Joan of the Sword Hand

by S. R. Crockett

  CHAPTER LII

  THE MARGRAF'S POWDER CHESTS

  It was indeed Alexis the Deacon who met the Lady Theresa. And the matterhad been arranged, just as Boris said. Alexis the Deacon, a wise man ofmany disguises, remained in Courtland after the abrupt departure ofPrince Ivan. Theresa had found him in the hospital, where, sheltered bya curtain, she heard him talk with a dying man--the son of a Greekmerchant domiciled in Courtland, whose talent for languages and quickintelligence had induced Prince Conrad to place him on his immediatestaff of officers.

  "I bid you reveal to me the plans and intents of the Prince," Theresaheard Alexis say, "otherwise I cannot give you absolution. I am priestas well as doctor."

  At this the young Greek groaned and turned aside his head, for he lovedthe Prince. Nevertheless, he spoke into the ear of the physician all heknew, and as reward received a sleeping draught, which induced the sleepfrom which none waken.

  And afterwards Theresa had spoken also.

  So it was this same Alexis--spy, priest, surgeon, assassin, and chiefconfidant of Ivan Prince of Muscovy--who, in front of the watchfires,bent over the hand of Theresa von Lynar on that stormy night whichsucceeded the crowning victory of the Russian arms in Courtland.

  "This way, madam. Fear not. The Prince is eagerly awaiting you--bothPrinces, indeed," Alexis said, as he led her into the camp throughlines of lighted tents and curious eyes looking at them from thedarkness. "Only tell them all that you have to tell, and, trust me,there shall be no bounds to the gratitude of the Prince, or of Alexisthe Deacon, his most humble servant."

  Theresa thought of what this boundless gratitude had obtained for theyoung Greek, and smiled. They came to an open space before a lightedpavilion. Before the door stood a pair of officers trying in vain toshield their gay attire under scanty shoulder cloaks from the hurtlinginclemency of the night. Their ready swords, however, barred the way.

  "To see the Prince--his Highness expects us," said Alexis, without anysalute. And with no further objection the two officers stood aside,staring eagerly and curiously however under the hood of the lady's cloakwhom Alexis brought so late to the tent of their master.

  "Ha!" muttered one of them confidentially as the pair passed within, "Ioften wondered what kept our Ivan so long in Courtland. It was more thanhis wooing of the Princess Margaret, I will wager!"

  "Curse the wet!" growled his fellow, turning away. He felt that it wasno time for speculative scandal.

  Theresa and her conductor stood within the tent of the commander of theMuscovite army. The glow of light, though it came only from candles setwithin lanterns of horn, was great enough to be dazzling to her eyes.She found herself in the immediate presence of Prince Ivan, who rosewith his usual lithe grace to greet her. An older man, with a greypinched face, sat listlessly with his elbow on the small camp table. Heleaned his forehead on his palm, and looked down. Behind, in the halfdark of the tent, a low wide divan with cushions was revealed, and allthe upper end of the tent was filled up with a huge and shadowy pile ofkegs and boxes, only half concealed behind a curtain.

  "I bid you welcome, my lady," said Prince Ivan, taking her hand. "Surelynever did ally come welcomer than you to our camp to-night. My servantAlexis has told me of your goodwill--both towards ourselves and toPrince Louis." (He indicated the silent sitting figure with a littlemovement of his hand sufficiently contemptuous.) "Let us hear your news,and then will we find you such lodging and welcome as may be among roughsoldiers and in a camp of war."

  As he was speaking Theresa von Lynar loosened her long cloak of blue,its straight folds dank and heavy with the rains. The eyes of the Princeof Muscovy grew wider. Hitherto this woman had been to him but a commontraitress, possessed of great secrets, doubtless to be flattered alittle, and then--afterwards--thrown aside. Now he stood gazing at herhis hands resting easily on the table, his body a little bent. As sherevealed herself to him the pupils of his eyes dilated, and amber gleamsseemed to shoot across the irises. He thought he had never seen sobeautiful a woman. As he stood there, sharpening his features andmoistening his lips, Prince Ivan looked exceedingly like a beast of preylooking out of his hole upon a quarry which comes of its own accordwithin reach of his claws.

  But in a moment he had recovered himself, and came forward with renewedreverence.

  "Madam," he said, bowing low, "will you be pleased to sit down? You arewet and tired."

  He went to the flap of the pavilion and pushed aside the dripping flap.

  "Alexis!" he cried, "call up my people. Bid them bring a brazier, andtell these lazy fellows to serve supper in half an hour on peril oftheir heads!"

  He returned and stood before Theresa, who had sunk back as if fatiguedon an ottoman covered with thick furs. Her feet nestled in the bearskinswhich covered the floor. The Prince looked anxiously down.

  "Pardon me, your shoes are wet," he said. "We are but Muscovite boors,but we know how to make ladies comfortable. Permit me!"

  And before Theresa could murmur a negative the Prince had knelt down andwas unloosing the latchets of her shoes.

  "A moment!" he said, as he sprang again to his feet with the lithealertness which distinguished him. Prince Ivan ran to a corner where,with the brusque hand of a master, he had tossed a score of pricelessfurs to the ground. He rose again and came towards Theresa with a flashof something scarlet in his hand.

  "You will pardon us, madam," he said, "you are our guest--the sole ladyin our camp. I lay it upon your good nature to forgive our rudemakeshifts."

  And again Prince Ivan knelt. He encased Theresa's feet in daintyOriental slippers, small as her own, and placed them delicately andrespectfully on the couch.

  "There, that is better!" he said, standing over her tenderly.

  "I thank you, Prince." She answered the action more than the words,smiling upon him with her large graciousness; "I am not worthy of sogreat favour."

  "My lady," said the Prince, "it is a proverb of our house that thoughone day Muscovy shall rule the world, a woman will always rule Muscovy.I am as my fathers were!"

  Theresa did not answer. She only smiled at the Prince, leaning a littlefurther back and resting her head easily upon the palm of her hand. Theservitors brought in more lamps, which they slung along the ridge-poleof the roof, and these shedding down a mellow light enhanced the ripesplendour of Theresa's beauty.

  Prince Ivan acknowledged to himself that he had spoken the truth when hesaid that he had never seen a woman so beautiful. Margaret?--ah,Margaret was well enough; Margaret was a princess, a politicalnecessity, but this woman was of a nobler fashion, after a mode moretruly Russ. And the Prince of Muscovy, who loved his fruit with theleast touch of over-ripeness, would not admit to himself that thiswoman was one hour past the prime of her glorious beauty. And indeedthere was much to be said for this judgment.

  Theresa's splendid head was set against the dusky skins. Her rich hairof Venice gold, escaping a little from the massy carefulness of itsordered coils, had been blown into wet curls that clung closely to herwhite neck and tendrilled about her broad low brow. The warmth of thetent and the soft luxury of the rich rugs had brought a flush of red toa cheek which yet tingled with the volleying of the Baltic raindrops.

  "Alexis never told me this woman was so beautiful," he said to himself."Who is she? She cannot be of Courtland. Such a marvel could not havebeen hidden from me during all my stay there!"

  So he addressed himself to making the discovery.

  "My lady," he said, "you are our guest. Will you deign to tell us howmore formally we may address you? You are no Courtlander, as all maysee!"

  "I am a Dane," she answered smiling; "I am called the Lady Theresa. Forthe present let that suffice. I am venturing much to come to you thus!My father and brothers built a castle upon the Baltic shore on land thathas been the inheritance of my mother. Then came the reivers ofKernsberg and burned the castle to the ground. They burned it with firefrom cellar to roof-tree. And they slackened the fire with the blood ofmy nearest kindred!"


  As she spoke Theresa's eyes glittered and altered. The Prince readeasily the meaning of that excitement. How was he to know all that laybehind?

  "And so," he said, "you have no good-will to the Princess Joan ofHohenstein--and Courtland. Or to any of her favourers?" he added after apause.

  At the name the grey-headed man, who had been sitting unmoved by thetable with his elbow on the board, raised a strangely wizened face toTheresa's.

  "What"--he said, in broken accents, stammering in his speech andgrappling with the words as if, like a wrestler at a fair, he must throweach one severally--"what--who has a word to say against the Lady Joan,Princess of Courtland? Whoso wrongs her has me to reckon with--aye, wereit my brother Ivan himself!"

  "Not I, certainly, my good Louis," answered Ivan easily. "I would notwrong the lady by word or deed for all Germany from Bor-Russia to theRhine-fall!"

  He turned to Alexis the Deacon, who was at his elbow.

  "Fill up his cup--remember what I bade you!" he said sharply in anundertone.

  "His cup is full, he will drink no more. He pushes it from him!"answered Alexis in the same half-whisper. But neither, as it seemed,took any particular pains to prevent their words carrying to the ear ofPrince Louis. And, indeed, they had rightly judged. For swiftly as ithad come the momentary flash of manhood died out on the meagre face. Thearm upon which he had leaned swerved limply aside, and the grey beardfell helplessly forward upon the table.

  "So much domestic affection is somewhat belated," said Prince Ivan,regarding Louis of Courtland with disgust. "Look at him! Who can wonderat the lady's taste? He is a pretty Prince of a great province. But ifhe live he will do well enough to fill a chair and hold a golden rod.Take him away, Alexis!"

  "Nay," said Theresa, with quick alarm, "let him stay. There are manythings to speak of. We may need to consult Prince Louis later."

  "I fear the Prince will not be of great use to us," smiled Prince Ivan."If only I had known, I would have conserved his princely senses morecarefully. But for heads like his the light wine of our country isdangerously strong."

  He glanced about the pavilion. The servants had not yet retired.

  "Convey his Highness to the rear, and lay him upon the powder barrels!"He indicated with his hand the array of boxes and kegs piled in the duskof the tent. The servitors did as they were told; they lifted PrinceLouis and would have carried him to that grim couch, but, struck withsome peculiarity, Alexis the Deacon suddenly bent over his lax body andthrust his hand into the bosom of his princely habit, now tarnishedthick with wine stains and spilled meats.

  "Excellency," he said, turning to his master, "the Prince is dead! Hisheart does not beat. It is the stroke! I warned you it would come!"

  Prince Ivan strode hastily towards the body of Louis of Courtland.

  "Surely not?" he cried, in seeming astonishment. "This may prove veryinconvenient. Yet, after all, what does it matter? With your assistance,madam, the city is ours. And then, what matters dead prince or livingprince? A garrison in every fort, a squadron of good Cossacks prickingacross every plain, a tax-collector in every village--these are the bestsecurities of princedom. But this is like our good Louis. He never didanything at a right time all his life."

  Theresa stood on the other side of the dead man as the servitors loweredhim for the inspection of their lord. The weary wrinkled face had beensmoothed as with the passage of a hand. Only the left corner of themouth was drawn down, but not so much as to be disfiguring.

  "I am glad he spoke kindly of his wife at the last," she murmured. Andshe added to herself, "This falls out well--it relieves me of anecessity."

  "Spoken like a woman!" cried Prince Ivan, looking admiringly at her."Pray forgive my bitter speech, and remember that I have borne long withthis man!"

  He turned to the servitors and directed them with a motion of his handtowards the back of the pavilion.

  "Drop the curtain," he said.

  And as the silken folds rustled heavily down the curtain fell upon thecareer and regality of Louis, Prince of Courtland, hereditary Defenderof the Holy See.

  The men did not bear him far. They placed him upon the boxes of thepowder for the Margraf's cannon, which for safety and dryness Ivan hadbade them bring to his own pavilion. The dead man lay in the dark,open-eyed, staring at the circling shadows as the servitors movedathwart the supper table, at which a woman sat eating and drinking withher enemy.

  * * * * *

  Theresa von Lynar sat directly opposite the Prince of Muscovy. The boardsparkled with mellow lights reflected from many lanterns. The servitorshad departed. Only the measured tread of the sentinels was heardwithout. They were alone.

  And then Theresa spoke. Very fully she told what she had learned of thedefences of the place, which gates were guarded by the Kernsbergers,which by the men of Plassenburg, which by the remnants of the brokenarmy of Courtland. She spoke in a hushed voice, the Prince sipping andnodding as he looked into her eyes. She gave the passwords of the innerand outer defences, the numbers of the defenders at each gate, the plansfor bringing provisions up the Alla--indeed, everything that a besieginggeneral needs to know.

  And so soon as she had told the passwords the Prince asked her to pardonhim a moment. He struck a silver bell and with scarce a moment's delayAlexis entered.

  "Go," said the Prince; "send one of our fellows familiar with the speechof Courtland into the city by the Plassenburg Gate. The passwords are'_Henry the Lion_' at the outer gate and '_Remember_' at the inner port.Let the man be dressed in the habit of a countryman, and carry with himsome wine and provend. Follow him and report immediately."

  While the Prince was speaking he had never taken his eyes off Theresavon Lynar, though he had appeared to be regarding Alexis the Deacon.Theresa did not blanch. Not a muscle of her face quivered. And withinhis Muscovite heart, full of treachery as an egg of meat, Prince Ivansaid, "She is no traitress, this dame; but a simpleton with all herbeauty. The woman is speaking the truth."

  And Theresa was speaking the truth. She had expected some such test andwas prepared; but she only told the defenders' plans to one man; and asfor the passwords, she had arranged with Boris that at the earliest dawnthey were to be changed and the forces redistributed.

  While these two waited for the return of Alexis, the Prince encouragedTheresa to speak of her wrongs. He watched with approbation the sparkleof her eye as he spoke of Joan of the Sword Hand. He noted how she shutdown her lips when Henry the Lion was mentioned, how her voice shook asshe recounted the cruel end of her kin.

  Though at ordinary times most sober, the Prince now added cup to cup,and like a Muscovite he grew more bitter as the wine mounted to hishead. He leaned forward and laid his hand upon his companion's whitewrist. Theresa quivered a little, but did not take it away. The Princewas becoming confidential.

  "Yes," he said, leaning towards her, "you have suffered great wrongs,and do well to hate with the hate that craves vengeance. But even youshall be satisfied. To-morrow and to-morrow's to-morrow you and I shallhave out our hearts' desire upon our enemies. Yes, for many days.Sweet--sweet it shall be--sweet, and very slow; for I, too, have wrongs,as you shall hear."

  "Truly, I did well to come to you!" said Theresa, giving her handwillingly into his. He clasped her fingers and would have kissed her butfor the table between.

  "You speak truth." He hissed the words bitterly. "Indeed, you did betterthan well. I also have wrongs, and Ivan of Muscovy will show you aMuscovite vengeance.

  "This Prince Conrad of theirs baulked me of my revenge and drove mefrom the city. Him will I take and burn at the stake in his priest'srobes, as if he were saying mass--or, better still, in the red of thecardinal's habit with his hat upon his head. And ere he dies he shallsee his paramour carried to her funeral. For I will give you the life ofthe woman for whose sake he thwarted Ivan of Muscovy. If you will it, nohand but yours shall have the shedding of the blood of your house'senemy. Is not this your vengeance already sweet in
prospect?"

  "It is sweet indeed!" answered Theresa.

  "Your Highness!" said the voice of Alexis at the tent door, "am Ipermitted to speak?"

  "Speak on!" cried Ivan, without relaxing his clasp upon the hand ofTheresa von Lynar. Indeed, momentarily it became a grip.

  "The man went safely through at the Plassenburg Gate. The passwords werecorrect. The man who challenged spoke with a Kernsberg accent!"

  The Prince's grasp relaxed.

  "It is well," he said. "Now go to the captains and tell them to be intheir posts about the city according to the plan--the main assault to bedelivered by the gate of the sea. At dawn I will be with you! Go! Aboveall, do not forget the passwords--first '_Henry the Lion!_' then'_Remember!_'"

  Alexis the Deacon saluted and went.

  The Prince rose and came about the table nearer to Theresa von Lynar.She drew her breath quickly and checked it as sharply with a kind ofsob. Her left hand went down to her side as naturally as a nun's to herrosary. But it was no rosary her fingers touched. The action steadiedher, and she threw back her head and smiled up at her companiondebonairly as though she had no care in the world.

  Theresa repeated the passwords slowly and audibly.

  "'_Henry the Lion!_' '_Remember!_' Ah!" (she broke off with a laugh) "Iam not likely to forget." Ivan laid his hand on her shoulder, glad tosee her so resolute.

  "All in good time," he said, sitting down on a stool at her feet andtaking her hand--her right hand. The other he did not see. Then he spokeconfidentially.

  "One other revenge I have which I shall keep till the last. It shall beas sweet to me as yours to you. I shall draw it out lingeringly that Imay drain all its sweetness. It concerns the upstart springald whom thePrincess Margaret had the bad taste to prefer to me. Not that I cared ajot for the Princess. My taste is far other" (here he looked uptenderly); "but the Princess I must wed, as maid or widow I care not. Itake her provinces, not herself; and these must be mine by right of fiefand succession as well as by right of conquest. The way is clear. Thatpiece of carrion which men called by a prince's name was carried out awhile ago. Conrad the priest, who is a man, shall die like a man. And I,Ivan, and Holy Russia shall enter in. By the right of Margaret, soleheir of Courtland, city and province shall be mine; Kernsberg shall bemine; Hohenstein shall be mine. Then mayhap I will try a fall forPlassenburg and the Mark with the Executioner's Son and his littlehousewife. But sweeter than all shall be my revenge upon the man Ihate--upon him who took his betrothed wife from Ivan of Muscovy."

  "Ah," said Theresa von Lynar, "it will indeed be sweet! And what shallbe your worthy and terrible revenge?"

  "I have thought of it long--I have turned it over, this and that have Ithought--of the smearing with honey and the anthill, of trepanning andthe worms on the brain--but I have fixed at last upon something thatwill make the ears of the world tingle----"

  He leaned forward and whispered into the ear of Theresa von Lynar theterrible death he had prepared for her only son. She nodded calmly asshe listened, but a wonderful joy lit up the woman's face.

  "I am glad I came hither," she murmured, "it is worth it all."

  Prince Ivan took her hand in both of his and pressed it fondly.

  "And you shall be gladder yet," he said, "my Lady Theresa. I havesomething to say. I had not thought that there lived in the world anywoman so like-minded, even as I knew not that there lived any woman sobeautiful. Together you and I might rule the world. Shall it betogether?"

  "But, Prince Ivan," she interposed quickly, but still smiling, "what isthis? I thought you were set on wedding the Princess Margaret. You wereto make her first widow and then wife."

  "Theresa," he said, looking amorously up at her, "I marry for a kingdom.But I wed the woman who is my mate. It is our custom. I must give theleft hand, it is true, but with it the heart, my Theresa!"

  He was on his knees before her now, still clasping her fingers.

  "You consent?" he said, with triumph already in his tone.

  "I do not say you nay!" she answered, with a sigh.

  He kissed her hand and rose to his feet. He would have taken her in hisarms, but a noise in the pavilion disturbed him. He went quickly to thecurtain and peeped through.

  "It is nothing," he said, "only the men come to fetch the powder for theMargraf's cannon. But the night speeds apace. In an hour we assault."

  With an eager look on his face he came nearer to her.

  "Theresa," he said, "a soldier's wooing must needs be brisk and speedy.Yours and mine yet swifter. Our revenge beckons us on. Do you abide heretill I return--with those good friends whose names we have mentioned.But now, ere I go forth, pledge me but once your love. This is our truebetrothal. Say, 'I love you, Ivan!' that I may keep it in my heart tillmy return!"

  Again he would have taken her in his arms, but Theresa turned quickly,finger on lip. She looked anxiously towards the back of the tent wherelay the dead prince. "Hush! I hear something!" she said.

  Then she smiled upon him--a sudden radiance like sunshine throughrain-clouds.

  "Come with me--I am afraid of the dark!" she said, almost like a child.For great is the guile of woman when her all is at stake.

  Theresa von Lynar opened the latch of a horn lantern which dangled at apole and took the taper in her left. She gave her right hand with acertain gesture of surrender to Prince Ivan.

  "Come!" she said, and led him within the inner pavilion. A dim lightsifted through the open flap by which the men had gone out with theirload of powder. Day was breaking and a broad crimson bar lay across thepath of the yet unrisen sun. Theresa and Prince Ivan stood beside thedead. He had been roughly thrown down on the pile of boxes whichcontained the powder manufactured by the Margraf's alchemists accordingto the famous receipt of Bertholdus Schwartz. The lid of the largestchest stood open, as if the men were returning for yet another burden.

  "Quick!" she said, "here in the presence of the dead, I will whisper ithere, here and not elsewhere."

  She brought him close to her with the gentle compulsion of her hand tillhe stood in a little angle where the red light of the dawn shone on hisdark handsome face. Then she put an arm strong as a wrestler's abouthim, pinioning him where he stood. Yet the gracious smile on the woman'slips held him acquiescent and content.

  She bent her head.

  "'The password, Prince--do not forget the password!'"[_Page 379_]]

  "Listen," she said, "this have I never done for any man before--no, notso much as this! And for you will I do much more. Prince Ivan, you speaktrue--death alone must part you and me. You ask me for a love pledge. Iwill give it. Ivan of Muscovy, you have plotted death and torture--thedeath of the innocent. Listen! I am the wife of Henry of Kernsberg, themother of the young man Maurice von Lynar whom you would slay byhorrid devices. Prince, truly you and I shall die together--and the timeis _now_!"

  Vehemently for his life struggled Prince Ivan, twisting like a serpent,and crying, "Help! Help! Treachery! Witch, let me go, or I will stab youwhere you stand." Once his hand touched his dagger. But before he coulddraw it there came a sound of rushing feet. The forms of many menstumbled up out of the gleaming blood-red of the dawn.

  Then Theresa von Lynar laughed aloud as she held him helpless in hergrasp.

  "The password, Prince--do not forget the password! You will need itto-night at both inner and outer guard! I, Theresa, have not forgotten.It is '_Henry the Lion_! _Remember!_'"

  And Theresa dropped the naked candle she had been holding aloft into thegreat chest of dull black grains which stood open by her side.

  * * * * *

  And after that it mattered little that at the same moment beyond theAlla the trumpets of Hugo, Prince of Plassenburg, blew their firstawakening blast.