In the Days of Chivalry: A Tale of the Times of the Black Prince

by Evelyn Everett-Green

  CHAPTER V. THE KING AND THE PRINCE.

  King Edward's assembly of knights that met at his first Round Table wasas typical a gathering as could well have been found of that age ofwarlike chivalry. The King's idea was likewise typical of the age helived in. He had begun to see something of that decline of chivalrywhich was the natural outcome of a real advance in general civilization,and of increasing law and order, however slow its progress might be.Greatly deploring any decay in a system so much beloved and cherished byknights and warriors, and not seeing that its light might merely bepaling in the rise of something more truly bright and beneficent, theKing resolved to do everything in his power to give an impetus to allchivalrous undertakings by assembling together his knights after thefashion of the great King Arthur, and with them to take counsel how theways and usages of chivalry might best be preserved, the old spirit keptalive, and the interests of piety and religion (with which it shouldever be blended) be truly considered.

  How far this festival succeeded in its object can scarcely be told now.The days of chivalry (in the old acceptation of the term) were drawingto a close, and an attempt to galvanize into life a decaying institutionis seldom attended with any but very moderate success. From the factthat we hear so little of the King's Round Table, and from the few timesit ever met, one is led to conclude that the results were small anddisappointing. But the brilliance of the first assembly cannot bedoubted; and for the twins of Gascony it was a wonderful day, and markedan epoch in their lives; for on that occasion they saw for the firsttime the mighty King, whose name had been familiar to them fromchildhood, and had actual speech with the Prince of Wales, that hero ofso many battlefields, known to history as the Black Prince.

  So great was the crowd of esquires who waited upon the knights sittingaround the huge Round Table, that the Gascon brothers only struggled fora few minutes into the gay assemblage to look at what was going onthere. The table was itself a curiosity -- a huge ring round which, inbeautifully carved seats, the knights sat, each seat fitting into thenext, with an arm to divide them, the backs forming a complete circleround the table. The King's seat was adorned with a richer carving, andhad a higher back, than the others, but that was its only distinction.Within the circle of the table were pages flitting about, attending onthe guests; and the esquires who thronged the corridors or supplementedthe attentions of the pages were considerably more numerous than theoccasion required, so that these were to be seen gathering in groupshere and there about the building in the vicinity of the feast,discussing the proceedings or talking of public or private matters.

  Very wonderful was all this to Gaston and Raymond, but not quite sobewildering as it would have been a month ago. They had been about theCourt some little time now, and were growing used to the fine dresses,the English ways of speech, and the manners and customs which hadperplexed them not a little at first. They were greatly entertained bywatching the shifting throng of courtiers, and their one glimpse at theroyal countenance of the King had been fraught with keen pleasure andsatisfaction; but so far as they knew it, they had not yet seen thePrince of Wales, and they had not caught sight either of their cousinsOliver or Bernard, though they had found John sitting in the embrasureof a window in the corridor, watching the scene with the same interestwhich they felt in it themselves.

  When they saw him they joined him, and asked the names of some of thegay personages flitting about. John good-naturedly amused them with anumber of anecdotes of the Court; and as the three were thus chattingtogether, they were suddenly joined by another group of three, whoadvanced along the corridor talking in low tones but with eager excitement.

  "Here comes the Prince," said John, rising to his feet, and the twinbrothers turned eagerly round.

  They knew in an instant which of the three was the Prince, for hiscompanions were John's two brothers, Oliver and Bernard. Young Edwardwas at that time not quite fourteen, but so strong, so upright, so wellgrown, and of such a kingly presence, that it was hard to believe he hadscarcely left his childhood behind. His tunic was of cloth of gold, withthe royal arms embroidered upon it. He wore a golden collar round hisneck, and his golden girdle held a dagger with a richly-jewelled hilt. Ashort velvet mantle lined with ermine hung over his shoulder, and wasfastened by a clasp richly chased and set with rubies. His face wasflushed as if with some great purpose, and his eyes shone brightly withexcitement.

  "It shall never be true -- I will not believe it!" he was saying, inurgent accents. "Let chivalry once die out, and so goes England's glory.May I die ere I live to see that day! Better a thousand times death insome glorious warfare, in some knightly deed of daring, than to drag outa life of ease and sloth with the dying records of the glorious pastalone to cheer and sustain one. Good John, thou art a man of letters --thou canst read the signs of the times -- prithee tell me that there beno truth in this dark whisper. Sure the days of chivalry are not halflived through yet!"

  "Nor will be so long as you are spared to England, gentle Prince,"answered John, with his slight peculiar smile. "You and your royal Siretogether will keep alive the old chivalry at which was dealt so sore ablow in your grandsire's days. A reign like that of weakness and follyand treachery leaves its mark behind; but England's chivalry has livedthrough it --"

  "Ay, and she shall awake to new and fuller life!" cried the ardent boy."What use in being born a prince if something cannot thus be done torestore what has been lost? And why should princes stand idle when theworld is all in arms? Comrades, do ye long as I do to show the worldthat though we have not yet won our knighthood's spurs, we are yet readyand willing to sally forth, even as did the knights of old, upon somequest of peril or adventure? Why is it that I, who should by rights beone to show what may be done by a boy's arm with a stout heart behind,am ever held back from peril and danger, have never seen fighting savein the tilt yard, or wound worse than what splintered spear may chanceto inflict? I burn to show the world what a band of youths can do who goforth alone on some errand of true chivalry. Comrades, give me yourears. Let me speak to you of the purpose in my heart. This day has myfather, in the hearing of all men, lamented the wane of chivalry, hasspoken brave words of encouragement to those who will strive with him tolet it be no hollow name amongst us. Then who more fit than his own sonto go forth now -- at once, by stealth if need be -- upon such a questof peril and glory? nay, not for the glory -- that may or may not beours -- but upon a mission of chivalrous service to the weak andhelpless? This thing I purpose to do myself, together with some fewchosen comrades. Brothers of Brocas, will ye go with me?"

  "We will! we will!" cried the three brothers in a breath.

  "We will!" echoed the twins of Gascony, forgetting all but their eagerdesire to share the peril and the glory of the Prince's enterprise,whatever it might be.

  Young Edward heard the sound of the strange voices, and turned a quickglance of inquiry upon the youths. He saw that they wore the livery ofSir James Audley, who was a great favourite even then with the Prince.The true kingly courtesy of the Plantagenets was ingrained in the natureof this princely boy, and he looked with a smile at the two eager facesbefore him.

  "And who be ye, fair gentlemen?" he asked. "Methinks the badge you wearis answer almost enough. I know your good lord well, and love him well,and sure there be none of his esquires, be they never so young, whowould disgrace their master by fleeing in an hour of peril. Wherefore ifye would fain be of the band I seek to muster round me, I will bid youready welcome. I seek none that be above twenty years of age.

  "Good John, you shall be the wise man of our party. These lads have notlived many more years than I have myself, or I am much mistaken."

  "We are twin brothers," said Gaston frankly, "and we are nigh uponsixteen. We have been with Sir James a matter of two months. We --"

  "They met him in the woods of Gascony," cried Oliver, "and rescued himfrom the attacks of a pack of fierce wolves. I trow they would bearthemselves bravely be your quest what it may."

  "Are you Gascons?"
asked the Prince, looking with keener interest at thetwo youths; for he shared some of his father's instincts of government,and was always well disposed towards Gascon subjects.

  "We are half Gascon and half English, may it please you, fair Prince,"answered Gaston readily, "and we will follow you to the death."

  "I well believe it, my good comrades," answered the Prince quickly; "andright glad shall we be of your company and assistance. For our errandlies amidst dark forests with their hidden perils and dangers, and I wotthat none know better what such dangers are nor how they may be escapedthan our brethren of Gascony."

  "Then you know on what quest we are bent, sweet Prince?"

  Edward nodded his head as he looked over his shoulder. "Ay, that I doright well, and that will I tell you incontinently if no eavesdroppersbe about. Ye know that of late days brave knights and gentlemen havebeen mustering to our Court from all parts of this land? Now amongstthese is one Sir Hugh Vavasour, who comes from his house of Woodcrych,not half a day's ride from our Royal Palace of Guildford; and with himhe has brought his son, one Alexander, with whom I yestere'en fell intoconverse. I say not that I liked the youth himself. He seemed to mesomething over bold, yet lacking in those graces of chivalry that are sodear to us. Still it was in talking with him that I heard this thingwhich has set my blood boiling in my veins."

  "What thing is that, fair Prince?" asked John.

  And then the young Edward told his tale. It was such a tale as was onlytoo often heard in olden days, though it did not always reach the earsof royalty. The long and expensive, and as yet somewhat fruitless, warsin which Edward had been engaged almost ever since he came to thethrone, had greatly impoverished his subjects, and with poverty therearose those other evils inseparable from general distress -- robbery,freebooting, crime in its darkest and ugliest aspects; bands of hungrymen, ruined and beggared, partly perhaps through misfortune, but partlythrough their own fault, wandering about the country ravaging androbbing, leaving desolation behind them, and too often, if opposed,committing acts of brutal cruelty upon defenceless victims, as a warningto others.

  A band such as this was just now scouring the woods around Guildford.Young Vavasour had heard of depredations committed close against thewalls of his own home, and had heard of many outrages which had beensuffered by the poor folks around. Cattle had been driven off, theirhardly-gathered fuel had vanished in the night; sometimes lonely houseswere attacked, and the miserable inhabitants, if they offeredresistance, stabbed to the heart by the marauders. One or two girls hadbeen missed from their homes, and were said to have fallen a prey to therobber band. All these things, and the latter item especially, stirredthe hot blood in the young Prince's veins, and he was all on fire to dosome doughty deed that should at once exterminate such evildoers fromthe face of the earth, strike terror into the hearts of other bands, andshow that the spirit of chivalry was yet alive in the kingdom, and thatthe King's son was the first to fly to the succour of the distressed andthe feeble.

  "For I will go myself and hunt these miscreants as though they were dogsor wolves -- beasts of prey that needs must be put down with a stronghand. I will not tell my father the tale, else might he appoint warriorsof his own to see to the matter, and the glory be theirs and not ours.No, this is a matter for my arm to settle. I will collect around me aband of our bravest youths -- they shall all be youths like myself. Ourgood John knows well the country around our Palace of Guildford -- intruth I know it indifferently well myself. We will sally forth together-- my father will grant me leave to go thither with a body of youths ofmy own choosing -- and thence we will scour the forests, scatter or slaythese vile disturbers of the peace, restore the lost maidens to theirhomes, and make recompense to our poor subjects for all they havesuffered at their hands."

  It was just the scheme to fascinate the imagination and fire the ardourof a number of high-spirited and generous boys. The proximity of theRoyal Palace of Guildford gave them every facility for carrying out theplan speedily and yet secretly, and the Prince had quickly enlisted ascore of well-trained, well-equipped lads to follow him on hischivalrous quest. Sir James gave ready consent to his petition that theGascon twins might join his train for a few days. The King, when he gavehis sanction to the proposed expedition to Guildford, believed that hisson was going there bent on sport or some boyish pastime, and scarcebestowed a second thought upon the matter. The royal children had eachtheir own attendants and establishment, following wherever theiryouthful master or mistress went; and to the eldest son of the King avery decided liberty was given, of which his father had never yet hadcause to repent.

  Thus it came about that three days after the King's great feast of theRound Table had ended, the Prince of Wales, with a following of twentyyoung comrades, in addition to his ordinary staff of attendants, rodeforth from the Castle of Windsor in the tardy winter's dawn, and beforenight had fallen the gay and gallant little band had reached the Palaceof Guildford, which had received due notice of the approach of theKing's son. Those who were sharp-eyed amongst the spectators of thisdeparture might have noted that the Prince and his immediate followerseach wore round his arm a band of black ribbon with a device embroideredupon it. The device was an eagle worked in gold, and was supposed to beemblematic of the swiftness and the strength that were to characterizethe expedition of the Prince, when he should swoop down upon thedastardly foes, and force them to yield up their ill-gotten gains. Thesebadges had been worked by the clever fingers of Edward's sisters, theyouthful princesses Isabella and Joanna. Joanna, as the wardrobe rollsof the period show, was a most industrious little maiden with herneedle, and must have spent the best part of her time in her favouritepastime of embroidery, judging by the amount of silk and other materialrequired by her for her own private use. Both the sisters were devotedlyattached to their handsome brother, and were the sharers of hisconfidences. They knew all about this secret expedition, and sympathizedmost fully with it. It was Joanna's ready wit which had suggested theidea of the badge, which idea was eagerly caught up by Edward; for to goforth with a token woven by the fair hands of ladies would give to theexploit a spice of romantic chivalry that would certainly add to itszest. So for the past three days the royal sisters had been plying theirneedles with the utmost diligence, and each of the gallant little bandknew that he wore upon his arm a token embroidered for him by the handsof a youthful princess.

  Of the Royal Palace of Guildford nothing now remains -- even the site isnot known with any certainty, though it is supposed to have occupied thespot where Guildford Park farm now stands. Its extensive park covered alarge area of ground, and was a favoured hunting ground for many of theillustrious Plantagenets.

  It need hardly be said with what interest and curiosity the twinbrothers gazed about them as they neared the little town of Guildford,where their uncle, Master Bernard de Brocas, possessed a graduallyincreasing property. They felt that this journey was the first steptowards Basildene; and utterly ignorant as they were of its exactlocality, they wondered if they might not be passing it by whenever someancient Manor House reared its chimneys or gables above the bareencircling trees, and their hearts beat high at the thought that theywere drawing near to their own lost inheritance.

  The Palace was warmly lighted in honour of the arrival of the Prince ofWales; and as the little cavalcade dismounted at the door and enteredthe noble hall, a figure, habited after the fashion of the ecclesiasticsof the day, stepped forth to greet the scion of royalty, and the twinbrothers heard their comrades mutter,

  "It is the good Rector, Master Bernard de Brocas."

  The young Prince plainly knew the Rector well, and after just bendinghis knee to ask the blessing, as was his reverent custom, he led himinto the banqueting hall, where a goodly meal lay spread, placing him ina seat at his own right hand, and asking him many things as the mealprogressed, leading the talk deftly to the robbers' raids, and seeking,without betraying his purpose, to find out where these miscreants mightmost readily be found.

  The good R
ector had heard much about them, but knew little enough oftheir movements. One day they were heard of in one place, and again theywould vanish, and no man would know whither they had gone till theyappeared in another. Everywhere they left behind them desolated homes,and bloodshed and ruin followed in their track. Master Bernard had heardtoo many such tales from all parts of the kingdom to heed overmuch whatwent on in this particular spot. He knew that the winter's privation andcold acted upon savage men almost as it did upon wolves and ravenousbeasts, and that in a country harassed and overtaxed such things mustneeds be. He never suspected the cause of the Prince's eagerness. Hebelieved that the youths had come down bent on sport, and that theywould take far more interest in the news he had to give them, that awild boar had recently been seen in the forest aisles of the Royal Park,and that the huntsmen would be ready to sally forth to slay it at asingle word from the Prince.

  Edward's eyes lighted at this. It seemed to him a fortunate coincidence.Also he would be glad enough to see the killing of the boar, though hewas more interested in the expedition it would involve into the heart ofthe forest.

  "Prithee give orders, good Master Bernard, that the huntsmen be readytomorrow morning at dawn of day. I trow there be horses and to spare tomount us all, as our own beasts will be something weary from the journeythey have taken today. We will be ready ere the sun is up, and if kindfortune smiles upon us, I trust I shall have the good fortune to have apair of fine tusks to offer to my sisters when they join us here, asthey shortly hope to do."

  Master Bernard, who was a man of no small importance all through thisneighbourhood, hastened away to give the needful orders. He had comefrom his own Rectory hard by to receive the Prince and his comrades, andhe suspected that the King would be well pleased for him to remainbeneath the roof of the castle so long as this gay and youthful partydid so.

  When night came and the youths sought the rooms which had been madeready for them, the Prince signed to a certain number of his comrades torepair with him to his chamber, as though he desired their services athis toilet. Amongst those thus summoned were the three sons of Sir Johnde Brocas, and also the Gascon twins, for whom young Edward appeared tohave taken a great liking, and who on their part warmly returned thisfeeling. Shutting the door carefully, and making sure that none butfriends were round him, the Prince unfolded his plan.

  He had learned from the Master Huntsman, whom he had seen for a fewminutes before going to his room, that the boar lay concealed for themost part in some thick underwood lying in the very heart of the forestmany miles distant, right away to the southwest in the direction ofWoodcrych. This part of the forest was fairly well known to the Princefrom former hunting expeditions, and he and John both remembered wellthe hut of a lonely woodman that lay hidden in the very depths of thewood near this spot. It had occurred to Edward as likely that old Ralphwould be better acquainted with the habits of the robbers than any otherperson could be. He was too poor to be made a mark for their rapacity,yet from his solitary life in the forest he might likely enough comeacross their tracks, and be able to point out their hiding places.Therefore the Prince's plan was that he and the picked companions heshould choose should slip away from the main body of the huntsmen, andmake their way to this lonely cabin, joining their comrades later whenthey had discovered all that they could do from the old man. The shoutsof the huntsmen and the baying of the dogs would guide them to the sceneof the chase, and if the rest who remained all the while with theforesters and the dogs missed the Prince from amongst their ranks, theywere not to draw attention to the fact, but were rather to strive toconceal it from the Master Huntsman, who might grow uneasy if he foundthe young Edward missing. It was of importance that all inquiriesrespecting the robbers should be conducted with secrecy, for if thePrince's curiosity on the subject were once to be known, suspicion mightbe aroused, or a regular expedition against them organized, the gloryand credit of which would not belong in anything but empty name to thePrince.

  It was not, perhaps, unnatural that the six lads who had first connedover the plan together should be selected as the ones to make thispreliminary inquiry. John was chosen for his seniority and the prudenceof his counsels, his brothers for their bravery and fleetness of foot,and the Gascon twins for their close acquaintance with forest tracks,and their greater comprehension of the methods employed in following thetrail of foes or fugitives through tangled woods. They would likelyenough understand the old man's counsel better than any of the others;and as the sport of hunting the boar was more esteemed by the otheryouths than the expedition to the woodman's hut, no jealousy was arousedby the Prince's choice, and the scheme was quickly made known to thewhole of the party.

  The morrow proved a first-rate day for a hunting party in the forest. Alight crisp snow lay on the ground, melting where exposed to the sun'srays, but forming a sparkling white carpet elsewhere. It was not deepenough to inconvenience either men or horses, and would scarce havefallen to any depth beneath the trees of the forest; but there was justsufficient to be an excellent guide in tracking down the quarry, and allfelt confident that the wily old boar had seen his last sunrise.

  Merrily rode the party forth through the great gateway and across thefine park in the direction of the forest. The Prince and his five chosencomrades rode together, sometimes speaking in low tones, sometimesjoining in the gay converse on the subject of hunting which went onaround them. But the Prince's thoughts were far less with sport thanwith the wrongs of his father's subjects, and the cruel outrages whichthey had suffered unredressed and almost unpitied. His heart burnedwithin him to think that in merry England, as he liked to call it, andin the days of chivalry, such things were possible; and to put downcruelty and rapacity with a strong hand seemed of infinitely moreimportance to him than the pursuit of a fine sport.

  Thus musing, and thus talking in low tones to the thoughtful John, thePrince dropped a little behind the muster of huntsmen. His chosencomrades followed his example, and straggled rather aimlessly after themain body, till at last a turn in the forest shut these completely fromtheir view.

  "Now," said the Prince, turning to his five selected comrades, "this, ifI mistake not, is our road. We will soon see if we cannot get upon thetrack of the miscreants whom I am burning to punish and destroy!"