Struck by the force of these remarks, our young knight felt he had no alternative but to submit to circ.u.mstances, and he accordingly agreed to accept the aid proffered him by his mysterious friend. But it was not without feelings of intense anguish that he turned away from the path leading to the little secluded cottage containing all he held dear, and followed his conductor, who seemed resolved to allow him no time for further hesitation, but proceeding at a rapid pace towards the west till he reached Broad Saint Giles"s--then a rural village--and entered a small tavern, bearing the sign of "The Rose and Crown," the landlord of which appeared to have an understanding with the promoter, for at a sign from him, he immediately ushered his guests into a chamber up-stairs, and without saying a word, left them alone together.
"Here you will be secure and undisturbed," said Lanyere; "and all your wants will be cared for by my trusty ally, Barnabas Boteler; but, for your own sake, you must consent to remain a close prisoner, till I bring you word that you may go forth with safety. I must now leave you, having much to do, and must defer the explanations I design to give you to a more convenient season. Be not uneasy if you should not see me for a few days, as circ.u.mstances may prevent my coming to you. When I next appear, I trust it may be to bring you good tidings. Till then, farewell."
And without waiting for any reply from Sir Jocelyn, he hastily departed.
Left alone, our young knight did the best he could to reconcile himself to the strange situation in which he was placed. He was naturally full of anxiety, both on his own account, and on that of Aveline; yet, on calm reflection, he felt satisfied he had acted for the best, and that, in accepting the protection of the mysterious individual who seemed bent upon directing his fortunes, he had followed the dictates of prudence.
Barnabas Boteler attended him in person, and suffered no one else to come near him; but though the worthy host seemed anxious to antic.i.p.ate his wants in every particular, his manner was reserved, and, in Sir Jocelyn"s opinion, he had something of the look of a jailor, and this notion was strengthened when he found himself locked in his room.
Probably this was only done as a precautionary measure by the host; and as the window was at no great height from the ground, and he could descend from it when he chose, he gave himself no great concern about the matter.
In this way three days pa.s.sed by without anything occurring to break the monotony of his wearisome confinement,--not even a visit from Clement Lanyere. To Sir Jocelyn"s inquiries concerning him, the host professed utter inability to give a precise answer, but said that he might arrive at any moment. As he did not appear, however, on the fourth day, Sir Jocelyn"s patience got quite worn out, and his uneasiness respecting Aveline having become insupportable, he determined, at all hazards, on visiting her cottage. Without acquainting the host with his intention, or asking to have the door unfastened, he opened the window which looked into a garden at the back of the house, and sprang from it. His furtive departure did not appear to be noticed, and he soon gained the road, and took the direction of Aveline"s dwelling.
CHAPTER XXI.
The Arrest.
As he approached the cottage a heavy presentiment of ill seized Sir Jocelyn. The place seemed to have lost its customary smiling air. No fair countenance beamed upon him from the cas.e.m.e.nt; no light footsteps were heard hastening to the door; no one opened it to give him welcome.
Could Aveline have fled"?--or had some dire misfortune happened to her.
Suspense was worse than certainty of ill: and after a moment"s hesitation, he raised the latch, and with trembling footsteps crossed the threshold.
She was gone--he could no longer doubt it. The disordered appearance of the chamber in which he found himself, with its furniture scattered about, seemed to tell of a struggle, and a forcible abduction.
Nevertheless, though expecting no answer, he called forth her name in accents of wildest despair. She came not to his cries--neither she nor her companion, Dame Sherborne, nor her faithful attendant old Anthony Rocke. All were gone. The house was indeed desolate.
Still clinging to hope, he flew up-stairs, but could find no traces there of any of the inmates of the dwelling; and with a heart now completely crushed, he descended to the chamber he had just quitted.
Here he found Clement Lanyere surveying the scene of confusion around him with a stern and troubled look. Sir Jocelyn instantly rushed up to him, and seizing him by the arm, fiercely demanded what had become of Aveline?
"She is in the hands of Sir Francis Mitch.e.l.l," replied the promoter, shaking-him off; "and, for aught I know, may be wedded to him by this time."
"Wedded!" almost shrieked the young man. "Impossible! she would never consent--and he would not dare have recourse to violence."
"Though he might not, his partner, Sir Giles Mompesson, would have no such scruples," returned the promoter. "But perhaps you are right, and Aveline"s determined resistance may intimidate them both so that they may abandon their design. I hope so for your sake, and for hers also--but I have my fears."
"You know more than you choose to avow, Sir," said Sir Jocelyn sternly,--"and as you value your life, I command you to speak plainly, and tell me what has happened, and where I shall find Aveline."
"So commanded by any other than yourself, Sir Jocelyn," rejoined the promoter, "I would _not_ speak; but to you I say, as I have before declared, that Aveline is undoubtedly in the power of Sir Francis Mitch.e.l.l, and that it will rest entirely with herself whether she escapes him or not."
"And you have caused me to be detained while she has been carried off,"
exclaimed Sir Jocelyn, furiously. "Fool that I was to trust you! You are in league with the villains."
"Think of me what you please, and say what you will--you shall not anger me," rejoined the promoter. "I discovered your flight from the place of refuge I had procured for you, and guessing where you had come, followed you hither. Your danger is not past. Vainly will you seek Sir Francis Mitch.e.l.l. You will not find him,--but you _will_ find a serjeant-at-arms with a Star-Chamber warrant for your arrest. To this you can offer no resistance; and what will follow? I will tell you:--immediate incarceration in the Fleet Prison. And when safely lodged there, how, may I ask, are you to liberate Aveline?"
"I must trust to chance," replied Sir Jocelyn. "I can no longer place any reliance upon you. Stand aside, and let me pa.s.s. I would not harm you."
"You cannot injure one whose intentions are friendly to you as mine are.
Listen to me, and let what I have to say sink deeply into your breast.
Do anything rather than render yourself amenable to the accursed tribunal I have named. Abandon mistress, friend, relative--all who are near and dear to you--if they would bring you within its grasp."
"And do you venture to give me this shameful council? Do you think I will attend to it?" cried Sir Jocelyn.
"I am sure you will, if you hear me out--and you _shall_ hear me," the promoter exclaimed with so much authority that the young man, however impatient, could not refuse attention, to him. "Look me in the face, Sir Jocelyn! Regard me well! Behold these ineffaceable marks made by the heated iron, and the sharpened knife! How came they there? From a sentence of the Star-Chamber. And as my offence was the same as yours, so your sentence will correspond with mine. Your punishment will be the same as mine--branding and mutilation. Ha! I perceive I have touched you now."
"What was your offence, unhappy man?" asked Sir Jocelyn, averting his gaze from the hideous aspect which, now lighted up with mingled emotions of rage and despair, had become absolutely appalling.
"The same as your own, as I have said," replied the other;--"a few hasty words impugning the justice of this vindictive court. Better had I have cut out my tongue than have given utterance to them. But my case more nearly resembled yours than I have yet explained, for, like you, I had incurred the displeasure of Sir Giles Mompesson, and was by him delivered to these h.e.l.lish tormentors. Acting under cover of the Star-Chamber, and in pursuance of its iniquitous decrees, he nailed me to the pillory, and so fast, that the ears through which the spikes were driven were left behind. Think how you would like that, Sir Jocelyn?
Think what you would feel, if you stood there on that infamous post, a spectacle to the base and shouting rabble, with a paper fastened to your breast, setting forth your crimes, and acquainting all that you were a Star-Chamber delinquent?"
"Enough, Sir," interrupted Sir Jocelyn.
"Ay, enough--more than enough," rejoined the other; "but I cannot spare you the whole of the recital, however painful it may be to you. My own sufferings will be yours, if you heed not. So I shall go on. In robbing me of my ears, the executioner had only half done his work. He had still further to deface the image of his Maker,--and he hesitated not in his task. No savage in the wilds could have treated his deadliest enemy worse than he treated me; and yet the vile concourse applauded him, and not a word of pity escaped them. My sentence was fully carried out; my features for ever disfigured; and the letters of shame indelibly stamped upon my cheek. You may read them there now if you will look at me."
"You thrill me with horror," said Sir Jocelyn.
"Ay, mine is not a mirthful history, though that fiend in human form, Sir Giles, hath often laughed at it," rejoined the promoter. "It might make you shudder, and perchance move you to tears, if you could hear it all; but for the present, I shall confine myself to such portions of it as bear upon your own perilous position--and I therefore hold myself out as a lesson to you. Again, I bid you look upon this ravaged countenance, and say, if by any stretch of fancy you can persuade yourself it was once as comely as your own. You find it difficult to believe my words--yet such was the fact. Ay," he continued, in a tone of profoundest melancholy, "I was once proud of the gifts nature had vouchsafed me; too proud, alas! and I was punished for my vanity and self-boasting. In those days I loved--and was beloved in return--by a damsel beautiful as Aveline. After my horrible punishment, I beheld her no more. Knowing she must regard me with aversion, I shunned her. I desired not to be an object of pity. Bring this home to your own breast, Sir Jocelyn, and think how direful would be your lot to be driven for ever from her you love. Yet, such has been my case."
"I cannot bear the contemplation--it were madness," cried the young man.
There was a brief pause, after which Lanyere resumed his story.
"At the time of being cast into the Fleet Prison, my prospects were fair enough. When I came forth I was utterly ruined. Existence was a burden to me, and I should have ended my days by my own hand, if the insatiable desire of vengeance had not bound me to the world. For this alone I consented to live--to bear the agonies of blighted love--to endure the scorn and taunts of all with whom I was brought into contact. Nay, I attached myself to him who had so deeply wronged me, to ensure revenge upon him. My great fear was, lest I should be robbed of this precious morsel; and you may remember that I struck up your sword when it had touched his breast. He must die by no other hand than mine."
"Your vengeance has been tardy," observed Sir Jocelyn.
"True," replied the other. "I have delayed it for several reasons, but chiefly because I would have it complete. The work is begun, and its final accomplishment will not be long postponed. I will not destroy him till I have destroyed the superstructure on which he has built his fortunes--till all has crumbled beneath him--and he is beggared and dishonoured. I have begun the work, I say. Look here!" he cried, taking a parchment from his doublet. "You would give much for this deed, Sir Jocelyn. This makes me lord of a large property in Norfolk, with which you are well acquainted."
"You cannot mean the Mounchensey estates?" cried Sir Jocelyn. "Yet now I look at the instrument, it is so."
"I obtained this a.s.signment by stratagem," said the promoter; "and I have thereby deprived Sir Giles of the most valuable portion of his spoils; and though; he thinks to win it back again, he will find himself deceived. My measures are too well taken. This is the chief prop of the fabric it has taken him so long to rear, and ere long I will shake it wholly in pieces."
"But if you have become unlawfully possessed of this property, as would appear to be the case by your own showing, you cannot hope to retain it," said the young knight.
"Trust me, Sir Jocelyn, I shall prove a better t.i.tle to it than Sir Giles could exhibit," rejoined Lanyere; "but this is not a time for full explanation. If I carry out my schemes, you will not be the last person benefited by them."
"Again, I ask you, what possible interest you can feel in me?" demanded the young knight with curiosity.
"Next to myself, you have been most injured by Sir Giles, and even more than myself are you an object of dislike to him. These would suffice to excite my sympathy towards you; but I have other and stronger reasons for my friendly feeling towards you, which in due season you shall know."
"All your proceedings are mysterious," observed Sir Jocelyn.
"They must needs be so from the circ.u.mstances in which I am placed. I am compelled to veil them as I do my hateful features from the prying eyes of men: but they will be made clear anon, and you will then understand me and my motives better. Ha! what is this?" he suddenly exclaimed, as a noise outside attracted his attention. "Fly! fly! there is danger."
But the warning was too late. Ere the young man, who stood irresolute, could effect his retreat from the back of the cottage, the door was thrown open, and a serjeant-at-arms, with three attendants in black gowns and flat caps, and having black staves in their hands, entered the room.
Sir Jocelyn had partly drawn his sword, but restored it to the scabbard on a glance from Lanyere.
"Resistance must not be offered," said the latter, in a low tone. "You will only make a bad matter worse."