CHAPTER VII.
Upon the edge of the merry forest-land, on the side nearest toDerbyshire, not far from the little river Lind, and surrounded at thattime by woods which joined the district on to Sherwood itself, thererose, in the days I speak of, a Norman castle of considerable extent.It had been built in the time of William Rufus--had been twice attackedin the turbulent reign of Stephen--had been partly dismantled by orderof Henry II.--and had been restored under the dominion of the weaktyrant John. Being not far from Nottingham, it was frequently visitedby noble and royal personages, and was often the scene of the splendidand ostentatious hospitality of the old baronage of England.
It has now crumbled down, indeed, and departed; the ploughshare haspassed over most of its walls, and the voice of song and merrimentis heard in it no more. The lower part of one of the squareflanking-towers in the outer wall is all that remains of the oncemagnificent castle of Lindwell; and a dingly copse, where many awhirring pheasant rises before the sportsman, now covers the hall andthe lady's bower.
In the days of which I speak, however, it was in its greatestsplendour, having come into the possession of the Earl of Ashby by hisfather's marriage, and being the favourite dwelling of the race. It wassituated upon a gentle eminence, and the great gate commanded a viewover some sixty or seventy acres of meadow land, lying between thecastle and the nearest point of the wood; and for the distance ofnearly three miles on the Sherwood side, though there was no cultivatedland--except, indeed, a few detached fields here and there--the groundassumed more the aspect of a wild chase than a forest, with the thicktrees grouping together to the extent of an acre or two, and thenleaving wide spaces between, as pasture for the deer and other wildanimals, only broken by bushes and hawthorns.
This district was properly within the limits of Sherwood; but, as allpersons know, who are acquainted with the forest laws, certainindividuals frequently possessed private woods in the royal forest,which was the case of the Earl of Ashby in his manor of Lindwell; and,whether or not he had originally any legal right of chase therein, sucha privilege had been secured to the manor in the reign of John, by theking's special grant and permission. His rights of vert and venison,then, as they were called, extended over a wide distance around, and itwas reported that some disputes had arisen between himself and hissovereign, whether he had not extended the exercise of those rightssomewhat beyond their legitimate bounds.
In the same merry month of May, however, of which we have just beenwriting, and but one day after the occurrences took place which havejust occupied our attention, a gay party issued forth from the gates ofthe castle, and took its way in the direction of Nottingham. We havecalled it gay, and it was so altogether: gay in colouring, gayin movement, gay in feeling. At the head of it appeared threelight-hearted young women, a lady and her two maids, all about the sameage, and none of them having as yet numbered twenty years. Theirclothing, was rich and glittering; and they were followed by a page,possessing all the requisite qualities for his office in saucy boldnessand light self-confidence. Three or four yeomen came next, who, havingbeen left behind while their lord went with numerous attendants upon adistant progress, had necessarily had all the love and the merriment ofthe lower hall to themselves. The horses which bore the whole partywere fresh, proud, and spirited; and never, perhaps, was morebrightness of appearance and heart embodied in one group than in thatwhich took its way down from the castle gate and through the meadowsbelow; but we must pause, for a moment upon the fair leader of thecavalcade, for she is worth a short description.
The Earl's daughter, Lucy de Ashby, wanted yet a few months of thatperiod when girlhood may be said to end and womanhood begin; where theteens--which are so longingly looked for by the child--come to theirend, and the third ten of the allotted seven begins. Oh, how long dothe five tens that are to follow appear, when viewed from the brow ofthe hill of youth! And yet the two that are gone contain the brightestand the sweetest part of our apportioned time.
Lucy looked not older than her years, for she was small and delicatelyformed; but yet there was the fulness of womanhood in every line. Herface had not much colour, and yet it was not pale, but the whole huewas warm and healthy, and fairer than that of the southern nations ofEurope, though still evidently the complexion of what is now called abrunette. The brow, the nose, the lips, the chin, were all beautifullycut; though the model was not Greek, for the forehead was wider andhigher, and there was a slight, a very slight wave in the line betweenthe brow and the nose. The eyebrows were dark, small, and long,slightly depressed in the middle over the eye, but by no means eitherarched or strongly defined, according to the eastern notions of beauty,but, on the contrary, shaded softly off, so as only to show a definiteline to beholders when at a little distance. The eyes beneath them werelarge and long, but with the deep black eyelashes, which she hadderived from her mother, shading them so completely, that the sparklingof the dark iris was only clearly seen when she looked up.
That, however, was often the case; for in her gay liveliness, when shehad said some little thing to tease or to surprise, she would stillraise the "fringed curtain" of her eye to mark the effect it produced,and to have her smile at anything like astonishment that appeared uponthe countenance of those who heard her.
The lip, too, was full of playfulness; for, indeed, sorrow had but satthere once, and tears were very unfrequent in those dark, bright eyes.There had been people seen, perhaps, more beautiful in mere feature,but few more beautiful in expression, and certainly none ever morecaptivating in grace of movement and in variety of countenance. Herdress was full of gay and shining colours, but yet so well assorted, soharmonious in their contrast, that the effect could not be calledgaudy.
The same was not the case with her two women, who, with the pleasantfamiliarity of those times, were chattering lightly to their mistressas they rode along, upon the ordinary subject of women's thoughts inall ages--alas! I mean dress. There was, on the contrary, a good dealof gaudiness about their apparel, and their taste did not appear to beof the most refined kind.
"Nay, dear lady," said one of them, "I would have put on the robe ofarms when I was going to Nottingham to wait for my father. It does lookso magnificent, with the escutcheon of pretence for Minorca just onyour breast, the silver field on one side, and the azure field on theother, and the beautiful wyverns all in gold."
"I cannot bear it, silly girl," replied the lady; "to hear you talkabout wearing the fields, one would suppose that I was a piece ofarable land; and as to coats of arms, Judith, I like not this newcustom; women have nothing to do with coats of arms. I put it on onceto please my brother, but I will never wear it again, so he may cut theskirt off and use it himself next time he goes to a tournament."
"Dear, now, lady, how you jest," replied the girl; "he could never getit on; why, Lord Alured's thigh is thicker than your waist; and I dodeclare I think it much handsomer than that azure and gold you are sofond of. I would not wear that, at all events."
"And pray, why not?" demanded Lucy de Ashby, with some surprise; "theyare the two colours that divide the universe, girl--azure the colourfor heaven, gold the only colour for this earth; so between the two Ishould have all mankind on my side. Why would you not wear them?"
"Because they are the colours of the Monthermers," replied the girl;"and they are old enemies of your house."
"But they are friends now," rejoined Lucy, into whose cheek, to saytruth, the blood had come up somewhat warmly. She ventured to saynothing more for a minute or two, and when she did speak again, changedthe subject.
The conversation soon resumed its liveliness, however; and thus theyrode on, talking of many things, and laughing gaily as they talked,while the yeomen who were behind amused themselves in the same manner.
After about half a mile's ride, they approached nearer to the banks ofthe little stream, which being every here and there decorated withbushes and tall trees that hung over the water, was sometimes seenglancing through a meadow, and th
en again lost amongst the thickfoliage.
Just as they were entering a closer part of the woodland, and leavingthe stream on their right, one of the yeomen exclaimed, "By----!" usingan oath of too blasphemous a kind to be even written down in thepresent age, but which in those days would have been uttered in thecourt of the king, "By----there is somebody netting the stream. Quick,Jacob, quick! come after them. You, Bill, go round the wood, and catchthem on the other side. See, they're running that way--they're runningthat way!" and setting spurs to their horses, the whole of Lucy's maleattendants, with the exception of the page, galloped off as fast asever they could, shouting and whooping as if they had been in pursuitof some beast of the chase.
Lucy de Ashby paused for a moment, and called to the page, who was thelast to leave her, not to go; but the spur had been already given tohis horse, and the boy became seized with a sudden deafness whichprevented him from hearing a word that the lady uttered. Lucy gazedafter them with a thoughtful look for an instant, then laughed, andsaid--"'Tis a droll fancy that men have to run after everything thatflies them."
"Ay, and dogs as well as men," added one of the girls.
"And women as well as both," answered Lucy. "I have more than threequarters of a mind to go myself; but I will not, girls; and so, to beout of the way of temptation, we will ride slowly on."
Thus saying, she shook her rein, and keeping her horse to a walk,followed the road before her into the thicker part of the wood, leavingher truant attendants to come after as they might.
In about a quarter of an hour the first of the men appeared at the spotwhere they had left her, but he was by no means in the same plight aswhen he last stood there. His clothes were dripping as well as hishair; there were the marks of severe blows on his face; his smartapparel was soiled and torn, and he was both disarmed and on foot. Inshort, he looked very much like a man who had been heartily beaten anddragged through a horse-pond. A loud hallo, which reached his ear fromthe direction of the stream, seemed to visit him with no very pleasantsensations, for he darted in at once amongst the bushes, and hidhimself as well as he could for a few minutes. At length, however, twoof his comrades appeared; but they seemed to have fared not much betterthan himself, for though they had preserved their horses, both were interrible disarray, and had returned from the fray evidently with brokenheads.
"Where is Bill?" said one to the other as they came up; "I saw himrunning this way."
"Poor devil, he got it!" replied his comrade.
"And you got it, too, I think," cried the one who had first appeared,now coming out from amongst the bushes. "Why, I never saw or heardanything like that blow of the staff across your shoulders, Jacob. Youechoed like an empty cask under a cooper's hammer."
"Ay, Bill," said the man to whom he spoke, "and when the man bestowedupon you the buffet in the eye, and knocked you down, what a squelchwas there! Why, it was for all the world as when the scullion, bringingin the kitchen dinner, let the apple pudding fall, and it burst itselfupon the pavement."
"I will be even with him," said the man called Bill; "but where's thepage and Walter?"
"They galloped off to the castle as they could," answered the third,"and your horse along with them, so you must go back too, and we mustride after the lady as fast as we can go."
"Pretty figures you are to follow her into Nottingham," rejoined Bill;"and what will my lord say when he finds that we four and the page werebeaten by five men on foot?"
"There were more than five," replied the other, "I am sure."
"I thought I saw some in the bushes," added the third.
"Come, come," exclaimed Bill, "there were only five, I was disabled bybeing knocked into the river, otherwise I would have shewn them adifferent affair."
"I dare say you'd have done wonders," answered the other, with a sneer;"but we must get on, so you go back to the castle as fast as you can."
"Pr'ythee see me beyond those trees," said the yeoman on foot; "ifthose fellows are hiding there, they may murder me!"
"We have no time--we have no time!" replied one of the horsemen--"Goalong with you! If you hadn't been in the stream, you would havethrashed them all; so thrash them now, good Bill;" and thus saying, thetwo rode on, for certainly there is no human infirmity, though it is avery contagious one, which meets with such little sympathy as fear.
Onward, then, they went at a quick pace, hoping to catch up their youngmistress before she reached Nottingham, but feeling a little ashamedfor having left her at all, and not a little ashamed at the result oftheir expedition.
When they had gone about a couple of miles, however, without seeinganything of Lucy de Ashby, the one looked round to his comrade, andsaid, "It is odd we haven't come up with her--she must have riddenfast."
"Oh, it is just like her," replied the other, "she has galloped on justto tease us, and punish us a little for having left her in the wood. Iwould wager a besant that she does not draw a rein till she gets toNottingham."
"Ay, but the best of it is," rejoined his companion, "that we shallhear no more of it than just, 'Jacob, you should not have quitted me;you should have let the stream take care of itself,' instead of twentygreat blustering oaths, such as Lord Alured would have given us. Thenit will be all fair weather again in a minute."
"Ay, she is very kind!" said the other yeoman, "and when anything doesgo wrong, she knows that one did not do it on purpose."
With such conversation, and with praises of their sweet lady, which onemay be sure were well deserved, as no ear was there to hear, no tongueto report them, the yeomen rode on; but the one called Jacob did so, itmust be confessed, uneasily. His eyes, as he went, were bent down uponthe ground, which in that part was soft, searching for the traces ofhorses' feet, but though he gazed eagerly, he could perceive none,till, at length, they reached the gates of Nottingham, and entering thecity, proceeded at once to what was called the lodging of the LordAshby. It was, in fact, a large, though low-built house, shut from thestreet by a court-yard and a high embattled wall. The gates were open,and all the bustle and activity were apparent about the doors, whichattended in those days the arrival of a large retinue. There wereservants hurrying hither and thither, horse-boys and grooms slackeninggirths, and taking off saddles, servers and pantlers unpacking basketsand bags, and boys and beggars looking on.
"What, is my lord arrived?" cried one of the men who had followed Lucy,springing from his horse; "we did not expect him till to-night, orto-morrow morning."
"He will be here in half an hour," replied the horse-boy, to whom headdressed himself; "we rode on before."
"What tidings of my young lady?" said a server, walking up; "we thoughtwe should find her here to meet the Earl."
"Is she not arrived?" cried the yeoman who had remained on horseback,in a tone of dismay; "she came on before us--we fancied she was here!"
The one who had dismounted sprang into the saddle again,exclaiming--"This is some infernal plot!"
The story was soon told, and the whole household of the Lord of Ashby,or at least such a part of it as was then in Nottingham, was throwninto a state of confusion indescribable. In the midst of this, some tenor twelve men mounted their horses, though every beast was tired with along day's journey, and set out to seek for the fair lady who wasmissing, beating the forest paths in every direction. But not theslightest trace of her could they find; and, after a two hours' search,were coming home again, when, having made a round on the Southwellside, they met the party of the Earl himself, riding slowly on towardsNottingham.
He was accompanied by only four or five attendants, but had with himhis son Alured and Hugh de Monthermer, the other Earl having remainedbehind at Pontefract to settle some business of importance there. Itmay be easily conceived what indignation and surprise the tidings,brought by the servants, spread amongst the party they thus met. LordAlured chafed like an angry tiger, and the old lord vowed every kind ofvengeance. Hugh de Monthermer's lip quivered, but all he said was,"This is horrible indeed, my lord, that your lordship'
s daughter cannotride from Lindwell to Nottingham in safety! What can we do?"
"We!" cried Alured de Ashby. "Hugh of Monthermer, you have littleenough to do with it, methinks! What I shall do, will be to cut off theears of the scoundrels that left their lady on any account, when theywere following her to Nottingham."
"My lord of Ashby," said Hugh de Monthermer, addressing the Earl, "Imerely used the word _we_, because, as a gentleman, and your friend, Itake as deep an interest in the affair as any one. I and my men are atyour command to seek for this lady instantly; and we will strive to doyou as good service in the search as the best of your own people, ifyou will permit us."
"Certainly--certainly, my good lord!" replied the Earl--"Alured, youare rash and intemperate.--Three hours ago, they say, this happened.Should they have taken to the forest, they cannot have gone very far,if they have followed the horse-paths; and were one of us to go back tothe second road to the left, where there stands a meer[1], he must, bybeating up those lanes, either come upon the party themselves or findthe horses, if they have turned them loose, and taken to the footways."
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[Footnote 1: One of the posts, or marks, by which the limits of theforest were distinguished.]
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"They have not gone into the forest," cried Alured de Ashby; "dependupon it, these are some of the king's people, or the bishop's. Betterfar let us scour the more open country along the banks of Trent. Youwill soon hear at the bridges whether such persons have passed thatway."
"Stand out, Jacob," said the Earl; "you were one of the fools that weremisled. What like were these men who lured you from your lady?"
"I think they were men at arms disguised," answered the servant, in asorrowful and timid tone; "for so well practised were they at theirweapons, that they beat us all in the twinkling of an eye; besides,when I struck one of them, I heard something clatter underneath, likearmour. The net, too, did not look like a real net."
"It is very clear, the whole was a trick," said the Earl. "I doubt notyou are right, Alured, but still we had better spread out, and scourthe whole country across. You, with part of the men, take the banks ofthe Trent--I, with others, will skirt the borders of the forest fromNottingham to Lindwell--and our young friend here, with his own twoservants and two of ours, will, perhaps, examine the forest itself fromthe second turning on the road to Southwell, as far as he may judge itlikely, from the time which has elapsed, that these gentry could haveadvanced. I will send people to meet him when I reach Lindwell, whowill tell him what success we have had, and give him aid andassistance."
Alured de Ashby seemed not over well pleased at the arrangement, forhis brows still continued heavy, his cheek flushed, and his proud lipquivering; but he made no objection, and after a few words more, theparty separated upon the different tracks they proposed to follow,having still three or four hours of daylight before them.
Alured rode on, with his fiery temper chafing at the insult which hadbeen offered to his family, and but the more irritable and impatientbecause he had no one on whom to vent his anger.
His father pursued his course more slowly, and with very differentthoughts. Wrath in the bosom of the son swallowed up every sensation;but the loss of a child, which he had treated but lightly in the caseof the innkeeper, now filled the Earl's breast with deep anxiety andapprehension, though certainly poor Greenly had more cause foragonizing fear and sorrow than the proud noble.
It is a curious fact, however, and one which gives a strange indicationof the lawless state of the times, that no one imagined the absence ofLucy de Ashby could proceed from any ordinary accident.
Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times Page 7