by Walter Scott
CHAPTER THE SIXTH.
Vain man! thou mayst, esteem thy love as fair As fond hyperboles suffice to raise. She may be all that's matchless in her person, And all-divine in soul to match her body; But take this from me--thou shalt never call her Superior to her sex, while _one_ survives, And I am her true votary. OLD PLAY.
Achilles Tatius, with his faithful Varangian close by his shoulder,melted from the dispersing assembly silently and almost invisibly, assnow is dissolved from its Alpine abodes as the days become moregenial. No lordly step, nor clash of armour, betokened the retreat ofthe military persons. The very idea of the necessity of guards was notostentatiously brought forward, because, so near the presence of theEmperor, the emanation supposed to flit around that divinity of earthlysovereigns, had credit for rendering it impassive and unassailable.Thus the oldest and most skilful courtiers, among whom our friendAgelastes was not to be forgotten, were of opinion, that, although theEmperor employed the ministry of the Varangians and other guards, itwas rather for form's sake, than from any danger of the commission of acrime of a kind so heinous, that it was the fashion to account italmost impossible. And this doctrine, of the rare occurrence of such acrime, was repeated from month to month in those very chambers, whereit had oftener than once been perpetrated, and sometimes by the verypersons who monthly laid schemes for carrying some dark conspiracyagainst the reigning Emperor into positive execution.
At length the captain of the life-guardsmen, and his faithfulattendant, found themselves on the outside of the Blacquernal Palace.The passage which Achilles found for their exit, was closed by apostern which a single Varangian shut behind, them, drawing, at thesame time, bolt and bar with an ill-omened and jarring sound. Lookingback at the mass of turrets, battlements, and spires, out of which theyhad at length emerged, Hereward could not but feel his heart lighten tofind "himself once more under the deep blue of a Grecian heaven, wherethe planets were burning with unusual lustre. He sighed and rubbed hishands with pleasure, like a man newly restored to liberty. He evenspoke to his leader, contrary to his custom unlessaddressed:--"Methinks the air of yonder halls, valorous Captain,carries with it a perfume, which, though it may be well termed sweet,is so suffocating, as to be more suitable to sepulchrous chambers, thanto the dwellings of men. Happy I am that I am free, as I trust, fromits influences."
"Be happy, then," said Achilles Tatius, "since thy vile, cloddishspirit feels suffocation rather than refreshment in gales, which,instead of causing death, might recall the dead themselves to life. Yetthis I will say for thee, Hereward, that, born a barbarian, within thenarrow circle of a savage's desires and pleasures, and having no ideaof life, save what thou derivest from such vile and base connexions,thou art, nevertheless, designed by nature for better things, and hastthis day sustained a trial, in which, I fear me, not even one of mineown noble corps, frozen as they are into lumps of unfashionedbarbarity, could have equalled thy bearing. And speak now in truefaith, hast not thou been rewarded?"
"That will I never deny," said the Varangian. "The pleasure of knowing,twenty-four hours perhaps before my comrades, that the Normans arecoming hither to afford us a full revenge of the bloody day ofHastings, is a lordly recompense, for the task of spending some hoursin hearing the lengthened chat of a lady, who has written about sheknows not what, and the flattering commentaries of the bystanders, whopretended to give her an account of what they did not themselves stopto witness."
"Hereward, my good youth," said Achilles Tatius, "thou ravest, and Ithink I should do well to place thee under the custody of some personof skill. Too much hardihood, my valiant soldier, is in sobernessallied to over-daring. It was only natural that thou shouldst feel abecoming pride in thy late position; yet, let it but taint thee withvanity, and the effect will be little short of madness. Why, thou hastlooked boldly in the face of a Princess born in the purple, before whommy own eyes, though well used to such spectacles, are never raisedbeyond the foldings of her veil."
"So be it in the name of Heaven!" replied Hereward. "Nevertheless,handsome faces were made to look upon, and the eyes of young men to seewithal."
"If such be their final end," said Achilles, "never did thine, I willfreely suppose, find a richer apology for the somewhat overbold licensewhich thou tookest in thy gaze upon the Princess this evening."
"Good leader, or Follower, whichever is your favourite title," said theAnglo-Briton, "drive not to extremity a plain man, who desires to holdhis duty in all honour to the imperial family. The Princess, wife ofthe Caesar, and born, you tell me, of a purple colour, has nowinherited, notwithstanding, the features of a most lovely woman. Shehath composed a history, of which I presume not to form a judgment,since I cannot understand it; she sings like an angel; and to conclude,after the fashion of the knights of this day--though I deal notordinarily with their language--I would say cheerfully, that I am readyto place myself in lists against any one whomsoever, who dares detractfrom the beauty of the imperial Anna Comnena's person, or from thevirtues of her mind. Having said this, my noble captain, we have saidall that it is competent for you to inquire into, or for me to answer.That there are hansomer women than the Princess, is unquestionable; andI question it the less, that I have myself seen a person whom I thinkfar her superior; and with that let us close the dialogue."
"Thy beauty, thou unparalleled fool," said Achilles, "must, I ween, bethe daughter of the large-bodied northern boor, living next door to himupon whose farm was brought up the person of an ass, curst with suchintolerable want of judgment."
"You may say your pleasure, captain," replied Hereward: "because it isthe safer for us both that thou canst not on such a topic either offendme, who hold thy judgment as light as thou canst esteem mine, or speakany derogation of a person whom you never saw, but whom, if you hadseen, perchance I might not so patiently have brooked any reflectionsupon, even at the hands of a military superior."
Achilles Tatius had a good deal of the penetration necessary for one inhis situation. He never provoked to extremity the daring spirits whomhe commanded, and never used any freedom with them beyond the extentthat he knew their patience could bear. Hereward was a favouritesoldier, and had, in that respect at least, a sincere liking and regardfor his commander: when, therefore, the Follower, instead of resentinghis petulance, good-humouredly apologized for having hurt his feelings,the momentary displeasure between them was at an end; the officer atonce reassumed his superiority, and the soldier sunk back with a deepsigh, given to some period which was long past, into his wonted silenceand reserve. Indeed the Follower had another and further design uponHereward, of which he was as yet unwilling to do more than give adistant hint.
After a long pause, during which they approached the barracks, a gloomyfortified building constructed for the residence of their corps, thecaptain motioned his soldier to draw close up to his side, andproceeded to ask him, in a confidential tone--"Hereward, my friend,although it is scarce to be supposed that in the presence of theimperial family thou shouldst mark any one who did not partake of theirblood, or rather, as Homer has it, who did not participate of thedivine _ichor_, which, in their sacred persons, supplies the place ofthat vulgar fluid; yet, during so long an audience, thou mightstpossibly, from his uncourtly person and attire, have distinguishedAgelastes, whom we courtiers call the Elephant, from his strictobservation of the rule which forbids any one to sit down or rest inthe Imperial presence?"
"I think," replied the soldier, "I marked the man you mean; his age wassome seventy and upwards,--a big burly person;--and the baldness whichreached to the top of his head was well atoned for by a white beard ofprodigious size, which descended in waving curls over his breast, andreached to the towel with which his loins were girded, instead of thesilken sash used by other persons of rank."
"Most accurately marked, my Varangian," said the officer. "What elsedidst thou note about this person?"
"His cloak was in its texture as coarse as that of the meane
st of thepeople, but it was strictly clean, as if it had been the intention ofthe wearer to exhibit poverty, or carelessness and contempt of dress,avoiding, at the same time, every particular which implied anythingnegligent, sordid, or disgusting."
"By St. Sophia!" said the officer, "thou astonishest me! The ProphetBaalam was not more surprised when his ass turned round her head andspoke to him!--And what else didst thou note concerning this man? I seethose who meet thee must beware of thy observation, as well as of thybattle-axe."
"If it please your Valour" answered the soldier, "we English have eyesas well as hands; but it is only when discharging our duty that wepermit our tongues to dwell on what we have observed. I noted butlittle of this man's conversation, but from what I heard, it seemed hewas not unwilling to play what we call the jester, or jack-pudding, inthe conversation, a character which, considering the man's age andphysiognomy, is not, I should be tempted to say, natural, but assumedfor some purpose of deeper import."
"Hereward," answered his officer, "thou hast spoken like an angel sentdown to examine men's bosoms: that man, Agelastes, is a contradiction,such as earth has seldom witnessed. Possessing all that wisdom which informer times united the sages of this nation with the gods themselves,Agelastes has the same cunning as the elder Brutus, who disguised histalents under the semblance of an idle jester. He appears to seek nooffice--he desires no consideration--he pays suit at court only whenpositively required to do so; yet what shall I say, my soldier,concerning the cause of an influence gained without apparent effort,and extending almost into the very thoughts of men, who appear to actas he would desire, without his soliciting them to that purpose? Mensay strange things concerning the extent of his communications withother beings, whom our fathers worshipped with prayer and sacrifice. Iam determined, however, to know the road by which he climbs so high andso easily towards the point to which all men aspire at court, and itwill go hard but he shall either share his ladder with me, or I willstrike its support from under him. Thee, Hereward, I have chosen toassist me in this matter, as the knights among these Frankish infidelsselect, when going upon an adventure, a sturdy squire, or inferiorattendant, to share the dangers and the recompense; and this I am movedto, as much by the shrewdness thou hast this night manifested, as bythe courage which thou mayst boast, in common with, or rather beyond,thy companions."
"I am obliged, and I thank your Valour," replied the Varangian, morecoldly perhaps than his officer expected; "I am ready, as is my duty,to serve you in anything consistent with God and the Emperor's claimsupon my service. I would only say, that, as a sworn inferior soldier, Iwill do nothing contrary to the laws of the empire, and, as a sincerethough ignorant Christian, I will have nothing to do with the gods ofthe heathens, save to defy them in the name and strength of the holysaints."
"Idiot!" said Achilles Tatius, "dost thou think that I, alreadypossessed of one of the first dignities of the empire, could meditateanything contrary to the interests of Alexius Comnenus? or, what wouldbe scarce more atrocious, that I, the chosen friend and ally of thereverend Patriarch Zosimus, should meddle with anything bearing arelation, however remote, to heresy or idolatry?"
"Truly," answered the Varangian, "no one would be more surprised orgrieved than I should; but when we walk in a labyrinth, we must assumeand announce that we have a steady and forward purpose, which is onemode at least of keeping a straight path. The people of this countryhave so many ways of saying the same thing, that one can hardly know atlast what is their real meaning. We English, on the other hand, canonly express ourselves in one set of words, but it is one out of whichall the ingenuity of the world could not extract a double meaning."
"'Tis well," said his officer, "to-morrow we will talk more of this,for which purpose thou wilt come to my quarters a little after sunset.And, hark thee, to-morrow, while the sun is in heaven, shall be thineown, either to sport thyself or to repose. Employ thy time in thelatter, by my advice, since to-morrow night, like the present, may findus both watchers."
So saying, they entered the barracks, where they parted company--thecommander of the life-guards taking his way to a splendid set ofapartments which belonged to him in that capacity, and the Anglo-Saxonseeking his humble accommodations as a subaltern officer of the samecorps.
