by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XLI.
The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, An aerial voice was heard to call, And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing Around the towers of Cumnor Hall. --MICKLE.
We are now to return to that part of our story where we intimated thatVarney, possessed of the authority of the Earl of Leicester, and ofthe Queen's permission to the same effect, hastened to secure himselfagainst discovery of his perfidy by removing the Countess fromKenilworth Castle. He had proposed to set forth early in the morning;but reflecting that the Earl might relent in the interim, and seekanother interview with the Countess, he resolved to prevent, byimmediate departure, all chance of what would probably have ended in hisdetection and ruin. For this purpose he called for Lambourne, and wasexceedingly incensed to find that his trusty attendant was abroad onsome ramble in the neighbouring village, or elsewhere. As his returnwas expected, Sir Richard commanded that he should prepare himselffor attending him on an immediate journey, and follow him in case hereturned after his departure.
In the meanwhile, Varney used the ministry of a servant called RobinTider, one to whom the mysteries of Cumnor Place were already in somedegree known, as he had been there more than once in attendance on theEarl. To this man, whose character resembled that of Lambourne, thoughhe was neither quite so prompt nor altogether so profligate, Varney gavecommand to have three horses saddled, and to prepare a horse-litter, andhave them in readiness at the postern gate. The natural enough excuse ofhis lady's insanity, which was now universally believed, accounted forthe secrecy with which she was to be removed from the Castle, and hereckoned on the same apology in case the unfortunate Amy's resistance orscreams should render such necessary. The agency of Anthony Foster wasindispensable, and that Varney now went to secure.
This person, naturally of a sour, unsocial disposition, and somewhattired, besides, with his journey from Cumnor to Warwickshire, in orderto bring the news of the Countess's escape, had early extricated himselffrom the crowd of wassailers, and betaken himself to his chamber, wherehe lay asleep, when Varney, completely equipped for travelling, and witha dark lantern in his hand, entered his apartment. He paused an instantto listen to what his associate was murmuring in his sleep, and couldplainly distinguish the words, "AVE MARIA--ORA PRO NOBIS. No, it runsnot so--deliver us from evil--ay, so it goes."
"Praying in his sleep," said Varney, "and confounding his old andnew devotions. He must have more need of prayer ere I am done withhim.--What ho! holy man, most blessed penitent!--awake--awake! The devilhas not discharged you from service yet."
As Varney at the same time shook the sleeper by the arm, it changed thecurrent of his ideas, and he roared out, "Thieves!--thieves! I will diein defence of my gold--my hard-won gold--that has cost me so dear. Whereis Janet?--Is Janet safe?"
"Safe enough, thou bellowing fool!" said Varney; "art thou not ashamedof thy clamour?"
Foster by this time was broad awake, and sitting up in his bed, askedVarney the meaning of so untimely a visit. "It augurs nothing good," headded.
"A false prophecy, most sainted Anthony," returned Varney; "it augursthat the hour is come for converting thy leasehold into copyhold. Whatsayest thou to that?"
"Hadst thou told me this in broad day," said Foster, "I had rejoiced;but at this dead hour, and by this dim light, and looking on thy paleface, which is a ghastly contradiction to thy light words, I cannotbut rather think of the work that is to be done, than the guerdon to begained by it."
"Why, thou fool, it is but to escort thy charge back to Cumnor Place."
"Is that indeed all?" said Foster; "thou lookest deadly pale, and thouart not moved by trifles--is that indeed all?"
"Ay, that--and maybe a trifle more," said Varney.
"Ah, that trifle more!" said Foster; "still thou lookest paler andpaler."
"Heed not my countenance," said Varney; "you see it by this wretchedlight. Up and be doing, man. Think of Cumnor Place--thine own propercopyhold. Why, thou mayest found a weekly lectureship, besides endowingJanet like a baron's daughter. Seventy pounds and odd."
"Seventy-nine pounds, five shillings and fivepence half-penny, besidesthe value of the wood," said Foster; "and I am to have it all ascopyhold?"
"All, man--squirrels and all. No gipsy shall cut the value of abroom--no boy so much as take a bird's nest--without paying thee aquittance.--Ay, that is right--don thy matters as fast as possible;horses and everything are ready, all save that accursed villainLambourne, who is out on some infernal gambol."
"Ay, Sir Richard," said Foster, "you would take no advice. I ever toldyou that drunken profligate would fail you at need. Now I could havehelped you to a sober young man."
"What, some slow-spoken, long-breathed brother of the congregation? Why,we shall have use for such also, man. Heaven be praised, we shall lacklabourers of every kind.--Ay, that is right--forget not your pistols.Come now, and let us away."
"Whither?" said Anthony.
"To my lady's chamber; and, mind, she MUST along with us. Thou art not afellow to be startled by a shriek?"
"Not if Scripture reason can be rendered for it; and it is written,'Wives obey your husbands.' But will my lord's commands bear us out ifwe use violence?"
"Tush, man! here is his signet," answered Varney; and having thussilenced the objections of his associate, they went together to LordHunsdon's apartments, and acquainting the sentinel with their purpose,as a matter sanctioned by the Queen and the Earl of Leicester, theyentered the chamber of the unfortunate Countess.
The horror of Amy may be conceived when, starting from a broken slumber,she saw at her bedside Varney, the man on earth she most feared andhated. It was even a consolation to see that he was not alone, thoughshe had so much reason to dread his sullen companion.
"Madam," said Varney, "there is no time for ceremony. My Lord ofLeicester, having fully considered the exigencies of the time, sends youhis orders immediately to accompany us on our return to Cumnor Place.See, here is his signet, in token of his instant and pressing commands."
"It is false!" said the Countess; "thou hast stolen the warrant--thou,who art capable of every villainy, from the blackest to the basest!"
"It is TRUE, madam," replied Varney; "so true, that if you do notinstantly arise, and prepare to attend us, we must compel you to obeyour orders."
"Compel! Thou darest not put it to that issue, base as thou art!"exclaimed the unhappy Countess.
"That remains to be proved, madam," said Varney, who had determined onintimidation as the only means of subduing her high spirit; "if you putme to it, you will find me a rough groom of the chambers."
It was at this threat that Amy screamed so fearfully that, had it notbeen for the received opinion of her insanity, she would quickly havehad Lord Hunsdon and others to her aid. Perceiving, however, that hercries were vain, she appealed to Foster in the most affecting terms,conjuring him, as his daughter Janet's honour and purity were dear tohim, not to permit her to be treated with unwomanly violence.
"Why, madam, wives must obey their husbands---there's Scripture warrantfor it," said Foster; "and if you will dress yourself, and come withus patiently, there's no one shall lay finger on you while I can draw apistol-trigger."
Seeing no help arrive, and comforted even by the dogged language ofFoster, the Countess promised to arise and dress herself, if they wouldagree to retire from the room. Varney at the same time assured her ofall safety and honour while in their hands, and promised that he himselfwould not approach her, since his presence was so displeasing. Herhusband, he added, would be at Cumnor Place within twenty-four hoursafter they had reached it.
Somewhat comforted by this assurance, upon which, however, she sawlittle reason to rely, the unhappy Amy made her toilette by theassistance of the lantern, which they left with her when they quittedthe apartment.
Weeping, trembling, and praying, the unfortunate lady dressed herselfwith sensations how different from the days in which she was wont todecorate herself in all the pride of consci
ous beauty! She endeavouredto delay the completing her dress as long as she could, until, terrifiedby the impatience of Varney, she was obliged to declare herself ready toattend them.
When they were about to move, the Countess clung to Foster with such anappearance of terror at Varney's approach that the latter protested toher, with a deep oath, that he had no intention whatever of even comingnear her. "If you do but consent to execute your husband's will inquietness, you shall," he said, "see but little of me. I will leave youundisturbed to the care of the usher whom your good taste prefers."
"My husband's will!" she exclaimed. "But it is the will of God, and letthat be sufficient to me. I will go with Master Foster as unresistinglyas ever did a literal sacrifice. He is a father at least; and will havedecency, if not humanity. For thee, Varney, were it my latest word, thouart an equal stranger to both."
Varney replied only she was at liberty to choose, and walked some pacesbefore them to show the way; while, half leaning on Foster, and halfcarried by him, the Countess was transported from Saintlowe's Tower tothe postern gate, where Tider waited with the litter and horses.
The Countess was placed in the former without resistance. She saw withsome satisfaction that, while Foster and Tider rode close by the litter,which the latter conducted, the dreaded Varney lingered behind, and wassoon lost in darkness. A little while she strove, as the road windedround the verge of the lake, to keep sight of those stately towers whichcalled her husband lord, and which still, in some places, sparkled withlights, where wassailers were yet revelling. But when the direction ofthe road rendered this no longer possible, she drew back her head,and sinking down in the litter, recommended herself to the care ofProvidence.
Besides the desire of inducing the Countess to proceed quietly on herjourney, Varney had it also in view to have an interview with Lambourne,by whom he every moment expected to be joined, without the presenceof any witnesses. He knew the character of this man, prompt, bloody,resolute, and greedy, and judged him the most fit agent he could employin his further designs. But ten miles of their journey had been measuredere he heard the hasty clatter of horse's hoofs behind him, and wasovertaken by Michael Lambourne.
Fretted as he was with his absence, Varney received his profligateservant with a rebuke of unusual bitterness. "Drunken villain," he said,"thy idleness and debauched folly will stretch a halter ere it be long,and, for me, I care not how soon!"
This style of objurgation Lambourne, who was elated to an unusualdegree, not only by an extraordinary cup of wine, but by the sort ofconfidential interview he had just had with the Earl, and the secretof which he had made himself master, did not receive with his wontedhumility. "He would take no insolence of language," he said, "from thebest knight that ever wore spurs. Lord Leicester had detained him onsome business of import, and that was enough for Varney, who was but aservant like himself."
Varney was not a little surprised at his unusual tone of insolence; butascribing it to liquor, suffered it to pass as if unnoticed, and thenbegan to tamper with Lambourne touching his willingness to aid inremoving out of the Earl of Leicester's way an obstacle to a rise, whichwould put it in his power to reward his trusty followers to their utmostwish. And upon Michael Lambourne's seeming ignorant what was meant, heplainly indicated "the litter-load, yonder," as the impediment which hedesired should be removed.
"Look you, Sir Richard, and so forth," said Michael, "some are wiserthan some, that is one thing, and some are worse than some, that'sanother. I know my lord's mind on this matter better than thou, for hehath trusted me fully in the matter. Here are his mandates, and hislast words were, Michael Lambourne--for his lordship speaks to me as agentleman of the sword, and useth not the words drunken villain, or suchlike phrase, of those who know not how to bear new dignities--Varney,says he, must pay the utmost respect to my Countess. I trust to you forlooking to it, Lambourne, says his lordship, and you must bring back mysignet from him peremptorily."
"Ay," replied Varney, "said he so, indeed? You know all, then?"
"All--all; and you were as wise to make a friend of me while the weatheris fair betwixt us."
"And was there no one present," said Varney, "when my lord so spoke?"
"Not a breathing creature," replied Lambourne. "Think you my lord wouldtrust any one with such matters, save an approved man of action likemyself?"
"Most true," said Varney; and making a pause, he looked forward on themoonlight road. They were traversing a wide and open heath. The litterbeing at least a mile before them, was both out of sight and hearing.He looked behind, and there was an expanse, lighted by the moonbeams,without one human being in sight. He resumed his speech to Lambourne:"And will you turn upon your master, who has introduced you tothis career of court-like favour--whose apprentice you have been,Michael--who has taught you the depths and shallows of court intrigue?"
"Michael not me!" said Lambourne; "I have a name will brook a MASTERbefore it as well as another; and as to the rest, if I have beenan apprentice, my indenture is out, and I am resolute to set up formyself."
"Take thy quittance first, thou fool!" said Varney; and with a pistol,which he had for some time held in his hand, shot Lambourne through thebody.
The wretch fell from his horse without a single groan; and Varney,dismounting, rifled his pockets, turning out the lining, that it mightappear he had fallen by robbers. He secured the Earl's packet, which washis chief object; but he also took Lambourne's purse, containing somegold pieces, the relics of what his debauchery had left him, and from asingular combination of feelings, carried it in his hand only the lengthof a small river, which crossed the road, into which he threw it as faras he could fling. Such are the strange remnants of conscience whichremain after she seems totally subdued, that this cruel and remorselessman would have felt himself degraded had he pocketed the few piecesbelonging to the wretch whom he had thus ruthlessly slain.
The murderer reloaded his pistol after cleansing the lock and barrelfrom the appearances of late explosion, and rode calmly after thelitter, satisfying himself that he had so adroitly removed a troublesomewitness to many of his intrigues, and the bearer of mandates which hehad no intentions to obey, and which, therefore, he was desirous itshould be thought had never reached his hand.
The remainder of the journey was made with a degree of speed whichshowed the little care they had for the health of the unhappy Countess.They paused only at places where all was under their command, and wherethe tale they were prepared to tell of the insane Lady Varney wouldhave obtained ready credit had she made an attempt to appeal to thecompassion of the few persons admitted to see her. But Amy saw nochance of obtaining a hearing from any to whom she had an opportunity ofaddressing herself; and besides, was too terrified for the presence ofVarney to violate the implied condition under which she was to travelfree from his company. The authority of Varney, often so used duringthe Earl's private journeys to Cumnor, readily procured relays of horseswhere wanted, so that they approached Cumnor Place upon the night afterthey left Kenilworth.
At this period of the journey Varney came up to the rear of the litter,as he had done before repeatedly during their progress, and asked, "Howdoes she?"
"She sleeps," said Foster. "I would we were home--her strength isexhausted."
"Rest will restore her," answered Varney. "She shall soon sleep soundand long. We must consider how to lodge her in safety."
"In her own apartments, to be sure," said Foster. "I have sent Janet toher aunt's with a proper rebuke, and the old women are truth itself--forthey hate this lady cordially."
"We will not trust them, however, friend Anthony," said Varney; "We mustsecure her in that stronghold where you keep your gold."
"My gold!" said Anthony, much alarmed; "why, what gold have I? God helpme, I have no gold--I would I had!"
"Now, marry hang thee, thou stupid brute, who thinks of or cares for thygold? If I did, could I not find an hundred better ways to come at it?In one word, thy bedchamber, which thou hast fenced so curiously
, mustbe her place of seclusion; and thou, thou hind, shalt press her pillowsof down. I dare to say the Earl will never ask after the rich furnitureof these four rooms."
This last consideration rendered Foster tractable; he only askedpermission to ride before, to make matters ready, and spurringhis horse, he posted before the litter, while Varney falling aboutthreescore paces behind it, it remained only attended by Tider.
When they had arrived at Cumnor Place, the Countess asked eagerly forJanet, and showed much alarm when informed that she was no longer tohave the attendance of that amiable girl.
"My daughter is dear to me, madam," said Foster gruffly; "and I desirenot that she should get the court-tricks of lying and 'scaping--somewhattoo much of that has she learned already, an it please your ladyship."
The Countess, much fatigued and greatly terrified by the circumstancesof her journey, made no answer to this insolence, but mildly expressed awish to retire to her chamber.
"Ay, ay," muttered Foster, "'tis but reasonable; but, under favour,you go not to your gew-gaw toy-house yonder--you will sleep to-night inbetter security."
"I would it were in my grave," said the Countess; "but that mortalfeelings shiver at the idea of soul and body parting."
"You, I guess, have no chance to shiver at that," replied Foster. "Mylord comes hither to-morrow, and doubtless you will make your own waysgood with him."
"But does he come hither?--does he indeed, good Foster?"
"Oh, ay, good Foster!" replied the other. "But what Foster shall I beto-morrow when you speak of me to my lord--though all I have done was toobey his own orders?"
"You shall be my protector--a rough one indeed--but still a protector,"answered the Countess. "Oh that Janet were but here!"
"She is better where she is," answered Foster--"one of you is enough toperplex a plain head. But will you taste any refreshment?"
"Oh no, no--my chamber--my chamber! I trust," she said apprehensively,"I may secure it on the inside?"
"With all my heart," answered Foster, "so I may secure it on theoutside;" and taking a light, he led the way to a part of the buildingwhere Amy had never been, and conducted her up a stair of great height,preceded by one of the old women with a lamp. At the head of the stair,which seemed of almost immeasurable height, they crossed a short woodengallery, formed of black oak, and very narrow, at the farther end ofwhich was a strong oaken door, which opened and admitted them into themiser's apartment, homely in its accommodations in the very last degree,and, except in name, little different from a prison-room.
Foster stopped at the door, and gave the lamp to the Countess, withouteither offering or permitting the attendance of the old woman who hadcarried it. The lady stood not on ceremony, but taking it hastily,barred the door, and secured it with the ample means provided on theinside for that purpose.
Varney, meanwhile, had lurked behind on the stairs; but hearing the doorbarred, he now came up on tiptoe, and Foster, winking to him, pointedwith self-complacence to a piece of concealed machinery in the wall,which, playing with much ease and little noise, dropped a part of thewooden gallery, after the manner of a drawbridge, so as to cut offall communication between the door of the bedroom, which he usuallyinhabited, and the landing-place of the high, winding stair whichascended to it. The rope by which this machinery was wrought wasgenerally carried within the bedchamber, it being Foster's object toprovide against invasion from without; but now that it was intendedto secure the prisoner within, the cord had been brought over tothe landing-place, and was there made fast, when Foster with muchcomplacency had dropped the unsuspected trap-door.
Varney looked with great attention at the machinery, and peeped morethan once down the abyss which was opened by the fall of the trap-door.It was dark as pitch, and seemed profoundly deep, going, as Fosterinformed his confederate in a whisper, nigh to the lowest vault of theCastle. Varney cast once more a fixed and long look down into thissable gulf, and then followed Foster to the part of the manor-house mostusually inhabited.
When they arrived in the parlour which we have mentioned, Varneyrequested Foster to get them supper, and some of the choicest wine. "Iwill seek Alasco," he added; "we have work for him to do, and we mustput him in good heart."
Foster groaned at this intimation, but made no remonstrance. The oldwoman assured Varney that Alasco had scarce eaten or drunken since hermaster's departure, living perpetually shut up in the laboratory, andtalking as if the world's continuance depended on what he was doingthere.
"I will teach him that the world hath other claims on him," said Varney,seizing a light, and going in quest of the alchemist. He returned, aftera considerable absence, very pale, but yet with his habitual sneer onhis cheek and nostril. "Our friend," he said, "has exhaled."
"How!--what mean you?" said Foster--"run away--fled with my fortypounds, that should have been multiplied a thousand-fold? I will haveHue and Cry!"
"I will tell thee a surer way," said Varney.
"How!--which way?" exclaimed Foster; "I will have back my fortypounds--I deemed them as surely a thousand times multiplied--I will haveback my in-put, at the least."
"Go hang thyself, then, and sue Alasco in the Devil's Court of Chancery,for thither he has carried the cause."
"How!--what dost thou mean is he dead?"
"Ay, truly is he," said Varney; "and properly swollen already in theface and body. He had been mixing some of his devil's medicines, and theglass mask which he used constantly had fallen from his face, so thatthe subtle poison entered the brain, and did its work."
"SANCTA MARIA!" said Foster--"I mean, God in His mercy preserve us fromcovetousness and deadly sin!--Had he not had projection, think you? Sawyou no ingots in the crucibles?"
"Nay, I looked not but at the dead carrion," answered Varney; "an uglyspectacle--he was swollen like a corpse three days exposed on the wheel.Pah! give me a cup of wine."
"I will go," said Foster, "I will examine myself--" He took the lamp,and hastened to the door, but there hesitated and paused. "Will you notgo with me?" said he to Varney.
"To what purpose?" said Varney; "I have seen and smelled enough to spoilmy appetite. I broke the window, however, and let in the air; it reekedof sulphur, and such like suffocating steams, as if the very devil hadbeen there."
"And might it not be the act of the demon himself?" said Foster, stillhesitating; "I have heard he is powerful at such times, and with suchpeople."
"Still, if it were that Satan of thine," answered Varney, "who thusjades thy imagination, thou art in perfect safety, unless he is a mostunconscionable devil indeed. He hath had two good sops of late."
"How TWO sops--what mean you?" said Foster--"what mean you?"
"You will know in time," said Varney;--"and then this other banquet--butthou wilt esteem Her too choice a morsel for the fiend's tooth--she musthave her psalms, and harps, and seraphs."
Anthony Foster heard, and came slowly back to the table. "God! SirRichard, and must that then be done?"
"Ay, in very truth, Anthony, or there comes no copyhold in thy way,"replied his inflexible associate.
"I always foresaw it would land there!" said Foster. "But how, SirRichard, how?--for not to win the world would I put hands on her."
"I cannot blame thee," said Varney; "I should be reluctant to do thatmyself. We miss Alasco and his manna sorely--ay, and the dog Lambourne."
"Why, where tarries Lambourne?" said Anthony.
"Ask no questions," said Varney, "thou wilt see him one day if thy creedis true. But to our graver matter. I will teach thee a spring, Tony, tocatch a pewit. Yonder trap-door--yonder gimcrack of thine, will remainsecure in appearance, will it not, though the supports are withdrawnbeneath?"
"Ay, marry, will it," said Foster; "so long as it is not trodden on."
"But were the lady to attempt an escape over it," replied Varney, "herweight would carry it down?"
"A mouse's weight would do it," said Foster.
"Why, then, she dies in attempting her escape, and w
hat could you orI help it, honest Tony? Let us to bed, we will adjust our projectto-morrow."
On the next day, when evening approached, Varney summoned Foster to theexecution of their plan. Tider and Foster's old man-servant were sent ona feigned errand down to the village, and Anthony himself, as if anxiousto see that the Countess suffered no want of accommodation, visitedher place of confinement. He was so much staggered at the mildness andpatience with which she seemed to endure her confinement, that he couldnot help earnestly recommending to her not to cross the threshold of herroom on any account whatever, until Lord Leicester should come, "which,"he added, "I trust in God, will be very soon." Amy patiently promisedthat she would resign herself to her fate, and Foster returned to hishardened companion with his conscience half-eased of the perilous loadthat weighed on it. "I have warned her," he said; "surely in vain is thesnare set in the sight of any bird!"
He left, therefore, the Countess's door unsecured on the outside, and,under the eye of Varney, withdrew the supports which sustained thefalling trap, which, therefore, kept its level position merely by aslight adhesion. They withdrew to wait the issue on the ground-flooradjoining; but they waited long in vain. At length Varney, after walkinglong to and fro, with his face muffled in his cloak, threw it suddenlyback and exclaimed, "Surely never was a woman fool enough to neglect sofair an opportunity of escape!"
"Perhaps she is resolved," said Foster, "to await her husband's return."
"True!--most true!" said Varney, rushing out; "I had not thought of thatbefore."
In less than two minutes, Foster, who remained behind, heard the treadof a horse in the courtyard, and then a whistle similar to thatwhich was the Earl's usual signal. The instant after the door of theCountess's chamber opened, and in the same moment the trap-door gaveway. There was a rushing sound--a heavy fall--a faint groan--and all wasover.
At the same instant, Varney called in at the window, in an accent andtone which was an indescribable mixture betwixt horror and raillery, "Isthe bird caught?--is the deed done?"
"O God, forgive us!" replied Anthony Foster.
"Why, thou fool," said Varney, "thy toil is ended, and thy rewardsecure. Look down into the vault--what seest thou?"
"I see only a heap of white clothes, like a snowdrift," said Foster. "OGod, she moves her arm!"
"Hurl something down on her--thy gold chest, Tony--it is an heavy one."
"Varney, thou art an incarnate fiend!" replied Foster.
"There needs nothing more--she is gone!"
"So pass our troubles," said Varney, entering the room; "I dreamed not Icould have mimicked the Earl's call so well."
"Oh, if there be judgment in heaven, thou hast deserved it," saidFoster, "and wilt meet it! Thou hast destroyed her by means of her bestaffections--it is a seething of the kid in the mother's milk!"
"Thou art a fanatical ass," replied Varney; "let us now think how thealarm should be given--the body is to remain where it is."
But their wickedness was to be permitted no longer; for even while theywere at this consultation, Tressilian and Raleigh broke in upon them,having obtained admittance by means of Tider and Foster's servant, whomthey had secured at the village.
Anthony Foster fled on their entrance, and knowing each corner and passof the intricate old house, escaped all search. But Varney was taken onthe spot; and instead of expressing compunction for what he had done,seemed to take a fiendish pleasure in pointing out to them the remainsof the murdered Countess, while at the same time he defied them to showthat he had any share in her death. The despairing grief of Tressilian,on viewing the mangled and yet warm remains of what had lately been solovely and so beloved, was such that Raleigh was compelled to have himremoved from the place by force, while he himself assumed the directionof what was to be done.
Varney, upon a second examination, made very little mystery either ofthe crime or of its motives---alleging, as a reason for his frankness,that though much of what he confessed could only have attached to him bysuspicion, yet such suspicion would have been sufficient to deprivehim of Leicester's confidence, and to destroy all his towering plans ofambition. "I was not born," he said, "to drag on the remainder of life adegraded outcast; nor will I so die that my fate shall make a holiday tothe vulgar herd."
From these words it was apprehended he had some design upon himself, andhe was carefully deprived of all means by which such could be carriedinto execution. But like some of the heroes of antiquity, he carriedabout his person a small quantity of strong poison, prepared probablyby the celebrated Demetrius Alasco. Having swallowed this potionover-night, he was found next morning dead in his cell; nor did heappear to have suffered much agony, his countenance presenting, even indeath, the habitual expression of sneering sarcasm which was predominantwhile he lived. "The wicked man," saith Scripture, "hath no bands in hisdeath."
The fate of his colleague in wickedness was long unknown. Cumnor Placewas deserted immediately after the murder; for in the vicinity of whatwas called the Lady Dudley's Chamber, the domestics pretended to heargroans, and screams, and other supernatural noises. After a certainlength of time, Janet, hearing no tidings of her father, became theuncontrolled mistress of his property, and conferred it with her handupon Wayland, now a man of settled character, and holding a place inElizabeth's household. But it was after they had been both dead for someyears that their eldest son and heir, in making some researches aboutCumnor Hall, discovered a secret passage, closed by an iron door, which,opening from behind the bed in the Lady Dudley's Chamber, descended to asort of cell, in which they found an iron chest containing a quantityof gold, and a human skeleton stretched above it. The fate of AnthonyFoster was now manifest. He had fled to this place of concealment,forgetting the key of the spring-lock; and being barred from escape bythe means he had used for preservation of that gold, for which he hadsold his salvation, he had there perished miserably. Unquestionably thegroans and screams heard by the domestics were not entirely imaginary,but were those of this wretch, who, in his agony, was crying for reliefand succour.
The news of the Countess's dreadful fate put a sudden period to thepleasures of Kenilworth. Leicester retired from court, and for aconsiderable time abandoned himself to his remorse. But as Varney in hislast declaration had been studious to spare the character of his patron,the Earl was the object rather of compassion than resentment. The Queenat length recalled him to court; he was once more distinguished as astatesman and favourite; and the rest of his career is well known tohistory. But there was something retributive in his death, if, accordingto an account very generally received, it took place from his swallowinga draught of poison which was designed by him for another person. [SeeNote 9. Death of the Earl of Leicester.]
Sir Hugh Robsart died very soon after his daughter, having settled hisestate on Tressilian. But neither the prospect of rural independence,nor the promises of favour which Elizabeth held out to induce him tofollow the court, could remove his profound melancholy. Wherever he wenthe seemed to see before him the disfigured corpse of the early andonly object of his affection. At length, having made provision for themaintenance of the old friends and old servants who formed Sir Hugh'sfamily at Lidcote Hall, he himself embarked with his friend Raleighfor the Virginia expedition, and, young in years but old in grief, diedbefore his day in that foreign land.
Of inferior persons it is only necessary to say that Blount's wit grewbrighter as his yellow roses faded; that, doing his part as a bravecommander in the wars, he was much more in his element than during theshort period of his following the court; and that Flibbertigibbet'sacute genius raised him to favour and distinction in the employment bothof Burleigh and Walsingham.
NOTES.
Note 1. Ch. III.--FOSTER, LAMBOURNE, AND THE BLACK BEAR.
If faith is to be put in epitaphs, Anthony Foster was something the veryreverse of the character represented in the novel. Ashmole gives thisdescription of his tomb. I copy from the ANTIQUITIES OF BERKSHIRE,vol.i., p.143.
"In the nor
th wall of the chancel at Cumnor church is a monument of greymarble, whereon, in brass plates, are engraved a man in armour, andhis wife in the habit of her times, both kneeling before a fald-stoole,together with the figures of three sons kneeling behind their mother.Under the figure of the man is this inscription:--
"ANTONIUS FORSTER, generis generosa propago, Cumnerae Dominus, Bercheriensis erat. Armiger, Armigero prognatus patre Ricardo, Qui quondam Iphlethae Salopiensis erat. Quatuor ex isto fluxerunt stemmate nati, Ex isto Antonius stemmate quartus erat. Mente sagax, animo precellens, corpore promptus, Eloquii dulcis, ore disertus erat. In factis probitas; fuit in sermone venustas, In vultu gravitas, relligione fides, In patriam pietas, in egenos grata voluntas, Accedunt reliquis annumeranda bonis. Si quod cuncta rapit, rapuit non omnia Lethum, Si quod Mors rapuit, vivida fama dedit.
"These verses following are writ at length, two by two, in praise ofhim:--
"Argute resonas Cithare pretendere chordas Novit, et Aonia concrepuisse Lyra. Gaudebat terre teneras defigere plantas; Et mira pulchras construere arte domos Composita varias lingua formare loquelas Doctus, et edocta scribere multa manu."
The arms over it thus:--
Quart. I. 3 HUNTER'S HORNS stringed.
II. 3 PINIONS with their points upwards.
"The crest is a STAG couchant, vulnerated through the neck by a broadarrow; on his side is a MARTLETT for a difference."
From this monumental inscription it appears that Anthony Foster,instead of being a vulgar, low-bred, puritanical churl, was, in fact, agentleman of birth and consideration, distinguished for his skill inthe arts of music and horticulture, as also in languages. In so far,therefore, the Anthony Foster of the romance has nothing but the namein common with the real individual. But notwithstanding the charity,benevolence, and religious faith imputed by the monument of grey marbleto its tenant, tradition, as well as secret history, names him as theactive agent in the death of the Countess; and it is added that,from being a jovial and convivial gallant, as we may infer from someexpressions in the epitaph, he sunk, after the fatal deed, into a manof gloomy and retired habits, whose looks and manners indicated that hesuffered under the pressure of some atrocious secret.
The name of Lambourne is still known in the vicinity, and it is saidsome of the clan partake the habits, as well as name, of the MichaelLambourne of the romance. A man of this name lately murdered his wife,outdoing Michael in this respect, who only was concerned in the murderof the wife of another man.
I have only to add that the jolly Black Bear has been restored to hispredominance over bowl and bottle in the village of Cumnor.
Note 2. Ch. XIII.--LEGEND OF WAYLAND SMITH.
The great defeat given by Alfred to the Danish invaders is said by Mr.Gough to have taken place near Ashdown, in Berkshire. "The burialplace of Baereg, the Danish chief, who was slain in this fight, isdistinguished by a parcel of stones, less than a mile from the hill, seton edge, enclosing a piece of ground somewhat raised. On the east sideof the southern extremity stand three squarish flat stones, of aboutfour or five feet over either way, supporting a fourth, and now calledby the vulgar WAYLAND SMITH, from an idle tradition about an invisiblesmith replacing lost horse-shoes there."--GOUGH'S edition of CAMDEN'SBRITANNIA, vol.i., p. 221.
The popular belief still retains memory of this wild legend, which,connected as it is with the site of a Danish sepulchre, may have arisenfrom some legend concerning the northern Duergar, who resided in therocks, and were cunning workers in steel and iron. It was believed thatWayland Smith's fee was sixpence, and that, unlike other workmen, he wasoffended if more was offered. Of late his offices have been again calledto memory; but fiction has in this, as in other cases, taken the libertyto pillage the stores of oral tradition. This monument must be veryancient, for it has been kindly pointed out to me that it is referred toin an ancient Saxon charter as a landmark. The monument has been of latecleared out, and made considerably more conspicuous.
Note 3. Ch. XIV.--LEICESTER AND SUSSEX.
Naunton gives us numerous and curious particulars of the jealousstruggle which took place between Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, and therising favourite Leicester. The former, when on his deathbed, predictedto his followers that after his death the gipsy (so he called Leicester,from his dark complexion) would prove too many for them.
Note 4. Ch. XIV.--SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
Among the attendants and adherents of Sussex, we have ventured tointroduce the celebrated Raleigh, in the dawn of his court favour.
In Aubrey's Correspondence there are some curious particulars of SirWalter Raleigh. "He was a tall, handsome, bold man; but his naeve wasthat he was damnably proud. Old Sir Robert Harley of Brampton BrianCastle, who knew him, would say it was a great question who was theproudest, Sir Walter or Sir Thomas Overbury; but the difference thatwas, was judged in Sir Thomas's side. In the great parlour at Downton,at Mr. Raleigh's, is a good piece, an original of Sir Walter, in a whitesatin doublet, all embroidered with rich pearls, and a mighty rich chainof great pearls about his neck. The old servants have told me thatthe real pearls were near as big as the painted ones. He had amost remarkable aspect, an exceeding high forehead, long-faced, andsour-eyelidded. A rebus is added to this purpose:--
The enemy to the stomach, and the word of disgrace, Is the name of the gentleman with the bold face.
Sir Walter Raleigh's beard turned up naturally, which gave him anadvantage over the gallants of the time, whose moustaches received atouch of the barber's art to give them the air then most admired.--SeeAUBREY'S CORRESPONDENCE, vol.ii., part ii., p.500.
Note 5. Ch. XV.--COURT FAVOUR OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
The gallant incident of the cloak is the traditional account of thiscelebrated statesman's rise at court. None of Elizabeth's courtiers knewbetter than he how to make his court to her personal vanity, or couldmore justly estimate the quantity of flattery which she couldcondescend to swallow. Being confined in the Tower for some offence, andunderstanding the Queen was about to pass to Greenwich in her barge,he insisted on approaching the window, that he might see, at whateverdistance, the Queen of his Affections, the most beautiful object whichthe earth bore on its surface. The Lieutenant of the Tower (his ownparticular friend) threw himself between his prisoner and the window;while Sir Waiter, apparently influenced by a fit of unrestrainablepassion, swore he would not be debarred from seeing his light, his life,his goddess! A scuffle ensued, got up for effect's sake, in which theLieutenant and his captive grappled and struggled with fury, tore eachother's hair, and at length drew daggers, and were only separated byforce. The Queen being informed of this scene exhibited by her franticadorer, it wrought, as was to be expected, much in favour of the captivePaladin. There is little doubt that his quarrel with the Lieutenant wasentirely contrived for the purpose which it produced.
Note 6. Ch. XVII.--ROBERT LANEHAM.
Little is known of Robert Laneham, save in his curious letter to afriend in London, giving an account of Queen Elizabeth's entertainmentsat Kenilworth, written in a style of the most intolerable affectation,both in point of composition and orthography. He describes himself as aBON VIVANT, who was wont to be jolly and dry in the morning, and by hisgood-will would be chiefly in the company of the ladies. He was, by theinterest of Lord Leicester, Clerk of the Council Chamber door, and alsokeeper of the same. "When Council sits," says he, "I am at hand. If anymakes a babbling, PEACE, say I. If I see a listener or a pryer in atthe chinks or lockhole, I am presently on the bones of him. If a friendcomes, I make him sit down by me on a form or chest. The rest may walk,a God's name!" There has been seldom a better portrait of the pragmaticconceit and self-importance of a small man in office.
Note 7. Ch. XVIII.--DR. JULIO.
The Earl of Leicester's Italian physician, Julio, was affirmed by hiscontemporaries to be a skilful compounder of poisons, which he appliedwith such frequency, that the Jesuit Parsons extols ironically themarve
llous good luck of this great favourite in the opportune deaths ofthose who stood in the way of his wishes. There is a curious passage onthe subject:--
"Long after this, he fell in love with the Lady Sheffield, whom Isignified before, and then also had he the same fortune to have herhusband dye quickly, with an extreame rheume in his head (as it wasgiven out), but as others say, of an artificiall catarre that stoppedhis breath.
"The like good chance had he in the death of my Lord of Essex (as I havesaid before), and that at a time most fortunate for his purpose; forwhen he was coming home from Ireland, with intent to revenge himselfeupon my Lord of Leicester for begetting his wife with childe in hisabsence (the childe was a daughter, and brought up by the Lady Shandoes,W. Knooles, his wife), my Lord of Leicester hearing thereof, wanted nota friend or two to accompany the deputy, as among other a couple of theEarles own servants, Crompton (if I misse not his name), yeoman of hisbottles, and Lloid his secretary, entertained afterward by my Lord ofLeicester, and so he dyed in the way of an extreame flux, caused by anItalian receipe, as all his friends are well assured, the maker whereofwas a chyrurgeon (as it is beleeved) that then was newly come to my Lordfrom Italy---a cunning man and sure in operation, with whom, if the goodLady had been sooner acquainted, and used his help, she should not haveneeded to sitten so pensive at home, and fearefull of her husband'sformer returne out of the same country......Neither must you marvailethough all these died in divers manners of outward diseases, for thisis the excellency of the Italian art, for which this chyrurgeon andDr. Julio were entertained so carefully, who can make a man dye in whatmanner or show of sickness you will--by whose instructions, no doubt;but his lordship is now cunning, especially adding also to these thecounsell of his Doctor Bayly, a man also not a little studied (as heseemeth) in his art; for I heard him once myselfe, in a publique actin Oxford, and that in presence of my Lord of Leicester (if I be notdeceived), maintain that poyson might be so tempered and given as itshould not appear presently, and yet should kill the party afterward,at what time should be appointed; which argument belike pleased well hislordship, and therefore was chosen to be discussed in his audience, ifI be not deceived of his being that day present. So, though one dye of aflux, and another of a catarre, yet this importeth little to thematter, but showeth rather the great cunning and skill of theartificer."--PARSONS' LEICESTER'S COMMONWEALTH, p.23.
It is unnecessary to state the numerous reasons why the Earl is statedin the tale to be rather the dupe of villains than the unprincipledauthor of their atrocities. In the latter capacity, which a partat least of his contemporaries imputed to him, he would have made acharacter too disgustingly wicked to be useful for the purposes offiction.
I have only to add that the union of the poisoner, the quacksalver, thealchemist, and the astrologer in the same person was familiar to thepretenders to the mystic sciences.
Note 8. Ch. XXXII.--FURNITURE OF KENILWORTH.
In revising this work, I have had the means of making some accurateadditions to my attempt to describe the princely pleasures ofKenilworth, by the kindness of my friend William Hamper, Esq., whohad the goodness to communicate to me an inventory of the furnitureof Kenilworth in the days of the magnificent Earl of Leicester. I haveadorned the text with some of the splendid articles mentioned in theinventory, but antiquaries especially will be desirous to see a morefull specimen than the story leaves room for.
EXTRACTS FROM KENILWORTH INVENTORY, A.D. 1584. A Salte, ship-fashion,of the mother of perle, garnished with silver and divers workes, warlikeensignes, and ornaments, with xvj peeces of ordinance whereof ij onwheles, two anckers on the foreparte, and on the stearne the image ofDame Fortune standing on a globe with a flag in her hand. Pois xxxij oz.
A gilte salte like a swann, mother of perle. Pois xxx oz. iij quarters.
A George on horseback, of wood, painted and gilt, with a case for knivesin the tayle of the horse, and a case for oyster knives in the brest ofthe Dragon.
A green barge-cloth, embrother'd with white lions and beares.
A perfuming pann, of silver. Pois xix oz.
In the halle. Tabells, long and short, vj. Formes, long and short,xiiij.
HANGINGS. (These are minutely specified, and consisted of the followingsubjects, in tapestry, and gilt, and red leather.)
Flowers, beasts, and pillars arched. Forest worke. Historie. Storieof Susanna, the Prodigall Childe, Saule, Tobie, Hercules, Lady Fame,Hawking and Hunting, Jezabell, Judith and Holofernes, David, Abraham,Sampson, Hippolitus, Alexander the Great, Naaman the Assyrian, Jacob,etc.
BEDSTEADS, WITH THEIR FURNITURE. (These are magnificent and numerous. Ishall copy VERBATIM the description of what appears to have been one ofthe best.)
A bedsted of wallnut-tree, toppe fashion, the pillers redd andvarnished, the ceelor, tester, and single vallance of crimson sattin,paned with a broad border of bone lace of golde and silver. The testerrichlie embrothered with my Lo. armes in a garland of hoppes, roses, andpomegranetts, and lyned with buckerom. Fyve curteins of crimson sattinto the same bedsted, striped downe with a bone lace of gold and silver,garnished with buttons and loops of crimson silk and golde, containingxiiij bredths of sattin, and one yarde iij quarters deepe. The ceelor,vallance, and curteins lyned with crymson taffata sarsenet.
A crymson sattin counterpointe, quilted and embr. with a golde twiste,and lyned with redd sarsenet, being in length iij yards good, and inbreadth iij scant.
A chaise of crymson sattin, suteable.
A fayre quilte of crymson sattin, vj breadths, iij yardes 3 quartersnaile deepe, all lozenged over with silver twiste, in the midst acinquefoile within a garland of ragged staves, fringed rounde aboutewith a small fringe of crymson silke, lyned throughe with white fustian.
Fyve plumes of coolered feathers, garnished with bone lace and spangellsof goulde and silver, standing in cups knitt all over with goulde,silver, and crymson silk. [Probably on the centre and four corners ofthe bedstead. Four bears and ragged staves occupied a similar positionon another of these sumptuous pieces of furniture.]
A carpett for a cupboarde of crymson sattin, embrothered with a borderof goulde twiste, about iij parts of it fringed with silk and goulde,lyned with bridges [That is, Bruges.] sattin, in length ij yards, and ijbredths of sattin.
(There were eleven down beds and ninety feather beds, besidesthirty-seven mattresses.)
CHYRES, STOOLES, AND CUSHENS. (These were equally splendid with thebeds, etc. I shall here copy that which stands at the head of the list.)
A chaier of crimson velvet, the seate and backe partlie embrothered,with R. L. in cloth of goulde, the beare and ragged staffe in clothe ofsilver, garnished with lace and fringe of goulde, silver, and crimsonsilck. The frame covered with velvet, bounde aboute the edge with gouldelace, and studded with gilte nailes.
A square stoole and a foote stoole, of crimson velvet, fringed andgarnished suteable.
A long cushen of crimson velvet, embr. with the ragged staffe in awreathe of goulde, with my Lo. posie "DROYTE ET LOYALL" written in thesame, and the letters R. L. in clothe of goulde, being garnished withlace, fringe, buttons, and tassels of gold, silver, and crimson silck,lyned with crimson taff., being in length 1 yard quarter.
A square cushen, of the like velvet, embr. suteable to the long cushen.
CARPETS. (There were 10 velvet carpets for tables and windows, 49Turkey carpets for floors, and 32 cloth carpets. One of each I will nowspecify.)
A carpett of crimson velvet, richlie embr. with my Lo. posie, beares andragged staves, etc., of clothe of goulde and silver, garnished uponthe seames and aboute with golde lace, fringed accordinglie, lynedwith crimson taffata sarsenett, being 3 breadths of velvet, one yard 3quarters long.
A great Turquoy carpett, the grounde blew, with a list of yelloe at eachend, being in length x yards, in bredthe iiij yards and quarter
A long carpett of blew clothe, lyned with bridges sattin, fringed withblew silck and goulde, in length vj yards lack a quarter, the wholebredth of th
e clothe.
PICTURES. (Chiefly described as having curtains.)
The Queene's Majestie (2 great tables). 3 of my Lord. St. Jerome. Lo. ofArundell. Lord Mathevers. Lord of Pembroke. Counte Egmondt. The Queeneof Scotts. King Philip. The Baker's Daughters. The Duke of Feria.Alexander Magnus. Two Yonge Ladies. Pompaea Sabina. Fred. D. of Saxony.Emp. Charles. K. Philip's Wife. Prince of Orange and his Wife. Marq. ofBerges and his Wife. Counte de Home. Count Holstrate. Monsr. Brederode.Duke Alva. Cardinal Grandville. Duches of Parma. Henrie E. of Pembrookeand his young Countess. Countis of Essex. Occacion and Repentance. LordMowntacute. Sir Jas. Crofts. Sir Wr. Mildmay. Sr. Wm. Pickering. EdwinAbp. of York.
A tabell of an historie of men, women, and children, moulden in wax.
A little foulding table of ebanie, garnished with white bone, whereinare written verses with lres. of goulde.
A table of my Lord's armes.
Fyve of the plannetts, painted in frames.
Twentie-three cardes, [That is charts.] or maps of countries.
INSTRUMENTS. (I shall give two specimens.)
An instrument of organs, regall, and virginalls, covered with crimsonvelvet, and garnished with goulde lace.
A fair pair of double virginalls.
CABONETTS. A cabonett of crimson sattin, richlie embr. with a device ofhunting the stagg, in goulde, silver, and silck, with iiij glassesin the topp thereof, xvj cupps of flowers made of goulde, silver, andsilck, in a case of leather, lyned with greene sattin of bridges.
(Another of purple velvet. A desk of red leather.)
A CHESS BOARDE of ebanie, with checkars of christall and other stones,layed with silver, garnished with beares and ragged staves, andcinquefoiles of silver. The xxxij men likewyse of christall and otherstones sett, the one sort in silver white, the other gilte, in a casegilded and lyned with green cotton.
(Another of bone and ebanie. A pair of tabells of bone.)
A great BRASON CANDLESTICK to hang in the roofe of the howse, veriefayer and curiouslye wrought, with xxiiij branches, xij greate and xijof lesser size, 6 rowlers and ij wings for the spreade eagle, xxiiijsocketts for candells, xij greater and xij of a lesser sorte, xxiiijsawcers, or candlecups, of like proporcion to put under the socketts,iij images of men and iij of weomen, of brass, verie finely andartificiallie done.
These specimens of Leicester's magnificence may serve to assure thereader that it scarce lay in the power of a modern author to exaggeratethe lavish style of expense displayed in the princely pleasures ofKenilworth.
Note to Ch. XLI.--DEATH OF THE EARL OF LEICESTER.
In a curious manuscript copy of the information given by Ben Jonsonto Drummond of Hawthornden, as transcribed by Sir Robert Sibbald,Leicester's death is ascribed to poison administered as a cordial by hiscountess, to whom he had given it, representing it to be a restorativein any faintness, in the hope that she herself might be cut off by usingit. We have already quoted Jonson's account of this merited stroke ofretribution in a note of the Introduction to this volume. It may behere added that the following satirical epitaph on Leicester occurs inDrummond's Collection, but is evidently not of his composition:--
EPITAPH ON THE ERLE OF LEISTER.
Here lies a valiant warriour, Who never drew a sword; Here lies a noble courtier, Who never kept his word; Here lies the Erle of Leister, Who governed the Estates, Whom the earth could never living love, And the just Heaven now hates.
