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diff --git a/old/65950-h/65950-h.htm b/old/65950-h/65950-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index ac306b9..0000000 --- a/old/65950-h/65950-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10107 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - Deidre by James Stephens—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -.center { text-align: center;} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.hanging2 {padding-left: 2em; - text-indent: -2em; - } - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} -table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } -table.autotable { padding: 2px; } - -.tdl {text-align: left; - font-variant: small-caps;} -.tdlc {text-align: left; - text-indent: 1em; - font-variant: small-caps;} - -.pagenum { /* comment the next line for visible page numbers */ - visibility: hidden; - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ - -img { - max-width: 100%; - height: auto; -} -img.w100 {width: 100%;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - -/* Footnotes */ - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} -/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ -/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -/* Poetry indents */ -.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} - -/* Illustration classes */ -.illowp100 {width: 100%;} -.illowe6 {width: 6em;} - </style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Deirdre, by James Stephens</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Deirdre</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: James Stephens</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 29, 2021 [eBook #65950]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: MWS, SF2001, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEIRDRE ***</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - <div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_cover" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" /> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">AN TÁIN BÓ CÚALGNE</p> -<h1>DEIRDRE</h1> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter illowe6" id="i_colophon"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_colophon.jpg" alt="Publisher’s Logo" /> -</div> - -<p class="center">MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="smcap">Limited</span><br /> -<small>LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA · MADRAS <br /> -MELBOURNE</small></p> - -<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -<small>NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br /> -DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO</small></p> - -<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span><br /> -<small>TORONTO</small> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>DEIRDRE</h2> - -<p class="center">BY -JAMES STEPHENS</p> - -<p class="center">MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED<br /> -ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON<br /> -1923 -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT</p> - -<p class="center">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">Do chum glóire Dé agus onóra na h-Eireann.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> -<h2>Table of Contents</h2> -<table class="autotable" summary="Table of Contents"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#BOOK_I">Book I</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_I">Chapter I</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_II">Chapter II</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_III">Chapter III</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_IV">Chapter IV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_V">Chapter V</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_VI">Chapter VI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_VII">Chapter VII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_VIII">Chapter VIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_IX">Chapter IX</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_X">Chapter X</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XI">Chapter XI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XII">Chapter XII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XIII">Chapter XIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XIV">Chapter XIV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XV">Chapter XV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XVI">Chapter XVI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XVII">Chapter XVII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XVIII">Chapter XVIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XIX">Chapter XIX</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XX">Chapter XX</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XXI">Chapter XXI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XXII">Chapter XXII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I_XXIII">Chapter XXIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#BOOK_II">Book II</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_I">Chapter I</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_II">Chapter II</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_III">Chapter III</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_IV">Chapter IV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_V">Chapter V</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VI">Chapter VI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VII">Chapter VII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_VIII">Chapter VIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_IX">Chapter IX</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_X">Chapter X</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XI">Chapter XI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XII">Chapter XII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XIII">Chapter XIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XIV">Chapter XIV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XV">Chapter XV</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVI">Chapter XVI</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVII">Chapter XVII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II_XVIII">Chapter XVIII</a></td> - </tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#BY_THE_SAME_AUTHOR">By the Same Author</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_I">BOOK I</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_I">CHAPTER I</h3> -</div> - -<p>Once on a time Conachúr mac Nessa<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> was -on a journey, and had to pass the night at -the house of Felimid mac Dall, his storyteller. -He was annoyed because his wife, -Maeve, had not come with him, but Maeve -had the knack of annoying him more than -any one else was able to; so that when he -thought of her his mind went intriguing and -adventuring, for he was always trying to get -the better of her, and was seldom without -the feeling that she was getting or had just -got the best of him.</p> - -<p>For this reason he was irritable and could -not look at any one with benevolence except -Fergus mac Roy. But he could not look -otherwise than benevolently on Fergus.</p> - -<p>Meantime, night was at hand, and one -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> -must sleep, and it is vexatious to sleep -alone.</p> - -<p>He clapped his hands, and said to the -attendant who appeared:</p> - -<p>“Is Felimid mac Dall married?”</p> - -<p>“He is, master.”</p> - -<p>“Give my compliments to Felimid,” said -Conachúr, “and tell him that his wife is to -sleep with me to-night.”</p> - -<p>The attendant vanished and the king was -left alone. That is, he was left to his -thoughts, for when he was among those he -was where other men might not care to -follow him. In fact, the large room wherein -he sat was almost uncomfortably filled with -men: but they kept respectfully apart, playing -chess, and speaking in low voices to one -another.</p> - -<p>The attendant returned.</p> - -<p>“A Rí Uasal!” said he humbly.</p> - -<p>“Well?” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“The master of the house regrets that -his wife cannot sleep with you to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Here is something new,” said the king -sternly.</p> - -<p>“His wife is at this moment in childbed,” -murmured the discreet servant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> - -<p>“These women are always troublesome,” -said the king with jovial anger. “She -troubles me by withdrawing herself from my -comfort, and she troubles my poor Felimid by -giving him a child he could well do without.”</p> - -<p>He looked moodily on his gentlemen. -There was Cathfa,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> the famous poet, and -Conall his grandson, to be known later -as Cearnach (the victorious), but already -notable; bitter-tongued Bricriu, who was -famous or infamous according to one’s -judgement; Uisneac, who had married one -of Cathfa’s three daughters, and for whose -little son Naoise the queens of Ireland would -weep so long as Ireland had a memory; and -there was Fergus mac Roy.</p> - -<p>Conachúr’s eye travelled loweringly from -one to the other of these men until it rested -on Fergus, and on him it rested lovingly, -benevolently.</p> - -<p>He looked loweringly on the others -because they did not stand in any particular -relation to him at the moment. He looked -lovingly and mildly on Fergus because he -hated Fergus and had wronged him so -bitterly that he must wrong him yet more in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -justification. His wife and Fergus mac Roy -were often in his thoughts, so he looked very -lovingly on them and speculated a great deal -about their future.</p> - -<p>But this night the young king was seriously -out of humour, not only because of his -wife’s absence, but because of many things -that had happened. Three comets in succession -had flashed across the sky as they drove -to the Story-teller’s house. His leading -chariot-horse had trod in a rabbit-hole and -its leg was cracked at the fetlock; and one -of his attendants had been taken with mortal -vomitings, and it did not seem that he would -finish until he had emptied his body of his -soul.</p> - -<p>Conachúr called to his father:</p> - -<p>“You are a poet, and should be able to -tell us the meaning of these various omens.”</p> - -<p>“It is not hard to tell,” said the calm -magician.</p> - -<p>“Then tell it,” quoth the king testily.</p> - -<p>As he spoke a thin wail came from somewhere -in the building, and the men present -turned an ear to that little sound, and then -a questioning or humorous eye on each -other.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> - -<p>“You hear,” said the poet. “A child -has just been born in this house. She will -bring evil to Ireland, and she will work -destruction in Ulster as a ferret works destruction -in a rabbit’s burrow.”</p> - -<p>Cathfa then returned to his chess, leaving -the company staring.</p> - -<p>“You have the gift of comfortable -prophecy,” said the king.</p> - -<p>“Put an end to the prophecy by putting -an end to the child,” Bricriu advised, “and -then let us see how the gods manage their -affairs.”</p> - -<p>“Bricriu, my soul,” said the king, “you -like troubling the waters, but to-night you -seem to be afflicted with sense. Bring the -creature to me.”</p> - -<p>They carried the little morsel to him and -she was laid across his knees.</p> - -<p>“So you are to destroy my kingdom and -bring evil to mighty Ireland?”</p> - -<p>The babe reached with a tiny claw and -gripped one finger of the king.</p> - -<p>“See,” he laughed, “she places herself -under my protection,” and he moved his -finger to and fro, but the child held fast -to it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span></p> - -<p>“Ulster is under your protection,” -growled Bricriu.</p> - -<p>The king, who did not like other men’s -advice, looked at him.</p> - -<p>“It is not soldierly, nor the act of a -prince to evade fate,” said he who was to be -known afterwards as the wide-eyed, majestic -monarch. “Therefore, all that can happen -will happen, and we shall bear all that is to -be borne.”</p> - -<p>Then he gave the child back to its -trembling nurse.</p> - -<p>Cathfa looked up from the chess-board.</p> - -<p>“She is to be called the ‘Troubler,’” -said he.</p> - -<p>And from that day “Deirdre” was her -name.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> -Conachúr = pron. Kun-a-hoor; mac = pron. mock.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Cathfa = pron. Kaffa.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_II">CHAPTER II</h3> -</div> - -<p>When Echaid Yellow-Heel was King of -Ulster, he had a daughter called Assa. She -was educated apart from her father’s residence -by twelve tutors, and none of these had -ever trained a pupil who was so docile, so -teachable, or so affectionate. She loved knowledge, -and so she loved learned men and -would be always in their company.</p> - -<p>One day she went on a visit to her father’s -court, and when she returned to her lessons -she found that her twelve tutors had been -murdered, and there was nothing to tell who -had killed them.</p> - -<p>From that moment her nature changed. -She put on the dress of a female warrior, -gathered a company about her, and went -marauding and plundering in every direction. -She was no longer called Assa (the Gentle), -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -but Nessa, or the Ungentle, was her name -thenceforth.</p> - -<p>Cathfa, the son of Ross, was then a young, -powerful, and ambitious man, learning magic, -or practising what he had learned, and it -was he had slain the tutors, but Nessa did -not know this. It may be that Cathfa had -visited the tutors during her absence, and, -for young magicians do not love argument, -he may have killed them after a dispute.</p> - -<p>Once, on one of her marauding expeditions, -she went questing in a wilderness. At -a distance there was a spring of clear water, -and, while her people were preparing food, -Nessa went to this spring to bathe. She was -in the water when Cathfa passed, for he also -was in that wilderness, and when he saw the -girl’s body he loved her, for she was young -and lovely. He approached, and placed -himself between the girl and her dress and -weapons, and he held a sword over her head.</p> - -<p>“Spare me,” she pleaded.</p> - -<p>“If you will be my wife I will spare you,” -said Cathfa.</p> - -<p>She agreed to that, for no other course -was open to her, and they rejoined her party.</p> - -<p>They were married, and Nessa’s father -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -gave them a bride-gift of land, called afterwards -Rath Cathfa, in the country of the -Picts in Crí Ross. In time a son was born -to those two, namely, Conachúr mac Nessa, -for it was by his mother’s name he was -known, and it was for him that Cathfa -made the poem beginning:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Welcome to the stranger that has come here.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>There are some who say, however, that -Fachtna the Mighty had been the leman of -Nessa, and that it was he was the father -of Conachúr instead of Cathfa. If so, as -Fachtna was the son of Maga, who was -daughter of Anger mac an Og of the Brugh, -then Conachúr had the blood of a god in -his veins as well as the blood of a mortal, -and much of his great success and of his -terrible failure can be accounted for; for -the gods are unlucky in love, so, too, the son -of a wise mother is unlucky in love, as is -also the man who is fortunate in war.</p> - -<p>After some time Nessa left her husband, -taking her son with her. It may be that she -had discovered he was the murderer of her -tutors. It may have been that she did not -love him; it may even be that she did not -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> -like being wife to a magician, or he may -have grown tired of her. But she never -returned to him again.</p> - -<p>But when Conachúr was a youth Nessa -was still the most beautiful woman of Ulster. -The then King of Ulster, Fachtna the -Mighty, died, and his young half-brother, -Fergus, the son of Roy, wife of Ross the -Red, son of Rury, came to the throne. -Fergus was then eighteen years of age and -Conachúr was sixteen, and, like Conachúr, -Fergus also was known by his mother’s -name instead of his father’s.</p> - -<p>Nessa came to the Ulster court with her -son, and while there Fergus fell madly in -love with her, and she could in no way -avoid the importunities of that monstrous -youth, for Fergus was gigantic in bulk and -stature.</p> - -<p>“I shall marry you on one condition,” said -Nessa.</p> - -<p>“I agree to it beforehand,” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“You know the great love I bear my son, -Conachúr?”</p> - -<p>“I also love him,” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“His descent is kingly,” she said, “and -I desire that he should be a king if it were -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -only for a year. If you resign the crown to -him during our first year of marriage I will -marry you.”</p> - -<p>“I will do that,” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>That was done, and for a year Fergus and -Nessa lived happily together.</p> - -<p>But Nessa was not entirely absorbed in -love. She was still thinking of her son. -During that year she arranged a marriage -for Conachúr with Clothru, the daughter of -the High King of Ireland, and she spent a -vast treasure in working among the nobles -and important people of Ulster, so that they -became of her son’s party as against the -party of her husband.</p> - -<p>Indeed, her young husband had no party, -for he was the least suspicious man living in -the world, and, except in matters of honour -or war, he would make no plans and take no -trouble. Nor was Conachúr idle during his -year of kingship. His ability was marvellous, -and his energy as wonderful. Feuds -that seemed to be endless were settled by -him. Foreign affairs that threatened or -hung offered him no trouble. But it was -from the Judgement Seat that his fame -spread most quickly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span></p> - -<p>“A fool,” said the proverb, “can give -judgement, but who will give us justice?” -No question was so tangled but that swift -mind could pierce it; no matter was too -ponderous to be weighed by him, or too -light to escape his attention. He knew all, -he attended to all; everything he touched -was bettered, and men said that until that -year Ulster had never known prosperity, or -peace, or justice, but only the imitation of -these. Conachúr was every man’s friend, -and in a short time every man was his.</p> - -<p>Fergus returned to a court that had forgotten -him, or that was so blinded by the -new prodigy that they saw nothing when -they looked elsewhere. It was held that -Fergus had actually resigned the kingship, -or that he had given it as a dowry to his -wife; and, although the young lord may -have been dismayed, the representation of -the nobles, and, in particular, the wit and -cajolery of his wife, arranged that matter, -so that he made no effort to regain his -kingdom, and in a short time he was -the most devoted admirer of Conachúr in -the realm.</p> - -<p>It is possible that Nessa left him then, or -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -that she died, but we do not hear of her -again.</p> - -<p>Conachúr’s married life may have been -happy, but it was short. At the end of -about eight months Clothru returned to -Connacht on a visit to the High King, her -father. We do not know what happened, -but a dispute arose between Clothru and her -youngest sister, Maeve.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Maeve struck a -blow that killed Clothru, and Conachúr’s first -child was born in its mother’s death agonies.</p> - -<p>When this news came to Ulster Conachúr -set out to demand reparation or vengeance, -but when he beheld Maeve his ideas underwent -a horrible change. He had never seen -anything like this queenly creature. He -had not imagined that there could be in the -world a girl so wonderful as she, for she -was brave and able and of a marvellous -loveliness. Conachúr’s hard mind would -not flinch when once his lusts were aroused. -His vengeance and his desire made common -cause. He married Maeve against her wish, -and without her consent, and he bore her -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> -back with him to Ulster, a queen, a captive, -and, notwithstanding her crime, a deeply -wronged woman.</p> - -<p>Fergus mac Roy and Maeve, these were -his victims, and from them there was to -arise a story which would seem to the king -as unending as time itself. Those two, and -Deirdre!</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> -It was this Maeve, anciently spelled “Madb,” who -became afterwards “Mab” the Queen of the Fairies of -Spenser and Shakespeare.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_III">CHAPTER III</h3> -</div> - -<p>Deirdre grew up in a place apart at Emania. -She saw no people of any kind, except Lavarcham, -the king’s “conversation-woman,” -and her women servants; for always about -the castle where she lived there was a guard -of the oldest and ugliest swordsmen that -were in Ulster. Their duty was to let -nobody pass in or out of the castle grounds; -for it was the king’s intention to outwit fate -as he had outwitted all else that had moved -in his path.</p> - -<p>Thus she grew in gentleness and peace, -hearing no voice less sweet than the voice of -the birds that sang in the sunshine, or the -friendly calling of the wind she played with; -seeing nothing more uncomely than the -gracious outline of far hills, the many-coloured -sky that fled and was never gone, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> -the creatures that lived unmolested in the -trees about the castle, and the wild deer -that grew tame in nearby brakes. All that -she knew was friendly to her and naught -was rough. All that she drew nigh to -stood for her approach. Naught fled from -her, and she did not flee from anything.</p> - -<p>Watching her, as she stood or sat or went, -the wise Lavarcham used to lose her senses, -for all that was beautiful was here gathered -into one form, as in one true ray of the sun -is all that is lovely of the sun. The running -wind, and the wild creatures of the wood; -the folk from the Shí, the Bochanachs and -Bananocks, and the aerial beings that are -not seen, might have stayed to look at -Deirdre, but had they stayed they could not -have gone again, for they would have become -eyes only, and they would have perished in -beauty, gazing on it.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham was a wise woman. She -could not have occupied and continued to -hold her position in Conachúr’s household -had she not been wise. She was known -as the king’s “conversation-woman,” and -she could indicate an unpleasant truth as -delicately as a poet can express the dimple -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> -in a lady’s chin. But her real occupation, -masked by the courteous word, was that of -household spy. She went to and fro in the -vast palaces at Emania, and nothing passed -there, whether among the nobles or the -servants, that she was not privy to, or which -the king was not thereafter acquainted with. -She could adapt herself to any situation and -to every society; and if her chatter with the -kitchen-maids was jovial and in key, her -conversation with a young princess or an old -bard was not less balanced and elucidatory.</p> - -<p>She had many things to teach a young -girl, and she withheld no knowledge that -could benefit the little one whom her heart -had soon adopted as its own babe. The -virtues as well as the arts were part of her -experience, so that Deirdre grew in the love -of chastity, of industry, and of joyfulness.</p> - -<p>In this way and in these teachings the -years went by, unnoticed as years. Day -followed night, and night came after day in -a timeless succession, each adding its unnoticeable -little to her stature, its unseen -tender curve to her limbs, its imperceptible -deposit of memory to her mind.</p> - -<p>But among the arts of which the tireless -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> -Lavarcham spoke there was one she taught -and retaught to Deirdre, and that art was -Conachúr.</p> - -<p>Although she had never seen the king, yet -the young girl knew him as a mother knows -her baby. She could have recited his babyhood, -his adolescence, and now his maturity. -She knew, as only Lavarcham did, why he -did such a certain thing, and by what progressions -this stated consummation, marvelled -at by others, had been arrived at. It -was of infinite interest to Deirdre, but its -inevitable effect was to stamp the unseen -king with a seal of time, so that, although -Lavarcham insisted he was only thirty-five -years of age, the young girl’s mind regarded -him as one who could have been father and -grandfather to a hill.</p> - -<p>She reported to Conachúr at proper intervals -as to her ward, and he, if he had wished, -might have checked the passing years by his -memory of the stories Lavarcham told him -of Deirdre learning to walk, and walking; -of Deirdre learning to talk, and talking: -her teeth were counted to him as she cut -them, and when she bruised her knee slipping -down a bank, or when she wept for the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -cold fledgling she found on the path, or -when she refused to weep in a thunderstorm, -he was acquainted with the facts, and -nodded at them gravely as they were told.</p> - -<p>She had been a round thing, all surprise -and fluff, like a young duck: she became a -lank anatomy, all leg and hair and stare, -like a young colt: then she became a wild -thing, all spring and peep and run, like a -young fawn; and now she was what Lavarcham -continued to report and dilate on.</p> - -<p>But the king could not believe one half -of the tale that Lavarcham told, for it seemed -to him that such beauty as she reported was -not credible, and he knew that women speak -foolishly when they talk of beauty. He -was, moreover, well satisfied with the queen -who was with him then, Maeve, the lovely -daughter of the High King.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_IV">CHAPTER IV</h3> -</div> - -<p>It happened at last that Maeve came to the -decision which for a long time had been -forming in her mind. She decided that -she would not remain with the King of -Ulster any longer, and, having so decided -and faced all its implications, she was not -long in finding an opportunity to get away -from him. It is not right to say that she -“found” an opportunity, for she was of -those who create chance, and who do at all -times everything that is in their minds.</p> - -<p>There were many reasons why she might -have been discontented as the wife of -Conachúr. The similarity of their characters, -their equally imperious temperaments, -their equally untiring and almost -identical habits of mind, rendered each an -object of suspicion and endless cogitation -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> -to the other. They could not rest together -or apart, for each knew what, in certain -circumstances, he or she would do, and unerringly -credited the other with the performance -of these surmised deeds. Thus -leisure, which might have been profitably -spent by either, was wasted by both -in courteous ambuscades and counter or -parallel schemes, so that the private habit -of one was a perpetual cancelling of the -private desires of the other, and a state of -exasperation existed between them which, -as it could not come to the surface and be -faced or downfaced, ended by being a very -poison to life.</p> - -<p>In settling out these terms it is more -proper to refer them to Maeve than to the -king, for in the large conduct of his affairs -he could escape from his household and -forget in the Council Hall or the Judgement -Seat that which his wife was given only the -greater leisure to remember in her Sunny -Chamber or among her servants and sycophants.</p> - -<p>But matrimony had been poisoned for -them at the very fountain, and a dear, -detestable memory for Maeve was that her -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> -husband had outraged her before he married -her, and that he had taken her then and -thereafter in her own despite.</p> - -<p>If it had been a question of morality she -might have forgiven Conachúr almost before -forgiveness could be prayed for, but it was -not a moral violence she raged against. She -was a lady to whom nothing in the world -was so dear and instant as she was herself, -and that any man should lay an uninvited -hand upon her outraged her sense of propriety -as no general idea could have done. -But she was as courageous as she was -beautiful and as unblushing as either. The -world might have heard her statement of the -virtues she demanded in a husband, and if -the world was alarmed the young queen -permitted it to be as it pleased, on condition -that it did not interfere with her, nor -question her wish.</p> - -<p>“My husband,” she said, “must be free -from cowardice, and free from avarice, and -free from jealousy; for I am brave in battles -and combats, and it would be a discredit to -my husband if I were braver than he. I -am generous and a great giver of gifts, and -it would be a disgrace to my husband if he -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> -were less generous than I am. And,” she -continued, “it would not suit me at all if -he were jealous, for I have never denied -myself the man I took a fancy to, and I -never shall whatever husband I have now -or may have hereafter.”</p> - -<p>It is possible that her husband did not -fulfil these conditions as completely as -Maeve desired. Of his courage there -could be no doubt. He had proved that -on many an opponent, and although there -were better soldiers there were few who -breasted danger with such gay violence. As -to his generosity, that might be questioned -by one so whole-hearted as Maeve, for -although he would give often and largely -there might be more of calculation than of -spontaneity in the gift. But it is in the third -of her stipulations that Conachúr would -probably be found wanting; for, given his -temperament, his furious passions, his habit -of command, and his endless cleverness, he -should have been a very madman for -jealousy. All clever men are jealous: it -is one of the forms of egoism.</p> - -<p>He must have tracked the discontented -lady with the persistence of a bloodhound -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> -and all the casual anonymity of a husband. -He would have been always just there in -the place where she least desired to see him; -and it is possible that gentlemen on whom -her eyes rested approvingly would disappear -before her eyes had adequately rested on -them. It may have seemed to Maeve that -some one like Conachúr was standing at -every corner in Emain Macha,<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and that -at the few corners where he was not his -conversation-woman was, or some other -withered crone was there blaring hideously -on her yellow tusk and making a noise that -would annoy a young woman, but which -might absolutely terrify a young man.</p> - -<p>She reviewed the situation and all the -subsidiary situations. She thought of what -her father, the High King, would say, and -knew how he should be answered and by -what arts he might be made an ally. She -thought of what her two sisters would urge, -but she thought of them negligently, considering -that they would be more anxious to -avoid than to meet her. And she thought -of her third sister, about whom she need -speculate no more; and Maeve’s hand that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> -struck the blow had been as steady as was -her mind that contemplated its memory. -Conachúr had come to demand vengeance -and had exacted marriage. That was his -vengeance, and she thought of the cold-minded, -furious-blooded king in every alternation -from astonishment to rage, and in -every mood except that of fear, for she was -not afraid of him, or of anything that lived.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> -Emain Macha = pronounced Evan Maha.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_V">CHAPTER V</h3> -</div> - -<p>Her immediate intention was to get away -from Ulster and so to order her conduct in -the meantime that the king, who suspected -everything and foresaw all, would have no -suspicion of this: therefore, if she cogitated -her plans she kept them in her own mind. -She would have no confidant until the action -was decided and the hour for it had struck.</p> - -<p>And in this matter she had much to think -of. But she patiently resolved these complexities, -so that each went at last into its -place in her plan, and she had the leisure -to review and revise it until she could be -certain that nothing was forgotten and that -a perfect piece of machinery had been -created. The machine was not visible, but -it would appear as at a wave of her hand, and -it would begin to move at the hour of its -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> -birth. It was not by chance that this lady -was called by a masculine name,<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> for she had -patience and tenacity and a clear, cool head.</p> - -<p>Had it been merely a question of getting -comfortably away there would have been -nothing in the prospect to exercise the queen. -She would have mounted her chariot, and, -whether her husband was looking or not -looking, she would have driven wherever she -wished to go: she would have driven over -him if he had stood in her way, and through -his army if that had been unavoidable. The -difficulty was that she did not intend to -leave with Conachúr the possessions she had -brought to Ulster and those that she had since -acquired, for the High King had endowed -his daughter in a manner befitting his condition -and the rank she was to occupy; and, as -a wife’s possessions were secured to her by the -law of the land, she did not intend to leave -Conachúr richer than he had a right to be.</p> - -<p>It was the transport of this vast baggage -which exercised the queen.</p> - -<p>She owned flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, -droves of horses and pigs. These naturally -had multiplied during her residence at -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> -Emain. She had vessels of gold and silver, -of findriny and bronze. She had rings and -bracelets; shoulder torques as big as plates, -and breast brooches that were twice as big. -She had pleasure chariots and war chariots; -she had rich fabrics of linen embroidered -with gold and silver thread; many-coloured, -silken shawls with deep fringes of gold or -with tassels and bobberies of silver. She -had head-dresses of every material and metal. -Bronze spears, each with an hundred loose -rings of gold that clashed musically up and -down the handle, and on each of the rings -there chimed a little silver bell. She had -shields and breastplates of solid silver and -gold, and they were set out with patterns of -dainty gems. There were quilts of silk and -fur, cushions that delighted the head or the -eye that rested on them. She had bird-cages -of ivory and crystal. Beds that had -been chipped out of monster blocks of -amethyst. Cups of carved ivory, each with -a different gem set inside at the bottom so -that it twinkled at you while you drank. -Chess-boards of precious metals, and each -man on the board had occupied the cunning -artificer a long year of his age to fashion it. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> -She had her own machinery for brewing and -baking. What had she not got? Her -dresses alone would pack a house and burst -out through the roof and tumble down the -glass of her Sunny Chamber like an untimely -sunset for colour, and like a billow of the -sea for exuberance.</p> - -<p>She did not intend that as much as one -thread of her threads should remain behind -her in Emain Macha.</p> - -<p>“No other queen shall waggle her toes -in my draperies, nor enjoy what is proper for -my enjoyment alone,” thought Maeve.</p> - -<p>Conachúr was preparing to go on a visit -to Cairbre Niafar, King of Leinster, for he -thought an alliance could be formed from -which good might possibly come to Ulster. -The neighbouring kingdom of Connacht -had grown strong and stronger, and he -knew that the people of that kingdom would -be glad to think that Leinster and he -remained at arm’s-length.</p> - -<p>He would travel in state, and such a -journey had to be organized carefully. -Houses for rest and entertainment on the -way must be arranged for. Heralds and -messengers sent days in advance and dispositions -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> -made so that their reports might -be received on his journey. Several thousand -men would be in his company, and -the shelter, feeding, and entertainment of -these had to be thought of. So for a little -time he was busy. But he was not too busy -to remark anything that might chance to be -remarkable.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lavarcham sat with him in his retired -room at the centre of the Royal Branch. -From this room the great circular mass of -his palace radiated in all directions to its -ten-acre circumference, and in this deep-placed, -well-secured centre the king sat, as a -spider might sit in the middle of his gigantic -web. The room he occupied was sufficiently -large. The ceiling was an intricate medley -and very encrustation of carved wood, and -pushing out of that chaotic centre came a -great shoulder and a grotesque head which -held in its mouth a bronze chain with a -crystal ball swinging from it, and that ball -was so round and pure it seemed to be -one great drop of clear water. Sometimes -Cathfa came here, and would read matters -in the crystal to the king. The walls of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> -the room were panelled in polished red oak, -and between each oaken panel was a panel -of ruddy bronze, with a silver rail above it, -and a golden bird was perched at the end of -each rail; so that the light from the torches -gleamed gently again from the walls and -multiplied itself in faint winks and reflections -about the room. There was one large -chair there, and a small stool.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham was seated on the stool. She -was permitted to rest in her master’s presence, -for she usually had much to say to -him and he always found her interesting.</p> - -<p>“Good my soul,” said the king. “I -am glad that you are a woman.”</p> - -<p>“I am not badly contented about that -myself,” she smiled.</p> - -<p>“For,” he continued, “if you had been a -man I should have been afraid of you.”</p> - -<p>“How so, master?”</p> - -<p>“Because you could have taken my kingdom -whenever you wanted it.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, master, I would not accept a -kingdom if I got one as a present. There -is too much responsibility and there is too -much to do.”</p> - -<p>“It is no lie,” he conceded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> - -<p>“I like,” she continued, “to do my work, -and then I like to forget my work; but if I -had the bad luck to be a king, or a queen, -I should never again know what a rest -meant, as you, my dear master, do not know -what it is to rest yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Still,” said the king smilingly, “the -queen does get an occasional rest.”</p> - -<p>“A king wants rest but cannot get it; a -queen, however, may not feel the need to -rest, and may not wish for it.”</p> - -<p>“How do you intend that, my friend?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that a woman gives herself up -more than a man does, and when she so -gives herself to love or power or hate she -gives all that she has, where a man may -keep back something.”</p> - -<p>“But the queen, Lavarcham, as you have -spoken of her, what do you think of her?”</p> - -<p>“How would I dare to think about the -queen, master?”</p> - -<p>“Do you like her?” he insisted.</p> - -<p>“She is very lovely.”</p> - -<p>“I perceive that you do not love the -queen,” said he; and then, after a moment, -but severely—“Do you love me, Lavarcham?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></p> - -<p>“I do love you indeed,” she answered -gravely.</p> - -<p>“But,” he insisted, “do you love anybody -else as well as me?”</p> - -<p>“I love nobody else except my babe.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, that fabulous babe! Is she still -getting new teeth, or what is it she is getting -now?”</p> - -<p>“She is getting to be a beautiful young -girl, master.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes, you told me that.”</p> - -<p>“She is thirteen years of age.”</p> - -<p>“But tell me now, my heart, why did -you draw the talk a moment ago to queens -and their hate and restlessness?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, master, I did not draw the talk -round in that way.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” he mused, “the queen has -not treated you courteously.”</p> - -<p>“You are wrong indeed,” she said -happily, “for this whole week past the queen -has been most kind to me.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!”</p> - -<p>“And to-day she called me ‘her Dear Branch, -Lavarcham,’ and spoke with me for an hour.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” said Conachúr. “Have you been -among her women?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span></p> - -<p>“I have, master.”</p> - -<p>“And her men?”</p> - -<p>“They too.”</p> - -<p>“What have you found?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, master. Not a word, not a -wink, not a stare, not a hesitation, not an -eagerness, not a question; I found nothing.”</p> - -<p>“And in the queen what did you notice?”</p> - -<p>“Affection for me, master.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I were not going away,” said the -king. He stood from his chair and strode -weightily in the room.</p> - -<p>“I too wish it,” his companion agreed.</p> - -<p>He halted and regarded her gravely.</p> - -<p>“Be very friendly with the queen,” he -counselled.</p> - -<p>But Lavarcham smiled pityingly at him.</p> - -<p>“Why should I waste my time?” said -she.</p> - -<p>He nodded at that also, and became -deeply and unhappily thoughtful.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> -The word Maeve or Mab seems to mean “Intoxication.”</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_VI">CHAPTER VI</h3> -</div> - -<p>Maeve had her own bodyguard of soldiers, -close on one thousand men, who had come -with her from Connacht, and from whom -she refused to be parted. She was herself -their captain, and each man of them was -devoted to her. They were mostly her -own countrymen, and she drilled and exercised -and was good to them with untiring -patience and skill. She was the mother of -the force, but a wag called her the wife of -the regiment. These thousand men were in -Conachúr’s mind as he arranged his visit to -Leinster. He had often thought he must -disband this force and replace it by his own -men, or that he must win its allegiance and -destroy it, so he also had been especially -kind to the strange soldiers.</p> - -<p>Now, on the eve of his journey, he thought -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> -it would be a good thing to bring them -with him to Leinster; thus, as he explained -to Maeve, giving them entertainment and -exercise, while at the same time doing honour -to his queen and her native province. But -the proposition raised such a dreadful ire in -the queen, she trod the chamber in such -dudgeon and was so free in her speech, that -Conachúr hastily and good-humouredly withdrew -the suggestion; and bade her bear the -soldiers’ discontent when they learned who -stood between them and one of the pleasantest -marches that a soldier could have.</p> - -<p>Indeed, an argument with Maeve was not -to be lightly undertaken. It was likely to -last a long time, in the first place; and in -the second, she had so precipitate a manner -of speech and so copious a command of -words that the listener’s mind quickly began -to feel as if it were in a whirlpool, his head -would fly round and round, and he must run -away lest his brains burst out from his ears -and he die giddily.</p> - -<p>No one but Conachúr could hearken to -Maeve’s speech on such occasions, and he -only did it when he particularly wanted to. -For, at times, that which would drive -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> -another man mad had a strangely soothing -effect on him, and he could sit under that -shrill tornado as peacefully as a daisy sits -in the sunshine. At times, as one forces a -restive horse much farther than it desires -to go, he would impel into the brief tail-end -of her sentence a philosophic and peaceful -interjection which acted on her as the -spur on the horse, so that he would drive -her beyond the very bounds of utterance, -and she would at last, from sheer tongue-weariness, -topple from the peaks of speech -into a silence so profound that nothing, it -seemed, could ever draw her thence again; -and then Conachúr would talk to her soothingly, -reasonably, unforgivably, and it was -Maeve would run.</p> - -<p>But this time Conachúr fled: he was in -no mood and had not the time for argument; -he knew she would not yield, and -he was so angry and hurried that he could -not be the patient, humorous, and watchful -comrade he had intended to be.</p> - -<p>When he spoke of this matter to Lavarcham -he did not speak with good humour, -but he did not empty his mind even to the -conversation-woman. It was not necessary.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p> - -<p>“When I return from Leinster ...!” -said he.</p> - -<p>But the wise woman nodded only a half-hearted -agreement, for she thought that, -although it might only take two days to -bury a thousand men, it would take a long -time to bury those who would march to -avenge them.</p> - -<p>The rage and agitation into which his -suggestion had thrown the queen was so -great that she fell ill, and could not accompany -her husband to Leinster. So that, as -on a previous occasion, he had to travel -without her, the understanding being that -she would take the road after him, and, -travelling more lightly, could perhaps catch -on his company before they reached Naas, -the court and capital of the King of Leinster.</p> - -<p>With his force, but unknown to it, there -went a youth—a long-striding, active, bull-like -young man with a freckled face and red -hair, and than whom there was no more -jovial person in all Ireland, for if a man was -striking at him with a spear he could make -that man laugh so much that he would not -be able to hit straight. His name was mac -Roth. He was Maeve’s personal servant, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> -her herald. But just as the word “conversation-woman” -cloaked another occupation -for Lavarcham, so the word “herald” -hid the same usefulness in mac Roth. He -was Maeve’s personal spy, but he also was -her herald, and in after days, because of his -knowledge, address, and courage, he was to -be the chief herald of all Ireland.</p> - -<p>He accompanied Conachúr’s force, but -he was not with it. He was a mile in -advance, or a perch behind, or he was to -the right of it just at a small distance, or he -was looking from a hill on the left as the gay -cavalcade and silver-shining chariots went by -in the valley.</p> - -<p>He accompanied them in that manner -unseen for two days, and then, murmuring -a blessing on them and on their encampment, -he left them in the night, taking from -them the loan of an unwatched horse, and -he rode back by short cuts to Emain.</p> - -<p>When he reached the palace he was able -to report that the king had gone so far he -could not easily turn back; and at that -news Maeve’s illness departed from her as -suddenly as it had come.</p> - -<p>In the morning she called for twenty of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> -the chief men of her bodyguard and gave -them careful, separate instruction. Then -she informed the domestics that her quarters -must be thoroughly cleaned while the king -was away, and that everything she owned -must be put out on the sunny lawn for -airing and counting.</p> - -<p>The palace chamberlain came in great -haste, but that suave man was soothed by -Maeve and sent away with his dignity unhurt, -but his mind exercised. He communicated -his news to Lavarcham, who had -retired to the company of her “babe” outside -Emania. Within the hour Lavarcham -despatched a flying messenger to Conachúr, -but just outside the city mac Roth, who was -waiting for him in a hedge, buzzed a spear -through that man’s back as he went thundering -past. But in the night Lavarcham, who -left little to chance, sent other messengers, -so that if some miscarried others would not.</p> - -<p>But Maeve’s plan was at work, the men -she had chosen for a particular part were -acting in that part, and inside of ten hours -her company was deployed behind her -baggage, her march to Connacht had begun, -and Conachúr was a bachelor again.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_VII">CHAPTER VII</h3> -</div> - -<p>It was as well that the king was in Leinster -at the time of Maeve’s flight. Had he -been nearer home he would have been -obliged to do something, and, in such a -situation, to do anything is to be ridiculous. -He knew Maeve too well to imagine that -she would return for a threat, yet he made -the threats which seemed politic, for that -was a matter of course.</p> - -<p>But the messengers who bore these rigorous -intimations to her father bore others to -Maeve, and in these the son of Ness was -humble as no one could imagine possible, -and as his counsellors might not have deemed -advisable.</p> - -<p>There was no arrangement which she -might have suggested that he would not -have agreed to, but the difference between -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> -them was too radical to be spanned by -arrangements.</p> - -<p>Maeve was proud; she was vain to boot, -and could not consent to be second to any -one. Living with Conachúr she had to be -second, whatever he or she might desire. -Indeed, living with him anywhere she would -have to take second place, for the first place -came to him so naturally, with such ease -and finality, it could not be questioned or -revoked, or contrived in any way.</p> - -<p>More, and worse, she detested him for -he had always dared her and succeeded. -She, it is true, had dared him, and on this -occasion had succeeded. But she could not -live with him and dare him competently, -which is just what he could do with her. -Even if he abdicated the throne to her he -would keep the sceptre, and she could no -more take it from him than she could have -abstracted the speed from the lightning. -If she came back to Emania she would come -back dead, or, should it happen that she -did come back alive, the king would at last -have to kill her or she would kill the king. -Conachúr knew it, and at last renounced -his vain embassies and hopes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> - -<p>If we should wonder why he sent them, or -why he should hope, the answer lay in his -character. That clever, energetic man could -not exist with a tame mate. A mere bodily -satisfaction he, sated in such satisfactions, -would have exhausted in a week, and thereafter -he would be without a refreshment -which is as much of the mind as of the body, -and which, to one of his temperament, has -always most of the mind even when it seems -fleshy to beastliness. She satisfied cravings -of his nature which he himself but dimly -understood; and if, with her, the mistress -was more apparent than the wife, therein -lies the desire and doom of a clever man.</p> - -<p>For he was diabolically clever, and, so, -not wise, and, so, not great. Only the great -escape slavery, and he was the slave to his -ego and would be whipped. A great man -would not, because he could not, take mean -advantages. But the manner in which -Conachúr ousted Fergus from his throne -will command the admiration of his peers -only, and obtain from them the justification -which success requires. And yet he could -retain the love of his victim, the trust of -his people. He was so near to greatness; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> -there were such sterling qualities running -with the egotism; he could be so mild in -difficulties, so clear-sighted in counsel; he -could be so staunch a friend; he could forgive -with such royal liberality; he could -spend himself so endlessly for his realm. -Cúchulain did not think of him as a bad -man, nor did Fergus; and as to the latter, -he loved and honoured Conachúr above the -men of Ireland. Was that a defect or a -merit in Fergus? Was he too great or too -simple? But it was not for clever tricks he -admired Conachúr, nor was it for tricks that -his people referred to him as the “wide-eyed, -majestic king.”</p> - -<p>However he bore the flight in public, -he mourned for and craved for Maeve in -private, and the illness which comes to a -baulked will fell on him, corroding his mind -and his temper, so that even Lavarcham -left him as much alone as her duties permitted.</p> - -<p>Again and again by an effort of the will -he would arouse from that sour brooding to -throw himself into work and into the grave -joviality which had once been his note; but, -as instantly, he would relapse visibly to any -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> -eye, and might stare so sardonically and uncomprehendingly -on a suppliant that the -latter would be glad to go away with his -tale unlistened to.</p> - -<p>Matters were thus when a new plan began -to brood in Lavarcham’s mind, so that when -she looked on her babe again it began to -seem that she looked on a queen, for she -intended to marry Deirdre to Conachúr.</p> - -<p>All Ulster wished the king to marry -again, for a celibate prince is a scandal to -the people.</p> - -<p>It was the constant effort of those responsible -in the State to marry off a young -prince almost as soon as he came to the age -of puberty. For such youngsters are great -rovers, with appetites as gluttonous as dogs, -and so care-free that they are surprised -and indignant if others question the action -which they do not themselves weigh. It is -certainly a hardship and a tyranny if a -neighbour should constrain a neighbour’s -wife to his own domestic uses, but it is only -a hardship because the affair occurs between -equals, among whom friendly observances -are due, and between whom equal respect -is grounded. Among equals anything that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> -implies inequality is a punishable wrong: -but there is no hardship when the superior -takes what he carelessly desires. It is community -of interests which makes equals, -and the disturbance of this which makes -enemies; but there is no community of -interests between the prince and the subject, -and no man is aggrieved by an action which -can only affect his honour by increasing it. -Nevertheless, so illogical is the mind of -man, and so uncompromising is the sense -of property, that men could be found who -would interrupt with a spear the careless -pleasure of a prince; and there were some, -blacksmiths mostly and cobblers, who would -take a cudgel to the king’s majesty itself -and beat it out of a warm bed.</p> - -<p>So, when Lavarcham thought that she -might conduct her ward between the lax -arms of her sovereign, she but harboured an -idea which every male person in the realm -who had a wife, a sister, or a daughter, -hoped for with fervour.</p> - -<p>Nor did the idea occur only to her.</p> - -<p>Within a month of Maeve’s disappearance -more young ladies began to appear in -Emania than had been noticed there previously, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> -so that Conachúr, had he been in a -condition to observe such things, might have -noticed that Ulster had begun to blossom -like the rose.</p> - -<p>But plottings such as these were of small -use in the case of a man like Conachúr, -and it is likely that the first person to know -what should be done and what was expected -from the head of the State was the king -himself. His duty as a king would point -him the way: the necessity to repair what -had been damaged would claim his mind; -and the desire to forget by replacing would -be even more insistent; for if a hair of the -dog that bit you is the specific against -drunkenness, it is a medicine against love -also, and is, alas! the only one we know -of.</p> - -<p>Therefore the king did for a while take -a fevered interest in the ladies of his court, -but he found, so jaundiced was his eye, -that they were neither worth looking at nor -worth talking to, and he did not grudge -their companionship to any man.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>To Lavarcham, at last, he opened his -mind.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span></p> - -<p>“I must marry, Lavarcham, my soul.”</p> - -<p>“There is plenty of time for that, master,” -said the wily woman.</p> - -<p>“While I have no wife,” Conachúr -replied, “the people will talk of the wife -I had, and the only way to stop that is to -give them something else to talk of.”</p> - -<p>“It is true, indeed,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“I foresee,” he continued, “that I shall -be compelled to marry some one I do not -care for.”</p> - -<p>“In that case, master, you will be saved -the trouble of choosing, for you may take -the first that comes.”</p> - -<p>“They seem to resemble one another -like peas in a pod. Are women all alike, -my friend?”</p> - -<p>“They are much of a pattern, master.”</p> - -<p>“And yet——” said the king, brooding -deeply on one that had fled.</p> - -<p>“Our little ward,” Lavarcham continued -thoughtfully, “is rather unusual.”</p> - -<p>“What age is she now?” said the dull -king.</p> - -<p>“Sixteen years and a few months.”</p> - -<p>“So much. We must think of marrying -her to some friend. Perhaps one of our -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> -kinsmen of Scotland. I must be reminded -again of it.”</p> - -<p>“Come and see her, master, and then -you will be able to decide how she should -be disposed of.”</p> - -<p>“I shall go to see her some day.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Deirdre’s education in the art of the king -continued, but it proceeded now somewhat -obliquely to its former trend.</p> - -<p>What woman in Lavarcham’s place could -avoid treating her master’s later affairs without -something of sentimentality creeping -into the terms? And what young girl -could regard Maeve otherwise than as a -heroine for having dared so shocking a -scandal, and such a round of perils? As -Lavarcham detailed Maeve, Deirdre interpreted -her, and at the close of the statement -the judgement of each was so different, so -opposed, that a third person might have -marvelled at the tricks the understanding -can play; for what was black to the one -was not only white to the other, but it was -crimson and purple and gold; and what -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> -was treachery to Lavarcham gleamed on -Deirdre like a candid sunrise.</p> - -<p>We assimilate knowledge less through our -intellects than through our temperaments; -and a young person can by no effort look -through the eyes of an older. There are -other ways by which a mutual perception -can be so deflected that the same thing is -not similarly viewed, and so Lavarcham’s -appreciation of Maeve’s conduct would -differ from Conachúr’s, as his would be -unlike Cathfa’s or Bricriu’s or Fergus -mac Roy’s, and as these would be obscure -to one another. The element of self-interest -in each would act as a prism, and -each would understand as much of the tale -as he desired to understand, but no more, -and would forgive or condemn on these -arrested findings.</p> - -<p>To Lavarcham Maeve’s flight was treachery -and deserved punishment; but it was -not, in her thought, a misfortune for which -even Conachúr need weep. She had thoroughly -disliked Maeve, for though she -could impose on every one she could not -impress that imperious lady, and she had -never dared tell one half of Maeve’s doings -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> -lest the violent queen should suspect, and -loose a slash that would cut her in two -halves in the very presence of the king.</p> - -<p>The departure of Maeve meant also the -departure of mac Roth, and to be free from -that jovial, crafty eye was so great a relief -that Lavarcham could have wept in thankfulness; -for to be a spy is a simple thing, -an occupation like any other, but to be spied -upon when one is a spy is a monstrous inversion -of what is proper, and might easily give -one palpitations of the heart.</p> - -<p>Mac Roth had her frightened, and could -have cowed her any time he wished. In -her own craft he was her master, for, after -all, she was only a household spy, but he was -a—spy. She could glean from the kitchen -or the Sunny Chamber everything that was -there; but she must have walls about her and -work behind those; while mac Roth did not -mind whether he was in a room or in a forest; -he would spy in a beehive; he would spy -on the horned end of the moon; he would -spy in the middle of the sea, and would know -which wave it was that drowned him, and -which was the wave that urged it on.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham was not only glad that Maeve -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> -was gone, she was jubilant; and, moreover, -it gave her an opportunity that she could -scarcely have hoped for to advance her babe -in life without parting from her, and to -strengthen all her own grips on fortune.</p> - -<p>Hitherto, when she had spoken of Conachúr -to Deirdre she spoke of the king’s -majesty, but now, insensibly, she began to -talk of a great man bowed under misfortune -and a proper subject for female pity. But -she could not wipe out the king’s majesty -with that sponge nor alter one lineament of -the portrait she had taken ten years to limn.</p> - -<p>The king persisted for Deirdre, stern -and aloof and almost incredibly ancient, -looming out from and overshadowing her -infancy like a fairy tale; and was he not -contemporary with Lavarcham, herself old -enough to be remembered but not thought -of? Deirdre was interested in the king as -she was interested in the people of the Shí, -<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -without expectation, and with a little fear.</p> - -<p>But to her reasonings and objections -Lavarcham had one answer:</p> - -<p>“My soul and dear treasure, you cannot -speak about men, for you have not seen any.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p> - -<p>And at last one day Deirdre replied:</p> - -<p>“Indeed, mother, I have seen them, these -men you tell me of.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham stared at her.</p> - -<p>“And,” the gleeful child continued, “I -have spoken to them.”</p> - -<p>Her foster-mother became smoother than -silk, and soft as the lap of kindness.</p> - -<p>“Tell me about that, my one love, and -tell me how men seem to you now that you -have seen them.”</p> - -<p>“It is not hard to tell,” replied Deirdre; -“men are as ugly as donkeys, and,” she -continued, “they are just as nice.”</p> - -<p>“As ugly and as nice as donkeys!” -Lavarcham quoted in a daze.</p> - -<p>“Yes, mother, and I love them because -they are so nice and ugly and good.”</p> - -<p>“But what men are you talking of, my -star?”</p> - -<p>“I am talking of the men outside the -walls.”</p> - -<p>“The guards?”</p> - -<p>“Of course.”</p> - -<p>“And when did you see them?”</p> - -<p>Deirdre laughed.</p> - -<p>“Why, I have seen them ever since I -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> -was that height,” and she poised her hand -two feet above the ground.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham laughed at her and waggled -a reproving finger.</p> - -<p>“You have not seen them very often, -all the same.”</p> - -<p>“I have indeed,” the girl replied triumphantly. -“I have seen them every day of my -life for the last ten years.”</p> - -<p>“And you spoke to them?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I did. I know every one of -them as well as I know you.”</p> - -<p>“You do not, Deirdre!”</p> - -<p>“I do so: I know their names, and who -they are married to, and how many children -they have. O, I know everything about -them.”</p> - -<p>“Sly little fairy of the hills,” cried her -perplexed guardian, “you are poking fun -at Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p>“I surely am not,” Deirdre replied positively.</p> - -<p>“Well, tell me about these men that are -ugly and nice like donkeys.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” cried Deirdre, “I shall prove -to you that I know them.</p> - -<p>“You must know,” she narrated, “that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> -each of these men is always at the same -place outside the wall, but some of them -are on guard during the daytime and others -are on guard during the night. Every -second week they change this order and the -ones that have been on duty in the night -take up day duty, and the day men replace -them; and so they change and change -about, year in and year out, under the -charge of two captains and eight ancients. -There are an hundred of these men altogether; -twenty-five of them march from -point to point all around the walls during -the day, but in the night seventy-five men -march to and from smaller points. In the -day also, one captain and two ancients -march around and overlook the twenty-five -guards, but a captain and six ancients march -about the men who are on duty at night.”</p> - -<p>“Ah-ha,” cried Lavarcham, “you have -been told all this by the women servants.”</p> - -<p>“They only tell me tales of the men of -Dana and of the Shí, and of how their -children were born, and of the proper way -to cure pimples.”</p> - -<p>“Well, tell me more,” sighed Lavarcham, -“until I see what it is that you do know.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p> - -<p>“The captain of the troop is named Daol, -but the men call him Fat-face. He has -fourteen children and is unhappily married, -for he has told me many times that if he -had a better wife he would be a better man. -One day when his wife was baking him a -cake she baked a spell into it, so that, although -he had never felt ache or pain before, he -was racked all that day with torments; and -ever since, when the moon changes and the -wind goes round, he gets pains in his bones, -and he beats his wife when he gets home -on the head of it.”</p> - -<p>“You are certainly acquainted with this -Fat-face.”</p> - -<p>“I love him. He wears a great leathern -belt with a sword hung from it, and, when -he orders the men, he thrusts his two hands -down through the belt, stretches his legs -very wide apart, and roars at them—but -how he roars! ‘Troop!’ he roars: ‘turn -by the right hand: trot’; and all the dear -old men trot with their heads down very -thoughtfully, until he roars at them to stop -trotting, and then they all sneeze, and talk -about their feet.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes he lets me drill the men.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span></p> - -<p>“He should not,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“He had to,” the girl replied, “for I -threw stones at him from the top of the wall -until he agreed to let me do it. But that -was a long time ago.”</p> - -<p>“He should have reported all this.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean he should have told on -me,” cried Deirdre indignantly. “Indeed -I should like to see Fat-face daring to tell -anything about me. Why, the men would -beat him if he told. I would get down off -the wall and beat him myself.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> -The Shí = Fairyland.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_IX">CHAPTER IX</h3> -</div> - -<p>This conversation greatly exercised Lavarcham, -and she cast about for some means -whereby she might restrain her ward. It -was waste of time, as she quickly saw, for -who that has been charged with a young -person aged sixteen has not been forced at -last to renounce all real guardianship?</p> - -<p>At that age the time has passed for prohibitions, -and the time has not yet come -when advice can be listened to except in the -form of flattery. The young body is eager -for experience, and will be satisfied with -nothing less actual, so the older person must -grant freedom of movement or be run to -death by that untiring energy. For a while -the youngster will drink deeply, secretly, of -her own will, and will then disengage for -herself that which is serious and enduring -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> -from that which is merely pleasant and -unprofitable. For all people who are not -mentally lacking are sober-minded by instinct, -and when the eager limbs have had -their way the being looks inwardly, pining -to exercise the mind and to equip itself for -true existence.</p> - -<p>At fourteen years of age Deirdre was not -the untameable little savage she had been at -twelve, and at the age of sixteen she had -begun to long for some one to whom she -might submit her will and from whom she -could receive the guidance and wisdom and -refreshment which she divined to be in -herself, but which she could not reach.</p> - -<p>Her fury of activity would be broken by -equal periods of languor, wherein she would -sit as in a daze, staring at the sky and -not seeing it, or looking at the grass with -a vague wonder as to what this was upon -which her eyes were resting. Wild creatures -or tame would trot or amble before her, -but she was only conscious of a movement -without a form. A bird might light and flirt -and hop and fly, and her forsaken mind -would touch those facts without gaining -information from them, and would lose -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> -itself behind the movement vaguely, blindly, -dizzily, until the bird mixed into the sky -and the sky rounded and receded and -disappeared, leaving her eyes nothing to -rest on and her errant mind without any -support.</p> - -<p>She would look on her arms, as they hung -helplessly in the grass, and wonder that they -were so unoccupied, and wonder that they -were so empty. And an oppression came to -her heart, gentle enough, but without end, as -though something stirred there that could -not stir, as though something sought to -weep and could not weep; so that she must -weep for it, and grieve for it, and be of a -tenderness to that unknown beyond all the -tenderness that she had sensed about her. -And these idle tears would arouse, or assuage -her, so that she wondered why she wept, and -she would leap from such nonsense and speed -away like one distraught with excess of life -and energy.</p> - -<p>She would become affectionate then. She -mothered the cow and its lanky calf; the -peeping rabbit and her popping brood. -The shaggy mare and her dear, shy -foaleen, an arm about each neck, listened -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> -to a conversation they loved and seemed to -understand. When she tried to leave them -they trotted behind with gentle, persistent -feet and eyes of such pleading that she must -run passionately back, crying that she would -come again, that she would surely come -back to them on the morrow. There was -not a nest she did not know of, and the -young grey mother, snuggling among the -leaves, would look gravely out at the grey eye -that peeped within, and would hearken to a -cooing so delicious, so burthened with love, -that her broody hour would pass uncounted, -and she would forget her mate abroad, and -the wide airs of the tree-tops.</p> - -<p>At night the moon could woo her so -passionately she must forsake her bed and -go tiptoe among dark corridors until she -came into the presence. What wild counsel -did she receive from the glowing queen! -Or was it the unmoving quietude that whispered -without words; intimations of—what? -Shy touches at the heart, so that she, who -feared nothing, would look about her, -startled as a young roe, who senses something -on the wind, and flies without more -query.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></p> - -<p>How lovely to her was that suspense and -fear, when her every nerve thrilled to a life -more poignant than she had surmised; -when something that did not happen was -perpetually occurring; when, as it were in a -moment, she might be told—what secrets! -or be cautioned of something imminent and -advised!</p> - -<p>She lost herself in the moon, wooing it, -wooed by it, until she seemed to move in -the moon, and the moon to move in her; a -sole whiteness, a sole chillness, one equal -potency—For what? for that, for it, for -something, for nothing, for everything. -She submitted her destiny to the delicate -sweet lady of the sky, and one night, beckoned -to, drawn at, surrounded, a small -moon shining in the moon, she went on -and on, passing the grass to the turf; leaving -the turf for the stony places; from there to -the wall, and over the wall also; so lightly, -so imperceptibly, so moonily, the drowsy -guard did not see; or if he saw ’twas but a -moonbeam that rose and fell, that fluttered -and faded, that lapsed over a piece of hollow -ground and glimmered away on the slope, -merging in the silver flood and the shades -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> -of ebony, and gone while he rubbed his -eyes.</p> - -<p>So she marched towards destiny.</p> - -<p>She went among the darkness of trees, -and farther, where the wood grew thin, -into a dappled dancing of jet and silver; -and, beyond, to where young voices called -and called and called.</p> - -<p>Such fresh young voices she had never -heard before, used as she was to the dry, -clipped utterance of Lavarcham, the toothless -mumble of the servants, the rusty bawling -of Fat-face as of an obstinate door that told -of aches and reluctances, and the wheezing -and grunting of his stiff companions. She -stayed listening to those voices, young as -her own, and as sweet; rattling like the -waters that tumble and ride in the river; -chattering like a nestful of young birds in -spring; soaring up and falling down with -an infinite eagerness and joy; until it -seemed that a lark’s song and the flight of a -swallow had come together and fused into -one streaming of sound.</p> - -<p>Standing behind a vast black tree her -astonished heart released itself in tears, and -she wept for her cloistered youth, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> -for all that she did not know she had -missed.</p> - -<p>Then boldly she trod forward and sat -herself resolutely at the camp-fire of the -sons of Uisneac.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_X">CHAPTER X</h3> -</div> - -<p>They received her with the scant show of -surprise which youth, so proud of appearances, -so jealous of its own dignity, extends -to the unknown, and, after the brief word -of welcome, and swift surmising glance, the -conversation which she had interrupted -renewed itself, perhaps a shade more boisterously -because they had been surprised, a -little more hardily because they knew one -was listening who was not of their company -and might be critical.</p> - -<p>Soon, in their own despite, something -ceremonious crept on them, overpowering -their boisterousness and making each self-conscious, -until, by the inevitable degrees, -silence hovered and threatened about the -fire, and for moments nothing moved but -the eye that flickered and wandered into -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> -woodland vistas, where delicate dark trees -stood rimmed in silver, and everything on -the ground crept and fled as the boughs -swayed and the moon spilled through them.</p> - -<p>But the silence only endured long enough -for the look to become frank and the mutual -examination a judgement. Then the eldest -of the three boys seized the conversation to -himself and upheld it, for he saw that their -guest was so afflicted with shyness that she -could not move hand or foot, and could not -have replied if one had addressed her.</p> - -<p>He spoke for occupation also, because, -having looked at her, he feared or was too -shy to look again; feared, too, that the others -might observe his embarrassment; and, being -one to whom action was a first habit, he -did what he could do when he found that -there was something which he could not do.</p> - -<p>He did it well.</p> - -<p>Listening to him Deirdre knew what was -the mid surge of the stream she had listened -to, the top singing of the song she had -heard. This was the lark sustained at the -top of flight, and the others the mazy pattern -of the swallows’ wings. Listening she could -collect herself; and, in a while, daring to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> -hear, she dared to see, and then she heard -no more; for when the eye is filled the ear -is no more attended, and all that may be of -beauty is there englobed, radiant, sufficient, -excessive.</p> - -<p>How should I paint Naoise<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> as Deirdre -saw him, or show Deirdre as she appeared -to the son of Uisneac? For than Deirdre -there was no girl so beautiful unless it might -be Emer the daughter of Forgall, soon to -be wooed by Cúchulinn; and Naoise himself -could not be bettered by any among -the men of his land unless it was by the -“small, dark man, comeliest of the men of -Eirè,” Cúchulinn himself.</p> - -<p>When we endeavour to tell of these -things words cannot stand the trial. It may -be done by music, or by allusion, as the -poets have always done, saying that this girl -is like the moon, or like the Sky-Woman of -the Dawn, when they would indicate a beauty -beyond what we know; and that she is like -a rose when they would tell of a gentle and -proud sweetness; that her wrist is crisp and -delicate like the delicate foam that mantles -on a sunny tide; that the wise bee nestled -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> -in her bosom, finding more of delight there -than the hive gives; that she walks as a -cloud, or as a queen-woman of the sky, seen -only in vision, so that all other sights are -but half seen thereafter and are scarcely -remembered.</p> - -<p>In these grave ways we may approach -perfection, indicating distantly that which -cannot be unveiled in speech; or we may -tell of the abasement which comes on the -heart when beauty is seen; the sadness -which is sharper than every other sadness; -the despair that overshadows us when the -abashed will concedes that though it would -overbear everything it cannot master this, -and that here we renounce all claim; for -beauty is beyond the beast, and like all -else of quality it can only be apprehended -by its equal and enjoyed where it gives -itself.</p> - -<p>Still, they were young, and with young -people impressions that come quickly go as -fast. They have so much in common; -their interest in the present is so quick; -their faith in the future so fearless; their -memory of tenderness is so recent, and their -experience of treachery so small, that friendship -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> -comes easier to them than enmity does, -and trust grows where suspicion withers; -so in a little time they were again at ease, -and when the food they had been preparing -was eaten they knew one another and were -friends.</p> - -<p>Naoise was then almost nineteen years of -age, his brother Ainnle, seventeen, and -Ardan more than fourteen, while Deirdre -herself was almost a full sixteen years.</p> - -<p>If she had listened before as it were to -the chattering of a brook or the outburst -of a flight of birds, she now listened to a -talk that was like a mill-race for exuberance, -and the cawing of a colony of rooks for -abundance; and yet, when she remembered -it afterwards, she could not remember much, -or she recollected that they laughed more -than they spoke. For the talk consisted -more of questions than anything else, and -the answer to each query was in nearly all -cases an outbreak of laughter and another -question.</p> - -<p>Do you remember the day Cúchulinn -came playing hurley into Emain?</p> - -<p>And the way he took the troop under his -protection?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> - -<p>And the night he went out a boy and -came back a hound?</p> - -<p>Jokes, hinted at, that had been played -on foster-fathers; grisly jokes of the first -combat of a comrade who had left his head -where his feet should be; questions that -hinted at outrageous parties in the night, -when the boys chased a wild boar and -their fathers and foster-fathers hunted them; -of punishments that had been evaded as a -fox dodges a dog, and behold, when safety -had been found, there was the punishment -awaiting them.</p> - -<p>They were young, but they had killed; -and they rocked with glee as they told by -what marvellous strategy they had got in -the lucky blow, and how the champion had -gone down never to rise again, and they -had trotted home squealing and squawking -with joy, with a head surveying the world -from the top of a spear, and it grinning -down on them as joyously as they chattered -up at it.</p> - -<p>Names that Deirdre was unfamiliar with, -and some that she knew from the servants’ -talk, flew from mouth to mouth. Conall -the Victorious, Bricriu the Prank-player, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> -Laerí called the Triumphant, Fergus mac -Roy, these youngsters spoke of as familiarly -as she might have told of the birds in her -garden, and criticized them with all the -unsparing freedom of youth.</p> - -<p>They did not consider that these great -men were in any way superior to themselves: -the contrary was certainly in their minds. -It was evident that Ardan and Ainnle thought -their brother Naoise could whip any other -champion rather easily: but Naoise was -modest and would say nothing for or against -this theory.</p> - -<p>Deirdre was as convinced as the boys were -that Naoise could beat any combination of -champions that might have the ill-luck to -move against him. She knew it from his -complexion, from his curling hair. Oh! -she knew it from a variety of proofs, and -she was inclined to be angry when he argued -with the younger boys that Cúchulinn -<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> -was the greatest man alive. But on that -subject the agreement was so unanimous, so -hearty, that she might doubt but could not -question it.</p> - -<p>“What I should like,” said Ainnle, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> -“would be to see a fight and a combat -between our Cúchulinn and Fergus mac -Roy.”</p> - -<p>“That would be a fight indeed,” said -Naoise, “but we shall never see it. They -love each other.”</p> - -<p>“It would be a queer thing,” said Ainnle, -“if a boy were to fight with his own foster-father.”</p> - -<p>“I heard that a boy once did, and killed -him too,” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“Who did? Who did?”</p> - -<p>“I forget his name.”</p> - -<p>“Because you never heard it.”</p> - -<p>“Our young Ardan makes things up in -his head,” said Naoise, in a fatherly voice, -while Ardan hid his blushes by attending -to the fire.</p> - -<p>“Do you think,” Ainnle inquired, “that -Cúchulinn could beat Fergus if they fought?”</p> - -<p>Naoise regarded that query judicially.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know indeed,” he replied.</p> - -<p>“I think Cúchulinn could beat anybody,” -Ardan broke in.</p> - -<p>Naoise continued, without regard to his -youngest brother:</p> - -<p>“It was Fergus that taught Cúchulinn -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> -all his battle feats, and Fergus knows everything -that the Cú knows, but it may easily -be that our Cúcuc does not know all the -things that Fergus knows.”</p> - -<p>“Fergus,” cried Ainnle indignantly, -“would not keep a thing back, for he wants -Cúchulinn to be the best champion in Eirè.”</p> - -<p>“I think that is true,” replied the very -judicial Naoise, “but there are some things -a fighter knows and can’t teach even if -he wants to. They are not tricks, they are -what Conachúr calls ways, and Fergus has -‘ways’ in combat, as if he had been born -in a fight and could go to sleep in it if he -wanted to.”</p> - -<p>“Do you remember,” cried Ainnle, “the -champion that stopped to scratch himself -while he was fighting?”</p> - -<p>“Ho, ho,” laughed Ardan.</p> - -<p>“And the other champion chipped his -hind end off while he was bending,” gurgled -Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“Wasn’t that man a great fool?” said -Ardan solemnly.</p> - -<p>“No,” laughed Naoise, “it was just that -he thought he had time to do it. I saw -that combat. It must have been that a -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> -wasp or hornet slid into his leg band. He -gave a jump and a quick bend to get at his -leg, but the other man jumped after him; -then he gave another great jump and another -bend, and he got a little trip at the same -time—that is how the other champion -slashed him; but everybody was laughing -so much that his life was spared, so he kept -his head if he lost his tail.”</p> - -<p>“Ho, ho, ho!” roared Ardan.</p> - -<p>And it was his laughter that made Deirdre -part with a squeal of glee which so astonished -her that she leaped to her feet and fled -among the trees, and so home.</p> - -<p>She had not spoken to the boys beyond -the word of blessing and greeting which -could not be omitted. Ardan and Ainnle -considered that it was quite right a girl -should be silent in the presence of champions, -but Naoise thought it was a pity she did not -speak, for he was inclined to fancy that her -voice would be pleasant to listen to.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> -Naoise = pron. neesh-eh.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> -Cúchulinn = pron. Ku-hullin.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XI">CHAPTER XI</h3> -</div> - -<p>If it rested only with the boys the girls -might go unmarried, for boys have urgent -interests and have little of the leisure for -dream which girls enjoy.</p> - -<p>They feel, moreover, at a loss in that art -wherein a girl seems instinctively wise; for -as a young bee will undertake untaught the -curious angles and subtle perfections of his -home, so a girl will adventure herself in love -without misgiving and without teaching.</p> - -<p>The secret of the bee and of the girl -is that they give their whole minds to -their idea; and this powerful concentration, -wherein the being comes to a oneness of -desire, moves to its ends as unerringly as a -bird wings to the sole hedge he aims for -among all the hedges of a country-side.</p> - -<p>So, although Naoise did think again of -their visitor, his thought of her was but one -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> -among many, for he had grave businesses in -hand, and, except when he slept, his leisure -for dreaming was limited.</p> - -<p>He had long since left the Boy Troop at -Emania. He had performed the feats by -which an apprentice rises to be a master, -and a full two years had passed since -Conachúr, in the presence of a solemn concourse, -had received him into the Red -Branch, and bestowed on him the armour -which he had won, and the shield which he -would honourably guard.</p> - -<p>He was a gentleman by birth, but he was -now a soldier also, and must lift his hand for -those who besought protection or against -those who derided it. He would move -habitually where death urged about him at -no greater distance than the length of a -spear, and he would look upon death as being -so instant a part of life, that he must woo -the one as earnestly as he loved the other.</p> - -<p>His thought of Deirdre was also complicated -by the knowledge that she was his -master’s ward, and his personal loyalty to -Conachúr was such that he would not dwell -even in imagination on that which belonged -to the king.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> - -<p>Stories of Deirdre had long ago come -abroad. The fact of her lonely keeping -lent a romantic charm to gossip, and all -that was said about her was stressed by -the singular condition of her birth and -upbringing. The old servants hinted and -blinked and nodded, indicating thus a -beauty for which there was no parallel; and -the ancient guards, partly in brag, partly in -truth, lent an aid to the spread of the Deirdre -rumour.</p> - -<p>These things, however, were to be talked -about, but they were not to be further -looked into, for she belonged to the king, -and curiosity itself went lightly in the presence -of that notable fact. Therefore, so -far as a young man could, Naoise put Deirdre -out of his mind, or only remembered her -as a delicious apparition, and he warned -his brothers that they must on no account -mention her escapade.</p> - -<p>But if this was the case with the boy it -was not so with the girl. For good or ill -her imagination had been captured, and -through it her senses had awakened. Her -fancies had now a home to fly to, and while -the unrest proper to her years grew as -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> -stealthily as her limbs, it was no longer unnoted. -She had a direction and she leaned -there as ardently and unconsciously as a -flower turns to the sun.</p> - -<p>Now she became a creature of another -reverie; no longer staring vaguely into -space, but looking there, and seeing what -even the wise Lavarcham could not surmise.</p> - -<p>This powerful brooding of desire is a -magical act, and the object of it does not -remain entirely unaffected; for, even if no -coherent message is despatched, the unrest -is shared in however diffused a form, and it -may be that in sleep Naoise was no longer -the master of his dreams.</p> - -<p>But the real scope of an action is with the -actor, and Deirdre, brooding on Naoise, was -Deirdre brooding on herself, and taking -conscious control and direction of her own -growth and culture. Lavarcham noticed -the difference; for when she spoke to the -girl she was replied to by the woman, and -she sensed in her ward something intractable, -obedient still, and yet as removed from -her cognizance, and so from her control, as -she was herself from the cognizance of any -person about her.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XII">CHAPTER XII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Therefore, when she next spoke to the king -her mind was stirred by uneasiness, and she -had all that feeling of haste and work to be -done which comes to us when we seem void -of direction and are yet spurred on to an -intuitive urgency.</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham, my soul,” said Conachúr, -“you always get your way, for you insist -and insist, and at last whatever you wish -must be done or there is no peace in the -household or the kingdom.”</p> - -<p>“In good truth,” said Lavarcham, “I -do not recognize my fault this time.”</p> - -<p>“We forget by repetition,” cried the -king, “and you have so dinned our ears -these ages past about your babe that I -must consent to see her or perish from your -importunities.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> - -<p>“That I am glad of,” replied Lavarcham, -“for she is growing and needs other guidance -than I can give. You should find her -a husband,” said the crafty woman.</p> - -<p>“That must be done,” the king murmured.</p> - -<p>He was silent for a few minutes, for the -thought of marriage reminded him of his -own adventures in that condition, and when -he spoke it was with an elaborate carelessness.</p> - -<p>“Have you heard any news of the High -King?”</p> - -<p>“I have heard, but it is only a rumour, -that his daughter, the queen Maeve, has -been married again, and that the High King -has bestowed on her the kingdom of Connacht.”</p> - -<p>“A number of our young men,” said he, -with a hard smile, “have for long enough -disliked that kingdom and its people: it -may become difficult to keep them from -crossing the border.”</p> - -<p>“One of their men,” said Lavarcham, -“crosses the Black Pig’s Dyke often -enough.”</p> - -<p>“And, woe on it,” said Conachúr, with -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> -a cheerful laugh, “he gets back again. We -must strengthen the Connacht marches, or -that man will make our fortifications the -laughter of all Ireland. It is Cet mac -Magach you speak of.”</p> - -<p>“Conall Cearnach’s uncle indeed,” Lavarcham -replied.</p> - -<p>“But Conall crosses their borders too,” -said the king. “My memory is weakening,” -he continued; “what is it that Conall -boasts of?”</p> - -<p>“He boasts that he never goes to sleep -without the head of another Connachtman -lying in the crook of his knees.”</p> - -<p>“Some day he may forget to remember -that Cet mac Magach is his uncle, and if he -brings that head home we shall give it an -honourable welcome. But about your babe, -I shall go and look at her to-morrow. All -your over-statements will crowd on your -mind to-morrow, my poor friend, and you -will be very unhappy.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed,” Lavarcham admitted, “we -look with a loving eye on the person we love, -and so may see less or more than is visible -to other people.”</p> - -<p>“In love,” Conachúr replied, “we see -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> -only what we love to see, and as that is -unreal we should not look lovingly on anything, -and so we may get sight of what is -really visible.”</p> - -<p>“It is true, master,” said Lavarcham -humbly.</p> - -<p>“It is with such an eye that I shall look -on your babe to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“Alas! my poor Deirdre,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“The Troubler has not given much -trouble yet,” laughed Conachúr.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Lavarcham went home.</p> - -<p>The sense of urgency and unmeditated -haste which for some time had been in her -mind was greater than ever, as though she -were being pressed to an action, thoroughly -comprehended indeed, but for which she -had no plan and no explanation. There -was something to be done; she knew what -it was but could not state it: and there was -also something which prevented its accomplishment; -and she was similarly aware and -unaware of what this latter obstruction was.</p> - -<p>This sense of being controlled without -being consulted, of being given a key without -being told what door it opens, is common -to all people who plan and are not sufficiently -disengaged to observe that they are being -overridden by their own contrivance; for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> -there is a point up to which we control -desire, but at the stage where other people’s -interests intersect ours those alien desires -and our own meet: they cease to be many -and become one thing, and we are ridden -in community by the jinn we liberated. But -we know with a profound, unconscious -certitude all that is happening, and are -enlisted for those intuitive purposes beyond -the control of interest or prudence or reason. -Habit alone remains to guide us in these -trackless ways, and it was her habit of -verbal reticence which calmed Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>Her first impulse had been to tell Deirdre -with a rush that the king was coming to -see her on the next day. Her second impulse -was cautious. If I tell this, she -thought, the child will not sleep all night, -and she will be heavy-eyed and dull before -the king.</p> - -<p>Therefore she did not mention the matter -to Deirdre.</p> - -<p>But she was no longer the calm lady -whom the world knew. She would sit -down and stand up, and go wandering from -room to room, and return from these ramblings, -to begin them all over again. She -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> -sat by Deirdre’s side and took her hand, -peering long and earnestly into the face she -loved: dwelling on the set of her eyes, the -line of her cheek, the poise of her lips and -her chin: watching how her teeth shone -and disappeared as she spoke, what her -tongue looked like as it became visible for -a short red flash: looking now at her ears -and now at her hair; or standing well away -to take her in as a girl, as a completion, -with all details merged and the human unit -standing full formed at the eye.</p> - -<p>She cogitated what dress Deirdre should -wear on the morrow: what ornaments for -her neck and hair; and then she thought, -in a fever of inspiration, that she would take -no thought of these: that the girl should -be dressed even more plainly than usual: -that there should be no ornaments upon her -of any kind: that there should be nothing -to look at but the girl herself with her hair -for a crown, and her eyes for all other attraction: -the light eagerness of her limbs should -be their own witness: the colour of her -cheek should be sufficient wonder for any -eye.</p> - -<p>And again she thought that men do not -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> -understand these things at a glance; that -they are used to looking for that which they -have already seen; and that they spend time, -not so much in appreciating that which is -present, as in trying to account for the -absence of that which they had expected to -see. And she remembered again that it -was Conachúr himself who was coming, with -a mind which would ponder exactly what -was presented to it, and an eye that would -regard no more than could be seen.</p> - -<p>She determined, in terror, that she would -not prepare Deirdre in any way for the visit, -and that until she was called into the presence -the child should know nothing even of an -impending visitor.</p> - -<p>She arranged that this should happen, -and at the accustomed hour the torches -were quenched and the folk of the household -betook themselves to their beds.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h3> -</div> - -<p>But at the hour she considered suitable -Deirdre rose again from her bed.</p> - -<p>She could not rest there, although she -lay with the endless patience of a cat, staring -hour after hour into the gloom and seeing -in it more of radiance than the sun could -show.</p> - -<p>She was living at last.</p> - -<p>The sense that all the morrows were -provided for, and that all the minutes of all -the morrows were calculated and ordained, -dropped from her for ever, for she had -become at last an identity instead of a puppet -to be pulled here and ordered there, and to -do only what was willed by other people; -for first the imagination awakes, and then -the senses, and lastly the will, when the urge -of life is focussed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> - -<p>Thinking of these other people, of -Lavarcham and the grisly servants, of the -ramshackle, sneezing guards, all ringing -her about from freedom, a sense of rage -came into her soul, so that at moments she -was no longer a girl but a wild cat, and she -could have scratched and screeched and -died in one senseless outrage.</p> - -<p>Her mind, too, was overflowing with that -same sense of urgency, as though something -clamoured to be done immediately and at a -pace faster than limbs could manage. What -was it she wanted? She did not know, but -she knew definitely that she wanted it with -a whole uncontrollable mental greed that -made of her a person she did not recognize -and could not battle with.</p> - -<p>But with all that tumult of mind she was -patient with the marvellous patience of -youth, for no grown person has one tithe -of the patience of a child, who, from the -hour he is born until the day when he -snatches liberty from reluctant elders, leads -a life that is one unending lesson in attending. -They can wait, for they know that the -future is theirs and will come to them over -whatever obstruction. And she could wait.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></p> - -<p>When Lavarcham trod softly in her -chamber she pretended to be asleep, and -amused herself staring behind closed lids -at the red light which the torch carried even -through that darkness. She thought her -guardian would never go away, and lifting -one scrap of an eyelash she saw Lavarcham -brooding upon her with such a fixity of -attention, with so profound a scrutiny, as -surprised her. So curious and prolonged -was this examination that she almost opened -her eyes to demand a reason for this scrutiny -from the face of ivory and jet that was bending -over hers. But she did not do so, for -young people can bear starings and examinations -which would madden them later in -life, and are able to consider that affairs -which actually circle upon them are yet -not their business.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham sighed deeply, and as in a -passion of what?—fear, hope, doubt—and -then the light began to recede, and went -farther away, and disappeared.</p> - -<p>Deirdre knew every motion that Lavarcham -made at night. Now she did this, next she -would do that, afterwards she would do such -another thing: an unvarying sequence of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> -small details which she had watched or -listened to since the first hour that she was -able to watch or listen. So that when she -came from her bed she left it with the -certainty that she might do so, and that all -the habitual details had culminated in the -habitual sleep into which Lavarcham placed -herself even when it did not overcome her.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XV">CHAPTER XV</h3> -</div> - -<p>The moon was at her last quarter, a pale -thin sickle that shone and disappeared and -reappeared in a mass of hastily scudding -cloud. During that eclipse obscurity fell on -the air, and a yet vaster quietude enveloped -the earth. Then the sickle reappeared, and -with it more than the darkness lifted. Something -even more mysterious than darkness -vanished intermittently; that brooding as -of an infinite presence seemed to recede, -and the normal world, beautiful and comprehended, -came silverly to the view.</p> - -<p>Through these glooms and visions Deirdre -fled, observing every shadow as a hare does, -who, knowing that this shade is a danger -and that one a protection, ventures a pace -or stays as his hard-won knowledge bids -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> - -<p>A cloud of such a size meant a shadow -of such a duration. This cloud will carry -one across the lawn, and when it has passed, -the trees yonder will be won and their desired -shade. From the south another cloud was -coming, bulky as a two-acre field and -buoyant as a gossamer. Folded in its -gloom the wall could be crossed and the -shelter of trees or of long grass reached -before the moon came riding, delicately, in -a radiance that was one half silver and one -half blue.</p> - -<p>So she fled. The lark watching from a -dew-drenched covert was not more discreet -as it turned again to the slumber that she had -broken; and when she took the wall the bat -that whirled from it made more noise than -she did.</p> - -<p>At times, when there was neither light nor -dark, a world of grey and purple that was -thirty feet high and fifteen feet around enclosed -her in. And she stretched her ears -towards the bounds of that small universe -before she ventured another step.</p> - -<p>Wonderful and terrifying were these dim -oases of vision; and across them, coming -from no place and dallying a moment ere -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> -they went on to nowhere, more silent than -the night itself and as incomprehensible, -grey moths were flitting; dim as ghosts -they were, and as aloof; beating a tireless -gauze on no errand, tacking back and forth, -and disappearing in one flirt of a noiseless -wing. Small creatures seemed to wait until -her foot must fall on them, and then, with a -sound that lasted for two long seconds of -panic, they were gone; they disappeared, -and the world was utterly empty of them. -At these sounds she stood, her heart beating -up at her throat and a sense of angry despair -flooding over and about her. Then she -moved again; slipping into and out of -shadows as featly as the moonbeam slipped -into and out of a cloud.</p> - -<p>She knew where she was going, but not -what she was going to do. She would see -him again because she must, and after that, -if there was more to be done the time to do it -would bring the doing. But the one large -apprehension was as yet sufficient for her -mind—that she would see him again, and -that they would talk together. She was -sure that this time he would speak to her, -and that whatever he said would be wiser -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> -and sweeter and stranger than any words she -had yet listened to; and she wondered, -without thought, what his magical utterance -would mean and how it could possibly be -replied to; knowing yet that her replies -were already formed, and that the only word -she need utter until she died was the word -“yes.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h3> -</div> - -<p>She stood again behind a tree, looking on -the camp-fire and the three figures that -stretched or moved about it. She listened, -but now without joy, to the babel of laughter -which sped between them. Back and forth -it went, endless, tireless. Youth calling and -answering to youth; catching a facile fire -from each other, and tossing it back as -carelessly. Spendthrift they were as young -gods; care-free as young animals; with -minds untroubled because they need not -work, and bodies that were at ease because -they were active; scorning the darkness in -a gaiety that was delicious because it was -thoughtless, and with a thoughtlessness -that was lovely because it was young. But, -to her, watching, listening, waiting, all that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> -merriment was a torment. She was their -peer in youth and activity, but she was their -superior in that she was thoughtful, for -desire is thought not yet translated, and her -desire would swell about the world and -banish all else from existence so that she -could fashion the regal solitude in which -so gigantic a mystery might be contemplated.</p> - -<p>Why, she thought frowningly, did these -children not go to sleep? And why, she -wondered, should older people submit to -annoyance or be forced to await any young -person’s convenience?</p> - -<p>But the night was advanced, and young -people will sleep. Soon they stretched about -the fire, and each composed himself to the -slumber which comes as deliciously in its -season as waking does; and, for their life -favoured it, they fell into sleep as precipitately -as though they were falling down a -cliff.</p> - -<p>She could scarcely wait for the five -minutes that was required. Then she -plucked a scrap of moss and tossed it on -Naoise’s breast.</p> - -<p>As he fell asleep so he sprang awake: -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> -he went dead asleep: he came wide awake, -with every faculty alert, and his limbs as -composed for movement as for rest. He -saw the scrap of moss lying on his bosom, -and, knowing that such things do not travel -of their own accord, he looked for the cause, -searching keenly among the boles that -stretched in endless gleam and gloom about -them.</p> - -<p>She stood forward a pace.</p> - -<p>Had she really moved, or was she impelled? -Surely a hand had taken her by the shoulder -and pushed her forward! But in the -moment that she moved panic seized her as -suddenly and overwhelmingly as a hawk -swoops upon a mouse. She lifted a hand -to her breast so that her heart might not be -snatched away, but the hand went on to her -lips and covered them in terror lest they -should call. She turned with one swift and -flying gesture, but the foot that aimed for -flight continued its motion, and the full -circle held her again facing the terror. For -he had already risen, lithe as a cat and as -noiseless, and in three great strides he was -standing beside her, standing over her, -encompassing her about; not now to be -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> -retreated from or escaped from or eluded -in any way.</p> - -<p>And as her heart had leaped so his leaped -also, and they stood in an internal tumult, -so loud, so intimate and violent, that the -uproar and rush of a storm was quietude in -the comparison.</p> - -<p>They could not speak. There were no -words left in the world. There were only -eyes that plunged into and fled from each -other, and a mighty hand that had gripped -her arm and would never release it again. -A hand that pushed her backwards and -backwards, away from the friendly logs that -crackled and flamed; away from the quiet -forms that might have rescued her but that lay -as though slumbering in stone. She might -have escaped with one sound, but the law of -her being was that she must not make a -sound. She might have escaped by just a -show of reluctance; one small opposition, -nay, hesitation, to the pressure of that hand. -But she would not make that infinitesimal -wraith of motion. A weariness as of piled -worlds went from his finger to her mind, and -it was forbidden her to have any longer an -initiative. A lethargy that was utter surrender -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> -stole into her limbs. She did not -think, she did not desire: she was as void of -speculation as though she were dead; and -while his hand continued to guide she would -go, and when it ceased she would no longer -be capable of either movement or repose.</p> - -<p>All fear of interruption had passed, and -yet they went on cautiously, noiselessly, as -though interruption was imminent or unescapable; -putting trees and yet more trees -between them and the leaping fire; striving -to forget the fire; seeking a more involved -darkness, and finding everywhere a gloom -that yet revealed them. They could not -discover darkness. They could not get to -a place where they could cease to see each -other. Always it looked black farther on, -and always when they got there they could -each see the pale confronting face of the -other, with the darkness everywhere but in -those faces.</p> - -<p>They stopped perforce, with that feeling -of tremendous discouragement wherein -passion sinks back upon itself, where desire -ceases and nothing is instant but weariness. -His hand yet held her, but it gripped no -longer: it lay on her arm as a dead weight: -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> -she had only to move an inch and it would -fall away: she had but to turn and he would -not follow her even with his eyes; but the -energy which had drained from him flooded -into her in one whirling stream, and when -his hand fell away hers took up the duty it -relinquished.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h3> -</div> - -<p>If Lavarcham had ever permitted herself -excitement she would have been excited the -next day. But there is a curious means by -which we may postpone the spending of -our emotions. There are many people -who can only do a particular thing on condition -that they do it in two directions. -They can repress themselves only when they -are engaged in repressing some one else; -for the thing we are doing outwardly and -to others is always the thing that we are -doing inwardly and to ourselves. If we treat -others benevolently we are assuredly being -kind to ourselves: if we mete out torment we -will receive that measure and will writhe in -it. A tyrant is ultimately one who is striving -for self-mastery by the wrong method. -But in order to be good you must do good, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> -or to be anything you must do that thing -concretely, for life is movement and all else -is movement too. Lavarcham by unconscious -processes discovered that Deirdre -needed the utmost disciplinary and repressive -measures that could be applied to a -human being.</p> - -<p>“The child is running wild,” she complained -to the air that circulated about -Deirdre’s head.</p> - -<p>“But I have not done a thing,” cried -Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“There are a thousand things you should -have done,” Lavarcham replied.</p> - -<p>“What are they?” Deirdre demanded.</p> - -<p>But Lavarcham did not know.</p> - -<p>She certainly felt within herself the necessity -for doing a thousand things. She felt -so busy that there must really be a thousand -things to be done. But she knew also -that nothing remained for her to do, and, -consequently, that Deirdre was to blame.</p> - -<p>The real thing she had to do was to master -her own excitement, and she perceived at a -glance that Deirdre was in a very excited -condition indeed.</p> - -<p>“You must sit quietly, my treasure,” she -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> -counselled. “You must not move from -one place to another, taking things up and -putting them down. You will become -fidgety yourself and will give every one -about you the fidgets also.”</p> - -<p>“But——” Deirdre expostulated.</p> - -<p>“And you must not give back-answers. -When you are told to do a thing you must -do it cheerfully and patiently——”</p> - -<p>“But——” cried Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“For,” Lavarcham continued, “lacking -this self-control and gentleness of movement -no girl can become a lady.”</p> - -<p>“But,” Deirdre exploded, “I have not -done a thing.”</p> - -<p>“You know, my one treasure, that everything -I say is for your good, and when I -counsel you it is because I consider you -need just that counsel. You are distraught -to-day, my bud of the branch, and there is -no reason why you should not be as calm -to-day as you were yesterday or any day. -This is only to-day, but to-morrow will -come and to-day will be forgotten.”</p> - -<p>“I do not understand in the least——” -Deirdre began.</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to understand, my -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> -beloved. There is not a reason in the world -why you should be troubled. Sit now at -your embroidery, and do not leave it until -I give permission.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre was indeed excited, but Lavarcham -had not the smallest perception of -this: nor was it visible. It was a very -intimate excitement, which could be brooded -and enjoyed as well over a piece of embroidery -as in any other way. And Lavarcham -watched her, sensing nothing of that -deep agitation and memory and dream.</p> - -<p>I was wise, she thought, not to tell the -news, for the child seems even more beautiful -to-day than she has ever seemed before. -She has slept well.</p> - -<p>While they were thus sitting a servant -hurried into the room, with her eyes bolting -from her head, and a gabble on her lips -which Lavarcham only repressed by ferocity, -for she surmised at once that the king had -arrived, and she did not even yet wish -Deirdre to know of the visit.</p> - -<p>She rose and precipitated herself against -the servant.</p> - -<p>“Is that how you enter a room, ill-bred -slave? Was it among the cattle that you -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -learned manners? Begone at once,” she -cried, “and do not come into a room again -until you have asked and received permission -to enter. What is the world coming to?” she -continued angrily as she hustled the servant -through the door and down the corridor.</p> - -<p>“It’s the son of Ness——” the servant -babbled.</p> - -<p>“And if it is,” said Lavarcham, “there -is the more reason for you to be attentive -and respectful and unseen. Go to your place -and stay there until I send for you.”</p> - -<p>She returned then, and, still simulating -ill-temper, she dismissed Deirdre to her -own room.</p> - -<p>“You have not properly trimmed your -finger-nails,” she scolded; “there is a -black spot under one of them. You are -not seemly. Go to your room at once, little -blossom, and when you come back come so -that your fosterer need not be ashamed of -her charge.”</p> - -<p>Saying so, she marched Deirdre to her -room and thrust her in. Then she returned, -and, seating herself at the embroidery from -which she had driven her ward, she prepared -to receive the king.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>“Well, my heart,” said the king, as he -strode through the door of the Sunny -Chamber.</p> - -<p>With a keen glance he took in all that -was to be seen. The woodwork of the walls -and floors that were polished and polished -again until they shone like crystal. The -great carved chairs, each placed at the same -prim distance from the other and from the -wall; and the skins and furs that formed -geometrical patterns and gradations of colour -on the floor.</p> - -<p>Conachúr shook his head as he regarded.</p> - -<p>“Methodical,” he said, as he sat down.</p> - -<p>“Orderly, master,” she corrected gently.</p> - -<p>“It is a woman’s room,” he insisted. -“No man could live in it.”</p> - -<p>“No man does,” said the humble dame.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> - -<p>“And by merely entering I have ruined it -already,” the king continued in a grievous -tone; “I have kicked three rugs out of -alignment,” he said ruefully.</p> - -<p>“It is a small matter,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“I am certain that your heart is ill at -ease, and although your hands are folded -they are twitching to restore these rugs; -rearrange them if you must, my good -friend.”</p> - -<p>“If the king permits me,” she cried joyfully, -and with a few deft touches she replaced -the rugs.</p> - -<p>“You may sit down,” said the king. -“And now, where is this baby you deafen -the world about?”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham clapped her hands, and, to -the servant who appeared in the doorway—</p> - -<p>“Tell your mistress, Deirdre, that she is -required immediately—and do not tell her -that a visitor is with me, or woe betide you.”</p> - -<p>The servant disappeared.</p> - -<p>Conachúr looked at her quizzically.</p> - -<p>“The girl does not know that I was -coming?”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham pursed her lips.</p> - -<p>“I have not mentioned it to her.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span></p> - -<p>The king, with his elbow on his knee, -continued to regard her mockingly.</p> - -<p>“Is it that you are careful or careless, my -friend?”</p> - -<p>“I am careful, master. I am always careful,” -she replied.</p> - -<p>“But,” he continued gently, “she will -not be apparelled so as to be looked on by a -visitor.”</p> - -<p>“She will be seen as she would be seen -any hour of any day, and thus it will be -known, master, that Lavarcham does her -duty.”</p> - -<p>“You are the wonder of Emania,” said -Conachúr. “I hear a step,” he continued, -and, removing his elbow from his knee, he -stretched out a great leg and turned towards -the door.</p> - -<p>Deirdre entered like a whirlwind of legs -and laughter, and, seeing a huge man staring -at her, she halted as if she had been stopped -by a wall, whirled about and would have -vanished again but that Lavarcham’s voice -restrained her.</p> - -<p>“The king has come to visit us, my -pulse,” said the suave Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>The blood pounded into Deirdre’s heart -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> -and into her temples; for an instant her -body seemed to be filled with noise and -blindness, and in the next instant the lady, -trained for every emergency and in every -etiquette, was mistress again. Deirdre advanced, -made a great reverence, and knelt at -the king’s knee.</p> - -<p>He gave her his hand to kiss.</p> - -<p>“You may rise, my fawn,” said the -monarch.</p> - -<p>She arose and stood with downcast eyes. -She did not dare to look at him. All that -came within her vision was a mighty leg -draped in green silk, from which long -tassels of gold swung gently. The king -stared narrowly at her, and Lavarcham -stared narrowly at the king.</p> - -<p>“Go now, my dear,” said Lavarcham, -“and see that refreshments are brought for -the king.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre again made her deep reverence, -and, on rising, her hasty upward glance -was caught by Conachúr’s eye. She trod -swiftly backwards, staring, and it was with -parted lips and wide eyes that she disappeared -from the room.</p> - -<p>But the king continued staring at the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> -doorway like one who has seen a vision and -is striving with every fibre to recreate that -which has vanished.</p> - -<p>“Was I not right, master?” said Lavarcham -gently.</p> - -<p>“She is the Bud of the Branch,” said -Conachúr. “She is the Fragrant Apple of -the Bough.”</p> - -<p>“Did I not say that she was beautiful?” -cried the gleeful and vehement lady.</p> - -<p>“You did not say so,” he replied sternly. -“You never told me of this.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, master, you would not believe me.”</p> - -<p>“It could not be told,” the thoughtful -monarch admitted. “If the flight of the -swallow could be imparted by words, or the -crisping of foam: if the breath of the lily -could be uttered, or the beauty of a young -tree on a sunny hill: then this Troubler -might be spoken of. Have you noticed, -my friend, how the sun paints glories and -wonders on the sky as he goes west in the -evening, or at early morn with what noble -tenderness he comes again: she is radiant -and tender as the sun, Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p>“Thus it is,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“She is nine times sweeter than the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> -cuckoo on the branch,” he cried. “I give -her the Pass before all the women of the -world, for she is notable and delicate and -dear.”</p> - -<p>“Then you will marry her as is fitting,” -Lavarcham pleaded. “You will not give -my baby to a rough gentleman.”</p> - -<p>The king stood furiously from his chair.</p> - -<p>“She is for no man but the king,” he -stormed. “She shall be my one wife until -Doom.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h3> -</div> - -<p>In ten seconds the floor rugs had sailed from -their anchorages and were lying some neatly -inside out and all in woeful askewness. The -chairs left their military formation; some -stood seat to seat like couples preparing for -a dance, others in the woeful, slack isolation -of those who stare after uncivil partners that -have fled. And in this wreckage of a woman’s -room Conachúr strode.</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham,” he cried, “there shall -be great deeds done in Ireland from this -day.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear lord.”</p> - -<p>“I am twenty years younger than I was -an hour ago. I could leap like a young -buck, Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear lord,” she stammered.</p> - -<p>“Poets shall sing more wisely in <span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>Eirè -because of this day; harpers shall play more -sweetly; the magicians shall win increase of -power, for through me this land shall be -possessed by power and beauty.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, my sweet lord,” cried the transformed -woman.</p> - -<p>“You shall be with me always, Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my master!”</p> - -<p>“I shall marry thee to an hero, and thy -descendants for ever shall sit, even in the -presence of a king.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, I shall kneel, and all my seed shall -kneel in the house of my dear lord.”</p> - -<p>“Sit down, my soul, and let us talk. -Lavarcham,” he said, “that girl shall be -my wife.”</p> - -<p>“I have dreamed of this day,” she murmured.</p> - -<p>“You knew I would marry her?”</p> - -<p>“I knew that my lord loves the best, and -that she is the best. I trained her for my -lord.”</p> - -<p>“She is the best,” he conceded. “She -is better than the best.”</p> - -<p>“The king will never blush for his bride, -nor I for my training,” she continued, “for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> -in everything that becomes a lady she is well -taught.”</p> - -<p>“So!” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“There is no ceremony of court or camp -that she does not understand. There is no -domestic care that she is not mistress of. -She can touch the harp like a master, she -can make a poem like a bard.”</p> - -<p>“You give me pleasure, Lavarcham, but -all these she need do or not do as she pleases. -Tell me rather of herself, what is her mode? -What is her way of thinking?”</p> - -<p>“She is loving and obedient as a pet -fawn, and she is wild-spirited as a wild -fawn. She is thoughtful for others; she -loves knowledge, and she fears nothing.”</p> - -<p>“Even lacking all this, there is yet the -makings of a queen in her.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham nodded a satisfied head.</p> - -<p>“But she does not lack, and she is a -queen. In a week, when she has become -used to the crowd and the court, all the others -will fall back to their own places and she -will remain in her place.”</p> - -<p>“I think it will be so. But,” and he -aroused again, “you have said nothing about -the curve of her cheek, Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p> - -<p>“What would a poor woman say of that!” -she cried gleefully.</p> - -<p>“I saw her neck when she bent over my -hand, and I saw the two great tresses falling -away on either side. Lavarcham, that was -a wonder to see!”</p> - -<p>“We see with our own sight, master.”</p> - -<p>“When she stood up I saw the lips that -had touched my hand: and I looked in her -eyes as she went away. There is no end to -those depths of light, and I can imagine that -they would change as the deep sea changes. -If she were angry they would be—thus; and -if she smiled they would be thus again; the -same and different. If she smiled her lips -would move in the smile. How do her lips -go when they smile, Lavarcham?”</p> - -<p>“These are things which women are -blind to, master; they are seen only by -men. You must ask your poets to tell of -them, for this is man’s talk, and no woman is -versed in it.”</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, master!”</p> - -<p>“I shall take her away with me this day.”</p> - -<p>“Master!”</p> - -<p>“Bring her to the Red Branch at nightfall.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span></p> - -<p>“Master!”</p> - -<p>“At nightfall, you hear me.”</p> - -<p>“I will not do it.”</p> - -<p>“What will you not do, slave, that I -order?”</p> - -<p>“I will not debauch your queen.”</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham——!”</p> - -<p>“No one shall make a leman of my -babe.”</p> - -<p>“She shall return in a few hours. Be -with her at the Red Branch to-night. Do -not fail on your life.”</p> - -<p>“If I bring her my knife will be in her -bosom.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr leaned back in his chair and the -terrible staring frown went from his face.</p> - -<p>“We shall certainly marry Lavarcham to -an hero. I am impatient, my heart, but -strength and victory lies always with the -one who can abide, and I can, even in torment. -Have your way, woman.”</p> - -<p>“It is the best way, master. You shall -thank me yet for this way.”</p> - -<p>He smiled wryly.</p> - -<p>“Dear, my lord,” she continued earnestly, -“there must be the ceremonies that befit -a king’s wedding, and guests must be -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> -invited from the four great Provinces of -Ireland. It cannot all be done before two -little months.”</p> - -<p>“You shall have one week, my friend.”</p> - -<p>“A week! O my master!”</p> - -<p>“A woman’s mind runs to gauds and -tricks and rites, but in a week we two shall -be married, and you may have ceremonies -for a year afterwards if you wish for them.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham wrung her hands.</p> - -<p>“O my sweet lord——”</p> - -<p>“It shall be so,” said the king.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham sat dumb.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“In this house,” he continued impatiently, -“refreshments are long in appearing, and -after those excitements and battlings we -need them.”</p> - -<p>“They only wait permission to enter,” -she stammered, and clapped her hands.</p> - -<p>Deirdre appeared with three servants -carrying silver trays. She took one and -knelt to present it to the king.</p> - -<p>“Nay, you shall partake with me, and -Lavarcham shall serve us. Let those others -go.”</p> - -<p>At a sign from Lavarcham the servants -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> -placed their trays on tables and retired with -terrified courtesies.</p> - -<p>“Taste from the cup, my brightness,” -said Conachúr, “and afterwards I shall -taste.”</p> - -<p>“A Rí Uasal!” Deirdre stammered.</p> - -<p>“All precedence is yours from this hour. -Are you not called the Troubler?”</p> - -<p>“I am, lord.”</p> - -<p>“You have troubled the king, O sky-woman. -Do not be shy with me or frightened, -for although a king is terrible to all -he is not fearful to a queen. Drink from -my cup, O queen.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre glanced hastily towards Lavarcham, -for this conversation had taken a turn -which her training had not provided for, -but her guardian was sitting bemused, in a -trance of benevolence and admiration.</p> - -<p>She sipped from the cup, and, with a tiny -smile of apology and fear, tendered it again -to the staring king. He took the vessel, and -her hand with it.</p> - -<p>“I imagined it so,” he said; “I imagined -how the thin red lip would arch and curve -and cling to the cup; and I foresaw how it -would cling and uncurve and re-arch and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> -withdraw. The poets tell of such wonders -when they can, but I know these things by -my own virtue better than they do. One -day, O shy cluster of delight, you will sing -to me: my harper shall listen to that when I -can bear a companion, for I may grudge a -sight or a sound of you even to the men of -art. I shall see your hair done otherwise, -and this way again. I shall see you stir -about me, this side and that and backwards; -a thousand harmonies of movement that I -divine and a thousand that I know nothing -of. Do not be fearful, O little twisted loop -of the ringlets, for you are my beloved. You -shall have no weariness or lack for ever, for -I shall fold you in my affection as a hawk -folds air within her wings. You shall leave -these bleak halls and yon mangy field to sit -at the banquets in the Red Branch: to be the -Queen of Ulster, the pearl of the world, and -my own heart’s comrade.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre was the more alarmed, not only -because a strange and mighty gentleman -was holding a strange and monstrous discourse -to her, but he was holding her hand, -and she did not know how to retrieve it. -She thought it would not be polite to laugh,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> -although she vastly wanted to, and she knew -it would be foolish to cry, although she was -so bewildered and terrified that an ocean of -frightened tears was surging behind her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham, my sweet mother,” she -murmured in distress.</p> - -<p>And that low plaint went to Conachúr’s -heart like a sword of delight, so that his soul -was shaken and he could have wept for pity -and love.</p> - -<p>“Return to your embroidery, my child,” -said Lavarcham. “I shall come to you later -and prepare your mind for all that is in store -for you.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre stood up then and fled, only remembering -her courtesy at the doorway.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XX">CHAPTER XX</h3> -</div> - -<p>Lavarcham came to her as promised, and -she told Deirdre for hours of the delights to -come.</p> - -<p>“In a week,” she said, “you will be gone -from here, and our home will be desolate -indeed. But although the king called this -a bleak den, and spoke of our demesne as a -mangy field, he was not right in doing so. -A house is bleak that has no children running -and shouting in it, and this house will be -bleak when you are gone; but in all other -respects a cleaner or better appointed dwelling -will not be found in the Five Great -Fifths of Ireland; mark me well, child, the -king was excited and unjust, and I shall tell -him so. When you rule in Emania you -will find how difficult it is to keep all things -in order, and how hard it is to have even one -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> -room clean; for men will be stirring at all -hours of the day and night in your palace, and -although they can make a home in a field men -make nothing but dirt in a house.</p> - -<p>“You will have much to do and to remember, -my secret bud, but, above all, you must -remember the genealogies of Ireland and the -precedences of the court as I have taught -them to you, and in any doubt or dispute -ask me rather than the herald. The chief -cause of trouble in a country is the herald, -for he is always wrong, and even when he is -right in fact he is wrong in tact. Do not -take any other woman’s counsel in those -matters; do not even seek it—the one wish -of all women is to advance their husbands, -and themselves by consequence, and they -will ruin the world if they are let.</p> - -<p>“Do not forget that, after the king, the -first man in the land is Fergus the son of -Roy. Be quick in respect to him, but be -slow to sit by him or to talk with him, for -Conachúr loves him on the surface, but he -hates him in the bone. The first woman in -the land is the wife of Fergus, the king’s -mother. Be obedient to Ness in everything. -Be quick in your courtesies to her. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> -Give her many kisses. Be careful not to -love her, for her love is uncertain as a cat’s -paw, and where she strikes she draws blood. -But these two are not often at Emania. They -live in their fortress, deep in love, or in -thought, as Conachúr fancies.</p> - -<p>“You will see Findcheam, the wife of -Amargin the Wonderful, and Dervorgilla, -wife of Lugad of the Red Stripes, Fedelm-of-the-Fresh-Heart, -the wife of Laerí the -Victorious, and Niab, the daughter of Celtchar -mac Uthecar, and Brig Brethach, his -wife. Hussies all! spit-fires and scratch-cats! -There is Lendubair, Conall Cearnach’s wife, -and Findige, wife of Eogan mac Durthacht, -and Fedelm-of-the-Nine-Shapes, the king’s -daughter. They, and an hundred others. -You will meet them all.</p> - -<p>“They have all been whispering of you -this year back: and they have told more lies -of you than will be told again until you die. -You will like them at first, for many of them -are nearly of your age, and they will fuss and -gallop and chatter about you like daws. -Give them all the listening you like, give -them all the kisses they will take—Oh, you -will be kissed from morning to night, my -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> -pet—but do not give one of them a moment’s -confidence.</p> - -<p>“The king will talk to you urgently, whispering -in your ear like a madman. There -is nothing he will not tell you in the night, -however deep it is, or hidden; for a man in -love will give all that he has to the beloved; -he would give his soul if he knew how to do -it; and Conachúr will think that by telling -all his secrets to you he will somehow tell all -your secrets to himself. Men are so. But -that which he tells must be uttered to no -other ear, for what is whispered in the -palace will be shouted down the Boyne. -You can tell me all, for I am different; I -am your nurse, your mother, and your one -friend, but to no other person must you shape -even one syllable.</p> - -<p>“When the king has confided to you all -that he can think of he will beg you to confide -in him: he will pray you to tell him all -that you have even done or thought—when -he tells you of the wild glees and savageries -of love tell him in return of how you feed -your pet fawn; for a man, and the gods know -why, delights to think that his beloved has a -fawn in the valley, and he will listen for ever -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> -to the tale of how it is fed and of its grateful -eyes.</p> - -<p>“You will meet many men in the palace, -and each gentleman that you speak to will -be looked at closely by the king. Until this -day he has been aware of women as one is -aware of the sun, but now he will grow aware -of men as one is aware of a wound. You -will not see him look, but look he will; and -when you seem most free from observation -he will be studying you. Whether it be a -captain or a butler that your eyes rest on, he -will know, without looking, at whom you -are looking, and thereafter he will examine -that person for himself, and he will examine -you in curious ways about that person. Any -question he ever asks about a man will be a -trap for you. Answer him carelessly about -them all, and make the same answer about -them all.</p> - -<p>“It is safe to say of all men that they are -nice, but do not say that one is nicer than -another. There is no end to the windings -of his mind, and if you say that one man is -ugly and another not he will dream about -the distinction and will dream you terribly -into his dream. A dreaming man is magical, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> -for he will make the dream come true against -his own wish and interest, and Conachúr is -at the age to have those dreams.@</p> - -<p>“Be gentle and uncertain with him. Be -wild and coy. Do not, although he prays -you, be familiar with him. Tire quickly of -dalliance, for in middle life a man likes not -to think that he has wearied first. Dance -often but do not gambol. Be girlish but not -childish. Do not pluck his beard or tickle -him. Sit sparingly on his knee. It is only -old men who like baby tricks, and he is not, -by fifteen years, old enough for that.</p> - -<p>“Discuss your dresses and ornaments with -him: ask his advice about your ribbons; -he will laugh at you and chide you, but he -will love that to be done, and he will love -you for doing it. Should he be sportive -among women, pout then a little, make a -small lament, but take no heed of it. He has -outlived all the chances of desire.</p> - -<p>“He will love you only, and each day he -will love you more. What fear there is -will be on his side; he will be afraid of men; -and there your heed must be endless, for you -must not hurt the king even by a second’s -thoughtlessness. His equal is not in Eirè -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> -for majesty and wisdom. He is a great king, -a great man, a royal hero. O my lamb! all -that is of good luck and of noble fate has -come to you, and you should thank the king -for ever on your knees, and thank your poor -Lavarcham who planned this happiness.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h3> -</div> - -<p>And Conachúr lived anew as he drove homewards.</p> - -<p>He did not see the humble people who -louted and stared as he dashed by, nor the -others who stood at strict attention marvelling -at a king who returned no salute.</p> - -<p>His feet were so light he could have -bounded in the chariot, but his heart was -lighter still.</p> - -<p>It flew into his brain and stayed there, -buoyant as a bubble, creative as a moon; so -charging his mind with its own essence that -all which was material merged in a flash to -the spirit. The earth was eased of grossness -and became a shimmer of colours and transparencies; -an aura of gold and green rose on -the crests of the manifolding hills. The -tender involutions of no bird’s song were -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> -heard, for all songs merged into that of the -lyrical earth and the clouds and the shining -spaces between them. The world was singing -for Conachúr, and he was song. For to -the clairvoyance of love all that is unseen -takes on sweet shape, and all that we see we -are shapen to. A new world emerges softly -from the old: not imperceptibly and unreckoned, -but by such divine gradations as -we may note and rejoice in. Then the -creator is manifest in his creation, and all in -us. We are it and all: we are the soul of the -world, and our own soul: we are the victors, -for we are beyond fear: we are the masters, -for we are beyond desire.</p> - -<p>How should fear or lust reach to the tops -we spurn! The sour-faced beggar shaking -his oaken bowl may have our purse and a -clasp of the hand to boot. Yon shaking -anatomy that hovers and limps shall have -our own health if none other is at hand, for -all now is soft and easy, and at one bend of a -brow the Land of Heart’s Desire may be in -being.</p> - -<p>So Conachúr went, dreaming; the shaper -of a world that was malleable to his wish.</p> - -<p>To this hour he had triumphed in all that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> -he had undertaken, but he had been unfriended, -forging alone as in granite all that -he willed, and feeling at every instant the -rigour of life and the intractability of events. -He saw that nothing he had yet done was so -completed that it might be forgotten. Here -an event had left dissatisfaction in its wake: -there it had left an enemy. But from henceforth -his work would have the clean finish of -the spring, and all that he planted should -grow from the root.</p> - -<p>He would have double strength; his -titanic own, and hers, breathing in him like -an elixir, exciting him, heartening him. She -was—what was she not! She was his to-morrow. -She was his all and his last chance. -She was his future, vivifying all that had -grown stale, and unfolding horizons where -an uttermost end had seemed. For at -times an ending comes on every man, and -thereafter there is nothing to strive for, -there being nothing left to hope for; energy -winces from the thought of any task, and -the future but prolongs a present that is -insipid and wearisome.</p> - -<p>The departure of Maeve had been such an -ending for Conachúr. Life had halted there -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> -for him, or had moved in a round of sameness -which chafed and tormented his whirling -mind. But he could forget her now and -start afresh, for when he looked on Deirdre -she went into his blood and into his bones, so -that to be removed from her was as though -he were distant from his own arms or his own -head.</p> - -<p>He was impatient, and wished that all -should know, as at one shout, his glorious -news, but he yet would not speak of it to -any one. He knew that he might safely -leave the publishing of that event to Lavarcham, -and that ere nightfall every house in a -radius of twenty miles would be talking of -the king’s marriage.</p> - -<p>Down every road that ran from Emain -Macha messengers would be going in swift -chariots to tell the tale and to bid those who -were worthy to the wedding feast. Not -stopping for more than a few minutes at any -place; changing horses at the guest-houses, -and dashing off again; some deep into -Connacht in the west, others eastwards into -Leinster, and more again speeding the long -centre of Ireland to the two Munsters. -These distant kings and princes would think -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> -they had been slighted by such short notice, -or by a notice that could only reach them -after the event. But his wedding feast -should endure for three months, and there -would be pleasure and leisure for all. At -this moment, if Lavarcham was doing her -duty (and she was never neglectful), the -ostlers should be pulling the great chariots -out and backing the snorting horses between -the shafts.</p> - -<p>To-morrow would be a new day.</p> - -<p>Every person who observed the king -would look on him with something else in -the regard. Many reserves would be down, -many barriers broken; for all people look -differently on the king when he is in love, -and they try to bathe in his fortunate regard.</p> - -<p>The men would glance at him shyly and -subtly: each look a reminder and a well-wishing. -While he stood among them he -and they would laugh without any word -being said, and they would be more familiar -with him than they would otherwise dare. -But if one dared to clap his shoulder, Conachúr -would clap that comrade’s shoulder -again.</p> - -<p>The women would look at him more -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> -openly; more softly and broodingly; each -mutely assuring him that all which was to -come would be good; each telling him that -woman guards for man all that which no -man can give; each telling that because he -loved one woman he must love all, and that -women are truly lovable, and are precious -beyond all precious things. He would see -that they all wished to touch him, so that he -might know they were truly woman and not -different from her he delighted in; and he -would see them turn from him, humbled and -aggrieved, seeking anxiously in other eyes -for the confirmations which he must not -give.</p> - -<p>For when the king is in love the world -goes mad, and all who love him must cherish -each other or sicken of their suppressed -loyalty and adoration.</p> - -<p>For weeks to come Ulster would be an -orgy. The man who had dodged marriage -as a fox tricks the hen-wife would tumble -into it with a thud: those who craved for and -feared it would find that they were married -in a morning: maids would become daring -and men shy. From one, walking coyly in -the moonlight, a shoulder-band might slip, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> -and the moon and a man would be rewarded -for being out at night. One who stood and -spoke might suddenly shape her lips thus, -and the man who looked would go blind in -his brains and stay so to the last quarter of -the moon. A wave of frolic and daring -would go from the king, and thrill to the last -hamlet in his kingdom; for although war is -glorious, death is its ruler and companion; -but from love life flows and everything that -is lovely.</p> - -<p>And, as his heart rose thus, Conachúr -knew that he was the life of his people, for -he was king and lover, and that all swung -about him as the world swings round -the sun.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h3> -</div> - -<p>But for Deirdre a night went by which to -the end of her days she would not care to -remember.</p> - -<p>She had seen the king at last: that being, -all memory and dream, half monster and -half baby, whom she remembered from -Lavarcham’s endless tale. She had seen -the grave brow, the graver eyes, the bushy, -reddish-yellow hair looped back to the slope -of his poll, and the yellow beard cleft at the -centre and foaming in two points to the -breast. She could not have thought that a -man might be so huge, so steady, so masterful. -He was a being to whom one might -pray, or for whom one might die joyfully. -If a lord came striding from the Shí surely -he would look as Conachúr did: massive -and dazzling and wonderful; with an eye -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> -from which one winced as from the sun, and -with a voice that trolled and astonished like -the note of a beaten drum. She remembered -his hand that could hold both of her -own with ease, and the great ridge of his -shoulders, sloping away like the easy run -and fall of a mountain.</p> - -<p>And this terrific being claimed her as his -wife!</p> - -<p>Nothing but terror filled her heart at that -prospect, for she could not see him in any -terms of intimacy or affection. He was and -would remain as remote as her childhood, -and no mere nearness could make him -present. And he would be as unaccountable -as are the elements that smile to-day -and rage to-morrow in hurricane. What -woman could reckon his parts or his total? -He was like some god that had come out of -the hills to astonish and terrify.</p> - -<p>And there was Naoise!</p> - -<p>As her memory retrieved the beloved -name her heart went bustling to her throat, -and she sat raging and terrified.</p> - -<p>It was not that he would be defrauded of -her: it would be his own business to be -woeful on that count; but she would be -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> -defrauded of him, and her proper lack was -as yet sufficient for her mood, for lacking him -what could be returned to her? Her hands -went cold and her mouth dry as she faced -such a prospect.</p> - -<p>The youth who was hers! Who had no -terrors for her! Who was her equal in -years and frolic! She could laugh with -him, and at him. She could chide him and -love him. She could give to him and withhold. -She could be his mother as well as -his wife. She could annoy him and forgive -him. For between them there was such an -equality of time and rights that neither could -dream of mastery or feel a grief against the -other. He was her beloved, her comrade, -the very red of her heart, and her choice -choice.</p> - -<p>Deirdre leaped from the bed, but she could -not leap from her thoughts, and she could -not attempt the crazy and mazy corridors of -her home to fly to him; for the excited household -was clattering and chattering in the -corridors, and she could no more escape by -them than a bird can escape by its cage.</p> - -<p>It was not until two nights had passed -that she could dare the wall; and in the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> -intervening days she must listen to Lavarcham, -endless in caution and advice.</p> - -<p>Do this, but do not on your life do that. -Remember this always, and this and this and -this. There seemed as much to remember -not to forget as there was to remember to -remember.</p> - -<p>Deirdre would turn an eye on her guardian -so lack-lustre at times, and again so woeful -or wild, that the good lady marvelled.</p> - -<p>“Do not be frightened, my silk of the -flock,” her guardian soothed, “there is -every cause for joy and none for fear. In -three days you will be the most envied lady -in Ulster, and in four you will be the happiest. -Tell Lavarcham what is in your mind -and what you are afraid of?”</p> - -<p>“I am in dread of the king,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“That will pass,” Lavarcham advised, -“and in a few days you will wonder that -you could have been frightened. But a -maid is a maid: all that she thinks or dreams -is founded on inexperience, and has nothing -to do with reality: the world pours into a -young girl’s lap heedless of what she wished -or dreaded; for no person can either hope -or fear until they know actually that which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> -is hopeful or frightful. All you need do is -to accept what your heart approves of, and -what your heart rejects you can throw away. -There is everything to hope for and nothing -to be afraid of.”</p> - -<p>But her chance did come at last.</p> - -<p>She found the sons of Uisneac still at their -encampment, but they were a silent trio. -They were more than silent: they were -abashed and embarrassed.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” Deirdre murmured, feeling -the constraint.</p> - -<p>“We are bidden to your wedding,” said -Naoise shyly.</p> - -<p>The mild candour of his voice went into -her heart like a sword, so that she could not -speak to him, and it was to his brother she -turned.</p> - -<p>“What shall we do, dear Ainnle?” she -asked.</p> - -<p>But he had no answer for her, and it was -the youngest who replied.</p> - -<p>“Let us all run away,” Ardan cried, and -his face went suddenly red and his eager -eyes shone like stars.</p> - -<p>Naoise glanced at Deirdre from under his -brows.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p> - -<p>“Where could we run to from the king?” -Ainnle grumbled impatiently.</p> - -<p>“And we do not come of a race that run -away,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>Silence fell. But the statement of his -own quality had unlocked a door of bitterness -in Naoise’s heart.</p> - -<p>“Nor will you easily find the girl who will -run away from a kingdom,” he continued as -though addressing reasonable counsel to his -juniors.</p> - -<p>Deirdre faced him gravely and lovingly.</p> - -<p>“I will run away with you,” she said.</p> - -<p>“The king——!” Naoise gasped.</p> - -<p>“I am afraid of that king,” she whispered -urgently.</p> - -<p>But her lover was pale and terrified.</p> - -<p>It would be an affront that was never -offered to a king in Eirè. It would be a -cruelty: it would be an awful deed.</p> - -<p>He turned to his brothers. “The king -is our uncle, he loves us,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Ainnle agreed, “he loves us -better than his own sons.”</p> - -<p>“After Cúchulinn,” said Ardan, “he -loves us best in the world.”</p> - -<p>“And he loves me,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span></p> - -<p>Naoise leaped to his feet.</p> - -<p>“O gods of day and night!” he cried.</p> - -<p>He seemed to plead to Deirdre for comprehension -and pity.</p> - -<p>“Conachúr reared me like his own son: -I sat in his lap: he buckled this sword on -me with his own hand, he put his two palms -on my shoulders when I won my weapons, -and he kissed me three times on each cheek. -I love and venerate him.”</p> - -<p>Again silence throbbed among them.</p> - -<p>“I shall go home to Lavarcham,” said -Deirdre.</p> - -<p>The boys looked at her and at each other -and at the ground and did not know where -to look any more.</p> - -<p>“I also shall be reared by the son of Ness,” -she said gently. “I too shall sit in his lap. -He will not buckle a sword on me, but he -will unbuckle my girdle with his own hands; -he will put his two palms on my shoulders, -and he will kiss me many times on each -cheek.”</p> - -<p>Naoise beat a fist against his brow.</p> - -<p>“I am the king’s man,” he stammered.</p> - -<p>But she turned her fleet smile and -trembling lips on him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p> - -<p>“Am I to tell the king how well we loved -each other, night after night among the -trees? or would it be better to keep that as -a secret among us four: they say that men -can keep secrets.”</p> - -<p>The two lads blushed painfully and -turned away.</p> - -<p>Naoise was as one who has renounced life.</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to be done,” said his -dry lips. And then, shaking his shoulders, -he tossed care from them.</p> - -<p>“We shall be beyond the trees at this -hour to-morrow night with the chariots,” -he said. “If the hour passes and you do -not come we shall attack the guards and -take you out.”</p> - -<p>He turned to the others.</p> - -<p>“You must come with us, wherever we -go, my brothers, for when the king finds -that I am gone he will slay you two for -eric.”</p> - -<p>“He wouldn’t kill me,” Ardan boasted, -“for I wouldn’t let him.”</p> - -<p>“Nobody but Cúchulinn could kill you,” -Ainnle scoffed.</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t, anyway,” the youngest -retorted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p> - -<p>“Little boasting Pillar of Combat!” his -brother gibed. “Pooh! Battle-Torch of -the Gael!”</p> - -<p>And in terrified merriment they made the -rest of their arrangements.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Lavarcham left the king’s presence.</p> - -<p>She came away bowed and blind and dizzy, -shuffling in any direction and unaware of -why she was walking or where she was -going. An hundred thoughts, battling furiously -for precedence, kept her thoughtless; -an hundred pictures, each striving for place -and examination, kept her blind. She was -all a din and whirl and swirl, as though the -winds that raged in gust and countercurrent -through her brain were blowing her along. -At times she would remember that she did -not wish to go where she was going, and -she would spin furiously aside and go as -stupidly in another path; and at times she -would discover that she was standing, still -and collected as a stone, a nothing; staring -on nothing. Great sighs broke from her -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> -miserable heart; or she was so shattered -by dry sobbings that it seemed her bones -must part company with her flesh and with -each other; and again, with her two hands -gripped on her mouth she squeezed back a -medley of screams, and listened, as in amazement, -to the thin whinings that forced -through the crooked spaces in her fingers. -Again, the cautious woman would peep -and peer to see if any person was nigh to -observe her, and before that survey could -make its round she would forget what she -was looking for, and think that <i>they</i> could -not be seen from this place, for they have -hours’ start, and will be—where? by this -time.</p> - -<p>With what unbelieving anguish that -flight had forced itself upon her! She -had gone trotting and ambling and panting -about her rooms and fields, calling—</p> - -<p>“Deirdre, Deirdre, Deirdre?”</p> - -<p>Searching for her baby in a work-basket -or on the flat of a ceiling, while the servants -gibbered and squealed and bubbled and -blared at her and at each other.</p> - -<p>With what an iron dismay the thought -of Conachúr came on her, desolating and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> -unreckoned as the thunderclap which howls -on the heels of its howling brother.</p> - -<p>He must be told.</p> - -<p>And at that she poked up her nose like a -moonstruck dog pealing scream on scream, -until the attending hags fled into corners -as the mice do when they are frightened, and -screamed with her and at her and at the roof.</p> - -<p>She went to Conachúr.</p> - -<p>She stood mumbling and staring outside the -door and then trotted in, whispering at him:</p> - -<p>“She’s gone.”</p> - -<p>And Conachúr echoed, in uncomprehending -amazement:</p> - -<p>“She’s gone.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham stared into the king’s face -that was carved in the granite of suspense -and astonishment.</p> - -<p>“She’s gone, little Deirdre’s gone,” she -yelled, and emptied her thin fingers on the -air as though she emptied them of Deirdre. -She clapped her hands together with a -dreadful giggle, and flapped her arms along -her thighs like some ungainly crow that has -been set dancing drunk on mead.</p> - -<p>“When a maid goes a man goes with -her,” she croaked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p> - -<p>She flopped to the door and hopped out -of it and popped back.</p> - -<p>“She’s gone,” she cried. “She’s gone; -she ran away with a man”; and she wobbled -to the doorway again, nodding and tittering -at the king until she disappeared.</p> - -<p>The servants and guards were listening -with their eyes staring, their mouths open, -and their breathing forgotten.</p> - -<p>A whisper, a thrill, a terrible constriction -of the heart fled through the vast palace, and -went zigzagging like wildfire about Ulster. -And in the centre of that Conachúr stood, -alone; with his fists closed and his eyes -closed; listening to the whispers that were -an inch away and an hundred miles away; -that were over him and under him and in -him: listening to the blanching of his face -and to the liquifying of his bones: listening -in a rage of curiosity and woe for the more -that might be said and all the more that -might be thought: trying, as with one gripping -of the mind, to sense all the bitterness -that might be; to exhaust it in one gulp, -and re-awaken as at a million removes from -all that had ever been or could be till Doom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_II">BOOK II</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_I">CHAPTER I</h3> -</div> - -<p>Time flies, scattering on all that had seemed -important the ash of forgetfulness, and so -crowding memory into memory that the -thing we recollect has no longer the shape -or colour that strode against us once upon -a time.</p> - -<p>For all men but the dreamer time flies. -But it may be stationary for him who can -recreate in the night all that he forces to -oblivion in the morning. His woeful yesterdays -can be timely at any time, for nothing -that touches him will rust or fade, and he -may be seen to wince at a word which his -contemporaries have lost the significance of.</p> - -<p>The seven years that passed had not -touched Conachúr. He was still the masterful -king, the unremitting lawgiver. He was -still the idol of his people. What would a -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> -banquet in the Red Branch be if the king -were away? But he was never absent, and -wherever there was music or frolic or -laughter the Son of Ness was urging it on, -and would be eager for more when the -youngest companion was wearied to stupidity. -Not time nor thought could blunt the edge -of his bodily or mental energy, so vast was -it, and misfortune beat as unavailingly -against him as the wind did against oaken -Emania.</p> - -<p>To be energetic and self-sufficing is to be -happy; but while one desire remains in -the heart happiness may not come there. -For to desire is to be incomplete: it is the -badge of dependence, the signal of unhappiness, -and to be freed from that is to -be freed from every fetter that can possibly -be forged. Man becomes god when he -finds his satisfactions within himself, but -his dreams then are other than those that -harried Conachúr as a pack of hounds harry -a fox.</p> - -<p>For Ulster might forget, and those who -had not been outraged might forgive, but -he would not forget or forgive until he was -as dead as those should be against whom his -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> -mind was directed like the point of a secret -spear.</p> - -<p>Deirdre and the sons of Uisneac had fled -to Scotland, where they had kinsmen and -acquaintances who had grown up with them -in Emain Macha as fosterages from the -Scottish courts, or as lords and captains in -Conachúr’s mercenary armies. They may -have met Cúchulinn there, for it would be -about that time that he was under the tuition -of the female warrior and witch, Scatach; -and, if so, they should have met his comrade -Ferdiad also, he who was to assail the ford -afterwards with what a hand! and it may -have been during their exile that Cúchulinn -fell in love with Scatach’s daughter, and that -the child was born who would receive such a -woeful stroke on Báile’s Strand.</p> - -<p>It is one of the wise arrangements of providence -that no person can either eat of the -same thing or talk of the same thing for -more than a week; and so, when gossip’s -time had passed, Ulster, unless it might be -to some travelling historian, spoke no more -of the king’s misfortune. Such an historian -would have learned that Deirdre was tall -and short, and that she was dark and fair and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> -sallow: for every woman he interviewed -would lend her own contours and complexion -to such an heroine, and would, as -they reprobated or forgave, endow her with -the moral qualities which they best appreciated—their -own. Lavarcham could tell -the truth and so could Conachúr, but they -would not be questioned for some years to -come.</p> - -<p>The king had downfaced the whole -matter from the start. He went to the chase -that day. He sat at the banquet that night. -He visited his foreign troops the next day, -and the day after he inspected the fortifications -at the Pass of the Fews and a length of -the Black Pig’s Dyke on either side. There -was the Boy Troop to be reviewed and their -competitions to be scrutinized. There were -the unending ceremonies of the court, the -Judgement Seat, and of the embassies from -all parts of his realm and from overseas: -there were gifts to be received and returned: -counsels to be given and listened to. There -was an eternal variety of occupations for the -king, who, although he might employ a day -of eighteen hours’ work, could have something -yet to think of ere he slept.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p> - -<p>Cúchulinn and Conall Cearnach had been -equal kings with him, but they had (Lavarcham -had assisted in that) surrendered their -powers to Conachúr, who was now known and -described as Emperor of Ulster.</p> - -<p>What allegiance he gave to the High King -of Ireland we do not know, and it may have -been part of his plan to arrive at that dignity -himself. A Connacht prince was then, and -for a thousand years afterwards, High King -of Ireland, and although the effort of Connacht -and Ulster to achieve supreme rule -may now be forgotten, the effects of those -bitter wars lasted longer than an historian -would dare to count.</p> - -<p>So far as Ulster was concerned the king -might have been at ease. His honour was -as safe as his kingdom, and as for the other -actors in his drama their condition was so -manifestly gentle and their youth so extreme -that no taint of ugliness or treachery could -remain in the tale, or in the mind of the -person who heard it. It could, in a while, -have been told of as a regrettable childish -misadventure, and one which not even the -king need further remember.</p> - -<p>But the king remembered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span></p> - -<p>It was to escape such a memory that -he plunged into affairs and banquets and -a whole roystering self-expenditure which -would have devitalized any other man. He -prolonged his day until it could not for very -weariness be further extended, and then he -went to bed.</p> - -<p>No: he went to Deirdre’s bed where -Naoise slept, and over which he hovered -sleepless, though in sleep, and in a torment -that poisoned the very sunlight when he -awakened.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_II">CHAPTER II</h3> -</div> - -<p>Conachúr mac Nessa was preparing a feast.</p> - -<p>Household banquets were common matters -at his court, but this was to be a State banquet, -and every person who could be thought of as -noble or notable was invited to the Red -Branch.</p> - -<p>As well as an aristocracy of birth there was -in every Irish court an élite of excellence. -Those who were foremost in learning, the -arts, or the crafts, had the privilege of visiting -the king equally with those whose merit rose -from their fathers’ graves or their skill at -arms. A king was then close to his people, -and he was by training and habit a connoisseur -in many things which all could understand. -A commonwealth of taste is the only -one which can admit equality—it is democracy. -He could commend with knowledge -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> -the man who built a house or the man who -did the carvings in it. He could speak to -the maker of his chariots or the breaker of -his horses in terms that apprehended to the -last shading the matter that was being discussed, -and, so, to the expert who cured his -bacon or the sturdy master who superintended -the brewing of his beer. All arts -were household arts; all crafts were arts; -and the knowledge of these was culture. A -gentleman would know of all the music that -was worthy of being played, for a musical -person formed part of every household. He -would remember the songs that had outlived -time and could discuss their excellences; -and the only art which he need -regard as occult would be poetry itself; for, -while all other arts come by memory and -experiment, poetry, which is not an art, -comes solely by grace.</p> - -<p>“Lavarcham,” said Conachúr, “have you -heard any talk of the banquet?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, master, I have heard nothing -else.”</p> - -<p>“Will there be any notable absentees?”</p> - -<p>“None but those who are dying of -wounds or sickness.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> - -<p>“Cúchulinn has stayed at home for some -time now?”</p> - -<p>“For a year after marriage one is still newly -married,” the conversation-woman submitted.</p> - -<p>“I fear that boy’s love for me has bounds,” -Conachúr pursued.</p> - -<p>“The king has been too kind to him,” -cried Lavarcham harshly.</p> - -<p>“The king cannot help himself,” he -corrected, “for I love the lad, and I could no -more do him an ill turn that I could do one -to myself.”</p> - -<p>“I, too, love him,” said Lavarcham, “but -he is more forward than is proper, even in a -prince.”</p> - -<p>“Can you tell me, Lavarcham, why he objected -to my sovereign privilege with his wife?”</p> - -<p>“Pride,” she replied briefly. “He is -prouder than ten kings.”</p> - -<p>“It is so, and it is a gentleman’s prerogative -to be proud,” he continued. “But -if such objections were allowed government -would become impossible. Do the people -still talk of his refusal?”</p> - -<p>“The people know that the king did sleep -with Emer.” -<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, they may know that, but do they -know that Fergus slept on the other side of -her as a guard?”</p> - -<p>“No,” she replied; “that is known to -but five people, and they are all loyal to the -king.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me,” and Conachúr scrutinized her -gravely, “do you love Cúchulinn better than -me?”</p> - -<p>“I love you best of all, master,” said -Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“I think you do, my friend, but they say -that every woman loves the Cú.</p> - -<p>“As to Fergus”—he muttered and went -silent for a moment—“I do not yet know how -much Fergus loves me. I am not sure that -a loyal man would have undertaken a duty -against his sovereign such as Fergus accepted -for Cúchulinn.”</p> - -<p>“He did it because he loves both of you, -master, and it is surely better that such an -arrangement should be known only between -friends.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly,” said Conachúr. “And yet -I had passed my word that if my right was -conceded I would not touch the girl. Is -a king’s word not accepted any longer by -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> -those Ferguses and Cúchulinns?” he cried -furiously.</p> - -<p>“It was Cúchulinn’s doing,” said she.</p> - -<p>“It may have been Fergus’s,” he retorted, -and went moodily silent. “Who knows -what that man thinks of?”</p> - -<p>“Feasts,” said Lavarcham. “He loves -food.”</p> - -<p>“I was tempted,” the king gritted, “to -try in the night whether he dared obstruct -me, and to see if he dared thrust the sword -he went to bed with into his king—but I had -passed my word. If,” he continued irritably, -“the Cú had only asked Conall Cearnach -or Cruscrid Menn or any gentleman -of the household to be his surety instead -of the man he did ask, I could have borne -it.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham chuckled respectfully.</p> - -<p>“How did that night pass, master?” she -inquired.</p> - -<p>Conachúr gave a great laugh.</p> - -<p>“Fergus and I went to bed, and the girl -went to bed between us, and we all had our -clothes on. My bed is small enough for -me when I am alone, but to pack a large -girl into it with all her clothes on, and then -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> -to pack an overgrown vast bullock of a man -like Fergus into it also, cannot be done. I -made but one resolve that night, that on no -account would I be pushed out of my own -bed, and I was not; but every time that -Fergus closed an eye he fell on the floor and -the girl woke up and screamed.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham let out a shrill titter, and -begged the king’s pardon.</p> - -<p>“How did Emer behave?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“She went to sleep,” said Conachúr -sourly. “She slept hard and kicked hard -for seven long hours; and this I know, that -if she has the round knee of a woman, which -she has, for it was thudded into my back a -thousand times, she has also the sharp elbows -of a girl, so that after a time it seemed to me -that there was a bundle of live bodkins in the -bed. I never knew how long a night could -be until that night: and we had even to -prolong it out of courtesy to the lady! I -shall keep a painful memory of that sweet -girl until I die, and the Cú is welcome to -every royal remittance he can desire on her -behalf. But now, about the banquet. Is -everything in order?”</p> - -<p>“Everything, master.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p> - -<p>“The brewers, the bakers, the cooks, they -have their equipment and instructions?”</p> - -<p>“Your butlers must answer for that, -master.”</p> - -<p>“True, but as you went among these -people how did they seem? What do they -say about the feast?”</p> - -<p>“They are excited and delighted. All -their talk is of the famous people and the -great retinues that are coming, and of how -Ulster will show the Five Kingdoms what a -real feast is like.”</p> - -<p>“They are good folk all,” said Conachúr. -“They are very good folk. You have no -other news?”</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to report, master, but -that everything is well.”</p> - -<p>“You have no tidings from Scotland?”</p> - -<p>“None, master, or little.”</p> - -<p>“Even a little news is news,” said he. -“Tell it, however little it be.”</p> - -<p>“They have been chased again,” said -Lavarcham in a low voice. “Everywhere -they go they are hunted like foxes. They live -under the weather, crouching like wild creatures -in the bracken of a hill-side, or hiding -in rocks and caves by a howling shore.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span></p> - -<p>“They were delicately reared,” he murmured.</p> - -<p>“They never knew hardship,” Lavarcham -whimpered, “and my babe——”</p> - -<p>“Ah yes, your babe! How old would -she be now, that babe of yours?”</p> - -<p>“Close on twenty-three years, master.”</p> - -<p>“And I am forty-seven. She has all her -days in front of her still.”</p> - -<p>“What days will they be, and she quaking -in a burrow like a hare, or rising thin-legged -from the bog like a yellow bittern?”</p> - -<p>“It is still the King of Scotland who pursues -them?” Conachúr queried.</p> - -<p>“Yes; since he set eyes on her seven years -ago he has given them no rest, and he will -give none until he has killed the three -brothers and taken the girl for himself. That -is the welcome of a king in Scotland. It is -not the welcome the same lord got when he -came here in fosterage.”</p> - -<p>“He is still a young man,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“Young or old, it is not the act of a -prince.”</p> - -<p>“The acts of a prince need a prince’s -criticism,” said the king severely.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham went silent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p> - -<p>“Young men go wild at times, and it is -their right; but older men can be of a wildness -that no young man can understand,” -said the king.</p> - -<p>He twisted sternly on Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“Love is told of in this way and that, but -it is not told of as it is.... It is savagery -in the blood, and pain in the bone, and greed -and despair in the mind. It is to be thirsty -in the night and unslaked in the day. It is -to carry memory like a thorn in the heart. -It is to drip one’s blood as one walks. Leave -men to the things they know, and do you -meddle with your own female businesses.”</p> - -<p>“Those children,” said Lavarcham stubbornly, -“are a woman’s business, and his -own subjects are matter for a king.”</p> - -<p>“They are our kinsmen indeed,” said -Conachúr thoughtfully, “and their troubles -shall be looked into. We shall speak of this -again after the banquet.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham’s eyes were shining:</p> - -<p>“Yes, master,” she crooned.</p> - -<p>“Send in our butlers and all our masters,” -said Conachúr.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> -Emer = pronounced Ever.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_III">CHAPTER III</h3> -</div> - -<p>The king and the guests of honour, mainly -members of his family and their wives, sat -on a raised dais overlooking the banqueting -hall.</p> - -<p>It was at the heart of the banquet. The -food had been eaten, and mead and ale -and wine were circulating. Gentlemen were -politely pledging each other’s ladies, and the -ladies were feverishly considering each other’s -costumes and ornaments.</p> - -<p>“Every one,” Emer explained in her clear, -sweet voice to Cúchulinn, “every one who -has any hair at all wears it this way.”</p> - -<p>“It is the Connacht fashion,” said Cruscraid -the Stammerer.</p> - -<p>“It is Maeve’s fashion,” Emer corrected.</p> - -<p>“There must be three plaits,” she continued; -“two twisted round the head and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> -caught in a brooch, and one hanging down -the back. I think it is a charming fashion.”</p> - -<p>“I think,” Conachúr smiled, “that our -ladies might content themselves with our -own good Ulster customs.”</p> - -<p>“There are Ulster customs, indeed,” said -Emer, “but there are no fashions. One -must go to Connacht for that.”</p> - -<p>“If it depended on the ladies,” said Laerí, -“we might let the grass grow over the Black -Pig’s Dyke.”</p> - -<p>“Shoulder torques are worn smaller in -Connacht just now,” Emer continued, eyeing -superciliously the ornaments of a neighbour. -“Just like mine,” she added complacently.</p> - -<p>Cúchulinn laughed boisterously.</p> - -<p>“Just like yours,” he mocked. “Why, -you know well, my dove, I took that torque -on the last spoil I made in Connacht.”</p> - -<p>Great good humour descended on Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“Is that where the torque came from, my -soul? Your sweet lady must show it to me -more closely. You had a hard fight on that -occasion?”</p> - -<p>“I got away from them,” the Cú answered -modestly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p> - -<p>“You got away from them only when you -got home,” Bricriu jeered. “It was good -running, my sweet.”</p> - -<p>“They were very persistent,” the Cú admitted -laughingly, “but I got away with my -spoil.”</p> - -<p>“You know how the Connacht men explain -the fact that you are still alive?”</p> - -<p>“It will be an unpleasant explanation if -it is explained by Bricriu,” said Emer.</p> - -<p>“I should like to hear it,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“They are telling each other that our Cú -was so beautiful they could not bear to kill -him: think of that, Cúcuc.”</p> - -<p>“It is a stupid sentimental reason,” -growled Laerí.</p> - -<p>“It is a good, honourable reason,” Emer -flashed. “It is not a reason you will ever -give for letting a man escape.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Bricriu; “Laerí’s excuse when -he doesn’t bring his man home is that he -couldn’t catch him.”</p> - -<p>“And that,” Laerí retorted, “would be -the Connacht men’s reason for not getting -the Cú, if a Connachtman could tell the truth -about anything.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span></p> - -<p>“They tell the truth when it is pleasant,” -said Emer, “and when it is not pleasant they -tell a lie: they are a polite people, which is -more than we are.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Oh!” Conachúr laughed.</p> - -<p>“Their lies come from a good heart and -a love of happiness, while our truths come -grumph, grumph, grumph like the snarling -of a badly trained dog.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Oh!” Conachúr roared.</p> - -<p>“Conall, what do you say of these Connacht -people? You also have been among -them lately.”</p> - -<p>“They are honourable fighters,” said -Conall.</p> - -<p>“No man can pray for a better enemy than -a Connachtman,” Fergus assented. “They -come on where another would go back, and -when they go back it is either through pity -or poetry.”</p> - -<p>“Come,” said Conachúr, “their compliment -to the Cú has been repaid, and we can -talk of something else. What do you think -of our banquet?”</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to be said,” cried -Emer; “it is perfect.”</p> - -<p>“Everybody seems happy,” said the complacent -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> -king, as he looked down the Red -Branch.</p> - -<p>His guests also stared down the hall.</p> - -<p>“They seem happy and are happy,” said -Cúchulinn. He turned to his servant and -charioteer:</p> - -<p>“Laeg,” he cried, “you do not love me! -My cup is empty.”</p> - -<p>“My darling,” Laeg replied, “you have -drunk as much as is good for you.”</p> - -<p>“I shall drink as much as is bad for me if -I please,” said Cúchulinn, “so bring me -some mead, my treasure.”</p> - -<p>“I shall bring you ale or cider.”</p> - -<p>“Mead,” said the Cú.</p> - -<p>“Ale, my little love,” said the charioteer.</p> - -<p>“Bring mead for the Cú when he wants -it,” Emer ordered indignantly.</p> - -<p>“Sweet mistress,” said Laeg, “we have -to bring him home to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Then give him ale,” said Emer.</p> - -<p>“It will surely be ale,” cried the delighted -Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“Mead,” Cúchulinn pleaded.</p> - -<p>“You will want to fight the moon and -stars as we go home,” Emer rebuked -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span></p> - -<p>“I can fight on ale just as well,” Cúchulinn -asserted.</p> - -<p>“And it is good heady ale,” the king -assured him.</p> - -<p>“Let it be ale, then,” said Cúchulinn.</p> - -<p>“I think that not one person whom -we know is absent from this banquet,” -said Fiachra the Fair, Conachúr’s youngest -son.</p> - -<p>The conversation turned as they all looked -down the great hall. “There is So-and-so, -and So-and-so.”</p> - -<p>“Who,” said Emer, “is that tall, sad -man with three men’s chins about him?”</p> - -<p>“He is such a one,” said Fiachra.</p> - -<p>“And the black bulk beside him with the -beard that was stolen from a porcupine?”</p> - -<p>“His name is Borach, the son of Annté. -He has a fortified rock half in and half out -of the sea. He catches sharks through his -window, and his banquets are all made of -fish.”</p> - -<p>“He is preparing a banquet for me,” -Conachúr cried.</p> - -<p>“I shall not accept a feast from that man,” -said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“You must if he asks you,” Cúchulinn -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> -replied, “for it is geasa<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> on you not to refuse -a feast.”</p> - -<p>“That is so; but the feast must be ready -before I am offered it, and as I do not visit -his part of the world I shall never have to -eat his sharks.”</p> - -<p>“You think there is no one absent?” asked -Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“Not one,” they agreed.</p> - -<p>“I am sharper than you all,” he continued, -“for I can count three who are not here.”</p> - -<p>Again they scrutinized the hall without -finding any missing friends. They appealed -to the herald who stood by Conachúr’s -chair. He, too, was mystified.</p> - -<p>“What three are they?” said Fiachra.</p> - -<p>“The three sons of Uisneac,” the king -replied smilingly. “The three Lights of -Valour of the Gael.”</p> - -<p>At the words a moment’s silence came on -the dais and no person knew exactly what to -say or do. Fergus turned his direct gaze -on the king.</p> - -<p>“They are in Scotland,” he said.</p> - -<p>“They went there seven years ago when -Naoise ran away with Deirdre,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> - -<p>Conall Cearnach turned his harsh forehead -to the king:</p> - -<p>“They are in great distress,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I have just heard so,” the king replied -gravely. “We must bring them home.”</p> - -<p>At the words the face of every person -changed. It was as though a cordial had -been dropped into each heart.</p> - -<p>Cúchulinn flashed enthusiasm and delight -at the king:</p> - -<p>“You will let them come back?”</p> - -<p>“They shall be at our next banquet.”</p> - -<p>“If I could love you more,” Fergus -affirmed, “I would love you more for that.”</p> - -<p>“I know you love me well,” said Conachúr, -“and I love you, my heart.”</p> - -<p>“We have been wearying to see Naoise -again,” cried Cúchulinn.</p> - -<p>“What is he like?” said Emer.</p> - -<p>“He is under geasa about his return,” -Bricriu interposed.</p> - -<p>Conachúr turned abruptly to him.</p> - -<p>“What geasa is that?”</p> - -<p>“He will come back in the company of -Fergus or of Conall or of the Cú, otherwise -he will not come back.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p> - -<p>“He was always a sensible, far-seeing -boy,” Bricriu continued thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>The king’s eye rested on Bricriu for one -weighty moment ere he replied:</p> - -<p>“We shall send one of the three, or all of -the three to fetch him.”</p> - -<p>“What is she like?” Emer insisted.</p> - -<p>Bricriu replied:</p> - -<p>“She has been sleeping in ditches for six -years. She will be like nothing that you -have ever heard of, sweet lady.”</p> - -<p>“She——” said Cúchulinn.</p> - -<p>“She——” said every voice at the one -moment.</p> - -<p>“She,” said Conachúr with a grave smile, -“was called the Troubler; she has given -and received her share of trouble.”</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> -Geasa = taboo.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_IV">CHAPTER IV</h3> -</div> - -<p>“You understand?” said the king.</p> - -<p>“I understand well, master,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“First you are to send Conall to me. -Half an hour afterwards you shall send -Cúchulinn. In another half-hour you shall -send me Fergus, and when he comes you -shall see that Borach is in waiting.”</p> - -<p>“I understand well, master.”</p> - -<p>“In a little while you shall see your babe -again.”</p> - -<p>She scrutinized his face humbly and -gravely.</p> - -<p>“You are most gentle, master.”</p> - -<p>“Are you not contented?”</p> - -<p>“I am filled with joy and grief,” she -answered.</p> - -<p>“And grief!” the king echoed mildly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p> - -<p>“She will not be the girl I knew,” said -Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“She will have been destroyed by hardship.”</p> - -<p>“Girls are tougher than women pretend,” -said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“A man grows directly from the boy he -was,” she continued. “He keeps the boy -you knew even when he is an old man. But -a girl grows suddenly at an angle to all that -she was. She becomes a stranger in a year.”</p> - -<p>“Hum!” he scoffed.</p> - -<p>“The Deirdre we knew is dead, and some -weather-wise, weather-wasted woman will -look at me with unknown eyes and say, -‘How do you do.’ I shall not know how -to talk to her,” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“If it is so we shall see it so,” said Conachúr. -“Go now and send me Conall, and -then the others in the order I told you.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham left the room.</p> - -<p>When she was beyond the king’s hearing -she stood for a good five minutes musing -deeply within herself; listening as it were -to her heart, to her instincts, to that monitor -on whom we call when the times are momentous -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> -and doubtful and there is no other help -but our own to be summoned. She sighed -inaudibly, tremulously, and went about her -business.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Conall Cearnach stood in the doorway.</p> - -<p>“Good, O Chief and King!” he saluted.</p> - -<p>“Life and happiness!” Conachúr replied -briskly. “Sit here, my heart, for there is -but one chair. I shall walk up and down -while we discuss this business.”</p> - -<p>His guest sat down.</p> - -<p>“It is about Uisneac’s boys. You think -they should come home?”</p> - -<p>“Every one thinks so; there is a gap -among your gentlemen while they are away.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr nodded.</p> - -<p>“There is an even worse gap among your -captains.”</p> - -<p>“It is so.”</p> - -<p>“And among the boys growing from the -troop,” Conall resumed, “there is no one to -replace these three. They were already at -the force of manhood, and even then their -skill and knowledge were remarkable.”</p> - -<p>“True,” Conachúr agreed. “They were -trained by me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span></p> - -<p>“The last six years of combat and ambuscade -and flight will have made them but the -better soldiers.”</p> - -<p>The king strode to his visitor and laid a -hand on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Conall, my friend, these three have -treated me shamefully.”</p> - -<p>“The only way to forgive a thing is to -forget it. You have forgiven, Conachúr—and -forgotten.”</p> - -<p>“If they returned with you, Conall, and -if evil happened to them while under your -surety, what would you do?”</p> - -<p>Conall rose from his chair, and in rising -displaced the king’s hand. He looked at -the king with his steady, pale regard.</p> - -<p>“If evil came to a person placed under my -protection I would kill the person by whom -that evil came.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr laughed merrily.</p> - -<p>“Even the king himself?” he quizzed.</p> - -<p>“I would kill any person that dishonoured -me,” said Conall sternly.</p> - -<p>“You would be quite right to do so,” said -Conachúr heartily.</p> - -<p>He seated himself in the chair that Conall -had vacated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> - -<p>“The matter I wish to discuss is your -uncle, Cet mac Magach, Cet of Connacht. -That man scorns our borders, and his depredations -are costly and impertinent. Our -young men also are not equal to that able -reiver. Could you not talk to him, Conall, -and draw him off us?”</p> - -<p>“I talk to Connachtmen with a sword.”</p> - -<p>“You may talk to him that way if you -please.”</p> - -<p>Conall reviewed the invitation imperturbably.</p> - -<p>“I would not care to kill Cet mac Magach. -He is my mother’s brother.”</p> - -<p>“And he is not an easy person to kill,” -said Conachúr. “We shall make our own -arrangements about him. Blessing and long -life to you!”</p> - -<p>The dismissed champion strode from the -room.</p> - -<p>“That man,” Conachúr thought moodily, -“has been hammered together stone by -stone, and is no more than a petrified vanity. -He loves nothing but his honour, which is -that he loves himself.”</p> - -<p>“Come in, the Cú,” he called. “Come -in, and an hundred welcomes, my sweet lad.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span></p> - -<p>Cúchulinn, magnificent in red silk and -gold embroideries, came leaping in.</p> - -<p>“Well, my pulse!” cried Conachúr. -“And you have a new mantle!”</p> - -<p>“Emer made it,” the Cú boasted. “She -does the finest embroidery in the world. She -told me so herself.”</p> - -<p>“If she told you so——” said Conachúr. -“Let me look at the sleeve. It is not bad, -my delight. But I have a few pieces somewhere—Did -you pass Conall Cearnach as -you came in?”</p> - -<p>“I did; he smiled a frozen smile at me, -and clapped my shoulder with a fist of lead.”</p> - -<p>“We were arguing about honour. If -a person was placed under your protection -and was then killed, what would you do, -Cúcuceen?”</p> - -<p>“I would kill the other person,” said -Cúchulinn.</p> - -<p>“If it was the king, my pet?”</p> - -<p>“I would kill the king.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr sat round at him in a rage.</p> - -<p>“Would you kill me?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I would,” Cúchulinn returned as fiercely. -“I would kill any one who destroyed a person -under my protection.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></p> - -<p>“You would <i>not</i> kill me, Cúchulinn!”</p> - -<p>“As sure as dawn begins the day.”</p> - -<p>“Begone, young puppy! Begone, cockscomb!” -he thundered.</p> - -<p>“Honour——” Cúchulinn commenced.</p> - -<p>“You do not love me,” the king stormed.</p> - -<p>“I do love you.”</p> - -<p>“Begone,” the king roared, and stamped -the floor.</p> - -<p>The laughing Cúchulinn backed before -his rage.</p> - -<p>“I do love you,” he shouted; and he continued -to shout, “I love you.... I love -you,” until he reached the end of the corridor -and turned the corner, where the -guards poked each other in the ribs and -giggled with joy.</p> - -<p>Conachúr tugged at his beard half in -anger and half in laughter.</p> - -<p>Another vanity in a mantle, he thought. -That boy loves me indeed, and he would as -surely kill me, for it is certain that I could -not think of killing him. Is there no person -in my realm who loves me better than his -own poor pride? And what a three that—Naoise—must -choose for his sureties!</p> - -<p>He strode savagely up and down the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span></p> - -<p>“We shall see now what Fergus is like,” -he sneered. “He professes to adore me, -and eyes me with the devotion of a dull dog. -A dull dog he is, and a monster of sufficiency -to boot.”</p> - -<p>If he dares to thwart me—the king -gloomed, and went into a bitter rage of -meditation.</p> - -<p>A great voice boomed on him.</p> - -<p>“Good my soul, Conachúr!”</p> - -<p>“It is Fergus,” cried the king joyfully, -and strode to meet his visitor.</p> - -<p>“Come, my pulse and best. Sit you and -I shall stand. Nay, sit,” he chided gently. -“Indeed, if things were right you should sit -always, and this man,” tapping his own -breast, “should bend a lover’s knee before -you. You bear no ill-will, sweetheart, for -that trick of long ago?”</p> - -<p>The giant sat.</p> - -<p>“I never think of it, or I think of it with -relief when I remember the Judgement Seat, -and the knots and tangles and questions that -came day by day. I was not bad at justice, -but I was a sad fumbler at law, and the best -man has the best place, my dear. Do not torment -yourself with memories of that old——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> - -<p>He halted for a word.</p> - -<p>“Treachery,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“That is not the word I wanted,” Fergus -laughed. “You are too sensitive, Conachúr. -The nobles agreed and I agreed that you -should be the king, and I am your most -loving subject.”</p> - -<p>“You do love me?”</p> - -<p>“Have I not proved it?” the other -smiled.</p> - -<p>“Many a time. Times out of mind,” -said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>He turned aside and closed his eyes. -A pang of dull hate smouldered and stirred -in him.</p> - -<p>“If this man were dead!” he thought with -weary despair. “If this man would but -cease and disappear and begone, how free -my soul could be!”</p> - -<p>He turned again to Fergus.</p> - -<p>“Let us talk of other things,” he said. -“Those sons of Uisneac——”</p> - -<p>“You did a rare deed there,” said the -other approvingly.</p> - -<p>“Rare or not rare they will be brought -back, and you shall go for them.”</p> - -<p>Fergus nodded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p> - -<p>“If they claim my protection——” he -began.</p> - -<p>“They do claim it, and they will return -under your protection.”</p> - -<p>“Then I shall go for them. I shall be -glad to see these boys again: they had the -makings of great fighters in them.”</p> - -<p>“That is settled,” said Conachúr. “You -can start to-day?” he inquired.</p> - -<p>“I can start within the hour.”</p> - -<p>“Good.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr mused, and turned thoughtful -eyes on his companion.</p> - -<p>“If anything happened to these three -while they were under your protection, -Fergus, what would you do?”</p> - -<p>“I would kill the person who interfered -with my protection.”</p> - -<p>“No matter who it was?”</p> - -<p>“No matter who it was.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder would our mutual love withstand -even an attack on honour,” said -Conachúr thoughtfully. “There are bounds -to love, but I doubt that I could lift a hand -against you even if you attacked my honour.”</p> - -<p>“Our love is a great bond,” said Fergus -simply; “it would be hard to destroy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span></p> - -<p>“Nevertheless,” the king smiled, “if I -injured your honour—say that I attacked -these sons of Uisneac while in your surety, -your affection for me would scarcely withstand -that.”</p> - -<p>“That would be a hard case indeed,” -Fergus laughed.</p> - -<p>“You would kill me?” the king queried -with a genial smile.</p> - -<p>“You know,” said Fergus, “that I could -not kill you whatever you did.”</p> - -<p>“We love one another well,” said -Conachúr. “It is a great thing to love -as we do, my friend.</p> - -<p>“But now,” he continued briskly, “we -must attend to this troublesome business, -and we must have a third person present -in order that the world may know how we -despatch it.”</p> - -<p>He clapped his hands, and, to the servant -who appeared:</p> - -<p>“Who is in waiting?”</p> - -<p>“Borach, lord.”</p> - -<p>“Tell him to come here.”</p> - -<p>“That is the man who feeds his guests -on sharks,” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“He is on duty of honour to-day,” the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> -king replied carelessly, “and he will be -witness to the world of my instructions -and of your charge. Come forward, good -Borach.”</p> - -<p>The bulky man strode in.</p> - -<p>“You shall listen to my instructions to our -dear Fergus, and you shall be the witness to -this arrangement.”</p> - -<p>Fergus thereupon stood up and Conachúr -seated himself.</p> - -<p>“Fergus, my friend, you shall go to -Scotland and bring back to this court the -three sons of Uisneac and the woman -Deirdre. There shall be no delay about -the execution of this duty.”</p> - -<p>“There shall be no delay,” Fergus -affirmed.</p> - -<p>“The instant they set foot in Ireland you -shall proceed here with them; and if, from -any cause whatsoever, you cannot come -yourself, you shall cause them to come to -me without the delay of even one half-hour.”</p> - -<p>“That will be done,” said Fergus, “but -I shall be with them.”</p> - -<p>“With you or without you, whether they -arrive by day or by night in Ireland, they -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> -shall be sent here to me without the delay -of even one half-hour.”</p> - -<p>“That will be done,” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“I bind that on you to the letter,” said -Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“I accept it so,” Fergus returned. “I -shall bring my two sons to Scotland, and if, -by any miracle, I should be delayed myself, -they shall go forward with every speed and -deliver these four people safely at Emain -Macha.”</p> - -<p>“A speedy return to you,” said Conachúr. -“Go at once, my dear friend. But you, -Borach, stay yet awhile. I have the matter -of our feast to discuss with you.”</p> - -<p>Fergus smiled broadly as he withdrew.</p> - -<p>“Sharks,” he murmured quite joyfully. -“Sharks!”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_V">CHAPTER V</h3> -</div> - -<p>On the slope of a sunny hill overlooking -Loch Eitche, Deirdre was cooking the meal -which her husband and his brothers had -run to earth and carried home on their -shoulders.</p> - -<p>“The food is ready,” she called.</p> - -<p>“It is not as ready as I am, for I could -eat land and water,” Ardan averred.</p> - -<p>“We shall not give you any,” she -mocked.</p> - -<p>“Serve the greedy person right,” said -Ainnle. “He eats in his sleep.”</p> - -<p>“But I must get the part I killed,” -Ardan protested.</p> - -<p>“What part is that?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know its name, but it is the -tenderest part.”</p> - -<p>“This is also a thievish person,” said -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> -Ainnle indignantly; “he is trying to claim -the part I killed.”</p> - -<p>“Fight for me, Naoise!” Ardan implored. -“Be on my side, Deirdreen!”</p> - -<p>“You shall be served last,” said Deirdre -severely, “and you shall get a tough piece.”</p> - -<p>“Ochone! ochone for ever!” he lamented.</p> - -<p>“How do you like that piece?” said -Deirdre vindictively.</p> - -<p>“I could eat a cow’s horn if you cooked -it,” he wheedled. “Won’t you give me -more in a minute, little sister?”</p> - -<p>“I shall give you ten kisses,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“Do not go between that man and his -meat,” Ainnle warned; “he will bite -you.”</p> - -<p>“The law says that you are my brother, -but I shall certainly divorce you,” the other -cried, “and then you will be sorry.”</p> - -<p>“You are silent, Naoise!” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“No man can talk with his mouth full -except me,” Ardan explained.</p> - -<p>“Half an hour ago,” said Naoise, “I -saw a ship beating in from the sea.”</p> - -<p>“A fishing-boat?”</p> - -<p>“I think it was a boat from Ireland.”</p> - -<p>“Why should you think so?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span></p> - -<p>“It had the cut of an Irish boat.”</p> - -<p>“If it is any of our friends from Ireland,” -said Ainnle, “they will be almost at the strand -now.”</p> - -<p>“We have no friends in Ireland,” Deirdre -returned coldly.</p> - -<p>“Run to the strand, Ardan my pulse, -and see who came in that ship.”</p> - -<p>The boy scrambled to his feet.</p> - -<p>“If they are friends I’ll give them kisses. -If they are enemies I’ll steal their supper.”</p> - -<p>But Deirdre was woebegone as she looked -on the two brothers.</p> - -<p>“What ails you, little sister?” Ainnle -inquired.</p> - -<p>“I had a dream last night,” she replied, -“and it troubles me.”</p> - -<p>“We share all things, and our troubles. -Tell us your dream.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre looked away distantly to the -sea.</p> - -<p>“I dreamed that three birds came flying -from Emain Macha.”</p> - -<p>“Happy birds,” said Naoise dreamily, -“that can fly, and fly back.”</p> - -<p>“They had each a sip of honey in their -beaks. They left the three sips of honey -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> -with us, and they took away from us three -sips of our blood.”</p> - -<p>“The ending,” said Naoise, “is not so -sweet as the beginning.”</p> - -<p>“How do you interpret that dream?” his -brother asked.</p> - -<p>“I think that three people will come to -us carrying a sweet, deceitful message from -Conachúr.”</p> - -<p>“A dream is a dream,” he soothed her.</p> - -<p>“And my dreams!” she cried. “How -many times have we fled on the advice of -my dream? and as we looked back we -saw that happening which we fled from. Is -that true, brother?”</p> - -<p>“It is true. Our Deirdre has second -sight.”</p> - -<p>Naoise turned his shoulder along the -grass, and laid his ear to the wind.</p> - -<p>“I hear a shout,” he said.</p> - -<p>“It is some man of these parts giving a -hunting call,” she answered.</p> - -<p>“It seemed to me like the shout of an -Irishman.”</p> - -<p>“It may be Ardan returning.”</p> - -<p>“It is not his call.”</p> - -<p>“It is Fergus and his two sons,” said -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> -Deirdre miserably. “They are coming -to us with three sips of honey in their -mouths.”</p> - -<p>“What is in Fergus’ mouth is in his -heart also,” Naoise cried joyfully. “One -time or another even your dream may be -wrong, for if Fergus agrees to be a messenger -the message will be as true as his own -truth.”</p> - -<p>“Remember,” said Deirdre, “that I told -you they were coming without having seen -them.”</p> - -<p>Fergus and his two sons, with Ardan -doing circles and whoops around them, rose -on a slope of the hill, and came striding over -the tussocks. Behind them came the shield-bearer -and the shield itself, and at the sight -Ainnle fled to meet them, but Naoise drew -back to keep Deirdre company, for she had -not moved.</p> - -<p>“It is Fergus,” he said, with shining eyes.</p> - -<p>“He has come for our blood,” said -white-lipped Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“Queen of queens,” her husband -laughed, “you do not know Fergus.”</p> - -<p>At that the whole band came together, -and they all kissed each other fondly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span></p> - -<p>“Welcome to this land,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“And thou art Deirdre!” cried Fergus, -as he kissed her on either cheek.</p> - -<p>She smiled wanly as she returned his -kisses.</p> - -<p>“We shall teach you to laugh in Ireland,” -he trolled.</p> - -<p>“What news is there from the lovely -country?” her husband demanded.</p> - -<p>“The best. The news that you are to -return there.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“The king himself has sent me to bring -you home under my surety and protection.”</p> - -<p>“Whoo-oop!” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“He bids me tell you that he has forgiven -you, and wishes you all happiness.”</p> - -<p>But Deirdre turned to him, smiling and -fearful.</p> - -<p>“We are happy here in Scotland,” she -said.</p> - -<p>“Nay,” said Fergus, “one cannot be -satisfied when one is in exile, for his native -land is dearer to a man than any other.”</p> - -<p>“This is truly a dear country,” she -replied.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span></p> - -<p>“And it is well known,” Fergus continued, -“that if a man of Ireland had the -lordship of another country he would yet -be unhappy unless he could see Ireland -every day.”</p> - -<p>“It is so,” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“There is no one knows its truth better -than the sons of Uisneac,” cried Naoise.</p> - -<p>“You see,” the great man chided her.</p> - -<p>“I know that this is a dear land,” said -Deirdre stubbornly, “and that here the sons -of Uisneac might rise to any destiny they -aimed for.”</p> - -<p>“It may be so,” Naoise affirmed. “But -Ireland is dearer to me than Scotland.”</p> - -<p>“Scotland is safer,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Will you be safer in Scotland than with -me?” cried Fergus in amazement. “I have -yet a little power,” he smiled.</p> - -<p>“We will go with you,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“Do not go, my pulse,” said Deirdre in -great agitation. “Do not trust yourself -where Conachúr is.”</p> - -<p>“Women and cats dislike change,” -Naoise laughed, “but you will love this -change.”</p> - -<p>In half an hour they strode down the hill, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> -and in an hour their sails were bent for -Ireland.</p> - -<p>It was then Deirdre made her first poem, -beginning</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A lovable land is that in the east,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Marvellous Alba....</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_VI">CHAPTER VI</h3> -</div> - -<p>As they approached harbour they noticed a -band waiting at the landing-place, and these -people raised mighty cheers as the ship -swung.</p> - -<p>“That man!” said Fergus, indicating -one who stood apart and issued commands. -“I surely know that man! It is Borach,” -he laughed. “It is the man who feeds -people on sharks,” and he explained to his -party all that he had heard of Borach at the -banquet.</p> - -<p>“The gods be praised,” he murmured, “we -cannot wait for his feast even if he offers it.”</p> - -<p>When they landed Borach ran to meet -them. He kissed Fergus three times, and -he kissed each of the others also.</p> - -<p>“Welcome to this land,” he said; “all -Ireland welcomes you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span></p> - -<p>He looked with his black, deep-set peep -at Deirdre and kissed her, but when she -looked at him he turned aside.</p> - -<p>He was ill at ease, and all his movements -were self-conscious and unhappy. He -turned, almost truculently, to Fergus.</p> - -<p>“Fergus,” he said, “I am honoured to -see you in my lordship.”</p> - -<p>“You are kind,” said Fergus, “and I -shall bind you to visit me in mine.”</p> - -<p>“I am so delighted,” Borach continued -hastily, “that I have prepared a feast for you, -such as is only offered to a king.”</p> - -<p>“The king did say,” Fergus rumbled -joyfully, “that you had a feast ready for -him.”</p> - -<p>“That is the feast I am offering to you,” -said Borach.</p> - -<p>“What?” cried the giant.</p> - -<p>“The king has notified me that he cannot -come to my banquet, so I am offering it to -you instead.”</p> - -<p>Fergus stared at him.</p> - -<p>“You were present, and you heard -Conachúr’s instructions that there should be -no delay on this journey. I shall come and -feast with you another time, my dear.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span></p> - -<p>“I insist that you stay and feast with me -for one week,” Borach growled.</p> - -<p>“You insist!” he murmured in astonishment.</p> - -<p>“I invoke your geasa,” said the other -stubbornly. “You must remain with me -for a week.”</p> - -<p>At that Fergus became one purple mass -from the crown of his head to the soles of his -feet, and his face swelled so that the bystanders -feared he would burst with the -excess and violence of his rage. Borach -was nervous, but his own men were around -him, and although he was terrified of -Fergus he was yet more frightened of the -king.</p> - -<p>“I insist,” he shouted, “and you cannot -refuse a feast that is offered to you kindly.”</p> - -<p>“This is a trick,” said Fergus. “You -know my oath; you listened to it, for the -king made me swear in your very presence, -that, was it by day or by night, I should -speed the sons of Uisneac to him from the -moment we landed. And you offer me a -feast and a week’s delay! What dog’s -deed do you intend, you Borach? Do you -not value your life?” he roared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span></p> - -<p>“I value my life indeed,” Borach replied, -“and”—looking round on his attendants—“and -I shall take great care of it. I hold -you to the feast, Fergus.”</p> - -<p>“Come apart with me,” said the bewildered -giant to his companions, “and let -us discuss this wonder.”</p> - -<p>“What ought we to do?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“It seems that you must make a choice,” -said Deirdre timidly.</p> - -<p>“What choice is there, sweet queen?”</p> - -<p>“You have to choose whether you will -forsake the feast or forsake us,” she murmured.</p> - -<p>Her heart swelled as she spoke, so that -her voice was not steady, for she was astonished -and unhappy and her mind was bewildered.</p> - -<p>“In truth I must leave one or the other,” -said Fergus.</p> - -<p>Naoise and his brothers stared at the -fogged noble.</p> - -<p>“Dear champion,” she pleaded, “it -would be more fitting to leave the feast, but -it would not be right to leave us in the -middle of our enemies.”</p> - -<p>“But I cannot leave a feast,” Fergus -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> -explained, “for that is my compact with -the gods. One cannot break his geasa.”</p> - -<p>They stared at him and at one another in -consternation.</p> - -<p>“Whatever is in his mind, this Borach -will not release me from the eating of his -accursed sharks,” Fergus continued wrathfully. -“Eat them I must, but I shall leave -my sons with you, and they will protect you -on the road to Emain.”</p> - -<p>“By my hand,” said Naoise, “you are -doing a great deal for us! The protection -we seek is that of your name and fame and -station. Any other protection we do not -value, for we are well used to taking care of -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“But——” said Fergus.</p> - -<p>“We did not come here under your -weapons,” said Naoise, “we came under -your guarantee.”</p> - -<p>“You mistake me,” said Fergus mildly. -“My sons carry my guarantee, and with -them you will be as secure as though I were -present.”</p> - -<p>He turned to Rough-Red Buinne and -Iollann the Fair.</p> - -<p>“Is not that so?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span></p> - -<p>“It is so,” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“The Council of All Ireland would not -tolerate the breaking of this notable surety,” -said Iollann. “It is known now through -the whole country.”</p> - -<p>“And what man would dare to break my -guarantee?” Fergus inquired.</p> - -<p>Naoise bit his lip.</p> - -<p>“Let us go on,” said he.</p> - -<p>He turned his level gaze on Fergus’ sons.</p> - -<p>“You are our guarantors,” he said, “and -we accept your protection.”</p> - -<p>They returned to where the black-avised -chieftain was waiting, and him Fergus stared -and out-stared until he was reduced to a -mass of unhappiness.</p> - -<p>“I shall eat sharks because I must, -Borach,” he thundered.</p> - -<p>“What sharks are you talking about?” -said Borach.</p> - -<p>“Lead me to your miseries of the deep,” -said Fergus, “but do not talk to me about -them.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_VII">CHAPTER VII</h3> -</div> - -<p>As the travellers proceeded they were morose -and thoughtful, and even Ardan’s high -spirits flagged. But as they looked on a -native sky, and on the fields and hedgerows -of an Irish countryside, something of -their disquietude was eased and a lightening -of the heart became apparent in each of -them.</p> - -<p>“Dear girl,” said Naoise, and he placed -an arm about her shoulders. “We are in -Ireland,” he said.</p> - -<p>At the word every misery fled from -Ardan’s breast, so that he began to look -truculently on his brother Ainnle, and even -to give him an occasional shoulder as they -marched.</p> - -<p>Deirdre leaned to her husband.</p> - -<p>“I have had other visions,” she said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p> - -<p>She moved her hand languidly towards -Fergus’ two sons, who strode a few paces in -advance.</p> - -<p>“These are our sureties!” she mocked.</p> - -<p>“They represent their father,” Naoise -affirmed.</p> - -<p>“They represent nothing but themselves,” -she answered, “and if their father -leaves us for a feast, they will leave us for -any other prank.”</p> - -<p>“It was his geasa,” said Naoise patiently.</p> - -<p>“Whatever it was,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“We are utterly alone,” she continued. -“We have no backing of any kind, and we -will arrive in Emain Macha at the absolute -mercy of Conachúr.”</p> - -<p>She seized her husband’s arm.</p> - -<p>“You also are under geasa not to return -unless in the company of Fergus. He may -be delayed for a week. Let us camp here -and wait until he comes up with us.”</p> - -<p>“Dear child,” said Naoise, “how can we -insult these good youths?”</p> - -<p>But Deirdre was in terrible agitation.</p> - -<p>“I dread appearing in the presence of -Conachúr if Fergus is not by us.”</p> - -<p>“His guarantee is with us,” and Naoise -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> -indicated the two young men. “There it is, -four legs of it marching stoutly.”</p> - -<p>“At least,” she pleaded, “let us go to -Cúchulinn’s fortress in Dun Dealgan and -wait there until he or Fergus can come with -us—if you will do that, I shall complain no -more.”</p> - -<p>“Fergus,” he replied, “has bound himself -before the king that he would send us on -without an hour’s delay.”</p> - -<p>“And he bound himself to stay with us, -but he has broken his word.”</p> - -<p>“We must keep his word for him with -the king,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“Another person’s honour is another -person’s business. That compact is broken -by him, and your geasa is not kept by keeping -his. Let us turn to Dun Dealgan and -take Cúchulinn’s protection.”</p> - -<p>Naoise indicated the two who were marching -in front.</p> - -<p>“I shall ask their advice, and if they agree -to it we will go to Dun Dealgan.”</p> - -<p>He called the two, and put the question -to them. But they were scandalized.</p> - -<p>“You have no confidence in us,” said -Buinne.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span></p> - -<p>“And none in our father’s word,” said -Iollann.</p> - -<p>“This woe has come on us because of -your father’s word, and he has left us in -our danger for a feast,” she raged.</p> - -<p>“The whole world,” said Buinne, -“knows Fergus mac Roy, and the worth -of his protection.—You know it,” he said -to Naoise, “although your queen does -not.”</p> - -<p>“You are right,” said Naoise. “We may -go on without misgiving, my dove.”</p> - -<p>And they went on.</p> - -<p>On their journey the next day they -reached Slieve Fuad. Deirdre strayed behind, -and in the movement and conversation -her absence was not noticed for a long time. -Naoise retraced his path from the White -Cairn of the Watching, and came on her -sleeping in a grassy hollow. When he -awakened her she stared and clutched him, -and cried wildly and bitterly.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” he asked in alarm.</p> - -<p>“I have had a vision,” she sobbed. “I -have had a dreadful vision.”</p> - -<p>“What did you see?”</p> - -<p>“I saw Iollann with no head on him, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> -I saw Buinne with his head safe on his -shoulders.”</p> - -<p>Naoise took her in his arms.</p> - -<p>“Be glad,” he laughed, “that one of our -friends will escape the doom you have -planned for us all.”</p> - -<p>But she stared at him in distraction.</p> - -<p>“No friend of ours will escape,” she -moaned.</p> - -<p>“But Buinne kept his head on in your -dream!”</p> - -<p>“The man who had no head had been -fighting for us, and the man who had a head -was fighting against us,” she whispered.</p> - -<p>Naoise was shocked.</p> - -<p>“How you have changed, my one -treasure,” he said mournfully.</p> - -<p>She threw her arms about him.</p> - -<p>“Do not speak unkindly to me,” she -begged.</p> - -<p>“That lovely mouth spoke always lovely -things, and now it speaks nothing but -evil.”</p> - -<p>She closed his lips with her hand.</p> - -<p>“No, no,” she said. “Do not say more. -Or say only that you love me. You do love -me, my husband?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></p> - -<p>“Little tender wife!” he smiled. “After -all the dangers we have gone through you are -frightened at last.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she breathed, “I am terribly -frightened. I die of fear for us all. When -I remember Conachúr.... He looked so -at me, Naoise! He——! Come with -me to Scotland. We will be safe there. -We will be happy again. We will hunt in -the Woods of Cuan and Glen da Rua. I -shall never complain again in this life if you -will come with me to Scotland. Let us go -away. You and I, and our darlings, Ainnle -and Ardan. He is so young to be killed, -our brother Ardan. He is but twenty-one -years old, and he is gay and loving and -fearless. We will be together again; we -four: alone and happy. Listen! we will -hunt and feast and defend ourselves and -fear nothing. You shall win a kingdom -there: in sweet Alba of the heathery uplands; -but let us fly from Conachúr. You -do not know him. Only I and Lavarcham -know that terrible king. He is thoughtful. -He is bitter and unforgiving, and his -memories are rooted deep like the roots of -a deep tree.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span></p> - -<p>But Naoise put her hands away.</p> - -<p>“If you must speak badly of others,” -he said coldly, “speak to me of foreigners, -and not of my own people!”</p> - -<p>“Alas, my husband!” said Deirdre. -“Alas and alas for all of us!”</p> - -<p>She rose wearily.</p> - -<p>“Do not be angry with me. Let that -last unhappiness be spared me. I am your -wife, Naoise. I would prefer that evil -should happen to all the world rather than -one small misfortune should come to you. -I am not Deirdre any more. I am -Misery.”</p> - -<p>But he kissed and petted her, putting -back the hair from her brow and framing -her face in his hands.</p> - -<p>“We are here now,” he said, “and no -matter what awaits us we must go to meet -it. You would not wish me to run away, -Deirdreen.”</p> - -<p>“We ran away before,” she said, “and -we have greater reason to run away now -than we had then. The spider is waiting -for us in the web.”</p> - -<p>“You forget, and you will keep on forgetting -it, that we are under the protection -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> -of Fergus, and through him we are under -the protection of all Ireland.”</p> - -<p>But she looked at him almost angrily.</p> - -<p>“Fergus,” she scoffed. “He is a traitor, -that Fergus. He is being used by the king -to betray us.”</p> - -<p>Naoise bit his lip and his eyes became -hard and sombre.</p> - -<p>“Let us go on,” he said. “We should -reach Ard Saileach ere the evening.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>They stood on the slope of a hill in a rounded -and rolling country looking down on Emain -Macha. The evening was advanced, and -the late sunlight, all a glimmer of gold, was -shining tenderly on the city, so that the -mighty ten-acre palace of Conachúr shone -back again as though it also were a sun. -The great bronze doors, polished like -mirrors, were blazing in red lakes of flame, -the glass windows of the women’s sunny -rooms were like blinding pools of gold, and -the roofs, painted in broad reaches of red -and green and orange, glowed and sparkled -in the mellow evening.</p> - -<p>“It is good to look on that again,” said -Naoise in a low voice.</p> - -<p>“I had almost forgotten it,” said -Ainnle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span></p> - -<p>But Ardan squatted in the grass and stared -and stared with his soul in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“You have not seen the city for seven -years!” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>Naoise drew Deirdre to him.</p> - -<p>“Are you not contented now, my heart?”</p> - -<p>“Our wanderings are ended,” he continued -tenderly. “We are outlaws no more, -and that long vagabondage is done with. -You will sleep at last in a bed,” he smiled.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear!” she breathed.</p> - -<p>“We are home again,” he said, and his -heart filled suddenly so that he could not -tell if it were really joy that stayed his -tongue and blinded his eyes, or if the grief -of seven long years had risen within him -like a wintry tide.</p> - -<p>But Deirdre was not happy. She saw -Ainnle’s contained joy, and the ecstasy in -Ardan’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“Alas, my darlings!” she said.</p> - -<p>“You still think,” said Naoise, “that -the king of such a land can act towards us -like a traitor?”</p> - -<p>“I shall give you a sign,” she replied -mournfully and gently. “If Conachúr lodges -us this night in his own house we are safe.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span></p> - -<p>“He has sent for us of his own royal -will,” said Ainnle, “and he will lodge us, -as is proper, in the Royal Branch.”</p> - -<p>“Poor trusting gentlemen!” said Deirdre. -“Conachúr could not live again in the house -where you three had lodged. He will send -us to the Red Branch.”</p> - -<p>“And if he does?” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“I,” Ardan cried, “am going to put a -new edge on my sword if he does. There -is a good edge on it already,” he explained, -“but I am going to put edges all over it.”</p> - -<p>“If we are sent to the Red Branch,” said -Ainnle, “I shall let you give my blade a -rub too.”</p> - -<p>“I call on Iollann and Buinne for protection,” -Ardan cried indignantly. “That man -makes me work for him like a horse,” he -complained.</p> - -<p>Naoise turned to the two sons of Fergus.</p> - -<p>“If we are sent to the Red Branch what -will you do?”</p> - -<p>“We will go there with you,” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“The king’s house is always filled with -guests,” Iollann said. “He cannot know -just when we should arrive, and he may have -no place for us at a moment’s notice.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span></p> - -<p>“There is nothing Conachúr does not -know,” said Deirdre. “Borach will have -sent a runner to tell of our arrival, and his -own spies will have told the king in what -place we camped each night, and at what -hour we marched again in the morning. He -knows now that we are here, and if he sends -us to the Red Branch we are lost.”</p> - -<p>“I am as full of curiosity as an old -woman,” Naoise laughed. “Let us go on -and find out everything that is going to -happen.”</p> - -<p>In a short time they were among the -streets and booths around Emain Macha, -but the twilight had descended and the -passers-by did not recognize the six travellers.</p> - -<p>“Yonder is the Speckled Branch, the -Armoury,” said Ainnle. “The Boy Troop -will be going to bed shortly. You remember -those nights, Naoise, and all the -chattering?”</p> - -<p>“And the climbing out of windows by -a cord,” said Ardan. “And the scrambling -back again while the comrades above threw -all the world at the guards who were trying -to stick spears in us as we shinned up.”</p> - -<p>“There is the Red Branch,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span></p> - -<p>“Is it truly full of dead men’s heads?” -Deirdre chattered through frozen lips.</p> - -<p>“There is generally a head or two,” he -answered carelessly, “Connachtmen mostly.”</p> - -<p>“Very hairy, beardy, toothy kinds of -heads,” said Ardan. “I remember them, -and they used to get hairier and beardier -and toothier every second day. At last,” -he explained to Deirdre, “there wouldn’t -be any head at all, no face at all, only a mat -of hair as long as a woman’s, and it in knots, -and a shiny grin among the knots.”</p> - -<p>“You are all wrong,” said Ainnle. “A -dead man’s hair grows lank and long like -a drink of water.”</p> - -<p>“Pooh!” said Ardan. “You remember -everything! You are the great man of the -world! The wind knots them and twists -them and wobbles them all in and out like -a doormat.”</p> - -<p>“Yonder is Conachúr’s house, the Royal -Branch,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“We will give a good thundering knock -at the door and make them jump,” said -Ainnle gleefully.</p> - -<p>“I’ll give it a kick,” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>Naoise did give a thundering knock.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> - -<p>The door opened and a guard appeared.</p> - -<p>“Who asks admission at this hour?” he -demanded.</p> - -<p>“The sons of Uisneac.”</p> - -<p>The guard stared.</p> - -<p>“Come in, nobles, and sit for a moment -while I seek instructions.”</p> - -<p>“Let a message be sent to the king,” -said Buinne, “that the protection of Fergus -mac Roy and those he protects have arrived -as he ordered.”</p> - -<p>The chamberlain came, Scel, son of Barnene.</p> - -<p>“The household have retired,” he said. -“But the king sends his regrets and courtesies, -and has instructed that his noble -guests are to be lodged in the Red Branch -for this night. A guard will escort you -there.” He motioned to the captain of the -guard, who ranged his men.</p> - -<p>“Don’t forget about the edges you promised -to do for me,” said Ardan to his -brother.</p> - -<p>“No wriggling, young lazy-bones,” Ainnle -retorted. “You shall do your work and be -respectful to your betters also.”</p> - -<p>“Is not that man a tyrant?” said Ardan. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> -He turned to the captain of the guard. -“Hold me away from him, good sir,” he -implored.</p> - -<p>“I am at your orders, gentlemen,” said -the smiling captain.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_IX">CHAPTER IX</h3> -</div> - -<p>But Conachúr had not retired.</p> - -<p>He was seated in the central room away -in the heart of his monstrous palace, and the -great crystal ball swung at his shoulder. He -had stared into it for hours and had seen -nothing.</p> - -<p>Lavarcham also was there, seated humbly -on a stool.</p> - -<p>“Fill my cup,” said Conachúr. “I am -thirsty to-night, my heart. I could drain a -sea and not drown this thirst.”</p> - -<p>“You are troubled, lord. All this business -has fevered you.”</p> - -<p>“And you! Are you not excited at the -thought of seeing your babe again?”</p> - -<p>“I have interested myself in so many -things these seven long years, master, I have -almost forgotten her. She has dropped out -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> -of my mind, and now I would as readily not -see her as see her.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you loved that babe!”</p> - -<p>“After all, she is not my babe. Felimid -mac Dall’s wife bore her.”</p> - -<p>“Is it so?” Conachúr mused. “I had -almost forgotten that old tale.”</p> - -<p>“I had but the labour of rearing her, and -of being disappointed by her,” she said -bitterly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“You did not fill my cup, Lavarcham.”</p> - -<p>“I did, master, but you have emptied it.”</p> - -<p>“Fill it again, good friend.... She was -beautiful, Lavarcham! She was a thing of -joy and wonder!”</p> - -<p>“Young girls are beautiful while they are -young, master, but in a few years they look -like any other person.”</p> - -<p>“You think so?”</p> - -<p>“They get fat or they get thin. It is not -girls that are lovely, master, it is youth.”</p> - -<p>“And I am forty-seven years of age! -The years go by doing what I know to me, -but for her there has been only the time to -ripen what was immature. The green fruit -will be ruddy and fragrant worked on by the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> -sun and the wind. What age is she now, -woman?”</p> - -<p>“She is seven years older in time, and -twenty years older in hardship. She will -have forgotten how to lie in a bed, or how to -eat proper food.”</p> - -<p>“She will surely have changed,” said -Conachúr.</p> - -<p>A brisk moment returned to the great -man, and he aroused himself.</p> - -<p>“How will she look after her years of -lying in the butt of a wet ditch or in the bog?”</p> - -<p>“Ah me!” said Lavarcham.</p> - -<p>“She will have plodded over tough hills -with a thin belly and a dry lip. She will -have slept with her fingers in her mouth to -keep them warm in the winter. She will -be lean and red-handed and windy-faced; -with the arches of her feet broken down by -too much walking, and her knees sagging -under her like an old ploughman’s. Is that -how the Troubler will look, Lavarcham?”</p> - -<p>“I think, master, that she may be a long, -thin, tough woman. She will be rheumatic——”</p> - -<p>“She will awaken in the night coughing -like a sick horse,” said the cheerful king.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span></p> - -<p>“I do not wish to see her,” said Lavarcham -sourly.</p> - -<p>“No more do I,” said Conachúr. “Let -her go.... My cup!” he murmured. -“Lavarcham, you do not attend me well.”</p> - -<p>Again he became moody.</p> - -<p>“If I were not the king I would steal to -the Red Branch and spy on her ruin through -a window. I should like to see that she -is lank and depressed.... Go you, Lavarcham; -the guards know your privileges. -Look through the window and bring me -back that tale.”</p> - -<p>“I do not want to see her at all, master. -Let her stay with the people she has chosen, -and let her torment our sleep no more.”</p> - -<p>“Go, nevertheless, and bring me a full -account of her. Fill up my glass. Examine -her carefully, my soul, so that you -can bring me a true report. But do not -delay, for I shall be waiting for you. I am -lonely to-night, woman; I am very lonely. -Send me a man of the guard to fill my cup!”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham, with every sign of distaste, -almost of annoyance, set on her errand.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“Sit there, and take your ease,” the king -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> -ordered the guard who came in. “Do not -stare at the floor, good soul, nor at the ceiling. -Ah me! stand behind my chair then, -and when my cup is empty refill it for me.”</p> - -<p>The embarrassed soldier moved gratefully -to cover, and the king fell again to his woeful -meditations.</p> - -<p>“Guard!” he said.</p> - -<p>“A Rí Uasal!” the guard rolled sonorously.</p> - -<p>“Have you ever looked in a crystal?”</p> - -<p>“Never, king.”</p> - -<p>“Look in this crystal, my friend. Can -you see anything?”</p> - -<p>“There is a fog in the crystal.”</p> - -<p>“It has been there these three days. -Look again, good lad.”</p> - -<p>“I think there is a woman’s face.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a woman?”</p> - -<p>“It has gone, majesty.”</p> - -<p>“What sort was she?”</p> - -<p>“I saw the loveliest face that ever brightened -the world. It seemed like the face of -a sky-woman or a lady of the Shí.”</p> - -<p>“Sit on this little stool, and fill my cup. -What age are you, guard?”</p> - -<p>“Twenty-two years, majesty.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span></p> - -<p>“What is your name?”</p> - -<p>“I am called Strong Fist, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I remember you, Tréndorn, you are -my hereditary man. Your father was my -man before you. How did he die?”</p> - -<p>“He was killed by Naoise, the son of -Uisneac, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I remember,” said Conachúr, “and -your two brothers were killed by that -Naoise. Do you remember that also?”</p> - -<p>“I would not forget it, sir.”</p> - -<p>“There are things that one should not -forget, guard. Would you do an ill turn -to the same Naoise?”</p> - -<p>“If I had that chance I would take it, sir.”</p> - -<p>“He is in the Red Branch,” said Conachúr. -“He is there with the woman whose -face you saw in the crystal. Go there for -me, good soldier, and look through the -window. See that no person within observes -you, for these are murderous and skilful -men, and if they saw you they would -stop your breath.”</p> - -<p>The guard stood glowering.</p> - -<p>“In what way do I get equal with Naoise?” -he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Each thing in its time, good soul, for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> -you would not understand how the king -moves. This is but the first step, and the -second shall be taken in no short time. -Climb to the window, and look carefully at -the woman who is there with Naoise. Examine -her well and bring me back news of -how she seems and what she looks like. -You have seen women before?”</p> - -<p>“I have, majesty.”</p> - -<p>“You know what to look for; you will -know how to look at a woman. Go. Fill -my cup, guard, and go on my errand.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_X">CHAPTER X</h3> -</div> - -<p>“Still,” said Ardan, “we are not treated -too badly. There is plenty of food.”</p> - -<p>“And there are beds in the alcove,” said -Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“We shall sleep well to-night,” said -Deirdre, and she burst into tears.</p> - -<p>They sat dumb, each feeling as if a chill -wind had touched him.</p> - -<p>“Forgive me,” said Deirdre. “I shall not -complain any more. Let us sit to our meat.”</p> - -<p>“I shall eat and eat and eat,” said Ardan. -“I am so hungry I could growl over my -food.”</p> - -<p>“You shall be served first, Ardaneen,” -said Deirdre, “and if there is one tender -piece you shall have it.”</p> - -<p>“Our Buinne is even hungrier than I -am; let him have the first piece.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p> - -<p>Deirdre looked kindly at Buinne, but as -she looked her eyes widened and she went -white to the lips. She spoke to him with a -shy smile.</p> - -<p>“You will have the first piece, Buinne,” -she stammered.</p> - -<p>“I shall take what comes,” said Rough-Red -Buinne.</p> - -<p>Deirdre sank back in her chair.</p> - -<p>“Naoise, my dear,” she said, “please -carve for me. I am not well.”</p> - -<p>“Buinne is sensible,” said Naoise. “He -has a head on his shoulders.” He stumbled -in his carving, and cast a swift glance at -Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“The first portion,” he continued gravely, -“shall be for Buinne, the second for Iollann, -the third for Deirdre, the fourth for Ainnle, -the fifth for Ardan, and the sixth for Naoise.”</p> - -<p>“My piece is to be the tenderest,” said -Ardan complacently; “Deirdre said so. -Fight for me, Deirdreen!”</p> - -<p>“Ardan, my dear brother,” said Deirdre, -“come to me and give me ten kisses.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll miss my turn,” he wailed, as he -moved round to her.</p> - -<p>They ate their supper, and were sitting -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> -at chess—that is, Deirdre and Naoise were -playing, while the others watched the game—when -there came a tapping at the door -which was nearest to them. Naoise held -a piece poised in his fingers.</p> - -<p>“Go, Ainnle, and challenge that person.”</p> - -<p>“It is a woman’s voice,” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“Let her come in.”</p> - -<p>The great bolts were pushed back, and -Lavarcham entered.</p> - -<p>“My babe, my treasure!” she cried, -and she ran to Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my sweet mother!” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“I have no time,” Lavarcham panted. -“I must fly back to the king. He sent me -to spy on you through the window.”</p> - -<p>“There is danger, mother?”</p> - -<p>“There is terrible danger. Conachúr’s -household men are standing to arms in the -Speckled Branch, and there is a posse at -each of the gates of this place. He will -attack before morning. Oh, Deirdre, -Deirdre, that you could have come here -knowing Conachúr as I taught him to you! -What madness brought you from Scotland, -child? Are you glad to see me? Do you -love your mother still, little one? I have -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> -told the king that you would be ruined with -hardship and sorrow; alas! you are more -beautiful than ever. I shall tell him that -you are one-eyed and lame, I shall tell him -anything to quieten him for this night. -To-morrow Naoise’s people will get news -of your return and he may fear to attack. -If only I can quieten him for this night! -He is drinking. He may go to sleep. Oh, -my darling, my one love! I must fly. -Keep all the doors barred. Do not open -to any one. I shall send messengers to -Uisneac’s people. Kiss me again. Oh, my -love of all loves! I must fly.”</p> - -<p>“Ainnle, Ardan, run round all the doors. -See that they are secure,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>He turned to Buinne and Iollann.</p> - -<p>“Your father may be too late to help us. -I give you back your protection, gentlemen.”</p> - -<p>“I shall stay with you,” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“And I,” said Iollann.</p> - -<p>“Good comrades!” Naoise cried, and his -eyes sparkled with delight and gratitude.</p> - -<p>“We are five,” he said, “trained to arms -from the moment we could walk. No -person of our quality will be against us, for -no gentleman of Ireland would take part in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> -such an attack. There will be only the -common soldiery: hardy men, but as skilful -at our trade as ploughmen. They cannot -break in, for the Red Branch was -designed not to be broken into. These -bronze doors——”</p> - -<p>“The windows!” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“God pity the man that gets in through -a window!” said Naoise. “Moreover, they -are too high. A man’s legs would be splintered -if he jumped from them.”</p> - -<p>“Fire!” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“Conachúr will not burn his own -fortress.”</p> - -<p>“There is a man at the window now,” -said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>Naoise’s hand was on the table. He -picked up a heavy chessman of gold and -ivory and with an underhand flick he sent -it buzzing up and through the glass.</p> - -<p>A roar of pain came from without and -then a scream. “My eye! my eye!” a -voice wailed.</p> - -<p>“He won’t peep through windows again -in a hurry,” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“Conachúr has overreached himself,” -said Naoise. “We can hold out until the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> -morning, and if Lavarcham sends her -messages my people will be baying around -Conachúr like wolves, and there will be -many another one with them.”</p> - -<p>“The people of Fergus mac Roy will be -with them,” cried Buinne.</p> - -<p>“That king will learn what it is to dare -my father’s protection,” Iollann raged.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Naoise joyfully, “we are -as safe as if we were in Scotland.”</p> - -<p>“If we are only as safe as that!” said -Ardan with a giggle. “Buinne, my soul, -we used to be running from morning until -night. We ate our food on the run. We -used to run in our sleep. I tell the world -that in six years I have not felt safe for a -minute until this minute, for there are stout -walls around us, and food to last a week’s -siege. The gods be praised,” he said -piously, “we cannot run even if we have to.”</p> - -<p>The band of young men shouted with -laughter, and Deirdre chimed in as joyously -as any of them.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XI">CHAPTER XI</h3> -</div> - -<p>“It is as you thought, master,” said -Lavarcham. “The girl is ruined.”</p> - -<p>“You saw her?”</p> - -<p>“Her cheeks are hollow and her eyes are -red. One would pity her, master. Indeed, -I shall go to see her to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“You did not want to see her any more,” -said the king.</p> - -<p>“It was so,” she replied humbly. “But -my heart was wrung when I looked on her -wretchedness.”</p> - -<p>“And the young men?”</p> - -<p>“They are stout young men, master.”</p> - -<p>“And the guards that I posted?”</p> - -<p>“They were at their posts.”</p> - -<p>“There ends a tale, and seven of my poor -years ...!” said Conachúr. “What did she -look like, woman?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span></p> - -<p>“She is thin and haggard, and she leaned -by the table as though all the weariness of -the world were in her sides.”</p> - -<p>“Thus ...!” said Conachúr. “And we -fash ourselves for these things and spend our -years and our pith ...! Fill my cup, Lavarcham. -Let the years go and the rest, for -we are fools and children. Get to your rest, -friend, and let me mourn my foolish years -and all my nonsense.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, go to your bed also, sweet king,” -said Lavarcham. “You shall rest to-night, -for that bad dream is ended. You will -be troubled no more. To-morrow will be -a new day, and all that the world has is for -the king.”</p> - -<p>“It is so,” said Conachúr. “This will -be the last of those nights. Go to your -bed, good soul, and I shall go to mine in a -moment.”</p> - -<p>Lavarcham left the palace with her mind -in a turmoil of weariness and fear, but with -hope dawning in her soul. She sent secret -runners to the men of Uisneac and to those -of Fergus mac Roy, warning them that their -chiefs were in urgent danger; and when she -slept she was too happy even to remember -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> -what the king might do when he discovered -her treachery. That memory would be for -the morrow.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But the king did not sleep.</p> - -<p>“I shall wait the report of that guard,” -he said, “and then I will be able to sleep.”</p> - -<p>The guard came moaning and limping.</p> - -<p>“What ails you, man?” said the astonished -king.</p> - -<p>“Naoise,” the guard stammered. “He -has knocked out my eye.”</p> - -<p>He removed his hand from his face, and -there was one eye there, and a bloody mess -where the other should have been.</p> - -<p>“Did I not tell you,” the king stormed, -“that they were murderous men? Did you -take no heed in your work.”</p> - -<p>“It was the woman saw me,” the guard -stammered. “She told the man, and before -I could move he threw a chessman at me -and knocked out my eye. My leg is broken -too, master, for I fell from the window.”</p> - -<p>“You will make a better herdsman than -soldier,” said the king harshly. “You are -one-legged, one-eyed, and stupid. Go to -your bed, and be careful that you do not -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> -cut your throat by taking off your boots. -What did the woman look like?”</p> - -<p>“What woman, majesty?”</p> - -<p>“The woman I sent you to look at.”</p> - -<p>“She looked like the woman I saw in the -crystal.”</p> - -<p>“I know she did. What did she look -like, fool?”</p> - -<p>“She looked like the most beautiful -woman in the world.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr turned his great head and wide -eyes on the soldier.</p> - -<p>“Be careful how you report to me, -guard. How did that woman look? Is -she thin-faced? Is she pale and haggard -and wretched?”</p> - -<p>“She is not, majesty. She is red-lipped -and sweet-eyed and delicious. She is the -loveliest woman that moves in the world.”</p> - -<p>“Sit on that stool. Do not mind your -eye for a moment. We shall mind it for -you in a little time. Answer my questions. -Did that woman look young or old?”</p> - -<p>“She looked young as a bride.”</p> - -<p>“Are her cheeks thin?”</p> - -<p>“They are not thin; they are round and -rosy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span></p> - -<p>“Are her eyes red and sunken?”</p> - -<p>“They are clear as sweet water, majesty; -they are coloured—— But for looking into -them I should have got away, for, having -looked, I could not but keep on looking -until Naoise threw his chessman.”</p> - -<p>“You are muddled,” said Conachúr -sternly.</p> - -<p>“I would give my other eye for another -look at her,” said the guard savagely.</p> - -<p>Conachúr leaped furiously to his feet.</p> - -<p>“You shall be cared for,” he said. “Go -to your bed. A doctor shall be sent to you. -A comrade will help you along.... Ho, -there!” he thundered. “Ho, there, the -guards!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XII">CHAPTER XII</h3> -</div> - -<p>“What do you hear, Ardan?”</p> - -<p>“Big feet, and a big lot of them.”</p> - -<p>“The doors are well secured?”</p> - -<p>“Every bolt is drawn.”</p> - -<p>“And the door we arranged for is left -with only one bolt shot?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. It is a quick, well-oiled bolt. It -will open and close again like lightning.”</p> - -<p>There came a loud command, and, in a -moment, a thundering knock.</p> - -<p>Naoise strode to the door.</p> - -<p>“Who goes there?”</p> - -<p>“The king’s men.”</p> - -<p>“What do you want?”</p> - -<p>“We want the woman who is with you.”</p> - -<p>“Is that all you want?”</p> - -<p>“And we want Naoise, the son of Uisneac.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p> - -<p>“They are both here,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“Open this door,” the voice commanded.</p> - -<p>“Ah, no,” Naoise laughed; “why should -we do your business, honest man?”</p> - -<p>There was no reply for a moment, but the -rumble of conversation could be heard; then -the voice came again:</p> - -<p>“You others, Ainnle and Ardan and the -sons of Fergus, open this door and you shall -go free.”</p> - -<p>Naoise looked gravely at his companions.</p> - -<p>“That is the necessary second part,” said -Buinne, hitching his sword-belt round.</p> - -<p>Naoise’s brothers took no notice, but their -faces grew savage and their eyes narrowed -and sparkled.</p> - -<p>“Iollann and Deirdre, keep an eye on the -windows,” Naoise warned.</p> - -<p>Iollann dangled a sling in his hand and -Deirdre held another with a copper bolt in it.</p> - -<p>“If,” said the voice, “the woman Deirdre -comes out we will go away.”</p> - -<p>“Watch the windows,” Naoise warned; -“they are talking to keep us occupied.”</p> - -<p>Deirdre’s arm swung viciously, and a wild -yell told that the bolt had gone home.</p> - -<p>“I thought so,” said Naoise. “They -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> -cannot get in through the windows because -of the bars, but they could manage to fly -an arrow through, although it would be an -awkward shot.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Ainnle, “we could go to -sleep here!”</p> - -<p>A series of thundering knocks came on the -door.</p> - -<p>“A ram!” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“Half an hour of that might bring even -these doors down,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>He turned to his companions.</p> - -<p>“Ardan, yours will be the first sortie. -They will not be prepared, lad, for it is very -awkward to work a ram and to keep guard -at the same time. Do not mind the men -with the ram; they will be unarmed. But -behind them there will be a mass of men. -You know how deep a fighter can penetrate! -It depends on his own weight. The instant -you touch that weight fight backwards. -When you are two yards from the door -Ainnle will shout. Turn then and run. I -shall have the door closed on you almost -before you are through. The moment the -door slams, you, Buinne, push in the bottom -bolt. I shall slide the middle one with my -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> -right hand and will be reaching for the top -one with my left. You are ready! Ardan, -listen to me. The men immediately in -front of you will give back a step until they -start to come on. Fight, therefore, to the -right sidewards, and with the point all the -time. Keep your left covered with the -shield, and if there is a press cut with its -cutting edges. The moon is high, and you -will be able to see. No foolhardiness, boy! -The moment you touch weight fight backwards, -and then sweep broadly with the edge, -and, when Ainnle shouts, run.”</p> - -<p>He turned again.</p> - -<p>“Buinne, stand to the bolts. Iollann, -Ainnle, Deirdre, place yourselves so, and -sling the ramsmen or they may cumber his -retreat.”</p> - -<p>Under the thundering batter of the ram -and the savage roaring of the invaders the -bolts were half drawn.</p> - -<p>“Ready all!” said Naoise. “Ready, -Ardan?”</p> - -<p>Ardan hunched the shield to his left side -and crouched, staring.</p> - -<p>“Good boy!” said Naoise. “Now, -Buinne—Pull!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span></p> - -<p>They heaved the great door wide and -Ardan went through it like an arrow.</p> - -<p>“Sling, children,” said Naoise. “Keep -me informed, Ainnle. I must stick behind -the door.”</p> - -<p>“He is at them, and well in.... Ah!” -said Ainnle, and he slung shrewdly. “He -has forgotten to thrust and is cutting. My -thanks, Iollann, for that bolt. His shield -work is excellent, brother, but he will cut. -There is his limit, if he knows it. He is -fighting back, and now he is thrusting where -he should use the sweeping blade for a -retreat! That ramsman, Iollann! This one -for me, and you, sister, for the crouching -man. I shall shout now.”</p> - -<p>“Ardan!” he roared.</p> - -<p>The boy dropped his combat as a dog -drops a toad. In three seconds he was -through the doorway, and in four the door -had slammed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Naoise towered long and lean over his -young brother.</p> - -<p>“Good lad!” he said. “Well done, -Ardan!”</p> - -<p>“I killed a million,” said Ardan.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span></p> - -<p>A savage, raging yell came from without.</p> - -<p>“They will begin to warm to it now,” -said Naoise, “and we must keep them -occupied. It is your turn, Ainnle. Give -your sling to Ardan.”</p> - -<p>Ainnle whizzed at one window and Deirdre -at another. Two loud shouts were heard.</p> - -<p>“Whether they are hit or not their skulls -are cracked by the fall,” said Naoise, “but the -windows do not matter. Come to this door.”</p> - -<p>“Why cannot I go out?” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“You and I are the heaviest metal, my -heart, and when the real fighting commences -we shall have plenty to do. This is only a -little fun for the boys. Ainnle, listen carefully. -You will slip out by this door, and -will run, and fight as you run. Range where -you please, but run always. In five minutes—do -not delay, Ainnle—make for yonder -door. This one will be shut, and the slings-men -will be inside that door to cover your -retreat. It is understood?”</p> - -<p>Ainnle nodded, and made his blade whistle -through the air. He heaved the shield from -his back to his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“The instant you are in, Ainnle, fly to this -door again, while we close the other behind -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> -you. Open all the bolts but one; Buinne -will help, and I and Iollann will dart out for -five minutes. I wish to see what arrangements -they are making.”</p> - -<p>“Are you protecting my brother?” said -Buinne savagely.</p> - -<p>“No, my heart, I am giving him a run -and spying their dispositions.”</p> - -<p>“I claim this combat,” said the rough -young man.</p> - -<p>“You shall have one immediately afterwards. -You and I together will make the -tour of this fortress, shoulder to shoulder, -Buinne. Will not that content you?” -Naoise laughed.</p> - -<p>“I was beginning to feel lonely,” said -Buinne. “We shall have a pleasant run.”</p> - -<p>“Ten minutes for our run,” said Naoise. -“Ready, Ainnle?”</p> - -<p>His brother nodded.</p> - -<p>“Run straight out, thirty feet out if you -can. Double then as you please. Remember -the door you are to come in by, and do all -the damage you can. If you are in difficulty -give our call.”</p> - -<p>“I could not get into difficulty in five -minutes,” Ainnle smiled.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span></p> - -<p>“Ready, Buinne? Pull!”</p> - -<p>Ainnle sped out, and the door slammed on -him like thunder.</p> - -<p>The uproar without had been terrific, but -now it redoubled, and at times a long scream -topped the noise as spray tops a wave.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“We cannot see our brother,” said Deirdre -nervously.</p> - -<p>“We know his work,” Naoise replied. -“He is as safe for five minutes as if he were -in bed.”</p> - -<p>“Your combat, Naoise!” she breathed.</p> - -<p>“It will be the easiest of them all. There -will be a rough companion with me. Run -all to the other door,” he cried. “Iollann! -Deirdre! Ardan! Your slings! The bolts, -Buinne! Pull, my soul!”</p> - -<p>Far out in the moonlight Ainnle was -coursing like a deer. The moon flashed on -his blade and on his shield. Men ran from -him, and men ran to head him off, and into -the middle of these he went diving like a -fish. A band from the right came rushing -for the open door.</p> - -<p>“Out, Buinne, for ten seconds, and back -when he is through.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p> - -<p>Naoise and Buinne leaped out with whirling -weapons. There was a clatter of shields, -a medley of shouts and curses, and in ten -seconds they were in again and the door was -closed.</p> - -<p>“You opened a minute too early,” said -Ainnle. “I was all right.”</p> - -<p>“You did some damage?”</p> - -<p>“Not badly.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t kill as many as I did,” said -Ardan.</p> - -<p>“Pooh!” Ainnle retorted. “No one -could kill as many as you except Cúchulinn.”</p> - -<p>“Let us arrange the next sortie,” said -Naoise.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Conachúr had come to the Red Branch, and -a great roar of cheering greeted him. He -strode to the captain of his troop.</p> - -<p>“Well, my soul?”</p> - -<p>“We have begun, majesty.”</p> - -<p>“How is it going?”</p> - -<p>“Excellently,” said the captain. “We -have lost about forty men already.”</p> - -<p>Conachúr stared at him.</p> - -<p>“How did that happen?”</p> - -<p>“It happened because of the king’s royal -decision to lodge these men in a fortress.”</p> - -<p>“You have five hundred men here!”</p> - -<p>“When they are all killed,” said the captain -sourly, “we can call out another five hundred.”</p> - -<p>“What is the difficulty?” his master -growled.</p> - -<p>“A fortress with six doors. They leap -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> -in and out of these doors the way frogs leap -in a pool. While we are using the ram on -this door they make a sally by another door, -this door, any door—and they are the devil’s -own fighters! We don’t know where to -expect them, and any one of those within -is the equal of ten of our men in fighting, -and the superior of them all in tricks. I am -to have them out before morning—it is the -king’s orders, but I don’t know how it is to -be done.”</p> - -<p>“Ram all the doors,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“I have but one ram. I can get others -to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“To-morrow will be too late,” said the -king furiously. “We shall have half Ulster -on our backs to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“I want scaling ladders, grapnels,” said -the officer angrily. “This work has been -thrown on us at a moment’s notice, and we -are not prepared for it. I can get them out -in a day, but not in a night.”</p> - -<p>“Attack a door with your ram,” snarled -Conachúr, “and guard your other doors.”</p> - -<p>“I am doing that,” said the captain, “and -my men, I fear, are beginning to love the -work.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span></p> - -<p>He returned to his place, and in a few -minutes the thud and batter of the ram was -heard again. Conachúr strode there and -watched the work with savage impatience. -The captain returned and stood by him.</p> - -<p>“You put good doors in the Red Branch, -majesty,” he said cheerfully; “an hour of -that ramming will begin to make them -quiver.”</p> - -<p>A shout arose, but it was multiplied from -every side by the roaring soldiery, and one -could not tell from which direction danger -came.</p> - -<p>“They have popped out somewhere,” said -the captain. “In about two minutes they -will pop in again, somewhere—they know -but we don’t,—and in those two minutes -we will lose five men or twenty.”</p> - -<p>“Stick to the ram!” Conachúr roared. -“Keep at that door, my men!”</p> - -<p>A wild yelling came from the side and -a burst of men came pell-mell round the -corner. Weapons were striking everywhere -and anywhere.</p> - -<p>“Which are our men and which are -theirs?” said the captain. “Ours don’t -know in this light which is friend and which -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> -is enemy. <i>They</i> know,” he said bitterly; -“but we are killing one another.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two figures detached themselves in the -moonlight. They were bounding like great -cats, and wherever there was a mass they -bounded into it, burst through it, and -leaped on.</p> - -<p>“Ho, Conachúr!” a voice called. “Do -you remember Naoise?”</p> - -<p>“Ho, traitor king!” another boomed. -“Do you remember Fergus?”</p> - -<p>“It is Naoise and Buinne this time,” said -the captain.</p> - -<p>The two figures leaped at the ramsmen. -The ram was dropped and the unarmed -crew fled yelling. The door that was being -battered opened and shut, and the two -figures were gone.</p> - -<p>“That’s how it’s done!” said the captain.</p> - -<p>“Get to the ram!” Conachúr roared.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h3> -</div> - -<p>“The king himself is there,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“Let us hunt him,” cried Ardan in -savage glee.</p> - -<p>“He will move about,” Naoise replied. -“We would never know where he is, and -we should only waste time. We have but -to hold out until the morning, and we can -do it with ease. Why!” he cried, “we -have forgotten our days of travel; Fergus -himself may be here to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“He will travel day and night, and by -chariot where we came on foot,” said Iollann. -“He may be here in the morning.”</p> - -<p>Naoise nodded joyfully.</p> - -<p>“He will have choked whatever is in it -out of Borach’s throat long before this,” -Iollann continued, “and he will be an -angry man.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span></p> - -<p>“If he came, even alone,” said Naoise, -“that rabble would fly.”</p> - -<p>“They will fly before he comes,” Ardan -boasted, “for it’s my turn to go out now, -and I shall show them a trick or two.”</p> - -<p>“It’s two by two now, babe,” said Ainnle, -“so we are going out together.”</p> - -<p>“That man,” Ardan mourned, “is trying -to cheat me of my fame. Fight for me, -Deirdreen! Back me up, Naoise!”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“Hark to them battering,” said Iollann.</p> - -<p>“How angry some people get!” Ardan -giggled.</p> - -<p>“Let us make a full sortie,” Buinne cried. -“We five could eat those soldiers.”</p> - -<p>“One must be left for the door,” Naoise -replied. “Ardan——”</p> - -<p>“No door for me!” said Ardan violently.</p> - -<p>“Ainnle,” said Naoise, “our lives will -depend on the doorman.”</p> - -<p>“I shall go out the next time all by -myself,” Ainnle bargained.</p> - -<p>His brother nodded, while Ardan danced -for joy.</p> - -<p>“Pooh!” Ainnle gibed. “He thinks -he is Cúchulinn!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span></p> - -<p>Ardan squared up and began to shoulder -him and to speak very roughly.</p> - -<p>“And I am better than Cúchulinn,” he -concluded.</p> - -<p>Ainnle seized his head and gave him -three kisses.</p> - -<p>“Little brother!” he said, “you are -even better than I.”</p> - -<p>“You are a good brother,” said Ardan. -“I shall not divorce you,” and he returned -the three kisses.</p> - -<p>“Are we ready all?” said Naoise. -“Then let us arrange this sally.”</p> - -<p>“It shall be in two parties. Buinne -and——” he halted for one moment; -“Buinne and Ardan, Iollann and myself.”</p> - -<p>“You trust Ardan to me!” said Buinne -shortly.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>Deirdre was staring at her husband with -a fixed, white stare, and Naoise’s throat went -suddenly dry. He strode to her.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” he murmured.</p> - -<p>“I have no vision,” she whispered. “I -do not know.”</p> - -<p>“You still think——?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span></p> - -<p>“I know it,” she said, “but I do not -know when.”</p> - -<p>He closed his eyes and turned again.</p> - -<p>“We go through this door. Once out, -you turn to the left, Buinne, and I to the -right, and away each on a grand half-circle. -When we meet we form in line and charge -back to this same door: six feet between -each man for sword-play; Buinne and I -on the outside.”</p> - -<p>“I shall be quite on the outside,” said -Buinne.</p> - -<p>“As you will, friend,” said Naoise. “Get -to the bolts, Ainnle. You two will watch -over each other?” he said, but it was at -Buinne he looked.</p> - -<p>“I shall bring him back,” said the gruff -man.</p> - -<p>“If one of Buinne’s hairs is touched,” -Ardan boasted, “I shall give him one of -my own hairs instead of it.”</p> - -<p>“You are ready, Ainnle?”</p> - -<p>“How shall I know when to open the -door?” Ainnle roared.</p> - -<p>“My wits are going!” said Naoise. “We -shall fight in silence, and when you hear our -battle-cry open the door at that instant.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> - -<p>“Wait!” said Buinne. “Heavier blades -are wanted for this sortie. It should be -two-handed work at the edge of a thirty-foot -line, and the shields must be left -behind.”</p> - -<p>“My wits are indeed going!” said -Naoise.</p> - -<p>“I shall bring him back,” said Buinne. -“I take him under my protection,” he -growled.</p> - -<p>“You two,” said Naoise, “keep your -shields. Buinne and I take the great swords, -and we leave our armour off for speed. The -outside men must run twice as quick as -the inside ones,” he explained to Buinne.</p> - -<p>Buinne nodded and began to unlace his -battle-coats. Deirdre flew to help him, and -she looked at him with such soft affection -that the youth marvelled. Naoise was bending -the great blade that he got from Manannan -mac Lir, the God of the Sea.</p> - -<p>“Now, Ainnle, the door! Buinne is out -first, I second, Iollann and Ardan together. -Ready! ... Pull!”</p> - -<p>They were gone.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ainnle and Deirdre slammed the door, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> -and he stood with his back leaning against -it, staring as it were inwardly, and listening -with every pore of his body. Deirdre threw -her arms about his neck.</p> - -<p>“O Ainnle! dear Ainnle!”</p> - -<p>“It is lonely here,” he muttered.</p> - -<p>Her head drooped on his breast.</p> - -<p>“Do not faint, sister; the door has yet -to be opened, and you must help with the -bolts. Hear those clowns roaring!”</p> - -<p>“If our own men would but shout once!” -she moaned.</p> - -<p>“I should open the door immediately,” -he smiled, “and this noble combat would -have a stupid end.”</p> - -<p>“To-morrow will never come,” she moaned.</p> - -<p>“Do not make my teeth chatter,” said -Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“We must attend to the door,” he -continued. “I shall draw the top bolt now. -Crouch down with your hands on the bottom -one, and, when the shout comes, draw it; I -will draw the middle one, and when I say, -‘Pull,’ drag with me on the door. It is -almost too heavy for one man to move, but -between us—and they will push from the -outside.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span></p> - -<p>Deirdre crouched at his knees. A vast -confusion of noise began to draw nigh.</p> - -<p>“They are coming back,” said Ainnle. -“Draw your bolt now, sister, and take hold -of the knob.”</p> - -<p>Above the infernal uproar there came the -shout they knew.</p> - -<p>“Pull!” he roared.</p> - -<p>The door gave, a great push from without -helped it, and the four leaped through. -A blade leaped in behind them and was -snapped in pieces as Ainnle, and a shoulder -helping, smashed-to the door.</p> - -<p>Buinne was panting heavily.</p> - -<p>“That deserves a rest,” he said.</p> - -<p>And the other three began with one voice -to narrate the sortie to the two who had been -within.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XV">CHAPTER XV</h3> -</div> - -<p>Buinne stood up.</p> - -<p>“Naoise,” he said sternly.</p> - -<p>“My soul?” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“You interfered in my combat.”</p> - -<p>“Your end of the line was almost too -heavy for any man, dear heart.”</p> - -<p>“You did it twice.”</p> - -<p>“Thirty feet out is a great distance. All -the press was in your path. I did but -lighten it when my own front was easy.”</p> - -<p>“I will accept no man’s assistance,” said -Buinne.</p> - -<p>“We are comrades,” Naoise replied gently. -“We give and take help.”</p> - -<p>“Did I call for help?” the other -growled.</p> - -<p>Naoise’s great chest rose, but his voice -was calm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p> - -<p>“No man will ever hear you call for help, -Buinne.”</p> - -<p>“Let no man give what is not called for.”</p> - -<p>“But for that help, Buinne, you would -now be dead.”</p> - -<p>“I was not fit for the end of the line?” -said Buinne harshly.</p> - -<p>“You are young yet, comrade, but in -two years you will have the speed and -smash that such a post calls for.”</p> - -<p>“Your speed! your smash!” said the -sardonic Buinne.</p> - -<p>“The world knows,” Ainnle interposed, -“that the four greatest champions of Ireland -are Cúchulinn, Fergus, Conall, and -Naoise.”</p> - -<p>“And Ainnle,” Buinne completed with a -grin.</p> - -<p>The young man turned his dancing length -of whipcord and his narrowed brow on -Buinne.</p> - -<p>“I, myself——” he said gently.</p> - -<p>“And so could I,” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“Do not quarrel,” Naoise interrupted. -“In two years Buinne will be the equal of -any man you have named. Hush,” he said.</p> - -<p>He bent his head sideward and hearkened -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> -in amazement. The others listened, with -their eyes turned questioningly on each other. -They listened to nothing, for the ram had -ceased and there was a silence of the dead -without.</p> - -<p>In a few moments there came a gentle -tapping, then a louder knocking at the door.</p> - -<p>Naoise stood before it, frowning.</p> - -<p>“Who goes there?”</p> - -<p>“The herald.”</p> - -<p>“What do you want?”</p> - -<p>“Parley.”</p> - -<p>“Say what you have to say, herald.”</p> - -<p>“If the woman Deirdre is put out through -this door the troops will march away.”</p> - -<p>“And what then?”</p> - -<p>“No vengeance will be for ever exacted -against the sons of Uisneac.”</p> - -<p>“There is no answer,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“I have yet a message,” said the voice.</p> - -<p>“Deliver it.”</p> - -<p>“It is for the ear of the sons of Fergus.”</p> - -<p>Buinne strode forward.</p> - -<p>“Deliver it,” he said.</p> - -<p>“There is no quarrel,” said the herald, -“between the king and Fergus mac Roy. -The king’s love for Fergus is such that he -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> -wishes at any cost to save his two sons from -a death that is certain.”</p> - -<p>“Well?” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>“The king says that if these young men -retire from the combat he will bestow a lordship -on them.”</p> - -<p>“What lordship?”</p> - -<p>“A cantred of land greater than that -which Fergus himself has, and the king’s -friendship.”</p> - -<p>Buinne looked under steep red brows at -Naoise.</p> - -<p>“I shall go out,” he said.</p> - -<p>He turned to his brother.</p> - -<p>“You will come out with me.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not,” said Iollann.</p> - -<p>His brother stamped a foot.</p> - -<p>“My father is my chief,” said Iollann. -“What he orders I do. I cannot protect -the sons of Uisneac as he commanded, but -I can fight beside them.”</p> - -<p>Buinne turned.</p> - -<p>“Herald,” he roared, “tell Conachúr -that I shall go out to him.”</p> - -<p>His hand went to the door, but Naoise -stepped forward.</p> - -<p>“Do not touch a bolt,” he commanded. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> -“You shall go out by the door I choose. -That door,” he pointed, and strode to it. -“Iollann, Ainnle, stand so with the spears. -Ardan, Deirdre, sling from this point. -Buinne, stand so, one foot beyond the swing -of the door.”</p> - -<p>“We may meet again, Naoise,” said -Buinne.</p> - -<p>“If we meet in the press, Buinne, I may -perhaps spare you for the sake of my brother -Iollann. Ready, Buinne! When the door -is opened I shall count three. Be gone ere -the last count or I shall smash you to a pulp.”</p> - -<p>Naoise gave one mighty heave, and -counted. Then Buinne was gone and the -door had closed again.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“I claim this sortie,” said Iollann, as the -ram recommenced on the door.</p> - -<p>“It is my turn,” said Ainnle, “but we -will go together, friend.”</p> - -<p>“I wish to go alone, and bring honour -back to the name of Fergus. I am a better -fighter than you think,” he insisted.</p> - -<p>“You are a good fighter, in truth,” said -Naoise, “but a solitary venture is now -dangerous. They are more accustomed to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> -the light and to our methods, for there is -nothing to vary in them. We must emerge -by a door, and they are watching every door -like hawks. But before you go, Iollann, -there is one work we must do for safety’s -sake. Listen carefully, my dear ones.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h3> -</div> - -<p>“This is endless,” Conachúr gritted. “Has -that Buinne come out yet?”</p> - -<p>“The men will shout when he appears.”</p> - -<p>“Bring him here and we will get their -dispositions from him.”</p> - -<p>“There is nothing to get, majesty. Their -plan is the simplest. They have six -doors: they choose one to come out by -and one to get in by. That is the whole -plan.”</p> - -<p>“Post men in such a way that when -one does come out he will not be able to -get in again through that door or any door. -Send for reinforcements and put fifty men -against each door.... Those ramsmen have -women’s shoulders,” he growled. “They -would beat a mud wall down in a month.”</p> - -<p>“It must give shortly,” said the captain, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> -“but there will be no entrance when the -door is down.”</p> - -<p>“No?” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“They will have the inside barricaded, -and our men will not dare that narrow, -black, impeded passage. We could leave an -hundred dead in that doorway and be no -farther.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“There is Buinne,” the captain continued, -as a shout came from the side.</p> - -<p>“Buinne,” said Conachúr, “you will -fight for me?”</p> - -<p>“My lordship, Conachúr?” said the -gruff young man.</p> - -<p>“It shall be as I said, and more,” said the -king. (It was given as promised, and was -known for long as Dal Buinne, but it is now -called Slieve Fuad.)</p> - -<p>Buinne told what he could of the defence, -but, as the captain had foreseen, there was -nothing to tell.</p> - -<p>“This door,” said Conachúr, “will be -down shortly. Have they barricaded it on -the inside?”</p> - -<p>“They have not,” said Buinne.</p> - -<p>The captain became active and violent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p> - -<p>“Ah!” he cried, “there is always something -forgotten. Get at the ram, you -there,” he roared. “Put your shoulders -into it.”</p> - -<p>He turned to the king.</p> - -<p>“We have them!” he said.</p> - -<p>Conachúr, with his eyes gleaming and a -savage smile curling his lips, strode towards -the rammers, but as he moved, the door -swung open and four men leaped from its -yawning blackness. In a second two of -the ramsmen were dead, and the rest were -flying wildly, bustling the very king in their -passage.</p> - -<p>“By my hand!” the captain gurgled.</p> - -<p>Two of the assaulters lifted the ram and -trotted with it through the door. The other -two made an onslaught of such ferocity that -the soldiers were appalled. Then one fled -back through the door, which instantly -slammed, and the other sped like lightning -around the building.</p> - -<p>“After him!” roared Conachúr.</p> - -<p>But the captain remained where he was, -howling and dancing with rage.</p> - -<p>“I’ve lost my ram,” he bawled. “I’ve -lost my ram.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> - -<p>“We have you, Iollann!” said Conachúr. -“Traitor to your king!” he growled.</p> - -<p>“Traitor to your friends,” Iollann retorted.</p> - -<p>“Deliver yourself to me,” said Conachúr, -“and you shall be spared.”</p> - -<p>“I came out for a purpose,” said Iollann. -“I demand single combat.”</p> - -<p>“There are no gentlemen here,” Conachúr -replied, “except your brother, so your -claim cannot be granted.”</p> - -<p>“I shall cuff him,” said Buinne, “but I -will not fight him,” and he strode away.</p> - -<p>“I shall take this combat,” said a voice.</p> - -<p>Conachúr turned and saw his own son, -Fiachra, standing there, and his heart -sank.</p> - -<p>“You have no arms,” he said harshly.</p> - -<p>“You will lend me yours,” said Fiachra.</p> - -<p>Conachúr stared on the fierce circle that -surrounded him. He stared at Iollann, -who stood with his back to the Red Branch -swinging his blade, and he knew that the -combat must take place.</p> - -<p>“Iollann and I were born on the same -night,” said Fiachra. “It is an equal -combat.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span></p> - -<p>Conachúr took off his own battle-coats and -gave them to Fiachra. He gave him his -shield, the enchanted Aicean, and his green -sword.</p> - -<p>“Fight, then,” he said, “and remember -my teaching. Remember my shield work -and my thrust.”</p> - -<p>They fought then, but at the first stroke -from Iollann the great shield roared; for -that virtue was in the Bright-Rim, to roar -when the man it covered was struck at, and -in answer to its roar the Three Waves of -Ireland, the Wave of Tua, the Wave of -Clíona, and the Wave of Rury, roared in -reply, and thereby all Ireland knew that a -king was in danger.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Away in the palace Conall Cearnach sat -drinking, listening to some great brawl, as -he thought. He heard the roaring of -Aicean, and leaped to his feet.</p> - -<p>“The king is in danger!” he said.</p> - -<p>He seized his weapons and fled from the -palace of Macha, and came on the great -combat.</p> - -<p>In the dim light he thought it was Conachúr -himself was behind the shield, and from -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> -the daring and mighty onslaught of the -opponent he saw there was no time to lose. -He burst his blue-green spear through the -press and through the back of Iollann.</p> - -<p>Iollann staggered to the wall of the Red -Branch.</p> - -<p>“Who has struck me from behind?” -he said.</p> - -<p>“I, Conall Cearnach.”</p> - -<p>“Great and horrible is the deed you have -done, Conall.”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” Conall demanded.</p> - -<p>“I am Iollann the Fair, sent by my -father to protect the sons of Uisneac.”</p> - -<p>“By my hand,” said Conall fiercely, “I -shall undo some of what I have done,” and -with one side twist of the sword he lifted -the head from Fiachra.</p> - -<p>“Help me to that door, Conall,” said -Iollann. “The sons of Uisneac are -within.”</p> - -<p>The appalled soldiery shrank back, and -on Conall’s arm they came to the door. -There Iollann gave his shout. A feeble -one it was, but it was heard and the door -opened. Iollann staggered in.</p> - -<p>“Fight bravely, Naoise!” he said, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> -with that he sank on the floor, and he was -dead.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Outside the Red Branch Conachúr ran -hither and thither like a man enraged by -madness.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h3> -</div> - -<p>“We are yet three,” said Naoise. “Draw -the bolts, Ainnle, for one sortie of friendship. -We have no doorman, for Deirdre -could not close or open the door by herself. -You and I, Ainnle. Be quiet, Ardan! -Come, my brother, and put all your arm -into the blade. We will come in by the -door we go out of. This door! Be ready -for our shout, Ardan!”</p> - -<p>They went out and returned with red -weapons, and for a long time they sat in -the dim flare of a torch watching by their -dead comrade.</p> - -<p>“He was a brave boy,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“He did not obey my order,” her husband -sighed. “I do not know what he did.”</p> - -<p>“I smell—smoke,” said Ainnle suddenly.</p> - -<p>“I have smelled something for a long -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> -time,” said Deirdre, “but I could not think -what it was. I am weary because of the -death of this good friend.”</p> - -<p>But little by little the vast building -became full of smoke, and in a while a fierce -roar and crackling was heard also.</p> - -<p>Naoise was again the hardy leader.</p> - -<p>“They have fired the fortress! We do -not know what happened while Iollann was -away, but Conachúr has reached the end of -the world. Who could have foretold that -he would fire the Red Branch! We must -prepare for all that can happen.”</p> - -<p>“We are not dead yet,” said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“What do you counsel, brother?” said -Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“Sit down, there is less smoke on the -floor.”</p> - -<p>A ruddy glare could be seen by each -window.</p> - -<p>“Fire is laid all round the building. We -must make our plans quickly.”</p> - -<p>Ainnle turned gleefully to his younger -brother.</p> - -<p>“You shall run after all, my poor friend.”</p> - -<p>“In good truth,” Ardan grinned, “I -thought in Scotland that I should never -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> -want to run again, but I feel now that we -have been staying too long in the one place. -After all,” he said complacently, “I am a -man of action.”</p> - -<p>“And, of course,” Ainnle gibed, “no -one can run as quickly as you can.”</p> - -<p>“No one,” said Ardan, “except Deirdre.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“Listen,” said Naoise. “We have still -more than a chance. We can run. Scotland -trained us in that certainly, and if we -can surprise but forty yards on the men -without, we shall outrun their best in twenty -minutes.”</p> - -<p>“Where shall we run to?”</p> - -<p>“We shall take the road to our own lordship. -If Lavarcham’s message has been -sent, our kinsmen should be marching at -this moment on Emain. But,” he said, -and pointed, “we cannot wait for them.”</p> - -<p>They looked in silence.</p> - -<p>A huge golden flame licked screaming -through the window, wavered hither and -thither like some blindly savage tongue, and -roared out again.</p> - -<p>“It was ten feet long and three feet -thick,” said Ardan in a whisper.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span></p> - -<p>“In ten minutes we shall go,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“What arms?”</p> - -<p>“Shield and spear, brother. Strip off all -armour. We must run lightly.</p> - -<p>“I shall be out first,” he continued. -“Give me twenty seconds before you -follow, Ainnle, I can make room in twenty -seconds. You will run ten paces to the -left of the door. Deirdre and Ardan will -run immediately into our interval; turn all -to the right, and at my shout, run. Single -file; Ainnle at the end. If I shout ‘halt,’ -you two turn about and protect the rear. -When I shout ‘run,’ drop every combat -and fly. You, Deirdre, take Iollann’s shield.”</p> - -<p>“And his spear,” said Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“Keep actually at my back, beloved, and -each time we halt drop flat on the ground.”</p> - -<p>He was shouting his instructions now, for -the voice of the fire was like the steady rage -and roar of the sea, and through every -window monstrous sheets of flame were -leaping and crashing.</p> - -<p>“This door,” said Naoise. “A kiss for -every one,” he called. “We shall win yet. -Pull, Ainnle!”</p> - -<p>“The door is red-hot,” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p> - -<p>“Back for a mantle; two. Now grip. -Pull! Give me twenty seconds, Ainnle.”</p> - -<p>He leaped across fire and disappeared.</p> - -<p>The others leaped after him, with a wild -yell from Ardan.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Conachúr had sent a flying messenger to -the palace.</p> - -<p>“Bring Cathfa back with you,” he ordered. -“Tell him I want him. Say that the king -beseeches him to come.”</p> - -<p>The captain of his troop stood by.</p> - -<p>“Alas for the Red Branch!” he said -mournfully.</p> - -<p>“All that can be destroyed can be rebuilt,” -said Conachúr. “I shall rebuild the Red -Branch.”</p> - -<p>He was in terrible distress and agitation.</p> - -<p>“The morn is nigh,” he said.</p> - -<p>And he strode unhappily to and fro, with -his eyes on the ground and his mind warring.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Far to the east a livid gleam appeared. -The darkness of a summer night, which is -yet a twilight, was shorn of its soft beauty, -and in the air there moved imperceptibly -and voluminously a spectral apparition of -dawn. A harsh, grey, iron-bound upper-world -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> -brooded on a chill and wrinkled earth. -The king’s eyes and the eyes of his captain -scanned each other from colourless, bleak -faces. There was no hue in their garments; -their shields were dull as death; and their -hands, each clutching a weapon, seemed like -the knotted claws of goblins.</p> - -<p>A slow, sad exhalation came from the -king’s grey lips, like the plaint of some -grim merman of the sea, rising away and -alone amid the chop and shudder of his -dismal waters.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“The fire is catching,” the captain murmured. -“Hark to that crackling!”</p> - -<p>“We shall have light,” the king murmured. -“The Red Branch will flame.”</p> - -<p>“Within ...!” said the captain moodily, -and he looked with stern mournfulness on -the vast pile.</p> - -<p>“They must soon come out,” he muttered.</p> - -<p>“Your men are posted?”</p> - -<p>“Every door is held. When they pop -out this time——”</p> - -<p>“They will have no place to pop into,” -said Conachúr. “I have them,” he growled; -and he threw his hand in the air and gripped -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> -it, as though in that blanched fist he held -all that could never escape from him.</p> - -<p>“They will fight,” said the captain, “and -they are woeful fighters.”</p> - -<p>“You are nervous, man,” said Conachúr. -“At this hour and after this night,” said -the captain, “our men could fly from those -three like scared rabbits.”</p> - -<p>“I fear that,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“They may get away,” said the captain. -Conachúr advanced on him so savagely -and with such a writhe of feature that the -man fell back.</p> - -<p>“Dog!” said Conachúr. “If they -escape I shall take your head.”</p> - -<p>“They are surrounded,” the captain -stammered; “they cannot escape.”</p> - -<p>“They can escape,” Conachúr roared. -“You know they can escape. Your men -are cowards and idiots, and what are you? -Oh, am I not a thwarted man! Am I -not a forsaken king! Where is Cathfa? -Where is the druid?” he cried.</p> - -<p>“Majesty,” the captain implored, “do -not curse us. The great magician is coming.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The magician indeed had come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span></p> - -<p>“What has set you raging, Conachúr?” -he asked.</p> - -<p>“Father,” said Conachúr, “if you do -not assist me I am lost.”</p> - -<p>The old, old man looked at him.</p> - -<p>“Tell me your tale, son. Whom have -you locked up in fire?”</p> - -<p>“The sons of Uisneac are there,” said -Conachúr. “They will escape me,” he -said.</p> - -<p>“They are my grandchildren,” said -Cathfa.</p> - -<p>“It is the woman with them,—it is -Deirdre I want. She was mine. She was -stolen from me. I am not myself without -her. I am a dead man while she is with -Naoise.”</p> - -<p>“What do you fear from boys roared -round by flame?”</p> - -<p>“They may escape with her. When -they come out my men may run from -them. If they escape this time, father, I -am dead.”</p> - -<p>“If I help you, Conachúr——?”</p> - -<p>“I shall do anything you ask. Nothing -you can demand will be too much for -Conachúr.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></p> - -<p>“It is the woman you want?”</p> - -<p>“The woman only.”</p> - -<p>“It is not the blood of these boys you -lust for?”</p> - -<p>“The woman, father, only the woman.”</p> - -<p>“I shall help you, Conachúr. Do not -lay one finger on my daughter’s sons, the -sons of your young sister.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“They are out,” the captain said, as a -great roar came from the soldiers.</p> - -<p>Conachúr moved to that direction.</p> - -<p>“Quick, quick,” he said, twitching his -father’s mantle in his impatience. “They -will escape me.”</p> - -<p>“They shall not escape me,” Cathfa -answered. “There is no need for haste.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They were out, indeed, and, like two -grim lions or woeful griffins of the air, -Naoise and Ainnle were raging in that press. -Into their interval leaped Ardan, with but -one eye peeping from the shield and a -deadly hand thrusting from the rim. Back -and forth they leaped with resistless savagery. -Men flew at them and from them. Everywhere -was a wild yelling of orders and the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> -wilder screaming of stricken men. But, over -all, Naoise’s voice came pealing—</p> - -<p>“Up, Deirdre. Run!”</p> - -<p>She was at his back in an instant, the -shield covering her side; her spear darted -viciously by his right elbow, and a venturesome -man dropped squealing. Five feet -behind, Ardan was leaping like a cat, all -eyes and points, and ten paces behind him -Ainnle was bounding.</p> - -<p>“Halt,” roared Naoise.</p> - -<p>Deirdre was again on the ground. Ardan -ranged tigerishly to right and left, while -Ainnle whirled on the pursuers in ten-foot -bounds.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Conachúr had arrived with Cathfa. Men -were falling before them at the rate of three -a second. So dreadful was Naoise’s onslaught -in the front that none would face -him. Men tumbled over each other when -he charged.</p> - -<p>“The men will run away in a second,” -said the captain.</p> - -<p>“Get into the <i>mêlée</i>, coward,” roared -Conachúr.... “Cathfa——!” he implored.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></p> - -<p>The officer whizzed out his blade and -leaped forward. In three seconds he was -dead, and five who followed him were -rolling in their agony along the ground.</p> - -<p>Naoise’s voice came in a wild shout.</p> - -<p>“Up, Deirdre. Run!”</p> - -<p>The four were again in line. The men -in front melted to either side of that dreadful -file.</p> - -<p>“Run!” said Naoise. “We are out!”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In front of him there was but Conachúr -and Cathfa. Conachúr drew his great -sword and stood crouching; and at him, -with a dreadful smile, Naoise came on. -Cathfa moved two paces to the front and -stared fixedly at Naoise. He extended his -two arms widely——</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Naoise dropped on one knee, rose again, -leaped high in the air and dropped again -on his knee. Deirdre fell to the ground -and rose up gasping. Ardan rolled over on -his back, tossed his shield away, and came -slowly up again, beating the air with his -hands. Ainnle went half way down, rose -again, and continued his advance on tiptoe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p> - -<p>A look of dismay and rage came on -Naoise’s face. He moved with extraordinary -slowness to Deirdre and lifted her -to his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“We are lost,” he said. “That -magician——!”</p> - -<p>“Keep on swimming,” Ardan giggled. -“There was never water here before, but -the whole sea has risen around our legs, -and we may paddle to Uisneac.”</p> - -<p>The arms dropped from their hands, and, -in fact, they swam.</p> - -<p>Not for a minute or two did the soldiers -dare advance, and then they did so cautiously. -They picked up the fallen weapons, and then -only did they lay hands on the raging -champions.</p> - -<p>Cathfa dropped his arms to his sides.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“We are taken,” said Naoise. “Our -run is ended.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h3> -</div> - -<p>Cathfa had gone away, and Conachúr strode -to his prisoners.</p> - -<p>“So! Naoise,” he said.</p> - -<p>“So! uncle,” said Naoise.</p> - -<p>“I win in the end. I always win at last,” -said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>He looked at each with his stern smile, -and when he spoke again it was to -Deirdre.</p> - -<p>“Little fawn! you have run wild for a -long time. You shall rest at last.”</p> - -<p>But she made only the reply that a fawn -makes, the reply of parted lips and terror-stricken -eyes.</p> - -<p>“You shall come to me,” he said.</p> - -<p>Then she moistened her trembling lips -and looked at Naoise.</p> - -<p>“Do not look at him,” said Conachúr. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span> -“He is already a dead man; let him be -forgotten. All tricks and troubles are -ended for you, sweet bird; you shall have -peace.”</p> - -<p>“Will you have peace to-morrow, Conachúr?” -said Naoise. “Fergus is marching -on you.”</p> - -<p>“Be at ease, nephew,” and the king -smiled grimly. “I shall take care of -Fergus when he comes. For long I have -wanted to take care of Fergus. But, first, -I shall take care of you, Naoise, and of your -traitor brothers. Your hour is on you,” he -said, “and you die now.”</p> - -<p>“Churl and rogue——!” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>But a gesture from his brother stopped -him.</p> - -<p>“Let this king do his business,” he -said.</p> - -<p>“That must be done,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>He turned briskly and moved away.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Now the day was at hand, and these four -looked on a world that was spectral and misshapen, -but which was yet the world. On -high the clouds could be seen, a grey immensity, -stony as the face of Conachúr, and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span> -a chill wind moaned thinly about them. -But far away the grey misery of morn had -lightened, and a silver gleam, slender as a -rod, crept up the east.</p> - -<p>To that gleam their eyes turned, and -from it to each other’s faces.</p> - -<p>At the guards who ringed them in they -did not look, or they looked unseeingly. -But those gaunt apparitions stared like -statues on the four and did not move a lip.</p> - -<p>“The sun will rise in a little,” said -Ardan.... “That magician has gone,” -he whispered. “If we leaped at the -guards——!”</p> - -<p>“No good, brother, they are too many -and we have no arms.”</p> - -<p>“We should have one merry minute,” -said Ardan.</p> - -<p>“We have had a merry night,” said -Ainnle, “be contented, babe.”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Naoise looked lovingly on his brothers.</p> - -<p>“We were always together,” he said. -“We shall always be together.”</p> - -<p>“And I ...!” said Deirdre, “am I to -be left out at last?”</p> - -<p>“Sweet girl,” said Naoise, “he will kill -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> -us, but you will be spared. You shall -see that sun come up. You shall look at it -for us.”</p> - -<p>“Dear husband,” she said, “do you still -love me? Do you truly love me?”</p> - -<p>His eyes gave her answer.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>“Here comes Conachúr,” said Ainnle.</p> - -<p>“And a large person with him,” said -Ardan.</p> - -<p>It was Mainè Rough-Hand, son of the -King of the Fair Norwegians, they say; but -others think it was Eogan, son of Durthacht, -the prince of Ferney.</p> - -<p>“You shall die at the hand of a gentleman -as befits your rank,” said Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“I shall be the first,” said Ardan briskly. -“I am first in every great deed,” he explained -to Conachúr.</p> - -<p>“Hark to him!” Ainnle laughed. -“Respect your elders, young person, and -the heads of your family.”</p> - -<p>But Ardan appealed to Mainè.</p> - -<p>“Let me be first, sweet sir,” he pleaded. -He turned confidingly to Conachúr. “I -cannot bear to see my brothers killed,” he -said....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span></p> - -<p>Deirdre knelt by the bodies, and she -sang their keen, beginning:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I send a blessing eastward to Scotland.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>When she had finished the poem she -bowed over her husband’s body: she sipped -of his blood, and she died there upon his -body.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>SO FAR, THE FATE OF THE SONS OF UISNEAC, -AND THE OPENING OF THE GREAT TÁIN</p> -</div> - -<p class="center"><i>Printed in Great Britain by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark, Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BY_THE_SAME_AUTHOR">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</h2> -</div> - -<p class="hanging2">THE CROCK OF GOLD. Crown 8vo. 6s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">THE CROCK OF GOLD. With Illustrations -in Colour and Black and White by -<span class="smcap">Wilfred Jones.</span> 8vo. 12s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">HERE ARE LADIES. Crown 8vo. 6s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">THE DEMI-GODS. Crown 8vo. 6s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">THE CHARWOMAN’S DAUGHTER.  -Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">IRISH FAIRY TALES. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">IRISH FAIRY TALES. With 16 Plates -in Colour and other Illustrations in Black and -White by <span class="smcap">Arthur Rackham.</span> Fcap. 4to. -15s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">THE ADVENTURES OF SEUMAS BEG: -THE ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN. Poems. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">REINCARNATIONS. Poems. Crown 8vo. 3s. -6d. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">THE HILL OF VISION. Poems. Third -Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. net.</p> - -<p class="hanging2">SONGS FROM THE CLAY. Crown -8vo. 4s. 6d. net.</p> - -<p class="center">LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> -<p>A number of typographical errors were corrected silently.</p> -<p>Cover image is in the public domain.</p> -<p>Table of Contents added.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEIRDRE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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