Although other matters of some moment might claim attention in this place, we will not interrupt the course of our narrative, but will follow, throughout her journey, the fair fugitive from the city of Ghent; as far, at least, as that journey was permitted to proceed unimpeded.
The boat glided along over the calm dull bosom of the Scheldt, with hardly any noise, except the occasional dip of the oar in the water, and the slight creaking of the gunnel as the rower plied his stroke. Every one knows that the river which, a little distance further down its stream, assumes so much importance as to be the object of intrigue, negotiation, and even war, to rival nations, presents no very imposing aspect in the neighbourhood of Ghent; but so gloomy was the moonless sky, and so dense was the heavy fog which hung over the waters, that from the moment the boat had pushed off from the quay both banks became quite invisible. The deep, misty obscurity of the atmosphere, and the profound darkness of the night, might have been a cause of terror to Alice of Imbercourt under any other circumstances; but now all apprehension of danger from the want of light and the difficulties of the navigation, was swallowed up in the fear of being overtaken or impeded in her escape; and the impenetrable veil which seemed to cover all things around her she looked upon as a blessing, in the hope that it would also conceal herself. The darkness, however, which gave this feeling of security, did not continue so completely uninterrupted as to leave her entirely without alarm. Now and then, as the boat shot past some of the warehouses, or the quays where the larger craft were moored, an indistinct dim line of light would break across the mist from lamp or lantern, hung up to show the late watcher the objects of his toil or of his anxiety; and the heart of poor Alice would beat quick with fear, lest the skiff, or those it contained, should attract the eye of any of the eager and wary citizens. But all these perils were soon past; the boatman rowed strongly and well; the slow current with which they were proceeding was not powerful enough to afford much assistance to his exertions, but still the boat skimmed swiftly over the waters, and ere long the last bridge was passed. Beyond it there extended along the banks a short suburb, terminated by scattered houses belonging to cowfeeders and gardeners, and forming a sort of brief connecting link between the wide open country and the fortified city; and further on, again, came the rich fields and meadows in the immediate vicinity of the town, blending gradually into the thick woods that at that time commenced about Heusden and Melle.
Alice's heart beat more freely, as the fresher air, the slight clearing away of the mist, the occasional lowing of the cattle, and that indescribable feeling of expanse which is only known in the country, showed her--though she could not yet see the objects on the banks--that she had passed beyond the limits of the city of Ghent. The page, too, felt the same relief, and, for the first time, ventured a whispered observation on the good fortune that had attended their movements. But Alice was still too fearful of being pursued or discovered, to utter anything but a low-toned injunction to be silent; and no further sound marked their course but the stroke of the oars, as the sturdy boatman impelled them on, unwearied, over the waters of the Scheldt.
At the distance of about three miles from the city the air became gradually less dense, and at the end of half a mile more the fog had cleared away entirely. It was still dark, but the stars afforded sufficient light to show the fair fugitive, and her companion, that they were passing through a country where the meadow and the cornfield were merging in the forest. Scattered patches of copse and underwood, mingled with fields which had been reclaimed to the use of man, came sweeping down to the banks of the river; and straight before the travellers lay a dark and shadowy track, broken into dense, heavy masses, the rounded forms of which, cutting black upon the lighter sky beyond, distinguished it as wood, from the soft sweeping lines of the uplands which in other directions marked the horizon.
There is scarcely anything on earth more gloomy and impressive than the aspect of a deep wood by night, with just sufficient light in the sky to contrast strongly with the stern body of impenetrable shade presented by the forest, and yet not enough to show any of the smaller parts into which it appears separated by day. The wood lay straight before the bow of the boat, seeming to swallow up the widening course of the Scheldt, as flowing on, it reflected here and there, the faint lines of light which it caught from the sky, and which served to mark its track, till it was lost in the sombre shadows of the trees. An indefinite feeling of dread passed through the bosom of Alice of Imbercourt as the boat cut its way on towards the dark and gloomy wilderness which the forest seemed to present at that hour of the night. She believed, indeed, that she had no cause for fear; and her own peculiar plans absolutely required that she should banish all timidity of the kind that she now felt. Some inquiry, however, was necessary, in order to guide her further movements; and, as her apprehensions of pursuit had by this time vanished, she addressed a few words to the boatman, to lead him into conversation regarding the part of the country at which they had now arrived.
"Those seem very dark and extensive woods," she said; "do we pass through them?"
"Yes, noble lady," replied the man, and struck on with more vigour than before, as if he considered the time occupied by the three words he spoke as lost to all profitable employment.
"Are they safe to travel at night?" demanded the young lady again.
"No, noble lady," was all the reply she received.
"But do you mean that it is dangerous to pass through them in a boat?" inquired Alice.
"I cannot tell, madam," answered the man; but still he rowed on, and the page, laughing with the thoughtless glee of youth, whispered that the attempt was vain to make silent Martin give them any information, as he had never been known to speak ten words to an end in his life. By this time they were within the limits of the forest, and nothing surrounded them on every side but the trees dipping down their branches over the water. Alice, however, ventured one more question, to which the answer she received, though as short, was more satisfactory than those the boatman had formerly given.
"How far does the wood extend?" she demanded.
"Three quarters of a league, noble lady," replied the boatman, and again plied his oar in silence.
Whether Alice's voice, and his reply, had called attention, or whether the stroke of the oars itself could be heard at the banks, cannot be determined; but the man had answered but a moment, when a slight plash was heard from behind a little projection of the shore, on which an old oak had planted itself, spreading its roots down to the very river. Then came a rushing sound, as of something impelled quickly through the water, succeeded by the regular sweep of oars, and, in a moment after, a boat, rowed by two strong men, darted out into the mid-stream, and followed rapidly after that in which Alice sat. Still silent Martin, as the boy called him, pulled stoutly on without a word, but the superior power of the two men who pursued soon brought them alongside the boat, and, grappling her tight, they addressed the boatman in a tone rough but not uncivil.
"So ho, friend!" they cried; "stop a bit. What news from Ghent? How goes the good city?"
"Well! well! my masters," replied the boatman, still striving to impel his skiff forward, though the proximity of the other boat rendered the effort to use his oars unavailing.
"It is silent Martin," said one of the men, "and a fair dame, by the Lord! Who have you here, Master Martin?"
"There, there," replied the boatman, with what appeared to be an immense effort to make an oration; "let me get on. You do not stop women, my masters. Surely you would never stop a lady like that!" And exhausted with this long speech, he again tried to push away from the other boat, but in vain.
"No, no," cried one of the men, "we will not stop the lady long; but every one who rows upon the Scheldt now-a-days must have a pass from the captain. So come along, Master Martin; and when you and the young lady have given all the news of Ghent, that, doubtless, you can give--for certainly young ladies do not come up the Scheldt at this hour of the night for nothing--we will let you go on your way."
"Fine times!" said silent Martin; but as resistance was in vain, he suffered them to pilot his boat to the mouth of the little creek from which their own had shot out; and he himself, with a certain degree of awkward gentleness, aided Alice of Imbercourt to land.
Her feelings were of a very mixed nature; but, assuredly, not such as might be imagined from a consideration of the more obvious circumstances of her situation. She was certainly terrified as well as agitated, and she trembled a good deal; but, at the same time, she showed no unwillingness to obey the commands of those who now had her in their power. Her terror, however, did not escape the eyes of the men who had rowed the other boat; and one of them addressed her in a kindly tone, saying, "Fear not, fear not. No lady ever suffered harm or dishonour from the green riders of Hannut. So do not be alarmed, and you shall soon be free to go whithersoever you will."
These words, which he spoke as they were landing, seemed to reassure the fair traveller, more than they would, probably, have done most other people at such a moment.
"Oh, where is he?" she exclaimed, eagerly. "Lead me to him, I beseech you. It is he whom I am now seeking."
"Ay, indeed!" said the adventurer. "Mean you the Vert Gallant of Hannut, lady? He is soon found by those who seek him, and rather often found by those who seek him not. Ho, Roger!" he continued, addressing his companion in the boat, "rouse up Frank Van Halle and Simpkin yonder, to keep watch with thee, while I lead the lady and the boy to the rendezvous. Come now, my pretty mistress," he added, "take care of your steps, for it is as dark as the tomb. Here, take an old man's arm. It was more pliant in days of yore, but never stronger, and will serve at least to help you up the bank."
Alice was glad of assistance, and laid her hand on his arm; but though his occupation had been sufficiently evident before, yet she almost started back when her fingers rested upon plates of cold iron, forming the brassards or defensive armour for the arms, so much are our minds the slaves of our corporeal sensations, that our convictions are never vivid till we have verified them by our external senses. She recovered herself immediately, however, and clung to him both for support and direction; for the whole scene around was wrapped in profound obscurity; and though her eye was already accustomed to the night, yet the additional gloom of the forest was so great, that she followed the adventurer in perfect blindness, without being able to see, one moment, where she was to set her foot the next.
After climbing a slight acclivity, which compelled them to walk slowly, they came to more open ground, where her guide hurried his pace, and Alice was obliged to follow rapidly upon his steps, though not without often shrinking back for fear of striking against the trees, which her imagination pictured as protruding across the path. The way, though in fact short, seemed to her long, from the darkness and uncertainty in which she moved; but at length a light began to glisten between the branches; and, after walking on a few minutes longer, she perceived a glare so strong as almost to make her believe that a part of the wood was on fire. As her conductor led her forward, she every now and then caught a glimpse, through the breaks in the wood, of figures moving about across the light towards which they were approaching; but a moment after, the whole scene was again shut out by a tract of withered beech trees, loaded with their thick dry leaves, through which the path that Alice and her guide were pursuing took a sudden turn. The blaze of the fire, however, was sufficiently general to light them easily on their way; and in a few minutes more they emerged at once into the little sheltered arena whence it was diffused.
The frost, as I have before said, had for some time broken up, and the preceding day had been warm and fine. Nevertheless, sufficient precautions had been taken by the tenants of the forest to dispel, in their own neighbourhood at least, whatever touch remained of winter. In the midst of the open space which Alice now entered, they had piled up, with very unceremonious appropriation of the duke's trees, a fire of immense logs, sufficient to roast a hecatomb; and many a relic of the more ancient and simple methods of dressing meat displayed themselves around, in various immense pieces of venison and beef roasting on wooden spits in the open air, while a gigantic black caldron, pendent from the immemorial triple chevron, which has suspended all primeval pots from the days of Noah, fumed and bubbled with most savoury promise. Around, in groups, lay a number of stout soldiery, prepared to refresh their vigorous and sinewy limbs with the contents of the pot, or the burden of the spit, as soon as those skilled in the mystery of cooking pronounced that they were ready for the knife. Several more, whose appetite seemed still fiercer, stood round the fire, watching with anticipating expectation the progress of the cookery. But it is to be remarked, at the same time, that amongst all this number of persons--amounting fully to fifty or sixty--a great deal of decent order was kept up, and nothing like either rioting or confusion was observed, notwithstanding the more than doubtful character of the persons concerned. There was no singing, no shouting; and those who were conversing together spoke in an under tone, as if afraid of disturbing some person engaged in more important business in their near neighbourhood.
The cause of this orderly tranquillity, perhaps, might be discovered by running the eye on a little way beyond the fire, where stood a sort of rude, but extensive, wooden shed or hut, raised upon a number of upright piles driven into the ground, and thatched on the top with boughs, leaves, and rushes, which materials also served to cover three sides of the building. The side that remained open was turned towards the fire; and, consequently, it both commanded a view of everything that took place in that direction, and exposed to the sight of the other parties in the savannah all that was passing in the interior of the hut. It was owing to this disposition, that, as Alice approached, she at once perceived the Vert Gallant of Hannut, habited, as we have before described him, reclining on the ground under the shed, with a paper before him, on which was apparently traced a rude map of some country, the topography of which he seemed studying intently. Sitting beside him, supplied with a flat board, which served the purposes of a table, and on which were seen the implements for writing, was the sleek, round monk, of whom we have previously given some account under the name of Father Barnabas, and who now, with a ready pen, appeared busily tracing some despatch at the dictation of the adventurous leader.
On the other side of the Vert Gallant stood a page, whose rich dress of green and gold seemed but ill to correspond with the scene in which he was found, holding a torch high in his hand, to throw light upon the papers before his two companions; and near him again was a person in the habit of a courier of some distinction, whose horse, all in flakes of foam with hard riding, stood, held by another page, close by the entrance of the shed.
The approach of Alice and her conductor instantly drew the eyes of a great part of the persons assembled in the savannah upon her; and, shrinking from the gaze of the rude men amongst whom she now found herself, the lady drew her mantle closer round her, and bent her look upon the ground, while, at the desire of him who had led her thither, she paused with the page, and suffered their guide to advance alone. Without taking any notice of the groups around, he walked forward at once to the shed; and only staying till the Vert Gallant had concluded the sentence which hung upon his lips, he addressed a few words to him, which were inaudible where Alice stood. Their effect upon the leader, however, was great and instantaneous. He started at once upon his feet, and turned fully towards the spot where the young lady stood; but the bars of the casque, which he seemed never to lay aside, still prevented his own countenance from being seen.
After the glance of a single instant, he advanced towards Alice; and, bending respectfully over her hand which he took in his, he bade her welcome with kind and graceful courtesy.
"I know the general meaning of your coming, lady," he said, "though not the immediate cause; and I will speak with you as soon as I have despatched the messenger. In the meantime trust to this old man, my lieutenant, who will lead you to a place where I can hear your commands in private."
Alice listened attentively, and looked up when he had done, with a glance, in which anxiety and apprehension for her father's fate were strangely mingled, considering the moment and the scene, with a rise of the eyebrow, and a turn of the fair mouth, which altogether approached very near one of the merry smiles that had so thronged her lips in happier days. She replied not, however, though at first she appeared about to do so; but following her former conductor in silence, was led once more into the paths of the wood. She was not now called upon to walk far; for little more than a hundred steps brought her in front of a low-roofed building, which, apparently had been in former times the abode of one of the forest guards, but which had now fallen into the occupation of the free companions.
Everything within bore an air of comfort and neatness hardly to have been expected from its present tenants; and in the chamber to which Alice was conducted, nothing appeared to announce that it was not still the abode of quiet and affluent industry.
The moment she and the page had entered, the old man retired and closed the door; and Alice remained gazing upon the embers of the wood fire that lay sparkling on the hearth, till the sound of rapid steps passing the window again made her heart beat with redoubled quickness. In a moment after the door was thrown open, and the tall, graceful figure of the Vert Gallant once more stood before her.
"Quit the room, page," he said, as he entered, "but do not leave the chamber-door."
The boy hesitated; but a sign from Alice made him instantly obey; and the Vert Gallant advancing, took her hand and led her to a seat.
"You are tired, lady, and evidently agitated," he said; "and I fear much that some event of a sad and serious nature has gained me the honour of your presence in this wild place."
Alice looked up with the same sparkling smile which had before played for a moment on her countenance. "You cannot deceive me!" she said. "Hugh de Mortmar, do you think that I do not know you?"
The Vert Gallant paused an instant as if in suspense, then threw his arms round the fair girl who stood beside him, and pressed her gently to him. "Dear Alice," he said, "how did you discover me?"
"It were vain to say how, Hugh," replied Alice; "I may have had suspicions long before; but, from the day of the thunderstorm in the forest of Hannut, I have not had a doubt; though why Hugh de Mortmar should need to league with outlaws and adventurers, and, as it would appear, to hide his face even from such strange companions, is more difficult to divine."
"I am, indeed, willing, though not obliged, to hide my face even from the bulk of my gallant followers," replied the young cavalier, undoing the clasps of his casque. "Ay! and in order to guard against surprise or inadvertency, to wear so foul a seeming as this, even beneath that heavy helmet;" and removing the iron cap, he showed her a half mask representing the countenance of a negro, which covered his own face to the beard.
"You start, Alice!" he continued, "and look somewhat aghast! Is it at that fearful painted piece of emptiness?"
"No!" she answered, "no! But it is to think that you--you, De Mortmar--should, for any cause, condescend to hide yourself beneath such a semblance."
"Indeed, Alice!" said De Mortmar, with a smile. "Then tell me, beloved, and put it fairly to your own heart, what is it that a man will not do--what that he should not do--to recover those things that have been snatched from his race by the unjust hand of power, and to free a father from captivity?"
"Nothing, indeed!" replied Alice, to whose bosom one part, at least, of the question went directly home. "Nothing, indeed! and I will believe, with the faith of a martyr, that no other way than this existed for you to accomplish such an object; although till this moment I knew not that you had either parent in existence."
"But your father did," replied the young cavalier; "and when first I called these troops together, Alice--for you must not confound them with a band of lawless plunderers--when first I called them together, it seemed the only way by which I could ever hope to liberate my imprisoned father. I am Hugh of Gueldres; and it has been only the hope and the promise of your hand, joined to the prospect held out by your noble father of obtaining my own parent's liberation by peaceful means, which has so long prevented me from asserting his right in arms, though the whole force of Burgundy were prepared to check me--I might say, indeed, to crush me," he added; "for though, with the forces of Hannut, and all the discontented men which the late duke arrayed against him in his own dominions, with the aid of France, and, perhaps, of Austria, my right and my good cause might have done much, while Charles remained embroiled in foreign wars. I could have hoped for little had he once turned his whole force against me. But, as I have said, your father persuaded me to delay. During the years that I have thus been induced to pause, I have been obliged to hide, as best I might, the force of free companions I had raised; and no method of concealment could be more efficacious than that which I have adopted. As the green riders of Hannut we passed nearly unmolested, while the Duke of Burgundy pursued his ambitious schemes against Lorraine, and his mad ones against the Swiss; and though, if you recall the past events, you will find that the green riders have punished the guilty and the bloodthirsty--have laid many a plundering noble under contribution, and have levelled more than one stronghold of cruelty and oppression with the ground, yet not one act of baseness or barbarity can be traced to themselves."
"Then, why such necessity for concealing yourself from them?" demanded Alice, carried away for a moment from other thoughts by the personal interest she felt in her lover's conduct.
"What!" exclaimed the young cavalier, "would you have had me, dear Alice, give so important a secret as that of my existence, when the Duke of Burgundy and all his court--nay, my own father also, thought me dead; would you have had me give such a secret as that to the keeping of more than five hundred men? No! they were levied secretly by one who has been devoted and faithful to me through life--good Matthew Gournay, who led you hither. The long accumulated wealth of my more than father, the Lord of Hannut, served to gather them together. His forests and the catacombs under the castle gave them shelter: and, though far too strong in numbers to fear the weak bands of the Prevot, or the force of any of the neighbouring nobles, it was absolutely necessary to conceal, with the most scrupulous care, from the court of Burgundy, that so large a body of independent troops existed, and still more that such a force was commanded by one who had cause for deadly hatred towards the duke, now dead. Thus, by the advice and with the aid of the good Lord of Hannut, I mingled with the world as his nephew, under which title he had brought me up from my youth. But as it was necessary to keep my free companions in continual employment, and to acquire over them that personal authority, which nothing but the habit of commanding them could obtain, I was often obliged to assume the character of the Vert Gallant of Hannut, and lead them to enterprises, which, however dangerous, I took care should never be dishonourable. The very concealment of my person, which was revealed only to those who had previously known me, added a sort of mysterious influence to the power which general success gave me over them; and I believe that, at this moment, there is no enterprise, however wild or rash, to which they would not follow me, with the most perfect confidence."
"But my father," said Alice, reverting to the still more interesting topic of her parent's danger; "I must speak with you of my father."
"Well, then, in regard to your father," replied the young noble; and proceeding eagerly in his exculpation, he explained to Alice that Imbercourt had always lamented the Duke of Burgundy's severity to his parent, and had striven by every means to call the sovereign to a sense of justice, even before he acquired a personal interest in the house of Gueldres. The real name and rank of the supposed Hugh de Mortmar, the cavalier proceeded, had been revealed to her father, when Alice's hand had first been promised to him as the young heir of Hannut; and seeing at once that Hugh's design of liberating the imprisoned Duke of Gueldres, and recovering his duchy by force, was anything but hopeless, Imbercourt had only become the more anxious to obviate the necessity for such an attempt, by inducing Charles the Bold to grant as a concession that which he might otherwise be forced to yield on compulsion. The purposes of the Duke of Burgundy, however, were not easily changed, nor was his mind to be wrought upon in a day; and Imbercourt was still occupied with the difficult task he had undertaken, when the defeat of Nancy took place. On the other hand, he had ever laboured zealously to induce the young heir of Gueldres to delay; and many of those trifling circumstances which impede the execution of the best laid schemes, had combined, from time to time, to second his endeavours with Hugh of Gueldres. Friends and confederates had proved remiss or incapable; supplies had been retarded; changes had taken place in the disposition or circumstances of particular states; and three times the young noble had been half persuaded, half compelled, to put off the attempt on which he had determined. All this Hugh of Gueldres poured forth eagerly to Alice of Imbercourt, too anxious to exculpate himself from all blame in the eyes of her he loved, to read in her looks the more serious cares that were busy at her heart.
"In the disturbed and dangerous state of the country," added the young cavalier, "although my father has been liberated by other means, it is my determination to keep my band together, and, watching every turn, to choose that moment which must come, when a small force, acting vigorously for one great purpose, may give the preponderance to right, and crush the wrong for ever."
"Now, then, is the moment! Hugh de Mortmar," cried Alice, clasping her hands eagerly; "now, then, is the moment!--if you feel any gratitude towards my father--if you feel any love for me--if you would uphold the right--if you would crush the wrong--if you would save the innocent from ignominious death--lose not a day, but force the rebel people of Ghent to free my unhappy father!"
The young cavalier, who had never suspected the actual danger of the Lord of Imbercourt, started with surprise; and Alice, with the eager eloquence of apprehension, made him rapidly acquainted with the events which had occurred in Ghent during the morning, and which had thus brought her to seek him.
"Ha!" cried the Vert Gallant, "does Albert Maurice--does the President of the States sanction such proceedings? I had heard that when the unhappy eschevins were murdered by the populace, he wrought signal vengeance on the perpetrators of the crime; and, if ever I saw one to whom I should attribute noble feelings and just and upright sentiments, he is the man."
"He is ambitious, Hugh," replied Alice, vehemently; "wildly, madly ambitious. I have marked him well throughout--and you may trust a woman's eyes for such discoveries--he has dared to raise his thoughts to Mary of Burgundy. He loves her--deeply and truly, I believe; but he loves her not with the love which an inferior may feel for a superior whom they may never hope to gain, but rather with that rash and daring love, which will make ambition but a stepping-stone to accomplish its bold purpose--which will see the land plunged deeper and deeper in bloodshed, in the wild hope, that out of the ruins of ancient institutions, and the wreck of order, prosperity, and peace, he may build up for himself a seat as high, or higher, than the ducal chair of Burgundy. It is evident, Hugh, it is evident, that he has the power as well as the daring to do much; and one of his first steps will be upon my father's head; for had that father's will and counsel been followed, our fair and gentle princess would now have been the bride of the Dauphin of France, and every hour that he lives will be an hour of suspense and anxiety to that ambitious burgher."
A slight smile of contempt, springing from the prejudices of the day, curled the lip of Hugh of Gueldres, as Alice first spoke of the love of the young citizen for the Princess of Burgundy; but it vanished speedily as she went on; and he shook his head with an air of thoughtful sternness as he replied, "He is one to be feared and to be opposed, far more than to be contemned. Alice, my beloved," he added, taking both her hands in his, "I must think what may be best done to save your father; and of this be assured, that I will lose not one moment in the attempt; but will peril life and fortune, and every future hope, to deliver him instantly."
"And yet," said Alice, while a deep blush spread over her whole face, "for my sake be not over rash of your own person. Save my father, I beseech, I entreat!--but, oh! remember that you, too--that you--"
Her feelings overpowered her, and she finished the sentence by tears. Hugh of Gueldres drew her gently to him, and consoled her as far as the circumstances permitted. But on such occasions there is little to be said but commonplaces; and all he could assure her was, that while he made every effort to save her father, her love would make him as careful of himself as the nature of the task would allow.
In that day, however, every sport, pastime, and occupation of man's life, were of so rude and dangerous a nature, that perils lost half their fearfulness from familiarity; and, though Alice of Imbercourt could not but feel pained and apprehensive for her lover, yet her feelings of terror were much sooner tranquillized than those of a person in the present day could have been under similar circumstances.
In the meanwhile, the emergency of the case required that Hugh of Gueldres should instantly fix upon some plan for the deliverance of the Lord of Imbercourt, and proceed to put it in execution without loss of time; and it was also necessary that Alice, whose return to Ghent would have been both fruitless and dangerous, should seek some safe asylum till her father's fate was decided. It was accordingly determined that she should instantly proceed to the castle of Hannut; and means for rendering her journey both safe and easy were arranged at once by her lover.
While the litter for conveying her thither was in preparation, and the soldiers destined to escort her were saddling their horses, Hugh of Gueldres stole a few brief minutes from more painful thoughts, for the enjoyment of her society, and the interchange of happy promises and hopes--nor were those brief moments less sweet to Alice and her lover, because they were so few, nor because they were mingled with many an apprehension, nor because many an anxious topic intruded on the conversation. It is the light and shade, the close opposition of the dark and the sparkling, that gives zest even to joy. Hugh de Mortmar felt all the sweetness of their brief interview to the full for the time; but, the moment after he had placed Alice in the vehicle, given strict directions to the band which accompanied her, and seen the cavalcade wind away into the dark paths of the wood, he turned to less pleasing thoughts, summoned some of those from his troops in whom he felt the greatest confidence, and remained with them for a short time in close deliberation, concerning the measures to be taken for the deliverance of the Lord of Imbercourt.
A plan was soon determined; and an hour before daylight one of the band was despatched to Ghent, habited as a peasant, and charged to gain every information in regard to the proceedings of the council, but to hasten back with all speed, as soon as he had obtained sufficient knowledge of what was passing in the city. In the meanwhile, all was held in readiness to act, immediately upon the receipt of the tidings which he was to bring; and messengers were despatched in every direction, to prepare the bodies of free companions, scattered through the different woods in the neighbourhood of Ghent, for instant movement upon the city.
While such events had been passing without the gates of Ghent, the estates of Flanders and Brabant--as the members somewhat grandiloquently styled the anomalous assemblage which had been collected in that city--had prolonged their sittings till night had shaken hands with morning. The Lords of Hugonet and Imbercourt had, as we have seen, been arrested by their commands; but this was not all, and every individual of any weight, who was clearly connected with what was called the French party at the court, had likewise been committed to prison. It may be necessary, however, to state how such a bold and sweeping measure--a measure so full of difficulties, and so likely to encounter strenuous opposition--had been carried into effect.
No favour was shown to any one; and, as soon as the assembly met, Albert Maurice, so averse, in general, to deeds of violence, proposed in quick succession, and with an eager light in his eye, which proved how deeply his personal feelings were implicated, the names of the victims who were to be exposed to the fiery ordeal of a public trial, under such an excited and furious state of the popular mind. With bold and sweeping positions, supported by extraordinary eloquence, he laid it down, in his opening address, as a first grand principle, that those who sought to unite Flanders with France were declared enemies to their native country; and he went on to assume, that even those who could show that no mercenary motive influenced them, were worthy, at least, of banishment, while those who could be proved to have been bought by France, merited nothing less than death. All this was readily admitted by his hearers; but the high rank and station of the first men that he then proceeded to proscribe, their fair reputation, and a long train of brilliant services to the state, caused no light feelings of surprise and apprehension to agitate the various members of the states, as they heard them named. But there was a power and an authority in the tone of the young president, which overawed or carried away the greater part of his hearers; and the calm sneer, or cold philosophic reasoning of Ganay, who supported him, drove or induced many of the rest to yield.
Still it required but the strenuous opposition of some one individual, to rouse and lead a large party in the states against the bold and dangerous measures proposed; and, to the surprise of all, that individual was worthy Martin Fruse. As soon as Ganay had concluded, he rose, and, after some agitated embarrassment--occasioned both by the importance of the subject on which he was about to speak, and his dislike to oppose his nephew--found words to begin; but, once having done so, he poured forth, with rapid utterance, one of those torrents of rude eloquence which generosity of heart and rectitude of feeling will sometimes elicit from the roughest and most untutored mind.
"No, no, Albert! No, no, my dear boy!" he exclaimed. "No, no; it is very wrong--very wrong indeed! For God's sake, my friends and fellow citizens, pause! let us be wise and firm, but moderate and just. We have done great things--indeed, we have. We have recovered our freedom; we have regained those ancient laws and usages which were our blessing in the olden time, and which may bless us still, if we use them discreetly. But, fellow citizens, remember, oh, remember! there is a point where our own privileges end, and where those of other classes and other men begin. Let us not take one stride beyond the barriers of our own rights; for surely, if we do, we shall, sooner or later, be driven back with disgrace. The man who, with power to right himself, suffers another to rob him of his property, is little better than a fool; but he who, because he has once been robbed, grasps at the possessions of another, is none the less a robber himself. The nobles have their own privileges and their own laws; and right it is that they should have them; for perhaps we are less fitted, from our habits and situation, to judge them, than they are to judge us. But, setting that point aside, we claim our own laws and our own judges, and we have obtained them: the nobles, too, claim theirs, and let them have them too. If they have wronged each other, let them right themselves; and if they have wronged the state, whereby we may suffer too, let us carry up our impeachment of their conduct to the footstool of the princess, and demand that they be judged by their peers, according to law. But on no account let us either arrest them without lawful authority; and still less let us presume--a body of men superior to them in numbers, and in some sort, I will say, prejudiced against them, because we hold a lower rank than they do--and still less, I say, let us presume to judge them, when we cannot, from our very station, judge them impartially. A man can very well judge others, may be, when he despises them; but no men can judge others whom they envy. I know nothing of these two lords; and all I have heard of them makes me believe that they were good and faithful servants of their prince, so long as he was living; but if you have good reason to think that they have since betrayed their country to France, accuse them before the princess and her council, and let them be judged by their equals."
"What! and give them time to escape the pursuit of justice?" demanded Albert Maurice, sternly; but immediately assuming a softer tone, he added, "Had any other man spoken the words we have just heard, I should have instantly called upon the states of Flanders not to entertain for a moment ideas which would go to circumscribe all their powers. I would have endeavoured to show that we have a right, as the representatives of the whole of Flanders and Brabant, to defend our existence as a nation, and our general interests as a free people, by arresting any one whom we find labouring to sell us at the highest price to a foreign power; and, by making the most terrible example of such traitors, to deter others from similar treason--without adducing any weaker reasons. But to you, my uncle--my best and kindest friend--I am bound by love and gratitude; and to you also--as the oldest and most revered member of the council--the states are bound by reverence and esteem, to yield every motive which can satisfy your mind. I, therefore, as one of the provincial council of the princess, may now inform you, that one half of that council----"
"The Duke of Gueldres has signed the order," whispered Ganay, laying a parchment before the President, who instantly proceeded--"that even a majority of the council, have consented to the arrest of these two nobles, the Lord of Imbercourt and the Chancellor Hugonet; and surely, did there exist no other right in this assembly to try them for their manifold and recent offences, the warrant of three such men of their own order as the Duke of Cleves, the Duke of Gueldres,[8] and the Bishop of Liege, would be ample authority for such a proceeding."
As he spoke, he spread out the parchment on the table before the states; and, slowly pronouncing the names of the three princes who, from the base motives of personal ambition or revenge, had been induced to consent to such a degradation of their class, he pointed with his finger in succession to their signatures attached to the order for arresting the unfortunate nobles. Martin Fruse was silent; but the voice of every other person present was raised for the instant execution of a warrant so signed, though many, by leaving the order without any further authority, would have gladly shifted the responsibility of the act upon those princes who had justified it, in order to escape themselves from a task, for which, with all the will in the world, they wanted the necessary courage.
Albert Maurice, however, and several others, made of sterner stuff than the generality of the burghers by whom they were surrounded, had more extended views and more daring purposes, and were determined not to trust the execution of the vengeance they proposed to wreck on the two counsellors, to such doubtful friends as the Dukes of Cleves and Gueldres, and the Bishop of Liege. The first, indeed, had shown himself the bitter foe of Imbercourt from the moment he had discovered that the statesman had determined to save the country from foreign invasion, if possible, by uniting Mary of Burgundy to the heir of the French crown. To the Bishop of Liege, Imbercourt had long been a personal enemy; and the Duke of Gueldres had motives of his own, or rather motives suggested by Ganay, for seeking to alienate the unhappy minister from the councils of the princess. Each, however, of these great lords, Albert Maurice well knew, were willing to compound for the exile of the minister, and to spare his life; but the young president himself judged rightly, when he thought that Imbercourt, in power or in banishment, would never cease his efforts to execute the design he had formed, till he were dead, or the scheme accomplished; and Albert Maurice resolved that he should die. He tried hard to convince his own heart that his intentions were purely patriotic; but his own heart remained unsatisfied. Yet, having once yielded to the promptings of the worse spirit, the burning doubt in his own bosom, in regard to the purity of his motives, only urged him on the course he had chosen with more blind and furious impetuosity, in order to escape from the torturing self-examination to which conscience prompted him continually. He saw around him difficulties and dangers on every side, obstacles alike opposed to his ambition, to his love, and to his aspirations after liberty. He believed himself to be in the situation of a mariner on a narrow bank, over which the ocean threatened every instant to break, and overwhelm both himself and the vessel of the state; and he resolved at once to push off into the midst of the stormy waves, in despite of the fears of his companions, believing that his own powers could steer the ship safely, and that their feebleness must yield him the command, till he had piloted her into the port for which he had already determined to sail.
The timidity of some, the subtlety of others, the wilfulness, the self-conceit of all, he saw could only be bent to his purposes by plunging them in an ocean of difficulties, from which he alone could extricate them; and, understanding well the characters of those by whom he was surrounded, and prepared to make their talents, their influence, their wealth, their vices, their very weaknesses, subservient to his one great purpose, he resolved to involve them all in schemes of which he alone knew the extent.
At once, therefore, he rejected the idea that the warrant, signed by the three princes he had named, was sufficient; and though he allowed their names to stand first, he urged upon those who heard him, that the states must also join in the same act, or forfeit thenceforward all pretence to real power. His arguments and his authority easily brought over a large majority of the hearers; and the warrants were sent forth bearing the names of the whole assembly. A number of other persons, less obnoxious, were then, as I have before said, added to the list of those to be secured; and the meeting of the states did not break up till the fearful work of proscription had been dreadfully extended.
The assembly then rose; and member by member, bowing low to the president, who had the day before taken possession of a suite of apartments in the Stadthuys, and now made it his dwelling, left the town-hall, and departed. Ganay alone remained, and he did so on a sign to that effect from Albert Maurice; who, when all the rest were gone, and the doors closed, leaned his folded arms upon the table, and buried his brows upon them, as if utterly exhausted with all the fatigues of the day, and the struggle of many a potent passion in the arena of his own bosom. The dull flames of the long-burnt lamps but dimly illumined the wide vacant hall and its dark wainscot; but the great cresset hung just above the head of Albert Maurice; and as the light fell upon the bright curls of dark hair dropping over his arms, and upon the magnificent head and form which those curls adorned, it seemed shining upon some fallen spirit, in the first lassitude of its despair. Nor did the withered form of Ganay, with his shrewd keen eyes fixed upon the young citizen, and his cheek shrunk and pale with the long workings of passions, concealed by subtlety, but not the less potent on that account, offer a bad image of some dark tempter, enjoying his triumph over the fall of a better being, then writhing before his eyes under the very fruition of its first evil hopes.
It was Ganay who began the discourse, and the tone of his voice at once roused Albert Maurice from his momentary absence of mind. "They have all plunged in now, indeed!" said the druggist. "I thought not they would run before our will so easily."
"They have plunged in, indeed," replied Albert Maurice, "and so have we! But that matters not. We will lead them safely through. But now tell me--How was the Duke of Gueldres won to our wishes? He owes his freedom as much to Imbercourt as to any one. Is he then so base a slave as he has been pictured? Is the soil of his heart really so fertile in weeds, that good service produces nothing thence but ingratitude?"
"Nay, nay, my young friend," answered the druggist, while a bitter sneer lurked round his lip, at the very candour he assumed; "you are beginning to think sadly ill of mankind. They are not so bad a race as you believe. Like all great patriots, you affect to despise the very world you would shed your blood to serve. No, no; the Duke of Gueldres, good honest man, would be as grateful as his neighbours, if no more powerful motive came in the way of gratitude. You forget, Albert Maurice, that we are teaching him to believe that his pretensions to the heiress of Burgundy are full as good as those of the sottish heir of Cleves; so that, whoever seeks to give her hand to a stranger, is an enemy to Adolphus of Gueldres, who counts boldly on being her husband."
The cheek of Albert Maurice flushed, and then grew pale; for often in the dull and filthy trade of worldly policy, men must work with tools they are ashamed to touch, and employ means abhorrent to their better nature. Thus, though obliged to balance one mean soul against another, as suitors for her he himself loved, it stung the young aspirant to the very heart to hear their pretensions calmly named by any other human being; and giving way to the first burst of indignation, he exclaimed, "Out on him, vile swine! But beware, Sir Druggist, beware how you raise his mad dreams too high! and still more beware," he continued, as a sudden suspicion seemed to cross his mind, awakened, as had been frequently the case before, by the sneering tone in which the druggist sometimes spoke; "and still more beware how you dare to play into his hands. Mark me, sir," and grasping Ganay by the arm, he bent his dark brow upon him; "mark me! I know you well, and you know me, but not so well! You think you use me as a tool, because, to a certain point, you have succeeded while following my steps, and have obtained, and are obtaining, the vengeance for which you thirst. But learn and know that you have succeeded so far, only because the interests of the state and your own desires have been bound up together. It is, that those whom you seek to destroy have given you the means of destroying them, by rendering it necessary that I should strike them; not, as perhaps you dream, that you have bent me to your purpose. You see I know you, and some of your most secret thoughts. But hear me further ere you reply. Learn, too, that the transactions of thirty years ago, are not so deeply buried beneath the dust of time as you may think; and that, though you and Adolphus of Gueldres may meet as strangers now-a-day, I have dreamt that there was a time when ye knew more of each other. So now, you see, I know you, and some of your most secret deeds; and once more, I say, beware!"
It was the second time that Albert Maurice had referred boldly to events in the past, which Ganay had supposed forgotten; and the ashy cheek of the druggist grew, if anything, a shade paler than before, while, for a moment, he gazed upon the face of Albert Maurice with a glance of amazement, most unwonted to his guarded features. It passed off, however, in an instant, and a flash of something like anger succeeded in its room. But that, too, passed away, and he replied calmly, but somewhat bitterly, "I will beware. But you, too, Albert Maurice, beware also. There are some things that it is not well to discuss; but if you can trace--as, for aught I know or care, perhaps you can--my whole course of being for more than thirty years, you well know that I am one whose vengeance is somewhat deadly; and that however strong you may feel yourself, it were better to incur the hatred of a whole host of monarchs, than that of so humble a thing as I am. Curl not your proud lip, Sir President, but listen to me, and let us both act wisely. I love you, and have loved you from your childhood; and, in the great changes that are taking place around us, we have advanced together--I, indeed, a step behind you; or, in other words, you have gone on in search of high things and mighty destinies, while I have had my objects, no less dear and precious to my heart, though perhaps less pompously named in the world's vocabulary. Let us not, now that we have done so much, and stood so long side by side, turn face to face as foes. Doubtless you fear not me: but let me tell you, Albert Maurice, that I am as fearless as yourself--nay, something more so--for there are many mere words cunningly devised, and artfully preached upon, by monks, and priests, and knaves, and tyrants, which you fear, and I do not. But let us set all these things aside; it is wisest and best for us both to labour on together, without suspicions of each other. If, as you say, you know the secrets of the past, you well know that I have no mighty cause to love Adolphus of Gueldres. In what I have done to win him popularity, and to make him raise his eyes to the hand of the sweet and beautiful Princess of Burgundy, I have but followed your own directions, and no more; and you must feel and know that his power over the people, and his hope of that bright lady, are, when compared with yours, but as a feather weighed against a golden crown."
The firmest heart that ever beat within man's bosom is, after all, but a strange weak thing; and--though feelings very little short of contempt and hatred were felt by the young citizen for his insidious companion--though he knew that he was false and subtle, and believed that even truth in his mouth was virtually a lie, from being intended to deceive, yet, strange to say, the goodly terms that he bestowed upon Mary of Burgundy, and the flattering picture he drew of his hearer's probable success, soothed, pleased, and softened Albert Maurice, and wiped away, for the moment, many of the individual suspicions he had been inclined to entertain before.
It must not be supposed, however, that those suspicions, thus partially obliterated, did not soon return. They were like the scratches on an agate, which a wet sponge will apparently wipe away for ever, but which come back the moment that the stone is dry again, and cloud it altogether. He knew Ganay too well, he saw too deeply into the secrets of his subtle heart, to be ever long without doubt of his purposes, though artful words and exciting hopes, administered skilfully to his passions, would efface it for a time. If this weakness, and it certainly was a great one, did not influence his conduct, it was, perhaps, as much as could be expected from man.
"I mean not, Ganay," he said, "either to taunt you or to pain you; but as our objects are different, as you admit yourself, I do you no wrong, even on your own principles, in supposing that as soon as those objects are no longer to be gained by aiding and supporting me, you will turn to some one whose plans may better coincide with your own. My purpose, then, in showing you how thoroughly I know you, is, that you may have the means of seeing that it would be dangerous to abandon my interest for that of any other person; and that you may balance in your own mind the advantages and difficulties on either side. But, as you say, to drop this subject, and never to resume it again, unless the day should come when separate interests and different feelings may oppose us hostilely to each other, tell me, candidly and fairly, do you think that, if we encourage the popularity of him of Gueldres, in opposition to this proud Duke of Cleves, we may safely count upon his ultimate failure; for did I believe that there were a possibility of his success, I would slay him myself ere such a profanation should take place:" and as he spoke he fixed his eyes upon the face of the druggist, in order to make the expression of the other's countenance a running commentary upon the words he was about to reply.
"I think," replied the druggist, firmly, and emphatically, "that Adolphus of Gueldres--stigmatized by the pure immaculate world we live in, as the blood-stained, the faithless, the perjured, the violator of all duties and of all rights--has as much chance of obtaining heaven, as of winning Mary of Burgundy. I tell you, Albert Maurice, that she would sooner die--ay, die a thousand times, were it possible, than wed the man she has been taught to hate from her infancy."
"I believe she would," murmured the young citizen, calling to mind the demeanour of the princess, when giving the order for the liberation of the Duke of Gueldres; "I believe she would, indeed."
"Besides," continued the druggist, "besides, she loves another. Ay, Albert Maurice, start not, she loves another! What, man," he continued, seeing his companion change colour, "are you so blind? I had fancied that all your hopes, and one half your daring, had birth in that proud consciousness."
Never dreaming that his companion would announce so boldly what was still but one of the most indistinct visions of hope, even within his own bosom--a vision, indeed, which was the prime motive of all thoughts and actions, but which he had never dared to scrutinize carefully--Albert Maurice, with all the irritable jealousy of love, had instantly concluded that Ganay, in the first part of what he said, had alluded to some other object of the princess's affection, and his cheek for a moment turned pale. Otherwise he might have paused to consider whether the somewhat over-enthusiastic tone was not assumed to blind and mislead him; but the latter part of the other's speech set the blood rushing back into his face with renewed force; and his own passions proved traitors, and lulled to sleep the sentinels of the mind.
"Mark my words," continued Ganay; "mark my words, and see whether, by the grey dawn of to-morrow, you are not sent for to the palace. But remember, Albert Maurice, that though patriotism may lead a man to the summit of ambition; and though love, as well as glory and authority, may become the fitting reward for services rendered to his country, yet, in the path thither, he must never sacrifice his duty for any of those temptations, or he will surely lose all and gain nothing."
A slight smile passed over the features of Albert Maurice--whose passions, in this instance, did not interfere to blind his native acuteness--when he saw what use his artful companion could make of the words duty and patriotism, while it served his purpose, though, at other times, he might virtually deny the existence of such entities. "How mean you?" he said. "Your position, good friend, is general, but you have some more particular object in it."
"I mean," replied Ganay, "that should Mary of Burgundy use all those sweet words, which love itself teaches woman to employ in moving the heart of man, in order to shake your duty to your country, and make you work out the safety of two convicted traitors, you, Albert Maurice, must have firmness enough to say, no, even to her you love, remembering, that if you let them escape, even into banishment--you may look upon the marriage of Mary of Burgundy with the Dauphin of France as an event not less sure than that you yourself exist. Look, too, a little farther, and think of the consequences. Even supposing you could brook your personal disappointment, and calmly see her you love in the arms of the weak boy of France, what would befall your country? Already one half of the nobles of Burgundy and Flanders have gone over to the French! Already half our towns are in possession of Louis, that most Christian knave; and at the very first breathing of the news, that a treaty of marriage was signed between the heirs of France and Burgundy, the whole land would rush forward to pass beneath the yoke, while the blood of those who sought to save their country, would be poured out in the streets of Ghent, to expiate the crime of patriotism."
"Fear not," replied Albert Maurice; "proved as it is, beyond all doubt, that these two men have dared to negotiate the sale of their native land to him who has been its great enemy, there is no power on earth that could induce me to interpose and save them from the outstretched arm of justice. They shall be fairly heard, and fairly tried; and if it be shown, which it cannot be, that they are guiltless, why let them go, in God's name, as free as the blast of the ocean: but, if they be condemned, they die, Ganay."
"So be it," said the druggist; "in this instance, at least, justice to your country is your only chance of personal success; and now, good night, and every fair dream attend you."
Thus ended their long conference; and Ganay, descending from the hall, woke his two sleepy attendants, who were nodding over an expiring fire in the vestibule below. Each instantly snatched up his sword and target, to conduct his master home, for the streets of Ghent were not quite so safe, since the death of Charles the Bold, as they had been under his stricter reign. A boy with a lantern preceded the druggist on his way homeward; and as he walked on across the Lys towards the church of St. Michael, the subtle plotter bent his eyes upon the ground, and seemed counting the stones, as the chequering light of the lantern passed over them. But his thoughts were not so void of matter; and he muttered words which showed how deeply some parts of his late conversation--those which had seemed to affect him but little at the time--had in reality sunk into his heart. "He is quieted for the present," he said, "and he must do out his work, but he must die--I fear me he must die; and yet my heart fails me to think it. Why and how did he learn so much? and why was he mad enough to breathe it when he had learned it? But I must think more ere I determine. Those papers! he added--those papers--if I could but get at those papers! Whatever hearsay knowledge he may have gained, he could make out nothing without those papers."
While thus--muttering to himself broken sentences of the dark purposes which dwelt within his own bosom--the druggist pursued his way homeward, Albert Maurice retired to his bed-chamber in the town-house, and summoned his attendants to aid in undressing him. No man really more despised the pomp and circumstance of state; but since he had taken upon himself the government of Flanders, for the power he had assumed was little less, he had in some degree affected a style of regal splendour, and attendants of all kinds waited his commands. The necessity of captivating the vulgar mind by show, and of impressing on the multitude respect for the office that he held, was the excuse of the young citizen to himself and others; but there was something more in it all than that--a sort of flattering stimulus to hope and expectation was to be drawn from the magnificence with which he surrounded himself; and he seemed to feel, that the thought of winning Mary of Burgundy was something more than a dream, when he found himself in some sort acting the monarch in her dominions. He felt, too--and there might be a charm in that also--that he acted the monarch well; and that the robes he had assumed became him, while the native dignity of his whole demeanour, and the unaffected ease with which he moved amidst the splendour he displayed, dazzled the eyes of those who surrounded him, so that he met nothing but deference and respect from all.
He slept that night as calmly in the couch of state as if he had been born amongst the halls of kings; and he was still in the arms of slumber, when a page woke him, announcing as Ganay had predicted, that the princess required his presence at the palace with all speed. He instantly rose, and dressing himself in such guise as might become him well without incurring a charge of ostentatious presumption, he proceeded to obey the summons he had received; and was led at once to the presence of Mary of Burgundy.
The princess, as usual, was not absolutely alone; for one of her female attendants--the same who had accompanied her during the thunderstorm in the forest of Hannut--now remained at the farther extremity of the room, but at such a distance as to place her out of earshot. It was, indeed, as well that it should be so; for Mary was prepared to plead to her own subject for the life of her faithful servants--a humiliation to which the fewer were the witnesses admitted, the better. The feeling of the degradation to which she submitted, was not without a painful effect upon Mary's heart, however gentle and yielding that heart might be; and the struggle between anxiety to save the ancient friends of her father and herself, and the fear of descending from her state too far, wrote itself in varying characters upon her countenance, which weeks of painful thoughts and fears had accustomed too well to the expression of agitated apprehension.
It was still, however, as beautiful a picture of a bright and gentle soul as ever mortal eye rested on; and as Albert Maurice gazed upon it, half shrouded as it was by the long black mourning veil which the princess wore in memory of her father's death, he could not but feel that there was a power in loveliness like that, to shake the sternest resolves of his heart, and turn him all to weakness. The agitation of his own feelings, too; the hopes that would mount, the wishes that could not be repressed, rendered him anxiously alive to every varying expression of Mary's face; and without the vanity of believing that all he saw spoke encouragement to himself, he could not but dream that the colour came and went more rapidly in her cheek, that her eye more often sought the ground while speaking to him, than in the most earnest consultation with her other counsellors. Perhaps, indeed, it was so; but from far other causes than his hopes would have led him to believe. Seldom called to converse with him but in moments of great emergency, Mary was generally more moved at such times than on other occasions, and when agitated, the eloquent blood would ever come and go in her cheek, with every varying emotion of heart.
In him, too, she met one of a class with which she was unaccustomed to hold any near commune; and, at the same time, there was a power, and a freshness, and a graceful enthusiasm in all the young burgher's demeanour, which never can be without effect upon so fine a mind as that of the princess. Perhaps, too, though had she ever dreamed that such a thing as love for her could enter into his imagination, she would have been as cold as ice itself--perhaps, too, she might feel that there was something of admiration in the young burgher's eyes, which she would not encourage, but at which she could not feel offended, and which she might have done something to check, had she not felt afraid of wounding and alienating one whom it was her best interest to attach. Nevertheless, it might be the very desire of doing so, and the fear of giving pain, that agitated her still more, and rendered her manner more changeful and remarkable.
Such were their mutual feelings, varying through a thousand fine shades, which would require a far more skilful hand than that which now writes to portray, when they met on that eventful morning, the sovereign to solicit and the subject to deny.
A few words explained to Albert Maurice the cause of the call he had received to Mary's presence; and the occasion having once been explained, she went on, with gentle but zealous eloquence, with a flushed cheek and a glistening eye, to beseech him, by every motive that she thought likely to move his heart, to save the lives of her faithful servants.
"Indeed, dear lady," he replied, "you attribute to me more power than I possess; for much I fear, that, even were I most anxious to screen two men, accused of selling their native land to a foreign prince, from a judicial trial and judgment, I should be totally unable to bring such a thing to pass. Willingly, most willingly, would I lay down my own life for your service, madam, and be proud to die in such a cause; but to pervert the course of justice would be a far more bitter task to Albert Maurice than to die himself."
"But remember, sir! oh, remember!" replied Mary, "that we are told to show mercy, as we hope for mercy; and still further remember, that, in their dealings with France, the Lords of Imbercourt and Hugonet were authorized by my own hand; and if there were a crime therein committed, I am the criminal alone! The act was mine, not theirs, as under my commands they went."
"Your Grace is too generous," replied the young burgher, "to take upon yourself so great a responsibility, when, in truth, it is none of yours. How reluctant you were to treat with France, no one knows better than I do; and what unjust means must have been used to induce you, I can full well divine."
"Nay, nay, indeed!" she said; "it was my voluntary act, done upon due consideration; and no one is to blame, save myself."
"If, lady," rejoined Albert Maurice, speaking in a low but solemn tone, "if you, indeed, do wish for this French alliance, if you desire to unite yourself with your father's pertinacious enemies, if, as your own voluntary act, you would give your hand to the puny boy, whose numbered days will never see him sovereign of France, and who can alone serve to furnish a new claim to Louis XI. for annexing your territories to his own--if, I say, such be your own sincere desire, I will, most assuredly, announce it to the states general."
"If I say that it is so, will it save the lives of my two faithful servants?" demanded Mary, anxiously, while her heart beat painfully with the struggle between the desire of rescuing her counsellors, and her shrinking abhorrence of the marriage proposed to her. "Will it--tell me--will it save them?"
"I cannot promise that it will," replied Albert Maurice. "The states must decide, whether those who counselled such an act are not still most guilty, though your Grace was prevailed upon to sanction it. Nor, lady, must you think that such a sacrifice on your part would achieve even the pacification of France and Burgundy. Be assured, that there is not an unbought man in all Flanders who would not shed the last drop of his blood ere he would consent to the union of the two countries. Nor do I believe that Louis of France himself would accede. He claims the whole of your lands, madam, upon other titles. Burgundy he calls his own by right of male descent; the districts of the Somme he declares to have been unjustly wrung from the crown of France; and the counties of Flanders and Artois, he says, are his of right, though he has not yet deigned to yield a specification of his claim. Doubtless he has striven to buy your servants and your counsellors; and many of them has he purchased, not to promote your union with his son, but to betray your lands and cities into his power."
"But these faithful friends," said Mary, "these noble gentlemen whom you now hold in captivity, are all unsoiled by such a reproach."
"Your pardon, madam," replied Albert Maurice, gravely; "such is one of the chief crimes with which they are charged. Good evidence, too, it is said, can be produced against them; and though I have not myself examined the proofs, yet I fear they will be found but too strong."
Mary stood aghast, not that she believed the accusation for a moment, but that any one should find means of advancing even such a pretext against those whose honour seemed in her eyes too bright for such a stain to rest upon them for a moment. "Oh, save them!" she exclaimed, at length, with passionate eagerness. "Save them, sir, if you love honour, if you love justice! Look there," she continued, advancing to the high window of the apartment, and pointing with her hand to the scene spread out below; "Look there!"
Albert Maurice gazed out, in some surprise. It was, indeed, as fair a sight as ever he had looked upon. The situation of the casement at which he stood, in a high tower, long since demolished, commanded an extensive view over the whole country round. The sun had not risen above an hour. The world was in all the freshness of early spring. The mists and dews of night, flying from before the first bright rays of day, had gathered together in thin white clouds, and were skimming rapidly towards the horizon, leaving the sky every moment more blue and clear. Ghent lay yet half asleep beneath the palace, with its rivers and its canals constantly gleaming in, here and there, amongst the grey, sober-coloured houses, while innumerable monasteries, with their green gardens, and churches, with their tall spires, broke the monotony both of colour and of form, and pleasantly diversified the scene. As the eye wandered on over the walls, past the suburbs, through a maze of green fields and young plantations, a fair, undulating country met its view, interspersed with deep, brown woods, from which, every now and then, rose a village spire, or a feudal tower, while the windings of the Scheldt and the Lys, with every now and then an accidental turn of the Lieve, were seen glistening like streams of silver through the distant prospect. Over all the ascending sun was pouring a flood of the soft light of spring, while the clouds, as they flitted across the sky, occasionally cut off his beams from different parts of the view, but gave a more sparkling splendour, by contrast, to the rest.
"Look there!" said Mary of Burgundy, "look there! Is not that a fair scene?" she added, after a moment's pause. "Is not that a beautiful land? Is it not a proud and pleasant thing to be lord of cities like this, and countries like that before you? Yet let me tell you, sir, I would sacrifice them all. I would resign power and station, the broad lands my father left me, the princely name I own; ay, and never drop a tear to know them lost for ever, so that I could save the life of those two noble gentlemen now in such peril by false suspicions. Oh, sir, I beseech, I entreat; and, did it beseem either of us, I would cast myself at your feet to implore that you would save them. You can--I know you can; for well am I aware of all the power which, not unjustly, your high qualities have obtained amongst your fellow citizens. Oh, use it, sir, for the noblest, for the best of purposes! use it to save them at my entreaty, and for my sake."
As she spoke, agitation, eagerness, and grief overcame every other consideration, and the tears streamed rapidly over her fair cheeks, while, with clasped hands, and raised-up eyes, she sought to move her hearer. Nor was he unmoved. On the contrary, he was shaken to the very heart. That stern determination which he thought virtue, the ambition which rose up beside patriotism, and was beginning to overtop the nobler shoot--all were yielding to the more powerful force of love; or, if they struggled, struggled but feebly against that which they could not withstand. His temples throbbed, his cheek turned pale, his lip quivered, and words were rising to utterance which might, perhaps, have changed the fate of nations, when quick steps and loud voices in the ante-chamber attracted the attention both of himself and the princess.
"Stand back, sir!" exclaimed the coarse tones of the Duke of Gueldres. "By the Lord! if the princess is in council with any one, as you say, the more reason that I should be present at it. Am not I one of her counsellors, both by birth and blood?"