A Ladder of Swords: A Tale of Love, Laughter and Tears

by Gilbert Parker

  XVIII

  Not far from the palace, in a secluded place hidden by laburnum,roses, box, and rhododendrons, there was a quaint and beautifulretreat. High up on all sides of a circle of green the floweringtrees and shrubs interlaced their branches, and the grass, as smoothas velvet, was of such a note as soothed the eye and quieted thesenses. In one segment of the verdant circle was a sort of open bowermade of poles, up which roses climbed and hung across in gayfestoons; and in two other segments mossy banks made resting-places.Here, in days gone by, when Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, firstdrew the eyes of his Queen upon him, Elizabeth came to listen to hisvows of allegiance which swam in floods of passionate devotion toher person. Christopher Hatton, Sir Henry Lee, the Duke of Norfolk,the Earl of Sussex, a race of gallants, had knelt upon this pleasantsward. Here they had declared a devotion that, historically platonic,had a personal passion which, if rewarded by no personal requital,must have been an expensive outlay of patience and emotion.

  But those days had gone. Robert Dudley had advanced far past hisfellows, had locked himself into the chamber of the Queen'sconfidence, had for long proved himself necessary to her, had mingleddeference and admiration with an air of monopoly, and had thenadvanced to an air of possession, of suggested control. Then hadbegun his decline. England and England's Queen could have but oneruler, and upon an occasion in the past Elizabeth made it clear bythe words she used: "God's death, my lord! I have wished you well;but my favor is not so locked up for you that others shall notpartake thereof; and, if you think to rule here, I will take a courseto see you forthcoming. I will have here but one mistress and nomaster."

  In these words she but declared what was the practice of her life,the persistent passion of her rule. The world could have butone sun, and every man or woman who sought its warmth must be asun-worshipper. There could be no divided faith, no luminaries in thesky save those which lived by borrowed radiance.

  Here in this bright theatre of green and roses, poets had sung thepraises of this Queen to her unblushing and approving face; hereladies thrice as beautiful as she had begged her to tell them thesecret of her beauty, so much greater than that of any living woman;and she was pleased even when she knew they flattered but to gain hersmile--it was the tribute that power exacts. The place was a cenotaphof past romance and pleasure. Every leaf of every tree and flower hadimpressions of glories, of love, ambition, and intrigue, of tears andlaughter, of joyousness and ruin. Never a spot in England where somuch had been said and done, so far-reaching in effect andinfluence. But its glory was departed, its day was done, it was aplace of dreams and memories: the Queen came here no more. Many yearshad withered since she had entered this charmed spot; and that itremained so fine was but evidence of the care of those to whom shehad given strict orders seven years past that in and out of season itmust be ever kept as it had erstwhile been. She had never entered theplace since the day the young Marquis of Wessex, whom she hadimprisoned for marrying secretly and without her consent, on hisrelease came here, and, with a concentrated bitterness and hate, hadtold her such truths as she never had heard from man or woman sinceshe was born. He had impeached her in such cold and murderous termsas must have made wince even a woman with no pride. To Elizabeth itwas gall and wormwood. When he at last demanded the life of the youngwife who had died in enforced seclusion, because she had married theman she loved, Elizabeth was so confounded that she hastily left theplace, saying no word in response. This attack had been so violent,so deadly, that she had seemed unnerved, and forbore to command himto the Tower or to death.

  "You, in whose breast love never stirred, deny the right to otherswhom God blessed with it," he cried. "Envious of mortal happinessthat dare exist outside your will or gift, you sunder and destroy.You, in whose hands was power to give joy, gave death. What you havesown you shall reap. Here, on this spot, I charge you with hightreason, with treachery to the people over whom you have power as atrust, which trust you have made a scourge."

  With such words as these he had assailed her, and for the first timein her life she had been confounded. In safety he had left the placeand taken his way to Italy, from which he had never returned, thoughshe had sent for him in kindness. Since that day Elizabeth had nevercome hither; and by-and-by none of her court came save the Duke'sDaughter, and her fool, who both made it their resort. Here the foolcame upon the Friday before Trinity Day, bringing with him Lempriereand Buonespoir, to whom he had much attached himself.

  It was a day of light and warmth, and the place was like a basket ofroses. Having seen the two serving-men dispose, in a convenientplace, the refreshment which Lempriere's appetite compelled, the fooltook command of the occasion, and made the two sit upon a bank, whilehe prepared the repast.

  It was a notable trio; the dwarfish fool, with his shaggy, blackhead, twisted mouth, and watchful, wandering eye, whose foolishnesswas but the flaunting cover of shrewd observation and trenchantvision. Going where he would, and saying what he listed, now in theQueen's inner chamber, then in the midst of the council,unconsidered, and the butt of all, he paid for his bed and bounty byshooting shafts of foolery, which as often made his listeners shrinkas caused their laughter. The Queen he called Delicio, and Leicester,Obligato--as one who piped to another's dance. He had taken toBuonespoir at the first glance, and had frequented him, andLempriere had presently been added to his favor. He had again andagain been messenger between them, as also of late between Angele andMichel, whose case he viewed from a stand-point of greatcheerfulness, and treated as children playing on the sands--as,indeed, he did the Queen and all near to her. But Buonespoir, thepirate, was to him reality and the actual, and he called him BonoPublico. At first Lempriere, ever jealous of his importance, wasinclined to treat him with elephantine condescension; but he couldnot long hold out against the boon archness of the jester, and hadcollapsed suddenly into as close a friendship as that between himselfand Buonespoir.

  A rollicking spirit was his own fullest stock-in-trade, and it wonhim like a brother.

  So it was that here, in the very bosom of the forest, lured by thepipe the fool played, Lempriere burst forth into song, in one hand abottle of canary, in the other a handful of comfits:

  "Duke William was a Norman (_Spread the sail to the breeze!_) That did to England ride; At Hastings by the Channel (_Drink the wine to the lees!_) Our Harold the Saxon died. If there be no cakes from Normandy, There'll be more ale in England!"

  "Well sung, nobility, and well said," cried Buonespoir, with a roseby the stem in his mouth, one hand beating time to the music, theother clutching a flagon of muscadella; "for the Normans are kings inEngland, and there's drink in plenty at the court of our LadyDuchess."

  "Delicio shall never want while I have a penny of hers to spend,"quoth the fool, feeling for another tune.

  "Should conspirators prevail, and the damnedest be, she hath yet theManor of Rozel and my larder," urged Lempriere, with a splutterthrough the canary.

  "That shall be only when the fifth wind comes--it is so ordained,Nuncio!" said the fool, blinking.

  Buonespoir set down his flagon. "And what wind is the fifth wind?"he asked, scratching his bullet-head, his childlike, wide-spread eyessmiling the question.

  "There be now four winds--the north wind, and his sisters, the east,the west, and south. When God sends a fifth wind, then conspiratorsshall wear crowns. Till then Delicio shall sow and I shall reap, asis Heaven's will."

  Lempriere lay back and roared with laughter. "Before Belial, therenever was such another as thou, fool. Conspirators shall die and notprevail, for a man may not marry his sister, and the north wind shallhave no progeny. So there shall be no fifth wind."

  "Proved, proved!" cried the fool. "The north wind shall go whistlefor a mate--there shall be no fifth wind. So Delicio shall still sailby the compass, and shall still compass all, and yet be compassed bynone; for it is written, Who compasseth Delicio existeth not."

  Buonespoir watched a lark soaring, as though its flight m
ight leadhim through the fool's argument clearly. Lempriere closed his eyeand struggled with it, his lips out-pursed, his head sunk on hisbreast. Suddenly his eyes opened; he brought the bottle of canarydown with a thud on the turf. "'Fore Michael and all angels, I haveit, fool; I travel, I conceive. De Carteret of St. Ouen's must havegone to the block ere conceiving so. I must conceive thus of theargument. He who compasseth the Queen existeth not, for, compassing,he dieth."

  "So it is by the hour-glass and the fortune told in the porringer.You have conceived like a man, Nuncio."

  "And conspirators, I conceive, must die, so long as there be honestmen to slay them," rejoined the seigneur.

  "Must only honest men slay conspirators? Oh, Shadrach, Meshach, andAbednego!" wheezed Buonespoir, with a grin. He placed his hand uponhis head in self-pity. "Buonespoir, art thou damned by muscadella?"he murmured.

  "But thou art purged of the past, Bono Publico," answered the fool."Since Delicio hath looked upon thee she hath shredded the Tyburnlien upon thee--thou art flushed like a mountain spring; andconspirators shall fall down by thee if thou, passant, dost fall byconspirators in the way. Bono Publico, thou shalt live by goodcompany. Henceforth contraband shall be spurned and the book of graceopened."

  Buonespoir's eyes laughed like a summer sky, but he scratched hishead and turned over the rose-stem in his mouth reflectively. "So beit, then, if it must be; but yesterday the Devon sea-sweeper, FrancisDrake, overhauled me in my cottage, coming from the Queen, who hadinfused him of me. 'I have heard of you from a high mast-head,' saidhe. 'If the Spanish main allure you, come with me. There be galleonsyonder still; they shall cough up doubloons.' 'It hath a sound ofpiracy,' said I. 'I am expurgated. My name is written on clean papernow, blessed be the name of the Queen!' 'Tut, tut, Buonesperado,'laughed he, 'you shall forget that Tyburn is not a fable if you careto have doubloons reminted at the Queen's mint. It is meet SpanishPhilip's head be molted to oblivion, and Elizabeth's raised, so thatgood silver be purged of Popish alloy.' But that I had sworn by thelittle finger of St. Peter, when the moon was full, never to leavethe English seas, I also would have gone with Drake of Devon thisday. It is a man and a master of men, that Drake of Devon."

  "'Tis said that when a man hath naught left but life, and hathtreated his honor like a poor relation, he goes to the Spanish mainwith Drake and Grenville," said Lempriere.

  "Then must Obligato go, for he hath such credentials," said the fool,blowing thistledown in the air. "Yesterday was no Palm Sunday toLeicester. Delicio's head was high. 'Imperial Majesty,' quothObligato, his knees upon the rushes, 'take my life, but send me notforth into darkness where I shall see my Queen no more. By the lightof my Queen's eyes have I walked, and pains of hell are my Queen'sdispleasure.' 'Methinks thy humbleness is tardy,' quoth Delicio. 'Nocock shall crow by my nest,' said she. 'And, by the mantle of Elijah,I am out with sour faces and men of phlegm and rheum. I will be gayonce more. So get thee gone to Kenilworth, and stray not from it onthy peril. Take thy malaise with thee, and I shall laugh again.' Andhe goeth. So that was the end of Obligato, and now cometh anothertune."

  "She hath good cheer?" asked Lempriere, eagerly.

  "I have never seen Delicio smile these seven years as she smiledto-day; and when she kissed Amicitia I sent for my confessor and mademy will. Delicio hath come to spring-time, and the voice of theturtle is in her ear."

  "Amicitia--and who is Amicitia?" asked Lempriere, well flushed withwine.

  "She who hath brought Obligato to the diminuendo and finale,"answered the fool; "even she who hath befriended the Huguenottine ofthe black eyes."

  "Ah, she, the Duke's Daughter--ah, that is a flower of a lady! Didshe not say that my jerkin fitted featly when I did act as butler toher adorable Majesty three months syne? She hath no mate in theworld save Mademoiselle Aubert, whom I brought hither to honor and tofame."

  "To honor and fame, was it--but by the hill of desperandum, Nuncio,"said the fool, prodding him with his stick of bells.

  "'Desperandum!' I know not Latin, it amazes me," said Lempriere,waving a lofty hand.

  "She--the Huguenottine--was a-mazed, also, and from the maze wasplayed by Obligato."

  "How so! how so!" cried the seigneur, catching at his meaning. "DidLeicester waylay and siege? 'Sblood, had I known this I'd havebroached him and swallowed him even on crutches!"

  "She made him raise the siege, she turned his own guns upon him, andin the end hath driven him hence."

  By rough questioning Lempriere got from the fool, by snatches, thestory of the meeting in the maze, which had left Leicester standingwith the jester's ribboned bells in his hand. Then the seigneur gotto his feet and hugged the fool, bubbling with laughter.

  "By all the blood of all the saints, I will give thee burial in myown grave when all's done," he spluttered; "for there never was suchfooling, never such a wise fool come since Confucius and the Khan.Good be with you, fool, and thanks be for such a lady. Thanks be alsofor the Duke's Daughter. Ah, how she laid Leicester out! She washedhim up the shore like behemoth, and left him gaping."

  Buonespoir intervened. "And what shall come of it? What shall be theend? The _Honeyflower_ lies at anchor--there be three good men inwaiting, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and--"

  The seigneur interrupted. "There's little longer waiting. All's well!Her high, hereditary Majesty smiled on me, when she gave Leicesterconge and fiery quittance. She hath me in favor, and all shall bewell with Michel and Angele. O fool, fool, fantastic and flavoredfool, sing me a song of good content, for if this business ends notwith crescendo and bell-ringing, I am no butler to the Queen nor keepgood company!"

  Seating themselves upon the mossy bank, their backs to the westwardsun, the fool peered into the green shadows and sang with a softmelancholy an ancient song that another fool had sung to the firstTudor:

  "When blows the wind and drives the sleet, And all the trees droop down; When all the world is sad, 'tis meet Good company be known: And in my heart good company Sits by the fire and sings to me.

  "When warriors return, and one That went returns no more; When dusty is the road we run, And garners have no store; One ingle-nook right warm shall be Where my heart hath good company.

  "When man shall flee and woman fail, And folly mock and hope deceive, Let cowards beat the breast and wail, I'll homeward hie; I will not grieve: I'll draw the blind, I'll there set free My heart's beloved boon company.

  "When kings shall favor, ladies call My service to their side; When roses grow upon the wall Of life, with love inside; I'll get me home with joy to be In my heart's own good company!"

  "Oh, fool, oh, beneficent fool, well done! 'Tis a song for aman--'twould shame De Carteret of St. Ouen's to his knees," criedLempriere.

  "Oh, benignant fool, well done!--'twould draw me from my meals," saida voice behind the three, and turning hastily about they saw, smilingand applausive, the Duke's Daughter. Beside her was Angele.

  The three got to their feet, and each made obeisance after hiskind--Buonespoir ducking awkwardly, his blue eyes bulging withpleasure, Lempriere swelling with vanity and spreading wideacknowledgment of their presence, the fool condescending a wave ofwelcome.

  "Oh, abundant Amicitia!" cried the fool to the Duke's Daughter, "thouart saved by so doing. So get thee to thanksgiving and God's mercy."

  "THEY SAW, SMILING AND APPLAUSIVE, THE DUKE'S DAUGHTERAND ANGELE"]

  "Wherefore am I saved by being drawn from my meals by thy music,fool?" she asked, linking her arm in Angele's.

  "Because thou art more enamoured of lampreys than of man; and it iswritten that thou shalt love thy fellow-man, and he that loveth notis lost; therefore, thou art lost if thou lingerest at meals."

  "Is it so, then? And this lady--what thinkest thou? Must she alsoabstain and seek good company?"

&nb
sp; "No, verily, Amicitia, for she is good company itself, and so she maysleep in the larder and have no fear."

  "And what think you--shall she be happy? Shall she have gifts offate?"

  "Discriminately so, Amicitia. She shall have souvenirs and nosuspicions of fate. But she shall not linger here, for all lingerersin Delicio's court are spied upon--not for their souls' good. Sheshall go hence, and--"

  "Ay, princely lady, she shall go hence," interposed Lempriere, whohad panted to speak and could bear silence no longer. "Her highMajesty will kiss her on the brow, and in Jersey Isle she shallblossom and bloom and know bounty--or never more shall I haveprivilege and perquage."

  He lumbered forward and kissed Angele's hand as though conferringdistinction, but with great generosity. "I said that all should gowell, and so it shall. Rozel shall prevail. The Queen knows on whatrock to build, as I made warrant for her, and will still do so."

  His vanity was incorrigible, but through it ran so childlike a spiritthat it bred friendship and repulsed not. The Duke's Daughter pressedthe arm of Angele, who replied:

  "Indeed, it has been so according to your word, and we are--Iam--shall ever be beholden. In storm you have been with us, so true apilot and so brave a sailor; and if we come to port and the quietshore, there shall be spread a feast of remembrance which shall nevergrow cold, seigneur."

  "One ingle-nook right warm shall be Where my heart hath good company,"

  sang the fool, and catching by the arm Buonespoir, who ducked hishead in farewell, ran him into the greenwood. Angele came forward asif to stay Buonespoir, but stopped short reflectively. As she did sothe Duke's Daughter whispered quickly into Lempriere's ear.

  Swelling with pride he nodded, and said, "I will reach him anddiscover myself to him, and bring him, if he stray, most undoubtedand infallible lady," and with an air of mystery he made a heavilyrespectful exit.

  Left alone, the two ladies seated themselves in the bower of rosesand for a moment were silent. Presently the Duke's Daughter laughedaloud.

  "In what seas of dear conceit swims your leviathan seigneur,heart's-ease?"

  Angele stole a hand into the cool palm of the other.

  "He was builded for some lonely sea all his own. Creation cheatedhim. But God give me ever such friends as he, and I shall, indeed,'have good company' and fear no issue." She sighed.

  "Remains there still a fear? Did you not have good promise in theQueen's words _that night_?"

  "Ay, so it seemed, and so it seemed before--on May Day, and yet--"

  "And yet she banished you, and tried you, and kept you heart-sick?Sweet, know you not how bitter a thing it is to owe a debt of love toone whom we have injured? So it was with her. The Queen is not asaint, but very woman. Marriage she hath ever contemned and hated;men she hath desired to keep her faithful and impassioned servitors.So does power blind us. And the braver the man, the more she wouldhave him in her service, at her feet, the centre of the world."

  "I had served her in a crisis, an hour of peril. Was naught due me?"

  The Duke's Daughter drew her close. "She never meant but that allshould be well. And because you had fastened on her feelings as neverI have seen another of your sex, so for the moment she resented it;and because De la Foret was yours--ah, if you had each been naught tothe other, how easy it would have run! Do you not understand?"

  "Nay, then, and yea, then--and I put it from me. See, am I not happynow? Upon your friendship I build."

  "Sweet, I did what I could. Leicester filled her ears with poisonevery day, mixed up your business with great affairs with France,sought to convey that you both were not what you are, until at last Icounter-marched him." She laughed merrily. "Ay, I can laugh now, butit was all hanging by a thread, when my leech sent his letter thatbrought you to the palace. It had grieved me that I might not seekyou or write to you in all those sad days; but the only way to saveyou was by keeping the Queen's command; for she had known ofLeicester's visits to you, of your meeting in the maze, and she wasset upon it that alone, all alone, you should be tried to the lastvestige of your strength. If you had failed--"

  "If I had failed--" Angele closed her eyes and shuddered. "I had notcared for myself, but Michel--"

  "If you had _failed_ there had been no need to grieve for Michel. Hehad not grieved for thee. But see, the wind blows fair, and in myheart I have no fear of the end. You shall go hence in peace. Thismorning the Queen was happier than I have seen her these many years:a light was in her eye brighter than showeth to the court. She talkedof this place, recalled the hours spent here, spoke even softly ofLeicester. And that gives me warrant for the future. She has reliefin his banishment, and only recalls older and happier days when, ifher cares were no greater, they were borne by the buoyancy ofgirlhood and youth. Of days spent here she talked until mine own eyeswent blind. She said it was a place for lovers, and if she knew anytwo lovers who were true lovers, and had been long parted, she wouldsend them here."

  "There be two true lovers, and they have been long parted," murmuredAngele.

  "But she commanded these lovers not to meet till Trinity Day, and shebrooks not disobedience even in herself. How could she disobey herown commands? But"--her eyes were on the greenwood and the path thatled into the circle--"but she would shut her eyes to-day and let theworld move on without her, let lovers thrive and birds be nestingwithout heed or hap. Disobedience shall thrive when the Queenconnives at it--and so I leave you to your disobedience, sweet."

  With a laugh she sprang to her feet and ran. Amazed and bewildered,Angele gazed after her. As she stood looking she heard her namecalled softly.

  Turning, she saw Michel. They were alone.