CHAPTER XXXVI
Say not my art is fraud--all live by seeming. The beggar begs with it, and the gay courtier Gains land and title, rank and rule, by seeming; The clergy scorn it not, and the bold soldier Will eke with it his service.--All admit it, All practise it; and he who is content With showing what he is, shall have small credit In church, or camp, or state--So wags the world. --Old Play
Albert Malvoisin, President, or, in the language of the Order, Preceptorof the establishment of Templestowe, was brother to that PhilipMalvoisin who has been already occasionally mentioned in this history,and was, like that baron, in close league with Brian de Bois-Guilbert.
Amongst dissolute and unprincipled men, of whom the Temple Orderincluded but too many, Albert of Templestowe might be distinguished; butwith this difference from the audacious Bois-Guilbert, that he knew howto throw over his vices and his ambition the veil of hypocrisy, and toassume in his exterior the fanaticism which he internally despised.Had not the arrival of the Grand Master been so unexpectedly sudden,he would have seen nothing at Templestowe which might have appeared toargue any relaxation of discipline. And, even although surprised, and,to a certain extent, detected, Albert Malvoisin listened with suchrespect and apparent contrition to the rebuke of his Superior, and madesuch haste to reform the particulars he censured,--succeeded, in fine,so well in giving an air of ascetic devotion to a family which had beenlately devoted to license and pleasure, that Lucas Beaumanoir began toentertain a higher opinion of the Preceptor's morals, than the firstappearance of the establishment had inclined him to adopt.
But these favourable sentiments on the part of the Grand Master weregreatly shaken by the intelligence that Albert had received within ahouse of religion the Jewish captive, and, as was to be feared, theparamour of a brother of the Order; and when Albert appeared before him,he was regarded with unwonted sternness.
"There is in this mansion, dedicated to the purposes of the holy Orderof the Temple," said the Grand Master, in a severe tone, "a Jewishwoman, brought hither by a brother of religion, by your connivance, SirPreceptor."
Albert Malvoisin was overwhelmed with confusion; for the unfortunateRebecca had been confined in a remote and secret part of the building,and every precaution used to prevent her residence there from beingknown. He read in the looks of Beaumanoir ruin to Bois-Guilbert and tohimself, unless he should be able to avert the impending storm.
"Why are you mute?" continued the Grand Master.
"Is it permitted to me to reply?" answered the Preceptor, in a tone ofthe deepest humility, although by the question he only meant to gain aninstant's space for arranging his ideas.
"Speak, you are permitted," said the Grand Master--"speak, and say,knowest thou the capital of our holy rule,--'De commilitonibus Templiin sancta civitate, qui cum miserrimis mulieribus versantur, propteroblectationem carnis?'" [51]
"Surely, most reverend father," answered the Preceptor, "I have notrisen to this office in the Order, being ignorant of one of its mostimportant prohibitions."
"How comes it, then, I demand of thee once more, that thou hast suffereda brother to bring a paramour, and that paramour a Jewish sorceress,into this holy place, to the stain and pollution thereof?"
"A Jewish sorceress!" echoed Albert Malvoisin; "good angels guard us!"
"Ay, brother, a Jewish sorceress!" said the Grand Master, sternly. "Ihave said it. Darest thou deny that this Rebecca, the daughter of thatwretched usurer Isaac of York, and the pupil of the foul witchMiriam, is now--shame to be thought or spoken!--lodged within this thyPreceptory?"
"Your wisdom, reverend father," answered the Preceptor, "hath rolledaway the darkness from my understanding. Much did I wonder that so gooda knight as Brian de Bois-Guilbert seemed so fondly besotted on thecharms of this female, whom I received into this house merely to place abar betwixt their growing intimacy, which else might have been cementedat the expense of the fall of our valiant and religious brother."
"Hath nothing, then, as yet passed betwixt them in breach of his vow?"demanded the Grand Master.
"What! under this roof?" said the Preceptor, crossing himself; "SaintMagdalene and the ten thousand virgins forbid!--No! if I have sinned inreceiving her here, it was in the erring thought that I might thus breakoff our brother's besotted devotion to this Jewess, which seemed to meso wild and unnatural, that I could not but ascribe it to some touch ofinsanity, more to be cured by pity than reproof. But since your reverendwisdom hath discovered this Jewish queen to be a sorceress, perchance itmay account fully for his enamoured folly."
"It doth!--it doth!" said Beaumanoir. "See, brother Conrade, the perilof yielding to the first devices and blandishments of Satan! We lookupon woman only to gratify the lust of the eye, and to take pleasurein what men call her beauty; and the Ancient Enemy, the devouring Lion,obtains power over us, to complete, by talisman and spell, a workwhich was begun by idleness and folly. It may be that our brotherBois-Guilbert does in this matter deserve rather pity than severechastisement; rather the support of the staff, than the strokes of therod; and that our admonitions and prayers may turn him from his folly,and restore him to his brethren."
"It were deep pity," said Conrade Mont-Fitchet, "to lose to the Orderone of its best lances, when the Holy Community most requires the aid ofits sons. Three hundred Saracens hath this Brian de Bois-Guilbert slainwith his own hand."
"The blood of these accursed dogs," said the Grand Master, "shall be asweet and acceptable offering to the saints and angels whom they despiseand blaspheme; and with their aid will we counteract the spells andcharms with which our brother is entwined as in a net. He shall burstthe bands of this Delilah, as Sampson burst the two new cords with whichthe Philistines had bound him, and shall slaughter the infidels, evenheaps upon heaps. But concerning this foul witch, who hath flung herenchantments over a brother of the Holy Temple, assuredly she shall diethe death."
"But the laws of England,"--said the Preceptor, who, though delightedthat the Grand Master's resentment, thus fortunately averted fromhimself and Bois-Guilbert, had taken another direction, began now tofear he was carrying it too far.
"The laws of England," interrupted Beaumanoir, "permit and enjoin eachjudge to execute justice within his own jurisdiction. The most pettybaron may arrest, try, and condemn a witch found within his own domain.And shall that power be denied to the Grand Master of the Temple withina preceptory of his Order?--No!--we will judge and condemn. The witchshall be taken out of the land, and the wickedness thereof shall beforgiven. Prepare the Castle-hall for the trial of the sorceress."
Albert Malvoisin bowed and retired,--not to give directions forpreparing the hall, but to seek out Brian de Bois-Guilbert, andcommunicate to him how matters were likely to terminate. It was notlong ere he found him, foaming with indignation at a repulse he hadanew sustained from the fair Jewess. "The unthinking," he said, "theungrateful, to scorn him who, amidst blood and flames, would have savedher life at the risk of his own! By Heaven, Malvoisin! I abode untilroof and rafters crackled and crashed around me. I was the butt of ahundred arrows; they rattled on mine armour like hailstones againsta latticed casement, and the only use I made of my shield was for herprotection. This did I endure for her; and now the self-willed girlupbraids me that I did not leave her to perish, and refuses me not onlythe slightest proof of gratitude, but even the most distant hope thatever she will be brought to grant any. The devil, that possessed herrace with obstinacy, has concentrated its full force in her singleperson!"
"The devil," said the Preceptor, "I think, possessed you both. How ofthave I preached to you caution, if not continence? Did I not tell youthat there were enough willing Christian damsels to be met with, whowould think it sin to refuse so brave a knight 'le don d'amoureuxmerci', and you must needs anchor your affection on a wilful, obstinateJewess! By the mass, I think old Lucas Beaumanoir guesses right, when hemaintains she hath cast a spell over you."
"Lucas Beaumanoir!"--said Bois-Guilbert r
eproachfully--"Are these yourprecautions, Malvoisin? Hast thou suffered the dotard to learn thatRebecca is in the Preceptory?"
"How could I help it?" said the Preceptor. "I neglected nothing thatcould keep secret your mystery; but it is betrayed, and whether by thedevil or no, the devil only can tell. But I have turned the matter as Icould; you are safe if you renounce Rebecca. You are pitied--the victimof magical delusion. She is a sorceress, and must suffer as such."
"She shall not, by Heaven!" said Bois-Guilbert.
"By Heaven, she must and will!" said Malvoisin. "Neither you nor anyone else can save her. Lucas Beaumanoir hath settled that the death ofa Jewess will be a sin-offering sufficient to atone for all the amorousindulgences of the Knights Templars; and thou knowest he hath both thepower and will to execute so reasonable and pious a purpose."
"Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed!" saidBois-Guilbert, striding up and down the apartment.
"What they may believe, I know not," said Malvoisin, calmly; "but I knowwell, that in this our day, clergy and laymen, take ninety-nine to thehundred, will cry 'amen' to the Grand Master's sentence."
"I have it," said Bois-Guilbert. "Albert, thou art my friend. Thou mustconnive at her escape, Malvoisin, and I will transport her to some placeof greater security and secrecy."
"I cannot, if I would," replied the Preceptor; "the mansion is filledwith the attendants of the Grand Master, and others who are devoted tohim. And, to be frank with you, brother, I would not embark with youin this matter, even if I could hope to bring my bark to haven. I haverisked enough already for your sake. I have no mind to encounter asentence of degradation, or even to lose my Preceptory, for the sakeof a painted piece of Jewish flesh and blood. And you, if you will beguided by my counsel, will give up this wild-goose chase, and fly yourhawk at some other game. Think, Bois-Guilbert,--thy present rank, thyfuture honours, all depend on thy place in the Order. Shouldst thouadhere perversely to thy passion for this Rebecca, thou wilt giveBeaumanoir the power of expelling thee, and he will not neglect it. Heis jealous of the truncheon which he holds in his trembling gripe, andhe knows thou stretchest thy bold hand towards it. Doubt not he willruin thee, if thou affordest him a pretext so fair as thy protection ofa Jewish sorceress. Give him his scope in this matter, for thou canstnot control him. When the staff is in thine own firm grasp, thou mayestcaress the daughters of Judah, or burn them, as may best suit thine ownhumour."
"Malvoisin," said Bois-Guilbert, "thou art a cold-blooded--"
"Friend," said the Preceptor, hastening to fill up the blank, in whichBois-Guilbert would probably have placed a worse word,--"a cold-bloodedfriend I am, and therefore more fit to give thee advice. I tell theeonce more, that thou canst not save Rebecca. I tell thee once more,thou canst but perish with her. Go hie thee to the Grand Master--throwthyself at his feet and tell him--"
"Not at his feet, by Heaven! but to the dotard's very beard will Isay--"
"Say to him, then, to his beard," continued Malvoisin, coolly, "that youlove this captive Jewess to distraction; and the more thou dost enlargeon thy passion, the greater will be his haste to end it by the death ofthe fair enchantress; while thou, taken in flagrant delict by the avowalof a crime contrary to thine oath, canst hope no aid of thy brethren,and must exchange all thy brilliant visions of ambition and power, tolift perhaps a mercenary spear in some of the petty quarrels betweenFlanders and Burgundy."
"Thou speakest the truth, Malvoisin," said Brian de Bois-Guilbert, aftera moment's reflection. "I will give the hoary bigot no advantage overme; and for Rebecca, she hath not merited at my hand that I shouldexpose rank and honour for her sake. I will cast her off--yes, I willleave her to her fate, unless--"
"Qualify not thy wise and necessary resolution," said Malvoisin; "womenare but the toys which amuse our lighter hours--ambition is the seriousbusiness of life. Perish a thousand such frail baubles as this Jewess,before thy manly step pause in the brilliant career that lies stretchedbefore thee! For the present we part, nor must we be seen to hold closeconversation--I must order the hall for his judgment-seat."
"What!" said Bois-Guilbert, "so soon?"
"Ay," replied the Preceptor, "trial moves rapidly on when the judge hasdetermined the sentence beforehand."
"Rebecca," said Bois-Guilbert, when he was left alone, "thou art liketo cost me dear--Why cannot I abandon thee to thy fate, as this calmhypocrite recommends?--One effort will I make to save thee--but bewareof ingratitude! for if I am again repulsed, my vengeance shall equal mylove. The life and honour of Bois-Guilbert must not be hazarded, wherecontempt and reproaches are his only reward."
The Preceptor had hardly given the necessary orders, when he was joinedby Conrade Mont-Fitchet, who acquainted him with the Grand Master'sresolution to bring the Jewess to instant trial for sorcery.
"It is surely a dream," said the Preceptor; "we have many Jewishphysicians, and we call them not wizards though they work wonderfulcures."
"The Grand Master thinks otherwise," said Mont-Fitchet; "and, Albert,I will be upright with thee--wizard or not, it were better that thismiserable damsel die, than that Brian de Bois-Guilbert should be lost tothe Order, or the Order divided by internal dissension. Thou knowest hishigh rank, his fame in arms--thou knowest the zeal with which many ofour brethren regard him--but all this will not avail him with our GrandMaster, should he consider Brian as the accomplice, not the victim, ofthis Jewess. Were the souls of the twelve tribes in her single body, itwere better she suffered alone, than that Bois-Guilbert were partner inher destruction."
"I have been working him even now to abandon her," said Malvoisin;"but still, are there grounds enough to condemn this Rebecca forsorcery?--Will not the Grand Master change his mind when he sees thatthe proofs are so weak?"
"They must be strengthened, Albert," replied Mont-Fitchet, "they must bestrengthened. Dost thou understand me?"
"I do," said the Preceptor, "nor do I scruple to do aught foradvancement of the Order--but there is little time to find enginesfitting."
"Malvoisin, they MUST be found," said Conrade; "well will it advantageboth the Order and thee. This Templestowe is a poor Preceptory--that ofMaison-Dieu is worth double its value--thou knowest my interest with ourold Chief--find those who can carry this matter through, and thou artPreceptor of Maison-Dieu in the fertile Kent--How sayst thou?"
"There is," replied Malvoisin, "among those who came hither withBois-Guilbert, two fellows whom I well know; servants they were to mybrother Philip de Malvoisin, and passed from his service to that ofFront-de-Boeuf--It may be they know something of the witcheries of thiswoman."
"Away, seek them out instantly--and hark thee, if a byzant or two willsharpen their memory, let them not be wanting."
"They would swear the mother that bore them a sorceress for a zecchin,"said the Preceptor.
"Away, then," said Mont-Fitchet; "at noon the affair will proceed. Ihave not seen our senior in such earnest preparation since he condemnedto the stake Hamet Alfagi, a convert who relapsed to the Moslem faith."
The ponderous castle-bell had tolled the point of noon, when Rebeccaheard a trampling of feet upon the private stair which led to her placeof confinement. The noise announced the arrival of several persons, andthe circumstance rather gave her joy; for she was more afraid of thesolitary visits of the fierce and passionate Bois-Guilbert than ofany evil that could befall her besides. The door of the chamber wasunlocked, and Conrade and the Preceptor Malvoisin entered, attended byfour warders clothed in black, and bearing halberds.
"Daughter of an accursed race!" said the Preceptor, "arise and followus."
"Whither," said Rebecca, "and for what purpose?"
"Damsel," answered Conrade, "it is not for thee to question, but toobey. Nevertheless, be it known to thee, that thou art to be broughtbefore the tribunal of the Grand Master of our holy Order, there toanswer for thine offences."
"May the God of Abraham be praised!" said Rebecca, folding her handsdevoutly; "the name of a
judge, though an enemy to my people, is to meas the name of a protector. Most willingly do I follow thee--permit meonly to wrap my veil around my head."
They descended the stair with slow and solemn step, traversed a longgallery, and, by a pair of folding doors placed at the end, entered thegreat hall in which the Grand Master had for the time established hiscourt of justice.
The lower part of this ample apartment was filled with squires andyeomen, who made way not without some difficulty for Rebecca, attendedby the Preceptor and Mont-Fitchet, and followed by the guard ofhalberdiers, to move forward to the seat appointed for her. As shepassed through the crowd, her arms folded and her head depressed, ascrap of paper was thrust into her hand, which she received almostunconsciously, and continued to hold without examining its contents. Theassurance that she possessed some friend in this awful assembly gaveher courage to look around, and to mark into whose presence she hadbeen conducted. She gazed, accordingly, upon the scene, which we shallendeavour to describe in the next chapter.