A Gentleman-at-Arms: Being Passages in the Life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight

  headpiece to Second Part]

  *I*

  When I survey the backward of my life, and con over its accidents andadventures, my thoughts are drawn as by a magnet to one point oftime--the moment when, through mirk and darkness, benighted in a strangeplace, I saw the glimmer of a light.

  'Twas as foul a night as ever I saw: the sky black as Erebus; the windhowling like unnumbered poor lost souls; the rain, that smote me full inthe face as I rode, stinging my flesh as each particular drop were abarb of fire. I pulled my cloak about me, and bent low over the pommel,to gain some shelter from the storm; but little comfort had I thereby,for the rain beat in betwixt my neck and the collar, and, moreover, myhorse's hoofs cast up a plentiful bespattering of mud from the soddenroad.

  My outer man being thus discommoded, I was yet more ill at ease in mymind, for I had some little while suspected, and was now assured, that Ihad lost my way. I had ridden that road but once before, when I madeone of Hilary Rawdon's troop that he took from Dieppe on outpost duty toSt Jacques. By this time, according to my recollection, I should havecome to the Bethune river, by whose bank the road runs nearly straightto Arques; but having met with some hindrance in my journey, night hadovertaken me or ever I was aware, and with the darkness came the suddenbursting of the storm. What with the one and the other I could notdoubt that I had strayed into one of the by-roads about Dampierre, andwas now as helpless as a mariner without compass or glimpse of star.

  I was musing how best to escape out of this pother when, on a suddenlifting of my head, I saw upon my left hand, level with my eyes, theblurred twinkle of the light. With a muttered benediction I turned myhorse's head towards it, resolved, whether it shone from prince'smansion or shepherd's cot, to beg shelter there until the fury of thestorm was abated. But I had not ridden above five yards before I foundmyself checked by a quickset hedge, the which made me to dismount andlead my horse up and down, seeking for some gate or gap whereby I mightapproach the light. Within a little my groping hand taught me that thehedge was neighbour to a low wall, and searching further, I knew thatthe wall was ruinous, the top being ragged and uneven where bricks orstones had fallen away. Then, touching a gatepost, and so learning thatthe gate was removed, I was on the point of leading my horse through thegap when my good genius whispered a hint of caution. Hilary Rawdon haddispatched me back on an errand of moment to the King; I should provebut a sorry messenger if, for my comfort's sake, I ran into any peril;'twas meet that I should first find out what manner of house this was;for all I could tell, it might harbour an enemy. With this thought Iled my horse across the lane ('twas no more), and coming after a fewpaces to a clump of trees, I hitched his bridle to a bough, took apistol from the holster, and made my way afoot through the mire towardsthe beacon light.

  The mud lay very thick, and there were besides many obstacles in thepath, whereon I stumbled, being unable to see them for the darkness.Nevertheless, I picked my way among them as well as I could, holding mysword close lest it should clash upon a stone, and so came to the house,the which I perceived now to be of a good largeness. The ray shonethrough a chink in the shutter of a window some few feet above my head.The door was at my left hand, at the top of a flight of steps. Beingresolved not to seek admittance until I had learnt somewhat of theinmates, I clambered upon the window-sill, the which being very widegave me good foothold, and setting my eyes to the chink, I peered intothe room.

  My eyes were at first dazzled, from so long being in the dark; butwithin a little I saw two men seated at a table, between me and thelight, the which came from two large candles set close together. Theirbacks were towards me, so that I could not tell with any certainty whatmanner of men they were; but from their shape I judged them not to be ofthe labouring kind; and indeed the room, so much of it as I could see,the chink in the shutter being but narrow, appeared to be an apartmentof some splendour.

  Now I had been sent by Hilary Rawdon to let King Henry know that theDuke of Mayenne was moving towards him from the eastward with a greatarmy, without doubt intending to give him battle, word having beenbrought to St Jacques by a peasant that the duke was no more than fortymiles away. The house whereto I had come could not be above four orfive miles from the King's camp at Arques, wherefore it might besupposed that these men were friends of the King. Yet it crossed mymind that they might peradventure be Leaguers, and while I was in anyuncertainty I durst not seek shelter with them, nor could I with anyconscience proceed on my way. It behoved me, therefore, to make somefurther discovery, if that were possible, and having no satisfaction inwhat I had seen, I descended from my perch, and treading very warily,crept along the wall at my right hand, purposing to make the circuit ofthe house, in the hope to learn something more. By good hap the rain hadnow ceased, the sky was clearing, and, the month being August, thedarkness was not so deep as heretofore; indeed, the stars were nowvisible, and there was a lightness that seemed to foretell the rising ofthe moon.

  The house was all in darkness, save where I had seen the light. When Icame to the corner I saw a smaller building some dozen rods apart, andthere, as I passed it, I heard the sound of horses drawing theirhalters, whereby I guessed it to be the stables. And I perceived nowmany signs of disorder in the garden--statues overthrown and broken,fragments of wood and porcelain, and other things which led me tobelieve that the house had lately been put to the sack, and made me gowith the more caution. Stealing through the garden to the back of thehouse, I found a door, which, when I pushed it, yielded an inch or two,but no more, by reason of some barricade behind. A little beyond it,however, I came to a window hanging loose upon its hinges; and after Ihad waited a moment to be sure that I was neither seen nor heard, Isqueezed my body through, and entered a small room which, when my eyesbecame accustomed to the dimness, I perceived to be empty. There was adoor at the left hand. Holding my sword under my arm, I drew my dagger,and crept across the room to the door, which, when I came to it, I foundto be ajar. I pulled it towards me, desisting for a moment when itcreaked, and listening, with a fear that the sound might have beenheard. But there was nothing to alarm me, and having opened the doorjust so wide as that I might pass through, I came out into a long widehall, which I could not doubt led to the chief entrance.

  Here I paused, as well to recover breath--for my excitement had windedme--as to listen again. From my right came the low rumble of voices,and in an interval of silence I heard on my left hand, towards the mainentrance, as I guessed, the sound of deep breathing as of a man asleep.Though the storm had ceased, there was still a slight moaning of thewind as its gusts took the eaves, and trusting to this to shroud mymovements, I crept along the passage in the direction whence I had heardthe voices, which came more clearly to my ear, yet muffled, as Iadvanced. Thus I arrived at a door on my left hand, and perceiving thisto be open, I entered very stealthily, and saw that I was in a large andlofty chamber divided in two by a curtain.

  I heard the voices yet more clearly now, but not distinctly, so that Icould not catch the words. There were one or two shafts of light comingthrough the curtain, which when I ventured to draw near to it I found tobe old and torn. Peeping through a rent that was just below the levelof my head, I saw, not two men, but four, seated at the table, allmasked, and wearing, as I perceived in the case of the two men whosefaces were towards me, their cloaks being thrown back, the cuirasses ofmen of war. I listened very eagerly, to catch something of theirdiscourse, but they were at a good distance from me, and spoke in lowtones, so that I heard but a word here and there, and could not by anymeans piece them together. This irked me not a little, but I durst notpart the curtain, for then I should have been in full view of the men onthe further side of the table, whose backs I had seen when I peepedthrough the shutter; and I was troubled, also, by having, as it were, tostrain one ear towards them and the other towards the man at the end ofthe hall, who might wake at any moment and, for all I knew, come to thisvery room. So in much impatience and fearfulness
I listened, and wenthot and cold when I caught the word "Bearnais," for that was the name bywhich the Leaguers called the King, and I had reason to suspect by thisthat these men were no friends of his. And by and by I heard othernames, "Rosny" and "Biron," the King's friends, and then all againbecame confused, until one of the two that had their faces from me leantback in his chair, lifting his arms above his head as if to stretchhimself, and said very clearly, and yet without raising his voice: "Itwere easy to snare the game, but the keepers are wary."

  While I was still wondering what these words might mean, and vaguesurmise was making me uneasy, I heard very faintly the neighing of ahorse, and a moment afterwards an answering whinny, but this muchlouder. The men had given over talking, and he that had last spokenstill lay back in his chair, with his hands clasped behind his head, andso he remained while a man might count ten. Then of a sudden hestraightened himself, flinging his hands apart, and leant across thetable, and said: "The second horse is in the open." The men overagainst him looked at each other, their eyes glittering strangelythrough the masks, and I waited to see no more, for I could not doubtthat the second horse was my own, and it was time for me to go. Asquickly as I might, yet with great quietness, I stepped across the roomtowards the door, and had but just got myself out into the hall when Iheard the grating sound of chairs pushed back as when men rise in ahurry, and saw a light flash through the doorway as the curtain wasparted. With my heart in my mouth I fled on tiptoe along the hall andinto the room I had first entered, and had not even time to close thedoor behind me when the men passed, their spurs ringing as they trod. Iheard them come to the great door, and one of them kick the sleepingsentry, and then the door was thrown open with a mighty creaking, and Iknew that they were betwixt me and my horse.

  In a moment I skipped out by the window, delaying just so long assufficed to replace it as it had first hung, and being now outside,stood to consider of my course. I saw with thankfulness that the skyhad again become clouded, so that all was now near as dark as before.Men were calling to one another in the garden, and since they couldhardly as yet have discovered the whereabouts of my horse, I thought Icould do no better than make my way back as straightly as I could to theclump of trees where I had left him, trusting to luck and the darkness.I had gone but a few steps when I stumbled against a man, and believedmyself undone; but he said: "Do you see anything?" and composing myvoice I answered: "Nothing," and then left him and sped on, scarcebelieving in my good fortune. So with many a stumble and shrewd knockupon my shins, making all haste yet moving with such quietness as waspossible, I came to the wall, and without waiting to seek the gateway Iscrambled over, and fell upon my face in the mud. For this I carednothing, only that in my fall my sword clashed against a stone, and ashout from the enclosure warned me that the alarm was given. I was onmy feet in a trice, and sprang across the lane, in desperate fear lestmy horse might whinny again and bring the enemy upon me ere I couldloose him and mount. In my agitation of mind I could not rememberwhether the clump of trees was on my right hand or my left, but a breakin the flying scud gave me so much light as to show me what I sought,and I had just reached it and was plunging through the undergrowth whenI heard the clash of steel as the men scrambled over the wall like as Ihad done, and their voices calling one to another as they asked whetherthey saw any man.

  So dark was it in the copse that I could not see my horse, and I doubtwhether I should have found him in time if he, hearing my approach, hadnot whinnied and so led me in the right direction. I unloosed hisbridle in haste, but had no sooner vaulted into the saddle than a manran up behind me, and cried out to the others that he had me. I setspurs to my horse, but at the moment of his springing forward I felt asharp pang in the calf of my left leg, and the man let forth a vehementoath when the horse carried me beyond his reach. Bending low in thesaddle to shun the branches of the trees, the which swept my cheeks anddealt me many smarting wounds, I put my horse to the gallop, incommodedby finding that one of my stirrups was gone, and knowing never a whitwhether I was riding towards Arques or from it. I came out of the copseinto a road, and hearing no sounds of pursuit,--indeed scarce expectingany, since the men were not mounted--I gave the horse his head, andbreasting an incline we came to a small hamlet, where I did not scrupleto knock at one of the cottages until a window was opened, and a peasantsleepily demanded what I lacked. From him I learnt that I was but astone's throw from the Bethune river, which gave me great comfort, andso I spurred on, and by and by came to the bridge by Archelles, and soon until I gained the marshy plain below Arques where the King wasencamped, never stopping until I was challenged by the outposts.

  I FELT A SHARP PANG IN THE CALF OF MY LEFT LEG]

  The day was now breaking, and since my news was important--both thatwhich I brought from Hilary Rawdon and that which I had discovered formyself--I demanded to be led instantly to Rosny, with whom I had someslight acquaintance, having been commended to him in a letter by my LordSeymour when I joined Hilary Rawdon's troop. Rosny at first seeing mebroke into a fit of laughter, the which was not to be wondered at,seeing that my garments were drenched through and through, and my facewas muddy both from splashes and from my fall, and withal I walkedsomewhat stiffly from the wound in my leg. But he looked grave enoughwhen I told him in brief what news I carried, and he would have meaccompany him at once to the King, whom he doubted not to find alreadyastir, though the morning was yet young. (I had not then heard thesaying of Pope Sixtus V, who foretold that the Bearnais would come offconqueror because he did not remain so long abed as the Duke of Mayenneat table; but I knew of the King's habit of rising early, the which wasindeed a cause of grumbling among the sluggards of his Court.)

  King Henry smiled in his beard when Rosny presented me to him, but heardme soberly enough when I gave him Hilary Rawdon's message, to wit, thatthe Duke of Mayenne was drawing nigh with twenty-five thousand foot andeight thousand horse to give him battle.

  "What shall we do against so great a host with our poor three thousand?"said the King to Marshal Biron that stood by. "Ventre-saint-gris! Is itnot hard to be a king without a kingdom, a husband without a wife, and awarrior without money?"

  Here Rosny said that I had more to tell, and the King, pursing his lipsso that his long nose seemed to touch his chin, bade me say on. I toldhim of my seeing the light, and of all that followed thereafter, savingonly the matter of my wound, and when I had done, he said sharplybetween his teeth--

  "Well, what then?"

  (His words in truth were "_Mais encore?_" but 'tis meet I turn Frenchinto English in telling my story now.)

  "I know no more, Sire," I said in answer, "but I suspect the men I sawwere Leaguers, and were plotting secretly to seize your person, or to dosome other mischief, and 'twere well to send a party to take them, or ifthat be too late, to go not from the camp without a strong guard."

  "What!" cries the King; "shall I cage myself like a song-bird, or tethermyself like a drudging ass? Ventre-saint-gris! my dear friends havealready counselled me that I seek refuge speedily in your country; but Itell you that while I continue at the head of even a handful ofFrenchmen, such counsel 'tis impossible for me to follow. As for plots,a fig for them all! Did I not listen but yesterday to a tale of a plot,as shadowy as yours? There may be such plots afoot; let there be. Theassassin of my late cousin will not lack of imitators. But shall westart at shadows, or flee like a cook-wench at sight of a mouse? Themen you saw, as like as not, were bandits, discoursing on the spoilsthey expect to reap from the ambushing of some rich Churchman. Plots!I am aweary of the word."

  This reception was so little like what I had looked for that I feltabashed and, I own, somewhat ruffled also. The King's courage was knownof all men, but I hold that to neglect a warning is not courage, butmere foolhardiness. While I was meditating whether I should urge thematter, the King suddenly hailed a burly man that was riding slowly afew short paces from his tent.

  "Hola, Lameray," he said, "send a dozen men to the cha
teau of StAubyn-le-cauf--which is beyond doubt the place of your adventure, MasterRudd--and seize any man you find therein. Master Rudd will tell youmore at large," and with that he turned away, jesting with Rosny.

  The man whom the King had called Lameray dismounted from his horse,which I perceived to be much bespattered with mud, and coming towards mewith a sort of roll in his gait, he said, in a full, harsh voice--

  "Master Rudd will tell me more at large?"

  There was certainly something of insolency in his tone, and beingalready ruffled with the King's manner of receiving my news, I did notfeel very amiably disposed towards this stranger, who looked at me underhis beaver with a glance of mockery.

  "Master Rudd, if it please him, will tell me more at large," says theman again, while I was still considering of how I should deal with him.

  "You heard the King's command, Master Lameray----"

  "Pardon--De Lameray," says he, interrupting me.

  "De Lameray," I said, making a bow. "The chateau of St Aubyn-le-cauf,your nobility may not be aware, lies something less than two miles alongthe road towards Dampierre, and if you hurry you may yet be in time todo the King's bidding."

  "And perhaps Master Rudd would be pleased to accompany me?" he said,smiling upon me.

  "No," I said shortly, and thinking that perhaps his mockery sprang of mydirty and dishevelled aspect, I left him there, and strode away, with abare acknowledgment of his salutation, to the quarters I had formerlyoccupied in the camp. There, having bathed and got me into cleanraiment, and bound up the wound in my leg, no great matter, and eatenpretty ravenously, I set off to find Raoul de Torcy, who was of my ownage, and had been my particular friend ever since I came to France.

  "What news of the camp?" I said, after I had greeted him, for havingbeen absent for a fortnight I knew nothing of what had happened of late.

  "The question I myself would ask," he said, "for I only returned fromParis last night."

  "From Paris?" I said.

  "Yes. I set off thither the very day after you left us, having friendsthere who are also very good friends of the King, and yet know all thecounsels of the Leaguers. I rode thence the day before yesterday,bearing news of a plot to kill the King."

  "Another?" I exclaimed.

  "I know not what you mean by 'another,' my friend; but there isassuredly one afoot, and I rode apace with the news, and was chasedwell-nigh all the way from Paris by a fellow that had the very cut of aLeaguer. But I shook him off yesterday evening, just before the stormbroke, and came safe into camp, and little enough I had for my pains."

  "Why, did the King flout you too?" I asked.

  "He laughed, and took it very lightly. 'Another?' says he, just as youdid: 'I hear of plots as regularly as I eat my dinner.' And then hewent off arm in arm with Rosny and paid no more heed to me."

  Whereupon I told him of my own errand, and of what I had seen at thechateau, and how the King had received me.

  "I love our Henry," said Raoul, with a shrug, when I had made an end;"but I sometimes question whether he be not too careless to make a goodking for France. However, we have done our part; if any ill befallshim, it will not be for want of warning."

  I asked him then who was this Monsieur de Lameray that the King haddispatched to the chateau, and he said he had never heard the man'sname; but encountering Jean Prevost as we sauntered forth from hislodging, we put the question to him, and he told us that the Baron deLameray had lately come into the camp and offered his sword to the King,with three score gentlemen well mounted and equipped. He had been aLeaguer, but it was no more uncommon then than now for warriors to shifttheir allegiance, and Henry, who dearly loved a good sword, had welcomedright heartily this notable accession to his party, and smiled upon himso graciously that certain of his well-tried servants were displeasedthereat. Whereupon Raoul shrugged again, complaining of the ficklenessof kings' favour.