CHAPTER XV
And yet he thinks,--ha, ha, ha, ha,--he thinks I am the tool and servant of his will. Well, let it be; through all the maze of trouble His plots and base oppression must create, I'll shape myself a way to higher things, And who will say 'tis wrong? --Basil, a Tragedy
No spider ever took more pains to repair the shattered meshes of hisweb, than did Waldemar Fitzurse to reunite and combine the scatteredmembers of Prince John's cabal. Few of these were attached to him frominclination, and none from personal regard. It was therefore necessary,that Fitzurse should open to them new prospects of advantage, and remindthem of those which they at present enjoyed. To the young and wildnobles, he held out the prospect of unpunished license and uncontrolledrevelry; to the ambitious, that of power, and to the covetous, that ofincreased wealth and extended domains. The leaders of the mercenariesreceived a donation in gold; an argument the most persuasive to theirminds, and without which all others would have proved in vain. Promiseswere still more liberally distributed than money by this active agent;and, in fine, nothing was left undone that could determine the wavering,or animate the disheartened. The return of King Richard he spoke ofas an event altogether beyond the reach of probability; yet, whenhe observed, from the doubtful looks and uncertain answers which hereceived, that this was the apprehension by which the minds of hisaccomplices were most haunted, he boldly treated that event, shouldit really take place, as one which ought not to alter their politicalcalculations.
"If Richard returns," said Fitzurse, "he returns to enrich his needy andimpoverished crusaders at the expense of those who did not follow himto the Holy Land. He returns to call to a fearful reckoning, those who,during his absence, have done aught that can be construed offence orencroachment upon either the laws of the land or the privileges ofthe crown. He returns to avenge upon the Orders of the Temple and theHospital, the preference which they showed to Philip of France duringthe wars in the Holy Land. He returns, in fine, to punish as a rebelevery adherent of his brother Prince John. Are ye afraid of his power?"continued the artful confident of that Prince, "we acknowledge him astrong and valiant knight; but these are not the days of King Arthur,when a champion could encounter an army. If Richard indeed comes back,it must be alone,--unfollowed--unfriended. The bones of his gallant armyhave whitened the sands of Palestine. The few of his followers who havereturned have straggled hither like this Wilfred of Ivanhoe, beggaredand broken men.--And what talk ye of Richard's right of birth?" heproceeded, in answer to those who objected scruples on that head. "IsRichard's title of primogeniture more decidedly certain than that ofDuke Robert of Normandy, the Conqueror's eldest son? And yet Williamthe Red, and Henry, his second and third brothers, were successivelypreferred to him by the voice of the nation, Robert had every meritwhich can be pleaded for Richard; he was a bold knight, a good leader,generous to his friends and to the church, and, to crown the whole, acrusader and a conqueror of the Holy Sepulchre; and yet he died a blindand miserable prisoner in the Castle of Cardiff, because he opposedhimself to the will of the people, who chose that he should not ruleover them. It is our right," he said, "to choose from the blood royalthe prince who is best qualified to hold the supreme power--that is,"said he, correcting himself, "him whose election will best promote theinterests of the nobility. In personal qualifications," he added, "itwas possible that Prince John might be inferior to his brother Richard;but when it was considered that the latter returned with the sword ofvengeance in his hand, while the former held out rewards, immunities,privileges, wealth, and honours, it could not be doubted which was theking whom in wisdom the nobility were called on to support."
These, and many more arguments, some adapted to the peculiarcircumstances of those whom he addressed, had the expected weight withthe nobles of Prince John's faction. Most of them consented to attendthe proposed meeting at York, for the purpose of making generalarrangements for placing the crown upon the head of Prince John.
It was late at night, when, worn out and exhausted with his variousexertions, however gratified with the result, Fitzurse, returning tothe Castle of Ashby, met with De Bracy, who had exchanged his banquetinggarments for a short green kirtle, with hose of the same cloth andcolour, a leathern cap or head-piece, a short sword, a horn slung overhis shoulder, a long bow in his hand, and a bundle of arrows stuck inhis belt. Had Fitzurse met this figure in an outer apartment, he wouldhave passed him without notice, as one of the yeomen of the guard; butfinding him in the inner hall, he looked at him with more attention, andrecognised the Norman knight in the dress of an English yeoman.
"What mummery is this, De Bracy?" said Fitzurse, somewhat angrily; "isthis a time for Christmas gambols and quaint maskings, when the fate ofour master, Prince John, is on the very verge of decision? Why hast thounot been, like me, among these heartless cravens, whom the very nameof King Richard terrifies, as it is said to do the children of theSaracens?"
"I have been attending to mine own business," answered De Bracy calmly,"as you, Fitzurse, have been minding yours."
"I minding mine own business!" echoed Waldemar; "I have been engaged inthat of Prince John, our joint patron."
"As if thou hadst any other reason for that, Waldemar," said De Bracy,"than the promotion of thine own individual interest? Come, Fitzurse,we know each other--ambition is thy pursuit, pleasure is mine, and theybecome our different ages. Of Prince John thou thinkest as I do; thathe is too weak to be a determined monarch, too tyrannical to be an easymonarch, too insolent and presumptuous to be a popular monarch, and toofickle and timid to be long a monarch of any kind. But he is a monarchby whom Fitzurse and De Bracy hope to rise and thrive; and therefore youaid him with your policy, and I with the lances of my Free Companions."
"A hopeful auxiliary," said Fitzurse impatiently; "playing the fool inthe very moment of utter necessity.--What on earth dost thou purpose bythis absurd disguise at a moment so urgent?"
"To get me a wife," answered De Bracy coolly, "after the manner of thetribe of Benjamin."
"The tribe of Benjamin?" said Fitzurse; "I comprehend thee not."
"Wert thou not in presence yester-even," said De Bracy, "when we heardthe Prior Aymer tell us a tale in reply to the romance which was sung bythe Minstrel?--He told how, long since in Palestine, a deadly feud arosebetween the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the Israelitish nation;and how they cut to pieces well-nigh all the chivalry of that tribe; andhow they swore by our blessed Lady, that they would not permit thosewho remained to marry in their lineage; and how they became grieved fortheir vow, and sent to consult his holiness the Pope how they might beabsolved from it; and how, by the advice of the Holy Father, the youthof the tribe of Benjamin carried off from a superb tournament all theladies who were there present, and thus won them wives without theconsent either of their brides or their brides' families."
"I have heard the story," said Fitzurse, "though either the Prior orthou has made some singular alterations in date and circumstances."
"I tell thee," said De Bracy, "that I mean to purvey me a wife after thefashion of the tribe of Benjamin; which is as much as to say, that inthis same equipment I will fall upon that herd of Saxon bullocks, whohave this night left the castle, and carry off from them the lovelyRowena."
"Art thou mad, De Bracy?" said Fitzurse. "Bethink thee that, though themen be Saxons, they are rich and powerful, and regarded with the morerespect by their countrymen, that wealth and honour are but the lot offew of Saxon descent."
"And should belong to none," said De Bracy; "the work of the Conquestshould be completed."
"This is no time for it at least," said Fitzurse "the approaching crisisrenders the favour of the multitude indispensable, and Prince Johncannot refuse justice to any one who injures their favourites."
"Let him grant it, if he dare," said De Bracy; "he will soon see thedifference betwixt the support of such a lusty lot of spears as mine,and that of a heartless mob of Saxon churls. Yet I mean no immediatediscovery of myself. S
eem I not in this garb as bold a forester as everblew horn? The blame of the violence shall rest with the outlaws of theYorkshire forests. I have sure spies on the Saxon's motions--To-nightthey sleep in the convent of Saint Wittol, or Withold, or whatever theycall that churl of a Saxon Saint at Burton-on-Trent. Next day's marchbrings them within our reach, and, falcon-ways, we swoop on themat once. Presently after I will appear in mine own shape, play thecourteous knight, rescue the unfortunate and afflicted fair one from thehands of the rude ravishers, conduct her to Front-de-Boeuf's Castle, orto Normandy, if it should be necessary, and produce her not again to herkindred until she be the bride and dame of Maurice de Bracy."
"A marvellously sage plan," said Fitzurse, "and, as I think, notentirely of thine own device.--Come, be frank, De Bracy, who aidedthee in the invention? and who is to assist in the execution? for, as Ithink, thine own band lies as far off as York."
"Marry, if thou must needs know," said De Bracy, "it was the TemplarBrian de Bois-Guilbert that shaped out the enterprise, which theadventure of the men of Benjamin suggested to me. He is to aid me inthe onslaught, and he and his followers will personate the outlaws, fromwhom my valorous arm is, after changing my garb, to rescue the lady."
"By my halidome," said Fitzurse, "the plan was worthy of your unitedwisdom! and thy prudence, De Bracy, is most especially manifested in theproject of leaving the lady in the hands of thy worthy confederate. Thoumayst, I think, succeed in taking her from her Saxon friends, but howthou wilt rescue her afterwards from the clutches of Bois-Guilbert seemsconsiderably more doubtful--He is a falcon well accustomed to pounce ona partridge, and to hold his prey fast."
"He is a Templar," said De Bracy, "and cannot therefore rival me inmy plan of wedding this heiress;--and to attempt aught dishonourableagainst the intended bride of De Bracy--By Heaven! were he a wholeChapter of his Order in his single person, he dared not do me such aninjury!"
"Then since nought that I can say," said Fitzurse, "will put thisfolly from thy imagination, (for well I know the obstinacy of thydisposition,) at least waste as little time as possible--let not thyfolly be lasting as well as untimely."
"I tell thee," answered De Bracy, "that it will be the work of a fewhours, and I shall be at York--at the head of my daring and valorousfellows, as ready to support any bold design as thy policy can be toform one.--But I hear my comrades assembling, and the steeds stampingand neighing in the outer court.--Farewell.--I go, like a true knight,to win the smiles of beauty."
"Like a true knight?" repeated Fitzurse, looking after him; "like afool, I should say, or like a child, who will leave the most serious andneedful occupation, to chase the down of the thistle that drivespast him.--But it is with such tools that I must work;--and for whoseadvantage?--For that of a Prince as unwise as he is profligate, and aslikely to be an ungrateful master as he has already proved a rebelliousson and an unnatural brother.--But he--he, too, is but one of the toolswith which I labour; and, proud as he is, should he presume to separatehis interest from mine, this is a secret which he shall soon learn."
The meditations of the statesman were here interrupted by the voiceof the Prince from an interior apartment, calling out, "Noble WaldemarFitzurse!" and, with bonnet doffed, the future Chancellor (for to suchhigh preferment did the wily Norman aspire) hastened to receive theorders of the future sovereign.