My Lady Rotha: A Romance

  CHAPTER VIII.

  A CATASTROPHE.

  All that day the town remained quiet, and all day the Waldgrave and mylady walked to and fro in the sunshine; or my lady sat working on oneof the stone seats, while he built castles in the air, which sheknocked down with a sly word or a merry glance. Fraulein Anna, alwayswith the big book, flitted from door to door, like an unquiet spirit.The sentries dozed at their posts, old Jacob in his chair in theguard-room, the cannons under their breech-clouts. If this could besaid to be a state of siege, it was the most gentle and joyous onepaladin ever shared or mistress imagined.

  But no message reached us from the town, and that disturbed me. Half adozen times I went to the wall and, leaning over it, listened. Eachtime I came away satisfied. All seemed quiet; the market-place ratherfuller perhaps than on common days, the hum of life more steady andpersistent; but neither to any great extent. Despite this I could notshake off a feeling of uneasiness. I remembered certain faces I hadseen in the town, grim faces lurking in corners, seen over men'sshoulders or through half-open doors; and a dog barking startled me,the shadow of a crow flying over the court made me jump a yard.

  Night only added to my nervousness. I doubled all the guards,stationing two men at the town-wicket and two at the stable-gate,which leads to the bridge. And not content with these precautions,though the Waldgrave laughed at them and me, I got out of bed threetimes in the night, and went the round to assure myself that the menwere at their posts.

  When morning came without mishap, but also without bringing anyoverture from the town, the Waldgrave laughed still more loudly.But my lady looked grave. I did not dare to interfere or giveadvice--having been once admitted to say my say--but I felt that itwould be a serious thing if the forty-eight hours elapsed and the townrefused to make amends. My lady felt this too, I think; and by-and-byshe held a council with the Waldgrave; and about midday my lord cameto me, and with a somewhat wry face bade me have the prisonersconducted to the parlour.

  He sent 'me at the same time on an errand to another part of thecastle, and so I cannot say what passed. I believe my lady dealt withthe two very firmly; reiterating her judgment of the day before, andonly adding that in clemency she had thought better of imprisoningthem, and would now suffer them to go to their homes, in the hope thatthey would use their influence to save the town from worse trouble.

  I met the two crossing the terrace on their way to the gate and wasstruck by something peculiar in their aspect. Master Hofman was all ofa tremble with excitement and eagerness to be gone. His fat, half-moonof a face shone with anxiety. He stuttered when he tried to give megood day as I passed; and he seemed to have eyes only for the gate,dragging his smaller companion along by the arm, and more than oncewhispering in his ear as if to adjure him not to waste a moment.

  The little Minister, on the other hand, hung back and marched slowly,his face wearing a look of triumph which showed very plainly--or so Iconstrued it--that he regarded his release in the light of a victory.His sallow cheeks were flushed, and his eyes gleamed spitefully as helooked from side to side. He held himself bolt upright, with a squareBible clasped to his breast, and as he passed me he could not refrainfrom a characteristic outbreak. Doubtless to bridle himself before mylady had almost choked him. He laughed in my face. 'Dry bones!' hecackled. 'And mouths that speak not!'

  'Speak plainly yourself, Master Dietz,' I answered, for I have neverthought ministers more than other men. 'Then perhaps I shall be ableto understand you.'

  'Sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal!' he replied, cracking hisfingers in my face and laughing triumphantly.

  He would have said more, I imagine; but at that moment the Burgomasterfell bodily upon him, and drove him by main force through the gatewhich had been opened. Outside even, he made some attempts to returnand defy us, crying out 'Whited sepulchres!' and the like. But thesteps were narrow and steep, and Hofman stood like a feather bed inthe way, and presently he desisted. The two stumbled down together andwe saw no more of them.

  The men about me laughed; but I had reason for thinking it far from alaughing matter, and I hastened into the house that I might tell mylady. When I entered the parlour, however, where I found her with theWaldgrave and Fraulein Anna, she held up her hand to check me. She andthe Waldgrave were laughing, and Fraulein Anna, half shy and halfsullen, was leaning against the table looking at the floor, with hercheeks red.

  'Come,' my lady was saying, 'you were with him half an hour, Anna. Youcan surely tell us what you talked about. Don't be afraid of Martin.He knows all our secrets.'

  'Or perhaps we are indiscreet,' the Waldgrave said gravely, but with atwinkle in his eye. 'When a young lady visits a gentleman incaptivity, the conversation should be of a tender nature.'

  'Which shows, sir, that you know little about it,' Fraulein Annaanswered indignantly. 'We talked of Voetius.'

  'Dear me!' my lord said. 'Then Master Dietz knows Voetius?'

  'He does not. He said he considered such pagan learning useless,'Fraulein Anna answered, warming with her subject. 'That it tended topride, and puffed up instead of giving grace. I said that he only sawone side of the matter.'

  'In that resembling me,' my lord murmured.

  My lady repressed him with a look. 'Yes,' she said pleasantly. 'Andwhat then, Anna?'

  'And that he might be wrong in this, as in other matters. He asked mewhat other matters,' Fraulein Max continued, growing voluble, andalmost confident, as she reviewed the scene. 'I said, the inferiorityof women to men. He said, yes, he maintained that, following PeterMartyr. Well, I said he was wrong, and so was Peter Martyr. "But youdo not convince me," he answered. "You say that I am wrong on this ason other points. Cite a point, then, on which I am wrong." "You knowno Greek, you know no Oriental tongue, you know no Hebrew!" Iretorted. "All pagan learning," he said. "Cite a point on which I amwrong. I am not often wrong. Cite a point on which I am confessedlywrong." So'--Fraulein Anna laughed a little, excited laugh ofpleasure--'I thought I would take him at his word, and I said, "Willyou abide by that? If I show you that you have been wrong, that youhave been deceived only to-day, will you acknowledge that Peter Martyrwas wrong?" He said, oh yes, he would, if I could convince him. Isaid, "Exemplum! You came here because you were afraid of our cannon.Granted? Yes. Well, our cannon are cracked. They are _brutumfulmen_--an empty threat. We could not fire them, if we would. Sothere, you see, you were wrong." Well, on that----'

  But what Master Dietz said on that, and what she answered, we neverknew, for the Waldgrave, bounding from the table, with a crash whichshook the room, swore a very pagan oath.

  'Himmel!' he cried in a voice of passion. 'The woman has ruined us! Doyou understand, Countess? She has told them! And they have taken thenews to the town!'

  'I do understand,' my lady said softly, but with a paling face. 'Bythis time it is known.'

  'Known! Yes; and our shutting up that poisonous little snake will onlymake him the more bitter!' my lord answered, striking the table agreat blow in his wrath. 'We are undone! Oh, you idiot, you idiot!'and breaking off suddenly he turned to Fraulein Max, who stood weepingand trembling by the table. 'Why did you do it?'

  'Hush!' my lady said nobly; and she put her arm round Fraulein Anna.'She is so absent. It was my fault. I should not have let her seethem. Besides, she did not know that they were going to be released.And it is done now, and cannot be undone. The question is, what oughtwe to do?'

  'Yes, what?' my lord cried bitterly, with a glance at the culprit,which showed that he was very far from forgiving her. 'I am sure I donot know, any more than the dog there!'

  My lady looked at me anxiously.

  'Well, Martin,' she said, 'what do you say?'

  But I had nothing to say, I felt myself at a loss. I knew, better thanany of them, the Minister's sour nature, and I had seen with my owneyes the state of resentment and rage in which he had left us. Hisnews would fall like a spark dropped on powder. The town, brooding inglo
om, foreboding, and terror, would in a moment blaze into fiercewrath. Every ruffian who had felt his neck endangered by theCountess's sentence, every family that had lost a member in the lateriot, every one who had an old grievance to avenge, or a new object togain, would in an hour be in arms; while those whose advantage laycommonly on the side of order might stand aloof now--some at theinstance of Dietz, and others through timidity and that fear of a mobwhich exists in the mind of every burgher. What, then, had we toexpect? My lady must look to have her authority flouted--that forcertain; but would the matter end with that? Would the disorder stopat the foot of the steps?

  'I think we are safe enough here, if your excellency asks me,' I said,after a moment's thought. 'A dozen men could hold the wicket-gateagainst a thousand.'

  'Safe!' my lady cried in a tone of surprise. 'Yes, Martin, safe! Butwhat of those who look to me for protection? Am I to stand by and seethe law defied? Am I to----' She paused. 'What is that?' she said in adifferent tone, raising her hand for silence.

  She listened, and we listened, looking at one another with meaningeyes; and in a moment she had her answer. Through the open windows,with the air and sunshine, came a sound which rose and fell atintervals. It was the noise of distant cheering. Full and deep,leaping up again and again, in insolent mockery and defiance, itreached us where we stood in the quiet room, and told us that all wasknown. While we still listened, another sound, nearer at hand, brokethe inner stillness of the house--the tramp of a hurrying foot on thestairs. Old Jacob thrust in his head and looked at me.

  'You can speak,' I said.

  'There is something wrong below,' he muttered, abashed at findinghimself in the presence.

  'We know it, Jacob,' my lady said bravely. 'We are considering how toright it. In the mean time, do you go to the gates, my friend, and seethat they are well guarded.'

  'We could send to Hesse-Cassel,' the Waldgrave suggested, when we wereagain alone.

  'It would be useless,' my lady answered. 'The Landgrave is at Munichwith the King of Sweden; so is Leuchtenstein.'

  'If Leuchtenstein were only at home----'

  'Ah!' the Countess answered with a touch of impatience; 'but then heis not. If he were--well, even he could scarcely make troops wherethere are none.'

  'There are generally some to be hired,' the Waldgrave answered. 'Whatif we send to Halle, or Weimar, and inquire? A couple of hundred pikeswould settle the matter.'

  'God forbid!' my lady answered with a shudder. 'I have heard enough ofthe doings of such soldiers. The town has not deserved that.'

  The Waldgrave looked at me, and slightly shrugged his shoulders; asmuch as to say that my lady was impracticable. But I, agreeing withevery word she said, only loved her the more, and could make him noanswer, even if my duty had permitted it. I hastened to suggest that,the castle being safe, the better plan was to wait, keeping on ourguard, and see what happened; which, indeed, seemed also to be theonly course open to us.

  My lady saw this and agreed; I withdrew, to spend the rest of the dayin a feverish march between the one gate and the other. We couldmuster no more than twelve effective men, including the Waldgrave; andthough these might suffice for the bare defence of the place, whichhad only two assailable points, the paucity of our numbers kept me inperpetual fear. I knew my lady's proud nature so well that I dreadedhumiliation for her as I might have feared death for another; with aterror which made the possibility of her capture by the malcontents amisery to me, a nightmare which would neither let me rest nor sleep.

  My lord soon recovered his spirits. In an hour or two he was asbuoyant and cheerful as before, dividing the blame of the_contretemps_ between Fraulein Anna and myself, and hinting that if hehad been left to manage the matter, the guilty would have suffered,and Dietz not gone scot-free. But I trembled. I did not see how wecould be surprised; I thought it improbable that the townsfolk wouldtry to effect anything against us; impossible that they shouldsucceed. Yet, when the stern swell of one of Luther's hymns rose fromthe town at sunset, and I remembered how easily men's hearts wereinflamed by those strains; and again, when a huge bonfire in themarket-place dispelled the night, and for hours kept the town restlessand waking, I shuddered, fearing I knew not what. I will answer forit, my lady, who never ceased to wear a cheerful countenance, did notsleep that night one half so ill as I.

  And yet I was caught napping. A little before daybreak, when all wasquiet, I went to take an hour's rest. I had lain down, and, as far asI could judge later, had just fallen into a doze, when a tremendousshock, which made the very walls round me tremble, drew me to my feetas if a giant hand had plucked me from the bed. A crashing sound,mingled with the shiver of falling glass, filled the air. For a fewseconds I stood trembling and bewildered in the middle of the room--inthe state of disorder natural to a man rudely awakened. I could not onthe instant collect myself or comprehend what had happened. Then, in aflash, the fears of the day returned to my mind, and springing to thedoor, half-dressed as I was, I ran down to the courtyard.

  Some of the servants were already there, a white-cheeked,panic-stricken group of men and women intermixed; but, for amoment, I could get no answer to my questions. All spoke at once, noneknew. Then--it was just growing light--from the direction of thestable-gate a man came running out of the dusk with a half-pike on hisshoulder.

  'Quick!' he cried. 'This way, give me a musket.'

  'What is it?' I answered, seizing him by the arm.

  'They have blown up the bridge--the bridge over the ravine!' hereplied, panting. 'Quick, a gun! A part is left, and they are hackingit down!'

  In a moment I saw all. 'To your posts!' I shouted. 'And the women intothe house! See to the wicket-gate, Jacob, and do not leave it!' Then Isprang into the guardhouse and snatched down a carbine, three or fourof which hung loaded in the loops. The sentry who had brought the newsseized another, and we ran together through the stable court and tothe gate, four or five of the servants following us.

  Elsewhere it was growing light. Here a thick cloud of smoke and duststill hung in the air, with a stifling reek of powder. But lookingthrough one of the loopholes in the gate, I was able to discern thatthe farther end of the bridge which spanned the ravine was gone--orgone in part. The right-hand wall, with three or four feet of theroadway, still hung in air, but half a dozen men, whose figures loomedindistinctly through a haze of dust and gloom, were working at itfuriously, demolishing it with bars and pickaxes.

  At that sight I fell into a rage. I saw in a flash what would happenif the bridge sank and we were cut off from all exit except throughthe town-gate. The dastardly nature of the surprise, too, and thefiendish energy of the men combined to madden me. I gave no warningand cried out no word, but thrusting my weapon through the loopholeaimed at the nearest worker, and fired.

  The man dropped his tool and threw up his arms, staggered forward acouple of paces, and fell sheer over the broken edge into the gulf.His fellows stood a moment in terror, looking after him, but thesentry who had warned me fired through the other loophole, and thatstarted them. They flung down their tools and bolted like so manyrabbits. The smoke of the carbine was scarce out of the muzzle, beforethe bridge, or what remained of it, was clear.

  I turned round and found the Waldgrave at my elbow. 'Well done!' hesaid heartily. 'That will teach the rascals a lesson!'

  I was trembling in every limb with excitement, but before I answeredhim, I handed my gun to one of the men who had followed me. 'Load,' Isaid,' and if a man comes near the bridge, shoot him down. Keep youreye on the bridge, and do nothing else until I come back.'

  Then I walked away through the stable-court with the Waldgrave; wholooked at me curiously. 'You were only just in time,' he said.

  'Only just,' I muttered.

  'There is enough left for a horse to cross.'

  'Yes,' I answered, 'to-day.'

  'Why to-day?' he asked, still looking at me. I think he was surprisedto see me so much moved.

  'Because the rest will be blown up to-night,' I an
swered bluntly. 'Ormay be. How can we guard it in the dark? It is fifty paces from thegate. We cannot risk men there--with our numbers.'

  'Still it may not be,' he said. 'We must keep a sharp look-out.'

  'But if it _is?_' I answered, halting suddenly, and looking him fullin the face. 'If it is, my lord?' I continued. 'We are provisioned fora week only. It is not autumn, you see. Then the pickle tubs would befull, the larder stocked, the rafters groaning, the still-roomsupplied. But it is May, and there is little left. The last three dayswe have been thinking of other things than provisions; and we havethirty mouths to feed.'

  The Waldgrave's face fell. 'I had not thought of that,' he said. 'Thebridge gone, they may starve us, you mean?'

  'Into submission to whatever terms they please,' I answered. 'We aretoo few to cut our way through the town, and there would be no otherway of escape.'

  'What do you advise, then?' he asked, drawing me aside with aflustered air. 'Flight?'

  'A horse might cross the bridge to-day,' I said.

  'But any terms would be better than that!' he replied with vehemence.

  'What if they demand the expulsion of the Catholic girl, my lord, whomthe Countess has taken under her protection?'

  'They will not!' he said.

  'They may,' I persisted.

  'Then we will not give her up.'

  'But the alternative--starvation?'

  'Pooh! It will not come to that!' he answered lightly. 'You leapbefore you reach the stile.'

  'Because, my lord, there will be no leaping if we do reach it.'

  'Nonsense!' he cried masterfully. 'Something must be risked. To giveup a strong place like this to a parcel of clodhoppers--it is absurd!At the worst we could parley.'

  'I do not think my lady would consent to parley.'

  'I shall say nothing to her about it,' he answered. 'She is no judgeof such things.'

  I had been thinking all the while that he had that in his mind, and onthe spot I answered him squarely that I would not consent. 'My ladymust know all,' I said, 'and decide for herself.'

  He started, looking at me with his face very red. 'Why, man,' he said,'would you browbeat me?'

  'No, my lord,' I said firmly, 'but my lady must know.'

  'You are insolent!' he cried, in a passion. 'You forget yourself, man,and that your mistress has placed me in command here!'

  'I forget nothing, my lord,' I answered, waxing firmer. 'What Iremember is that she is my mistress.'

  He glared at me a moment, his face dark with anger, and then with acontemptuous gesture he left me and walked twice or thrice across thecourt. Doubtless the air did him good, for presently he came back tome. 'You are an ill-bred meddler!' he said with his head high, 'and Ishall remember it. But for the present have your way. I will tell theCountess and take her opinion.'

  He went into the house to do it, and I waited patiently in thecourtyard, watching the sun rise and all the roofs grow red; listeningto the twittering of the birds, and wondering what the answer wouldbe. I had not set myself against him without misgiving, for in alittle while all might be in his hands. But fear for my mistressoutweighed fears on my own account; and in the thought of her shame,should she awake some morning and find herself trapped, I lost thoughtof my own interest and advancement. I have heard it said that hebuilds best for himself who builds for another. It was so on thisoccasion.

  He came back presently, looking thoughtful, as if my lady had talkedto him very freely, and shown him a side of her character that hadescaped him. The anger was clean gone from his face, and he spoke tome without embarrassment; in apparent forgetfulness that there hadbeen any difference between us. Nor did I ever find him bear malicelong.

  'The Countess decides to go,' he said, 'either to Cassel or Frankfort,according to the state of the roads. She will take with her FrauleinMax, her two women, and the Catholic girl, and as many men as you canhorse. She thinks she may safely leave the castle in charge of oldJacob and Franz, with a letter directed to the Burgomaster andcouncil, throwing the responsibility for its custody on them. When doyou think we should start?'

  'Soon after dark this evening,' I answered, 'if my lady pleases.'

  'Then that decides it,' he replied carelessly, the dawn of a new planand new prospects lighting up his handsome face. 'See to it, willyou?'