The Firebrand
Page 33
CHAPTER XXXIII
CONCHA WAITS FOR THE MORNING
The dead woman was carried into the mortuary attached to the smallerchapel of the _Colegiata_, and placed in one of the rude coffins whichhad been deposited there in readiness upon the first news of the plague.This being done, the mind of Rollo turned resolutely to the problembefore him.
Every hour the situation seemed to grow more difficult. As far as Rollowas concerned, he owned himself frankly a mercenary, fighting in a causefor which he, as a free-born Scot, could have no great sympathy. Butmercenary as he was, in his reckless, gallant, devil-take-the-hindmostphilosophy of life there lurked at least no trace of treachery, nor anyback-going from a pledged and plighted word. He had undertaken tocapture the young Queen and her mother and to bring them within thelines of Don Carlos, and till utterly baffled by death or misadventure,this was what he was going to continue to attempt.
If therefore the little Princess were not in the castle, she mustimmediately be sought for outside it. The palace of La Granja was, as hewell knew, surrounded by eager and bloody-minded foes, bent on thedestruction of all within its walls. It was conceivable that Isabelmight already be slain, though in the absence of the daughter of Munoz,he doubted whether the gipsies would go such lengths. To be held toransom was a much more probable fate. At any rate it was clearly theduty of some one of the party to make an attempt for her recovery.
At the first blush Sergeant Cardono appeared to be the person designatedby experience and qualifications for the task. But, on the other hand,how could Rollo entrust to the most famous of ex-brigands, a gipsy ofthe gipsies, of the blackest blood of Egypt, the search for so great aprize as the little Queen of Spain? The difficult virtue of self-denialin such a case could hardly be expected from a man like Jose Maria ofRonda. Consider--a ransom, a Queen put up to auction! For both sides,Nationals and Carlists alike, would certainly be eager to treat for herpossession. In short, Rollo concluded that he had no right to put such atemptation in the way of a man with the record of Sergeant Cardono.
His thoughts turned next to El Sarria. Concerning Ramon Garcia's loyaltythere was no question--still less as to his courage. But--he was hardlythe man to despatch alone on a mission which involved so many delicateissues. Once outside the palace there would in all probability be nochance of return, and Rollo was persuaded that the best chance ofrecovering the child lay in discovering her in some of the hiding-placeswhich would doubtless be familiar to her about the grounds. To find thelittle maid, to induce her to trust herself completely to a stranger,and to guide her to a place of safety, these would be tasks difficultenough for any combination of scout and diplomat. Now El Sarria, uponmeeting with opposition, was accustomed to storm through it with therush of a tiger's charge. No, in spite of his assured fidelity andcourage, it would be impossible to send El Sarria.
The others--well, they were good fellows, both of them, John Mortimerand Etienne. But it was obvious to his mind that the quest was not forthem.
Rollo must go himself. That was all there was for it. After whichremained the question as to who should command in the palace during hisabsence. Here the Sergeant was obviously the man, both from his naturaltalents for leadership, as well as from the confidence placed in him byGeneral Cabrera. No such temptation would be presented to him within thewalls as might confront him outside, in a position of authority amonghis blood-kin, and with a Queen of Spain in his power.
Whilst he was settling these questions in his mind, Rollo had beenstanding at one of the windows, where the two royal servants, young menof Castile, had been set to watch, with La Giralda between to performthe same office upon them. To these he did not think it necessary to saymore than that they were to receive and obey the orders of SergeantCardono as his own. The old gipsy would of a certainty do so in anycase.
Then the young man passed on to the balconies occupied severally byEtienne and Mortimer. These two volunteers he took occasion to commendfor their constancy in holding fast their positions during the attack onthe other side of the house. He also briefly communicated to them allthat had taken place there, the attempt of the royal family to slip offin the darkness, the death of the old nurse, the capture of the daughterof Munoz, and the fatal loss of the young Queen.
He further told them that he considered it his duty to venture out toseek for the missing girl. It came within the terms of his commission,he said, that he should leave no stone unturned to recover the Princess.Neither Etienne nor Mortimer offered any objection.
"The saints and the Holy Virgin bring you safely back," said Etienne,who was still in his pious mood; "I will not cease to pray for you."
"Good-bye, and good-luck, old fellow!" quoth John Mortimer. "But I say,if I should want more ammunition, where am I to get it?"
Such were the characteristic farewells of Rollo's two comrades in arms.
Equally simple was it to satisfy El Sarria, from whom our Firebrandparted on the great southward balcony which the outlaw guarded alone.
"Be of an easy mind. I will be responsible for all I can see from thisbalcony!" said the giant, calmly, "may your adventure be prosperous! Iwould I could both remain here and come with you!"
All that Rollo had now to do was to inform the Sergeant of his plans andto say good-bye to Concha. These tasks, however, promised something moreof difficulty.
The Sergeant was immovable at his post behind the thick twistedvine-stems of the little balcony, over the twin doors, by one of whichthe royal party had attempted to escape into the garden. While Rollo wasexplaining his intentions, Cardono bit his lip and remained silent.
"Do you then not approve?" asked Rollo, gravely, when he had finished.
"Who is to command here in your absence?" answered the Sergeant in theyoung Scot's own national manner.
"The command will naturally devolve on yourself," said Rollo, promptly;"you will have the entire responsibility within the palace!"
"Which includes complete discretion, of course?"
"Certainly!" answered Rollo.
"Then," said the Sergeant, firmly, "my first act will be to lay SenorDon Fernando Munoz by the heels!"
"As to that, you can do as you like," said Rollo, "but remember that youmay find yourself with another mad woman on your hands in the person ofthe Queen-Regent!"
"I know how to deal with her!" replied the Sergeant; "go your way,Colonel--depend upon it, the palace will be defended and justice done!"
Rollo nodded, and was turning on his heel without speaking, for thethought of his interview with Concha was beginning to lie heavy on hismind, when a whisper from the Sergeant called him back.
"When you are ready to go, return hither," he said; "I have the safestway out of the palace to show you without so much as the opening of adoor or the unbarring of a window."
Rollo nodded again. He marvelled how it was that the Sergeant hadappeared so opportunely at his elbow when he had called upon him forhelp. Now he was in the way of finding out.
The darkness was of the sort which might have been felt as Rollostumbled along the passages to the opposite side of the palace whereConcha, a loaded musket leaning against the wall on either side, waswatching keenly the square of grey grass and green trees in front ofher. Dark as the night was without, the girl had drawn the curtainsbehind her, so that she was entirely isolated upon the balcony on whichshe kneeled. In this, as usual, she had obeyed Rollo's commands to theletter, and made sure that no faintest gleam of light should escape bythe window at which she kept her watch.
But spite of the intervening room and the thick curtains the girl hadheard his footsteps, light and quick, heard them across the entirebreadth of the palace, from the moment when he had quitted SergeantCardono, to that when, drawing aside the hangings with his hand, hestood behind her.
Nevertheless, Concha did not move immediately, and Rollo, standing thusclose to her, was, for the first time in his life, conscious of theatmosphere, delicate yet vivid, of youth, beauty, and charm, with whicha loving and gracious wom
an surrounds herself as with a garment.
But these were stern times. He had come to her balcony for a purposeand--there was no time to be lost.
"Concha," he began without ceremony--for after the kiss, regulated andconscientious as it had been and clearly justifiable to his sense ofhonour and duty, somehow the prefacing "Senorita" had come to be omittedbetween them. "Concha, the little Queen is lost! She may be wanderingout there to meet her death among brigands and murderers! It is my dutyto go and seek her. Listen!"
And then when at last she turned from the window and slowly faced him,Rollo told her all that had taken place below.
"I knew you were in danger when the shots went off," she said; "yetsince you had not called for me, nor given me leave to quit mypost----"
She did not finish her sentence. It was a kind of reproach that he hadcalled for the Sergeant and not for her in his hour of need. She knew onwhom _she_ would have called.
"You did well--better than well--to stand by your post," said Rollo;"but now I must make over my authority to another. The Sergeant is tocommand here in my absence."
"Do you then make _my_ allegiance over to the Sergeant?" asked Concha,in a quiet tone.
"God forbid!" cried Rollo, impetuously.
And little Concha, looking abroad over the darkling hills, thoughtwithin her heart that her morning was surely coming. It might be sometime on the way, but all the same it was coming.
But yet when he told her of the desperate quest on which he was bound,that which had been glad became filled with foreboding, and the falsedawn died out again utterly. The hills were both distant and dark.
But as Rollo continued to speak bravely, confidently, and took her handto ask her bid him God-speed, Concha smiled once more to herself in thedarkness. And so, at the last, it came about that she even held up herlips to be kissed. For now (so strangely natural grows this quaintcustom after one or two experiments) it seemed as if no other method ofsaying good-bye were possible between them. And to Rollo the necessityappeared even stronger.
But was this the reason of Concha's smile in the darkness? Or was itbecause she thought?--"He is indeed the prince of youths, and can layhis orders on whom he will, binding and loosing like Peter with theKeys. But there is that in the heart of a woman which even he cannotbind, for all his good opinion of himself!"
Yet stranger than all, she thought none the worse of Master Rollo forhis confidence and heady self-conceit. And what is more, she let him gofrom her without a murmur, though she knew that her heart of hearts washis. And that above all carrying off of queens and honours military,more than many towns captured and battles won, she wished to hear fromRollo Blair's lips that his heart also was her own--her very own. Manymen had told her that same thing in these very words, and she had onlylaughed back at them with a flash of brilliant teeth, a pair of theblackest Andalusian eyes shining meantime with contemptuous mirth.
But now, it seemed that if she did not hear Rollo say this thing, shewould die--which shows the difference there may be between words whichwe desire to hear spoken and those that others wish to speak to us.
Yet in spite of all, or because of it, she let him go without a word ora murmur, because of the hope of morning that was in her heart.