VI
"And doth donna Lenora de Vargas enter into all these far-reachingschemes?" now asked don Ramon coldly. "Meseems, they are above a woman'scomprehension."
De Vargas' persistent glance was irritating his nerves; he threw achallenging look--wholly defiant--across the table at the older man.
"My daughter, Messire," said the latter loftily, "is above all a trueSpaniard. She has been brought up to obey and not to discuss. She isold enough now to forget all past youthful follies," he added, answeringdon Ramon's defiant glance with one that conveyed a threat. "Herdevotion to her Church, her King and her country, and her hatred ofOrange and all rebels will influence her actions in the way theLieutenant-Governor desires."
Don Ramon was silent. He had understood the threat which de Vargas'glance had expressed, and he knew what the other meant when he spoke of"past youthful follies"--it meant the breaking off of a pleasingromance, a farewell to many an ambitious dream. Don Ramon suppressed asigh of anger and of disappointment: donna Lenora de Vargas wasbeautiful and wealthy, but it were not wise to let her father see howhard he--Ramon--had been hit. He took no further part in thediscussion, and after awhile he succeeded in appearing whollyindifferent to its sentimental side; but he listened attentively to allthat was said, and when he met de Vargas' glance, which now and then wasfixed mockingly upon him, he answered it with a careless shrug of theshoulders.
"And," now rejoined Pierre Arsens, who was president of Artois and apatrician of Hainault, "may we ask if His Highness has already chosenthe happy man who is to become the husband of such a pattern ofwomanhood?"
"My choice has naturally fallen on the son of Mynheer Charles van Rycke,the High-Bailiff of Ghent," replied Alva curtly.
"A family of traitors if ever there was one," growled Alberic del Riosavagely. "I know them. The father is all right, so is the younger sonMark--younger, I believe, by only a couple of hours--a wastrel andsomething of a drunkard, so I understand; but the mother and the otherson are impudent adherents of Orange: they have more than once drawn theattention of the Chief Inquisitor on themselves, and if I had my waywith such cattle, I would have had the men hanged and the woman burnedlong before this."
"Van Rycke," said Alva coldly, "is High-Bailiff of Ghent. He is a goodCatholic and so is his wife: he is a man of great consideration in thecity and his sons are popular. It has not been thought expedient tointerfere with them up to now. But--bearing my schemes in mind--I havecaused the man to be severely warned once or twice. These warnings havereduced him to a state of panic, and lately when my scheme had matured Itold him that my desire was that one of his sons should wed don Juan deVargas' daughter. He had no thought of refusal. In fact his acceptancewas positively abject."
"And on what grounds was the marriage suggested to him?" questionedPresident Arsens.
"Grounds, Messire?" retorted the Duke; "we give no grounds or reasonsfor our commands to our Flemish subjects. We give an order and theyobey. I told Mynheer van Rycke that I desired the marriage and that wasenough."
"Then," interposed President Viglius with an attempt at jocularity, "weshall soon be able to congratulate two young people on a happy event!"
"You will be able to do that to-morrow, Messire," quoth the Duke."Senor de Vargas goes to Ghent for the purpose of affiancing the twoyoung people together; the marriage ceremony will take place within theweek. His Majesty hath approved of my scheme: he desires that we shouldexpedite the marriage. Senor de Vargas is willing, Messire van Ryckewould not think of objecting, donna Lenora is heart free. Why should wedelay?"
"Why, indeed?" murmured don Ramon under his breath.
"Donna Lenora," resumed Alva sententiously, "is indeed lucky inthat--unlike most women--she will be able to work personally for theglory of her King and country. If through her instrumentality we canbring Orange to the block and Ghent to her knees, there is no favourwhich her father could not ask of us."
As he said this, he turned to de Vargas and stretched out his hand tohim. De Vargas took the hand respectfully and bent over it in dutifulobedience.
"Now, seigniors," resumed the Duke more gaily, and once more addressingthe full council-board, "you know the full reason of my projectedjourney to Ghent. I go ostensibly in order to inaugurate the statue ofour Sovereign King erected by my orders in the market place, but also inorder to ascertain how our loyal worker will have progressed in thetime. Donna Lenora de Vargas will have been the wife of Messire vanRycke for over a sennight by then: she will--and I mistake not--havemuch to tell us. In the meanwhile senor de Vargas will take up hisresidence in the city as _vicarius criminalis_: he will begin hisfunctions to-morrow by presiding over the engagement of his daughter tothe son of the High-Bailiff: there will be much public rejoicing andmany entertainments during the week and on the day of the weddingceremony: to these, seigniors, ye are graciously bidden. I pray you goand mingle as far as you can with that crowd of uncouth and vulgarburghers whose treachery seems to pierce even through their ill-fittingdoublets. I pray you also to keep your eyes and ears open ... an myconjectures are correct, much goes on in Ghent of which the HolyInquisition should have cognisance. We are out on a special campaignagainst cunning traitors, and Ghent is our first objective. When weturn our soldiery loose into the city, yours, seigniors, will be thefirst spoils.... Ghent is rich in treasure and money ... those firstspoils will be worth the winning. Until that happy day, I bid you _aurevoir_, gentle Sirs, and let your toast be at every banquet: 'To thedestruction of Ghent, and to the death of Orange!'"
After which long peroration the Lieutenant-Governor intimated with acasual wave of his be-ringed hand that the sitting of the Grand Councilwas at an end. The illustrious councillors rose with alacrity: theywere now in rare good humour. The parting speech of His Highnesstickled their cupidity. The first spoils at the sacking of Ghent shouldmean a fortune for every member of the board. General de Noircarmes hadmade a huge one at the sacking of Mons, and even younger officers likedon Ramon de Linea had vastly enriched themselves when Mechlin was givenover to the soldiers.
One by one now the grave seigniors withdrew, having taken respectfulleave of His Highness. To the salute of the Netherlanders--of Vigliusand Hessels, of Berlaymont and the others, the Duke responded with acurt bow--to de Vargas and del Rio, and also to don Ramon, he noddedwith easy familiarity. However obsequious the Netherlanders mightbe--however proven their zeal, their Spanish masters never allowed themto forget that there was a world of social distinction between a grandeeof Spain and the uncouth burghers and even patricians of thissemi-civilised land.
VII
Having made his last obeisance before the Duke of Alva and taken leaveof the grave seigniors of the Grand Council, don Ramon de Linea bowedhimself out of the room with all the ceremony which Spanish etiquetteprescribed. As he did so he noticed that at a significant sign fromAlva, de Vargas and Alberic del Rio remained behind in thecouncil-chamber, even while all the Netherlanders were being dismissed.He watched these latter gentlemen as one by one they filed quickly outof the house--loath even to exchange a few friendly words with oneanother on the doorstep in this place where every wall had ears andevery nook and cranny concealed a spy. He watched them with an air ofsupercilious contempt, oblivious of the fact that he himself had beennot a little scared by the black looks cast on him by the all-powerfultyrant and merciless autocrat.
The scare had been unpleasant, but it was all over now: Fate--that everfickle jade--seemed inclined to smile on him. The penniless scion of anoble race, he seemed at last on the high road to fortune--the commandof the troops in Ghent was an unexpected gift of the goddess, whilst thesacking and looting of Mechlin had amply filled his pockets.
But it was a pity about donna Lenora!
Don Ramon paused in the vast panelled hall and instinctively his eyeswandered to the mirror, framed in rich Flemish carved wood, which hungupon the wall. By our Lady! he had well-nigh l
ost his self-control justnow under de Vargas' mocking gaze, and also that air of high-breedingand sang-froid which became him so well: the thought of donna Lenoraeven in connection with her approaching marriage caused him to readjustthe set of his doublet and the stiff folds of his ruffle, and hiswell-shaped hand wandered lovingly up to his silky moustache.
A sound immediately behind him caused him to start and to turn. Anelderly woman wrapped in a dark shawl and wearing a black veil rightover her face and head was standing close to his elbow.
"Inez?" he exclaimed, "what is it?"
"Hist! I beg of you, senor," whispered the woman, "I am well-nigh deadwith terror at thought that I might be seen. The senorita knew that youwould be here to-day: she saw you from the gallery above, and sent medown to ask you to come to her at once."
"The senorita?" broke in don Ramon impatiently, and with a puzzledfrown, "is she here?"
"Senor de Vargas won't let her out of his sight now. When he hathaudience of the Lieutenant-Governor or business with the council hemakes the senorita come with him. The Duke of Alva hath given her aroom in this house, where she can sit while her father is at theCouncil."
"But Heavens above, why all this mystery?"
"The senorita will tell your Graciousness," said the woman, "I beg ofyou to come at once. If I stay longer down here I shall die of fright."
And like a scared hen, old Inez trotted across the hall, without waitingto see if don Ramon followed her. The young man seemed to hesitate fora moment: the call was a peremptory one, coming as it did from abeautiful woman whom he loved: at the same time all that he had heard inthe council-chamber was a warning to him to keep out of de Vargas' way;the latter--if Inez spoke the truth--was keeping his daughter almost aprisoner, and it was never good at any time to run counter to senor deVargas.
The house was very still. The Netherlanders had all gone: two servingmen appeared to be asleep in the porch, otherwise there came no sign oflife from any part of the building: the heavy oak doors which gave onthe anteroom of the council-chamber effectually deadened every soundwhich might have come from there.
Don Ramon smiled to himself and shrugged his shoulders. After all hewas a fool to be so easily scared: a beautiful woman beckoned, and hehad not been forbidden to see her--so--after that one brief moment ofhesitation he turned to follow Inez up the stairs.
The woman led the way round the gallery, then up another flight ofstairs and along a narrow corridor, till she came to a low door, besidewhich she stopped.
"Go in, I pray you, senor," she said, "the senorita expects you."
The young man walked unannounced into the small room beyond.
There came a little cry of happy surprise out of the recess of a widedormer window, and the next moment don Ramon held Lenora de Vargas inhis arms.
VIII
Lenora with the golden hair and the dark velvety eyes! Thus do thechroniclers of the time speak of her (notably the Sieur de Vaernewyckwho knew her intimately), thus too did Velasquez paint her, a few yearsafter these notable events--all in white, for she seldom wore colouredgowns--very stately, with the small head slightly thrown back, thefringe of dark lashes veiling the lustre of her luminous eyes.
But just at this moment there was no stateliness about donna Lenora: sheclung to don Ramon, just like a loving child that has been rather scaredand knows where to find protection; and he accepted her caress with aneasy, somewhat supercilious air of condescension--the child was sopretty and so very much in love! He patted her hair with gentle,soothing gesture and thanked kind Fate for this pleasing gift of abeautiful woman's love.
"I did not know that you were in Brussels," he said after awhile, andwhen he had led her to a seat in the window, and sat down beside her."All this while I thought you still in Segovia."
His glance was searching hers and his vanity was pleasantly stirred bythe fact that she was pale and thin, and that those wonderful, luminouseyes of hers looked as if they had shed many tears of late.
"Ramon," she whispered, "you know?"
"The Duke of Alva," he replied dryly, "gave me official information."
Then seeing that she remained silent and dejected he added peremptorily:"Lenora! how long is it since you have known of this proposed marriage?"
"Only three days," she replied tonelessly. "My father sent for me abouta month ago. The Duchess of Medina Coeli was coming over to theNetherlands on a visit to her lord, and I was told that I must accompanyher. We started from Laredo in the _Esperansa_ on the 10th of lastmonth and we landed at Flushing a week ago. Oh! at first I was so happyto come ... it is nine months and more since you left Spain and my heartwas aching for a sight of you."
"Then ... when did you first hear?"
"Three days since, when we arrived in Brussels. The Duchess herselftook me to my father's house, and then he told me ... that he had bademe come because the Lieutenant-Governor had arranged a marriage for me... with a Netherlander."
Don Ramon muttered an angry oath.
"Did he--your father I mean--never hint at it before?" he asked.
"Never. A month ago he still spoke of you in his letters to me. Hadyou no suspicions, Ramon?"
"None," he replied.
"It was he of course who obtained for you that command under donFrederic, which took you out of Spain."
"It was a fine position and I accepted it gladly ... andunsuspectingly."
"It must have been the beginning: he wanted you out of my way alreadythen, though he went on pretending all this while that he favoured yourattentions to me. He thought that I would soon forget you. How littlehe knows me! And now he has forbidden me to think of you again. SinceI am in Brussels he hardly lets me out of his sight. He only leaves thehouse in order to attend on the Duke, and when he does, he brings mehere with him. Inez and I are sent up to this room and I am virtually aprisoner."
"It all seems like an ugly dream, Lenora," he murmured sullenly.
"Aye! an ugly dream," she sighed. "Ofttimes, since my father told methis awful thing, I have thought that it could not be true. God couldnot allow anything so monstrous and so wicked. I thought that I must bedreaming and must presently wake up and find myself in the dear oldconvent at Segovia with your farewell letter to me under my pillow."
She was gazing straight out before her--not at him, for she felt that ifshe looked on him, all her fortitude would give way and she would crylike a child. This she would not do, for her woman's instinct hadalready told her that all the courage in this terrible emergency mustcome from her.
He sat there, moody and taciturn, all the while that she longed for himto take her in his arms and to swear to her that never would he give herup, never would he allow reasons of State to come between him and hislove.
"There are political reasons it seems," she continued, and the utterwretchedness and hopelessness with which she spoke were a patheticcontrast to his own mere sullen resentment. "My father has notcondescended to say much. He sent for me and I came. As soon as Iarrived in Brussels he told me that I must no longer think of you: thatchildish folly, he said, must now come to an end. Then he advised methat the Lieutenant-Governor had arranged a marriage for me with the sonof Messire van Rycke, High-Bailiff of Ghent ... that we are to beaffianced to-morrow and married within the week. I cried--I implored--Iknelt to my father and begged him not to break my heart, my life.... Itold him that to part me from you was to condemn me to worse thandeath...."
"Well? and--?" he queried.
"You know my father, Ramon," she said with a slight shudder, "almost aswell as I do. Do you believe that any tears would move him?"
He made no reply. Indeed, what could he say? He did know Juan deVargas, knew that such a man would sacrifice without pity or remorseeverything that stood in the way of his schemes or of his ambition.
"I was not even told that you would be in Brussels to-day--Inez onlyheard of it through the Duke of Alva's serving man--then she and Iwatched for you, because
I felt that I must at least be the first totell you the awful--awful news! Oh!" she exclaimed with suddenvehemence, "the misery of it all! ... Ramon, cannot you think ofsomething?--cannot you think? Are we going to be parted like this? asif our love had never been, as if our love were not sweet and sacred andholy, the blessing of God which no man should have the power to takeaway from us!"
She was on the point of breaking down, and don Ramon with one ear alertto every sound outside had much ado to soothe and calm her. This hetried to do, for selfish as he was, he loved this beautiful woman withthat passionate if shallow ardour which is characteristic in men of histemperament.
"Lenora," he said after awhile, "it is impossible for me to say anythingfor the moment. Fate and your father's cruelty have dealt me a blowwhich has half-stunned me. As you say, I must think--I am not going togive up hope quite as readily as your father seems to think. By ourLady! I am not just an old glove that can so lightly be cast aside. Imust think ... I must devise.... But in the meanwhile...."
He paused and something of that same look of fear came into his eyeswhich had been there when in the Council Chamber he had dreaded the Dukeof Alva'a censure.
"In the meanwhile, my sweet," he added hastily, "you must pretend toobey. You cannot openly defy your father! ... nor yet the Duke of Alva.You know them both! They are men who know neither pity nor mercy! Yourfather would punish you if you disobeyed him ... he has the means ofcompelling you to obey. But the Duke's wrath would fall with deathlyviolence upon me. You know as well as I do that he would sacrifice meruthlessly if he felt that I was likely to interfere with any of hisprojects: and your marriage with the Netherlander is part of one of hisvast schemes."