Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times
heard to spring to the ground; and after a moment's delay, in order, it
seemed, to secure the beast from straying, the stranger's foot was
heard ascending the steps.
Hugh de Monthermer advanced to confront him, but instantly drew back
again, exclaiming, in a tone of strong astonishment--"Prince Edward!"
"Hugh de Monthermer," cried Edward, "this is strange meeting, old
companion!"
"It is, indeed, my dear lord," replied Hugh. "It becomes me not to ask
how or why you are here, but I will confess that it rejoices my very
heart to see you at liberty, though I doubt not many men would say, if
they knew of our meeting, that I ought to arrest and bring you back to
Hereford."
"He would be a bold man!" answered the Prince, raising his towering
form to its full height--"He would be a bold man who would attempt,
single-handed, to stop Edward of England on his way!"
"Alas, my lord!" replied Hugh de Monthermer, "I have not even that
excuse to give to those who may blame me. One shout from that door
would bring fearful odds against you, for, to tell the truth, I am
waiting here to catch that arch-traitor, Richard de Ashby, in his own
net, and have left men in the little wood you have just passed. But
once more, I say, I rejoice to see you free."
"Then, indeed, I thank you, Hugh," replied the Prince--"I thank you
from my heart for your sincere love--though, if I judge rightly, I am
not so unprotected as I seem."
The young nobleman took the hand that Edward held out to him, and
kissed it respectfully, saying, "I would not betray you, my lord, for
the world, were you here alone and I at the head of hundreds; but ere
we part, I must ask you one boon."
"Nay, let us not part yet," rejoined Edward; "there is much to be said
between us, Hugh. I have taken shelter here from the storm,--you are
here also; and while the elements rage without, let us talk of giving
peace to the land."
"That is the object of the boon I crave, my lord," answered Hugh, "but
I can stay no longer with you than to name that boon. No, not even to
hear you concede or refuse it--else I shall be held a traitor to that
cause which I believed to be sacred. The boon is this: when you have
joined the Earl of Gloucester--when you see yourself at the head of
armies--and when you feel your royal mind at liberty to act with power
and success, publish a proclamation pledging yourself to uphold all
those laws and ordinances which have been enacted for the safety of
the land, for the rights and liberties of the people, and for our
protection from foreign minions and base favourites--laws and
ordinances to which you have once already given your consent. If you do
this, I myself will never draw the sword against you, nor do I believe
will Simon de Montfort."
Edward shook his head, with a look of doubt. "De Montfort is ambitious,
Hugh," he said; "perhaps he was not always so, for many a man begins a
patriot and ends a tyrant."
At that moment the sound of a horn was heard from the little
neighbouring copse, and Hugh de Monthermer advanced to the door of the
chapel, knowing that it was a signal of danger. The scene that
presented itself was curious: the rain was still pouring down heavy and
grey; the air was dim and loaded; the flashes of the lightning were
blazing through the sky, and seemed to the eyes of the young nobleman
to be actually running along the ground. At the same time, rushing
towards him with rapidity almost superhuman, was the poor dwarf,
Tangel, throwing about his long, lean arms, in the most grotesque
manner, and pointing ever and anon to the opposite wood, issuing forth
from which appeared a body of at least three hundred horse, well armed
and mounted, and coming down at full speed towards the chapel.
Hugh turned one look more into the building and waved his hand,
exclaiming--"Adieu, my lord, adieu! Here is danger near;" and, gaining
his horse's side, he unhooked the bridle, and leapt into the saddle.
"Up, Tangel! Up behind me!" he cried, as the dwarf came nigh--"up,
quick, or they will be upon us!"
The dwarf sprang up behind him in a moment, with one single bound from
the ground; and Hugh, turning the bridle towards the little copse,
dashed on at full speed. The servant's horse, however, which he was
riding, was not a very fast one; the troop from the wood was coming
forward with great rapidity, and seemed determined to chase him: his
own force was too small to offer any resistance; and Hugh de Monthermer
saw with bitterness of spirit that if the adversaries still pursued, he
must soon be a prisoner. To be so deceived and foiled, added anger to
the grief he felt at the prospect of captivity, and he muttered to
himself--"They shall pay dearly for it, at all events," while he still
spurred on towards the copse from which his own men were now
approaching, leading the horse on which the dwarf had joined them.
"Mount your beast quickly!" cried Hugh, turning his head to Tangel.
"Go on--go on, fast, good master!" cried the boy. "Do not halt for me:
I will mount without your stopping, only carry me close enough to the
beast;" and in a moment after, as Hugh rode swiftly up towards his
followers, the boy put his hands upon the young nobleman's shoulders,
sprang up with his feet on the charger's haunches, and then with a leap
and a shrill cry, he lighted on his own horse, whirled himself round,
and dropped into the saddle.
No time, indeed, was to be lost; for Hugh and his attendants met midway
between the building and the wood, when one end of the enemy's line
already reached the chapel.
And at that moment, Edward himself darted out upon the steps, and
shouted aloud, "Halt! I command you, halt!--Lord Lovell, Sir Thomas
Grey, I charge you, halt! Chase him not. I say!--Sir Richard de Ashby,"
he continued, raising his voice till it seemed to vie with the thunder,
as he saw that his orders were unheeded, "Halt! on your life! Will you
disobey my first command?"
But Richard de Ashby was deaf, and dashed on with five or six others,
while the rest of their party drew the rein, some sooner, some later,
pausing in a broken line. Hugh de Monthermer and his men spurred
forward at the full gallop; but the slippery ground, now thoroughly
soaked by the pelting rain, defeated his effort to escape an attack.
The horse of one of his followers floundered, and fell some forty yards
before they reached the copse; and though both man and beast staggered
up again, the pursuers were too near to be evaded.
Some ten yards in advance of the rest, mounted upon a fleet black
horse, was Richard de Ashby himself. He was fully armed with hauberk
and shield and spear, but his aventaille was open, and a glow of savage
satisfaction might be seen upon his countenance. Hugh de Monthermer
turned in the saddle, to measure the distance between them with his
eye, saw in a moment that escape was not possible, but that vengeance
was; and, snatching from the man next to him a spear and small round
buckler, he wheeled his horse, struck the sharp spur furiously into its
flanks, and met his pursuer in full career.
The young knight himself was clothed in nothing but a hauqueton of
purple cendal, which, though stiffly stuffed with cotton, as was then
customary, afforded poor protection against the point of a lance. But
the tournament and the battlefield had been the young nobleman's
ball-room and his school, his place of amusement and his place of
practice; and his eye was always ready to discover, his hand prepared
to take advantage of the slightest movement of an enemy. He perceived
in an instant that Richard de Ashby's lance was aimed at his throat,
but he showed by no sign that he knew that such was the case, till he
was within a yard of his enemy. Then suddenly raising his buckler, he
turned the point aside; and at the same instant he somewhat lifted his
own spear, which, as he had no rest, was charged upon his thigh,
intending to strike his adversary full in the face. But Richard de
Ashby bent his head, and the lance touching him high upon the forehead,
glanced off from the skull, and catching in the hood of mail, hurled
him headlong from his charger to the ground.
Hugh drew up his horse suddenly by the side of the fallen man, and
shortening the spear, held it to his throat, shouting aloud to those
who followed--"If any one comes near; he dies!"
By this time his own attendants had rejoined him; and two or three
gentlemen came riding down at a quick pace from the chapel, calling
upon their companions, who had gone before, to halt and come back.
"Did you not hear the Prince's voice?" exclaimed an elderly knight,
angrily, as he approached: "it is his express commands, that you come
back. Depart, Lord Hugh--depart in peace; it is the Prince's will, and
we obey."
"Had I but one half your numbers, Lord Lovel," answered Hugh, "I would
not go without taking this traitor with me."
"Or being taken yourself," replied Lord Lovell, with a laugh. "I can
assure you, my good lord, we had every intention of carrying you with
us into Worcestershire; but as the Prince will let the bird out of the
trap which poor Richard baited so nicely for him, he must e'en use his
wings--there is no help for it. You seem to have pecked the fowler
pretty handsomely, however. I believe you have cleft his skull.
There--let his people come up and help him! You have my word against
treachery."
"I fear he is not punished as much as he deserves," replied Hugh de
Monthermer. "Bear my dutiful thanks to the Prince for his courtesy; and
now, fare you well, my Lord Lovell. I trust we shall soon meet again."
Thus saying, he turned his horse, and rode quickly but thoughtfully
back to Hereford.
CHAPTER XX.
A few pages more of dry details, dear reader, and then for nothing but
brief scenes and rapid action. This, if you please, is a chapter of
pure history; and therefore those who are well read in the annals of
the times may pass it over without any particular attention. To all who
are not, however, it will be found absolutely necessary to the right
understanding of that which is to follow.
On Hugh de Monthermer's arrival at Hereford, he found the news of
Edward's escape common to all the town; but, nevertheless, he thought
it necessary to communicate first to his uncle, and then to the Earl of
Leicester, all that had taken place after he had left them in the
morning.
"Some three hundred horses!" said De Montfort, as he listened to the
young nobleman's account of his meeting with Richard de Ashby. "They
are bold, upon my life! but they teach us that we have been somewhat
negligent. And so you unhorsed the traitor, but could neither kill nor
take him? It is a pity--you are sure that he is not dead?"
"Not sure, my lord," replied Hugh; "but I rather think not, for I felt
the spear strike, and then glance off. I would fain have brought him
into Hereford."
"Have you heard," continued De Montfort, "that our good friends the
Earl of Ashby and his son have left us?--so that I fear some hopes and
expectations, which your uncle mentioned regarding a fair lady's hand,
may suffer disappointment."
"I have heard it, my lord," answered Hugh, "and am, I confess, not a
little grieved. Nevertheless----"
"Well, what of nevertheless?" asked De Montfort, seeing that be.
paused.
"Why, nevertheless, my lord," replied Hugh, "I cannot but hope that I
shall succeed at last. I have never yet seen a matter of love which was
destined to end happily begin smoothly at the first."
"Ay, hope!" said De Montfort. "Hope is like a hungry boy, who I once
saw burn his mouth with his porridge; for he still consoled himself,
poor urchin, by saying that it would be cool enough by and by. May it
be as you wish, my young friend:--and so good night; for neither you