Venetia

  CHAPTER XVI.

  It was on the following morning, as the Doctor was under the operationof the barber, that his groom ran into the room with a pale face andagitated air, and exclaimed,

  'Oh! master, master, what do you think? Here is a man in the yard withmy lord's pony.'

  'Stop him, Peter,' exclaimed the Doctor. 'No! watch him, watch him;send for a constable. Are you certain 'tis the pony?'

  'I could swear to it out of a thousand,' said Peter.

  'There, never mind my beard, my good man,' said the Doctor. 'There isno time for appearances. Here is a robbery, at least; God grant noworse. Peter, my boots!' So saying, the Doctor, half equipped, andfollowed by Peter and the barber, went forth on the gallery. 'Where ishe?' said the Doctor.

  'He is down below, talking to the ostler, and trying to sell thepony,' said Peter.

  'There is no time to lose,' said the Doctor; 'follow me, like truemen:' and the Doctor ran downstairs in his silk nightcap, for his wigwas not yet prepared.

  'There he is,' said Peter; and true enough there was a man in asmock-frock and mounted on the very pony which Lady Annabel hadpresented to Plantagenet.

  'Seize this man in the King's name,' said the Doctor, hastilyadvancing to him. 'Ostler, do your duty; Peter, be firm. I charge youall; I am a justice of the peace. I charge you arrest this man.'

  The man seemed very much astonished; but he was composed, and offeredno resistance. He was dressed like a small farmer, in top-boots and asmock-frock. His hat was rather jauntily placed on his curly red hair.

  'Why am I seized?' at length said the man.

  'Where did you get that pony?' said the Doctor.

  'I bought it,' was the reply.

  'Of whom?'

  'A stranger at market.'

  'You are accused of robbery, and suspected of murder,' said Dr.Masham. 'Mr. Constable,' said the Doctor, turning to that functionary,who had now arrived, 'handcuff this man, and keep him in strictcustody until further orders.'

  The report that a man was arrested for robbery, and suspected ofmurder, at the Red Dragon, spread like wildfire through the town;and the inn-yard was soon crowded with the curious and excitedinhabitants.

  Peter and the barber, to whom he had communicated everything, werewell qualified to do justice to the important information of whichthey were the sole depositaries; the tale lost nothing by theirtelling; and a circumstantial narrative of the robbery and murder ofno less a personage than Lord Cadurcis, of Cadurcis Abbey, was soongenerally prevalent.

  The stranger was secured in a stable, before which the constable keptguard; mine host, and the waiter, and the ostlers acted as a sort ofsupernumerary police, to repress the multitude; while Peter held thereal pony by the bridle, whose identity, which he frequently attested,was considered by all present as an incontrovertible evidence of thecommission of the crime.

  In the meantime Dr. Masham, really agitated, roused his brothermagistrate, and communicated to his worship the important discovery.The Squire fell into a solemn flutter. 'We must be regular, brotherMasham; we must proceed by rule; we are a bench in ourselves. Wouldthat my clerk were here! We must send for Signsealer forthwith. I willnot decide without the statutes. The law must be consulted, and itmust be obeyed. The fellow hath not brought my wig. 'Tis a case ofmurder no doubt. A Peer of the realm murdered! You must break theintelligence to his surviving parent, and I will communicate to theSecretary of State. Can the body be found? That will prove the murder.Unless the body be found, the murder will not be proved, savethe villain confess, which he will not do unless he hath suddencompunctions. I have known sudden compunctions go a great way. We hada case before our bench last month; there was no evidence. It was nota case of murder; it was of woodcutting; there was no evidence; butthe defendant had compunctions. Oh! here is my wig. We must send forSignsealer. He is clerk to our bench, and he must bring the statutes.'Tis not simple murder this; it involves petty treason.'

  By this time his worship had completed his toilet, and he and hiscolleague took their way to the parlour they had inhabited thepreceding evening. Mr. Signsealer was in attendance, much to the real,though concealed, satisfaction of Squire Mountmeadow. Their worshipswere seated like two consuls before the table, which Mr. Signsealerhad duly arranged with writing materials and various piles ofcalf-bound volumes. Squire Mountmeadow then, arranging hiscountenance, announced that the bench was prepared, and mine host wasinstructed forthwith to summon the constable and his charge, togetherwith Peter and the ostler as witnesses. There was a rush among some ofthe crowd who were nighest the scene to follow the prisoner into theroom; and, sooth to say, the great Mountmeadow was much too enamouredof his own self-importance to be by any means a patron of close courtsand private hearings; but then, though he loved his power to bewitnessed, he was equally desirous that his person should bereverenced. It was his boast that he could keep a court of quartersessions as quiet as a church; and now, when the crowd rushed in withall those sounds of tumult incidental to such a movement, it requiredonly Mountmeadow slowly to rise, and drawing himself up to the fullheight of his gaunt figure, to knit his severe brow, and throw oneof his peculiar looks around the chamber, to insure a most awfulstillness. Instantly everything was so hushed, that you might haveheard Signsealer nib his pen.

  The witnesses were sworn; Peter proved that the pony belonged to LordCadurcis, and that his lordship had been missing from home for severaldays, and was believed to have quitted the abbey on this identicalpony. Dr. Masham was ready, if necessary, to confirm this evidence.The accused adhered to his first account, that he had purchased theanimal the day before at a neighbouring fair, and doggedly declined toanswer any cross-examination. Squire Mountmeadow looked alike pompousand puzzled; whispered to the Doctor; and then shook his head at Mr.Signsealer.

  'I doubt whether there be satisfactory evidence of the murder, brotherMasham,' said the Squire; 'what shall be our next step?'

  'There is enough evidence to keep this fellow in custody,' said theDoctor. 'We must remand him, and make inquiries at the market town.I shall proceed there immediately, He is a strange-looking fellow,'added the Doctor: 'were it not for his carroty locks, I shouldscarcely take him for a native.'

  'Hem!' said the Squire, 'I have my suspicions. Fellow,' continued hisworship, in an awful tone, 'you say that you are a stranger, and thatyour name is Morgan; very suspicious all this: you have no one tospeak to your character or station, and you are found in possession ofstolen goods. The bench will remand you for the present, and will atany rate commit you for trial for the robbery. But here is a Peer ofthe realm missing, fellow, and you are most grievously suspected ofbeing concerned in his spiriting away, or even murder. You are upontender ground, prisoner; 'tis a case verging on petty treason, if notpetty treason itself. Eh! Mr. Signsealer? Thus runs the law, as I takeit? Prisoner, it would be well for you to consider your situation.Have you no compunctions? Compunctions might save you, if not aprincipal offender. It is your duty to assist the bench in executingjustice. The Crown is merciful; you may be king's evidence.'

  Mr. Signsealer whispered the bench; he proposed that the prisoner'shat should be examined, as the name of its maker might afford a clueto his residence.

  'True, true, Mr. Clerk,' said Squire Mountmeadow, 'I am coming tothat. 'Tis a sound practice; I have known such a circumstance lead togreat disclosures. But we must proceed in order. Order is everything.Constable, take the prisoner's hat off.'

  The constable took the hat off somewhat rudely; so rudely, indeed,that the carroty locks came off in company with it, and revealed aprofusion of long plaited hair, which had been adroitly twisted underthe wig, more in character with the countenance than its previouscovering.

  'A Jesuit, after all!' exclaimed the Squire.

  'A gipsy, as it seems to me,' whispered the Doctor.

  'Still worse,' said the Squire.

  'Silence in the Court!' exclaimed the awful voice of SquireMountmeadow, for the excitement of the audience was considerable.The disguis
e was generally esteemed as incontestable evidence of themurder. 'Silence, or I will order the Court to be cleared. Constable,proclaim silence. This is an awful business,' added the Squire, with avery long face. 'Brother Masham, we must do our duty; but this is anawful business. At any rate we must try to discover the body. A Peerof the realm must not be suffered to lie murdered in a ditch. He musthave Christian burial, if possible, in the vaults of his ancestors.'

  When Morgana, for it was indeed he, observed the course affairs weretaking, and ascertained that his detention under present circumstanceswas inevitable, he relaxed from his doggedness, and expressed awillingness to make a communication to the bench. Squire Mountmeadowlifted up his eyes to Heaven, as if entreating the interposition ofProvidence to guide him in his course; then turned to his brothermagistrate, and then nodded to the clerk.

  'He has compunctions, brother Masham,' said his worship: 'I told youso; he has compunctions. Trust me to deal with these fellows. He knewnot his perilous situation; the hint of petty treason staggered him.Mr. Clerk, take down the prisoner's confession; the Court must becleared; constable, clear the Court. Let a stout man stand on eachside of the prisoner, to protect the bench. The magistracy of Englandwill never shrink from doing their duty, but they must be protected.Now, prisoner, the bench is ready to hear your confession. Concealnothing, and if you were not a principal in the murder, or anaccessory before the fact; eh, Mr. Clerk, thus runs the law, as I takeit? there may be mercy; at any rate, if you be hanged, you will havethe satisfaction of having cheerfully made the only atonement tosociety in your power.'

  'Hanging be damned!' said Morgana.

  Squire Mountmeadow started from his seat, his cheeks distended withrage, his dull eyes for once flashing fire. 'Did you ever witness suchatrocity, brother Masham?' exclaimed his worship. 'Did you hear thevillain? I'll teach him to respect the bench. I'll fine him before heis executed, that I will!'

  'The young gentleman to whom this pony belongs,' continued the gipsy,'may or may not be a lord. I never asked him his name, and he nevertold it me; but he sought hospitality of me and my people, and we gaveit him, and he lives with us, of his own free choice. The pony is ofno use to him now, and so I came to sell it for our common good.'

  'A Peer of the realm turned gipsy!' exclaimed the Squire. 'A verylikely tale! I'll teach you to come here and tell your cock-and-bullstories to two of his majesty's justices of the peace. 'Tis a flatcase of robbery and murder, and I venture to say something else. Youshall go to gaol directly, and the Lord have mercy on your soul!'

  'Nay,' said the gipsy, appealing to Dr. Marsham; 'you, sir, appear tobe a friend of this youth. You will not regain him by sending me togaol. Load me, if you will, with irons; surround me with armed men,but at least give me the opportunity of proving the truth of what Isay. I offer in two hours to produce to you the youth, and you shallfind he is living with my people in content and peace.'

  'Content and fiddlestick!' said the Squire, in a rage.

  'Brother Mountmeadow,' said the Doctor, in a low tone, to hiscolleague, 'I have private duties to perform to this family. Pardonme if, with all deference to your sounder judgment and greaterexperience, I myself accept the prisoner's offer.'

  'Brother Masham, you are one of his majesty's justices of the peace,you are a brother magistrate, and you are a Doctor of Divinity; youowe a duty to your country, and you owe a duty to yourself. Is itwise, is it decorous, that one of the Quorum should go a-gipsying?Is it possible that you can credit this preposterous tale? BrotherMasham, there will be a rescue, or my name is not Mountmeadow.'

  In spite, however, of all these solemn warnings, the good Doctor, whowas not altogether unaware of the character of his pupil, and couldcomprehend that it was very possible the statement of the gipsy mightbe genuine, continued without very much offending his colleague, wholooked upon, his conduct indeed rather with pity than resentment,to accept the offer of Morgana; and consequently, well-secured andguarded, and preceding the Doctor, who rode behind the cart with hisservant, the gipsy soon sallied forth from the inn-yard, and requestedthe driver to guide his course in the direction of the forest.