CHAPTER XLI.
They all, as glad as birds of joyous prime, Thence led her forth, about her dancing round.--Spenser.
The bustle, the confusion, the clamour, the questions, and theexplanations that ensued, we shall leave the reader to imagine,satisfied that his vivid fancy will do far more justice to such ascene than our worn-out pen. When the bodies of Sir Payan Wileton andhis companion in death had been removed from the chamber of the king,and some sand strewed upon the ground to cover the gory memories thatsuch deeds had left behind, order and tranquillity began to regaintheir dominion.
"By my faith! a bloody morning's entertainment have we had," saidFrancis. "But you are happy, my good brother of England, in havingtraitors that will thus despatch each other, and cheat the headsman ofhis due. However, from what I have gathered, Osborne Darnley, theKnight of Burgundy, can no longer seem a traitor in the eyes of anyone."
"No, truly, my gracious lord," replied Wolsey, willing to pleasure theKing of France. "He stands freed from all spot or blemish, and welldeserves the kingly love of either noble monarch."
"'Slife! my good lord cardinal," cried Henry, "speak for yourselfalone! Now, I say, on my soul, he is still a most deep and egregioustraitor; not only, like that Sir Payan Wileton, in having planned histreason, but in having executed it."
"Nay, how so?" cried Francis, startled at this new charge. "In what ishe a traitor now?"
"In having aided Francis King of France," replied Henry, smiling, "tostorm our castle of Guisnes, and take his liege lord and sovereignprisoner."
"Oh! if that be the case," cried Francis, "I give him up to your royalindignation; but still we have a boon to ask, which our graciousbrother will not refuse."
"Name it! name it!" exclaimed Henry. "By St. Mary! it shall go to payour ransom, whatever it be."
"You have in your court," replied Francis, "one Lady Constance deGrey, who, though your born subject, is no less vassal to the crown ofFrance; owing homage for the counties of Boissy and the Val de Marne,assured to your late subject the Lord de Grey by Charles the Eighthwhen he gave him in marriage Constance Countess of Boissy, as a rewardfor services rendered in Italy----"
"We see your object, oh most Christian king!" cried Henry, laughing."We see your object! What a messenger of Cupid are you! Well, haveyour wish. We give her to your highness so to dispose of as you maythink fit; but at the same time claim Lord Osborne Darnley at yourhands, to punish according to his demerits. What say you? ha!"
"Agreed, agreed!" replied the King of France. "He waits me, as I said,even now, in the corridor without, and doubtless thinks I sue for himin vain. Those guards must have passed him in the corridor."
"No, no; they came the other way," said Henry. "Ho! without there!Sergeant-at-arms, take four stout halberdiers, and, going into thewest corridor, attach me for high treason the Lord Osborne Darnley,whom you will there find waiting. Hist! hear me, man! Use him with allgentleness (we do but jest with him), and make some fair excuse toshut him up in one of the chambers of the new palace, the nearer tothe great hall the better. Away! make speed! and above all returnquick, and let me know where you have put him; but take heed, and lethim not see that we mock him: haste! My good lord cardinal," hecontinued, turning to Wolsey, "though it be an unmeet task for one ofyour grave dignity to bear a message to a lady, yet on this day ofjoy, when our good brother France comes here to greet us in brotherlylove, even wise men shall forget their seriousness and be as gay asboys. Hie then, good Wolsey, to our lady queen. Tell her to call allthe fair flowers of England round about her in our great hall, towelcome Francis of France, and that I will be there immediately uponyour steps."
The cardinal bowed low, and instantly obeyed; and Henry proceededin whispering consultation with Francis till the return of thesergeant-at-arms; then turning to the worthy clothier, who, when hefound all the killing and slaying was over, had come out from behindthe arras to enjoy the air of royalty, "Come, good Jekin," criedHenry, "now a task for thee. Hark, man!" and he whispered something tohonest Groby, who instantly replied, "Lord 'a mercy! yes, your grace!I know Wilson Goldsmith well; I'll go to him directly; no trouble inlife. Lord! I guess how it's going to be. Well, I'm vastly glad, I dodeclare. Lord 'a mercy! I hope your grace's worship will let me bethere!"
"Ay, man, ay!" cried the king; "make speed and come with him. Ho,Snell! give me a gown of tissue; bid the guard be ready: we will crossthe green to the palace. Let the marshals be called to clear the way."
In a very few minutes all was prepared; and as the two kings weredescending the grand staircase of the castle, news was brought that aband of French nobles, anxious for the safety of their king, had comeover from Ardres at all speed to seek him. Francis sent his commandsthat they should dismount in the court; and on issuing out of thecastle, the monarch found a splendid party of the English and Frenchnobility mingled together, waiting to give them the good morrow.
"Ha, Alen?on! what fear you, man?" cried the King of France. "We areall safe. Sir Richard Heartley, look not for Lord Darnley; he is insecurity: follow, and you will see him presently."
"Gentlemen all, you are most welcome," said Henry; "follow us, allthat love us, to our poor palace here without, and we will make youbetter cheer, where ladies' words shall replace this summer air, andtheir sweet looks the sunshine. Sound 'On before!'"
The trumpets sounded, and, the ushers and marshals clearing the wayfor the two kings, they passed out of the castle gate, and traversedthe green on foot, amidst the shouts and acclamations of the crowdthat the arrival of the French nobles, together with various rumoursof something extraordinary having happened, had collected in theneighbourhood of the royal lodging.
Arm-in-arm with Francis, Henry, delighting with ostentatiousmagnificence to show himself to the people, passed round to the frontof the palace; and entering the court which we have already described,he proceeded at once to the great hall, called the Hall of the Clothof Silver, to which, on the announcement of his intentions by Wolsey,the queen had hastily summoned all the elect of the court. On theentrance of the kings, with all the train of noblemen who had followedthem, a temporary confusion ensued, while Francis was presented to theQueen of England, and Henry whispered to her a few brief hints of whathad taken place.
"Room, room, lords and ladies!" cried he at length; "let us havespace."
"There would not be space enough for him in the world, if he had hiswill," whispered Lady Katrine Bulmer to Constance de Grey, who stoodby her side, unwillingly appearing in such a meeting. "On my life,Constance, his eye is fixed upon us! Now, what would I give to beking, if it were but to outstare him!"
"The Lady Constance de Grey!" said Henry, in a loud tone: "we wouldspeak with the Lady de Grey."
"Nay, speak gently," said the queen. "Good my lord, you will frightenher. Constance, come hither to the queen, your friend!"
With a pale cheek and a beating heart, Constance advanced to the sideof the queen, and bending her eyes upon the ground, awaited insilence, not daring to look around.
"Fear not, fair one!" said Henry; "we are not angry, but only sorry tolose you. Here is our noble brother, Francis of France, claims you ashis vassal at our hands." Constance looked up, and saw the King ofFrance's eye bent on her with a smile that gave her courage. "Now,notwithstanding the great love we bear him," continued Henry, "wemight have resisted his demand, inasmuch as you are our born subject,had you not shown some slight perverseness against our repeatedcommands. We therefore must and will resign you into his hands, unlessyou instantly agree to receive such lord to be your husband as weshall judge fitting for your rank and station."
"Oh, no, no, my lord!" cried Constance, clasping her hands, andforgetting, in her fear of fresh persecution, the crowd by which shewas surrounded. "Force me not, I beseech your grace, to wed against mywill."
"You see," said Henry, turning to the King of France; "you see thelady is headstrong! Take her, my good brother; I give her up to you.There, sweetheart, is your lord and sovereign; se
e if you can obey himbetter."
Francis took the fair girl by the hand, and bending down his head,said in a kindly tone, "Lady, fear not. Lift up your eyes, and tell meif there is one in all this circle you would make your choice."
"No, indeed, my lord," faltered forth Constance, without lookinground; "all I ask is to be left in peace."
"If you have ever seen any one to whom you could give your heart, tellme," said Francis. Constance was silent. "Then I am to judge that youhave not," continued the king; "so I will choose for you."
Constance raised her eyes with a supplicating look; but Francis's facewas turned towards Henry, who, with a laughing glance, had taken thequeen by the hand, and was leading her towards one of the doors.
"Come, we must follow," cried Francis. "Lord cardinal, we shall needyour company."
Constance gazed round with doubt and apprehension; but Francis led herforward immediately after the King and Queen of England, whispering,as they went, "Fear not, sweet lady! you are with a friend who knowsall."
The whole court followed along one of the splendid galleries of thepalace, preceded by Henry and Katherine, who stopped, however, beforea door, from before which a page held back the hangings, and "Here,"said the King of England, putting a key into Francis's hand, "here youtake precedence. This is the cage, and here is the fetter-maker,"pointing to a respectable-looking merchant in a long furred robe whostood with Jekin Groby in a niche hard by.
More and more confused, not knowing what to fear or what to believe,the very uncertainty made Constance's heart sink more than actualdanger would have done; but still the King of France led her forward,even before Queen Katherine, and, putting the key in the lock, threwopen the door, and drew her gently in, when the first object that mether sight was Osborne Darnley, with his arms folded on his breast,standing before the high altar of a splendid chapel. Her heart beat;her eyes grew dim; her brain reeled; and she would have fallenfainting to the ground, but Darnley started forward and clasped her tohis heart.
"Nay, nay, this is too much!" cried the queen, advancing; "see, thepoor girl faints! My good lord, indeed this must not be to-day. It hasbeen too much for her already. Some day before the two courts part wewill pray my good lord cardinal to speak a blessing on their love.Bear her into the sacristy, Sir Osborne. Katrine Bulmer, giddynamesake! help your friend, while I pray their graces both to returninto the hall."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: One of those rare but pleasant little towns which arefortunate enough to stand upon no high-road, but which, on lookinginto Cary's Itinerary, will be found to have a way of their own. It isnear Ashford.]
[Footnote 2: This sentence, I am inclined to think, deserves anotherinverted comma to denote that it is borrowed from some of the writersof that day. I forget from whom.]
[Footnote 3: A maker of arrows was so called when the good strong bowwas the weapon of the English yeoman.]
[Footnote 4: A maker of arrows.]
[Footnote 5: Armour and trappings of his horse.]
[Footnote 6: It will be found in the description of Britain byHolingshed, that even in his days it was held that any man possessingland producing an annual rent of forty pounds (called a knight's fee)could be called upon to undergo the honour of knighthood, or to submitto a fine. This was sometimes enforced, and the consequence was oftenwhat Lady Katrine insinuated, as few of the more powerful nobles ofthe day did not entertain more than one poor knight in their service.These, however, were looked upon in a very different light from thosewhose knighthood had been obtained by military service.]
[Footnote 7: The road from the Temple Bar to the City of Westminsterwas flanked on one side by noblemen's houses and gardens, producing aneffect not unlike that of Kensington Gore; as far, at least, as we canjudge from description.]
[Footnote 8: Every knight of that day had his soubriquet, or nickname;thus the famous Bayard was generally called Piquet.]
[Footnote 9: Since writing the above, I have seen a beautiful sketchby Sir Walter Scott, of a scene very similar. The coincidence of eventhe minute points is striking; but I know that Sir Walter, and I trustthe public also, will believe me, when I pledge my word that the wholeof this book was written before I ever saw "My Aunt Margaret'sMirror," and, I believe, before it was published.]
[Footnote 10: Alluding to the vision of Fair Geraldine, called up in amirror at the request of Lord Surrey.]
[Footnote 11: I have not been able to discover at what precise periodthe custom of exacting a ransom from each prisoner taken in battle wasdropped in Europe. It certainly still existed in the reign ofElizabeth, and perhaps still later, for Shakspere (writing in the daysof James I.) makes repeated mention of it. Some centuries before theperiod of this tale, Edward the Black Prince fixed the ransom of DuGuesclin at one hundred francs, which the constable considereddegrading, and rated himself at the sum of seventy thousand florins ofgold.]
[Footnote 12: A suit of horse armour and housings.]
[Footnote 13: We have every reason to believe that this adventure isby no means the invention of Vonderbrugius, but a simple historicalfact.]
[Footnote 14: Hall gives an account of this event, with very littlevariation in the circumstances, stating that only a footman was withthe king, one Moody; but, of course, Vonderbrugius may be relied on asthe most correct.]
[Footnote 15: It stood nearly where Westminster Bridge stands atpresent.]
[Footnote 16: This circumstance is generally placed by the Frenchanecdotarians some ten days later; but weconceive that the precisionof a Dutchman is to be relied on in preference.]
[Footnote 17: We cannot help calling attention to the scrupulousaccuracy of Vonderbrugius. Supposing that he might, in some fit ofunwonted imaginativeness have invented this circumstance, we searchedthrough many tomes for confirmation, when we at last found the wholestory alluded to in the exact Montluc; which, though it leaves theDutchman no other merit than that of a compiler, justifies implicitbelief in every part of this surprising history.]
[Footnote 18: The original words of Francis were, _Ma lance contre un?cu d'Espagne_; _?cu_ meaning either a shield or a crown-piece.]
THE END.
WOODFALL AND KINDER, PRINTERS, LONG ACRE, LONDON.
Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold Page 42