The MS. in a Red Box

by John A. Hamilton

  CHAPTER XXII

  The earl maintained a great retinue and a kind of military state, andthe courtyard of his castle was alive this morning with pages andserving-men in his livery, exercising or bustling about on variouserrands; but I had little fear any of them would know me, for not manyof the gentlemen of the isle chose to enter his train, nor did thecommon folk relish the restraint and weariness of his service, so thebulk of those who wore his colours were enlisted from distant parts ofthe country. My confidence was justified, no one accosting me ortaking any heed of me. I told the porter, using the style of speakingwhich matched my apparel, I had tidings for the earl of the firstimportance. He conducted me to a little room, where he bade me waitthe leisure of the steward and left me. The door of the room stoodajar, and I heard voices in a room opposite, one of them beingBoswell's. Needless to say I listened with both ears.

  "Oh, sir, persuade the earl to hear me for one moment--I beg for only amoment."

  "You do but waste my time. I tell you the earl will not see you."

  "Then for pity's sake, good Master Nicholas, go you to him and let himknow Vavasour is found. He is in hiding at Lindholme. If the earlwill order a dozen men to go with me, the murderer shall be in hishands this afternoon. The frost makes the bog like stone."

  "His lordship shall hear this, certainly."

  "And beg him to spare my girl until I bring Vavasour. Entreat him tobe so far merciful, Master Nicholas!"

  "I will let you know his lordship's pleasure," answered the steward,and crossed the passage to the room in which I awaited him.

  "And what is your business, my man?" he asked loftily, toying with hisgold chain of office.

  "To give up the man that killed my Lord Sheffield and get my reward," Ianswered in rustic fashion.

  "And where is the man?"

  "By your leave, that is for his lordship's ear."

  "Art insolent, knave? May'st take thyself off. Thy information islate. We happen to have one of the murderer's familiars on the rack."

  "Who knows no more than you do."

  "Which chances to be all that is needful. In a few hours we shall havethe villain."

  "If I give him up to you, not else. 'Tis a fool's errand to go toLindholme to look for him."

  "Ah! how know you that? To be sure the doors were open. There's a bigreward offered for the apprehension of the rascal, and a percentage isdue----"

  "You shall have one pound out of every ten," I broke in. While thisman delayed and chaffered, poor Bess might be suffering horribly.

  "'Tis a bargain; follow me," he said.

  He led me to the chamber in the tower which, I knew, was used for"questioning" accused prisoners and stubborn witnesses. Bidding meremain outside, he entered, closing the door behind him, and in aminute reappeared and beckoned me in. The old earl sat wrapped in furson one side of the hexagonal room. Behind him stood a man whom I tookto be a physician; in the corner, to the earl's right hand, stoodanother with writing materials on a small, high table in front of him.

  The rack lay at his lordship's feet, two stout fellows at each end ofit, with long staves in their hands, the ends inserted in the socketsof the poles on which the cords are wound. Bess was stretched by thewrists and ankles, so that no part of her body touched the floor, withnothing to cover her save a short smock. On the instant she knew me,and a hot flush came into her face; and I turned away my eyes unable tobear the sight of her pain and shame. For a moment the same red hazecame over my sight as I saw when Staniforth fell by my side at Thorne,and a mad humour of smiting them that did the cruelty seized me. But Iwas brought to my senses by the thin, piping voice of the old nobleman--

  "My steward informs me you pretend to know where Vavasour is to befound."

  How hard he strove to control himself! But his voice shook with eagerdesire.

  "You shall have him safe within the hour, my lord, if you will give methe reward I ask."

  "You speak positively, fellow, of the capture of a man who has evadedall pursuits for more than a month."

  "He has not the ghost of a chance to escape me, my lord. You shallhave him as fast as a bird in a cage."

  "But you want a larger reward than a hundred pounds? How much?"

  "I don't want a penny, my lord. I ask for what will cost you nothing."

  "Shalt have it, whatever it is, only make thy word good," said he,leaning forward, his eyes fixed on me.

  "The boon I ask is liberty for the prisoner on the rack."

  "Release her," he ordered. "And now where is Vavasour."

  "Here, my lord--I am he."

  The earl rose from his seat, and sank back again, staring. The clerklet fall the pen with which he had been making notes. The four men whohad lowered Bess to the floor gazed on me open-mouthed.

  She was the first to speak. "Your lordship, this is a poor fellow whohas had his head turned by trouble, and his craze is to think himselfFrank Vavasour; but his true name is Jack Unwin. He has J.U. tattooedon his chest."

  At a sign from the earl, the men laid hands on me and bared my breast,while the old nobleman sat choking with rage and mortification, glaringfrom me to Bess, and from Bess to me.

  "My lord," said I, "you have given me your word to let the prisoner gofree. Her subsequent lie, meant to shield and save me, will not hinderthe fulfilment of your promise. As for these marks on my breast, andthese scars on my face, the man who inflicted them is now in yoursteward's room, and may be compelled to say why he made them, if thatbe your pleasure. But of a surety I am Frank Vavasour, at one timeyour son Edmund's boyish friend, and familiar with everything in thiscastle."

  The earl rubbed his hands. "Vavasour, assuredly," he said. "Thematchless impudence proves the breed."

  He turned to Bess, who had taken her stand in the utmost shadow shecould find.

  "Get you gone, jade, before I order you a whipping."

  Then he gave instructions to the steward and the scribe.

  "Nicholas, bring hither the fellow Boswell, saying nothing of what haspassed here. Fetch your book of depositions and informations,Pennington."

  Bess looked at me reproachfully as she went out, and I answered herwith a smile, glad to note she walked not amiss for one who had beenstretched on the rack. For the minute or two, while the steward andclerk were absent, the earl leaned back in his chair, gloating on melike a cat on the mouse she has struck. When they returned, he said--

  "Boswell, look at this fellow, who says he is Frank Vavasour. Whatsayest thou?"

  For half a second the gipsy hesitated.

  "Quick, man, speak the truth, or----" and his lordship finished hissentence by a motion of the hand toward the rack.

  "It is the man, your lordship."

  "Pennington, read me the description of Vavasour given in ourproclamation."

  When the clerk had done so, the earl turned on Boswell.

  "How comes it that you, who were in my son's service, and knew thisman, did not inform Pennington of the errors in this document? Thereis not a word here of scars on the face or marking on the breast. Whatis the meaning of this? Subornation?"

  "No, my lord. I did not know of the scars; or if I did, I hadforgotten them."

  It was amazing to me that the ready, crafty villain should bungle andblunder so.

  "Forgotten your own handiwork?" asked the earl, in the silkiest tone.

  Boswell was so confounded by the question that he had nothing to say.Before he could recover himself, the earl cried--

  "Into the rack with him."

  In little more than the twinkling of an eye, the men had pounced onhim, stripped him to his shirt, and tied his feet and hands. It madeone shudder to think what long practice had made them so dexterous atthe work. They plied their levers, until their victim was stretched,and one heard wrists and ankle-joints crack sickeningly.

  At a downward wave of the earl's hand they stayed.

  "Why did you not report to my secretary the errors in this description
?"

  "The proclamation had been posted far and wide before I knew of it; andI was afraid to mention the marks, lest I should be further questionedconcerning them, and I thought to take Vavasour myself."

  Again the earl's hand moved, and the levers moved.

  "Mercy, my lord, mercy!" groaned the gipsy.

  "You kept the knowledge to yourself, at the imminent risk of themurderer's escape, in hope to make sure of the reward."

  "Yes."

  "When and where did you inflict the wounds?"

  "Last August in Melwood Priory. Mercy, my lord."

  "To what end?"

  "Because my Lord Sheffield desired to have him sent to the plantationsunder the name and likeness of one Jim Ulceby."

  The earl sat silent for what seemed a long time, Boswell moaning feeblythe while. Then again the hand waved, the levers moved, and Boswellshrieked in agony.

  "My son gave you order to mutilate Vavasour?"

  "Yes; I did all by his lordship's command.'"

  "Take both prisoners away and bestow them safely in separate dungeons,"said his lordship; "and bring me a cordial, Nicholas."

  The secretary motioned to me to follow him, and two of the men camebehind me. Pennington led the way down the winding stairs to a dungeonlighted only by a slit in the wall, and containing no other furniturethan a stone table.

  "'Tis more than a trifle cold here, Master Pennington," said I. "Somestraw for one's feet, and a wrap for one's body, would be welcome."

  "I will take my lord's pleasure on the matter," replied the secretary,who, to do him justice, had little of the Jack-in-office in his manners.

  "Pray remind him, Master Pennington, that I have saved him a hundredpounds, which deserves acknowledgment."

  I thought I saw a faint smile on the man's face as he answered--

  "You take things easily for a prisoner charged with the murder of theheir to an earldom."

  "Charged with nothing as yet, and well prepared to clear myself fromany such accusation, when I am brought into court of law."

  "The President of the Council has large discretion and plenary powers;nay, has in a sense the royal prerogative," rejoined the secretary.

  "Give you my word, I never heard that the King had prerogative to hanga man without trial."

  Master Pennington made me no answer to this, but withdrew, barring andlocking the door on the outside.

  I know not how it was that I rose to a jesting temper, now that theworst had come to me. Perhaps that was the reason, or it may be mypleasure in saving Bess from further torment raised me to a jocundspirit, or the look I saw on the old earl's face, when he heardBoswell's confession, put heart into me, but truly I was in bettercheer than I had been for many a day. I knew well enough the scope ofthe earl's authority, and how he might override the law in his blackvengeance, but I was nowise daunted. I could have sung a ballad, if mylips had not trembled with the cold.

  About noon, Master Pennington entered my dungeon, accompanied by twoserving-men, who brought food and wine, and a truss of straw andblankets.

  "His lordship is liberal," said I.

  "You owe your provision to the former steward," answered the secretary."He still has authority, though past service, and charged me to saythat his rheumatic joints forbid his coming to you, but whatever abedridden old man can do shall be done on your behalf."

  "The kind old man! I pray you give him thanks for me. I owe MasterWintringham gratitude for many a favour in bygone days."

  Three times a day, good food was brought to my dungeon by aserving-man, but the half-friendly secretary did not come again fordays, and the servitors could not, or would not, tell me news of anykind. My condition, so far as bodily comfort went, would have beentolerable, but for lack of warmth. I paced the floor, slapped myshoulders, held boxing bouts with an invisible adversary, jumped till Ihad no breath left, all to get me some heat into my body, able to thinkof nothing but that I was like to die of cold. Of nights I wrapped thecoverlets tightly round me, and burrowed in the straw, but could notsleep for shivering. After a while, the rigorous weather abatedsomewhat, or I became hardened to it, though it was November. But Iwas now to suffer no less by thinking. My gamesome temper had soonleft me, and I have no words for a description of the heaviness whichfollowed.

  I knew it was in vain to revolve thoughts of escape, for watch was keptcontinually, and I had no means to enlarge the long, narrow slit in thewall that served to give me light and air. I could do nothing but sitwondering and waiting miserably, for such was the strange commotion inmy brain, that my prayers for deliverance brought me no hope orconsolation.

  So I passed a fortnight, and then the secretary appeared again tosummon me to the presence of the earl, who lay on a couch, looking wornand feeble, his hands trembling as if he had no control of them.Behind his couch stood a youth, whom at first I did not know, nothaving seen him since he was a child. He was the earl's heir now, LordButterwick by proper title, but in our country usage, Lord Sheffield.He inclined his head to me, saying, "Be seated, Mr. Vavasour."'

  What this courtesy might portend I could but wonder. The secretary satdown at a desk, and I in front of the couch, half stifled by the heatof the chamber.

  "My father wishes you to hear a sworn deposition read, and afterwardsto give your own account of the affair," said the young man.

  Pennington took up a paper and read. It described the doings atThorne, when my friend Staniforth was killed, but falsely. Accordingto the deponent, the business began by my inciting my comrades toattack the earl's men, myself leading the assault. Staniforth's deathwas recorded as happening in the thick of the fray. When the secretaryhad finished the reading, I told the story from beginning to end, as Ihave before told it in this book.

  Lord Butterwick asked me for the names of eyewitnesses, which I gave.

  Another deposition was to the effect that I had been seen to go to thecottage where Daft Jack (John Temperton he was named in the document)lived; that the deponent had followed me, and heard me use languagetending to encourage him in a design on the life of the King'sCommissioner. What I had said to Jack, after the event, was cunninglyperverted, and reported as having been said before the scene at theWhite Hart. Again, I gave the true account. All the time the earlsaid not a word, but kept his eyes steadily on me. Now he turned tohis son, saying something in a voice too low for me to hear, and LordButterwick replied also in a low tone, but I caught the words, "able tobear more." After they had spoken together in this manner, LordButterwick turned again to me.

  "The earl bids me request your report of the enmity between you and mylate brother."

  "My lord, it began long ago in this house; as I think you willremember, but it came to no more than flouts on his part and scornfulanswers on mine, when we chanced to meet, which was not often. But oflate it has been quickened because we were rivals for the love ofMistress Goel, whom you know. Once I smote him on the face, because heslandered her, but I have done no other ill to him, save a blow withthe fist, defending Mistress Goel from his lust and violence. Godknows I had no intent to kill him, as may be evident from my smitingwith the fist, when I had weapons at my side and in my belt, nor do Ibelieve the blow would have given him his death, had he not turnedaside, so that he took it below the ear. At the time I thought him noworse than insensible for the moment."

  The earl's face grew dark while I spoke, and when I had ended, he said--

  "The _peine forte et dure_ might extort a less plausible story."

  "The prisoner to be laid on his back, and to have iron placed on hisbreast, as much as he can bear and more, and to be fed with bad breadand stagnant water on alternate days until he testifies truly or dies,"murmured the secretary, as if he read from a book.

  I saw no reason why I should answer, and there was a long silence. Atlast the earl asked--

  "Who were present when you struck the blow?"

  "Doctor Goel, his daughter, and their serving-maid."

  "Where are
they now?"

  "As I hope and believe, in their own country."

  "They fled at your suggestion?"

  "Not because they feared to bear testimony for me, but having too muchreason to dread persecution themselves."

  The earl's countenance darkened yet more, and his hands shookviolently. His son bent over his couch, pleading with him, as I judgedby the tone, but did not hear what was said.

  "Take away the prisoner," at length the earl commanded; and thesecretary opened the door, and called two men to conduct me again to mydungeon. There I remained yet another fortnight; but since I havedilated upon my suffering there more than enough, I will say nothingfurther thereon.

  On the last day of November, hearing a dolorous sound of trumpeting, Iclimbed on the stone table, from which I could see through my window alittle piece of the road. Across this small space passed a number ofthe earl's serving-men, two by two, in long black cloaks, with blackbands streaming from their hats; then two trumpeters in black, makingmournful music; then an esquire, mounted, and bearing a pennon orguidon, one half black and the other white. Next came two grooms onfoot, leading a horse covered with black caparison, the reins beingheld by a gentleman on horseback. A number of gentlemen in mourningfollowed two by two, and then two trumpeters. Was Earl Mulgrave deadand this his funeral, I asked myself, with a thrill of hope, Godforgive me. The next comer determined me--a rider, carrying a blackbanner with the Mulgrave arms silver-embroidered. After othergentlemen in mourning, one passed bearing a black staff with a pair ofspurs on the end of it. Then came another, who bore the gauntlets inthe same manner, and one carrying sword and target. Shortly appeared agentleman carrying the coronet on a cushion, with two others, onewalking on either side of him. After them, came one who bore themantle, helmet, wreath, and crest. Then a number of clergymen, two bytwo, and one who walked alone. And now the pall-covered coffin wascarried shoulder-high, pall-bearers, on each side, attended by sixbanners, three on the one side, and three on the other. Another horsewas led behind his master's coffin, and the coach of state followed,drawn by four horses, all draped in mourning fashion. Other coachesrolled by, and after them a long train of gentlemen on horseback passedslowly, and I sank down to wonder what the old nobleman's death mightmean to me. Within twenty-four hours I knew. Master Pennington cameto my dungeon, and, briefly informing me of the late earl's death, bademe go with him to meet the new lord of Mulgrave Castle.

  He dismissed the secretary, and as soon as the door had closed behindhim, said--

  "Mr. Vavasour, I am not President of Council, or in any kind ofjudgeship, and therefore have no right to detain you prisoner in myhouse; but as the brother of the man you killed, it is my duty to handyou over to the rightful authorities, that you may stand your trial forthe deed."

  I bowed my head.

  "I am advised there is no evidence against you but your ownconfession," continued the young earl.

  What a fool I had been to make it, was my first thought.

  "But that confession bore so much the seal of truth, and all you saidhas been so strongly confirmed by the avowal of the gipsy Boswell, andby more credible witnesses, that, considering what you have enduredfrom us, and, to be frank with you, considering how little creditableto the house of Mulgrave it might be to publish what you have sufferedat our hands, although you and I may not be friends, I incline to thinkwe might be generous enemies."

  I had no answer ready to his surprising speech, which he had eithertaken some pains to prepare, or had had prepared for him. He went on--

  "Will you give me your word, Mr. Vavasour, to take your trial, if Icall upon you to do so?"

  "Assuredly, my lord," I replied.

  "Then you are at liberty to go whither you will. But worthy MasterWintringham desires much, to see you before you leave the castle."