CHAPTER VII. THE FEAR AND THE FLIGHT.
King Edward feasted high, and Sibyll sat in her father's chamber,--shesilent with thought of love, Adam silent in the toils of science. TheEureka was well-nigh finished, rising from its ruins more perfect, moreelaborate, than before. Maiden and scholar, each seeming near to thecherished goal,--one to love's genial altar, the other to fame's lonelyshrine.
Evening advanced, night began, night deepened. King Edward's feast wasover, but still in his perfumed chamber the wine sparkled in the goldencup. It was announced to him that Sir Marmaduke Nevile, just arrivedfrom the earl's house, craved an audience. The king, pre-occupied indeep revery, impatiently postponed it till the morrow.
"To-morrow," said the gentleman in attendance, "Sir Marmaduke bids mesay, fearful that the late hour would forbid his audience, thatLord Warwick himself will visit your Grace. I fear, sire, that thedisturbances are great indeed, for the squires and gentlemen in LadyAnne's train have orders to accompany her to Calais to-morrow."
"To-morrow, to-morrow!" repeated the king--"well, sir, you aredismissed."
The Lady Anne (to whom Sibyll had previously communicated the king'skindly consideration for Master Warner) had just seen Marmaduke, andlearned the new dangers that awaited the throne and the realm. TheLancastrians were then openly in arms for the prince of her love, andagainst her mighty father!
The Lady Anne sat a while, sorrowful and musing, and then, before yoncrucifix, the Lady Anne knelt in prayer. Sir Marmaduke Nevile descendsto the court below, and some three or four busy, curious gentlemen, notyet a-bed, seize him by the arm, and pray him to say what storm is inthe wind.
The night deepened still. The wine is drained in King Edward's goblet;King Edward has left his chamber; and Sibyll, entreating her father, butin vain, to suspend his toil, has kissed the damps from his brow, andis about to retire to her neighbouring room. She has turned to thethreshold, when, hark! a faint--a distant cry, a woman's shriek, thenoise of a clapping door! The voice--it is the voice of Anne! Sibyllpassed the threshold, she is in the corridor; the winter moon shinesthrough the open arches, the air is white and cold with frost. Suddenlythe door at the farther end is thrown wide open, a form rushes into thecorridor, it passes Sibyll, halts, turns round. "Oh, Sibyll!" cried theLady Anne, in a voice wild with horror, "save me--aid--help! MercifulHeaven, the king!"
Instinctively, wonderingly, tremblingly, Sibyll drew Anne into thechamber she had just quitted, and as they gained its shelter, as Annesank upon the floor, the gleam of cloth-of-gold flashed through the dimatmosphere, and Edward, yet in the royal robe in which he had dazzledall the eyes at his kingly feast, stood within the chamber. Hiscountenance was agitated with passion, and its clear hues flushed redwith wine. At his entrance Anne sprang from the floor, and rushed toWarner, who, in dumb bewilderment, had suspended his task, and stoodbefore the Eureka, from which steamed and rushed the dark, rapid smoke,while round and round, labouring and groaning, rolled its fairy wheels.[The gentle reader will doubtless bear in mind that Master Warner'scomplicated model had but little resemblance to the models of thesteam-engine in our own day, and that it was usually connected withother contrivances, for the better display of the principle it wasintended to illustrate.]
"Sir," cried Anne, clinging to him convulsively, "you are a father; byyour child's soul, protect Lord Warwick's daughter!"
Roused from his abstraction by this appeal, the poor scholar woundhis arm round the form thus clinging to him, and raising his head withdignity, replied, "Thy name, youth, and sex protect thee!"
"Unhand that lady, vile sorcerer," exclaimed the king, "I am herprotector. Come, Anne, sweet Anne, fair lady, thou mistakest,--come!" hewhispered. "Give not to these low natures matter for guesses that do butshame thee. Let thy king and cousin lead thee back to thy sweet rest."
He sought, though gently, to loosen the arms that wound themselvesround the old man; but Anne, not heeding, not listening, distracted bya terror that seemed to shake her whole frame and to threaten her veryreason, continued to cry out loudly upon her father's name,--her greatfather, wakeful, then, for the baffled ravisher's tottering throne!
Edward had still sufficient possession of his reason to be alarmed lestsome loiterer or sentry in the outer court might hear the cries whichhis attempts to soothe but the more provoked. Grinding his teeth, andlosing patience, he said to Adam, "Thou knowest me, friend,--I am thyking. Since the Lady Anne, in her bewilderment, prefers thine aid tomine, help to bear her back to her apartment; and thou, young mistress,lend thine arm. This wizard's den is no fit chamber for our high-bornguest."
"No, no; drive me not hence, Master Warner--that man--that king--give menot up to his--his--"
"Beware!" exclaimed the king.
It was not till now that Adam's simple mind comprehended the true causeof Anne's alarm, which Sibyll still conjectured not, but stood tremblingby her friend's side, and close to her father.
"Do not fear, maiden;" said Adam Warner, laying his hand upon theloosened locks that swept over his bosom, "for though I am old andfeeble, God and his angels are in every spot where virtue trembles andresists. My lord king, thy sceptre extends not over a human soul!"
"Dotard, prate not to me!" said Edward, laying his hand on his dagger.Sibyll saw the movement, and instinctively placed herself between herfather and the king. That slight form, those pure, steadfast eyes, thosefeatures, noble at once and delicate, recalled to Edward the awe whichhad seized him in his first dark design; and again that awe came overhim. He retreated.
"I mean harm to none," said he, almost submissively; "and if I am sounhappy as to scare with my presence the Lady Anne, I will retire,praying you, donzell, to see to her state, and lead her back to herchamber when it so pleases herself. Saying this much, I command you, oldman, and you, maiden, to stand back while I but address one sentence tothe Lady Anne."
With these words he gently advanced to Anne, and took her hand; but,snatching it from him, the poor lady broke from Adam, rushed to thecasement, opened it, and seeing some figures indistinct and distant inthe court below, she called out in a voice of such sharp agony that itstruck remorse and even terror into Edward's soul.
"Alas!" he muttered, "she will not listen to me! her mind is distraught!What frenzy has been mine! Pardon--pardon, Anne,--oh, pardon!"
Adam Warner laid his hand on the king's arm, and he drew the imperiousdespot away as easily as a nurse leads a docile child.
"King!" said the brave old man, "may God pardon thee; for if the lastevil hath been wrought upon this noble lady, David sinned not moreheavily than thou."
"She is pure, inviolate,--I swear it!" said the king, humbly. "Anne,only say that I am forgiven."
But Anne spoke not: her eyes were fixed, her lips had fallen; she wasinsensible as a corpse,--dumb and frozen with her ineffable dread.Suddenly steps were heard upon the stairs; the door opened, andMarmaduke Nevile entered abruptly.
"Surely I heard my lady's voice,--surely! What marvel this?--the king!Pardon, my liege!" and he bent his knee.
The sight of Marmaduke dissolved the spell of awe and repentanthumiliation which had chained a king's dauntless heart. His wonted guilereturned to him with his self-possession.
"Our wise craftsman's strange and weird invention"--and Edward pointedto the Eureka--"has scared our fair cousin's senses, as, by sweet SaintGeorge, it well might! Go back, Sir Marmaduke, we will leave Lady Annefor the moment to the care of Mistress Sibyll. Donzell, remember mycommand. Come, sir"--(and he drew the wondering Marmaduke from thechamber); but as soon as he had seen the knight descend the stairs andregain the court, he returned to the room, and in a low, stern voice,said, "Look you, Master Warner, and you, damsel, if ever either ofye breathe one word of what has been your dangerous fate to hear andwitness, kings have but one way to punish slanderers, and silence butone safeguard!--trifle not with death!"
He then closed the door, and resought his own chamber. The Easternspices, which were burned in the sleeping-rooms of the g
reat, still madethe air heavy with their feverish fragrance. The king seated himself,and strove to recollect his thoughts, and examine the peril he hadprovoked. The resistance and the terror of Anne had effectually banishedfrom his heart the guilty passion it had before harboured; for emotionslike his, and in such a nature, are quick of change. His prevailingfeeling was one of sharp repentance and reproachful shame. But as heroused himself from a state of mind which light characters ever seekto escape, the image of the dark-browed earl rose before him, and fearsucceeded to mortification; but even this, however well-founded, couldnot endure long in a disposition so essentially scornful of all danger.Before morning the senses of Anne must return to her. So gentle a bosomcould be surely reasoned out of resentment, or daunted, at least, frombetraying to her stern father a secret that, if told, would smear thesward of England with the gore of thousands. What woman will provoke warand bloodshed? And for an evil not wrought, for a purpose not fulfilled?The king was grateful that his victim had escaped him. He would see Annebefore the earl could, and appease her anger, obtain her silence! ForWarner and for Sibyll, they would not dare to reveal; and, if they did,the lips that accuse a king soon belie themselves, while a rack cantorture truth, and the doomsman be the only judge between the subjectand the head that wears a crown.
Thus reasoning with himself, his soul faced the solitude. MeanwhileMarmaduke regained the courtyard, where, as we have said, he had beendetained in conferring with some of the gentlemen in the king's service,who, hearing that he brought important tidings from the earl, hadabstained from rest till they could learn if the progress of the newrebellion would bring their swords into immediate service. Marmaduke,pleased to be of importance, had willingly satisfied their curiosity,as far as he was able, and was just about to retire to his own chamber,when the cry of Anne had made him enter the postern-door which led upthe stairs to Adam's apartment, and which was fortunately not locked;and now, on returning, he had again a new curiosity to allay. Havingbriefly said that Master Warner had taken that untoward hour to frightenthe women with a machine that vomited smoke and howled piteously,Marmaduke dismissed the group to their beds, and was about to seek hisown, when, looking once more towards the casement, he saw a white handgleaming in the frosty moonlight, and beckoning to him.
The knight crossed himself, and reluctantly ascended the stairs, andre-entered the wizard's den.
The Lady Anne had so far recovered herself, that a kind of unnaturalcalm had taken possession of her mind, and changed her ordinary sweetand tractable nature into one stern, obstinate resolution,--to escape,if possible, that unholy palace. And as soon as Marmaduke re-entered,Anne met him at the threshold, and laying her hand convulsively on hisarm, said, "By the name you bear, by your love to my father, aid me toquit these walls."
In great astonishment, Marmaduke stared, without reply. "Do you deny me,sir?" said Anne, almost sternly.
"Lady and mistress mine," answered Marmaduke, "I am your servant in allthings. Quit these walls, the palace!--How?--the gates are closed. Nay,and what would my lord say, if at night--"
"If at night!" repeated Anne, in a hollow voice; and then pausing, burstinto a terrible laugh. Recovering herself abruptly, she moved to thedoor, "I will go forth alone, and trust in God and Our Lady."
Sibyll sprang forward to arrest her steps, and Marmaduke hastened toAdam, and whispered, "Poor lady, is her mind unsettled? Hast thou, intruth, distracted her with thy spells and glamour?"
"Hush!" answered the old man; and he whispered in Nevile's ear.
Scarcely had the knight caught the words, than his cheek paled, hiseyes flashed fire. "The great earl's daughter!" he exclaimed."Infamy--horror--she is right!" He broke from the student, approachedAnne, who still struggled with Sibyll, and kneeling before her, said, ina voice choked with passions at once fierce and tender,--
"Lady, you are right. Unseemly it may be for one of your quality andsex to quit this place with me, and alone; but at least I have a man'sheart, a knight's honour. Trust to me your safety, noble maiden, andI will cut your way, even through yon foul king's heart, to your greatfather's side!"
Anne did not seem quite to understand his words; but she smiled on himas he knelt, and gave him her hand. The responsibility he had assumedquickened all the intellect of the young knight. As he took and kissedthe hand extended to him, he felt the ring upon his finger,--the ringintrusted to him by Alwyn, the king's signet-ring, before which wouldfly open every gate. He uttered a joyous exclamation, loosened his longnight-cloak, and praying Anne to envelop her form in its folds, drewthe hood over her head; he was about to lead her forth when he haltedsuddenly.
"Alack," said he, turning to Sibyll, "even though we may escape theTower, no boatman now can be found on the river. The way through thestreets is dark and perilous, and beset with midnight ruffians."
"Verily," said Warner, "the danger is past now. Let the noble demoisellerest here till morning. The king dare not again--"
"Dare not!" interrupted Marmaduke. "Alas! you little know King Edward."
At that name Anne shuddered, opened the door, and hurried down thestairs; Sibyll and Marmaduke followed her.
"Listen, Sir Marmaduke," said Sibyll. "Close without the Tower is thehouse of a noble lady, the dame of Longueville, where Anne may restin safety, while you seek Lord Warwick. I will go with you, if you canobtain egress for us both."
"Brave damsel!" said Marmaduke, with emotion; "but your own safety--theking's anger--no--besides a third, your dress not concealed, wouldcreate the warder's suspicion. Describe the house."
"The third to the left, by the river's side, with an arched porch, andthe fleur-de-lis embossed on the walls."
"It is not so dark but we shall find it. Fare you well, gentlemistress."
While they yet spoke, they had both reached the side of Anne. Sibyllstill persisted in the wish to accompany her friend; but Marmaduke'srepresentation of the peril to life itself that might befall her father,if Edward learned she had abetted Anne's escape, finally prevailed. Theknight and his charge gained the outer gate.
"Haste, haste, Master Warder!" he cried, beating at the door with hisdagger till it opened jealously,--"messages of importance to the LordWarwick. We have the king's signet. Open!"
The sleepy warder glanced at the ring; the gates were opened; they werewithout the fortress, they hurried on. "Cheer up, noble lady; you aresafe, you shall be avenged!" said Marmaduke, as he felt the steps ofhis companion falter. But the reaction had come. The effort Anne hadhitherto made was for escape, for liberty; the strength ceased, theobject gained; her head drooped, she muttered a few incoherent words,and then sense and life left her. Marmaduke paused in great perplexityand alarm. But lo, a light in a house before him! That house the thirdto the river,--the only one with the arched porch described by Sibyll.He lifted the light and holy burden in his strong arms, he gained thedoor; to his astonishment it was open; a light burned on the stairs; heheard, in the upper room, the sound of whispered voices, and quick, softfootsteps hurrying to and fro. Still bearing the insensible form ofhis companion, he ascended the staircase, and entered at once upona chamber, in which, by a dim lamp, he saw some two or three personsassembled round a bed in the recess. A grave man advanced to him, as hepaused at the threshold.
"Whom seek you?"
"The Lady Longueville."
"Hush?"
"Who needs me?" said a faint voice, from the curtained recess.
"My name is Nevile," answered Marmaduke, with straightforward brevity."Mistress Sibyll Warner told me of this house, where I come for anhour's shelter to my companion, the Lady Anne, daughter of the Earl ofWarwick."
Marmaduke resigned his charge to an old woman, who was the nurse in thatsick-chamber, and who lifted the hood and chafed the pale, cold handsof the young maiden; the knight then strode to the recess. The Lady ofLongueville was on the bed of death--an illness of two days had broughther to the brink of the grave; but there was in her eye and countenancea restless and preternatural animation, and her
voice was clear andshrill, as she said,--
"Why does the daughter of Warwick, the Yorkist, seek refuge in the houseof the fallen and childless Lancastrian?"
"Swear by thy hopes in Christ that thou will tend and guard her while Iseek the earl, and I reply."
"Stranger, my name is Longueville, my birth noble,--those pledges ofhospitality and trust are stronger than hollow oaths. Say on!"
"Because, then," whispered the knight, after waving the bystandersfrom the spot, "because the earl's daughter flies dishonour in a king'spalace, and her insulter is the king!"
Before the dying woman could reply, Anne, recovered by the cares of theexperienced nurse, suddenly sprang to the recess, and kneeling by thebedside, exclaimed wildly,--"Save me! bide me! save me!"
"Go and seek the earl, whose right hand destroyed my house and hislawful sovereign's throne,--go! I will live till he arrives!" saidthe childless widow, and a wild gleam of triumph shot over her haggardfeatures.
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