Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times
sent to knock at the council chamber, and ask if the Earl would see the
young Lord of Monthermer. In about three minutes the boy returned,
bidding him follow, and Hugh was led along the dark and gloomy
corridor, until his guide paused, and again tapped at a low narrow door
on the left hand side of the passage.
After a moment's interval, a deep voice replied, "Come in!" and the
next instant Hugh entered the room, and found himself standing within a
step or two of the chair in which De Montfort was seated.
He was a tall, powerful, square-browed man, with a countenance full of
thought, but likewise full of confidence. There was great calmness also
in his aspect, and an eye, not stern but grave, not so much shrewd as
searching. There were but two other persons in the room, although he
was said to be holding council. One of those was the old Earl of
Monthermer, and the other a man considerably younger, but yet
grey-headed, and well known in the history of the times as the Lord
Ralph Basset.
De Montfort looked up, as Hugh de Monthermer entered, with a bland and
pleasant smile, holding out his hand at the same time, and saying, "How
are you, Hugh? Right glad are we to see such friends as you arrive. Do
you bring us any farther tidings from Nottingham?"
"None, my lord," replied Hugh, "except that levies of the yeomen and
foresters are going on rapidly."
"They had need be speedy," said De Montfort, "or we shall strike some
great blow before they come. Heard you aught else by the way?"
"In truth, my lord, I did, and no good news either!" replied Hugh. "The
Earl of Gloucester is daily gathering strength, and he renders the road
round his fair city somewhat dangerous to travel. Indeed, the reason
why I intruded on you now, was but to tell you that Alured de Ashby,
his sister, and some twelve or fourteen archers, had been captured by
De Clare, between Gloucester and Charlton. I judge, my lord, that if
you took speedy means to set him free, it might fix the house of Ashby
somewhat more firmly in the good cause."
Both De Montfort and the Earl of Monthermer heard him with a smile, and
Ralph Basset muttered between his teeth--"Fix the sands of the sea!"
"You have been forestalled, my young friend," said De Montfort; "some
one else has already liberated Alured de Ashby, together with his
sister and his archers."
"Indeed!" exclaimed Hugh de Monthermer; "may I ask who?"
"Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester," replied De Montfort.
"Ay, and not without cause, be sure of that;" said Ralph Basset; "he is
coming hither now, will arrive to-morrow, with a smooth air and a
high-carried head, and my Lord of Leicester here will receive him as
kindly and frankly as the truest of his friends."
"I want not to multiply my enemies, Ralph," replied De Montfort; "and
perhaps we may find some better way of attaching him to what is right,
than by treating him as a foe, before we are well sure that he has done
aught to deserve the name. What say you, Hugh, will you be the link to
bind him to our cause?"
"Right willingly, my lord," answered Hugh de Monthermer; "but I rather
fear that I am more likely to separate him from it. He loves me not,
that is clear; and though the good Earl, his uncle, is not so hot and
fiery in his nature, yet I have those things to say about their near
relation, Richard, which may breed ill blood before I have done."
De Montfort mused for a minute or two. "Why, Richard," he said, at
length, "is apparently the most zealous in our cause of all the race!"
"But did my uncle----" demanded Hugh.
"Ay, he did,". said De Montfort, interrupting him; "and I spoke
with Richard about it; but he assures me that the thing was
done in ignorance, and that the man himself has since been
discharged.--However----"
"He is a foul knave!" replied Hugh de Monthermer; "and at all events I
have promised to demand, at the hands of the Earl, some reparation for
a gross wrong which he has committed."
"Well, well," said the Earl of Leicester, apparently desirous of
changing the subject for the time; "if you must do so, Hugh, let it be
done before some friends as witnesses--before myself, perhaps, were
better; and do whatever you do gently, for your uncle here has told me
of hopes and wishes which you may go far to mar, if you act rashly in
the business."
"I will be as calm and gentle as the south-west wind," replied Hugh,
"for I would fain give neither Alured nor his father any matter for
offence; and if you will send and let me know when they are with you, I
will come and speak to them in your presence. And now, my lord," he
continued, "if such a thing be permitted, as I suppose it is, I would
fain spend a short time with Prince Edward. You know we were sworn
friends in youth."
"I know you were," replied De Montfort; "but good sooth, Hugh, to have
been his sworn friend is no good motive, in my eyes, for letting you
confer with him."
The brow of Hugh de Monthermer grew somewhat dark, but the Earl of
Leicester added immediately--"I will tell you what is a motive,
however, my young friend--your own honour and high name. We treat the
Prince with every courtesy and due respect; we do not look upon him as
a prisoner; but it is highly needful for the safety of the state, ay,
and for our own lives and fortunes, that he should remain in close
attendance upon his father, the King. Now, my good friend, there are
men who would fain persuade him it were better for him to be away,
consulting, doubtless, with this good Earl of Gloucester, and heading
armies to tear the kingdom with fresh strife, while others again would
willingly give him the means of carrying such designs into execution.
None that we even suspect, therefore, do we permit to visit him; and
this very Richard de Ashby, whom we spoke of but now, though he gave
good reasons, as I have said, to make us believe him innocent, we have,
on your uncle's information, forbidden to hold any farther
communication with the Prince, and, moreover, warned him to quit
Hereford without delay. It is different, however, with a Monthermer,"
continued the Earl, with a gracious but stately inclination of the
head--"you can be trusted."
"Of this, at least, my lord, you may rest assured," replied Hugh;
"that, although I own I wish to see the Prince at liberty, and only
bound by solemn vows to take no part against the cause of freedom and
right----"
"No wise man trusts to fetters of wind," interrupted the Earl, who had
taken up a pen, and was writing at the table.
"At all events," continued Hugh de Monthermer, "I would never basely
use a permission you yourself had granted to thwart your dearest
wishes."
"I know it," said the Earl; "there is a pass. You will find the Prince
in the other court; but make what speed you may, for it is growing
dusk, and the castle gates must soon be closed."
"Haste away, Hugh," said his uncle; "in an hour I shall be at the inn."
CHAPTER XVI.
In the old castle of Hereford, which, according to the account of
Leland, was one of the largest and finest specimens of the military
architecture of feudal times, were numerous courts and various detached
buildings, so that the number of persons which it could contain was
immense; and even when several hundred men were within the walls, many
of the open spaces and passages would be found silent and solitary.
Thus, on the evening of Hugh de Monthermer's visit, the chief court,
the halls, and the corridors around it, were crowded with not less than
seven or eight hundred persons; but as one turned one's steps to other
parts of the building, the throng decreased, the passers to and fro
became fewer and more few, and at length nothing presented itself but
untenanted courts and empty arcades.
In a dark corner of a long passage--which, traversing one side of the
keep under open cloisters, passed through a large mass of buildings,
receiving no light but that which poured in at either end, and, after
being joined by two other arched corridors, led out into the court in
which Prince Edward's lodging was situated--in a dark corner of this
long passage stood two men engaged in earnest conversation, just about
the time that Hugh de Monthermer quitted the Earl of Leicester. They
were both covered with large cloaks, and both had their hoods drawn far
over their heads, so that it would have been very difficult for any one
to recognise them, unless well acquainted with their air and figure.
Nevertheless, they did not seem to feel themselves secure; for, the
instant that they heard a step coming from the direction of the
principal court, they walked on a few paces, and then turned into one
of the lateral passages, near the mouth of which they again paused, and
resumed their conversation in a low tone.
A moment after, the tall, graceful figure of Hugh de Monthermer passed
across, without appearing to excite their attention, so earnest were
they in the matter they were discussing. He, however, turned his head,
and looked at them steadily, but still walked on without slackening his
pace.
"Some means must be found," said one--the shorter and the slighter of
the two--"some means must be found, and that right speedily, or our
last chance is lost."
"You must have been playing some of your accursed tricks, Richard,"
replied the other, "or De Montfort never would have taken such a step.
The house of Ashby is of too much importance to any cause that its
members espouse, for even the lowest branch to be treated with
indignity, without some strong occasion."
"Nonsense, Alured, I did nothing!" replied the other. "I tell you, it
was solely and simply upon this old Monthermer's charge against me."
"On your life and honour?" demanded his companion.
"On my life, honour, soul, and salvation!" replied the other. "Well,
then, I am glad of it," said the taller speaker. "I am glad that it has
happened; for, first, I will take care it shall rouse my father's anger
against De Montfort, and, secondly, it shall stir him up against these
Monthermers, and, I trust, induce him to break with them both. At all
events, it will make him forgive my joining Gloucester. So, I repeat, I
am glad that it has happened."
"I cannot say as much," rejoined the first speaker. "I never care, for
my part, Alured, about an excuse for anything I am about to do. Oh,
there is many a convenient point in having a bad reputation! Men do not
expect too much of you--you may do what you please, without anybody
wondering; and then, when you are in the humour, and perform two or
three good actions, Lord! how you are praised! But, to the point--what
can be done now? How can we give _him_ intimation of the scheme?"
"On my life! I know not," said the other.
"Could you not bribe some woman?" demanded the taller and more powerful
of the speakers; "They would not stop a woman, I suppose."
"Right, right!" cried his companion. "You have put me on the track, and
I will not miss my game."
"But can you engage any woman you can trust?" asked the other. "It must
not be some common hireling, some minstrel's wench, some follower of
city fairs."
"Leave it to me, leave it to me!" cried the shorter man; "if I cannot
_engage_, I can make her, and that ere another hour be over. There is
no time to be lost. Farewell, for the present, for I must away from
Hereford to-night; and, if you intend, good Alured, to hatch a quarrel
with my noble Lord Hugh, let it be speedy; for I do not think that
twenty-four hours will be over ere I have repaid him some trifles that
I owe him. I have some plans in my head, as well as you. So fare you
well, once more." And thus they parted.
In the meanwhile, Hugh de Monthermer sped upon his way, traversed the
other court, and approached a door at which stood two or three of De