The Well at the World's End: A Tale

  CHAPTER 36

  The Talk of Two Women Concerning Ralph

  But when dinner was done, came David and a man with him bringingRalph's war gear, and bade him do it on, while the folk were fencingthe lists, which they were doing with such stuff as they had at theTower; and the Lord had been calling for Otter that he might commandhim what he should tell to the marshals of the lists and how all shouldbe duly ordered, wherefore he went up unto the Tower whither the Lordhad now gone. So Ralph did on his armour, which was not right meet fortilting, being over light for such work; and his shield in especial wasbut a target for a sergeant, which he had brought at Cheaping Knowe;but he deemed that his deftness and much use should bear him wellthrough.

  Now, the Lady had abided in her pavilion when her Lord went abroad;anon after she sent all her women away, save one whom she loved, and towhom she was wont to tell the innermost of her mind; though forsoothshe mishandled her at whiles; for she was hot of temper, and over-readywith her hands when she was angry; though she was nowise cruel. Butthe woman aforesaid, who was sly and sleek, and somewhat past her firstyouth, took both her caresses and her buffets with patience, for thesake of the gifts and largesse wherewith they were bought. So now shestood by the board in the pavilion with her head drooping humbly, yetsmiling to herself and heedful of whatso might betide. But the Ladywalked up and down the pavilion hastily, as one much moved.

  At last she spake as she walked and said: "Agatha, didst thou see himwhen my Lord pointed him out?" "Yea," said the woman lifting her facea little.

  "And what seemed he to thee?" said the Lady. "O my Lady," quothAgatha, "what seemed he to thee?" The lady stood and turned and lookedat her; she was slender and dark and sleek; and though her lips movednot, and her eyes did not change, a smile seemed to steal over her facewhether she would or not. The Lady stamped her foot and lifted herhand and cried out. "What! dost thou deem thyself meet for him?" Andshe caught her by the folds over her bosom. But Agatha looked up intoher face with a simple smile as of a child: "Dost thou deem him meetfor thee, my Lady--he a thrall, and thou so great?" The Lady took herhand from her, but her face flamed with anger and she stamped on theground again: "What dost thou mean?" she said; "am I not great enoughto have what I want when it lieth close to my hand?" Agatha looked onher sweetly, and said in a soft voice: "Stretch out thine hand for itthen." The Lady looked at her grimly, and said: "I understand thyjeer; thou meanest that he will not be moved by me, he being so fair,and I being but somewhat fair. Wilt thou have me beat thee? Nay, Iwill send thee to the White Pillar when we come home to Utterbol."

  The woman smiled again, and said: "My Lady, when thou hast sent me tothe White Pillar, or the Red, or the Black, my stripes will not mendthe matter for thee, or quench the fear of thine heart that by thistime, since he is a grown man, he loveth some other. Yet belike hewill obey thee if thou command, even to the lying in the same bed withthee; for he is a thrall." The Lady hung her head, but Agatha went onin her sweet clear voice: "The Lord will think little of it, and saynothing of it unless thou anger him otherwise; or unless, indeed, he beminded to pick a quarrel with thee, and hath baited a trap with thisstripling. But that is all unlike: thou knowest why, and how that heloveth the little finger of that new-come thrall of his (whom ye leftat home at Utterbol in his despite), better than all thy body, for allthy white skin and lovely limbs. Nay, now I think of it, I deem thathe meaneth this gift to make an occasion for the staying of any quarrelwith thee, that he may stop thy mouth from crying out at him--well,what wilt thou do? he is a mighty Lord."

  The Lady looked up (for she had hung her head at first), her face allred with shame, yet smiling, though ruefully, and she said: "Well, thouart determined that if thou art punished it shall not be for naught.But thou knowest not my mind." "Yea, Lady," said Agatha, smiling indespite of herself, "that may well be."

  Now the Lady turned from her, and went and sat upon a stool that wasthereby, and said nothing a while; only covering her face with herhands and rocking herself to and fro, while Agatha stood looking ather. At last she said: "Hearken, Agatha, I must tell thee what liethin mine heart, though thou hast been unkind to me and hast tried tohurt my soul. Now, thou art self-willed, and hot-blooded, and notunlovely, so that thou mayst have loved and been loved ere now. Butthou art so wily and subtle that mayhappen thou wilt not understandwhat I mean, when I say that love of this young man hath suddenlyentered into my heart, so that I long for him more this minute than Idid the last, and the next minute shall long still more. And I longfor him to love me, and not alone to pleasure me."

  "Mayhappen it will so betide without any pushing the matter," saidAgatha.

  "Nay," said the Lady, "Nay; my heart tells me that it will not be so;for I have seen him, that he is of higher kind than we be; as if hewere a god come down to us, who if he might not cast his love upon agoddess, would disdain to love an earthly woman, little-minded and inwhom perfection is not." Therewith the tears began to run from hereyes; but Agatha looked on her with a subtle smile and said: "O myLady! and thou hast scarce seen him! And yet I will not say but thatI understand this. But as to the matter of a goddess, I know not.Many would say that thou sitting on thine ivory chair in thy goldenraiment, with thy fair bosom and white arms and yellow hair, wert notill done for the image of a goddess; and this young man may well thinkso of thee. However that may be, there is something else I will say tothee; (and thou knowest that I speak the truth to thee--most often--though I be wily). This is the word, that although thou hast time andagain treated me like the thrall I am, I deem thee no ill woman, butrather something overgood for Utterbol and the dark lord thereof."

  Now sat the Lady shaken with sobs, and weeping without stint; but shelooked up at that word and said: "Nay, nay, Agatha, it is not so.To-day hath this man's eyes been a candle to me, that I may see myselftruly; and I know that though I am a queen and not uncomely, I am butcoarse and little-minded. I rage in my household when the whim takesme, and I am hot-headed, and masterful, and slothful, and should belikebe untrue if there were any force to drive me thereto. And I suffer myhusband to go after other women, and this new thrall is especial, sothat I may take my pleasure unstayed with other men whom I love notgreatly. Yes, I am foolish, and empty-headed, and unclean. And allthis he will see through my queenly state, and my golden gown, and mywhite skin withal."

  Agatha looked on her curiously, but smiling no more. At last she said:"What is to do, then? or must I think of something for thee?"

  "I know not, I know not," said the Lady between her sobs; "yet if Imight be in such case that he might pity me; belike it might blind hiseyes to the ill part of me. Yea," she said, rising up and fallingwalking to and fro swiftly, "if he might hurt me and wound me himself,and I so loving him."

  Said Agatha coldly: "Yes, Lady, I am not wily for naught; and I bothdeem that I know what is in thine heart, and that it is good forsomething; and moreover that I may help thee somewhat therein. So in afew days thou shalt see whether I am worth something more than hardwords and beating. Only thou must promise in all wise to obey me,though I be the thrall, and thou the Lady, and to leave all the wholematter in my hands."

  Quoth the Lady: "That is easy to promise; for what may I do by myself?"

  Then Agatha fell pondering a while, and said thereafter: "First, thoushalt get me speech with my Lord, and cause him to swear immunity tome, whatsoever I shall say or do herein." Said the Lady: "Easy isthis. What more hast thou?"

  Said Agatha: "It were better for thee not to go forth to see thejousting; because thou art not to be trusted that thou show not thylove openly when the youngling is in peril; and if thou put thy lord toshame openly before the people, he must needs thwart thy will, and befierce and cruel, and then it will go hard with thy darling. So thoushalt not go from the pavilion till the night is dark, and thou maystfeign thyself sick meantime."

  "Sick enough shall I be if I may not go forth to see how my love isfaring in his peril: this at least is ha
rd to me; but so be it! Atleast thou wilt come and tell me how he speedeth." "Oh yes," saidAgatha, "if thou must have it so; but fear thou not, he shall do wellenough."

  Said the Lady: "Ah, but thou wottest how oft it goes with a chancestroke, that the point pierceth where it should not; nay, where bylikelihood it could not."

  "Nay," said Agatha, "what chance is there in this, when the younglingknoweth the whole manner of the play, and his foemen know naughtthereof? It is as the chance betwixt Geoffrey the Minstrel and BlackAnselm, when they play at chess together, that Anselm must needs bemated ere he hath time to think of his fourth move. I wot of thesematters, my Lady. Now, further, I would have thy leave to marshal thymaids about the seat where thou shouldest be, and moreover there shouldbe someone in thy seat, even if I sat in it myself." Said the Lady:"Yea, sit there if thou wilt."

  "Woe's me!" said Agatha laughing, "why should I sit there? I am liketo thee, am I not?" "Yea," said the Lady, "as the swan is like to theloon." "Yea, my Lady," said Agatha, "which is the swan and which theloon? Well, well, fear not; I shall set Joyce in thy seat by my Lord'sleave; she is tall and fair, and forsooth somewhat like to thee." "Whywilt thou do this?" quoth the Lady; "Why should thralls sit in myseat?" Said Agatha: "O, the tale is long to tell; but I would confusethat young man's memory of thee somewhat, if his eyes fell on thee atall when ye met e'en now, which is to be doubted."

  The Lady started up in sudden wrath, and cried out: "She had best notbe too like to me then, and strive to draw his eyes to her, or I willhave her marked for diversity betwixt us. Take heed, take heed!"

  Agatha looked softly on her and said: "My Lady. Ye fair-skinned,open-faced women should look to it not to show yourselves angry beforemen-folk. For open wrath marreth your beauty sorely. Leave scowls andfury to the dark-browed, who can use them without wrying their faceslike a three months' baby with the colic. Now that is my last rede asnow. For methinks I can hear the trumpets blowing for the arraying ofthe tourney. Wherefore I must go to see to matters, while thou hastbut to be quiet. And to-night make much of my Lord, and bid him see meto-morrow, and give heed to what I shall say to him. But if I meet himwithout, now, as is most like, I shall bid him in to thee, that thoumayst tell him of Joyce, and her sitting in thy seat. Otherwise I willtell him as soon as he is set down in his place. Sooth to say, he islittle like to quarrel with either thee or me for setting a fair womanother than thee by his side."

  Therewith she lifted the tent lap and went out, stepping daintily, andher slender body swaying like a willow branch, and came at once face toface with the Lord of Utterbol, and bowed low and humbly before him,though her face, unseen of him, smiled mockingly. The Lord looked onher greedily, and let his hand and arm go over her shoulder, and abouther side, and he drew her to him, and kissed her, and said: "What,Agatha! and why art thou not bringing forth thy mistress to us?" Sheraised her face to him, and murmured softly, as one afraid, but with awheedling smile on her face and in her eyes: "Nay, my Lord, she willabide within to-day, for she is ill at ease; if your grace goeth in,she will tell thee what she will have."

  "Agatha," quoth he, "I will hear her, and I will do her pleasure ifthou ask me so to do." Then Agatha cast down her eyes, and her speechwas so low and sweet that it was as the cooing of a dove, as she said:"O my Lord, what is this word of thine?"

  He kissed her again, and said: "Well, well, but dost thou ask it?" "Oyea, yea, my Lord," said she.

  "It is done then," said the Lord; and he let her go; for he had beenstroking her arm and shoulder, and she hurried away, laughing inwardly,to the Lady's women. But he went into the pavilion after he had castone look at her.