V.
Of the Combat between Will Sommers and Patch--And how it terminated.
Mabel's heart fluttered violently at the usher's announcement, and fora moment the colour deserted her cheek, while the next instant she wascovered with blushes. As to poor Patch, feeling that his indiscretionmight place him in great jeopardy and seriously affect his master, towhom he was devotedly attached, he cast a piteous and imploring look athis antagonist, but was answered only by a derisive laugh, coupledwith an expressive gesture to intimate that a halter would be his fate.Fearful that mischief might ensue, the good-natured Simon Quanden gotout of his chair and earnestly besought Will not to carry matters toofar; but the jester remained implacable.
It was not unusual with Henry to visit the different offices of thecastle and converse freely and familiarly with the members of hishousehold, but it was by no means safe to trust to the continuance ofhis good humour, or in the slightest degree to presume upon it. It iswell known that his taste for variety of character often led him, likethe renowned Caliph Haroun Al Raschid, to mix with the lower classes ofhis subjects in disguise, at which times many extraordinary adventuresare said to have befallen him. His present visit to the kitchen,therefore, would have occasioned no surprise to its occupants if ithad not occurred so soon after the cardinal's arrival. But it was thiscircumstance, in fact, that sent him thither. The intelligence broughtby Wolsey of the adjournment of the court for three days, under the pleaof giving the queen time for her allegations, was so unlooked for byHenry that he quitted the cardinal in high displeasure, and was about torepair to Anne Boleyn, when he encountered Bouchier, who told himthat Mabel Lyndwood had been brought to the castle, and her grandsirearrested. The information changed Henry's intentions at once, and heproceeded with Bouchier and some other attendants to the kitchen, wherehe was given to understand he should find the damsel.
Many a furtive glance was thrown at the king, for no one dared openlyto regard him as he approached the forester's fair granddaughter. Buthe tarried only a moment beside her, chucked her under the chin, and,whispering a word or two in her ear that heightened her blushes, passedon to the spot where the two jesters were standing.
"What dost thou here, knave?" he said to Will Sommers.
"I might rather ask that question of your majesty," replied Will; "and Iwould do so but that I require not to be told."
"I have come to see what passeth in my household," replied the king,throwing himself into the chair lately occupied by the chief cook. "Ah,Hob and Nob, my merry rascals," he cried, patting the turnspits, who rantowards him and thrust their noses against his hand, "ye are as gamesomeand loving as ever, I see. Give me a manchet for them, Master Cook,and let not the proceedings in the kitchen be stayed for my presence. Iwould not have my supper delayed, or the roasts spoiled, for any falseceremony. And now, Will, what hast thou to say that thou lookest so hardat me?"
"I have a heavy charge to bring against this knave, an' please yourmajesty," replied Will Sommers, pointing to Patch.
"What! hath he retorted upon thee too sharply?" replied the king,laughing. "If so, challenge him to the combat, and settle the grievancewith thy lathen dagger. But refer not the matter to me. I am no judge infools' quarrels."
"Your own excepted," muttered Will. "This is not a quarrel that can beso adjusted," he added aloud. "I charge this rascal Patch with speakingdisrespectfully of your highness in the hearing of the whole kitchen.And I also charge his master the cardinal with having secreted in hiscellars at Hampton a vast amount of treasure, obtained by extortion,privy dealings with foreign powers, and other iniquitous practices, andwhich ought of right to find its way to your royal exchequer."
"'And which shall find its way thither, if thou dost not avouch afable," replied the king.
"Your majesty shall judge," rejoined Will. And he repeated the storywhich he had just before related.
"Can this be true?" exclaimed Henry at its close.
"It is false, your highness, every word of it," cried Patch, throwinghimself at the king's feet, "except so far as relates to our visits tothe cellar, where, I shame to speak it, we drank so much that our sensesclean forsook us. As to my indiscreet speech touching your majesty,neither disrespect nor disloyalty were intended by it. I was goaded tothe rejoinder by the sharp sting of this hornet."
"The matter of the treasure shall be inquired into without delay," saidHenry. "As to the quarrel, it shall be settled thus. Get both of youupon that table. A flour-bag shall be given to each; and he who is firstknocked off shall be held vanquished."
The king's judgment was received with as much applause as dared beexhibited by the hearers; and in an instant the board was cleared, and acouple of flour-bags partly filled delivered to the combatants by SimonQuanden, who bestirred himself with unwonted activity on the occasion.
Leaping upon the table, amid the smothered mirth of the assemblage,the two jesters placed themselves opposite each other, and grinned suchcomical defiance that the king roared with laughter. After a variety ofodd movements and feints on either side, Patch tried to bring down hisadversary by a tremendous two-handed blow; but in dealing it, the weightof the hag dragged him forward, and well-nigh pitched him head foremostupon the floor. As it was, he fell on his face upon the table, and inthis position received several heavy blows upon the prominent part ofhis back from Will Sommers. Ere long, however, he managed to regain hislegs, and, smarting with pain, attacked his opponent furiously inhis turn. For a short space fortune seemed to favour him. His baghad slightly burst, and the flour, showering from it with every blow,well-nigh blinded his adversary, whom he drove to the very edge of thetable. At this critical juncture Will managed to bring down his bag fullupon his opponent's sconce, and the force of the blow bursting it, Patchwas covered from crown to foot with flour, and blinded in his turn. Theappearance of the combatants was now so exquisitely ridiculous, that theking leaned back in his chair to indulge his laughter, and the mirth ofthe spectators could no longer be kept within decorous limits. The veryturnspits barked in laughing concert.
"Well fought on both sides!" cried Henry; "it were hard to say whichwill prove the victor. Now, knaves, to it again--ha! ha!--to it again!"
Once more the bags were wielded, descended, and the blows were so welldirected on either side, that both combatants fell backwards. Again theking's laughter rose loud and long. Again the merriment of the otherbeholders was redoubled. Again Hob and Nob barked joyously, and triedto spring on to the table to take part in the conflict. Amid the generalglee, the combatants rose and renewed the fight, dealing blows thickand fast--for the bags were now considerably lightened of theircontents--until they were completely hidden from view by a cloud ofwhite dust.
"We cannot see the fray," remarked Henry; "but we can hear the din ofbattle. Which will prove the victor, I marvel?"
"I am for Will Sommers," cried Bouchier.
"And I for Patch," said Simon Quanden. "Latterly he hath seemed to me tohave the advantage."
"It is decided!" cried the king, rising, as one of the combatants wasknocked off the table, and fell to the floor with a great noise. "Who isit?"
"Patch," replied a faint voice. And through the cloud of dust struggledforth the forlorn figure of the cardinal's jester, while Will Sommersleaped triumphantly to the ground.
"Get thee to a wash-tub, knave, and cleanse thyself," said Henry,laughing. "In consideration of the punishment thou hast undergone, Ipardon thee thy treasonable speech."
So saying, he rose, and walked towards Mabel, who had been quite as muchalarmed as amused by the scene which had just taken place.
"I hope you have been as well cared for, damsel," he said, "since yourarrival at the castle, as you cared for the Duke of Suffolk and myselfwhen we visited your cottage?
"I have had everything I require, my liege," replied Mabel timidly.
"Dame Quanden will take charge of you till to-morrow," rejoined theking, "when you will enter upon the service of one of our dames."
/> "Your majesty is very considerate," said Mabel, "but I would rather goback at early dawn to my grandsire."
"That is needless," rejoined the king sternly. "Your grandsire is in thecastle."
"I am glad to hear it!" exclaimed Mabel. And then, altering her tone, forshe did not like the expression of the king's countenance, she added, "Ihope he has not incurred your majesty's displeasure."
"I trust he will be able to clear himself, Mabel," said Henry, "but helabours under the grave suspicion of leaguing with lawless men."
Mabel shuddered, for the thought of what she had witnessed on theprevious night during the storm rushed forcibly to her recollection. Theking noticed her uneasiness, and added, in a gentler tone, "If he makessuch confession as will bring the others to justice, he has nothing tofear. Dame Quanden, I commit this maiden to your charge. To-morrow shewill take her place as attendant to the Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald."
So saying, he moved off with Bouchier and the rest of his attendants,leaving Mabel to the care of the cook's good humoured spouse, who seeingher eyes filled with tears, strove to cheer her, and led her towards asmall side-table, where she pressed wine and cates upon her.
"Be of good cheer, sweetheart," she said, in a soothing tone; "no harmwill befall your grandfather. You are much too high in favour with theking for that."
"I liked the king much better as I saw him at our cottage, good dame,"replied Mabel, smiling through her tears, "in the guise of a Guildfordmerchant. He seemed scarcely to notice me just now."
"That was because so many eyes were upon you, sweet-heart," repliedDeborah; "but sooth to say, I should be better pleased if he did notnotice you at all."
Mabel blushed, and hung her head.
"I am glad you are to be an attendant on the Lady Fitzgerald," pursuedDeborah, "for she is the fairest young lady at court, and as good andgentle as she is fair, and I am sure you will find her a kind mistress.I will tell you something about her. She is beloved by the king's son,the Duke of Richmond, but she requites not his passion, for her heartis fixed on the youthful Earl of Surrey. Alack-a-day! the noble rivalsquarrelled and crossed swords about her; but as luck would have it, theywere separated before any mischief was done. The king was very wrothwith Lord Surrey, and ordered him to be imprisoned for two months in theRound Tower, in this castle, where he is now, though his term has verynearly expired."
"How I pity him, to be thus harshly treated!" remarked Mabel, her eyesswimming with tears, "and the Lady Elizabeth too! I shall delight toserve her."
"I am told the earl passes the whole of his time in poring over booksand writing love-verses and sonnets," said Deborah. "It seems strangethat one so young should be a poet; but I suppose he caught the art fromhis friend Sir Thomas Wyat."
"Is he a friend of Sir Thomas Wyat?" asked Mabel quickly.
"His close friend," replied Deborah; "except the Duke of Richmond,now his rival, he had none closer. Have you ever seen Sir Thomas,sweetheart?"
"Yes, for a few moments," replied Mabel confusedly.
"I heard that he lingered for a short time in the forest before hisdeparture for Paris," said Dame Quanden. "There was a strange rumourthat he had joined the band of Herne the Hunter. But that must have beenuntrue."
"Is he returned from France?" inquired Mabel, without heeding theremark.
"I fancy not," replied the good dame. "At all events, he is not come tothe castle. Know you not," she added, in a low confidential tone, "thatthe king is jealous of him? He was a former suitor to the Lady AnneBoleyn, and desperately in love with her; and it is supposed that hismission to France was only a pretext to get him out of the way."
"I suspected as much," replied Mabel. "Alas! for Sir Thomas; and alas!for the Earl of Surrey."
"And alas! for Mabel Lyndwood, if she allows her heart to be fixed uponthe king," said Deborah.
While this was passing the business of the kitchen, which had beeninterrupted by the various incidents above related, and especially bythe conflict between the two jesters, was hurried forward, and for sometime all was bustle and confusion.
But as soon as the supper was served, and all his duties were fullydischarged, Simon Quanden, who had been bustling about, sat down in hiseasy-chair, and recruited himself with a toast and a sack posset. Hoband Nob had their supper at the same time, and the party at the table,which had been increased by the two archers and Nicholas Clamp, attackedwith renewed vigour a fresh supply of mead and ale, which had beenprovided for them by Jack of the Bottles.
The conversation then turned upon Herne the Hunter; and as all had heardmore or less about him, and some had seen him, while few knew the legendconnected with him, Hector Cutbeard volunteered to relate it; upon whichall the party gathered closer together, and Mabel and Deborah left offtalking, and drew near to listen.
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