CHAPTER XI
UTTER LONELINESS
I
What happened directly after that, Lenora did not know. Consciousnessmercifully left her, and when she woke once more she found herselfsitting in a small room which smelt of lavender and warm linen, beside afire which burned low in a wide-open hearth.
She opened her eyes and looked enquiringly around her. The room wasdark--only faintly lighted by the lamp which hung from a beam in theceiling. A young girl was busy in a corner of the room bending over anironing board.
"Does the noble lady feel better?" she asked kindly but with all thedeference which those of the subject race were expected to show to theirsuperiors.
She spoke in broken French--most women and men who served in the innsand taverns in the cities of the Low Countries were obliged to know someother language besides their own, seeing that the _tapperijen_ werefrequented by Spanish, French and German soldiery.
"I am quite well, I thank thee," replied Lenora gently, "but wilt thoutell me where I am and how I came to be sitting here when..."
She paused; for with a rush the recollection of the past terriblemoments came sweeping back upon her, and it seemed as if consciousnesswould flee from her once again.
"The noble lady must have felt dizzy," said the girl quietly. "Auntsent me in with the warm water for the noble seigneur's wound, and I sawthe noble lady just running out of the _tapperij_ to the porch and thenfall--in a swoon. I was frightened, but the noble seigneur ordered mequickly to tie a towel around his wounded arm and then he carried thenoble lady up here to a nice warm room, where he told me that mayhap sheshould deign to pass the night. Oh! the noble seigneur is grievouslywounded, he..."
"Silence, girl," cried Lenora suddenly, for indeed with every word thechild seemed to be touching an aching place in her heart. "No, no," sheadded more gently, seeing that the girl, abashed and not a littlefrightened, had gone back in silence to her ironing-board, "I did notmean to be unkind ... but ... as thou seest, I am not well. Come! tellme what happened after ... after the noble seigneur carried me up here."
"Aunt waited on him, noble lady," said the girl, "for the wound in hisarm bled grievously ... but he was impatient and soon ordered her toleave him alone ... then I came up here, and did all I could to bringthe noble lady round.... I tried vinegar and burned feathers under thenoble lady's nose ... but I was not frightened ... I knew the noble ladywould revive ... and the leech lives but two doors off.... We were allof us anxious about the noble seigneur ... because of his wound ... andhe looked so pale and haggard ... so aunt and I soon ran down to himagain.... We found him sitting by the table ... just sealing down aletter which he had been writing. 'I am going, mevrouw,' he says toaunt quite curtly. 'Take thine orders from the noble lady. She willtell thee her own wishes.' He gave her some money and a letter which heordered her to give to the noble lady as soon as she deigned to wake.And then he took his hat and mantle and went out by the porch ... justlike that ... all alone ... into the darkness ... whither he did notdeign to say.... We are just poor people and we did not dare to ask,but the wind has sprung up and it hath begun to rain ... the night willbe rough ... and the noble seigneur is not fit to hold a horse with hisarm in such a grievous state."
"Where is the letter?" asked Lenora curtly.
From the pocket of her apron the girl produced a letter folded into fourand sealed down with wax which she handed to the noble Spanish lady witha respectful curtsey.
"Aunt told me to give it to the noble lady," she said, "as soon as shedeigned to wake."
"Is thine aunt the hostess of this inn?" queried Lenora. She wasfingering the letter, feeling a curious hesitancy and reluctance to readits contents, and asked a few idle questions whilst she made an effortto control her nerves.
"Yes! at the noble lady's service," replied the girl.
"Art of this city, then?"
"No, so please you. I come from Ghent."
"From Ghent? What is thy name, then?"
"Grete, so please the noble lady," whispered the girl.
Then, as the noble lady said nothing more, but sat just quite still withthe unopened letter in her hand, Grete went back to her ironing-board.Lenora watched her mechanical movements for awhile--a mist was beforeher eyes, and she could not see very clearly, but somehow she liked thelook of Grete--Grete who was from Ghent--whom she would have liked toquestion further, only that when she tried to speak, the words seemed toget choked in her throat.
All of a sudden, she broke the seal upon the letter and swept away themist before her eyes with an impatient movement of the hand.
"Madonna," he had written, "I would not leave You thus all alone in thisftrange place, to which an act of folly on My part did bring You, butthat I read My difmifsal in Your eyes. The fight of me is hateful toYou--alas! this I can underftand! By the time You read this, I fhall befar away. But anon upon the road I fhall meet the ox-wagon with Youreffects and Your ferving-woman; it cannot be far from here, as thedriver had orders to put up in this town for the night. I will fpeedhim on as faft as He can, and then to-morrow You can continue Yourjourney in peace, for the driver will arrange for an efcort to accompanyYou as far as Brufsels. He will have His orders. In the meanwhile Ihave ventured to flip a sealed packet containing money into the pocketof Your gown: (it was done while you lay unconfcious in My arms.) Ipray You do not fcruple to take it. The money is Yours: a part of Yourdowry, an account of which My Father will render unto Yours as foon asmay be. In the meanwhile You are free to come and go or ftay in thistown, juft as You were in Brufsels or in Ghent. Your pafs and permit aswell as Mine were in perfect order; the difpute with the Provoft at thegate, the difficulty about the permits, was but a rufe on My part fothat I might fpend a time in Your company, under the pretence that Wewere not allowed to continue Our journey to Brufsels. To afk Yourforgivenefs for this as well as for other graver matters were ufelefs, Iknow. To afk You to erafe the events of the paft two weeks from Yourmemory were perhaps an infult. As for Me I fhall look upon it as afacred duty never to offend You with My prefence as long as I live. ButI lay Mine undying homage at Your feet.
"MARK VAN RYCKE."
The letter dropped into her lap, for awhile she sat, staring straightinto the fire.
The girl was putting away her ironing-board and folding away the linen,ranging it carefully in the press. Having made the room quite tidy, sheasked timidly:
"Will the noble lady deign to take supper?"
But she had to repeat her question three times at intervals beforeLenora gave answer.
"What?" she said vaguely, like one waking from a dream."Yes!--No!--What didst say, girl?"
"Will the noble lady deign to take supper?"
"Bring me some milk and bread," replied Lenora, "and ... can I sleephere to-night?"
"In this bed," said the girl: and she pointed to the recess in the wall,where snow-white sheets and pillows seemed literally to invite repose,"if the noble lady will deign to be satisfied."
"I shall be glad to rest here," said Lenora with a woe-begone littlesigh, "for I am very tired. Anon a wagon will be here with my effectsand my serving woman. Send her to me directly she arrives."
Her voice was absolutely toneless and dull: she spoke like one who isinfinitely weary, or in utter hopelessness: but the girl, whose kindheart ached for the beautiful lady, did not dare to offer comfort. Sheprepared to leave the room in order to fetch the frugal supper. Lenoraturned her head once more toward the fire: her eyes caught sight of theletter which still lay in her lap. With a sudden fierce gesture shepicked it up, crushed it between her fingers and threw it into theflames.
II
A few minutes later Grete came back carrying a tray with fine wheatenbread, a jar of milk, and some fresh cheese, her round young facebeaming with benevolence and compassion.
"If the noble lady will deig
n to eat," she said, as she put the traydown upon the table, "the noble lady will feel less weary ... and then,as soon as the ox-wagon arrives with the serving woman, the noble ladycould go to bed."
"Wait one moment," said Lenora, as the girl once more prepared to go, "Iwant a courier--now at once--to take an urgent message as far asBrussels. Can you find me one?"
"There are four butchers in the town, noble lady, who deliver all themessages for three or four leagues round. Uncle can go and see if one ofthem is inclined to go.... But the night is very rough...."
"I will give the man who will take my message to Brussels this nightfive golden ducats," said Lenora peremptorily.
Grete opened her eyes wide with astonishment.
"Five golden ducats!" she exclaimed ecstatically. Of a truth the poortrading folk of Dendermonde had never seen quite so much money all atonce and in the same hand.
"I doubt not but that Michel Daens, the butcher, at the sign of the'Calf's Head' in the Meerhem, will be glad to earn the money. And hehath a very strong horse."
"Then tell your uncle, child, to go at once to him: and to give him thisletter, which he is to deliver without fail before ten o'clock thisnight." From the bosom of her gown she drew the letter which she hadwritten during the previous night, and handed it to the young girl.
"The letter," she added slowly, "is for Messire don Juan de Vargas,chief of the Council of His Highness the Lieutenant-Governor. He lodgesin Brussels at the sign of the 'Blue Firmament,' over against theBroodhuis. Let your uncle explain to Michel Daens, the butcher, that ifthis letter is not delivered before ten o'clock this evening, he will bemade to suffer the severe penalty imposed by the law on all those whoneglect to do their duty to the State. Take the letter, child!"
Indeed, this last peremptory order was necessary, for Grete, hearing towhom the letter was addressed, hardly dared to touch it. Indeed therewould be no fear that Michel Daens would fail to execute the noblelady's commands with punctuality and utmost speed. The name of don Juande Vargas was one that would make any man fly to the ends of the earthif ordered so to do. A message or letter to or from him would of asurety be delivered punctually, even if the heavens were on the point offalling or the earth about to open.
To Grete the name meant something more than that: it was the dreadedsymbol of an awful reality--a reality which for her had meant theterrors of that awful night, when the Spanish officer threatened andinsulted her and Katrine, when death or outrage stared them both in theface, and the awful catastrophe was only averted by the interference ofthe mysterious Leatherface.
So she took the letter which was addressed to one who was even greater,even more to be feared than the Spanish officer; she took it with atrembling hand as she would some sacred symbol: then she curtseyed andwent out of the room.
Lenora rose and followed her into the passage, where she stood listeninguntil she heard Grete calling to her uncle and aunt. The three of themthen spoke together in Flemish which Lenora hardly understood; but shecaught the names Michel Daens and Messire don Juan de Vargas, and thenthe words spoken very emphatically by Grete: "Before ten o'clock thisnight." Then she went back to her room, and closed the door softlybehind her.
III
So, then, the die was cast. There was an end to all the irresolution,the heart-achings, the tearing of soul and nerves upon the rack of doubtand indecision. Hopeless misery and deathly bitterness filled Lenora'sheart now.
She had been fooled and deceived! Fooled by soft words and cajolingways, by lies and treachery: and she had very nearly succumbed to themonstrous deceit.
Fool! fool! that she was! She reiterated the word aloud over and overagain, for there was a weird pleasure in lashing her pride with thesearing thongs of that humiliating memory. Had not God Himselfintervened and torn the mask from the traitor's face she might even nowbe lying in his arms, with the kiss of an assassin upon her lips! Ashudder of loathing went right through her. She shivered as if strickenwith ague, and all the while a blush of intense shame was scorching hercheeks.
Fool! Fool!
She had stood with her father beside the dead body of her lover--herlover and kinsman--and there she had registered an oath which a fewcajoling words had well-nigh caused her to break. Surely the dull,aching misery which she was enduring at this moment was but a very mildpunishment for her perjury.
She had allowed Ramon's murderer to cajole her with gentle words, tolull her into apathy in the face of her obvious duty to her King and tothe State. He had played the part of indifference when all the whilehe--above all others--was steeped to the neck in treason and inrebellion! He! the spy of the Prince of Orange! the hired assassin! themiserable cowardly criminal! And she had listened to him, had sat closebeside him by the hearth and allowed his arm to creep around hershoulders ... the arm which had struck Ramon down in the dark ... thearm--she no longer doubted it now--which would be hired to strike theDuke of Alva, or her own father with the same abominable treachery.
Oh! the shame of it! the hideous, abominable shame! He had guessed lastnight that she was on the watch, that she had seen and heard the odiousplotting against the life of the Lieutenant-Governor: he had guessed,and then--by tortuous means and lying tongue--had sought to circumventher--had lured her into this city--and then, by dint of lies and morelies and lies again, had hoped to subdue her to his will by false kissesand sacrilegious love.
And she had been on the point of sacrificing her country's needs and thelife of the Duke of Alva to the blandishments of a traitor!
Oh! the shame of it! The terrible, burning shame!
But God had intervened! ... At least of this she could have no doubt.All day she had prayed for an indication from above--she had prayed forguidance, she had prayed for a sign, and it had come! Awesome, terribleand absolutely convincing. God, in unmasking the one traitor who hadwell-nigh touched her heart, had shown her plainly that her duty lay inunmasking them all! Traitors! traitors! every one of them! and God hadgiven her an unmistakable sign that He desired to punish them all.
Did she neglect those signs now she would be the vilest traitor thatever defiled the earth.... It had all been so clear.... The melee inthe streets ... Mark's interference--the blow from the halberd which hadreopened the half-healed wound ... his momentary weakness and her suddenvision of the truth! ... Thank God it was not too late! The meeting wasto be held this night at the house of Messire Deynoot theProcurator-General ... the Prince of Orange and all the other rebelswould make the final arrangements for taking up arms against the Kingand murdering or capturing the Lieutenant-Governor.
This meeting, at any rate, she--Lenora--had frustrated. Mark of a suretyhad already warned the conspirators, before he started on thejourney--and Laurence too after he received her letter.... The meetingof a certainty would be postponed. But even so, and despite allwarnings, the band of assassins could not escape justice. Her letterwould be in her father's hands this night: in a few hours he--andthrough him the Lieutenant-Governor--would know every phase of theinfamous plot which had the murder of His Highness for its firstaim--they would know the names of the two thousand traitors who werewaiting to take up arms against the King--they would know of William ofOrange's presence in Ghent, of his recruiting campaign there, of theplaces where he kept stores of arms and ammunition.
All that she had set forth clearly and succinctly--omitting nothing.Oh! her father would know how to act! He would know how to crush theconspiracy and punish the traitors!
Would he also know how to lay his powerful hand on the mysteriousLeatherface ... the man of dark deeds and cruel, treacherous blows ...the murderer of Ramon de Linea--the one whom others paid to do the fouldeeds which shunned the light of day...?
Lenora leaned back against the cushions of her chair. Physical nauseahad overcome her at the thought of all that she had done. She hadserved the King and had served the State! She had undoubtedly saved thelife of the Duke of Alva, and therefore rendered incalc
ulable service toher country ... she was the means whereby a band of pestilentialtraitors and rebels would be unmasked ... and punished ... and amongthese she must reckon Mark van Rycke ... her husband.... Oh! him shehated with a real, personal hatred far stronger and more implacable thanthat wherewith she regarded--impersonally--all the enemies of the King.He seemed to her more cruel, more cowardly, more despicable than any mancould be! ... Yes! she had done all that, and now her one hope was thatshe might die this night--having done her duty and kept her oath, andthen been left unutterably lonely and wretched--in hopeless desolation.
IV
The night was rough, as Grete had foretold. Gusts of wind blew againstthe window-frames and made them rattle and creak with a weird and eeriesound. The rain beat against the panes and down the chimney making thefire sizzle and splutter, and putting out the merry little tongues offlame. Lenora drank some milk and tried to eat the bread, but everymorsel seemed to choke her. She went to the window and drew aside thethick curtains and sat in the seat in the embrasure--for she feltrestless and stifled. Anon she threw open one of the casements.
The rain beat in against her face and bare neck, but this she did notmind; she was glad to cool her head and face a little. The Grand' Placelooked gloomy and dark; most of the lights in the Cloth Hall oppositewere extinguished--only in a few windows they still glimmered feebly.Lenora caught herself counting those lights: there were two small onesin the dormer windows at the top, and one in a tall window in the floorbelow, and right down on a level with the street the main door stoodwide open and showed a long, shallow streak of light. One! two! upabove! they looked like eyes! Then one in the middle that was thenose--all awry and out of the centre!--and below the long mouth--like ahuge grin! And the roof looked like a huge hat with the tower like afeather! The more Lenora looked into those lights opposite, the morelike a grinning face did they seem, until the whole thing got on hernerves, and she started laughing! laughing! ... She laughed until hersides ached, and her eyes were full of tears! she laughed though herhead was splitting with pain, and the nerves of her face ached withintolerable agony. She laughed until her laughter broke into a sob, andshe fell forward with her hands upon the window sill, her burningforehead upon her hands, the rain and wind beating upon her head, herneck, her back; her hair was soon wet through; its heavy strands fellaway from the pins and combs that confined them and streamed down like agolden cascade all about her shoulders, the while she sobbed out herheart in misery and wretchedness.