CHAPTER VI. WARWICK RETURNS--APPEASES A DISCONTENTED PRINCE--AND CONFERSWITH A REVENGEFUL CONSPIRATOR.
It was not till late in the evening that Warwick arrived at his vastresidence in London, where he found not only Marmaduke Nevile ready toreceive him, but a more august expectant, in George Duke of Clarence.Scarcely had the earl crossed the threshold, when the duke seized hisarm, and leading him into the room that adjoined the hall, said,--
"Verily, Edward is besotted no less than ever by his wife's leech-likefamily. Thou knowest my appointment to the government of Ireland;Isabel, like myself, cannot endure the subordinate vassalage we mustbrook at the court, with the queen's cold looks and sour words. Thouknowest, also, with what vain pretexts Edward has put me of; and now,this very day, he tells me that he hath changed his humour,--that Iam not stern enough for the Irish kernes; that he loves me too well tobanish me, forsooth; and that Worcester, the people's butcher but thequeen's favourite, must have the post so sacredly pledged to me. I seein this Elizabeth's crafty malice. Is this struggle between king's bloodand queen's kith to go on forever?"
"Calm thyself, George; I will confer with the king tomorrow, and hopeto compass thy not too arrogant desire. Certes, a king's brother isthe fittest vice-king for the turbulent kernes of Ireland, who areever flattered into obeisance by ceremony and show. The government waspledged to thee--Edward can scarcely be serious. Moreover, Worcester,though forsooth a learned man--Mort-Dieu! methinks that same learningfills the head to drain the heart!--is so abhorred for his crueltiesthat his very landing in Ireland will bring a new rebellion to add toour already festering broils and sores. Calm thyself, I say. Where didstthou leave Isabel?"
"With my mother."
"And Anne?--the queen chills not her young heart with cold grace?"
"Nay, the queen dare not unleash her malice against Edward's will; and,to do him justice, he hath shown all honour to Lord Warwick's daughter."
"He is a gallant prince, with all his faults," said the father,heartily, "and we must bear with him, George; for verily he hath boundmen by a charm to love him. Stay thou and share my hasty repast, andover the wine we will talk of thy views. Spare me now for a moment;I have to prepare work eno' for a sleepless night. This Lincolnshirerebellion promises much trouble. Lord Willoughby has joined it; morethan twenty thousand men are in arms. I have already sent to convene theknights and barons on whom the king can best depend, and must urge theirinstant departure for their halls, to raise men and meet the foe. WhileEdward feasts, his minister must toil. Tarry a while till I return." Theearl re-entered the hall, and beckoned to Marmaduke, who stood amongst agroup of squires.
"Follow me; I may have work for thee." Warwick took a taper from one ofthe servitors, and led the way to his own more private apartment. On thelanding of the staircase, by a small door, stood his body-squire--"Isthe prisoner within?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good!"--The earl opened the door by which the squire had mounted guard,and bade Marmaduke wait without.
The inmate of the chamber, whose dress bore the stains of fresh traveland hard riding, lifted his face hastily as the earl entered.
"Robin Hilyard," said Warwick, "I have mused much how to reconcile myservice to the king with the gratitude I owe to a man who saved me fromgreat danger. In the midst of thy unhappy and rebellious designs thouwert captured and brought to me; the papers found on thee attest aLancastrian revolt, so ripening towards a mighty gathering, and soformidable from the adherents whom the gold and intrigues of King Louishave persuaded to risk land and life for the Red Rose, that all theking's friends can do to save his throne is now needed. In this revoltthou hast been the scheming brain, the master hand, the match to thebombard, the fire brand to the flax. Thou smilest, man! Alas! seest thounot that it is my stern duty to send thee bound hand and foot before theking's council, for the brake to wring from thee thy guilty secrets, andthe gibbet to close thy days?"
"I am prepared," said Hilyard; "when the bombard explodes, the matchhas become useless; when the flame smites the welkin, the firebrand isconsumed!"
"Bold man! what seest thou in this rebellion that can profit thee?"
"I see, looming through the chasms and rents made in the feudal order bycivil war, the giant image of a free people."
"And thou wouldst be a martyr for the multitude, who deserted thee atOlney?"
"As thou for the king who dishonoured thee at Shene!"
Warwick frowned, and there was a moment's pause; at last, said the earl:"Look you, Robin, I would fain not have on my hands the blood of a manwho saved my life. I believe thee, though a fanatic and half madman,--Ibelieve thee true in word as rash of deed. Swear to me on the crossof this dagger that thou wilt lay aside all scheme and plot for thisrebellion, all aid and share in civil broil and dissension, and thy lifeand liberty are restored to thee. In that intent, I have summoned my ownkinsman, Marmaduke Nevile. He waits without the door; he shall conductthee safely to the seashore; thou shalt gain in peace my governmentof Calais, and my seneschal there shall find thee all thou canstneed,--meat for thy hunger and moneys for thy pastime. Accept my mercy,take the oath, and begone."
"My lord," answered Hilyard, much touched and affected, "blame notthyself if this carcass feed the crows--my blood be on mine own head!I cannot take this oath; I cannot live in peace; strife and broil aregrown to me food and drink. Oh, my lord! thou knowest not what dark andbaleful memories made me an agent in God's hand against this ruthlessEdward!" and then passionately, with whitening lips and convulsivefeatures, Hilyard recounted to the startled Warwick the same tale whichhad roused the sympathy of Adam Warner.
The earl, whose affections were so essentially homely and domestic, waseven more shocked than the scholar by the fearful narrative.
"Unhappy man!" he said with moistened eyes, "from the core of my heartI pity thee. But thou, the scathed sufferer from civil war, wilt thou benow its dread reviver?"
"If Edward had wronged thee, great earl, as me, poor franklin, whatwould be thine answer? In vain moralize to him whom the spectre of amurdered child and the shriek of a maniac wife haunt and hound on tovengeance! So send me to rack and halter. Be there one curse more on thesoul of Edward!"
"Thou shalt not die through my witness," said the earl, abruptly; and hequitted the chamber.
Securing the door by a heavy bolt on the outside, he gave orders to hissquire to attend to the comforts of the prisoner; and then turning intohis closet with Marmaduke, said: "I sent for thee, young cousin, withdesign to commit to thy charge one whose absence from England I deemedneedful--that design I must abandon. Go back to the palace, and see,if thou canst, the king before he sleeps; say that this risingin Lincolnshire is more than a riot,--it is the first burst of arevolution! that I hold council here to-night, and every shire, erethe morrow, shall have its appointed captain. I will see the king atmorning. Yet stay--gain sight of my child Anne; she will leave the courtto-morrow. I will come for her; bid her train be prepared; she and thecountess must away to Calais,--England again hath ceased to be a homefor women! What to do with this poor rebel?" muttered the earl, whenalone; "release him I cannot; slay him I will not. Hum, there is spaceenough in these walls to inclose a captive."
The Last of the Barons — Complete Page 60
