"Certes, a small favour to so deserving a youth. I will see to his deputy."
"A word with you, Hastings," said Montagu, thoughtfully, and he drew aside his fellow courtier: "what thinkest thou of this Burgundy b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s visit?"
"That it has given a peac.o.c.k"s strut to the popinjay Anthony Woodville."
"Would that were all!" returned Montagu. "But the very moment that Warwick is negotiating with Louis of France, this interchange of courtesies with Louis"s deadly foe, the Count of Charolois, is out of season."
"Nay, take it not so gravely,-a mere pastime."
"Hastings, thou knowest better. But thou art no friend of my great brother."
"Small cause have I to be so," answered Hastings, with a quivering lip. "To him and your father I owe as deep a curse as ever fell on the heart of man. I have lived to be above even Lord Warwick"s insult. Yet young, I stand amongst the warriors and peers of England with a crest as haught and a scutcheon as stainless as the best. I have drunk deep of the world"s pleasures. I command, as I list, the world"s gaudy pomps, and I tell thee, that all my success in life countervails not the agony of the hour when all the bloom and loveliness of the earth faded into winter, and the only woman I ever loved was sacrificed to her brother"s pride."
The large drops stood on the pale brow of the fortunate n.o.ble as he thus spoke, and his hollow voice affected even the worldly Montagu.
"Tush, Hastings!" said Montagu, kindly; "these are but a young man"s idle memories. Are we not all fated, in our early years, to love in vain?-even I married not the maiden I thought the fairest, and held the dearest. For the rest, bethink thee,-thou wert then but a simple squire."
"But of as ancient and pure a blood as ever rolled its fiery essence through a Norman"s veins."
"It may be so; but old Houses, when impoverished, are cheaply held. And thou must confess thou wert then no mate for Katherine. Now, indeed, it were different; now a Nevile might be proud to call Hastings brother."
"I know it," said Hastings, proudly,-"I know it, lord; and why? Because I have gold, and land, and the king"s love, and can say, as the Centurion, to my fellow-man, "Do this, and he doeth it;" and yet I tell thee, Lord Montagu, that I am less worthy now the love of beauty, the right hand of fellowship from a n.o.ble spirit, than I was then, when-the simple squire-my heart full of truth and loyalty, with lips that had never lied, with a soul never polluted by unworthy pleasures or mean intrigues, I felt that Katherine Nevile should never blush to own her fere and plighted lord in William de Hastings. Let this pa.s.s, let it pa.s.s! You call me no friend to Warwick. True! but I am a friend to the king he has served, and the land of my birth to which he has given peace; and therefore, not till Warwick desert Edward, not till he wake the land again to broil and strife, will I mingle in the plots of those who seek his downfall. If in my office and stated rank I am compelled to countenance the pageant of this mock tournament, and seem to honour the coming of the Count de la Roche, I will at least stand aloof and free from all attempt to apply a gaudy pageant to a dangerous policy; and on this pledge, Montagu, I give you my knightly hand."
"It suffices," answered Montagu, pressing the hand extended to him. "But the other day I heard the king"s dissour tell him a tale of some tyrant, who silently showed a curious questioner how to govern a land, by cutting down, with his staff, the heads of the tallest poppies; and the d.u.c.h.ess of Bedford turned to me, and asked, "What says a Nevile to the application?" "Faith, lady," said I, "the Nevile poppies have oak stems." Believe me, Hastings, these Woodvilles may grieve and wrong and affront Lord Warwick, but woe to all the pigmy goaders when the lion turns at bay!"
With this solemn menace, Montagu quitted Hastings, and pa.s.sed on, leaning upon Marmaduke, and with a gloomy brow.
At the gate of the palace waited the Lord Montagu"s palfrey and his retinue of twenty squires and thirty grooms. "Mount, Master Marmaduke, and take thy choice among these steeds, for we shall ride alone. There is no Nevile amongst these gentlemen." Marmaduke obeyed. The earl dismissed his retinue, and in little more than ten minutes,-so different, then, was the extent of the metropolis,-the n.o.ble and the squire were amidst the open fields.
They had gone several miles at a brisk trot before the earl opened his lips, and then, slackening his pace, he said abruptly, "How dost thou like the king? Speak out, youth; there are no eavesdroppers here."
"He is a most gracious master and a most winning gentleman."
"He is both," said Montagu, with a touch of emotion that surprised Marmaduke; "and no man can come near without loving him. And yet, Marmaduke (is that thy name?)-yet whether it be weakness or falseness, no man can be sure of his king"s favour from day to day. We Neviles must hold fast to each other. Not a stick should be lost if the f.a.got is to remain unbroken. What say you?" and the earl"s keen eye turned sharply on the young man.
"I say, my lord, that the Earl of Warwick was to me patron, lord, and father, when I entered yon city a friendless orphan; and that, though I covet honours, and love pleasure, and would be loth to lift finger or speak word against King Edward, yet were that princely lord-the head of mine House-an outcast and a beggar, by his side I would wander, for his bread I would beg."
"Young man," exclaimed Montagu, "from this hour I admit thee to my heart! Give me thy hand. Beggar and outcast?-No! If the storm come, the meaner birds take to shelter, the eagle remains solitary in heaven!" So saying, he relapsed into silence, and put spurs to his steed. Towards the decline of day they drew near to the favourite palace of the Archbishop of York. There the features of the country presented a more cultivated aspect than it had hitherto worn. For at that period the lands of the churchmen were infinitely in advance of those of the laity in the elementary arts of husbandry, partly because the ecclesiastic proprietors had greater capital at their command, partly because their superior learning had taught them to avail themselves, in some measure, of the instructions of the Latin writers. Still the prevailing characteristic of the scenery was pasture land,-immense tracts of common supported flocks of sheep; the fragrance of new-mown hay breathed sweet from many a sunny field. In the rear stretched woods of Druid growth; and in the narrow lanes, that led to unfrequent farms and homesteads, built almost entirely either of wood or (more primitive still) of mud and clay, profuse weeds, brambles, and wild-flowers almost concealed the narrow pathway, never intended for cart or wagon, and arrested the slow path of the ragged horse bearing the scanty produce of acres to yard or mill. But though to the eye of an economist or philanthropist broad England now, with its variegated agriculture, its wide roads, its white-walled villas, and numerous towns, may present a more smiling countenance, to the early lover of Nature, fresh from the child-like age of poetry and romance, the rich and lovely verdure which gave to our mother-country the name of "Green England;" its wild woods and covert alleys, proffering adventure to fancy; its tranquil heaths, studded with peaceful flocks, and vocal, from time to time, with the rude scrannel of the shepherd,-had a charm which we can understand alone by the luxurious reading of our elder writers. For the country itself ministered to that mingled fancy and contemplation which the stirring and ambitious life of towns and civilization has in much banished from our later literature.
Even the thoughtful Montagu relaxed his brow as he gazed around, and he said to Marmaduke, in a gentle and subdued voice,- "Methinks, young cousin, that in such scenes, those silly rhymes taught us in our childhood of the green woods and the summer cuckoos, of bold Robin and Maid Marian, ring back in our ears. Alas that this fair land should be so often dyed in the blood of her own children! Here, how the thought shrinks from broils and war,-civil war, war between brother and brother, son and father! In the city and the court, we forget others overmuch, from the too keen memory of ourselves."
Scarcely had Montagu said these words, before there suddenly emerged from a bosky lane to the right a man mounted upon a powerful roan horse. His dress was that of a substantial franklin; a green surtout of broadcloth, over a tight vest of the same colour, left, to the admiration of a soldierly eye, an expanse of chest that might have vied with the mighty strength of Warwick himself. A cap, somewhat like a turban, fell in two ends over the left cheek, till they touched the shoulder, and the upper part of the visage was concealed by a half-vizard, not unfrequently worn out of doors with such head-gear, as a shade from the sun. Behind this person rode, on a horse equally powerful, a man of shorter stature, but scarcely less muscular a frame, clad in a leathern jerkin, curiously fastened with thongs, and wearing a steel bonnet, projecting far over the face.
The foremost of these strangers, coming thus unawares upon the courtiers, reined in his steed, and said in a clear, full voice, "Good evening to you, my masters. It is not often that these roads witness riders in silk and pile."
"Friend," quoth the Montagu, "may the peace we enjoy under the White Rose increase the number of all travellers through our land, whether in pile or russet!"
"Peace, sir!" returned the horseman, roughly,-"peace is no blessing to poor men, unless it bring something more than life,-the means to live in security and ease. Peace hath done nothing for the poor of England. Why, look you towards yon gray tower,-the owner is, forsooth, gentleman and knight; but yesterday he and his men broke open a yeoman"s house, carried off his wife and daughters to his tower, and refuseth to surrender them till ransomed by half the year"s produce on the yeoman"s farm."
"A caitiff and illegal act," said Montagu.
"Illegal! But the law will notice it not,-why should it? Unjust, if it punish the knight and dare not touch the king"s brother!"
"How, sir?"
"I say the king"s brother! Scarcely a month since, twenty-four persons under George Duke of Clarence entered by force a lady"s house, and seized her jewels and her money, upon some charge, G.o.d wot, of contriving mischief to the boy-duke. [See for this and other instances of the prevalent contempt of law in the reign of Edward IV., and, indeed, during the fifteenth century, the extracts from the Parliamentary Rolls, quoted by Sharon Turner, "History of England," vol. iii. p. 399.] Are not the Commons ground by imposts for the queen"s kindred? Are not the king"s officers and purveyors licensed spoilers and rapiners? Are not the old chivalry banished for new upstarts? And in all this, is peace better than war?"
"Knowest thou not that these words are death, man?"
"Ay, in the city! but in the fields and waste thought is free. Frown not, my lord. Ah, I know you, and the time may come when the baron will act what the franklin speaks. What! think you I see not the signs of the storm? Are Warwick and Montagu more safe with Edward than they were with Henry? Look to thyself! Charolois will outwit King Louis, and ere the year be out, the young Margaret of England will be lady of your brave brother"s sternest foe!"
"And who art thou, knave?" cried Montagu, aghast, and laying his gloved hand on the bold prophet"s bridle.
"One who has sworn the fall of the House of York, and may live to fight, side by side, in that cause with Warwick; for Warwick, whatever be his faults, has an English heart, and loves the Commons."
Montagu, uttering an exclamation of astonishment, relaxed hold of the franklin"s bridle; and the latter waved his hand, and spurring his steed across the wild chain of commons, disappeared with his follower.
"A st.u.r.dy traitor!" muttered the earl, following him with his eye. "One of the exiled Lancastrian lords, perchance. Strange how they pierce into our secrets! Heardst thou that fellow, Marmaduke?"
"Only in a few sentences, and those brought my hand to my dagger. But as thou madest no sign, I thought his grace the king could not be much injured by empty words."
"True! and misfortune has ever a shrewish tongue."
"An" it please you, my lord," quoth Marmaduke, "I have seen the man before, and it seemeth to me that he holds much power over the rascal rabble." And here Marmaduke narrated the attack upon Warner"s house, and how it was frustrated by the intercession of Robin of Redesdale.
"Art thou sure it is the same man, for his face was masked?"
"My lord, in the North, as thou knowest, we recognize men by their forms, not faces,-as in truth we ought, seeing that it is the sinews and bulk, not the lips and nose, that make a man a useful friend or dangerous foe."
Montagu smiled at this soldierly simplicity. "And heard you the name the raptrils shouted?"
"Robin, my lord. They cried out "Robin," as if it had been a "Montagu I or a "Warwick.""
"Robin! ah, then I guess the man,-a most perilous and stanch Lancastrian. He has more weight with the poor than had Cade the rebel, and they say Margaret trusts him as much as she does an Exeter or Somerset. I marvel that he should show himself so near the gates of London. It must be looked to. But come, cousin. Our steeds are breathed,-let us on!"
On arriving at the More, its stately architecture, embellished by the prelate with a facade of double arches, painted and blazoned somewhat in the fashion of certain old Italian houses, much dazzled Marmaduke. And the splendour of the archbishop"s retinue-less martial indeed than Warwick"s-was yet more imposing to the common eye. Every office that pomp could devise for a king"s court was to be found in the household of this magnificent prelate,-master of the horse and the hounds, chamberlain, treasurer, pursuivant, herald, seneschal, captain of the body-guard, etc.,-and all emulously sought for and proudly held by gentlemen of the first blood and birth. His mansion was at once a court for middle life, a school for youth, an asylum for age; and thither, as to a Medici, fled the letters and the arts.
Through corridor and hall, lined with pages and squires, pa.s.sed Montagu and Marmaduke, till they gained a quaint garden, the wonder and envy of the time, planned by an Italian of Mantua, and perhaps the stateliest one of the kind existent in England. Straight walks, terraces, and fountains, clipped trees, green alleys, and smooth bowling-greens abounded; but the flowers were few and common: and if here and there a statue might be found, it possessed none of the art so admirable in our earliest ecclesiastical architecture, but its clumsy proportions were made more uncouth by a profusion of barbaric painting and gilding. The fountains, however, were especially curious, diversified, and elaborate: some shot up as pyramids, others coiled in undulating streams, each jet chasing the other as serpents; some, again, branched off in the form of trees, while mimic birds, perched upon leaden boughs, poured water from their bills. Marmaduke, much astonished and bewildered, muttered a paternoster in great haste; and even the clerical rank of the prelate did not preserve him from the suspicion of magical practices in the youth"s mind.
Remote from all his train, in a little arbour overgrown with the honeysuckle and white rose, a small table before him bearing fruits, confectionery, and spiced wines (for the prelate was a celebrated epicure, though still in the glow of youth), they found George Nevile, reading lazily a Latin ma.n.u.script.
"Well, my dear lord and brother," said Montagu, laying his arm on the prelate"s shoulder, "first let me present to thy favour a gallant youth, Marmaduke Nevile, worthy his name and thy love."
"He is welcome, Montagu, to our poor house," said the archbishop, rising, and complacently glancing at his palace, splendidly gleaming through the trellis-work. ""Puer ingenui vultus." Thou art acquainted, doubtless, young sir, with the Humaner Letters?"
"Well-a-day, my lord, my nurturing was somewhat neglected in the province," said Marmaduke, disconcerted, and deeply blushing, "and only of late have I deemed the languages fit study for those not reared for our Mother Church."
"Fie, sir, fie! Correct that error, I pray thee. Latin teaches the courtier how to thrive, the soldier how to manoeuvre, the husbandman how to sow; and if we churchmen are more cunning, as the profane call us (and the prelate smiled) than ye of the laity, the Latin must answer for the sins of our learning."
With this, the archbishop pa.s.sed his arm affectionately through his brother"s, and said, "Beshrew me, Montagu, thou lookest worn and weary. Surely thou lackest food, and supper shall be hastened. Even I, who have but slender appet.i.te, grow hungered in these cool gloaming hours."
"Dismiss my comrade, George,-I would speak to thee," whispered Montagu.
"Thou knowest not Latin?" said the archbishop, turning with a compa.s.sionate eye to Nevile, whose own eye was amorously fixed on the delicate confectioneries,-"never too late to learn. Hold, here is a grammar of the verbs, that, with mine own hand, I have drawn up for youth. Study thine amo and thy moneo, while I confer on Church matters with giddy Montagu. I shall expect, ere we sup, that thou wilt have mastered the first tenses."
"But-"
"Oh, nay, nay; but me no buts. Thou art too tough, I fear me, for flagellation, a wondrous improver of tender youth,"-and the prelate forced his grammar into the reluctant hands of Marmaduke, and sauntered down one of the solitary alleys with his brother.
Long and earnest was their conference, and at one time keen were their dispute"s.
The archbishop had very little of the energy of Montagu or the impetuosity of Warwick, but he had far more of what we now call mind, as distinct from talent, than either; that is, he had not their capacities for action, but he had a judgment and sagacity that made him considered a wise and sound adviser: this he owed princ.i.p.ally to the churchman"s love of ease, and to his freedom from the wear and tear of the pa.s.sions which gnawed the great minister and the aspiring courtier; his natural intellect was also fostered by much learning. George Nevile had been reared, by an Italian ecclesiastic, in all the subtle diplomacy of the Church; and his ambition, despising lay objects (though he consented to hold the office of chancellor), was concentrated in that kingdom over kings which had animated the august dominators of religious Rome. Though, as we have said, still in that age when the affections are usually vivid, [He was consecrated Bishop of Exeter at the age of twenty; at twenty-six he became Archbishop of York, and was under thirty at the time referred to in the text.] George Nevile loved no human creature,-not even his brothers; not even King Edward, who, with all his vices, possessed so eminently the secret that wins men"s hearts. His early and entire absorption in the great religious community, which stood apart from the laymen in order to control them, alienated him from his kind; and his superior instruction only served to feed him with a calm and icy contempt for all that prejudice, as he termed it, held dear and precious. He despised the knight"s wayward honour, the burgher"s crafty honesty. For him no such thing as principle existed; and conscience itself lay dead in the folds of a fancied exemption from all responsibility to the dull herd, that were but as wool and meat to the churchman shepherd. But withal, if somewhat pedantic, he had in his manner a suavity and elegance and polish which suited well his high station, and gave persuasion to his counsels. In all externals he was as little like a priest as the high-born prelates of that day usually were. In dress he rivalled the fopperies of the Plantagenet brothers; in the chase he was more ardent than Warwick had been in his earlier youth; and a dry sarcastic humour, sometimes elevated into wit, gave liveliness to his sagacious converse.
Montagu desired that the archbishop and himself should demand solemn audience of Edward, and gravely remonstrate with the king on the impropriety of receiving the brother of a rival suitor, while Warwick was negotiating the marriage of Margaret with a prince of France.
"Nay," said the archbishop, with a bland smile, that fretted Montagu to the quick, "surely even a baron, a knight, a franklin, a poor priest like myself, would rise against the man who dictated to his hospitality. Is a king less irritable than baron, knight, franklin, and priest,-or rather, being, as it were, per legem, lord of all, hath he not irritability eno" for all four? Ay, tut and tush as thou wilt, John, but thy sense must do justice to my counsel at the last. I know Edward well; he hath something of mine own idlesse and ease of temper, but with more of the dozing lion than priests, who have only, look you, the mildness of the dove. p.r.i.c.k up his higher spirit, not by sharp remonstrance, but by seeming trust. Observe to him, with thy gay, careless laugh-which, methinks, thou hast somewhat lost of late-that with any other prince Warwick might suspect some snare, some humiliating overthrow of his emba.s.sage, but that all men know how steadfast in faith and honour is Edward IV."
"Truly," said Montagu, with a forced smile, "you understand mankind; but yet, bethink you-suppose this fail, and Warwick return to England to hear that he hath been cajoled and fooled; that the Margaret he had crossed the seas to affiance to the brother of Louis is betrothed to Charolois-bethink you, I say, what manner of heart beats under our brother"s mail."
"Impiger, iracundus!" said the archbishop; "a very Achilles, to whom our English Agamemnon, if he cross him, is a baby. All this is sad truth; our parents spoilt him in his childhood, and glory in his youth, and wealth, power, success, in his manhood. Ay! if Warwick be chafed, it will be as the stir of the sea-serpent, which, according to the Icelanders, moves a world. Still, the best way to prevent the danger is to enlist the honour of the king in his behalf,-to show that our eyes are open, but that we disdain to doubt, and are frank to confide. Meanwhile send messages and warnings privately to Warwick."
These reasonings finally prevailed with Montagu, and the brothers returned with one mind to the house. Here, as after their ablutions they sat down to the evening meal, the archbishop remembered poor Marmaduke, and despatched to him one of his thirty household chaplains. Marmaduke was found fast asleep over the second tense of the verb amo.
CHAPTER VI. THE ARRIVAL OF THE COUNT DE LA ROCHE, AND THE VARIOUS EXCITEMENT PRODUCED ON MANY PERSONAGES BY THAT EVENT.
The prudence of the archbishop"s counsel was so far made manifest, that on the next day Montagu found all remonstrance would have been too late. The Count de la Roche had already landed, and was on his way to London. The citizens, led by Rivers partially to suspect the object of the visit, were delighted not only by the prospect of a brilliant pageant, but by the promise such a visit conveyed of a continued peace with their commercial ally; and the preparations made by the wealthy merchants increased the bitterness and discontent of Montagu. At length, at the head of a gallant and princely retinue, the Count de la Roche entered London. Though Hastings made no secret of his distaste to the Count de la Roche"s visit, it became his office as lord chamberlain to meet the count at Blackwall, and escort him and his train, in gilded barges, to the palace.
In the great hall of the Tower, in which the story of Antiochus was painted by the great artists employed under Henry III., and on the elevation of the dais, behind which, across Gothic columns, stretched draperies of cloth-of-gold, was placed Edward"s chair of state. Around him were grouped the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, the Lords Worcester, Montagu, Rivers, D"Eyncourt, St. John, Raoul de Fulke, and others. But at the threshold of the chamber stood Anthony Woodville, the knightly challenger, his knee bound by the ladye-badge of the S. S., and his fine person clad in white-flowered velvet of Genoa, adorned with pearls. Stepping forward, as the count appeared, the gallant Englishman bent his knee half-way to the ground, and raising the count"s hand to his lips, said in French, "Deign, n.o.ble sir, to accept the grat.i.tude of one who were not worthy of encounter from so peerless a hand, save by the favour of the ladies of England, and your own courtesy, which enn.o.bles him whom it stoops to." So saying, he led the count towards the king.
De la Roche, an experienced and profound courtier, and justly deserving Hall"s praise as a man of "great witte, courage, valiantness, and liberalitie," did not affect to conceal the admiration which the remarkable presence of Edward never failed to excite; lifting his hand to his eyes, as if to shade them from a sudden blaze of light, he would have fallen on both knees, but Edward with quick condescension raised him, and, rising himself, said gayly,- "Nay, Count de la Roche, brave and puissant chevalier, who hath crossed the seas in honour of knighthood and the ladies, we would, indeed, that our roiaulme boasted a lord like thee, from whom we might ask such homage. But since thou art not our subject, it consoles us at least that thou art our guest. By our halidame, Lord Scales, thou must look well to thy lance and thy steed"s girths, for never, I trow, hast thou met a champion of goodlier strength and knightlier mettle."
"My lord king," answered the count, "I fear me, indeed, that a knight like the Sieur Anthony, who fights under the eyes of such a king, will prove invincible. Did kings enter the lists with kings, where, through broad Christendom, find a compeer for your Highness?"
"Your brother, Sir Count, if fame lies not," returned Edward, slightly laughing, and lightly touching the b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s shoulder, "were a fearful lance to encounter, even though Charlemagne himself were to revive with his twelve paladins at his back. Tell us, Sir Count," added the king, drawing himself up,-"tell us, for we soldiers are curious in such matters, hath not the Count of Charolois the advantage of all here in sinews and stature?"
"Sire," returned De la Roche, "my princely brother is indeed mighty with the brand and battle-axe, but your Grace is taller by half the head,-and, peradventure, of even a more stalwart build; but that mere strength in your Highness is not that gift of G.o.d which strikes the beholder most."
Edward smiled good-humouredly at a compliment the truth of which was too obvious to move much vanity, and said with a royal and knightly grace, "Our House of York hath been taught, Sir Count, to estimate men"s beauty by men"s deeds, and therefore the Count of Charolois hath long been known to us-who, alas, have seen him not!-as the fairest gentleman of Europe. My Lord Scales, we must here publicly crave your pardon. Our brother-in-law, Sir Count, would fain have claimed his right to hold you his guest, and have graced himself by exclusive service to your person. We have taken from him his lawful office, for we kings are jealous, and would not have our subjects more honoured than ourselves." Edward turned round to his courtiers as he spoke, and saw that his last words had called a haughty and angry look to the watchful countenance of Montagu. "Lord Hastings," he continued, "to your keeping, as our representative, we intrust this gentleman. He must need refreshment ere we present him to our queen."
The count bowed to the ground, and reverently withdrew from the royal presence, accompanied by Hastings. Edward then, singling Anthony Woodville and Lord Rivers from the group, broke up the audience, and, followed by those two n.o.blemen, quitted the hall.
Montagu, whose countenance had recovered the dignified and high-born calm habitual to it, turned to the Duke of Clarence, and observed indifferently, "The Count de la Roche hath a goodly mien, and a fair tongue."
"Pest on these Burgundians!" answered Clarence, in an undertone, and drawing Montagu aside. "I would wager my best greyhound to a scullion"s cur that our English knights will lower their burgonets."
"Nay, sir, an idle holiday show. What matters whose lance breaks, or whose destrier stumbles?"
"Will you not, yourself, cousin Montagu-you who are so peerless in the joust-take part in the fray?"
"I, your Highness,-I, the brother of the Earl of Warwick, whom this pageant hath been devised by the Woodvilles to mortify and disparage in his solemn emba.s.sy to Burgundy"s mightiest foe!-I!"
"Sooth to say," said the young prince, much embarra.s.sed, "it grieves me sorely to hear thee speak as if Warwick would be angered at this pastime. For, look you, Montagu, I, thinking only of my hate to Burgundy and my zeal for our English honour, have consented, as high constable, and despite my grudge to the Woodvilles, to bear the ba.s.sinet of our own champion, and-"
"Saints in heaven!" exclaimed Montagu, with a burst of his fierce brother"s temper, which he immediately checked, and changed into a tone that concealed, beneath outward respect, the keenest irony, "I crave your pardon humbly for my vehemence, Prince of Clarence. I suddenly remember me that humility is the proper virtue of knighthood. Your Grace does indeed set a notable example of that virtue to the peers of England; and my poor brother"s infirmity of pride will stand rebuked for aye, when he hears that George Plantagenet bore the ba.s.sinet of Anthony Woodville."
"But it is for the honour of the ladies," said Clarence, falteringly; "in honour of the fairest maid of all-the flower of English beauty-the Lady Isabel-that I-"
"Your Highness will pardon me," interrupted Montagu; "but I do trust to your esteem for our poor and insulted House of Nevile so far as to be a.s.sured that the name of my niece Isabel will not be submitted to the ribald comments of a base-born Burgundian."
"Then I will break no lance in the lists!"
"As it likes you, prince," replied Montagu, shortly; and, with a low bow, he quitted the chamber, and was striding to the outer gate of the Tower, when a sweet, clear voice behind him called him by his name. He turned abruptly, to meet the dark eye and all-subduing smile of the boy-Duke of Gloucester.
"A word with you, Montagu, n.o.blest and most prized, with your princely brothers, of the champions of our House,-I read your generous indignation with our poor Clarence. Ay, sir! ay!-it was a weakness in him that moved even me. But you have not now to learn that his nature, how excellent soever, is somewhat unsteady. His judgment alone lacks weight and substance,-ever persuaded against his better reason by those who approach his infirmer side; but if it be true that our cousin Warwick intends for him the hand of the peerless Isabel, wiser heads will guide his course."
"My brother," said Montagu, greatly softened, "is much beholden to your Highness for a steady countenance and friendship, for which I also, believe me-and the families of Beauchamp, Montagu, and Nevile-are duly grateful. But to speak plainly (which your Grace"s youthful candour, so all-acknowledged, will permit), the kinsmen of the queen do now so aspire to rule this land, to marry or forbid to marry, not only our own children, but your ill.u.s.trious father"s, that I foresee in this visit of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d Anthony the most signal disgrace to Warwick that ever king pa.s.sed upon amba.s.sador or gentleman. And this moves me more!-yea, I vow to Saint George, my patron, it moves me more-by the thought of danger to your royal House than by the grief of slight to mine; for Warwick-but you know him."
"Montagu, you must soothe and calm your brother if chafed. I impose that task on your love for us. Alack, would that Edward listened more to me and less to the queen"s kith! These Woodvilles!-and yet they may live to move not wrath but pity. If aught snapped the thread of Edward"s life (Holy Paul forbid!), what would chance to Elizabeth, her brothers, her children?"
"Her children would mount the throne that our right hands built," said Montagu, sullenly.
"Ah, think you so?-you rejoice me! I had feared that the barons might, that the commons would, that the Church must, p.r.o.nounce the unhappy truth, that-but you look amazed, my lord! Alas, my boyish years are too garrulous!"
"I catch not your Highness"s meaning."
"Pooh, pooh! By Saint Paul, your seeming dulness proves your loyalty; but with me, the king"s brother, frankness were safe. Thou knowest well that the king was betrothed before to the Lady Eleanor Talbot; that such betrothal, not set aside by the Pope, renders his marriage with Elizabeth against law; that his children may (would to Heaven it were not so!) be set aside as b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, when Edward"s life no longer shields them from the sharp eyes of men."
"Ah," said Montagu, thoughtfully; "and in that case, George of Clarence would wear the crown, and his children reign in England."
"Our Lord forefend," said Richard, "that I should say that Warwick thought of this when he deemed George worthy of the hand of Isabel. Nay, it could not be so; for, however clear the claim, strong and powerful would be those who would resist it, and Clarence is not, as you will see, the man who can wrestle boldly,-even for a throne. Moreover, he is too addicted to wine and pleasure to bid fair to outlive the king."
Montagu fixed his penetrating eyes on Richard, but dropped them, abashed, before that steady, deep, unrevealing gaze, which seemed to pierce into other hearts, and show nothing of the heart within.
"Happy Clarence!" resumed the prince, with a heavy sigh, and after a brief pause,-"a Nevile"s husband and a Warwick"s son-what can the saints do more for men? You must excuse his errors-all our errors-to your brother. You may not know, peradventure, sweet Montagu, how deep an interest I have in maintaining all amity between Lord Warwick and the king. For methinks there is one face fairer than fair Isabel"s, and one man more to be envied than even Clarence. Fairest face to me in the wide world is the Lady Anne"s! happiest man between the cradle and the grave is he whom the Lady Anne shall call her lord! and if I-oh, look you, Montagu, let there be no breach between Warwick and the king! Fare you well, dear lord and cousin,-I go to Baynard"s Castle till these feasts are over."
"Does not your Grace," said Montagu, recovering from the surprise into which one part of Gloucester"s address had thrown him-"does not your Grace-so skilled in lance and horsemanship-preside at the lists?"
"Montagu, I love your brother well enough to displease my king. The great earl shall not say, at least, that Richard Plantagenet in his absence forgot the reverence due to loyalty and merit. Tell him that; and if I seem (unlike Clarence) to forbear to confront the queen and her kindred, it is because you should make no enemies,-not the less for that should princes forget no friends."