CHAPTER XVIII.
THE MAIDS OF TAUNTON.
The next day was made remarkable in our eyes by an event which,though doubtless of less importance than the enlistment of a dozenrecruits, seemed to us a very great thing indeed--namely, thepresentation to the Duke of the colours embroidered for him by SusanBlake's school-girls. I was myself permitted to walk with the girlson this occasion, as if I had been one of them, though a strangerto the place, and but newly arrived--such was the kindness of SusanBlake and her respect for the name of the learned and pious Dr.Comfort Eykin.
At nine of the clock the girls who were to carry the flags beganto gather in the school-room. There were twenty-seven in all; buttwelve only were the pupils of Miss Blake. The others were thepupils of Mrs. Musgrave, another school-mistress in the town. Iremember not the names of all the girls, but some of them I canstill write down. One was Katharine Bovet, daughter of ColonelBovet: she it was who walked first and named to the Duke thosewho followed; there was also Mary Blake, cousin of Susan, whowas afterwards thrown into prison with her cousin, but presentlywas pardoned. Miss Hucker, daughter of Captain Hucker, theMaster-Serge-maker who entertained the Duke, was another; there werethree daughters of Captain Herring; two daughters of Mr. ThomasBaker, one of Monmouth's Privy Councillors; there was Mary Meade,the girl who carried the famous Golden Flag; and others whom I haveforgotten. When we were assembled, being dressed all in white,and each maid wearing the Monmouth colours, we took our flags andsallied forth. In the street there was almost as great a crowd tolook on as the day before, when the Duke rode in; and, certainly,it was a very pretty sight to see. First marched a man playing onthe crowd very briskly; after him, one who beat a tabor, and one whoplayed a fife; so that we had music on our march. When the musicstopped, we lifted our voices and sang a Psalm all together; thatdone the crowder began again.
As for the procession, no one surely had ever seen the like of it!After the music walked six-and-twenty maids, the youngest eightand the eldest not more than twelve. They marched two by two,very orderly, all dressed in white with blue favours, and everygirl carrying in her hands a flag of silk embroidered by herself,assisted by Miss Blake or some other older person, with devicesappropriate to the nature of the enterprise in hand. For one flaghad upon it, truly figured in scarlet silk, an open Bible, becauseit was for liberty to read and expound that book that the men weregoing forth to fight. Upon another was embroidered a great cross;upon a third were the arms of the Duke; a fourth bore upon it, toshow the zeal of the people, the arms of the town of Taunton; anda fifth had both a Bible and a drawn sword; and so forth, everyone with a legend embroidered upon it plain for all to read. Theflags were affixed to stout white staves, and as the maids walkedapart from each other and at a due distance, the flags all flyingin the wind made a pretty sight indeed; so that some of the womenwho looked on shed tears. Among the flags was one which I needs mustmention, because, unless the device was communicated by some persondeep in the Duke's counsels, it most strangely jumped with the eventof the following day. Mary Meade, poor child! carried it. We calledit the Golden Flag, because it had a crown worked in gold threadupon it and the letters 'J. R.' A fringe of lace was sewn round it,so that it was the richest flag of all. What could the Crown withthe letters 'J. R.' mean, but that James, Duke of Monmouth, wouldshortly assume the Crown of these three kingdoms?
Last of all walked Miss Susan Blake, and I by her side. She bore inone hand a Bible bound in red leather, stamped with gold, and in theother a naked sword.
The Duke came forth to meet us, standing bareheaded before theporch. There were standing beside and behind him, the Lord Grey, histwo Chaplains, Dr. Hooke and Mr. Ferguson, my father, Mr. Larke,the Baptist minister of Lyme Regis (he wore a corslet and carrieda sword), and the Colonels of his regiments. His bodyguard weredrawn up across the street, looking brave and splendid in their newfavours. The varlets waited beyond with the horses for the Duke'sparty. Who, to look upon the martial array, the bravery of theGuard, the gallant bearing of all, the confidence in their looks,and the presence, which should surely bring a blessing, of theministers of religion, would think that all this pomp and promisecould be shattered at a single blow?
As each girl advanced in her turn, she knelt on one knee and offeredher flag, bowing her head (we had practised this ceremony severaltimes at the school until we were all quite perfect in our parts).Then the Duke stepped forward and raised her, tenderly kissing her.Then she stood aside holding her flag still in her hands.
My turn--because I had no flag--came last but one, Miss Susan Blakebeing the last. Now--I hope it was not folly, or a vaingloriousdesire to be distinguished by any particular notice of his Grace--Icould not refrain from hanging the ring, which the Duke had given meat Ilchester five years ago, outside my dress by a blue ribbon. MissBlake, to whom I had told the story of the ring, advised me to doso, partly to show my loyalty to the Duke, and partly because it wasa pretty thing and one which some women would much desire to possess.
Miss Katharine Bovet informed the Duke that I was the daughter ofthe learned preacher, Dr. Comfort Eykin. When I knelt he raised me.Then, as he was about to salute me, his eyes fell upon the ring, andhe looked first at me and then at the ring.
'Madam,' he said, 'this ring I ought to know. If I mistake not,there are the initials of "J. S." upon it.'
'Sir,' I replied, 'the ring was your own. Your Grace was so good asto bestow it upon me in your progress through the town of Ilchesterfive years ago.'
'Gad so!' he said, laughing; 'I remember now. 'Twas a sweet andlovely child whom I kissed--and now thou art a sweet and lovelymaiden. Art thou truly the daughter of Dr. Comfort Eykin?'--helooked behind him; but my father neither heard nor attended, beingwrapped in thought. ''Tis strange: his daughter! 'Tis indeedwonderful that such a child should'----Here he stopped. 'Fair Roseof Somerset I called thee then. Fair Rose of Somerset I call theeagain. Why, if I could place thee at the head of my army all Englandwould certainly follow, as if Helen of Troy or Queen Venus herselfdid lead.' So he kissed me on the cheek with much warmth--more,indeed, than was necessary to show a gracious and friendly goodwill;and suffered me to step aside. 'Dr. Eykin's daughter!' he repeated,with a kind of wonder. 'How could Dr. Eykin have such a daughter!'
When I told Robin of this gracious salutation, he first turned veryred and then he laughed. Then he said that everybody knew the Duke,but he must not attempt any Court freedoms in the Protestant camp;and if he were to try----Then he broke off short, changed colouragain, and then he kissed me, saying that, of course, the Duke meantnothing but kindliness, but that, for his own part, he desired nothis sweetheart to be kissed by anybody but himself. So I supposemy boy was jealous. But the folly of being jealous of so great aPrince, who could not possibly have the least regard for a simplecountry maiden, and who had known the great and beautiful Courtladies! It made me laugh to think that Robin could be so foolish asto be jealous of the Duke.
Then it was Miss Susan Blake's turn. She stepped forward verybriskly, and knelt down, and placed the Bible in the Duke's lefthand and the sword in his right.
'Sir,' she said (speaking the words we had made up and she hadlearned), 'it is in the name of the women of Taunton--nay, of thewomen of all England--that I give you the Book of the Word of God,the most precious treasure vouchsafed to man, so that all may learnthat you are come for no other purpose than to maintain the rightof the English people to search the Scriptures for themselves. Igive you also, Sir, a sword with which to defend those rights. Inaddition, Sir, the women can only give your Grace the offering oftheir continual prayers in behalf of the Cause, and for the safetyand prosperity of your Highness and your army.'
'Madam,' said the Duke, much moved by this spectacle of devotion, 'Iam come, believe me, for no other purpose than to defend the truthscontained in this book, and to seal my defence with my blood, ifthat need be.'
Then the Duke mounted, and we marched behind him in single file,each girl led by a soldier, till we came to the c
amp, when ourflags were taken from us, and we returned home and took off ourwhite dresses. I confess that I laid mine down with a sigh. Whitebecomes every maiden, and my only wear till then had been ofrusset brown. And all that day we acted over again--in our talkand in our thoughts--our beautiful procession, and we repeated thecondescending words of the Duke, and admired the graciousness ofhis kisses, and praised each other for our admirable behaviour, andlistened, with pleasure unspeakable while Susan Blake prophesiedthat we should become immortal by the ceremony of that day.