Anne of Geierstein; Or, The Maiden of the Mist. Volume 2 (of 2) Read online

  CHAPTER X.

  Why, 'tis a boisterous and cruel style, A style for challengers. Why, she defies us, Like Turk to Christian. _As You Like It._

  The doors of the hall were now opened to the Swiss deputies, who forthe preceding hour had been kept in attendance on the outside of thebuilding, without receiving the slightest of those attentions whichamong civilised nations are universally paid to the representatives ofa foreign State. Indeed, their very appearance, dressed in coarse greyfrocks, like mountain hunters or shepherds, in the midst of anassembly blazing with divers-coloured garments, gold and silver lace,embroidery, and precious stones, served to confirm the idea that theycould only have come hither in the capacity of the most humblepetitioners.

  Oxford, however, who watched closely the deportment of his latefellow-travellers, failed not to observe that they retained each inhis own person the character of firmness and indifference whichformerly distinguished them. Rudolph Donnerhugel preserved his boldand haughty look; the Banneret, the military indifference which madehim look with apparent apathy on all around him; the burgher ofSoleure was as formal and important as ever; nor did any of the threeshow themselves affected in the slightest degree by the splendour ofthe scene around them, or embarrassed by the consideration of theirown comparative inferiority of appointments. But the noble Landamman,on whom Oxford chiefly bent his attention, seemed overwhelmed with asense of the precarious state in which his country was placed;fearing, from the rude and unhonoured manner in which they werereceived, that war was unavoidable, while, at the same time, like agood patriot, he mourned over the consequences of ruin to the freedomof his country by defeat, or injury to her simplicity and virtuousindifference of wealth, by the introduction of foreign luxuries andthe evils attending on conquest.

  Well acquainted with the opinions of Arnold Biederman, Oxford couldeasily explain his sadness, while his comrade Bonstetten, less capableof comprehending his friend's feelings, looked at him with theexpression which may be seen in the countenance of a faithful dog,when the creature indicates sympathy with his master's melancholy,though unable to ascertain or appreciate its cause. A look of wondernow and then glided around the splendid assembly on the part of allthe forlorn group, excepting Donnerhugel and the Landamman; for theindomitable pride of the one, and the steady patriotism of the other,could not for even an instant be diverted by external objects fromtheir own deep and stern reflections.

  After a silence of nearly five minutes, the Duke spoke, with thehaughty and harsh manner which he might imagine belonged to his place,and which certainly expressed his character.

  "Men of Berne, of Schwitz, or of whatever hamlet and wilderness youmay represent, know that we had not honoured you, rebels as you areto the dominion of your lawful superiors, with an audience in our ownpresence, but for the intercession of a well-esteemed friend, who hassojourned among your mountains, and whom you may know by the name ofPhilipson, an Englishman, following the trade of a merchant, andcharged with certain valuable matters of traffic to our court. To hisintercession we have so far given way, that instead of commanding you,according to your demerits, to the gibbet and the wheel in the Placede Morimont, we have condescended to receive you into our ownpresence, sitting in our _cour pleniere_, to hear from you suchsubmission as you can offer for your outrageous storm of our town ofLa Ferette, the slaughter of many of our liegemen, and the deliberatemurder of the noble knight, Archibald of Hagenbach, executed in yourpresence, and by your countenance and device. Speak--if you can sayaught in defence of your felony and treason, either to deprecate justpunishment, or crave undeserved mercy."

  The Landamman seemed about to answer; but Rudolph Donnerhugel, withhis characteristic boldness and hardihood, took the task of reply onhimself. He confronted the proud Duke with an eye unappalled, and acountenance as stern as his own.

  "We came not here," he said, "to compromise our own honour, or thedignity of the free people whom we represent, by pleading guilty intheir name, or our own, to crimes of which we are innocent. And whenyou term us rebels, you must remember, that a long train of victories,whose history is written in the noblest blood of Austria, hasrestored to the confederacy of our communities the freedom of which anunjust tyranny in vain attempted to deprive us. While Austria was ajust and beneficent mistress, we served her with our lives;--when shebecame oppressive and tyrannical, we assumed independence. If she hasaught yet to claim from us, the descendants of Tell, Faust, andStauffacher will be as ready to assert their liberties as theirfathers were to gain them. Your Grace--if such be your title--has noconcern with any dispute betwixt us and Austria. For your threats ofgibbet and wheel, we are here defenceless men, on whom you may workyour pleasure; but we know how to die, and our countrymen know how toavenge us."

  The fiery Duke would have replied by commanding the instant arrest,and probably the immediate execution, of the whole deputation. But hischancellor, availing himself of the privilege of his office, rose,and, doffing his cap with a deep reverence to the Duke, requestedleave to reply to the misproud young man, who had, he said, so greatlymistaken the purpose of his Highness's speech.

  Charles, feeling perhaps at the moment too much irritated to form acalm decision, threw himself back in his chair of state, and with animpatient and angry nod gave his chancellor permission to speak.

  "Young man," said that high officer, "you have mistaken the meaning ofthe high and mighty sovereign in whose presence you stand. Whatever bethe lawful rights of Austria over the revolted villages which haveflung off their allegiance to their native superior, we have no callto enter on that argument. But that for which Burgundy demands youranswer is, wherefore, coming here in the guise, and with thecharacter, of peaceful envoys, on affairs touching your owncommunities and the rights of the Duke's subjects, you have raised warin our peaceful dominions, stormed a fortress, massacred its garrison,and put to death a noble knight, its commander?--all of them actionscontrary to the law of nations, and highly deserving of the punishmentwith which you have been justly threatened, but with which I hope ourgracious sovereign will dispense, if you express some sufficientreason for such outrageous insolence, with an offer of due submissionto his Highness's pleasure, and satisfactory reparation for such ahigh injury."

  "You are a priest, grave sir?" answered Rudolph Donnerhugel,addressing the Chancellor of Burgundy. "If there be a soldier in thisassembly who will avouch your charge, I challenge him to the combat,man to man. We did not storm the garrison of La Ferette--we wereadmitted into the gates in a peaceful manner, and were there instantlysurrounded by the soldiers of the late Archibald de Hagenbach, withthe obvious purpose of assaulting and murdering us on our peacefulmission. I promise you there had been news of more men dying than us.But an uproar broke out among the inhabitants of the town, assisted, Ibelieve, by many neighbours, to whom the insolence and oppression ofArchibald de Hagenbach had become odious, as to all who were withinhis reach. We rendered them no assistance; and, I trust, it was notexpected that we should interfere in the favour of men who had stoodprepared to do the worst against us. But not a pike or swordbelonging to us or our attendants was dipped in Burgundian blood.Archibald de Hagenbach perished, it is true, on a scaffold, and I sawhim die with pleasure, under a sentence pronounced by a competentcourt, such as is recognised in Westphalia, and its dependencies onthis side of the Rhine. I am not obliged to vindicate theirproceedings; but I aver, that the Duke has received full proof of hisregular sentence; and, in fine, that it was amply deserved byoppression, tyranny, and foul abuse of his authority, I will upholdagainst all gainsayers, with the body of a man. There lies my glove."

  And, with an action suited to the language he used, the stern Swissflung his right-hand glove on the floor of the hall. In the spirit ofthe age, with the love of distinction in arms which it nourished, andperhaps with the desire of gaining the Duke's favour, there was ageneral motion among the young Burgundians to accept the challenge,and more than six or eight gloves were hastily doffed
by the youngknights present, those who were more remote flinging them over theheads of the nearest, and each proclaiming his name and title as heproffered the gage of combat.

  "I set at all," said the daring young Swiss, gathering the gauntletsas they fell clashing around him. "More, gentlemen, more! a glove forevery finger! come on, one at once--fair lists, equal judges of thefield, the combat on foot, and the weapons two-handed swords, and Iwill not budge for a score of you."

  THE DEFIANCE. Drawn and Etched by R. de los Rios.]

  "Hold, gentlemen! on your allegiance, hold!" said the Duke, gratifiedat the same time, and somewhat appeased, by the zeal which wasdisplayed in his cause--moved by the strain of recklessbravery evinced by the challenger, with a hardihood akin to hisown--perhaps also not unwilling to display, in the view of his _courpleniere_, more temperance than he had been at first capable of."Hold, I command you all.--Toison d'Or, gather up these gauntlets, andreturn them each to his owner. God and St. George forbid that weshould hazard the life of even the least of our noble Burgundiangentry against such a churl as this Swiss peasant, who never so muchas mounted a horse, and knows not a jot of knightly courtesy, or thegrace of chivalry.--Carry your vulgar brawls elsewhere, young man, andknow that, on the present occasion, the Place Morimont were your onlyfitting lists, and the hangman your meet antagonist. And you, sirs,his companions--whose behaviour in suffering this swaggerer to takethe lead amongst you seems to show that the laws of nature, as well asof society, are inverted, and that youth is preferred to age, asgentry to peasants--you white-bearded men, I say, is there none of youwho can speak your errand in such language as it becomes a sovereignprince to listen to?"

  "God forbid else," said the Landamman, stepping forward and silencingRudolph Donnerhugel, who was commencing an answer of defiance--"Godforbid," he said, "noble Duke, that we should not be able to speak soas to be understood before your Highness, since, I trust, we shallspeak the language of truth, peace, and justice. Nay, should itincline your Highness to listen to us the more favourably for ourhumility, I am willing to humble myself rather than you should shunto hear us. For my own part, I can truly say that, though I havelived, and by free choice have resolved to die, a husbandman and ahunter on the Alps of the Unterwald, I may claim by birth thehereditary right to speak before Dukes and Kings, and the Emperorhimself. There is no one, my Lord Duke, in this proud assembly, whoderives his descent from a nobler source than Geierstein."

  "We have heard of you," said the Duke. "Men call you thepeasant-count. Your birth is your shame; or perhaps your mother's, ifyour father had happened to have a handsome ploughman, the fittingfather of one who has become a willing serf."

  "No serf, my lord," answered the Landamman, "but a freeman, who willneither oppress others nor be himself tyrannised over. My father was anoble lord, my mother a most virtuous lady. But I will not beprovoked, by taunt or scornful jest, to refrain from stating withcalmness what my country has given me in charge to say. Theinhabitants of the bleak and inhospitable regions of the Alps desire,mighty sir, to remain at peace with all their neighbours, and to enjoythe government they have chosen, as best fitted to their condition andhabits, leaving all other states and countries to their free-will inthe same respects. Especially, they desire to remain at peace and inunity with the princely House of Burgundy, whose dominions approachtheir possessions on so many points. My lord, they desire it, theyentreat it, they even consent to pray for it. We have been termedstubborn, intractable, and insolent contemners of authority, andheaders of sedition and rebellion. In evidence of the contrary, myLord Duke, I, who never bent a knee but to Heaven, feel no dishonourin kneeling before your Highness, as before a sovereign prince in the_cour pleniere_ of his dominions, where he has a right to exact homagefrom his subjects out of duty, and from strangers out of courtesy. Novain pride of mine," said the noble old man, his eyes swelling withtears, as he knelt on one knee, "shall prevent me from personalhumiliation, when peace--that blessed peace, so dear to God, soinappreciably valuable to man--is in danger of being broken off."

  The whole assembly, even the Duke himself, were affected by the nobleand stately manner in which the brave old man made a genuflection,which was obviously dictated by neither meanness nor timidity. "Arise,sir," said Charles; "if we have said aught which can wound yourprivate feelings, we retract it as publicly as the reproach wasspoken, and sit prepared to hear you, as a fair-meaning envoy."

  "For that, my noble lord, thanks; and I shall hold it a blessed day,if I can find words worthy of the cause I have to plead. My lord, aschedule in your Highness's hands has stated the sense of manyinjuries received at the hand of your Highness's officers, and thoseof Romont, Count of Savoy, your strict ally and adviser, we have aright to suppose, under your Highness's countenance. For CountRomont--he has already felt with whom he has to contend; but we haveas yet taken no measures to avenge injuries, affronts, interruptionsto our commerce, from those who have availed themselves of yourHighness's authority to intercept our countrymen, spoil our goods,impress their persons, and even, in some instances, take their lives.The affray at La Ferette--I can vouch for what I saw--had no origin orabettance from us; nevertheless, it is impossible an independentnation can suffer the repetition of such injuries, and free andindependent we are determined to remain, or to die in defence of ourrights. What then must follow, unless your Highness listens to theterms which I am commissioned to offer? War, a war to extermination;for so long as one of our Confederacy can wield a halberd, so long, ifthis fatal strife once commences, there will be war betwixt yourpowerful realms and our poor and barren States. And what can the nobleDuke of Burgundy gain by such a strife? Is it wealth and plunder?Alas, my lord, there is more gold and silver on the very bridle-bitsof your Highness's household troops than can be found in the publictreasures or private hoards of our whole Confederacy. Is it fame andglory you aspire to? There is little honour to be won by a numerousarmy over a few scattered bands, by men clad in mail over half-armedhusbandmen and shepherds--of such conquest small were the glory. Butif, as all Christian men believe, and as it is the constant trust ofmy countrymen, from memory of the times of our fathers,--if the Lordof Hosts should cast the balance in behalf of the fewer numbers andworse-armed party, I leave it with your Highness to judge what would,in that event, be the diminution of worship and fame. Is it extent ofvassalage and dominion your Highness desires, by warring with yourmountain neighbours? Know that you may, if it be God's will, gain ourbarren and rugged mountains; but, like our ancestors of old, we willseek refuge in wilder and more distant solitudes, and, when we haveresisted to the last, we will starve in the icy wastes of theglaciers. Ay, men, women, and children, we will be frozen intoannihilation together, ere one free Switzer will acknowledge a foreignmaster."

  The speech of the Landamman made an obvious impression on theassembly. The Duke observed it, and his hereditary obstinacy wasirritated by the general disposition which he saw entertained infavour of the ambassador. This evil principle overcame some impressionwhich the address of the noble Biederman had not failed to make uponhim. He answered with a lowering brow, interrupting the old man as hewas about to continue his speech,--"You argue falsely, Sir Count, orSir Landamman, or by whatever name you call yourself, if you think wewar on you from any hope of spoil, or any desire of glory. We know aswell as you can tell us that there is neither profit nor fame to beachieved by conquering you. But sovereigns, to whom Heaven has giventhe power, must root out a band of robbers, though there is dishonourin measuring swords with them; and we hunt to death a herd of wolves,though their flesh is carrion, and their skins are naught."

  The Landamman shook his grey head, and replied, without testifyingemotion, and even with something approaching to a smile,--"I am anolder woodsman than you, my Lord Duke--and, it may be, a moreexperienced one. The boldest, the hardiest hunter, will not safelydrive the wolf to his den. I have shown your Highness the poor chanceof gain, and the great risk of loss, which even you, powerful as youare, must incur by risking a war w
ith determined and desperate men.Let me now tell what we are willing to do to secure a sincere andlasting peace with our powerful neighbour of Burgundy. Your Grace isin the act of engrossing Lorraine, and it seems probable, under sovigorous and enterprising a Prince, your authority may be extended tothe shores of the Mediterranean--be our noble friend and sincere ally,and our mountains, defended by warriors familiar with victory, will beyour barriers against Germany and Italy. For your sake we will admitthe Count of Savoy to terms, and restore to him our conquests, on suchconditions as your Highness shall yourself judge reasonable. Of pastsubjects of offence on the part of your lieutenants and governors uponthe frontier we will be silent, so we have assurance of no suchaggressions in future. Nay, more, and it is my last and proudestoffer, we will send three thousand of our youth to assist yourHighness in any war which you may engage in, whether against Louis ofFrance or the Emperor of Germany. They are a different set ofmen--proudly and truly may I state it--from the scum of Germany andItaly, who form themselves into mercenary bands of soldiers. And, ifHeaven should decide your Highness to accept our offer, there will beone corps in your army which will leave their carcasses on the fieldere a man of them break their plighted troth."

  A swarthy but tall and handsome man, wearing a corselet richlyengraved with arabesque work, started from his seat with the air ofone provoked beyond the bounds of restraint. This was the Count deCampo-basso, commander of Charles's Italian mercenaries, whopossessed, as has been alluded to, much influence over the Duke'smind, chiefly obtained by accommodating himself to his master'sopinions and prejudices, and placing before the Duke speciousarguments to justify him for following his own way.

  "This lofty presence must excuse me," he said, "if I speak in defenceof my honour, and those of my bold lances, who have followed myfortunes from Italy to serve the bravest Prince in Christendom. Imight, indeed, pass over without resentment the outrageous language ofthis grey-haired churl, whose words cannot affect a knight and anobleman more than the yelling of a peasant's mastiff. But when I hearhim propose to associate his bands of mutinous misgoverned ruffianswith your Highness's troops, I must let him know that there is not ahorse-boy in my ranks who would fight in such fellowship. No, even Imyself, bound by a thousand ties of gratitude, could not submit tostrive abreast with such comrades. I would fold up my banners, andlead five thousand men to seek,--not a nobler master, for the worldhas none such,--but wars in which we might not be obliged to blush forour assistants."

  "Silence, Campo-basso!" said the Duke, "and be assured you serve aprince who knows your worth too well to exchange it for the untriedand untrustful services of those whom we have only known as vexatiousand malignant neighbours."

  Then, addressing himself to Arnold Biederman, he said coldly andsternly, "Sir Landamman, we have heard you fairly. We have heard you,although you come before us with hands dyed deep in the blood of ourservant, Sir Archibald de Hagenbach; for, supposing he was murdered bya villanous association,--which, by St. George! shall never, while welive and reign, raise its pestilential head on this side of theRhine,--yet it is not the less undeniable and undenied, that you stoodby in arms, and encouraged the deed the assassins performed under yourcountenance. Return to your mountains, and be thankful that you returnin life. Tell those who sent you that I will be presently on theirfrontiers. A deputation of your most notable persons, who meet me withhalters round their necks, torches in their left hands, in their righttheir swords held by the point, may learn on what conditions we willgrant you peace."

  "Then farewell peace, and welcome war," said the Landamman; "and beits plagues and curses on the heads of those who choose blood andstrife rather than peace and union. We will meet you on our frontierswith our naked swords, but the hilts, not their points, shall be inour grasp. Charles of Burgundy, Flanders, and Lorraine, Duke of sevendukedoms, Count of seventeen earldoms, I bid you defiance; and declarewar against you in the name of the confederated Cantons, and suchothers as shall adhere to them. There," he said, "are my letters ofdefiance."

  The herald took from Arnold Biederman the fatal denunciation.

  "Read it not, Toison d'Or!" said the haughty Duke. "Let theexecutioner drag it through the streets at his horse's tail, and nailit to the gibbet, to show in what account we hold the paltry scroll,and those who sent it.--Away, sirs!" speaking to the Swiss. "Trudgeback to your wildernesses with such haste as your feet can use. Whenwe next meet, you shall better know whom you have offended.--Get ourhorse ready--the council is broken up."

  The Maire of Dijon, when all were in motion to leave the hall, againapproached the Duke, and timidly expressed some hopes that hisHighness would deign to partake of a banquet which the magistracy hadprepared, in expectation he might do them such an honour.

  "No, by St. George of Burgundy, Sir Maire," said Charles, with one ofthe withering glances by which he was wont to express indignationmixed with contempt,--"you have not pleased us so well with ourbreakfast as to induce us to trust our dinner to the loyalty of ourgood town of Dijon."

  So saying, he rudely turned off from the mortified chief magistrate,and, mounting his horse, rode back to his camp, conversing earnestlyon the way with the Count of Campo-basso.

  "I would offer you dinner, my Lord of Oxford," said Colvin to thatnobleman, when he alighted at his tent, "but I foresee, ere you couldswallow a mouthful, you will be summoned to the Duke's presence; forit is our Charles's way, when he has fixed on a wrong course, towrangle with his friends and counsellors, in order to prove it is aright one. Marry, he always makes a convert of yon supple Italian."

  Colvin's augury was speedily realised; for a page almost immediatelysummoned the English merchant, Philipson, to attend the Duke. Withoutwaiting an instant, Charles poured forth an incoherent tide ofreproaches against the Estates of his dukedom, for refusing him theircountenance in so slight a matter, and launched out in explanations ofthe necessity which he alleged there was for punishing the audacity ofthe Swiss. "And thou too, Oxford," he concluded, "art such animpatient fool as to wish me to engage in a distant war with England,and transport forces over the sea, when I have such insolent mutineersto chastise on my own frontiers?"

  When he was at length silent, the English Earl laid before him, withrespectful earnestness, the danger that appeared to be involved inengaging with a people, poor indeed, but universally dreaded, fromtheir discipline and courage, and that under the eye of so dangerous arival as Louis of France, who was sure to support the Duke's enemiesunderhand, if he did not join them openly. On this point the Duke'sresolution was immovable. "It shall never," he said, "be told of me,that I uttered threats which I dared not execute. These boors havedeclared war against me, and they shall learn whose wrath it is thatthey have wantonly provoked; but I do not, therefore, renounce thyscheme, my good Oxford. If thou canst procure me this same cession ofProvence, and induce old Rene to give up the cause of his grandson,Ferrand of Vaudemont, in Lorraine, thou wilt make it well worth mywhile to send thee brave aid against my brother Blackburn, who, whilehe is drinking healths pottle-deep in France, may well come to losehis lands in England. And be not impatient because I cannot at thisvery instant send men across the seas. The march which I am makingtowards Neufchatel, which is, I think, the nearest point where I shallfind these churls, will be but like a morning's excursion. I trust youwill go with us, old companion. I should like to see if you haveforgotten, among yonder mountains, how to back a horse and lay a lancein rest."

  "I will wait on your Highness," said the Earl, "as is my duty, for mymotions must depend on your pleasure. But I will not carry arms,especially against those people of Helvetia, from whom I haveexperienced hospitality, unless it be for my own personal defence."

  "Well," replied the Duke, "e'en be it so; we shall have in you anexcellent judge, to tell us who best discharges his devoir against themountain clowns."

  At this point in the conversation there was a knocking at the entranceof the pavilion, and the Chancellor of Burgundy presently entered, ingreat haste and anxiety.
"News, my lord--news of France and England,"said the prelate, and then, observing the presence of a stranger, helooked at the Duke, and was silent.

  "It is a faithful friend, my Lord Bishop," said the Duke; "you maytell your news before him."

  "It will soon be generally known," said the chancellor. "Louis andEdward are fully accorded." Both the Duke and the English Earlstarted.

  "I expected this," said the Duke, "but not so soon."

  "The Kings have met," answered his minister.

  "How--in battle?" said Oxford, forgetting himself in his extremeeagerness.

  The chancellor was somewhat surprised, but as the Duke seemed toexpect him to give an answer, he replied, "No, Sir Stranger--not inbattle, but upon appointment, and in peace and amity."

  "The sight must have been worth seeing," said the Duke; "when the oldfox Louis, and my brother Black--I mean my brother Edward--met. Whereheld they their rendezvous?"

  "On a bridge over the Seine, at Picquigny."

  "I would thou hadst been there," said the Duke, looking to Oxford,"with a good axe in thy hand, to strike one fair blow for England, andanother for Burgundy. My grandfather was treacherously slain at justsuch a meeting, at the Bridge of Montereau, upon the Yonne."

  "To prevent a similar chance," said the chancellor, "a strongbarricade, such as closes the cages in which men keep wild beasts, wasraised in the midst of the bridge, and prevented the possibility oftheir even touching each other's hands."

  "Ha, ha! By St. George, that smells of Louis's craft and caution; forthe Englishman, to give him his due, is as little acquainted with fearas with policy. But what terms have they made? Where do the Englisharmy winter? What towns, fortresses, and castles are surrendered tothem, in pledge, or in perpetuity?"

  "None, my liege," said the chancellor. "The English army returns intoEngland, as fast as shipping can be procured to transport them; andLouis will accommodate them with every sail and oar in his dominions,rather than they should not instantly evacuate France."

  "And by what concessions has Louis bought a peace so necessary to hisaffairs?"

  "By fair words," said the chancellor, "by liberal presents, and bysome five hundred tuns of wine."

  "Wine!" exclaimed the Duke. "Heardst thou ever the like, SeignorPhilipson? Why, your countrymen are little better than Esau, who soldhis birthright for a mess of pottage. Marry, I must confess I neversaw an Englishman who loved a dry-lipped bargain."

  "I can scarce believe this news," said the Earl of Oxford. "If thisEdward were content to cross the sea with fifty thousand Englishmenmerely to return again, there are in his camp both proud nobles andhaughty commons enough to resist his disgraceful purpose."

  "The money of Louis," said the statesman, "has found noble handswilling to clutch it. The wine of France has flooded every throat inthe English army--the riot and uproar was unbounded--and at one timethe town of Amiens, where Louis himself resided, was full of so manyEnglish archers, all of them intoxicated, that the person of the Kingof France was almost in their hands. Their sense of national honourhas been lost in the universal revel, and those amongst them who wouldbe more dignified and play the wise politicians say, that having cometo France by connivance of the Duke of Burgundy, and that princehaving failed to join them with his forces, they have done well,wisely, and gallantly, considering the season of the year, and theimpossibility of obtaining quarters, to take tribute of France, andreturn home in triumph."

  "And leave Louis," said Oxford, "at undisturbed freedom to attackBurgundy with all his forces?"

  "Not so, friend Philipson," said Duke Charles; "know, that there is atruce betwixt Burgundy and France for the space of seven years, andhad not this been granted and signed, it is probable that we mighthave found some means of marring the treaty betwixt Edward and Louis,even at the expense of affording those voracious islanders beef andbeer during the winter months.--Sir Chancellor, you may leave us, butbe within reach of a hasty summons."

  When his minister left the pavilion, the Duke, who with his rude andimperious character united much kindness, if it could not be termedgenerosity of disposition, came up to the Lancastrian lord, who stoodlike one at whose feet a thunderbolt has just broken, and who is stillappalled by the terrors of the shock.

  "My poor Oxford," he said, "thou art stupefied by this news, whichthou canst not doubt must have a fatal effect on the plan which thybrave bosom cherishes with such devoted fidelity. I would for thy sakeI could have detained the English a little longer in France; but had Iattempted to do so, there were an end of my truce with Louis, and ofcourse to my power to chastise these paltry Cantons, or send forth anexpedition to England. As matters stand, give me but a week to punishthese mountaineers, and you shall have a larger force than yourmodesty has requested of me for your enterprise; and, in themeanwhile, I will take care that Blackburn and his cousin-archers haveno assistance of shipping from Flanders. Tush, man, never fearit--thou wilt be in England long ere they; and, once more, rely on myassistance--always, thou knowest, the cession of Provence beingexecuted, as in reason. Our cousin Margaret's diamonds we must keepfor a time; and perhaps they may pass as a pledge, with some of ourown, for the godly purpose of setting at freedom the imprisoned angelsof our Flemish usurers, who will not lend even to their sovereign,unless on good current security. To such straits has the disobedientavarice of our Estates for the moment reduced us."

  "Alas! my lord," said the dejected nobleman, "I were ungrateful todoubt the sincerity of your good intentions. But who can presume onthe events of war, especially when time presses for instant decision?You are pleased to trust me. Let your Highness extend your confidencethus far: I will take my horse, and ride after the Landamman, if hehath already set forth. I have little doubt to make such anaccommodation with him that you may be secure on all yoursouth-eastern frontiers. You may then with security work your will inLorraine and Provence."

  "Do not speak of it," said the Duke, sharply; "thou forget'st thyselfand me, when thou supposest that a prince, who has pledged his word tohis people, can recall it like a merchant chaffering for his paltrywares. Go to--we will assist you, but we will be ourselves judge ofthe time and manner. Yet, having both kind will to our distressedcousin of Anjou, and being your good friend, we will not linger in thematter. Our host have orders to break up this evening and direct theirmarch against Neufchatel, where these proud Swiss shall have a tasteof the fire and sword which they have provoked."

  Oxford sighed deeply, but made no further remonstrance; in which heacted wisely, since it was likely to have exasperated the fiery temperof the sovereign to whom it was addressed, while it was certain thatit would not in the slightest degree alter his resolution.

  He took farewell of the Duke, and returned to Colvin, whom he foundimmersed in the business of his department, and preparing for theremoval of the artillery--an operation which the clumsiness of theordnance, and the execrable state of the roads, rendered at that timea much more troublesome operation than at present, though it is evenstill one of the most laborious movements attending the march of anarmy. The Master of the Ordnance welcomed Oxford with much glee, andcongratulated himself on the distinguished honour of enjoying hiscompany during the campaign, and acquainted him that, by the especialcommand of the Duke, he had made fitting preparations for hisaccommodation, suitable to the disguised character which he meant tomaintain, but in every other respect as convenient as a camp couldadmit of.