Waverley Novels — Volume 12

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH.

  Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Bears yet a precious jewel in its head. AS YOU LIKE IT.

  From a terraced roof of the Blacquernal palace, accessible by asash-door, which opened from the bed-chamber of Ursel, there wascommanded one of the most lovely and striking views which the romanticneighbourhood of Constantinople afforded.

  After suffering him to repose and rest his agitated faculties, it wasto this place that the physician led his patient; for when somewhatcomposed, he had of himself requested to be permitted to verify thetruth of his restored eyesight, by looking out once more upon themajestic face of nature.

  On the one hand, the scene which he beheld was a masterpiece of humanart. The proud city, ornamented with stately buildings, as became thecapital of the world, showed a succession of glittering spires andorders of architecture, some of them chaste and simple, like those thecapitals of which were borrowed from baskets-full of acanthus; somederiving the fluting of their shafts from the props made originally tosupport the lances of the earlier Greeks--forms simple, yet moregraceful in their simplicity, than any which human ingenuity has beenable since to invent. With the most splendid specimens which ancientart could afford of those strictly classical models were associatedthose of a later age, where more modern taste had endeavoured atimprovement, and, by mixing the various orders, had produced such aswere either composite, or totally out of rule. The size of thebuildings in which they were displayed, however, procured them respect;nor could even the most perfect judge of architecture avoid beingstruck by the grandeur of their extent and effect, although hurt by theincorrectness of the taste in which they were executed. Arches oftriumph, towers, obelisks, and spires, designed for various purposes,rose up into the air in confused magnificence; while the lower view wasfilled by the streets of the city, the domestic habitations forminglong narrow alleys, on either side of which the houses arose to variousand unequal heights, but, being generally finished with terracedcoverings, thick set with plants and flowers, and fountains, had, whenseen from an eminence, a more noble and interesting aspect than is everafforded by the sloping and uniform roofs of streets in the capitals ofthe north of Europe.

  It has taken us some time to give, in words, the idea which was at asingle glance conveyed to Ursel, and affected him at first with greatpain. His eyeballs had been long strangers to that daily exercise,which teaches us the habit of correcting the scenes as they appear toour sight, by the knowledge which we derive from the use of our othersenses. His idea of distance was so confused, that it seemed as if allthe spires, turrets, and minarets which he beheld, were crowded forwardupon his eyeballs, and almost touching them. With a shriek of horror,Ursel turned himself to the further side, and cast his eyes upon adifferent scene. Here also he saw towers, steeples, and turrets, butthey were those of the churches and public buildings beneath his feet,reflected from the dazzling piece of water which formed the harbour ofConstantinople, and which, from the abundance of wealth which ittransported to the city, was well termed the Golden Horn. In one place,this superb basin was lined with quays, where stately dromonds andargosies unloaded their wealth, while, by the shore of the haven,galleys, feluccas, and other small craft, idly flapped the singularlyshaped and snow-white pinions which served them for sails. In otherplaces the Golden Horn lay shrouded in a verdant mantle of trees, wherethe private gardens of wealthy or distinguished individuals, or placesof public recreation, shot down upon and were bounded by the glassywaters.

  On the Bosphorus, which might be seen in the distance, the little fleetof Tancred was lying in the same station they had gained during thenight, which was fitted to command the opposite landing; this theirgeneral had preferred to a midnight descent upon Constantinople, notknowing whether, so coming, they might be received as friends orenemies. This delay, however, had given the Greeks an opportunity,either by the orders of Alexius, or the equally powerful mandates ofsome of the conspirators, to tow six ships of war, full of armed men,and provided with the maritime offensive weapons peculiar to the Greeksat that period, which they had moored so as exactly to cover the placewhere the troops of Tancred must necessarily land.

  This preparation gave some surprise to the valiant Tancred, who did notknow that such vessels had arrived in the harbour from Lemnos on thepreceding night. The undaunted courage of that prince was, however, inno respect to be shaken by the degree of unexpected danger with whichhis adventure now appeared to be attended.

  This splendid view, from the description of which we have in somedegree digressed, was seen by the physician and Ursel from a terrace,the loftiest almost on the palace of the Blacquernal. To the city-ward,it was bounded by a solid wall, of considerable height, giving aresting-place for the roof of a lower building, which, sloping outward,broke to the view the vast height unobscured otherwise save by a highand massy balustrade, composed of bronze, which, to the havenward, sunksheer down upon an uninterrupted precipice.

  No sooner, therefore, had Ursel turned his eyes that way, than, thoughplaced far from the brink of the terrace, he exclaimed, with a shriek,"Save me--save me! if you are not indeed the destined executors of theEmperor's will."

  "We are indeed such," said Douban, "to save, and if possible to bringyou to complete recovery; but by no means to do you injury, or tosuffer it to be offered by others."

  "Guard me then from myself," said Ursel, "and save me from the reelingand insane desire which I feel to plunge myself into the abyss, to theedge of which you have guided me."

  "Such a giddy and dangerous temptation is," said the physician, "commonto those who have not for a long time looked down from precipitousheights, and are suddenly brought to them. Nature, however bounteous,hath not provided for the cessation of our faculties for years, and fortheir sudden resumption in full strength and vigour. An interval,longer or shorter, must needs intervene. Can you not believe thisterrace a safe station while you have my support and that of thisfaithful slave?"

  "Certainly," said Ursel; "but permit me to turn my face towards thisstone wall, for I cannot bear to look at the flimsy piece of wire,which is the only battlement of defence that interposes betwixt me andthe precipice." He spoke of the bronze balustrade, six feet high, andmassive in proportion. Thus saying, and holding fast by the physician'sarm, Ursel, though himself a younger and more able man, trembled, andmoved his feet as slowly as if made of lead, until he reached thesashed-door, where stood a kind of balcony-seat, in which he placedhimself.--"Here," he said, "will I remain."

  "And here," said Douban, "will I make the communication of the Emperor,which it is necessary you should be prepared to reply to. It placesyou, you will observe, at your own disposal for liberty or captivity,but it conditions for your resigning that sweet but sinful morseltermed revenge, which, I must not conceal from you, chance appearswilling to put into your hand. You know the degree of rivalry in whichyou have been held by the Emperor, and you know the measure of evil youhave sustained at his hand. The question is, Can you forgive what hastaken place?"

  "Let me wrap my head round with my mantle," said Ursel, "to dispel thisdizziness which still oppresses my poor brain, and as soon as the powerof recollection is granted me, you shall know my sentiments."

  He sunk upon the seat, muffled in the way which he described, and aftera few minutes' reflection, with a trepidation which argued the patientstill to be under the nervous feeling of extreme horror mixed withterror, he addressed Douban thus: "The operation of wrong and cruelty,in the moment when they are first inflicted, excites, of course, theutmost resentment of the sufferer; nor is there, perhaps, a passionwhich lives so long in his bosom as the natural desire of revenge. If,then, during the first month, when I lay stretched upon my bed of wantand misery, you had offered me an opportunity of revenge upon my crueloppressor, the remnant of miserable life which remained to me shouldhave been willingly bestowed to purchase it. But a suffering of weeks,or even months, must not be co
mpared in effect with that of years. Fora short space of endurance, the body, as well as the mind, retains thatvigorous habit which holds the prisoner still connected with life, andteaches him to thrill at the long-forgotten chain of hopes, of wishes,of disappointments, and mortifications, which affected his formerexistence. But the wounds become callous as they harden, and other andbetter feelings occupy their place, while they gradually die away inforgetfulness. The enjoyments, the amusements of this world, occupy nopart of his time upon whom the gates of despair have once closed. Itell thee, my kind physician, that for a season, in an insane attemptto effect my liberty, I cut through a large portion of the living rock.But Heaven cured me of so foolish an idea; and if I did not actuallycome to love Alexius Comnenus--for how could that have been a possibleeffect in any rational state of my intellects?--yet as I becameconvinced of my own crimes, sins, and follies, the more and more I wasalso persuaded that Alexius was but the agent through whom Heavenexercised a dearly-purchased right of punishing me for my manifoldoffences and transgressions; and that it was not therefore upon theEmperor that my resentment ought to visit itself. And I can now say tothee, that so far as a man who has undergone so dreadful a change canbe supposed to know his own mind, I feel no desire either to rivalAlexius in a race for empire, or to avail myself of any of the variousproffers which he proposes to me as the price of withdrawing my claim.Let him keep unpurchased the crown, for which he has paid, in myopinion, a price which it is not worth."

  "This is extraordinary stoicism, noble Ursel," answered the physicianDouban. "Am I then to understand that you reject the fair offers ofAlexius, and desire, instead of all which he is willing--nay, anxiousto bestow--to be committed safely back to thy old blinded dungeon inthe Blacquernal, that you may continue at ease those pietisticmeditations which have already conducted thee to so extravagant aconclusion?"

  "Physician," said Ursel, while a shuddering fit that affected his wholebody testified his alarm at the alternative proposed--"one wouldimagine thine own profession might have taught thee, that no meremortal man, unless predestined to be a glorified saint, could everprefer darkness to the light of day; blindness itself to the enjoymentof the power of sight; the pangs of starving to competent sustenance,or the damps of a dungeon to the free air of God's creation. No!--itmay be virtue to do so, but to such a pitch mine does not soar. All Irequire of the Emperor for standing by him with all the power my namecan give him at this crisis is, that he will provide for my receptionas a monk in some of those pleasant and well endowed seminaries ofpiety, to which his devotion, or his fears, have given rise. Let me notbe again the object of his suspicion, the operation of which is moredreadful than that of being the object of his hate. Forgotten by power,as I have myself lost the remembrance of those that wielded it, let mefind my way to the grave, unnoticed, unconstrained, at liberty, inpossession of my dim and disused organs of sight, and, above all, atpeace."

  "If such be thy serious and earnest wish, noble Ursel," said thephysician, "I myself have no hesitation to warrant to thee the fullaccomplishment of thy religious and moderate desires. But, bethinkthee, thou art once more an inhabitant of the court, in which thoumayst obtain what thou wilt to-day; while to-morrow, shouldst thouregret thy indifference, it may be thy utmost entreaty will not sufficeto gain for thee the slightest extension of thy present conditions."

  "Be it so," said Ursel; "I will then stipulate for another condition,which indeed has only reference to this day. I will solicit hisImperial Majesty, with all humility, to spare me the pain of a personaltreaty between himself and me, and that he will be satisfied with thesolemn assurance that I am most willing to do in his favour all that heis desirous of dictating; while, on the other hand, I desire only theexecution of those moderate conditions of my future aliment which Ihave already told thee at length."

  "But wherefore," said Douban, "shouldst thou be afraid of announcing tothe Emperor thy disposition to an agreement, which cannot be esteemedotherwise than extremely moderate on thy part? Indeed, I fear theEmperor will insist on a brief personal conference."

  "I am not ashamed," said Ursel, "to confess the truth. It is true, thatI have, or think I have, renounced what the Scripture calls the prideof life; but the old Adam still lives within us, and maintains againstthe better part of our nature an inextinguishable quarrel, easy to bearoused from its slumber, but as difficult to be again couched inpeace. While last night I but half understood that mine enemy was in mypresence, and while my faculties performed but half their duty inrecalling his deceitful and hated accents, did not my heart throb in mybosom with all the agitation of a taken bird, and shall I again have toenter into a personal treaty with the man who, be his general conductwhat it may, has been, the constant and unprovoked cause of myunequalled misery? Douban, no!--to listen to his voice again, were tohear an alarm sounded to every violent and vindictive passion, of myheart; and though, may Heaven so help me as my intentions towards himare upright, yet it is impossible for me to listen to his professionswith a chance of safety either to him or to myself."

  "If you be so minded," replied Douban, "I shall only repeat to him yourstipulation, and you must swear to him that you will strictly observeit. Without this being done, it must be difficult, or perhapsimpossible, to settle the league of which both are desirous."

  "Amen!" said Ursel; "and as I am pure in my purpose, and resolved tokeep it to the uttermost, so may Heaven guard me from the influence ofprecipitate revenge, ancient grudge, or new quarrel!"

  An authoritative knock at the door of the sleeping chamber was nowheard, and Ursel, relieved by more powerful feelings, from thegiddiness of which he had complained, walked firmly into the bedroom,and seating himself, waited with averted eyes the entrance of theperson who demanded admittance, and who proved to be no other thanAlexius Comnenus.

  The Emperor appeared at the door in a warlike dress, suited for thedecoration of a prince who was to witness a combat in the lists foughtout before him.

  "Sage Douban," he said, "has our esteemed prisoner, Ursel, made hischoice between our peace and enmity?"

  "He hath, my lord," replied the physician, "embraced the lot of thathappy portion of mankind, whose hearts and lives are devoted to theservice of your Majesty's government."

  "He will then this day," continued the Emperor, "render me the officeof putting down all those who may pretend to abet insurrection in hisname, and under pretext of his wrongs?"

  "He will, my lord," replied the physician, "act to the fullest the partwhich you require."

  "And in what way," said the Emperor, adopting his most gracious tone ofvoice, "would our faithful Ursel desire that services like these,rendered in the hour of extreme need; should be acknowledged by theEmperor?"

  "Simply," answered Douban, "by saying nothing upon the subject. Hedesires only that all jealousies between you and him may be henceforthforgotten, and that he may be admitted into one of your Highness'smonastic institutions, with leave to dedicate the rest of his life tothe worship of Heaven and its saints."

  "Hath he persuaded thee of this, Douban?"--said the Emperor, in a lowand altered voice. "By Heaven! when I consider from what prison he wasbrought, and in what guise he inhabited it, I cannot believe in thisgall-less disposition. He must at least speak to me himself, ere I canbelieve, in some degree, the transformation of the fiery Ursel into abeing so little capable of feeling the ordinary impulses of mankind."

  "Hear me, Alexius Comnenus," said the prisoner; "and so may thine ownprayers to Heaven find access and acceptation, as thou believest thewords which I speak to thee in simplicity of heart. If thine empire ofGreece were made of coined gold, it would hold out no bait for myacceptance; nor, I thank Heaven, have even the injuries I haveexperienced at thy hand, cruel and extensive as they have been,impressed upon me the slightest desire of requiting treachery withtreachery. Think of me as thou wilt, so thou seek'st not again toexchange words with me; and believe me, that when thou hast put meunder the most rigid of thy ecclesiastical foundations, the discipline
,the fare, and the vigils, will be far superior to the existence fallingto the share of those whom the King delights to honour, and whotherefore must afford the King their society whenever they are summonedto do so."

  "It is hardly for me," said the physician, "to interpose in so high amatter; yet, as trusted both by the noble Ursel, and by his Highnessthe Emperor, I have made a brief abstract of these short conditions tobe kept by the high parties towards each other, _sub crimine falsi_."

  The Emperor protracted the intercourse with Ursel, until he more fullyexplained to him the occasion which he should have that very day forhis services. When they parted, Alexius, with a great show ofaffection, embraced his late prisoner, while it required all theself-command and stoicism of Ursel to avoid expressing in plain termsthe extent to which he abhorred the person who thus caressed him.