Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times
at all till morning; but he then fell into a deep slumber, which lasted
several hours, and from which he rose refreshed and calmer, but,
nevertheless, stern and sad. He was restless, too, and the hesitating
and undecided state of his mind on the most pressing subject before
him, rendered him wavering in all his actions.
In the morning, several of his servants, who had been out all night,
according to orders he had given them, came in to make their report,
and informed him, that though they had watched steadily at the spot
which he had pointed out, no one had come out of the house but a priest
and a little boy bearing a torch. He then sent for some of the old
retainers of the family, who had been at Lindwell when his father was
slain, and on their arrival questioned them minutely on many points;
and then he told his people that he was going to the apartments of his
sister; but, when he came to the foot of the stairs, he paused, turned
back again, and strode up and down the court for half an hour.
His next proceeding was to order his horses instantly, and he set out
the road to Leicester. When he was about halfway there, however, he
turned his charger's head, and reached the gates of Nottingham just as
night was falling. The city warder told him, in answer to his
questions, that the Prince had not returned, but that a messenger from
him had arrived an hour before, and it was rumoured that Edward would
not be back until the following morning.
The Earl shook the bridle of his horse fiercely, and galloped up to the
castle. Before he reached it, however, the fit of angry impatience had
passed away; and on dismounting, he proceeded direct to the apartments
of the Prince, and sent in a page to say he wished to see the Lady
Lucy. He was instantly admitted to her chamber, where the sight of her
fair face, bearing evident marks of tears, and full of deep and
inconsolable sorrow, shook his purposes again, and added to all the
bitterness of his feelings.
Alured kissed her tenderly, but he perceived that though she uttered
not a word of reproach, she shrunk from him, and that was reproach
enough. At his desire she sent away her maids, and then, sitting down
beside her, he took her hand in his, saying, "Lucy, I have come to see
you--perhaps for the last time!"
She cast down her eyes, and made no reply, and he went on--"It is not
fit, Lucy, that you and I should part with one cold feeling between us;
and I come to ask forgiveness for any pain that I have caused you
throughout life."
"Oh, Alured!" exclaimed Lucy, "the last and most dreadful pain may yet
be avoided; but I know your stern and unchangeable heart too well to
hope. You cannot but feel how horrible it is to see my brother and my
promised husband armed against each other's life--meeting in lists,
from which one or the other must be borne a corpse. You cannot but
know, Alured, that to me the misery is the same, whichever is the
victor--that I have nothing to hope--that I have nothing to look for.
If Hugh de Monthermer is vanquished, my brother is the murderer of him
I love.--Ay, murderer, Alured!" she added, solemnly; "for you are well
aware, that in your heart you believe him innocent. If you fall before
Hugh de Monthermer's lance, the man I love becomes the butcher of my
brother, and I can never see his face again."
"Stay, Lucy, stay," said the Earl; "it is on this account that I have
come to you. I have had much and bitter thought, Lucy. Hugh de
Monthermer may be innocent--God only knows the heart of man, and he
will decide; but if I die in the lists to-morrow, and he you love is
proved to be innocent of my father's death, let my blood rest upon my
own head; hold him guiltless of my fate, and wed him as if Alured de
Ashby had not been."
"Oh, Alured!" cried Lucy, touched to the heart, casting her arms around
him, at the same time, and weeping on his bosom. "No--no! that can
never be."
"Yes, but it must, and shall be!" replied her brother. "I will not do
you wrong, Lucy, in my dying hour. Here I have put down in a few brief
words my resolution and my wishes. Read, Lucy.--What! your eyes are dim
with tears!--Well, I will read it. Mark!--'I, Alured de Ashby, about to
do battle with the Lord Hugh de Monthermer, to whom the hand of my
sister Lucy was promised by my father before his decease--having lately
had some cause to doubt the truth of the charge which I have brought
against the said lord, of having compassed the death of my father--do
hereby give my consent to the marriage of my sister with the said Hugh
de Monthermer, if at any time he can prove fully, and clearly, that he
is innocent of the deed; and I do beseech my sister--entreat, and
require her, in that case, to give her hand to Hugh de Monthermer,
whatever may have taken place between him and myself.'--There,
girl--keep that paper, and use it when thou wilt.--Now, art thou
contented?"
"Contented, Alured!" cried Lucy, looking reproachfully in his
face--"contented! Do you think I can be contented, to know that either
he or you must die? What you take from one scale you cast into the
other. If my heart can be lightened respecting him by this generous
act, how much more heavy the grief and terror that I feel for you. Oh!
Alured, you say, that you now doubt his guilt. Why not boldly, and at
once, express that doubt?--Why not----"
"My honour, child--my honour, and renown!" cried Alured de Ashby. "But
you will unman me, Lucy. Here, give this sealed packet to the Prince
whenever he returns."
"Perhaps he has returned," said Lucy--"the Princess told me he would be
back ere nightfall."
"He has changed his purpose," replied her brother, "and will not be in
Nottingham till to-morrow."
"Alas! alas!" exclaimed Lucy, "that is unfortunate."
"It cannot be helped!" answered the young Earl--"but give it to the
Prince whenever he comes. Tell him, that therein are contained the
proofs which have lately made me doubt the justice of my charge against
Monthermer.--He must act as he thinks fit regarding them. But,
remember, Lucy, that if I fall, and you become Monthermer's wife, he
takes the retribution of blood upon him, and must pursue the murderers
of our father till he approve their guilt upon them, and give them up
to death.--And now, girl, fare thee well!"
"Nay, Alured!" she cried, clinging to him. "Listen to me yet one word.
If you be so doubtful, can you swear----"
"Hush--hush!" he answered. "My mind is now made up beyond all
alteration. I will do everything to clear me before God, and make my
conscience easy; but I must never shrink from battle--I must never
sully my renown--I must never bear the name of coward, or know that one
man suspects I am such.--Farewell, Lucy, farewell--not one word more!"
and kissing her tenderly, he unclasped the clinging arms that would
have held him, and left her chamber.
For a moment, Lucy covered her eyes and wept, but the next instant,
clasping her hands together, she cried, "I will go to Hugh, and will
beseech him! He is more tender; he has more trust in his own great
renown. The victor at Damietta, the conqueror of the lists at Sidon,
need fear no injurious suspicion. I will go to him. I will entreat him
on my knees.--But first to the Princess, with this packet. She must
give it to her husband.--What does it contain, I wonder?"
Lacy gazed at it for a moment, and then at the other paper which her
brother had given her. Suddenly a light like that of joy broke upon her
face, and she exclaimed, "He will! he will!--Why should I fear? why
should I doubt? He told me himself that in seven days he could prove
his innocence.--He will, he will!---and with this before me, I need
fear no shame. But now to the Princess." And with a quick step she
hurried to the apartments of Eleanor, whom, for once, she found alone.
She was too deeply agitated for courtly ceremony; and gliding in, she
approached the Princess as she sat reading, and knelt on the cushion at
her feet.
"What is it, my poor Lucy?" said the Princess, bending down her head,
and kissing her fair forehead, with a look of tender compassion; "there
seems some happiness mingled with the sorrow of your look."
"'Tis that I have hope!" replied Lucy; and with rapid but with low
words she related all that had passed between her brother and herself.
She then put the packet into Eleanor's hands, saying, "It will prove
his innocence, I am sure; but the Prince is absent, and I am afraid you
will not open it."
"Nay," answered Eleanor, "I must not venture on such an act as that. I
am only bold where it is to show my love for him, but not to meddle in
matters of which he alone can judge. Neither is there occasion here, my
Lucy; he will be back ere long."
"But Alured thought not," replied her fair companion. "He had heard
that the Prince's journey from Leicester was put off till to-morrow
morning!"
"Not so, not so!" cried the Princess; "'twas but delayed for an hour or
two, and he sent lest I should fear the rebels had detained him. I
expect him each minute, Lucy. But in the meantime, tell me more clearly
what caused that look of joy just now?"
Lucy hesitated. "'Twas that a hope has crossed my mind," she said--"a
hope that I might yet save them both; and surely, lady," she continued,
raising her soft, dark eyes to Eleanor's face--"and surely to save both
the life of a brother and a lover; to spare them deeds that can never
be atoned; to shield Alured, not only from Monthermer's lance, but from
the more terrible fate of going to his God with a false charge upon his
lips--a charge which he knows to be false,--a woman may well put on a
boldness she would otherwise shrink from--ay, and do things which
maiden modesty would forbid, were not the cause so great and
overpowering."
"Certainly," rejoined Eleanor, "so long as virtue and religion say not
nay."
"God forbid that I should sin against either!" replied Lucy, eagerly.
"That could never be, lady--But there be small forms, and prudent
cautions, reserves, and cold proprieties, which, in the ordinary
intercourse of life, are near akin to virtues, though separate. These
surely may be laid aside, when the matter is to rescue from crime, from
death, or from disgrace, beings so much beloved as these?"
"Assuredly!" exclaimed Eleanor, "who can doubt it? To save my Edward,
what should stand in my way? Nothing but that honour which I know he
values more than all earthly things, or even life itself."
"Thanks, lady, thanks!" cried Lucy; "you confirm me in my purpose."
"But what is your purpose, my sweet cousin?" asked the Princess. "I do
not yet comprehend you."
"Will you promise me," said Lucy, "that if I tell, you will let me have
my will; that you will put no bar or hindrance in my way, nor inform
any one of my scheme, but with my leave."
Eleanor smiled. "I may well promise that," she answered, "for if you
please, you may conceal your scheme, and then I am powerless. No bar or
hindrance will I place, dear Lucy, but kind remonstrances, if I think
you wrong. What is this plan of yours?"
"This, this!" cried Lucy. "Here on this paper has my brother written
down that he doubts Hugh de Monthermer's guilt; that he so much doubts
the truth of the charge which he himself has made, as to require his
sister to overlook the shedding of his blood, and unite her fate with
the man who slays him, if he should fall in those fatal lists.--Nay,
lady, look you here; he puts no condition, but that Hugh de Monthermer
should prove his innocence."
"Well," said Eleanor, "I see he is kind and generous, and evidently
believes the charge was rashly made, and is not just."
"Yet nought will keep him," replied Lucy, "from sustaining that charge
to-morrow at the lance's point, although he knows it to be false.