CHAPTER I. THE WHITE LION OF MARCH SHAKES HIS MANE.
"And what news?" asked Hastings, as he found himself amidst the king'ssquires; while yet was heard the laugh of the tymbesteres, and yetgliding through the trees might be seen the retreating form of Sibyll.
"My lord, the king needs you instantly. A courier has just arrived fromthe North. The Lords St. John, Rivers, De Fulke, and Scales are alreadywith his highness."
"Where?"
"In the great council chamber."
To that memorable room [it was from this room that Hastings was hurriedto execution, June 13, 1483] in the White Tower, in which the visitor,on entrance, is first reminded of the name and fate of Hastings, strodethe unprophetic lord.
He found Edward not reclining on cushions and carpets, not womanlike inloose robes, not with his lazy smile upon his sleek beauty. The king haddoffed his gown, and stood erect in the tight tunic, which gave in fullperfection the splendid proportions of a frame unsurpassed in activityand strength. Before him, on the long table, lay two or three openletters, beside the dagger with which Edward had cut the silk that boundthem. Around him gravely sat Lord Rivers, Anthony Woodville, Lord St.John, Raoul de Fulke, the young and valiant D'Eyncourt, and many otherof the principal lords. Hastings saw at once that something of pith andmoment had occurred; and by the fire in the king's eye, the dilation ofhis nostril, the cheerful and almost joyous pride of his mien and brow,the experienced courtier read the signs of WAR.
"Welcome, brave Hastings," said Edward, in a voice wholly changed fromits wonted soft affectation,--loud, clear, and thrilling as it wentthrough the marrow and heart of all who heard its stirring and trumpetaccent,--"welcome now to the field as ever to the banquet! We have newsfrom the North that bids us brace on the burgonet and buckle-to thebrand,--a revolt that requires a king's arm to quell. In Yorkshirefifteen thousand men are in arms, under a leader they call Robin ofRedesdale,--the pretext, a thrave of corn demanded by the Hospital ofSt. Leonard's, the true design that of treason to our realm. At the sametime, we hear from our brother of Gloucester, now on the Border, thatthe Scotch have lifted the Lancaster Rose. There is peril if these twoarmies meet. No time to lose,--they are saddling our war-steeds; wehasten to the van of our royal force. We shall have warm work, my lords.But who is worthy of a throne that cannot guard it?"
"This is sad tidings indeed, sire," said Hastings, gravely.
"Sad! Say it not, Hastings! War is the chase of kings! Sir Raoul deFulke, why lookest thou so brooding and sorrowful?"
"Sire, I but thought that had Earl Warwick been in England, this--"
"Ha!" interrupted Edward, haughtily and hastily, "and is Warwick the sunof heaven that no cloud can darken where his face may shine? Therebels shall need no foe, my realm no regent, while I, the heir of thePlantagenets, have the sword for one, the sceptre for the other. Wedepart this evening ere the sun be set."
"My liege," said the Lord St. John, gravely, "on what forces do youcount to meet so formidable an array?"
"All England, Lord of St. John!"
"Alack! my liege, may you not deceive yourself! But in this crisis it isright that your leal and trusty subjects should speak out, and plainly.It seems that these insurgents clamour not against yourself, but againstthe queen's relations,--yes, my Lord Rivers, against you and yourHouse,--and I fear me that the hearts of England are with them here."
"It is true, sire," put in Raoul de Fulke, boldly; "and if these--newmen are to head your armies, the warriors of Towton will standaloof,--Raoul de Fulke serves no Woodville's banner. Frown not, Lord deScales! it is the griping avarice of you and yours that has brought thisevil on the king. For you the commons have been pillaged; for you thedaughters of peers have been forced into monstrous marriages, at warwith birth and with nature herself; for you, the princely Warwick, nearto the throne in blood, and front and pillar of our time-honoured orderof seigneur and of knight, has been thrust from our suzerain's favour.And if now ye are to march at the van of war,--you to be avengers ofthe strife of which ye are the cause,--I say that the soldiers will lackheart, and the provinces ye pass through will be the country of a foe!"
"Vain man!" began Anthony Woodville, when Hastings laid his hand on hisarm, while Edward, amazed at this outburst from two of the supporterson whom he principally counted, had the prudence to suppress hisresentment, and remained silent,--but with the aspect of one resolved tocommand obedience, when he once deemed it right to interfere.
"Hold, Sir Anthony!" said Hastings, who, the moment he found himselfwith men, woke to all the manly spirit and profound wisdom that hadrendered his name illustrious--"hold, and let me have the word; my LordsSt. John and De Fulke, your charges are more against me than againstthese gentlemen, for I am a new man,--a squire by birth, and proud toderive mine honours from the same origin as all true nobility,--I meanthe grace of a noble liege and the happy fortune of a soldier's sword.It may be" (and here the artful favourite, the most beloved of the wholecourt, inclined himself meekly)--"it may be that I have not borne thosehonours so mildly as to disarm blame. In the war to be, let me atone.My liege, hear your servant: give me no command,--let me be a simplesoldier, fighting by your side. My example who will not follow?--proudto ride but as a man of arms along the track which the sword of hissovereign shall cut through the ranks of battle! Not you, Lord deScales, redoubtable and invincible with lance and axe; let us new mensoothe envy by our deeds; and you, Lords St. John and De Fulke, youshall teach us how your fathers led warriors who did not fight moregallantly than we will. And when rebellion is at rest, when we meetagain in our suzerain's hall, accuse us new men, if you can find usfaulty, and we will answer you as we best may."
This address, which could have come from no man with such effect as fromHastings, touched all present. And though the Woodvilles, father andson, saw in it much to gall their pride, and half believed it a snarefor their humiliation, they made no opposition. Raoul de Fulke, evergenerous as fiery, stretched forth his hand, and said,--
"Lord Hastings, you have spoken well. Be it as the king wills."
"My lords," returned Edward, gayly, "my will is that ye be friends whilea foe is in the field. Hasten, then, I beseech you, one and all, toraise your vassals, and join our standard at Fotheringay. I will find yeposts that shall content the bravest."
The king made a sign to break up the conference, and dismissing even theWoodvilles, was left alone with Hastings.
"Thou hast served me at need, Will;" said the king. "But I shallremember" (and his eye flashed a tiger's fire) "the mouthing of thosemock-pieces of the lords at Runnymede. I am no John, to be bearded bymy vassals. Enough of them now. Think you Warwick can have abetted thisrevolt?"
"A revolt of peasants and yeomen! No, sire. If he did so, farewellforever to the love the barons bear him."
"Um! and yet Montagu, whom I dismissed ten days since to the Borders,hearing of disaffection, hath done nought to check it. But come whatmay, his must be a bold lance that shivers against a king's mail. Andnow one kiss of my lady Bessee, one cup of the bright canary, and thenGod and Saint George for the White Rose!"