The Lady of Blossholme E-Book

H Rider Haggard

• Herausgeber: Ktoczyta.pl
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

This is a story about the adventures of the time of King Henry VIII and the pilgrimage of grace. This is one of the most historical adventures of Haggard, in which there are almost no elements of fantasy. King Henry and Cromwell put in appearances and evil men plot against the good guys. There is also a love story involved between Foterell’s daughter, Cicely and the man she’s loved since childhood, Sir Christopher Harflete

Leseprobe

Contents

Chapter 1. Sir John Foterell

Chapter 2. The Murder By The Mere

Chapter 3. A Wedding

Chapter 4. The Abbot’s Oath

Chapter 5. What Passed At Cranwell

Chapter 6. Emlyn’s Curse

Chapter 7. The Abbot’s Offer

Chapter 8. Emlyn Calls Her Man

Chapter 9. The Blossholme Witchings

Chapter 10. Mother Megges And The Ghost

Chapter 11. Doomed

Chapter 12. The Stake

Chapter 13. The Messenger

Chapter 14. Jacob And The Jewels

Chapter 15. The Devil At Court

Chapter 16. The Voice In The Forest

Chapter 17. Between Doom And Honour

Chapter 18. Out Of The Shadows

CHAPTER 1

SIR JOHN FOTERELL

Who that has ever seen them can forget the ruins of Blossholme Abbey, set upon their mount between the great waters of the tidal estuary to the north, the rich lands and grazing marshes that, backed with woods, border it east and south, and to the west by the rolling uplands, merging at last into purple moor, and, far away, the sombre eternal hills! Probably the scene has not changed very much since the days of Henry VIII, when those things happened of which we have to tell, for here no large town has arisen, nor have mines been dug or factories built to affront the earth and defile the air with their hideousness and smoke.

The village of Blossholme we know has scarcely varied in its population, for the old records tell us this, and as there is no railway here its aspect must be much the same. Houses built of the local grey stone do not readily fall down. The folk of that generation walked in and out of the doorways of many of them, although the roofs for the most part are now covered with tiles or rough slates in place of reeds from the dike. The parish wells also, fitted with iron pumps that have superseded the old rollers and buckets, still serve the place with drinking-water as they have done since the days of the first Edward, and perhaps for centuries before.

Although their use, if not their necessity, has passed away, not far from the Abbey gate the stocks and whipping-post, the latter arranged with three sets of iron loops fixed at different heights and of varying diameters to accommodate the wrists of man, woman, and child, may still be found in the middle of the Priests’ Green. These stand, it will be remembered, under a quaint old roof supported on rough, oaken pillars, and surmounted by a weathercock which the monkish fancy has fashioned to the shape of the archangel blowing the last trump. His clarion or coach-horn, or whatever instrument of music it was he blew, has vanished. The parish book records that in the time of George I a boy broke it off, melted it down, and was publicly flogged in consequence, the last time, apparently, that the whipping-post was used. But Gabriel still twists about as manfully as he did when old Peter, the famous smith, fashioned and set him up with his own hand in the last year of King Henry VIII, as it is said to commemorate the fact that on this spot stood the stakes to which Cicely Harflete, Lady of Blossholme, and her foster-mother, Emlyn, were chained to be burned as witches.

So it is with everything at Blossholme, a place that Time has touched but lightly. The fields, or many of them, bear the same names and remain identical in their shape and outline. The old farmsteads and the few halls in which reside the gentry of the district, stand where they always stood. The glorious tower of the Abbey still points upwards to the sky, although bells and roof are gone, while half-a-mile away the parish church that was there before it –having been rebuilt indeed upon Saxon foundations in the days of William Rufus–yet lies among its ancient elms. Farther on, situate upon the slope of a vale down which runs a brook through meadows, is the stark ruin of the old Nunnery that was subservient to the proud Abbey on the hill, some of it now roofed in with galvanised iron sheets and used as cow-sheds.

It is of this Abbey and this Nunnery and of those who dwelt around them in a day bygone, and especially of that fair and persecuted woman who came to be known as the Lady of Blossholme, that our story has to tell.

It was dead winter in the year 1535–the 31st of December, indeed. Old Sir John Foterell, a white-bearded, red-faced man of about sixty years of age, was seated before the log fire in the dining-hall of his great house at Shefton, spelling through a letter which had just been brought to him from Blossholme Abbey. He mastered it at length, and when it was done any one who had been there to look might have seen a knight and gentleman of large estate in a rage remarkable even for the time of the eighth Henry. He dashed the document to the ground; he drank three cups of strong ale, of which he had already had enough, in quick succession; he swore a number of the best oaths of the period, and finally, in the most expressive language, he consigned the body of the Abbot of Blossholme to the gallows and his soul to hell.

“He claims my lands, does he?” he exclaimed, shaking his fist in the direction of Blossholme. “What does the rogue say? That the abbot who went before him parted with them to my grandfather for no good consideration, but under fear and threats. Now, writes he, this Secretary Cromwell, whom they call Vicar-General, has declared that the said transfer was without the law, and that I must hand over the said lands to the Abbey of Blossholme on or before Candlemas! What was Cromwell paid to sign that order with no inquiry made, I wonder?”

Sir John poured out and drank a fourth cup of ale, then set to walking up and down the hall. Presently he halted in front of the fire and addressed it as though it were his enemy.

“You are a clever fellow, Clement Maldon; they tell me that all Spaniards are, and you were taught your craft at Rome and sent here for a purpose. You began as nothing, and now you are Abbot of Blossholme, and, if the King had not faced the Pope, would be more. But you forget yourself at times, for the Southern blood is hot, and when the wine is in, the truth is out. There were certain words you spoke not a year ago before me and other witnesses of which I will remind you presently. Perhaps when Secretary Cromwell learns them he will cancel his gift of my lands, and mayhap lift that plotting head of yours up higher. I’ll go remind you of them.”

Sir John strode to the door and shouted; it would not be too much to say that he bellowed like a bull. It opened after a while, and a serving-man appeared, a bow-legged, sturdy-looking fellow with a shock of black hair.

“Why are you not quicker, Jeffrey Stokes?” he asked. “Must I wait your pleasure from noon to night?”

“I came as fast as I could, master. Why, then, do you rate me?”

“Would you argue with me, fellow? Do it again and I will have you tied to a post and lashed.”

“Lash yourself, master, and let out the choler and good ale, which you need to do,” replied Jeffrey in his gruff voice. “There be some men who never know when they are well served, and such are apt to come to ill and lonely ends. What is your pleasure? I’ll do it if I can, and if not, do it yourself.”

Sir John lifted his hand as though to strike him, then let it fall again.

“I like one who braves me to my teeth,” he said more gently, “and that was ever your nature. Take it not ill, man; I was angered, and have cause to be.”

“The anger I see, but not the cause, though, as a monk came from the Abbey but now, perhaps I can hazard a guess.”

“Aye, that’s it, that’s it, Jeffrey. Hark; I ride to yonder crows’-nest, and at once. Saddle me a horse.”

“Good, master. I’ll saddle two horses.”

“Two? I said one. Fool, can I ride a pair at once, like a mountebank?”

“I know not, but you can ride one and I another. When the Abbot of Blossholme visits Sir John Foterell of Shefton he comes with hawk on wrist, with chaplains and pages, and ten stout men-at-arms, of whom he keeps more of late than a priest would seem to need about him. When Sir John Foterell visits the Abbot of Blossholme, at least he should have one serving-man at his back to hold his nag and bear him witness.”

Sir John looked at him shrewdly.

“I called you fool,” he said, “but you are none except in looks. Do as you will, Jeffrey, but be swift. Stop. Where is my daughter?”

“The Lady Cicely sits in her parlour. I saw her sweet face at the window but now staring out at the snow as though she thought to see a ghost in it.”

“Um,” grunted Sir John, “the ghost she thinks to see rides a grand grey mare, stands over six feet high, has a jolly face, and a pair of arms well made for sword and shield, or to clip a girl in. Yet that ghost must be laid, Jeffrey.”

“Pity if so, master. Moreover, you may find it hard. Ghost-laying is a priest’s job, and when maids’ waists are willing, men’s arms reach far.”

“Be off, sirrah,” roared Sir John, and Jeffrey went.

Ten minutes later they were riding for the Abbey, three miles away, and within half-an-hour Sir John was knocking, not gently, at its gate, while the monks within ran to and fro like startled ants, for the times were rough, and they were not sure who threatened them. When they knew their visitor at last they set to work to unbar the great doors and let down the drawbridge, that had been hoist up at sunset.

Presently Sir John stood in the Abbot’s chamber, warming himself at the great fire, and behind him stood his serving-man, Jeffrey, carrying his long cloak. It was a fine room, with a noble roof of carved chestnut wood and stone walls hung with costly tapestry, whereon were worked scenes from the Scriptures. The floor was hid with rich carpets made of coloured Eastern wools. The furniture also was rich and foreign-looking, being inlaid with ivory and silver, while on the table stood a golden crucifix, a miracle of art, and upon an easel, so that the light from a hanging silver lamp fell on it, a life-sized picture of the Magdalene by some great Italian painter, turning her beauteous eyes to heaven and beating her fair breast.

Sir John looked about him and sniffed.

“Now, Jeffrey, would you think that you were in a monk’s cell or in some great dame’s bower? Hunt under the table, man; sure, you will find her lute and needlework. Whose portrait is that, think you?” and he pointed to the Magdalene.

“A sinner turning saint, I think, master. Good company for laymen when she was sinner, and good for priests now that she is saint. For the rest, I could snore well here after a cup of yon red wine,” and he jerked his thumb towards a long-necked bottle on a sideboard. “Also, the fire burns bright, which is not to be wondered at, seeing that it is made of dry oak from your Sticksley Wood.”

“How know you that, Jeffrey?” asked Sir John.

“By the grain of it, master–by the grain of it. I have hewn too many a timber there not to know. There’s that in the Sticksley clays which makes the rings grow wavy and darker at the heart. See there.”

Sir John looked, and swore an angry oath.

“You are right, man; and now I come to think of it, when I was a little lad my old grandsire bade me note this very thing about the Sticksley oaks. These cursed monks waste my woods beneath my nose. My forester is a rogue. They have scared or bribed him, and he shall hang for it.”

“First prove the crime, master, which won’t be easy; then talk of hanging, which only kings and abbots, ‘with right of gallows,’ can do at will. Ah! you speak truth,” he added in a changed voice; “it is a lovely chamber, though not good enough for the holy man who dwells in it, since such a saint should have a silver shrine like him before the altar yonder, as doubtless he will do when ere long he is old bones,” and, as though by chance, he trod upon his lord’s foot, which was somewhat gouty.

Round came Sir John like the Blossholme weathercock on a gusty day.

“Clumsy toad!” he yelled, then paused, for there within the arras, that had been lifted silently, stood a tall, tonsured figure clothed in rich furs, and behind him two other figures, also tonsured, in simple black robes. It was the Abbot with his chaplains.

“Benedicite!” said the Abbot in his soft, foreign voice, lifting the two fingers of his right hand in blessing.

“Good-day,” answered Sir John, while his retainer bowed his head and crossed himself. “Why do you steal upon a man like a thief in the night, holy Father?” he added irritably.

“That is how we are told judgment shall come, my son,” answered the Abbot, smiling; “and in truth there seems some need of it. We heard loud quarrelling and talk of hanging men. What is your argument?”

“A hard one of oak,” answered old Sir John sullenly. “My servant here said those logs upon your fire came from my Sticksley Wood, and I answered him that if so they were stolen, and my reeve should hang for it.”

“The worthy man is right, my son, and yet your forester deserves no punishment. I bought our scanty store of firing from him, and, to tell truth, the count has not yet been paid. The money that should have discharged it has gone to London, so I asked him to let it stand until the summer rents come in. Blame him not, Sir John, if, out of friendship, knowing it was naught to you, he has not bared the nakedness of our poor house.”

“Is it the nakedness of your poor house”–and he glanced round the sumptuous chamber–”that caused you to send me this letter saying that you have Cromwell’s writ to seize my lands?” asked Sir John, rushing at his grievance like a bull, and casting down the document upon the table; “or do you also mean to make payment for them–when your summer rents come in?”

“Nay, son. In that matter duty led me. For twenty years we have disputed of those estates which, as you know, your grandsire took from us in a time of trouble, thus cutting the Abbey lands in twain, against the protest of him who was Abbot in those days. Therefore, at last I laid the matter before the Vicar- General, who, I hear, has been pleased to decide the suit in favour of this Abbey.”

“To decide a suit of which the defendant had no notice!” exclaimed Sir John. “My Lord Abbot, this is not justice; it is roguery that I will never bear. Did you decide aught else, pray you?”

“Since you ask it–something, my son. To save costs I laid before him the sundry points at issue between us, and in sum this is the judgment: Your title to all your Blossholme lands and those contiguous, totalling eight thousand acres, is not voided, yet it is held to be tainted and doubtful.”

“God’s blood! Why?” asked Sir John.

“My son, I will tell you,” replied the Abbot gently. “Because within a hundred years they belonged to this Abbey by gift of the Crown, and there is no record that the Crown consented to their alienation.”

“No record,” exclaimed Sir John, “when I have the indentured deed in my strong-box, signed by my great-grandfather and the Abbot Frank Ingham! No record, when my said forefather gave you other lands in place of them which you now hold? But go on, holy priest.”

“My son, I obey you. Your title, though pronounced so doubtful, is not utterly voided; yet it is held that you have all these lands as tenant of this Abbey, to which, should you die without issue, they will relapse. Or should you die with issue under age, such issue will be ward to the Abbot of Blossholme for the time being, and failing him, that is, if there were no Abbot and no Abbey, of the Crown.”

Sir John listened, then sank back into a chair, while his face went white as ashes.

“Show me that judgment,” he said slowly.

“It is not yet engrossed, my son. Within ten days or so I hope– But you seem faint. The warmth of this room after the cold outer air, perhaps. Drink a cup of our poor wine,” and at a motion of his hand one of the chaplains stepped to the sideboard, filled a goblet from the long-necked flask that stood there, and brought it to Sir John.

He took it as one that knows not what he does, then suddenly threw the silver cup and its contents into the fire, whence a chaplain recovered it with the wood-tongs.

“It seems that you priests are my heirs,” said Sir John in a new, quiet voice, “or so you say; and, if that is so, my life is likely to be short. I’ll not drink your wine, lest it should be poisoned. Hearken now, Sir Abbot. I believe little of this tale, though doubtless by bribes and other means you have done your best to harm me behind my back up yonder in London. Well, to- morrow at the dawn, come fair weather or come foul, I ride through the snows to London, where I too have friends, and we will see, we will see. You are a clever man, Abbot Maldon, and I know that you need money, or its worth, to pay your men-at-arms and satisfy the great costs at which you live–and there are our famous jewels–yes, yes, the old Crusader jewels. Therefore you have sought to rob me, whom you ever hated, and perchance Cromwell has listened to your tale. Perchance, fool priest,” he added slowly, “he had it in his mind to fat this Church goose of yours with my meal before he wrings its neck and cooks it.”

At these words the Abbot started for the first time, and even the two impassive chaplains glanced at each other.

“Ah! does that touch you?” asked Sir John Foterell. “Well, then, here is what shall make you smart. You think yourself in favour at the Court, do you not? because you took the oath of succession which braver men, like the brethren of the Charterhouse, refused, and died for it. But you forget the words you said to me when the wine you love had a hold of you in my hall–”

“Silence! For your own sake, silence, Sir John Foterell!” broke in the Abbot. “You go too far.”

“Not so far as you shall go, my Lord Abbot, ere I have done with you. Not so far as Tower Hill or Tyburn, thither to be hung and quartered as a traitor to his Grace. I tell you, you forget the words you spoke, but I will remind you of them. Did you not say to me when the guests had gone, that King Henry was a heretic, a tyrant, and an infidel whom the Pope would do well to excommunicate and depose? Did you not, when I led you on, ask me if I could not bring about a rising of the common people in these parts, among whom I have great power, and of those gentry who know and love me, to overthrow him, and in his place set up a certain Cardinal Pole, and for the deed promise me the pardon and absolution of the Pope, and much advancement in his name and that of the Spanish Emperor?”

“Never,” answered the Abbot.

“And did I not,” went on Sir John, taking no note of his denial, “did I not refuse to listen to you and tell you that your words were traitorous, and that had they been spoken otherwhere than in my house, I, as in duty bound by my office, would make report of them? Aye, and have you not from that hour striven to undo me, whom you fear?”

“I deny it all,” said the Abbot again. “These be but empty lies bred of your malice, Sir John Foterell.”

“Empty words, are they, my Lord Abbot! Well, I tell you that they are all written down and signed in due form. I tell you I had witnesses you knew naught of who heard them with their ears. Here stands one of them behind my chair. Is it not so, Jeffrey?”

“Aye, master,” answered the serving-man. “I chanced to be in the little chamber beyond the wainscot with others waiting to escort the Abbot home, and heard them all, and afterward I and they put our marks upon the writing. As I am a Christian man that is so, though, master, this is not the place that I should have chosen to speak of it, however much I might be wronged.”

“It will serve my turn,” said the enraged knight, “though it is true that I will speak of it louder elsewhere, namely, before the King’s Council. To- morrow, my Lord Abbot, this paper and I go to London, and then you shall learn how well it pays you to try to pluck a Foterell of his own.”

Now it was the Abbot’s turn to be frightened. His smooth, olive-coloured cheeks sank in and went white, as though already he felt the cord about his throat. His jewelled hand shook, and he caught the arm of one of his chaplains and hung to it.

“Man,” he hissed, “do you think that you can utter such false threats and go hence to ruin me, a consecrated abbot? I have dungeons here; I have power. It will be said that you attacked me, and that I did but strive to defend myself. Others can bring witness besides you, Sir John,” and he whispered some words in Latin or Spanish into the ear of one of his chaplains, whereon that priest turned to leave the room.

“Now it seems that we are getting to business,” said Jeffrey Stokes, as, lying his hand upon the knife at his girdle, he slipped between the monk and the door.

“That’s it, Jeffrey,” cried Sir John. “Stop the rat’s hole. Look you, Spaniard, I have a sword. Show me to your gate, or, by virtue of the King’s commission that I hold, I do instant justice on you as a traitor, and afterward answer for it if I win out.”

The Abbot considered a moment, taking the measure of the fierce old knight before him. Then he said slowly -

“Go as you came, in peace, O man of wrath and evil, but know that the curse of the Church shall follow you. I say that you stand near to ill.”

Sir John looked at him. The anger went out of his face, and, instead, upon it appeared something strange–a breath of foresight, an inspiration, call it what you will.

“By heaven and all its saints! I think you are right, Clement Maldon,” he muttered. “Beneath that black dress of yours you are a man like the rest of us, are you not? You have a heart, you have members, you have a brain to think with; you are a fiddle for God to play on, and however much your superstitions mask and alter it, out of those strings now and again will come some squeak of truth. Well, I am another fiddle, of a more honest sort, mayhap, though I do not lift two fingers of my right hand and say, ‘Benedicite, my son,’ and ‘Your sins are forgiven you’; and just now the God of both of us plays His tune in me, and I will tell you what it is. I stand near to death, but you stand not far from the gallows. I’ll die an honest man; you will die like a dog, false to everything, and afterwards let your beads and your masses and your saints help you if they can. We’ll talk it over when we meet again elsewhere. And now, my Lord Abbot, lead me to your gate, remembering that I follow with my sword. Jeffrey, set those carrion crow in front of you, and watch them well. My Lord Abbot, I am your servant; march!”

CHAPTER 2

THE MURDER BY THE MERE

For a while Sir John and his retainer rode in silence. Then he laughed loudly.

“Jeffrey,” he called, “that was a near touch. Sir Priest was minded to stick his Spanish pick-tooth between our ribs, and shrive us afterwards, as we lay dying, to salve his conscience.”

“Yes, master; only, being reasonable, he remembered that English swords have a longer reach, and that his bullies are in the Ford ale-house seeing the Old Year out, and so put it off. Master, I have always told you that old October of yours is too strong to drink at noon. It should be saved till bed- time.”

“What do you mean, man?”

“I mean that ale spoke yonder, not wisdom. You have showed your hand and played the fool.”

“Who are you to teach me?” asked Sir John angrily. “I meant that he should hear the truth for once, the slimy traitor.”

“Perhaps, perhaps; but these be bad days for Truth and those who court her. Was it needful to tell him that to-morrow you journey to London upon a certain errand?”

“Why not? I’ll be there before him.”

“Will you ever be there, master? The road runs past the Abbey, and that priest has good ruffians in his pay who can hold their tongues.”

“Do you mean that he will waylay me? I say he dare not. Still, to please you, we will take the longer path through the forest.”

“A rough one, master; but who goes with you on this business? Most of us are away with the wains, and others make holiday. There are but three serving- men at the hall, and you cannot leave the Lady Cicely without a guard, or take her with you through this cold. Remember there’s wealth yonder which some may need more even than your lands,” he added meaningly. “Wait a while, then, till your people return or you can call up your tenants, and go to London as one of your quality should, with twenty good men at your back.”

“And so give our friend the Abbot time to get Cromwell’s ear, and through him that of the King. No, no; I ride to-morrow at the dawn with you, or, if you are afraid, without you, as I have done before and taken no harm.”

“None shall say that Jeffrey Stokes is afraid of man or priest or devil,” answered the old soldier, colouring. “Your road has been good enough for me this thirty years, and it is good enough now. If I warned you it was not for my own sake, who care little what comes, but for yours and that of your house.”

“I know it,” said Sir John more kindly. “Take not my words ill, my temper is up to-day. Thank the saints! here is the hall at last. Why! whose horse has passed the gates before us?”

Jeffrey glanced at the tracks which the moonlight showed very clearly in the new-fallen snow.

“Sir Christopher Harflete’s grey mare,” he said. “I know the shoeing and the round shape of the hoof. Doubtless he is visiting Mistress Cicely.”

“Whom I have forbidden to him,” grumbled Sir John, swinging himself from the saddle.

“Forbid him not,” answered Jeffrey, as he took his horse. “Christopher Harflete may yet be a good friend to a maid in need, and I think that need is nigh.”

“Mind your business, knave,” shouted Sir John. “Am I to be set at naught in my own house by a chit of a girl and a gallant who would mend his broken fortunes?”

“If you ask me, I think so,” replied the imperturbable Jeffrey, as he led away the horses.

Sir John strode into the house by the backway, which opened on to the stable-yard. Taking the lantern that stood by the door, he went along galleries and upstairs to the sitting-chamber above the hall, which, since her mother’s death, his daughter had used as her own, for here he guessed that he would find her. Setting down the lantern upon the passage table, he pushed open the door, which was not latched, and entered.

The room was large, and, being lighted only by the great fire that burned upon the hearth and two candles, all this end of it was hid in shadow. Near to the deep window-place the shadow ceased, however, and here, seated in a high- backed oak chair, with the light of the blazing fire falling full upon her, was Cicely Foterell, Sir John’s only surviving child. She was a tall and graceful maiden, blue-eyed, brown-haired, fair-skinned, with a round and child-like face which most people thought beautiful to look upon. Just now this face, that generally was so arch and cheerful, seemed somewhat troubled. For this there might be a reason, since, seated upon a stool at her side, was a young man talking to her earnestly.

He was a stalwart young man, very broad about the shoulders, clean-cut in feature, with a long, straight nose, black hair, and merry black eyes. Also, as such a gallant should do, he appeared to be making love with much vigour and directness, for his face was upturned pleading with the girl, who leaned back in her chair answering him nothing. At this moment, indeed, his copious flow of words came to an end, perhaps from exhaustion, perhaps for other reasons, and was succeeded by a more effective method of attack. Suddenly sinking from the stool to his knees, he took the unresisting hand of Cicely and kissed it several times; then, emboldened by his success, threw his long arms about her, and before Sir John, choked with indignation, could find words to stop him, drew her towards him and treated her red lips as he had treated her fingers. This rude proceeding seemed to break the spell that bound her, for she pushed back the chair and, escaping from his grasp, rose, saying in a broken voice -

“Oh! Christopher, dear Christopher, this is most wrong.”

“May be,” he answered. “So long as you love me I care not what it is.”

“That you have known these two years, Christopher. I love you well, but, alas! my father will have none of you. Get you hence now, ere he returns, or we both shall pay for it, and I, perhaps, be sent to a nunnery where no man may come.”

“Nay, sweet, I am here to ask his consent to my suit–”

Then at last Sir John broke out.

“To ask my consent to your suit, you dishonest knave!” he roared from the darkness; whereat Cicely sank back into her chair looking as though she would faint, and the strong Christopher staggered like a man pierced by an arrow. “First to take my girl and hug her before my very eyes, and then, when the mischief is done, to ask my consent to your suit!” and he rushed at them like a charging bull.

Cicely rose to fly, then, seeing no escape, took refuge in her lover’s arms. Her infuriated father seized the first part of her that came to his hand, which chanced to be one of her long brown plaits of hair, and tugged at it till she cried out with pain, purposing to tear her away, at which sight and sound Christopher lost his temper also.

“Leave go of the maid, sir,” he said in a low, fierce voice, “or, by God! I’ll make you.”

“Leave go of the maid?” gasped Sir John. “Why, who holds her tightest, you or I? Do you leave go of her.”

“Yes, yes, Christopher,” she whispered, “ere I am pulled in two.”

Then he obeyed, lifting her into the chair, but her father still kept his hold of the brown tress.

“Now, Sir Christopher,” he said, “I am minded to put my sword through you.”

“And pierce your daughter’s heart as well as mine. Well, do it if you will, and when we are dead and you are childless, weep yourself and go to the grave.”

“Oh! father, father,” broke in Cicely, who knew the old man’s temper, and feared the worst, “in justice and in pity, listen to me. All my heart is Christopher’s, and has been from a child. With him I shall have happiness, without him black despair; and that is his case too, or so he swears. Why, then, should you part us? Is he not a proper man and of good lineage, and name unstained? Until of late did you not ever favour him much and let us be together day by day? And now, when it is too late, you deny him. Oh! why, why?”

“You know why well enough, girl? Because I have chosen another husband for you. The Lord Despard is taken with your baby face, and would marry you. But this morning I had it under his own hand.”

“The Lord Despard?” gasped Cicely. “Why, he only buried his second wife last month! Father, he is as old as you are, and drunken, and has grandchildren of well-nigh my age. I would obey you in all things, but never will I go to him alive.”

“And never shall he live to take you,” muttered Christopher.

“What matter his years, daughter? He is a sound man, and has no son, and should one be born to him, his will be the greatest heritage within three shires. Moreover, I need his friendship, who have bitter enemies. But enough of this. Get you gone, Christopher, before worse befall you.”

“So be it, sir, I will go; but first, as an honest man and my father’s friend, and, as I thought, my own, answer me one question. Why have you changed your tune to me of late? Am I not the same Christopher Harflete I was a year or two ago? And have I done aught to lower me in the world’s eye or in yours?”

“No, lad,” answered the old knight bluntly; “but since you will have it, here it is. Within that year or two your uncle whose heir you were has married and bred a son, and now you are but a gentleman of good name, and little to float it on. That big house of yours must go to the hammer, Christopher. You’ll never stow a bride in it.”

“Ah! I thought as much. Christopher Harflete with the promise of the Lesborough lands was one man; Christopher Harflete without them is another –in your eyes. Yet, sir, I hold you foolish. I love your daughter and she loves me, and those lands and more may come back, or I, who am no fool, will win others. Soon there will be plenty going up there at Court, where I am known. Further, I tell you this: I believe that I shall marry Cicely, and earlier than you think, and I would have had your blessing with her.”

“What! Will you steal the girl away?” asked Sir John furiously.

“By no means, sir. But this is a strange world of ours, in which from hour to hour top becomes bottom, and bottom top, and there–I think I shall marry her. At least I am sure that Despard the sot never will, for I’ll kill him first, if I hang for it. Sir, sir, surely you will not throw your pearl upon that muckheap. Better crush it beneath your heel at once. Look, and say you cannot do it,” and he pointed to the pathetic figure of Cicely, who stood by them with clasped hands, panting breast, and a face of agony.

The old knight glanced at her out of the corners of his eyes, and saw something that moved him to pity, for at bottom his heart was honest, and though he treated her so roughly, as was the fashion of the times, he loved his daughter more than all the world.

“Who are you, that would teach me my duty to my bone and blood?” he grumbled. Then he thought a while, and added, “Hear me, now, Christopher Harflete. To-morrow at the dawn I ride to London with Jeffrey Stokes on a somewhat risky business.”

“What business, sir?”

“If you would know–that of a quarrel with yonder Spanish rogue of an Abbot, who claims the best part of my lands, and has poisoned the ear of that upstart, the Vicar-General Cromwell. I go to take the deeds and prove him a liar and a traitor also, which Cromwell does not know. Now, is my nest safe from you while I am away? Give me your word, and I’ll believe you, for at least you are an honest gentleman, and if you have poached a kiss or two, that may be forgiven. Others have done the same before you were born. Give me your word, or I must drag the girl through the snows to London at my heels.”

“You have it, sir,” answered Christopher. “If she needs my company she must come for it to Cranwell Towers, for I’ll not seek hers while you are away.”

“Good. Then one gift for another. I’ll not answer my Lord of Despard’s letter till I get back again–not to please you, but because I hate writing. It is a labour to me, and I have no time to spare to-night. Now, have a cup of drink and be off with you. Love-making is thirsty work.”

“Aye, gladly, sir, but hear me, hear me. Ride not to London with such slight attendance after a quarrel with Abbot Maldon. Let me wait on you. Although my fortunes be so low I can bring a man or two–six or eight, indeed–while yours are away with the wains.”

“Never, Christopher. My own hand has guarded my head these sixty years, and can do so still. Also,” he added, with a flash of insight, “as you say, the journey is dangerous, and who knows? If aught went wrong, you might be wanted nearer home. Christopher, you shall never have my girl; she’s not for you. Yet, perhaps, if need were, you would strike a blow for her even if it made you excommunicate. Get hence, wench. Why do you stand there gaping on us, like an owl in sunlight? And remember, if I catch you at more such tricks, you’ll spend your days mumbling at prayers in a nunnery, and much good may they do you.”

“At least I should find peace there, and gentle words,” answered Cicely with spirit, for she knew her father, and the worst of her fear had departed. “Only, sir, I did not know that you wished to swell the wealth of the Abbots of Blossholme.”

“Swell their wealth!” roared her father. “Nay, I’ll stretch their necks. Get you to your chamber, and send up Jeffrey with the liquor.”

Then, having no choice, Cicely curtseyed, first to her father and next to Christopher, to whom she sent a message with her eyes that she dared not utter with her lips, and so vanished into the shadows, where presently she was heard stumbling against some article of furniture.

“Show the maid a light, Christopher,” said Sir John, who, lost in his own thoughts, was now gazing into the fire.

Seizing one of the two candles, Christopher sprang after her like a hound after a hare, and presently the pair of them passed through the door and down the long passage beyond. At a turn in it they halted, and once more, without word spoken, she found her way into those long arms.

“You will not forget me, even if we must part?” sobbed Cicely.

“Nay, sweet,” he answered. “Moreover, keep a brave heart; we do not part for long, for God has given us to each other. Your father does not mean all he says, and his temper, which has been stirred to-day, will soften. If not, we must look to ourselves. I keep a swift horse or two, Cicely. Could you ride one if need were?”

“I have ever loved riding,” she said meaningly.

“Good. Then you shall never go to that fat hog’s sty, for I’ll stick him first. And I have friends both in Scotland and in France. Which like you best?”

“They say the air of France is softer. Now, away from me, or one will come to seek us,” and they tore themselves apart.

“Emlyn, your foster-mother, is to be trusted,” he said rapidly; “also she loves me well. If there be need, let me hear of you through her.”

“Aye,” she answered, “without fail,” and glided from him like a ghost.

“Have you been waiting to see the moon rise?” asked Sir John, glancing at Christopher from beneath his shaggy eyebrows as he returned.

“Nay, sir, but the passages in this old house of yours are most wondrous long, and I took a wrong turn in threading them.”

“Oh!” said Sir John. “Well, you have a talent for wrong turns, and such partings are hard. Now, do you understand that this is the last of them?”

“I understand that you may say so, sir.”

“And that I mean it, too, I hope. Listen, Christopher,” he added, with earnestness, but in a kindly voice. “Believe me, I like you well, and would not give you pain, or the maid yonder, if I could help it. Yet I have no choice. I am threatened on all sides by priest and king, and you have lost your heritage. She is the only jewel that I can pawn, and for your own safety’s sake and her children’s sake, must marry well. Yonder Despard will not live long, he drinks too hard; and then your day may come, if you still care for his leavings –perhaps in two years, perhaps in less, for she will soon see him out. Now, let us talk no more of the matter, but if aught befalls me, be a friend to her. Here comes the liquor–drink it up and be off. Though I seem rough with you, my hope is that you may quaff many another cup at Shefton.”

It was seven o’clock of the next morning, and Sir John, having eaten his breakfast, was girding on his sword–for Jeffrey had already gone to fetch the horses–when the door opened and his daughter entered the great hall, candle in hand, wrapped in a fur cloak, over which her long hair fell. Glancing at her, Sir John noted that her eyes were wide and frightened.

“What is it now, girl?” he asked. “You’ll take your death of cold among these draughts.”

“Oh! father,” she said, kissing him, “I came to bid you farewell, and –and–to pray you not to start.”

“Not to start? And why?”

“Because, father, I have dreamed a bad dream. At first last night I could not sleep, and when at length I did I dreamed that dream thrice,” and she paused.

“Go on, Cicely; I am not afraid of dreams, which are but foolishness –coming from the stomach.”

“Mayhap; yet, father, it was so plain and clear I can scarcely bear to tell it to you. I stood in a dark place amidst black things that I knew to be trees. Then the red dawn broke upon the snow, and I saw a little pool with brown rushes frozen in its ice. And there–there, at the edge of the pool, by a pollard willow with one white limb, you lay, your bare sword in your hand and an arrow in your neck, shot from behind, while in the trunk of the willow were other arrows, and lying near you two slain. Then cloaked men came as though to carry them away, and I awoke. I say I dreamed it thrice.”

“A jolly good morrow indeed,” said Sir John, turning a shade paler. “And now, daughter, what do you make of this business?”

“I? Oh! I make that you should stop at home and send some one else to do your business. Sir Christopher, for instance.”

“Why, then I should baulk your dream, which is either true or false. If true, I have no choice, it must be fulfilled; if false, why should I heed it? Cicely, I am a plain man and take no note of such fancies. Yet I have enemies, and it may well chance that my day is done. If so, use your mother wit, girl; beware of Maldon, look to yourself, and as for your mother’s jewels, hide them,” and he turned to go.

She clasped him by the arm.

“In that sad case what should I do, father?” she asked eagerly.

He stopped and stared at her up and down.

“I see that you believe in your dream,” he said, “and therefore, although it shall not stay a Foterell, I begin to believe in it too. In that case you have a lover whom I have forbid to you. Yet he is a man after my own heart, who would deal well by you. If I die, my game is played. Set your own anew, sweet Cicely, and set it soon, ere that Abbot is at your heels. Rough as I may have been, remember me with kindness, and God’s blessing and mine be on you. Hark! Jeffrey calls, and if they stand, the horses will take cold. There, fare you well. Fear not for me, I wear a chain shirt beneath my cloak. Get back to bed and warm you,” and he kissed her on the brow, thrust her from him and was gone.

Thus did Cicely and her father part–for ever.

All that day Sir John and Jeffrey, his serving-man, trotted forward through the snow–that is, when they were not obliged to walk because of the depth of the drifts. Their plan was to reach a certain farm in a glade of the woodland within two hours of sundown, and sleep there, for they had taken the forest path, leaving again for the Fens and Cambridge at the dawn. This, however, proved not possible because of the exceeding badness of the road. So it came about that when the darkness closed in on them a little before five o’clock, bringing with it a cold, moaning wind and a scurry of snow, they were obliged to shelter in a faggot-built woodman’s hut, waiting for the moon to appear among the clouds. Here they fed the horses with corn that they had brought with them, and themselves also from their store of dried meat and barley cakes, which Jeffrey carried on his shoulder in a bag. It was a poor meal eaten thus in the darkness, but served to stay their stomachs and pass away the time.

At length a ray of light pierced the doorway of the hut.

“She’s up,” said Sir John, “let us be going ere the nags grow stiff.”

Making no answer, Jeffrey slipped the bits back into the horses’ mouths and led them out. Now the full moon had appeared like a great white eye between two black banks of cloud and turned the world to silver. It was a dreary scene on which she shone; a dazzling plain of snow, broken by patches of hawthorns, and here and there by the gaunt shape of a pollard oak, since this being the outskirt of the forest, folk came hither to lop the tops of the trees for firing. A hundred and fifty yards away or so, at the crest of a slope, was a round-shaped hill, made, not by Nature, but by man. None knew what that hill might be, but tradition said that once, hundreds or thousands of years before, a big battle had been fought around it in which a king was killed, and that his victorious army had raised this mound above his bones to be a memorial for ever.