At Agincourt

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER X -- AFTER THE FRAY

  On going into Dame Margaret's apartments Guy found that she had againretired to rest, and at once threw himself on his bed without disrobinghimself further than taking off his armour, for he felt that it waspossible the assailants might return after finding that the Burgundianknights and men-at-arms had ridden away. He had told the men-at-arms tokeep watch by turns at the top of the stairs, where the barricade stillremained, and to run in to wake him should they hear any disturbancewhatever at the door below. He slept but lightly, and several times wentout to see that the watch was being well kept, and to look up and down thestreet to assure himself that all was quiet.

  "You did nobly last night, Guy," Dame Margaret said as she met him in themorning; "Sir Eustace himself could have done no better had he been here.When I next write to my lord I shall tell him how well you have protectedus, and pray him to send word of it to your father."

  "I did my best, lady; but it is to Long Tom that it is chiefly due thatour defence was made good. It was his shooting that caused the long delayin breaking open the door, and that enabled us to hold the barricadebelow, and he also stoutly aided in the defence of the landing."

  "Nevertheless, Guy, it was under your direction that all things were done.It is to the leader who directs that the first praise is due rather thanto the strongest and bravest of his men-at-arms. It was, too, owing toyour interference on behalf of Count Charles d'Estournel that we owe itthat succour came to us; it was his friendship for you that prompted himto gather his friends to come to our aid; and it was the warning, shortthough it was, sent us by that strange Italian that enabled you to send tothe count for aid. I must see his daughter and thank her personally forthe part she played in the matter. No, Guy, had it not been for you thishouse would now have been an empty shell, and all of us would have beenlying under its ruins. I have been thinking during the night that you mustbe most careful when you go abroad; you know that the son of that monsterCaboche, the leader of the skinners, and doubtless many leaders of thebutchers, among them Legoix, were killed, and their friends are certain toendeavour to take vengeance on you. They saw you at the window, they willknow that you are my esquire, and will doubtless put down their defeatentirely to you. You cannot be too careful, and, above all, you must notventure out at night save on grave occasion. Agnes," she broke off as thegirl entered the room, "you too must thank our brave esquire for having sostoutly defended us."

  "I do thank you most heartily, Guy," the girl said, "though I felt it veryhard that I could do nothing to help you. It was terrible sitting here andhearing the fight so close to us, and the dreadful shouts and screams ofthose people, and to have nothing to do but to wait. Not that I wasfrightened, I felt quite confident that you would beat them, but it was sohard to sit quiet. I should not have minded so much if I could have beenstanding there to see the brave deeds that were being done."

  "Like the queen of a tournament, Agnes," her mother said with a smile."Yes, indeed, it is one of the hardships of us women. It is only when acastle is besieged and her lord is away that a woman may buckle on armourand set an example to her retainers by showing herself on the wall andrisking the enemies' bolts, or even, if necessary, taking her place withher retainers on the breach; at other times she must be passive and waitwhile men fight."

  "If I had only had my bow," Agnes said regretfully, "I could really havedone something. You would have let me go out then, mother, would you not?"

  "I don't know, dear; no, I don't think I should. It was anxious workenough for me as it was. If you had gone out I must have done so, and thenCharlie would have wanted to go too. No; it was much better that we allsat together as we did, waiting quietly for what might come, and prayingfor those who were fighting for us."

  "I was glad that Madame Leroux stayed upstairs with her maid instead ofcoming down here as you asked her, mother; she looked so scared and whitethat I do think it would have been worse than listening to the fighting tohave had to sit and look at her."

  Dame Margaret smiled. "Yes, Agnes, but I think that she was morefrightened for her husband than for herself, and I don't suppose that shehad ever been in danger before. Indeed, I must say that to look out atthat crowd of horrible creatures below, brandishing their weapons,shouting and yelling, was enough to terrify any quiet and peaceable woman.As a knight's wife and daughter it was our duty to be calm and composedand to set an example, but a citizen's wife would not feel the sameobligation, and might show her alarm without feeling that she disgracedherself or her husband."

  On going out Guy found their host already engaged in a conference with amaster carpenter as to the construction of the new doors. They were to bevery strong and heavy, made of the best oak, and protected by thick sheetsof iron; the hinges were to be of great strength to bear the weight. Asmith had also arrived to receive instructions for making and setting verystrong iron bars before the shop, the front of which would require to bealtered to allow of massive shutters being erected on the inside. Irongates were also to be fixed before the door.

  "That will make something like a fortress of it, Master Aylmer," thesilversmith said, "and it will then need heavy battering-rams to breakinto it. Several others of my craft similarly protect their shops; andcertainly no one can blame me, after the attack of last night, for takingevery means to defend myself. I intend to enlist a party of ten fightingmen to act as a garrison until these troubles are all over."

  "I think that you will act wisely in doing so," Guy said. "Your servantsall bore themselves bravely last night, but they had no defensive armourand were unaccustomed to the use of weapons. Only I would advise you to bevery careful as to the men that you engage, or you may find your guardwithin as dangerous as the mob without."

  "I will take every pains as to that, you may be sure, and will engage nonesave after a careful inquiry into their characters."

  The streets had already been cleared of the slain. All through the nightlittle parties had searched for and carried off their dead, and when atearly morning the authorities sent a party down to clear the street thereremained but some twenty-five bodies, evidently by their attire belongingto the lowest class, and presumably without friends. That day petitionsand complaints were sent to the king by the provosts of the merchants, thegold and silver smiths, the cloth merchants, the carpenters and others,complaining of the tumults caused by the butchers and their allies, andespecially of the attack without cause or reason upon the house of MaitreLeroux, the worshipful provost of the silversmiths. Several skirmishesoccurred in the evening between the two parties, but an order was issuedin the name of the king to the Maire and syndics of Paris rebuking themfor allowing such disturbances and tumults, and ordering them to keep aportion of the burgher guard always under arms, and to repress suchdisturbances, and severely punish those taking part in them.

  Maitre Leroux and his wife paid a formal visit to Dame Margaret early inthe day to thank her for the assistance that her retainers had given indefending the house.

  "You were good enough to say, madame," the silversmith said, "that youregretted the trouble that your stay here gave us. We assured you then,and truly, that the trouble was as nothing, and that we felt your presenceas an honour; now you see it has turned out more. Little did we think whenyou came here but a few days since that your coming would be the means ofpreserving our lives and property, yet so it has been, for assuredly if ithad not been for your esquire and brave retainers we should have beenmurdered last night. As it is we have not only saved our lives but ourproperty, and save for the renewal of the doors we shall not have been thelosers even in the value of a crown piece. Thus, from being our guests youhave become our benefactors; and one good result of what has passed is,that henceforth you will feel that, however long your stay here, andhowever much we may try to do for you, it will be but a trifle towards thedischarge of the heavy obligation under which we feel to you."

  After a meeting of the city council that afternoon, a guard of ten men wassent to the silversmith's to r
elieve the Burgundian men-at-arms. Five ofthese were to be on duty night and day until the house was made secure bythe new doors and iron grill erected in front of the shop. Guy proposed toDame Margaret that he should give up his visit to the _salle d'armes_, butthis she would not hear of.

  "I myself and the children will go no more abroad until matters becomemore settled, but it is on all accounts well that you should go to theschool of arms. Already the friends that you have made have been the meansof saving our lives, and it is well to keep them. We know not what isbefore us, but assuredly we need friends. Maitre Leroux was telling methis morning that the Armagnacs are fast approaching, and that in a fewdays they will be within a short distance of Paris. Their approach willassuredly embitter the hostility between the factions here, and shouldthey threaten the town there may be fierce fighting within the walls aswell as without. At present, at any rate, there are likely to be no moredisturbances such as that of last night, and therefore no occasion for youto remain indoors. Even these butchers, arrogant as they are, will notventure to excite the indignation that would be caused by another attackon this house. That, however, will make it all the more likely that theywill seek revenge in other ways, and that the house will be watched atnight and any that go out followed and murdered.

  "You and Tom the archer are no doubt safe enough from the attack ofordinary street ruffians, but no two men, however strong and valiant, canhope to defend themselves successfully against a score of cut-throats. ButI pray you on your way to the school go round and thank, in my name, thisItalian and his daughter, and say that I desire much to thank the younglady personally for the immense service she has rendered me and mychildren. Take the archer with you, for even in the daytime there arestreet brawls in which a single man who had rendered himself obnoxiouscould readily be despatched."

  "In faith, Master Guy," Long Tom said as they sallied out, "it seems to methat if our stay in Paris is a prolonged one I shall return home richenough to buy me an estate, for never did money so flow into my pocket. Wehave been here but a short time, and I have gained as much and more than Ishould do in a year of hard service. First there was that young Frenchcount, the very next morning when he called here he gave me a purse withthirty crowns, telling me pleasantly that it was at the rate of fivecrowns for each skull I cracked on his behalf. Then this morning MaitreLeroux came to me and said, 'Good fellow, it is greatly to your skill andvalour that I owe my life, and that of my wife; this will help you to setup housekeeping; when you return home,' and he gave me a purse with ahundred crowns in it; what think you of that, master? The other three alsogot purses of fifty crowns each. If that is the rate of pay in Paris for acouple of hours' fighting, I do not care how often I take a share in afray."

  "You are doing well indeed, Tom, but you must remember that sooner orlater you might go into a fray and lose your life, and with it the chanceof buying that estate you speak of."

  "We must all take our chances, master, and there is no winning a battlewithout the risk of the breaking of casques. Are we going to the house wewent to the first night we came here, Master Guy? Methinks that this isthe street we stopped at."

  "Yes, Tom. It was the man who lives here who sent me word that thebutchers were going to attack the provost's house, by the same messengerwho met us before Notre Dame, and who last night, after warning me,carried my message to Count Charles, praying him to come to our aid."

  "Then he did us yeoman service," the archer said warmly, "though I thinknot that they would have carried the barricade had they fought tillmorning."

  "Perhaps not, though I would not say so for certain, for they might havedevised some plan such as they did for covering themselves while theyassaulted the door. But even had they not done so they would have beensure before they retired to have fired the house."

  "That is what I thought of when they were attacking us," the archer said,"and wondered why they should waste men so freely when a torch would havedone their business just as well for them."

  "That would have been so, Tom, had they only wished to kill us; butthough, no doubt, the leaders desired chiefly the life of the provost, themob simply fought for plunder. If they had found all the jeweller's storein his shop, they would have fired the house very quickly when theydiscovered that they could not get at us. But it was the plunder that theywanted, and it was the sight of those chests full of silver-ware that madethem venture their lives so freely, in order to have the handling of it. Ido not think that I shall be long here, Tom. Do not wait for me at thedoor, but stroll up and down, keeping a short distance away, so that I cansee you when I come out."

  A decrepit old woman opened the door, and on Guy giving his name she saidthat she had orders to admit him if he called. The girl came out dressedin her female attire as he went upstairs.

  "Ah, signor," she said, "I am glad indeed to see that you are safe."

  "Thanks to you," he said warmly; "we are all your debtors indeed."

  "I had but to run a mile or two," she said; "but what was there in that?But indeed I had an anxious time, I so feared that I should be too late.When I had seen the Count d'Estournel and delivered your message to himand had shown him your ring, and he and his friends had declared that theywould call up their men and come at once to your aid, I could not go backand wait until this morning to learn if they arrived in time, so I ran toyour street again and hid in a doorway and looked out. Just as I got therethey broke in the door and I saw some of them rush in. But there was apause, though they were all pressing to enter. They went in very slowly,and I knew that you must be defending the entrance. At last there was asudden rush, and I almost cried out. I thought that it was all over. Agreat many entered and then there was a pause again. The crowd outsidebecame more and more furious; it was dreadful to hear their shouts and tosee the waving of torches and weapons.

  "They seemed to be almost mad to get in. The crush round the door wasterrible, and it was only when two or three horsemen rode in among themshouting, that the press ceased a little. One horseman obtained silencefor a moment by holding up his hand. He told them that their friendsinside were attacking a barricade, and would soon carry it, and then therewould be silver enough for all; but that by pressing forward they did buthamper the efforts of their comrades. It seemed, oh, such a long, longtime before I saw the Burgundians coming along, and I could not helpthrowing my cap up and shouting when they charged into the crowd. I waiteduntil it was all over, and then I ran back home and had a rare scoldingfor being out so late; but I did not mind that much, after knowing thatyou were all safe."

  At this moment a voice from the landing above said: "Are you going to keepMaster Aylmer there all day with your chattering, Katarina?" The girl madea little face and nodded to Guy to go upstairs.

  "Katarina is becoming a madcap," the astrologer said, as he led Guy intothe room. "I cannot blame her altogether; I have made a boy of her, and Iought not to be shocked at her acting like one. But she gave me a rarefright last night when she did not return until close on midnight. Still,it was natural for her to wish to see how her mission had turned out."

  "Her quickness saved all our lives," Guy said. "Had it not been for hercarrying my message to the Count d'Estournel we should have been burntalive before morning."

  "It was unfortunate that I sent you the message so late, Master Aylmer. Iwas busy when a medical student who sometimes gathers news for me in thebutchers' quarter came here, and left a missive for me. Had he sent up amessage to me that it was urgent, I would have begged the personage I hadwith me to wait a moment while I read the letter. As it was, it laydownstairs till my visitor departed. When I learned the news I sent offKatarina at once. She had but a short time before come in, and wasfortunately still in her boy's dress, so there was no time lost. I wentout myself at ten o'clock to see what was going on, and must have beenclose to her without either of us knowing it. I looked on for a shorttime; but seeing that nothing could be done, and feeling sure that thehouse must be taken,--knowing nothing of the chance of the Burgundia
nscoming to the rescue,--I returned here and was surprised to find thatKatarina had not returned.

  "I did not think that she could have reached the shop and warned youbefore the mob arrived, and therefore I became greatly alarmed as the timewent by without her appearing. Indeed, my only hope was that she must havebeen looking on at the fight and would return when it was all over, asindeed it turned out; and I should have rated her much more soundly than Idid had she not told me how she had fetched the Burgundians and that theyhad arrived in time. I hear that there is a great stir this morning. Thenumber of men they have lost, and specially the deaths of Legoix and ofthe young Caboche, have infuriated the butchers and skinners. They havealready sent off two of their number to lay their complaint before theDuke of Burgundy of the conduct of some of his knights in attacking themwhen they were assailing the house of a noted Armagnac. But they feel thatthey themselves for the moment must remain quiet, as the royal order hasemboldened the Maire, supported by the traders' guilds, and notably by thecarpenters, who are a very strong body, to call out a portion of the cityguard, and to issue an order that all making disturbances, whomsoever theymay be and under whatsoever pretext they are acting, will be summarilyhung if captured when so engaged.

  "In spite of this there will no doubt be troubles; but they will notventure again to attack the house of the silversmith, at any rate until anorder comes from the Duke of Burgundy to forbid his knights frominterfering in any way with their doings."

  "Which I trust he will not send," Guy said; "and I doubt if the knightswill obey it if it comes. They are already much enraged at the insolenceof the butchers, and the royal proclamation this morning will justify themin aiding to put down disturbances whatsoever may be the duke's orders.And now, Sir Count, I have come hither this morning on behalf of my ladymistress to thank you for sending the news, and still more for the serviceyour daughter rendered in summoning the knights to her assistance. Shedesires much to return thanks herself to your daughter, and will eithercall here to see her or would gladly receive her at her lodging should youprefer that."

  "I should prefer it, Master Aylmer. Your lady can scarce pass through thestreets unnoticed, for her English appearance marks her at once; and asall know she lodges at the silversmith's, she will be more particularlynoticed after the events of last night, and her coming here will attractmore attention to me than I care for. Therefore I will myself bringKatarina round and will do myself the honour of calling upon your lady. Ican wrap the girl up in a cloak so that she shall not attract anyobservation, for no one knows, save the old woman below, that I have adaughter here; and with so many calling at the house, and among them somereckless young court gallants, I care not that it should be known, if forno other reason than, were it so, it would be soon suspected that the ladwho goes so often in and out is the girl in disguise, and I could then nolonger trust her in the streets alone."

  "You will find my lady in at whatever hour you come, signor, for she hasresolved not to go abroad again until order is restored in Paris."

  "The decision is a wise one," the Italian said; "though indeed I think notthat she would be in any danger, save that which every good-looking womanruns in troubled times like these, when crime is unpunished, and those inauthority are far too occupied with their own affairs to trouble theirheads about a woman being carried off. But it is different with you andyour comrade. The butchers know well enough that it was your work thatcaused their failure last night. Your appearance at the window wasnoticed, and it was that tall archer of yours who played such havoc amongthem. Therefore I advise you to be ever on your guard, and to purchase amail shirt and wear it under your doublet; for, however watchful you maybe, an assassin may steal up behind you and stab you in the back. You maybe sure that Caboche and the friends of Legoix will spare no pains to takevengeance upon you."

  Guy presently rejoined the archer in the street. "Henceforth, Tom," hesaid, "you must always put on breast-and-back piece when you go out. Ihave been warned that our lives will almost surely be attempted, and thatI had best put on a mail shirt under my doublet."

  "Perhaps it would be best, Master Guy. I fear not three men if they standup face to face with me, but to be stabbed in the back is a thing thatneither strength nor skill can save one from. But as I care not to bealways going about in armour I will expend some of my crowns in buying ashirt of mail also. 'Tis better by far than armour, for a man coming upbehind could stab one over the line of the back-piece or under the arm,while if you have mail under your coat they will strike at you fairbetween the shoulders, and it is only by striking high up on the neck thatthey have any chance with you. A good coat of mail is money well laid out,and will last a lifetime; and even if it cost me all the silversmith'scrowns I will have a right good one."

  Guy nodded. He was wondering in his own mind how he should be able toprocure one. His father had given him a purse on starting, but the moneymight be needed for emergencies. He certainly could not ask his mistressfor such a sum, for she too might have need of the money that she hadbrought with her. He was still turning it over in his mind when theyreached the fencing-school. He was greeted with acclamations as he enteredby the young count and his friends.

  "Here is our defender of houses," the former exclaimed. "Truly, Guy, youhave given a lesson to the butchers that they sorely needed. They say thatthe king himself, who is in one of his good moods to-day, has interestedhimself mightily in the fray last night, and that he has expressed a wishto hear of it from the esquire who he has been told commanded the defence.So it is not unlikely that there will be a royal message for you to attendat the palace. Fortunately we had the first say in the matter thismorning. My father returned last night, and as he is rather a favourite ofhis majesty, we got him to go to the king and obtain audience as soon ashe arose, to complain of the conduct of the butchers in attacking thehouse of the provost of the silversmiths, and where, moreover, DameVilleroy, who had arrived here in obedience to his majesty's own commands,was lodged. The king when he heard it was mightily offended. He said hehad not been told of her coming, and that this insult to her touched hishonour. He sent at once for the Maire and syndics, and upbraided thembitterly for allowing such tumults to take place, and commanded them toput a stop to them under pain of his severe displeasure.

  "That accounts, you see, for the Maire's proclamation this morning. Theking desired my father to thank me and the other knights and gentlemen forhaving put down the riot, and said that he would at once send off amessage to the Duke of Burgundy commanding him to pay no attention to anyreports the butchers might send to him, but to give them a stern answerthat the king was greatly displeased with their conduct, and that if anyfresh complaint about them was made he would straightway have all theirleaders hung.

  "It is one thing to threaten, and another to do, Guy; but at any rate, solong as the duke is away they will see that they had best keep quiet; forwhen the king is in his right senses and is not swayed by others, he isnot to be trifled with.

  "You can imagine what an excitement there was last night when that boy yousent arrived. The ring was sent up first, and when I gave orders that heshould be admitted he came in well-nigh breathless. There were six oreight of us, and all were on the point of leaving. Thinking that it mightbe something private, they had taken up their hats and cloaks. The boy, ashe came in, said, 'Which of you is Count Charles d'Estournel?' 'I am,' Isaid. 'You are the bearer of a message from Guy Aylmer?' 'I am, my lord.He prays you hasten to his assistance, for the butchers and skinners areattacking Maitre Leroux's house, and had begun to hammer on the door whenI was still in the street. If they make their way in, they will surelykill all they find in there. They are shouting, 'Death to the Armagnacs!Death to the English spies!'

  "I called upon my comrades to join me, and all were eager to do so. We hadlong been smarting under the conduct of these ruffians, and moreover I wasglad to discharge a part of my debt to you. So each ran to his lodgingsand despatched servitors to summon their men-at-arms, and to order thehorses to b
e saddled, and to gather in front of my lodging with all speed.Two or three of my friends who had left earlier were also summoned; butthough we used all the speed we could it was more than an hour before allwere assembled. The men-at-arms were scattered, and had to be roused; thenthere was the work of getting the stables open, and we had to force thedoors in some places to do it. I was on thorns, as you may well imagine,and had little hope when we started that we should find any of you alive.Delighted indeed we were when, on getting near enough, we could see thecrowd were stationary, and guessed at once that you were still holdingout--though how you could have kept so large a number at bay was beyondus. We struck heartily and heavily, you may be sure, and chased the wolvesback to their dens with a will. I hear that, what with those you slew inthe house and street and those we cut down, it is reckoned that a coupleof hundred were killed; though as to this none can speak with certainty,seeing that so many bodies were carried away before morning."

  "I trust that none of you received wounds, Count Charles?"

  "None of us; though several of the men-at-arms had gashes from therascals' weapons, but naught, I think, that will matter."

  At this moment one of the attendants of the salon came in.

  "An usher from the palace is here, my lords and gentlemen. He has been tothe lodging of Master Guy Aylmer, and has learned that he will most likelybe here. If so, he has the king's command to conduct him to the palace, asHis Majesty desires to have speech with him."

  "I told you so, Guy; my father's story has excited the king's curiosity,and he would fain hear all about it. Make the most of it, for His Majestyloves to be entertained and amused."

  "Had I better ask the usher to allow me to go back to my lodging to put ona gayer suit than this?" Guy asked.

  "Certainly not; the king loves not to be kept waiting. Fortunately no timehas been wasted so far, as this is on the road from the silversmith's tothe palace."

  The Louvre at that time bore no resemblance to the present building. Itwas a fortress surrounded by a strong embattled wall, having a lofty towerat each corner and others flanking its gates. On the water-face the towersrose from the edge of the river, so that there was no passage along thequays. The building itself was in the castellated form, though with largerwindows than were common in such edifices. Eight turret-shaped buildingsrose far above it, each surmounted with very high steeple-like roofs,while in the centre rose another large and almost perpendicular roof,terminating in a square open gallery. The building was further protectedby four embattled towers on each side, so that if the outer wall werecarried it could still defend itself. In the court-yard between the outerwall and the palace were rows of low barracks, where troops were lodged.Two regiments of the best soldiers of Burgundy were quartered here, as theduke feared that some sudden rising of the Armagnac party might put themin possession of the king's person, in which case the Orleanists wouldeasily persuade him to issue proclamations as hostile to Burgundy as thosewhich were now published in his name against the Orleanists. The Louvre,indeed, differed but slightly from palaces of several of the great nobleswithin the walls of Paris, as all of these were to some extent fortified,and stood as separate fortresses capable of offering a stout resistance toany attack by the populace.

  "I would rather face those villains of last night for another hour than gobefore the king," Guy said, as he prepared to follow the attendant; "but Itrust that good may come of my interview, and that I can interest the kingin the case of my mistress."

  Joining the usher, who was waiting at the entrance, and who saluted himcourteously--for the manner in which the message had been communicated tothe usher showed him that the young squire was in no disgrace with theking--Guy walked with him to the Louvre, which was a short half-miledistant. Accompanied as he was by a royal officer, the guard at the gateoffered no interruption to his passage, and proceeding across the court-yard he entered the great doorway to the palace, and, preceded by theusher, ascended the grand staircase and followed him along a corridor tothe apartments occupied by the king.