Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XIX.

  The impediments of life, at which we fret and chafe in early years, andwhich we view with stern doubt and disappointment in that after periodwhen the shortness of the space left to us renders each moment reallyas valuable as it only seems to be in the eagerness of youthfulimpatience--the impediments of life, I say--the things that check us inour impetuous course, and force us to pause and to delay--how often arethey blessings instead of curses? How often is the object which theydash from our outstretched hands an evil rather than the good that weesteemed it!

  Hugh de Monthermer, as we have shewn, rode away from the castle ofHereford about half an hour before Prince Edward. He chose the veryroad, and went on at great speed for about three miles; he then turnedhis horse into a path somewhat different from that which the Prince hadchosen, but leading nearly in the same direction; and in that heproceeded at a rate which gave his five servants some trouble inkeeping up with him. At length, however, his horse suddenly went lame,and on dismounting to see what was the matter, he found that a nail hadrun into the frog of the animal's foot; and although it was easilyextracted, yet it was impossible to proceed at the same pace asbefore.

  "Give me your horse, Peterkin," he said, "halting, and take mine slowlyback to Hereford."

  While the servant was changing the saddle, however, a countrymanappeared on the road, driving some swine before him; and Hughimmediately walked up to him, asking, "Is this the way, my friend, toMonington Chapel?"

  "No, no," replied the man; "you must go back. You should have taken thefirst turning on your left. Lord, now! only to think of your notknowing your way to Monington Chapel!"

  "What's the hour?" asked Hugh.

  "Just mid-day," answered the man. "Don't you see the sun?"

  "Then there is time," said Hugh de Monthermer; and mounting theservant's horse, he retrod his steps for some distance.

  Just as he was approaching the turning, however, which the man haddirected him to take, he heard a loud whistling scream, which made himlook up to the sky, thinking that some eagle--a bird then very commonin the marches of Wales--had come close above his head. But nothing ofthe kind was to be seen; and a moment after the same cry was repeated,while one of the servants who were riding a little way behind,exclaimed, "It is the dwarf, my lord, it is Tangel. See where he comesat full speed, like a monkey on a race-horse!"

  Hugh de Monthermer paused for a moment and turned his eyes down theroad from Hereford, up which the dwarf was coming, not mounted on hisforest pony, but perched upon the back of a tall charger with his headjust seen between the ears of the animal, his long arms stretched outholding the bridle somewhat short, and his equally lengthy legs hangingdown, affording no bad type for the old figure of Nobody.

  The boy was speedily by Hugh de Monthermer's side, shaking his headreproachfully as he came, and saying, "Ay, you would not listen toTangel, man-at-arms. Nobody listens to Tangel; and why? Because he hasnot got a skin like a sucking pig and a face such as boys cut out of aturnip. Now, if any of these bottle-nosed beer drinkers had told you tostay and listen, you would have waited by the hour."

  "Not I," replied Hugh de Monthermer, "nor can I wait now, good Tangel;so come on, and make haste with your story by the way. What is it youwant to tell me?"

  "Ay, haste, haste!" cried Tangel, turning his horse and keeping by theside of the young lord; "always hasting to destruction, and slow toanything good. Now are you riding out here, without knowing where youare going or who it is that has sent for you."

  "And pray, if you are wiser, Tangel," said Hugh, with a smile, "let meknow where it is I am going to, and who it is that has sent for me."

  "Going to a prison," cried Tangel, "and he who sent for you is atraitor."

  "Are you serious?" demanded Hugh, turning gravely towards him.

  "No, never was merrier in my life," answered Tangel, grinning till heshewed his fine white teeth running back almost to his ears. "Is it notenough to make me merry, to see a man who calls himself wise put hishead into a noose like a woodcock?--Now I will catechise you, as thepriest of the chapel did me one day when he was drunk. Did you notreceive a letter to-day?"

  "Yes, I did," replied Hugh.

  "Who gave you that letter?" demanded Tangel.

  "One of the servants of the noble Earl of Leicester," answered Hugh.

  "Ha!" said the boy, "they are cunninger than I thought."

  "And moreover," added the young nobleman, "I asked the servant fromwhom he had received it, and he told me, from one of the attendants ofthe Earl of Ashby."

  "And who did the Earl Ashby's ton of flesh get it from?" demanded thedwarf.--"I will tell you, for you know nothing about it yourself. Hegot it from gallant, sweet, honest, pretty Richard de Ashby, before heran away from Hereford, last night. I heard him when he thought therewere no ears listening; for I watched him all over the place, as soonas I found he was in Hereford, creeping after him like a shadow. Hegave me a blow once in Nottingham, and called me ape and devil; but theape was at his heels last night when he and his fair cousin Alured wereplotting to go over to Gloucester; and I heard him say, that he wouldhave you in a net before four-and-twenty hours were over."

  "He might have found himself mistaken, Tangel," replied Hugh, "for Ihad my misgivings. Although I have not often seen the Lady Lucy'shandwriting, I suspected that the note was not hers; and, though hetold me to come alone, I brought five stout fellows with me, as yousee, intending to leave them within call. I think we six might be quiteenough to deal with any force they would dare to bring within sevenmiles of Hereford."

  The dwarf laughed aloud, paused, and then laughed again; but in hiswayward fashion he would not explain the cause of his merriment, letHugh say what he would.

  "Mighty cunning--mighty cunning!" he cried. "Now, if you have luck, youmay catch the fowler in his trap; but yet, if you be wise, you willride back to Hereford, and take a nuncheon at the Maypole."

  "No," replied Hugh; pausing for an instant, and beckoning to hisfollowers to come up; "no, I will not. I know Richard de Ashby's forceright well, and we five are worth any ten he can bring against us. Iwould give a capful of gold pieces to take that traitor back with me,and nail his ears to the castle gates; but we must lay our plansecurely. The place appointed is Monington Chapel, and there surelymust be some place near it where I can conceal the men."

  "Why, my lord," said one of his followers, "just on this side of it isLittle Bilberry wood. I know it well; and then beyond, is the greatwood of Monington. We can find cover in either, for a thousand spearsif it were necessary."

  "I forget the place, though I have seen it often," replied Hugh; and,musing over what the dwarf had told him, he rode on till the highwayentered a little copse intersected by numerous paths.

  The width of the whole wood might be about a hundred and fifty yards,though the length, to the right and left of the road which theyfollowed was not less than a couple of miles; and as the young noblemanand his train issued forth again on the other side, they perceived at ashort distance before them a small chapel, to which the name of ashrine would have been more appropriate, for the largest congregationthat it could contain was certainly thirty persons at the utmost.

  Hugh de Monthermer's arrangements were soon made. Drawing back as soonas possible, lest any one should observe his movements, he stationedhis men under cover of the wood, and then advanced alone to the chapel,the door of which was open, as usual with all places of worship at thattime. Before he entered, however, he paused to gaze over the scene onthe other side of the little building, which presented, first an opengreen expanse covered with short grass dotted with tufts of fern, andthen, with the interval of about a third of a mile, a deep, sombrewood, extending to a considerable distance on both sides. The groundall round was perfectly clear, and the copse, where he had left hismen, so near at hand that it was impossible for him to be taken at adisadvantage by a larger force than his own, without having due warningof its approach.

  Hugh
looked up towards the sun, saying to himself, "I am half an hourbefore the time, I should imagine--We shall have a storm ere long:"and, fastening his horse to a hook fixed in the stone work, apparentlyfor that purpose, he entered the chapel, which was quite vacant.

  Above the altar appeared the figure of the Virgin, and kneeling for amoment, as usual with all persons of his faith, Hugh repeated a shortprayer, and then rising, gazed out of a window which turned towards thelarger wood at the back. The sky was becoming rapidly clouded, andthough the sun shone high in heaven, it only served to render thethick, thronged mass of vapours, that were rolling up from thesouth-west, more dark and lowering in appearance than would have beenthe case had they not been contrasted with the warm glow of the zenith.Soon, however, swelling up like the waves of an ocean of molten lead,the white edges of the thunder-cloud covered the disk of the sun,bringing with them an oppressive heat very different from the mild butfresh air which had prevailed during the morning.

  Still Hugh de Monthermer kept his eye fixed upon the wood; and afterwatching for several minutes, he thought he could distinguish, throughthe bolls of the trees, a human form, moving slowly along at the veryverge. It disappeared again, and for a few moments nothing more wasperceived, so that Hugh, at length, begun to think he had been inerror. He soon found that such was not the case, for after a shortpause, a man on foot issued forth a step or two, and was seen to lookcarefully round him. He then gazed down the road towards Hereford, andput his hand over his eyes, as if to shade them from the light.Apparently satisfied, he retired into the wood again, after havingcontinued his investigations for about three or four minutes.

  It was evident he was watching for some one, and Hugh naturallyconcluded it was himself. The young nobleman paused, meditating how heshould act--at one moment, thinking of shewing himself, in order tobring the affair to a speedy issue, but the next, judging it would bebetter to remain in the chapel till the hour appointed had arrived.

  While he was still hesitating, a vivid flash of lightning, that almostblinded him, burst forth from the cloud, and appeared to sweep closepast the chapel. Some large drops of rain fell at the same time, andafter another and another flash--succeeding each other withextraordinary rapidity--the flood-gates of the heavens seemed to open,and the torrent poured down, mingling hail with the rain, and formingfoaming yellow pools at every indentation of the road. Incessantlythrough the twilight of the storm the broad blue glare of the lightningwas seen, with a thin, bright, fiery line crossing the tissue of theflame, and marking its fierce and destructive character; while therolling peal of the thunder seemed to shake the very earth, echoing andre-echoing from the woods around.

  "Those poor fellows will be half drowned," thought Hugh de Monthermer;"I have a great mind to call them into the chapel, though it might loseme my opportunity. Yet, if I were sure of catching that villain, andcarrying him into Hereford,--ay, or of meeting him with double mynumbers, I would myself swim the Wye a dozen times.--Hark! surely thatwas the tramp of a horse's feet!"

  Another clap of thunder, however, drowned all other sounds; but when ithad passed away, the noise of a horse's hoofs beating the ground at aquick pace distinctly reached the young nobleman's ear. Hugh deMonthermer listened. "There is but one," he said; "I will take no oddsagainst him;" and he loosened his sword in the scabbard, keeping behindthe angle of the building, so as not to show himself too soon at thehalf-opened door.

  The next instant the horse stopped opposite the Chapel, the rider washeard to spring to the ground; and after a moment's delay, in order, itseemed, to secure the beast from straying, the stranger's foot washeard ascending the steps.

  Hugh de Monthermer advanced to confront him, but instantly drew backagain, exclaiming, in a tone of strong astonishment--"Prince Edward!"

  "Hugh de Monthermer," cried Edward, "this is strange meeting, oldcompanion!"

  "It is, indeed, my dear lord," replied Hugh. "It becomes me not to askhow or why you are here, but I will confess that it rejoices my veryheart to see you at liberty, though I doubt not many men would say, ifthey knew of our meeting, that I ought to arrest and bring you back toHereford."

  "He would be a bold man!" answered the Prince, raising his toweringform to its full height--"He would be a bold man who would attempt,single-handed, to stop Edward of England on his way!"

  "Alas, my lord!" replied Hugh de Monthermer, "I have not even thatexcuse to give to those who may blame me. One shout from that doorwould bring fearful odds against you, for, to tell the truth, I amwaiting here to catch that arch-traitor, Richard de Ashby, in his ownnet, and have left men in the little wood you have just passed. Butonce more, I say, I rejoice to see you free."

  "Then, indeed, I thank you, Hugh," replied the Prince--"I thank youfrom my heart for your sincere love--though, if I judge rightly, I amnot so unprotected as I seem."

  The young nobleman took the hand that Edward held out to him, andkissed it respectfully, saying, "I would not betray you, my lord, forthe world, were you here alone and I at the head of hundreds; but erewe part, I must ask you one boon."

  "Nay, let us not part yet," rejoined Edward; "there is much to be saidbetween us, Hugh. I have taken shelter here from the storm,--you arehere also; and while the elements rage without, let us talk of givingpeace to the land."

  "That is the object of the boon I crave, my lord," answered Hugh, "butI can stay no longer with you than to name that boon. No, not even tohear you concede or refuse it--else I shall be held a traitor to thatcause which I believed to be sacred. The boon is this: when you havejoined the Earl of Gloucester--when you see yourself at the head ofarmies--and when you feel your royal mind at liberty to act with powerand success, publish a proclamation pledging yourself to uphold allthose laws and ordinances which have been enacted for the safety ofthe land, for the rights and liberties of the people, and for ourprotection from foreign minions and base favourites--laws andordinances to which you have once already given your consent. If you dothis, I myself will never draw the sword against you, nor do I believewill Simon de Montfort."

  Edward shook his head, with a look of doubt. "De Montfort is ambitious,Hugh," he said; "perhaps he was not always so, for many a man begins apatriot and ends a tyrant."

  At that moment the sound of a horn was heard from the littleneighbouring copse, and Hugh de Monthermer advanced to the door of thechapel, knowing that it was a signal of danger. The scene thatpresented itself was curious: the rain was still pouring down heavy andgrey; the air was dim and loaded; the flashes of the lightning wereblazing through the sky, and seemed to the eyes of the young noblemanto be actually running along the ground. At the same time, rushingtowards him with rapidity almost superhuman, was the poor dwarf,Tangel, throwing about his long, lean arms, in the most grotesquemanner, and pointing ever and anon to the opposite wood, issuing forthfrom which appeared a body of at least three hundred horse, well armedand mounted, and coming down at full speed towards the chapel.

  Hugh turned one look more into the building and waved his hand,exclaiming--"Adieu, my lord, adieu! Here is danger near;" and, gaininghis horse's side, he unhooked the bridle, and leapt into the saddle.

  "Up, Tangel! Up behind me!" he cried, as the dwarf came nigh--"up,quick, or they will be upon us!"

  The dwarf sprang up behind him in a moment, with one single bound fromthe ground; and Hugh, turning the bridle towards the little copse,dashed on at full speed. The servant's horse, however, which he wasriding, was not a very fast one; the troop from the wood was comingforward with great rapidity, and seemed determined to chase him: hisown force was too small to offer any resistance; and Hugh de Monthermersaw with bitterness of spirit that if the adversaries still pursued, hemust soon be a prisoner. To be so deceived and foiled, added anger tothe grief he felt at the prospect of captivity, and he muttered tohimself--"They shall pay dearly for it, at all events," while he stillspurred on towards the copse from which his own men were nowapproaching, leading the horse on which the dwarf had joined them.

  "Mou
nt your beast quickly!" cried Hugh, turning his head to Tangel.

  "Go on--go on, fast, good master!" cried the boy. "Do not halt for me:I will mount without your stopping, only carry me close enough to thebeast;" and in a moment after, as Hugh rode swiftly up towards hisfollowers, the boy put his hands upon the young nobleman's shoulders,sprang up with his feet on the charger's haunches, and then with a leapand a shrill cry, he lighted on his own horse, whirled himself round,and dropped into the saddle.

  No time, indeed, was to be lost; for Hugh and his attendants met midwaybetween the building and the wood, when one end of the enemy's linealready reached the chapel.

  And at that moment, Edward himself darted out upon the steps, andshouted aloud, "Halt! I command you, halt!--Lord Lovell, Sir ThomasGrey, I charge you, halt! Chase him not. I say!--Sir Richard de Ashby,"he continued, raising his voice till it seemed to vie with the thunder,as he saw that his orders were unheeded, "Halt! on your life! Will youdisobey my first command?"

  But Richard de Ashby was deaf, and dashed on with five or six others,while the rest of their party drew the rein, some sooner, some later,pausing in a broken line. Hugh de Monthermer and his men spurredforward at the full gallop; but the slippery ground, now thoroughlysoaked by the pelting rain, defeated his effort to escape an attack.The horse of one of his followers floundered, and fell some forty yardsbefore they reached the copse; and though both man and beast staggeredup again, the pursuers were too near to be evaded.

  Some ten yards in advance of the rest, mounted upon a fleet blackhorse, was Richard de Ashby himself. He was fully armed with hauberkand shield and spear, but his aventaille was open, and a glow of savagesatisfaction might be seen upon his countenance. Hugh de Monthermerturned in the saddle, to measure the distance between them with hiseye, saw in a moment that escape was not possible, but that vengeancewas; and, snatching from the man next to him a spear and small roundbuckler, he wheeled his horse, struck the sharp spur furiously into itsflanks, and met his pursuer in full career.

  The young knight himself was clothed in nothing but a hauqueton ofpurple cendal, which, though stiffly stuffed with cotton, as was thencustomary, afforded poor protection against the point of a lance. Butthe tournament and the battlefield had been the young nobleman'sball-room and his school, his place of amusement and his place ofpractice; and his eye was always ready to discover, his hand preparedto take advantage of the slightest movement of an enemy. He perceivedin an instant that Richard de Ashby's lance was aimed at his throat,but he showed by no sign that he knew that such was the case, till hewas within a yard of his enemy. Then suddenly raising his buckler, heturned the point aside; and at the same instant he somewhat lifted hisown spear, which, as he had no rest, was charged upon his thigh,intending to strike his adversary full in the face. But Richard deAshby bent his head, and the lance touching him high upon the forehead,glanced off from the skull, and catching in the hood of mail, hurledhim headlong from his charger to the ground.

  Hugh drew up his horse suddenly by the side of the fallen man, andshortening the spear, held it to his throat, shouting aloud to thosewho followed--"If any one comes near; he dies!"

  By this time his own attendants had rejoined him; and two or threegentlemen came riding down at a quick pace from the chapel, callingupon their companions, who had gone before, to halt and come back.

  "Did you not hear the Prince's voice?" exclaimed an elderly knight,angrily, as he approached: "it is his express commands, that you comeback. Depart, Lord Hugh--depart in peace; it is the Prince's will, andwe obey."

  "Had I but one half your numbers, Lord Lovel," answered Hugh, "I wouldnot go without taking this traitor with me."

  "Or being taken yourself," replied Lord Lovell, with a laugh. "I canassure you, my good lord, we had every intention of carrying you withus into Worcestershire; but as the Prince will let the bird out of thetrap which poor Richard baited so nicely for him, he must e'en use hiswings--there is no help for it. You seem to have pecked the fowlerpretty handsomely, however. I believe you have cleft his skull.There--let his people come up and help him! You have my word againsttreachery."

  "I fear he is not punished as much as he deserves," replied Hugh deMonthermer. "Bear my dutiful thanks to the Prince for his courtesy; andnow, fare you well, my Lord Lovell. I trust we shall soon meet again."

  Thus saying, he turned his horse, and rode quickly but thoughtfullyback to Hereford.