The Honour of Savelli: A Romance

by S. Levett Yeats

  CHAPTER XV.

  THE GIFT OF BAYARD.

  The levee lasted some little time, as D'Amboise, who was studious ofthe arts of gaining popularity, listened with apparent interest to anyone who chose to address him, and seemed to possess a wonderful memoryfor even the most trifling details. This was, in fact, an informalreception, which the cardinal, both as a prince of the Church, and therepresentative of France at the Papal Court, held daily, and hithercame all the lesser members of the French party in Rome, and all thosewho hoped to gain something from the prelate by the simple process ofasking; for D'Amboise was known to be generous and free, despite anoccasional testiness of manner, such as he had exhibited to Corte, andshown in the first instance to St. Armande.

  Corte I spoke to no more that day; but I saw him, where he hadretreated to the extreme end of the room, his book under his arm,evidently waiting to make his exit. St. Armande took his place besideme, his companion, the abbe, dropping into the rear. Once he, St.Armande, hazarded a remark, which I did not catch, and therefore didnot answer. In truth, I was in no mood for speaking, my mind beingfull of my eventful interview with the cardinal and Bayard, and I wasmore than grateful for the happy chance that had enabled me to draw mysword in aid of the secretary Machiavelli. I thought too of MadameD'Entrangues, and of what she had done in my behalf, and would havegiven much to have thanked her for her efforts, fruitless althoughthey apparently were. But what struck me most of all was the fact,that whilst in my misery at Florence I was upbraiding fate, and allbut cursing God, friends were at work, trying to help and aid me, andthis taught me a lesson.

  At last the levee came to an end. The last petition monger had madehis request, D'Amboise had made his last pleasant speech, and, turningslowly round, we made our way back, when the cardinal retired withBayard to an inner apartment, leaving us to our own devices. St.Armande, whose appearance attracted general attention, was surroundedby the gentlemen of the suite, who asked the last news of the court,and the last scandal of Macon, where Louis was, holding high revelry,instead of marching, as he should have done, at once into Italy, afterthe defeat of Cesare at Fossombrone. The result of his action being afurther truce that much delayed his success, and indeed very nearlyruined his chances, which were great at the time. As for me, I wasleft to myself; no one coming near me except the huge hound, whichrose slowly, and approaching, surveyed me with a grave interest. Then,apparently satisfied, he wagged his tail in approval, and touched myhand with his grim muzzle. I ran my fingers over his shaggy coat witha caressing motion, and, observing Defaure, the page whom I had firstaddressed on arrival, begged him to show me my apartments, enquiringat the same time of Jacopo and the horses.

  "The house is full, signore," he replied, "but we have done what wecould for your accommodation. The horses have been attended to, andthe Sergeant Jacopo awaits you in your rooms."

  "Thanks, friend," and I followed him, smiling a little to myself atthe French rank which Jacopo had assumed, no doubt out of complimentto our host, my new employer. We passed out by the same entrance bywhich I had come in, and, crossing a courtyard, the page ushered me toa set of apartments in an outbuilding, and left me with theinformation that dinner would be served at noon for the cardinal aswell as the gentlemen of the suite.

  I found Jacopo in high glee. He had set out all my apparel, and wasengaged in burnishing his sword. This he put down as I came in, andburst into speech.

  "Blood of St. John! Excellency, but did I not say luck would turn?Yesterday we were anywhere," and he held up both hands with thefingers outstretched, "to-day, behold!" and he waved his arms aroundthe room, which was certainly fitted with luxury, and struck me as allthe more luxurious after my past privations.

  "The horses, Jacopo?"

  "Are well as might be, signore, and munching their corn as if theywere never to have another feed. Does your excellency mean to staylong in this land of plenty?"

  "Not for long, Jacopo. And harkee! Remember not to address me by anyother name than that of Donati. Do not let a hint of my real nameescape you, and avoid babbling over the wine cup."

  "I will be dumb, excellency."

  "A good deal depends on your prudence in this, and you must take carenot to fail. Now to business, and keep your ears open and your headclear. How do we stand as regards funds?"

  Jacopo, to whom I had entrusted my money, pulled out a leather purseand counted the contents.

  "There are five-and-thirty crowns with me, signore, and five I gaveyour worship this morning, making forty in all," and he restored thepurse to its hiding-place under his belt.

  "Enough for our needs at present, and more will be forthcoming soon,for there is business in hand."

  "I said that luck would turn," repeated Jacopo, his face showing joyat the news.

  "Never mind the luck, but attend to me. I want to enlist half-a-dozengood men, men who will go anywhere and do anything. They must bringtheir own arms and horses, and I will engage them for a month, and payeach man five crowns."

  "That is at the rate of sixty crowns a year for each man. We couldenlist half Rome for that."

  "Probably, but it isn't half Rome, only half-a-dozen men I want."

  "Very true, your worship, and I will doubtless be able to find them;but, excellency----"

  "What is it?"

  "Six men at five crowns each makes thirty crowns, and--"

  "Did I not say more will be forthcoming? You need not pay them inadvance. Two crowns each on enlisting, and the remainder on completionof the task. Will that do?"

  "It is enough surely."

  "Very well, then you may set about this at once, and remember thatthey should be lodged close at hand, and be ready to go anywhere at amoment's notice."

  "Excellency."

  Whilst this conversation was going on I had effected such change in myattire as was possible, resolving to take the first opportunity thefollowing day to summon a tailor and give him orders for things forwhich I stood in need. Jacopo was just about to depart when Defaure,the page, appeared, bearing with him a note and a ruleau, which hesaid was from his eminence. These he left with me and retired, sayingthere was no answer. The note was brief, merely hoping I was incomfort, and sending me in the ruleau a hundred crowns, with theintimation that if I needed them another hundred was ready for me. Thesum, however, was more than ample, and giving Jacopo furtherdirections to engage a couple of lackeys I sent him away, rejoicing atmy good fortune, with a present of ten crowns for himself, which thehonest fellow at first refused to take, and only accepted on mypressing the sum on him.

  This being done there was nothing left for me but to await the dinnerhour, and I strolled down to the stables to look at the horses, whichwere in truth in such luxury as perhaps the poor beasts had neverenjoyed. A groom of the cardinal's establishment had attended to them,and I slipped a piece of silver into his hand for his trouble. He bitthis to test whether it was genuine or not, and then settled himselfon a heap of hay to mend some saddlery.

  I left him to his occupation, and, with a parting caress to my beasts,moved further on to look at the other animals. And here, meeting thehead groom, I had some conversation with him, admiring the cardinal'sstud.

  "Yes, excellency," he said, "they are good horses, notably the twobarbs which the Soldan Djem presented to his eminence, but there areother two now in our stables, belonging to the Sieur de Bayard, thelike of which I have never seen. They are this way, excellency, if youwill but accompany me."

  I readily assented, and passing by the barbs, whose slight delicateframes belied their powers of speed and endurance, we came to a coupleof stalls, in which there were a pair of war-horses that fullyjustified the head groom's praise. They were both English, and Irecognised the breed, as Hawkwood had brought three or four with himfrom Britain, saying, and with truth, that they were the only animalsthat could ever carry him when in full mail. But the two before me inthe stables were as superior to Hawkwood's as a barb is to a mule. One
was the great bay Bayard was riding on the day of my trial, when heaccompanied the duke and his staff back to Arezzo. The other was ablue roan, whose colour did not show off his size to advantage, butwhose broad chest, sloping shoulders, and lean flanks marked hispower. His eyes were mild and soft, yet full of fire, and his smallhead was set like that of a stag upon his strong neck. Two grooms,bearing on their liveries the arms of the house of Terrail, of whichthe Seigneur de Bayard was chief, were in attendance, and set to workwith a somewhat unnecessary zeal on our appearance to polish the coatsof their charges which already shone like satin. Whilst engaged inadmiring these splendid animals, I heard the deep bay of the houndbehind me, and turning, saw Bayard himself who had come to visit hisfavourites. I complimented him on the possession of two such steeds,as who would not have done, and Bayard said--

  "Yes, they are fine animals, truly the finest I have ever seen, exceptperhaps the one-eyed Savoy, who was also of the same breed; and yet Iam not sure," and he ran his eyes over the horses. "They were given tome, along with Bran here"--he touched the head of the hound--"by HisMajesty, Henry of England, when I was taken prisoner in the EnglishWar."

  "A noble gift."

  "Yes--from a noble prince. And you really admire them, cavaliere?"

  "Yes--and I knew Savoy too, and doubt if he was better."

  "What can knight want more? A good horse, a good hound,"--and his facesaddened a little--"a true love. _Pardieu!_ but I must see to thatlast. My castle on the Garonne needs a chatelaine."

  I said nothing, knowing of the one great sorrow of his life, which hebore so bravely, and which I knew had bitten to his heart for all hisgay words.

  "Castor and Pollux I call them," he said, indicating the horses with aslight gesture. "Not that they are alike, except in speed and courage;but that they are both supposed to have been born the same day, andhave never been separated. The best of friends must, however, part,and a knight wants no more than one horse; so, cavaliere, if you willaccept Castor, the blue roan there, you will find that he will neverfail you."

  I could hardly speak for the moment, and at first stoutly refused totake so valuable a gift; but Bayard would have no denial, and theshort of it was that Castor was led into one of the stalls reservedfor me.

  To say that I was grateful would be to say very little; but I willmerely add here that the gift itself was only equalled by the mannerof the giver. I accompanied Bayard into the garden, which lay to thewest of the palace, and in course of conversation told him that I hadreceived the sum sent by D'Amboise, and of the steps I had taken toget together a few men, and assured him that whatever the task wasthat I was to be set to perform, nothing but death itself would cutshort my endeavour. Our talk then drifted to other matters, and hegave me some information of interest concerning Madame D'Entrangues.It appeared that D'Entrangues, who had a friend at court in hiskinsman, Etienne de Vesci, the seneschal of Beaucaire, had forwarded astrong petition against Tremouille's decision regarding himself, and aprayer that the king would restore him to his position, and compelMadame D'Entrangues to return to him. As if he himself had notabandoned her! Owing to his influence with Cesare he had moreoverobtained an order from Alexander denying madame the refuge of aconvent. Louis had, however, declined to interfere with Tremouille'sdecision, but had ordered madame to leave the court and return to herhusband. Fearing that force would be resorted to in order to compelher to return to D'Entrangues she had fled from the protection of theDuchesse de la Tremouille, who denied all knowledge of her movements,and the matter stood there. By this time it was almost approaching thedinner hour, and we separated, Bayard, followed close at his heels byBran, going to seek the cardinal, and I returning to my chamber, whereI found Jacopo who had just come back. He had been to the stables onhis way up, and was loud in his praise of Castor.

  "They say he is fleet as the wind, excellency, and he is as gentle asa lambkin. It is a glorious steed, and a princely gift."

  "It is so; but what success have you had?"

  "None as yet about the swords, signore; there has not been time; but Ihave engaged a couple of grooms and a lackey, and ordered plainliveries for them. The grooms are even now with the horses, and thelackey will be here to-morrow."

  "Very well, there is time enough. Basta! There go the trumpets. Hiseminence must be served."

  We made our way to the dining-hall, entering it almost at the sametime as the cardinal, his guests, and the rest of the suite. At thehigh table on the _dais_ sat the cardinal, with Bayard, another princeof the church whom I afterwards found out was the Cardinal ofStrigonia, a scion of the house of Este, and a tall, sombre-lookingman, with high aquiline features, and a complexion almost as dark as aMoor's. He was plainly and simply dressed, wearing a light steelcorselet over his jerkin, and round his neck the ribbon of St. Jamesof Compostella, whilst the order itself, a red enamel sword with a_fleur-de-lis hilt_, set in an oval white enamel medallion with a redborder, studded with brilliants, flashed at his throat. His short,closely-cropped hair was white as snow, but the long moustache whichdropped over his mouth and short, pointed beard, was untouched by astreak of grey. Altogether a remarkable man, one whom no one couldpass by without looking at twice; and in me he excited the greatestinterest, for he was none other than Ganalvo de Cordova, the "GreatCaptain," and the most skilful general of the age. He had only a fewweeks before driven Marshal d'Aubigny out of Calabria, and wasmarching straight on against Tremouille, when the cessation ofhostilities stopped his plans, and suddenly resigning his command hehad come to Rome, for what purpose no one knew, although it was saidthat his resignation and difference with the Spanish Court was but ablind.

  Be that as it may, I had now an opportunity of seeing together, seatedside by side, the dark and stern grandee of Spain, as able as he wascruel, as vindictive as he was brave; and the brilliant and polishedBayard, who seemed to have gathered in his person all the noblestqualities of knighthood, and on the white shield of whose honour therewas never a stain. And how different was the fate of these two men! DeCordova, after holding the highest offices, after being practically aking, after shedding an imperishable glory on his country by hisvictories, and staining her memory indelibly by his perfidy, died atlast, with all his fine spun webs broken. And Bayard--old as I am, myeyes grow moist when I think of that glorious day at the passage ofthe Sesia, when, covered with wounds, overborne by numbers, andfighting to the last against hopeless odds, Pierre du Terrail gaveback his soul to God. But long years were to pass before thishappened, and Bayard was at present in the hey-dey of his career.

  The table for the gentlemen of the suite was placed just below the_dais_, and extending further down the room were other tables, for allwho could obtain seats thereat, whilst at the extreme end of the roomwas a high stand, whence any one was at liberty to bear away as muchof a meal as he could carry off on the point of his dagger.

  Estimating roughly, I should say that fully three hundred personsdined daily, in this manner, with D'Amboise, and this hospitality,which he exercised in the manner of a French feudal noble, was thesubject of much amusement at the Papal Court, where they pridedthemselves on a more refined and delicate style of living. At anyrate, all that was here was safe to touch, and no one had need to fearthat a dinner at the Palazzo Corneto with the Cardinal of Rouen was aprelude to a supper with St. Peter in heaven. His eminence, who was anotable trencherman, beamed down from his high seat on us all, andtried valiantly to assay conclusions with the Cardinal of Strigonia;but was compelled at last to own himself beaten, for Ippolyte d'Estewas one in a thousand at table; in fact, this jovial prelate ended hisdays suddenly, after a prodigious dinner, which began at eleven in themorning and ended at four in the afternoon, concluding with so light adainty as a dish of roasted cray-fish, washed down with a bottle ofvernaccia, a wine of which he was inordinately fond. At our own table,there were about a dozen or more, and I found myself seated next toSt. Armande, whilst opposite to me was Le Clerc, the cardinal'schaplain, and next to him an officer of the Papal Guar
ds, a Spaniard,who spoke little and ate much. St. Armande passed by the wine,drinking only water, and in reply to a question of mine answered thathe was under a vow.

  "We can absolve you here easily, chevalier," said Le Clerc, whooverheard the remark, "here is some Orvieto which I can recommend,"and he pushed the flask towards St. Armande.

  The latter, however, would not be tempted, and Le Clerc shook hishead.

  "A wilful man must have his way, chevalier; but that Orvieto was apresent from Pierrot, Our Lord's most favoured servant."

  "Indeed," said the Spaniard; "then I can safely say it is the lastpresent you will receive from Don Pierrot."

  "How so?"

  "Cesare arrived last night, very suddenly, with two men only, theysay. He has not, however, yet seen His Holiness--although he is in theVatican."

  Le Clerc remained silent, but St. Armande asked in his low voice--

  "I do not follow, sir. Could you not explain? Unless I ask too much.You see I am a stranger to Rome."

  The Spaniard smiled grimly.

  "It means, chevalier, that Pierrot was found this morning with adagger sticking up to the hilt in his heart."

  St. Armande turned pale, and Le Clerc asked in a low tone--

  "Are you sure of this? When did it happen?"

  "As sure as I sit here. It happened an hour or so after Cesare'scoming. The Pope is said to be overcome with grief," and the lips ofDon Diego de Leyva took a sarcastic curve.

  "Great heavens!" said Le Clerc. "Poor Pierrot!"

  The chaplain rose from his seat with a slight apology, and approachingD'Amboise, leaned over him and whispered a few words in his ear. Thecardinal nodded with apparent unconcern, and Le Clerc came back; butwatching D'Amboise narrowly, I saw that although he still appeared tolaugh and jest, his eyes were grave and his brow troubled. In fact,shortly afterwards, the high table broke up, and we followed suit verysoon. Despite his effeminate appearance, I had begun to take a likingto St. Armande, and as the next few hours were at our disposal, Iinvited him to ride out with me, as I had a mind to try Castor'spaces. This, however, he declined, with the somewhat shy air thatmarked his manner, and leaving him to his devices, I ordered Castor tobe saddled and took him out. When I returned, about five in theafternoon, I felt that all that had been said of the generous beast Irode, underrated his value, and that I possessed a matchless steed,who was fit to run for a kingdom.