The young prince had been brutally slain by his cousins, +Edward, George, and Richard, excited as they were to tiger-like +ferocity by the late revolt. The nobles in the sanctuary, who had +for one night been protected by a cord drawn in front of them by a +priest, had in the morning been dragged out and beheaded. Among them +was Anne's father, Lord St. John of Bletso, and on the field the +heralds had recognised the corpse of her suitor, Lord Redgrave. To +expect that Anne felt any acute sorrow for a father whom she had +never seen since she was six years old, and who then had never seemed +to care for her, was not possible. + +And what was to be her fate? Her young brother, the heir of Bletso, +was in Flanders with his foreign mother, and she knew not what might +be her own claims through her own mother, though the Prioress and +Master Lorimer knew that it could be ascertained through the +seneschal at Bletso, if he had not perished with his lord, or the +agents at York through whom Anne's pension had been paid. If she +were an heiress, she would become a ward of the Crown, a dreary +prospect, for it meant to be disposed of to some unknown minion of +the Court. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. THE NUT-BROWN MAID + + + +All my wellfare to trouble and care + Should change if you were gone, +For in my mynde, of all mankind + I love but you alone.--NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +Anne St. John, in her 'doul' or deep mourning, sat by Hal's couch or +daybed in tears, as he lay in the deep bay of the mullioned window, +and told him of the consultation that had been held. + +'Ah, dear lady!' he said, 'now am I grieved that I have not mine own +to endow you with! Well would I remain the landless shepherd were it +not for you.' + +'Nay,' she said, looking up through her tears, 'and wherefore should +I not share your shepherd's lot?' + +'You! Nan, sweet Nan, tenderly nurtured in the convent while I have +ever lived as a rough hardy shepherd!' + +'And I have ever been a moorland maid,' she answered, 'bred to no +soft ways. I know not how to be the lady of a castle--I shall be a +much better herdsman's wife, like your good old Dolly, whom I have +always loved and envied.' + +'You never saw us snowed up in winter with all things scarce, and +hardly able to milk a goat.' + +'Have not we been snowed up at Greystone for five weeks at a time?' + +'Ay, but with thick walls round and a stack of peat at hand,' said +Hal, his heart beating violently as more and more he felt that the +maiden did not speak in jest, but in full earnestness of love. + +'Verily one would deem you took me for a fine dainty dame, such as I +saw at the Minoresses', shivering at the least gust of fresh wind, +and not daring to wet their satin shoes if there had been a shower of +rain in the cloisters. Were we not all stifled within the walls, and +never breathed till we were out of them? Nay, Hal, there is none to +come between us now. Take me to your moors and hills! I will be +your good housewife and shepherdess, and make you such a home! And +you will teach me of the stars and of the flowers and all the holy +lore of your good royal hermit.' + +'Ah! my hermit, my master, how fares it with him? Would that I could +go and see!' + +'Which do you love best--me or the hermit?' asked Anne archly, +lifting up her head, which was lying on his shoulder. + +'I love you, mine own love and sweetheart, with all my heart,' he +said, regaining her hand, 'but my King and master with my soul; and +oh! that I had any strength to give him! I love him as my master in +holy things, and as my true prince, and what would I not give to know +how it is with him and how he bears these dreadful tidings!' + +He bent his head, choking with sobs as he spoke, and Anne wept with +him, her momentary jealousy subdued by the picture of the lonely +prisoner, his friends slain in his cause, and his only child cut off +in early prime; but she tried the comfort of hoping that his Queen +would be with him. Thus talking now of love, now of grief, now of +the future, now of the past, the Prioress found them, and as she was +inclined to blame Anne for letting her patient weep, the maiden +looked up to her and said, 'Dear Mother, we are disputing--I want +this same Hal to wed me so soon as he can stand and walk. Then I +would go home with him to Derwentside, and take care of him.' + +The Prioress burst out laughing. 'Make porridge, milk the ewes and +spin their wool? Eh? Meet work for a baron's daughter!' + +'So I tell her,' said Harry. 'She knows not how hard the life is.' + +'Do I not?' said Anne. 'Have I not spent a night and day, the +happiest my childhood knew, in your hut? Has it not been a dream of +joy ever since?' + +'Ay, a summer's dream!' said Hal. 'Tell her the folly of it.' + +'I verily believe he does not want me. If he had not a lame leg, I +trow he would be trying to be mewed up with his King!' + +'It would be my duty,' murmured Hal, 'nor should I love thee the +less.' + +''Tis a duty beyond your reach,' said the Prioress. 'Master Lorimer +hears that none have access to King Henry, God help him! and he sits +as in a trance, as though he understood and took heed of nothing--not +even of this last sore battle.' + +'God aid him! Aye, and his converse is with Him,' said Hal, with a +gush of tears. 'He minds nought of earth, not even earthly griefs.' + +'But we, we are of earth still, and have our years before us,' said +Anne, 'and I will not spend mine the dreary lady of a dull castle. +Either I will back and take my vows in your Priory, reverend Mother, +if Hal there disdains to have me.' + +'Nan, Nan! when you know that all I dread is to have you mewed behind +a wall of snow as thick as the walls of the Tower and freezing to the +bone!' + +'With you behind it telling all the tales. Mother, prithee prove to +him that I am not made of sugar like the Clares, but that I love a +fresh wind and the open moorlands.' + +The Prioress laughed and took her away, but in private the maiden +convinced her that the proposal, however wild, was in full earnest, +and not in utter ignorance of the way of life that was preferred. + +Afterwards the good lady discussed it with the Lorimers. 'For my +part,' she said, 'I see nought to gainsay the children having their +way. They are equal in birth and breeding, and love one another +heartily, and the times may turn about to bring them to their own +proper station.' + +'But the hardness and the roughness of the life,' objected Mistress +Lorimer, 'for a dainty, convent-bred lady.' + +'My convent--God, forgive me!--is not like the Poor Clares. We knew +there what cold and hunger mean, as well as what free air and +mountains are. Moreover, though the maid thinks not of it, I do not +believe the life will be so bare and comfortless. The lad's mother +hath not let him want, and there is a heritage through the Vescis +that must come to him, even if he never can claim the lands of +Clifford.' + +'And now that all Lancaster is gone, King Edward may be less +vindictive against the Red Rose,' said Lorimer. + +'There must be a dowry secured to the maid,' said the Prioress. 'Let +them only lie quiet for a time till the remains of the late tempest +have blown over, and all will be well with them. Ay, and Master +Lorimer, the Lady Threlkeld, as well as myself, will fully acquit +ourselves of the heavy charges you have been put to for your +hospitality to us.' + +Master Lorimer disclaimed all save his delight in the honour paid to +his poor house, and appealed to his wife, who seconded him +courteously, though perhaps the expenses of a wounded knight, three +nuns, a noble damsel and their horses, were felt by her enough to +make the promise gratifying. + +While the elders talked, a horseman was heard in the court, asking +whether the young demoiselle of Bletso were lodged there. It was the +seneschal Wenlock, who had come with what might be called the +official report of his lord's death, and to consider of the disposal +of the young lady, being glad to find the Prioress of Greystone, to +whom she had originally been committed by her father. + +Before summoning her, he explained to the Prioress that a small +estate which had belonged to her mother devolved upon her. The +proceeds of the property were not large, but they had been sufficient +to keep her at the convent, on the moderate charges of the time. +Anne was only eighteen, and at no time of their lives were women, +even widows, reckoned able to dispose of themselves. She would +naturally become a ward of the Crown, and Lord Redgrave having been +killed, the seneschal was about to go and inform King Edward of the +situation. + +'But,' said the Prioress, 'suppose you found her already betrothed to +a gentleman of equal birth, and with claims to an even greater +inheritance? Would you not be silent till the match was concluded, +and the King had no chance of breaking it?' + +'If it were well for the maid's honour and fortune,' said the +seneschal. 'If you, reverend Mother, have found a fair marriage for +her, it might be better to let well alone.' + +Then the Prioress set forth the situation and claims of young +Clifford, and the certainty, that even if it were more prudent not to +advance them at present, yet the ruin of the house of Nevil removed +one great barrier, and at least the Vesci inheritance held by his +mother must come to him, and she was the more likely to make a +portion over to him when she found that he had married nobly. + +The seneschal acquiesced, even though the Prioress confessed that the +betrothal had not actually taken place. In fact he was relieved that +the maiden, whom he had known as a fair child, should be off his +hands, and secured from the greed of some Yorkist partisan needing a +reward. + +When Anne, her dark eyes and hair shaded by her mourning veil, came +down, and had heard his greeting, with such details of her father's +death and the state of the family as he could give her, she rose and +said: 'Sir, there have been passages between Sir Harry Clifford and +myself, and I would wed none other than him.' + +Nor did the seneschal gainsay her. + +All that he desired was that what was decided upon should be done +quickly, before heralds or lawyers brought to the knowledge of the +Woodvilles that there was any sort of prize to be had in the damsel +of St. John, and he went off, early the next morning, back to Bletso, +that he might seem to know nothing of the matter. + +The Prioress laughed at men being so much more afraid than women. +She was willing to bear all the consequences, but then the +Plantagenets were not in the habit of treating ladies as traitors. +However, all agreed that it would be wiser to be out of reach of +London as soon as possible, and Master Lorimer, who had become deeply +interested in this romance of true love, arranged to send one of his +wains to York, in which the bride and bridegroom might travel +unsuspected, until the latter should be able to ride and all were out +of reach of pursuit. The Prioress would go thus far with them, 'And +then! And then,' she said sighing, 'I shall have to dree my penance +for all my friskings!' + +'But, oh, what kindly friskings!' cried Anne, throwing herself into +those tender arms. + +'Little they will reck of kindness out of rule,' sighed the Prioress. +'If only they will send me back to Greystone, then shall I hear of +thee, and thou hadst better take Florimond, poor hound, or the +Sisters at York may put him to penance too!' + +Henry Clifford was able to walk again, though still lame, when, in +the early morning of Ascension Day, he and Anne St. John were married +in the hall of Master Lorimer's house by a trusty priest of Barnet, +and in the afternoon, when the thanksgiving worship at the church had +been gone through, they started in the waggon for the first stage of +the journey, to be overtaken at the halting-place by the Prioress and +Master Lorimer, who had had to ride into London to finish some +business. + +And he brought tidings that rendered that wedding-day one of +mournful, if peaceful, remembrances. + +For he had seen, borne from the Tower, along Cheapside, the bier on +which lay the body of King Henry, his hands clasped on his breast, +his white face upturned with that heavenly expression which Hal knew +so well, enhanced into perfect peace, every toil, every grief at an +end. + +Whether blood dropped as the procession moved along, Lorimer could +not certainly tell. Whether so it was, or whoever shed it, there was +no marring the absolute rest and joy that had crowned the 'meek +usurper's holy head,' after his dreary half-century of suffering +under the retribution of the ancestral sins of two lines of +forefathers. All had been undergone in a deep and holy trust and +faith such as could render even his hereditary insanity an actual +shield from the poignancy of grief. + +Tears were shed, not bitter nor vengeful. Such thoughts would have +seemed out of place with the memory of the gentle countenance of +love, good-will and peace, and as Harry and Anne joined in the +service that the Prioress had requested to have in the early daylight +before starting, Hal felt that to the hermit saint of his boyhood he +verily owed his own self. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE + + + +And now am I an Earlis son, +And not a banished man.--NUT-BROWN MAID. + + +That journey northward in the long summer days was a honeymoon to the +young couple. The Prioress left them as much to themselves as +possible, trying to rejoice fully in their gladness, and not to think +what might have been hers but for that vow of her parents, keeping +her hours diligently in preparation for the stricter rule awaiting +her. + +When they parted she sent Florimond with them, to be restored if she +were allowed to return to Greystone, and Anne parted with her with +many tears as the truest mother and friend she had ever known. + +By this time Harry was able to ride, and the two, with a couple of +men-at-arms hired as escort, made their way over the moors, Harry's +head throbbing with gladness, as, with a shout of joy, he hailed his +own mountain-heads, Helvellyn and Saddleback, in all their purple +cloud-like majesty. + +They agreed first to go to Dolly's homestead, drawn as much by +affection as by prudence. Delight it was to Hal to point out the +rocks and bushes of his home; but when he came in sight of Piers and +the sheep, the dumb boy broke out into a cry of terror, and rushed +away headlong, nor did he turn till he felt Watch's very substantial +paws bounding on him in ecstasy. + +Watch was indeed a forerunner, for Dolly and her husband could +scarcely be induced by his solid presence and caresses to come out +and see for themselves that the tall knight and lady were no ghostly +shades, nor bewildered travellers, but that this was their own +nursling Hal, whom Simon Bunce had reported to be lying dead under a +gorse-bush at Barnet, and further that the lovely brunette lady was +the little lost child whom Dolly had mothered for a night. + +While the happy goodwife was regaling them with the best she had to +offer, Hob set forth to announce their arrival at Threlkeld, being +not certain what the cautious Sir Lancelot would deem advisable, +since the Lancaster race had perished, and York was in the ascendant. + +There was a long time to wait, but finally Sir Lancelot himself came +riding through the wood, no longer afraid to welcome his stepson at +the castle, and the more willing since the bride newly arrived was no +maiden of low degree, but a damsel of equal birth and with +unquestioned rights. + +So all was well, and the lady no longer had to embrace her son in +fear and trembling, but to see him a handsome and thoughtful young +man, well able to take his place in her halls. + +Since he had been actually in arms against King Edward it was not +thought safe to assert his claims to his father's domains, but the +lady gave up to him a portion of her own inheritance from the Vescis, +where he and Anne were able to live in Barden Tower in Yorkshire, not +far from Bolton Abbey. So Hal's shepherd days were over, though he +still loved country habits and ways. Hob came to be once more his +attendant, Dolly was Anne's bower-woman, and Simon Bunce Sir Harry's +squire, though he never ceased blaming himself for having left his +master, dead as he thought, when even a poor hound was more trusty. + +Florimond was restored to the Prioress, who was reinstated at +Greystone, a graver woman than before she had set forth, the better +for having watched deeper devotion at the Minoresses', and still more +for the terrible realities of the battle of Barnet. At Bolton Abbey +Harry found monks who encouraged his craving for information on +natural science, and could carry him on much farther in these +researches than his hermit, though he always maintained that the +royal anchorite and prisoner saw farther into heavenly things than +any other whom he had known, and that his soul and insight rose the +higher with his outward troubles and bodily decay. + +So peacefully went the world with them till Henry was one-and-thirty, +and then the tidings of Bosworth Field came north. The great tragedy +of Plantagenet was complete, and the ambitious and blood-stained +house of York, who had avenged the usurpation of Henry of Lancaster, +had perished, chiefly by the hands of each other, and the distantly +related descendant of John of Gaunt, Henry Tudor, triumphed. + +The Threlkelds were not slow to recollect that it was time for the +Cliffords to show their heads; moreover, that the St. Johns of Bletso +were related to the Tudors. Though now an aged woman, she descended +from her hills, called upon her son and his wife with their little +nine-year-old son to come with her, and pay homage to the new +sovereign in their own names, and rode with them to Westminster. + +There a very different monarch from the saint of Harry's memory +received and favoured him. The lands of Westmoreland were granted to +him as his right, and on their return, Master Lorimer coming by +special invitation, the family were welcomed at Brougham Castle, the +cradle of their race, where Harry Clifford, no longer an outlaw, +began the career thus described: + + + Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, + His daily teachers had been woods and rills, + The silence that is in the starry sky, + The sleep that is among the lonely hills. + + In him the savage virtue of the race, + Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead, + Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place + The wisdom that adversity had bred. + + Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth, + The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more, + And ages after he was laid in earth + The Good Lord Clifford was the name he bore. + + + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Herd Boy and His Hermit, by Charlotte M. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Herd Boy and His Hermit + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5313] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + + + + +This Project Gutenberg Etext of The Herdboy and His Hermit was prepared +by Sandra Laythorpe, laythorpe@tiscali.co.uk. +A web page for Charlotte M Yonge may be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm + + + + +</pre> + +<p> </p> + +<h1>THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h3>CHARLOTTE M. YONGE</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<p>Henry, thou of holy birth,<br> +Thou, to whom thy Windsor gave<br> +Nativity and name and grave<br> +Heavily upon his head<br> +Ancestral crimes were visited.<br> +Meek in heart and undefiled,<br> +Patiently his soul resigned,<br> +Blessing, while he kissed the rod,<br> +His Redeemer and his God.</p> + +<p>SOUTHEY</p> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<h3>CHAPTER</h3> + +<p><b>I. IN THE MOSS</b></p> + +<p><b>II. THE SNOW-STORM</b></p> + +<p><b>III. OVER THE MOOR</b></p> + +<p><b>IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS</b></p> + +<p><b>V. MOTHER AND SON</b></p> + +<p><b>VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER</b></p> + +<p><b>VII. ON DERWENT BANKS</b></p> + +<p><b>VIII. THE HERMIT</b></p> + +<p><b>IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR</b></p> + +<p><b>X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS</b></p> + +<p><b>XI. THE RED ROSE</b></p> + +<p><b>XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION</b></p> + +<p><b>XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS</b></p> + +<p><b>XIV. THE JOURNEY</b></p> + +<p><b>XV. BLETSO</b></p> + +<p><b>XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER</b></p> + +<p><b>XVII. A CAPTIVE KING</b></p> + +<p><b>XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES</b></p> + +<p><b>XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE</b></p> + +<p><b>XX. BARNET</b></p> + +<p><b>XXI. TEWKESBURY</b></p> + +<p><b>XXII. THE NUT BROWN MAID</b></p> + +<p><b>XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE</b></p> + +<h2>THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT</h2> + +<h3>CHAPTER I. IN THE MOSS</h3> + +<p>I can conduct you, lady, to a low<br> +But loyal cottage where you may be safe<br> +Till further quest.--MILTON.</p> + +<p>On a moorland slope where sheep and goats were dispersed among +the rocks, there lay a young lad on his back, in a stout canvas +cassock over his leathern coat, and stout leathern leggings over +wooden shoes. Twilight was fast coming on; only a gleam of purple +light rested on the top of the eastern hills, but was gradually +fading away, though the sky to the westward still preserved a +little pale golden light by the help of the descending crescent +moon.</p> + +<p>'Go away, horned moon,' murmured the boy. 'I want to see my +stars come out before Hob comes to call me home, and the goats are +getting up already. Moon, moon, thou mayst go quicker. Thou wilt +have longer time to-morrow--and be higher in the sky, as well as +bigger, and thou mightst let me see my star to-night! Ah! there is +one high in the sunset, pale and fair, but not mine! That's the +evening star--one of the wanderers. Is it the same as comes in the +morning betimes, when we do not have it at night? Like that it +shines with steady light and twinkles not. I would that I knew! +There! there's mine, my own star, far up, only paling while the sun +glaring blazes in the sky; mine own, he that from afar drives the +stars in Charles's Wain. There they come, the good old twinkling +team of three, and the four of the Wain! Old Billy Goat knows them +too! Up he gets, and all in his wake "Ha-ha-ha" he calls, and the +Nannies answer. Ay, and the sheep are rising up too! How white they +look in the moonshine! Piers--deaf as he is--waking at their music. +Ba, they call the lambs! Nay, that's no call of sheep or goat! 'Tis +some child crying, all astray! Ha! Hilloa, where beest thou? Tarry +till I come! Move not, or thou mayst be in the bogs and mosses! +Come, Watch'--to a great unwieldy collie puppy--'let us find +her.'</p> + +<p>A feeble piteous sound answered him, and following the direction +of the reply, he strode along, between the rocks and thorn-bushes +that guarded the slope of the hill, to a valley covered with thick +moss, veiling treacherously marshy ground in which it was easy to +sink.</p> + +<p>The cry came from the further side, where a mountain stream had +force enough to struggle through the swamp. There were +stepping-stones across the brook, which the boy knew, and he made +his way from one to the other, calling out cheerily to the little +figure that he began to discern in the fading light, and who +answered him with tones evidently girlish, 'O come, come, shepherd! +Here I am! I am lost and lorn! They will reward thee! Oh, come +fast!'</p> + +<p>'All in good time, lassie! Haste is no good here! I must look to +my footing.'</p> + +<p>Presently he was by the side of the wanderer, and could see that +it was a maiden of ten or twelve years old, who somehow, even in +the darkness, had not the air of one of the few inhabitants of that +wild mountain district.</p> + +<p>'Lost art thou, maiden,' he said, as he stood beside her; 'where +is thine home?'</p> + +<p>'I am at Greystone Priory,' replied the girl. 'I went out +hawking to-day with the Mother Prioress and the rest. My pony fell +with me when we were riding after a heron. No one saw me or heard +me, and my pony galloped home. I saw none of them, and I have been +wandering miles and miles! Oh take me back, good lad; the Mother +Prioress will give thee--'</p> + +<p>''Tis too far to take thee back to-night,' he said. 'Thou must +come with me to Hob Hogward, where Doll will give thee supper and +bed, and we will have thee home in the morning.'</p> + +<p>'I never lay in a hogward's house,' she said primly.</p> + +<p>'Belike, but there be worse spots to be harboured in. Here, I +must carry thee over the burn, it gets wider below! Nay, 'tis no +use trying to leap it in the dark, thou wouldst only sink in. +There!'</p> + +<p>And as he raised her in his arms, the touch of her garment was +delicate, and she on her side felt that his speech, gestures and +touch were not those of a rustic shepherd boy; but nothing was said +till he had waded through the little narrow stream, and set her +down on a fairly firm clump of grass on the other side. Then she +asked, 'What art thou, lad?--Who art thou?'</p> + +<p>'They call me Hal,' was the answer; 'but this is no time for +questions. Look to thy feet, maid, or thou wilt be in a swamp-hole +whence I may hardly drag thee out.'</p> + +<p>He held her hand, for he could hardly carry her farther, since +she was almost as tall as himself, and more plump; and the rest of +the conversation for some little time consisted of, 'There!' +'Where?' 'Oh, I was almost down!' 'Take heed; give me thy other +hand! Thou must leap this!' 'Oh! what a place! Is there much more +of it?' 'Not much! Come bravely on! There's a good maid.' 'Oh, I +must get my breath.' 'Don't stand still. That means sinking. Leap! +Leap! That's right. No, not that way, turn to the big stair.' +'Oh--h!' 'That's my brave wench! Not far now.' 'I'm down, I'm +down!' 'Up! Here, this is safe! On that white stone! Now, here's +sound ground! Hark!' Wherewith he emitted a strange wild whoop, and +added, 'That's Hob come out to call me!' He holloaed again. 'We +shall soon be at home now. There's Mother Doll's light! Her light +below, the star above,' he added to himself.</p> + +<p>By this time it was too dark for the two young people to see +more than dim shapes of one another, but the boy knew that the hand +he still held was a soft and delicate one, and the girl that those +which had grasped and lifted her were rough with country labours. +She began to assert her dignity and say again, 'Who art thou, lad? +We will guerdon thee well for aiding me. The Lord St. John is my +father. And who art thou?'</p> + +<p>'I? Oh, I am Hob Hogward's lad,' he answered in an odd off-hand +tone, before whooping again his answer to the shouts of Hob, which +were coming nearer.</p> + +<p>'I am so hungry!' said the little lady, in a weak, famished +tone. 'Hast aught to eat?'</p> + +<p>'I have finished my wallet, more's the pity!' said the boy, 'but +never fear! Hold out but a few steps more, and Mother Doll will +give thee bite and sup and bed.'</p> + +<p>'Alack! Is it much further! My feet! they are so sore and +weary--'</p> + +<p>'Poor maiden, let me bear thee on!'</p> + +<p>Hal took her up again, but they went more slowly, and were glad +to see a tall figure before them, and hear the cry, 'How now, Hal +boy, where hast been? What hast thou there?'</p> + +<p>'A sorely weary little lady, Daddy Hob, lost from the hawking +folk from the Priory,' responded Hal, panting a little as he set +his burthen down, and Hob's stronger arms received her.</p> + +<p>Hal next asked whether the flock had come back under charge of +Piers, and was answered that all were safely at home, and after +'telling the tale' Hob had set out to find him. 'Thou shouldst not +stray so far,' he said.</p> + +<p>'I heard the maid cry, and went after her,' said Hal, 'all the +way to the Blackreed Moss, and the springs, and 'twas hard getting +over the swamp.'</p> + +<p>'Well indeed ye were not both swallowed in it,' said Hob; 'God +be praised for bringing you through! Poor wee bairn! Thou hast come +far! From whence didst say?'</p> + +<p>'From Greystone Priory,' wearily said the girl, who had her head +down on Hob's shoulder, and seemed ready to fall asleep there.</p> + +<p>'Her horse fell with her, and they were too bent on their sport +to heed her,' explained the boy, as he trudged along beside Hob and +his charge,' so she wandered on foot till by good hap I heard her +moan.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, there will be a rare coil to-night for having missed her,' +said Hob; 'but I've heard tell, my Lady Prioress heeds her hawks +more than her nuns! But be she who she may, we'll have her home, +and Mother Doll shall see to her, for she needs it sure, poor +bairn. She is asleep already.'</p> + +<p>So she was, with her head nestled into the shepherd's neck, nor +did she waken when after a tramp of more than a mile the bleatings +of the folded sheep announced that they were nearly arrived, and in +the low doorway there shone a light, and in the light stood a +motherly form, in a white woollen hood and dark serge dress. Tired +as he was, Hal ran on to her, exclaiming 'All well, Mammy +Doll?'</p> + +<p>'Ah well!' she answered, 'thank the good God! I was in fear for +thee, my boy! What's that Daddy hath? A strayed lamb?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, Mammy, but a strayed maiden! 'Twas that kept me so long. I +had to bear her through the burn at Blackreed, and drag her on as +best I might, and she is worn out and weary.'</p> + +<p>'Ay,' said Hob, as he came up. 'How now, my bit lassie?' as he +put her into the outstretched arms of his wife, who sat down on the +settle to receive her, still not half awake.</p> + +<p>'She is well-nigh clemmed,' said Hal. 'She has had no bite nor +sup all day, since her pony fell with her out a-hawking, and all +were so hot on the chase that none heeded her.'</p> + +<p>Mother Doll's exclamations of pity were profuse. There was a +kettle of broth on the peat fire, and after placing the girl in a +corner of the settle, she filled three wooden bowls, two of which +she placed before Hal and the shepherd, making signs to the +heavy-browed Piers to wait; and getting no reply from her worn-out +guest, she took her in her arms, and fed her from a wooden spoon. +Though without clear waking, mouthfuls were swallowed down, till +the bowl was filled again and set before Piers.</p> + +<p>'There, that will be enough this day!' said the good dame. 'Poor +bairn! 'Twas scurvy treatment. Now will we put her to bed, and in +the morn we will see how to deal with her.'</p> + +<p>Hal insisted that the little lady should have his own bed--a +chaff-stuffed mattress, covered with a woollen rug, in the recess +behind the projecting hearth--a strange luxury for a farm boy; and +Doll yielded very unwillingly when he spoke in a tone that savoured +of command. The shaggy Piers had already curled himself up in a +corner and gone to sleep.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER II. THE SNOW-STORM</h3> + +<p>Yet stay, fair lady, rest awhile<br> +Beneath the cottage wall;<br> +See, through the hawthorns blows the cold wind,<br> +And drizzling rain doth fall.--OLD BALLAD.</p> + +<p>Though Hal had gone to sleep very tired the night before, and +only on a pile of hay, curled up with Watch, having yielded his own +bed to the strange guest, he was awake before the sun, for it was +the decline of the year, and the dawn was not early.</p> + +<p>He was not the first awake--Hob and Piers were already busy on +the outside, and Mother Doll had emerged from the box bed which +made almost a separate apartment, and was raking together the peat, +so as to revive the slumbering fire. The hovel, for it was hardly +more, was built of rough stone and thatched with reeds, with large +stones to keep the roof down in the high mountain blasts. There was +only one room, earthen floored, and with no furniture save a big +chest, a rude table, a settle and a few stools, besides the big +kettle and a few crocks and wooden bowls. Yet whereas all was +clean, it had an air of comfort and civilisation beyond any of the +cabins in the neighbourhood, more especially as there was even a +rude chimney-piece projecting far into the room, and in the niche +behind this lay the little girl in her clothes, fast asleep.</p> + +<p>Very young and childish she looked as she lay, her lips partly +unclosed, her dark hair straying beyond her hand, and her black +lashes resting on her delicate brunette cheeks, slightly flushed +with sleep. Hal could not help standing for a minute gazing at her +in a sort of wondering curiosity, till roused by the voice of +Mother Doll.</p> + +<p>'Go thy ways, my bairn, to wash in the burn. Here's thy comb. I +must have the lassie up before the shepherd comes back, though 'tis +amost a pity to wake her! There, she is stirring! Best be off with +thee, my bonnie lad.'</p> + +<p>It was spoken more in the tone of nurse to nursling than of +mother to son, still less that of mistress to farm boy; but Hal +obeyed, only observing, 'Take care of her.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, my pretty, will not I,' murmured the old woman, as the +child turned round on her pillow, put up a hand, rubbed her eyes, +and disclosed a pair of sleepy brown orbs, gazed about, and +demanded, 'What's this? Who's this?'</p> + +<p>''Tis Hob Hogward's hut, my bonnie lamb, where you are full +welcome! Here, take a sup of warm milk.'</p> + +<p>'I mind me now,' said the girl, sitting up, and holding out her +hands for the bowl. 'They all left me, and the lad brought me--a +great lubber lout--'</p> + +<p>'Nay, nay, mistress, you'll scarce say so when you see him by +day--a well-grown youth as can bear himself with any.'</p> + +<p>'Where is he?' asked the girl, gazing round; 'I want him to take +me back. This place is not one for me. The Sisters will be seeking +me! Oh, what a coil they must be in!'</p> + +<p>'We will have you back, my bairn, so soon as my goodman can go +with you, but now I would have you up and dressed, ay, and washed, +ere he and Hal come in. Then after meat and prayer you will be +ready to go.'</p> + +<p>'To Greystone Priory,' returned the girl. 'Yea, I would have +thee to know,' she added, with a little dignity that sat drolly on +her bare feet and disordered hair and cap as she rose out of bed, +'that the Sisters are accountable for me. I am the Lady Anne St. +John. My father is a lord in Bedfordshire, but he is gone to the +wars in Burgundy, and bestowed me in a convent at York while he was +abroad, but the Mother thought her house would be safer if I were +away at the cell at Greystone when Queen Margaret and the Red Rose +came north.'</p> + +<p>'And is that the way they keep you safe?' asked the hostess, who +meanwhile was attending to her in a way that, if the Lady Anne had +known it, was like the tendance of her own nurse at home, instead +of that of a rough peasant woman.</p> + +<p>'Oh, we all like the chase, and the Mother had a new cast of +hawks that she wanted to fly. There came out a heron, and she threw +off the new one, and it went careering up--and up--and we all rode +after, and just as the bird was about to pounce down, into a dyke +went my pony, Imp, and not one of them saw! Not Bertram Selby, the +Sisters, nor the groom, nor the rabble rout that had come out of +Greystone; and before I could get free they were off; and the pony, +Imp of Evil that he is, has not learnt to know me or my voice, and +would not let me catch him, but cantered off--either after the +other horses or to the Priory. I knew not where I was, and halloaed +myself hoarse, but no one heard, and I went on and on, and lost my +way!'</p> + +<p>'I did hear tell that the Lady Prioress minded her hawks more +than her Hours,' said Mother Doll.</p> + +<p>'And that's sooth,' said the Lady Anne, beginning to prove +herself a chatterbox. 'The merlins have better hoods than the +Sisters; and as to the Hours, no one ever gets up in the night to +say Nocturns or even Matins but old Sister Scholastica, and she is +as strict and cross as may be.'</p> + +<p>Here the flow of confidence was interrupted by the return of +Hal, who gazed eagerly, though in a shamefaced way, at the guest as +he set down a bowl of ewe milk. She was a well-grown girl of ten, +slender, and bearing herself like one high bred and well trained in +deportment; and her face was delicately tinted on an olive skin, +with fine marked eyebrows, and dark bright eyes, and her little +hunting dress of green, and the hood, set on far back, became the +dark locks that curled in rings beneath.</p> + +<p>She saw a slender lad, dark-haired and dark-eyed, ruddy and +embrowned by mountain sun and air; and the bow with which he bent +before her had something of the rustic lout, and there was a +certain shyness over him that hindered him from addressing her.</p> + +<p>'So, shepherd,' she said, 'when wilt thou take me back to +Greystone?'</p> + +<p>'Father will fix that,' interposed the housewife; 'meanwhile, ye +had best eat your porridge. Here is Father, in good time with the +cows' milk.'</p> + +<p>The rugged broad-shouldered shepherd made his salutation duly to +the young lady, and uttered the information that there was a black +cloud, like snow, coming up over the fells to the south-west.</p> + +<p>'But I must fare back to Greystone!' said the damsel. 'They will +be in a mighty coil what has become of me.'</p> + +<p>'They would be in a worse coil if they found your bones under a +snow wreath.'</p> + +<p>Hal went to the door and spied out, as if the tidings were +rather pleasant to him than otherwise. The goodwife shivered, and +reached out to close the shutter, and there being no glass to the +windows, all the light that came in was through the chinks.</p> + +<p>'It would serve them right for not minding me better,' said the +maiden composedly. 'Nay, it is as merry here as at Greystone, with +Sister Margaret picking out one's broidery, and Father Cuthbert +making one pore over his crabbed parchments.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, does this Father teach Latin?' exclaimed Hal with eager +interest.</p> + +<p>'Of course he doth! The Mother at York promised I should learn +whatever became a damsel of high degree,' said the girl, drawing +herself up.</p> + +<p>'I would he would teach me!' sighed the boy.</p> + +<p>'Better break thy fast and mind thy sheep,' said the old woman, +as if she feared his getting on dangerous ground; and placing the +bowl of porridge on the rough table, she added, 'Say the +Benedicite, lad, and fall to.' Then, as he uttered the blessing, +she asked the guest whether she preferred ewes' milk or cows' milk, +a luxury no one else was allowed, all eating their porridge +contentedly with a pinch of salt, Hob showing scant courtesy, the +less since his guest's rank had been made known.</p> + +<p>By the time they had finished, snowflakes--an early autumn +storm--were drifting against the shutter, and a black cloud was +lowering over the hills. Hob foretold a heavy fall of snow, and +called on Hal to help him and Piers fold the flock more securely, +sleepy Watch and his old long-haired collie mother rising at the +same call. Lady Anne sprang up at the same time, insisting that she +must go and help to feed the poor sheep, but she was withheld, much +against her will, by Mother Dolly, though she persisted that snow +was nothing to her, and it was a fine jest to be out of the reach +of the Sisters, who mewed her up in a cell, like a messan dog. +However, she was much amused by watching, and thinking she assisted +in, Mother Dolly's preparations for ewe milk cheese-making; and +by-and-by Hal came in, shaking the snow off the sheepskin he had +worn over his leathern coat. Hob had sent him in, as the weather +was too bad for him, and he and Anne crouched on opposite sides of +the wide hearth as he dried and warmed himself, and cosseted the +cat which Anne had tried to caress, but which showed a decided +preference for the older friend.</p> + +<p>'Our Baudrons at Greystone loves me better than that,' said +Anne. 'She will come to me sooner than even to Sister +Scholastica!'</p> + +<p>'My Tib came with us when we came here. Ay, Tib! purr thy best!' +as he held his fingers over her, and she rubbed her smooth head +against him.</p> + +<p>'Can she leap? Baudrons leaps like a horse in the +tilt-yard.'</p> + +<p>'Cannot she! There, my lady pussy, show what thou canst do to +please the demoiselle,' and he held his arms forward with clasped +hands, so that the grey cat might spring over them, and Lady Anne +cried out with delight.</p> + +<p>Again and again the performance was repeated, and pussy was +induced to dance after a string dangled before her, to roll over +and play in apparent ecstasy with a flake of wool, as if it were a +mouse, and Watch joined in the game in full amity. Mother Dolly, +busy with her distaff, looked on, not displeased, except when she +had to guard her spindle from the kitten's pranks, but she was less +happy when the children began to talk.</p> + +<p>'You have seen a tilt-yard?'</p> + +<p>'Yea, indeed,' he answered dreamily. 'The poor squire was +hurt--I did not like it! It is gruesome.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, no! It is a noble sport! I loved our tilt-yard at Bletso. +Two knights could gallop at one another in the lists, as if they +were out hunting. Oh! to hear the lances ring against the shields +made one's heart leap up! Where was yours?'</p> + +<p>Here Dolly interrupted hastily, 'Hal, lad, gang out to the shed +and bring in some more sods of turf. The fire is getting low.'</p> + +<p>'Here's a store, mother--I need not go out,' said Hal, passing +to a pile in the corner. 'It is too dark for thee to see it.'</p> + +<p>'But where was your castle?' continued the girl. 'I am sure you +have lived in a castle.'</p> + +<p>Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another +changed the homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less +grammatical, second person plural. The boy laughed, nodded his +head, and said, 'You are a little witch.'</p> + +<p>'No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in +Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be +Scots!'</p> + +<p>'I am not from Bedfordshire,' said the lad, looking much amused +at her perplexity.</p> + +<p>'Who art thou then?' she cried peremptorily.</p> + +<p>'I? I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.'</p> + +<p>'No shepherd boy are you! Come, tell me true.'</p> + +<p>Dolly thought it time to interfere. She heard an imaginary +bleat, and ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering +the girl by force from running after him, for the snow was coming +down in larger flakes than ever. Nevertheless, when her husband was +heard outside she threw a cloak over her head and hurried out to +speak with him. 'That maid will make our lad betray himself ere +another hour is over their heads!'</p> + +<p>'Doth she do it wittingly?' asked the shepherd gravely.</p> + +<p>'Nay, 'tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of +gentle blood, and women's wits be sharp and prying, and the maid +will never rest till she has wormed out who he is.'</p> + +<p>'He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.'</p> + +<p>'Thee! Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the +wiles of a young maid!'</p> + +<p>'Lord Hal is a lad of his word. Peace with thy lords and ladies, +woman, thou'lt have the archers after him at once.'</p> + +<p>'She makes no secret of being of gentle blood--a St. John of +Bletso.'</p> + +<p>'A pestilent White Rose lot! We shall have them on the scent ere +many days are over our head! An unlucky chance this same snow, or I +should have had the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange +a word.'</p> + +<p>'Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm. Ill for the maid to +have fallen into a drift!'</p> + +<p>'Well for the lad if she never came out of it!' muttered the +gruff old shepherd. 'Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the +clacking wenches at York--Yorkists every one of them.'</p> + +<p>Mother Dolly's eyes grew round. 'Mind thee, Hob!' she said; 'I +ken thy bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know +that if aught befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall +hold thee--and so will my Lady--guilty of a foul deed.'</p> + +<p>'No fouler than was done on the stripling's father,' muttered +the shepherd. 'Get thee in, wife! Who knows what folly those two +may be after while thou art away? Mind thee, if the maid gets an +inkling of who the boy is, it will be the worse for her.'</p> + +<p>'Oh!' murmured the goodwife, 'I moaned once that our Piers there +should be deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now! No +fear of perilous word going out through him, or I durst not have +kept my poor sister's son!'</p> + +<p>Mother Doll trusted that her husband would never have the heart +to leave the pretty dark-haired girl in the snow, but she was +relieved to find Hal marking down on the wide flat hearth-stone, +with a bit of charcoal, all the stars he had observed. 'Hob calls +that the Plough--those seven!' he said; 'I call it Charles's +Wain!'</p> + +<p>'Methinks I have seen that!' she said, 'winter and summer +both.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, he is a meuseful husbandman, that Charles! And see here! +This middle mare of the team has a little foal running beside +her'--he made a small spot beside the mark that stood for the +central star of what we call the Bear's Tail.</p> + +<p>'I never saw that!'</p> + +<p>'No, 'tis only to be seen on a clear bright night. I have seen +it, but Hob mocks at it. He thinks the only use of the Wain is to +find the North Star, up beyond there, pointing by the back of the +Plough, and go by it when you are lost.'</p> + +<p>'What good would finding the North Star do? It would not have +helped me home if you had not found me!'</p> + +<p>'Look here, Lady Anne! Which way does Greystone lie?'</p> + +<p>'How should I tell?'</p> + +<p>'Which way did the sun lie when you crossed the moor?'</p> + +<p>Anne could not remember at first, but by-and-by recollected that +it dazzled her eyes just as she was looking for the runaway pony; +and Hal declared that it proved that the convent must have been to +the south of the spot of her fall; but his astronomy, though +eagerly demonstrated, was not likely to have brought her back to +Greystone. Still Doll was thankful for the safe subject, as he went +on to mark out what he promised that she should see in the +winter--the swarm of glow-worms, as he called the Pleiades; and +'Our Lady's Rock,' namely, distaff, the northern name for Orion; +and then he talked of the stars that so perplexed him, namely, the +planets, that never stayed in their places.</p> + +<p>By-and-by, when Mother Dolly's work was over the kettle was on +the fire, and she was able to take out her own spinning, she +essayed to fill up the time by telling them lengthily the old +stories and ballads handed down from minstrel to minstrel, from +nurse to nurse, and they sat entranced, listening to the stories, +more than even Hal knew she possessed, and holding one another by +the hand as they listened.</p> + +<p>Meantime the snow had ceased--it was but a scud of early autumn +on the mountains--the sun came out with bright slanting beams +before his setting, there was a soft south wind; and Hob, when he +came in, growled out that the thaw had set in, and he should be +able to take the maid back in the morning. He sat scowling and +silent during supper, and ordered Hal about with sharp sternness, +sending him out to attend to the litter of the cattle, before all +had finished, and manifestly treated him as the shepherd's boy, the +drudge of the house, and threatening him with a staff if he +lingered, soon following himself. Mother Dolly insisted on putting +the little lady to bed before they should return, and convent-bred +Anne had sufficient respect for proprieties to see that it was +becoming. She heard no more that night.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER III. OVER THE MOOR</h3> + +<p>In humblest, simplest habit clad,<br> +But these were all to me.--GOLDSMITH.</p> + +<p>'Hal! What is your name?'</p> + +<p>She stood at the door of the hovel, the rising sun lighting up +her bright dark eyes, and smiling in the curly rings of her hair +while Hal stood by, and Watch bounded round them.</p> + +<p>'You have heard,' he said, half smiling, and half +embarrassed.</p> + +<p>'Hal! That's no name.'</p> + +<p>'Harry, an it like you better.'</p> + +<p>'Harry what?' with a little stamp of her foot.</p> + +<p>'Harry Hogward, as you see, or Shepherd, so please you.'</p> + +<p>'You are no Hogward, nor shepherd! These folk be no kin to you, +I can see. Come, an you love me, tell me true! I told you true who +I am, Red Rose though I see you be! Why not trust me the same?'</p> + +<p>'Lady, I verily ken no name save Harry. I would trust you, +verily I would, but I know not myself.'</p> + +<p>'I guess! I guess!' she cried, clapping her hands, but at the +moment Dolly laid a hand on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>'Do not guess, maiden,' she said. 'If thou wouldst not bring +evil on the lad that found thee, and the roof that sheltered thee, +guess not, yea, and utter not a word save that thou hast lain in a +shepherd's hut. Forget all, as though thou hadst slept in the +castle on the hill that fades away with the day.'</p> + +<p>She ended hastily, for her husband was coming up with a rough +pony's halter in his hand. He was in haste to be off, lest a search +for the lost child might extend to his abode, and his gloomy +displeasure and ill-masked uneasiness reduced every-one to silence +in his presence.</p> + +<p>'Up and away, lady wench!' he said. 'No time to lose if you are +to be at Greystone ere night! Thou Hal, thou lazy lubber, go with +Piers and the sheep--'</p> + +<p>'I shall go with you,' replied Hal, in a grave tone of +resolution. 'I will only go within view of the convent, but go with +you I will.'</p> + +<p>He spoke with a decided tone of authority, and Hob Hogward +muttered a little to himself, but yielded.</p> + +<p>Hal assisted the young lady to mount, and they set off along the +track of the moss, driving the cows, sheep, and goats before +them--not a very considerable number--till they came to another +hut, much smaller and more rude than that where they had left +Mother Doll.</p> + +<p>Piers was a wild, shaggy-haired lad, with a sheepskin over his +shoulders, and legs bare below the knee, and to him the charge of +the flock was committed, with signs which he evidently understood +and replied to with a gruff 'Ay, ay!' The three went on the way, +over the slope of a hill, partly clothed with heather, holly and +birch trees, as it rose above the moss. Hob led the pony, and there +was something in his grim air and manner that hindered any +conversation between the two young people. Only Hal from time to +time gathered a flower for the young lady, scabious and globe +flowers, and once a very pink wild rose, mingled with white ones. +Lady Anne took them with a meaning smile, and a merry gesture, as +though she were going to brush Hal's face with the petals. Hal +laughed, and said, 'You will make them shed.'</p> + +<p>'Well and good, so the disputes be shed,' said Anne, with more +meaning than perhaps Hal understood. 'And the white overcomes the +red.'</p> + +<p>'May be the red will have its way with spring--'</p> + +<p>But there Hob looked round on them, and growled out, 'Have done +with that folly! What has a herd boy like thee to do with roses and +frippery? Come away from the lady's rein. Thou art over-held to +thrust thyself upon her.'</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, as Hal fell back, the dark eyes shot a meaning +glance at him, and the party went on in silence, except that now +and then Hob launched at Hal an order that he endeavoured to render +savagely contemptuous and harsh, so that Lady Anne interfered to +say, 'Nay, the poor lad is doing no harm.'</p> + +<p>'Scathe enough,' answered Hob. 'He always will be doing ill if +he can. Heed him not, lady, it only makes him the more +malapert.'</p> + +<p>'Malapert,' repeated Anne, not able to resist a little teasing +of the grim escort; 'that's scarce a word of the dales. 'Tis more +like a man-at-arms.'</p> + +<p>This Hob would not hear, and if he did, it produced a rough +imprecation on the pony, and a sharp cut with his switch.</p> + +<p>They had crossed another burn, travelled through the moss, and +mounted to the brow of another hill, when, far away against the +sky, on the top of yet another height, were to be seen moving +figures, not cattle, but Anne recognised them at once. +'Men-at-arms! archers! lances! A search party for me! The Prioress +must have sent to the Warden's tower.'</p> + +<p>'Off with thee, lad!' said Hob, at once turning round upon Hal. +'I'll not have thee lingering to gape at the men-at-arms! Off I +say, or--'</p> + +<p>He raised his stout staff as though to beat the boy, who looked +up in his face with a laugh, as if in very little alarm at his +threat, smiled up in the young lady's face, and as she held out her +hand with</p> + +<p>'Farewell, Hal; I'll keep your rose-leaves in my breviary,' he +bent over and kissed the fingers.</p> + +<p>'How now! This impudence passes! As if thou wert of the same +blood as the damsel!' exclaimed Hob in considerable anger, bringing +down his stick. 'Away with thee, ill-bred lubber! Back to thy +sheep, thou lazy loiterer! Get thee gone and thy whelp with +thee!'</p> + +<p>Hal obeyed, though not without a parting grin at Anne, and had +sped away down the side of the hill, among the hollies and birches, +which entirely concealed him and the bounding puppy.</p> + +<p>Hob went on in a gruff tone: 'The insolence of these loutish +lads! See you, lady, he is a stripling that I took up off the +roadside out of mere charity, and for the love of Heaven--a mere +foundling as you may say, and this is the way he presumes!'</p> + +<p>'A foundling, sayest thou?' said Anne, unable to resist teasing +him a little, and trying to gratify her own curiosity.</p> + +<p>'Ay, you may say so! There's a whole sort of these orphans, +after all the bad luck to the land, to be picked up on every +wayside.'</p> + +<p>'On Towton Moor, mayhap,' said Anne demurely, as she saw her +surly guide start. But he was equal to the occasion, and +answered:</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay, Towton Moor; 'twas shame to see such bloody work; and +there were motherless and fatherless children, stray lambs, to be +met with, weeping their little hearts out, and starving all around +unless some good Christian took pity on them.'</p> + +<p>'Was Hal one of these?' asked Lady Anne.</p> + +<p>'I tell you, lady, I looked into a church that was full of +weeping and wailing folk, women and children in deadly fear of the +cruel, bloody-minded York folk, and the Lord of March that is +himself King Edward now, a murrain on him!'</p> + +<p>'Don't let those folk hear you say so!' laughed Lady Anne. 'They +would think nothing of hauling thee off for a black traitor, or +hanging thee up on the first tree stout enough to bear thee.'</p> + +<p>She said it half mischievously, but the only effect was a grunt, +and a stolid shrug of his shoulders, nor did he vouchsafe another +word for the rest of the way before they came through the valley, +and through the low brushwood on the bank, and were in sight of the +search party, who set up a joyful halloo of welcome on perceiving +her.</p> + +<p>A young man, the best mounted and armed, evidently an esquire, +rode forward, exclaiming, 'Well met, fair Lady Anne! Great have +been the Mother Prioress's fears for you, and she has called up +half the country side, lest you should be fallen into the hands of +Robin of Redesdale, or some other Lancastrian rogue.'</p> + +<p>'Much she heeded me in comparison with hawk and heron!' +responded Anne. 'Thanks for your heed, Master Bertram.'</p> + +<p>'I must part from thee and thy sturdy pony. Thanks for the use +of it,' added she, as the squire proceeded to take her from the +pony. He would have lifted her down, but she only touched his hand +lightly and sprang to the ground, then stood patting its neck. +'Thanks again, good pony. I am much beholden to thee, Gaffer Hob! +Stay a moment.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, lady, it would be well to mount you behind Archie. His +beast is best to carry a lady.'</p> + +<p>Archie was an elderly man, stout but active, attached to the +service of the convent. He had leapt down, and was putting on a +belt, and arranging a pad for the damsel, observing, 'Ill hap we +lost you, damsel! I saw you not fall.'</p> + +<p>'Ay,' returned Anne, 'your merlin charmed you far more. Master +Bertram, the loan of your purse. I would reward the honest man who +housed me.'</p> + +<p>Bertram laughed and said, tossing up the little bag that hung to +his girdle, 'Do you think, fair damsel, that a poor Border squire +carries about largesse in gold and silver? Let your clown come with +us to Greystone, and thence have what meed the Prioress may bestow +on him, for a find that your poor servant would have given worlds +to make.'</p> + +<p>'Hearest thou, Hob?' said Anne. 'Come with us to the convent, +and thou shalt have thy guerdon.'</p> + +<p>Hob, however, scratched his head, with a more boorish air than +he had before manifested, and muttered something about a cow that +needed his attention, and that he could not spare the time from his +herd for all that the Prioress was like to give him.</p> + +<p>'Take this, then,' said Anne, disengaging a gold clasp from her +neck, and giving it to him. 'Bear it to the goodwife and bid her +recollect me in her prayers.'</p> + +<p>'I shall come and redeem it from thee, sulky carle as thou art,' +said Bertram. 'Such jewels are not for greasy porridge-fed +housewives. Hark thee, have it ready for me! I shall be at thy +hovel ere long'--as Anne waved to Hob when she was lifted to her +seat.</p> + +<p>But Hob had already turned away, and Anne, as she held on by +Archie's leathern belt, in her gay tone was beginning to defend him +by declaring that porridge and grease did not go together, so the +nickname was not rightly bestowed on the kindly goodwife.</p> + +<p>'Ay! Greasy from his lord's red deer,' said Bertram, 'or his +tainted mutton. Trust one of these herds, and a sheep is tainted +whenever he wants a good supper. Beshrew me but that stout fellow +looks lusty and hearty enough, as if he lived well.'</p> + +<p>'They were good and kind, and treated me well,' said Anne. 'I +should be dead if they had not succoured me.'</p> + +<p>'The marvel is you are not dead with the stench of their hovel, +and the foulness of their food.'</p> + +<p>'It was very good food--milk, meat, and oaten porridge,' replied +Anne.</p> + +<p>'Marvellous, I say!' cried Bertram with a sudden thought. 'Was +it not said that there were some of those traitorous Lancastrian +folk lurking about the mountains and fells? That rogue had the +bearing of a man-at-arms, far more than of a mere herd. Deemedst +thou not so, Archie?' to the elderly man who rode before the young +damsel.</p> + +<p>'Herdsmen here are good with the quarter-staff. They know how to +stand against the Scots, and do not get bowed like our Midland +serfs,' put in Anne, before Archie could answer, which he did with +something of a snarl, as Bertram laughed somewhat jeeringly, and +declared that the Lady Anne had become soft-hearted. She looked +down at her roses, but in the dismounting and mounting again the +petals of the red rose had floated away, and nothing was left of it +save a slender pink bud enclosed within a dark calyx.</p> + +<p>Archie, hard pressed, declared, 'There are poor fellows lurking +about here and there, but bad blood is over among us. No need to +ferret about for them.'</p> + +<p>'Eh! Not when there may be a lad among them for whose head the +king and his brothers would give the weight of it in gold +nobles?'</p> + +<p>Anne shivered a little at this, but she cried out, 'Shame on +you, Master Bertram Selby, if you would take a price for the head +of a brave foe! You, to aspire to be a knight!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, lady, I was but pointing out to Archie and the other +grooms here, how they might fill their pouches if they would. I +verily believe thou knowst of some lurking-place, thou art so +prompt to argue! Did I not see another with thee, who made off when +we came in view? Say! Was he a blood-stained Clifford? I heard of +the mother having married in these parts.'</p> + +<p>'He was Hob Hogward's herd boy,' answered Anne, as composedly as +she could. 'He hied him back to mind his sheep.'</p> + +<p>Nor would Anne allow another word to be extracted from her ere +the grey walls of the Priory of Greystone rose before her, and the +lay Sister at the gate shrieked for joy at seeing her riding behind +Archie.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV. A SPORTING PRIORESS</h3> + +<p>Yet nothing stern was she in cell,<br> +And the nuns loved their abbess well.--SCOTT.</p> + +<p>The days of the Wars of the Roses were evil times for the +discipline of convents, which, together with the entire Western +Church, suffered from the feuds of the Popes with the Italian +princes.</p> + +<p>Small remote houses, used as daughters or auxiliaries to the +large convents, were especially apt to fall into a lax state, and +in truth the little priory of Greystone, with its half-dozen of +Sisters, had been placed under the care of the Lady Agnes Selby +because she was too highly connected to be dealt with sharply, and +too turbulent and unmanageable for the soberminded house at York. +So there she was sent, with the deeply devout and strict Sister +Scholastica, to keep the establishment in order, and deal with the +younger nuns and lay Sisters. Being not entirely out of reach of a +raid from the Scottish border, it was hardly a place for the timid, +although the better sort of moss troopers generally spared monastic +houses. Anne St. John had been sent thither at the time when Queen +Margaret was making her attempt in the north, where the city of +York was Lancastrian, as the Mother Abbess feared that her presence +might bring vengeance upon the Sisterhood.</p> + +<p>There was no great harm in the Mother Agnes, only she was a +maiden whom nothing but family difficulties could have forced into +a monastic life--a lively, high-spirited, out-of-door creature, +whom the close conventionalities of castle life and even whipping +could not tame, and who had been the despair of her mother and of +the discreet dames to whom her first childhood had been committed, +to say nothing of a Lady Abbess or two. Indeed, from the Mother of +Sopwell, Dame Julian Berners, she had imbibed nothing but a +vehement taste for hawk, horse, and hound. The recluses of St. +Mary, York, after being heartily scandalised by her habits, were +far from sorry to have a good excuse for despatching her to their +outlying cell, where, as they observed, she would know how to show +a good face in case the Armstrongs came over the Border.</p> + +<p>She came flying down on the first rumour of Lady Anne's return, +her veil turned back, her pace not at all accordant with the solemn +gait of a Prioress, her arms outstretched, her face, not young nor +handsome, but sunburnt, weather-beaten and healthy, and full of +delight. 'My child, my Nan, here thou art! I was just mounting to +seek for thee to the west, while Bertram sought again over the +mosses where we sent yester morn. Where hast thou been in the +snow?'</p> + +<p>'A shepherd took me to his hut, Lady Mother,' answered Anne +rather coldly.</p> + +<p>'Little didst thou think of our woe and grief when thy palfrey +was found standing riderless at the stable door, and Sister +Scholastica told us that there he had been since nones! And she had +none to send in quest but Cuddie, the neatherd.'</p> + +<p>'My palfrey fell with me when you were in full chase of hawk and +heron, 'and none ever turned a head towards me nor heard me +call.'</p> + +<p>'Poor maid! But it was such a chase as never you did watch. On +and on went the heron, the falcon ever mounting higher and higher, +till she was but a speck in the clouds, and Tam Falconer shouting +and galloping, mad lest she should go down the wind. Methought she +would have been back to Norroway, the foul jade!'</p> + +<p>'Did you capture her, Mother?' asked Anne.</p> + +<p>'Ay, she pounced at last, and well-nigh staked herself on the +heron's beak! But we had a long ride, and were well-nigh at the +Tyne before we had caught her. Full of pranks, but a noble hawk, as +I shall write to my brother by the next messenger that comes our +way. I call it a hawk worth her meat that leads one such a +gallop.'</p> + +<p>'What would you have done, reverend Mother, if she had crossed +the Border?' asked Bertram.</p> + +<p>'Ridden after her. No Scot would touch a Lady Prioress on the +chase,' responded Mother Agnes, looking not at all like a reverend +Mother. 'Now, poor Anne, thou must be hungered. Thou shalt eat with +Master Bertram and me in the refectory anon. Take her, Sister Joan, +and make her ready to break her fast with us.'</p> + +<p>Anne quickly went to her chamber. It was not quite a cell, the +bare stone walls being hung with faded woollen tapestry, the floor +covered with a deerskin, the small window filled with dark green +glass, a chest serving the double purpose of seat and wardrobe, and +further, a bed hung with thick curtains, in which she slept with +the lay Sister, Joan, who further fetched a wooden bowl of water +from the fountain in the court that she might wash her face and +hands. She changed her soiled riding-dress for a tight-fitting +serge garment of dark green with long hanging sleeves, assisted by +Joan, who also arranged her dark hair in two plaits, and put over +it a white veil, fastened over a framework to keep it from hanging +too closely.</p> + +<p>All the time Joan talked, telling of the fright the Mother had +been in when the loss of the Lady Anne had been discovered, and how +it was feared that she had been seized by Scottish reivers, or lost +in the snow on the hills, or captured by the Lancastrians.</p> + +<p>'For there be many of the Red Rose rogues about on the +mosses--comrades, 'tis said, of that noted thief Robin of +Redesdale.'</p> + +<p>'I was with good folk, in a shepherd's sheiling,' replied +Anne.</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay. Out on the north hill, methinks.'</p> + +<p>'Nay. Beyond Deadman's Pool,' said Anne. 'By Blackreed Moss. +That was where the pony fell.'</p> + +<p>'Blackreed Moss! That moor belongs to the De Vescis, the +blackest Lancaster fellow of all! His daughter is the widow of the +red-handed Clifford, who slew young Earl Edmund on Wakefield +Bridge. They say her young son is in hiding in some moss in his +lands, for the King holds him in deadly feud for his brother's +death.'</p> + +<p>'He was a babe, and had nought to do with it,' said Anne.</p> + +<p>'He is of his father's blood,' returned Sister Joan, who in her +convent was still a true north country woman. 'Ay, Lady Anne, you +from your shires know nought of how deep goes the blood feud in us +of the Borderland! Ay, lady, was not mine own grandfather slain by +the Musgrave of Leit Hill, and did not my father have his revenge +on his son by Solway Firth? Yea, and now not a Graeme can meet a +Musgrave but they come to blows.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, but that is not what the good Fathers teach,' Anne +interposed.</p> + +<p>'The Fathers have neither chick nor child to take up their +quarrel. They know nought about blood crying for blood! If King +Edward caught that brat of Clifford he would make him know what +'tis to be born of a bloody house.'</p> + +<p>Anne tried to say something, but the lay Sister pushed her +along. 'There, there, go you down--you know nothing about what +honour requires of you! You are but a south country maid, and have +no notion of what is due to them one came from.'</p> + +<p>Joan Graeme was only a lay Sister, her father a small farmer +when not a moss trooper; but all the Border, on both sides, had the +strongest ideas of persistent vendetta, such as happily had never +been held in the midland and southern counties, where there was +less infusion of Celtic blood. Anne was a good deal shocked at the +doctrine propounded by the attendant Sister, a mild, good-natured +woman in daily life, but the conversation confirmed her suspicions, +and put her on her guard as she remembered Hob's warning. She had +liked the shepherd lad far too much, and was far too grateful to +him, to utter a word that might give him up to the revengers of +blood.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the stone stairs that led into the quadrangle she +met the black-robed, heavily hooded Sister Scholastica on her way +to the chapel. The old nun held out her arms. 'Safely returned, my +child! God be thanked! Art thou come to join thy thanksgiving with +ours at this hour of nones?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, I am bound to break my fast with the Mother and Master +Bertram.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! thou must needs be hungered! It is well! But do but utter +thy thanks to Him Who kept thee safe from the storm and from foul +doers.'</p> + +<p>Anne did not break away from the good Sister, but went as far as +the chapel porch, was touched with holy water, and bending her +knee, uttered in a low voice her 'Gratias ago,' then hastened +across the court to the refectory, where the Prioress received her +with a laugh and, 'So Sister Scholastica laid hands on thee; I +thought I should have to come and rescue thee ere the grouse grew +cold.'</p> + +<p>Bertram, as a courteous squire of dames, came forward bowing +low, and the party were soon seated at the board--literally a +board, supported upon trestles, only large enough to receive the +Prioress, the squire and the recovered girl, but daintily veiled in +delicate white napery.</p> + +<p>It was screened off from the rest of the refectory, where the +few Sisters had already had their morning's meal after Holy +Communion; and from it there was a slight barrier, on the other +side of which Bertram Selby ought to have been, but rules sat very +lightly on the Prioress Selby. Bertram was of kin to her, and she +had no demur as to admitting him to her private table. He was, in +fact, a squire of the household of the Marquess of Montagu, brother +of the Kingmaker and had been despatched with letters to the south. +He had made a halt at his cousin's priory, had been persuaded to +join in flying the new hawks, and then had first been detained by +the snow-storm, and then joined in the quest for the lost Lady Anne +St. John.</p> + +<p>No doubt had then arisen that the Nevils were firm in their +attachment to Edward IV., and, as a consequence, in enmity to the +House of Clifford, and both these scions of Selby had been excited +at a rumour that the widow of the Baron who had slain young Edmund +of York had married Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Threlkeld, and that +her eldest son, the heir of the line, might be hidden somewhere on +the De Vesci estates.</p> + +<p>Bertram had already told the Prioress that his men had spied a +lad accompanying the shepherd who escorted the lady, and who, he +thought, had a certain twang of south country speech; and no sooner +had he carved for the ladies, according to the courtly duty of an +esquire, than the inquiry began as to who had found the maiden and +where she had been lodged. Prioress Agnes, who had already broken +her fast, sat meantime with the favourite hawk on her wrist and a +large dog beside her, feeding them alternately with the bones of +the grouse.</p> + +<p>'Come, tell us all, sweet Nan! Where wast thou in that untimely +snow-storm? In a cave, starved with cold, eh?'</p> + +<p>'I was safe in a cabin with a kind old gammer.'</p> + +<p>'Eh! And how cam'st thou there? Wandering thither?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, the shepherd heard me call.'</p> + +<p>'The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?'</p> + +<p>'He carried me to the hut.'</p> + +<p>Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there +only one shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side +where Bertram met her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of +him? The shepherd sent him back, he had been too long away from his +flock. What was his name? What was the shepherd's name? Who was his +master? Anne did not know--she had heard no names save Hob and Hal, +she had seen no arms, she had heard nothing southland. The lad was +a mere herd-boy, ordered out to milk ewes and tend the sheep. She +answered briefly, and with a certain sullenness, and young Selby at +last turned on her. 'Look thee here, fair lady, there's a saying +abroad that the heir of the red-handed House of Clifford is lurking +here, on the look-out to favour Queen Margaret and her son. Couldst +thou put us on the scent, King Edward would favour thee and make +thee a great dame, and have thee to his Court--nay, maybe give thee +what is left of the barony of Clifford.'</p> + +<p>'I know nothing of young lords,' sulkily growled Anne, who had +been hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the +table.</p> + +<p>'And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,' exclaimed the Prioress, 'that +if thou art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in +these parts, it is not the part of an honest man to seek him out +for his destruction, and still less to try to make the maid he +rescued betray him. Well done, little Anne, thou knowest how to +hold thy tongue.'</p> + +<p>'Reverend Mother,' expostulated Bertram, 'if you knew what some +would give to be on the scent of the wolf-cub!'</p> + +<p>'I know not, nor do I wish to know, for what price a Selby would +sell his honour and his bowels of mercy,' said Mother Agnes. 'Come +away, Nan; thou hast done well.</p> + +<p>Bertram muttered something about having thought her a better +Yorkist, women not understanding, and mischief that might be +brewing; but the Prioress, taking Anne by the hand, went her way, +leaving Bertram standing confused.</p> + +<p>'Oh, mother,' sighed Anne, 'do you think he will go after him? +He will think I was treacherous!'</p> + +<p>'I doubt me whether he will dare,' said the Prioress. 'Moreover, +it is too late in the day for a search, and another snow-shower +seems coming up again. I cannot turn the youth, my kinsman, from my +door, and he is safer here than on his quest, but he shall see no +more of thee or me to-night. I may hold that Edward of March has +the right, but that does not mean hunting down an orphan +child.'</p> + +<p>'Mother, mother, you are good indeed!' cried Anne, almost +weeping for joy.</p> + +<p>Bertram, though hurt and offended, was obliged by advance of +evening to remain all night in the hospitium, with only the +chaplain to bear him company, and it was reported that though he +rode past Blackpool, no trace of shepherd or hovel was found.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER V. MOTHER AND SON</h3> + +<p>My own, my own, thy fellow-guest<br> +I may not be, but rest thee, rest--<br> +The lowly shepherd's life is best.--WORDSWORTH.</p> + +<p>The Lady Threlkeld stood in the lower storey of her castle, a +sort of rough-built hall or crypt, with a stone stair leading +upward to the real castle hall above, while this served as a place +where she met her husband's retainers and the poor around, and +administered to their wants with her own hands, assisted by the +maidens of her household.</p> + +<p>Among the various hungry and diseased there limped in a sturdy +beggar with a wallet on his back, and a broad shady hat, as though +on pilgrimage. He was evidently a stranger among the rest, and had +his leg and foot bound up, leaning heavily on a stout staff.</p> + +<p>'Italy pilgrim, what ails thee?' demanded the lady, as he +approached her.</p> + +<p>'Alack, noble dame! we poor pilgrims must ever be moving on, +however much it irks foot and limb, over these northern stones,' he +answered, and his accent and tone were such that a thrill seemed to +pass over the lady's whole person, but she controlled it, and only +said, 'Tarry till these have received their alms, then will I see +to thee and thy maimed foot. Give him a stool, Alice, while he +waits.'</p> + +<p>The various patients who claimed the lady's assistance were +attended to, those who needed food were relieved, and in due time +the hall was cleared, excepting of the lady, an old female servant, +and Hob, who had sat all the time with his foot on a stool, and his +back against the wall, more than half asleep after the toils and +long journey of the night.</p> + +<p>Then the Lady Threlkeld came to him, and making him a sign not +to rise, said aloud, 'Good Gaffer, let me see what ails thy leg.' +Then kneeling down and busying herself with the bandages, she +looked up piteously in his face, with the partly breathed inquiry, +'My son?'</p> + +<p>'Well, my lady, and grown into a stalwart lad,' was Hob's +answer, with an eye on the door, and in a voice as low as his gruff +tones would permit.</p> + +<p>'And wherefore? What is it?' she asked anxiously. 'Be they on +the track of my poor boy?'</p> + +<p>'They may be,' answered Hob, 'wherefore I deemed it well to +shift our quarters. As hap would have it, the lad fell upon a +little wench lost in the mosses, and there was nothing for it but +to bring her home for the night. I would have had her away as soon +as day dawned, and no questions asked, but the witches, or the foul +fiend himself, must needs bring up a snow-storm, and there was +nothing for it but to let her bide in the cot all day, giving +tongue as none but womenfolk can do; and behold she is the child of +the Lord St. John of Bletso.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, what should bring her north?'</p> + +<p>'She wonnes at Greystone with the wild Prioress Selby, who lost +her out hawking. Her father is a black Yorkist. I saw him up to his +stirrups in blood at St. Albans!'</p> + +<p>'But sure my boy did not make himself known to her?' exclaimed +the lady.</p> + +<p>'I trow not. He has been well warned, and is a lad of his word; +but the two bairns, left to themselves, could scarce help finding +out that each was of gentle blood and breeding, and how much more +my goodwife cannot tell. I took the maid back so soon as it was +safe yester morn, and sent back my young lord, much against his +will, half-way to Greystone. And well was it I did so, for he was +scarce over the ridge when a plump of spears came in sight on the +search for him, and led by the young squire of Selby.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! and if the damsel does but talk, even if she knows nought, +the foe will draw their conclusions!' said the lady, clasping her +hands. 'Oh, would that I had sent him abroad with his little +brothers!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, then might he have fallen into the hands of Bletso +himself, and they say Burgundy is all for the Yorkists now,' said +Hob. 'This is what I have done, gracious lady. I bade my good woman +carry off all she could from the homestead and burn the rest; and +for him we wot on, I sent him and his flock off westward, +appointing each of them the same trysting-place--on the slope +beneath Derwent Hill, my lady--whence I thought, if it were your +will and the good knight Sir Lancelot's, we might go nigher to the +sea and the firth, where the Selby clan have no call, being at +deadly feud with the Ridleys. So if the maiden's tongue goes fast, +and the Prioress follows up the quest with young Selby, they will +find nought for their pains.'</p> + +<p>'Thou art a good guardian, Hob! Ah! where would my boy be save +for thee? And thou sayest he is even now at the very border of the +forest ground! Sure, there can be no cause that I should not go and +see him. My heart hungers for my children. Oh, let me go with +thee!'</p> + +<p>'Sir Lancelot--' began Hob.</p> + +<p>'He is away at the Warden's summons. He will scarce be back for +a week or more. I will, I must go with thee, good Hob.'</p> + +<p>'Not in your own person, good madam,' stipulated Hob. 'As thou +knowest, there are those in Sir Lancelot's following who might be +too apt to report of secret visits, and that were as ill as the +Priory folk.'</p> + +<p>It was then decided that the lady should put on the disguise of +a countrywoman bringing eggs and meat to sell at the castle, and +meet Hob near the postern, whence a path led to Penrith.</p> + +<p>Hob, having received a lump of oatcake and a draught of very +small ale, limped out of the court, and, so soon as he could find a +convenient spot behind the gorse bushes, divested himself of his +bandages, and changed the side of his shepherd's plaid to one much +older and more weather-beaten; also his pilgrim's hat for one in +his pouch--a blue bonnet, more like the national Scottish +head-gear, hiding the hat in the gorse.</p> + +<p>Then he lay down and waited, where he could see a window, whence +a red kerchief was to be fluttered to show when the lady would be +ready for him to attend her. He waited long, for she had first to +disarm suspicion by presiding at the general meal of the household, +and showing no undue haste.</p> + +<p>At last, though not till after he had more than once fallen +asleep and feared that he had missed the signal, or that his wife +and 'Hal' might be tempted to some imprudence while waiting, he +beheld the kerchief waving in the sunset light of the afternoon, +and presently, shrouded in such a black and white shepherd's maud +as his own, and in a russet gown with a basket on her arm, his lady +came forth and joined him.</p> + +<p>His first thought was how would she return again, when the +darkness was begun, but her only answer was, 'Heed not that! My +child, I must see.'</p> + +<p>Indeed, she was almost too breathless and eager with haste, as +he guided her over the rough and difficult path, or rather track, +to answer his inquiries as to what was to be done next. Her view, +however, agreed with his, that they must lurk in the borders of the +woodland for a day or two till Sir Lancelot's return, when he would +direct them to a place where he could put them under the protection +of one of the tenants of his manor. It was a long walk, longer than +Hob had perhaps felt when he had undertaken to conduct the lady +through it, for ladies, though inured to many dangers in those +days, were unaccustomed to travelling on their own feet; but the +mother's heart seemed to heed no obstacle, though moments came when +she had to lean heavily on her companion, and he even had to lift +her over brooks or pools; but happily the sun had not set when they +made their way through the tangles of the wood, and at last saw +before them the fitful glow of a fire of dead leaves, branches and +twigs, while the bark of a dog greeted the rustling, they made.</p> + +<p>'Sweetheart, my faithful!' then shouted Hob, and in another +moment there was a cry, 'Ha! Halloa! Master Hob--beest there?'</p> + +<p>'His voice!--my son's!' gasped the lady, and sank for a moment +of overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy +dog leapt upon them both.</p> + +<p>'Ay, lad, here--and some one else.'</p> + +<p>The boy crashed through the underwood, and stood on the path in +a moment's hesitation. Mother and son were face to face!</p> + +<p>The years that had passed had changed the lad from almost a babe +into a well-grown strong boy but the mother was little altered, and +as she held out her arms no word was wasted ere he sprang into +them, and his face was hidden on her neck as when he knew his way +into her embrace of old!</p> + +<p>When the intense rapturous hold was loosed they were aware of +Goodwife Dolly looking on with clasped hands and streaming eyes, +giving thanks for the meeting of her dear lady and the charge whom +she and her husband had so faithfully kept.</p> + +<p>When the mother and son had leisure to look round, and there was +a pleased survey of the boy's height and strength, Goodwife Dolly +came forward to beg the lady to come to her fire, and rest under +the gipsy tent which she and nephew Piers--her _real_ herd-boy, a +rough, shaggy, almost dumb and imbecile lad--had raised with +branches, skins and canvas, to protect their few articles of +property. There was a smouldering fire, over which Doll had +prepared a rabbit which the dog had caught, and which she had +intended for Hal's supper and that of her husband if he came home +in time. While the lady lavished thanks upon her for all she had +done for the boy she was intent on improving the rude meal, so as +to strengthen her mistress after her long walk, and for the return. +The lady, however, could see and think of nothing but her son, +while he returned her tearful gaze with open eyes, gathering up his +old recollections of her.</p> + +<p>'Mother!' he said--with a half-wondering tone, as the +recollections of six years old came back to him more fully, and +then he nestled again in her arms as if she were far more real to +him than at first--'Mother!' And then, as she sobbed over him, 'The +little one?'</p> + +<p>'The babe is well, when last I heard of her, in a convent at +York. Thou rememberest her?'</p> + +<p>'Ay--my little sister! Ay,' he said, with a considering +interrogative sound, 'I mind her well, and old Bunce too, that +taught me to ride.'</p> + +<p>But Hob interrupted the reminiscences by bringing up the pony on +which Anne had ridden, and insisting that the lady should not tarry +longer. 'He,' indicating Hal, might walk beside her through the +wood, and thus prolong their interview, but, as she well knew, it +was entirely unsafe to remain any longer away from the castle.</p> + +<p>There were embraces and sobbing thanks exchanged between the +lady and her son's old nurse, and then Hal, at a growling hint from +Hob, came forward, and awkwardly helped her to her saddle. He +walked by her side through the wood, holding her rein, while Hob, +going before, did his best in the twilight to clear away the +tangled branches and brambles that fell across the path, and were +near of striking the lady across the face as she rode.</p> + +<p>On the way she talked to her son about his remembrances, anxious +to know how far his dim recollections went of the old paternal +castle in Bedfordshire, of his infant sister and brother, and his +father. Of him he had little recollection, only of being lifted in +his arms, kissed and blessed, and seeing him ride away with his +troop, clanking in their armour. After that he remembered nothing, +save the being put into a homelier dress, and travelling on Nurse +Dolly's lap in a wain, up and down, it seemed to him, for ever, +till at last clearer recollections awoke in him, and he knew +himself as Hal the shepherd's boy, with the sheep around him, and +the blue starry sky above him.</p> + +<p>'Dost thou remember what thou wast called in those times?' asked +his mother.</p> + +<p>'I was always Hal. The little one was Meg,' he said.</p> + +<p>'Even so, my boy, my dear boy! But knowst thou no more than +this?'</p> + +<p>'Methinks, methinks there were serving-men that called me the +young Lord. Ay, so! But nurse said I must forget all that. Mother +dear, when that maiden came and talked of tilts and lances, +meseemed that I recollected somewhat. Was then my father a +knight?'</p> + +<p>'Alack! alack! my child, that thou shouldst not know!'</p> + +<p>'Memories came back with that maiden's voice and thine,' said +Hal, in a bewildered tone. 'My father! Was he then slain when he +rode farther?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! I may tell thee now thou art old enough to guard thyself,' +she said. 'Thy father, whom our blessed Lord assoilzie, was the +Lord Clifford, slain by savage hands on Towton field for his faith +to King Harry! Thou, my poor boy, art the Baron of Clifford, though +while this cruel House of York be in power thou must keep in hiding +from them in this mean disguise. Woe worth the day!'</p> + +<p>'And am I then a baron--a lord?' said the boy. 'Great lords have +books. Were there not some big ones on the hall window seats? Did +not Brother Eldred begin to teach me my letters? I would that I +could go on to learn more!'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I would that thou couldst have all knightly training, and +learn to use sword and lance like thy gallant father!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, but I saw a poor man fall off his horse and lie hurt, I do +not want those hard, cruel ways. And my father was slain. Must a +lord go to battle?'</p> + +<p>'Boy, boy, thou wilt not belie thy Clifford blood,' cried the +lady in consternation, which was increased when he said, 'I have no +mind to go out and kill folks or be killed. I had rather mark the +stars and tend my sheep.'</p> + +<p>'Alack! alack! This comes of keeping company with the sheep. +That my son, and my lord's son, should be infected with their +sheepish nature!'</p> + +<p>'Never fear, madam,' said Hob. 'When occasion comes, and +strength is grown, his blood will show itself.'</p> + +<p>'If I could only give him knightly breeding!' sighed the lady. +'Sir Lancelot may find the way. I cannot see him grow up a mere +shepherd boy.'</p> + +<p>'Content you, madam,' said Hob. 'Never did I see a shepherd boy +with the wisdom and the thought there is in that curly pate!'</p> + +<p>'Wisdom! thought!' muttered the lady. 'Those did not save our +good King, only made him a saint. I had rather hear the boy talk of +sword and lance than prate of books and stars! And that wench, whom +to our misfortune thou didst find! What didst tell her?'</p> + +<p>'I told her nought, mother, for I had nought to tell.'</p> + +<p>'She scented mystery, though,' said Hob. 'She saw he was no herd +boy.'</p> + +<p>'Nay? Though he holds himself like a lout untrained! Would that +I could have thee in hand, my son, to make thee meet to tread in +thy brave father's steps! But now, comrade of sheep thou art, and I +fear me thou wilt ever be! But that maid, I trust that she +perceived nothing in thy bearing or speech?'</p> + +<p>'She will not betray whatever she perceived,' said Hal +stoutly.</p> + +<p>The wood was by this time nearly past, and the moment of parting +had come. The lady had decided on going on foot to the little grey +stone church whose low square tower could be seen rising like +another rock. Thither she could repair in her plaid, and by-and-by +throw it off, and return in her own character to the castle, as +though she had gone forth to worship there. When lifted off the +shaggy pony she threw her arms round Hal, kissed him passionately, +and bade him never breathe a word of it, but never to forget that a +baron he was, and bound to be a good brave knight, fit to avenge +his father's death!</p> + +<p>Hal came to understand from Dolly's explanations that his recent +abode had been on the estate of his grandfather, Baron de Vesci, at +Londesborough, but his mother had since married Sir Lancelot +Threlkeld, and had intimated that her boy should be removed thither +as soon as might be expedient, and therefore the house on the +Yorkshire moor had been broken up.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI. A CAUTIOUS STEPFATHER</h3> + +<p>Thou tree of covert and of rest<br> +For this young bird that was distrest.-- WORDSWORTH.</p> + +<p>A baron--bound to be a good knight, and to avenge my father's +death! What does it all mean?' murmured Hal to himself as he lay on +his back in the morning sunshine, on the hill-side, the wood behind +him, and before him a distance of undulating ground, ending in the +straight mysterious blue-grey line that Hob Hogward had told him +was the sea.</p> + +<p>'Baron! Lord Clifford, like my father! He was a man in steel +armour; I remember how it rang, and how his gorget--yes, that was +the thing round his throat--how it hurt me when he lifted me up to +kiss me, and how they blamed me for crying out. Ay, and he lived in +a castle with dark, dull, narrow chambers, all save the hall, where +there was ever a tramping and a clamouring, and smells of hot +burning meat, and horses, and all sorts of things, and they sat and +sat over their meat and wine, and drank health to King Harry and +the Red Rose. I mind now how they shouted and roared, and how I +wanted to go and hide on the stairs, and my father would have me +shout with them, and drink confusion to York out of his cup, and +shook me and cuffed me when I cried. Oh! must one be like that to +be a knight? I had rather live on these free green hills with the +clear blue sky above me, and my good old ewe for my comrade'--and +he fell to caressing the face of an old sheep which had come up to +him, a white, mountain-bleached sheep with fine and delicate limbs. +'Yes, I love thee, good, gentle, little ewe, and thee, faithful +Watch,' as a young collie pressed up to him, thrusting a long nose +into his hand, 'far better than those great baying hounds, or the +fierce-eyed hawks that only want to kill. If I be a baron, must it +be in that sort? Avenge! avenge! what does that mean? Is it, as in +Goodwife Dolly's ballads, going forth to kill? Why should I? I had +rather let them be! Hark! Yea, Watch,' as the dog pricked his ears +and raised his graceful head, then sprang up and uttered a +deep-mouthed bark. The sheep darted away to her companions, and Hal +rose to his feet, as the dog began to wave his tail, and Hob came +forward accompanied by a tall, grave-looking gentleman. 'Here he +be, sir. Hal, come thou and ask the blessing of thy knightly +stepfather.'</p> + +<p>Hal obeyed the summons, and coming forward put a knee to the +ground, while Sir Lancelot Threlkeld uttered the conventional +blessing, adding, 'Fair son, I am glad to see thee. Would that we +might be better acquainted, but I fear it is not safe for thee to +come and be trained for knighthood in my poor house. Thou art a +well grown lad, I rejoice to see, and strong and hearty I have no +doubt.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, sir, he is strong enow, I wis; we have done our best for +him,' responded Hob, while Hal stood shy and shamefaced; but there +was something about his bearing that made Sir Lancelot observe, +'Ay, ay, he shows what he comes of more than his mother made me +fear. Only thou must not slouch, my fair son. Raise thy head more. +Put thy shoulders back. So! so! Nay.'</p> + +<p>Poor Hal tried to obey, the colour mounting in his face, but he +only became more and more stiff when he tried to be upright, and +his expression was such that Sir Lancelot cried out, 'Put not on +the visage of one of thine own sheep! Ah! how shalt thou be trained +to be a worthy knight? I cannot take thee to mine house, for I have +men there who might inform King Edward that thy mother harboured +thee. And unless I could first make interest with Montagu or +Salisbury, that would be thy death, if not mine.'</p> + +<p>The boy had nothing to say to this, and stood shy by, while his +stepfather explained his designs to Hal. It was needful to remove +the young Baron as far as possible from the suspicion of the +greater part of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld's household, and the present +resting-place, within a walk of his castle, was therefore unsafe; +besides that, freebooters might be another danger, so near the +outskirts of the wood, since the northern districts of moor and +wood were by no means clear of the remnants of the contending +armies, people who were generally of the party opposite to that +which they intended to rob.</p> + +<p>But on the banks of the Derwent, not far from its fall into the +sea, Sir Lancelot had granted a tenure to an old retainer of the De +Vescis, who had followed his mistress in her misfortunes; and on +his lands Hob Hogward might be established as a guardian of the +herds with his family, which would excite no suspicion. Moreover, +he could train the young Baron in martial exercises, the only other +way of fitting him for his station unless he could be sent to +France or Burgundy like his brother; but besides that the journey +was a difficulty, it was always uncertain whether there would be +revengeful exiles of one or other side in the service of their +King, who might wreak the wrongs of their party on Clifford's +eldest son. There was reported to be a hermit on the coast, who, if +he was a scholar, might teach the young gentleman. To Sir +Lancelot's surprise, his stepson's face lighted up more at this +suggestion than at that of being trained in arms.</p> + +<p>Hob had done nothing in that way, not even begun to teach him +the quarterstaff, though he avouched that when there was cause the +young lord was no craven, no more than any Clifford ever +was--witness when he drove off the great hound, which some said was +a wolf, when it fell upon the flock, or when none could hold him +from climbing down the Giant's Cliff after the lamb that had +fallen. No fear but he had heart enough to make his hand keep his +own or other folks' heads.</p> + +<p>'That is well,' said Sir Lancelot, looking at the lad, who stood +twisting his hands in the speechless silence induced by being the +subject of discussion; 'but it would be better, as my lady saith, +if he could only learn not to bear himself so like a clown.'</p> + +<p>However, there was no more time, for Simon Bunce, the old +man-at-arms whom Sir Lancelot had appointed to meet him there, came +in sight through the trees, riding an old grey war-horse, much +resembling himself in the battered and yet strong and effective air +of both. Springing down, the old man bent very low before the young +Baron, raising his cap as he gave thanks to Heaven for permitting +him to see his master's son. Then, after obeisance to his present +master, he and Hob eagerly shook hands as old comrades and +fellow-soldiers who had thought never to meet again.</p> + +<p>Then turning again to the young noble, he poured out his love, +devotion and gratitude for being able to serve his beloved lord's +noble son; while poor Hal stood under the discomfort of being +surrounded with friends who knew exactly what to say and do to him, +their superior, while he himself was entirely at a loss how to show +himself gracious or grateful as he knew he ought to do. It was a +relief when Sir Lancelot said 'Enough, good Simon! Forget his +nobility for the present while he goes with thee to Derwentside as +herd boy to Halbert Halstead here; only thou must forget both their +names, and know them only as Hal and Hob.'</p> + +<p>With a gesture of obedience, Simon listened to the further +directions, and how he was to explain that these south country +folks had been sent up in charge of an especial flock of my lady's +which she wished to have on the comparatively sheltered valley of +the Derwent. Perhaps further directions as to the training of the +young Baron were added later, but Hal did not hear them. He was +glad to be dismissed to find Piers and gather the sheep together in +preparation for the journey to their new quarters. Yet he did not +fail to hear the sigh with which his stepfather noted that his +parting salutation was far too much in the character of the herd +boy.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VII. ON DERWENT BANKS</h3> + +<p>When under cloud of fear he lay<br> +A shepherd clad in homely grey.--WORDSWORTH.</p> + +<p>Simon Bunce came himself to conduct his new tenants to their +abode. It was a pleasant spot, a ravine, down which the clear +stream rushed on its course to mingle its waters with those of the +ocean. The rocks and brushwood veiled the approach to an open glade +where stood a rude stone hovel, rough enough, but possessing two +rooms, a hearth and a chimney, and thus superior to the hut that +had been left on the moor. There were sheds for the cattle around, +and the grass was fresh and green so that the sheep, the goat and +the cow began eagerly feeding, as did the pony which Hal and Piers +were unloading.</p> + +<p>On one side stretched the open moor rising into the purple +hills, just touched with snow. On the other was the wooded valley +of the Derwent, growing wider ever before it debouched amid rocks +into the sea. The goodwife at once discovered that there had been +recent habitation, and asked what had become of the former dwellers +there.</p> + +<p>'The woman fretted for company,' said Simon, 'and vowed she was +in fear of the Scots, so I even let her have her way and go down to +the town.'</p> + +<p>The town in north country parlance only meant a small village, +and Hob asked where it lay.</p> + +<p>It was near the junction of the two streams, where Simon lived +himself in a slightly fortified farmhouse, just high up enough to +be fairly safe from flood tides. He did not advise his newly +arrived tenants to be much seen at this place, where there were +people who might talk. They were almost able to provide for their +daily needs themselves, excepting for meal and for ale, and he +would himself see to this being supplied from a more distant farm +on the coast, which Hob and Piers might visit from time to time +with the pony.</p> + +<p>Goodwife Dolly inquired whether they might safely go to church, +from which she had been debarred all the time they had been on the +move. 'So ill for both us and the lad,' she said.</p> + +<p>Simon looked doubtful. 'If thou canst not save thy soul +without,' he said, 'thou mightst go on some feast day, when there +is such a concourse of folk that thou mightst not be noticed, and +come away at once without halting for idle clavers, as they call +them here.'</p> + +<p>'That's what the women folk are keen for with their +church-going,' said Hob with a grin.</p> + +<p>'Now, husband, thou knowst,' said Dolly, injured, though she was +more than aware he spoke with intent to tease her. 'Have I not +lived all this while with none to speak to save thee and the +blessed lads, and never murmured.'</p> + +<p>'Though thy tongue be sore for want of speech!' laughed Hob, +'thou beest a good wife, Dolly, and maybe thy faithfulness will +tell as much in the saving of thy soul as going to church.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, but,' said Hal with eagerness, 'is there not a +priest?'</p> + +<p>'The priest comes of a White Rose house--I trust not him. Ay, +goodwife, beware of showing thyself to him. I give him my dues, +that he may have no occasion against me or Sir Lancelot, but I +would not have him pry into knowledge that concerns him not.'</p> + +<p>'Did not Sir Lancelot say somewhat of a scholarly hermit who +might learn me in what I ought to know?' asked the boy.</p> + +<p>'Never you fear, sir! Here are Hob Halstead and I, able to train +any young noble in what behoves him most to know.'</p> + +<p>'Yea, in arms and sports. They must be learnt I know, but a +noble needs booklore too,' said the boy. 'Cannot this same hermit +help me? Sir Lancelot--'</p> + +<p>Simon Bunce interrupted sharply. 'Sir Lancelot knows nought of +the hermit! He is--he is--a holy man.'</p> + +<p>'A priest,' broke in Dolly, 'a priest!'</p> + +<p>'No such thing, dame, no clerk at all, I tell thee. And ye lads +had best not molest him! He is for ever busy with his prayers, and +wants none near him.'</p> + +<p>Hal was disappointed, for his mind was far less set on the +exercises of a young knight than on the desire to acquire +knowledge, that study which seemed to be thrown away on the +unwilling ears of Anne St. John.</p> + +<p>Hob had been awakened by contact with his lady and her husband, +as well as with the old comrade, Simon Bunce, to perceive that if +there were any chance of the young Lord Clifford's recovering his +true position he must not be allowed to lounge and slouch about +like Piers, and he was continually calling him to order, making him +sit and stand upright, as he had seen the young pages forced to do +at the castle, learn how to handle a sword, and use the long stick +which was the substitute for a lance, and to mount and sit on the +old pony as a knight should do, till poor Hal had no peace, and was +glad to get away upon the moor with Piers and the sheep, where +there was no one to criticise him, or predict that nothing would +ever make him do honour to his name if he were proved ten times a +baron.</p> + +<p>It was still worse when Bunce came over, and brought a taller +horse, and such real weapons as he deemed that the young lord might +be taught to use, and there were doleful auguries and sharp +reproofs, designed in comically respectful phrases, till he was +almost beside himself with being thus tormented, and ready to wish +never to hear of being a baron.</p> + +<p>His relief was to wander away upon the moors, watch the lights +and shadows on the wondrous mountains, or dream on the banks of the +river, by which he could make his way to the seashore, a place of +endless wonder and contemplation, as he marvelled why the waters +flowed in and retreated again, watched the white crests, and the +glassy rolls of the waves, felt his mind and aspiration stretched +as by something illimitable, even as when he looked up to the sky, +and saw star beyond star, differing from one another in brightness. +There were those white birds too, differing from all the night-jars +and plovers he had seen on the moor, floating now over the waves, +now up aloft and away, as if they were soaring into the very skies. +Oh, would that he could follow them, and rise with them to know +what were those great grey or white clouds, and what was above or +below in those blue vastnesses! And whence came all those strange +things that the water spread at his feet the long, brown, wet +streamers, or the delicate red tracery that could be seen in the +clear pools, where were sometimes those lumps like raw flesh when +closed, but which opened into flowers? Or the things like the +snails on the heath, yet not snails, and all the strange creatures +that hopped and danced in the water?</p> + +<p>Why would no one explain such things to him? Nay, what a pity +everyone treated it as mere childish folly in him to be thus +interested! They did not quite dare to beat him for it--that was +one use of being a baron. Indeed, one day when Simon Bunce struck +him sharply and hard over the shoulders for dragging home a great +piece of sea-weed with numerous curious creatures upon it, Goodwife +Dolly rushed out and made such an outcry that the esquire was fain +to excuse himself by declaring that it was time that my lord should +know how to bide a buffet, and answer it. He was ready and glad to +meet the stroke in return! 'Come on, sir!'</p> + +<p>And Hob put a stout headless lance in the boy's hand, while +Simon stood up straight before him. Hob adjusted the weapon in his +inert hand, and told him how and where to strike. But 'It is not in +sooth. I don't want to hurt Master Simon,' said the child, as they +laughed, and yet with displeasure as his blow fell weak and +uncertain.</p> + +<p>'Is it a mouse's tail?' cried Simon in derision.</p> + +<p>'Come, sir, try again,' said Hob. 'Strike as you did when the +black bull came down. Why cannot you do the like now, when you are +tingling from Bunce's stroke?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! then I thought the bull would fall on Piers,' said Hal.</p> + +<p>'Come on, think so now, sir. One blow to do my heart good, and +show you have the arm of your forebears.'</p> + +<p>Thus incited, with Hob calling out to him to take heart of +grace, while Simon made a feint of trying to beat Mother Dolly, Hal +started forward and dealt a blow sufficient to make Simon cry out, +'Ha, well struck, sir, if you had had a better grip of your lance! +I even feel it through my buff coat.'</p> + +<p>He spoke as though it had been a kiss; but oh! and alack! why +were these rough and dreary exercises all that these +guardians--yea, and even Sir Lancelot and his mother--thought worth +his learning, when there was so much more that awoke his delight +and interest? Was it really childish to heed these things? Yet even +to his young, undeveloped brain it seemed as if there must be +mysteries in sky and sea, the unravelling of which would make life +more worth having than the giving and taking of blows, which was +all they heeded.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII. THE HERMIT</h3> + +<p>No hermit e'er so welcome crost<br> +A child's lone path in woodland lost.--KEBLE.</p> + +<p>Hal had wandered farther than his wont, rather hoping to be out +of call if Simon arrived to give him a lesson in chivalrous sports. +He found himself on the slope of one of the gorges down which +smaller streams rushed in wet weather to join the Derwent. There +was a sound of tinkling water, and leaning forward, Hal saw that a +tiny thread of water dropped between the ferns and the stones. +Therewith a low, soft chant in a manly voice, mingling with the +drip of the water.</p> + +<p>The words were strange to him--</p> + +<center>Lucis Creator optime,<br> +Lucem dierum proferens--</center> + +<p>but they were very sweet, and in leaning forward to look between +the rowan branches and hear and see more, his foot slipped, and +with Watch barking round him, he rolled helplessly down the rock, +and found himself before a tall light-haired man, in a dark dress, +who gave a hand to raise him, asking kindly, 'Art hurt, my +child?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, no, sir! Off, off, Watch!' as the dog was about to resent +anyone's touching his master. 'Holy sir, thanks, great thanks,' as +a long fair hand helped him to his feet, and brushed his soiled +garment.</p> + +<p>'Unhurt, I see,' said that sweet voice. 'Hast thou lost thy way? +Good dog, thou lovest thy master! Art thou astray?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir, thank you, I know my way home.'</p> + +<p>'Thou art the boy who lives with the shepherd at Derwentside, on +Bunce's ground?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, Hob Hogward's herd boy,' said Hal. Oh, sir, are you the +holy hermit of the Derwent vale?'</p> + +<p>'A hermit for the nonce I am,' was the answer, with something of +a smile responsive to the eager face.</p> + +<p>'Oh, sir, if you be not too holy to look at me or speak to me! +If you would help me to some better knowledge--not only of sword +and single-stick!'</p> + +<p>'Better knowledge, my child! Of thy God?' said the hermit, a +sweet look of joy spreading over his face.</p> + +<p>'Goodwife Dolly has told me of Him, and taught me my Pater and +Credo, but we have lived far off, and she has not been able to go +to church for weeks and years. But what I long after is to tell me +what means all this--yonder sea, and all the stars up above. And +they will call me a simpleton for marking such as these, and only +want me to heed how to shoot an arrow, or give a stroke hard enough +to hurt another. Do such rude doings alone, fit for a bull or a ram +as meseems, go to the making of a knight, fair sir?'</p> + +<p>'They go to the knight's keeping of his own, for others whom he +ought to defend,' said the hermit sadly; 'I would have thee learn +and practise them. But for the rest, thou knowest, sure, who made +the stars?'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes! Nurse Dolly told me. She saw it all in a mystery play +long long ago--when a Hand came out, and put in the stars and sun +and moon.'</p> + +<p>'Knowest thou whose Hand was figured there, my child?'</p> + +<p>'The Hand of God,' said Hal, removing his cap. 'They be sparks +to show His glory! But why do some move about among the others--one +big one moves from the Bull's face one winter to half-way beyond +it. And is the morning star the evening one?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! thou shouldst know Ptolemy and the Almagest,' said the +hermit smiling, 'to understand the circuits of those wandering +stars--Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei.'</p> + +<p>'That is Latin,' said the boy, startled. 'Are you a priest, +sir?'</p> + +<p>'No, not I--I am not worthy,' was the answer, 'but in some +things I may aid thee, and I shall be blessed in so doing. Canst +say thy prayers?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, yes! nurse makes me say them when I lie down and when I get +up--Credo and Pater. She says the old parson used to teach them our +own tongue for them, but she has well-nigh forgot. Can you tell me, +holy man?'</p> + +<p>'That will I, with all my heart,' responded the hermit, laying +his long delicate hand on Hal's head. 'Blessed be He who has sent +thee to me!'</p> + +<p>The boy sat at the hermit's feet, listening with the eagerness +of one whose soul and mind had alike been under starvation, and how +time went neither knew till there was a rustling and a step. Watch +sprang up, but in another moment Simon Bunce, cap in hand, stood +before the hut, beginning with 'How now, sir?'</p> + +<p>The hermit raised his hand, as if to make a sign, saying, 'Thou +seest I have a guest, good friend.'</p> + +<p>Bunce started back with 'Oh! the young Lord! Sworn to silence, I +trust! I bade him not meddle with you, sir.'</p> + +<p>'It was against his will, I trow,' said the hermit. 'He fell +over the rock by the waterfall, but since he is here, I will answer +for him that he does no hurt by word or deed!'</p> + +<p>'Never, holy sir!' eagerly exclaimed Hal. 'Hob Hogward knows +that I can keep my mouth shut. And may I come again?'</p> + +<p>Simon was shaking his head, but the hermit took on him to say, +'Gladly will I welcome thee, my fair child, whensoever thou canst +find thy way to the weary old anchoret! Go thy way now! Or hast +thou lost it?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir; I ken the woodland and can soon be at home,' replied +Hal; then, putting a knee to the ground, 'May I have your blessing, +holy man?'</p> + +<p>'Alack, I told thee I am no priest,' said the hermit; 'but for +such as I am, I bless thee with all my soul, thou fatherless lad,' +and he laid his hand on the young lad's wondering brow, then bade +him begone, since Simon and himself had much to say to one +another.</p> + +<p>Hal summoned Watch, and turned to a path through the wood, +leading towards the coast, wondering as he walked how the hermit +seemed to know him--him whose presence had been so sedulously +concealed. Could it be that so very holy a man had something of the +spirit of prophecy?</p> + +<p>He kept his promise of silence, and indeed his guardians were so +much accustomed to his long wanderings that he encountered no +questions, only one of Hob's growls that he should always steal +away whenever there was a chance of Master Bunce's coming to try to +make a man of him.</p> + +<p>However, Bunce himself arrived shortly after, and informed Hob +that since young folks always pried where they were least wanted, +and my lord had stumbled incontinently on the anchoret's den, it +was the holy man's will that he might come there whenever he chose. +A pity and shame it was, but it would make him more than ever a +mere priestling, ever hankering after books and trash!</p> + +<p>'Were it not better to ask my lady and Sir Lancelot if they +would have it so? I could walk over to Threlkeld!'</p> + +<p>'No, no, no, on your life not,' exclaimed Simon, striking his +staff on the ground in his vehemence. 'Never a word to the +Threlkeld or any of his kin! Let well alone! I only wish the lad +had never gone a-roaming there! But holy men must not be gainsaid, +even if it does make a poor craven scholar out of his father's +son.'</p> + +<p>And thus began a time of great contentment to the Lord Clifford. +There were few days on which he did not visit the hermitage. It was +a small log hut, but raised with some care, and made weatherproof +with moss and clay in the crevices, and there was an inner +apartment, with a little oil lamp burning before a rough wooden +cross, where Hal, if the hermit were not outside, was certain to +find him saying his prayers. Food was supplied by Simon himself, +and, since Hal's admission, was often carried by him, and the +hermit seemed to spend his time either in prayer or in a gentle +dreamy state of meditation, though he always lighted up into +animation at the arrival of the boy whom he had made his friend. +Hal had thought him old at first, on the presumption that all +hermits must be aged, nor was it likely that age should be +estimated by one living such a life, but the light hair, untouched +with grey, the smooth cheeks and the graceful figure did not belong +to more than a year or two above forty. And he had no air of ill +health, yet this calm solitary residence in the wooded valley +seemed to be infinite rest to him.</p> + +<p>Hal had no knowledge nor experience to make him wonder, and +accepted the great quiet and calm of the hermit as the token of his +extreme holiness and power of meditation. He himself was always +made welcome with Watch by his side, and encouraged to talk and ask +questions, which the hermit answered with what seemed to the boy +the utmost wisdom, but older heads would have seen not to be that +of a clever man, but of one who had been fairly educated for the +time, had had experience of courts and camps, and referred all the +inquiries and wonderments which were far beyond him direct to +Almighty Power.</p> + +<p>The mind of the boy advanced much in this intercourse with the +first cultivated person he had encountered, and who made a point of +actually teaching and explaining to him all those mysteries of +religion which poor old Dolly only blindly accepted and imparted as +blindly to her nursling. Of actual instruction, nothing was +attempted. A little portuary, or abbreviated manual of the service, +was all that the hermit possessed, treasured with his small +crucifix in his bosom, and of course it was in Latin. The Hours of +the Church he knew by heart, and never failed to observe them, +training his young pupil in the repetition and English meaning of +such as occurred during his visits. He also told much of the +history of the world, as he knew it, and of the Church and the +saints, to the eager mind that absorbed everything and reflected on +it, coming with fresh questions that would have been too deep and +perplexing for his friend if he had not always determined +everything with 'Such is the will of God.'</p> + +<p>Somewhat to the surprise of Simon Bunce and Hob Hogward, Hal +improved greatly, not only in speech but in bearing; he showed no +such dislike or backwardness in chivalrous exercises as previously; +and when once Sir Lancelot Threlkeld came over to see him, he was +absolutely congratulated on looking so much more like a young +knight.</p> + +<p>'Ay,' said Bunce, taking all the merit to himself, 'there's +nought like having an old squire trained in the wars in France to +show a stripling how to hold a lance.'</p> + +<p>Hal had been too well tutored to utter a word of him to whom his +improvement was really due, not by actual training, but partly by +unconscious example in dignified grace and courtesy of demeanour, +and partly by the rather sad assurances that it was well that a man +born to his station, if he ever regained it, should be able to +defend himself and others, and not be a helpless burthen on their +hands. Tales of the Seven Champions of Christendom and of King +Arthur and his Knights likewise had their share in the moulding of +the youthful Lord Clifford.</p> + +<p>His great desire was to learn to read, but it was not encouraged +by the hermit, nor was there any book available save the portuary, +crookedly and contractedly written on vellum, so as to be illegible +to anyone unfamiliar with writing, with Latin, or the service. +However, the anchoret yielded to his importunity so far as to let +him learn the alphabet, traced on the door in charcoal, and +identify the more sacred words in the book--which, indeed, were all +in gold, red and blue.</p> + +<p>He did not advance more than this, for his teacher was apt to go +off in a musing dream of meditation, repeating over and over in low +sweet tones the holy phrases, and not always rousing himself when +his pupil made a remark or asked a question. Yet he was always +concerned at his own inattention when awakened, and would apologise +in a tone of humility that always made Hal feel grieved and ashamed +of having been importunate. For there was a dignity and gentleness +about the hermit that always made the boy feel the contrast with +his own roughness and uncouthness, and reverence him as something +from a holier world.</p> + +<p>'Nurse, I do think he is a saint,' one day said Hal.</p> + +<p>'Nay, nay, my laddie, saints don't come down from heaven in +these days of evil.'</p> + +<p>'I would thou could see him when one comes upon him at his +prayers. His face is like the angel at the cross I saw so long ago +in the castle chapel.'</p> + +<p>'Dost thou remember that chapel? Thou wert a babe when we +quitted it.'</p> + +<p>'I had well nigh forgotten it, but the good hermit's face +brought all back again, and the voice of the father when he said +the Service.'</p> + +<p>'That thou shouldst mind so long! This hermit is no priest, thou +sayst?'</p> + +<p>'No, he said he was not worthy; but sure all saints were not +priests, nurse.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, it is easy to be more worthy than the Jack Priests I have +known. Though I would they would let me go to church. But look thee +here, Hal, if he be such a saint as thou sayst, maybe thou couldst +get him to bestow a blessing on poor Piers, and give him his +hearing and voice.'</p> + +<p>Hal was sure that his own special saint was holy enough for +anything, and accordingly asked permission of him to bring his +silent companion for blessing and healing.</p> + +<p>The mild blue eye lighted for a moment. 'Is the poor child then +afflicted with the King's Evil?' the hermit asked.</p> + +<p>'Nay, he is sound enough in skin and limb. It is that he can +neither hear nor speak, and if you, holy sir, would lay thine hand +on him, and sign him with the rood, and pray, mayhap your +holiness--'</p> + +<p>'Peace, peace,' cried the hermit impetuously, lifting up his +hand. 'Dost not know that I am a sinner like unto the rest--nay, a +greater sinner, in that a burthen was laid on me that I had not the +soul to rise to, so that the sin and wickedness of thousands have +been caused by my craven faint heart for well nigh two score years? +O miserere Domine.'</p> + +<p>He threw himself on the ground with clasped hands, and Hal, +standing by in awestruck amazement, heard no more save sobs, +mingled with the supplications of the fifty-first Psalm.</p> + +<p>He was obliged at last to go away without having been able to +recall the attention of his friend from his agony of prayer. With +the reticence that had grown upon him, he did not mention at home +the full effect of his request, but when he thought it over he was +all the more convinced that his friend was a great saint. Had he +not always heard that saints believed themselves great sinners, and +went through many penances? And why did he speak as if he could +have cured the King's Evil? He asked Dolly what it was, and she +replied that it was the sickness that only the King's touch could +heal.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX. HENRY OF WINDSOR</h3> + +<p>My crown is in my heart, not on my head;<br> +Not deck'd with diamonds, and Indian stones,<br> +</p> + +<p>Nor to be seen. My crown is call'd Content.--SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>Summer had faded, and an early frost had tinted the fern-leaves +with gold here and there, and made the hermit wrap himself close in +a cloak lined with thick brown fur.</p> + +<p>Simon, who was accustomed very respectfully to take the command +of him, insisted that he should have a fire always burning on a +rock close to his door, and that Piers, if not Hal, should always +take care that it never went out, smothering it with peat, as every +shepherd boy knew how to do, so as to keep it alight, or, in case +of need, to conceal it with turf.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, as Hal lay on the grass, whiling away the time by +alternately playing with Watch and trying to unravel the mysteries +of a flower of golden-rod, until the hermit should have finished +his prayers and be ready to attend to him, Piers came through the +wood, evidently sent on a message, and made him understand that he +was immediately wanted at home.</p> + +<p>Hal turned to take leave of his host, but the hermit's eyes were +raised in such rapt contemplation as to see nought, and, indeed, it +might be matter of doubt whether he had ever perceived the presence +of his visitor.</p> + +<p>Hal directed Piers to arrange the fire, and hurried away, +becoming conscious as he came in sight of the cottage that there +were horses standing before it, and guessing at once that it must +be a visit from Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.</p> + +<p>It was Simon Bunce, however, who, with demonstrations of looking +for him, came out to meet him as he emerged from the brushwood, and +said in a gruff whisper, clutching his shoulder hard, 'Not a word +to give a clue! Mum! More than your life hangs on it.'</p> + +<p>No more could pass, to explain the clue intended, whether to the +presence of the young Lord Clifford himself, which was his first +thought, or to the inhabitant of the hermitage. For Sir Lancelot's +cheerful voice was exclaiming, 'Here he is, my lady! Here's your +son! How now, my young lord? Thou hast learnt to hold up thy head! +Ay, and to bow in better sort,' as, bending with due grace, Hal +paused for a second ere hurrying forward to kneel before his +mother, who raised him in her arms and kissed him with fervent +affection. 'My son! mine own dear boy, how art thou grown! Thou +hast well nigh a knightly bearing!' she exclaimed. 'Master Bunce +hath done well by thee.'</p> + +<p>'Good blood will out, my lady,' quoth Simon, well pleased at her +praise.</p> + +<p>'He hath had no training but thine?' said Sir Lancelot, looking +full at Simon.</p> + +<p>'None, Sir Knight, unless it be honest Halstead's here.'</p> + +<p>'Methought I heard somewhat of the hermit in the glen,' put in +the lady.</p> + +<p>'He is a saint!' declared two or three voices, as if this +precluded his being anything more.</p> + +<p>'A saint,' repeated the lady. 'Anchorets are always saints. What +doth he?'</p> + +<p>'Prayeth,' answered Simon. 'Never doth a man come in but he is +at his prayers. 'Tis always one hour or another!'</p> + +<p>'Ay?' said Sir Lancelot, interrogatively. 'Sayest thou so? Is he +an old man?'</p> + +<p>Simon put in his word before Hal could speak: 'Men get so +knocked about in these wars that there's no guessing their age. I +myself should deem that the poor rogue had had some clouts on the +head that dazed him and made him fit for nought save saying his +prayers.'</p> + +<p>Here Sir Lancelot beckoned Simon aside, and walked him away, so +as to leave the mother and son alone together.</p> + +<p>Lady Threlkeld questioned closely as to the colour of the eyes +and hair, and the general appearance of the hermit, and Hal +replied, without suspicion, that the eyes were blue, the hair, he +thought, of a light colour, the frame tall and slight, graceful +though stooping; he had thought at first that the hermit must be +old, very old, but had since come to a different conclusion. His +dress was a plain brown gown like a countryman's. There was nobody +like him, no one whom Hal so loved and venerated, and he could not +help, as he stood by his mother, pouring out to her all his feeling +for the hermit, and the wise patient words that now and then +dropped from him, such as 'Patience is the armour and conquest of +the godly;' or, 'Shall a man complain for the punishment of his +sins?' 'Yet,' said Hal, 'what sins could the anchoret have? Never +did I know that a man could be so holy here on earth. I deemed that +was only for the saints in heaven.'</p> + +<p>The lady kissed the boy and said, 'I trow thou hast enjoyed a +great honour, my child.'</p> + +<p>But she did not say what it was, and when her husband summoned +her, she joined him to repair to Penrith, where they were keeping +an autumn retirement at a monastery, and had contrived to leave +their escort and make this expedition on their way.</p> + +<p>Simon examined Hal closely on what he had said to his mother, +sighed heavily, and chided him for prating when he had been warned +against it, but that was what came of dealing with children and +womenfolk.</p> + +<p>'What can be the hurt?' asked Hal. 'Sir Lancelot knows well who +I am! No lack of prudence in him would put men on my track.'</p> + +<p>'Hear him!' cried Simon; 'he thinks there is no nobler quarry in +the woods than his lordship!'</p> + +<p>'The hermit! Oh, Simon, who is he?'</p> + +<p>But Simon began to shout for Hob Hogward, and would not hear any +further questions before he rode away, as far as Hal could see, in +the opposite direction to the hermitage. But when he repaired +thither the next day he was startled by hearing voices and the +stamp of horses, and as he reconnoitred through the trees he saw +half a dozen rough-looking men, with bows and arrows, buff coats, +and steel-guarded caps--outlaws and robbers as he believed.</p> + +<p>His first thought was that they meant harm to the gentle hermit, +and his impulse was to start forward to his protection or +assistance, but as he sprang into sight one of the strangers cried +out: 'How now! Here's a shepherd thrusting himself in. Back, lad, +or 'twill be the worse for you.'</p> + +<p>'The hermit! the hermit! Do not meddle with him! He's a saint,' +shouted Hal.</p> + +<p>But even as he spoke he became aware of Simon, who called out: +'Hold, sir; back, Giles; this is one well nigh in as much need of +hiding as him yonder. Well come, since you be come, my lord, for we +cannot get _him_ there away without a message to you, and 'tis well +he should be off ere the sleuth-hounds can get on the scent.'</p> + +<p>'What! Where! Who?' demanded the bewildered boy, breaking off, +as at that moment his friend appeared at the door of the hovel, no +longer in the brown anchoret's gown but in riding gear, partially +defended by slight armour, and with a cap on his head, which made +him look much younger than he had before done.</p> + +<p>'Child, art thou there? It is well; I could scarce have gone +without bidding thee farewell,' he said in his sweet voice; 'thou, +the dear companion of my loneliness.'</p> + +<p>'O sir, sir, and are you going away?'</p> + +<p>'Yea, so they will have it! These good fellows are come to guard +me.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! may I not go with thee?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, my fair son. Thou art beneath thy mother's wing, while I +am like one who was hunted as a partridge on the mountains.'</p> + +<p>'Whither, oh whither?' gasped Hal.</p> + +<p>'That I know not! It is in the breasts of these good men, who +are charged by my brave wife to have me in their care.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! sir, sir, what shall I do without you? You that have helped +me, and taught me, and opened mine eyes to all I need to know.'</p> + +<p>'Hush, hush; it is a better master than I could ever be that +thou needest. But,' as tokens of impatience manifested themselves +among the rude escort, 'take thou this,' giving him the little +service-book, as he knelt to receive it, scarce knowing why. 'One +day thou wilt be able to read it. Poor child! whose lot it is to be +fatherless and landless for me and mine, I would I could do more +for thee.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! you have done all,' sobbed Hal.</p> + +<p>'Nay, now, but this be our covenant, my boy! If thou, and if +mine own son both come to your own, thou wilt be a true and loyal +man to him, even as thy father was to me, and may God Almighty make +it go better with you both.'</p> + +<p>'I will, I will! I swear by all that is holy!' gasped Hal +Clifford, with a flash of perception, as he knelt.</p> + +<p>'Come, my liege, we have far to go ere night. No time for more +parting words and sighs.'</p> + +<p>Hal scarcely knew more except that the hands were laid on his +head, and the voice he had learnt to love so well said: 'The +blessing of God the Father be upon thee, thou fatherless boy, and +may He reward thee sevenfold for what thy father was, who died for +his faithfulness to me, a sinner! Fare thee well, my boy.'</p> + +<p>As the hand that Hal was fervently kissing was withdrawn from +him he sank upon his face, weeping as one heartbroken. He scarce +heard the sounds of mounting and the trampling of feet, and when he +raised his head he was alone, the woods and rocks were +forsaken.</p> + +<p>He sprang up and ran along at his utmost speed on the trampled +path, but when he emerged from it he could only see a dark party, +containing a horseman or two, so far on the way that it was +hopeless to overtake them.</p> + +<p>He turned back slowly to the deserted hut, and again threw +himself on the ground, weeping bitterly. He knew now that his +friend and master had been none other than the fugitive King, Henry +of Windsor.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER X. THE SCHOLAR OF THE MOUNTAINS</h3> + +<p>Not in proud pomp nor courtly state;<br> +Him his own thoughts did elevate,<br> +Most happy in the shy recess.--WORDSWORTH.</p> + +<p>The departure of King Henry was the closing of the whole +intellectual and religious world that had been opened to the young +Lord Clifford. To the men of his own court, practical men of the +world, there were times when poor Henry seemed almost imbecile, and +no doubt his attack of melancholy insanity, the saddest of his +ancestral inheritances, had shattered his powers of decision and +action; but he was one who 'saw far on holy ground,' and he was a +well-read man in human learning, besides having the ordinary +experience of having lived in the outer world, so that in every way +his companionship was delightful to a thoughtful boy, wakening to +the instincts of his race.</p> + +<p>To think of being left to the society of the sheep, of dumb +Piers and his peasant parents was dreariness in the extreme to one +who had begun to know something like conversation, and to have his +countless questions answered, or at any rate attended to. Add to +this, he had a deep personal love and reverence for his saint, long +before the knowing him as his persecuted King, and thus his sorrow +might well be profound, as well as rendered more acute by the +terror lest his even unconscious description to his mother might +have been treason!</p> + +<p>He wept till he could weep no longer, and lay on the ground in +his despair till darkness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled +him up, indicating by gestures and uncouth sounds that he must go +home. Goodwife Dolly was anxiously looking out for him.</p> + +<p>'Laddie, there thou beest at last! I had begun to fear me +whether the robber gang had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he +saw Master Simon with them. Have they mishandled thee, mine own lad +nurse's darling? Thou lookest quite distraught.'</p> + +<p>All Hal's answer was to hide his head in her lap and weep like a +babe, though she could, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from +him but that his hermit was gone. No, no, the outlaws had not hurt +him, but they had taken him away, and he would never come back.</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay, thou didst love him and he was a holy man, no doubt, +but one of these days thou shalt have a true knight, and that is +better for a young baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven +than for earth! Come now, stand up and eat thy supper. Don't let +Hob come in and find thee crying like a swaddled babe.'</p> + +<p>With which worldly consolations and exhortations Goodwife Dolly +brought him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he could +not swallow much, and soon put it aside and sought his bed.</p> + +<p>It was not till late the next day that Simon Bunce was seen +riding his rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to him at once, +with the breathless inquiry, 'Where is he?'</p> + +<p>'In safe hands! Never you fear, sir! But best know nought.'</p> + +<p>'O Simon, was I--? Did I do him any scathe?--I--I never knew--I +only told my lady mother it was a saint.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay, lad, more's the pity that he is more saint than king! +If my lady guessed aught, she would be loyal as became your +father's wife, and methinks she would not press you hard for fear +she should be forced to be aware of the truth.'</p> + +<p>'But Sir Lancelot?'</p> + +<p>'As far as I can gather,' explained Simon, 'Sir Lancelot is one +that hath kept well with both sides, and so is able to be a +protector. But down came orders from York and his crew that King +Harry is reported to be lurking in some of these moors, and the +Countess Clifford being his wife, he fell under suspicion of +harbouring him. Nay, there was some perilous talk in his own +household, so that, as I understand the matter, he saw the need of +being able to show that he knew nothing; or, if he found that the +King was living within these lands, of sending him a warning ere +avowing that he had been there. So I read what was said to me.'</p> + +<p>'He knew nothing from me! Neither he nor my lady mother,' +eagerly said Hal. 'When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short +when I described the hermit too closely, lest no doubt she should +guess who he was.'</p> + +<p>'Belike! It would be like my lady, who is a loyal Lancastrian at +heart, though much bent on not offending her husband lest his +protection should be withdrawn from you.'</p> + +<p>'Better--O, a thousand times better!--he gave me up than the +King!'</p> + +<p>'Hush! What good would that do? A boy like you? Unless they took +you in hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands if +you would swear allegiance to King Edward, as he calls +himself.'</p> + +<p>'Never, though I were cut into quarters!' averred Hal, with a +fierce gesture, clasping his staff. 'But the King? Where and what +have they done with him?'</p> + +<p>'Best not to know, my lord,' said Simon. 'In sooth, I myself do +not know whither he is gone, only that he is with friends.'</p> + +<p>'But who--what were they? They looked like outlaws!'</p> + +<p>'So they were; many a good fellow is of Robin of Redesdale's +train. There are scores of them haunting the fells and woods, all +Red Rose men, keeping a watch on the King,' replied Simon. 'We had +made up our minds that he had been long enough in one place, and +that he must have taken shelter the winter through, when I got +notice of these notions of Sir Lancelot, and forthwith sent word to +them to have him away before worse came of it.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! why did you not let me go with him? I would have saved him, +waited on him, fought for him.'</p> + +<p>'Fine fighting--when there's no getting you to handle a lance, +except as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you +have been better of late, little as your hermit seemed the man to +teach you.'</p> + +<p>'He said it was right and became a man! Would I were with him! +He, my true King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simon. +I, that am his true and loving liegeman, should be with him.'</p> + +<p>'Ay! when you are a man to keep his head and your own.'</p> + +<p>'But I could wait on him.'</p> + +<p>'Would you have us bested to take care of two instead of one, +and my lady, moreover, in a pother about her son, and Sir Lancelot +stirred to make a hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in +peace in the safe homestead where you are sheltered, and learn to +be a man, minding your exercises as well as may be till the time +shall come.'</p> + +<p>'When I shall be a man and a knight, and do deeds of derring-do +in his cause,' cried Hal.</p> + +<p>And the stimulus drove him on to continual calls to Hob, in +Simon's default, to jousts with sword or spear, represented +generally by staves; and when these could not be had, he was making +arrows and practising with them, so as to become a terror to the +wild ducks and other neighbours on the wolds, the great geese and +strange birds that came in from the sea in the cold weather. When +it was not possible to go far afield in the frosts and snows, he +conned King Henry's portuary, trying to identify the written words +with those he knew by heart, and sometimes trying to trace the +shapes of the letters on the snow with a stick; visiting, too, the +mountains and looking into the limpid grey waters of the lakes, +striving hard to guess why, when the sea rose in tides, they were +still. More than ever, too, did the starry skies fill him with +contemplation and wonder, as he dwelt on the scraps alike of +astronomy, astrology, and devotion which he had gathered from his +oracle in the hermitage, and longed more and more for the time to +return when he should again meet his teacher, his saint, and his +King.</p> + +<p>Alas! that time was never to come. The outlawed partisans of the +Red Rose had secret communications which spread intelligence +rapidly throughout the country, and long before Sir Lancelot and +his lady knew, and thus it was that Simon Bunce learnt, through the +outlaws, that poor King Henry had been betrayed by treachery, and +seized by John Talbot at Waddington Hall in Lancashire. Deep were +the curses that the outlaws uttered, and fierce were the threats +against the Talbot if ever he should venture himself on the +Cumbrian moors; and still hotter was their wrath, more bitter the +tears of the shepherd lord, when the further tidings were received +that the Earl of Warwick had brought the gentle, harmless prince, +to whom he had repeatedly sworn fealty, into London with his feet +tied to the stirrups of a sorry jade, and men crying before him, +'Behold the traitor!'</p> + +<p>The very certainty that the meek and patient King would bear all +with rejoicing in the shame and reproach that led him in the steps +of his Master, only added to the misery of Hal as he heard the +tale; and he lay on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth +with rage and longing to take revenge on Warwick, Edward, +Talbot--he knew not whom--and grasping at the rocks as if they were +the stones of the Tower which he longed to tear down and liberate +his beloved saint.</p> + +<p>Nor, from that time, was there any slackness in acquiring or +practising all skill in chivalrous exercises.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XI. THE RED ROSE</h3> + +<p>That Edward is escaped from your brother<br> +And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy.--SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>Years passed on, and still Henry Clifford continued to be the +shepherd. Matters were still too unsettled, and there were too many +Yorkists in the north, keeping up the deadly hatred of the family +against that of Clifford, for it to be safe for him to show himself +openly. He was a tall, well-made, strong youth, and his stepfather +spoke of his going to learn war in Burgundy; but not only was his +mother afraid to venture him there, but he could not bear to leave +England while there was a hope of working in the cause of the +captive King, though the Red Rose hung withered on the +branches.</p> + +<p>Reports of misunderstandings between King Edward and the Earl of +Warwick came from time to time, and that Queen Margaret and her son +were busy beyond seas, which kept up hope; and in the meantime Hal +grew in the knowledge of all country lore, of herd and wood, and +added to it all his own earnest love of the out-of-door world, of +sun, moon, and stars, sea and hills, beast and bird. The hermit +King, who had been a well-educated, well-read man in his earlier +days, had given him the framework of such natural science as had +come down to the fifteenth century, backed by the deepest faith in +scriptural descriptions; and these inferences and this philosophy +were enough to lead a far acuter and more able intellect, with +greater opportunities of observation, much further into the fields +of the mystery of nature than ever the King had gone.</p> + +<p>He said nothing, for never had he met one who understood a word +he said apart from fortune telling, excepting the royal teacher +after whom he longed; but he watched, he observed, and he dreamt, +and came to conclusions that his King's namesake cousin, Enrique of +Portugal, the discoverer, in his observatory at St. Vincent, might +have profited by. Brother Brian, a friar, for whose fidelity Simon +Bunce's outlaw could absolutely answer, and who was no Friar Tuck, +in spite of his rough life, gave Dolly much comfort religiously, +carried on some of the education for which Hal longed, and tried to +teach him astrology. Some of the yearnings of his young soul were +thus gratified, but they were the more extended as he grew nearer +manhood, and many a day he stood with eyes stretched over the sea +to the dim line of the horizon, with arms spread for a moment as if +he would join the flight of the sea-gulls floating far, far away, +then clasped over his breast in a sort of despair at being bound to +one spot, then pressed the tighter in the strong purpose of +fighting for his imprisoned King when the time should come.</p> + +<p>For this he diligently practised with bow and arrow when alone, +or only with Piers, and learnt all the feats of arms that Simon +Runce or Giles Spearman could teach him. Spearman was evidently an +accomplished knight or esquire; he had fought in France as well as +in the home wars, and knew all the refinements of warfare in an age +when the extreme weight of the armour rendered training and skill +doubly necessary. Spearman was evidently not his real name, and it +was evident that he had some knowledge of Hal's real rank, though +he never hazarded mention of other name or title. The great +drawback was the want of horses. The little mountain ponies did not +adequately represent the warhorses trained to charge under an +enormous load, and the buff jerkins and steel breast-plates of the +outlaws were equally far from showing how to move under 'mail and +plates of Milan steel.' Nor would Sir Lancelot Threlkeld lend or +give what was needful. Indeed, he was more cautious than ever, and +seemed really alarmed as well as surprised to see how tall and +manly his step-son was growing, and how like his father. He would +not hear of a visit to Threlkeld under any disguise, though Lady +Clifford was in failing health, nor would he do anything to forward +the young lord's knightly training. In effect, he only wanted to +keep as quiet and unobserved as possible, for everything was in a +most unsettled and dangerous condition, and there was no knowing +what course was the safest for one by no means prepared to lose +life or lands in any cause.</p> + +<p>The great Earl of Warwick, on whom the fate of England had +hitherto hinged, was reported to have never forgiven King Edward +for his marriage with Dame Elizabeth Grey, and to be meditating +insurrection. Encouraged by this there was a great rising in +Yorkshire of the peasants under Robin of Redesdale, and a message +was brought to Giles Spearman and his followers to join them, but +he and Brother Brian demurred, and news soon came that the Marquess +of Montagu had defeated the rising and beheaded Redesdale.</p> + +<p>Sir Lancelot congratulated his step-son on having been too late +to take up arms, and maintained that the only safe policy was to do +nothing, a plan which suited age much better than youth.</p> + +<p>He still lived with Hob and Piers, and slept at the hut, but he +went further and further afield among the hills and mosses, often +with no companion save Watch, so that he might without interruption +watch the clear streams and wonder what filled their fountains, and +why the sea was never full, or stand on the sea-shore studying the +tides, and trying to construct a theory about them. King Henry was +satisfied with 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther,' but He +who gave that decree must have placed some cause or rule in nature +thus to affect them. Could it be the moon? The waves assuredly +obeyed the changes of the moon, and Hal was striving to keep a +record in strokes marked by a stick on soft earth or rows of +pebbles, so as to establish a rule. 'Aye, aye,' quoth Hob. 'Poor +fellow, he is not much wiser than the hermit. See how he plays with +pebbles and stones. You'll make nought of him, fine grown lad as he +is. Why, he'll sit dazed and moonstruck half a day, and all the +night, staring up at the stars as if he would count them!'</p> + +<p>So spoke the stout shepherd to Simon Bunce, pointing to the +young man, who lay at his length upon the grass calculating the +proportions of the stones that marked the relations of hours of the +flood tide and those of the height of the moon. Above and beyond +was a sundial cut out in the turf, from his own observations after +the hints that the hermit and the friar had given him.</p> + +<p>'Ha now, my lord, I have rare news for you.'</p> + +<p>The unwonted title did not strike Hal's unaccustomed ears, and +he continued moving his lips, 'High noon, spring tide.'</p> + +<p>'There, d'ye see?' said Hob, 'he heeds nothing. 'That I and my +goodwife should have bred up a mooncalf! Here, Hal, don't you know +Simon? Hear his tidings!'</p> + +<p>'Tidings enow! King Henry is freed, King Edward is fled. My Lord +of Warwick has turned against him for good and all. King Henry is +proclaimed in all the market-places! I heard it with my own ears at +Penrith!' And throwing up his cap into the air, while the example +was followed by Hob, with 'God save King Henry, and you my Lord of +Clifford.'</p> + +<p>The sound was echoed by a burst of voices, and out of the brake +suddenly stood the whole band of outlaws, headed by Giles Spearman, +but Hal still stood like one dazed. 'King Harry, the hermit, free +and on his throne,' he murmured, as one in a dream.</p> + +<p>'Ay, all things be upset and reversed,' said Spearman, with a +hand on his shoulder. 'No herd boy now, but my Lord of +Clifford.'</p> + +<p>'Come to his kingdom,' repeated Hal. 'My own King Harry the +hermit! I would fain go and see him.'</p> + +<p>'So you shall, my brave youth, and carry him your homage and +mine,' said Spearman. 'He will know me for poor Giles Musgrave, who +upheld his standard in many a bloody field. We will off to Sir +Lancelot at Threlkeld now! Spite of his policy of holes and +corners, he will not now refuse to own you for what you are, aye, +and fit you out as becomes a knight.'</p> + +<p>'God grant he may!' muttered Bunce, 'without his hum and ha, and +swaying this way and that, till he never moves at all! Betwixt his +caution, and this lad's moonstruck ways, you have a fair course +before you, Sir Giles! See, what's the lad doing now?'</p> + +<p>The lad was putting into his pouch the larger white pebbles that +had represented tens in his calculation, and murmuring the numbers +they stood for. 'He will understand,' he said almost to himself, +but he showed himself ready to go with the party to Threlkeld, +merely pausing at Hob's cottage to pick up a few needful +equipments. In the skin of a rabbit, carefully prepared, and next +wrapped in a silken kerchief, and kept under his chaff pillow, was +the hermit's portuary, which was carefully and silently transferred +by Hal to his own bosom. Sir Giles Musgrave objected to Watch, in +city or camp, and Hal was obliged to leave him to Goodwife Dolly +and to Piers.</p> + +<p>With each it was a piteous parting, for Dolly had been as a +mother to him for almost all his boyhood, and had supplied the +tenderness that his mother's fears and Sir Lancelot's precautions +had prevented his receiving at Threlkeld. He was truly as a son to +her, and she sobbed over him, declaring that she never would see +him again, even if he came to his own, which she did not believe +was possible, and who would see to his clean shirts?</p> + +<p>'Never fear, goodwife,' said Giles Musgrave; 'he shall be looked +to as mine own son.'</p> + +<p>'And what's that to a gentle lad that has always been tended as +becomes him?'</p> + +<p>'Heed not, mother! Be comforted! I must have gone to the wars, +anyway. If so be I thrive, I'll send for thee to mine own castle, +to reign there as I remember of old. Here now! Comfort Piers as +thou only canst do.'</p> + +<p>Piers, poor fellow, wept bitterly, only able to understand that +something had befallen his comrade of seven years, which would take +him away from field and moor. He clung to Hal, and both lads shed +tears, till Hob roughly snatched Piers away and threw him to his +aunt, with threats that drew indignant, though useless, +interference from Hal, though Simon Bunce was muttering, 'As lief +take one lad as the other!' while Dolly's angry defence of her +nursling's wisdom broke the sadness of the parting.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XII. A PRUDENT RECEPTION</h3> + +<p>So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts,<br> +What may befall him to his harm and ours.--SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>Through the woods the party went to the fortified house of +Threlkeld, where the gateway was evidently prepared to resist any +passing attack, by stout gates and a little watch-tower.</p> + +<p>Sir Giles blew a long blast on his bugle-horn, and had to repeat +it twice before a porter looked cautiously out at a wicket opening +in the heavy door, and demanded 'Who comes?'</p> + +<p>'Open, porter, open in the name of King Harry, to the Lords of +Clifford and of Peelholm.'</p> + +<p>The porter fell back, observing, 'Sir, pardon, while I have +speech with my master, Sir Lancelot Threlkeld.'</p> + +<p>Some delay and some sounds of conversation were heard, then, on +a renewed and impatient blast on Sir Giles's horn, Sir Lancelot +Threlkeld himself came to the wicket, and his thin anxious voice +might be heard demanding, 'What madness is this?'</p> + +<p>'The madness is past, soundness is come,' responded Sir Giles. +'King Harry is on his throne, the traitors are fled, and your own +fair son comes forth in his proper person to uphold the lawful +sovereign; but he would fain first see his lady mother, and take +her blessing with him.'</p> + +<p>'And by his impatience destroy himself, after all the burthen of +care and peril he hath been to me all these years,' lamented Sir +Lancelot. 'But come in, fair lad. Open the gates, porter. I give +you welcome, Lord Musgrave of Peelholm. But who are these?' he +added, looking at the troop of buff-coated archers in the rear.</p> + +<p>'They are bold champions of the Red Rose, returned Sir Giles, +'who have lived with me in the wolds, and now are on the way to +maintain our King's quarrel.'</p> + +<p>Sir Lancelot, however, would not hear of admitting the outlaws. +Young Clifford and the Lord of Peelholm should be welcome, or more +truly he could not help receiving them, but the archers must stay +outside, their entertainment in beef and ale being committed to +Bunce and the chief warder, while the two noblemen were conducted +to the castle hall. For the first time in his life Clifford was +received in his mother's home, and accepted openly, as he knelt +before her to ask her blessing. A fine, active, handsome youth was +he, with bright, keen eyes, close-curled black locks and hardy +complexion, telling of his out-of-door life, and a free use of his +limbs, and upright carriage, though still with more of the grace of +the free mountain than of the training of pagedom and +squiredom.</p> + +<p>Nor could he speak openly and freely to her, not knowing how +much he might say of his past intercourse with King Henry, and of +her endeavour to discover it; and he sat beside her, neither of +them greatly at ease, at the long table, which, by the array of +silver cups, of glasses and the tall salt cellar separating the +nobility and their followers, recalled to him dim recollections of +the scenes of his youth.</p> + +<p>He asked for his sister--he knew his little brother had died in +the Netherlands--and he heard that she had been in the Priory of +St. Helen's, and was now in the household of my Lady of Hungerford, +who had promised to find a good match for her. There was but one +son of the union with the knight of Threlkeld, and him Hal had +never seen; nor was he at home, being a page in the household of +the Earl of Westmoreland, according to the prevailing fashion of +the castles of the great feudal nobles becoming schools of arms, +courtesy and learning for the young gentlemen around. Indeed, Lady +Clifford surveyed her eldest son with a sigh that such breeding was +denied him, as she observed one or two little deficiencies in what +would be called his table manners--not very important, but +revealing that he had grown up in the byre instead of the castle, +where there was a very strict and punctilious code, which figured +in catechisms for the young.</p> + +<p>She longed to keep him, and train him for his station, but in +the first place, Sir Lancelot still held that it could not safely +be permitted, since he had little confidence in the adherence of +the House of Nevil to the Red Rose; and moreover Hal himself +utterly refused to remain concealed in Cumberland instead of +carrying his service to the King he loved.</p> + +<p>In fact, when he heard the proposal of leaving him in the north, +he stood up, and, with far more energy than had been expected from +him, said, 'Go I must, to my lawful King's banner, and my father's +cause. To King Harry I carry my homage and whatever my hand can +do!'</p> + +<p>Such an expression of energy lighted his hitherto dreamy eyes, +that all beholders turned their glances on his face with a look of +wonder. Sir Lancelot again objected that he would be rushing to his +ruin.</p> + +<p>'Be it so,' replied Hal. 'It is my duty.'</p> + +<p>'The time seems to me to be come,' added Musgrave, 'that my +young lord should put himself forward, though it may be only in a +losing cause. Not so much for the sake of success, as to make +himself a man and a noble.'</p> + +<p>'But what can he do?' persisted Threlkeld; 'he has none of the +training of a knight. How can you tilt in plate armour, you who +have never bestridden a charger? These are not the days of Du +Guesclin, when a lad came in from the byre and bore down all foes +before him.'</p> + +<p>The objection was of force, for the defensive armour of the +fifteenth century had reached a pitch of cumbrousness that required +long practice for a man to be capable of moving under it.</p> + +<p>'So please you, sir,' said Hal, 'I am not wholly unskilled. The +good Sir Giles and Simon Bunce have taught me enough to strike a +blow with a good will for a good cause.'</p> + +<p>'With horse and arms as befits him,' began Musgrave.</p> + +<p>'I know not that a horse is here that could be depended on,' +began Threlkeld. 'Armour too requires to be fitted and proved.'</p> + +<p>He spoke in a hesitating voice that showed his unwillingness, +and Hal exclaimed, 'My longbow is mine own, and so are my feet. Sir +Giles, will you own me as an archer in your troop, where I will +strive not to disgrace you or my name?'</p> + +<p>'Bravely spoken, young lord,' said Sir Giles heartily; 'right +willingly will I be your godfather in chivalry, since you find not +one nigher home.'</p> + +<p>'So may it best be,' observed his mother, 'since he is bent on +going. Thus his name and rank may be kept back till it be plain +whether the enmity of my Lords of Warwick and Montagu still remain +against our poor house.'</p> + +<p>There was no desire on either side to object when the Lord +Musgrave of Peelholm decided on departing early on the morrow. +Their host was evidently not sorry to speed them on their way, and +his reluctant hospitality made them anxious to cumber him no longer +than needful; and his mind was relieved when it was decided that +the heir of the De Vescis and Cliffords should be known as Harry of +Derwentdale.</p> + +<p>Only, when all was preparation in the morning, and a hearty +service had been said in the chapel, the lady called her son aside, +and looking up into his dark eyes, said in a low voice, 'Be not +angered with my lord husband's prudence, my son. Remember it is +only by caution that he has saved thine head, or mine, or thy +sister's!'</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay, mother, I know,' he said, more impatiently than perhaps +he knew.</p> + +<p>'It was by the same care that he preserved us all when +Edgecotefield was fought. Chafe not at him. Thou mayst be thankful +even now, mayhap, to find a shelter preserved, while that rogue and +robber Nevil holds our lands.'</p> + +<p>'I am more like to have to protect thee, lady mother, and bring +thee to thy true home again!' said Hal.</p> + +<p>'Meantime, my child, take this purse and equip thyself at York +or whenever thou canst. Nay, thou needst not shrug and refuse! How +like thy father the gesture, though I would it were more gracious +and seemly. But this is mine, mine own, none of my husband's, +though he would be willing. It comes from the De Vesci lands, and +those will be thine after me, and thine if thou winnest not back +thy Clifford inheritance. And oh! my son, crave of Sir Giles to +teach thee how to demean thyself that they may not say thou art but +a churl.'</p> + +<p>'I trust to be no churl in heart, if I be in manners,' said Hal, +looking down on his small clinging mother.</p> + +<p>'Only be cautious, my son. Remember that you are the last of the +name, and it is your part to bring it to honour.'</p> + +<p>'Which I shall scarce do by being cautious,' he said, with +something of a smile. That was not my father's way.'</p> + +<p>'Ah me! You have his spirit in you, and how did it end?'</p> + +<p>'My Lord of Clifford,' said a voice from the court, 'you are +waited for!'</p> + +<p>'And remember,' cried his mother, with a last embrace, 'there +will be safety here whenever thou shalt need it.'</p> + +<p>'With God's grace, I am more like to protect you and your +husband,' said the lad, bending for another kiss and hurrying +away.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII. FELLOW TRAVELLERS</h3> + +<p>And sickerlie she was of great disport,<br> +And full pleasant and amiable of port;<br> +Of small hounds had she that she fed<br> +With roasted flesh and milk and wastel bread.--CHAUCER.</p> + +<p>Sir Giles Musgrave of Peelholm was an old campaigner, and when +Hal came out beyond the gate of the Threlkeld fortalice, he found +him reviewing his troop; a very disorderly collection, as Sir +Lancelot pronounced with a sneer, looking out on them, and strongly +advising his step-son not to cast in his lot with them, but to wait +and see what would befall, and whether the Nevils were in earnest +in their desertion of the House of York.</p> + +<p>Hal restrained himself with difficulty enough to take a +courteous leave of his mother's husband, to whose prudence and +forbearance he was really much beholden; though, with his spirit +newly raised and burning for his King, it was hard to have patience +with neutrality.</p> + +<p>He found Sir Giles employed in examining his followers, and +rigidly sending home all not properly equipped with bow, sheaf of +arrows, strong knife or pike, buff coat, head-piece and stout +shoes; also a wallet of provisions for three days, or a certain +amount of coin. He would have no marauding on the way, and refused +to take any mere lawless camp follower, thus disposing of a good +many disreputable-looking fellows who had flocked in his wake. Sir +Lancelot's steward seconded him heartily by hunting back his +master's retainers; and there remained only about +five-and-twenty--mostly, in fact, yeomen or their sons--men who had +been in arms for Queen Margaret and had never made their +submission, but lived on unmolested in the hills, really outlawed, +but not coming in collision with the authorities enough to have +their condition inquired into. They had sometimes attacked Yorkist +parties, sometimes resisted Scottish raids, or even made a foray in +return, and they were well used to arms. These all had full +equipments, and some more coin in their pouches than they cared to +avow. Three or four of them brought an ox, calf or sheep, or a +rough pony loaded with provisions, and driven by a herd boy or a +son eager to see life and 'the wars.' Simon Bunce, well armed, was +of this party. Hob Hogward, though he had come to see what became +of his young lord, was pronounced too stiff and aged to join the +band, which might now really be called a troop, not a mere lawless +crowd of rough lads. There were three trained men-at-arms, the +regular retainers of Sir Giles, who held a little peel tower on the +borders where nobody durst molest him, and these marshalled the +little band in fair order.</p> + +<p>It was no season for roses, but a feather was also the +cognisance of Henry VI., and every one's barret-cap mounted a +feather, generally borrowed from the goodwife's poultry yard at +home, but sometimes picked up on the moors, and showing the barred +black and brown patterns of the hawk's or the owl's plumage. It was +a heron's feather that Hal assumed, on the counsel of Sir Giles, +who told him it was an old badge of the Cliffords, and it became +well his bright dark hair and brown face.</p> + +<p>On they went, a new and wonderful march to Hal, who had only +looked with infant eyes on anything beyond the fells, and had very +rarely been into a little moorland church, or seen enough people +together for a market day in Penrith. Sir Giles directed their +course along the sides of the hills till he should gain further +intelligence, and know how they would be received. For the most +part the people were well inclined to King Henry, though unwilling +to stir on his behalf in fear of Edward's cruelty.</p> + +<p>However, it was as they had come down from the hills intending +to obtain fresh provisions at one of the villages, and Hal was +beginning to recognise the moors he had known in earlier childhood, +that they perceived a party on the old Roman road before them, +which the outlaws' keen eyes at once discovered to be somewhat of +their own imputed trade. There seemed to be a waggon upset, persons +bound, and a buzz of men, like wasps around a honeycomb preying on +it. Something like women's veiled forms could be seen. 'Ha! Mere +robbery. This must not be. Upon them! Form! Charge!' were the brief +commands of the leader, and the compact body ran at a rapid but a +regulated pace down the little slope that gave them an advantage of +ground with some concealment by a brake of gorse. 'Halt! Pikes +forward!' was the next order. The little band were already close +upon the robbers, in whom they began to recognise some of those +whom Sir Giles had dismissed as mere ruffians unequipped a few days +before. It was with a yell of indignation that the troop fell on +them, Sir Giles with a sharp blow severing the bridle of a horse +that a man was leading, but there was a cry back, 'We are for King +Harry! These be Yorkists!'</p> + +<p>'Nay! nay!' came back the voices of the overthrown. 'Help! help! +for King Harry and Queen Margaret! These be rank thieves who have +set on us! Holy women are here!'</p> + +<p>These exclamations came broken and in utter confusion, mingled +with cries for mercy and asseverations on the part of the thieves, +and fierce shouts from Sir Giles's men. All was hubbub, barking +dogs, shouting men, and Hal scarcely knew anything till he was +aware of two or three shrouded nuns, as it seemed, standing by +their ponies, of merchantmen or carters trying to quiet and harness +frightened mules, of waggons overturned, of a general confusion +over which arose Lord Musgrave's powerful authoritative voice.</p> + +<p>'Kit of Clumber! Why should I not hang you for thieving on +yonder tree, with your fellow thieves?'</p> + +<p>'Yorkists, sir! It was all in the good cause,' responded a +sullen voice, as a grim red and scarred face was seen on a ruffian +held by two of the archers.</p> + +<p>'No Yorkists we, sir!' began a stout figure, coming forward from +the waggon. 'We be peaceable merchants and this is a holy dame, +the--'</p> + +<p>'The Prioress Selby of Greystone,' interrupted one of the nuns, +coming forward with a hawk on her wrist. 'Sir Giles of Musgrave, I +am beholden to you! I was on my way to take the young damsel of +Bletso to her father, the Lord St. John, with Earl Warwick in +London. He sent us an escort, but they being arrant cravens, as it +seems, we thought it well to join company with these same +merchants, and thus we became a bait for the outlaws of the +Border.'</p> + +<p>'Lady, lady,' burst from one of the prisoners, 'I swear that we +kenned not holy dames to be of the company! Sir, my lord, we +thought to serve the cause of King Harry, and how any man is to +guess which side is Earl Warwick's is past an honest man.'</p> + +<p>'An honest man whose cause is his own pouch!' returned Sir +Giles. 'Miscreants all! But I trow we are scarce yet out of the +land of misrule! So if the Lady Prioress will say a word for such a +sort of sorners, I'll e'en let you go on your way.'</p> + +<p>'They have had a warning, the poor rogues, and that will suffice +for this time! Nay, now, fellows, let my wimple alone! You'll not +find another lord to let you off so easy, nor another Prioress to +stand your friend. Get off, I say.'</p> + +<p>An archer enforced her words with a blow, and by some means, +rough or otherwise, a certain amount of order was restored, the +ruffians slinking off among the gorse bushes, their flight hastened +by the pointing of pikes and levelling of arrows at them. While the +merchants, diving into their packages, produced horns of ale which +a younger man offered to their defenders, the chief of the party, a +portly fellow, interrupted certain civilities between the Prioress +and Sir Giles by praying them to partake of a cup of malmsey, and +adding an entreaty that they might be allowed to join company with +so brave an escort, explaining that he was a poor merchant of +London and the Hans towns who had been beguiled into an expedition +to Scotland to the young King James, who was said to have a fair +taste. He waved his hands as if his sufferings had been beyond +description.</p> + +<p>'Went for wool and came back shorn!' said the Prioress, +laughing. 'Well, my Lord Musgrave, what say you to letting us join +company?--as I see your band is afoot it will be no great delay, +and the more the safer as well as the merrier! Here, let me present +to you my young maid, the Lady Anne of Bletso, whom I in person am +about to deliver to her father.'</p> + +<p>'And let me present privately to both ladies,' said Sir Giles, +'the young squire Harry of Derwentdale, who hath been living as a +shepherd in the hills during the York rule.'</p> + +<p>'Ha! my lord, methinks this may not be the first meeting between +Lady Anne and you, though she would not know who the herd boy was +who found her, a stray lambkin on the moor.'</p> + +<p>The young people looked at each other with eyes of recognition, +and as Hal made his best bow, he said, 'Forsooth, lady, I did not +know myself till afterwards.'</p> + +<p>'Your shepherd and his wife gave me to understand that I should +do hurt by inquiring too much,' said the young lady smiling, and +holding out her hand, which Hal did not know whether to kiss or to +shake. 'I hope the kind old goodwife is well, who cosseted me so +lovingly.'</p> + +<p>'She fares well, indeed, lady, only grieved at parting with +me.'</p> + +<p>'There now,' said the Prioress, 'since we are quit of the +robbers, methinks we cannot do better than halt awhile for Master +Lorimer's folk to mend the tackling of their gear, while we make +our noonday meal and provide for our further journey. Allow me to +be your hostess for the nonce, my lords.'</p> + +<p>And between the lady's sumpter mules and the merchant's stores a +far more sumptuous meal was produced than would have otherwise been +the share of the Lancastrian party.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV. THE JOURNEY</h3> + +<p>'Twas sweet to see these holy maids,<br> +Like birds escaped to greenwood shades,--SCOTT.</p> + +<p>The Prioress Agnes Selby of Greystone was a person who would +have made a much fitter lady of a castle than head of a nunnery. +She would have worked for and with her lord, defended his lands for +him, governed his house and managed her sons with untiring zest and +energy. But a vow of her parents had consigned her to a monastic +life at York, where she could only work off her vigour by teasing +the more devout and grave sisters, and when honourably banished to +the more remote Greystone, in field sports, and in fortifying her +convent against Scots or Lancastrians who, somewhat to her +disappointment, never did attack her. No complaint or scandal had +ever attached itself to her name, and she let Mother Scholastica +manage the nuns, and regulate the devotions, while Greystone was +known as a place where a thirsty warrior might be refreshed, where +tales and ballads of Border raids were welcome, and where good hawk +or hound was not despised.</p> + +<p>It had occurred to the Lord St. John of Bletso that the little +daughter whom he had left at York might be come to a marriageable +age, and he had listened to the proposal of one of the cousins of +the house of Nevil for a contract between her and his son, sending +an escort northwards to fetch her, properly accompanied.</p> + +<p>She had been all these years at Greystone, and the Prioress +immediately decided that this would be an excellent opportunity of +seeing the southern world, and going on a round of pilgrimages +which would make the expedition highly decorous. The ever restless +spirit within her rose in delight, and the Sisterhood of York were +ready to acquiesce, having faith in Mother Agnes' good sense to +guide her and her pupil to his castle in Bedfordshire by the help +of Father Martin through any tangles of the White and Red Roses +that might await her, as well to her real principle for avoiding +actual evil, though she might startle monastic proprieties.</p> + +<p>There was no doubt but that conversation, when she could have +it, was as great a joy to her as ever was galloping after a deer; +and there she sat with her beautiful hound by her side, and her +hawk on a pole, exchanging sentiments of speculation as to +Warwick's change of front with Sir Giles Musgrave, Father Martin, +and Master Ralph Lorimer, while discussing a pasty certainly very +superior to anything that had come out of the Penrith stores.</p> + +<p>Young Clifford and Lady Anne sat on the grass near, too shy for +the present to renew their acquaintance, but looking up at one +another under their eyelashes, and the first time their eyes met, +the girl breaking into a laugh, but it was not till towards the end +of the refection that they were startled into intercourse by a +general growling and leaping up of the great hound, and of the two +big ungainly dogs chained to the waggon, as wet, lean, bristling +but ecstatic, Watch dashed in among them, and fell on his +master.</p> + +<p>For four days (unless he was tied up at first) the good dog must +have been tracking him. 'Off! off!' cried the Prioress, holding +back her deer-hound by main strength. 'Off, Florimond! he sets thee +a pattern of faithfulness! Be quiet and learn thy devoir!'</p> + +<p>'O sir, I cannot send him back!' entreated Hal, also embracing +and caressing the shaggy neck.</p> + +<p>'Send him back! Nay, indeed. As saith the Reverend Mother, it +were well if some earls and lords minded his example,' said Sir +Giles.</p> + +<p>'Here! Watch, I mind thee well,' added Anne. 'Here's a slice of +pasty to reward thee. Oh! thou art very hungry,' as the big mouth +bolted it whole.</p> + +<p>'Nearly famished, poor rogue!' said Hal, administering a bone. +'How far hast thou run, mine own lad! Art fain to come with thy +master and see the hermit?'</p> + +<p>'Thou must e'en go,' growled Simon Bunce, 'unless the lady's dog +make an end of thee! 'Tis ever the worthless that turn up.'</p> + +<p>'I would Florimond would show himself as true,' said the +Prioress. 'Don't show thy teeth, sir! I can honour Watch, yet love +thee.'</p> + +<p>''Tis jealousy as upsets faith,' said the merchant. 'The hound +is a knightly beast with his proud head, but he brooks not to see a +Woodville creep in.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, or a Beaufort!' suggested Sir Giles.</p> + +<p>'No treason, Lord Musgrave!' said the Prioress, laughing.</p> + +<p>'Ah, madam,' responded Sir Giles, 'what is treason?'</p> + +<p>'Whatever is against him that has the best of it,' observed +Master Lorimer. 'Well that it is not the business of a poor dealer +in horse-gear and leather-work. He asks not which way his bridles +are to turn! How now, Tray and Blackchaps? Never growl and gird. +You have no part in the fray!'</p> + +<p>For they were chained, and could only champ, bark and howl, +while Florimond and Watch turned one another over, and had to be +pulled forcibly back, by Hal on the one hand and on the other by +the Mother Agnes, who would let nobody touch Florimond except +herself. After this, the two dogs subsided into armed neutrality, +and gradually became devoted friends.</p> + +<p>The curiously composed cavalcade moved on their way southward. +The Prioress was mounted on the fine chestnut horse that Sir Giles +had rescued. She was attended by a nun, Sister Mabel, and a lay +Sister, both as hardy as herself, and riding sturdy mountain +ponies; but her chaplain, a thin delicate-looking man with a bad +cough, only ventured upon a sturdy ass; Anne St. John had a pretty +little white palfrey and two men-at-arms. There were two grooms, +countrymen, who had run away on the onset of the thieves, but came +sneaking back again, to be soundly rated by the Prioress, who +threatened to send them home again or have them well scourged, but +finally laughed and forgave them.</p> + +<p>The merchant, Master Lorimer--who dealt primarily in all sorts +of horse furniture, but added thereto leather-work for knights and +men-at-arms, and all that did not too closely touch the armourer's +trade--had three sturdy attendants, having lost one in an attack by +the Scottish Borderers, and he had four huge Flemish horses, who +sped along the better for their loads having been lightened by +sales in Edinburgh, where he had hardly obtained skins enough to +make up for the weight. His headquarters, he said, were at Barnet, +since tanning and leather-dressing, necessary to his work, though a +separate guild, literally stank in the nostrils of the citizens of +London.</p> + +<p>To these were added Sir Giles Musgrave's twenty archers, making +a very fair troop, wherewith to proceed, and the Prioress decided +on not going to York. She was not particularly anxious for an +interview with the Abbess of her Order, and it would have +considerably lengthened the journey, which both Musgrave and +Lorimer were anxious to make as short as possible. They preferred +likewise to keep to the country, that was still chiefly open and +wild, with all its destiny in manufactories yet to come, though +there were occasionally such towns, villages and convents on the +way where provisions and lodging could be obtained.</p> + +<p>Every fresh scene of civilisation was a new wonder to Hal +Clifford, and scarcely less so to Anne St. John, though her life in +the moorland convent had begun when she was not quite so young as +he had been when taken to the hills of Londesborough. He had only +been two or three times in the church at Threlkeld, which was +simple and bare, and the full display of a monastic church was an +absolute amazement, making him kneel almost breathless with awe, +recollecting what the royal hermit had told him. He was too +illiterate to follow the service, but the music and the majestic +flow of the chants overwhelmed him, and he listened with hands +clasped over his face, not daring to raise his eyes to the dazzling +gold of the altar, lighted by innumerable wax tapers.</p> + +<p>The Prioress was amused. 'Art dazed, my friend? This is but a +poor country cell; we will show you something much finer when we +get to Derby.'</p> + +<p>Hal drew a long breath. 'Is that meant to be like the saints in +Heaven?' he said. 'Is that the way they sing there?'</p> + +<p>'I should hope they pronounce their Latin better,' responded the +Prioress, who, it may be feared, was rather a light-minded woman. +At any rate there was a chill upon Hal which prevented him from +directing any of his remarks or questions to her for the future. +The chaplain told him something of what he wanted to know, but he +met with the most sympathy from the Lady Anne.</p> + +<p>'Which, think you, is the fittest temple and worship?' he said; +as they rode out together, after hearing an early morning service, +gone through in haste, and partaking of a hurried meal. The sun was +rising over the hills of Derbyshire, dyeing them of a red purple, +standing out sharply against a flaming sky, flecked here and there +with rosy clouds, and fading into blue that deepened as it rose +higher. The elms and beeches that bordered the monastic fields had +begun to put on their autumn livery, and yellow leaves here and +there were like sparks caught from the golden light.</p> + +<p>Hal drew off his cap as in homage to the glorious sight.</p> + +<p>'Ah, it is fine!' said Anne, 'it is like the sunrise upon our +own moors, when one breathes freely, and the clouds grow white +instead of grey.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' said Hal, 'I used to go out to the high ground and say the +prayer the hermit taught me--"Jam Lucis," it began. He said it was +about the morning light.'</p> + +<p>'I know that "Jam Lucis,"' said Anne; 'the Sisters sing it at +prime, and Sister Scholastica makes us think how it means about +light coming and our being kept from ill,' and she hummed the chant +of the first verse.</p> + +<p>'I think this blue sky and royal sun, and the moon and stars at +night, are God's great hall of praise,' said Hal, still keeping his +cap off, as he had done through Anne's chant of praise.</p> + +<p>'Verily it is! It is the temple of God Almighty, Creator of +Heaven and earth, as the Credo says,' replied Anne, 'but, maybe, we +come nearer still to Him in God the Son when we are in church.'</p> + +<p>'I do not know. The dark vaulted roof and the dimness seem to +crush me down,' said the mountain lad, 'though the singing lifts me +sometimes, though at others it comes like a wailing gust, all +mournful and sad! If I could only understand! My royal hermit would +tell me when I can come to him.'</p> + +<p>'Do you think, now he is a king again, he will be able to take +heed to you?'</p> + +<p>'I know he cares for me,' said Hal with confidence.</p> + +<p>'Ah yea, but will the folk about him care to let him talk to +you? I have heard say that he was but a puppet in their hands. Yea, +you are a great lord, that is true, but will that great masterful +Earl Warwick let you to him, or say all these thoughts of his and +yours are but fancies for babes?'</p> + +<p>'Simon Bunce did mutter such things, and that one of us was as +great an innocent as the other,' said Hal, 'but I trust my hermit's +love.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, you know you are going to someone you love, and who loves +you,' sighed Anne, 'but how will it be with me?'</p> + +<p>'Your father?' suggested Hal.</p> + +<p>'My father! What knows he of me or I of him? I tell thee, Harry +Clifford, he left me at York when I was not eight years old, and I +have never seen him since. He gave a charge on his lands to a +goldsmith at York to pay for my up-bringing, and I verily believe +thought no more of me than if I had been a messan dog. He wedded a +lady in Flanders and had a son or twain, but I have never seen them +nor my stepdame; and now Gilbert there, who brought the letter to +the Mother Prioress, says she is dead, and the little heir, whose +birth makes me nobody, is at a monastery school at Ghent. But my +Lord of Redgrave must needs make overtures to my father for me, +whether for his son or himself Gilbert cannot say. So my father +sends to bring me back for a betrothal. The good Prioress goes with +me. She saith that if it be the old Lord, who is a fierce old rogue +with as ill a name as Tiptoft himself, the butcher, she will make +my Lord St. John know the reason why! But what will he care?'</p> + +<p>'It would be hard not to hear my Lady Prioress!' said Hal, +looking back at the determined black figure, gesticulating as she +talked to Sir Giles.</p> + +<p>Anne laughed, half sadly, 'So you think! But you have never seen +the grim faces at Bletso! They will say she is but a woman and a +nun, and what are her words to alliance with a friend of the Lord +of Warwick? Ah! it is a heartless hope, when I come to that +castle!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, Anne, if my King gives me my place then--</p> + +<p>'Lady Anne! Lady Anne!' called Sir Giles Musgrave, 'the Mother +Prioress thinks it not safe for you to keep so much in the front. +There might be ill-doers in the thickets.'</p> + +<p>Anne perforce reined in, but Hal fed on the idea that had +suddenly flashed on him.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XV. BLETSO</h3> + +<p>Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me.--SHAKESPEARE,</p> + +<p>The cavalcade journeyed on not very quickly, as the riders +accommodated themselves to those on foot. They avoided the towns +when they came into the more inhabited country, the Prioress +preferring the smaller hostels for pilgrims and travellers, and, it +may be suspected, monasteries to the nunneries, where she said the +ladies had nothing to talk about but wonder at her journey, and +advice to stay in shelter till after the winter weather. Meantime +it was a fine autumn still, and with bright colours on the woods, +where deer, hare, rabbit, or partridge tempted the hounds, not to +say their mistress, but she kept them well in leash, and her falcon +with hood and jesses, she being too well nurtured not to be well +aware of the strict laws of the chase, except when some +good-natured monk gave her leave and accompanied her--generally +Augustinians, who were more of country squires than ecclesiastics. +Watch needed no leash--he kept close to his master, except when +occasionally tempted to a little amateur shepherding, from which +Hal could easily call him off. The great stag-hounds evidently +despised him, and the curs of the waggon hated him, and snarled +whenever he came near them, but the Prioress respected him, and +could well believe that the hermit King had loved him. 'He had just +the virtues to suit the good King Harry,' she said, 'dutifulness +and harmlessness.'</p> + +<p>The Prioress was the life of the party, with her droll +descriptions of the ways of the nuns who received her, while the +males of the party had to be content with the hostel outside. Sir +Giles and Master Lorimer, riding on each side of her, might often +be heard laughing with her. The young people were much graver, +especially as there were fewer and fewer days' journeys to Bletso, +and Anne's unknown future would begin with separation from all she +had ever known, unless the Mother Prioress should be able to remain +with her.</p> + +<p>And to Harry Clifford the loss of her presence grew more and +more to be dreaded as each day's companionship drew them nearer +together in sympathy, and he began to build fanciful hopes of the +King's influence upon the plans of Lord St. John, unless the +contract of betrothal had been actually made, and therewith came a +certain zest in looking to his probable dignity such as he had +never felt before.</p> + +<p>The last day's journey had come. The escort who had acted as +guides were in familiar fields and lanes, and one, the leader, rode +up to Lady Anne and pointed to the grey outline among the trees of +her home, while he sent the other to hurry forward and announce +her.</p> + +<p>Anne shivered a little, and Hal kept close to her. He had made +the journey on foot, because he had chosen to be reckoned among +Musgrave's archers till he had received full knightly training; +and, besides, he had more freedom to attach himself to Anne's +bridle rein, and be at hand to help through difficult passages. Now +he came up close to her, and she held out her hand. He pressed it +warmly.</p> + +<p>'You will not forget?'</p> + +<p>'Never, never! That red rose in the snow--I have the leaf in my +breviary. And Goodwife Dolly, tell her I'll never forget how she +cosseted the wildered lamb.'</p> + +<p>'Poor Mother Dolly, when shall I see her?'</p> + +<p>'Oh! you will be able to have her to share your state, and Watch +too! I take none with me.'</p> + +<p>'If we are all in King Harry's cause, there will be hope of +meeting, and then if--'</p> + +<p>'Ah! I see a horseman coming! Is it my father?'</p> + +<p>It was a horseman who met them, taking off his cap of +maintenance and bowing low to the Prioress and the young lady, but +it was the seneschal of the castle, not the father whom Anne so +dreaded, but an old gentleman, Walter Wenlock, with whom there was +a greeting as of an old friend. My lord had gone with the Earl of +Warwick to Queen Margaret in France, and had sent a messenger with +a letter to meet his daughter at York, and tell her to go to the +house of the Poor Clares in London instead of coming home, 'and +there await him.'</p> + +<p>The route that had been taken by the party accounted for their +not having met the messenger and it was plain that they must go on +to London. The evening was beginning to draw in, and a night's +lodging was necessary. Anne assumed a little dignity.</p> + +<p>'My good friends who have guarded me, I hope you will do me the +honour to rest for the night in my father's castle.'</p> + +<p>The seneschal bowed acquiescence, but the poor man was evidently +sorely perplexed by such an extensive invitation on the part of his +young lady on his peace establishment, though the Prioress did her +best to assist Anne to set him at ease. 'Here is Sir Giles +Musgrave, the Lord of Peelholm on the Borders, a staunch friend of +King Harry, with a band of stout archers, and this gentleman from +the north is with him.' (It had been agreed that the Clifford name +should not be mentioned till the way had been felt with Warwick, +one of whose cousins had been granted the lands of the Black Lord +Clifford.)</p> + +<p>The seneschal bent before Musgrave courteously, saying he was +happy to welcome so good and brave a knight, and he prayed his +followers to excuse if their fare was scant and homely, being that +he was unprovided for the honour.</p> + +<p>'No matter, sir,' returned Musgrave; 'we are used to soldiers' +fare.'</p> + +<p>'And,' proceeded Anne, 'Master Lorimer must lie here, and his +wains.'</p> + +<p>'Master Lorimer,' said the Prioress, 'with whom belike--Lorimer +of Barnet--Sir Seneschal has had dealings,' and she put forward the +merchant, who had been falling back to his waggon.</p> + +<p>'Yea,' said Walter Wenlock frankly, holding out his hand. 'We +have bought your wares and made proof of them, good sir. I am glad +to welcome you, though I never saw you to the face before.'</p> + +<p>'Great thanks, good seneschal. All that I would ask would be +licence for my wains to stand in your court to-night while my +fellows and I sup and lodge at the hostel.'</p> + +<p>The hospitality of Bletso could not suffer this, and both Anne +and the seneschal were urgent that all should remain, Wenlock +reflecting that if the store for winter consumption were devoured, +even to the hog waiting to be killed, he could obtain fresh +supplies from the tenants, so he ushered all into the court, and +summoned steward, cooks, and scullions to do their best. It was not +a castle, only a castellated house, which would not have been +capable of long resistance in time of danger, but the court and +stables gave ample accommodation for the animals and the waggons, +and the men were bestowed in the great open hall, reaching to the +top of the house, where all would presently sup.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the seneschal conducted the ladies and their two +attendants to a tiny chamber, where an enormous bed was being made +ready by the steward's wife and her son, and in which all four +ladies would sleep, the Prioress and Anne one way, the other two +foot to foot with them! They had done so before, so were not +surprised, and the lack of furniture was a matter of course. Their +mails were brought up, a pitcher of water and a bowl, and they made +their preparations for supper. Anne was in high spirits at the +dreaded meeting, and still more dreaded parting, having been +deferred, and she skipped about the room, trying to gather up her +old recollections. 'Yes, I remember that bit of tapestry, and the +man that stands there among the sheep. Is it King David, think you, +Mother, about to throw his stone at the lion and the bear?'</p> + +<p>'Lion and bear, child! 'Tis the three goddesses and Paris +choosing the fairest to give the golden apple.'</p> + +<p>'Methought that was the lion's mane, but I see a face.'</p> + +<p>'What would the Lady Venus say to have her golden locks taken +for a lion's mane?'</p> + +<p>'I like black hair,' said Anne.</p> + +<p>'Better not fix thy mind on any hue! We poor women have no +choice save what fathers make for us.'</p> + +<p>'O good my mother, peace! They are all in France, and there's no +need to spoil this breathing time with thinking of what is coming! +Good old Wenlock! I used to ride on his shoulder! I'm right glad to +see him again! I must tell him in his ear to put Hal well above the +salt! May not I tell him in his ear who he is?'</p> + +<p>'Safer not, my maid, till we know what King Harry can do for +him. Better that his name should not get abroad till he can have +his own.'</p> + +<p>A great bell brought all down, and Anne was pleased to see that +her seneschal made no question about placing Harry Clifford beside +the Prioress, who sat next to the Lord of Peelholm, who sat next to +the young daughter of the house in the seat of honour.</p> + +<p>The nuns, Master Lorimer, and one of the archers, who was a +Border squire, besides Master Wenlock, occupied the high table on +the dais, and the archers, grooms, and the rest of the household +were below.</p> + +<p>The fare was not scanty nor unsubstantial, but evidently hastily +prepared, being chiefly broiled slices of beef, on which salting +had begun; but there was a lack of bread, even of barley, though +there was no want of drink.</p> + +<p>However, the Prioress was good-humoured, and forestalled all +excuses by jests about travellers' meals and surprises in the way +of guests, and both she and Sir Giles were anxious for Wenlock's +news of the state of things.</p> + +<p>He knew much more of the course of affairs than they in their +northern homes and on their journey.</p> + +<p>'The realm is divided,' he said. 'Those who hold to King Harry, +as you gentles do, are in high joy, but there be many, spoken with +respect, who cannot face about so fast, and hold still for York, +though they mislike the Queen's kindred. Of such are the +merchantmen of London.'</p> + +<p>'Is it so?' asked Lorimer. 'If King Edward be as deep in debt to +them as to me for housings and bridle reins methinks he should not +be in good odour in their nostrils.'</p> + +<p>'Yea,' said Wenlock, 'but if he be gone a beggar to Burgundy +what becomes of their debt?'</p> + +<p>'I would not give much for it were he restored a score of +times,' said the Prioress. 'What would he do but plunge +deeper?'</p> + +<p>'There would be hope, though, of getting an order on the royal +demesne, or the crown jewels, or the taxes,' said Lorimer. 'Nay, I +hold one even now that will be but waste if he come not back.'</p> + +<p>'And this poor King spendeth nothing save on priests and +masses,' said Wenlock.</p> + +<p>Hal started forward, eager to hear of his King, and Musgrave +said, 'A holy man is he.'</p> + +<p>'Too holy for a King,' said the seneschal. 'He looked like a +woolsack across a horse when my Lord of Warwick led him down +Cheapside; and only the rabble cried out "Long live King Harry!" +but some scoffed and said they saw a mere gross monk with a baby +face where they had been wont to see a comely prince full of +manhood, with a sword instead of beads.'</p> + +<p>'His son will please them,' said Musgrave. 'He was a goodly +child, full of spirit, when last I saw him.'</p> + +<p>'If so be he have not too much of the Frenchwoman, his mother, +in him,' said Wenlock. 'A losing lot, as poor as any rats, and as +proud as very peacocks.'</p> + +<p>'She was gracious enough and won all hearts on the Border,' +replied Musgrave.</p> + +<p>'Come, come!' put in the Prioress, 'you may have the chance yet +to break a lance on her behalf. No fear but she is royal enough to +shine down King Edward's low-born love, the Widow Grey!'</p> + +<p>'Ay, there lay the cause of discontent,' said Lorimer; 'the +upstart ways of her kin were not to be borne. To hear Dick +Woodville chaffer about the blazoning of his horse-gear when he was +wedding the fourscore-year-old Duchess of Norfolk, one would have +thought he was an emperor at the very least.'</p> + +<p>'Widow Grey has done something for her husband's cause,' said +the seneschal, 'in bringing him at last a fair son, all in his +exile, and she in sanctuary at Westminster. The London citizens are +ever touched through all the fat about their hearts by whatever +would sound well in the mouth of a ballad-monger.'</p> + +<p>'My King, my King, what of him?' sighed Hal in the Prioress's +ear, and she made the inquiry for him: 'What said you of King +Henry, Sir Seneschal? How did he fare in his captivity?'</p> + +<p>'Not so ill, methinks,' said the seneschal. 'He had the range of +the Tower, and St. Peter's in the Fetters to pray in, which was +what he heeded most; also he had a messan dog, and a tame bird. +Indeed, men said he had laid on much flesh since he had been mewed +up there; and my lord, who went with my Lord of Warwick to fetch +him, said his garments were scarce so cleanly as befitted. 'Twas +hard to make him understand. First he clasped his hands, and bowed +his head, crying out that he forgave those who came to slay him, +and when he found it was all the other way, he stood like one +dazed, let his hand be kissed, and they say is still in the hands +of my Lord Archbishop of York just as if he were the waxen image of +St. John in a procession.'</p> + +<p>'The Earl and the Queen will have to do the work,' said the +Prioress, 'and they will no more hold together than a couple of +wild hawks will hunt in company. How long do you give them to tear +out one another's eyes?'</p> + +<p>'Son and daughter may keep them together,' said Musgrave,</p> + +<p>'Hatred of the Woodvilles is more like, a poor band though it +be,' said the Prioress. 'These are stirring times! I'll not go back +to my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of +them! Meantime, to our beds, sweet Anne, since 'tis an early start +tomorrow.'</p> + +<p>The Prioress, who had become warmly interested in Hal, and had +divined the feeling between him and Anne, thought that if she could +obtain access to the Archbishop of York, Warwick's brother George, +she could deal with him to procure Clifford's restitution in name +and in blood, and at least his De Vesci inheritance, if Dick Nevil, +who had grasped the Clifford lands, could not be induced to give +them up.</p> + +<p>'I have seen George Nevil,' she said, 'when I was instituted to +Greystone. He is of kindlier mood than his brothers, and more a +valiant trencherman and hunter than aught else. If I had him on the +moors and could show him some sport with a red deer, I could turn +him round my finger.'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVI. THE HERMIT IN THE TOWER</h3> + +<p>Thy pity hath been balm to heal their wounds,<br> +Thy mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs,<br> +Thy mercy dried their ever flowing tears.--SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning, while the wintry sun was struggling with +mists, and grass and leaves were dark with frost, the Prioress was +in her saddle. Perhaps the weather might have constrained a longer +stay, but that it was clear to her keen eyes that, however welcome +Wenlock might make his young lady, there was little provision and +no welcome for thorough-going Lancastrians like Sir Giles's troop, +who had besides a doubtful Robin Hood-like reputation; and as +neither she nor Anne wished to ride forward without them, they +decided to go on all together as before.</p> + +<p>And a very wet and slightly snowy journey they had, 'meeting in +snow and parting in snow,' as Hal said, as he marched by Anne's +bridle-rein, leading her pony, so as to leave her hands free to +hold cloak and hood close about her.</p> + +<p>She sighed, and put one hand on his, but a gust of wind took +that opportunity of getting under her cloak and sending it +fluttering over her back, so that he had to catch it and return it +to her grasp.</p> + +<p>'Let us take that as a prophecy that storms shall not hinder our +further meeting! It may be! It may be! Who knows what my King may +do for us?'</p> + +<p>'Only a storm can bring us together! But that may--'</p> + +<p>Her breath was blown away again before the sentence was +finished, if it was meant to be finished, and Master Lorimer came +to insist on the ladies taking shelter in his covered waggon, where +the Prioress was already installed.</p> + +<p>Through rain and sleet they reached Chipping Barnet in due time +on the third day's journey, and here they were to part from the +merchant's wains. He had sent forward, and ample cheer was provided +at the handsome timbered and gabled house at the porch of which +stood his portly wife, with son, daughter, and son-in-law, ready to +welcome the party, bringing them in to be warmed and dried before +sitting down to the excellent meal which it had been Mistress +Lorimer's pride and pleasure to provide. There was a small nunnery +at Barnet, but not very near, and the Prioress Agnes did not think +herself bound to make her way thither in the dark and snow, so she +remained, most devoutly waited on by her hostess, and discussed the +very last tidings, which had been brought that morning by the +foreman whom Mistress Lorimer had sent to bring the news to her +husband.</p> + +<p>It was probable that the Lord of Bletso was with Warwick and the +Queen, as he had not been heard of at his home. The King was in the +royal apartments of the Tower, under the charge of the Chancellor. +The Earl of Oxford, a steady partisan of the Red Rose, was +Constable of the Kingdom, and was guarding the Tower.</p> + +<p>On hearing this, Musgrave decided to repair at once to the Earl, +one of the few men in whom there was confidence, since he had never +changed his allegiance, and to take his counsel as to the +recognition of young Clifford. On the way to the Tower they would +leave the Prioress and her suite at the Sister Minoresses', till +news could be heard of the Baron St. John.</p> + +<p>So for the last time the travellers rode forth in slightly +improved weather. Harry's heart beat high with the longing soon to +be in the presence of him who had opened so many doors of life to +his young mind, whom he so heartily loved, and who, it might be, +could give him that which he began to feel would be the joy of his +life.</p> + +<p>The archers, who had been lodged in the warehouses, were drawn +up in a compact body, and Master Lorimer, who had a shop in +Cheapside, decided on accompanying them, partly to be at the scene +of action and partly to facilitate their entrance.</p> + +<p>So Hal walked by the side of Anne St. John's bridle-rein, with a +very full heart, swelling with sensations he did not understand, +and which kept him absolutely silent, untrained as he was in the +conventionalities which would have made speech easier to him. Nor +had Anne much more command of tongue, and all she did was to keep +her hand upon the shoulder of her squire; but there was much +involuntary meaning in the yearning grasp of those fingers, and +both fed on the hopes the Prioress had given them.</p> + +<p>Christmas was close at hand, and fatted cattle on their way to +market impeded the way, so that Hal's time was a good deal taken up +in steering the pony along, and in preventing Watch from getting +into a battle with the savage dogs that guarded them. Penrith +market, where once he had been, had never shown him anything like +such a concourse, and he could hear muttered exclamations from the +archers, who walked by Sir Giles's orders in a double line on each +side the horses, their pikes keeping off the blundering approach of +bullocks or sheep. 'By the halidome, if the Scots were among them, +they might victual their whole kingdom till Domesday!'</p> + +<p>The tall spire of old St. Paul's and the four turrets of the +Tower began to rise on them, and were pointed out by Master +Lorimer, for even Sir Giles had only once in his life visited the +City, and no one else of the whole band from the north had ever +been there. The road was bordered by the high walls of monasteries, +overshadowed by trees, and at the deep gateway of one of these +Lorimer called a halt. It was the house of the Minoresses or Poor +Clares, where the ladies were to remain. The six weeks' +companionship would come to an end, and the Prioress was heartily +sorry for it. 'I shall scarce meet such good company at the +Clares',' she said, laughing, as she took leave of Lord Musgrave, +'Mayhap when I go back to my hills I shall remember your goodwife's +offer of hospitality, Master Lorimer.'</p> + +<p>Master Lorimer bowed low, expressed his delight in the prospect, +and kissed the Prioress's hand, but the heavy door was already +being opened, and with an expressive look of drollery and +resignation, the good lady withdrew her hand, hastily brought her +Benedictine hood and veil closely over her face, and rode into the +court, followed by her suite. Anne had time to let her hand be +kissed by Sir Giles and Hal, who felt as if a world had closed on +him as the heavy doors clanged together behind the Sisters. But the +previous affection of his young life lay before him as Sir Giles +rode on to the fortified Aldgate, and after a challenge from the +guard, answered by a watchword from Lorimer, and an inquiry for +whom the knight held, they were admitted, and went on through an +increasing crowd trailing boughs of holly and mistletoe, to the +north gateway of the Tower. Here they parted with Lorimer, with +friendly greetings and promises to come and see his stall at +Cheapside.</p> + +<p>There was a man-at-arms with the star of the De Veres emblazoned +on his breast, and a red rosette on his steel cap, but he would not +admit the new-comers till Sir Giles had given his name, and it had +been sent in by another of the garrison to the Earl of Oxford.</p> + +<p>Presently, after some waiting in the rain, and looking up with +awe at the massive defences, two knights appeared with outstretched +hands of welcome. Down went the drawbridge, up went the portcullis, +the horses clattered over the moat, and the reception was hearty +indeed. 'Well met, my Lord of Musgrave! I knew you would soon be +where Red Roses grew.'</p> + +<p>'Welcome, Sir Giles! Methought you had escaped after the fight +at Hexham.'</p> + +<p>'Glad indeed to meet you, brave Sir John, and you, good Lord of +Holmdale! Is all well with the King?'</p> + +<p>'As well as ever it will be. The Constable is nigh at hand! You +have brought us a stout band of archers, I see! We will find a use +for them if March chooses to show his presumptuous nose here +again!'</p> + +<p>'And hither comes my Lord Constable! It rejoices his heart to +hear of such staunch following.'</p> + +<p>The Earl of Oxford, a stern, grave man of early middle age, was +coming across the court-yard, and received Sir Giles with the +heartiness that became the welcome of a proved and trustworthy +ally. After a few words, Musgrave turned and beckoned to Hal, who +advanced, shy and colouring.</p> + +<p>'Ha! young Lord Clifford! I am glad to see you! I knew your +father well, rest his soul! The King spoke to me of the son of a +loyal house living among the moors.'</p> + +<p>'The King was very good to me,' faltered Hal, crimson with +eagerness.</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay! I sent not after you, having enough to do here; and +besides, till we have the strong hand, and can do without that +heady kinsman of Warwick, it will be ill for you to disturb the +rogue--what's his name--to whom your lands have been granted, and +who might turn against the cause and maybe make a speedy end of you +if he knew you present. Be known for the present as Sir Giles +counsels. Better not put his name forward,' he added to +Musgrave.</p> + +<p>'I care not for lands,' said Hal, 'only to see the King.'</p> + +<p>'See him you shall, my young lord, and if he be not in one of +his trances, he will be right glad to see you and remember you. But +he is scarce half a man,' added Oxford, turning to Musgrave. 'Cares +for nought but his prayers! Keeps his Hours like a monk! We can +hardly bring him to sit in the Council, and when he is there he +sits scarce knowing what we say. 'Tis my belief, when the Queen and +Prince come, that we shall have to make the Prince rule in his +name, and let him alone to his prayers! He will be in the church. +'Tis nones, or some hour as they call it, and he makes one stretch +out to another.'</p> + +<p>They entered the low archway of St. Peter ad Vincula, and there +Hal perceived a figure in a dark mantle just touched with gold, +kneeling near the chancel step, almost crouching. Did he not know +the attitude, though the back was broader than of old? He paused, +as did his companions; but there was one who did not pause, and +would not be left outside. Watch unseen had pattered up, and was +rearing up, jumping and fawning. There was a call of 'Watch! here +sirrah!' but 'Watch! Watch! Good dog! Is it thou indeed?' was +exclaimed at the same moment, and with Watch springing up, King +Henry stood on his feet looking round with his dazed glance.</p> + +<p>'My King! my hermit father! Forgive! Down, Watch!' cried Hal, +falling down at his feet, with one arm holding down Watch, who +tried to lick his face and the King's hand by turns.</p> + +<p>'Is it thou, my child, my shepherd?' said Henry, his hands on +the lad's head. 'Bless thee! Oh, bless thee, much loved child of my +wanderings! I have longed after thee, and prayed for thee, and now +God hath given thee to me at this shrine! Kneel and give the Lord +thy best thanks, my lad! Ah! how tall thou art! I should not have +known thee, Hal, but for Watch.'</p> + +<p>'It is well,' muttered Oxford to Musgrave. 'I have not seen him +so well nor so cheery all this day. The lad will waken him up and +do him good.'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVII. A CAPTIVE KING</h3> + +<p>And we see far on holy ground,<br> +If duly purged our mental view.--KEBLE.</p> + +<p>The King held Harry Clifford by the hand as he left St. Peter's +Church. 'My child, my shepherd boy,' he said, and he called Watch +after him, and interested himself in establishing a kind of +suspicious peace between the shaggy collie and his own 'Minion,' a +small white curly-haired dog, which belonged to a family that had +been brought by Queen Margaret from Provence.</p> + +<p>His attendant knight, Sir Nicolas Romford, told Sir Giles +Musgrave that he had really never seemed so happy since his +deliverance, and Sir Nicolas had waited on him ever since his +capture, six years previously. He led the youth along to the royal +rooms, asking on the way after his sheep and the goodwife who had +sent him presents of eggs, then showing him the bullfinch, that +greeted his return with loving chirps, and when released from its +cage came and sat upon his shoulder and played with his hair, 'A +better pet than a fierce hawk, eh, Hal?' he said.</p> + +<p>He laughed when he found that Harry thought he had spent all +this time in a dark underground dungeon with fetters on his +feet.</p> + +<p>'Oh no!' he said; 'they were kindly jailors. They dealt better +with me than with my Master.'</p> + +<p>'Sir, sir, that terrible ride through Cheapside!' said Harry. +'We heard of it at Derwent-side, and we longed to have our pikes at +the throats of the villain traitors.'</p> + +<p>The King looked as if he hardly remembered that cruel +procession, when he was set upon a sorry jade with his feet tied to +the stirrups, and shouts of 'Behold the traitor!' around him. Then +with a sweet smile of sudden recollection, he said, 'Ah! I recall +it, and how I rejoiced to be led in the steps of my Lord, and how +the cries sounded, "We will not have this man to reign over us!" +Gratias ago, unworthy me, who by my own fault could not reign.'</p> + +<p>Harry was silenced, awe-struck, and by-and-by the King took him +to see his old chamber in the White Tower, up a winding stone +stair. It was not much inferior to the royal lodgings, except in +the matter of dais, canopy, and tapestry, and the window looked out +into the country, so that the King said he had loved it, and it had +many a happy thought connected with it.</p> + +<p>Hal followed him in a sort of silent wonder, if not awe, not +daring to answer him in monosyllables. This was not quite the +hermit of Derwentdale. It was a broader man--not with the breadth +of full strength, but of inactivity and advance of years, though +the fiftieth year was only lately completed--and the royal robe of +crimson, touched with gold, suited him far less thaft the brown +serge of the anchoret. The face was no longer thin, sunburnt, and +worn, but pale, and his checks slightly puffed, and the eyes and +smile, with more of the strange look of innocent happiness than of +old, and of that which seemed to bring back to his young visitor +the sense of peace and well-being that the saintly hermit had +always given him.</p> + +<p>There was consultation that evening between Lord Oxford and Sir +Giles Musgrave. It was better, they agreed, to let young Clifford +remain with the King as much as possible, but without divulging his +name. The King knew it, and indeed had known it, when he received +the boy at his hermitage, but he seemed to have forgotten it, as he +had much besides. Oxford said that though he could be roused into +actual fulfilment of such forms as were required of him, and +understood what was set before him, his memory and other powers +seemed to have been much impaired, and it was held wiser not to +call on him more than could be helped, till the Queen and her son +should come to supply the energy that was wanting. They would make +the gay and brilliant appearance that the Londoners had admired in +Edward of York, and which could not be obtained from poor +Henry.</p> + +<p>His memory for actual matters was much impaired. Never for two +days together could he recollect that his son and Warwick's +daughter were married, and it was always by an effort that he +remembered that the Prince of Wales was not the eight-years-old +child whom he had last seen. As to young Clifford, he sometimes +seemed to think the tall nineteen-years-old stripling was just +where he had left the child of twelve or thirteen, and if he +perceived the age, was so far confused that it was not quite +certain that he might not mix him up with his own son, though the +knight in constant attendance was sure that he was clear on that +point, and only looked on 'Hal' as the child of his teaching and +prayers.</p> + +<p>But Harry Clifford could not persuade him to enter into that +which more and more lay near the youthful heart, the rescuing Anne +St. John from the suitor of whom little that was hopeful was heard; +and the obtaining her from his father. Of course this could not be +unless Harry could win his father's property, and no longer be +under the attaint in blood, so as to be able to lay claim to the +lands of the De Vescis through his mother; but though the King +listened with kindly interest to the story of the children's +adventure on the Londesborough moor, and the subsequent meeting in +Westmorland, the rescue from the outlaws, and the journey together, +it was all like a romance to him--he would nod his head and promise +to do what he could, if he could, but he never remembered it for +two days together, and if Hal ventured on anything like pressure, +the only answer was, 'Patience, my son, patience must have her +work! It is the will of God, it will be right.'</p> + +<p>And when Hal began to despair and work himself up and seek to do +more with one so impracticable, Lord Oxford and Sir Giles warned +him not to force his real name and claims too much, for he did not +need too many enemies nor to have Lord St. John and the Nevil who +held his lands both anxious to sweep him from their path.</p> + +<p>Nor was anything heard from or of the Prioress of Greystone, and +whenever the name of George Nevil, the Chancellor and Archbishop of +York, was heard, Hal's heart burnt with anxiety, and fear that the +lady had forgotten him, though as Dick Nevil, who held the lands of +Clifford, was known to be in his suite, it was probable that she +was acting out of prudence.</p> + +<p>The turmoil of anxious impatience seemed to be quelled when Hal +sat on a stool before the King, with Watch leaning against his +knee. The instruction or meditation seemed to be taken up much +where it had been left six years before, with the same unanswerable +questions, only the youth had thought out a great deal more, and +the hermit had advanced in a wisdom which was not that of the +rough, practical world.</p> + +<p>Part of Clifford's day was spent in the tilt-yard, where his two +friends, as well as himself, were anxious that he should acquire +proficiency and ease such as would become his station, when he +recovered it; and a martinet old squire of Oxford proved himself +nearly as hard a master as ever Simon Bunce had been.</p> + +<p>One very joyous day came to Henry in his regal capacity. +Christmas Day had been quietly spent. There was much noisy +revelling in the city, and the guards in the castle had their +feastings, but Warwick was daily expected to return from France, +and neither his brother nor the Archbishop thought that there was +much policy in making a public spectacle of a puppet King.</p> + +<p>But there was one ceremony from which Henry would not be +debarred. He would make the public offering on the Epiphany in +Westminster Abbey. He had done so ever since he was old enough to +totter up to the altar and hold the offerings; and his heart was +set on doing so once more. So a large and quiet cream-coloured +Flemish horse was brought for him, he was robed in purple and +ermine, with a coronal around the cap that covered his hair, fast +becoming white. His train in full array followed him, and the +streets were thronged, but there was an ominous lack of applause, +and even a few audible jeers at the monk dressed up like the +jackdaw in peacock's plumes, and comparisons with Edward, in sooth +a king worth looking at.</p> + +<p>Henry seemed not to heed or hear. His blue eyes looked upward, +his face was set in peaceful contemplation, his lips were moving, +and those who were near enough caught murmurs of 'Vidimus enim +stellam Ejus in Oriente et venimus adorare Eum.' Truly the one +might be a king to suit the kingdoms of this world, the other had a +soul near the Kingdom of Heaven.</p> + +<p>The Dean and choir received him at the west door, and with the +same rapt countenance he paced up to the sanctuary, and knelt +before the chair appropriated to him, while the grand Epiphany +Celebration was gone through, in all its glory and beauty of sound +and sight, and with the King kneeling with clasped hands, and a +radiant look of happiness almost transfiguring that worn face.</p> + +<p>When the offertory anthem was sung, he rose up, and advanced to +the altar. A salver of gold coins was presented to him, which he +took and solemnly laid on the altar, but paused for a moment, and +removed his crown with both hands, placing it likewise on the +altar, and kneeling for a moment ere he turned to take the vase +whence breathed the fragrant odour of frankincense; and presenting +this, and afterwards kneeling and bowing low with clasped hands, he +again took the salver in which the myrrh was laid. This again he +placed on the altar, and remained kneeling in intense devotion +through the remainder of the service, only looking up at the +'Sursum Corda,' when those near enough to see his countenance said +that they never knew before the full import of those words, nor how +the heart could be uplifted.</p> + +<p>It was the first time that Hal Clifford had ever joined in the +full ceremonial of the Church, or in such splendid accompaniment, +for though there had been the rightful ritual at St. Peter's in the +Tower, the space had been confined, and the clergy few, and the +whole, even on Christmas Day, had been more or less a training to +him to enter into what he now saw and heard. He had in these last +weeks gathered much of the meaning of all this from the King, who +perhaps never fully disentangled the full-grown youth from the boy +he had taught at Derwentdale, but who, perhaps for that very cause, +really suited better the strange mixture of ignorance, simplicity, +observation and aspiration of the shepherd lord.</p> + +<p>The King did not help more but less than he had done before in +Hal's researches and wonderings about natural objects; he had +forgotten the philosophies he had once read, and the supposed +circuits of moon, planets and stars only perplexed and worried his +brain. It was much more satisfactory to refer all to 'He hath made +them fast for ever and ever, He hath given them a law which shall +not be broken,' and he could not understand Hal's desire to find +out what that law was, and far less his calculations about the +tides. He had scarcely ever seen the sea, and as to its motions, +'Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther' was sufficient +explanation, and when Hal tried to show him the correspondence +between spring tides and full moons he either waved him away or +fell asleep.</p> + +<p>But on the spiritual side of his mind there was no torpor. He +loved to explain the sense of the prayers to his willing pupil, and +to tell him the Gospel story, dwelling on whatever could waken or +carry on the Christian life; and between the tiltyard and the +oratory Hal spent a strange life.</p> + +<p>That question which had occurred to him on the journey Hal +ventured to lay before his King--'Was it really and truly better +and more acceptable worship that came to breathe through him when +alone with God under the open vault of Heaven, with endless stars +above and beyond, or was the best that which was beautified and +guided by priests, with all that man's devices could lavish upon +its embellishment?' Such, though in more broken and hesitating +words, was the herd boy's difficulty, and Henry put his head back, +and after having once said, 'Adam had the one, God directed the +other,' he shut his eyes, and Hal feared he would put it aside as +he had with the moon and the tides, but after some delay, he leant +forward and said, 'My son, if man had always been innocent, that +worship as Adam and Eve had it might--nay, would--have sufficed +them. The more innocent man is, the better his heart rises. But sin +came into the world, and expiation was needed, not only here on +earth, but before the just God in Heaven above. Therefore doth He, +who hath once offered Himself in sacrifice for us, eternally +present His offering in Heaven before the Mercy-Seat, and we +endeavour as much as our poor feeble efforts can, to take part in +what He does above, and bring it home to our senses by all that can +represent to us the glories of Heaven.'</p> + +<p>There was much in this that went beyond Hal, who knitted his +brow, and would have asked further, but the King fell into a state +of contemplation, and noticed nothing, until presently he broke out +into a thanksgiving: 'Blessed be my Lord, who hath granted me once +more to follow in the steps of the kings of the East, though but as +in a dream, and lay my crown and my prayer before Him. Once more I +thank Thee, O my true King of kings, and Lord of lords.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, do not say once more!' exclaimed Hal. 'Again and again, I +trust, sir. It is no dream. It is real.'</p> + +<p>The King smiled and shook his head. 'It is all a dream to me,' +he said, 'the pageants and the whole. They will not last! Oh, no! +It is all but an empty show.'</p> + +<p>Hal looked up anxiously, and the King went on: 'Well do I +remember the day when, scarce able to walk, and weighed down by my +robes, I tottered up to the altar and was well pleased to make my +offering, and how my Lord of Warwick, who was then, took me in his +arms, and showed me my great father's figure on his grave, and told +me I was bound to be such a king as he! Alas! was it mine own error +that I so failed?--</p> + +<center>Henry born at Monmouth shall short live and gain all,<br> +Henry born at Windsor shall long live and lose all.'</center> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p>'Oh, sir, sir, do not speak of that old saw!'</p> + +<p>Still the King smiled. 'It has come true, my child. All is lost, +and it may be well for my soul that thus it should be, and that I +should go into the presence of my God freed from the load of what +was gained unjustly. I know not whether, if my hand had been +stronger, I should have striven to have borne up the burthen of +these two realms, but they never ought to have been mine, and if +the sins of the forefathers be visited on the children to the third +and fourth generation, no marvel that my brain and mine arm could +but sink under the weight. Would that I had yielded at once, and +spared the bloodshed and sacrilege! Miserere mei! My son was a +temptation. Oh, my poor boy! is he to be the heir to all that has +come on me? Have pity on him, good Lord!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, sir, your brave son will come home to comfort you, and +help you and make all well.'</p> + +<p>'I know not! I know not! I cannot believe that I shall see him +again, or that the visitation of these crimes is not still to come! +My son, my sweet son, I can only pray that he might give up his +soul sackless and freer of guilt than his father can be, when I +remember all that I ought to have hindered when I could think and +use my will! Now, now all is but confusion! God has taken away my +judgment, even as He did with my French grandsire, and I can only +let others act as they will, and pray for them and for myself.'</p> + +<p>He had never spoken at such length, nor so clearly, and whenever +he was required to come forward, he merely walked, rode, sat or +signed rolls as he was told to do, and continually made mistakes as +to the persons brought to him, generally calling them by their +fathers' names, if he recognised them at all, but still to his +nearest attendants, and especially to his beloved herd boy, he was +the same gentle, affectionate being, never so happy as at his +prayers, and sometimes speaking of holy things as one almost +inspired.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVIII. AT THE MINORESSES'</h3> + +<p>The bird that hath been limed in a bush,<br> +With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush.--SHAKESPEARE.</p> + +<p>One day, soon after that Twelfth Day, Hal accompanied Sir Giles +Musgrave to the shop or stall of Master Lorimer in Cheapside, a +wide space, open by day but closed by shutters at night, where all +sorts of gilded and emblazoned leather-works for man or horse were +displayed, and young 'prentices called, 'What d'ye lack?' 'Saddle +of the newest make?' 'Buff coat fit to keep out the spear of Black +Douglas himself?'</p> + +<p>''Tis Master Lorimer himself I lack,' said Musgrave with a +good-humoured smile, and the merchant appeared from a room in the +rear, something between a counting-house and a bedroom, where he +welcomed his former companions, and insisted on their tasting the +good sherris sack that had been sent with his last cargo of Spanish +leather.</p> + +<p>'I would I could send a flask to our good Prioress,' he said, +'to cheer her heart. I went to the Minoresses' as she bade me, to +settle some matters of account with her, and after some ado, Sister +Mabel came down to the parlour and told me the Prioress is very +sick with a tertian fever, and they misdoubt her recovering.'</p> + +<p>'And the young Lady of St. John.'</p> + +<p>'She is well enough, but sadly woeful as to the Mother Prioress, +and likewise as to what they hear of the Lord Redgrave. It is the +old man, not his son, a hard and stark old man, as I remember. He +would have bargained with me for the coats of the poor rogues slain +at St. Albans, and right evil was his face as he spoke thereof, he +being then for Queen Margaret; but then he went over to King +Edward, and glutted himself with slaughter at Towton, and here he +calls himself Red Rose again. Ill-luck to the poor young maid if +she falls to him!'</p> + +<p>It was terrible news for Hal, and Musgrave could not but gratify +him by riding by the Minories to endeavour to hear further tidings +of the Prioress.</p> + +<p>It was a grand building in fine pointed architecture, for the +Clares, though once poor, in imitation of St. Clara and St. +Francis, had been dispensed collectively from their vow of poverty, +and though singly incapable of holding property, had a considerable +accumulation en masse. They were themselves a strict Order, but +they often gave lodgings to ladies either in retreat or for any +cause detained near London.</p> + +<p>Sir Giles and Harry were only admitted to the outer court, +whence the portress went with their message of inquiry. They waited +a long time, and then the Greystone lay Sister who had been the +companion of their journey came back in company with the +portress.</p> + +<p>'Benedicite, dear gentles,' she said; 'oh, you are a sight for +sair een.'</p> + +<p>'And how fares the good Mother Prioress?' asked the Lord of +Peelholm.</p> + +<p>'Alack! she is woefully ill when the fever takes her, and she is +wasted away so that you would scarce know her; but this is one of +the better days, and if you, sir, will come into the parlour, she +will see you. She was arraying herself as I came down. She was +neither to have nor to hold when she heard you were there, and said +a north country face would be better to her than all the Sisters' +potions!'</p> + +<p>They were accordingly conducted through a graceful cloister, +overgrown with trailing ivy, to a bare room, with mullioned +windows, and frescoes on the Walls with the history of St. Francis +relieving beggars, preaching to the birds, &c., and with a +stout open work barrier cutting off half the room.</p> + +<p>Presently the Prioress tottered in, leaning heavily on the arms +of Sister Mabel and of Anne St. John, while her own lay Sister and +another placed a seat for her; but before she would sit down, she +would go up to the opening, and turning back her veil, put out a +hand to be grasped. 'Right glad am I to see you, good Sir Giles and +young Harry. Are you going back to the wholesome winds of our +moors?'</p> + +<p>'Not yet, holy Mother. It grieves me to see you faring so +ill.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! a breeze from the north would bring life back to my old +bones. Aye, Giles, this place has made an old woman of me.' And +truly her bright ruddy face was faded to a purple hue, and her +cheeks hung haggard and almost withered, but as her visitors +expressed their grief and sympathy, she went on in her own tone. +'And tell me somewhat of how things are going. How doth Richard of +Warwick comport himself to the King? Hath your King zest enough to +reign? Is my White Rose King still abroad in Burgundy?' And as Sir +Giles replied to each inquiry in turn, and told all he could of +political matters, she exclaimed: 'Ah! that is better than the +hearing whether the black hen hath laid an egg, or the skein of +yellow silk matches. I am weary, O! I am weary. Moreover, young +Hal, I know as matters are that could I see George Nevil face to +face I could do somewhat with him, and I laid my plans to obtain a +meeting, but therewith, what with vexation and weariness and lack +of air, comes this sickness, and I am laid aside and can do nought +but pray, and lay my plans to meet him some day in the fields, and +show him what a hawk can do, then shame him into listening to my +tale. But I must be a sound woman first! And maybe his brother +Warwick, being a sturdy gentleman who loves a brave man, will be +better to deal with. I am a sinful woman, and maybe my devotions +here will help me to be more worthy to be heard. Moreover, I hoped +you had done somewhat in thine own cause with thy King and Earl +Oxford,' she proceeded. 'Thou hast an esquire's coat; hast thou any +hope of thy lands?'</p> + +<p>'I must strive to earn them by deeds,' said Hal. 'And--'</p> + +<p>'Well spoken, lad! 'Tis the manly way; but methought you hadst +interest with this King of thine, or hath he only a royal memory +for services?'</p> + +<p>'He is good to me. Yea, most good,' began Harry.</p> + +<p>'Ay, he loves the boy,' said Sir Giles, 'no question about that; +but his memory for all that is about him hath failed, and there is +nothing for it save to wait for the Queen and the Prince, who will +bear the boy's father's services in mind.'</p> + +<p>'And wherefore tarries the French woman? This maid's father is +to come over with her. He is forming her English court, I trow; she +can have few beside from England.'</p> + +<p>'When he comes,' said Harry, with a look into Anne's eyes that +made them droop and her cheeks burn, 'then shall we put it to the +touch. Then shall I know whether I have mine own, and what is more +than mine own.'</p> + +<p>'Thine own,' whispered Anne. 'Oh, better live in the sheepfolds +with thee than with this Baron! I shudder at the thought.'</p> + +<p>This, and a few more such words were an aside, while the +Prioress continued her conversation with Sir Giles, and went on to +say that she was sure she should never recover till she was out of +these walls, and away from London smoke and London smells, and she +naughtily added in a whisper the weary talk of these good nuns, who +had never flown a hawk or chased a deer in their lives, and thought +Florimond a mere wolf, if not the evil one himself, and kept the +poor hound chained up like a malefactor in gyves, till she was fain +to send him away with Master Lorimer to keep for her.</p> + +<p>She would not go back to her Priory till Anne's fate was +settled, being in hopes of doing something yet for the poor wench; +but meantime she should die if she stayed there much longer, and +she meant to set forth on pilgrimage in good time, before she had +scandalised the good ladies enough to make them gossip to the dames +of St. Helen's, who would be only too glad to have a story against +the Benedictines. A ride over the Kentish downs was the only cure +for her or for Anne, who had been pining ever since they had been +mewed up here, though, looking across at the girl, whose head was +leaning against the bars, Sir Giles seemed to have brought a remedy +to judge by those cheeks.</p> + +<p>'Would that we could hope it would be an effectual and lasting +remedy,' sighed Sir Giles; 'but unless this poor King could be +roused to insist, or the Earl of Warwick fell out with his cousin, +I do not see much chance for the lad.'</p> + +<p>'Is it Warwick who is his chief foe or King Edward?' asked the +Prioress.</p> + +<p>'King Edward, doubtless, for his father's slaughter of young +Rutland at Wakefield.'</p> + +<p>'That bodes ill,' said the lady. 'By all I gather, King Edward +is a tiger when once roused, but at other times is like that same +tiger, purring and slow to move. But there's a bell that warns us +to vespers. They are mightily more strict here than ever we are at +Greystone. Ah! you won't tell tales, Sir Giles! You'll soon hear of +me at St. Thomas's shrine at Canterbury.'</p> + +<p>The knight took his leave. It was impossible not to like and +pity the Prioress, though the life among devout nuns was clearly +beyond her powers.</p> + +<p>The dreamy peaceful days of the Tower of London were stirred by +the arrival of the great Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as people +already called him. He took up his residence in his own mighty +establishment at Warwick House near St. Paul's; and the day after +his arrival, he came clanking over London Bridge with a great +following of knights and squires to pay his respects to King +Henry.</p> + +<p>Henry Clifford was not disposed to meet him, and only watched +from a window when the drawbridge was lowered, and the sturdy man, +with grizzled hair and marked, determined features, rode into the +gateway, where he was received by the Earl of Oxford.</p> + +<p>The interview was long, and when it was finished, the two Earls +made the round of the defences, and Oxford drew up his garrison on +the Tower Green to be inspected.</p> + +<p>When Warwick had taken his leave, Hal was summoned to the +Constable's hall. 'We must be jogging, my young master,' he said. +'There are rumours of King Edward making another attempt for his +crown, and my Lord of Warwick would have me go and watch the +eastern seaboard. And you had best go with me.'</p> + +<p>'The King--' began Hal.</p> + +<p>'You will come back to the King by-and-by if so be he misses +you, but he was more dazed than ever to-day, and perhaps it was +well, for Warwick brought with him Dick Nevil, who has got your +lands of Clifford, and might be tempted to put you out of the way +in one of the dungeons that lie so handy.'</p> + +<p>'No one save the King knows who I am,' said Hal, 'and he forgets +from day to day all save that I am the herd boy, and I think it +cheers him to have me with him. I will stay beside him even as a +varlet.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, my lord, that may not be. 'Tis true he loves thee, but he +will forget anon, and I may not suffer the risk. Too many know or +guess.'</p> + +<p>Harry Clifford repeated that he recked not of the risk when he +could serve and comfort his beloved King, and, indeed, his mind was +made up on the subject. He had taken measures for remaining as one +of the men-at-arms of the garrison; but King Henry himself +surprised him by saying, 'My young Lord of Clifford, fare thee +well. Thou goest forth to-morrow with the Constable of Oxford. Take +my blessing with thee, my child. Thou hast been granted to me to +make life very sweet to me of late, and I thank God for it, but the +time is come that thou must part from me.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, sir, never! None was ever so dear to me! For weal or woe I +will be with you! Suffer me to be your meanest varlet, and serve +you as none other can do.'</p> + +<p>Henry shook his head. 'It may not be, my child, let not thy +blood also be on my head! Go with Oxford and his men. Thou hast +learnt to draw sword and use lance. Thou wilt be serving me still +if again there be, which Heaven forefend, stricken fields in my +cause or my son's.'</p> + +<p>'Sir, if I must fight, let no less holy hand than thine lay +knighthood on my shoulder,' sobbed Hal, kneeling.</p> + +<p>Henry smiled. 'I have well-nigh forgotten the fashion. But if it +will please thee, my son, give me thy sword, Oxford. In the name of +God and St. George of England I dub thee knight. For the Church, +for the honour of God, for a good cause, fight. Arise, Sir Henry +Clifford!'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIX. A STRANGE EASTER EVE</h3> + +<p>And spare, O spare<br> +The meek usurper's holy head.--GRAY.</p> + +<p>Once more, at the close of morning service, while it was still +dark, did Harry Clifford, the new-made knight, kneel before King +Henry and feel his hand in blessing on his head. Then he went forth +to join Musgrave and the troop that the Earl of Oxford was leading +from the Tower to raise the counties of East Anglia and watch the +coast against a descent of King Edward from the Low Countries.</p> + +<p>As they passed the walls enclosing the Minories Convent, and Hal +gazed at it wistfully, the wide gateway was opened and out came a +party of black-hooded nuns, mounted on ponies and mules, evidently +waiting till Oxford's band had gone by. Harry drew Sir Giles's +attention, and they lingered, as they became certain that they +beheld the Prioress Selby of Greystone, hawk, hound and all, riding +forth, nearly smothered in her hood, and not so upright as of +old.</p> + +<p>'Ay, here I am!' she said, as he reined up and bowed his +greeting. 'Here I am on my pilgrimage! I got Father Ridley, the +Benedictine head, to order me forth. Methinks he was glad, being a +north countryman, to send me out before I either died on the Poor +Clares' hands, or gave them a fuller store of tales against us of +St. Bennet's! Not but that they are good women, too godly and +devout for a poor wild north country Selby like me, who cannot live +without air.</p> + +<center>O the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,<br> +They flourish best at home in the north countree.</center> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p>Flori, Flori, whither away? Ah! thou hast found thine old +friend. Birds of a feather. Eh? the young folk have foregathered +likewise. Watch! And thou, sir knight, whither are you away?'</p> + +<p>'On our way to Norfolk in case the Duke of York should show +himself on the coast. And yours, reverend Mother?'</p> + +<p>'To Canterbury first by easy journeys. We sleep to-night at the +Tabard, where we shall meet other pilgrims.'</p> + +<p>'Here, alack! our way severs from yours. Farewell, holy Mother, +may you find health on your pilgrimage.'</p> + +<p>'Every breath I take in is health,' said the Mother, who had +already manoeuvred an opening in her veil, and gasped to throw it +back as soon as she should attain an unfrequented place. 'There are +so many coming and going here that all the air is used up by their +greasy nostrils! Well! good luck, and God's blessing go with you, +and you, young Hal, I may say so far, whichever side ye be, but +still I hold that York has the right, and yours may be a saint, but +not a king.'</p> + +<p>Hal had meantime 'forgathered' as the Prioress said with Anne, +marching, in spite of his new honours, close to her stirrup, and +venturing to whisper to her that he was now her knight, and 'her +colours,' which he was to wear for her, were only a tiny scrap of +ribbon from her glove, which he cut off with his dagger, and +kissed, saying he should wear it next his heart, though he might +not do so openly.</p> + +<p>Their love was more implied than ever it had been before, and +she repeated her confidence that the kind Prioress would never +leave her till she had done her utmost for them both.</p> + +<p>'But you, my good stripling, I am ashamed to see you. I have +done nothing for you. I sent a humble message to ask to see the +Archbishop, but had no answer, and by-and-by, when I stirred again, +who should come to see me but young Bertram Selby, and "Kinswoman," +said he, "you had best keep quiet. The Archbishop hath asked me +whether rumours were sooth that yours was scarce a regular Priory." +The squire stood up for me and said, as became one of the family, +that an outlying cell, where there were ill neighbours of Scots, +thieves, borderers, and the like, could scarce look to be as trim +as a city nunnery, and that none had ever heard harm of Mother +Agnes. But then one of his priests took on him to whisper in his +ear, and he demanded whether we had not gone so far as to hide +traitors from justice, to which Bertram returned a stout denial as +well he might, though he thought it well to give me warning, but +for the present there was no use in attempting anything more. The +Archbishop was exceedingly busy with the work of his office and the +defence of London in case of Edward's threatened return; but he had +not yet come, and no one thought there was a reasonable doubt that +Warwick, the Kingmaker, would not be victorious, and he had carried +his son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, with him.' After the cause of +the Red Rose was won, there was no fear but that the services of +Clifford would be remembered. So Harry Clifford parted with Anne, +promising himself and her that there should be fresh Clifford +services, winning a recognition of the De Vesci inheritance if of +no more.</p> + +<p>The ladies went on their way in the track which Chaucer has made +memorable, laying their count to meet Queen Margaret and her son, +and win their ears beforehand, and wondering that they came not. +Kentish breezes soon revived the Prioress, and she went through +many strange devotions at the shrine of Becket, which, it might be +feared, did not improve her spiritual, so much as her bodily, +health, while Anne's chiefly resolved themselves into prayers that +Harry Clifford might be guarded and restored, and that she herself +might be saved from the dreaded Lord Redgrave.</p> + +<p>They did not set out on the return to London till they had +inhaled plenty of sea breezes by visiting the shrine of St. Mildred +in the isle of Thanet, and St. Eanswith at Folkestone, till Lent +had begun, and the first fresh tidings that they met were that +Edward had landed in Yorkshire, but his fleet had been dispersed by +storms, and the people did not rise to join him, so that he was +fain to proclaim that he only came to assert his right to his +father's inheritance of the Dukedom of York.</p> + +<p>At the Minoresses' Convent they found that a messenger had +arrived, bidding Anne go to meet her father at his castle in +Bedfordshire. He was coming over with the Queen whenever she could +obtain a convoy from King Louis of France. Lord Redgrave was with +him, and the marriage should take place as soon as they +arrived.</p> + +<p>'Never fear, child,' said the Prioress; 'many is the slip +between the cup and the lip.'</p> + +<p>Further tidings came that Edward had thrown off his first plea, +that he had passed Warwick's brother Montagu at Pontefract, and +that men from his own hereditary estates were flocking to his royal +banner. Warwick was calling up his men in all directions, and both +armies were advancing on London. Then it was known that 'false, +fleeting, perjured Clarence' had deserted his father-in-law, and +returned to his brother; and worthless as he individually was, it +boded ill for Lancaster, though still hope continued in the uniform +success of the Kingmaker. Warwick was about twenty miles in advance +of Edward, till that King actually passed him and reached the town +of Warwick itself. Still the Earl wrote to his brother that if he +could only hold out London for forty-eight hours all would be +well.</p> + +<p>Once more poor King Henry was set on horseback and paraded +through the streets. Brother Martin went out with the chaplain of +the Poor Clares to gaze upon him, and they came back declaring that +he was more than ever like the image carried in a procession, +seeming quite as helpless and indifferent, except, said Brother +Martin, when he passed a church, and then a heavenly look came over +his still features as he bowed his head; but none of the crowd who +came out to gaze cried 'Save King Harry!' or 'God bless him!'</p> + +<p>There were two or three thousand Yorkists in the various +sanctuaries of London, and they were preparing to rise in favour of +their King Edward, and only a few hundred were mustering in St. +Paul's Churchyard for the Red Rose.</p> + +<p>The Poor Clares were in much terror, though nunneries and +religious houses, and indeed non-combatants in general, were +usually respected by each side in these wars; but the Prioress of +Greystone was not sorry that the summons to her protegee called her +party off on the way to Bedfordshire, and they all set forward +together, intending to make Master Lorimer's household at Chipping +Barnet their first stage, as they had engaged to do.</p> + +<p>Their intention had been notified to Lorimer's people in his +London shop, who had sent on word to their master, and the good man +came out to meet them, full of surprise at the valour of the ladies +in attempting the journey. But they could not possibly go further. +King Edward was at St. Albans, and was on his way to London, and +the Earl of Warwick was coming up from Dunstable with the Earls of +Somerset and Oxford. For ladies, even of religious orders, to ride +on between the two hosts was manifestly impossible, and he and his +wife were delighted to entertain the Lady Prioress till the roads +should be safe.</p> + +<p>The Prioress was nothing loth. She always enjoyed the freedom of +a secular household, and she was glad to remain within hearing of +the last news in this great crisis of York and Lancaster.</p> + +<p>'I marvel if there will be a battle,' she said. 'Never have I +had the good luck to see or hear one.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! Mother, are you not afraid?' cried Sister Mabel.</p> + +<p>'Afraid! What should I be afraid of, silly maid? Do you think +the men-at-arms are wolves to snap you up?'</p> + +<p>'And,' murmured Anne, 'we shall know how it goes with my Lord of +Oxford's people.'</p> + +<p>These were the last days of Lent, and were carefully kept in the +matter of food by the household, but the religious observances were +much disturbed by the tidings that poured in. King Henry and +Archbishop Nevil had taken refuge in the house of Bishop Kemp of +London, Urswick the Recorder, with the consent of the Aldermen, had +opened the gates to Edward, and the Good Friday Services at Barnet, +the Psalms and prayers in the church, were disturbed by men-at-arms +galloping to and fro, and reports coming in continually.</p> + +<p>There could be no going out to gather flowers to deck the Church +the next day, for King Edward was on the London side, and Warwick +with his army had reached the low hills of Hadley, and their tents, +their banners, and the glint of their armour might be seen over the +heathy slope between them and the lanes and fields, surrounded by +hedges, that fenced in the valley of Barnet. The little town +itself, though lying between the two armies, remained unoccupied by +either party, and only men-at-arms came down into it, not as +plunderers, but to buy food.</p> + +<p>Warwick's cannon, however, thundered all night, a very awful +sound to such unaccustomed ears, but they were so directed that the +charges flew far away from Barnet, under a false impression as to +the situation of the Yorkist forces.</p> + +<p>Mistress Lorimer had heard them before, but accompanied every +report with a pious prayer; Sister Mabel screamed at each, then +joined in; the Prioress was greatly excited, and walked about with +Master Lorimer, now on the roof, trying to see, now at the gate, +trying to hear. Anne fancied it meant victory to Hal's party, but +knelt, tried to pray while she listened, and the dogs barked +incessantly. And that Hal must be in the army above the little town +they guessed, for in the evening Watch came floundering into the +courtyard, hungry and muddy, but full of affectionate recognition +of his old friends and the quarters he had learnt to know. +Florimond, who happened to be loose, had a romp with him in their +old fashion, and to the vexation and alarm of his mistress, they +both ran off together, and must have gone hunting on the heath, for +there was no response to her silver whistle.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XX. BARNET</h3> + +<p>A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day<br> +Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came<br> +A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew<br> +The mist aside.--TENNYSON.</p> + +<p>And Sir Henry Clifford? Still he was Hal of Derwentdale, for the +perilous usurper, Sir Richard Nevil, was known to be continually +with Warwick, and Musgrave was convinced that the concealment was +safest.</p> + +<p>The youth then remained with the Peelholm men, and became a good +deal more practised in warlike affairs, and accustomed to +campaigning, during the three months when Oxford was watching the +eastern coast. On this Easter night he lay down on the hill-side +with Watch beside him, his shepherd's plaid round him, his heart +rising as he thought himself near upon gaining fame and honour +wherewith to win his early love, and winning victory and safety for +his beloved King, or rather his hermit. For as his hermit did that +mild unearthly face always come before him. He could not think of +it wearing that golden crown, which seemed alien to it, but rather, +as he lay on his back, after his old habit looking up at the stars, +either he saw and recognised the Northern Crown, or his dazed and +sleepy fancy wove a radiant coronet of stars above that meek +countenance that he knew and loved so well; and as at intervals the +cannon boomed and wakened him, he looked on at the bright Northern +Cross and dreamily linked together the cross and crown.</p> + +<p>Easter Sunday morning came dawning, but no one looked to see the +sun dance, even if the morning had not been dull and grey, a thick +fog covering everything; but through it came a dull and heavy +sound, and the clang of armour. Even by their own force the radiant +star of the De Veres could hardly be seen on the banner, as the +Earl of Oxford rode up and down, putting his men in battle array. +Hal was on foot as an archer, meaning to deserve the spurs that he +had not yet worn. The hosts were close to one another, and at first +only the continual rain of arrows darkened the air; but as the sun +rose and the two armies saw one another, Oxford's star was to be +seen carried into the very midst of the opposing force under Lord +Hastings. On, on, with cries of victory, the knights rode, the +archers ran across the heath carrying all before them, never +doubting that the day was theirs, but not knowing where they were +till trumpets sounded, halt was called, and they were drawn up +together, as best they might, round their leading star. But as they +advanced, behold there was an unexpected shout of treason. Arrows +came thickly on them, men-at-arms bearing Warwick's ragged staff +came thundering headlong upon them. 'Treason, treason,' echoed on +all sides, and with that sound in his ears Harry Clifford was cut +down, and fell under a huge horse and man, and lay senseless under +a gorse-bush.</p> + +<p>He knew no more but that horses and men seemed for ever +trampling over him and treading him down, and then all was lost to +him--for how long he knew not, but for one second he was roused so +far as to hear a furious growling and barking of Watch, but with +dazed senses he thought it was over the sheep, tried to raise +himself, could not, thought himself dying, and sank back again.</p> + +<p>The next thing he knew was 'Here, Master Lorimer, you know this +gear better than I; unfasten this buff coat. There, he can breathe. +Drink this, my lad.'</p> + +<p>It was the Prioress's voice! He felt a jolt as of a waggon, and +opened his eyes. It was dark, but he knew he was under the tilt of +Lorimer's waggon, which was moving on. The Prioress was kneeling +over him on one side, Lorimer on the other, and his head was on a +soft lap--nay, a warm tear dropped on his face, a sweet though +stifled voice said, 'Is he truly better?'</p> + +<p>Then came sounds of 'hushing,' yet of reassurance; and when +there was a halt, and clearer consciousness began to revive, while +kind hands were busy about him, and a cordial was poured down his +throat, by the light of a lantern cautiously shown, Hal found +speech to say, as he felt a long soft tongue on his face, 'Watch, +Watch, is it thou, man?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, Watch it is,' said the Prioress. 'Well may you thank him! +It is to him you owe all, and to my good Florimond.'</p> + +<p>'But what--how--where am I?' asked Hal, trying to look round, +but feeling sharp thrills and shoots of pain at every motion.</p> + +<p>'Lie still till they bring their bandages, and I will tell you. +Gently, Nan, gently--thy sobs shake him!' But, as he managed to +hold and press Anne's hand, the Prioress went on, 'You are in good +Lorimer's warehouse. Safer thus, though it is too odorous, for the +men of York do not respect sanctuary in the hour of victory.'</p> + +<p>The word roused Hal further. 'The victory was ours!' he said. +'We had driven Hastings' banner off the field! Say, was there a cry +of treason?'</p> + +<p>'Even so, my son. So far as Master Lorimer understands, Lord +Oxford's banner of the beaming star was mistaken for the sun of +York, and the men of Warwick turned on you as you came back from +the chase, but all was utter confusion. No one knows who was +staunch and who not, and the fields and lanes are full of blood and +slaughtered men; and Edward's royal banner is set up on the market +cross, and trumpets were sounding round it. And here come Master +Lorimer and the goodwife to bind these wounds.'</p> + +<p>'But Sir Giles Musgrave?' still asked Hal.</p> + +<p>'Belike fled with Lord Oxford and his men, who all made off at +the cry of treason,' was the answer.</p> + +<p>Lorimer returned with his wife and various appliances, and +likewise with fresh tidings. There was no doubt that the brothers +Warwick and Montagu had been slain. They had been found--Warwick +under a hedge impeded by his heavy armour, and Montagu on the field +itself. Each body had been thrown over a horse, and shown at the +market cross; and they would be carried to London on the morrow. +'And so end,' said Lorimer, 'two brave and open-handed gentlemen as +ever lived, with whom I have had many friendly dealings.'</p> + +<p>One thing more Hal longed to hear--namely, how he had been +saved. He remembered that Watch had come back to him with Florimond +the evening before. They had probably been hunting together, and +the hound, who had always been very fond of him on the journey, had +accompanied Watch to his side before going back to his chain in +Barnet; but he had lost sight of them in the morning, and regretted +that he could not find Watch to provide for his safety. He knew, he +said, by the presence of Florimond, who must be in Barnet. And he +also had a dim recollection of being licked by Watch's tongue as he +lay, and likewise of hearing a furious barking, yelling and +growling, whether of one or both dogs he was not sure.</p> + +<p>It seemed that towards the evening, when the battle-cries had +grown fainter, and the sun was going down, Florimond had burst in +on his mistress, panting and blood-stained--but not with his own +blood, as was soon ascertained--and made vehement demonstrations by +which, as a true dog-lover, the Prioress perceived that he wanted +her to follow him. And Anne, who thought she saw a piece of Hal's +plaid caught in his collar, was 'neither to have nor to hold,' as +the Mother said, till Master Lorimer was found, and entreated to +follow the hound, ay, and to take them with him. He demurred much +as to their safety, but the Prioress declared that it was the part +of the religious to take care of the wounded, and not inconsistent +with her vow. See the Sisters of St. Katharine's of the Tower! And +though her interpretation was a broad one, and would have shocked +alike her own Abbess and her of the Minoresses, he was fain to +accept it in such a cause; but he commanded his waggoners to bring +the wain in the rear, both as an excuse, and a possible protection +for the ladies, and, it might be, a conveyance for the wounded.</p> + +<p>Florimond, who had sprung about, barked, fawned and made +entreating sounds all this time (longer in narrative than in +reality) led them, not through the central field of slaughter, but +somewhat to the left, among the heath--where, in fact, Oxford had +lost his way in the fog, and his own allies had charged him, but +had not followed far beyond the place of Hal's fall, discovering +the fatal error that spread confusion through their ranks, where +everyone distrusted his fellow leader.</p> + +<p>There, after a weary and perilous way, diversified by the horrid +shouts of plunderers of the slain, happily not near at hand, and +when Lorimer, but for the ladies, would have given up the quest as +useless, they were greeted by Watch's bark, and found him lying +with his fine head alert and ready over his senseless master.</p> + +<p>There was no doubt but that the two good creatures, both +powerful and formidable animals, must have saved him from the +spoilers, and then been sagacious enough to let the hound go down +to fetch assistance while the sheep-dog remained as his master's +faithful guardian. How honoured and caressed they were can hardly +be described, but all will know.</p> + +<p>The joy and gratitude of knowing of Anne's devotion, and the +pleasure of his good dog's faithfulness, helped Hal through the +painful process of having his hurts dealt with. Surgeons, even +barbers, were fully occupied, and Lorimer did not wish to have it +known that a Lancastrian was in his house. His wife and her old +nurse, as well as the Prioress, had some knowledge of simple +practical surgery; and Hal's disasters proved to be a severe cut on +the head, a slash on the shoulder, various bruises, and a broken +rib and thigh-bone, all which were within their capabilities, with +assistance from the master's stronger hand. No one could tell +whether the savage nature of the York brothers might not slake +their revenge in a general massacre of their antagonists; so +Lorimer caused Hal's bed to be made in the waggon in the warehouse, +where he was safe from detection until the victorious army should +have quitted Barnet.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXI. TEWKESBURY</h3> + +<p>The last shoot of that ancient tree<br> +Was budding fair as fair might be;<br> +Its buds they crop<br> +Its branches lop<br> +Then leave the sapless stem to die.--SOPHOCLES (Anstice).</p> + +<p>Harry Clifford lay fevered, and knowing little of what passed, +for several days, only murmuring sometimes of his flock at home, +sometimes of the royal hermit, and sometimes in distress of the +men-at-arms with whom he had been thrown, and whose habits and +language had plainly been a great shock to his innocent mind, +trained by the company of the sheep, and the hermit. He took the +Prioress's hand for Good-wife Dolly's, but he generally knew Anne, +who could soothe him better than any other.</p> + +<p>Master Lorimer was fully occupied by combatants who came to have +their equipments renewed or repaired, and he spent the days in his +shop in London, but rode home in the long evenings with his budget +of news. King Henry was in the Tower again, as passive as ever, but +on the very day of the battle of Barnet Queen Margaret had landed +at Weymouth with her son, and the war would be renewed in +Somersetshire.</p> + +<p>Search for prisoners being over at Barnet, Hal was removed to +the guest chamber of his hosts, where he lay in a huge square bed, +and in the better air began to recover, understand what was going +on round him, and be anxious for his friends, especially Sir Giles +Musgrave and Simon Bunce. The ladies still attended to him, as +Lorimer pronounced the journey to be absolutely unsafe, while so +many soldiers disbanded, or on their way to the Queen's army, were +roaming about, and the Burgundians brought by Edward might not be +respectful to an English Prioress. It was safer to wait for tidings +from Lord St. John, which were certain to come either from Bletso +or the Minoresses'.</p> + +<p>So May had begun when Lorimer hurried home with the tidings that +a messenger had come in haste from King Edward from the battlefield +of Tewkesbury, with the tidings of a complete victory. Prince +Edward, the fair and spirited hope of Lancaster, was slain, +Somerset and his friends had taken sanctuary in the Abbey Church, +Queen Margaret and the young wife of the prince in a small convent, +and beyond all had been flight and slaughter.</p> + +<p>For a few days no more was known, but then came fuller and +sadder tidings. The young prince had been brutally slain by his +cousins, Edward, George, and Richard, excited as they were to +tiger-like ferocity by the late revolt. The nobles in the +sanctuary, who had for one night been protected by a cord drawn in +front of them by a priest, had in the morning been dragged out and +beheaded. Among them was Anne's father, Lord St. John of Bletso, +and on the field the heralds had recognised the corpse of her +suitor, Lord Redgrave. To expect that Anne felt any acute sorrow +for a father whom she had never seen since she was six years old, +and who then had never seemed to care for her, was not +possible.</p> + +<p>And what was to be her fate? Her young brother, the heir of +Bletso, was in Flanders with his foreign mother, and she knew not +what might be her own claims through her own mother, though the +Prioress and Master Lorimer knew that it could be ascertained +through the seneschal at Bletso, if he had not perished with his +lord, or the agents at York through whom Anne's pension had been +paid. If she were an heiress, she would become a ward of the Crown, +a dreary prospect, for it meant to be disposed of to some unknown +minion of the Court.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXII. THE NUT-BROWN MAID</h3> + +<p>All my wellfare to trouble and care<br> +Should change if you were gone,<br> +For in my mynde, of all mankind<br> +I love but you alone.--NUT-BROWN MAID.</p> + +<p>Anne St. John, in her 'doul' or deep mourning, sat by Hal's +couch or daybed in tears, as he lay in the deep bay of the +mullioned window, and told him of the consultation that had been +held.</p> + +<p>'Ah, dear lady!' he said, 'now am I grieved that I have not mine +own to endow you with! Well would I remain the landless shepherd +were it not for you.'</p> + +<p>'Nay,' she said, looking up through her tears, 'and wherefore +should I not share your shepherd's lot?'</p> + +<p>'You! Nan, sweet Nan, tenderly nurtured in the convent while I +have ever lived as a rough hardy shepherd!'</p> + +<p>'And I have ever been a moorland maid,' she answered, 'bred to +no soft ways. I know not how to be the lady of a castle--I shall be +a much better herdsman's wife, like your good old Dolly, whom I +have always loved and envied.'</p> + +<p>'You never saw us snowed up in winter with all things scarce, +and hardly able to milk a goat.'</p> + +<p>'Have not we been snowed up at Greystone for five weeks at a +time?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, but with thick walls round and a stack of peat at hand,' +said Hal, his heart beating violently as more and more he felt that +the maiden did not speak in jest, but in full earnestness of +love.</p> + +<p>'Verily one would deem you took me for a fine dainty dame, such +as I saw at the Minoresses', shivering at the least gust of fresh +wind, and not daring to wet their satin shoes if there had been a +shower of rain in the cloisters. Were we not all stifled within the +walls, and never breathed till we were out of them? Nay, Hal, there +is none to come between us now. Take me to your moors and hills! I +will be your good housewife and shepherdess, and make you such a +home! And you will teach me of the stars and of the flowers and all +the holy lore of your good royal hermit.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! my hermit, my master, how fares it with him? Would that I +could go and see!'</p> + +<p>'Which do you love best--me or the hermit?' asked Anne archly, +lifting up her head, which was lying on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>'I love you, mine own love and sweetheart, with all my heart,' +he said, regaining her hand, 'but my King and master with my soul; +and oh! that I had any strength to give him! I love him as my +master in holy things, and as my true prince, and what would I not +give to know how it is with him and how he bears these dreadful +tidings!'</p> + +<p>He bent his head, choking with sobs as he spoke, and Anne wept +with him, her momentary jealousy subdued by the picture of the +lonely prisoner, his friends slain in his cause, and his only child +cut off in early prime; but she tried the comfort of hoping that +his Queen would be with him. Thus talking now of love, now of +grief, now of the future, now of the past, the Prioress found them, +and as she was inclined to blame Anne for letting her patient weep, +the maiden looked up to her and said, 'Dear Mother, we are +disputing--I want this same Hal to wed me so soon as he can stand +and walk. Then I would go home with him to Derwentside, and take +care of him.'</p> + +<p>The Prioress burst out laughing. 'Make porridge, milk the ewes +and spin their wool? Eh? Meet work for a baron's daughter!'</p> + +<p>'So I tell her,' said Harry. 'She knows not how hard the life +is.'</p> + +<p>'Do I not?' said Anne. 'Have I not spent a night and day, the +happiest my childhood knew, in your hut? Has it not been a dream of +joy ever since?'</p> + +<p>'Ay, a summer's dream!' said Hal. 'Tell her the folly of +it.'</p> + +<p>'I verily believe he does not want me. If he had not a lame leg, +I trow he would be trying to be mewed up with his King!'</p> + +<p>'It would be my duty,' murmured Hal, 'nor should I love thee the +less.'</p> + +<p>''Tis a duty beyond your reach,' said the Prioress. 'Master +Lorimer hears that none have access to King Henry, God help him! +and he sits as in a trance, as though he understood and took heed +of nothing--not even of this last sore battle.'</p> + +<p>'God aid him! Aye, and his converse is with Him,' said Hal, with +a gush of tears. 'He minds nought of earth, not even earthly +griefs.'</p> + +<p>'But we, we are of earth still, and have our years before us,' +said Anne, 'and I will not spend mine the dreary lady of a dull +castle. Either I will back and take my vows in your Priory, +reverend Mother, if Hal there disdains to have me.'</p> + +<p>'Nan, Nan! when you know that all I dread is to have you mewed +behind a wall of snow as thick as the walls of the Tower and +freezing to the bone!'</p> + +<p>'With you behind it telling all the tales. Mother, prithee prove +to him that I am not made of sugar like the Clares, but that I love +a fresh wind and the open moorlands.'</p> + +<p>The Prioress laughed and took her away, but in private the +maiden convinced her that the proposal, however wild, was in full +earnest, and not in utter ignorance of the way of life that was +preferred.</p> + +<p>Afterwards the good lady discussed it with the Lorimers. 'For my +part,' she said, 'I see nought to gainsay the children having their +way. They are equal in birth and breeding, and love one another +heartily, and the times may turn about to bring them to their own +proper station.'</p> + +<p>'But the hardness and the roughness of the life,' objected +Mistress Lorimer, 'for a dainty, convent-bred lady.'</p> + +<p>'My convent--God, forgive me!--is not like the Poor Clares. We +knew there what cold and hunger mean, as well as what free air and +mountains are. Moreover, though the maid thinks not of it, I do not +believe the life will be so bare and comfortless. The lad's mother +hath not let him want, and there is a heritage through the Vescis +that must come to him, even if he never can claim the lands of +Clifford.'</p> + +<p>'And now that all Lancaster is gone, King Edward may be less +vindictive against the Red Rose,' said Lorimer.</p> + +<p>'There must be a dowry secured to the maid,' said the Prioress. +'Let them only lie quiet for a time till the remains of the late +tempest have blown over, and all will be well with them. Ay, and +Master Lorimer, the Lady Threlkeld, as well as myself, will fully +acquit ourselves of the heavy charges you have been put to for your +hospitality to us.'</p> + +<p>Master Lorimer disclaimed all save his delight in the honour +paid to his poor house, and appealed to his wife, who seconded him +courteously, though perhaps the expenses of a wounded knight, three +nuns, a noble damsel and their horses, were felt by her enough to +make the promise gratifying.</p> + +<p>While the elders talked, a horseman was heard in the court, +asking whether the young demoiselle of Bletso were lodged there. It +was the seneschal Wenlock, who had come with what might be called +the official report of his lord's death, and to consider of the +disposal of the young lady, being glad to find the Prioress of +Greystone, to whom she had originally been committed by her +father.</p> + +<p>Before summoning her, he explained to the Prioress that a small +estate which had belonged to her mother devolved upon her. The +proceeds of the property were not large, but they had been +sufficient to keep her at the convent, on the moderate charges of +the time. Anne was only eighteen, and at no time of their lives +were women, even widows, reckoned able to dispose of themselves. +She would naturally become a ward of the Crown, and Lord Redgrave +having been killed, the seneschal was about to go and inform King +Edward of the situation.</p> + +<p>'But,' said the Prioress, 'suppose you found her already +betrothed to a gentleman of equal birth, and with claims to an even +greater inheritance? Would you not be silent till the match was +concluded, and the King had no chance of breaking it?'</p> + +<p>'If it were well for the maid's honour and fortune,' said the +seneschal. 'If you, reverend Mother, have found a fair marriage for +her, it might be better to let well alone.'</p> + +<p>Then the Prioress set forth the situation and claims of young +Clifford, and the certainty, that even if it were more prudent not +to advance them at present, yet the ruin of the house of Nevil +removed one great barrier, and at least the Vesci inheritance held +by his mother must come to him, and she was the more likely to make +a portion over to him when she found that he had married nobly.</p> + +<p>The seneschal acquiesced, even though the Prioress confessed +that the betrothal had not actually taken place. In fact he was +relieved that the maiden, whom he had known as a fair child, should +be off his hands, and secured from the greed of some Yorkist +partisan needing a reward.</p> + +<p>When Anne, her dark eyes and hair shaded by her mourning veil, +came down, and had heard his greeting, with such details of her +father's death and the state of the family as he could give her, +she rose and said: 'Sir, there have been passages between Sir Harry +Clifford and myself, and I would wed none other than him.'</p> + +<p>Nor did the seneschal gainsay her.</p> + +<p>All that he desired was that what was decided upon should be +done quickly, before heralds or lawyers brought to the knowledge of +the Woodvilles that there was any sort of prize to be had in the +damsel of St. John, and he went off, early the next morning, back +to Bletso, that he might seem to know nothing of the matter.</p> + +<p>The Prioress laughed at men being so much more afraid than +women. She was willing to bear all the consequences, but then the +Plantagenets were not in the habit of treating ladies as traitors. +However, all agreed that it would be wiser to be out of reach of +London as soon as possible, and Master Lorimer, who had become +deeply interested in this romance of true love, arranged to send +one of his wains to York, in which the bride and bridegroom might +travel unsuspected, until the latter should be able to ride and all +were out of reach of pursuit. The Prioress would go thus far with +them, 'And then! And then,' she said sighing, 'I shall have to dree +my penance for all my friskings!'</p> + +<p>'But, oh, what kindly friskings!' cried Anne, throwing herself +into those tender arms.</p> + +<p>'Little they will reck of kindness out of rule,' sighed the +Prioress. 'If only they will send me back to Greystone, then shall +I hear of thee, and thou hadst better take Florimond, poor hound, +or the Sisters at York may put him to penance too!'</p> + +<p>Henry Clifford was able to walk again, though still lame, when, +in the early morning of Ascension Day, he and Anne St. John were +married in the hall of Master Lorimer's house by a trusty priest of +Barnet, and in the afternoon, when the thanksgiving worship at the +church had been gone through, they started in the waggon for the +first stage of the journey, to be overtaken at the halting-place by +the Prioress and Master Lorimer, who had had to ride into London to +finish some business.</p> + +<p>And he brought tidings that rendered that wedding-day one of +mournful, if peaceful, remembrances.</p> + +<p>For he had seen, borne from the Tower, along Cheapside, the bier +on which lay the body of King Henry, his hands clasped on his +breast, his white face upturned with that heavenly expression which +Hal knew so well, enhanced into perfect peace, every toil, every +grief at an end.</p> + +<p>Whether blood dropped as the procession moved along, Lorimer +could not certainly tell. Whether so it was, or whoever shed it, +there was no marring the absolute rest and joy that had crowned the +'meek usurper's holy head,' after his dreary half-century of +suffering under the retribution of the ancestral sins of two lines +of forefathers. All had been undergone in a deep and holy trust and +faith such as could render even his hereditary insanity an actual +shield from the poignancy of grief.</p> + +<p>Tears were shed, not bitter nor vengeful. Such thoughts would +have seemed out of place with the memory of the gentle countenance +of love, good-will and peace, and as Harry and Anne joined in the +service that the Prioress had requested to have in the early +daylight before starting, Hal felt that to the hermit saint of his +boyhood he verily owed his own self.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIII. BROUGHAM CASTLE</h3> + +<p>And now am I an Earlis son,<br> +And not a banished man.--NUT-BROWN MAID.</p> + +<p>That journey northward in the long summer days was a honeymoon +to the young couple. The Prioress left them as much to themselves +as possible, trying to rejoice fully in their gladness, and not to +think what might have been hers but for that vow of her parents, +keeping her hours diligently in preparation for the stricter rule +awaiting her.</p> + +<p>When they parted she sent Florimond with them, to be restored if +she were allowed to return to Greystone, and Anne parted with her +with many tears as the truest mother and friend she had ever +known.</p> + +<p>By this time Harry was able to ride, and the two, with a couple +of men-at-arms hired as escort, made their way over the moors, +Harry's head throbbing with gladness, as, with a shout of joy, he +hailed his own mountain-heads, Helvellyn and Saddleback, in all +their purple cloud-like majesty.</p> + +<p>They agreed first to go to Dolly's homestead, drawn as much by +affection as by prudence. Delight it was to Hal to point out the +rocks and bushes of his home; but when he came in sight of Piers +and the sheep, the dumb boy broke out into a cry of terror, and +rushed away headlong, nor did he turn till he felt Watch's very +substantial paws bounding on him in ecstasy.</p> + +<p>Watch was indeed a forerunner, for Dolly and her husband could +scarcely be induced by his solid presence and caresses to come out +and see for themselves that the tall knight and lady were no +ghostly shades, nor bewildered travellers, but that this was their +own nursling Hal, whom Simon Bunce had reported to be lying dead +under a gorse-bush at Barnet, and further that the lovely brunette +lady was the little lost child whom Dolly had mothered for a +night.</p> + +<p>While the happy goodwife was regaling them with the best she had +to offer, Hob set forth to announce their arrival at Threlkeld, +being not certain what the cautious Sir Lancelot would deem +advisable, since the Lancaster race had perished, and York was in +the ascendant.</p> + +<p>There was a long time to wait, but finally Sir Lancelot himself +came riding through the wood, no longer afraid to welcome his +stepson at the castle, and the more willing since the bride newly +arrived was no maiden of low degree, but a damsel of equal birth +and with unquestioned rights.</p> + +<p>So all was well, and the lady no longer had to embrace her son +in fear and trembling, but to see him a handsome and thoughtful +young man, well able to take his place in her halls.</p> + +<p>Since he had been actually in arms against King Edward it was +not thought safe to assert his claims to his father's domains, but +the lady gave up to him a portion of her own inheritance from the +Vescis, where he and Anne were able to live in Barden Tower in +Yorkshire, not far from Bolton Abbey. So Hal's shepherd days were +over, though he still loved country habits and ways. Hob came to be +once more his attendant, Dolly was Anne's bower-woman, and Simon +Bunce Sir Harry's squire, though he never ceased blaming himself +for having left his master, dead as he thought, when even a poor +hound was more trusty.</p> + +<p>Florimond was restored to the Prioress, who was reinstated at +Greystone, a graver woman than before she had set forth, the better +for having watched deeper devotion at the Minoresses', and still +more for the terrible realities of the battle of Barnet. At Bolton +Abbey Harry found monks who encouraged his craving for information +on natural science, and could carry him on much farther in these +researches than his hermit, though he always maintained that the +royal anchorite and prisoner saw farther into heavenly things than +any other whom he had known, and that his soul and insight rose the +higher with his outward troubles and bodily decay.</p> + +<p>So peacefully went the world with them till Henry was +one-and-thirty, and then the tidings of Bosworth Field came north. +The great tragedy of Plantagenet was complete, and the ambitious +and blood-stained house of York, who had avenged the usurpation of +Henry of Lancaster, had perished, chiefly by the hands of each +other, and the distantly related descendant of John of Gaunt, Henry +Tudor, triumphed.</p> + +<p>The Threlkelds were not slow to recollect that it was time for +the Cliffords to show their heads; moreover, that the St. Johns of +Bletso were related to the Tudors. Though now an aged woman, she +descended from her hills, called upon her son and his wife with +their little nine-year-old son to come with her, and pay homage to +the new sovereign in their own names, and rode with them to +Westminster.</p> + +<p>There a very different monarch from the saint of Harry's memory +received and favoured him. The lands of Westmoreland were granted +to him as his right, and on their return, Master Lorimer coming by +special invitation, the family were welcomed at Brougham Castle, +the cradle of their race, where Harry Clifford, no longer an +outlaw, began the career thus described:</p> + +<p> </p> + +<center>Love had he found in huts where poor men lie,<br> +His daily teachers had been woods and rills,<br> +The silence that is in the starry sky,<br> +The sleep that is among the lonely hills.<br> +<br> + + +<p>In him the savage virtue of the race,<br> +Revenge, and all ferocious thoughts were dead,<br> +Nor did he change, but kept in lofty place<br> +The wisdom that adversity had bred.</p> + +<p>Glad were the vales, and every cottage hearth,<br> +The Shepherd Lord was honoured more and more,<br> +And ages after he was laid in earth<br> +The Good Lord Clifford was the name he bore.</p> + +<h3>FINIS</h3> +</center> + +<p> </p> + +<p>The End of this Project Gutenberg Ebook of The Herd Boy and His +Hermit by Charlotte M Yonge.</p> + +<pre> + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HERD BOY AND HIS HERMIT *** + +This file should be named hrdbh10h.htm or hrdbh10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, hrdbh11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, hrdbh10ah.htm + +This Project Gutenberg Etext of The Herdboy and His Hermit was prepared +by Sandra Laythorpe, laythorpe@tiscali.co.uk. +A web page for Charlotte M Yonge may be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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