When Dirk had kissed and welcomed his young cousin he ushered her, stillaccompanied by the saddle, into the room where his wife and Foy were atsupper, and with them the Pastor Arentz, that clergyman who had preachedto them on the previous night. Here he found Lysbeth, who had risen fromthe table anxiously awaiting his return. So dreadful were the times thata knocking on the door at an unaccustomed hour was enough to throw thosewithin into a paroxysm of fear, especially if at the moment they chancedto be harbouring a pastor of the New Faith, a crime punishable withdeath. That sound might mean nothing more than a visit from a neighbour,or it might be the trump of doom to every soul within the house,signifying the approach of the familiars of the Inquisition and of amartyr's crown. Therefore Lysbeth uttered a sigh of joy when her husbandappeared, followed only by a girl.
"Wife," he said, "here is our cousin, Elsa Brant, come to visit us fromThe Hague, though why I know not as yet. You remember Elsa, the littleElsa, with whom we used to play so many years ago."
"Yes, indeed," answered Lysbeth, as she put her arms about her andembraced her, saying, "welcome, child, though," she added, glancing ather, "you should no longer be called child who have grown into so faira maid. But look, here is the Pastor Arentz, of whom you may have heard,for he is the friend of your father and of us all."
"In truth, yes," answered Elsa curtseying, a salute which Arentzacknowledged by saying gravely,
"Daughter, I greet you in the name of the Lord, who has brought you tothis house safely, for which give thanks."
"Truly, Pastor, I have need to do so since--" and suddenly she stopped,for her eyes met those of Foy, who was gazing at her with such wonderand admiration stamped upon his open face that Elsa coloured at thesight. Then, recovering herself, she held out her hand, saying, "Surelyyou are my cousin Foy; I should have known you again anywhere by yourhair and eyes."
"I am glad," he answered simply, for it flattered him to think that thisbeautiful young lady remembered her old playmate, whom she had not seenfor at least eleven years, adding, "but I do not think I should haveknown you."
"Why?" she asked, "have I changed so much?"
"Yes," Foy answered bluntly, "you used to be a thin little girl with redarms, and now you are the most lovely maiden I ever saw."
At this speech everybody laughed, including the Pastor, while Elsa,reddening still more, replied, "Cousin, I remember that _you_ used to berude, but now you have learned to flatter, which is worse. Nay, I beg ofyou, spare me," for Foy showed signs of wishing to argue the point. Thenturning from him she slipped off her cloak and sat down on the chairwhich Dirk had placed for her at the table, reflecting in her heart thatshe wished it had been Foy who rescued her from the wood thieves, andnot the more polished Adrian.
Afterwards as the meal went on she told the tale of their adventure.Scarcely was it done when Adrian entered the room. The first thinghe noticed was that Elsa and Foy were seated side by side, engaged inanimated talk, and the second, that there was no cover for him at thetable.
"Have I your permission to sit down, mother?" he asked in a loud voice,for no one had seen him come in.
"Certainly, son, why not?" answered Lysbeth, kindly. Adrian's voicewarned her that his temper was ruffled.
"Because there is no place for me, mother, that is all, though doubtlessit is more worthily filled by the Rev. Pastor Arentz. Still, after a manhas been fighting for his life with armed thieves, well--a bit of foodand a place to eat it in would have been welcome."
"Fighting for your life, son!" said Lysbeth astonished. "Why, from whatElsa has just been telling us, I gathered that the rascals ran away atthe first blow which you struck with your staff."
"Indeed, mother; well, doubtless if the lady says that, it was so. Itook no great note; at the least they ran and she was saved, with theothers; a small service not worth mentioning, still useful in its way."
"Oh! take my chair, Adrian," said Foy rising, "and don't make such astir about a couple of cowardly footpads and an old hag. You don't wantus to think you a hero because you didn't turn tail and leave Elsa andher companions in their hands, do you?"
"What you think, or do not think, is a matter of indifference to me,"replied Adrian, seating himself with an injured air.
"Whatever my cousin Foy may think, Heer Adrian," broke in Elsaanxiously, "I am sure I thank God who sent so brave a gentleman to helpus. Yes, yes, I mean it, for it makes me sick to remember what mighthave happened if you had not rushed at those wicked men like--like----"
"Like David on the Philistines," suggested Foy.
"You should study your Bible, lad," put in Arentz with a grave smile."It was Samson who slew the Philistines; David conquered the giantGoliath, though it is true that he also was a Philistine."
"Like Samson--I mean David--on Goliath," continued Elsa confusedly. "Oh!please, cousin Foy, do not laugh; I believe that you would have left meat the mercy of that dreadful man with a flat face and the bald head,who was trying to steal my father's letter. By the way, cousin Dirk,I have not given it to you yet, but it is quite safe, sewn up in thelining of the saddle, and I was to tell you that you must read it by theold cypher."
"Man with a flat face," said Dirk anxiously, as he slit away at thestitches of the saddle to find the letter; "tell me about him. What washe like, and what makes you think he wished to take the paper from you?"
So Elsa described the appearance of the man and of the black-eyed hag,his companion, and repeated also the words that the Heer van Broekhovenhad heard the woman utter before the attack took place.
"That sounds like the spy, Hague Simon, him whom they call the Butcher,and his wife, Black Meg," said Dirk. "Adrian, you must have seen thesepeople, was it they?"
For a moment Adrian considered whether he should tell the truth; then,for certain reasons of his own, decided that he would not. Black Meg, itmay be explained, in the intervals of graver business was not averse toserving as an emissary of Venus. In short, she arranged assignations,and Adrian was fond of assignations. Hence his reticence.
"How should I know?" he answered, after a pause; "the place was gloomy,and I have only set eyes upon Hague Simon and his wife about twice in mylife."
"Softly, brother," said Foy, "and stick to the truth, however gloomy thewood may have been. You know Black Meg pretty well at any rate, for Ihave often seen you--" and he stopped suddenly, as though sorry that thewords had slipped from his tongue.
"Adrian, is this so?" asked Dirk in the silence which followed.
"No, stepfather," answered Adrian.
"You hear," said Dirk addressing Foy. "In future, son, I trust that youwill be more careful with your words. It is no charge to bring lightlyagainst a man that he has been seen in the fellowship of one of the mostinfamous wretches in Leyden, a creature whose hands are stained red withthe blood of innocent men and women, and who, as your mother knows, oncebrought me near to the scaffold."
Suddenly the laughing boyish look passed out of the face of Foy, and itgrew stern.
"I am sorry for my words," he said, "since Black Meg does other thingsbesides spying, and Adrian may have had business of his own with herwhich is no affair of mine. But, as they are spoke, I can't eat them, soyou must decide which of us is--not truthful."
"Nay, Foy, nay," interposed Arentz, "do not put it thus. Doubtless thereis some mistake, and have I not told you before that you are over rashof tongue?"
"Yes, and a great many other things," answered Foy, "every one of themtrue, for I am a miserable sinner. Well, all right, there is a mistake,and it is," he added, with an air of radiant innocency that somehow wasscarcely calculated to deceive, "that I was merely poking a stick intoAdrian's temper. I never saw him talking to Black Meg. Now, are yousatisfied?"
Then the storm broke, as Elsa, who had been watching the face of Adrianwhile he listened to Foy's artless but somewhat fatuous explanation, sawthat it must break.
"There is a conspiracy against me," said Adrian, who had grown whitewith rage; "yes, everything has conspired
against me to-day. First theragamuffins in the street make a mock of me, and then my hawk is killed.Next it chances that I rescue this lady and her companions from robbersin the wood. But, do I get any thanks for this? No, I come home to findthat I am so much forgotten that no place is even laid for me at table;more, to be jeered at for the humble services that I have done. Lastly,I have the lie given to me, and without reproach, by my brother, who,were he not my brother, should answer for it at the sword's point."
"Oh! Adrian, Adrian," broke in Foy, "don't be a fool; stop before yousay something you will be sorry for."
"That isn't all," went on Adrian, taking no heed. "Whom do I find atthis table? The worthy Heer Arentz, a minister of the New Religion.Well, I protest. I belong to the New Religion myself, having beenbrought up in that faith, but it must be well known that the presence ofa pastor here in our house exposes everybody to the risk of death. Ifmy stepfather and Foy choose to take that risk, well and good, but Imaintain that they have no right to lay its consequences upon my mother,whose eldest son I am, nor even upon myself."
Now Dirk rose and tapped Adrian on the shoulder. "Young man," he saidcoldly and with glittering eyes, "listen to me. The risks which I andmy son, Foy, and my wife, your mother, take, we run for conscience sake.You have nothing to do with them, it is our affair. But since you haveraised the question, if your faith is not strong enough to support youI acknowledge that I have no right to bring you into danger. Look you,Adrian, you are no son of mine; in you I have neither part nor lot, yetI have cared for you and supported you since you were born under verystrange and unhappy circumstances. Yes, you have shared whatever I hadto give with my own son, without preference or favour, and should haveshared it even after my death. And now, if these are your opinions, I amtempted to say to you that the world is wide and that, instead of idlinghere upon my bounty, you would do well to win your own way through it asfar from Leyden as may please you."
"You throw your benefits in my teeth, and reproach me with my birth,"broke in Adrian, who by now was almost raving with passion, "as thoughit were a crime in me to have other blood running in my veins than thatof Netherlander tradesfolk. Well, if so, it would seem that the crimewas my mother's, and not mine, who----"
"Adrian, Adrian!" cried Foy, in warning, but the madman heeded not.
"Who," he went on furiously, "was content to be the companion, forI understand that she was never really married to him, of some nobleSpaniard before she became the wife of a Leyden artisan."
He ceased, and at this moment there broke from Lysbeth's lips a low wailof such bitter anguish that it chilled even his mad rage to silence.
"Shame on thee, my son," said the wail, "who art not ashamed to speakthus of the mother that bore thee."
"Ay," echoed Dirk, in the stillness that followed, "shame on thee! Oncethou wast warned, but now I warn no more."
Then he stepped to the door, opened it, and called, "Martin, comehither."
Presently, still in that heavy silence, which was broken only by thequick breath of Adrian panting like some wild beast in a net, was heardthe sound of heavy feet shuffling down the passage. Then Martin enteredthe room, and stood there gazing about him with his large blue eyes,that were like the eyes of a wondering child.
"Your pleasure, master," he said at length.
"Martin Roos," replied Dirk, waving back Arentz who rose to speak,"take that young man, my stepson, the Heer Adrian, and lead him from myhouse--without violence if possible. My order is that henceforth you arenot to suffer him to set foot within its threshold; see that it is notdisobeyed. Go, Adrian, to-morrow your possessions shall be sent to you,and with them such money as shall suffice to start you in the world."
Without comment or any expression of surprise, the huge Martin shuffledforward towards Adrian, his hand outstretched as though to take him bythe arm.
"What!" exclaimed Adrian, as Martin advanced down the room, "you setyour mastiff on me, do you? Then I will show you how a gentleman treatsdogs," and suddenly, a naked dagger shining in his hand, he leapedstraight at the Frisian's throat. So quick and fierce was the onslaughtthat only one issue to it seemed possible. Elsa gasped and closed hereyes, thinking when she opened them to see that knife plunged to thehilt in Martin's breast, and Foy sprang forward. Yet in this twinklingof an eye the danger was done with, for by some movement too quick tofollow, Martin had dealt his assailant such a blow upon the arm that theponiard, jarred from his grasp, flew flashing across the room to fall inLysbeth's lap. Another second and the iron grip had closed upon Adrian'sshoulder, and although he was strong and struggled furiously, yet hecould not loose the hold of that single hand.
"Please cease fighting, Mynheer Adrian, for it is quite useless," saidMartin to his captive in a voice as calm as though nothing unusual hadhappened. Then he turned and walked with him towards the door.
On the threshold Martin stopped, and looking over his shoulder said,"Master, I think that the Heer is dead, do you still wish me to put himinto the street?"
They crowded round and stared. It was true, Adrian seemed to be dead; atleast his face was like that of a corpse, while from the corner of hismouth blood trickled in a thin stream.
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