Lord Montagu's Page: An Historical Romance

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XLVII.

  Though those were days of splendid cavalcades, and the neighborhood ofthe royal palace of Royston had rendered them not infrequent some yearsbefore in that part of Huntingdonshire, it was not often that such aparty presented itself in the small village of Buckley as that which wasseen on the day after Edward's arrival. First, there was Dr. Winthorne,on his tall, stout, Roman-nosed horse, forming the centre of the group;then, on his left, Edward Langdale, riding a wicked, fiery devil, whichscreamed and bit at the approach of any other animal, but which hemanaged with grace and ease. Then there was the Prince de Soubise on thedoctor's right, mounted on a powerful Norman charger and looking verymuch the soldier and the prince. Behind them were three servants, allwell mounted and armed; and the whole formed a group which attracted theattention of the villagers and made even the blacksmith suspend theblows of his sledge-hammer to look at the fine horses he longed to shoe.

  There was a little, old, dusty house on the right-hand side of the roadas you came from Applethorpe toward the king's highway to Huntingdon,with the gables turned toward the street, a wooden porch carved incurious shapes, and some five or six descending steps. On one of thepillars of the porch was hung a curious sort of shield painted withvarious colors,--a quaint emblem of the holy Roman empire; andunderneath was written, with no great regard to symmetry either in thesize or shape of the letters, the words "Martin Sykes, Notary Public,Attorney-at-Law, Solicitor in his most gracious Majesty's Court ofChancery, &c. &c. &c.,"--which etceteras were explained and commentedupon by a long inscription on the other pillar.

  Before that little porch Dr. Winthorne pulled in his rein and flounderedoff his horse, and Soubise and Edward Langdale followed. In the firstroom on the left hand they found three or four clerks; and at aseparate desk, which he could not have overtopped without assistance,was seated a little old man with very keen features and a back and chestwhich assumed a menacing posture in regard to the head.

  "Ah, doctor," he said, slipping off the high stool which raised him upto the desk, "what brings you so early to Buckley? Odds-my-life! Why, Ican hardly believe my eyes! Master Ned grown into a bearded man of war!My dear boy, how are you? Oh, how I have missed you!--missed the troutin the month of May,--missed the partridges in September,--missed thesnipes and the woodcocks in the cold weather, when I have my annualabscess in the lungs,--missed thy handsome face at all those times whena kind word in a youthful voice cheers an old man like me!"

  Edward shook him warmly by the hand, and asked after all his ailmentskindly, but speedily turned to their companion, saying, "Mr. Sykes, thisis the Prince de Soubise, an old friend of both my parents."

  "I remember him well," said Mr. Sykes. "That is to say, I do notremember him at all. I mean, in person I do not remember him, for hemight as well be Goliath of Gath as Prince de Soubise, so far as anyidentification on my part could go; but I remember quite well a younggentleman of that name, in purfled silk philimot velvet laced with gold,slashed velvet breeches, and a sword as long as a barbecuing-spit by hisside, being present at your father's wedding and witnessing themarriage-contract."

  "He has got me exactly," said Monsieur de Soubise. "I have had, Mr.Notary, to take to lighter but more serviceable weapons since; but, ifmy person is so much changed that you cannot remember me, there areplenty of witnesses here to swear to whom I am; and I expect in a fewdays my good friend Monsieur Clement Tournon, syndic of the goldsmithsof Rochelle, who made and brought over a set of jewels for my friend'sbride, and who saw me witness the contract with his own eyes. Heremembers the whole deed, he says; for it was read over to us before thesignature."

  "He will be an important witness, sir," said Martin Sykes; "and yourHighness will be more so. It is all coming right, as I thought itwould," he continued, turning to Dr. Winthorne and rubbing his thin,bony hands. "Somewhat long we have been about it; but step by step weare making way. Every thing takes time, doctor,--even a sermon, as thepoor people here know well. The great difference between a lawsuit and asermon is, that during the first the people sleep often and sleep badly,and during the second they sleep once and they sleep well. Now, MasterNed, I calculate that we shall get to the end of this suit and have adecree in our favor--let me see: you are about twenty, are not you?--inabout forty-nine years and seven months." He paused a single instant,and rubbed his hands, and then added, with a smile slightly triumphant,"That is to say, if we cannot get the original settlement. But I thinkwe shall get it, Ned, my boy. I think I can guess where it is. It ismost likely badly damaged; but just give me sufficient of it left toshow some of the signatures and the date, and then come in thesegentlemen as witnesses to prove what it originally contained. Oh, wewill make a fine little case of it! But parties: we wantparties,--somebody to fight us,--Master Ned."

  "But if the fight is to last so long as you have said, my dear friend,"remarked Edward Langdale, "and I am only to succeed when I am sixty-nineyears and seven months old, I think I had better not begin the battle."

  "Ay, but you forget the if," said Martin Sykes, with a laugh. "An _if_makes every thing in law. It is as potent as 'any thing hereinbeforecontained to the contrary notwithstanding,' or 'always providednevertheless,' or any other of those sweet phrases with which we doubleup the sense of our documents or give a sweet and polite contradictionto what we have just been saying the moment before. As to the battle, mydear young friend, it has begun already. Acting on your behalf, as yournext friend, I have managed to get possession of Buckley, have servedSir Richard's lawyer and agent with all sorts of processes,--somesixteen or seventeen, I think,--ejectments, quo warrantos, rules nisi,and others; and the poor fool, who is nothing at all unless he has aLondoner at his back, has let me have very nearly my own way, having noorders, not knowing where to get any, and standing like a goose underthe first drops of a thunder-shower, with his eyes staring and his mouthhalf open."

  "But where is the contract?" asked Monsieur de Soubise, in French. "If Iunderstood him aright, he said he knew where it was."

  Edward interpreted, feeling very sure that good Mr. Sykes was not veryabundantly provided with French; but the little lawyer shook his head,saying, "No, no; I did not profess to know absolutely where it is; butthere is one not very far from here who I think does know. I think hedoes,--I am sure he does. He tells me a box of valuable papers were lostat the great fire; and he shakes his head, and looks wise, and talks ofits being 'made worth his while.' He is the most avaricious old devil inthe world. It is a curious thing, Ned, all sextons are avaricious. Theydeal so much with dust and ashes that they learn to like the only sortof dross which does not decay when you bury it. He is a very old mannow, and could not enjoy for more than a few months any thing he had,were it millions."

  "What! you are not speaking of the old sexton at Langley, are you?"asked Edward,--"the man with the lame hip? He used to say he got thatinjury at the fire; and my father gave him many a guinea for it. I usedto give him shillings and sixpences, too, to make him tell me all aboutthe fire, till one day I caught him taking away a groat I had given to apoor child, and then I knocked him over the shoulder with myfishing-rod. He has never liked me after, but hobbles away into hiscottage whenever he sees me, and shuts the door tight."

  What there was in this little anecdote which peculiarly struck good Mr.Sykes I cannot tell, but he fell into a fit of thought, stillstanding,--for there were no chairs in the room, except one, which hadlost a leg, (in what action I do not know,) and the high stools on whichthe clerks were sitting, if they could be called chairs. He kept afinger of his right hand resting on the side of his nose, however, fortwo or three minutes; and then, suddenly rousing himself, he said, "Letus go into the house. We can sit down there and talk. This is a poorplace for such company. It does well enough for roystering farmers' sonswho have been breaking each others' heads, or for a deputytax-collector, or for gossiping women who have been slandering and beingslandered. I don't want them to sit down at all; and that is the reasonI have only one chair with a broken leg,
to which I always hand oldMistress Skillet, the doctor's widow, who abuses every young girl in theplace who has got a pretty face and wears a pink ribbon. Then down shecomes, and declares she has broken her hip-bone, and walks away in greatindignation, never coming back until she has another peck of lies uponher stomach. I must not do it any more, for she has grown as large as anelephant; and the last time she tumbled she had nearly shaken the officedown. Besides, it cost me two ounces of peppermint to bring all thoseboys there out of their convulsions. But come, gentlemen, let us go."

  Thus saying, he led the way through a little door at the back of theoffice, across a small passage, into an exceedingly neat old fashionedparlor, where, having seated his guests, he rushed at a corner cupboardand brought forth some tall-stalked cut and gilded wineglasses, and asquare-sided bottle, likewise cut and gilded, from which he pressed hisvisitors to help themselves. Monsieur de Soubise remarked it was tooearly to drink wine; but the old man pressed them, saying, "It is notwine at all. It is fine old Dutch cinnamon." And, each having taken alittle, good Mr. Sykes leaned his arms upon the table, remarking, "Now,this looks really like the commencement of a conspiracy; and aconspiracy we must have. I have settled it all. We must go over to theold place,--that is, old Langley Court, prince. I will enact my owncharacter. The doctor here is too reverent to undergo transformation.You, my noble sir, must be a French nobleman about to buy Langley Court,and Buckley too,--in fact, half the estates in the neighborhood. Edwardhere must be your cornet of horse. There will be no need to mention hisname; but the old wretch, who is as sharp as Satan, will most likelyknow him. He is aware, however, that Master Ned has been over in thewars in France: so the story will go down."

  "It seems to me, my good friend Sykes," said Dr. Winthorne, "that youare going to tell a vast quantity of lies. Mark you, now: I will havenothing to do with them. I don't even know that I ought to stand by andhear them."

  "You shall not hear a lie come out of my mouth," said Sykes, laughing."My lord the prince, I dare say you are willing enough to buy LangleyCourt and the estate, if I will sell it to you for a gold crown,--whatyou call in France an _ecu d'or_?"

  "Oh, very willingly," answered Soubise: "this cinnamon is worth an _ecud'or_." And he helped himself to some more.

  "Well, then, I will sell you the whole estate for that sum,--if ever Ican prove my title to it," said Sykes. "It is a bargain. Now, Dr.Winthorne, do not you by any scruples spoil your young friend's onlychance, if you would not have us take you for a cropped-eared Puritaninstead of a good old sound Church-of-England man."

  "Well, then, don't you lie too much, Mr. Attorney. I will swallow asmuch as I can; but keep within bounds, or you may chance to find mebreak out."

  "All you have to do is to hold your tongue. I will do all the speaking,"replied Sykes. "The prince here may talk as much French as ever helikes, and Master Ned may answer him in the same tongue. I will answerfor it that neither old Grimes the sexton nor Martin Sykes the lawyerwill be a bit the wiser for it."

  "But when is this to be done?" asked Dr. Winthorne. "We have ridden tenmiles already to-day."

  "Well," said Mr. Sykes, "if we go over by the Barford road, that is butten miles; and then we can go to Applethorpe, where you intend to giveme a bed: that is but nine miles more. You would not mind going thirtymiles any day for a fox-hunt."

  "I never go fox-hunting," grumbled Dr. Winthorne.

  "No, but you used once," said Mr. Sykes. And, bearing down allopposition, being strongly supported, it must be owned, by Edward andthe Prince de Soubise, Mr. Sykes carried his point, ordered his owneasy-going cob to be brought round, and had a bag fixed to the saddlewith such little articles of dress as he wanted.

  When the four gentlemen issued forth into the street to proceed upontheir way, a certain rosyness of Pierrot's nose, which, together withsome dewy drops in his eye, gave his face somewhat the aspect of amorning landscape, induced Edward to believe that he had been engaged inthe pious employment of breaking a good resolution. But Pierrot declaredmanfully that he had only been following his young master's orders withhis French companion. "You told me to treat them hospitably, sir," hesaid; "and how can I treat them hospitably without drinking with them?"Edward gave him a caution to keep himself sober at all events, and onthey went some nine miles upon their way at a brisk pace.

  "Now," said Sykes, as they approached the old park-wall, which hadfallen down in several places, "we won't go nearer the old rascal. Wemust be perfectly indifferent."

  "I recollect this park well," said the Prince de Soubise. "What asplendid place it was before the fire!"

  "Hush! hush!" cried Sykes. "That is English." And, riding on, he pulledup his horse at a spot where some cottages were built between the roadand the river, just fronting the old iron gates of what was called thegrass court, beyond which, some two hundred yards off, appeared theblackened ruins of Langley.

  The walls were all down,--at least, those of the main building; for notonly had the fire overthrown them, but the pick and shovel had been busyfor several weeks after the catastrophe, turning over the principalruins in search of plate and other articles of value which had not beencarried out during the fire.

  There the gentlemen dismounted. The servants tied the horses to the irongates, and the whole party entered the grass court and looked around. Atthat moment an old wizened face appeared at one of the small lozenges ofa cottage-window, and the next a chink of the door was opened and thesame face gazed out. In the mean time Mr. Sykes, with his riding-whip inhis hand, was pointing out to Soubise all the wonders of the place,telling him where the great hall used to stand, where the guest-chamberswere, and where were the private apartments of the Lady of Langley.Never before in his life was he so eloquent. While he went on, an oldman of perhaps eighty hobbled across the road and came close up to theside of Dr. Winthorne. Just at that moment Mr. Sykes pointed with hiswhip to a tower a little detached from the main building, and apparentlyof more ancient architecture, saying, "That was the wine and ale cellar;and I have heard people say that during the fire the casks burst with anexplosion like so many cannon."

  "That is not true," said the old man, who had just come up; "for therehad not been a thing or a body in that tower for thirty years before.Why, the stairs were half worn away; and Sir Richard would have pulledit down if it had not been for my lady, who liked the look of it."

  "Ah, is that you, old Grimes?" said Mr. Sykes. "Why, you look youngerthan ever."

  "I shall live to bury you yet," said the old sexton. "Don't make me waitlong, for I am tired enough of life, I am sure. Who is that you have gotwith you, Sykes?"

  "This is a French nobleman, the Prince de Soubise," replied theattorney. "As he cannot live in his own country, on account of thetroubles, he has come over to England. We have been talking about hisbuying this place. Indeed, it is almost a bargain. He will have allthese ruins cleared away," he continued, in a confidential tone, andsomewhat dropping his voice, to prevent Dr. Winthorne from hearing toomuch.

  The old sexton's face had turned a little pale; but the next instant hesaid, a little gruffly, "You can't sell him the place, Sykes."

  "No; but Sir Richard can," replied the lawyer.

  The old man grunted forth something which nobody heard distinctly, butwhich had some reference to "Sir Richard," and to "not paying apension," and "giving no orders."

  Sykes kept his eye fixed upon him steadily, and thought he saw anuneasy look come upon the old man's face, which was turned at thatmoment toward the ruined tower; and, looking round, the attorney sawthat the servants, having left the horses at the gate, were sportingabout the court-yard, and that Pierrot had mounted upon a pile of stoneswhich had fallen from the tall wall above.

  "What were you saying, Grimes?" asked Mr. Sykes. "That Sir Richard hadnot paid your pension? That is strange. The agent has plenty of money inhis hands, for he has got all the rents of Langley, and Sir Richard hasnot drawn a farthing."

  "Ay, but he says he has no orders," said Grimes, with a h
asty and uneasymanner. "But what I am saying now is, that man will break his neck if hegoes up there: I tell you he will. I put my hip out once doing just thesame thing."

  "Ha!" exclaimed Sykes: "I thought that was at the fire, Grimes. But whatyou say is very true. He will break his neck. Call him down, sir,--callhim down: he is your servant."

  The last words were addressed to Edward, who instantly called to Pierrotto come down,--which the good man unwillingly did; for he had imbibedjust a sufficient quantity of liquor to make him full of sport withoutshaking his nerves.

  Now, it is to be hoped that the reader read and pondered well thedescription given of that old tower in the seventh chapter of thiseventful history; but, as there are some readers, and a great number ofthem, who will skip certain passages which they in theirsuperciliousness think of little importance, I may as well recall thewords of Edward Langdale while he was narrating the scenes of his earlylife to Clement Tournon and Lucette. "The whole of the house wasburned," he said, on that occasion; "and the greater part of the wallsfell in, with the exception of those of the ivy-tower, which were veryancient, and much thicker than the rest. Even there the wood-work wasall consumed, and the staircase fell, except where a few of the stonesteps, about half-way up, clung to the masonry."

  Since Edward had seen the place or marked it with any particularattention, some changes had come over that tower, though they were notvery apparent. We shall be compelled to notice them more in a moment ortwo. Suffice it for the present to say that those stone steps whichEdward had mentioned were still sticking out about half-way up thetower, and that, somehow or another, Pierrot had contrived nearly toreach them.

  However, Mr. Sykes took no notice of the careful forethought of an oldsexton for a foreign servant's life, though he thought his benevolencestrange, but went on round the old building, the piles of rubbish, andthe blackberry-bushes which encumbered them, speaking a word or twoevery now and then to Dr. Winthorne, and keeping Mr. Grimes in prettyconstant conversation. There is a game which young people play at,called, I think, "Hide-and-Seek;" and Mr. Sykes was determined to have agame with the old sexton. The seeker, when he approaches the object ofhis search, is told that he is hot; when he goes far from it, that he iscold. Now, in the neighborhood of most parts of the old buildingGrimes's face said, as plainly as possible, "Cold; cold as ice;" butwhen Mr. Sykes brought him near to the old ivy-tower again there was atremulous motion of the hanging under lip, an anxious twinkle of theeye, and a fidgety motion of the hands, which said, as plainly aspossible, "Warm; warm; very hot." This was the more apparent when theparty came in face of that part of the tower where about a third of thewall, rent from top to bottom by the great heat, had fallen and strewnthe ground with ruins. Mr. Sykes did not look up at the tower at all.His eyes were fixed upon the face of Mr. Grimes, and he was reading itas a book. Dr. Winthorne was reading it too. Edward Langdale and thePrince de Soubise were talking together in French; but their eyes wereabout them all the time.

  Suddenly Edward exclaimed, in English, "Why, Pierrot could have gone upvery easily. There is a stone taken out of the wall every two or threefeet, and between them somebody has made steps by jamming in largeblocks of wood with smaller stones. Besides, the tough old stems of ivywould take any one up who has hands to hold by. Pierrot! Pierrot!"

  "No, no!" cried Dr. Winthorne: "send for a ladder from the church. Myman shall go."

  "Doctor, doctor," said Mr. Grimes, with a face as pale as death, "I wantto speak to your Reverence."

  "Well, speak out!" cried the bluff parson; but the old man drew him alittle aside, and said, "If they will give me a hundred pounds sterlingI will tell them something."

  "Not a penny, you old sinner," said Dr. Winthorne. "Go down for theladder to the church, William: get some men and bring it up, and bequick."

  "Oh, doctor, I am an old man, and have suffered very much for the lastfifteen years----"

  "What is that he is saying? what is that he is saying?" said Sykes. "Ihave a notion you are very like the boy who went up the apple-tree tosteal his neighbor's fruit: the branch broke, and he cracked his leg,and ever after he used to say that it had pleased God to afflict him."

  At that moment a loud shout was heard from the tower above; and Pierrot,who had run up like a squirrel, put out his head, shouting, "A pie'snest! a pie's nest! Here are all manner of things!"

  "Well, stay there and guard them," cried Dr. Winthorne.

  "They are all mine!" cried the old man Grimes, wringing his hands, andspeaking with the air and tone of a disappointed demon. "Well, I willnot speak a word. I have done nothing. What business have you to take mythings? I shall go home. If there is law in England, I will have it."And he was turning away toward the gates, when Mr. Sykes took him by thearm, saying, "John Grimes, I apprehend you for robbery on the night ofthe fire at Langley. Master Ned, tell that servant not to let himdepart. I will be responsible: I know my man, and have had my eye uponhim for many years. The old fool could not keep his tongue frombabbling, and boasted what he could do if he liked."

  A few minutes passed in almost perfect silence, till the church-ladderwas brought and reared against the tower, and then all the younger menran up. Dr. Winthorne and Mr. Sykes kept guard over the prisoner, havingno great confidence in their own agility, not being much accustomed tomount ladders; and, for a moment or two, Mr. Grimes, now evidentlypanic-struck, continued to whisper eagerly to Dr. Winthorne, while Mr.Sykes's eyes were turned with impatience toward the tower.

  "I can promise you nothing," answered the clergyman, bluffly. "It is nogreat matter to them what you confess or what you don't; but perhaps, ifyou do tell the whole truth, Ned Langdale, in consideration of yourgreat age, may spare you. It is a horrible thing to see a man hanged ateighty."

  At that moment the servants began to come down, bringing between them achest of no very great size but bound with brass and somewhatornamented, though its color and appearance showed it to have been agood deal scorched with fire. Though its weight did not seem great, themen carried it with much care, the occasion of which became evident whenthey reached the ground; for the top had been rudely forced open, andthey were afraid of its falling back and the contents tumbling out.

  A number of other objects were subsequently brought down,--a chalice,evidently the property of some church, a silver waiter, a clergyman'scassock, a number of silver spoons bearing the arms of the family ofLangdale, and a whole mass of miscellaneous articles, some valuable,some perfectly worthless. But Mr. Sykes put his foot firmly upon thechest after it was laid upon the ground, saying, "Take notice, doctor,that I do not open this till there are plenty of witnesses." The moment,however, that the Prince de Soubise and Edward had descended, he calledupon them to remark what the chest contained, and proceeded to theexamination.

  It is not my intention to give a descriptive catalogue of old papers;but, after turning over many documents of no great importance, aparchment was found and opened, and the Prince de Soubise instantly puthis finger on the lowest part of the fifth sheet, saying, "There standsmy name."

  "Well," said Dr. Winthorne, "I can easily conceive this old man stealingthe sacrament-cup and the silver spoons. I remember the robbery of thechurch quite well. Those he could melt down, and he was a great foolfor not doing it. But why he should take Brother Wynstone's gown, whichhe could never dare to wear, and why he should steal this box of papers,which he could make no use of, I cannot imagine."

  It is impossible for any writer of history to discover and describe thereal motives of one-half the actions he relates; and what it was thatmoved old Grimes the sexton at that moment I cannot at all pretend tosay, but he certainly mumbled, in low and tremulous accents, and withsome tears, "I thought it was my lady's jewel-case."

  The scene which then took place is not worthy of description. Let thereader imagine the congratulations that were poured upon EdwardLangdale, how all his friends shook hands with him heartily, howPierrot, who from his knowledge of English understood the whole, almostdanced wit
h joy, and how the servant of the Prince de Soubise, seeingall the rest do it, shook hands with him too, and wished monsieur a goodmorning, being the two principal words he possessed. A cart wasprocured, and also a constable; under whose charge, escorted by Dr.Winthorne's servant, Mr. Grimes and the contents of his magpie'snest--with the exception of the all-important settlement, which Mr.Sykes would not part with--were carried over to Applethorpe that night.

  Dr. Winthorne and his party had preceded them by nearly an hour, andvery important business occupied the remainder of the day till it wastime to retire to rest. On that business we need not dwell at present;but in order not to be obliged to turn back to a character which,however important, has appeared but briefly, let me say that that verynight Mr. Grimes, in the first terror of detection, made a full andfrank confession of all he had done. He had been one of the first toenter the house on the night of the fire, and had met Lady Langdalecarrying the case which contained her marriage-settlement. He hadinstantly asked her after her boy; and, dropping the case, she had flownto Edward's room to see if he had been rescued by his father. Thesexton, concluding that the case contained her jewels, had seized uponit and carried it off. At first he had concealed it under some of thebushes, but had afterward carried it up into what was called theivy-tower, which, having been vacant and in ruins for some years, heimagined would never be searched. When asked why he had not carried itto his own cottage, he replied, "Because that was certain to be examinedas soon as they discovered that any thing was lost." He was neverprosecuted for the thefts he had committed; but he died some seven weeksafter,--perhaps as much from shame and disappointment as disease; andthus he never had the pleasure of burying Mr. Martin Sykes.