CHAPTER IV
IN THE ABBEY CHURCH
In Shoreby Abbey Church the prayers were kept up all night withoutcessation, now with the singing of psalms, now with a note or two uponthe bell.
Rutter, the spy, was nobly waked. There he lay, meanwhile, as they hadarranged him, his dead hands crossed upon his bosom, his dead eyesstaring on the roof; and hard by, in the stall, the lad who had slainhim waited, in sore disquietude, the coming of the morning.
Once only, in the course of the hours, Sir Oliver leaned across to hiscaptive.
"Richard," he whispered, "my son, if ye mean me evil, I will certify, onmy soul's welfare, ye design upon an innocent man. Sinful in the eye ofHeaven I do declare myself; but sinful as against you I am not, neitherhave been ever."
"My father," returned Dick, in the same tone of voice, "trust me, Idesign nothing; but as for your innocence, I may not forget that yecleared yourself but lamely."
"A man may be innocently guilty," replied the priest. "He may be setblindfolded upon a mission, ignorant of its true scope. So it was withme. I did decoy your father to his death; but as Heaven sees us in thissacred place, I knew not what I did."
"It may be," returned Dick. "But see what a strange web ye have woven,that I should be, at this hour, at once your prisoner and your judge;that ye should both threaten my days and deprecate my anger. Methinks,if ye had been all your life a true man and good priest, ye wouldneither thus fear nor thus detest me. And now to your prayers. I do obeyyou, since needs must; but I will not be burthened with your company."
The priest uttered a sigh so heavy that it had almost touched the ladinto some sentiment of pity, and he bowed his head upon his hands like aman borne down below a weight of care. He joined no longer in thepsalms; but Dick could hear the beads rattle though his fingers and theprayers a-pattering between his teeth.
Yet a little, and the grey of the morning began to struggle through thepainted casements of the church, and to put to shame the glimmer of thetapers. The light slowly broadened and brightened, and presently throughthe southeastern clerestories a flush of rosy sunlight flickered on thewalls. The storm was over; the great clouds had disburthened their snowand fled farther on, and the new day was breaking on a merry winterlandscape sheathed in white.
A bustle of church officers followed; the bier was carried forth to thedeadhouse, and the stains of blood were cleansed from off the tiles,that no such ill-omened spectacle should disgrace the marriage of LordShoreby. At the same time, the very ecclesiastics who had been sodismally engaged all night began to put on morning faces, to do honourto the merrier ceremony which was about to follow. And further toannounce the coming of the day, the pious of the town began to assembleand fall to prayer before their favourite shrines, or wait their turn atthe confessionals.
Favoured by this stir, it was of course easily possible for any man toavoid the vigilance of Sir Daniel's sentries at the door; and presentlyDick, looking about him wearily, caught the eye of no less a person thanWill Lawless, still in his monk's habit.
The outlaw, at the same moment, recognised his leader, and privilysigned to him with hand and eye.
Now, Dick was far from having forgiven the old rogue his most untimelydrunkenness, but he had no desire to involve him in his own predicament;and he signalled back to him, as plain as he was able, to begone.
Lawless, as though he had understood, disappeared at once behind apillar, and Dick breathed again.
What, then, was his dismay to feel himself plucked by the sleeve and tofind the old robber installed beside him, upon the next seat, and, toall appearance, plunged in his devotions!
Instantly Sir Oliver arose from his place, and, gliding behind thestalls, made for the soldiers in the aisle. If the priest's suspicionshad been so lightly wakened, the harm was already done, and Lawless aprisoner in the church.
"Move not," whispered Dick. "We are in the plaguiest pass, thanks,before all things, to thy swinishness of yestereven. When ye saw mehere, so strangely seated where I have neither right nor interest, whata murrain! could ye not smell harm and get ye gone from evil?"
"Nay," returned Lawless, "I thought ye had heard from Ellis, and werehere on duty."
"Ellis!" echoed Dick. "Is Ellis, then, returned?"
"For sure," replied the outlaw. "He came last night, and belted me sorefor being in wine--so there ye are avenged, my master. A furious man isEllis Duckworth! He hath ridden me hot-spur from Craven to prevent thismarriage; and, Master Dick, ye know the way of him--do so he will!"
"Nay, then," returned Dick, with composure, "you and I, my poor brother,are dead men; for I sit here a prisoner upon suspicion, and my neck wasto answer for this very marriage that he purposeth to mar. I had a fairchoice, by the rood! to lose my sweetheart or else lose my life! Well,the cast is thrown--it is to be my life."
"By the mass," cried Lawless, half arising, "I am gone!"
But Dick had his hand at once upon his shoulder.
"Friend Lawless, sit ye still," he said. "An ye have eyes, look yonderat the corner by the chancel arch; see ye not that, even upon the motionof your rising, yon armed men are up and ready to intercept you? Yieldye, friend. Ye were bold aboard ship, when ye thought to die asea-death; be bold again, now that y'are to die presently upon thegallows."
"Master Dick," gasped Lawless, "the thing hath come upon me somewhat ofthe suddenest. But give me a moment till I fetch my breath again; and,by the mass, I will be as stout-hearted as yourself."
"Here is my bold fellow!" returned Dick. "And yet, Lawless, it goeshard against the grain with me to die; but where whining mendethnothing, wherefore whine?"
"Nay, that indeed!" chimed Lawless. "And a fig for death, at worst! Ithas to be done, my master, soon or late. And hanging in a good quarrelis an easy death, they say, though I could never hear of any that cameback to say so."
And so saying, the stout old rascal leaned back in his stall, folded hisarms, and began to look about him with the greatest air of insolence andunconcern.
"And for the matter of that," Dick added, "it is yet our best chance tokeep quiet. We wot not yet what Duckworth purposes; and when all issaid, and if the worst befall, we may yet clear our feet of it."
Now that they ceased talking, they were aware of a very distant and thinstrain of mirthful music which steadily drew nearer, louder, andmerrier. The bells in the tower began to break forth into a doublingpeal, and a greater and greater concourse of people to crowd into thechurch, shuffling the snow from off their feet, and clapping and blowingin their hands. The western door was flung wide open, showing a glimpseof sunlit, snowy street, and admitting in a great gust the shrewd air ofthe morning; and in short, it became plain by every sign that LordShoreby desired to be married very early in the day, and that thewedding-train was drawing near.
Some of Lord Shoreby's men now cleared a passage down the middle aisle,forcing the people back with lance-stocks; and just then, outside theportal, the secular musicians could be descried drawing near over thefrozen snow, the fifers and trumpeters scarlet in the face with lustyblowing, the drummers and the cymbalists beating as for a wager.
These, as they drew near the door of the sacred building, filed off oneither side, and, marking time to their own vigorous music, stoodstamping in the snow. As they thus opened their ranks, the leaders ofthis noble bridal train appeared behind and between them; and such wasthe variety and gaiety of their attire, such the displays of silk andvelvet, fur and satin, embroidery and lace, that the procession showedforth upon the snow like a flower-bed in a path or a painted window in awall.
First came the bride, a sorry sight, as pale as winter, clinging to SirDaniel's arm, and attended, as bridesmaid, by the short young lady whohad befriended Dick the night before. Close behind, in the most radianttoilet, followed the bridegroom, halting on a gouty foot; and as hepassed the threshold of the sacred building and doffed his hat, his baldhead was seen to be rosy with emotion.
And now came the hour of Ellis Duckworth.
br /> Dick, who sat stunned among contrary emotions, grasping the desk infront of him, beheld a movement in the crowd, people jostling backward,and eyes and arms uplifted. Following these signs, he beheld three orfour men with bent bows, leaning from the clerestory gallery. At thesame instant they delivered their discharge, and before the clamour andcries of the astounded populace had time to swell fully upon the ear,they had flitted from their perch and disappeared.
The nave was full of swaying heads and voices screaming; theecclesiastics thronged in terror from their places; the music ceased,and though the bells overhead continued for some seconds to clang uponthe air, some wind of the disaster seemed to find its way at last evento the chamber where the ringers were leaping on their ropes, and theyalso desisted from their merry labours.
Right in the midst of the nave the bridegroom lay stone-dead, pierced bytwo black arrows. The bride had fainted. Sir Daniel stood, toweringabove the crowd in his surprise and anger, a cloth-yard shaft quiveringin his left forearm, and his face streaming blood from another which hadgrazed his brow.
Long before any search could be made for them, the authors of thistragic interruption had clattered down a turn-pike stair and decamped bya postern door.
But Dick and Lawless still remained in pawn; they had, indeed, arisen onthe first alarm, and pushed manfully to gain the door; but what with thenarrowness of the stalls and the crowding of terrified priests andchoristers, the attempt had been in vain, and they had stoically resumedtheir places.
And now, pale with horror, Sir Oliver rose to his feet and called uponSir Daniel, pointing with one hand to Dick.
"Here," he cried, "is Richard Shelton--alas the hour!--blood guilty!Seize him!--bid him be seized! For all our lives' sakes, take him andbind him surely! He hath sworn our fall."
Sir Daniel was blinded by anger--blinded by the hot blood that stillstreamed across his face.
_First came the bride, a sorry sight, as pale as thewinter, clinging to Sir Daniel's arm_]
"Where?" he bellowed. "Hale him forth! By the cross of Holywood, but heshall rue this hour!"
The crowd fell back, and a party of archers invaded the choir, laidrough hands on Dick, dragged him head-foremost from the stall, andthrust him by the shoulders down the chancel steps. Lawless, on hispart, sat as still as a mouse.
Sir Daniel, brushing the blood out of his eyes, stared blinkingly uponhis captive.
"Ay," he said, "treacherous and insolent, I have thee fast; and by allpotent oaths, for every drop of blood that now trickles in mine eyes, Iwill wring a groan out of thy carcase. Away with him!" he added. "Hereis no place! Off with him to my house. I will number every joint of thybody with a torture."
But Dick, putting off his captors, uplifted his voice.
"Sanctuary!" he shouted. "Sanctuary! Ho, there, my fathers! They woulddrag me from the church!"
"From the church thou hast defiled with murder, boy," added a tall man,magnificently dressed.
"On what probation?" cried Dick. "They do accuse me, indeed, of somecomplicity, but have not proved one tittle. I was, in truth, a suitorfor this damsel's hand; and she, I will be bold to say it, repaid mysuit with favour. But what then? To love a maid is no offence, Itrow--nay, nor to gain her love. In all else, I stand here free fromguiltiness."
There was a murmur of approval among the bystanders, so boldly Dickdeclared his innocence; but at the same time a throng of accusers aroseupon the other side, crying how he had been found last night in SirDaniel's house, how he wore a sacrilegious disguise; and in the midst ofthe babel, Sir Oliver indicated Lawless, both by voice and gesture, asaccomplice to the fact. He, in his turn, was dragged from his seat andset beside his leader. The feelings of the crowd rose high on eitherside, and while some dragged the prisoners to and fro to favour theirescape, others cursed and struck them with their fists. Dick's ears rangand his brain swam dizzily, like a man struggling in the eddies of afurious river.
But the tall man who had already answered Dick, by a prodigious exerciseof voice restored silence and order in the mob.
"Search them," he said, "for arms. We may so judge of their intentions."
Upon Dick they found no weapon but his poniard, and this told in hisfavour, until one man officiously drew it from its sheath, and found itstill uncleansed of the blood of Rutter. At this there was a great shoutamong Sir Daniel's followers, which the tall man suppressed by a gestureand an imperious glance. But when it came to the turn of Lawless, therewas found under his gown a sheaf of arrows identical with those that hadbeen shot.
"How say ye now?" asked the tall man, frowningly, of Dick.
"Sir," replied Dick, "I am here in sanctuary, is it not so? Well, sir, Isee by your bearing that ye are high in station, and I read in yourcountenance the marks of piety and justice. To you, then, I will yieldme prisoner, and that blithely, foregoing the advantage of this holyplace. But rather than to be yielded into the discretion of thatman--whom I do here accuse with a loud voice to be the murderer of mynatural father and the unjust retainer of my lands and revenues--ratherthan that, I would beseech you, under favour, with your own gentle hand,to despatch me on the spot. Your own ears have heard him, how beforethat I was proven guilty he did threaten me with torments. It standethnot with your own honour to deliver me to my sworn enemy and oldoppressor, but to try me fairly by the way of law, and, if that I beguilty indeed, to slay me mercifully."
"My lord," cried Sir Daniel, "ye will not hearken to this wolf? Hisbloody dagger reeks him the lie into his face."
"Nay, but suffer me, good knight," returned the tall stranger; "your ownvehemence doth somewhat tell against yourself."
And here the bride, who had come to herself some minutes past and lookedwildly on upon this scene, broke loose from those that held her, andfell upon her knees before the last speaker.
"My Lord of Risingham," she cried, "hear me, in justice. I am here inthis man's custody by mere force, reft from mine own people. Since thatday I had never pity, countenance, nor comfort from the face of man--butfrom him only--Richard Shelton--whom they now accuse and labour to undo.My lord, if he was yesternight in Sir Daniel's mansion, it was I thatbrought him there; he came but at my prayer, and thought to do no hurt.While yet Sir Daniel was a good lord to him, he fought with them of theBlack Arrow loyally; but when his foul guardian sought his life bypractices, and he fled by night, for his soul's sake, out of that bloodyhouse, whither was he to turn--he, helpless and penniless? Or if he befallen among ill company, whom should ye blame--the lad that wasunjustly handled, or the guardian that did abuse his trust?"
And then the short young lady fell on her knees by Joanna's side.
"And I, my good lord and natural uncle," she added, "I can beartestimony, on my conscience and before the face of all, that what thismaiden saith is true. It was I, unworthy, that did lead the young manin."
Earl Risingham had heard in silence, and when the voices ceased, hestill stood silent for a space. Then he gave Joanna his hand to arise,though it was to be observed that he did not offer the like courtesy toher who had called herself his niece.
"Sir Daniel," he said, "here is a right intricate affair, the which,with your good leave, it shall be mine to examine and adjust. Contentye, then; your business is in careful hands; justice shall be done you;and in the meanwhile, get ye incontinently home, and have your hurtsattended. The air is shrewd, and I would not ye took cold upon thesescratches."
He made a sign with his hand; it was passed down the nave by obsequiousservants, who waited there upon his smallest gesture. Instantly, withoutthe church, a tucket sounded shrill, and through the open portal archersand men-at-arms, uniformly arrayed in the colours and wearing the badgeof Lord Risingham, began to file into the church, took Dick and Lawlessfrom those who still detained them, and closing their files about theprisoners, marched forth again and disappeared.
As they were passing, Joanna held both her hands to Dick and cried himher farewell; and the bridesmaid, nothing downcast by her uncle'sevident
displeasure, blew him a kiss, with a "Keep your heart up,lion-driver!" that for the first time since the accident called up asmile to the faces of the crowd.