Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott

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``Well, Prior,'' said the Outlaw, ``I will detain
thee no longer here than to give the Jew a quittance
for the six hundred crowns at which thy ransom
is fixed---I accept of him for my pay-master;
and if I hear that ye boggle at allowing him in his
accompts the sum so paid by him, Saint Mary refuse
me, an I burn not the abbey over thine head,
though I hang ten years the sooner!''

With a much worse grace than that wherewith
he had penned the letter to Bois-Guilbert, the Prior
wrote an acquittance, discharging Isaac of York of
six hundred crowns, advanced to him in his need
for acquittal of his ransom, and faithfully promising
to hold true compt with him for that sum.

``And now,'' said Prior Aymer, ``I will pray
you of restitution of my mules and palfreys, and
the freedom of the reverend brethren attending upon
me, and also of the gymmal rings, jewels, and
fair vestures, of which I have been despoiled, having
now satisfied you for my ransom as a true prisoner.''

``Touching your brethren, Sir Prior,'' said Locksley,
``they shall have present freedom, it were unjust
to detain them; touching your horses and
mules, they shall also be restored, with such spending-money
as may enable you to reach York, for
it were cruel to deprive you of the means of journeying.
---But as concerning rings, jewels, chains,
and what else, you must understand that we are
men of tender consciences, and will not yield to a
venerable man like yourself, who should be dead
to the vanities of this life, the strong temptation to
break the rule of his foundation, by wearing rings,
chains, or other vain gauds.''

``Think what you do, my masters,'' said the Prior,
``ere you put your hand on the Church's patrimony
---These things are _inter res sacras_, and I wot not
what judgment might ensue were they to be handled
by laical hands.''

``I will take care of that, reverend Prior,'' said
the Hermit of Copmanhurst; ``for I will wear
them myself.''

``Friend, or brother,'' said the Prior, in answer
to this solution of his doubts, ``if thou hast really
taken religious orders, I pray thee to look how
thou wilt answer to thine official for the share thou
hast taken in this day's work.''

``Friend Prior,'' returned the Hermit, ``you are
to know that I belong to a little diocese, where I
am my own diocesan, and care as little for the Bishop
of York as I do for the Abbot of Jorvaulx,
the Prior, and all the convent.''

``Thou art utterly irregular,'' said the Prior;
``one of those disorderly men, who, taking on them
the sacred character without due cause, profane
the holy rites, and endanger the souls of those who
take counsel at their hands; _lapides pro pane condonantes
iis_, giving them stones instead of bread
as the Vulgate hath it.''

``Nay,'' said the Friar, ``an my brain-pan could
have been broken by Latin, it had not held so long
together.---I say, that easing a world of such misproud
priests as thou art of their jewels and their
gimcracks, is a lawful spoiling of the Egyptians.''

``Thou be'st a hedge-priest,''* said the Prior, in

* Note H. Hedge-Priests.

great wrath, ``_excommuicabo vos_.''

``Thou best thyself more like a thief and a heretic,''
said the Friar, equally indignant; ``I will
pouch up no such affront before my parishioners,
as thou thinkest it not shame to put upon me, although
I be a reverend brother to thee. _Ossa enis
perfringam_, I will break your bones, as the Vulgate
hath it.''

``Hola!'' cried the Captain, ``come the reverend
brethren to such terms?---Keep thine assurance of
peace, Friar.---Prior, an thou hast not made thy
peace perfect with God, provoke the Friar no further.
---Hermit, let the reverend father depart in
peace, as a ransomed man.''

The yeomen separated the incensed priests, who
continued to raise their voices, vituperating each
other in bad Latin, which the Prior delivered the
more fluently, and the Hermit with the greater
vehemence. The Prior at length recollected himself
sufficiently to be aware that he was compromising
his dignity, by squabbling with such a hedge-priest
as the Outlaw's chaplain, and being joined
by his attendants, rode off with considerably less
pomp, and in a much more apostolical condition,
so far as worldly matters were concerned, than he
had exhibited before this rencounter.

It remained that the Jew should produce some
security for the ransom which he was to pay on the
Prior's account, as well as upon his own. He gave,
accordingly, an order sealed with his signet, to a
brother of his tribe at York, requiring him to pay
to the bearer the sum of a thousand crowns, and to
deliver certain merchandises specified in the note.

``My brother Sheva,'' he said, groaning deeply,
``hath the key of my warehouses.''

``And of the vaulted chamber,'' whispered Locksley.

``No, no---may Heaven forefend!'' said Isaac;
``evil is the hour that let any one whomsoever into
that secret!''

``It is safe with me,'' said the Outlaw, ``so be
that this thy scroll produce the sum therein nominated
and set down.---But what now, Isaac?
art dead? art stupefied? hath the payment of a
thousand crowns put thy daughter's peril out of
thy mind?''

The Jew started to his feet---``No, Diccon, no
---I will presently set forth.---Farewell, thou whom
I may not call good, and dare not and will not call
evil.''
Yet ere Isaac departed, the Outlaw Chief bestowed
on him this parting advice:---``Be liberal
of thine offers, Isaac, and spare not thy purse for
thy daughter's safety. Credit me, that the gold
thou shalt spare in her cause, will hereafter give
thee as much agony as if it were poured molten
down thy throat.''

Isaac acquiesced with a deep groan, and set forth
on his journey, accompanied by two tall foresters,
who were to be his guides, and at the same time
his guards, through the wood.

The Black Knight, who had seen with no small
interest these various proceedings, now took his
leave of the Outlaw in turn; nor could he avoid
expressing his surprise at having witnessed so much
of civil policy amongst persons cast out from all the
ordinary protection and influence of the laws.

``Good fruit, Sir Knight,'' said the yeoman,
``will sometimes grow on a sorry tree; and evil
times are not always productive of evil alone and
unmixed. Amongst those who are drawn into this
lawless state, there are, doubtless, numbers who
wish to exercise its license with some moderation,
and some who regret, it may be, that they are
obliged to follow such a trade at all.''

``And to one of those,'' said the Knight, ``I am
now, I presume, speaking?''

``Sir Knight,'' said the Outlaw, ``we have each
our secret. You are welcome to form your judgment
of me, and I may use my conjectures touching
you, though neither of our shafts may hit the
mark they are shot at. But as I do not pray to be
admitted into your mystery, be not offended that I
preserve my own.''

``I crave pardon, brave Outlaw,'' said the Knight,
``your reproof is just. But it may be we shall meet
hereafter with less of concealment on either side.---
Meanwhile we part friends, do we not?''

``There is my hand upon it,'' said Locksley;
``and I will call it the hand of a true Englishman,
though an outlaw for the present.''

``And there is mine in return,'' said the Knight,
``and I hold it honoured by being clasped with
yours. For he that does good, having the unlimited
power to do evil, deserves praise not only for
the good which he performs, but for the evil which
he forbears. Fare thee well, gallant Outlaw!''
Thus parted that fair fellowship; and He of the
Fetterlock, mounting upon his strong war-horse,
rode off through the forest.

CHAPTER XXXIV

_King John_. I'll tell thee what, my friend,
He is a very serpent in my way;
And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,
He lies before me.---Dost thou understand me?
_King John._

There was brave feasting in the Castle of York,
to which Prince John had invited those nobles, prelates,
and leaders, by whose assistance he hoped to carry through
his ambitious projects upon his brother's throne.
Waldemar Fitzurse, his able and politic agent,
was at secret work among them, tempering
all to that pitch of courage which was necessary
in making an open declaration of their purpose.
But their enterprise was delayed by the
absence of more than one main limb of the confederacy.
The stubborn and daring, though brutal
courage of Front-de-Buf; the buoyant spirits and
bold bearing of De Bracy; the sagacity, martial
experience, and renowned valour of Brian de Bois-Guilbert,
were important to the success of their
conspiracy; and, while cursing in secret their unnecessary
and unmeaning absence, neither John nor
his adviser dared to proceed without them.
Isaac the Jew also seemed to have vanished,
and with him the hope of certain sums of money,
making up the subsidy for which Prince John had contracted
with that Israelite and his brethren. This deficiency
was likely to prove perilous in an emergency so critical.

It was on the morning after the fall of Torquilstone,
that a confused report began to spread abroad
in the city of York, that De Bracy and Bois-Guilbert,
with their confederate Front-de-Buf, had
been taken or slain. Waldemar brought the rumour
to Prince John, announcing, that he feared
its truth the more that they had set out with a
small attendance, for the purpose of committing an
assault on the Saxon Cedric and his attendants.
At another time the Prince would have treated this
deed of violence as a good jest; but now, that it
interfered with and impeded his own plans, he exclaimed
against the perpetrators, and spoke of the
broken laws, and the infringement of public order
and of private property, in a tone which might have
become King Alfred.

``The unprincipled marauders,'' he said---``were
I ever to become monarch of England, I would
hang such transgressors over the drawbridges of
their own castles.''

``But to become monarch of England,'' said his
Ahithophel coolly, ``it is necessary not only that your
Grace should endure the transgressions of these
unprincipled marauders, but that you should afford
them your protection, notwithstanding your laudable
zeal for the laws they are in the habit of infringing.
We shall be finely helped, if the churl
Saxons should have realized your Grace's vision, of
converting feudal drawbridges into gibbets; and
yonder bold-spirited Cedric seemeth one to whom
such an imagination might occur. Your Grace is
well aware, it will be dangerous to stir without
Front-de-Buf, De Bracy, and the Templar; and
yet we have gone too far to recede with safety.''

Prince John struck his forehead with impatience,
and then began to stride up and down the apartment.

``The villains,'' he said, ``the base treacherous
villains, to desert me at this pinch!''

``Nay, say rather the feather-pated giddy madmen,''
said Waldemar, ``who must be toying with
follies when such business was in hand.''

``What is to be done?'' said the Prince, stopping
short before Waldemar.

``I know nothing which can be done,'' answered
his counsellor, ``save that which I have already
taken order for.---I came not to bewail this evil
chance with your Grace, until I had done my best
to remedy it.''

``Thou art ever my better angel, Waldemar,''
said the Prince; ``and when I have such a chancellor
to advise withal, the reign of John will be
renowned in our annals.---What hast thou commanded?''

``I have ordered Louis Winkelbrand, De Bracy's
lieutenant, to cause his trumpet sound to horse, and
to display his banner, and to set presently forth towards
the castle of Front-de-Buf, to do what yet
may be done for the succour of our friends.''

Prince John's face flushed with the pride of a
spoilt child, who has undergone what it conceives
to be an insult.
``By the face of God!'' he said, ``Waldemar
Fitzurse, much hast thou taken upon thee! and
over malapert thou wert to cause trumpet to blow,
or banner to be raised, in a town where ourselves
were in presence, without our express command.''

``I crave your Grace's pardon,'' said Fitzurse,
internally cursing the idle vanity of his patron;
``but when time pressed, and even the loss of minutes
might be fatal, I judged it best to take this
much burden upon me, in a matter of such importance
to your Grace's interest.''

``Thou art pardoned, Fitzurse,'' said the prince,
gravely; ``thy purpose hath atoned for thy hasty
rashness.---But whom have we here?---De Bracy
himself, by the rood!---and in strange guise doth
he come before us.''

It was indeed De Bracy---``bloody with spurring,
fiery red with speed.'' His armour bore all
the marks of the late obstinate fray, being broken,
defaced, and stained with blood in many places,
and covered with clay and dust from the crest to
the spur. Undoing his helmet, he placed it on the
table, and stood a moment as if to collect himself
before be told his news.

``De Bracy,'' said Prince John, ``what means
this?---Speak, I charge thee!---Are the Saxons in
rebellion?''

``Speak, De Bracy,'' said Fitzurse, almost in the
same moment with his master, ``thou wert wont to
be a man---Where is the Templar?---where Front-de-Buf?''

``The Templar is fled,'' said De Bracy; ``Front-de-Buf
you will never see more. He has found
a red grave among the blazing rafters of his own
castle and I alone am escaped to tell you.''

``Cold news,'' said Waldemar, ``to us, though
you speak of fire and conflagration.''

``The worst news is not yet said,'' answered De
Bracy; and, coming up to Prince John, he uttered
in a low and emphatic tone---``Richard is in
England---I have seen and spoken with him.''

Prince John turned pale, tottered, and caught
at the back of an oaken bench to support himself
---much like to a man who receives an arrow in his
bosom.

``Thou ravest, De Bracy,'' said Fitzurse, ``it
cannot be.''

``It is as true as truth itself,'' said De Bracy;
``I was his prisoner, and spoke with him.''

``With Richard Plantagenet, sayest thou?'' continued
Fitzurse.

``With Richard Plantagenet,'' replied De Bracy,
with Richard Cur-de-Lion---with Richard
of England.''

``And thou wert his prisoner?'' said Waldemar;
``he is then at the head of a power?''

``No---only a few outlawed yeomen were around
him, and to these his person is unknown. I heard
him say he was about to depart from them. He
joined them only to assist at the storming of Torquilstone.''

``Ay,'' said Fitzurse, ``such is indeed the fashion
of Richard---a true knight-errant he, and will wander
in wild adventure, trusting the prowess of his
single arm, like any Sir Guy or Sir Bevis, while
the weighty affairs of his kingdom slumber, and his
own safety is endangered.---What dost thou propose
to do De Bracy?''

``I?---I offered Richard the service of my Free
Lances, and he refused them---I will lead them to
Hull, seize on shipping, and embark for Flanders;
thanks to the bustling times, a man of action will
always find employment. And thou, Waldemar,
wilt thou take lance and shield, and lay down thy
policies, and wend along with me, and share the
fate which God sends us?''

``I am too old, Maurice, and I have a daughter,''
answered Waldemar.

``Give her to me, Fitzurse, and I will maintain
her as fits her rank, with the help of lance and stirrup,''
said De Bracy.

``Not so,'' answered Fitzurse; ``I will take
sanctuary in this church of Saint Peter---the
Archbishop is my sworn brother.'

During this discourse, Prince John had gradually
awakened from the stupor into which he had
been thrown by the unexpected intelligence, and
had been attentive to the conversation which passed
betwixt his followers. ``They fall off from me,''
he said to himself, ``they hold no more by me than
a withered leaf by the bough when a breeze blows
on it?---Hell and fiends! can I shape no means for
myself when I am deserted by these cravens?''---
He paused, and there was an expression of diabolical
passion in the constrained laugh with which
he at length broke in on their conversation.

``Ha, ha, ha! my good lords, by the light of
Our Lady's brow, I held ye sage men, bold men,
ready-witted men; yet ye throw down wealth, honour,
pleasure, all that our noble game promised
you, at the moment it might be won by one bold
cast!''

``I understand you not,'' said De Bracy. ``As
soon as Richard's return is blown abroad, he will be
at the head of an army, and all is then over with us.
I would counsel you, my lord, either to fly to France
or take the protection of the Queen Mother.''

``I seek no safety for myself,'' said Prince John,
haughtily; ``that I could secure by a word spoken
to my brother. But although you, De Bracy, and
you, Waldemar Fitzurse, are so ready to abandon
me, I should not greatly delight to see your heads
blackening on Clifford's gate yonder. Thinkest
thou, Waldemar, that the wily Archbishop will not
suffer thee to be taken from the very horns of the
altar, would it make his peace with King Richard?
And forgettest thou, De Bracy, that Robert Estoteville
lies betwixt thee and Hull with all his forces,
and that the Earl of Essex is gathering his followers?
If we had reason to fear these levies even
before Richard's return, trowest thou there is any
doubt now which party their leaders will take?
Trust me, Estoteville alone has strength enough
to drive all thy Free Lances into the Humber.---''
Waldemar Fitzurse and De Bracy looked in each
other's faces with blank dismay.---``There is but
one road to safety,'' continued the Prince, and his
brow grew black as midnight; ``this object of our
terror journeys alone---He must be met withal.''

``Not by me,'' said De Bracy, hastily; ``I was
his prisoner, and he took me to mercy. I will not
harm a feather in his crest.''

``Who spoke of harming him?'' said Prince
John, with a hardened laugh; ``the knave will
say next that I meant he should slay him!---No---
a prison were better; and whether in Britain or
Austria, what matters it?---Things will be but as
they were when we commenced our enterprise---
It was founded on the hope that Richard would
remain a captive in Germany---Our uncle Robert
lived and died in the castle of Cardiffe.''

``Ay, but,'' said Waldemar, ``your sire Henry
sate more firm in his seat than your Grace can. I
say the best prison is that which is made by the
sexton---no dungeon like a church-vault! I have
said my say.''

``Prison or tomb,'' said De Bracy, ``I wash my
hands of the whole matter.''

``Villain!'' said Prince John, ``thou wouldst not
bewray our counsel?''

``Counsel was never bewrayed by me,'' said De
Bracy, haughtily, ``nor must the name of villain
be coupled with mine!''

``Peace, Sir Knight!'' said Waldemar; ``and
you, good my lord, forgive the scruples of valiant
De Bracy; I trust I shall soon remove them.''

``That passes your eloquence, Fitzurse,'' replied
the Knight.

``Why, good Sir Maurice,'' rejoined the wily
politician, ``start not aside like a scared steed, without,
at least, considering the object of your terror.
---This Richard---but a day since, and it would
have been thy dearest wish to have met him hand
to hand in the ranks of battle---a hundred times I
have heard thee wish it.''

``Ay,'' said De Bracy, ``but that was as thou
sayest, hand to hand, and in the ranks of battle!
Thou never heardest me breathe a thought of assaulting
him alone, and in a forest.''

``Thou art no good knight if thou dost scruple
at it,'' said Waldemar. ``Was it in battle that
Lancelot de Lac and Sir Tristram won renown?
or was it not by encountering gigantic knights under
the shade of deep and unknown forests?''

``Ay, but I promise you,'' said De Bracy, ``that
neither Tristram nor Lancelot would have been
match, hand to hand, for Richard Plantagenet, and
I think it was not their wont to take odds against
a single man.''

``Thou art mad, De Bracy---what is it we propose
to thee, a hired and retained captain of Free
Companions, whose swords are purchased for Prince
John's service? Thou art apprized of our enemy,
and then thou scruplest, though thy patron's fortunes,
those of thy comrades, thine own, and the
life and honour of every one amongst us, be at
stake!''

``I tell you,'' said De Bracy, sullenly, ``that he
gave me my life. True, he sent me from his presence,
and refused my homage---so far I owe him
neither favour nor allegiance---but I will not lift
hand against him.''

``It needs not---send Louis Winkelbrand and a
score of thy lances.''

``Ye have sufficient ruffians of your own,'' said
De Bracy; ``not one of mine shall budge on such
an errand.''

``Art thou so obstinate, De Bracy?'' said Prince
John; ``and wilt thou forsake me, after so many
protestations of zeal for my service?''

``I mean it not,'' said De Bracy; ``I will abide
by you in aught that becomes a knight, whether in
the lists or in the camp; but this highway practice
comes not within my vow.''

``Come hither, Waldemar,'' said Prince John.
``An unhappy prince am I. My father, King
Henry, had faithful servants---He had but to say
that he was plagued with a factious priest, and the
blood of Thomas-a-Becket, saint though he was,
stained the steps of his own altar.---Tracy, Morville,
Brito * loyal and daring subjects, your names, your

* Reginald Fitzurse, William de Tracy, Hugh de Morville,
* and Richard Brito, were the gentlemen of Henry the Second's
* household, who, instigated by some passionate expressions of
* their sovereign, slew the celebrated Thomas-a-Becket.

spirit, are extinct! and although Reginald Fitzurse
hath left a son, he hath fallen off from his father's
fidelity and courage.''

``He has fallen off from neither,'' said Waldemar
Fitzurse; ``and since it may not better be, I
will take on me the conduct of this perilous enterprise.
Dearly, however, did my father purchase the
praise of a zealous friend; and yet did his proof of
loyalty to Henry fall far short of what I am about
to afford; for rather would I assail a whole calendar
of saints, than put spear in rest against Cur-de-Lion.
---De Bracy, to thee I must trust to keep
up the spirits of the doubtful, and to guard Prince
John's person. If you receive such news as I trust
to send you, our enterprise will no longer wear a
doubtful aspect.---Page,'' he said, ``hie to my lodgings,
and tell my armourer to be there in readiness;
and bid Stephen Wetheral, Broad Thoresby, and
the Three Spears of Spyinghow, come to me instantly;
and let the scout-master, Hugh Bardon,
attend me also.---Adieu, my Prince, till better
times.'' Thus speaking, he left the apartment.
``He goes to make my brother prisoner,'' said
Prince John to De Bracy, ``with as little touch of
compunction, as if it but concerned the liberty of a
Saxon franklin. I trust he will observe our orders,
and use our dear Richard's person with all due
respect.''

De Bracy only answered by a smile.

``By the light of Our Lady's brow,'' said Prince
John, ``our orders to him were most precise---
though it may be you heard them not, as we stood
together in the oriel window---Most clear and positive
was our charge that Richard's safety should
be cared for, and woe to Waldemar's head if he
transgress it!''

``I had better pass to his lodgings,'' said De
Bracy, ``and make him fully aware of your Grace's
pleasure; for, as it quite escaped my ear, it may
not perchance have reached that of Waldemar.''

``Nay, nay,'' said Prince John, impatiently, ``I
promise thee he heard me; and, besides, I have
farther occupation for thee. Maurice, come hither;
let me lean on thy shoulder.''

They walked a turn through the hall in this familiar
posture, and Prince John, with an air of
the most confidential intimacy, proceeded to say,
``What thinkest thou of this Waldemar Fitzurse,
my De Bracy?---He trusts to be our Chancellor.
Surely we will pause ere we give an office so high
to one who shows evidently how little he reverences
our blood, by his so readily undertaking this enterprise
against Richard. Thou dost think, I warrant,
that thou hast lost somewhat of our regard, by thy
boldly declining this unpleasing task---But no,
Maurice! I rather honour thee for thy virtuous
constancy. There are things most necessary to be
done, the perpetrator of which we neither love nor
honour; and there may be refusals to serve us,
which shall rather exalt in our estimation those
who deny our request. The arrest of my unfortunate
brother forms no such good title to the high
office of Chancellor, as thy chivalrous and courageous
denial establishes in thee to the truncheon of
High Marshal. Think of this, De Bracy, and begone
to thy charge.''

``Fickle tyrant!'' muttered De Bracy, as he left
the presence of the Prince; ``evil luck have they
who trust thee. Thy Chancellor, indeed!---He
who hath the keeping of thy conscience shall have
an easy charge, I trow. But High Marshal of
England! that,'' he said, extending his arm, as if
to grasp the baton of office, and assuming a loftier
stride along the antechamber, ``that is indeed a
prize worth playing for!''

De Bracy had no sooner left the apartment than
Prince John summoned an attendant.