CHAPTER XIX. HOW THERE WAS STIR AT THE ABBEY OF ST. ANDREW'S.
The prince's reception-room, although of no great size, was fitted upwith all the state and luxury which the fame and power of its ownerdemanded. A high dais at the further end was roofed in by a broad canopyof scarlet velvet spangled with silver fleurs-de-lis, and supported ateither corner by silver rods. This was approached by four steps carpetedwith the same material, while all round were scattered rich cushions,oriental mats and costly rugs of fur. The choicest tapestries which thelooms of Arras could furnish draped the walls, whereon the battles ofJudas Maccabaeus were set forth, with the Jewish warriors in plate ofproof, with crest and lance and banderole, as the naive artists of theday were wont to depict them. A few rich settles and bancals, choicelycarved and decorated with glazed leather hangings of the sort termed _orbasane_, completed the furniture of the apartment, save that at one sideof the dais there stood a lofty perch, upon which a cast of three solemnPrussian gerfalcons sat, hooded and jesseled, as silent and motionlessas the royal fowler who stood beside them.
In the centre of the dais were two very high chairs with dorserets,which arched forwards over the heads of the occupants, the whole coveredwith light-blue silk thickly powdered with golden stars. On that to theright sat a very tall and well formed man with red hair, a livid face,and a cold blue eye, which had in it something peculiarly sinister andmenacing. He lounged back in a careless position, and yawned repeatedlyas though heartily weary of the proceedings, stooping from time to timeto fondle a shaggy Spanish greyhound which lay stretched at his feet. Onthe other throne there was perched bolt upright, with prim demeanor, asthough he felt himself to be upon his good behavior, a little, round,pippin faced person, who smiled and bobbed to every one whose eye hechanced to meet. Between and a little in front of them on a humblecharette or stool, sat a slim, dark young man, whose quiet attire andmodest manner would scarce proclaim him to be the most noted prince inEurope. A jupon of dark blue cloth, tagged with buckles and pendants ofgold, seemed but a sombre and plain attire amidst the wealth of silk andermine and gilt tissue of fustian with which he was surrounded. He satwith his two hands clasped round his knee, his head slightly bent,and an expression of impatience and of trouble upon his clear,well-chiselled features. Behind the thrones there stood two men inpurple gowns, with ascetic, clean-shaven faces, and half a dozen otherhigh dignitaries and office-holders of Aquitaine. Below on either sideof the steps were forty or fifty barons, knights, and courtiers, rangedin a triple row to the right and the left, with a clear passage in thecentre.
"There sits the prince," whispered Sir John Chandos, as they entered."He on the right is Pedro, whom we are about to put upon the Spanishthrone. The other is Don James, whom we purpose with the aid of God tohelp to his throne in Majorca. Now follow me, and take it not to heartif he be a little short in his speech, for indeed his mind is full ofmany very weighty concerns."
The prince, however, had already observed their entrance, and, springingto his feet, he had advanced with a winning smile and the light ofwelcome in his eyes.
"We do not need your good offices as herald here, Sir John," said he ina low but clear voice; "these valiant knights are very well known to me.Welcome to Aquitaine, Sir Nigel Loring and Sir Oliver Buttesthorn. Nay,keep your knee for my sweet father at Windsor. I would have your hands,my friends. We are like to give you some work to do ere you see thedowns of Hampshire once more. Know you aught of Spain, Sir Oliver?"
"Nought, my sire, save that I have heard men say that there is a dishnamed an olla which is prepared there, though I have never been clear inmy mind as to whether it was but a ragout such as is to be found in thesouth, or whether there is some seasoning such as fennel or garlic whichis peculiar to Spain."
"Your doubts, Sir Oliver, shall soon be resolved," answered the prince,laughing heartily, as did many of the barons who surrounded them. "Hismajesty here will doubtless order that you have this dish hotly seasonedwhen we are all safely in Castile."
"I will have a hotly seasoned dish for some folk I know of," answeredDon Pedro with a cold smile.
"But my friend Sir Oliver can fight right hardily without either bite orsup," remarked the prince. "Did I not see him at Poictiers, when for twodays we had not more than a crust of bread and a cup of foul water, yetcarrying himself most valiantly. With my own eyes I saw him in the routsweep the head from a knight of Picardy with one blow of his sword."
"The rogue got between me and the nearest French victual wain," mutteredSir Oliver, amid a fresh titter from those who were near enough to catchhis words.
"How many have you in your train?" asked the prince, assuming a gravermien.
"I have forty men-at-arms, sire," said Sir Oliver.
"And I have one hundred archers and a score of lancers, but there aretwo hundred men who wait for me on this side of the water upon theborders of Navarre."
"And who are they, Sir Nigel?"
"They are a free company, sire, and they are called the White Company."
To the astonishment of the knight, his words provoked a burst ofmerriment from the barons round, in which the two kings and the princewere fain to join. Sir Nigel blinked mildly from one to the other, untilat last perceiving a stout black-bearded knight at his elbow, whoselaugh rang somewhat louder than the others, he touched him lightly uponthe sleeve.
"Perchance, my fair sir," he whispered, "there is some small vow ofwhich I may relieve you. Might we not have some honorable debate uponthe matter. Your gentle courtesy may perhaps grant me an exchange ofthrusts."
"Nay, nay, Sir Nigel," cried the prince, "fasten not the offence uponSir Robert Briquet, for we are one and all bogged in the same mire.Truth to say, our ears have just been vexed by the doings of the samecompany, and I have even now made vow to hang the man who held the rankof captain over it. I little thought to find him among the bravest of myown chosen chieftains. But the vow is now nought, for, as you havenever seen your company, it would be a fool's act to blame you for theirdoings."
"My liege," said Sir Nigel, "it is a very small matter that I should behanged, albeit the manner of death is somewhat more ignoble than I hadhoped for. On the other hand, it would be a very grievous thing thatyou, the Prince of England and the flower of knighthood, should make avow, whether in ignorance or no, and fail to bring it to fulfilment."
"Vex not your mind on that," the prince answered, smiling. "We have hada citizen from Montauban here this very day, who told us such a tale ofsack and murder and pillage that it moved our blood; but our wrath wasturned upon the man who was in authority over them."
"My dear and honored master," cried Nigel, in great anxiety, "I fear memuch that in your gentleness of heart you are straining this vow whichyou have taken. If there be so much as a shadow of a doubt as to theform of it, it were a thousand times best----"
"Peace! peace!" cried the prince impatiently. "I am very well able tolook to my own vows and their performance. We hope to see you bothin the banquet-hall anon. Meanwhile you will attend upon us with ourtrain." He bowed, and Chandos, plucking Sir Oliver by the sleeve, ledthem both away to the back of the press of courtiers.
"Why, little coz," he whispered, "you are very eager to have your neckin a noose. By my soul! had you asked as much from our new ally DonPedro, he had not baulked you. Between friends, there is overmuch ofthe hangman in him, and too little of the prince. But indeed thisWhite Company is a rough band, and may take some handling ere you findyourself safe in your captaincy."
"I doubt not, with the help of St. Paul, that I shall bring them to someorder," Sir Nigel answered. "But there are many faces here which are newto me, though others have been before me since first I waited upon mydear master, Sir Walter. I pray you to tell me, Sir John, who are thesepriests upon the dais?"
"The one is the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Nigel, and the other the Bishopof Agen."
"And the dark knight with gray-streaked beard? By my troth, he seems tobe a man of much wisdom and valor."
"He is Sir William Felton, who, with my unworthy self, is the chiefcounsellor of the prince, he being high steward and I the seneschal ofAquitaine."
"And the knights upon the right, beside Don Pedro?"
"They are cavaliers of Spain who have followed him in his exile. The oneat his elbow is Fernando de Castro, who is as brave and true a man asheart could wish. In front to the right are the Gascon lords. You maywell tell them by their clouded brows, for there hath been some ill-willof late betwixt the prince and them. The tall and burly man is theCaptal de Buch, whom I doubt not that you know, for a braver knightnever laid lance in rest. That heavy-faced cavalier who plucks hisskirts and whispers in his ear is Lord Oliver de Clisson, known also asthe butcher. He it is who stirs up strife, and forever blows the dyingembers into flame. The man with the mole upon his cheek is the LordPommers, and his two brothers stand behind him, with the Lord Lesparre,Lord de Rosem, Lord de Mucident, Sir Perducas d'Albret, the Souldich dela Trane, and others. Further back are knights from Quercy, Limousin,Saintonge, Poitou, and Aquitaine, with the valiant Sir Guiscard d'Angle.That is he in the rose-colored doublet with the ermine."
"And the knights upon this side?"
"They are all Englishmen, some of the household and others who likeyourself, are captains of companies. There is Lord Neville, Sir StephenCossington, and Sir Matthew Gourney, with Sir Walter Huet, Sir ThomasBanaster, and Sir Thomas Felton, who is the brother of the high steward.Mark well the man with the high nose and flaxen beard who hath placedhis hand upon the shoulder of the dark hard-faced cavalier in therust-stained jupon."
"Aye, by St. Paul!" observed Sir Nigel, "they both bear the print oftheir armor upon their cotes-hardies. Methinks they are men who breathefreer in a camp than a court."
"There are many of us who do that, Nigel," said Chandos, "and the headof the court is, I dare warrant, among them. But of these two men theone is Sir Hugh Calverley, and the other is Sir Robert Knolles."
Sir Nigel and Sir Oliver craned their necks to have the clearer view ofthese famous warriors, the one a chosen leader of free companies, theother a man who by his fierce valor and energy had raised himself fromthe lowest ranks until he was second only to Chandos himself in theesteem of the army.
"He hath no light hand in war, hath Sir Robert," said Chandos. "If hepasses through a country you may tell it for some years to come. I haveheard that in the north it is still the use to call a house which hathbut the two gable ends left, without walls or roof, a Knolles' mitre."
"I have often heard of him," said Nigel, "and I have hoped to be so farhonored as to run a course with him. But hark, Sir John, what is amisswith the prince?"
Whilst Chandos had been conversing with the two knights a continuousstream of suitors had been ushered in, adventurers seeking to sell theirswords and merchants clamoring over some grievance, a ship detainedfor the carriage of troops, or a tun of sweet wine which had the bottomknocked out by a troop of thirsty archers. A few words from the princedisposed of each case, and, if the applicant liked not the judgment, aquick glance from the prince's dark eyes sent him to the door with thegrievance all gone out of him. The younger ruler had sat listlessly uponhis stool with the two puppet monarchs enthroned behind him, but of asudden a dark shadow passed over his face, and he sprang to his feet inone of those gusts of passion which were the single blot upon his nobleand generous character.
"How now, Don Martin de la Carra?" he cried. "How now, sirrah? Whatmessage do you bring to us from our brother of Navarre?"
The new-comer to whom this abrupt query had been addressed was a talland exceedingly handsome cavalier who had just been ushered into theapartment. His swarthy cheek and raven black hair spoke of the fierysouth, and he wore his long black cloak swathed across his chest andover his shoulders in a graceful sweeping fashion, which was neitherEnglish nor French. With stately steps and many profound bows, headvanced to the foot of the dais before replying to the prince'squestion.
"My powerful and illustrious master," he began, "Charles, King ofNavarre, Earl of Evreux, Count of Champagne, who also writeth himselfOverlord of Bearn, hereby sends his love and greetings to his dearcousin Edward, the Prince of Wales, Governor of Aquitaine, GrandCommander of----"
"Tush! tush! Don Martin!" interrupted the prince, who had been beatingthe ground with his foot impatiently during this stately preamble. "Wealready know our cousin's titles and style, and, certes, we know ourown. To the point, man, and at once. Are the passes open to us, or doesyour master go back from his word pledged to me at Libourne no laterthan last Michaelmas?"
"It would ill become my gracious master, sire, to go back frompromise given. He does but ask some delay and certain conditions andhostages----"
"Conditions! Hostages! Is he speaking to the Prince of England, or is itto the bourgeois provost of some half-captured town! Conditions, quotha?He may find much to mend in his own condition ere long. The passes are,then, closed to us?"
"Nay, sire----"
"They are open, then?"
"Nay, sire, if you would but----"
"Enough, enough, Don Martin," cried the prince. "It is a sorry sight tosee so true a knight pleading in so false a cause. We know the doings ofour cousin Charles. We know that while with the right hand he takes ourfifty thousand crowns for the holding of the passes open, he hath hisleft outstretched to Henry of Trastamare, or to the King of France, allready to take as many more for the keeping them closed. I know our goodCharles, and, by my blessed name-saint the Confessor, he shall learnthat I know him. He sets his kingdom up to the best bidder, like somescullion farrier selling a glandered horse. He is----"
"My lord," cried Don Martin, "I cannot stand there to hear such wordsof my master. Did they come from other lips, I should know better how toanswer them."
Don Pedro frowned and curled his lip, but the prince smiled and noddedhis approbation.
"Your bearing and your words, Don Martin, are such I should have lookedfor in you," he remarked. "You will tell the king, your master, that hehath been paid his price and that if he holds to his promise he hath myword for it that no scath shall come to his people, nor to their housesor gear. If, however, we have not his leave, I shall come close at theheels of this message without his leave, and bearing a key with mewhich shall open all that he may close." He stooped and whispered to SirRobert Knolles and Sir Huge Calverley, who smiled as men well pleased,and hastened from the room.
"Our cousin Charles has had experience of our friendship," the princecontinued, "and now, by the Saints! he shall feel a touch of ourdispleasure. I send now a message to our cousin Charles which his wholekingdom may read. Let him take heed lest worse befall him. Where is myLord Chandos? Ha, Sir John, I commend this worthy knight to your care.You will see that he hath refection, and such a purse of gold as maydefray his charges, for indeed it is great honor to any court to havewithin it so noble and gentle a cavalier. How say you, sire?" heasked, turning to the Spanish refugee, while the herald of Navarre wasconducted from the chamber by the old warrior.
"It is not our custom in Spain to reward pertness in a messenger," DonPedro answered, patting the head of his greyhound. "Yet we have allheard the lengths to which your royal generosity runs."
"In sooth, yes," cried the King of Majorca.
"Who should know it better than we?" said Don Pedro bitterly, "since wehave had to fly to you in our trouble as to the natural protector of allwho are weak."
"Nay, nay, as brothers to a brother," cried the prince, with sparklingeyes. "We doubt not, with the help of God, to see you very soon restoredto those thrones from which you have been so traitorously thrust."
"When that happy day comes," said Pedro, "then Spain shall be to you asAquitaine, and, be your project what it may, you may ever count on everytroop and every ship over which flies the banner of Castile."
"And," added the other, "upon every aid which the wealth and power ofMajorca can bestow."
"Touching the hundred thousand crowns in which I stand your debtor,"continued Pedro care
lessly, "it can no doubt----"
"Not a word, sire, not a word!" cried the prince. "It is not now whenyou are in grief that I would vex your mind with such base and sordidmatters. I have said once and forever that I am yours with everybow-string of my army and every florin in my coffers."
"Ah! here is indeed a mirror of chivalry," said Don Pedro. "I think,Sir Fernando, since the prince's bounty is stretched so far, that wemay make further use of his gracious goodness to the extent of fiftythousand crowns. Good Sir William Felton, here, will doubtless settlethe matter with you."
The stout old English counsellor looked somewhat blank at this promptacceptance of his master's bounty.
"If it please you, sire," he said, "the public funds are at theirlowest, seeing that I have paid twelve thousand men of the companies,and the new taxes--the hearth-tax and the wine-tax--not yet come in. Ifyou could wait until the promised help from England comes----"
"Nay, nay, my sweet cousin," cried Don Pedro. "Had we known that yourown coffers were so low, or that this sorry sum could have weighed oneway or the other, we had been loth indeed----"
"Enough, sire, enough!" said the prince, flushing with vexation. "Ifthe public funds be, indeed, so backward, Sir William, there is still,I trust, my own private credit, which hath never been drawn upon for myown uses, but is now ready in the cause of a friend in adversity. Go,raise this money upon our own jewels, if nought else may serve, and seethat it be paid over to Don Fernando."
"In security I offer----" cried Don Pedro.
"Tush! tush!" said the prince. "I am not a Lombard, sire. Your kinglypledge is my security, without bond or seal. But I have tidings for you,my lords and lieges, that our brother of Lancaster is on his way for ourcapital with four hundred lances and as many archers to aid us in ourventure. When he hath come, and when our fair consort is recovered inher health, which I trust by the grace of God may be ere many weeks bepast, we shall then join the army at Dax, and set our banners to thebreeze once more."
A buzz of joy at the prospect of immediate action rose up from the groupof warriors. The prince smiled at the martial ardor which shone uponevery face around him.
"It will hearten you to know," he continued, "that I have sure advicesthat this Henry is a very valiant leader, and that he has it in hispower to make such a stand against us as promises to give us much honorand pleasure. Of his own people he hath brought together, as I learn,some fifty thousand, with twelve thousand of the French free companies,who are, as you know very valiant and expert men-at-arms. It is certainalso, that the brave and worthy Bertrand de Guesclin hath ridden intoFrance to the Duke of Anjou, and purposes to take back with him greatlevies from Picardy and Brittany. We hold Bertrand in high esteem, forhe has oft before been at great pains to furnish us with an honorableencounter. What think you of it, my worthy Captal? He took you atCocherel, and, by my soul! you will have the chance now to pay thatscore."
The Gascon warrior winced a little at the allusion, nor were hiscountrymen around him better pleased, for on the only occasion when theyhad encountered the arms of France without English aid they had met witha heavy defeat.
"There are some who say, sire," said the burly De Clisson, "that thescore is already overpaid, for that without Gascon help Bertrand had notbeen taken at Auray, nor had King John been overborne at Poictiers."
"By heaven! but this is too much," cried an English nobleman. "Methinksthat Gascony is too small a cock to crow so lustily."
"The smaller cock, my Lord Audley, may have the longer spur," remarkedthe Captal de Buch.
"May have its comb clipped if it make over-much noise," broke in anEnglishman.
"By our Lady of Rocamadour!" cried the Lord of Mucident, "this is morethan I can abide. Sir John Charnell, you shall answer to me for thosewords!"
"Freely, my lord, and when you will," returned the Englishmancarelessly.
"My Lord de Clisson," cried Lord Audley, "you look somewhat fixedly inmy direction. By God's soul! I should be right glad to go further intothe matter with you."
"And you, my Lord of Pommers," said Sir Nigel, pushing his way to thefront, "it is in my mind that we might break a lance in gentle andhonorable debate over the question."
For a moment a dozen challenges flashed backwards and forwards at thissudden bursting of the cloud which had lowered so long between theknights of the two nations. Furious and gesticulating the Gascons, whiteand cold and sneering the English, while the prince with a half smileglanced from one party to the other, like a man who loved to dwell upona fiery scene, and yet dreaded least the mischief go so far that hemight find it beyond his control.
"Friends, friends!" he cried at last, "this quarrel must go no further.The man shall answer to me, be he Gascon or English, who carries itbeyond this room. I have overmuch need for your swords that you shouldturn them upon each other. Sir John Charnell, Lord Audley, you do notdoubt the courage of our friends of Gascony?"
"Not I, sire," Lord Audley answered. "I have seen them fight too oftennot to know that they are very hardy and valiant gentlemen."
"And so say I," quoth the other Englishman; "but, certes, there is nofear of our forgetting it while they have a tongue in their heads."
"Nay, Sir John," said the prince reprovingly, "all peoples have theirown use and customs. There are some who might call us cold and dull andsilent. But you hear, my lords of Gascony, that these gentlemen had nothought to throw a slur upon your honor or your valor, so let all angerfade from your mind. Clisson, Captal, De Pommers, I have your word?"
"We are your subjects, sire," said the Gascon barons, though with novery good grace. "Your words are our law."
"Then shall we bury all cause of unkindness in a flagon of Malvoisie,"said the prince, cheerily. "Ho, there! the doors of the banquet-hall!I have been over long from my sweet spouse but I shall be back with youanon. Let the sewers serve and the minstrels play, while we drain acup to the brave days that are before us in the south!" He turned away,accompanied by the two monarchs, while the rest of the company, withmany a compressed lip and menacing eye, filed slowly through theside-door to the great chamber in which the royal tables were set forth.