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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
BEQUEST OF
Alice R. Hilgard
*-
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uionKST rorxT oi' intkhkst an..
I N Pl.ASfl OF LIGnTSING UKOKf-'. A'
MARY OF BURGUNDY
€T)e l^ebolt of iSiijmt
BY G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
" Thou wouldst be gi'eat,
Art not witliout ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly
That thou wouldst holily ; wouldst not play false,
Anil yet wouldst wrongly win."
LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNIIILL.
MDCCCXLIV.
S55
J28
TO
HUGH SCOTT, ESQ.
OF HARDEN,
THIS WORK,
AN INADEQUATE TESTIMONY
OF
SINCERE RESPECT, REGARD, AND ESTEEM,
BY
HIS FAITHFUL AND OBLIGED SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
M8559i:8
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
The following pages were written at a period when Europe had
just been agitated by a new revolution in a country already re-
markable in history for one of the most tremendous social con-
vulsions which ever shook down old and decaying institutions,
to make room for others better adapted to the age. Earthquakes,
however, seldom pass away with only one shock, and the milder
and more beneficent revolution which occurred in France in the
year 1830 was perhaps but a natural consequence of that which
went before. Nevertheless, the expulsion of the Bourbon dynasty,
and the fears and apprehensions of a new period of anarchy which
it spread throughout Europe, naturally turned my thoughts to the
consideration of other great popular movements mentioned in
history. Having been in Paris at the time when the last revolution
took place, and having had various opportunities of learning the
motives, and some of the secret proceedings of those who acted
a part in that important transaction, it became a curious subject
of inquiry, whether it generally occurs, in such insurrections,
(successful or not,) that the pressure of circumstances, and the
inevitable course of events, by forcing forward that human selfish-
ness, which is latent, if not developed, in every bosom, into
prominent action, do or do not so modify the results, that only a
partial change is effected, even when the convulsion that takes
place seems, by its strength and fury, destined to sweep away all
before it, and not alone to bring forward new dynasties and im-
VI INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
proved institutions, but to create totally different forms of govern-
ment, and alter the whole framework of society. In looking back
throughout all history, I found that in almost every case where
great movements of the masses had taken place, the ultimate
results were by no means commensurate with the forces brought
into operation ; that institutions, very similar to those which had
been carried away, rose again in their place, — modified, it is true,
but slightly ; and that changes of names were more frequently to
be found than changes of things, as the consequences of a revo-
lution. The new institutions principally differed from the old
ones in being more susceptible of after modification ; and in
building from the ruins of the past, — as the world is continually
doing, — it seemed to me, we usually erect fabrics which we can
enlarge and improve with greater facility than could be done with
the sterner and more solid structures of ages passed away.
Still, however, the question recurred, why it is that the effect
is always less than we should have anticipated fi-om the cause ?
— why, when a tyranny has been overthrown, when liberty has de-
viated into the fiercest anarchy, and the most necessary restraints
of society have been set at nought, as insupportable shackles upon
man's freedom — why is it that we find, in a wonderfully short
space of time, a new but no less oppressive tyranny established ;
laws more stringent than ever, succeeding others which had been
blotted out; and nations submitting patiently to bonds more
weighty, if not more grievous, than those which they have cast
off? Is it, I asked myself, that old institutions are really stronger
than they seem, and exist still, though overwhelmed in the tor-
rent of innovation, which, like a flood that has overwhelmed a
city in a valley, gradually subsides, and leaves the solider con-
structions standing, though desolate, to be tenanted by new
inhabitants in a brighter day?— or is it that there is less real
than apparent strength in the great revolutionary movements
which take place from time to time, more violence than vigour,
more fury than power ? Perhaps something of both ; but yet,
in many of the great popular ebullitions which have marked
memorable epochs, we find immense and extraordinary energy
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. vU
displayed by the people in asserting their rights and liberties, —
courage, wisdom, resolute endurance, perseverance — and, never-
theless, comparatively little has been accom})lished of all the
great objects that were sought. In almost all these instances,
I thought, I could distinctly trace various modifications of
human selfishness, on the part both of leaders and followers,
acting, as it were, in the manner of dams and sluices, and, by
diverting the stream of popular energy from one direct and
straightforward course, diminishing the force of the current, and
turning the torrent, which might have overborne every obstacle,
into a mere inundation, which gradually flowed off, or evaporated,
as the sources which supplied it were exhausted.
It was with these reflections fresh in my mind, that I sat down
to write the romance that follows fi:om a part of history which
I had studied while considering the great questions that I have
stated. The period, and more especially the fate and character
of the fair heiress of the Burgundian coronet had interested me
much, and I thought they might also interest the reader, while
the historical events related, and the characters introduced to
illustrate the views I entertained regarding the general course of
popular insurrections, might afford some instruction or some
warning. Although I adhered somewhat closely to the facts of
history, in regard to Mary herself and the revolt of the people of
Ghent, I did not think it necessary to abstain from the usual
licence allowed to the romance writer, of embellishing the nar-
rative with various fictitious characters, of compressing some of
the events which occupied a longer, into a shorter space of
time, and of supplying all those adjuncts which imagination
may suggest, either to render the tale more pleasing to the
reader, or to display more fully the workings of those passions
which there are historical grounds for believing, produced the
great general result. Nevertheless, there was sufficient veri-
similitude in the work to have prevented a very learned anti-
quary as well as skilful diplomatist, and a native of the city
of Ghent, from finding any farther fault with the author than for
having carried up one of the towers of the palace somewhat
VIU INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
liigher than it ever was carried, in order to give the Princess
a view over the city and the neighbouring country. 1 must
attribute, however, a great deal to his good humour and inch-
nation to be pleased, for I cannot doubt that with his knowledge
of history and his critical ability, he might have discovered a
great many more errors if he had thought fit to look for them.
I trust that the j)ublic will continue as kind ; and in order
to merit as far as possible its favour in this respect, I shall
proceed to make a fair confession of the principal deviations
from fact of which I have been guilty. Amongst the personages
which appear upon the scene, there is a group which naturally
detaches itself from the rest, and stands forth somewhat too
evidently perhaps as formed of creatures of imagination. The
old Lord of Ilannut, his fair niece Alice, the Vert Gallant of
llannut, and his Green Riders, are all more or less of this class.
Not, indeed, that I mean to say no such person as the Vert
Gallant ever existed, for the whole of that part of the country,
more especially on the side of the Ardennes, is full of traditions
respecting him and his followers, which must have had some foun-
dation in fact. For centuries, the frontiers of France and those
small feudal sovereignties now consolidated in the Belgian
kingdom were infested by innumerable bands of free companions,
many of which obtained a very unenviable reputation. Not so,
however, w-ith the Green Riders, who seem to have been
friendly to the peasantry and the lower classes, and to have won
a degree of reverence and attachment from them remembered
even to the present day. Thus, where the Yorkshire inn displays
the sign of the Robin Hood, and the tale circulates of the bold
outlaw and his forest companions, on the limits of France and
Rclgiun), aj^pears the sign of the Vert Gallant, and many a
legend is related of his exploits in times past.
Under these circumstances I thought it quite fair to employ
such a personage for my own purposes, and to place him in
the times that suited me best; and as, according to talc and
tradition, he underwent various transformations, sometimes
turning out a count, a prince, and even a king, I did not see
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. IX
any reason why I should not change hiui into anybody most
agreeable to myself.
In regard to the old Lord of Hannut, the reader acquainted
with antiquarian lore may, perhaps, object that though the
study of astrology and the belief in that pretended science was
indeed carried down to much later periods, the persons who
followed it were not generally those of a very elevated rank, but
rather quacks employed by the superstitious nobility of an un-
enlightened age to discover the secrets of the future. Instances,
however, exist of astrology having been deeply studied and
implicitly believed by persons both of high rank and high intel-
lect, sufficiently numerous to justify me in introducing such
a personage.
The characters which I have pointed out as purely imaginary
take but a small share in the historical events which are mingled
with the incidents of the romance ; but I am bound to acknow-
ledge that another who occupies a very prominent situation
throughout the whole work is, at least in most of the details,
fictitious also. I refer to the principal male personage in the
book, namely, Albert Maurice. It was my wish to show how,
in any great movement of the people, a man endowed with the
noblest qualities of mind, and moved by many of the most
generous impulses of the human heart, ardently seeking the
welfare of his country and struggling to resist the influence of all
selfish passions both in himself and others, might, by the combined
effect of external circumstances and some few personal weak-
nesses, be led step by step to acts that he never contemplated,
and to crimes that he abhorred; how patriotism, by an easy
transition, might give place to ambition; how the love of liberty
might, step by step, lead to the tolerance, if not the encourage-
ment of anarchy ; how the generous defender of one class might
be changed to the sanguinary oppressor of another; and how, by
indulgence, the passions in his own breast, like the mobs which
he led or directed, might in time become his masters, and force
him forward to deeds the most abhorrent to his better nature.
I did not find such a personage in the history of those times.
X INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
and accordingly 1 created him. The leaders of the various
insurrections of Ghent were generally coarse in character,
though occasionally endowed with great abilities, and an extra-
ordinary grasp of mind ; but I wanted something more. To
bring out the great points in a picture of the fall of a high
human heart, it was necessary that I should have a high human
heart to deal with ; and not finding one at that period really in
existence, I was obliged so far to violate historical truth as to
endow the leader of the revolt with qualities which he might
have possessed, though probably he did not. I trust in so
doing, however, that I have in no degree outraged probability.
The first Van Artevelde had many qualities in common with
Albert Maurice ; the second had many others ; and there is no
reason why we should not suppose that the great advance which
society had made since the death of Philip, might not have
added those graces of demeanour and elevation of character to
the citizen of Ghent, which I have thought fit to attribute to my
hero in the latter part of the fifteenth century.
The picture of Mary of Burgundy herself is, I believe, per-
fectly consistent with history ; and all the principal events
connected with that princess are simply related as they occurred,
to the best of my knowledge and information. Her fate was a
sad and perilous one : the child of a brutal and selfish tyrant,
she was treated by him merely as a means of attaining the
objects of his ambition ; and, left an orphan at the age of twenty-
one, she saw her hand contended for by numerous suitors, all
but one odious to her personally, and dangerous to the state.
With the armies which her warlike father had collected, scattered
and discomfited ; with the greater part of his gallant nobility
slaughtered or in prison ; with the oldest and most favoured
servants of her house — such as Philip of ('revecceur — abandon-
ing her interests, and betraying her fortresses to the enemy ;
with her subjects in revolt, and herself almost a captive in their
hands, she beheld her dominions invaded by the most powerful,
the most subtle, and the most treacherous monarch of the age.
Grief upon grief was piled upon her hcatl : the magistrates
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. XI
of Ghent appointed by her fiither, contrary to the privileges of
the citizens, fell a sacrifice to popular fury in the manner
described in the tale, as soon as the death of Charles the Bold
was ascertained. The Chancellor Hugonet, and Iinbercourt,
Count of Meghc, two of her most devoted friends, were exe-
cuted under her very eyes, while, with dishevelled hair and
floods of tears, she was beseeching the citizens in the public
market-place to spare them ; and the blood of her faithful
servants is said to have sprinkled her garments as she was
carried fainting from the terrible scene. Her friends and
relations were banished from the city ; and Louis XL, marching
on at the head of a large army, while affecting to consider the
interests of the orphan princess, not only robbed her of her
territories, but exercised the most inhuman cruelties upon her
subjects. Perhaps in the whole range of history no example
occurs of an unjust war carried on with such barbarous incidents.
Not content with the usual excesses of warfare, wherever
resistance was shown by the vassals of the house of Burgundy,
Louis called in the arm of the executioner to accomplish what
strife had left undone. On several occasions more than a hun-
dred prisoners were beheaded in one day, for no crime but
having remained faithful to their sovereign ; and old John
JNIolinet, an eye-witness of what he relates, gives the most
fearful picture of the cruelties exercised by a king calling himself
Most Christian. "The account would be too long and in-
credible," he says, in his quaint and pedantic style, " if I were
to reckon up the exactions, the scornings, the opprobriums, the
slaughters, the tyrannies, the robberies, the seizures, and the
inhumanities, which the king permitted his free archers to
commit in the conquests which they effected, per fas et nefas, of
the towns named ; for then full course was given to the de-
flowering of virgins, the effusion of innocent blood, the spoiling
of hospitals, the pillage of matrons, the imprisonment of youths,
the destruction of children, the drowning of old men, the burn-
ing of churches, the persecution of all persons, the violation of
women, the demolition of towns, and the ruining of the castles
xii iM iioDircTom' i'Hi:rA(;i:.
and t'ann-housc-s of tlic open country, as long as fire and sword
could do their work, which failed sooner than the rage of the
satellites who employed them." He then goes on to detail the
tortures inflicted on the prisoners and the peasantry, especially
of the female sex, and sums up all b}' assuring us that it was
common to demand of a wife a ransom for her captive husband,
and when it was obtained, to deliver her only his corpse — that
villages were constantly burnt, after having paid composition —
that prisoners were even crucified in their dungeons, and that,
in the end, Louis caused ten thousand mowers to be collected
from the Soissonnois, Vermandois, and neighbouring territories,
and employed to cut down the rich harvests of Flanders and
Ilainault while they were yet green.
Tidings of all these events poured in upon the hapless daughter
of Charles the Bold, while she was yet grieving for her father's
death, and opposing to her revolted citizens nought but the meek
and gentle spirit of a pure and beneficent nature. No sign of
irritation, no angry word, no harsh reproach ever escaped her ;
and all her dealings with her people were in sorrow, not in anger,
till at length the fire of faction wore itself out, and, entangled in
difficulties, apparently inextricable, the citizens appealed to her
for aid, whose sorrows they had rudely violated, whose prayers
they had rejected and contemned, whose means of protecting
herself or them they had paralysed, whose personal liberty they
had abridged, and whose rights and authority they had trampled
under foot. There was now no resource but in the house of
Austria; and policy, as well as inclination, led Mary of Burgundy
to bestow her hand upon the only prince, of all her many suitors,
who could defend her dominions and w ho possessed her heart.
A short period of brightness succeeded ; and after a few years
of uninterrupted happiness, the Princess met her death in conse-
quence of a fall from her horse, while pursuing her favourite
sport of hawking. Excessive delicacy induced her to conceal the
injury she had received, even from her husband, till the ]">hysi-
• ciaus' art would no longer avail, and she died in her youth uni-
versally regretted and beloved.
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. xiii
Such was the fate of one of the most amiable and accompUshed
ladies of those times; and it seemed to me, that no period and
no scries of events in the range of history, could aiford better
materials for a romance. I found little need of calling upon
imagination for incidents, when so many were already supplied
by history; and I had only to add some few embellishments, and
to enliven the scene by clothing the characters in the customs
and manners of the times, as far as my information would admit.
The favour the work obtained with the public I trust may still
be continued to it, as it owes little to the author, and almost all
to the historical interest of the period.
Amongst what may be termed the embellishments, is a descrip-
tion of a thunderstorm, accompanied by that most awful of phe-
nomena, ground lightning, where the earth, or the vapour that
rises upon it, charged with electricity, pours out the fiery fluid
towards the clouds above. I had often heard of this extraor-
dinary effect in the part of the country where my scene is laid,
and remembered a sad disaster which had resulted from this
phenomenon on the Malvern Hills ; but, as I wished to be certain
that I had committed no great error in natural philosophy, I
submitted the passage in which the description is contained, to
my friend Sir David Brewster, who readily put his imprimatur
upon it; and, as a piece of mere writing, it obtained more credit
than it deserved, and more, certainly, than it would have obtained
had I not been greatly favoured and assisted by my excellent
good mistress. Dame Nature, who, while I was dictating the
passage, treated me with a most magnificent storm upon the
Eildon Hills, dazzling my own eyes as they were stretched wido^
to mark all the incidents, and somewhat startling my worthy
amanuensis, by the lurid glare that ever and anon flashed over
the paper under his hands.
In reading over the work, I found various errors, some of
which were evidently attributable to my own carelessness, and
to an utter distaste and inaptitude for the correction of the press ;
others to those bearers of many sins, the printers. Of these feults
I have now removed a considerable number, but doubtless a fully
XIV INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
sufficient j)()rti()n yt't roinaiiis to make inc crave the indulgence
of the reader for these, as well as many other errors, and to hcg
him to consider what a sleepy and stupifying task it is for an
autiior to read his own works, and wherever he does find an
omission, to fancy that my eyes have there been unwillingly
closed (after st(jut resistance) by a page every word of which 1
knew better than the first line of the hornbook.
I have only to add, that this work was the first that 1 ever
dictated, my lamented friend Sir Walter Scott having suggested
to me that plan of composition shortly before, as a great allevia-
tion of literary labour. For that suggestion, as well as lor many
another act of kindness, I owed him deep gratitude, which never
can be forgotten. Ever since, I have been enabled to pursue
my course with comparatively few of the inconveniences from
which most authors suffer; and I attribute to the hint then given,
the enjoyment of a much greater share than I could reasonably
expect of that most invaluable blessing, health.*
* In publishing this new edition of my works, circumstances, which would
be uninteresting to the public, as they refer only to the bookselling business,
have induced me to deviate from the order in which the works were originally
composed. A learned and very judicious friend has suggested, that, to facili-
tate the arrangement of the volumes according to the dates of the first pub-
lication, if any purchasers should be inclined to adopt that plan, I should give
a list of my romances in the order of their composition. I have found more
difhculty in framing such a list than might be expected ; but one shall be
given with a succeeding volume.
ADVERTISEMENT
THE FIRST EDITION.
The Author of this work thinks it right to acknowledge, that, ^
if there be anything interesting in the following pages, he is but
little entitled to claim it as his own, almost all the principal inci-
dents being narrated in the works of George Chatelain, Jean
Molinet, Philippe de Comines, and in the Chronicles of Flan-
ders. Amongst the incidents which he has introduced from
such authentic sources, he might cite the embassy of Olivier le
Dain, the expedition of the Duke of Gueldres against Arras, the
massacre of the Magistrates of Ghent, and especially the death
of the Counsellors in the very presence of the Princess Mary, —
some writers asserting that their blood absolutely sprinkled her
garments.
Doubtless, the learned and judicious antiquary and critic may
be inclined to point out, that the character of the hero of the
revolt is a creation of the author's own imagination ; and that we
have no hist6rical proof that he was actuated, or rather torn, by
the contending passions which arc here represented as con-
tinually struggling against each other in his bosom, and by
turns conquering one another.
One fact, however, is certain, — that no human being now
living can possibly have such means of knowing what were the
xvi ADVRRTISKMENT.
real fct-lings of the individual alluded to, as the author of these
volumes ; and he therefore trusts that the public will receive
them as true, upon his authority.
It only remains farther to be explained, that the magistracy of
the city of Ghent formerly consisted of the Grand Bailli, aided
by thirteen Eschevins, three Pensioners, and six Secretaries;
inferior to whom were the Lieutenant Bailli, thirteen Eschevins,
one Pensioner, and four Secretaries. Whenever the States
General of the province assembled at Ghent, which was most
frequently the case, the chief Pensioner, or the chief Eschevin
of the city, claimed, as a right, the presidency of the Estates.
Besides this body of magistrates, and the general assembly of
the States, the provincial council of the sovereign generally
held its scat in Ghent ; at least, such was the case from the year
1463 to the year 1579. It most frequently consisted of five
Counsellors and a President, but the numbers changed from
time to time ; and during the early part of the reign of Mary its
powers were almost null.
As the language of the court and the nobility in Flanders was
at that time French and all the principal authorities are only to
be found in that language, the writer of the following pages has
preserved the names of offices, persons, and things, as he found
them, in that tongue, without seeking at all, to inflict upon
those who are kind enough to read his book, the necessity of
studying a Flemish vocabulary for that purpose.
MARY OF BURGUNDY:
OB,
THE REVOLT OF GHENT.
CHAPTER I.
It was on the evening of a beautiful day in the beginning of
September, 1456, — one of those fair autumn days that wean us,
as it were, from the passing summer, with the light as bright, and
the sky as full of rays, as in the richest hours' of June ; and
with nothing but a scarce perceptible shade of yellow in the
woods to tell that it is not the proudest time of the year's prime. —
It was in the evening, as I have said; but nothing yet betokened
darkness. The sun had glided a considerable way on his descent
down the bright arch of the western sky, yet without one ray
being shadowed, or any lustre lost. He had reached that degree
of declination alone, at which his beams, pouring from a spot a
little above the horizon, produced, as they streamed over forest
and hill, grand masses of light and shade, with every here and
there a point of dazzling brightness, where the clear evening rays
were reflected from stream or lake.
It was in the heart of a deep forest, too, whose immemorial
trees, worn away by time, or felled by the axe, left in varioi.is
places wide open spaces of broken ground and turf, brushwood
and dingle — and amidst whose deep recesses a thousand spots
rich in woodland beauty lay hidden from the eye of man. Those
were not, indeed, times when taste and cultivation had taught
the human race to appreciate fully all the charms and magnificence
wherewith Nature's hand has robed the globe which we inhabit ;
B
2 IMAllY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
juul the only beings that then trod the deeper glades of the forest
were the woodman, the hunter, or those less fortunate ])crsons
who, — as we see them represented by the wild peneil of Sal-
vator Rosa, — might greatly increase the picturesque effect of the
scenes they frequented ; but, probably, did not particularly feel
it themselves. But there is, nevertheless, in the heart of man,
a native sense of beauty, a latent sympathy, a harmony witli all
that is lovely on the earth, which makes him unconsciously seek
out spots of peculiar sweetness, not only for his daily dwelling,
but also for both his temporary resting place, and for the mansion
of his long repose, whether the age or the country be rude or not.
Look at the common cemetery of a village, and you will gene-
rally find that it is pitched in the most picturesque spot to be
found in the neighbourhood. If left to his free wnll, the peasant
will almost always — without well knowing why — build his cot-
tage where he may have something fair or bright before his
eyes ; and the very herd, while watching his cattle or his sheep,
climbs up the face of the crag, to sit and gaze over the fair ex-
panse of Nature's face.
It was in the heart of a deep forest, then, at the distance of
nearly twenty miles from Louvain, that a boy, of about twelve
years of age, was seen sleeping by the side of a small stream ;
which, dashing over a high rock hard by, gathered its bright
waters in a deep basin at the foot, and then rushed, clear and
rapidly, through the green turf beyond. The old trees of the
w^ood were scattered abroad from the stream, as if to let the little
waterfall sparkle at its will in the sunshine. One young ash tree,
alone, self-sown by the side of the river, waved over the boy's
head, and cast a dancing veil of chequered light and shade upon
features as fair as eye ever looked upon.
At about a hundred yards from the spot where he was lying,
a sandy road wound through the savannah, and plunged into the
deeper parts of the wood. On the other side, however, the
ground being of a more open nature, the path might be seen
winding up the steep ascent of a high hill, with the banks,
which occasionally flanked it to the east, surmounted by long
lines of tall overhanging trees.
A rude bridge of stone, whose ruinous condition spoke plainly
how rarely the traveller's foot trod the path through the forest,
spanned over the stream at a little distance, vind the evenuig
Vight, as it poured in from the west, caught bright upon the coun-
THE Ri:VOLT OF GHENT. 3
tenance of the sleeping boy, upon the dancing cascade above
his head, upon many a flasliing turn in the river, and, after
gilding the ivy that mantled the old bridge, passed on to lose
itself gradually in the gloom of the deep masses of forest-ground
beyond.
The dress of the sleeper accorded well with the scene in
which he was found ; it consisted of a full coat, of forest-green,
gathered round his waist by a broad belt, together with the long
tight hose common at the period. In his belt was a dagger and
knife ; and on his head he had no covering, except the glossy
curls of his dark brown hair. Though the material of his
garments was of the finest cloth which the looms of Ypres
could produce, yet marks of toil, and even of strife, were appa-
rent in the dusty and torn state of his habiliments.
He lay, however, in that calm, deep, placid sleep, only known
to youth, toil, and innocence. His breath was so light, and his
slumber was so calm, that he might have seemed dead, but for
the rosy hue of health that overspread his cheeks. No sound
appeared at first to have any effect upon his ear, though, while
he lay beside the stream, a wild, timid stag came rustling through
the brushwood to drink of its waters, and suddenly seeing a
human thing amidst the solitude of the forest, bounded quick
away through the long glades of the wood. After that, the
leaves waved over him, and the wind played with the curls of
his hair for nearly half an hour, without any living creature
approaching to disturb his repose. At the end of that time,
some moving objects made their appearance at the most distant
point of the road that was visible, where it sunk over the hill.
At first, all that could be seen was a dark body moving forward
down the descent, enveloped in a cloud of dust ; but, gradually,
it separated into distinct parts, and assumed the form of a party
of armed horsemen. Their number might be ten or twelve;
and, by the slowness of their motions, it seemed that they had
already travelled far. More than once, as they descended the
slope, they paused, and appeared to gaze over the country, as
if either contemplating its beauty, or doubtful of the road they
ought to take. These pauses, however, always ended in their
resuming their way towards the spot which we have described.
When they at length reached it, they again drew the rein ; and
it became evident, that uncertainty, with regard to their onward
course, had been the cause of then* several halts upon the hill.
b2
4 MARY OK BlKGUiNUY; OR,
" By my lliltli, Sir Tlii!)alt of Ncufchatcl," said one of the
horsemen, who rode a little in advance of the others, '* for
Marshal of Burfrundy, you know but little of your lord's domi-
nions. By the holy Virgin, methinks that you are umch better
acquainted with every high road and by-path of my poor ap-
panage of Dauphiny. At least, so the worthy burghers of
Vienne were wont to assert, when we would fain have squeezed
the double crowns out of their purses. It was then their inva-
riable reply, that the Marshal of Burgundy had been upon them
with his lances, and drained them as dry as hay — coming no
one knew how, and o-oinfj no one knew where."
The man who spoke was yet, not only in his prime, but in
the early part of that period of life which is called middle age.
There was no peculiar beauty in his countenance, nor in his
person ; there was nothing, apparently, either to strike, or to
please. Yet it was impossible to stand before him, and not to
feel one's self — without very well knowing why — in the presence
of an extraordinary man. There was in his deportment to be
traced the evident habit of command, lie spoke, as if knowing
that his words were to be obeyed. But that was not all; from
underneath the overhanging penthouse of his thick eyebrows,
shone forth two keen grey eyes, which had in them a prying,
inquisitive cunning, which seemed anxiously exerted to discover
at once the thoughts of those they gazed upon, befoi'c any veil,
of the many which man uses, could be drawn over motives or
feelings, to conceal them from that searching glance.
Those given to physiognomy might have gathered, fi'om his
high and projecting, but narrow forehead, the indications of a
keen and observing mind, with but little imagination, super-
stition without fancy, and talent without wit. The thin, com-
pressed lips, the naturally firm-set posture of the teeth, the
curling line from the nostril to the corner of the mouth, might
have been construed to imply a heart naturally cruel, which
derived not less pleasure from inflicting wounds by bitter w^ords
than from producing mere corporeal pain. His dress, at this
time of his life, was splendid to excess ; and the horse on which
be rode showed the high blood that poured through its veins, by
a degree of fire and energy far superior to that exhibited by the
chargers of his companions, though the journey it had performed
was the same which had so wearied them.
As he spoke the words before detailed, he looked back to
THE REVOLT OF GHL:i\T.
a gentleman, who rode a step or two behind him on his right
hand ; and on his countenance appeared, what he intended to
be, a smile of frank, good-humoured raillery. The natural
expression of his features mingled with it nevertheless, and gave
it an air of sarcasm, which made the bitter, perhaps, preponderate
over the sweet.
The person to whom he addressed himself, however, listened
with respectful good humour. " In truth, my lord," he replied,
" so little have I dwelt in this part of the duke's dominions, that
I know my way less than many a footboy. I once was ac-
quainted with every rood of ground between Brussels and
Tirlemont; but, God be thanked, my memory is short, and I
have forgotten it all, as readily as I hope you, sir, may forget
certain marches in Dauphiny, made when Louis the Dauphin was
an enemy to Burgundy, instead of an honoured guest."
" They are forgotten. Lord Marshal, they are forgotten," re-
plied the Dauphin, afterwards famous as Louis XL, " and can
never more be remembered but to show me how much more
pleasant it is to have the lord of Neufchatel for a friend rather
than an enemy. But, in Heaven's name," he added, changing
the subject quickly, " before we go farther, let us seek some one
to show us the way, or let us halt our horses here, and wait for
the fat citizens of Ghent, whom we left on the other side of the
river."
His companion shook his head with a doubtful smile, as he
replied, " It would be difficult, I trow, to find any guide here,
unless Saint Hubert, or some other of the good saints, were to
send us a white stag with a collar of gold round his neck, to lead
us safely home, as the old legends tell us they used to do of
yore."
" The saints have heard your prayer, my lord," cried one of
the party who had strayed a little to the left, but not so far as to
be out of hearing of the conversation which was passing between
the other two ; " the saints have heard your prayer ; and here
is the white stag, in the form of a fair boy in a green jerkin."
As he spoke, he pointed forward with his hand towards the
little cascade, where the boy, who had been sleeping by its side,
had now started up, — awakened by the sound of voices, and of
horses' feet, — and was gazing on the travellers, with anxious eyes,
and with his hand resting on his dagger.
" Why, how now, boy I" cried the Dauphin, spurring up
6 MARY OF nURGUiNDY; OR,
towards the stream. " Thinkest thou that we arc Jews, or cut-
throats, or wild uicn of the woods, that thou chitchcst thy knife
so fearfully ? Say, canst thou tell how far we are from Tirle-
mont ?"
The boy eyed the party for several moments ere he replied.
" IIow should I know whether you be cut-throats or not ?" he
said, at length ; " I have seen cut-throats in as fine clothes. —
How far is it from Tirlemont ? As far as it is from Liege or
Namur."
" Then, by my troth. Sir Marshal," said the Dauphin, turning
to his companion, " our horses will never can-y us thither this
night. What is to be done ?"
" What is the nearest town or village, boy ?" demanded the
Marshal of Burgundy. " If we be at equal distances from Namur
and Lic"-e and Tirlemont, we cannot be far from Hannut."
" Ilannut is the nearest place," answered the boy ; " but it is
two hours' ride for a tired horse."
" We will try it, however," said the Marshal ; and then added,
turning to the Dauphin, " the lord of the castle of Ilannut, sir,
thoufi-h first cousin of the bad Duke of Gueldres, is a noble
gentleman as ever lived ; and I can promise you a fair reception.
Though once a famous soldier, he has long cast by the lance and
casque ; and, buried deep in studies — which churchmen say are
hardly over holy — he passes his whole time in solitude, except
when some ancient friend breaks in upon his reveries. Such a
liberty I may well take. — Now, boy, tell us our road, and there
is a silver piece for thy pains."
The boy stooped not to raise the money which the Marshal
threw towards him, but replied eagerly, "If any one will take
me on the croup behind him, I will show you easily the way. —
Nay, I beseech you, noble lords, take me with you ; for I am
wearied and alone, and I must lie in the forest all night if you
refuse me."
" But dost thou know the way well, my fair boy ?" demanded
the Dauphin, approaching nearer, and stooping over his saddle-
bow to speak to the boy with an air of increasing kindness,
" Thou art so young, mcthinks thou scarce canst know all the
turnings of a wood like this. Come, let us hear if thy knowledge
is ecpial to the task of guiding us ?"
" 'Jliat it is," answered the boy at once. " The road is as easy
to find as a heron's nest in a bare tree. One has nothing to do
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 7
but to follow on that road over the bridge, take the two first
turnings to the right, and then the next to the left, and at the
end of a league more the castle is in si";lit."
" Ay," said the Dauphin, " is it so easy as that ? Then, by my
faith, I think we can find it ourselves. — Come, Sir Marshal,
come !" And, so saying, he struck his spurs into his horse's sides,
and cantered over the bridge.
The Marshal of Burgundy looked back with a lingering glance
of compassion at the poor boy thus unfeelingly treated by his
companion. But, as the Prince dashed forward and waved his
hand for him to follow, he rode on also, though not without a
muttered comment on the conduct of the other, which miffht not
have given great pleasure had it been vented aloud. The whole
train followed ; and, left alone, the boy stood silent, gazing on
them as they departed, with a flushed cheek and a curling lip.
" Out upon the traitors !" he exclaimed, at length. " All men
are knaves ; yet it is but little honour to their knavery, to cheat
a boy like me."
The train wound onward into the wood, and the last horseman
was soon hidden from his eyes : but the merry sound of laughing
voices, borne by the wind to his ear for some moments after they
were out of sight, spoke painfully, how little interest they took
in his feelings or situation.
He listened till all was still, and then, seating himself on the
bank of the stream, gazed vacantly on the bubbling waters as they
rushed hurriedly by him ; while the current of his own thoughts
held as rapid and disturbed a course. As memory after memory
of many a painful scene and sorrow — such as infancy has seldom
known — came up before his sight, his eyes filled, the tears rolled
rapidly over his cheeks, and, casting himself prostrate on the
ground, he hid his face amongst the long grass, and sobbed as if
his heart would break.
He had not lain there long, however, when a heavy hand, laid
firmly on his shoulder, caused him once more to start up ; and,
though the figure which stood by him when he did so, was not
one whose aspect was very prepossessing, yet it would be difficult
to describe the sudden lightning of joy that sparkled in his eyes
through the tears with which they still overflowed.
The person who ]jad roused him from the prostrate despair
in which he had cast himself down, was a middle-sized, broad-
made man, with long sinewy arms, and a chest like that of a
8 MARY OF UIHGUNDY; OR,
mountain-bull. He might be nearly forty years of age; and his
face, which had once been fair, — a fact which was vouched alone
by his light brown hair, and clear blue eye, — had now reached
a hue nearly approaching to the colour of mahogany, by con-
stant exposure to the summer's sun and the winter's cold. There
was in it, withal, an expression of daring hardihood, softened
and, as it were, purified by a frank, free, good-humoured smile,
which was not without a touch of droll humour. His garb at once
bespoke him one of those vagrant sons of Mars, with whom war,
in some shape, was a never-failing trade ; — a class of which we
must speak more hereafter, and which the abuses of the feudal
system, the constant feuds of chieftain with chieftain, and the long
and desolating warfare between France and England, had at that
time rendered but too common in every part of Europe, lie
was not, indeed, clothed from head to heel in cold iron, as was
customary with the knight or man-at-arms when ready for the
field ; but there was quite a sufficient portion of old steel about
his person, in the form of arms both offensive and defensive, to
shew that hard blows were the principal merchandise in which
he traded.
He laid his large hairy hand, as I have said, firmly and fami-
liarly on the boy's shoulder ; and the expression of the young
wanderer's countenance, when he started up, and beheld the
person who stood near him, at once showed, not only that they
were old acquaintances, but that their meeting was both unex-
pected and joyful.
" Matthew Gournay !" exclaimed the boy, " good Matthew
Gournay, is it you, indeed? Oh, why did you not come before^
With your fifty good lances, we might yet have held the castle
out, till we were joined by the troops from Utrecht ; but now
all is lost — the castle taken, and my father " "^
" I know it all. Master Hugh," intciTupted the soldier — " I
know it all, better than the paternoster. Bad news flies faster
than a swallow ; so I know it all, and a good deal more than you
yourself know. You ask, why I did not come, too. By our
I^ady, for the simplest reason in the world — because I could
not. I was lying like an old rat in a trap, with four stone walls
all round about me, in the good city of Liege. Duke Philip
heard of the haste I was making to give you help, and cogged
with the old bishop — may his skull be broken ! — to send out a
couple of hundred reiters to intercept us on our march. — What
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 9
would you have ? We fought hke devils, but we were taken at
a disadvantage, by a superior force. All my gallant fellows were
killed or dispersed ; and at last, finding my back against a rock,
with six spears at my breast, and not loving the look of such a
kind of toasting-fork, I agreed to take lodging in the town prison
of Liege."
" But how got you out, then ?" demanded the bo}' ; " did they
free you for good-will ?"
" Not they," replied Matthew Gournay : " they gave me cold
water and hard bread, and vowed every day to stick my head
upon the gate of the town, as a terror to all marauders, as they
said. But the fools showed themselves rank burghers, by leaving
me my arms ; and I soon found means to get the iron bars out
of the windows, ventured a leap of thirty feet, swam the ditch,
climbed the wall, and here I am in the forest of Hannut — But
not alone, jNIaster Hugh. I have got a part of my old comrades
together already, and hope soon to have a better band than ever.
The old seneschal, too, from the castle, is with us, and from him
we heard all the bad news. But, though he talked of murder
and putting to death, and flaying alive, and vowed that every-
body in the castle had been killed but himself, I got an inkling
from the old charcoal-burner's wife, at the hut in the wood, of
how you had escaped, and whither you had gone. So, thinking,
as you were on foot and alone, that you might want help and a
horse, I tracked you like a deer to this place : for your father
was always a good friend to me in the time of need ; and I will
stand by you. Master Hugh, while I have a hand for my sword,
or a sword for my hand."
" Hark !" cried the boy, almost as the other spoke ; " there's
a bugle on the hill ! It must be the duke's butchers following
me."
" A bugle !" cried the soldier ; " a cow's horn blown by a sow-
driver, you mean. None of the duke's bugles ever blew a blast
like that, something between the groaning of a blacksmith's
bellows and the grunting of a hog. But there they are," he con-
tinued, " sure enough, lances and all, as I live. We must to
cover, Hugh, we must to cover ! Quick — thy hand, boy — they
are coming down, straggling like fallow deer !"
So saying, Matthew Gournay sprang up the high bank, in
falling over which the little stream formed the cascade we have
noticed ; and, as he climbed the rock himself, he assisted, or
10 MARY OF DURGUNDY; OR,
rather dragged up after him, his young companion, whose hand
he held locked in his own, with a grasp which no slight weight
could have imbent.
For a moment, they paused on the top of the crag, to take
another look at the approaching party, and then plunged into the
long shrubs and tangled brushwood that clothed the sides of the
winding glen, down which the stream wandered previous to its
fall.
CHAPTER 11.
The party, whose approach had interrupted tbc conversation of
Matthew^ Gournay and his young companion, were not long
before they reached the little open spot in the forest, from which
they had scared the other two ; and, as it was at that point that
their road first fell in with the stream, they paused for a moment,
to water their horses ere they proceeded. Their appearance and
demeanour corresponded well with the peculiar sound of the horn
which they had blown upon the hill ; for though the instrument
which announced their approach was martial in itself, yet the
sounds which they produced from it were anything but mili-
tary; and though swords and lances, casques and breastplates,
were to be seen in profusion amongst them, there was scarcely
one of the party who had not a certain burgher rotundity of
figure, or negligence of gait, far more in harmony with furred
gowns and caps a la mortier than with w^ar-steeds and glittering
arms.
The first, who paused beside the stream, had nearly been thrown
over his horse's head, by the animal suddenl}' bending his neck
to drink ; and it was long before the rider could sufficiently com-
pose himself again in the saddle, to proceed with some tale which
he had been telling to one of his companions, who urged him to
make an end of his story, wdth an eagerness which seemed to
show that the matter was one of great interest to him at least.
" Well-a-day, Master Nicholas, well-a-day !" cried the discom-
posed horseman, " let me but settle myself on my stool — saddle,
I mean. God forgive me ! but this cursed beast has pulled the
bridle out of my hands. — So ho! Bernard, so ho! — there, there,
surely thou couldst drink without bending thy head so low."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 11
While he thus spoke, by a slow and cautious movement, —
not unlike that with which a child approaches a sparrow, to
perform the difficult manoeuvre of throwing salt upon its tail, — he
regained a grasp of the bridle-rein which the hoi'se had twitched
out of his hand, and then went on with his story, — interrupting
it, however, every now and then, to address sundry admonitions
to his horse, — somewhat in the following style : —
"Well, where was I, worthy Master Nicholas? — I was saying —
so ho ! beast ! The devil's in thee, thou wilt have me into the
river. — I was saying that, after the castle was taken, and every
soul put to the sword, even the poor boy, Hugh, — for which last,
I hear, the duke is very much grieved, — be quiet, Bernard, hold
up thy head ! — Count Adolphus himself fled away by a postern-
door, and is now a prisoner in "
" Nay, but. Master Martin, you said they were all put to
death,'' interrupted one of his companions.
" Remember what the doctors say," replied the other; " namely,
that there is no general rule without its exception. They were
all killed but those that ran away, which were only Count Adol-
phus and his horse, who got away together, the one upon the
other. Fool that he was to trust himself upon a horse's back !
It was his ruin, alack ! it was his ruin."
" How so ?" demanded Master Nicholas ; " did the horse throw
him and break his pate? Methought you said, but now, that
he was alive and a prisoner."
" And I said truly, too," answered the other. " Nevertheless,
his mounting that horse was the cause of his ruin ; for though
he got off quietly enough, yet, at the bridge below Namur —
where, if he had had no horse, he would have passed free — he
was obliged to stop to pay pontage* for his beast. A priest, who
was talking with the toll-man, knew him ; and he was taken on
the spot, and cast into prison."
" Methinks it was more the priest's fault than the horse's, then,"
rephed Master Nicholas ; " but whoever it was that betrayed him,
bad was the turn they did to the city of Ghent ; for, what with
* Philip de Comines, who relate3 this anecdote much in the same terms as
those used by good Martin Fruse in the text, places it, however, several years
later ; though, from the period of time during which Adolphus Duke of ■
Gueldres, here called Count Adolphus, was kept in prison by the Duke of
Burgundy, it would seem that the time of his capture is here correctly
stated.
12 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
liis aid, and that of the good folks of Gueldres, and the worthy
burghers of Utrecht, we might have held the proud duke at bay,
and wrung our rights from him drop by drop, Uke water from a
sponge."
" God knows, God knows !" replied Martin Fruse, the burgher
of Ghent, to whom this was addressed ; " God knows ! it is a
fine thing to have one's rights, surely ; but, somehow^ I thought
we were very comfortable and happy in the good old city, before
there was any quarrel about rights at all. Well I know, we have
never been happy since ; and I have been forced to ride on
horseback by the week together; for which sin, my flesh and skin
do daily penance, as the chirurgeons of Namur could vouch if
they vrould. Nevertheless, one must be patriotic, and all that,
so I would not grumble, — if this beast would but give over
drinking, which I think he will not do before he or I drop
down dead. Here, horse-boy, come and pluck his nose out of
the pool ; for I cannot move him more than I could the town-
house."
The worthy burgher was soon relieved from his embarrass-
ments ; and his horse being once more put upon the road, he led
the way onward, followed by the rest of the party, with their
servants and attendants. The place of leader was evidently con-
ceded to good Martin Fruse ; but this distinction was probably
assigned to him, more on account of his wealth and integrity,
than from the possession of fine wit, great sense, energetic activity,
or any other requisite for a popular leader. He was, in truth, a
worthy, honest man, somewhat easily persuaded, especially wdiere
his general vanity, and, more particularly, his own opinion of his
powers as a politician, were brought into play : but his mind was
neither very vigorous nor acute; though sometimes an innate
sense of rectitude, and a hatred of injustice, would lend energy
to his actions, and eloquence to his words.
Amongst those who followed him, however, were two or three
spirits of a higher order; who, without his purity of motives,
or kindly disposition, possessed far greater talents, activity, and
vigour. Nevertheless, turbulent by disposition and by habit,
few of the burghers of Ghent, at that time, possessed any very
grand and general views, whether directed to the assertion of the
liberties and rights of their country, or to the gratification of
personal ambition. They contented themselves Avith occasional
tumults, or with temporary alliances with the other states and
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 13
Cities in the low countries, few of which rested long without being
in open rebellion against their governors.
One of the party, however, which accompanied good Martin
Fruse must not pass unmentioned; for, though at that time
acting no prominent part, he exerted considerable influence, in
after days, on the fortunes of his country. He was, at the period
I speak of, a bold, brave, high-spirited boy ; by no means unlike
the one we have seen sleeping by the cascade, though perhaps
two or three years older. He was strong and well proportioned
for his age, and rode a wild young jennet, which, though full of
fire, he managed with pei"fect ease. There was something, in-
deed, in the manner in which he excited the horse into fury,
gave it the rein, and let it dash free past all his companions,
as if it had become perfectly ungovernable ; and then, without
difficulty, reined it up with a smile of triumph, — which gave no
bad picture of a mind conscious of powers of command, ambitious
of their exercise, and fearless of the result. How this character
of mind became afterwards modified by circumstances, will be
shown more fully in the following pages.
In the meanwhile, we must proceed with the train of burghers
as they rode on through the wood; concerting various plans
amongst themselves, for concealing from the Duke of Burgundy
the extent of their intrigues with Adolphus of Gueldres and the
revolted citizens of Utrecht, for excusing themselves on those
points which had reached his knowledge, and for assuaging his
anger by presents and submission. The first thing to be done,
before presenting themselves at his court, was, of course, to strip
themselves of the warlike habiliments in which they had flaunted,
while entertaining hopes of a successful revolt. For this pur-
pose, they proposed to avoid the high road either to Brussels or
Louvain ; and as most of them were well acquainted with the
country through which they had to pass, they turned to the left,
after having proceeded about a mile farther on their way, and
put spurs to their horses, in order to get out of the forest before
nightfall, which was now fast approaching.
The way was difficult, however, and full of large ruts and
stones, in some places overgrown with briers, in some places
interrupted by deep ravines. Here, it would go down so steep
a descent, that slowness of progression was absolutely necessary
to the safety of their necks ; there, it would climb so deep a
hill, that whip and spur were applied to increase the speed of
their beasts in vain.
14 iMARY OF iJURGUNDY; OR,
As they thus journcvcd on, making but little way, the bright
rosy hue which tinged the clouds above their heads showed
that the sun was sinking beneath the horizon's edge : the red,
after growing deeper and deeper for some time, begau to fade
away into the grey ; each moment the light became fainter
and more faint; and, at length, while they had yet at least
three miles of forest ground to traverse, night fell completely
over the earth.
The darkness, however, was not so deep as in any degree to
prevent them from finding their way onward, or from distinguish-
ing the objects round about them, although it lent a mysterious
sort of grandeur to the deep masses and long dim glades of
the forest, made the rocks look like towers and castles, and con-
verted many a tree, to the eyes of the more timid, into the form
of an armed man.
After having gone on in this state for about half an hour, —
just a sufficient time, indeed, to work up every sort of ajipre-
hension to the utmost, yet not long enough to familiarize the
travellers with the darkness, and when every one was calling to
mind all the thousand stories — which were, in those days, alas !
too true ones — of robbers, and murderers, and free plunderers, —
the whole party plunged down into a deep dell, the aspect of
which was not at all calculated to assuage their terrors, whether
reasonable or foolish. Not, indeed, that it was more gloomy
than the road through which they had been lately travelling;
rather, on the contrary. Whatever degree of light yet remained
in the heavens found its way more readily into that valley,
where the trees were less high, and at greater intervals from each
other, than into the narrow road which had led them thither, the
high banks of which were lined all the way along with tall and
overhanging beeches. The sort of dingle, however, which they
now entered, was clothed with low but thick shrubs; and no
means of egress whatever appeared, except by climbing some of
the steep ascents which surrounded it on every side.
There was a small })iece of level ground at the bottom, of about
a hundred yards in diameter ; and the moment they had reached
the flat, the word "Halt!" pronounced in a loud and impera-
tive voice, caused every one suddenly to draw his bridle rein
with somewhat timid obedience, though no one distinguished
who was the spcakei'.
The matter was not left long in doubt. A dark figure glided
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 15
from the brushwood across their path ; half a dozen more fol-
lowed ; and the glistening of the faint light upon various pieces
of pt)lishcd iron, showed that there was no lack of arms to
compel obedience to the peremptory order they had received to
halt.
As the persons who obstructed the way, however, seemed but
few in number, one of the more bellicose of the burghers called
upon his companions to resist. His magnanimity was suddenly
diminished by a long arm stretched from the bushes beside him,
which ajiplied the stroke of a quarter-staff with full force to his
shoulders; and tliough a cuirass, by which his person was de-
fended, protected him from any serious injury, yet he was thrown
forward upon his horse's neck, with a sound very much resem-
bling that produced by the falling of an empty kettle from the
hands of a slovenly cook. All were now of one opinion, that,
whatever might have been the result of resistance to the more
open foes before them, it was useless to contend with such in-
visible enemies also, especially as those that were visible were
gradually increasing in numbers ; and worthy Martin Fruse led
the way to a valorous surrender, by begging the gentlemen of
the forest " to spare them for God's sake."
" Down from your horses, every one of you !" cried the rough
voice which had commanded them to halt, " and we shall soon
see what stuff you are made of."
The citizens hastened to obey ; and, in the terror which now
reigned completely amongst them, strange were the attitudes
which they assumed, and strange was the tumbling off, on either
side of their beasts, as they hurried to show prompt submis-
sion to the imperious command they had received. In the con-
fusion and disarray thus produced, only one person of all their
party seemed to retain full command of his senses ; and he was
no other than the boy we have before described, who, now
taking advantage of a vacancy he saw in the ranks of their
opponents, dashed forward for a gap in the wood, and had nearly
effected his escape. He was too late, however, by a single mo-
ment : his bridle was caught by a strong arm, before he could
force his way through ; and his light jennet, thrown suddenly
upon its haunches, slipped on the green turf, and rolled with her
young master on the ground.
" By my faith," said the man who had thus circumvented
him, " thou art a bold young springal ; but thou must back with
16 MAKV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
me, my boy ;" and so saying, he raised him, not unkindly,
from the earth, and led him to the place where his companions
stood
The Durghers and their attendants — in all, about ten in num-
ber — were now divested of their arms, offensive and defensive,
by the nameless kind of gentry into whose hands they had fallen.
This unpleasant ceremony, however, was performed without
harshness ; and, though no resistance of any kind was offered,
their captors abstained, with very miraculous forbearance, from
examining the contents of their pouches, and from searching for
any other metal than cold iron. When all this was completed,
and the good citizens of Ghent, reduced to their hose and jerkins,
stood passive, in silent expectation of what was to come next, —
not at all unlike a flock of sheep that a shepherd's dog has driven
into a corner of a field, — the same hoarse-voiced gentleman, who
had hitherto acted as the leader of their assailants, addressed
them in a bantering tone : — " Now, my masters, tell rne truly,"
he cried, " whether do ye covet to go with your hands and feet
at liberty, or to have your wrists tied with cords till the blood
starts out from underneath your nails, and your ankles garnished
in the same fashion?"
The answer of the citizens may well be conceived; and the
other went on in the same jeering manner: — " Well, then, swear
to me by all you hold holy and dear but stay ! — First tell me
who and what ye arc, that I may frame the oath discreetly ; for
each man in this world holds holy and dear that which his
neighbour holds foolish and cheap."
" We are poor unhappy burghers of Ghent," replied Martin
Fruse, who, though at first he had been terrified to a very un-
dignified degree, now began to recover a certain portion of com-
]-)osure, — '' we are poor unhappy burghers of Ghent, who have
been seduced by vain hopes of some small profit to ourselves and
our good city, to get upon horseback. Alack ! and a well-a-day !
that ever honest, sober-minded men should be persuaded to trust
their legs across such galloping, uncertain, treacherous beasts."
" Ila ! ha ! ha !" shouted the man who had addressed him ;
" as I live by sword and dagger, it is good Martin Fruse coming
from Namur. Well, Martin, the oath I shall put to thee is this, —
that by all thy hopes of golden florins, by all thy reverence for
silks and furs and cloths of extra fineness, by thy gratitude to the
shuttle and the loom, and by thy respect and love for a fine
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 17
fleece of English wool, thou wilt not attempt to escape from my
hands, till I fix thy ransom and give thee leave to go."
Martin Fruse very readily took the oath prescribed, grateful
in his heart for any mitigation of his fears, though trembling
somewhat at the name of ransom, which augured ill for the
glittering heaps which he had left at home. His comrades all
followed his example, on an oath of the same kind being exacted
from each ; but when it was addressed to the youth who accom-
panied them, a different scene was acted. He replied boldly,
" Of cloths and furs I know nothing, but that they cover me,
and I will not take such a warehouse vow for the best man that
ever drew a sword."
" How now, how now, Sir Princox !" cried Martin Fruse ;
*' art thou not my nephew, Albert Maurice ? Take the oath this
gentleman offers thee, sirrah, and be well content that he does
not strike off thy young foolish head."
" I will swear by my honour, uncle," replied the boy, " but I
will never swear by cloth and florins, for such a vow would bind
me but little."
" Well, well, thy honour will do," said the leader of their
captors ; " though, by my faith, I think we must keep thee with
us, and make a soldier of thee ; for doubtless thou art unworthy
of the high honour of becoming a burgher of Ghent."
The sneering tone in which this was spoken expressed not ill
the general feeling of contempt with which the soldiers of that
day looked upon any of the milder occupations of life. Whatever
kindness they showed towards the citizen, — which was at times
considerable, — proceeded solely from sensations approaching
compassion, or from considerations of self-interest. They looked
upon the burgher, indeed, as a sort of inferior animal, whose
helplessness gave it some claim upon their generosity ; and such
was probably the feeling that prompted the mild and indulgent
manner in which the body of roving adventurers who had cap-
tured the Gandois travellers, marshalled their prisoners in rank,
and led them away from the high road — where, though impro-
bable, such a thing as an interruption might accidentally have
taken place — to the deeper parts of the forest, in which silence
and solitude seemed to reign supreme.
This part of the arrangement, however, was not at all to
the taste of good Martin Fruse ; and though he certainly did not
venture any opposition, yet, w^hile led along, together with his
18 MARY OF nURGUNDY; OR,
companions, by fifteen or sixteen armed and lawless men, it was
with fear and trembling that he rolled his eyes around u])on the
dark and dreary masses of wood, down the long profound glades,
in which nothing was to be distinguished, and over the wild and
broken rocks, which every now and then burst through their
covering of trees and shrubs, and towering up into the sky,
caught upon their brows the first rays of the rising moon,
invisible to those who wandered through the forest at their foot.
The scene was altogether a great deal too sublime and pic-
turesque for his taste ; and he could not help thinking, as he
walked unwillingly along, how admirably fitted was the place,
into which he was led, for committing murder, without fear of
discovery. Then would he picture to his own mind, his body
left exposed beneath the green-wood trees, to be preyed on by
the ravens, and beaten by the wintry showers ; and his heart
would melt with tender compassion for himself, when he thought,
how all his good gossips of Ghent would, in years to come, tell the
lamentable story of worthy Martin Fruse, and how he was mur-
dered in the forest of Ilannut, to the wondering ears of a chance
guest, over a blazing fire, in the midst of the cold winter.
He had nearly wept at the pitiful images he had called up of
his own fate, in his own mind ; but, before he reached that
point, a distant neighing met his ear. The horses on which
he and his companions had ridden, and which were led after
them by their captors, caught the sound also, and answered in the
same sort; and in a few minutes more, a bright light began to
gleam through the wood, which proved, on their farther advance,
to proceed from a watch-fire, by the side of which a bird of
the same feather with those who had captured them, was lying
asleep. He started up, however, on their approach ; and by
the congratulations which passed mutually between him and his
comrades, it became evident to Martin Fruse, that a party of
citizens of Ghent was a rich prize in the eyes of the freemen
of the forest. It is true that he would rather have had his
worth appreciated in a different manner ; but the sight of the
fire cheered his heart, and a sumptcr horse, which the good
burjirhers had brou<i;ht witli them, beinff led forward and relieved
of its burden, the various stores of provision with which it was
loaded were spread out upon the grass, and called up more
genial ideas in the mind of the citizen than those which had
hitherto accompanied him on his way through the forest. The
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 19
pleasures of this new subject of contemplation, indeed, were for
a few minutes disturbed, by apprehension lest the ca])tors should
proceed to divide the spoil of the panniers, without assigning any
part to the original proprietors. But this source of uneasiness
was soon removed ; and, on being made to sit down by the fire,
and invited frankly and freely to partake of all the good things
once his own, the heart of Martin Fruse expanded with joy, the
character of robber acquired a dignity and elevation in his eyes
which it had never before possessed ; and deriving from fat cold
capon and excellent wine both present satisfaction and anticipa-
tions of future good treatment, he gave himself up to joy, and
began to gaze round upon the faces of his new comrades with
every inclination to be pleased.
CHAPTER III.
Leaving the worthy burgher and his companions in the forest,
we must change the scene for a while, and bring the reader
into the interior of one of the feudal mansions of the period.
The room into which we intend to introduce him was small
in size ; and, being placed in a high, square tower, attached
to the castle of Hannut, it took the exact form of the building,
except inasmuch as a portion was taken off the western side,
for the purpose of admitting a staircase, on which, indeed, no'
great space was thrown away. The furniture of the room was
sm;ill in quantity, and consisted of a few large chairs of dark
black oak, (whose upright backs of almost gigantic height were
carved in a thousand quaint devices,) together with two or three
settles or stools, without any backs at all, a silver lamp, hanfino-
by a thick brass chain from the centre of a roof, formed into the
shape of a tent by the meeting of a number of grooved arches,
and a small black cabinet, or closet, one of the doors of wliich
stood open, displaying within, in splendid bindings of crimson
velvet, what might in that day have been considered a most
precious library, comprising about forty tomes of manuscripr.
Besides being decorated by these articles of furniture, the
room was adorned with fine hangings of old tapestry ; but the
2
20 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
principal object in (lie whole cliainber was a table and reading
desk, of some dark-col<nired wood, on which w'crc displayed, wide
open, the broad velluin leaves of a richly illuminated book.
The table, and its burden, were placed exactly beneath the
silver lamp already mentioned, which threw a strong but flicker-
ing light upon the pages of the work; and a chair which stood
near seemed to show that somebody had recently been reading.
The person who had been so employed, however, had by
this time ceased ; and having risen from his seat, was standing
beside an open casement, pierced through the thick walls at such
a height from the floor, as just to enable him to lean his arm
upon the sill of the window, and gaze out upon the scene
beyond.
Through this open casement, at the time I speak of, the
bright stars of a clear autumn night might be seen twinkling like
diamonds in the unclouded sky ; the sweet, warm westerly w'ind,
breathing of peace and harvest from the plains beyond, sighed
over the tops of the tall forest trees, and poured into the window
just raised above them ; and some faint streaks of light to the
west told that day had not long departed. The person who
gazed over the wide expanse commanded by the tower, was
a tall, strong man, of perhaps a little more than forty years of
age, with a forehead somewhat bald, and hair which had once
been black, but which was now mingled thickly with grey ; while
his beard, which was short and neatly trimmed, had become
almost white. His complexion was of a pale, clear brown,
without a tinge of red in any part except his lips ; and, as he
gazed out upon the sky, there w^as a still calm spread over every
feature, w^hich, together with the bloodless hue of his skin, would
have made his countenance look like that of the dead, had not the
light of his large deep brown eye told of a bright and living soul
within. We must take leave to look for a moment into his bosom
as he stood in his lonely study, gazing forth upon the sk3\
" And are those clear orbs," he thought, as w'lih his glance
fixed upon the heavens he saw star after star shine forth, —
" and are those bright orbs really the mystic prophets of our
future fate ? Is yon the book on which the Almighty hand has
written in characters of light the foreseen history of the world he
has created ? It may be so : nay, probably it is ; and yet how
little do we know of this earth that we inhabit, and of yon deep
blue vault that circles us around. The peasant, when he hears
THE REVOLT OF GHEiN'T. 21
of my lonely studies, endues my mind, m his rude fancy, with
power over the invisible world, and all the troops of spirits
that possibly throng the very air we breathe ; and kings and
princes themselves send to seek knowledge and advice from my
lips, while I could answer to peasant and to king, that all my
powers do not suffice to lay the spirit of past happiness from
rising before my eyes, and all my knowledge does not reach to
find that sovereign elixir : consolation for the fate of man. All
that I have learned teaches me but to know, that I have learned
nothing ; to feel that science, and philosophy, and wisdom are
in vain ; and that, hidden mysteriously within the bosom of this
mortal clay, is some fine essence, some distinct being, which,
while it participates in the pleasures and affections of the
earthly thing in which it lies concealed, thirsts for knowledge
beyond the knowledge of this world, and yearns for joys more
pure, and loves more unperishable than the loves and joys of this
earth can ever be. Oh, thou dear spirit, that in the years past 1
have seen look forth upon me from the eyes of her now gone ;
surely, if ever the immortal being came back to visit the earth
on which it once moved, thou wouldst not have left me so long
to solitude. — No, no," he added aloud, " it is all a dream !
" And yet," he thought, after a pause, " the powers with which
the vulgar mind invests me are not all in vain : they give me
at least corporeal peace — repose from all the turbulent follies —
the wild whirling nothings, which men call pleasure, or business,
or policy — more empty, more unimportant, in relation to the
grand universe, than the dancing, of the myriad motes in the
sunshine of a summer's day. They give me peace — repose. I
am no longer called upon, with an ash staff, or bar of sharpened
iron, to smite the breast of my fellow-men, in some mad prince's
quarrel. I am no longer called upon to take counsel with a
crowd of grey-beard fools, in order to steal a few roods of dull
heavy soil from the dominions of some neighbouring king. No,
no ; the very superstitious dread in which they hold me gives me
peace ; ay, and even power — that phantom folly of which they
are all so fond ; and be it far from me to undeceive them."
Thus thought the Lord of Hannut; and, like most men, in
some degree he cheated himself in regard to his own motives.
Doubtless, the predominating feelings of his heart were such
as he believed them to be. But, besides those motives on which
he suffered his mind to rest, there mingled with the causes of
22 .MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
his conduct small portions of the more ordinary desires and
passions which minds of a very elevated tone are anxious to
conceal even from themselves. Learned licyond any one, per-
haps, of his age and country, the Lord of Ilannut was not a little
proud of his knowledge ; but when we remember the darkness
of the times in which he lived, we shall not wonder that such
learning tended but little to enlighten his mind upon the deep
and mysterious subjects, which the height of human knowledge
has but discovered to be beyond its ken. Judicial astrology, in
that day, was held as a science, of the accuracy of which,
ignorance alone could be permitted to doubt; and the belief that
a superhuman agency was not only continually but visibly at
work in the general affairs of this world, was both a point of
faith with the vulgar, and a point admitted by many of the most
scientific. Magic and necromancy were looked upon as sciences.
In vain Friar Bacon had written an elaborate treatise to prove
their nullity : he himself was cited as an instance of their exist-
ence ; and many of the most learned were only deterred from
following them openly, by the fear of those consequences which
rendered their private pursuit more interesting from the degree of
danger that accompanied it.
Although magic, properly so called, formed no part of his
studies, the reputation of dabbling in that imaginary science
was not disagreeable to the Lord of Hannut ; nor was it alone
the desire of obtaining peace and i-epose, which rendered the awe
not unpleasing, wherewith both the peasantry of the neighbour-
hood, and his fellow nobles throughout the land regarded him ;
but, mingling imperceptibly with the current of other feelings,
gratified vanity had its share also. Nor, indeed, though he
affected to despise the world and the world's power, did the
influence that he exercised upon that world displease him.
Perhaps, too, that influence might be the more gratifying, because
it was of an uncommon kind; and though, doubtless, true
philosophy, and a just estimate of the emptiness of this earth's
pleasures and desires, might have a considerable share in the
distant solitude which he maintained, the pride of superior
knowledge had its portion, too, of the contempt with which he
looked upon the generality of beings like himself. Much true
benevolence of heart and susceptibility of feeling, with a con-
siderable degree of imaginative enthusiasm, were, in fact, the
principal features of his character ; yet his reasoning powers also
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 23
were strong and clear, and very superior to those of most men in
the age in wliich he Hvcd ; but, as we sometimes see, these
various qualities of his mind and heart rather contended against
than balanced each other.
In his early youth, the enthusiasm and the susceptibility
had ruled almost alone. The din of arms, the tumult of con-
flicting hostSj the pomp and pageant of the listed field, all had
charms for him. The natural strength of his frame, and the
skill and dexterity given by early education, had made many of
the best knights in Europe go down before his lance, and had
obtained for him that degree of g\oYy and applause which in
those days was sure to follow and encourage feats of arms, and
which might have kept him for life one of the rude but gallant
champions of the day. But then came love, — love of that deep,
powerful, engrossing nature, which a heart such as his was alone
capable of feeling. The cup of happiness was given to his lip but
for a moment ; he was suffered to drink, one deep, short draught ;
and, when he had tasted all its sweetness, it was dashed from his
hand, never to be filled again. From that moment his life had
passed in solitude, and his days and nights had been occupied by
study : nor, had he above once, for more than twelve years, passed
the limits of that forest, over which his eyes were now cast.
As he leaned upon the wdndow^-sill, and gazed out upon the
sky, pondering over the strange mystery of man's being, and
the lot which fate had cast him, the last faint lingering rays of
twilight were withdrawn from the air, and night fell upon one
half of the world ; but it was one of those bright, clear, splendid
nights, which often come in the beginning of autumn, as if the
heavens loved to look, with all their thousand eyes, upon the
rich harvest and the glowing fruit. After he had gazed for some
time, the eastern edge of the heavens began to grow lighter, and
the clear yellow moon, waxing near her full, rose up, and
poured a tide of golden light over the immense extent of green
leaves and waving boughs spread out beneath his eyes. All was
still, and solemn, and silent, and full of calm splendour, and
tranquil brightness. There was not a motion, there w-as not a
sound, except the slow gliding of the beautiful planet up the arch
of heaven, and the whispering of the light wind, as it breathed
through the boughs of the trees.
Suddenly, however, a dull, faint noise was heard at some dis-
24 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OH,
tance ; which went on increasing slowly, till the sound of horses'
feet could be distinguished, broken occasionally by the tones of a
human voice, speaking a few words of order or inquiry. The
Lord of llunnut listened, and when the horsemen came nearer,
he gathered, from an occasional sentence, spoken as they wound
round the foot of the tower in which he was standing, that the
party were directing their course to the gates of his own dwelling.
His brow became slightly clouded; and though hospitality was
a duty, at that time never neglected, yet so rarely was he
visited by strangers, and so little did he court society, that he
paused somewhat anxiously to think of how he might best
receive them. To throw the gates of a castle open to all comers,
was not indeed at all safe in those days; and though the liord
of Hannut was, at that time, at feud with no one, and though his
personal character, the strength of his castle, and the number of
his retainers, secured him against the free companions and
plunderers of the times, it was not, of course, without pause and
examination, that any large body of men were to be admitted
within the walls at such an hour of the night. He remained,
however, musing somewhat abstractedly, till the horsemen, whom
he had heard below, had wound along the road, which, following
the various sinuosities of the walls and defences of the castle,
skirted the brow of the hill on which it stood, and was only
interrupted by the gate of the barbacan on the northern side of
the building.
Before it the travellers paused ; and the sound of a horn
winded long and clearly, gave notice to the denizens of the
castle that admittance was demanded by some one without. Still
the master of the mansion remained in thought, leaving to the
prudence and discretion of his seneschal the task of receiving and
answering the travellers ; and the sound of a falling drawbridge,
with the creaking of its beams, and the clanging and clash of its
rusty chains, followed by the clatter of horses' feet in the court-
yard, soon announced that a considerable number of cavaliers had
obtained admission. Many voices speaking were next heard,
and then, after a pause of comparative silence, a slow step echoed
up the long hollow staircase, which led to the chamber we have
already described. At that sound the Lord of Hannut withdrew
from the window, and seating himself before the book in which
he had been lately reading, fixed his eyes upon the door. There
THK REVOLT OF GHENT. 25
might be a slight touch of Btage effect in it, — but no matter, —
what is there on this earth without its quackery ?
Scarcely had he done so, when some one knocked without,
and, on being desired to come in, presented, at the half- opened
door, the weather-beaten face of an old soldier, who acted the
part of seneschal, bearing a look of apprehension, which sat ill
upon features that seemed originally destined to express any
thing but fear.
" Come in, Roger, come in !" cried the Lord of Ilannut.
" Art thou fool enough, too, to think that I deal with evil
spirits ?"
" God forbid, my lord !" replied the man. " But ill should I
like to see a spirit of any kind, good or evil ; and, therefore, I
always like to have the room clear before I intrude."
*' Well, what would you now?" demanded his lord, with some-
what of impatience in his manner. " Wherefore do you disturb
me?"
" So please you, sir," replied the seneschal, " a noble traveller,
just alighted in the court below, with a small but gallant train,
consisting of "
" On with thy tale, good Roger 1" interrupted his master-
" What of the traveller ? Leave his train to speak for themselves
hereafter."
" So please you, my lord," continued the other, " he bade me
tell you that an old tried friend, Thibalt of Neufchatel, craved
your hospitality for a single night."
"Thibalt of Neufchatel !" exclaimed the other, his face brighten-
ing for a moment with a transitory expression of pleasure, and
then turning deadly pale, as the magic of memory, by the spell
of that single name, called up the scenes of the painful past
with which that name was connected. " Thibalt of Neufchatel !
an old tried friend, indeed! though sad was the day of our
last meeting. Where is he ? Lead the way !"
Thus saying, the Lord of Hannut, without waiting for the
guidance of his seneschal, proceeded, with a rapid step, towards
the great hall of the castle, concluding, as was really the case,
that into that place of general reception the travellers had been
shown on their arrival. It was an immense gloomy apartment,
paved with stone, occupying the whole interior space at the
bottom of the chief tower. At one end was the great door, which
opened at once into the court ; and at the other was a high
26 MARY OF BURGUNDY i OR,
])ointcd window, not unlike that of a cathedral. Arms, of every
kind then in use, decorated the walls in profusion. On the right
siile, as you entered from the court, was the wide open hearth,
with stools and benches round about ; and so wide and cool was
the chamber, that at the time I speak of, — though a night in the
early part of September, — an immense pile of blazing logs
sparkled and hissed in the midst, casting a red and flickering
glare around, which, catching on many a lance, and shield, and
suit of armour on the opposite wall, lost itself in the gloom
at cither end of the hall, and in the deep hollow of the vault
above.
A cresset — hung by a chain from the centre of the roof, —
added a degree of light, which, however, was confined to the
part of the hall in the immediate vicinity of the lamp ; and, within
its influence, disencumbering themselves of some of the habili-
ments of the road, were seated the party of travellers just arrived,
at the moment that the Lord of Hannut entered. He came in
by a small door Ijehind one of the massy pillars which supported
the vault, and advanced at once towards his guests. The sound
of his footstep caused them all to rise, but the Marshal of Bur-
gundy immediately advanced before the rest to meet his friend.
When within a few steps of each other, both stopped, and looked
with a countenance of doubt and surprise on the face of the
other. Each had forgotten that many years had passed since
they last met, and each had pictured to himself the image of his
friend as he had before seen him, in the pride of youth and
health ; but, when the reality was presented to them, both paused
in astonishment to gaze upon the effects of Time's tremendous
power, which they mutually presented to each other. Nor was
their surprise at first unmingled with some degree of doubt as to
the identity of the person before them with the friend from
whom they had so long been separated.
" Good God !" exclaimed the Lord of Hannut, « Thibalt of
Neufchatcl !"
" Even so, Maurice of Hannut !" replied the Marshal. " Good
faith, old friend, I scarcely should have known thee. But more
of this hereafter," he added, hastily. " Sec, here is a mighty
prince, the Lord Louis of Valois, who demands thy care and
hospitality for this night, as under my safe conduct, he journeys
to visit his noble cousin, our sovereign, the Duke of Burgundy."
The Lord of Hannut bowed low at this intimation of the
'JIIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 27
high quahty of one of his guests, and proceeded to welcome the
son of the reigning monarch of France, with that grave and
stately dignity which the early habits of the court and camp had
given to his demeanour. The forms and ceremonies of that day,
which would be found dull enough even to practise at present,
would appear still duller in writing than they would be in act ;
and, therefore, passing over all the points of etiquette which were
observed in the reception and entertainment of the Dauphin, the
supper that was laid before him, and the spiced wines that were
offered him at his bedside, we will continue for a moment in the
great hall, which, after he retired to rest, remained occupied by
the few attendants who had accompanied himself and the Marshal
of Burgundy thither, and by the usual servants and officers of the
Lord of Hannut.
The presence of their superiors had restrained for a time all
free communication amongst these worthy personages ; but,
between the squire of the body to the Marshal of Burgundy, and
the seneschal of the Lord of Hannut, had passed many a glance
of recognition, and a friendly, though silent, pinch of the arm
during supper; and no sooner was Louis of Valois safely housed
in his chamber, and his companion, the Lord of Neufchatel,
closeted with the master of the mansion, than a conversation
commenced between two of the followers, a part of which must
be here put down as illustrative of those past events, which, in
some degree, however slight, affect the course of this true history.
" What, Roger de Lorens !" cried the squire of the Marshal,
" still hanging to the skirts of thy old lord ? Do I find thee
here at the end of twelve long years ?"
" And where could I be better, Regnault of Gand ?" replied
the other. " But thou thyself, old friend, art thou not at the
same skirts too as when last I saw thee ? How is it, that after
such long service thou art not yet a knight ?"
" Why, in good faith, then," replied the squire, " it is that I
am too poor to do honour to knighthood, and too wise to covet a
state that I have not the means to hold. I have made money in
the wars on an occasion too, like my neighbours ; but, alack,
friend Roger, no sooner does the right hand put the money in,
than the left hand filches it out again. — And is it, then, really
twelve long years since we met ? Lord, Lord 1 it looks but yes-
terday, when I think of those times ; and yet when I count up all
the things I have done since, and make old Memory notch them
28 MAllV OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
down on her tally, it seems like the score of a hundred years
more than twelve, I remember the last day we ever saw each
other ; do you ?"
" Do you think I could ever forget it ?" said the other. " Was
it not that day when the pleasure-house of I^indenmar was
burned to the ground, and our good lord's infant was consumed
in the flames ?''
" I remember it well," replied the other, musing over the
circumstances of the past ; " and I remember that my lord and
Adolph of Gueldres, and all the rest of the nobles that were
marching to join the duke, saw the flames from the road ; and
all came willingly to help your gallant young lord. — He was
gallant and young then. — But Adol])h of Gueldres cried to let
them all burn, so that the lands of liannut might come to him.
lie said it laughing, indeed ; but it was a bitter jest at such
a minute."
" My lord heard of that soon enough," answered the senes-
chal, " and he never forgave it."
" Oh, but we heeded him not," exclaimed the other : " we all
gave what aid we couhl. Mind you not, how my lord rushed in
and brought out your lady in his arms, and how she wej)t for her
child ? It was but a fortnight old, they say !"
" No more, no more !" answered the other : " and I will tell you
what, she never ceased to weep till death dried up her tears— poor
thing I — But, hark thee, Regnault," he added, taking the other by
the arm, and drawing him a few paces aside, not only out of earshot
of the rest of the persons who tenanted the hall, but also out of
the broad glare of the lamp, as if what he was about to say were
not matter for the open light: — "but, hark thee, Regnault de
Gand ! they do say that the spirits of that lady and her child
visit our lord each night in his chamber at a certain hour."
" Didst thou ever see them, good Roger ?" demanded his com-
panion, with a smile of self-satisfied incredulity. " Didst thou
ever set eyes upon them, thyself?"
" God forbid !" ejaculated the seneschal, fervently ; " God
forbid ! I would not see them for all the gold of Egypt."
" Well, then, good Roger, fear not," replied Regnault de Gand,
" thou shalt never see them ! I have heard a mighty deal of
spirits, and ghosts, and apparitions, and devils; but though I
have served in the countries where they are most plenty, I never
could meet with one in the whole course of my life ; and between
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 29
US two, good Roger, I believe in none of them ; except, indeed,
all that the church believes, and the fourteen thousand virgin
martyrs."
" Why, that is believing enough in all conscience," replied
Roger de Lorens ; " but if you believe in no such things, I will
put you to sleep in the small room at the stairs' foot, just beneath
my lord's private chamber."
Whether this proposal was relished much or little by the
worthy squire, he had made too open a profession of bis incre-
dulity to shrink from the test ; and he was fain to take up his
abode for the night in a low-roofed, but not inconvenient chamber,
at the foot of the staircase in the square tower. He looked some-
what pale as his old companion bade nim Good night ; but he
looked a vast deal paler the next day when they wished each
other Good morning. Not one word, however, did he say,
either of objection at first, or of comment at last ; and no one
ever exactly knew how he sped during the night he passed in
that chamber, though, when some months after he married a
buxom dame of Ghent, a report got about amongst the gossips,
that though he had not actually encountered a spirit, he had
heard many strange noises, and seen many a strange beam of
light wandering about the apartment, coming he knew not
whence, and disappearing he knew not whither.
He himself told nothing openly ; and when the fair dame
whom he had taken to his bosom, and who was supposed to be
deeply learned in all the secrets thereof, was spoken to on the
subject, she, too, affected a tone of mystery, only assuring the
ingenious gossip, who tried to ferret out the details, with a
solemn shake of the head, " that those might disbelieve the ap-
parition of spirits who liked. As for her husband, Regnault, he
had good cause to know better ; though he had once been a
scoffer, like all the rest of your swaggering, gallant, dare-devil
men-at-arms."
Having now violated, in some degree, the venerable art of
chronology, and, in favour of the worthy squire, run somewhat
forward before the events of my tale, I must beg the reader to
pause on his advance for a single instant ; and, while the Dau-
phin, the Marshal, and their respective trains, sleep sound in the
massy walls of the castle of Hannut, to return with me to the
party we lately left assembled round a fire in the heart of the
forest.
30 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
CHAPTER IV.
From the middle of the fourteenth to the middle of the fifteenth
centuries, and even, perhaps, to a much later period, there
existed, spread over the whole continent — equally in France, in
Flanders, in Italy, and in Germany — a particular class of men,
whose livelihood was ohtaincd by the sword, antl by the sword
alone. In time of hostility, they were soldiers ; in time of peace,
they were plunderers ; and long habituated to reap alone the
iron harvest of war, they never dreamed of turning the sword into
the reaping-hook — a sort of proceeding which they would have
considered the basest degradation of an instrument which they
• held in as high a degree of veneration, as that in which it was
regarded by the ancient Scythians.
In the interior of France, indeed, such a thing as peace was
sometimes to be found : but Germany, and its frontiers towards
France, presented such a number of great vassals, and inde-
pendent princes, each of whom had the right of waging war
against his neighbour — a right which they took care should not
fall into desuetude — that the mercenary soldiers, who at that
time infested the world, were rarely, for any long period, under
the necessity of cultivating the arts of peace, even in their own
peculiar manner, in the heart of the green forest.
During the earlier part of the great struggle between France
and England, these men had assembled in bodies of thousands
and tens of thousands ; and, during the existence of any of the
temporary suspensions of hostilities, which took place from time
to time, they seized upon some town or castle, lived at free quar-
ters in the country, and laid prince and peasant, city and village
alike, under contribution. Gradually, however, these great
bodies became scattered ; kings found it more impei'atively
necessary to overcome such internal foes, than to oppose an ex-
ternal enemy. The nobles also leagued together to destroy any
of the great bands that remained ; but the smaller ones — tolerated
at first as a minor evil, consequent upon the system of warfare of
the day — were always in the end encouraged, protected, and
rewarded, when hostilities between any two powers rendered
their services needful to each ; and were not very severely treated,
when circumstances compelled them to exercise their military
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 31
talents on their ov/ri account. Scarcely a great lord through
Germany, or Burgundy, or Flanders, had not a band of this
kind — more or less formidable, according to his wealth and
]>owcr — either in his pay, or under his protection. The cha-
racter of the adventurers, indeed, of each particular troop, greatly
depended upon the disposition and manners of the lord to whom
they were for the time attached : but, on the whole, they were
a very much libelled people ; and though in actual warfare they
were certainly worse than the ordinary feudal soldier of the day,
in time of peace they were infinitely better than the class of
common robber, that succeeded upon their extinction. There
were times, indeed, when, under the guidance of some fierce and
ruthless leader, they committed acts which disgraced the history
of human nature ; but upon ordinary occasions, though they
carried into the camp a strong touch of the plundering propensi-
ties of the freebooters, yet, when war was over, they bore with
them, to the cavern or the wood, many of the frank and gallant
qualities of the chivalrous soldier.
It was in the hands of a body of such men, though of a
somewhat better quality than usual, that we last left Martin
Fruse, the worthy burgher of Ghent, beginning to recover from
the apprehensions which he had at first entertained, and to enjoy
himself in proportion to the rapid transition he had undergone,
from a feeling of terror to a sense of security. The balance of
human sensation is so nicely suspended, that scarcely is a weight
removed from the heart, ere up flies the beam, as far above as it
was below ; and long does it vibrate before it attains the equi-
poise. Such, I believe, are the feelings of every bosom : though
some, ashamed of the sudden transition, have power enough to
master its expression, and clothe themselves with external calm-
ness, while their hearts are really as much agitated as those of
other men. Not so, however, with good Martin Fruse : though,
occasionally, in affairs of policy, he thought himself called upon
to make a bungling attempt to give an air of diplomatic secrecy
and caution to his language and manner; and though, when
prompted b}'^ others, he could speak an equivocal speech, and
fancy himself a skilful negotiator upon the faith of a doubtful
sentence, yet, in general, the emotions of his heart would bubble
up to the surface unrestrained. On the present occasion, as cold
capon and rich ham, strong Rhenish and fruity Moselle, gave
pledges of the most satisfactory kind for his future safety, his joy
32 MAllV OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
sparkled forth with Bomewhat childish glee ; and his good friends,
the robbers, in the midst of the green forest, supplied, in his
affections, the place of many a boon companion of the rich town
of Ghent.
The stores of the sumpter-horse were soon nearly consumed ;
but it was remarked by the worthy burgher, that a portion which,
by nice computation, he judged might satisfy the appetite of two
hungry citizens, together with a couple of large flasks of the best
wine, were set apart with reverential care, as if for some person
who was not present, but who was held by his companions in
a high degree of respect. After governing his curiosity for some
time, that most unrestrainable of all human passions got the
better of him; and, by some sidelong questions, he endeavoured
to ascertain for whom this reservation was made.
" Oh no ! no, no !" replied the personage, who had hitherto
acted as the leader of the freebooters, " we must not touch that ;
it is put by for our captain, who will be here presently, and will
tell us," he added, with a malicious grin, as he played upon the
apprehensions of the good citizen, — " and will tell us what we
are to do with thee and thine, good Master Martin Fruse. Thou
art not the first syndic of the weavers, I trow, who has dangled
from a beam ; and one could not choose a more airy place to
hang in, on a summer's day."
Though Martin Fruse perceived that there was a touch of jest
at the bottom of his companion's speech, yet the very thought of
dangling from a beam, — a fate which the Duke of Burgundy
was fully as likely to inflict upon a rebellious subject, as the most
ferocious freebooter upon a wandering traveller, — caused a ]iecu-
liar chilly sensation to pucker up his whole skin : but, as his
danger from the robbers was the more pressing and immediate of
the two, he applied himself strenuously to demonstrate, that it
was both unjust and unreasonable to hang a man either to beam
or bough, after having abetted him in making himself very com-
fortable in the world in which God had placed him. There was
something in the arguments he deduced from capon and hock,
together with the terror that he evidently felt, and a degree of
childish simplicity of manner, which made the freebooters roar
with laughter ; and they were just indulging in one of these
merry peals, when a sudden rustle on the bank over their head
gave notice that some one was approaching.
" Hold by the roots, boy!" cried a rough voice above. " Here I
THF, RF.VOIT OF GIIENF'. 33
Set yoiii' I'^^l liere. — Now jump, — as fur as you can I — That's
right ! Cleared it, by St. George ! — Now slip down. So here
wc are."
As he spoke the last words, Matthew Gournay, followed by
j-oung Hugh of Gucldres, stood within one pace of the spot
where the freebooters had been regaling. Two or three of the
latter had started up to welcome him, holding high one of the
torches, to light his descent ; and as he came forward, his eye
ran over the evidences of their su})per, and the l)arty who had
partaken of it, with some degree of surprise.
" How now, my merry men ?" he cried, laughing. " Ye have
had some sport, it would seem ; but, by our Lady, I hope ye
have left me a share, and something for this poor lad, who is
dying of himger."
" Plenty, plenty for both," replied many of the voices ; " that
is to say, enough for one meal at least ; the next we must find
elsewhere."
" But here are some Gandois traders," added one of the party,
" waiting your awful decree, and trembling in every limb lest
they should be hanged upon the next tree."
" God forbid !" replied Matthew Gournay. " We will put
them to light ransoms, for rich citizens. Who is the first?
Stand up, good man. — What ! Martin Fruse !" he exclaimed,
starting back, as the light fell upon the face of the burgher.
" My old friend, Martin Fruse, in whose house I lodged when I
came to teach the men of Ghent how to get up a tumult ! Little
did I think I should so soon have thee under contribution."
"Nay, nay, good Master Gournay," replied the burgher,
" right glad am I to see thee. In truth, I thought I had fallen
into worse hands than thine. I know well enough," he added,
with a somewhat doubtful expression of countenance, notwith-
standing the confidence which his words implied, — " I know
well enough that thou hast no heart to take a ransom from thine
old companion."
*' Faith but thou art wrong, Martin," replied Matthew Gournay,
laying his heavy hand upon the citizen's shoulder. " Thine own
ransom shall be light, and that of thy comrades also, for thy
sake ; but something we must have, if it be but to keep up good
customs. A trifle, a mere trifle — a benevolence, as our good
kings call it in England, when they take it into their heads to
put the clejgy to ransom."
D
34 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OH,
" Nay, but," said Martin Frusc, whose confidence and courage
were fully restored by the sight of his friend's face ; — " nay, but
consider that I was taken while journey ing for tiie sole purpose
of conferring with thee and Adol{)h of Gueldres concerning the
general rising we purposed."
" Well, well, we will speak further hereafter," answered
Matthew Gournay. " That job is all over for the present ; and
as, doubtless, the duke has heard of our doings, it may go hard
with your j)urses, and with my neck, if he catch us, which please
God he shall not do. But we must think of some way of getting
you all back to Ghent in safety. Now, llalbcrt of the hillside,"
he added, addressing one of his old band, who was probably an
Englishman like himself, " hie thee to the midway oak. Thou
wilt there find the old seneschal. Tell him all is safe ! Bid
him tarry there till to-morrow, collecting all our friends that
come thither ; and, in the meantime, to send me the leathern
bottles from the hollow tree. These flimsy flasks furnish scarce
a draught for a boy ; and, good faith, I will be merry to-night,
whatever befall to-morrow. Up the bank, up the bank," he con-
tinued ; " 'tis but a quarter of a mile that way."
While the messenger was gone in search of the fresh supply of
wine which the leathern bottles implied, Matthew Gournay,
and the young companion, whom he had brought with him,
despatched the provisions which had- been saved by the very
miraculous abstinence of the freebooters ; and at the same time
the two flasks of Rhenish disappeared with a celerity truly asto-
nishing. Four capacious bottles, holding about a gallon each,
were soon after added to the supply, and all present were called
upon to partake.
A scene of merriment and joy then succeeded, which would
be impossible to describe — such, indeed, as perhaps no men ever
indulged in whose lives were not held by so uncertain a tenure,
whose moments of security were not counterbalanced by so
many hours of danger, and whose pleasures were not bought by
so many labours and pains, that it became their only policy to
quaff the bowl of joy to the very dregs, while it was yet at their
lips, lest, at the first pause, circumstance, that unkind step-dame,
should snatch it angrily from their hands for ever. The final
explosion of their merriment was called forth by good Martin
Fruse, who, after showing many signs and symptoms of weary
drowsiness, declared that he should like to go to bed, and asked,
with much simplicity, where he was to sleep.
THE REVOL'l" OF GHENT. 35
" Sleep !" exclaimed Matthew Gournay, " sleep ! Why where
the fiend would you sleep ?"
" I mean, whcre's your house, good Master Matthew Gournay?"
rejoined Martin Fruse, with open eyes, from which all expression
was banished b}' surprise at finding his question a matter of
laughter, he knew not why. " It 's all very well to sup in the
wood in a fine summer night ; but it 's growing late and cold,
and I do think wc had better a great deal get us t9 our warm
beds."
The only answer which he received to this speech, from the
robbers, was a new peal of laughter; but, at the same moment,
his nephew plucked him by the sleeve, exclaiming, " Hist, uncle !
ye only make the knaves grin ; you may sleep where you are, or
not sleep at all for this night. Have you not heard how these
men covet no covering but the green boughs of the forest ?"
" Thou art somewhat malapert, young sir," said Matthew
Gournay, fixing upon him a glance into which various parts of
the boy's speech, not very respectful to the freebooters, had called
up a degree of fierceness that was not the general expression of
his countenance ; — " thou art somewhat malapert ; and, if thy
uncle follow my advice, he will make thy shoulders now and
then taste of the cloth-yard measure, else thou wilt mar his for-
tune some fine day. The boy says true, however, good Martin ;
here sleepest thou this night, if thou sleepest at all ; so get thee
under yonder bank, with that broad oak tree above thy head, to
guard thee from the westerly wind, and thank Heaven thou hast
so fair a canopy. There, wrap thy cloak about thee ; ask God's
blessing, and sleep sound. To-morrow I will wake thee early, to
talk of what may best be done to speed thee on thy way in safety ;
for many of the duke's bands are about ; and without we can
get thee some good escort, thou art like to be in the same plight
as the ass, who, running away from a dog, fell in with a lion."
Although Martin Fruse believed himself to be as wise as any
man that ever lived, except King Solomon, he had a peculiar
dislike, or rather, it may be called, a nervous antipathy, to the
very name of an ass ; but, when it was introduced, as on the
present occasion, in the form of a simile, to exemplify his own
situation, his feelings were wounded in a deep degree. In silent
indignation, therefore, for he knew not what to reply, he arose,
and proceeded to the spot pointed out, where, having made him-
self as comfortable as circumstances permitted him to do, he lay
d2
36 RIARV or millGUNU^ J OH,
down, and, notwithstanding a firm do(crniinali<jn luti lo close an
eye, he was soon pouring forth a body of nasal music, which
seemed intended to shame the nightingales for their silence in
the autumn season.
Tiic rest of the travellers took up with such couches as they
could find; and the robbers, too, one by one, wrapped their
cloaks about them, and resigned themselves to sleep. The two
last who iT'mained awake were Matthew Gournay and young
Hugh of Gueldres, whose slumber by the cascade in the morning
had sufficiently removed the weariness of his limbs, to leave his
mind free to rest upon the sorrows of the past and the dangers
of the present.
With him the leader of the freebooters held a long, and, to
them, an interesting conversation ; in the course of which the
boy narrated all the events which had lately occurred to him, —
the storming of his father's castle by the troops of Burgundy ;
the perils he had luidergonc ; the difficulties of his escape ; liis
desolation and despair when he found himself a wanderer and
an outcast ; his long and weary journey ; his adventure with the
Dauphin, whom he described as a French traveller; and the
manner in which that base and artful prince had deceived him.
lie told it all with so much simple pathos, that he called up
something very like a tear in the adventurer's clear blue eye ;
and Matthew Gournay, laying his broad hand affectionately on
his head, exclaimed, " Never mind, my young lord, never mind ;
you are not without friends, and never shall be, so long as JSIat-
thew Gournay lives: for I swear by the blessed Virgin, and all
the saints to boot, that my sword shall fight your quarrels, and
my lance shall be at your command, till I see you a righted man.
But, as you say that the Lord of Hannut is your cousin in the
first degree, thither we must go for help and counsel. I know
him well, too ; for my good band helped to keep his castle for
him, when the black riders were about last year : and what with
the troops of spirits that folks say he can command, and the
company of the good fellows that I shall soon gather together
again, we shall be able to do something for you, no doubt. By
the way," he added, seeming suddenly to bethink himself of some
fact that had before escaped his attention, " these travellers, you
say, are gone to Hannut too, and under their escort these Gandois
weavers may pass unsuspected on their way homeward."
" What if they refuse to take them?" said Hugh of Gueldres.
THE KKVOLT Ul' GMKJN'I-. 37
" By the Lord, they shall eat more cold iron than they can
well stomach," replied the adventurer : " but I must sleep, my
younj^ lord, I must sleep, if I would rise fresh to-morrow! Lend
us thy hand to shift off this plastron." So saying, he disencum-
bered himself of his breastplate, and the other pieces of defensive
armour which might have rendered his sleep uncomfortable ;
and, laying them down by his steel cap or basinet, which he had
previously taken off, he wra})ped the end of his mantle round his
head, stretched himself on the ground, grasped the hilt of his
dagger tight with his right hand ; and, in that altitude, fell
into as sound a sleep as if he had never tasted crime or heard
of danger. The boy soon followed his example, and all was
silence.
About an hour before daylight the following morning, Martin
Fruse Wiis awakened by some one shaking him by the shoulder.
He roused himself with many a yawn, rose up, stretched his
round limbs, which were sadly stiffened by a night's lodging
upon the cold ground, and, gazing round, perceived, by the
mingled light of the expiring fire and one or two j)ine-wood
torches stuck in the ground, that the party of adventurers had
been considerably increased during his sleep ; and that they were
now all busily employed in saddling horses and preparing for a
march, except, indeed, Matthew Gournay himself, whose grasp
it was that had awakened him. He was now informed, in a few
brief words, without any precise explanation, that a means had
suggested itself for sending him and his companions forward
towards Ghent, with less danger than that to which they would
be exposed in travelling alone. For this courtesy, and for the
permission to return at all, Matthew Gournay exacted, under
the name of ransom, a sum so much smaller than the fears of the
worthy burgher had anticipated, that he only affected to haggle
for a florin or two less, in order to keep up the custom of bar-
gaining, so necessary to him in his mercantile capacity. A hint,
however, from Matthew Gournay, that, if he said another word,
the sum demanded should be tripled, soon set the matter at rest;
and in a few minutes the whole party were on horseback, and on
their way to the castle of Hannut.
On their arrival at the gate of the barbacan, they were instantly
challenged by a sentry, who at that early hour stood watching
the first grey streaks of the dawn. After various inquiries and
messages to and from the interior of the castle, they were led
38 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
round lo a .sinall postern, and, being made to dismount, were
led, one after another, by torchlight, up one of those narrow,
almost interminable staircases, still to be found in every old
building wliose erection can be traced to the feudal period.
CHAPTER V.
It was after dinner on the following morning, — which meal, be
it remarked, took place in those days about ten o'clock, — that
the Dauphin and the Marshal of Burgundy rose to bid adieu to
their noble host, and offered him, in courteous terms, their thanks
for the hospitable entertainment he had shown them.
"■' I have, my lord, a favour to ask in return," said the Lord of
Hannut, " which will leave me your debtor. The case is simply
this : some worthy merchants of Ghent, travelling on mercantile
affairs, as I am told, arrived here this morning ; and, being fearful
of encountering some of the robbers, who have given to this
forest not the best repute, they are now waiting in the inner
court, anxious to join themselves to your train, and accompany
you as far as Cortenbergh, where they will leave you, and take
the short cut to Ghent."
" Willingly, willingly," replied the Dauphin : " by my faith,
if there be robbers in the wood, the more men we are, the
better."
The Marshal of Burgundy looked somewhat grave. " I have
heard rumours, my lord," he said, " that the men of Ghent, who,
in my young day, when I frequented this part of the country,
were as turbulent a race of base mechanics as ever drove a shuttle
or worked a loom, have not forgotten their old habits, and from
day to day give my lord the duke some fresh anxiety."
" Nay, nay," replied the Lord of Hannut ; " these men are
rich burghers, returning peacefully to their own city from some
profitable excursion."
" Oh, let us have them, by all means !" exclaimed Louis, who
possibly might have his own views, even at that time, in culti-
vating a good understanding with the people of Ghent. At least,
we know that he never ceased to keep up some correspondence
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 39
with the burghers of the manufacturing towns of Flanders, from
the time of his exile among them, to the last hour of his life.
" Oh ! let us have them by all means. Think of the robbers,
my Lord Marshal! By my faith! I have too few florins in my
purse to lose any willingly !"
The Marshal of Burgundy signified his assent by a low in-
clination of the head; though it was evident, from his whole
manner, that he was not at all pleased with the new companions
thus joined to his band; and would at once have rejected the
proposal, had good manners towards his host, or respect towards
the Dauphin, permitted him to make any further opposition.
" So necessary do I think caution against the freebooters, my
lords," said the master of the mansion, as he conducted them
towards the court-yard, where their horses stood saddled, " that
I have ordered ten spears of my own to accompany you to the
verge of the forest. They will join you at the little tov.m of
Hannut, about a quarter of a league distant ; and will remain
with you as long as you may think it necessary."
Louis expressed his gratitude in courtly terms ; and the Lord
of Neufchatel thanked his old friend more frankly ; but said, he
should like to see the boldest freebooter that ever was born, stand
before the Marshal of Burgundy, though he had but four lances
and four horseboys in his train. The party were by this time in
the court-yard ; and Louis greeted the burghers, whom he found
waiting, with a familiar cordiality, well calculated to win their
hearts, without diminishing his own dignity. The Marshal of
Burgundy, on the contrary, spoke not ; but looked on them with
a grim and somew^hat contemptuous smile ; muttering between
his teeth, with all the haughtiness of a feudal noble of that day,
" The rascallion communes ! they are dressed as proudly as lords
of the first degree !"
Notwithstanding his offensive pride, yet untamed by years,
the Lord of Neufchatel was far from treating the burghers with
any real unkindness ; and, after the whole party had mounted,
and left the castle of Hannut, he gratified himself every now and
then by a sneer, it is true; but, whenever any occasion pre-
sented itself for contributing to their comfort, or rendering them
a substantial service, the natural courtesy of a chivalrous heart
got the better of the prejudices of education. At an after period,
indeed, he went still further, and greatly changed his demeanour
towards the people of the towns ; but at present, his pride
40 MARY OF DURGL'MJV; OR,
offended more tluui his services pleased ; and when, after a quiet
and uninterrupted journey, the two parties separated at Corten-
beriih, though the Marshal left thcni as a set of men on whom he
should never waste another thought, they remembered him long
as one of those haughty tyrants whose insults and oppression
often goaded the people into tumults, though the time was not
yet come for a successful struggle for emancipation.
From Cortcnbergh, the Dauphin and his companions rode
on towards Brussels, sending forward a messenger to inform the
Duke of Burgundy of their approach ; but, before they reached
the gates of the town, they received information that the prince
whom they sought was even then in the field against the people
of Utrecht. Nevertheless, as a safe asylum in Brussels was all
that Louis demanded, he rode on upon his way ; and, being ad-
mitted at once within the walls of the town, proceeded tow^irds
the palace. His coming had been notified to the Duchess
Isabelle : and, on arriving at the barriers which at that time
separated the dwelling of every prince or great noble from the
common streets of the town, he found that princess, together
with the young and beautiful Countess of Charolois — the wife of
him afterwards famous as Charles the Bold — waiting to do
honour to the heir of the French throne. No sooner did he
})crceive them, than, springing from liis horse, he advanced with
ci>artly grace, and gallantly saluted the cheek of every one of the
fair bevy who had descended to welcome him ; and then, offering
his arm to the Duchess, wished to lead her into the ])alace. But
this method of proceeding was not at all permitted by the mis-
tress of the most ceremonious court, at that time, in Europe ;
and a series of formal courtesies began, and endured for a mortal
half hour, such as would have slain any (pieen in modern Europe.
At length, the resistance of the Duchess was vanquished by the
Dau[)hin taking her by the hand, and thus leading her forward,
as he exclaimed, — " Nay, nay, lady, you are over-cercmouious
towards one who is now the poorest gentleman of all the realm
of France, and knows not where to find a refuge, except with
you and my fair uncle of Burgundy."
We might now pursue Louis XL through all his cunning
intrigues at the court of Burgundy : for, though then a young
man, with the ardent blood of youth mingling strangely, in his
veins, with the cold serpent-like sanies of policy, yet his nature
was the same artful nature then that it appeared in after-years ;
TilK KKVOI/r Ol" GHENT. 41
and treachery aiul arlifico were as tamiliar to liis ruiucl while
combined with the passions and folUcs of early life, as they were
when connected with the superstitions and weaknesses of his
At })rcscnt, however, it is neither with Louis nor with the
Duke of Burgundy, nor with his warlike son, that we have prin-
cipally to do, but rather with the young Countess of Charolois,
then in that interesting situation when the hopes of a husband
and a nation arc fi^ed upon a coming event, which, with danger
to the mother, is to give an heir to the throne and to the love of
both sovereign and people.
The subjects of Burgundy watched anxiously, till at length, in
the month of February, on St. Valentine's eve, was born Mary
of Burgundy, — the only child that ever blessed the bed of Charles
the Bold. The baptism was appointed to take place as soon as
possible : and the Dauphin was invited to hold at the font, the
infixnt princess, much of whose after-being his ambition was
destined to render miserable. Now, however, all was joy and
festivity ; and magnificent presents, and splendid preparations,
evinced how much the Flemish citizens shared, or would have
seemed to share, in the happiness of their duke and his family.
Even the people of Utrecht, so lately in rebellion, vied with
Bruges and Brussels, Ghent and Ypres, in offering rich testi-
monies of their gladness; and Brussels itself was one scene of
gorgeous splendour during the whole day of the christening.
The centre of the great street, from the palace to the church of
Cobergh, was enclosed within railings breast-high ; and towards
night, four hundred of the citizens, holding lighted torches of
pure wax in their hands, were stationed along the line. A
hundred servants of the house of Burgundy, furnished also with
torches, lined the aisles of the church, and a hundred more were
soon seen issuing from the palace gates, followed by as splendid
a cortege as the world ever beheld. The Duchess of Burgundy
herself, supported i)y the Dauphin, carried her son's child to the
font; and all the nobles of that brilliant court followed on foot
to the church.
It is not necessary here to describe the pompous ceremonies of
that day, as they are written at full in the very elaborate account
given by Eleonore of Poitiers. Suffice it to say, such joy and
profusion never before reigned in Brussels. The streets of the
city flowed with wine, and blazed with bonfires. Every rich
42 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
citizen gathered round his glowing hearth all the friends and
relations of his house. Comfits and sy)iccd hij)pocras fumed in
every dwelling ; and the christening of Mary of Burgundy be-
came an epoch of rejoicing in the memory of men.
One event of that night, however, must be noticed. The fate
of the city of Ghent, whose project of revolt had, in spite of all
precautions, become known to the Duke Philip, liad been left in
the hands of the Count of (.harolois, that prince's son ; and a
deputation from what were then called the* three members of
Ghent — that is to say,* from the burghers and nobles, from the
united trades, and from the incorporation of weavers — were even
then in Brussels, for the purpose of imploring mercy and for-
giveness. The young Count, whose hasty and passionate nature
was prone to be irritated by any thing that hurried or excited
him, had been in such a state of fretful impatience during the
preparations for the baptism of his child, that his wiser coun-
sellors, who wished much that he should deal clemently with the
Gandois, had concealed their arrival, in hopes of a more favour-
able moment presenting itself.
They were not, indeed, deceived in this expectation ; and,
after the ceremony was over, and all the splendour he could
have wished had been displayed, without cloud or spot, on the
christening of his child, the heart of the Count seemed to ex-
pand, and he gave himself up entirely to the joy of the occasion.
His friends and attendants determined to seize the moment
while this favourable mood continued. After the infant hatl
been carried back from the church and presented to its mother,
and after the cup and drageoir had been handed with formal
ceremony to each of the guests, the Lord of Ravestein called the
Prince's attention to a petition he held from his father's humble
vassals, the citizens of Ghent; and seeing that he received the
paper with a smile, he added the information that the deputies
were even then waiting anxiously without, in what was termed
the clunnhre dc -parcment. The Count's brow instantly became
clouded; but, without answering, he beckoned Ravestein, and
several others, to follow him out of the Countess's chamber, in
* Although almost all the suporficiul hooks of modern date which refer to
the ancient state of Ghent, speak of these three members or states, as the
ecclesiastics, the nobles, and the commons, the statement in the text is correct,
which may be ascertained by referring to the Ciironicles of George Chatellain,
ad ann. 1467.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 43
which this conversation had taken place, and at once entered
the apartment in which the burghers were assembled. There
was something in the stern haste of his stride, as he advanced
into the room, which boded little good to the supplicants; and
his brow gave anything but a favourable presage.
The deputation consisted of about twenty persons, chosen
from all ranks ; and amongst them were two or three who had
followed to the presence of the prince, from motives of curiosity,
and a desire, for once, to see the splendours of a royal court,
though the reception of the whole party was not likely to be
very gratifying. Amongst the principal personages of the depu-
tation appeared our good friend Martin Fruse, who had brought
with him his nephew, Albert Maurice ; and most of the other
persons whom Ave have seen with him in the forest of Ilannut
bore him company also on the present occasion. Though the
burghers of Ghent were sufficiently accustomed to harangue
each other, either in the town-house or the market-place, and had
a good conceit of their own powers of oratory, yet fear, which,
of all the affections of the human mind, is the greatest promoter
of humility, had so completely lessened their confidence in their
own gift of eloquence, that, instead of intrusting the supplica-
tions they were about to make to one of their own body, they
had hired a professional advocate, from a different town, to
plead their cause before their offended prince.
" Range out, Messires, range out !" were the first ungracious
words of the Count of Charolois ; " range out, and let me see
the lovely faces of the men who would fain have excited our
father's subjects to revolt."
By his orders, the deputies from Ghent were arranged in a
semicircle before him ; and, according to etiquette, the whole
party dropped upon one knee ; though some went farther, and
bent both to the ground. In the meantime, their advocate
pronounced a long, florid, and frothy harangue, after the manner
of that day, and calling David, Solomon, and many others, both
sacred and profane, to his aid, as examples of clemency, besought
the Count to show mercy to the repentant citizens of Ghent.
The heir of Burgundy appeared to give little attention to the
studied and unnatural oration of the advocate, but continued
rolling his eyes over the countenances of the supplicants, with a
bent brow, and a smile, which — as a smile always proceeds from
some pleasurable emotion — could only arise from the gratification
44 MARY Ol' UURGUNDY ; OR,
ot" pride and rcvcMigc, at llic state of abasement to which l;e saw
the revolted Gaudois reduced.
When the orator had concluded, the Count replied, — " Men
6t" Ghent, I have heard that in all time ye have been turbulent,
discontented, factious, like a snarling cur that sna{)s at the hand
that feeds it, but crouches beneath the kish: think not that you
shall escape without due punishment; for know, that it is as
much the duty of a prince to punish the criminal, as to protect
the innocent."
lie paused, and no one ventured to re})ly, except the boy
Albert Maurice, who, grasj)ing the hilt of the small dagger,
which persons of almost all ages or ranks then woi'c, muttered,
in a tone not (juite inaudible, the words " Insolent tyrant."
Whether these words caught the hear of any one else or not,
they were, at all events, loud enough to reach that of the Count
of Charolois; and, taking one stride forward, he struck the
youth a blow, with the palm of his open hand, which laid him
almost senseless on the ground.
A momentary confusion now ensued ; the nobles and at-
tendants interposed, to prevent any farther act of unj^rincely
violence ; the boy was hurried away out of the room ; several of
the deputies made their escape, fearing the immediate conse-
quences of the prince's fury; and the Count of Kavestein
endeavoured to persuade his cousin, Charles of Burgundy, to
quit the apartment, terrified lest he should proceed to measures
which would throw the Gandois into open rebellion.
He was mistaken, however ; the rage of the Count had evapo-
rated in the blow he had struck ; and, somewhat ashamed of the
act of passion he had connnitted, he endeavoured to make it
seem, both to himself and to those around him, not the effect of
hasty wrath, — which it really was, — but the deliberate ])unish-
ment of an insolent boy.
To Ravestein's remonstrances and entreaties for him to leave
the apartment, he replied by a loud laugh, demanding, " Thinkcst
thou I could be moved to serious anger by a malapert lad like
that ? He spoke like a spoiled boy, and 1 have given him the
chastisement suited to 'a spoiled boy: with these men of Ghent,
I shall deal as towards men."
He was about to proceed, and was resuming the stern air with
which he had formerly addressed the deputies, when the Dau-
phin, stepping forward, spoke to him in a low lone, as if to pre-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 45
vont his intercession from I)cin<>; aj)})ar(Mil, tliongh his gesture
and jnanner were (jiiite suHicient to show the hurghcrs that he
was pleading in their hchalf. The Count of CliaroUns had not
yet learned all the intricate duplicity of Louis's character, and
took it for granted that, while he interceded for the people of
Ghent, he did really — as he affected to do — desire that they
should be ignorant of his generous efforts in their favour.
" Well, be it so, my princely cousin," he replied, smoothing
his ruffled brow ; " the godfather of my child shall not be re-
fused his first request to me, upon the very day of her baptism ;
but, by my faith ! the honour of this good act shall rest where it
is due, — with you, not with me. Knovv, men of Ghent, that
you have a better advocate here, than this man of many words,
whom you have brought to plead your cause. My noble cousin,
Louis of France, condescends to intercede for you, and ye shall
be pardoned upon the payment of a moderate fine. But, re-
member ! offend not again ; for, by the Lord that lives ! if ye do,
I will hang ten of each of your estates over the gates of the city.
What have ye there?" he added, suddenly, pointing to some
large objects, wrapped in violet-coloured linen, and carried by
two or three stout attendants, who had followed the men of
Ghent to the prince's presence ; " what have ye there ?"
" A humble offering, my lord the Count," replied Martin
Fruse, rising from his knees, and walking towards the object
which had attracted the attention of the Count of Charolois ;
" a humble offering from the city of Ghent to our noble Count,
upon the birth of his fair daughter ; though that foolish advo-
cate forgot to mention all about it in his speech."
" Well for ye that he did so ! " exclaimed the Count ; " for
had he attempted to bribe me to forget justice, I doubt much
whether one of the deputies of Ghent would have quitted these
palace walls alive."
" But only look at them, my lord the Count," said Martin
Fruse, whose all-engrossing admiration of the rich presents they
had brought made him insensible to the stern tone in which
the prince had been speaking. " Only look at them ; they
are so beautiful ;" and so saying, he removed the linen which
covered them, and exposed to view three large and richly chased
vases of massive silver. Certainly their effect upon all present
very well justified the commendations which he had bestowed
upon their beauty, and his censure of the advocate for not
mentioniniT them before.
46 MA1{V OF BURGUNDY; OK,
Both Charles of Burgundy and the Dauphin took an in-
voluntary step forward, to look at them more nearly. But the
eyes of Louis, who was fonder of the examination of the
human heart, than of the finest piece of workmanship ever
produced by the hands of man, were soon turned to the face of
his cousin ; and, as he marked the evident admiration which
was therein expressed, he said, with a frank laugh, which
covered well the sneer that was lurking in his speech, — " By
my faith I fair cousin, I think the advocate was in the wrong."
" Good troth, but I think so too," replied the Count, joining
in the laugh. " Well, my friends," he continued, addressing the
deputies in a very different tone from that which he had for-
merly used ; " get you gone, and be cautious for the future how
ye listen to the delusive words of vain and ambitious men : the
master of our household will see that ye are well entertained
with white bread, good wine, and all the dainties of a christening;
and as for the boy I struck," he added, taking a gold brooch or
fermail from the bosom of his own vest, and putting it into the
hands of Martin Fruse, " give him that to heal the blow. There,
set down the vases on that table. We thank you for them ; and
by our faith ! we will show them to our lady there within."
With many a lowly reverence the men of Ghent withdrew, very
well satisfied to have obtained pardon on easy terms. Young
Albert Maurice was found below, fully recovered from the blow
he had received ; but it was in no degree effaced from his
memory. His uncle immediately presented him with the rich
brooch which the Count had sent, never doubting but the boy
would be delighted with the present ; but, the moment he
received it, he dashed it down upon the ground, and setting his
foot upon it, trampled it to atoms.
What he muttered at the same time was unheard by any one
l)ut his uncle. Tiie effect upon him, however, was such as to
turn him deadly pale ; and after having tasted of the Count's
wine, that he might not be suspected of disaffection, he hmried
his nephew away to the house of a friendly citizen of Brussels,
miserable, to all appearance, till he had got the boy beyond the
walls of the palace.
THE REVOLT OF GFIENT. 47
CHAPTER VI.
We liave now concluded one period of our talc, and must bor;
the reader to leap boldly over nearly twenty years. In regard to
the events which intervened, of some we shall here give a slight
sketch before proceeding ; some we shall leave to unravel them-
selves in the course of the after history.
Take any body of men, as many in number as the characters
which we have introduced already, and it will be seldom found
that, at the end of so great a lapse of time, the whole arc still
upon the busy stage of life ; nevertheless, such was the case in
the present instance. Time, the great enemy of man, and of all
man's works, had not leagued himself with death against any of
those whom I have particularly noticed. In other respects,
however, he had not failed to do his accustomed work. The
youth had gro\^Ti up into the man ; the man of middle age was
bowed beneath the load of j^ears : and the infant in the cradle had
reached the blossoming days of womanhood.
Of her, then, whose birth and baptism we have just comme-
morated, we shall speak in the first place, before proceeding to
notice the change which had occurred in the other characters
which we have brought upon the scene. Her infancy passed in
the midst of prosperity and happiness, while the territories which
she was destined to inherit flourished under the dominion of her
grandfather, — that wise and virtuous prince, who redeemed the
errors of his early yeai's by the generous patriotism of his latter
days, and both merited and obtained, from neighbouring princes
and his native subjects, the noble appellation of Philip the
Good; — and while under the eye of her own gentle mother, her
education proceeded in calm tranquillity, and her home reposed
in peace.
Scarcely had she attained the age of ten years, however, ere,
left alone imder the guidance of a severe and imperious father,
she found that, according to the common fate of those in the
highest stations, her lot was to be anything but happy. Gentle,
kind, obedient, she endeavoured, by making her inclinations the
slaves of her father's will, to obtain, at least, peace, by yielding to
duty. Her hopes and expectations were, nevertheless, in vain.
The continual perils to which Charles the Bold exposed himself,
48 iMAIlV OF BUIl(;i'NI)V; OH,
ofcoursc, kept his liiiiiily in constant alarm and aj^itaiioii : and
the l"rc(iuent and caj)ricions changes of" his poUcy, wjthont oljtain-
ing for liiniselt'or his country any real advantage, only served to
wring his daughter's hearts
After tlie death of his second wife, Isabel de Bourbon, the
desire of a male heir induced him speedily to marry again; and
the hatred which he had, by that time, conceived for Louis XL,
made him choose for his l)ridc, Margaret of York, the sister of tlie
King of England. His hopes of a son were disappointed ; but
upon his daugliter, Mary of Burgundy, his marriage conferred
an inestimable benefit. Margaret of York fully replaced in
kindness and affection the mother she had lost ; and habituated
early herself to cares, to sorrows, and to dangers, she instilled
into the mind of her step-daughter that patient fortitude which
she had acquired in so bitter a school ; and taught her, in all cir-
cumstances, both to bear up against despair, and to endure
without complaint.
As years rolled on, the hand of the undoubted heiress of all
Burgundy and Flanders became, of course, an object of ambition
to many of the princes of Europe; and from the time that
Mary reached the age of fifteen, to obtain possession of her
person, was a matter of open negotiation and subtle intrigue
to all the neighbouring sovereigns. The brother of the King
of France, the Duke of Calabria, the Prince of Tarcntum, and
the Duke of Savoy, became successively the suitors for her
hand ; and her father, to each and all, held out hopes and
expectations, which he either never intended to fulfil, or found
cause to disappoint. The most selfish of sovereigns, and, perhaps,
of men, the feelings of his child were never consulted throughout
the whole transactions which followed. lie looked upon her
simply as an object of policy — a human seal, which, at his will,
was to be affixed to the charter of conveyance, destined to give to
some neighbouring prince the succession to his vast dominions.
Luckily, however, it so happened, that INIary had made up
her mind to her fate, and so guarded her own heart and feelings,
that in her eyes all men seemed indifferent till the sanction of
her father warranted the gift of her affections. Thus she beheld
treaties commenced and broken, her hand promised and refused,
without either pain or pleasure, till, at length, a suitor apjieared,
who, with all those advantages which coidd satisfy the political
ambition of her father, possessed all those qualities of mind
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 49
and person calculated to gain her heart. Brave, chivalrous,
and accomplished, graceful and well-formed in person, and
handsome in features, Maximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick,
displayed, at the same time, all that native kindness of heart,
which, giving a gentle courtesy to the whole demeanour, is far
more winning than the most splendid acquirements ; and such
qualities might have been quite sufficient to gain the heart of the
heiress of Burgundy. Other things, indeed, were required by
her father ; but besides these personal qualities, he was the son
of the richest monarch in Europe, the heir of the duchy of
Austria, and would be, undoubtedly, successor to the imperial
throne itself. Every object seemed attained by such an alliance ;
and when, after appearing for two years successively at the court
of Burgundy, Maximilian demanded the hand of the beautiful
heiress of the land, Mary, for the first time, heard with joy that
it was promised to the new aspirant.
Long negotiations succeeded; and it was agreed that the duchy
of Burgundy, freed from its homage to the crown of France,
should be erected into an independent kingdom.
A grand meeting of the Imperial and Burgundian courts was
appointed at Treves, for the conclusion of the marriage ; and
Charles the Bold, with his daughter, accompanied by a train of
unrivalled splendour, set out for the place of rendezvous. IVIary's
heart beat high as she entered the ancient city ; and now, taught
to look upon Maximilian as her future husband, she yielded her
whole heart to the influence of her first affection. But the greedy
ambition of her father was destined to overthrow, for a time, all
those airy fabrics of happiness, of which her hopes, and her
imagination, had been the architects. Charles insisted that the
title of King should be granted to him previous to his daughter's
marriage ; while the Emperor, who had watched his capricious
changes on other occasions, with a jealous and somewhat indig-
nant eye, refused to confer the title he sought, till the hand of
the heiress of Burgundy was irrevocably bestowed upon his son.
Charles argued, and railed, and threatened in vain ; and at
length the Emperor, wearied with his pertinacity, and offended
by his intemperate violence, suddenly broke up his court, and
left him, mad with rage and disappointment, to carry back his
daughter to Brussels, with her heart bleeding in secret fi-om the
cruel wounds it had received.
Other negotiations succeeded with other princes ; and though
50 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
Mary heard, with apprehension and terror, of each new proposal,
tlic capricious uncertainty of her father's disposition saved her
from the still bitterer pangs of yielding her hand to another,
while her heart was really given to Maximilian.
In the meantime, disputes and wars took place ; the projects
of her marriage languished, or were almndoned; and while her
father hastened to the last fatal field, where his military renown
was extinguished in his blood, she remained with her gentle
stepmother in Ghent, to weep the perils to which her parent's
mad ambition exposed him, and to tremble at the sight of every
packet that reached her from the Burgundian camp.
Such were the changes and events which had affected the fate
of Mary of Burgundy, since we depicted her as an infant, born
shortly after the arrival of the Dauphin at the court of Brussels.
Over the Dauphin himself, greater alterations still had come in
the course of passing years. From an exiled prince, he had
become the king of a mighty nation ; and time had stolen away
all the graces of youth, and all those better feelings, and nobler
emotions, which, in the fr^eshness of early life, are more or less
imparted to every human being, whatever may be the portion of
selfish cunning added to neutralize them. However beneficial
might be his policy to the country over which he ruled, however
much his acts might advance the progress of society in Europe,
and lead forward the world to a state of more general freedom and
civilization, his objects were mean and personal, and individual
ambition of the lowest kind was the motive for all his cunning
schemes and artful policy. An immortal pen has, in our own
day, portrayed his character with unequalled skill; and of
Louis XL, at this period of his life, nothing farther can be said,
than that he was the Louis XL of Sir Walter Scott.
Of those who accompanied him on his journey, Thibalt of
Neufchatel, Marshal of Burgundy, still remained — a weather-
beaten warrior, and still, in a certain sense, a haughty noble.
Though age, with its infirmities, had somewhat broken his
strength, and had also softened his heart, he was ready at all
times, nevertheless, to spring into the saddle at the trumpet's
call : but so much, indeed, had he learned to look upon the in-
ferior ranks with a milder eye, that he had become rather popular
than otherwise; and amongst the peasants and burghers was
generally known, at this time, by the name of good Count
Thibalt. The taint of pride still remained; but its operation
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 51
was directed in a different manner ; and young nobles, and new
soldiers, who were not always inclined to pay as much respect to
the old officer's o})inion as he thought his due, now monopolized
the scorn which he had formerly bestowed upon the citizens;
while the degree of popularity he had lately acquired among the
lower classes, and the deference with which they invariably
treated him, contrasting strongly with the self-sufficient arro-
gance of some of his youthful compeers, soothed his pride, grati-
fied his vanity, and made him, day by day, more bending and
complacent to those whom he had formerly despised.
On good Martin Fruse, the passing of twenty years had
brought, if not a green, at least a fat old age. He was not un-
wieldy, however; was rosy, and well respected amongst his
fellow citizens for his wealth, for his wisdom, and for his many
memories of the mighty past ; and, in short, good Martin Fruse
was, in person and appearance, a man who had gone happily
tlu'ough many changes, increasing in riches, honour, and comfort,
with very few cares to prey upon his mind, and scarcely an ail-
ment through life to shatter his body. As he had proceeded,
however, experience had done its work : and while he had be-
come wiser, and had really obtained a greater insight into affairs
of policy, he had grown less vain, and willingly restrained his
personal efforts, to composing the municipal squabbles of his
native city, and directing the efforts of his townsmen for the
extension of their commerce and the improvement of their
manufactures.
His nephew, Albert Maurice, had been differently changed by
the wand of the enchanter Time. His mind, indeed, was one of
those firm, fixed, and steadfast essences, on which the passing
of years make but little alteration, except by expanding their
capabilities by the exercise of their powers. From a boy, it is
true, he had grown into a powerful and handsome man ; and
though, in partnership with his uncle, he held the peaceful
station of a rich merchant of Ghent, yet he was skilled in all
military exercises; and, when the communes of Flanders had
been called to the field, on pressing occasions, amongst the
various struggles of that eventful period, he had shown know-
ledge, courage, and address, which had excited the wonder, and
perhaps the jealousy, of many of those noble warriors who looked
upon the trade of war as peculiarly their own. Whenever he
returned home again, however, from the camp, he sunk at once
e2
52 MAllV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
into the citizen ; seemed to forget or to despise his military skill ;
and, thougli gay and splendid amongst his own class, far from
courting popularity, he appeared to conceal, purposely, the deep
thoughts and striking (jualities of his mind. Once or twice,
indeed, he had heen heard to burst into an eloquent and indig-
nant rebuke to some of the nobles, on the occasion of the haughty
vexations which they continually exercised upon the lower classes ;
but he seemed to regret his words as soon as spoken ; and, — as
if he knew that, at some time, a fearful and deadly contest must
arise between himself and the oppressors of his class, and strove
anxiously, and with a feeling of awe, to delay it as long as pos-
sible, — he avoided all matter of quarrel with the nobility of
Ghent, or with the officers of the Duke of Burgundy. He
seemed desirous of closing his eyes to subjects of oifence ; and,
when he heard of a brawl in any neighbouring part of the town,
or when the other young citizens called upon him to take a lead
in their frequent tumults, he w^ould either quit the place for the
time, or shut himself sternly in his own dwelling, in order to
avoid any participation in the dangerous occurrences that were
taking place.
On one of these occasions, when the city of Ghent, though
not in open revolt, was keeping up an angry discussion with the
high officers of the duke, Albert Maurice, then in his twenty-
fourth year, obtained his uncle's consent to travel into Italy, for
the purpose of superintending some transactions which their
house was carrying on with the merchant lords of Venice. In
that sweet climate, the nurse of arts and too often of crimes, he
acquired an elegance of taste, and a grace of manner, unknown
to the burghers of his native place. He came home, skilled in
many arts with which they were unacquainted; and, had his
spirit been less powerful, his talents less commanding, it is not
improbable that his fellow citizens might have contemned or
laughed at acquirements which they had not learned to appre-
ciate, and might have scorned the travelled coxcomb who brought
home strange modes and fashions to his native land. But Albert
Maurice made a show of none ; and it was only upon long solici-
tation, or on some moment of joyous festivity, that he would
sing the sweet songs of a softer people, and accompany himself
with instruments unknown in his own country.
His personal beauty, and the fascinating grace of his manners,
made him seem a creature of a different race, and his superiority
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 53
in every quality, both of mind and body, to those around him,
might have been a blessing, had he not felt it himself; but he
did feel it, and of covu'se was discontented, — and wlio can doubt
that anything which makes man discontented with his state,
without giving him the certainty of a better, is a curse ? All
eyes turned upon him with satisfaction ; and many a soft, kind
heart would willingly have given itself to him ; but his thoughts
were of another kind, and he could see none to love amongst the
many by whom he was admired. The fair girls of Ghent, — and
many a fair girl was then, and is now, within its walls — thought
him cold and proud, and blamed him for what was his misfor-
tune, not his fault. His heart was one on which love might
have taken as firm a hold as on that of any man that ever burned
or died for woman since the world began : but he sought for his
equal, — I do not mean in rank, for that he never heeded, — but
in mind ; and he found none such within the number of all he
knew.
Shut out by circumstance from the higher ranks of society,
the finer feelings, the better aspirations of his soul, were matter
for a thousand disgusts ; and though a native sense of what is
noble in itself, and just to others, made him laboriously conceal
the very superiority which he felt, as well as its consequences,
yet the conversation, the manners, the thoughts, of those around
him — even those with whom he was most intimately allied —
were constant sources of hidden pain and annoyance. He lived
amongst the people of Ghent, and he strove to live with them ;
and so far did he succeed, that though his talents and his occa-
sional resei-ve made his townsfolk look upon him with no small
reverence, the urbanity of his manners, when brought into
casual contact with the other citizens, gained him a far greater
degree of popularity than any general familiarity could have
won.
The union of pride and ambition — and he had both qualities
in his bosom — usually leads the man, whose mind is so con-
stituted, to seek to rise into the class above him : but both his
pride and his ambition were too potent for that. He was proud
of the very difference between his station and himself — he had a
deep and settled love, too, of his country, and even of his class
and while his ambition was of a quality which would have
snatched at empire, had there been a hope of success, the hatred
and contempt in which he held the nobles were far too great for
54 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
him to covet aught but the power to trample thcni down
amongst those ranks whom they now oppressed.
Such had some of the characters, whom we liave attempted to
depict at an earher period of life, become, under the passing of
twenty years. Time, in short, had done his wonted work on
all — had expanded the bud and the blossom into the green leaf
and the flower, and had changed the flower and the shoot into
the ready fruit and the ripened ear. But there are others yet
to be spoken of, and to them wo will now return.
CHAPTER VII.
The withering power of Time — which, in brief space, can make
such havoc on man, and all man's works, that friend shall scarce
know friend, and grass shall have swallowed up the highways — is
impotent against the ever renewing vigour of Nature; and in
the forest of Hannut, the twenty years which had passed, seemed
scarcely to show the difference of a day. Green oaks were
withered, it is true ; the lightning had scathed the pine and rent
the beech ; the woodman's axe had been busy here and there ;
but, in constant succession, the children of the wood had grown
up to take the place of those which had fallen ; and the most
discerning eye could scarce have traced a single change in all
the forest scene around.
Days seemed to have altered, however, and manners to have
changed in the forest of Hannut ; for, instead of very equivocal
looking soldiers, and travellers who wandered on with fear and
trembling, there was now to be seen, near the veiy same cascade
by the side of which we opened tiiis book, a gay, light party, whose
thoughts appeared all of joy, and to whom terror seemed per-
fectly a stranger. That party consisted of three principal per-
sonages, with their attendants ; and, mounted on splendid horses,
whose high spirit, though bowed to the most complete obedience
to man's will, was in no degree diminished, they rode gaily
across the bridge, and paused by the side of the stream.
The first whom we shall notice — a powerful young cavalier,
who might be in the thirtieth year of his age, who might be less.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 55
sun-burnt, but naturally fair, strong in all his limbs, but easy
and graceful in his movements — sprang to the ground as they
approached the waterfall ; and laying his hand on the gilded
bridle of a white jennet, that cantered on by his side, he assisted
the person who rode it to dismount.
She was a fair, beautiful girl, of about eighteen or nineteen
years of age, round whose broad white forehead fell clusters of
glossy light brown hair ; her eyebrows and her eyelashes, how-
ever, Avere dark ; and through the long deep fringe of the latter
looked forth a pair of blue and laughing eyes — which beamed
with the same merry happiness that curled the arch of her sweet
lips.
Two of the attendants who followed, hurried forward to hold
the bridle and the stirrup of the third person of the party, who
dismounted more slowly, as became the gravity of his years.
Time, indeed, had not broken, and had hardly bent him ; but
evidences of the iron-handed conqueror's progress were to be
traced in the snowy hair and beard, which had once been of the
deepest black ; and in the long furrows strongly marked across
the once smooth brow. In other respects, the Lord of Hannut
was but little changed. The same dark, grave cast of counte-
nance remained ; the same spare, but vigorous form ; though,
indeed, without appearing to stoop, his height seemed somewhat
diminished since last we brought him before the reader's eyes.
A gleam of affectionate pleasure lighted up his countenance, as
he marked the graceful gallantry with which his young com-
panion aided the fair girl who accompanied them to dismount ;
and w^hen, after having rendered his service to the lady, the
cavalier turned to oifer him his arm also, with a sort of half
apology for not having done so before, he replied, smiling, —
" Thou art better employed, dear boy ; think'st thou I have so
far forgotten my chivalry as to grudge the attention thou be-
stow'st upon a lady? Here, spread out here," he continued,
turning to the attendants and pointing to the green short
turf which carpeted the bank of the stream just below the
waterfall ; "we could not find a better place for our meal than
this."
By the birds which they carried on their wrists, it was evident
that the whole party had been flying their hawks, the favourite
amusement, at that time, of the higher classes throughout
Flanders. They now, however, seated themselves to a sort of
56 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
sylvan dinner, which was spread upon die turf by the attend-
ants, who — with that mixture of familiarity and respect which
were perfectly compatible with each other, and usual in those
days, and in such sports — sat down with the persons of higher
rank, at once to partake of their fare, and assist them at their
meal.
The conversation was gay and lively, especially between the
two younger persons whom we have noticed. They were evi-
dently in habits of intimacy ; and on the cavalier's part there
appeared that tender but cheerful attention to his fair com-
panion, which argued feelings of a somewhat warmer nature
than kindred affection, yet without any of that apprehension
which love — if the return be doubtful — is sure to display. Her
manner was of a different kind ; it was not less affectionate —
it was not less gentle — but it was of that light and playful
character, under which very deep and powerful attachment
sometimes endeavours to conceal itself — the timidity which hides
itself in boldness — the consciousness of feeling deeply, which
sometimes leads to the assumption of feeling little. It was
understood, however, and appreciated by her lover, who, pos-
sibly, had taken some more serious moment, when the light
and active guardian of the casket slept, to pry into the secret
of the heart within.
Love, however, it would appear, is insatiable of assurances ;
and, probably, it was on some fresh demand for new, or greater
acknowledgment, that the lady replied to a half-whispered
speech, — " Certainly, dear Hugh ! Can you doubt it ? I will
try, with all my mind, to love you ; for, as we are to be married,
whether we love each other or not, it is but good policy to strive
to do so, if it be possible." And as she spoke, she fixed her eyes
upon her companion's face, with a look of malicious inquiry, as
if to see what effect the lukewarmness of her speech would
produce upon a heart she knew to be sufficiently susceptible.
lie only laughed, however, and replied, — " Sing me a song,
then, dear Alice, to cheer these green woods, and make me
think you love me better than you do."
" Not I, indeed," replied the young lady. " In the first
place, I would not cheat you for the world; and in the next
place, neither song nor pastourelle, nor sirvente, nor virelai, will I
ever sing, till I am asked in song myself. Sing, sing, Hugh !
You have been at the bright court of France, and are, I know, a
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 57
master of the gaie science. Sing the light lay you sang yester
evening; or some other, if you know one. It matters not much
which."
" Be it so, if you will sing afterwards," replied the young
cavalier ; and without farther (question, than an inquiring glance
towards the Lord of Ilannut, he sang, in a full, rich, melodious
voice, one of the common songs of the day, which was not
altogether inapplicable to her speech. The words, though in a
ditferent language, were somewhat to the following effect : —
SONG.
Sing in the days of the spring-time, beloved ;
In those days of sweetness, oh, sing to me !
When all things hy one glad spirit are moved,
From the sky-lark to the bee.
Sing in the days, too, of summer-time, dearest ;
In those days of fire, oh, sing to me, then !
When suns are the brightest, and skies are clearest,
Sing, sing in the woods again.
Sing to me still in the autumn's deep glory ;
In the golden fall-time, oh, be not mute !
Some sweet, wand'ring ditty from ancient story,
That well with the time may suit.
Sing to me still in the dark hours of sadness.
When winter across the sky is driven ;
But sing not the wild tones of mirth and gladness,
Then sing of peace and heaven.
" A pretty song enough, for a man to sing," observed the
young lady, as her lover concluded ; " but, as I do not choose to
be dictated to by anybody, I shall even sing you such a song as
suits me myself, whether in season or out of season. What say
you, dearest uncle ?" she added, turning to the Lord of Hannut ;
and laying the fair rounded fingers of her soft hand upon his,
" What shall I sing him?" And as she spoke, she raised her
eyes towards the sky, as if trying to remember some particular
lay from amongst the many that she knew ; but scarcely had she
done so, when an involuntary cry burst from her lips, — " Good
Heaven I" she exclaimed, " there are armed men looking at
us from the top of the bank — There, there i"
Every one started up, and turned theifljlj'es in the direction
58 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
which hers had taken. There was, indeed, a rustle heard amongst
the trees; and a stone or two, detached from above, rolled down
the crag, and plunged into the stream at its foot. But no one
was to be seen ; and, after gazing for a moment in silence, the
lover beckoned one of his attendants to follow, and bounding up
the most difficult part of the cliff, notwithstanding the fair girl's
entreaty to forbear, he plunged into the brushwood, in pursuit of
the person who had disturbed their tranquillity.
" You are dreaming, my fair Alice," said the Lord of Ilannut ;
" and have sent poor Hugh de Mortmar on a foolish errand."
" Nay, indeed, uncle," replied Alice, " I dreamed not at
all. I am not one to dream in such a sort. For Heaven's sake !
bid one ride to bring us assistance, and send some of the men up
to aid poor Hugh ; for, as sure as I live, I saw two or three
faces with steel caps above, looking through the branches of
the trees. Hark ! do you not hear voices ? Climb up, sirs, if
you be men, and aid your young lord !"
The attendants looked to the Baron ; and on his part, the
Lord of Hannut only smiled with an air of incredulity ; when,
much, indeed, to the surprise of Alice, her lover appeared above
the moment after ; and, springing easily down the rock, declared
that all was clear beyond.
She gazed on him for a moment in serious silence, and then
merely replied, — " It is very strange !" Hugh de Mortmar cast
himself down again by her side, and once more pressed her
to sing; but it was in vain. Alice was agitated and alarmed;
and finding it impossible to shake off her terror, she besought
her uncle to break up the party and return to the castle, not-
withstanding assurances from all that she must have been deceived
by the waving of some of the boughs, or the misty spray of
the cataract.
Finding, at length, that to reason with her was fruitless,
her uncle agreed to return; and the horses being led forward,
the whole party remounted, and, with their hawks once more
upon their hands, made the best of their way back towards the
castle of Hannut. For tlie first two or three miles, Alice con-
tinued anxiously to watch every opening of the trees on either
eide of the road ; remaining in such a state of alarm, that her
falcon's wings were continually flapping, from the agitated haste
with which she tur^^ to gaze on every object that they passed
on the road. It IR only when they came within sight of
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 59
the vassal town, and the castle on its high rock, about half a mile
beyond, that she seemed to consider herself in safety ; and the
long, deep breath she drew, as they passed through the bar-
bacan, announced what a load was taken off her mind when she
found herself within the walls of her uncle's castle.
" You have dwelt so long in cities, dear Alice," said the Lord
of Hannut, laughing, " that the forest is a strange world to you ;
and your imagination peoples it with creatures* of its own. I
shall write to your father, my good Lord of Imbercourt, to say,
that he must leave you many a month with me yet, till we
have cured you of seeing these wild men of the woods."
" Nay, uncle," replied the young lady, who had by this time
recovered her playful spirits, and looked up in his face as she
spoke, with a smile of arch meaning; " if I were to be terrified
with imaginary things, I can tell you I should not have come at
all ; for my maids have got many a goodly story of the castle
of ILmnut and its forest — ay, and of its lord to boot ; and, on
the morning after our arrival, I found that they had all burnt
shoes and twisted necks, with sitting the whole of the night
before, with their feet in the fire and their heads turned over
their shoulders."
The Lord of Hannut heard her with a melancholy smile.
" And hadst thou no fear thyself, my fair Alice ?" he demanded ;
" didst thy imagination never fill the dark end of the chamber
with sprites and hobgoblins ?"
" Nay, nay, in truth, not I !" repHed the young lady ; " such
things have no terrors for me ; but, when I saw three armed
men looking dow^n upon us in the forest, and thought that
there might be thirty more behind, there was some cause for
l^error."
The Lord of Hannut and Hugh de Mortmar — in whom the
reader has, doubtless, by this time discovered that Hugh of
Gueldres, who, twenty years before, was found sleeping by the
cascade — looked at each other with a meaning smile, but replied
nothing ; and indeed the conversation was here brought to
a conclusion by a variety of unwonted sounds which now sud-
denly rose up from the forest below. Seldom was it, in truth,
that those wild woods rang with the clang of charging horse, -ftud
echoed to the blast of the trumpets ; but such was the case in the
present instance : and, as the sounds came borne upon the wind
through the open windows, the brow of the Lord of Hannut
60 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
darkened, and his eye flashed, while the check of the younger
cavaHer flushed as if with anger.
" By the Lord ! our fair AHce is right, it would seem !" cried
Hugh de Mortmar ; " there are more men in the wood than
wc thought for. What, ho ! warder !" he exchiimed, leaning
from the narrow window and shouting to some one stationed
in the gallery of a tall slender tower, which, more like some
Moorish minaret than anything else, rose, towering above all
the others on the opposite side of the court-yard. " What, ho !
warder ! what seest thou down in the woods below ? — By the
Lord I there is another blast," he added, as the trumpets again
echoed through the woods.
The next moment the loud voice of the warder was heard in
reply, — " I see a plump of spears under the arms of Burgundy,
running down a handful of the green riders, — but they have not
caught them yet. They come closer — they come closer," he
added ; " but the riders make face — they turn again, and spur on
— the men-at-arms are thrown out ; but I can see no more, my
lord ; they have all got beneath the haggard hill."
" Sound the ban-cloche, ho !" exclaimed the young cavalier :
" arm, and saddle ! arm, and saddle, below there !" he con-
tinued, shouting to some of the groups who were assembled in
the court-yard. " I would fain see who it is," he added, turning
to the Lord of Hannut, " who dares to hunt down any men in
these woods, your free domain, without your good leave, my
lord."
" Beware, Hugh, beware !" said the Lord of Hannut, holding
up his hand with a monitory gesture.
" I will, I will, indeed, my lord," he replied ; *' I will be most
cautious." So saying, he sprang down the steps into the court-
yard, and, while the great bell or ban-cloche rang out its
warning peal over hill and dale, he gave rapid orders for arming
a small body of men ; and was springing on his own horse to
lead them down to the valley below, when the warder called
from above, announcing that the party of Burgundians he had
before seen, together with a considerable troop of strangers,
were winding up the steep road that led directly to the castle.
ilugh de Mortmar paused ; and the instant after, a trumpet
was blown at the barbacan, by a squire sent forward by the
party to give notice of the approach of the noble Lord of Imbcr-
court to the dwelling of his good brother-in-law of Hannut.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 61
The gates of the castle were immediately thrown open ; the
armed retainers of its lord were drawn up to receive his ho-
noured guest ; and Alice ran down to meet her father, whose
unexpected coming seemed a gratifying event to all. Hugh do
JNIortmar, however, lingered behind, conversing for a few mo-
ments in a low and hurried tone with the Lord of Hannut ; and
the only words which were heard, — " It is strange that he should
have done so in your domains, my lord — a man so careful in his
conduct as he is in general — They surely would never dare to
attack Atw," — seemed to show that the two gentlemen spoke of
the events which had just taken place in the forest.
While thus conversing, they overtook Alice of Imbercourt,
whose impatience had hurried her forward ; and then dropping
the subject, they advanced with her even beyond the grate of
the barbacan, and stood on the edge of the hill, looking down
upon the large party that approached, as it wound slowly up the
steep ascent which led to the castle.
The cavalcade soon came near ; and it became evident, as it
did so, that it comprised two distinct bodies : the one being but
partially armed, and riding under the banner of the Lord of
Imbercourt ; the other being clothed in steel from head to heel,
and bearing conspicuous the cognizance of the house of Bur-
gundy. The first band, however, was the most numerous, and
might consist, perhaps, of a hundred men-at-arms, independent
of a number of grooms, horse-boys, and varlets, as they were
called, leading several spare horses, some perfectly unburdened,
and some loaded with large quantities of armour tied together
confusedly with ropes and chains, and so disposed as to be little
burdensome to the horse. The other party seemed to have no
baggage of any kind ; and the arms of all sorts which they em-
ployed, they bore about their own persons.
Thus accoutred, both bodies wound on up the slope, glancing
in and out of the scattered wood, which, tinted with all the
thousand shades of the declining sun, clothed the ascent, and
cast long marking shadows across the winding road of yellow
sand. Now, the horsemen passing through the depths of the
wood could scarcely be distinguished from the trees amidst which
they advanced; now, emerging from the overhanging boughs,
they stood out clear upon the evening sky, as their path skirted
along the edge of the cliff. At first all appeared indistinct — one
confused mass of horses and riders ; but, soon coming nearer.
62 MARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
the form of each individual horseman became defined ; and gra-
dually their features, as they wore their helmets up, could be
distinguished by those who stood and watched their approach.
At the head of the first party rode a tall, handsome, middle-
aged man, with a countenance which was grave, without being
austere. When within a few j^ards of the top of the hill, he
threw his horse's rein to a squire, and, springing lightly to the
ground, advanced with a quick step towards the little group of
persons assembled to meet him. Yielding first to natural affec-
tion, he cast his arms round his daughter, Alice of Imbcrcourt,
and pressed her to his bosom. lie then saluted frankly and
kindly the Lord of Ilannut and Hugh de Mortmar; and, as he
held their hands in each of his, he said, in a low and hurried
tone intended to meet their ear, and their ear alone, before the
rest of the party came up, — " I beseech you, my good brother,
and you, my dear Hugh — whom one day I shall call my son —
whatever you may hear presently, bridle your anger. Your
rights have been somewhat violated by the leader of that band
behind; but I have prevailed upon him to desist: and both
because he is a high ofiiccr of our sovereign lord the duke, and
because these times are too threatening from abroad to admit of
feuds between subjects at home, I entreat you to govern your
indignation as much as may be."
The followers of Imbcrcourt had halted as soon as they
reached the level ground or terrace in face of the barbacan ; and
the leader of the second band, having by this time gained the
brow of the hill, now rode quickly up to the party at the gate.
He was a tall, gaunt, bony man, of about forty, with keen
eagle's features, and a look of that bold assurance which proceeds
more from animal coufagc, and a mind continually upon its
guard, than from conscious rectitude of action or design. He
was armed at all points except the head, which was covered
alone by its short curl}' grizzled hair, while his basinet hung
beside his axe at the saddle-bow. Such was the appearance now
borne by Maillotin du Bac, the famous Prevot Marechal of
Burgundy, who, having been himself one of the most notorious
])lun(lcrers of the time, had been appointed by Charles of Bur-
gundy to root out the bands by which the country was infested
— probably on the faith of the old adage, which recommends us
to set a thief to catch a thief.
" You arc my Lord of Ilannut, fair sir, I presume ?" said the
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 63
Prevot, dismounting, and speaking in a coarse, sharp, jarring
tone of voice only fit for a hangman.
The Lord of Ilannut answered by a stately bow, and the
other proceeded : " My good Lord of Imbercourt, here, whom I
reverence and respect, as in duty bound — he being as stout a
soldier as he is a worthy counsellor — has but now prayed, or
rather commanded, — for he having taken the responsibility upon
himself, I have yielded of course to his injunctions, — has com-
manded me to desist from pursuing the brigands and plunderers
who, for many years past, have haunted this forest of Hannut."
" Sir," replied the Lord of Hannut, " I, living within the pre-
cincts of the wood itself, am, it appears, sadly ignorant of what
goes on beneath its shade ; for during nearly twenty years I have
heard of no outrage whatsoever committed within the bounds of
my domain. Had I done so — had any tale of robbery or pillage
met my ears — I, as supreme lord, holding a right of exercising
justice both high and low, would not have failed to clear the
ten-itory within my jurisdiction of such gentry as you mention ;
nor shall I certainly suffer any one else to interfere with my
rights, within my own lands."
" My lord 1 my lord !" replied the Prevot ; " I will easily
furnish you with proof that yoiur forest is tenanted as I say.
Did we not, within this half hour, encounter a whole party of as
undoubted brigands as ever lived ?"
" That you attacked some persons in the forest, Sir Prevot,
was well enough seen from the belfry of the castle," rejoined
Hugh de Mortmar, with a frowning brow ; " but whether they
were not as honest or honester persons than yourself, remains to
be proved, and shall be inquired into most strictly. At all
events, sir, you have infringed upon the rights of my uncle,
which must be inquired into also. — Well, well, my dear lord,"
he added, noticing a sign by which the Lord of Hannut required
him to be silent ; " well, well, I say no more, than that these
thief-catchers grow too insolent."
The brow of Maillotin du Bac bent, his eyebrows almost
met, and his left hand played ominously with the hilt of his
dagger, as he muttered, — " Thief-catchers I" But farther dis-
cussion was cut short by the Lord of Hannut, who exclaimed, —
" Peace, Hugh ! peace I we must not show scanty hospitality to
any one. Sir Maillotin du Bac, we will speak flirther with you
hereafter, on the subjects that you mention ; and if you can
04 MAUY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
prove to us tliat any outrage of any kind has been committed
within the limits of my domain, both my nephew and myself
will do our best to punish the offenders. But neither duke nor
king shall exercise, within my lordship, the rights which belong
alone to me."
" Outrage, sir !" rejoined the Prevot ; " did not the men who
burnt the house of the Lord of Ilarghen take refuge in your
forests within tliis month ?"
" Whether they did or not, I cannot say," replied the Lord of
Ilannut ; " but their burning the house of that audacious villain,
the oppressor of the poor, the plunderer of the widow and the
orphan, was no very evil deed in my eyes. Hov.'ever, let us
not bandy words here at the gate ; we will speak farther this
evening."
The whole party now passed through the barbacan, and the
Lord of Hannut gave special order to his seneschal to attend to
the comfort of the soldiers, while he himself led his brother-in-
law, the Lord of Imbercourt, and a few of that nobleman's most
distinguished attendants, towards the great hall of the castle.
Maillotin du Bac followed boldly, as one of the chief guests ;
and finding that no great courtesy was shown him in marshalling
the way, he exclaimed, in a loud and intrusive voice, — *• My
lord ! my lord 1 before we leave our men, I must crave that
you would yield me the use of a dungeon."
" For your own abode, sir ?" demanded Hugh de Mortmar,
with not the most gracious smile in the world.
" No, no," replied the Prevot, " but for yon prisoner there ;"
and he pointed to a part of the court-yard, where two of his
followers were aiding a young man of a powerful frame and
striking appearance to dismount from his horse, which was ren-
dered difficult by his arms being tightly ])inioned behind.
" That can be no thief, surely," said Hugh de Mortmar ; " I
never saw a nobler countenance. By his dress, too, he seems a
burgher of the first order."
" The gown does not make the monk," replied Maillotin du
Bac, with a grim smile. " If he be no thief, he may be some-
what worse. However, he was not taken on these territories,
and therefore, my good lord, his capture can be no offence to
you. For courtesy's sake, and for the prince's service, I claim
the use of a dungeon for this night. He is a state prisoner, and
must be guarded carefully."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 65
" Be it so, Sir Prevot," answered the Lord of Hanmit ; " thank
God, all my dungeons are clear at present ; and far be it from
me to oppose the due exercise of your office, in the duke's ser-
vice."
" Said like a worthy lord, as I always held you," replied the
Prevot. " Where shall we bestow him ?"
" Roger de Lorens," said the Lord of Hannut, turning to his
seneschal, " show this worthy gentleman, the Prevot of our lord
the duke, the different prison-rooms beneath the square tower;
let him choose which he will, as most secure ; and when he has
made his choice, give him up the key thereof. Be the prisoner
under your own charge, Sir Maillotin du Bac," he added ; " yet,
for the honour of my dwelling I trust that you will let his treat-
ment be as gentle as may be. Let him have wine and other
refi'eshments to keep his spirits up, I pray you."
" Black bread and foul water would be good enough for him,'*
replied Maillotin du Bac ; " but at your request, my lord, he
shall have better fare. Sir Seneschal, I follow you; lead the
way. Ho ! Martin du Garch, bring along the prisoner."
Thus saying, the Prevot of the Duke of Burgundy, — who,
though a knight and a man of good family, had once, as we have
before noticed, been a notorious adventurer, and had now be-
come the great persecutor of his former comrades, — followed
the seneschal of Hannut across the court-yard, towards the pas-
sage which led to the dungeons. In the meanwhile, the Lord
of Hannut, Hugh de Mortmar, the Lord of Imbercourt, and his
daughter Alice, advanced to the great hall, where preparations
were already in course for serving the evening meal.
CHAPTER VIH.
While the Prevot of Burgundy had remained within ear-shot,
Imbercourt had maintained a profound silence, or, speaking in a
low familiar tone to his daughter, had appeared perfectly inat-
tentive to what was going on beside him. No sooner, however,
had they passed on through the great hall, and up a flight of
steps, into a large sort of withdrawing room, in which it was the
F
66 MARY OF nURGUNDV; OR,
custom of the guests in those days to wash their liands before
dinner, than he closed the door, and earnestly thanked the two
noble gentlemen by whom he was accompanied for their for-
bearance on the present occasion. " I have niucl), much to tell
you, my noble brother-in-law," he said; "and nmch on which
to ask your advice. Much have I also to tell you, Hugh," he
added, laying his hand on the arm of the younger of the two
noblemen ; " but I must do it in as few words as possible, be-
fore we are joined by that unworthy man, whom we must not
offend, though he be part spy, part hangman, part cut-throat.
In the first place, in your solitude here, you scarcely know the
state either of the duchy of Bui'gundy, or of the county of
Flanders ; both of which are unhappily in so dangerous a situa-
tion, that it will need infinite moderation, prudence, and skill,
on the part of all true lovers of their country, to keep us from
events too fearful to contemplate. Throughout the whole of
Duke Charles's dominions, the nobles are turbulent and discon-
tented ; the citizens rebellious and insolent ; and, to crown all,
the duke himself, never very temperate in his conduct, seems,
since the defeat of Granson, to have given unbridled rein to his
fury, and to have cast all common prudence away as a burden-
some incumbrance."
** We have heard, indeed," said the Lord of Hannut, " of his
having hanged a garrison of four hundred Swiss, whom he found
in a town in Lorraine, — a most barbarous and inhuman act,
which, if he commit many such, will make all good men abandon
him."
" Too true, indeed," replied Imbercourt ; " but I fear this is
but a prelude to greater outrages."
" Ay, and to greater misfortunes," interrupted the Lord of
Ilannut. " If there be any truth in the starry influences, he
has met with some deep misfortune already, and will meet with
greater still ere long. — When heard you from the duke ?" he
added, seeing a doubtful smile curl the lip of his brother-in-law,
as he refen-ed to an art in which Imbercourt placed less faith
than most of his contemporaries.
" Our last news is more than a fortnight old," answered Im-
bercourt ; " the duke was then marching rapidly towards the
mountains. But it was not of his intemperance towards the
Swiss I was about to speak, though his conduct to them has been
cruel enough. Still they were enemies ; but he seems resolved
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 67
to drive the men of Ghent into revolt also ; and he lias com-
manded his prevot to arrest any one, whether merchant, me-
chanic, or noble, who attempts to pass the frontier from Ghent
into France. The prisoner, whom you saw but now, is the first-
fruit of this precious order. That meddling fool, Du Bac, who,
like the tiger, loves blood for blood's sake, takes care to fulfil
every intemperate order of the duke to the very uttermost, espe-
cially against the Gandois, towards whom he and some others of
his fellows have a most deadly hatred. I can hear of no precise
offence which the prisoner has committed, though his captor has
shown me some letters found vipon him, which he would fain
construe into treason ; and if they urge the matter farther against
him, they will drive the men of Ghent mad outright. — Why, one
half of their trade is with France !"
" How is it then, my lord," demanded Hugh, " that you
do not interfere to set him at liberty ?"
" I dare not for my head," replied Imbercourt. " Besides, I
am not here in the capacity of counsellor : I am now, by the
duke's order, marching to join him with the small force that you
see, — all, indeed, that I have been able to raise. But to the
object of my coming I Hugh, the duke needs men, and calls
angrily on all his vassals to take the field. Often and earnestly
have I entreated for clemency towards your father ; and my
entreaties have been in vain. One good stroke in the field,
however, done by your hand, were worth more than all the
eloquence that the tongue of man could ever boast. Gather
together what forces you can, and follow me to the camp,
under the name you have at present assumed. I will take care
that you shall have the opportunity of distinguishing yourself:
and, from your conduct both in Spain and Italy, I fear not
but "
" It is in vain, my lord, it is in vain," replied Hugh de
Mortmar, " Never will I draw my sword for a man who holds
my father a close prisoner : surely it is enough not to draw
my sword against him ; and it has only been for the hope that
this fair hand ," and as he spoke he raised that of Alice,
who had been listening, with her deep blue eyes full of anxious
attention — " and it has only been for the hope that this fair
hand would form a bond, which, uniting the fate of Imbercourt
and Gueldres together, would render them too strong for
tyranny to resist, that I have refrained, during the last year,
F 2
68 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OH,
from attempting to open the gates of my father's prison by force,
while the oppressor is embarrassed with wars and misfortunes
that his own grasping and cruel disposition has brought upon
his head."
" I cannot blame your feelings, Hugh," replied the Lord
of Imbercourt, " nor will I hurt you by pointing out the somewhat
serious causes of offence which have induced the duke to
treat your father with so great severity ; but do you, at the same
time, moderate your angry terms, and remember that Charles of
Burgundy is my sovereign lord, my benefactor, and my friend.
— I think I need say no more."
He spoke with grave and impressive earnestness, and seemed
about to proceed to some other part of the subject, when the
heavy clanging step of Maillotin du Bac, as he walked non-
chalantly up the stairs, from the great hall, into the withdrawing
room, warned the Lord of Imbercourt that a suspicious ear was
nigh, and he merely added, " We will speak more to-night."
The Prevot entered the room with a look of great satisfaction,
slipping at the same time the handle of an enormous key over
the thong of his belt, which he again buckled over his shoulder ;
so that the kc}^, dropping down till it struck against his sword,
hung by the side of the more chivalrous weapon, offering no bad
type of the character of the wearer.
" Admirable dungeons these, my good Lord of Hannut,"
he reiterated as he entered, — " Admirable dungeons, admirable
dungeons indeed! — Your own construction, I doubt not, and
a good construction it is. I defy the nimblest cut-purse in the
empire to make his way thence, while this key hangs at my side.
The window, indeed, the window is a little too wide; what
the devil the rogues want windows for at all, I don't under-
stand, — but it is just a thought too wide. I have known a fat
young rogue so starve himself down in a week's time, that he
would get through a hole that would not have passed his thigh
when first he was taken. No fear of yon fellow below, however ;
it would require a precious hole to pass his chest and shoulders."
" Pray, what is the poor youth's offence ?" demanded the
Lord of Hannut ; but as the other was about to reply, the pages
and varlets — as the inferior servants were called in that dav, —
l)rought in basins, ewers, and napkins, for the guests to wash,
while the trumpets sounded loud without ; and, in a few moments
afterwards, the whole party were seated at their evening meal.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 69
As must always be the case in such meetings, — when the
ingredients of the assembly are discrepant in themselves, not-
withstanding the fortuitous circumstances which may for the
time have brought them together — the conversation was broken
and interrupted. Sometimes the loud swell of many voices
made, for a minute or two, an unspeakable din. Sometimes one
or two protracted the conversation in a lower tone, after the
others had ceased ; but still, every subject that was started,
dropped after a few minutes' discussion, and the parties betook
themselves again to demolishing the huge piles of meat which,
according to the custom of those times, were set before them.
Wine was in plenty, but all drank sparingly, except the Prevot,
and one or two of the officers who followed the Lord of Imber-
court. For his part, Maillotin du Bac seemed determined that,
as far as the quality of his favours went, no jealousy should exist
between the trencher and the pottle-pot. His food swam down
his throat in Burgundy, and the consequences were such as
are usual with men of strong constitutions and well-seasoned
brains. He lost not in the least degree the use of his senses ;
but hid tongue, on which he was never wont to impose any very
strict restraint, obtained an additional degree of liberty after the
fifth or sixth cup he had quaffed ; and, perceiving the Lord
of Hannut speaking for a few moments in a low tone to his
brother-in-law, he concluded at once that their conversation
must refer to his prisoner ; and, resuming the subject without
farther ceremony, he replied to the question his entertainer had
put to hirn before dinner — so abruptly, indeed, that for the
moment no one understood what he meant.
" Offence, indeed !" exclaimed Maillotin du Bac — " offence
enough, I trow ; why now, I'll tell you how it was. We had
just come out of Namur, where we had supped, — not quite
so well as we have done here, it's true; no matter for that,
we had wine enough — and we were quartering ourselves in a
little village down below, when one of my fellows, as stout a
hand as ever w^as born, got saying something civil to the wife of
a draper, just at the door of her shop. What more I don't
know, but the foolish cullion took it into her head to cry out ;
when up comes my young gallant there in the dungeon, and
at one blow fells my fellow, Stephen, to the ground with a
broken jaw. — What the devil business had he with it ? If he
had been an old lover of hers, well enough ; but he confesses
70 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; 01?,
that he never saw her before till that moment, and mast come
up and meddle, because she chose to squeal like a caught hare."
IIuii;h dc ]\[ortmar turned his eyes upon the Lord of Imber-
court, who bit his lip, and observed gravely, — " Were this all
the young man's offence. Sir Prevot, it would behove us to
consider the matter better before we give way to your hankering
for dungeons and cords."
" Ha, ha ! my lord," replied the Prevot, with a grin, " not
so great a fool as that either ! Had I not thought to make more
of the good youth, I would have split his skull where he stood,
with my-axe ; and his punishment taking place in chaudemelee^
as the laws of St. Louis have it, we should have heard nothing
more of the matter : but I knew the gallant well by sight, — one
who affects popularity amongst the turbulent folk of Ghent ;
and having orders to an'cst all who attempted to cross the frontier
into France, I laid hold of him forthwith, examined his jtapers,
and found sufficient, with a little good management, to give him
a cool dangle by the neck in the fresh air of some fine Sep-
tember morning. But what need I say more ? You yourself
have seen the letters."
" Meddling fool !" muttered I'mbercourt to himself; " he will
contrive to drive the duke's subjects into revolt at home, while
he is assailed by enemies abroad." This speech, however, passed
no farther than the ears of the two persons next to him. And
the conversation soon turned to the bands of freebooters which,
the Prevot stoutly asserted, harboured in the forest of Hannut.
A few words passed, in an under tone, between Hugh de
Mortmar and the Lord of Hannut ; and at length the old noble
proceeded to discuss with the Prevot of the Duke of Burgundy
the infraction of' his rights which had been committed by that
officer in the morning. The Prevot, however, sturdily main-
tained his ground, declaring that he himself, and all his band,
consisting of about forty persons, had encountered and pursued a
considerable body of men, whose appearance and demeanour
left not the slightest doubt in regard to their general trade
and occupation. Going flu-ther still, he appealed to the Lord of
Lnbercourt himself, who had come up while the freebooters
were still in sight, and who actually did confirm his account
in every particular.
" Well, sir," replied the Lord of Hannut, " since such is
the case, far be it from me to impede the execution of justice.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 71
The maintenance of the hvw within my own territories I have
always hitherto attended to myself — and that so strictly, that for
twenty years I have heard of no outrage within the limits of my
own domain "
" Why, as to that, my lord," interrupted the Prevot, grinning,
" we do hear that you have an especial police of your own, —
a sort of airy archers of the guard, who keep better watch
and ward than mortal eyes can do. Nevertheless I must not
neglect my duty, while I am in the body ; and in doing it, I
fear neither man nor spirit."
" I know not, to what you are pleased to allude, sir," replied
the Lord of Hannut, frowning : " nevertheless I may find many
means to punish those who are insolent. However, as you say
that you have seen evil-disposed persons in the forest, and
my Lord of Imbercourt here confirms your statement, I will
grant you permission for one day to scour the whole of my
domain from side to side ; and if you should find any one strong
enough to make head against you, my own vassals shall be sum-
moned to give you aid. After that day, however, you must with-
draw your troop and retire, nor ever again presume to set
foot within my bounds without my permission."
" One day, my lord," replied the Prevot, " will be hardly "
" I shall grant no more, sir," said the Lord of Hannut, rising
from the table, in which example he was followed by several of
his guests ; " I shall grant no more, sir ; and the concession
which I make, proceeds solely from a feeling of respect for my
good lord the Duke of Burgundy. Though I rise," he added,
addressing all the party from a general feeling of courtesy,
" though I rise, do not hold it, gentlemen, as a signal to break
off your revelry. Spare not the flagon, I beseech you ; and here
are comfits and spices to give zest to your wine."
Thus saying, he retired from the hall ; and, leading the way
to the battlements, entered into a long and, to them, interesting
conversation with Imbercourt and Hugh de Mortmar, — as we
shall continue to call the son of the imprisoned Duke of
Gueldres.
With all his eloquence, however, Imbercourt failed to persuade
the young cavalier to join the armies of the Duke of Burgundy.
To every argument he replied, that men fought for their friends,
not their enemies ; and such he should ever hold Charles of
Burgundy to be, till Adolphiis of Gueldres was set at liberty.
72 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
All that could be obtained from him was a promise not to at-
tempt his father's Ubcration l)y arms, till one more effort liad
been made to persuade Charles the Bold to grant his freedom
upon other terms.
" Consider well, Hugh, the pecuUar situation in which you
stand," said the I>ord of Imbercourt ; " the secret of your bij-th
rests with myself and my good brother here alone ; but did the
duke know that the son of Adolphus of Gueldres is still living,
the imprisonment of your father would, in all probability, become
more severe, and your own personal safety might be very doubt-
ful. An ineffectual attempt to libei-ate him, must instantly
divulge all; nor could I, — though I have promised you my
Alice, in case we can obtain by peaceful means that which we so
much desire, — nor could I, as a faithful servant of the house of
Burgundy, give you my daughter's hand, if you were once
actually in arms against the lord I serve."
" It is a hard alternative," said Hugh de Mortmar — " it is a
hard alternative ;" and as he spoke he bent down his eyes, and
pondered for several minutes on the difficult situation in which
he was placed.
His heart, however, was full of the buoyant and rejoicing
spirit of youth ; and the cares that ploughed it one minute, only
caused it to bring forth a harvest of fresh hopes the next. Hard
as was his fate in some respects, when he compared it with that
of the young man who now tenanted one of the dungeons of
that very castle, — a comparison to which his mind was naturally
called, — he did not, indeed, feel gratification, as some would
argue, at the evils of his fellow-creature's lot ; but he felt
that there was much to be grateful for in his own. Hope, and
liberty, and love, w^ere all before him; and his expectations ros.*
high, as he thought how much worse his fate might have been.
Such ideas led him to think over, and to pity, the situation of
the unhappy prisoner; and quitting the subject of his own
affairs, he inquired of the Lord of Imbercourt, whether he, as a
counsellor of the duke, could not take upon himself to set the
unfortunate burgher at liberty.
" I would well-nigh give my right hand to do so," replied
Imbercourt, " not alone for the sake of simple justice to an indi-
vidual, but for the sake of the peace and tranquillity of the
whole state; but I must not do it, my young friend. I have
seen the letters which this Du Bac found upon his person : they
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 73
consist of little more than the murmurs and complaints of dis-
contented citizens, such as are to be met with in all countries
and in all times ; and which, at any other period would attract no
attention whatever. At present, however, with faction and tiu'-
bulence spreading over the whole land ; with courtiers, who find
it their interest to urge the duke on to acts of insane violence ;
and with a prince, whose temper and power are equally uncon-
trollable ; those papers may cost the young man's life, will pro-
bably set the city of Ghent into open revolt, and might light a
flame in the land which it would require oceans of blood to ex-
tinguish. Nevertheless I dare not interfere."
Hugh de Mortmar made no reply, but mused for a few mo-
ments in silence ; and then, with a gay, light laugh, and a jest
about some other matter, he left his two elder companions, and
proceeded to seek his fair Alice through all the long, rambling
chambers, and retired and quiet bowers, so favourable for
whispered words and unmarked meetings, with which every
castle of that day was most conveniently furnished.
Maillotin du Bac, in the meanwhile, continued sturdily to
bear up under the repeated attacks of Burgundy upon his brain.
Draught after draught he swallowed, in company with some of
the old and seasoned soldiers, who were no way loth to join
him ; but at length the sun went down, night fell, the cresset
was lighted in the large hall ; and, unwillingly giving up his
cup, he suffered the board to be removed, and cast himself down
on a seat beside the fire, which the vast extent of the chamber,
and the little sunshine that ever found its way in, either by the
high window or the far door, rendered not unpleasant even on a
summer's evening. A number of others gathered round; and
the wine having produced sufficient effect to render them all
rather more imaginative than usual, the stories of hunting and
freebooters, with which the evening commonly began, in such a
castle, soon deviated into tales of superstition. Every one had
something wonderful to relate; and such, indeed, was the
unction with which many a history of ghost, and spirit, and
demon, was told by several of the party and listened to by the
auditory, that two of the Lord of Imbercourt's officers, who were
playing at tables under the light of the lamp, and several others,
who had been amusing themselves at a little distance with the
very ancient and interesting game of " pitch tmd toss ;" aban-
doned those occupations, to share more fully in the legends
74 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
which were going on round the (ire. Each inchvidual helped
his neighbour on upon the road of creduHty ; and when, at
lengtli, Maillotin du Hae rose, from a sense of duty, to visit his
prisoner — an attention whicii he never neglected — the greater
part of his companions, feeling themselves in a dwelling whose
visiters were very generally reported to be more frequently of a
spiritual than a corporeal nature, got up sinmltaneously, and
agreed to accompany him on his expedition.
Lighted by a torch, they wound down some of the nan*ow,
tortuous staircases of the building ; and pausing opposite a door,
the massive strength and thickness of which the Prevot did not
fail to make his comrades remark, they were soon gratified far-
ther by beholding the inside of the dungeon in which the unhappy
burgher was confined. Maillotin du Bac satisfied himself of his
presence, by thrusting the torch rudely towards his face as he
half sat, half reclined on a pile of straw which had been spread
out for his bed ; and then setting down a pitcher of wine which
he had brought with him, the Prevot closed the door again with-
out a word. The only further ceremony was that of again slipping
the key over his sword-belt, from which he had detached it to
open the door; and the whole party, once more returning to
upper air, separated for the night, and retired to rest.
CHAPTER IX.
Leaving the brutal officer and his companions to sleep off the
fumes of the wine they had imbibed, we must return to the dun-
geon where, in darkness and in gloom, sat Albert Maurice, the
young bvn-ghcr of (thent ; whom, perhaps, the reader may have
already recognised in the prisoner of Maillotin du Bac.
The silent agony of impotent indignation ])reyed upon his
heart more painfully even than the dark and fearful antici])ations
of the future, which every circumstance of his situation naturally
presented to his mind. Wronged, oppressed, trampled on ; in-
sulted by base and ungenerous men, whose minds were as inferior
to his own as tRcir pov.Tr was sujicrior; he cared less for the
death that in all probability awaited him, than for the degi^a-
THE REVOLT OF giip:nt. 75
dation he already suffered, and for the present and future oppres-
sion of his country, his order, and his fellow-creatures, to which
his hopes could anticipate no end, and for which his mind could
devise no remedy. Whatever expectation Fancy might some-
times, in her wildest dreams, have suggested to his hopes, of
becoming the liberator of his native land, and the general bene-
factor of mankind — dreams which he had certainly entertained,
though he had never acted upon them — they were all extin-
guished at once by his arrest, and the events which he knew
must follow.
That arrest had taken place, indeed, while engaged in no pur-
suit which the most jealous tyranny could stigmatize as even
seditious. He had visited Namur with no idea of entering:
France — a country on which the Duke of Burgundy looked with
suspicious eyes — but simply for the purpose of transacting the
mercantile business which his uncle's house carried on with
various traders of that city. Unfortunately, however, on his
return towards Ghent, he had charged himself with several let-
ters from different citizens of Namur, to persons in his native
place. Both cities were at that time equally disaffected ; and
amongst the papers with which he had thus burdened himself,
several had proved, under the unceremonious inspection of
Maillotin du Bac, to be of a nature which might, by a little
perversion, be construed into treason. The immediate cause of
his first detention also — the fact of having protected a woman,
insulted by one of the ruffianly soldiers of the prevot's band, and
of having punished the offender on the spot — might, as he knew
well, by the aid of a little false swearing — a thing almost as
common in those days as at present — be made to take the sem-
blance of resistance to legitimate authority, and be brought to
prove his connexion with the letters, of which he had been
simply the bearer, unconscious of their contents.
Under such circumstances, nothing was to be expected but an
ignominious death ; no remedy was to be found, no refuge pre-
sented itself Though his fellow-citizens of Ghent might revolt —
though his friends and relations might murmur and complain —
revolt and complaint, he well knew, would only hurry his own
fate, and aggravate its circumstances, without proving at all
beneficial to his country.
Had he, indeed, seen the slightest prospect of the indignation
which his death would cause, wakening the people of his native
76 :*IA){V OK BURGUNDY; OH,
place to such great, f^oncrous, and well-directed exertions, as
would permanently establish the liberties of the land, there was
in his own bosom that mixture of pride, enthusiasm, and patriot-
ism, which would have carried him to the scaffold with a feeling
of triumph rather than degradation. But when his eye wandered
over all those he knew in Ghent, — nay, in all Flanders, — and
sought to find a man fitted by nature and by circumstances to
lead and direct the struggles of the middle and lower classes
against the tyranny that then oppressed the land, he could find
none, in whose character and situation there were not disadvan-
tages which would frustrate his endeavours, or render them more
pernicious than beneficial to the country. His own death, he
felt, must extinguish the last hope of the liberty of Flanders, at
least for the time ; and neither zeal nor passion could offer any-
thing, gathered from the prospect before him, to counterbalance,
even in the slightest degree, the natural antipathy of man to the
awful separation of soul and body. On the contrary, every acces-
sory particular of his fate was calculated to aggravate his distress,
by accumulating upon his head indignities and wrongs. He
was to be drauq-ed into his native town among-st g-rooms and
horse-boys, bound with cords like a common thief, paraded
through the long and crowded streets in mid-day to the common
prison, from whence he was alone to issue for the gibbet or the
block.
Such were the subjects of his contemplation — such were the
images that thronged before his mind's eye, as, with a burning
heart and aching brow, and wuth a lip that seemed as if some
evil angel had breathed upon it all the fire of his own, he lay
stretched upon the straw, which was the only bed that his gaoler
had afforded him.
The dungeon was all in darkness; for, either from carelessness
or design, no light had been left with him. But could his face
have been seen, notwithstanding the agonizing thoughts that
thrilled through his bosom, none of those wild contortions would
there have been traced, which affect weaker beings under the
like pangs. His hand was pressed sometimes firmly upon his
l)row, as if to hold the throbbing veins from bursting outright;
and sometimes he bit his under lip unconsciously, or shut his
teeth hard, striving to prevent the despair which mastered his
heart from announcing its dominion bv a groan. His eve miglit
have been seen full of keen anguish, and the bright red flushing
THE RKVOLT OF GHENT. 77
of his cheek might have told how strongly the body sympathized
with the pangs of the mind ; but all that the clearest light could
have displayed would have been, an effort to repress what was
passing within, not the weakness of yielding to it. He lay quite
still, without one voluntary movement — he suffered not his limbs
to writhe — he tossed not to and fro, in the restlessness of agony —
but remained quiet, if not tranquil, though full of dcej), bitter,
burning, voiceless thoughts.
Thus hour passed after hour — for the wings of time, as
they Hy through the night of despair, are as rapid as when
they cut the mid-day sky of joy — Thus hour passed after hour,
from the time that the brutal prevot closed the door of the
dungeon ; and the prisoner could scarcely believe that the castle
clock was right, when eleven — midnight — one o'clock, chimed
rapidly one after another, each leaving, between itself and
the last, an interval that seemed but of a few minutes.
The single stroke upon the bell — that, echoing through the
long, solitary, and now silent passages and courts of the castle,
passed unheeded by the sleeping guests, and only told to the
watchful warder, or the sentry, that the first hour of a new
day was gone, — had scarcely sounded upon the ear of Albert
Maurice when a new noise called his attention. It was a harsh,
heavy, grating sound, as of some weighty body pushed slowly
over a rough surface ; and it appeared so near that his eye
was immediately turned towards the door of the dungeon,
expecting to see it open. It moved not, however : the sound
still went on ; and he now perceived that it did not come
from that side of the cell.
The apartment itself was a low-roofed, massive chamber,
just below the surface of the earth ; and seemed to be partly
excavated from the rock on which the castle stood, partly
formed by the solid foundations of the building. A single
window, or spiracle, of about twelve inches in diameter, passed
upwards through the thick masonry, to the external air beyond;
and one of those short, massive pillars, which we sometimes see
in the crypts of very ancient churches, standing in the centre, sup-
ported the roof of the dungeon, and apparently the basement of
the castle itself; under the ti'eraendous weight of which, a fanciful
mind might have conceived the column to be crushed down ;
so broad and clumsy were its proportions, in comparison with
those of the rudest Tuscan shaft that ever upheld a portico.
78 iMAIlV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
From bcljiiul lliis })illar, the sounds that the prisoner heard
appeared to jiroceed ; and he mij^lit have imagined tliat some
human being, confined in a neighbouring chamber, sought to
couununicate witli him through the walls, had it not hap-
pened that he had caught the words of the Lord of Ilannut
in the morning ; when, in speaking with Maillotin du Bac, that
nobleman had declared that all the dungeons of the castle were
untenanted. Still the noise continued, becoming more and
more distinct every moment; and as, leaning on his arm upon
his couch of straw, he gazed earnestly towards the other side
of the vault, a single bright ray of light burst suddenly forth
upon the darkness, and, streaming across the open space,
painted a long perpendicular pencil of yellow brightness upon
the wall close beside him.
Albert Maurice started upon his feet ; and perceived, to his
surprise, the ray he beheld issued, beyond all doubt, from the
body of the ])illar itself. The reputed commune of the Lord of
Hannut with the beings of another world, his dark and mys-
terious studies, and the extraordinary fulfilment which many
of liis astrological predictions were reported to have met with,
had often reached the ear of Albert Maurice ; but his mind was
too enlightened to be credulous, at least, to that extent to which
credulity was generally carried in that age. All the fearful
circumstances, too, of his new situation had hitherto blotted
out from his memory the rumours he had heard ; and when
he had entered the castle of Ilannut, he looked upon it merely'
as a place of temporary confinement, from which he was to
be led to ignominy and death. Now, however, when he beheld
with his own eyes a beam of light, doubly bright from the
darkness around, breaking forth from the face of the solid
masonry, without any obvious cause or means, all that he had
heard rose to remembrance, and without absolutely giving credit
to the different tales which he thus recalled, he was certainly
startled and surprised ; and held his breath, with a feeling of
awe and expectation, as he gazed on the spot whence that mys-
terious ray seemed to proceed.
At the same time, the sound continued, and gradually,
as it went on, the light expanded and grew more and more.
diffused. At length, it became evident, that a part of the
massy colunui, about two feet from the ground, was opening in a
perpendicular direction, slowly but steadily ; and that the light
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 79
issued from the aperture left by the rolling back, on either
side, of two of the large stones which ap})eared to form a
principal part of the shaft. For the first few minutes, the
vacancy did not extend to a hand's breadth in widencss, though
to about three feet in height, and nothing could be seen beyond,
but the light pouring forth from within. A minute more,
however, so much increased the aperture, that Albert Maurice
could perceive a gauntleted hand, and an arm clothed in steel,
turning slowly round in the inside what seemed to be the winch
of a wheel. The form, to w^hich this hand and arm belonged,
was for some time concealed behind the stone ; but, as the
opening became larger, the blocks appeared to move with
greater facility, and, at length, rolling back entirely, displayed to
the eyes of the prisoner a narrow staircase in the heart of
the pillar, with the head, arms, and chest of a powerful man,
covered with armour. Beside him stood a complicated piece
of machinery ; by the agency of which, two of the large stones,
forming the shaft of the column, were made to revolve upon the
pivots of iron, that connected them with the rest of the masonry;
and in a bracket, on the stairs, was fixed the burning torch,
which afforded the light that now poured into the dungeon.
Albert Maurice stood gazing in no small surprise. The
feeling of awe — which, however near akin to fear, was not fear
— that he had felt on first perceiving the light, was now suc-
ceeded by other sensations ; and, had there been the slightest
resemblance between the personal appearance of the man who
stood before him, and that of Maillotin du Bac, or any of his
band, he would have supposed that the purpose of the prevot
was to despatch him in prison — an event which not unfre-
quently took place, in the case of prisoners whose public exe-
cution might be dangerous to the tranquillity of the state.
Totally different, however, in every respect, was the person
whom he now beheld ; for, though his form could not well
be distinguished under the armour by which he was covered,
yet that armour itself was a sufficient proof, at least to Albert
Maurice, that the stranger was in no way connected with the
band of the prevot. Every plate of his mail was painted of
a deep, leafy green ; and even his helmet, which was without
crest or plume, and the visor of which was down, was of the
same forest-colour. In other respects he seemed a tall, powerful
man, formed equally for feats of activity and strength.
80 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
Little time was allowed the prisoner for niakinf«, further
observations: for, as soon as the stones had been rolled back
as far as their construction permitted, the unexpected visiter
at once sprang into the dungeon ; though the young burgher
remarked at the same time, that a leap which would have
made any other arms clang, with a noise sufficient to awaken the
whole castle, produced no sound from those of his new visiter.
The mechanical means which he had used to procure an
entrance had, at once, banished all superstitious fancies from the
mind of Albert Maurice, nor did even his noiseless tread recall
them. The young burgher, however, still looked upon the
man-at-arms with some feelings of doubt and astonishment ;
though his own presence in the dungeon was far from seeming
to surprise this nocturnal visiter, who, advancing directly towards
him, clasped his arm, saying, in a low voice, " Follow me !"
Albert Maurice paused : and gazed upon the stranger — over
whose green armour the flashing red light of the torch cast a
fitful and unpleasant glare — with a glance of suspicion and hesi-
tation ; but his irresolution was removed at once, by the other
demanding, in the same clear and distinct, but low tone, " Can
you be worse than you are here ?"
" Lead on," he replied ; " I follow^ you."
" Pass through," said his visiter, pointing with his hand to the
aperture in the column. Albert Maurice again hesitated : but
a moment's reflection upon the hopelessness of his situation —
the inefficacy of resistance, even if anything evil were meditated
against him — together with the thought, that it were better to
die, murdered in a prison, than to be exposed, as a spectacle to
the multitude, by public execution, mingled with a strong hope,
that relief was at hand, though he knew not whence that relief
might come- -made him cast awa}' all doubts; and, stej)ping
over the mass of stone, below the aperture, he found himself in a
staircase only sufficiently large to admit the ascent or descent of
one person at a time. The secret entrance, which it afforded to
that dungeon, seemed its only object ; for, to all appearance, it
was carried up no farther through the column ; the space above
being occupied by the machinery for moving the blocks of
stone.
" Descend a few steps," said the stranger, " that I may close
the passage." And as soon as he found himself obeyed, he also
entered the gap ; and applying the full strength of his powerful
THK REVOLT OF GHENT. 81
arm to the winch which moved the machinery, he succeeded, in
a few minutes, in rolling the heavy blocks so exactly back into
their places in the masonr}', that not even in the inside could it
be seen that they did not form a part of the wall of the stair-
case.
When this was accomplished, he said, in the same abrupt
manner in which he had before spoken, " Go on !"' and then
followed the prisoner, holding the torch as far bcfc^re him as pos-
sible, to let the other see the w^ay as he descended step by step.
After having proceeded for about fifteen or twenty yards, Albert
Maurice found his further progress opposed by a strong oaken
door, but it was unlocked ; and having pushed it open by the
desire of his conductor, he stepped forth into a small vaulted
chamber, not unlike in shape the dungeon he had just left.
The light of another torch which was burning there, however,
displayed various objects strewed about in different parts of the
room, which showed him at once that the purposes to which it
was applied were very different from those of the cell above.
Several cloaks and gowns were piled upon a bench close to the
door; and across them leaned, with one end resting on the floor,
a common pike or reiter's lance, and a large two-handed sword.
A barrel of wine, or some other liquor, occupied one corner of
the apartment ; and in the midst was placed a table, on which
stood a large leathern bottle, or bottiau, with two or three drink-
ing horns.
Sitting on a bench at the far end of this table, on which his
head and arms rested, was a man apparently sound asleep. He
was armed all but his head, which was covered alone by its own
long tangled black hair ; but his armour was of a very different
kind from that of the stranger who had guided Albert Maurice
thither, consisting alone of one of those light suits of body mail,
which were called brigandines ; and the common use of which,
amongst the lawless soldiers of the day, had acquired for them the
name of brigands. The general hue of his whole dress, how-
ever, was green, like his companion's, and Albert Maurice was
soon led to conceive, that he was in the hands of a party of those
bold adventurers, who in that part of the country had succeeded
the schwarz reiters, or black horsemen, and had obtained, from
the general colour of their dress, the title of green riders. It is
true that the latter had displayed, upon all occasions, a much
more generous and noble spirit than their predecessors, whose
82 MARY OF BCIRGl'NDV ; OH,
sole trade was blood and carriixge. As they abstained totally
from plundering the peasants, and directed their attacks in gene-
ral against persons who were in some way obnoxious to the
better part of the population, the green riders were far from un-
popular throughout the country. Many of them were known to
show themselves familiarly at village feasts and merry-makings ;
and upon the borders of France and Flanders, their general
name had been changed, from these circumstances, into that of
Les Verts Gallants, though it seemed that their principal leader
was more particularly distinguished by this appellation. Nor
was the acquisition of this pleasant title the only effect of their
popularity, which produced for themselves a much more bene-
ficial result, by making both peasant and burgher, and even
many of the feudal lords themselves, anxious to connive at the
escape of the green riders, whenever they were pursued by supe-
rior bodies of troops.
Into the hands of some one of their parties Albert Maurice
now clearly saw that he had fallen ; and as the sort of romantic
life which they led had caused a thousand stories to be spread
concerning them — ^^some strange and extraordinary enough, but
none more common than that of their finding access into towns
and castles without any visible means, — their connexion with the
dwelling of the Lord of Hannut required no explanation to the
young citizen.
The moment he had entered the chamber which we have just
described, the Vert Gallant, as we shall henceforth term the
person who had led Albert Maurice thither, closed the heavy
door which cut ofT the communication with the staircase, and
locked and barred it with no small precaution. Advancing to-
wards the table, he shook the slumberer by the shoulder, who,
starting up, merely required a sign to place himself in the
position of a sentry, at the mouth of a dark passage which led
fi-om the other side of the chamber.
" Now, Sir Burgher," said the Vert Gallant, approaching Al-
bert Maurice, " you have penetrated into places which the eye
of none of your cast or craft ever beheld before; and, as you
have been led thither solely for 3'our benefit and safety, you must
take a serious oath, for the security of those who have conferred
upon you so great a favour."
" That I will willingly," replied Albert Maurice, " although
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 83
Heaven only knows whether it may prove a benefit to me or
not."
" Rule yourself by my directions," replied the other, " and
fear not for the result ; but first for the oath." So saying, he
unsheathed his sword, and holding up the cross which formed
the hilt, before the eyes of the young burgher, he added, " Swear
by this blessed symbol of our salvation, by your faith in the
Saviour who died upon the cross, by your hope for his aid at
your utmost need, by all that you hold dear upon the earth and
sacred beyond the earth, never to reveal, by word, sign, or token,
or in any other manner whatever, anything that you have seen
fi-om the moment that you quitted the dungeon above, or that
you may see as I lead you hence."
" Willingly do I swear," replied Albert Maurice, and he pressed
the hilt of the sword upon his lips. " Nevertheless," he added,
" for the security of all, fair sir, I would rather that, by bandaging
my eyes, you should take from me the means of betraying you,
even if I would."
"Hast thou no confidence in thine own honour?" demanded
the Vert Gallant. " If so, by the Lord, I regret that I took the
trouble to save so scurvy a clown !"
The eye of the prisoner flashed, and his cheek grew red ; but,
after a moment's pause, he replied, " Not so. It is not that I
doubt my own honour, for I have sworn not to betray you, or to
reveal anything that I may see ; and that torture has not yet
been invented by the demons who are permitted to rule so much
upon our earth, that could tear from me one word in violation of
that oath. Nevertheless, sir, I would rather be able to say that
I cannot, than that I will not tell, and therefore I proposed the
means at which you scoff without cause."
" Thou art right, and I am wrong, stranger," answered the
other. " Be it so then. With this scarf I will bind up thine
eyes. But first," he added, " take a draught of wine, for thou
wilt have to travel far ere morning."
So saying, he filled one of the horns upon the table to the
brim, and presented it to the young burgher, who drank it off.
The Vert Gallant himself, however, did not unclose the visor of
his helmet, to partake of the beverage he gave to the other. As
soon as the citizen had drained the cup, his guide took the scarf
from the bench, and bound it over his eyes, saying with a light
g2
84 .MARY OF DUIIGUNDV; OH,
laugh a.s he cUd so, " I am clunis^c at the work with these gaunt-
lets on, but better have my fingers busy at thy temples, than the
hangman's busy at thy neck. Now give me thy hand," he added ;
" the way is rougii, so mind thy footing as we go."
Albert Maurice was now led forward to the mouth of the pas-
sage, at which the other adventurer stood ; and he then advanced
for some way over an uneven pavement, till at length he was told
that there were steps to descend. Of these there were about
thirty, and he remarked, as he went down, that the air became
very close and oppressive. He thought, too, that he heard many
voices speaking and laughing beyond ; and as he proceeded, it
became clear that it was so, for by the time he and his guide had
reached the bottom of the descent, the sound of merriment burst
clear upon his ear. " Now, pause for a moment," said his com-
panion, and at the same time he struck three hard blows with
his mailed hand, upon what seemed to bo a door. All instantly
became silent within, and then a single blow upon the wood-
work was struck from the other side. It was answered in the
same manner, by one stroke more ; and the next moment — after
some clattering and grating caused by the turning of more than
one key, and by the removing of more than one large bar — the
door was apparently thrown open ; and Albert Maurice could
tell, by the freer air which he breathed, that he was led forward
into some apartment of much larger dimensions than any he had
yet seen. No voice was heard ; but the sound of moving feet,
and of seats pushed on one side, as well as the steam of wine and
dressed meats, showed clearly that they had now entered some
scene of late or present festivity. The person who had conducted
him thither soon let go his hand, but at the same time he heard
his voice, exclaiming, " Now, unbind his eyes for a few minutes !
— Have my orders been obeyed ?"
While several voices were busily answering this question, by
detailing the despatch of a number of messengers, as it seemed,
in different directions, and for purposes which Albert Maurice
could not gather from what was said, two persons undid the scarf
which had been tied round his head, and he suddenly found
himself in a scene which may need a more detailed description.
The apartment in which he stood, if apartment it could be
called, was neither more nor less than an immense cavern, or
excavation in the limestone rock, from which, as it bore evidently
•he traces of human labour, it is probable that at some remote
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 85
period the stone for constructing one or several large buildings
had been hewn out. In height it migiit be twenty or five and
twenty feet, and in width it was considerably more ; the length
was about eighty yards, and the farther end, on one side, was
closed by a wooden partition. Over head the rock was left rough
and irreguhir, but the sides, very nearly to the top, were perpen-
dicular, and tolerably smooth, while the floor, or rather the
ground, had of course been made as level as possible in its
original construction, for the purpose of rolling out the blocks of
stone with greater facility. Extending down the centre of this
spacious apartment was a table, covered with various sorts of
food. The viands which it sustained consisted chiefly of immense
masses of solid meat, amongst which, though beef and mutton
bore a certain share, yet the stag, the wild boar, and the fallow
deer, with other of the forest tenants, had contributed not a little
to make up the entertainment. On either side of this table,
which, by the way, was itself formed of planks, bearing traces of
the saw much more evidently than those of the plane, were ranged
an innumerable multitude of benches, stools, and settles of the
same rude description. From these had risen up, as it seemed,
on the entrance of the prisoner and his companion, the mixed
population of the cavern, consisting of nearly two hundred cava-
liers, as sturdy, and, apparently, as veteran as ever drew sword
or mounted horse ; and, when the bandage was removed from
the eyes of the young citizen, he found that a number of those
whose habiliments seemed to point them out as the most distin-
guished, were thronging round the person who had led him
thither.
" John and Nicholas have gone to the west," cried one, " to
tell the band of St. Bavon to keep beyond Ramilies." — " Adolph
of Sluy," cried another, " has tidings by this time that he must
remain within the bounds of Liege." — " The little monk, too,"
said an old white-headed man, of a florid, healthy complexion,
which showed that time had hitherto wrestled with him nearly
in vain, — " the little monk, too, is trotting away on his mule
towards Mierdorp, though he complained bitterly of being obliged
to set out before the feast was on the table, and has carried away,
in his wallet, a roasted hare from the fire, as long as my arm,
and a bottle of the old Bonne that we got out of the cellar of
Ambly."
• " He shall feast well another time for his pains," re])lied die
86 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
Vert Gallant, moving towards the head of the table, at which a
large armed chair, like a throne, stood vacant, — " he shall feast
well another time for his pains, good Matthew ; but we must
make this stranger taste of our hospitality while the horses are
saddling without. Sit down. Sir Citizen," he added, turning to
Albert Maurice, " sit down, and refresh yourself before you go ;"
and he pointed to a vacant seat by his side.
" I thank you, sir," replied the young burgher ; " but the grief
I have undergone, and the anxieties I have suffered, have dulled
the edge of appetite with me more than the banquet of a prince
could liave done ; and I would fain see myself once more upon
my road to Ghent, if such be the fate intended for me."
" Ha ! ha !" exclaimed the old man whom we have before
noticed. " See what frail things these townsmen are, that a little
anxiety and fear should take away their appetite ; but thou wilt
drink, good friend, if thou wilt not eat. Here, merry men all,
fill to the brim, and drink with me to our noble leader, — ' Here 's
to the Vert Gallant of Hannut !' "
The proposal was like an electric shock to all. Each man
started on his feet, and with loud voice and ovei-flowing cup,
drank, " To the Vert Gallant of Hannut ! and may the sword
soon restore to him what the sword took from him !"
" Thank you, my friends, thank you," replied the Vert Gal-
lant, as soon as their acclamation had subsided, — " I drink to you
all. May I need your aid and not fmd it, when I forget you !"
and, so saying, he raised the visor of his helmet sufficiently to
allow himself to bring the cup to his lip. The eye of the young
burgher fixed eagerly upon him, anxious, as may be well sup-
posed, to behold the countenance of a man holding such an extra-
ordinary station. What -was his surprise, however, when the
small degree in which the leader of the green riders suffered his
face to appear, exposed to view the countenance of a negro.
IHE REVOLT OF GHENT. 87
CHAPTER X.
An involuntary exclamation of astonishment burst from the lips
of Albert Maurice ; and the Vert Gallant instantly closed his
he'met.
" Now, Sir Citizen," he said, without noticing the other's sur-
prise, " we will once more forward on our way. Some one bind
his eyes again ; and you, good friend, lend me your ear for a
moment. Mark well," he said, speaking in a lower voice to the
elder man already mentioned, — "mark well that all the pre-
cautions are taken which I ordered. Be sure the tracks of the
hoi-ses' feet, for more than a mile, be completely effaced. Roll
the large stones down, as I told you, over the mouth, and let
not a man show his head during the whole day. If, notwith-
standing all, you should be discovered, and the fools will rush
upon their fate, send round fifty men by the back of the rock,
and on your life, let not one of the band escape. I say not slay
them : take every man to mercy that is willing ; but suffer not
one living man to pass the bounds of the forest if they once dis-
cover you. If, however, they miss the track entirely, as doubt-
less they will, then, should I not see you before to-morrow
night, pick me out fifty of the best riders, and the quickest
handed men ; let their horses be kept saddled, and not a break
in their mail ; for I do not purpose that this prevot should hie
him back to Brussels without being met withal."
By the time the Vert Gallant had given these directions, the
scarf was once more bound round the eyes of Albert Maurice,
and he was again led forward by the hand, apparently passing
through several halls and passages. In one instance, the pecu-
liar smell of horses, and the various sounds that he heard, con-
vinced him that he was going through a stable ; and, in a few
minutes after, receiving a caution to walk carefully, he was
guided down a steep descent, at the end of which the free open
air blew cool upon his cheek. The bandage was not removed,
however, for some moments, though, by feeling the grass and
withered leaves beneath his feet, he discovered that he was once
more under the boughs of the forest.
At lensth the voice of him who had been his conductor
throughout, desired him to halt, and uncover his eyes, which
88 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
he accordingly did, and found himself, as he expected, in the
deejiest part of the wooil.
" Now follow me on, Sir Citizen I" said the Vert Gallant, "and
as we go, I will tell you how you must conduct yourself. Make
your way straight to Mierdorp, where you will arrive probably
about the grey of the dawn. As you are going into the village,
you will be joined by a certain monk, to whom you will say,
' Good morrow. Father Barnabas,' and he will immediately con-
duct you on your road towards Namur. Halt with him at the
village where you were first arrested. Speak with the syndic,
or deacon, or any other ofhccr of the place, and get together all
the written testimony you can concerning the cause of your arrest.
Then return to Ghent if you will. It may be that no accuser
ever will appear against you, but if there should, boldly appeal
to the Pi'incess Mary, who is left behind by her father at Ghent.
State the real circumstances which caused your aiTcst at Gem-
bloux, and call upon your accuser to bring forward any proofs
against you. But mark well, and remember, walk not late by
night. Go not forth into the streets alone. Always have such
friends and companions about you as may witness your arrest,
and second your appeal to the princess. For there are such
things, Sir Citizen, as deaths in prison without judgment."
" I shall remember with gratitude, sir," replied the young
burgher, " all that you have been pleased to say, and all that
you have done in my behalf. But on one point I must needs
think you mistake. If I know where I am rightly, we are full
sixteen miles from Mierdorp, — a distance which would take four
good hours to walk. The castle clock has just struck three, so
that it may be broad day, and not merely dawn, before I can
reach that place."
" Fear not, fear not," replied the stranger, " you shall have
the means of reaching it in time ; but follow me quick, for the
hours wear." Thus saying, he strode on through the trees and
brushwood, pursuing a path, which, though totally invisible to
the eyes of his companion, he seemed to tread with the most
perfect certainty. Sometimes the occasional underwood ap-
peared to cover it over entirely ; and often the sweeping
boughs of the higher trees drooped across it, and dashed the
night dew upon the clothes of the travellers, as they pushed
through them ; but still the Vert Gallant led on. In about ten
minutes, the glancing rays of the sinking moon, seen shining
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 89
through the leaves before them, showed that they were coming
to some more open ground ; and the next moment they stood
upon the principal road which traversed the forest.
By the side of the highway, with an ordinary groom holding
the bridle, stood a strong, bony horse ; and the only further
words that were spoken, were, " The road lies straight before you
to the west; mount, and God speed you. Give the horse to
the monk when you are in safety."
" A thousand thanks and blessings on your head I" replied the
young burgher ; and springing with easy grace into the saddle,
he struck the horse with his heel, and darted off towards Mier-
dorp.
" A likely cavalier as ever I saw !" exclaimed the Vert Gal-
lant. " Now, to cover, to cover," he added, turning to the
groom, and once more plunged into the forest.
In the meanwhile Albert Maurice rode on ; and with his per-
sonal adventures we shall now be compelled to proceed for some
way, leaving the other characters for fate to play with as she
lists, till we have an opportunity of resuming their histor}^ also.
The horse that bore the young burgher, though not the most
showy that ever underwent the saddle, proved strong, swift, and
willing ; and as it is probably impossible for a man just liberated
from prison, with the first sense of recovered freedom fresh upon
him, to ride slowly, Albert Maurice dashed on for some way at
full speed. His mind had adopted, without a moment's doubt
or hesitation, the plan which had been pointed out to him by
the leader of the adventurers, as the very best which, under his
present circumstances, he could pursue ; and this conviction —
together with the proofs he had already received that the wishes
of the Vert Gallant were friendly and generous towards himself,
and the intimate knowledge which his deliverer had displayed
of his affairs, — made him resolve to follow implicitly his direc-
tions. Although this resolution was brought about by the mental
operation of a single moment, it is not to be supposed that the
various events which had befallen him, since entering the castle
of Hannut, had not produced on his mind all those effects of
wonder, surprise, and doubt, which they might naturally be ex-
pected to cause in the bosom of any person so circumstanced.
There were a thousand things that he could not in any way
account for, and which we shall not attempt to account for
either. The interest which his deliverer had taken in his fate ;
90 I\IARY OF BURGUNDY ; OK,
the means by which he had acquired such au exact knowledge
of his situation ; the existence of so large a band of free com-
panions, notwithstanding the many efforts which the Duke of
Burgundy had made to ])ut them down, were all matters of
astonishment. lie had felt, however, during his short intercourse
with the green riders, that neither the time, the place, nor
the circumstances admitted of any inquiry upon the subject;
and with a prompt decision, which was one great trait in his
character, while he took advantage of the means of escape
offered to him, he had suppressed as far as possible every word
which might have betrayed sur])rise or curiosity. As he rode on,
however, he pondered on all diat had happened; and he doubted
not, that, now he was at liberty to seek and collect the proofs of
his innocence, he should find little difficulty in clearing himself
from any absolute crime, if his cause were submitted to a regular
tribunal. Unfortunately, this did not always occur. In most of
the continental states the will of the prince was law; and too
often the same absolute jurisdiction was exercised by his officers.
This was especially the case in respect to Maillotin du Bac, who,
in one morning, had been known to arrest and hang thirty
persons, without any form of trial or judicial investigation.
Nevertheless, all these circumstances seemed to have been
fully considered by the Vert Gallant ; and the means he had
pointed out of an appeal to the Princess Mar}^ in case of unjust
persecution, were, as the young burgher well knew, the only
ones that could prove efficacious.
So well had the distance and the horse's speed been calcu-
lated, that, at about two miles from Micrdorp, that undefinable
grey tint, which- can hardly be called light, but is the first
approach towards it, began to spread upwards over the eastern
sky; and b}' the time that Albert Maurice emerged from the
forest of llannut, which then extended to within a mile of
the village, the air was all rosy with the dawn of day. Just as he
was issuing forth from the woodland, he ])erceived before him
a stout, short, round figure, clothed in a long grey gown, the
cowl or hood of which was thrown back upon his shoulders,
leaving a ])olished bald head to shine uncovered in the rays
of the morning; and the young fugitive paused to examine
the person whom he had by this time nearly overtaken.
The monk, for so he appeared to be, was mounted on a
stout, fat nuile, whose grey skin, and sleek, rotund limbs, gave
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 91
him a ridiculous likeness to his rider, which was increased
by a sort of vacant sentimentality that appeared in the round face
of the monk, and the occasional slow raising and dropping of
one of the mule's ears, in a manner which bears no other epithet
but the very colloquial one of lack-a-daisical.
According to the instructions he had received, the young
burgher immediately rode up to the monk, and addressed him
with the " Good morrow. Father Barnabas," which he had been
directed to employ.
" Good moiTow, my son," replied the monk ; " though
unhappily for me, sinner that I am, my patron saint is a less dis-
tinguished one than him whose name you give me ; I am called
Father Charles, not Father Barnabas."
As he thus spoke he looked up in the young ti'aveller's face
with an air of flat unmeaningness, which would at once have
convinced Albert Maurice that he was mistaken in the person,
had he not discovered a small ray of more intellectual expression
beam the next moment through the dull, grey eye of the monk,
while something curled, and just curled, the corners of his
mouth with what did not deserve the name of a smile, and yet
was far too faint for a grin.
" Well," said he, eyeing him keenly, " if your name be not
Barnabas, good father, I will give you good morrow once more,
and ride on."
" Good morrow, my son," replied the monk, with the same
demure smile ; and Albert Maurice, to be as good as his word,
put his horse into a trot, in order to make the best of his
way towards Mierdorp, which was lying in the fresh, sweet
light of morning, at the distance of about three quarters of a
mile before him. To his surprise, however, the monk's mule,
without any apparent effort of its rider, the moment he quick-
ened his horse's pace, put itself into one of those long, easy
ambles for which mules are famous, and without difficulty car-
ried its master on by his side.
" You are in haste, my son," said the monk : " whither away
so fast?"
" I go to seek Father Barnabas," replied the young burgher,
somewhat provoked, but yet half laughing at the quiet merri-
ment of the monk's countenance as he rode along beside him
on his mule, with every limb as round as if he had been formed
out of a series of pumpkins.
92 MAUV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
" Well, well," rejoined the monk, " perhaps I may aid joii in
your search ; but what wouldst thou with Father Barnabas, when
thou hast found him? Suppose I were lather Barnabas now,
what wouldst thou say to mc ?"
" I would say nothing," answered Albert Maurice ; " but
— let us on our way."
" So be it, then," replied the other ; " but one thing, good
brother, it does not become me to go jaunting over the country
with profane laymen ; therefore if we are to journey forward
together, you must don the frock, and draw the hood over
your head, to hide that curly black hair. So turn your horse's
bridle rein before we get into the village, and behind those old
hawthorn bushes, I will see whether my wallet does not contain
the wherewithal to make thee as good a monk as myself."
As it now became sufficiently evident to the young citizen
that he was not deceived in the person whom he had addressed,
he acquiesced in his proposal ; and turning down a little lane to
their right hand, they dismounted from their beasts behind
a small, thick clump of aged thorns, and the monk soon pro-
duced, from a large leathern wallet which he carried behind him,
a grey gown, exactly similar to his own, which completely
covered and concealed the handsome form of the young citizen.
The cowl having been drawn over his head, and the frock bound
round his middle by a rope, they once more mounted; and
pursuing their way together, soon found means to turn the
conversation to the direct object which they had in view, with
which it appeared the monk was fully acquainted.
The ice having been once broken, Albert Maurice found
his companion a shrewd, intelligent man, with a strong touch of
roguish humour, which, though partly concealed under an affec-
tation of stolidity, had grown into such a habit of jesting, that
it seemed scarcely possible to ascertain when he was serious, and
when he was not. This, however, might be, in some degree,
assumed ; for it is wonderful how often deep feelings and
deep designs, intense affection, towering ambition, and even
egregious cunning itself, attempt to cover themselves by dif-
ferent shades of playful gaiety, knowing that the profundity of a
deep stream is often hidden by the light ripple on its surface.
However that might be, the young citizen's new companion was
anything but wanting in sense, and ])roved of the greatest assist-
ance to him, bv his keen foresight and knowlcdjie of the world.
rilF, RKVOI.T OF GHENT. 93 »
With his co-operation Albert Maurice, at the Uttlc town of
Gembloux, at which he had been arrested by Maillotin du
Bac, obtained full and sufficient evidence, written down by
the magistrate of the place, to prove that the first squabble
between himself and the prevot had arisen in a wanton aggres-
sion committed by one of the soldiers of the latter ; and that
before that officer had opened any of the papers in his pos-
session, he had sworn, with a horrible oath, that for striking
his follower, he would hang him over the gates of Ghent.
All this was attested in due form ; and satisfied that half the
dangers of his situation were gone, Albert Maurice gladly
turned his horse's head towards his native place. The monk
still accompanied him, saying that he had orders not to leave
him till he was safe within the walls of Ghent, — " seeing that
you are such a sweet, innocent lamb,"' he added, " that you
are not to be trusted amongst the wolves of this world alone."
Their journey passed over, how^ever, without either danger or
difficulty ; for though at Gembloux Albert Maurice had laid
aside the firock, as his very inquiries would of course have made
his person known, he had resumed it, by the monk's desire, as
soon as they had quitted that town ; and the garb procured them
a good reception in all the places at which they paused upon
the road.
As they approached Ghent, Father Barnabas thought fit to
take new precautions ; and requested his young companion to
make use of the mule which he had hitherto ridden himself,
while he mounted the horse. He also drew his own cowl far .
over his head ; nor were these steps in vain, as they very soon
had occasion to experience.
They reached the gates of Ghent towards sunset, on a fine
clear evening, and passed through many a group of peasantry,
returning from the market in the city to their rural occupations.
On these the monk showered his benedictions very liberally ;
but Albert Maurice remarked that, as they approached a small
party of soldiers near the gate, his companion assumed an air of
military erectness, and caused his horse to prance and curvet
like a war steed. Perhaps, had he noticed what the keen eye of
the monk had instantly perceived, that two of the soldiers w-ere
examining them as they came up with more than ordinary care,
he might have guessed that the object of all this parade of
horsemanship was to draw attention upon himself, as a skilful
IM MARV OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
conjurer forces those to whom he offers the cards to take tlie
very one he wishes, without their being conscious of his doing so.
" Ventre Saint Gris 1" cried one of the soldiers to the other,
as they came near. " It must be him I That is no monk,
Jenkin ! He rides hkc a rciter — Pardi ! I will see, however. —
Father, your cowl is awry !" he added, laying his hand upon the
monk's bridle rein, and snatching at his hood as if for the sake
of an insolent joke. The cowl instantly fell back under his
hand, exposing the fat bald head of the friar; and the soldier,
with a broad laugh, retired, disappointed, amongst his com-
panions, suffering the young citizen, who, on the still, quiet
mule, had escaped without observation, to proceed with the
monk to the dwelling of good Martin Fruse, which they reached
without further annoyance or interruption.
CHAPTER XL
Although the soldiers that Albert Maurice and his companion
had passed at the gate, with the usual reckless gaiety of their
profession, had been found laughing lightly, and jesting with
each other, yet it soon became evident to the eyes of the travel-
lers, as they passed onward through the long irregular streets of
' the city, that something had occurred to affect the population of
Ghent in an unusual manner.
Scarce a soul was seen abroad ; and there was a sort of boding
calmness in the aspect of the whole place, as they rode on,
which taught them to expect important tidings of some kind,
from the first friend they should meet. The misty evening
sunshine streamed down the far perspective of the streets, casting
long and defined shadows from the fountains and the crosses,
and also from the houses, that every here and there obtruded
their insolent gables beyond the regular line of the other build-
ings ; but no lively groups were seen amusing themselves at the
corners, or by the canals ; no sober citizens sitting out before
their doors, in all the rich and imposing colours of Flemish
costume, to enjoy the cool tranquillity of the evening, after the
noise, and the bustle, and the heat of an active summer's day.
IllK Ur.VOI.I' OF GFIKNT. 95
One or two persons, indeed, might be observed with tlicir heads
close together, and the important forefinger laid with all the
energy of demonstration in the palm of the other hand, while
the party gossiped eagerly over some great event, each one fancy-
ing himself fit to lead hosts and to govern kingdoms ; and every
now and then some rapid figure, with consequence in all its
steps, was remarked flitting from house to house, the receptacle
and carrier of all the rumours of the day.
Though in one of the last named class of personages whom
Albert ^Maurice met as he advanced, he recognised an acquaint-
ance, yet, for many reasons, he only drew the cowl more com-
pletely over his face ; and, secure in the concealment of the
monk's frock that covered him, rode on, till he reached the
house of his uncle, Martin Fruse, which he judged to be a more
secure asylum than his own, till such time as his resolutions
were taken, and his plans arranged.
The dwelling of the worthy burgher, though occupying no
inconsiderable part of one of the principal streets, had its private
entrance in a narrower one branching to the south-west ; and
the tall houses on either hand, acting as complete screens
between the portal and the setting sun, gave at least an hour's
additional darkness to the hue of evening.
So deep, indeed, was the gloom, and so completely did the
friar's gown conceal the person of Albert Maurice, that one of
his uncle's oldest servants, who was standing in the entrance,
did not in any degree recognise his young master, though it was
his frequent boast that he had borne the young citizen — the
pink of the youth of Ghent — upon his knee a thousand times
when he was no higher than an ell wand. Even the familiar
stride with which Albert Maurice entered the long, dark passage,
as soon as he had dismounted from his mule, did not undeceive
him ; and he ran forward into the large sitting room, which lay
at the end of the vestibule, announcing that two monks, some-
what of the boldest, had just alighted at the door.
He was followed straight into the apartment of Martin Fruse
by that worthy citizen's nephew, who immediately found himself
in the midst of half a dozen of the richest burghers of the town,
enjoying an hour of social converse with their wealthy neighbour
before they retired to their early rest. It would seem to belong
more to the antiquary than to the historian to describe the
appearance of the chamber, or the dress of the personages who
96 ISIARV OF HURGI'N'DY; OI{,
were seated on benehes around it ; and it may suffice to say,
that the furred gowns, ami irold chains, which decorated the
nieetin'T, sufficiently evinced the municipal dignity of the guests.
At the moment of his nej)how's entrance, Martin Fruse was
upon his feet, following round a serving boy, who, with a small
silver cup, and flask of the same metal, was distributing to each
of the burghers a modicum of a liquor now, alas ! too common,
but which was then lately invented, and was known — from the
many marvellous qualities atti'ibutcd to it — by the name of
Eau de vie.
" Take but one small portion — " said the worthy citizen to
one of his companions, who made some ditficulty ; " not more
than a common spoonful. Do not the best leeches in Europe
recommend it as a sovereign cure for all diseases, and a pre-
servation against bad air ? It warms the stomach, strengthens
the bones, clears the head, and promotes all the functions. And,
truly, these are sad and troublous times, wherein cordials are
necessary, and every man requires such consolation as he can
find. Alack, and a well-a-day ! who would have thought "
But the speech of good Martin Fruse was brought to a sudden
conclusion by the entrance of his man, announcing the coming
of the two monks ; which notice was scarcely given, when
Albert Maurice himself appeared. Before entering, the young
citizen had paused one moment to cast off the friar's gown, on
account of the strange voices he heai-d as he advanced along the
passage, and he now showed himself in his usual travelling
dress, though his apparel was somewhat disarranged, and he
appeared without cap or bonnet.
" Welcome, welcome, my fair nephew !" cried Martin Fruse,
who looked upon Albert with no small pride and deference.
" Sirs, here is my nephew Albert, come, at a lucky hour, to give
us his good counsel and assistance in the strange and momentous
circumstances in which we are placed."
" Welcome, most welcome, good Master Maurice !" cried a
number of voices at once. " Welcome, most welcome !" and
the young traveller, instantly surrounded by his fellow-citizens,
was eagerly congratulated on his return, which had apparently
been delayed longer than they had expected or had wished. At
the same time, the often repeated words, " Perilous times —
extraordinary circumstances — dangers to the state — anxious ex-
pectations," and a number of similar expressions, showed him
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 97
that the opinion he had formed, from the appearance of the
town as he passed throngh the streets, was perfect!}' correct,
and that some events of general and deep importance had taken
place.
" I see," he said, in reply, after having answered their first
salutations, — " I see that something must have occurred w^ith
which I am unacquainted. Remember, my good friends, that I
have been absent from the city for some weeks ; and, for the last
four or five days, I have been in places where I was not likely to
hear any public tidings."
" What !" cried one, " have you not heard the news ? — that
the duke has been beaten near the lake of Neufchatel, and all
the forces with which he was besieging Morat, have been killed
or taken?"
" How !" exclaimed another, " have you not heard that the
Duke of Lorrain is advancing towards Flanders with all speed ?"
" Some say he will be at Ghent in a week," cried a third.
" But the worst news of all," said a fourth, in a solemn and
mysterious tone, " is, that a squire, who arrived at the palace
last night, saw the duke stricken from his horse by a Swiss giant
with a two-handed sword ; and, according to all accounts, he
never rose again."
" Good God ! is it possible ?" exclaimed Albert Maurice, as
all these baleful tidings poured in at once upon his ear, with a
rapidity which afforded him scarcely an opportunity of estimating
the truth of each as he received it, and left him no other feeling
for the time than pain at the ocean of misfortunes which had
overwhelmed his country — though he looked upon the prince,
who had immediately suffered, as a brutal despot ; and upon the
nobles, who in general bore the brunt of battle or defeat, as a
number of petty tyrants more insupportable than one great one. —
" Good God ! is it possible ?" he exclaimed : " but are you sure,
my fi-iends," he continued, after a moment's pause, " that all this
news is true ? Rumour is apt to exaggerate, and increases evil
tidings tenfold, where she only doubles good news? Are these
reports quite sure ?"
" Oh ! they are beyond all doubt," replied one of the mer-
chants, with a slight curl of the lip. " The Lord of Imbercourt,
who was on his march to join the army, when he was found by
couriers bearing these evil tidings, returned wath his spears in all
haste to Ghent, in order to guard against any disturbance, as
H
98 MAKV OF IJURGUNDY; OK,
he said, and to keej> the rebellious eomnions under the rule of
law."
The man who spoke thus, was a small, dark, insignificant
looking person, whose figure would not have attracted a mo-
ment's attention, and whose face might have equally passed with-
out notice, had not the keen spai'kling light of two clear black
eyes, which seemed to wander constantly about in search of other
people's thoughts, given at least some warning that there was a
subtle, active, and intriguing soul concealed within that diminu-
tive and unprepossessing form. His name was Ganay: by pro-
fession he was a druggist, and the chief, in that city, of a trade,
which differed considerably from that of the druggist of the
present day. It was, indeed, one of no small importance in a
great manufacturing town like Ghent, where all the different
fabrics required, more or less, some of those ingredients which
he imported from foreign countries.
In pronouncing the last words, " to keep the rebellious com-
mons under the rule of law," Master Ganay fixed his keen black
eyes upon the face of Albert Maurice with an expression of in-
quiring eagerness, partly proceeding from an anxious desire to
see into the heart of the young citizen — whose character the
other fully estimated — partly from a design to lead him, by
showing him what was expected from him, to say something
which might discover his views and feelings.
He was deceived, however : the very knowledge that his words
were to be marked, put the young citizen upon his guard ; and,
conscious that there were mighty events gathering round, — that
his own situation was precarious, — and that of his country still
more so, — he felt the necessity of obtaining perfect certainty with
regard to the facts, and of indulging deep reflection in regard to
the consequences, before he committed himself in the irretrievable
manner which is sometimes effected by a single word.
"Ila!" he exclaimed; "ha! did he say so?" — and he was
about to drop the dangerous part of the subject, by some common
observation, when another of the burghers changed the imme-
diate topic of conversation, from the higher and more important
themes which had been lately before them, to matters much
more familiar to the thoughts of the citizens.
" But there is more intelligence still, good Master Albert
Maurice," exclaimed a little fat merchant, whose face expressed
all that extravagant desire of wondering, and of exciting wonder.
'JIIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 99
which goes greatly to form the character of a newsmonger ; —
*' but there is more inteUigence still, which you will be delighted
to hear, as a good citizen, and a friend to honest men. That
pitiful, prying, bloodthirsty tyrant, Maillotin du Bac, was brought
into the town to-day in a litter, beaten so sorely, that they say
there is not a piece of his skin so big as a Florence crown which
is not both black and blue. Faith, I wonder that the honest
men of the wood did not hang him to one of their own trees."
" Ha !" again exclaimed Albert Maurice, but in a tone far
more raised with surprise than before, " how did he meet with
such a mishap ? He boasted that he would not leave a routier,
or a free companion in the land."
A low chuckle just behind him, as he pronounced these words,
recalled suddenly to his memory, that he had been followed into
the room by the monk called Father Barnabas ; and, congratu-
lating himself that he had suffered not a syllable to escape
his lips that might commit him in any degree, he turned towards
the companion of his journey, who, in the haste and confusion
with which all these tidings had been poured forth upon him,
had been forgotten by himself and overlooked by the others.
A few sentences in explanation of his appearance, and in
general reference to great services received from him on the
road, instantly called upon Father Barnabas the good-humoured
civilities and attention of Martin Fruse, and might have turned
the conversation to other matters, had not the monk himself
seemed determined to hear more of the drubbing which had
been bestowed upon Maillotin du Bac.
" Verily, poor gentleman," he exclaimed, in a tone in which the
merriment so far predominated over the commiseration, as to
render it much more like the voice of malice than of pity ; —
" verily, poor gentleman, he must be in a sad case. How met
he with such a terrible accident ?"
" Why, father, you shall hear," replied the newsmonger, eager
to disburden his wallet of information upon a new ear ; " what I
am going to tell you is quite true, I can assure you, for my maid
Margaret's sister is going to be married to one of the soldiers of
the prevot's band. It seems that they had searched the forest
of Hannut all day in vain, for a body of the green riders
who had taken refuge there, and also for a prisoner who had
made his escape ; and towards night they were making for Hal,
because they would not go back to Hannut, as the prevot had
h2
100 MAHV OF BURGUNDY; OH,
some (jiiancl with iIk- c-lia(claiii, when siicUlcnlj, ia the little
wood, near Brainc-la-Lcud, they were met by a party of fifty
free companions, who drew up right across their way. The
captain, who, they say, was the famous Vert Gallant of Hannut
himself, singled out the prcvot, and at the very first charge
of the two bands brought him to the ground with his lance.
Du Bac, however, was not hurt, and at first refused to yield ;
but the Vert Gallant cudgelled him with the staff of his lance,
till there was not a piece of his armour would hold together.
He would not kill him, it seems ; and when the whole of the
band were dispersed, which they were in five minutes, with
the exception of five or six who were taken prisoners, the
Vert Gallant struck off the prevot's spurs with his axe, and,
telling him that he was a false traitor, and no true knight, sent
him back to Ghent, with all the others who had been taken."
While the burgher was detailing these particulars, the small
grey roguish eyes of the monk stole from time to time a glance
at the face of Albert Maurice with an expression of merriment,
triumph, and malice, all mingled intimately together, but sub-
dued into a look of quiet fun, which elicited a smile from the lip
of the young citizen, though the tale he had just heard fuiiiishcd
him with matter for more serious reflection. The eyes of the
druggist also fixed upon him, while the story of the prevot's dis-
comfiture was told by their companion ; and the smile which
he saw play upon the fixce of the young burgher seemed to
furnish him with information of what was passing in the mind
within, sufficient at least for his own purposes; for from that
moment he appeared to pay little farther attention to the subject
before them, otherwise than by mingling casually in the conver-
sation that succeeded.
That conversation became soon of a rambling and desultory
nature, wandering round the great political events of the day,
the fate of their country, the state of the city itself, and the
future prospects of the land, without, however, approaching so
near to the dangerous matter which was probably in the heart of
every one, as to call forth words that could not be retracted.
In fact, each person present felt burdened by great but ill-
arranged thoughts : and those who saw most deeply into the
abyss before them, were the least inclined to venture their
opinions ere they heard those of others.
With that sort of intuitive perception which some men have
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 101
of what is passing in tlie breasts of those around them, Albert
Maurice, without the slightest exertion of cunning or shrewdness,
— without one effort to draw forth the thoughts of those by
whom he was surrounded, — comprehended clearly the peculiar
modifications under which each one present was revolving in his
own mind what advantages might be derived from — what oppor-
tunities might be afforded by — the discomfiture and death of
Charles the Bold, for recovering those immunities and privileges
which that prince had wrung from Ghent, after they had been
too often abused by her citizens. His first thought had been
of the same nature also : but the mention of Maillotin du Bac
had suddenly recalled to his mind his own particular circum-
stances and situation ; and it must be confessed, that, for a few
minutes, it was entirely directed to the consideration of how
greatly his own personal safety might be ensured by the events,
the news of which had reached Ghent during his absence.
The moment after, however, he upbraided himself for his
selfishness ; and, casting all individual considerations away, he
determined to bend the whole energies of his mind to reap,
from the cu'cumstances of the times, the greatest possible degree
of benefit for his native city. As he pondered over it, the old
aspirations of his soul revived. Not only Ghent, he thought,
might be benefited, not only Ghent might be freed, but the
whole of Flanders might acquire a degree of liberty she had
never known. Still, as he reflected, the image thus presented
to his mind increased, and, like the cloud of smoke in the
Eastern fable, w^hich, rolling forth from the mouth of the small
vase, gradually condensed into the form of an enormous giant,
the thoughts which at first had referred alone to his personal
safety enlarged in object, and grew defined in puipose.
The whole Continent at that time groaned tinder the oppres-
sion of the feudal system, decayed, corrupted, and abused ; and
as Albert Maurice mused, he fancied that the freedom of Ghent
and Flanders once established, might afford an example to
France, to Europe, to tlie world. The trampled serf, the en-
chained bondsman, the oppressed citizen, might throw off the
weary yoke under which they had laboured for ages : the rights
of every human being might become generally recognised over
the whole surface of the globe ; and broken chains and acclama-
tions of joy, the song of freedom and the shout of triumph, pre-
sented themselves in hurried visions to his imagination, while
102 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
patriotism still represented a liberated world hailing his native
^land as the champion of the liberty of earth.
Such thoughts rendered him silent and abstracted ; and as
every one else felt a degree of painful restraint, the various
guests of Martin Fruse, after lingering some time, rose to return
to their dwellings. Although it was now night, several of them,
before they set foot within their own homes, called upon dif-
ferent neighbours in their way, just to tell them, as they said,
that Master Albert Maurice had returned to Ghent. None
knew why ; but yet this information seemed a piece of impor-
tant news to all. By the sway which great natural genius and
energy insensibly acquire over the minds of men, Albert Mau-
rice, without ever attempting to force himself into prominent
situations, without effort or exertions of any kind, had taught
the whole people of the city of Ghent to look to him for extra-
ordinary actions ; and thus each man who heard of his arrival,
generally stole forth to tell it to his next door neighbour, who
again repeated it to a third. The gossip and the newsmonger
gave it forth liberally to others like themselves ; so that by a
very early hour the next morning the return of Albert Maurice,
with a variety of falsehoods and absurdities grafted thereon by
the imaginations of the retailers, was generally known, not only
to those who were personally acquainted with him, but to a
number of others who had never seen him in their lives.
CHAPTER XII.
TuE appetite for news is like the appetite for every other thing,
stimulated by a small portion of food ; and the various unsatis-
factory reports which had reached Ghent during the day, made
her good citizens devour the tidings of Albert Maurice's return
with no small greediness.
In the meanwhile, the young merchant communicated to his
uncle, immediately after the departure of the guests, that, from
various circumstances, of which he would inform him more fully
at another time, he judged it not expedient to return to his own
house, perhaps, for some days. He prayed him, therefore, to
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 103
allow him to occupy, for a short space, the apartments which
had been appropriated to him during his youth, in the dwel-
ling where he then was ; to which request — as his nephew had
originally taken up a separate establishment much against his
wishes — Martin Fruse consented with no small joy, and proposed
that the monk, who still remained, should sleep in the little grey
chamber over the warehouse.
" Nay, nay," replied Father Barnabas, when he heard the
proposal, — " nay, nay, dearly beloved brother Martin, no grey
chamber for me ; by my faith I must be betaking myself early
to-morrow to my own green chamber, and in the meantime, I
shall pass the night with a friend of mine in the city, in pious
exercises and devout exclamations."
Whether these pious exercises and devout exclamations might
not be the rapid circulation of the flagon, and many a jovial
bacchanalian song, there may be some reason to doubt. At all
events, Albert Maurice had a vague suspicion that it was so ;
and after pressing the monk to stay, as much as hospitality
required, he ceased his opposition to his departure, at the samer
time putting a purse of twenty golden crowns into his hand.
The monk gazed for a moment upon the little leathern bag,
whose weight, as it sunk into his palm, seemed to convey to him
a full idea of its value ; and then raising his merry grey eyes to
the face of his travelling companion, he replied, " This is great
nonsense, my son, quite unnecessary, I assure you ; and indeed
I cannot accept it, except upon one condition."
" What is that, my good father?" demanded the young burgher,
supposing that the monk was about to affect some notable piece
of disinterestedness.
" Merely that you will promise me, my son," replied Father
Barnabas, " that in case you should ever hereafter meet with a
certain friend of ours, whom some people call the Vert Gallant
of Hannut, you will be as silent as the dead about ever having
given a leathern purse to poor Father Barnabas, as he may well
ask, what is the use of a purse to a holy brother, who vows
never to have any money to put into it. Do you understand me,
my son ?"
" Perfectly, perfectly," replied Albert Maurice, " and promise
you with all my heart never to mention it."
" So be it then," rejoined the monk, " and benedicite ; — I shall
take the horse and the mule out of the stable, and speed upon
my way."
104 MARY OF liUKGUNDY; OR,
As soon as the monk was gone, Albert Maurice explained to
his uncle, as briefly as possible, all that had occurred to him
during his absence from Ghent; and the distress, agitation, and
terror of the worthy burgher, at every stage of his nephew's
story, were beyond all description. " Alack, and a well-a-day !
my poor boy," he cried ; — " alack, and a well-a-day ! I thought
what all these travellings would come to, sooner or later. Good
Lord ! good Lord ! why should men travel at all ! Li my young
days I never, if I could help it, set my foot three leagues out of
Ghent ; and the first time I ever was seduced to do so, I was
caught by robbers in that cursed wood of Hannut, and was obliged
to sleep a whole night upon the cold damp ground."
The young citizen calmed his uncle's agitation as much as
possible, and then proceeded to consult with him as to the best
means they could adopt, in case that Maillotin du Bac should
recover from the drubbing he had received, and pursue, as he
doubtless would, the purposes he had previously entertained. In
some things, Martin Fruse was not deficient in shrewdness;
and he instantly saw the advantages that would be gained by a
personal application to the princess, if his nephew were again
arrested.
" If," said he, " we still had our old laws, I should say at once,
appeal to the eschevins, because, as we used to elect them our-
selves, we should have had justice at least, if not favour. But
now that the twenty-six, from the Grand Bailli down to the last
secretary, are all named by the creatures of the duke, this Mail-
lotin du Bac gets them to warrant everything he does, while the
princess, who is kind and generous, will be sure to judge in your
favour, especially when she sees the papers that prove you were
first arrested for taking part with a woman ; and her council,
who have nothing to do with the prevot, will take care not to
thwart her who will one day be their mistress."
It was consct^ucntly determined, after some farther discussion,
to follow the line of conduct suggested by the leader of the
adventurers. Such precautions as were necessary to ensure
against any of those secret proceedings, which sometimes made
clean conveyance with an obnoxious person, before any of his
friends were aware, were then concerted between Albert IMaurice
and his uncle ; and the young citizen, pleading fatigue, retired
to the apartments which he had occupied as a boy.
There was something in the aspect of the chamber, — the quaint
'IVE REVOLT OF GHENT. 105
old tapestry, with the eyes of many of the figures shot through
by the arrows which he used to direct against them, in the
wanton sport of childhood, — the table notched with the boy's
imceasing knife, — the well-reniembercd bed, in which had been
dreamed many of the pleasant dreams of early years ; — there was
something in the aspect of the whole that called up the peaceful
past, and contrasted itself almost painfully with the present.
Setting down the lamp which he bore in his hand, Albert Maurice
cast himself on a scat, and gazing round the apartment, while
the thousand memories of every well known object spoke to his
heart with the sweet murmuring voice of the days gone ; and
while all the perils and anxieties of his actual situation, — the
imminent danger from which he had just escaped, — the menacing
fate which still hung over his head, — and the fierce struggle in
which he was likely to be engaged, — pressed for present atten-
tion, he could not help exclaiming, " Oh, boyhood ! happy, happy
boyhood ! must thou never, never come again !"
The busy and usurping present, however, soon took full pos-
session of his thoughts ; and, casting from him all care for the
individual danger which threatened himself, he applied his
whole mind to consider the probable fate of his country. If the
Duke of Burgundy were really dead, he saw, and had long
foreseen, that great and extraordinary changes must take place.
He knew that there was hardly a town throughout all Flanders,
Holland, or Hainault, which was not ready to rise in arms, to
recover some privilege wrested from its inhabitants, — to break
some chain with which they had all been enthralled. He felt,
too, — and it was a proud consciousness, — that he, and he alone
throughout the whole land, was capable of wielding that mighty
engine, a roused up multitude, for the great purpose to which it
can only be properly applied, — the benefit and the happiness of
the whole. This consciousness arose from two circumstances, —
a thorough and intimate acquaintance wnth the general charac-
ters of the leading men in the various towns of Flanders, together
with a knowledge that each was individually selfish or weak, full
of wild and unfeasible schemes, or absorbed in narrow personal
desires ; and, in the second place, from the internal perception
of immense powers of mind, strengthened and supported by
great corporeal vigour and activity.
Such qualities were not, indeed, all that was required to carry
mighty schemes to a successful result, especially where they
106 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
were to be founded on the consent and support of" the vain and
wilful multitude. But Albert Maurice had on several occasions
tried his ])o\vers of persuading the crowd, and his ready eloquence
liad never failed to lead, to convince, to command. Indeed, till
the present moment, he had felt almost fearful — surrounded, as
he knew himself to be, by watchful and jealous eyes — of the
immense popular influence that he was aware he could exert.
But now, as he paused and considered the probable events about
to take place, he felt a triumphant security in his own talents,
and prepared to step forward, and secure a freer form of govern-
ment, for Ghent at least, if the reins had really fallen from the
hand that lately held them. His first thoughts, indeed, were all
turned towards the benefit of his native country, to the immense
advantages that might be obtained for her, and to that mighty
thing, liberty, which was scarcely then known to the world.
But it was not in human nature, that some breathing of personal
ambition should not mingle with his nobler aspirations ; and for
a moment he dreamt of power, and rule, and sovereign sway,
and of nobles trampled beneath his feet, and of kings bending to
court his alliance. The shade of Van Artevelde seemed to rise
from the deep past and beckon him on upon the road to
greatness.
It was but for a moment, however ; and when suddenly the
better spirit woke him from his dream, and showed him whither
he was wandering, he hid his face in his hands, with a mixed
feeling of shame for having suffered himself to be betrayed into
such thoughts, and an apprehension lest, in some after-part of
his career, when the golden temptation was within his grasp, he
should yield to the spirit that even thus early had assailed him,
and be in act what he had already been in thought. The very
idea of becoming so made him pause in his resolves, uncertain
whether to take any part, lest he should ultimately take an evil
one ; and for a moment Albert Maurice, who feared no mortal
man, hesitated in fear of himself.
Reflection, however, soon removed his doubts: he knew his
intentions to be pure ; and, calling before his mind the brightest
examples of past ages, he determined to hold them up to himself
as models to imitate, and to sacrifice everything to virtue. Even
the very doubts that he had entertained of himself made him
choose his examples from the sternest school of patriotism. He
felt, perhaps, that any modern eflbrts must fall below the stan-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 107
dard of that antique firmness, which, nurtured by the long habit
of freedom, was with the Romans of the repubhc a passion as
much as a principle ; and, fixing his eyes upon the earlier
Brutus, he resolved that if ever in after-life the temptation to
wrong his country should assail him, he would use that talismanic
memory to charm the evil demon away for ever.
While he thus paused and thought, the night wore on ; all
sounds died away in the streets of Ghent : the footsteps in his
uncle's house ceased; and, after the midnight watch had gone by
in its round, not a sound for some time disturbed the silence
of the place. At length, about one o'clock in the morning,
he heard a step ascending the stairs which led to his apartment,
and the moment after a tap upon the door announced that some
one demanded admittance. He instantly rose, threw back the
tapestry, and opened the door, when, to his surprise, be beheld
the small keen features and sharp black eyes of the druggist
Ganay, beside the face of one of his uncle's servants.
The sight, indeed, accorded very well with his thoughts
and wishes ; for though the person who thus visited him was, in
character and mind, as distinct — perhaps, I should say, as
opposite, to himself as possible, yet he was one of those men
who, in moments of general excitement, are often serviceable in
the highest degree, and must be used for good, lest they should
employ their talents for evil.
The little druggist had, in all his motions, a silent rapidity,
a quick, sharp, but stealthy sort of activity, which, to those close
observers of the human race, who pretend to read in the
habitual movements and peculiar customs of the body the cha-
racter of the mind within, might have spoken of dark and
cunning designs, prompted by strong but carefully hidden pas-
sions, with little scruple as to the means of accomplishing schemes
once undertaken. Before Albert Maurice was well aware of his
presence, he was in the room beside him ; and in a few brief
w^ords, spoken in a low but remarkably distinct voice, he
informed the young citizen that when he went away about
two hours before, he had requested the servant to wait and
let him in, after the rest of the family had gone to rest. Then,
adding that he had business of much importance to speak upon,
he at once explained and apologised for his intrusion.
Albert Maurice took his excuses in good part ; and, bidding
the servant retire to rest, he closed the door and seated himself
108 MARV OF nURGUNDV; OH,
with his visiter, well aware that lie had to encounter a niiiul
as keen and penetrating though far less powerful, than his o\\ n,
on suhjccts difficult and dangerous to discuss.
" Master Albert Maurice," said Ganay, when they were alone,
and the retreating step of the servant had announced to his
cautious ear that his words were not likely to be overheard, " it
were in vain for you or I to attempt to conceal from each other,
or from ourselves, that the moment is come when extraordinary
changes must take place in our native land, or opportunities be lost
which may never return. To you, then, I come," he added,
speaking with a serious earnestness, which was intended to give
the appearance of sincere conviction to the flattery he was about
to administer — flattery which, as he knew it to be based in truth,
he calculated upon being readily received, and producing a par-
ticular purpose of his own, — " to you, then, I come. Master Albert
Maurice, as to the man calculated, by nature and by circum-
stances, to take the most prominent part in the actions in which
we are about to be engaged, — to whom the eyes of all the citizens
arc naturally turned, and on whom the welfare of our country
must, in a great measure, depend. My object is, in no degree,
to pry into your confidence, to obtrude advice upon you, or to
hurry you forward faster than you may think it necessary to
proceed, but simply for the purpose of offering you any assistance
in my small power to give, and of pointing out to you the neces-
sity of thought and consultation in regard to the measures to be
pursued."
The young citizen paused for a moment or two in meditation
ere he replied. " My good friend," he answered, at length,
" much consideration is, indeed, as you say, necessary. In
the first place, we are by no means certain that our noble
lord the duke is dead. If he be living, it will be our
duty, as good subjects and good citizens, to give him all
the aid in our power to repel his enemies and to recover his
losses."
The druggist bit his lip, and Albert Maurice continued: —
" If, indeed, he unhappily have fallen in this rash attempt
against the Swiss, say what would you have us do ?"
" Nay, nay, speak you," replied the druggist ; " for well dx) wc
all feel that it is you must lead, and we must follow."
" I see but one thing that can be done," replied the young
citizen, — " humbly to tender our allegiance and our services
THE rp:volt of ghent. 109
to the heiress of the luirgmuliau coronet, and to petition her
to confirm to us our liberties and privileges."
He spoke slowly and calmly, in a tone of voice from which
nothing could be gathered in addition to the words he uttered ;
and in vain did the small dark eyes of his fellow-citizen scan his
countenance to discover something more. His face remained
completely unmoved, if it was not by a scarcely perceptible
smile at the evident anxiety and agitation with which his calm-
ness and indifference affected his companion.
" Good Heaven !" cried the druggist, starting up in the
first impatience of disappointed expectation, — " Good Heaven !
little did I expect to hear such words from your lips ! — But no !"
he added, after a moment's pause of deep thought, during which
he rapidly combined every remembered trait in the character
of Albert Maurice, with his present affected calmness, and
deduced from it a true conclusion in regard to his real motives.
" But no ! Young man, I have marked you from your childhood.
I know you as well as my own son, nay, better ; — for his light
follies have made him an alien to my house, though not to
my heart — I have seen your character develop itself — I have
seen the wild spirit and petulance of boyhood become, when
brought under the sway of maturer reason, that overwhelming
enthusiasm, which, like a mighty river, is calm only because it is
deep and powerful. Albert Maurice, you cannot deceive me;
and let me tell you, that even were the course, which but
now you proposed to pursue, that to which your feelings and
your reason really led you, the people of this country would
leave you to truckle to power alone ; and, though — wanting one
great directing mind to curb their passions, and point their
endeavours to a just conclusion — they might cast one half of
Europe into anarchy, and rush upon their own destruction, most
assuredly they would do so, rather than submit again to a
new despot, or place their lives and their happiness in the power
of one who owns no law, no justice but his own will."
" Think you they would do so, indeed ?" demanded the young
citizen, well aware of the fact, but somewhat doubtful still of the
entire purity of his companion's motives. — " Then, my good
friend, we must, as you say, for the safety and security of all, find
some one who may lead them to better things : but to succeed
we must be cautious — we must trust no man before we try him ;
and we must first make sure of those who lead, before we rouse
110 ]\IARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
up those who arc to be led. Ere one step is taken, too, wc must
ensure the ground that we stand upon, and know what has been
the real event of this great battle. Nay, nay, protest not
that it is as we have heard. Rumour, the universal liar, some-
times will give us portions of the truth, beyond all doubt ; but
never yet, believe me, did she tell a tale that was not more than
one half falsehood. But even granting that the chief point
be true, at the very threshold of our enterprise, wc must learn
each particular shade of thought and of opinion, possessed by
our great and leading citizens. Nor must Ghent stand alone ;
each other city throughout all Flanders must be prepared to
acknowledge and support the deeds of Ghent."
" You seem to have considered the matter deeply," said the
druggist, with a smile ; ** but I fear such long preparations, and
the time necessary to excite the public mind "
" Fear not," interrupted Albert Maurice ; " fear not. You
little know the commons, if you suppose that time is necessary
to call them into action. A few shrewd words, false or true,
it matters not, will set the whole country in a flame as fast as
news can fly. Give me but just cause, a good occasion, and
an opportunity of speech, and in one half hour all Ghent shall be
in arms."
" It may be so," replied the druggist, thoughtfully ; " I doubt
it not — indeed I know it is so ; but, methinks, my dear young
friend, that while we are proceeding with such slow circumspec-
tion, our enemies may take their measures of precaution also ;
and as they have the present power, may use and extend it to
such good effect that all our cff'orts will be fruitless. Already
the Lord of Imbercourt has returned with a hundred and fifty
lances ; the number of nobles in the town, with their retainers,
will furnish near five hundred more."
" Again, fear not," rcj)lied Albert Maurice : " the popular
mind is as a magazine of that black hellish compound, which
gives roar and lightning to the cannon ; one single spark, applied
by a fearless hand, will make it all explode at once. The nobles
stand upon a mine ; and there are those in Ghent who will not
fear to spring it beneath their feet should there be need — which
Heaven avert. One thing, however, must be done, and that
with speed. As an united body, these feudal tyrants are power-
ful, — too much so, indeed, — but amongst them there must be
surely more than sufficient stores of vanity, wrath, hatred, re-
THE UF.VOLT OF GHENT. Ill
vengc, and all those other manifold weaknesses, which skilfully
employed may detach some of their members from their own
body, and spread division amongst them. — Is there no one could
be won ?"
" None that I know of," replied the druggist, " except, indeed,
it were my very good lord and kind patron" — he spoke with a
sneer — " Thibalt of Neufchatcl, who now affects mighty popu-
larity, bows his grey head to the people as low as to his saddle-bow
— calls them the good commons — the worthy citizens of Ghent;
and, no longer gone than yesterday, made me, Walter Ganay,
the poor burgher druggist, sit down at his lordly table, and drink
of his spiced wine. But I fear me, my dear young friend,
though the worthy lord may affect wonderful popularity, and
others of his rank might be brought to do the same, they would
never stand by us in the moment of need : the interest of their
class would soon resume its place in their thoughts, and they
would quit the citizens whenever the citizens wanted their
help."
" That matters little," replied Albert Maurice, laying his hand
upon the arm of his companion. " The aid that we might
derive from the swords of half-a-dozen nobles were but dust in
the balance ; but the advantages that we may derive from their
seeming to be with us in the outset, are great and incalculable.
That which has overthrown the finest armies that were ever yet
brought into the field ; — that which has scattered to the wind
the noblest associations that ever were framed for the benefit
of mankind; — that which has destroyed leagues, and broken
alliances, crushed republics under the feet of despots, and
blasted the best formed and brightest designs of human beings
— doubt, suspicion of each other ; — that, that great marrer of all
men's combinations, must be listed on our side against our
oppressors. We must teach them to fear and to suspect each
other ; and the bonds that hold them together will be broken,
and may remain severed till it is too late to unite them again.
This Thibalt of Neufchatcl," he added, hastily, " I have heard of
him, and seen him often. Wlien I was a mere boy, I remember
riding under his escort from the forest of Ilannut, and as haughty
a lord he was as e er I met with ; but now, it would seem, he
has changed his tone, and is the popular, the pleasant noble, the
friend of the commons ; — he is somewhat in his dotage too, just
at that point where weakness afiects great wisdom. He must be
112 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
won, by all means, if it be but lor a day. Is there no wa}',
think you, by which he may be brought to show himself amongst
us at some popular meeting. A thousand to one the very fact
of his having done so, and the scorn that it will call upon liim
from his fellow-nobles, by committing his vanity on our side, will
bind him to us for ever; and he will calmly look upon the fall
of his order, if it were but for the purpose of saying to each
ruined baron, ' If you had done as I have, yoii would have been
safe.' — At all events," he added, " his presence with us would
sow the first seed of disunion among the proud nobility : — can
no means be found ?"
" Oh, many, many, doubtless," replied the druggist ; " but
great reverence and respect must be shown to him, and all ulti-
mate views must be concealed."
" Of course," answered Albert Maurice, " of course," and
resting his brow upon his hands, he remained in thought for
several minutes, " Mark me, good Master Ganay," he said, at
length, — " mark me, and remember that you have sought me in
this business, not I you. Think not, therefore, that in giving
you directions what to do, I wish to arrogate to myself any
superior power, or wisdom, or knowledge. Deeply and fervently
do I wish to serve my country. As far as I see my way clearly,
and as far as my countr^'men choose to trust me, willingly will I
take a lead in their affairs. The moment my own view or their
confidence fails, I will draw back and leave the staff' in better
hands. Let your first step, then be — at an early hjour to-morrow
— to prompt as many of the principal citizens as you can m.eet
with, to assemble in the town-hall upon various pretences.
Speak to one about changes in the price of grain, and send him
thither to hear more. Tell another that the English wools have
failed, and let him come for news from across the seas. Bid a
third to the town-hall for tidings from France ; and a fourth for
the news fi'om Switzerland. I, too, will be there ; and if you
can so arrange it as to brino; Thibalt of Neufchatel to the same
j)lace by half-past ten of the clock, I will have all prepared to
fix him ours, if possible."
" I will undertake it," replied the druggist. " Albert Mau-
rice, we understand each other, though little has been said, —
and perhaps wisely ; — yet we understand each other, and shall
do so, without farther explanations ; I give you good night."
" Farewell," said Albert Maurice, as the other rose to depart ;
rUV. 11K\0LT OF GIIKNT. 11,1
" but remember, above all things, no word to any one of this
night's meeting; for, if we would work well together for the
l)enefit of all, we must not be seen together too much. Again,
farewell."
Thus saying, he raised the light, and, after guiding his visiter
through some of the long and tortuous passages of his uncle's
dwelling, he saw him depart, and closed the door for the night.
CHAPTER XIII.
Once more within the solitude of his own chamber, Albert Mau-
rice cast himself into a seat ; and a degree of emotion not to be
mastered, passed over him, as he felt that he had taken the first
step in a career which must speedily bring power, and honour,
and immortal glory — or the grave. As I have before said, in
all the mutinous movements of the citizens of Ghent, he had
recoiled from any participation in their struggles, both with a
degree of contempt for such petty broils as they usually were,
and with an involuntary feeling of awe, as if he knew that
whenever he did take a part in the strife, it was destined to
become more deadly and more general than it had ever been
before. There was nothing, indeed, of personal apprehension
in his sensations. They consisted alone of a deep, overpowering
feeling of the mighty, tremendous importance of the events
likely to ensue, of the awful responsibility incurred, of the fearful
account to be given by him, who takes upon himself the dan-
gerous task of stirring up a nation, and attempts to rouse and
rule the whirlwind passions of a fierce and excited people.
He had now, however, made the first step ; and he felt that
that first step was irretrievable, that his bark was launched upon
the stormy ocean of political intrigue, that he had left the calm
shore of private station never to behold it again; and that
nothing remained for him but to sail out the voyage he had
undertaken amidst all the tempests and the hurricanes that might
attend his course. It could scarcely be called a weakness to yield
one short unseen moment to emotion under such feelings ; to look
back with lingering regret upon the calm days behind ; and to
I
114 MARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
strive witli anxious thought to snatch some part of the miglity
secrets of the future from beyond the dark, mysterious veil
which God, in his great mercy, has cast over the gloomy sanc-
tuary of fate. It was but for a moment that he thus yielded ;
and then, with a power which some men of vast minds possess,
he cast from him the load of thought, prepared, wlien the
moment of action came, to act decisively ; and feeling that his
corporeal frame rcfjuired repose, he stretched himself upon his
bed, and slept without a dream — a sleep as deep, as still, as
calm, as we may suppose to have visited the tent of Caesar,
when, conscious of coming empire, he had passed the Rubicon.
It lasted not long, however; and the first rays of the morning
sun, as they found their way through the narrow lattice of his
chamber, woke him with energies refreshed, and with a mind
prepared for whatever fortunes the day might bring.
A few hours passed in writing, and a short explanation with his
uncle in regard to the exigencies of the approaching moment,
consumed the time between the young burgher's rising and the
hour appointed for the meeting in the town-hall; and, accom-
panied by worthy Martin Fruse, whom he well knew that he
could rule as he pleased, Albert Maurice proceeded into the
streets of Ghent.
In deference to his uncle's dislike to the elevation of a horse's
back, the young citizen took his way on foot, followed, as well as
preceded, by two serving men, to which the station of Martin
Fruse, as syndic of the cloth-workers, gave him a right, without
the imputation of ostentation. It was not, indeed, the custom
of either of the two citizens to show themselves in the streets of
their own town thus accompanied, except upon occasions of
municipal state ; but, in the present instance, both were aware
that, if the news of the preceding day were true, sudden aid
from persons on whom they could rely, either as combatants or
messengers, might be required.
It was a market-day in the city of Ghent ; and as they
walked on, many a peasant, laden with rural merchandise, was
passed by them in the streets, and many a group of gossiping
men and women, blocking up the passage of the narrow ways,
was disturbed by the important zeal of the serving men making
way for the two high citizens whom they preceded. Tiie
streets, indeed, were all flutter and gaiety ; but the market-
place itself offered a still more lively scene, being filled to
IIIK HKVOl.T OF GHENT 115
overflowing with the population of the town and the neighbour-
ing districts, in all the gay and glittering colours of their holiday
costume.
Although the market had already begun, the principal traffic
which seemed to be going on was that in news ; and the buzz
of many voices, all speaking together, announced how many
were eager to tell as well as to hear. No sooner had the two
citizens entered that flat, open square, which every one knows
as the chief market-place of old Ghent, than the tall, graceful
figure of the younger burgher caught the eyes of the people
around ; and in answer to a question from some one near, ar
artisan, who had come thither either to buy or sell, replied
aloud, " It is Master Albert Maurice, the great merchant, just
returned, they say, from Namur."
The words were immediately taken uj) by another near ; and
the announcement of the popular citizen's presence ran like
lightning through the crowd. A whispering hum, and a move-
ment of all the people, as he advanced, some to make way, and
some to catch a sight of him, was all that took place at first.
But soon his name was given out louder and more loud as it
passed from mouth to mouth ; and at length some one in the
middle of the market-place threw up his cap into the air, and
in a moment the whole buildings round echoed with " Long
live Albert Maurice, the good friend of the people of Ghent !"
Doffing his bonnet, the young citizen advanced upon his way
towards the town- hall, bowing on every side to the populace,
with that bland yet somewhat stately smile upon his fine arching
lip, which wins much love without losing a tittle of respect ;
and still the people as he went cheered him with many voices,
while every now and then some individuals from amongst them
would salute him in various modes, according to their rank and
situation.
" Give thee good day. Master Albert Maurice !" cried one
who claimed some acquaintance with him. — " God bless thee
for a noble citizen !" exclaimed another. — " Long life to Albert
Maurice !" shouted a third, — " What news from Namur ?" de-
manded a fourth. — " Speak to us, noljle sir !" again exclaimed
another : " speak to us ! speak to us ! as you one day did on
the bridge !"
Such cries were multiplying ; and popular excitement, which
is very easily changed into popular tumult, w-as proceeding to a
i2
'16 AIAKY OF RURGUNDV; OH,
-j»5her point than Albert Maurice wished, especially as amongst
(.he crowd he observed several soldiers. These, though a word
would have rendered them the objects of the people's fury, were,
he thought, very likely to become the reporters of the ])ublic
feeling to the government, before the preparations which he
contemplated were mature ; and he was -accordingly hurrying
his pace to avoid disturbance, when suddenly the sound of
trumpets from the opposite side of the square diverted the
attention of all parties.
The young citizen turned his eyes thitherward with the rest,
and made his way forward in that direction, as soon as he per-
ceived a dense but small body of armed horsemen debouching
from the street that led from the palace, with clarions sounding
before them and raised lances, as if their errand were as peaceful
as their garb was warlike.
Apprehensive that something might occur which would re-
quire that rapid decision and presence of mind which rule, in
many cases, even the great ruler — Circumstance, he hurried on,
while the people made way for him to pass ; probably from a
tacit conviction that he alone, of all the assemblage, was qualified
to deal with important events. 'As he a])proached, the body of
horsemen reached the little fountain in the middle of the market-
place, and he caught the flutter of female habiliments in the
midst of the guard.
At that moment the squadron opened, and, clearing a small
space around, displayed a brilliant group in the centre, on which
all eyes were instantly turned. A number of the personages of
which it was com})osed were well known, at least by siglit, to the
young burgher ; and, from their presence, he easily divined the
names and characters of the rest. Mounted on a splendid black
charger, there appeared, amongst others, the Lord of llavestcin,
first cousin of the Duke of Burgundy, together with the Duke of
Cleves and the Lord of Imbercourt. The faces of these noble-
men, as well as that of Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy,
Albert Maurice knew full well ; but in the midst of all was a
countenance he had never beheld before. It was that of a fair,
beautiful girl, of about twenty years of age, whose sweet hazel
eyes, filled with mild and pensive light, and curtained by long
dark lashes, expressed — if .ever eyes were the mind's heralds — a
heart, a soul, subdued by its own powers, full of deep feelings,
calmed, but not lessened, by its own command over itself. All
THE REVOLT OF GIIKNT. 117
the Other features were in harmony with those eyes, beautiful in
themselves, but still more beautiful by the expression which they
combined to produce ; and the form, also, to which they be-
longed, instinct with grace and beauty, seemed framed by nature
in her happiest mood to correspond with that fair face.
Albert Maurice needed not to be told that there was Mary of
Burgundy. He gazed on her without surprise ; for he had ever
heard that she was most beautiful ; but, as he gazed, by an in-
stinctive reverence for the loveliness he saw, he took his bonnet
from his head ; and, all the crowd following his example, stood
bareheaded before her, while a short proclamation was read twice
by a herald.
" Mary of Burgundy," it ran, " Governess of Flanders on
behalf of her father, Charles Duke of Burgundy, to her dearly
beloved citizens of Ghent. It having been industriously circu-
lated by some persons, enemies to the state, that the high and
mighty prince our father Charles as aforesaid, Duke of Burgundy,
and Count of Flanders, Artois, and Ilainault, has been slain in
Switzerland, which God forefend ! and knowing both the zeal
and love of the good citizens of Ghent towards our father, and
how much pain such evil tidings would occasion them, we hasten
to assure them that such a rumour is entirely false and malicious ;
and that the duke our father is well in health and stout in the
field, as is vouched by letters received last night by special
couriers from his camp; and God and St. Andrew hold him
well for ever ! " Mary."
A loud cheer rose fi:om all the people, while, bending her
graceful head, and smiling sweetly on the crowd, the heiress of
Burgundy acknowledged the shout, as if it had been given in
sincere congratulation on her father's safety. The princess and
her attendants then rode on, to witness the same proclamation in
another place ; but Albert Maurice stood gazing upon the fair
sight as it passed away from his eyes, feeling that beauty and
sweetness, such as he there beheld, had claims to rule, far dif-
ferent from those of mere iron-handed power. He was wakened
fi'om his reverie, however, by some one pulling him by the
cloak ; and, turning round, he beheld the little druggist Ganay,
who, with an expression of as much bitter disappointment, anger,
and surj^rise, as habitual command over his features would allow
them to assume, looked up in the face of Albert Mainice, de-
manding, " What is to be done now ?"
118 MAHV OF Bi;iU;Ui\DV; OH,
" Where is the Lord of Ncufchatel ?" rejoined the young
eitizen, without directly answering.
" Thank (iod, not yet arrived!" replied the druggist. " Shall
I go and stay him from coming?"
"No!" answered Albert Maurice, thoughtfully. "No, let
him come ; it were better that he should. — Now, fair uncle," he
continued, speaking to Martin Fruse, who had followed him
through the crowd, and still stood beside him where the multi-
tude had left them almost alone, — " now fair uncle, let us to the
town-hall, whither Master Ganay will accompany us. You, who
are good speakers, had better propose an address of the city in
answer to the proclamation just made ; and the good Lord of
Ncufchatel, who will be present, will doubtless look on and
answer for your loyal dispositions. For my part, I shall keep
silence."
He spoke these words aloud, but with a peculiar emphasis,
which easily conveyed to the mind of the druggist his conviction
that the farther prosecution of their purposes must be delayed
for the time; and as they proceeded towards the town-hall,
Albert Maurice, by a few brief words, which good Martin Fruse
neither clearly understood nor sought to understand, explained
to the other the necessity of keeping the Lord of Ncufchatel
attached to their party.
Albert Maurice then fell into silence which was deep and
somewhat painful ; and yet, strange to say, the news that he had
heard of the Duke of Burgundy's safety, and the turn that the
affairs had taken, was far from a disappointment to him — it was
a relief. The very sight of the princess had made him thoughtful.
To behold so fair, and seemingly so gentle a creature, and to
know that, as he stood there before her, he bore within his own
bosom the design, the resolve — however noble might be his mo-
tives, however great the object he proposed — of breaking the
sceptre which was to descend to her, and of tearing from her
hand the power she held from her mighty ancestors, produced
feelings anything but sweet. Thence, too, thought ran on ; and
he asked himself, why was her reign the one to be marked out
for overthrowing the ancient rule of her fathers? and he was
forced to acknowledge, that it was because she was weak, and
young, a woman, and an orphan — and that was no very elevating
reflection. Still farther, as he once more passed across the whole
extent of the market-place, when the princess had just left it.
THE KF.VOLT OF GHENT. 119
he found all the busy tongues which had been lately vociferating
his name, now so occupied with the fresh topic, that he walked
on almost without notice ; and contempt for that evanescent
thing, popular applause, did not tend to raise his spirits to a
higher pitch.
He entered the town-hall, then, gloomy ; and, though all the
great traders present united to congratulate him on his safe
return to Ghent, he remained thoughtful and sad, and could
only throw off the reserve wliich had fallen upon him, when the
arrival of the Lord of Neufchatel gave him a strong motive for
exertion.
The other persons present received the noble baron, who con-
descended to visit their town-hall, with a degree of embarrass-
ment which, though not perhaps unpleasing to him, from the
latent reverence that it seemed to evince, was, at least, incon-
venient. But Albert Maurice, on the contrary, with calm con-
fidence in his own powers, and the innate dignity which that con-
fidence bestows, met the nobleman with ease equal to his own,
though without the slightest abatement of that formal respect,
and all those terms of courteous ceremony, to which his station
gave him a title, and which the young citizen was anxious to
yield. This mixture of graceful ease with profound reverence
of demeanour, delighted not a little the old seneschal of Bur-
gundy ; and when, after a time, an address was proposed and
discussed in his presence, and his opinions were listened to and
received with universal approbation, the sense of conscious supe-
riority, satisfied pride, and gratified vanity, taught the worthy
old lord to regard the good citizens of Ghent with feelings of
pleasure and affection, very different from those he had once
entertained.
It so luckily ha})pened, also, that on this, the first occasion of
his mingling amongst the citizens, their proceedings were of
such a character as could not, in the least, compromise him with
his fellow nobles. The matter discussed was merely a congra-
tulatory address to the princess, in answer to her proclamation,
setting forth nothing but loyalty and obedience, and carefully
avoiding the slightest allusion to all topics of complaint and dis-
content. The little druggist Ganay spoke at length upon the
subject; and, piquing himself rather than otherwise upon a
degree of hypocritical art, he launched forth into high and extra-
ordinary expressions of joy on the good tidings that the princess
120 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
hud been pleased to communicate, assured her of the loyally and
devotion of the good people of Ghent, and even ventured upon
a high and laudatory picture of her father's character.
Albert Maurice stood by in silence ; and, though the druggist
so far mistook his character as to imagine that the young citizen
might admire the skill and dexterity with which he changed the
purpose of their meeting, such was far from the case. While
Albert Maurice listened, and suffered the other to proceed in a
task with which he did not choose to meddle himself, his feel-
ings were those of deep contempt, and he silently marked all
the words and actions of the other, in order to read every trait
of his character, and to acquire a complete insight into the work-
ings of his dark and designing mind, which might be useful to
him in the events which were still to come. Nor was the drug-
gist alone the subject of his observation. Always a keen inqui-
sitor of the human heart, Albert Maurice now watched more
particularly than ever the conduct of the different influential
citizens, as persons with whom he might at an after-period have
to act in circumstances of difficulty ; but it was upon Ganay that
his attention was principally fixed, both from a feeling that he
should have to use him as a tool, or oppose him as an enemy, if
ever those events occurred which he anticipated ; and also from
a belief that the other, in striving to hurry him forward, had
some deep personal motive at the bottom of his heart.
During the whole course of the discussion, the young citizen
spoke but a few w'ords, the tendency of which was, to add to the
congratulation of the citizens, addressed to the Princess Mary,
the ])etition that she would be the guardian and protectress of
the liberties and privileges of the citizens of Ghent. While he
was in the very act of speaking, there came a clanging sound, as
if of a number of steps on the grand staircase, and, the moment
after, an armed head appeared above the rest ; a second followed,
and then a number more ; and it became very evident that a
considerable band of soldiers were intruding themselves into a
place, sacred by immemorial usage from their presence. The
citizens drew back as the troopers forced their way on, and
gradually, with many expressions of surprise and indignation,
gatlKU'cd round the spot where Albert Maurice had been
speaking.
With the young burgher himself, indignation at the violation
of the privileges of the city overcame every other feeling ; and,
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 121
Starting forward before the rest of the burghers, he faced at once,
with his hand upon his sword, the inferior officer who was lead-
ing forward the men-at-arms, exclaiming, " Back, back, upon
your Hfe !" in a voice that made the vaulted roof of the building
echo with its stern, determined tones.*
The officer did, indeed, take a step back at his command ; for
there was a lightning in his eye at that moment which was not
to be encountered rashly. " Sir," said the Lieutenant of the
prevot, for such he was, " I come here but to do my duty ; and
I must do it."
" And pray, sir, what duty," demanded Albert Maurice, " can
afford you an excuse for violating the laws of your country and
the privileges of the city of Ghent? Have you never heard by
chance that this is our free town-hall, in which no soldier but a
member of the burgher guard has a right to set his foot ?"
" I come, sir," replied the man, " not so much as a soldier as
an officer of justice, in order to arrest you yourself, Albert Mau-
rice, charged with high treason, and to lodge you as a prisoner
in the castle, till such time as you can be brought to trial for
your offences."
Albert Maurice deliberately unsheathed his sword; a weapon
which at that time the citizens of many of the great towns of
Flanders and Brabant held it their peculiar right to wear.
Others were instantly displayed around him ; and at the same
moment the little druggist sprang up to the window, and, putting
out his head, shouted forth, " To arras, citizens of Ghent, to
arms !" — which words the ears of those within might hear taken
up instantly by those without ; and the cry, well known in all
the tumults of the city of " Sta ! sta ! sta ! — to arms ! to arms !"
was heard echoing through the square below, while Albert Mau-
rice replied slowly and deliberately to the lieutenant of the
prevot.
" Sir," he said, " whatever may be your motive for coming
here, and be the charge against me just or not, you have violated
one of the privileges of the city, which never shall be violated
with impunity in my person. I command you instantly to with-
draw your men ; and, perhaps, on such condition, you may re-
ceive pardon for your offence. As far as concerns myself, I
appeal from your jurisdiction, and lay my cause before the -
princess, to whom I am willing immetliately to follow."
" That, sir, is imixjssiblc," replied the Lieutenant ; " nor will
122 MARY or lU'RCUNDY; on,
1 consent to withdraw my men till I have executed the commis-
sion with which I am charged."
" Then witness every one," exclaimed Albert Maurice, " that
the consequences of his own deed rest upon the head of this
rash man." •
The two parties within the hall — of citizens on the one hand
and soldiers on the other — were very equally matched in point
of numbers, though the superior discipline and arms of the
]>revot's guard would, in all probability, have given them the
advantage in the strife that seemed about to commence ; but
while each body paused, with that natural reluctance which most
men feel, to strike the first blow, the multiplying shouts and
cries in the square before the town -house, gave sufficient notice
that an immense superiority would soon be cast upon the side of
the citizens. Both Albert Maurice and the pi'evot's lieutenant
caught the sounds ; and the former, pointing towards the open
windows, exclaimed, " Listen, and be warned !"
" Do you, sir, really intend to resist the lawful authority
of the duke ?" demanded the other, with evident symptoms
of shaken resolution and wavering courage.
" Not in the least," replied Albert Maurice, calmly but
firmly ; " nor do I desire to see blood flow, or tumult take place,
though the cause be your own rash breach of the privileges
of the city. I appeal my cause to the princess herself; and you
well know, from the very name you have given to the charge
against me — that of treason — that the eschevins of the city
are incompetent to deal with the case."
" Nay, but the princess cannot hear your cause to-day," replied
the Lieutenant of the prevot ; " for she has gone forth but now
towards Alost, to publish the safety of my lord the duke. You
must, therefore, surrender yourself a prisoner till she returns."
" Na}^, naj^" replied Albert Maurice, " not so. Here all the
chief citizens of Ghent will be surety for my appearance. Into
their hands I yield myself, but not into yours."
" I must have better bail than that," answered the Lieutenant,
Avith the perturbation of his mmd evidently increasing every
moment as the shouts became louder without, and the noise
of frequent feet in the stone vestibule below gave notice that his
position was growing every instant more and more dangerous.
At that moment, however, the old Lord of Neufchatel advanced
to the side of the young citizen. " Hark ye, master lieutenant,"
THE KFAOLT OF GHKiN'T. 123
he said; " to end all this affray, I, Thibalt of Neufcliatcl, knight
and noble, do pledge myself for the appearance of this young
citizen, Master Albert Maurice, to answer before the princess
the crime with which he is charged ; and I become his bail
in life and limb, lands and lordship, in all that I can become
bound or forfeit, to my lord the duke : and now, sir, get you
gone ; for this day have you committed a gross and shameful
outrage against the privileges of these good people of Ghent ;
and I, old Thibalt of Neufchatel, tell you so to your beard."
'• Long live the Lord of Neufchatel ! Long live the defender
of the people of Ghent ! Long live the gallant friend of the
commons !" shouted a hundred voices at once, as the old noble
tiius far committed himself in their cause, and waved his
hand for the lieutenant of the prevot to retire.
Much would that officer now have given, to be permitted
to do so, without any prospect of annoyance ; but by this time,
the two large entrances at the end of the hall were com-
pletely blocked up by a dense crowd of traders and artisans,
armed hastily with whatever weapons they had been able to find,
from partisans to weavers' beams. Beyond the doorways, again,
the antechamber was completely filled by men of the same
description ; and from the number of voices shouting up and
down the great staircase, it was clear that the whole town-
house was thronged with the stirred up multitude. Those who
had first reached the door had, with more moderation than
might have been expected, paused in their advance, as soon
as they saw the parley that was gomg on between the citizens
and the soldiers. But when the lieutenant of the prevot turned
round to effect his retreat, they made no movement to give
him way, and stood firm, with a sort of dogged determination,
which the slightest word from any one present would have
changed, in a moment, into actual violence. The officer paused
as soon as he saw the attitude they had assumed, and eyed them
with doubt not a little mingled with fear. The citizens round
Albert Maurice stood silent, as if undetermined how to act ; and
the grim faces of the crowd, worked by many an angry passion,
filled up the other side of the hall.
The resolution of Albert Maurice himself was taken in a
moment ; and, advancing from amongst his friends, he passed
round before the prevot's band, and approached the crowd
that obstructed their passage out. " My good friends," he said,
124 MAHY OK lUltGrXDY; OH,
" let mc entreat of you to keep peace, and let tliesc men depart
quietly. Let us not risk our riglits and privileges, and stain
a just and noble cause, by any act of violence. Let them go
forth in safety ; and we here, your fellow-citizens, will sec that
no breach of our rights take place."
No one moved a step ; and, for a moment or two, the leaders
of the crowd remained in silence, looking alternately at each
other and at the young speaker, with an expression of coun-
tenance which boded but little good to the hickless band of the
prevot. At length one grutf voice deinandcd, " What do they
here ?"
" They came with orders from their superior officer," replied
Albert Maurice, " for the purpose of arresting me."
" Then they should die for their ])ains," replied the same
rough voice, which was supported by loud cries from behind
of " Down with them, down with them !"
" Nay, nay," exclaimed Albert Maurice, raising his tone, " it
must not — it shall not be so. Men of Ghent, for my honour, for
your own, for the safety and privileges of the town, let them
pass free. If you love me," he added, in a gentler voice.
This appeal to their affection for himself was not without
its effect; and, after considerable persuasions and delays, he pre-
vailed upon them to withdraw from the antechamber and the
staircase ; and then, leading down the lieutenant himself, he
conducted him and his men-at-arms through a lane of very
ominous-looking faces in the vestibule out into the great square,
which was now thronged in almost every part by bodies of
the armed populace. Through the midst of these, also, though
not without considerable danger, Albert Maurice obtained a free
passage for the prevot's band ; nor did he leave them till he had
seen them clear of all obstruction. The lieutenant had remained
completely silent during their passage through the crowd, except
when called u]ion to give some command to his men concerning
their array. When, however, they were free from the people,
he took the hand of the young citizen in his, and wrung it
hard : " Master Albert Maurice," he said, " 3'ou have acted
a noble part, and it shall l)e remembered when it may do
you good."
" liCt it be remembered, sir," replied the young citizen, " to
show that the peo])lc and burghers of Ghent, while they are
determined to maintain their rights with vigour, are equally
THK KKV()I/I OF (iFIENT. 125
determined not to maintain them with violenec. Do but justice,
sir, to our motives and our coiiduet, and wc demand no more."
As soon as he had seen the httle band of soldiers placed
beyond the risk of all farther opposition, he returned to tlie
town-hall, amidst the shouts of the people, who were now
lingering; to talk over the events that had already occurred,
and to discover whether anything fresh might not arise to give
them an opportunity of exercising the arms they held in
their hands, and of satisfying the spirit of tumult that had been
excited amongst them. On his arrival in the hall, the young
citizen instantly approached the Lord of Neufchatel, saying,
" Of course I consider mj'self as a prisoner in your hands,
my lord, till such time as I can be heard in my own defence
by the princess and her council, which, I beseech you, may
be as soon as you can bring it about."
" You seem to understand all these things, young gentle-
man," replied the old noble, " as well as if you had been born
to courts. Let us now go forth, then, to my lodging, where
I will entertain you as well as my poor means will admit ; and
will immediately send to ascertain when the princess will con-
descend to hear your cause."
This mode of pi'oceeding was, of course, immediately adopted ;
and Albert Maurice accompanied the Lord of Neufchatel to his
dwelling; where, partly as a prisoner, partly as a guest, he
remained during the rest of the day, and the night that followed.
The conduct of his entertainer towards him was a combination
of stately hospitality and patronising superiority ; and Albert
Maurice himself, without abating one jot of that innate dignity
and proud sense of mental greatness, which more or less affected
his usual demeanour, succeeded, by showing all due reverence
for the rank of his host, and expressing no small gratitude for the
liberal feeling he had displayed towards him, in gaining each
hour more and more upon the old officer's esteem. The whole
history of his case also, as it had occurred, and the written testi-
mony which he produced to show the cause of his arrest by
Maillotin du Bac, afforded a sufficient presumption of his
innocence to satisfy the old Lord of Neufchatel, who assured the
young citizen of his personal protection and support before
the council.
Late in the evening a messenger from the palace announced,
that at noon the next day the Princess Mary would hear Albert
12G JMAKV Ol lUIRGUNDV; OH,
Maurice and liis accusers; and ^llortly after the (jld lord left luni
for the night, bidding him amuse himself with a few books and
papers which ho pointed out in the chaniljer assigned to him,
and reconmiending him not to think further of to-morrow, as his
acquittal was certain. Albert Maurice, willingly following his
advice, sat down to read ; and the sun soon after set to the young
citizen, leaving him in a position as different as it is possible
to conceive, from that which he had contemplated the night
before, as his probable situation at the end of four-and-twenty
hours.
And so it is through life ! Where is the cunning astrologer,
or sage, or politician, who can lay out, beforehand, the scheme
of a single day ?
CHAPTER XIV.
During the course of the following morning, Albert Maurice was
visited, in the sort of honourable imprisonment to which he was
subjected, by all the chief citizens of Ghent ; and a number of
them begged permission of the ex-seneschal of Burgundy lo
accompany tlicir young townsman to the council-table of the
palace. This was immediately granted to Martin Fruse and
several others, who, by relationship or connexion, could claim a
near interest in the fate of Albert Maurice. At the same time
the rumour of what was about to occur spread all over Ghent,
and before the arrival of the appointed houi', a large crowd,
composed of different classes, surrounded the great gate of the
dwelling of the Lord of Neufchatel. At al)out half-])ast eleven,
one of the young citizen's own horses was brought from his house
to the place of his temporary abode ; and, shortly after, the old
nobleman rode forth, accompanied by his protef/c, and followed
by half a dozen of the principal burghers; while a party of about
twenty of his own armed attendants brought up the rear of the
cavalcade. In this order, and amongst deafening shouts from
the people, who ran on by the sides of their horses, they pro-
ceeded to the palace, where a considerable crowd was also
assembled.
In the court-yard, drawn up so as to face the great gate, was
riiK Ki;\c)i;r or giikni'. 127
a small body of men-at-arms clad in complete steel, with horses
furnished with that sort of defensive armour called bard or bardo ;
while, in a double line from the entrance of the outer enclosure
to the steps before the palace, appeared a strong body of harque-
bussiers with their slow matches lighted, as if prepared for an
anticipated struggle : — behind these, again, appeared the soldiers
of the prevot's guai'd, who were chosen in general from those
lighter and more active troops, which at a former period were
called in the English armies hobblers, but which had now gene-
rally obtained the name o^ jennetaires, from the jennets or light
Spanish horses on Avhich they were usually mounted.
The Lord of Neufchatel and his companions alighted at the
outer gate, and passed on foot through the formidable military
array above described. The old nobleman led the way, followed
by Albert Maurice, who, with a firm step and an upright carriage,
but without the slightest touch of bravado in his demeanour,
passed along the w^hole line, which, he plainly saw, was drawn
up to overawe any attempt to rescue him, which the populace
might be inclined to make in case of his condemnation. The
same demonstrations of military force appeared in the outer hall,
and in an ante-room beyond, in which the young citizen and
his companions were detained for a few minutes, while his
arrival was announced in the chamber of audience with which
it communicated.
It were vain to say that no shade of emotion passed through
the bosom of Albert Maurice as he stood there waiting for a
hearing which was to determine his fate for life or death ; but
still his feelings were vei'y different from those which men of less
firm nerve might be supposed to experience on such an occasion.
Poor Martin Fruse, who stood behind him, quivered in every
limb with anxiety and apprehension ; fidgeted here and there,
and many a time and oft plucked his nephew by the sleeve, to
receive rather than to yield consolation and encouragement.
The countenance of the young burgher, however, was in no way
troubled : there was in it that expression of deep grave thought,
which befitted the time and circumstances; but his brow was
unclouded, his cheek had lost not a tint of its natural hue, and
his lip quivered not with anything like agitation.
After a brief pause, tAvo soldiers, who stood with their parti-
zans crossed before the entrance of the audience hall, raised their
weapons at a signal from within. The doors were thrown open,
128 .MAI!V OF lUIUM'ND'i : Ol!,
uikI in the inulsi of niucli liunyinjj; and confusion — tor a nnniljcr
of persons had by sonic means gained admission to the ante-
chamber to witness the proceedinjrs — Albert Maurice, and those
wlio accompanied liim, were led forward to the end of a long
table, at which were seated a body of the noblest men of tlie
land. A wooden bar had been drawn from each side of the
council-board to the wall on either hand ; and two soldiers with
drawn swords were placed within these barriers, to prevent the
spectators from advancing beyond them. The space thus left at
the end of the hall, being but small, was soon filled up ; and the
doors were iunnediately closed by tlie orders of the Lord of
Imbercourt, who was sitting near the head of the table.
In the chair of state, which occui)icd the principal place at the
table, sat the same gentle, beautiful being whom Albert Maurice
had seen the day before in the great square. She was dressed
as befitted her state and station ; and, in a semicircle behind her,
stood a bevy of fair girls, whose beauty, however, faded com-
pletely before her own. She was somewhat paler than the day
before, and perhaps a slight degree of agitation and anxiety
might be visible in her looks : but still the predominant expres-
sion of her countenance was gentle calmness ; and, as she raised
the dark fringes of her soft hazel eyes towards the accused, when
he took his place at the end of the table, they seemed to say, —
" I shall be a lenient judge."
His eyes met hers for a moment, and the colour rose slightly
in her cheek as they did so ; while, at the same time, a thrill of
feelings, new and strange, passed through the heart of Albert
Maurice. The principal places of the council-table were filled
by the Lords of Kavestein, Imbercourt, llngonct, and Vere ;
but the Duchess of Burgundy herself, the wife of Charles the
Bold, was not present.
A momentary silence succeeded the bustle of their entrance,
and the Lord of Neufchatel surrendered in due form the prisoner
for whom he had become responsible, and claimed to be delivered
from the charge. The business of the council then seemed sus-
pended for a time, from some motive which Albert Maurice did
not understand. This was explained, however, the minute after,
when a door, which opened into the space within the bar, was
thrown back, and Maillotin du Bac, his countenance as pale as
ashes, his arm in a sling, and his head wrapped in innumerable
bandages, was sup])orted into the hall by two attendants, 'i'he
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 129
eye of the Princess fixed upon him with an expression of grief
and compassion, and making an eager gesture with her hand, she
exclaimed, " Place him a chair, place him a chair !"
This command was immediately obeyed ; and after the Prevot
had paused for a few minutes to regain strength, he was directed
to proceed with his charge against Albert Maurice, qualified
simply as a citizen of Ghent. This he instantly did with a
loudness of tone and a degree of vindictive vehemence, which
no one could have supposed him capable of exerting, from the
weak state in which he appeared to be. His present charge
was somewhat differently couched from that which he had made
against the young citizen at the castle of Hannut: he passed
over in complete silence all the circumstances of the prisoner's
arrest, merely stating that he had received information of a
treasonable communication carried on by this young citizen,
between Ghent, Namur, and France ; and that he had arrested
him accordingl}'. On his person he said he had found letters,
the tendency of which placed the facts beyond doubt ; and also
showed that the prisoner was criminally connected with those
lawless bands of routiers and plunderers called the Green Riders.
He then went on to detail his having placed him securely in one
of the strongest dungeons of the castle of Hannut, and of his
having discovered the next morning that the dungeon was
vacant. How it became so he said he could not tell ; but
certain it was that he had not been received by the Lord of
Hannut with that courtesy and willing co-operation which, as an
officer of the Duke of Burgundy, he had a right to expect. He
next detailed to the council his pursuit of the Green Riders ;
and related the manner in which he had been attacked and de-
feated, although he rated the number of the brigands as not less
than triple that of his own band. It was evidently their design,
he said, and probably their whole design, to deprive him of the
papers which proved the guilt of their comrade and ally, who
stood there at the end of the table. In this view they had
unfortunately been too successful ; but he was ready to swear
upon his knightly oath, and two or three of his band, to whom
he had shown those papers, were prepared to bear witness, that
they were of a most treasonable character.
To confirm this statement two of the troopers were accord-
ingly called in, and swore to the prevot having shown them the
K.
130 MAKV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
papers found upou the prisoner's person, which were full of
treason in every line.
During the evidence of one of these persons, the eye of
Maillotin du Bac detected the old Lord of Ncufchatel in whis-
pering something to the prisoner ; and he exclaimed loudly and
indecently against that nobleman for cogging, as he called it,
with a base mechanical citizen and a traitor.
" Hark ye, Sir Maillotin du 13ac," replied the old lord, burst-
ing forth with no small indignation, *' you yourself are a grovel-
ling hound ; and by the Lord that lives, the first time I meet
thee I will drub out of thee the little life that the good Green
Riders have left thee, and more "
" Peace, peace, sirs," interrupted the Lord of Imbercourt ;
" you forget the presence in which you stand, your own dignity,
and the solemnity of the occasion. My Lord of Neufchatel, do
you object to tell the council what you whispered but now in the
ear of that young man ?"
" Not I, in faith," rephed the other ; " that was just what I was
about to tell you when you interrupted me. I was then saying
that the fellow there, who has just sworn to having read so much
treason, must have learned to read very fast, and somewhat late
in the day ; for not a year ago he was trumpeter in my train,
and could not tell an A from a Z."
" Ha !" cried the Lord of Lnbercourt, " this must be looked
to. Some one hand him a book. Methinks thou turnest
mighty pale," he added, speaking to the trooper as his command
was obeyed ; and a volume of the archives of Burgundy was
placed in the man's hand. " There, read me that sentence I"
With trembling hands the man held the book, gazing with a
white face, and lack-lustre eyes, upon the characters which it
contained, and which were evidently to him meaningless enough.
After a moment's vain effort to perform the impossible task, he
lifted his eyes, and rolled them, full of dismay and detected
guilt, round the faces of all present ; while Maillotin du Bac, in
rage and disappointment, set his teeth firm in his pale lip, and
stamped his foot heavily upon the ground.
The brow of the Chancellor Hugonct. darkened ; and, point-
ing to the man who had so evidently committed a gross and
wilful perjury, he exclaimed, " Take him away, and let him be
well guarded." The command was immediately obeyed, and the
trooper was hurried out of the chamber by two of the attendants.
THE REVOLT OF GPIENT. 131
" Do you not think, my lords," said the low, sweet voice of
Mary of Burgundy, " that we may dismiss this cause ? If it be
supported by such witnesses as these, it will bring more disgrace
upon our nation than can be well wiped off."
" We must not forget, madam," replied Imbercourt, " that
here is justice to be done to the characters of two persons, the
accused and his accuser ; and though the nature of the testimony
offered as yet may well induce us to view this charge with sus-
picion, yet we should be doing less than justice to this young
citizen of your good town of Ghent, did we not give him the
opportunity of clearing his character fully from even a shade of
doubt. Sir Maillotin du Bac," he added somewhat sternly,
" have you any other testimony to produce in support of your
accusation ?"
" Methinks," replied the Prevot, boldly, " that my own word
and testimony should be enough."
" Not here, sir," replied Imbercourt. " You, young gentle-
man," he added, addressing the young burgher, " you have
heard the charge against you ; do you desire to speak in your
defence ?"
" I pray thee, do so, J^oung sir," said the Princess, bending
slightly forward ; — " we would fain believe you wholly innocent,
for we cannot believe that our noble father, the Duke Charles,
can have done anything to turn one true heart against him ; and
we would fain hear that such a word as treason is unknown in
the good land of Flanders, except in the mouths of base calum-
niators, such as the man who, but now, has been taken hence."
Albert Maurice bent low his head, and then raising his eyes,
he replied, — " Madam, for your good opinion I would plead
long; and, that I felt conscious of my innocence, and able to
establish it before you, you may, in some degree, see, by the
bold appeal I have made to your justice, rather than trust myself
in the hands of one whose character is not famous for equal
dealing. It seldom happens, lady, that even in this evil world
one man persecutes another without some motive, springing
from either avarice, ambition, or revenge ; and yon prevot's bare
word, perhaps, might weigh even against the fair character I
trust I have hitherto bonie, could I not prove, that, besides the
general hate which he bears towards the citizens of Ghent, he has
a cause of personal animosity against myself. The tale is soon told,
and the proofs of its veracity are in my hand," he added, laying
K 2
132 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
his finger iij)on the })apcrs, wliich he had collected to j)rove his
innocence. " In the yniall town of Gembloux, whither I had
gone, on business relating to the traffic of my house, I heard a
woman's scream, and saw the wife of an honest burgher insulted
and ill-treated at her own door by one of the brutal soldiers of
that prc'vot's band — a band, lady, which, by their insolent con-
tempt of all the ordinary charities and feelings of civil life, have
brought more hatred upon the rulers of Flanders than ever your
noble father dreamt of, and than ever their services against the
brigands can repay. But no more on that score," he continued,
as the Lord of Imbercourt held up his hand with a warning
gesture. " Suffice it, I saw a woman ill-treated by one of the
soldiers of his band, and I struck the miscreant to the earth in
the very deed ; and where is there a Christian man, be he
knight or noble, citizen or peasant, who shall say that I did
wrong ? Before I was aware, however, I was seized and over-
powered by numbers, my arms tied with cords, my horse-boy
beaten and driven out of the town, my baggage plundered, and
several sealed letters which I was bearing from Namur to Ghent
broken open, and read for the purpose of forging accusations
against me."
" You hear, lords, you hear !" exclaimed Maillotin du Bac ;
" he acknowledges the fact of the letters, mark that."
" Ay, do mark it, noble lords ! mark it well," continued Albert
Maurice, boldly : — " I do acknowledge it. Nay, more, I acknow-
ledge that in those letters was the expression of some grief and
indignation felt by the people of Namur, on account of infringed
rights and violated privileges. But at the same time, I do most
strictly deny, that I knew one word of the contents of those
letters, till they were read by yon bad man in my presence ; and
still more, I affirm, that even had I known everything that they
contained, or had I written them myself, there was no sentence
in them which tyranny itself could wrest into such a crime
as treason. Lady, and you. Lords of the Council, yon provot
has called witnesses to tell you what were the contents of those
letters, and of the honour and good faith of those witnesses you
have had an opportunity of judging. I will now call upon a
witness also, with whose character you have equal means of being
acquainted. My Lord of Imbercourt, to you I appeal. Those
letters were shown to you in m}' presence ; and if you can, upon
your knightly honour, declare that they contain treason, do so
before the world."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 133
" Your appeal to me, young gentleman," replied the Lord of
Inibercourt, " must not be made in vain. I do most solemnly
declare, on my honour and oath as a belted knight, that in the
letters shown me by the prevot, as found upon that young
citizen's person, though there were some expressions bordering
upon turbulent discontent, yet there was nothing, in my poor
judgment, which any sane man could construe into treason."
The eyes of Mary of Burgundy had fixed eagerly upon the
counsellor as he spoke ; and when he uttered the last words, a
bright smile of gentle satisfaction lighted up all her features,
while a slight glow, spreading over her face, seemed to tell with
what anxiety she had listened to the testimony of the Lord of
Imbercourt. That smile and that glow were not unmarked bj
Albert Maurice ; and his own cheek flushed, and his own rich
voice rather trembled, as he proceeded with the next sentences
of his defence.
" On such grounds of accusation, lady," he continued, " was
I dragged along, tied hand and foot as a criminal of the worst
description, — hurried forward in this situation with the rest of
the troop, while they attacked a party of routiers in the forest of
Hannut — carried on to the castle in that forest, and thrown into
a dark dungeon, with a pile of straw for my bed. I thence made
my escape "
" How ?" shouted the voice of Maillotin du Bac — " how ?"
" How matters not," replied Albert Maurice.
" Ay, by my faith, but it does," rejoined the Prevot ; " for I
accuse you. Sir Citizen, of leaguing with these forest swine that
have so long plundered and desolated the land. Every one of
my men can bear witness, that for the papers concerning you
alone was I attacked near Braine-la-Leud ; that they were the
first things sought for when we were overpowered by numbers,-
and that the continual cry of their leaders was, — ' Secure the
papers !' "
Albert Maurice paused, and the Chancellor Hugonet ex-
claimed — " You had better explain your escape, young gentle-
man ; this gives a new aspect to the case."
" On the facts that followed I can say something also," ob-
served the Lord of Imbercourt, " having been in the castle of
my good brother of Hannut when the absence of the prisoner
was first discovered."
" Speak, then, my lord, speak," said Mary of Burgundy,
134 AIAUY OK BURGUNDY ; OR,
eagerly ; " such testimony as yours is beyond all question ; and,
unaccustomed to such scenes as this, I would fain see this case
terminated speedily and well. Speak, then, my lord, and tell us
all you know."
*' It were better," replied Imbercourt, " and more in the forms
of justice, to suffer the accused to tell his own talc, in regard to
his escape ; before I give any evidence that I can upon the sub-
ject. If you require it, sir," he added, addressing the young
citizen, " I will absent myself from the council-table while you
deliver your statement, that my testimony may be considered
the more impartial."
" Not in the least, my lord," replied Albert Maurice, " do I
desire your absence at all ; nor is it my purpose to make any
statement in regard to my escape. — Escape I did — Of course I
could not have done so effectually without some aid, from
without or from within ; and I do not choose to injure any one,
however lowly or however high, by implicating them in an affair
like this. Whatever you know upon the subject must be from
some other source, and, knowing my own innocence in every
respect, I hear you without apprehension."
" I have then but little beyond conjecture to advance," said
Imbercourt. " On the morning after our arrival at the castle of
Hannut, this prevot presented himself in great wrath before my
noble brother-in-law and myself, informing us of the escape of
the prisoner, and insinuated, in somewhat insolent terms, that
the Lord of Ilannut — as loyal a nobleman as ever lived — had
abetted the evasion. An instant investigation was instituted,
and we learned that the dungeon in which the prisoner was left
the nio-ht before had been found locked in the morning. No
sign of violence was to be seen when we examined it in person,
not a bar was broken, not a stanchion was moved : there, lay
the straw which had been the prisoner's bed ; there, stood the
flagon and the bread which had been given him for his supper
on the previous night. But on inquiry, we found, that this
prevot, after some deep drinking, and, in a state, as several
persons witnessed, of stupid drunkenness, had visited the ])ri-
soncr's cell at a late hour the preceding night; and we con-
cluded, that he had suffered the young burgher to slip past him
unobserved before he closed the door. Whether it was so or
not, none but himself can tell."
" My lord, as I before said, I will be silent on that j)oint,"
THE RKVOLT OF GHENT. 135
replied Albert Maurice ; " but the use which I made of my
liberty would be quite sufficient, I should conceive, to prove that
I had no very evil or dangerous designs. I hastened immediately
to Gcmbloux, where I obtained these papers, which I now lay
before the council, to establish fully the fact that I was arrested,
in the first instance, solely for striking a soldier, who had insulted
the wife of a burgher of the place ; I then made all speed to
Ghent, where I was sure of encountering my adversary, but
where I trusted also to obtain justice."
" And the first thing you did when you were in Ghent," ex-
claimed Maillotin du Bac, with the angry vehemence of disap-
pointed hatred, " was to stir up the people to tumult, to make
seditious speeches in the town-hall, to resist the lawful force sent
to arrest you, and to incite the people to murder the officers that
were despatched for your apprehension — Pretty proofs of inno-
cence, indeed ! Well, well, the princess and the lords of the
council will see what will come of it, if they suffer such doings
to take place with impunity. Who will serve the state, if the
state will not support them in doing their duty ? The strong
hand, lords, the strong hand is the only way to keep down these
turbulent, disaffected burghers."
" It must be the strong hand of justice, then, Prevot," replied
Imbercourt ; " and let me tell you, that you yourself, by the unjust
arrest of this young man, have done more to stir up the people
to rebellion than the most seditious traitor that ever harangued
from a market cross. Nor, sir, must you scatter such false and
malicious accusations without proofs. Before I sat down here, I,
with several of the other lords now present, investigated accurately
what had been the conduct of this young burgher during the
course of yesterday morning ; and I find that, so far from his
behaviour being turbulent and seditious, he acted only as a loyal
subject to our lord the duke, and was one of those good mer-
chants who drew up an address of congratulation on the news of
our sovereign's safety. More — I found that, had it not been
for his influence and strong exertions with the people, your
lieutenant and his band. Sir Prevot, would have been sacrificed
to their indignation, for imprudently intruding into a privileged
place, while the merchants of the good town were assembled
in deliberation. Nor can any one doubt the fact, for your own
lieutenant was the first to bear witness to this young citizen's
generous intercession in his favour."
136 MAUV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
Maillotin du Bac set his teeth hard, and stretched out his
hand upon his knee, with a sort of suppressed groan, which
might proceed either from the pain of his bruises, or the dis-
appointment of his maHce. After a short pause, during which
no one seemed prepared to say anything more, either in accu-
sation or defence, the Princess herself spoke, with that sort
of timid and doubtful tone which was natural in one so young,
so inexperienced, and so gentle on giving a decision upon so
important a cause, although it was sufficiently evident to all
what her decision must be.
" I think, my lords," she said, " after what we have heard
there cannot be any great difference of opinion. The evidence
which has been brought forward seems not only to exculpate
this young gentleman from all charge whatever, but to cast
the highest honour upon his character and conduct. What say
you, my lords ? do you not acquit him freely from all stain ?"
The voices of the council were found unanimous in favour
of the accused ; and it was announced to him that he stood free
and clear from all accusation. The princess bowed to him, as
his full acquittal was declared, with a smile of gratification at
the result, which sprang from a pure, a noble, and a gentle
heart, pleased to see a fellow creature, whose dignified deport-
ment and graceful carriage could not but win upon the weak-
nesses of human nature, establish clearly a higher and more
dignified title to esteem by tried virtue and integrity. There
was no other feeling mingled with her smile ; nor did Albert
Maurice, for a moment, dream that there was ; but, at the
same time, it wakened a train of thoughts in his own mind both
dangerous and painful. More than ever did he feel that he was
born out of the station for which nature had formed his spirit ;
and more than ever did his heart burn to do away those grades
in society, which, though the inevitable consequences of the
innate differences between different men, he, from mortified
pride, termed, artificial distinctions, and unjust bamers betwixt
man and man. It were to inquire too curiously, perhaps, to
investigate how the one sweet smile of that beautiful lip woke in
the heart of the young citizen a train of such apparently abstruse
thoughts. So, however, it was ; and, as the doors of the audience
hall were thrown open behind him, allowing those to go forth
who had gained admittance to hear his examination before the
council, he bowed to the princess and the nobles present, with
THE REVOLT OF GlIKNT. 137
feelinf^s individually more friendly to all of them, but certainly
more hostile to the general system of government, and the
existing institutions of society.
Still Albert Maurice entertained no presumptuous dreams
in regard to Mary of Burgundy. He thought her certainly the
most beautiful creature he had ever beheld. She had smiled
upon him sweetly and gently. She had been present at his
examination herself, though she might, notwithstanding his
appeal, have left it to the decision of her council. She had done
him full and impartial justice ; and she had seemed to derive
a personal pleasure from his acquittal. All this he felt strongly;
and he was fond to picture, from that fair face, and those soft
hazel eyes, a mind and a spirit within all gentleness and excel-
lence. He thought, too, that had mankind been in its just
and natural situation, where no cold rules placed as wide a
distance between different classes, as if they were composed
of different creatures, he might have striven to win — ay, and he
thought he might have won, that fair hand, which had held
the scales of justice for him so impartially.
Such feelings, and all the many collateral thoughts to which
those feelings gave rise, were busy in his breast, as he followed
the good old Lord of Neufchatel towards the door. Just as
he was going out, he turned to take one more glance of the
princess, — the last, perhaps, he was ever to obtain ; but Mary of
Burgundy, and her ladies, had already quitted the hall, as well as
his accuser, Maillotin du Bac, who had hastened away to conceal
himself from popular indignation. Nothing was to be seen
but one or two of the members of the council, standing together
in a group at the farther end of the table, and apparently, by the
gay laughter in which they were indulging, conversing over
some indifferent subject. Albert Maurice turned, and strode
through the antechamber, while the Lord of Neufchatel walked
on before him, demonstrating, with proud courtesy, various points
of feudal law to good Martin Fruse, who listened to his speech
with every mark of the most deferential respect. The young
citizen was just entering the outer hall, and he already heard
the shouts of the people in the square, welcoming with a glad
voice, the news of his acquittal, which had preceded his own ap-
peai'ance, when somebody plucked him by the sleeve, and one of
the officers of the household informed him, in a low tone, that the
Princess Mary required his presence for a moment in private.
138 .MARY OF BURGUNDV; OR,
The heart of the young ])urghor beat f[uick ; but wiiliout
pause he followed the attendant, as he turned away from him,
and in a moment had passed through one of the side doors into
tlie private apartments of the palace.
CHAPTER XV.
Every one knows that, in the early dawn of a Sicilian morning,
the shepherds and the watchers on the coast of the Messinesc
Strait will sometimes behold, in the midst of the clear unclouded
blue of the sky, a splendid but delusive pageant, which is seen
also, though in a less vivid form, amongst the Hebrides. Towers
and castles, domes and palaces, festivals and processions, arrayed
armies and contending hosts, pass, for a few minutes, in brilliant
confusion before the eyes of the beholders, and then fade away,
as if the scenes of another world were, for some especial purpose,
conjured up during one brief moment, and then withdrawn for
ever from their sight.
Thus there are times, too, in the life of man, when the spirit,
excited by some great and stirring passion, or by mingling with
mighty and portentous events, seems to gain for a brief instant a
confused but magnificent view of splendid things not yet in
being. Imagination in the one case, and her daughter, Hope,
in the other, give form and distinctness to the airy images,
though both are too soon doomed to fade away amidst the
colder realities of the stern world we dwell in.
The mind of Albert Maurice had been excited by the scenes
he had just gone through ; and success, without making him
arrogant, had filled him full of expectation. Each step that he
took forward seemed but to raise him higher, and each effort of
an enemy to crush him seemed, without any exertion of his own,
only to clear the way before him. Such thoughts were mingling
with other feelings — brought forth by the sight, and the voice,
and the smile of Mary of Burgundy, when the sudden call to
her presence woke him from such dreams; but woke him only
to show to his mind's eye many a confused but bright and
splendid image, as gay, as glittering, as pageant-like, but as
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 139
unreal also, as the airy vision which hangs in the morning light
over the Sicilian seas. Fancy at once called up everything
within the wide range of possibility. — Battles and victories, and
triumphant success, the shout of nations and of worlds, the
sceptre, the palace, and the throne, and a thousand other indis-
tinct ideas of mighty things, danced before his eyes for a moment,
with a sweeter and a brighter imago, too, as the object and end
of ambition, the reward of mighty endeavour, the crowning
boon of infinite success. But still he felt and knew, even while
he dreamed, that it was all unreal ; and, as he followed the mes-
senger with a quick pace, the vision faded, and left him but the
cold and naked truth. At length, after passing through several
chambers, which flanked the hall of audience, the door of a
small apartment, called the bower, was thrown open, and the
young burgher stood once more before Mary of Burgundy.
One of the most painful curses of high station is that of seldom,
if ever, being alone ; of having no moment, except those intended
for repose, in which to commune with one's own heart, without
the oppression of some human eye watching the emotions of the
mind as they act upon the body, and keeping sentinel over the
heart's index — the face. Mary of Burgundy was not alone,
though as much alone as those of her station usually are. She
stood near a window, at the other side of the apartment, with
her soft rounded arm and delicate hand twined in those of one
of her fair attendants — Alice of Imbercourt — on whom she
leaned slightly, while the Lord of Imbercourt himself stood
beside her on the other hand ; and, with his stately head some-
what bent, seemed, with all due reverence, to give her counsel
upon some private matter of importance. Another figure was
retiring from an opposite door as Albert Maurice entered ; but
who it was, the faint glance he caught did not permit the young
burgher to distinguish.
He advanced towards the spot where the Princess stood, with
the usual marks of ceremony and reverence ; and, as he came
near and bent one knee, she held out her hand for him to kiss,
with a gentle smile, but with the air and demeanour of a princess.
" I congratulate you. Master Albert Maurice," she said, as
soon as he had risen, " on the clear and satisfactory manner in
which you have been enabled to establish your innocence ; for I
fear, it sometimes happens that persons accused arc not able to
bring forward sufficient evidence to exculpate them before their
140 MARY OF BURGUNDV; OK,
princes, who, judging according to their best conscience, are
often charged witli cruelty or partiality, more from the defect of
the testimony offered to them, than from any desire of doing
aught but justice. I therefore congratulate you most sincerely
on your having had the ineans of establishing your innocence
beyond all doubt : and I am deeply gratified myself, that you
have been able to remove every doubt from my own mind, as
well as to satisfy my council."
" Had every person accused, so gracious and impartial a
judge, madam," replied the young citizen, " it were happy for
the world ; and, indeed, it was my full confidence in your own
justice, and in that of the noble lords of the council, which made
me appeal so boldly to your own decision."
" For so doing I thank you, sir," replied the Princess ; " and
I have now sent for you to say so, as well as to speak with you
on one part of your defence, which somewhat touched upon the
honour of my father's justice. Although I marked it at the
time, I did not choose to notice it before the many ; and now,
by the advice of one of my best and most faithful friends, I
seek this private mode — certainly not of chiding you for what
has ])asscd your lips — but of calling to your remembrance things
which might have made your words less bitter."
The Princess paused for a moment, colouring slightly, with
some degree of agitation, from the task thus imposed upon her,
and from the long time which it required her to speak upon
subjects of some political importance. She showed, indeed, no
awkward incompetence, no want of mental power ; but her
blush and her slight embarrassment were those of her 3'outh, of
her sex, and of a delicate and feeling mind. While she paused,
Albert Maurice merely bowed his head, without reply ; and in a
moment after, she proceeded.
" I am very young, sir," she said, " and, as a woman, am of
course cut off from mingling greatly with mankind. Nevertheless,
as it has so unfortunately fallen out, that the rule of these terri-
tories should seem to be at some time destined for a female hand,.
and that hand mine, I have not, of course, neglected the study
of the laws and institutions, nor of the history, of the dominions
that may one day become my own. In speaking of the city of
Namur, you named rights violated, and privileges infringed, and,
perhaps, alluded to some other privileges of which other towns
have been deprived. Most of the events that you probably
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 141
referred to, took place before the period to which my own re-
membrance extends ; but, if the historians of the land say true,
no rights were ever, in any instance, arbitrarily wrenched away
from the people. In all cases, if my memory serve me right, the
loss of privileges was inflicted on the citizens as a punishment
for some crime, for some unprovoked revolt, for some attempt to
snatch the power from what they considered a weak or embar-
rassed hand. Such being the case, justice — both in the abstract
sense of aw-arding punishment for evil, or in the moral policy of
deterring others from crime, by the example of retributive in-
fliction — required that the cities which had so acted should suffer
a certain penalty as the consequence. That penalty has always
been the loss of some of their privileges; which punishment has
uniformly been received by them as most merciful, at the time
when detected treason or suppressed revolt brought upon them
the wrath, and placed them at the mercy, of a powerful prince.
Nor, let me say, can they hope to regain the privileges they have
lost, except by a calm and tranquil obedience, or some service
rendered, which may merit reward and confidence."
She waited for a reply ; but Albert Maurice remained silent.
In truth, he felt no small difficulty in so shaping his answer as
not to sw^erve from the truths indelibly written in his own heart,
and yet not to hurt the feelings, or lower himself in the esteem,
of one whose good opinion had become, he knew not why, of
more consequence in his eyes than mortal opinion had ever been
before. He felt, too, that the princess spoke according to the
ideas and sentiments of her rank and of her times ; while he
himself bore within his bosom the feelings of his own class, and
the thoughts of times long gone, when liberty was eloquent and
powerful.
Although between such different principles there was a gulf
as deep as the abyss, still love might span it with a bridge, which,
like that that leads to the Moslem paradise, is finer than a
famished spider's thread. But it w^ere wrong to say he loved.
Oh, no ! he would have shrunk fi-om so idle a thought, had it
come upon him in a tangible shape. Yet there was something
growing upon his heart which softened it towards Mary of Bur-
gundy — which rendered it unwilling to hurt her feelings — which
made it timid of offending her, though the eye of the proudest
sovereign that ever trod the earth would not have caused it to
quail for an instant.
142 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OH,
The Lord of Imbercourt saw more clearly into the character
of the man, and knew more of the circumstances of the times,
than the princess he had stayed to counsel ; and perceiving that
the young citizen was not about to reply, he spoke a few words
in addition to that which Mary had advanced, taking a wider
ground than she had assumed, and examining the subject more
as a philosopher than cither a feudal noble, or the counsellor of
an absolute prince, lie spoke of the necessity of order and good
government, for the peace and happiness of the people them-
selves; he pointed out that tranquillity and general confidence
v/ere absolutely necessary to industry, both commercial and pro-
ductive ; and he showed, with the voice of years and experience,
that turbulence and discontent were ruinous to any nation, but,
in a tenfold degree, ruinous to a commercial people,
" Believe me, Master Albert Maurice," he added, " that just
in the same proportion that the man is to be blest, who teaches
a people to improve their moral state, to cultivate their intellects,
and to extend their knowledge and resources, — in the same
degree is he to be hated and despised, who teaches them to be
discontented with their condition."
lie paused; and Albert Maurice replied with more calm firm-
ness than he could, perhaps, have shown, had he answered the
princess, — " I will not, my lord, attempt to use towards you that
ordinary fallacy which, in fact, arises only in the imperfection of
language, namely, that people must be rendered discontented
with their condition, in order to gain the desire of changing it.
I know and feel, that, though we have not a word exactly to
express it, there is an immense difference between discontent
with our present state, and the calm desire of improving it. But
still, it may be doubted, whether the mind of man, especially in
multitudes, does not require some more universal and potent
stimulus to carry it generally forward to great improvements,
than the slow progress of increasing knowledge can afford."
" No, no, indeed," replied Imbercourt ; " the potent stimulus
is like too much wine, which only maddens for the time, and
leaves every nerve more feeble and relaxed thereafter. No, no :
administer good plain and wholesome food to the social as well
as to the human body ; and, growing in strength and performing
all its functions correctly, it will gain, by the same calm and easy
degrees, the desire and the power of obtaining that w^hich is best
adapted to its state."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 143
Albert Maurice felt that there was truth in what the Lord of
Imbercourt advanced; but> nevertheless^ between them there
still existed a thousand differences of opinion, which would have
required an infinite change of circumstances to have removed.
The differences of their age, of their station, of their education,
and of their habits, were all as much opposed to a coincidence of
thought, as the difference of their natural characters itself; and
the only point of resemblance between the young citizen and the
high-born noble — namely, the fine aspirations and elegant feel-
ings which raised the former above the generality of his class —
naturally tended to make him detest those lavvs of society which
held him down in a rank below that for which he was fitted, and
look with disgust upon those who maintained them as a barrier
against him. At the same time he -was conscious that in his
bosom there might be some feelings not entirely patriotic, or, at
least, he felt afraid that it was so ; and, perceiving, also, that the
arguments which were addressed to him were far more liberal
and plausible than those usually held by the class to which the
Lord of Imbercourt belonged, he did not choose to enter into a
farther discussion, which might either shake his own determina-
tions, or expose the views on which he acted to those who would
take means to foil his designs.
" I am, of course, incompetent, my lord," he replied, " to argue
with an experienced statesmen like yourself, on subjects which
you must have had a much greater opportunity of examining
than I can have had."
Imbercourt watched his countenance during this brief reply;
and he was too much versed in the ways of men to be deceived
by its apparent modesty. He saw, and saw clearly, that the high
and flashing spirit, the keen and acute mind, which the young
burgher had displayed at the examination before the council —
and which, indeed, had been reported long before to the ministers
of the Duke of Burgundy — was curbed and restrained on the
present occasion ; and he easily divined some of the motives
which created such reserve. He saw, too, that it would be neces-
sary to make use of other inducements than those of argument
for the purpose of detaching the young citizen from the factious
party in Flanders, and of preventing him from giving to their
designs the consolidation, the direction, and the vigour which
such a mind as his might bestow.
Neither had the slight shade of emotion which had passed
144 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
over the countenance of Albert ^Maurice, when addressed by the
princess, escaped his experienced eye ; and, though far too proud
and aristocratic in liis own nature ever to dream that a burgher
of Ghent could indulge in the very thought of love towards the
heiress of the land, he was sufficiently chivalrous in mind to
believe, that a smile from such fair lips, a word from so sweet a
voice, might bend a man on whom arguments would prove all
useless. He turned, therefore, to the princess, with a smile,
saying, — " Well, let us not reason of the past ; I think, madam,
that you had something to say to this young gentleman concern-
ing the future ; and, as it could come with full effect from no
lips but yours, I pray you communicate it to him yourself."
" Most willingly will I do so," replied Mary of Burgundy ;
" and I am sure that I shall not speak in vain. I have heard,
and, indeed, I know. Master Albert Maurice, that no man in
the good city of Ghent possesses so much influence as yourself
with the merchants and people of the good towns. My father
being now absent, and likely, I fear, to remain so for some time,
— as my dear and excellent stepdame, Margaret his duchess, has
been called to join him at Dijon, — and the government of
Flanders resting in my weak hands, 1 am anxious, most anxious,
to preserve the country, and especially this city of Ghent —
which," she added, with a smile, " has not in all times been
famous for its orderly disposition — in peace and tranc^uillity
during my temporary government, which, I pray, God shorten.
My request to you, therefore, is, that you will use your best
endeavours to still all irritation, to calm all disposition to tumult,
and to maintain in the people a spirit of order and quiet. May
I trust that you will do so ?"
The blood rushed up to the temples of the young citizen with
fearful force ; and the pain that he experienced for a few
moments, till he had determined upon his reply, would be
difficult to describe. At length he answered, though with some
hesitation.
" Madam," he said, " I feel assured that, under your sway,
however long the government of Flanders may be delegated
to you by your father, no infraction of the people's rights, no
blow at the privileges of the good towns, will, or can take place.
Under this conviction, I will willingly promise what you demand,
though, in truth, you attribute to me much greater influence than
I possess. At the same time, madam, let me pray you to
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 145
remember, that if — which God for})id ! — evil ministers or tyran-
nical officers should, as sometimes happens, wrong their master,
by trampling on his subjects, I cannot, and I will not, bind
myself to support such things, or to oppose my countrymen
in seekino; to rio;ht themselves."
" God forbid, indeed," exclaimed Mary, eagerly, " that you
should ever be put to such a trial I Indeed, young gentleman,
indeed," she added, while her whole beautiful countenance
glowed with enthusiasm, " to merit and to win my people's
love, to heal all feuds, to bind up every wound, to wipe the eyes
that weep, to raise up the oppressed, to uphold and to promote
the virtuous, and to guard the feeble and defenceless, would
be the first wish and thought of Mary of Burgundy, were she
queen of one half the world."
" Madam, I believe it ! — from my heart I believe it !" replied
Albert Maurice, catching the enthusiasm of her tone ; " and
may God bless and prosper you in the performance of so noble
an intention !"
As he spoke, he felt that the presence of that fair being had
become more dangerous to his resolutions and purposes, perhaps
even to his peace, than he could have imagined possible; and,
afraid that at every word he might promise more than circum-
stances might permit him to perform, or bind himself so strictly,
that his duty to his country would be lost, — he paused, and drew
a step back, in order to take his leave. The Princess saw the
movement, and bowed her head, to signify that he was at liberty
to depart. " Farewell, sir," she said ; " and do not forget the
promise you have made."
The young citizen bowed, and retired ; and, while Mary re-
mained in deep and anxious conversation with Imbercourt, he
made his way back to the antechamber of the audience-hall,
which was now empty, and thence into the court of the palace,
where he was joined by his uncle, Martin Fruse ; and found the
Lord of Neufchatel in the act of mounting his horse. The old
nobleman paused for a moment, to read the young citizen a long
and stately lecture upon the impropriety of leaving, as he had
done, those who had accompanied him to the council chamber,
the moment that the examination was over. The mind of Albert
Maurice, however, and his heart, were busied about far other
things ; and the reproof of the old cavalier fell upon a somewhat
dull and inattentive ear. He answered with some formal words
IK) MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
of apology, stating that he had been called away unexpectedly;
and then, with more energy and feeling, expressed his gratitude
for the kindness and services which the Lord of Neufchatcl had
rendered him.
" Well, well, no more of that !" cried the old lord ; " never
shall it be said that I shrunk from the side of an oppressed man,
be he noble or not noble. Happy I am that you have so fully
cleared yourself. Master Albert Maurice; and whenever the good
citizens of Ghent require such aid and advice concerning matters
of state and feudal law, as I, from my old acquaintance with
courts and camps, can give, let them come freely to consult me,
without fear or bashfulncss ; that is to say, while I am in the
city ; for, in ten days' time, I go to join the camp, and once
more, though the hand be feeble, and the head be grey, to lay
lance in rest for Burgundy. However, absent or present, I shall
always be happy to do what I can for the good city of Ghent."
Albert Maurice bowed, and his uncle bowed low; and, mounting
his horse, though with somewhat less alacrity than he had done
in his youthful days, the Lord of Neufchatcl quitted the palace
court, and went nodding and smiling through the crowds as-
sembled without. Albert Maurice and his uncle then followed,
passing the grim lanes of soldiery that still occupied the interior
of the court, with very different feelings from those which they
had experienced when they entered its gates. The appearance
of the young citizen, after his exculpation, was instantly hailed
by the multitudes without, as a sort of popular triumph ; and,
amidst shouts of joy and congratulation, he was conducted safely
to his own dwelUng.
CHAPTER XVL
We must now carry the reader's mind forward to a day a little in
advance of that which we last noticed.
It was towards that period of the year which the French
call the sliort summer of St. Martin, from the fact of a few linger-
ing bright days of sunshiny sweetness breaking in upon the
autumn, as a memorial of the warmer season gone before. The
sky was all full of light, and the air full of heat ; and the grand
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 147
masses of high grey clouds that occasionally floated over the
sun were hailed gladly for their soft cool shadow, although
the day was the eleventh of Novemher. Sweeping over the
prospect, like the mighty but indistinct images of great things
and splendid purposes which sometimes cross a powerful but
imaginative mind, the shadows of the clouds moved slow over hill
and dale, field and foi'est. Now they cast large masses of the
woods into dark and gloomy shade, and left the rising grounds
around to stand forth in light and sparkling brightness, giving
no bad image of the dark memories that are in every heart, sur-
rounded but not effliced by after joys. Now they floated soft
upon the mountains, spreading an airy purple over each dell and
cavity ; while, pouring into the midst of the valley, the bright
orb of day lighted up tower, and town, and farm, and hamlet,
and village spire, as hope lights up the existence of man, even
while the many clouds of fate hang their heaviest shadows on
the prospect around about him. The harmonious hue of autumn,
too, was over all the world. Russet was the livery of the year ;
and the brown fields, preparing for the sower, offered only a
deeper hue of the same colour, which, though varied through
a thousand shades, still painted every tree throughout the woods,
and sobered down even the grassy meadows with a tint far
different from that of spring. The sky, with the sunshine that it
contained, was all summer ; but the aspect of everything that
it looked upon spoke of autumn sinking fast into the arms of
winter.
Such was the scene upon the banks of the little river Geete,
when a party, whose bright dresses and active movements spoke
sport and gaiety, rode up the windings of the stream, not far
from the place where now stands the little hamlet of Sodoigne.
No village, however, stood there then ; and the banks of the
Geete were bordered for some miles with green meadows, not
above two or three hundred yards in breadth. These rich
pastures were bounded to the eastward by the forest of Hannut,
which swept in iiTcgular masses along the whole course of
the river, and were confined on the other hand by the low but
broken banks of the watercourse, sometimes, in the steepest
parts, lined with bushes, which dipped their very branches
in the current, but more often — where the turf and the stream
were nearly upon a level — fringed with long green flags and
other water plants.
L 2
148 MAUV OF isrufiiiXDV; oit,
The party who cantered Ughtly along the meadows consisted of
eight j)ersons, of whom three were females ; and each of the
latter upon her hand bore the glove and falcon, which showed
the object of their expedition. The first in state, in loveliness,
and in grace, was Mary of Burgundy, mounted on a beautiful
white horse adorned with many a goodly trapping, and which,
though full of fire and life, she managed with that easy and
graceful horsemanship for which she was famous, and which, un-
happily, in after years, led to the fatal accident* that deprived the
world of one of its brightest ornaments. By her side rode the
fair Alice of Imbercourt, her fiivourite friend and nearest attend-
ant; while another young lady, of inferior rank, but still of
noble birth, followed a step behind, somewhat embarrassed by the
high s])irit of her horse, which she managed well, but with less
dexterity than the other two. An elderly gentleman, of mild,
complacent, and courtly manners, followed the ladies as their
principal attendant ; while, of the other four, two habited in
green, and furnished with long poles for beating the bushes,
together with lures, spare jesses, hoods, and bells, at once showed
themselves as official falconers ; and the two who brought up
the rear, though armed with a degree of precaution that was
very necessary in that day, appeared what they really were,
namely, simple grooms.
There is something in the excitement of quick riding totally
obnoxious to both fear and sadness. It is scarcely possible to
conceive a person galloping easily along upon a spirited horse,
without feeling his confidence and hope renewed, in some
degree, whatever may be the circumstances of his situation.
Thus, though in the heart of Mary of Burgundy there was many
a memory of painful feelings, of disappointed hopes, and crushed
affections ; and, though across her mind, whenever she suffered
it to rest upon the future, would come dark and ])ainful appre-
hensions, — still the excitement of the sport, the beauty of the
day, and the glow of exercise, had given her a flow of high
spirits that she had not known for many a day. Her mirth,
indeed, was never overpowering, and, if it reached the bounds
of cheerfulness, it seldom went beyond.
Now, however, as they rode along by the banks of the stream,
and as the falconers beat the bushes to rouse the objects of their
* She (lied a few years after this period, in consequence of a fall occasioned
by her horse taking fright, while out falconing.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 149
chiisc, she jested in a tone of gentle gaiety with the fair girl who
accompanied her upon all those matters which, to the heart of
woman, arc the important things of life.
Alice of Imbercourt, on her part, maintained the conversation
with the same spirit, jested with the like good-humoured malice
in reply to the Princess, and was never without an answer at her
need, although she did not for a moment forget, that however
high her own rank, Mary of Burgundy held a higher, nor eVer
failed to mingle with her speech so much of reverence as to show
that she had not forgotten the distinction.
" Nay, nay, own, dear Alice," exclaimed the Princess, in reply
to something that had passed before, " that day by day you have
been bringing me nearer and nearer to a certain castle in the
wood ; and, in truth, I think that you must have got the noble
lord your father to be a confederate in your plot."
" Good sooth, dear lady," replied Alice, " a happy thing were
it for us poor women if all fathers were so complacent : I know
w ell where one little heart w^ould be in that case ;" and she
looked up with an arch smile in the face of the Princess.
However strongly prudence may enjoin them to be silent
themselves, all women feel more or less pleasure when the con-
versation is brought near the subject of their loves. Though
Mary of Burgundy would not say one word that she could help,
upon the feelings of her own heart, even to so dear and faithful
a friend as Alice of Imbercourt, yet she felt no displeasure when
the gay girl's tongue touched upon the subject of her affections,
although clouds and darkness hung over the prospect, and all
liope of their gratification was but faint indeed. At the same
time she was, perhaps, a little fearful of the topic ever being
carried too far; and, therefore, after a smile, in which melan-
choly mingled, in some degree, with pleasure, she returned to
her own jest with her fair follower, without adding anything
more to a subject, on which both, in happier circumstances,
might have been well pleased to speak more freely.
" Nay, nay, Alice," she exclaimed, " that was an artful turn,
my sweet friend : but you shall not escape so readily. Tell me,
did you not put it in your father's head, to think what a fine
thing it would be for me to visit all the different towns in Flan-
ders, and win the love of the good burghers ? And did you not
yourself lay out the very plan of our journey from Ghent to
Alost, and thence to Brussels, and thence to Louvaine, and
loO MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
thence to Tirlemont ? And have you not kept me three full
days at Tirlemont ; and, at last, have you not brought me up the
fair river Geete, with our hawks upon our hands, and nobody to
watch us, till we are within a league or two of this same castle
of Ilannut ? — Fie, Alice ! fie ! it is a decided conspiracy !"
Alice laughed gaily, and replied, " Well, lady, if it can be
})rovcd, even by the best logic of your beautiful lips, that I do
wish to sec my lover, I know no woman, who has one, that does
not do so too, from the fanner's milkmaid, with her pail upon
her head, to the Princess of Burgundy, on her white Spanish
jennet."
Mary laughed and sighed. " You own it, then," she answered:
" I thought, w'hen last night you were striving hard to persuade
me to visit the castle of Han nut, and have my future fate laid
bare by the dark and awful skill of this learned uncle of yours,
that there was a leaf in the book of fortune, or rather in the
book of life, that you would well like to read for yourself. But
tell me, Alice," she added, more seriously, " tell me something
of this lover, to whom, it seems, you are affianced. There ap-
pears some mystery about him, and you, of course, must know
more of him than any one else."
" Nay, quite the contrary, my dear lady and mistress," replied
Alice of Imbercourt ; " that shows how little you know of the
sad race called men. His being my lover is the very reason,
of all others, why I should know less of him than any other
person."
" How so ?" demanded the Princess, with a look of surprise.
" Why, simply because, from the moment he becomes my
lover," replied Alice of Imbercourt, " he takes the very best
possible care to hide every evil quality in his nature and dispo-
sition, upon the full and preconcerted plan of not letting me see
any one of them till such time as he is my husband. Then, out
they come ! But that is not all," she continued ; " that would
only hide a part of his character ; but, at the same time that he
takes these precautions, I, on my part, like every wise woman,
make up my mind, on no account whatever to sec any little fault
or failing that he may accidentally display — at least, till such
time as he is my husband. Then, of course, when nothing more
is to be gained or lost, I shall, beyond doubt, take as much pains
to find them out as another, and he will take as little to hide
them."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 151
" That is a bad plan, Alice," replied the Princess ; " that is a
bad plan. Find out the faults, if you can, in the lover, while
your hand is your own, and your will is free. See them not at
all in your husband ; for blindness in such a case is woman's best
policy. But you mistake me, Alice ; it was not of his mind I
spoke, but of his situation; for, when questioning my Lord of
Imbercourt the other day, he called him your uncle's nephew :
now, none of our wise heralds ever heard, it seems, of such a
nephew."
A slight blush came up into the cheek of Alice as the Princess
spoke ; but she replied frankly, " In truth, dear lady, I know
nothing on that score ; and upon such subjects I have ever
thought that if my father was satisfied, I had no reason to com-
plain. All I know is, that my cousin Hugh was brought up at
the court of France, — has fought in the civil wars of England,
and under Galeas, Duke of Milan, — has gained honour, and
knighthood, and glory in the field, — is gentle, and kind, and
tender, and affectionate to me ; and is — " she added, with a
laugh and a blush at the praises which she was pouring forth,
and which she felt must betray the whole secret of her heart,
but which yet she could not or would not restrain, — " and is as
handsome a man, and as graceful a cavalier as ever entered hall
or mounted horse."
The Princess smiled, and answered, " Well, well, if he be all
that, fair Alice, you are right — quite right — to ask no farther
questions. But how is it, good Bartholomew," she cried, turning
to one of the falconers, — " how is it ? — Can you find no bird, in
all the length of this fair stream, for us to fly our hawks ?"
" So please your Grace," replied the man, " the air is so sultry
that the herons will hardly wade where there is no shelter ; but
up beyond those bushes, where the bank with its long sedges
jets out into the stream, I doubt not we may raise something
yet."
The whole party accordingly rode on ; and the judgment of the
experienced falconer was justified. Under the cool shadow of
the bank, one of the feathered fishermen had advanced some
way, with his long legs, and, taking fi-ight, at the noise of the
horses, he stretched forth his neck, gathered the air under his
wings, and soared up at about the distance of twenty or thirty
yards from the approaching party. The birds were instantly
cast from the wrists of the ladies : the heron, finding himself
152 niARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
pursued, and apparently a crafty old fowl, strove to beat to wind-
ward of the hawks, Hyinj^ as rapidly as possible, and yet keeping
himself prepared for sudden defence. All the horses were put
to full speed, and in a moment the whole scene became one of
cry and confusion.
" Call the merlin up the wind ! Call the merlin up the
wind !"' exclaimed the Princess to the chief falconer. " See I
see ! he is towering ; he will miss his stoop !"
" k5o ho ! woa ho !" cried the falconer, with a loud whistle :
" he will make his point yet, your Grace." But the heron,
finding himself over-reached, made a dip, skimmed, and evaded
the fall or stoop of the falcon, which, being a young bird, had
endeavoured to strike it at once, without being perfectly sure of
its aim. The clamour and the galloping now became more
eager than ever, the bird making directly for the wood, which it
seemed likely to gain, notwithstanding the efforts of its pursuers.
The meadow was the finest even ground that could be con-
ceived for such sport ; and the rein being freely given to each
horse, the whole party dashed on at full speed, without seeing,
or caring for, the massy clouds, that, sweeping together over
head, directly in the face of a light and flickering wund, which
was blowing from the north-west, seemed to threaten a storm of
some kind. The air, too, had that sultry, oppressive weight
which one often feels in the neighbourhood of a great forest ;
and the horses — animals peculiarly susceptible to the sensations
produced by an atmosphere overcharged with electricity — seemed
more eager and fiery than usual, and were soon in a complete
lather of foam.
The grey merlin which had been carried by Mary of Burgundy
retrieved the error of its first eagerness, and cutting between the
heron and the wood, kept it off for some time over the meadow
and the stream. The sport was thus in its highest point of
interest, and the horses in full career, when a sudden flash of
lightning broke across their path, and startled the whole party.
Each horse involuntarily recoiled. The Princess and Alice of
Imbercourt both kept their seats, but the young lady who
Ibllowed them, less skilful in her management, was thrown
violently to the ground ; while her horse, wild with fright,
dashed madly across the meadow, and plunged into the stream.
The falconers rode forward to whistle back their hawks — the
service most important in their eyes, — and one of the grooms
THE REVOI/r OF GHENT. 153
galloped after the fiightened horse, in order to catch him ere he
was irrecoverably lost. But the rest of the party, instantly dis-
mounting, surrounded the poor girl who had met with the acci-
dent, whom they found severely bruised, but not otherwise
dangerously hurt. She complained bitterly, however, and, as if
conscious that she was not a very interesting person otherwise,
made the most of her misfortune to engross attention.
The horse and the hawks were soon recovered, but it became
now the question, what was to be the course of their farther
proceedings. Large drops of rain were beginning to fall —
everything portended a tremendous storm. The young lady
who had fallen was too much bruised to sit her horse with ease,
and was, or appeared to be, too much terrified to attempt it
again. She, nevertheless, entreated the Princess and her com-
panions to return as fast as possible towards Tirlemont, leaving
her where she was, with some one to protect her, and to send a
litter from the town to bring her home. But to this the Princess
would by no means consent ; and it having been suggested by
one of the grooms, who knew the country well, that at the dis-
tance of about half a mile in the wood there was a small chapel
dedicated to Notre-Dame du bon Secours, it was determined
that the whole party should take refuge there, and wait till the
storm was over, or till one of the attendants could procure litters
for the ladies from Tirlemont.
They accordingly proceeded on their way, under the guidance
of the groom, who alone knew the situation of the chapel ; and,
skirting round under the branches of the taller trees, endeavoured
to obtain some shelter as they went from the large drops of rain
that, slow and heavy, but far apart, seemed scarcely so much to
fall as to be cast with violence from the heaven to the earth.
The clouds, in the meantime, came rolling slowly up, seeming to
congregate over the forest from every part of the sky ; but still
it was some minutes before another flash of lightning followed
the first ; and the whole party had reached the glade in the wood,
which the groom assured them led direct to the chapel, ere a
second bright blaze broke across the gloomy air, now shadowed
into a kind of mid-day twilight by the dull, thick, leaden masses
of vapour above. The roar of the thunder followed a few seconds
after ; and though it was evident that the storm had not reached
that degree of intensity which it was destined soon to attain, the
Princess and her attendants did not neglect the warning, but
1.j4 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
hastened on as rapidly as possible, though the long grass, cut
merely by the tracks of wood-carts, and nunu;lcd thickly with
brambles and many sorts (jf weeds, impeded them greatly on
their way.
The road — if the glade or opening in the forest could so be
called — led on in that straight line of direct progression, which
seems to have been the original plan of road-making in most
countries, proceeding with a proud disdain of obstacles and
difKculties, into the deepest valleys, and up the sides of the
steepest hills, without one effort by sweep or turn of any kind
to avoid either. Thus, a few minutes after the entrance of the
princess's ])arty into the forest, the groom led the way over the
side of a hill, down the steep descent of which the trunks and
arching boughs of the trees might be seen in long perspective,
forming a regular alley, filled with a kind of dim and misty
light. At the end of the descent, however, the trees, in some
degree, broke away to the westward, and a steep hill rose sud-
denly before the travellers, which seemed as if, at its original
formation, it had started up so abruptly, as to have shaken a
part of the primeval forest from one of its sides. The other
side was clothed with tall trees to the very top. Over the
shoulder of this hill, — just between the part which remained
wooded, and the part which, sloping down to the wood below,
lay for the distance of several acres, either entirely bare or
merely covered with scattered brushwood, — the road, now as-
suming a sandy appearance, climbed straight up to a spot where
a small building with a conical roof was seen, standing out from
the dark wood, at the very top of the rise, and cutting sharp
upon a gleam of yellow light, which — dimmed by the falling
shower and fast closing up under the gathering clouds — still
lingered in the western sky.
The sight of the chapel, for so it was, gave fresh vigour to all
the party; and Mary, with her followers, hastened up, and
reached the little shrine before another flash of lightning came.
The chapel, as usual with such buildings in that age, was con-
structed for the mere purpose, either of affording a temporary
refuge to the benighted or storm- stayed traveller, or of giving the
pious and devout an opportunity of offering up their prayers or
thanksgivings for a favourable journey begun or completed, before
an image of the Virgin, which filled a niche in the far part of
the edifice, protected from profaning hands by a strong grating
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 155
of iron. Whether the building itself was kept up by casual
donations, or by some small endowment, I do not know ; but, at
all events, the funds which supported it were too small for the
maintenance of an officiating priest ; and hermits, who had occa-
sionally supplied the place in former ages, were now becoming
" of the rare birds of the earth," at least in the north of Europe.
Thus the cha])el was totally vacant when the Princess and her
attendants reached it; and after murmuring a prayer at the
shrine, while one of the grooms was despatched to Tirlemont, to
give notice of Mary's situation, the most courageous of the party
who remained placed themselves at the door of the little building,
to watch the progress of the approaching storm. As no one
dreamed of profaning the sanctity of the place, by making it a
shelter for their horses, the grooms received orders to tie them
as strongly as possibly under some of the neighbouring trees ;
and one was thus secured under a large elm, which rose a few
yards in advance of the chapel.
The connnanding situation of the building, being pitched high
up on one of the most elevated hills in the wood, gave a wide
view over the country around, and afforded as beautiful a forest
scene as the mind of man can imagine. First, beyond the little
sandy road, by the side of which the chapel stood, extended, as
I have before said, several acres of broken mountain turf, sloping
down with a considerable descent, and only interrupted here and
there by a solitary tree, or a clump of bushes. Farther on again
the eye wandered over many miles of rich wood-land, clothed in
all the splendid hues of autumn, from the dark shadowy green
of the pine to the bright golden yellow of the sear aspen ; and
where the ocean of forest ended, it caught the faint blue lines of
a level country beyond.
At the time I speak of, the sky was full of clouds, and the
yellow light which had struggled for a time to keep its place in
the heavens was now totally obscured. Large dull masses, as
hard and defined as if formed of some half-molten metal, rolled
slowly along the heavens, while across them floated far more
rapidly some light fleecy vapours of a whitish grey. From the far
extreme of these clouds was seen pouring in long straight lines
the heavy shower — in some places so dark as totally to obscure
everything beyond; but in other spots so thin and clear, that
through the film of rain the eye caught the prospect of a bright
and sunshiny land, over which the clouds had not yet extended
156 i\IARY OF BURGUNDY; OIJ,
themselves, — not unlike the distant view of bright scenes, \vl)ich
the unciuellcd hopes of early life still show us through the tears
and storms that at times beset our youth.
Each moment seemed to add something to the gloom of the
sky ; and scarcely were the ])arty well housed, when another
bright Hash, followed close by the roar of the thunder, passed
eagerly over the scene. The young lady who had fallen from
her horse remained close to the shrine ; but Mary of Burgundy,
with her arm through that of Alice of Imbcrcourt, still stood by
the door, looking out upon the prospect below them. The last
flash of lightning, however, w^as so near, that Mary's eye caught
a small thin line of pale-coloured but excessively vivid light,
which seemed to dart like a fiery serpent between herself and
the near tree, inider which one of the horses was tied.
" Alice, I will look no more," she said : " that flash was so
near it made me giddy ;" and withdrawing her arm, she retired
into the farther part of the chapel, and closed another small door
Avhich opened from the right-hand side of the shrine into the
forest behind the building.
" You are not afraid, lady ?" said Alice, with a smile.
" No, certainly not afraid," replied Mary ; " for I know that
lie whose weapon is the lightning, can strike as well in the
palace or the tower as in the open field ; but still it is useless to
deny that there is something very awful in the sights and sounds
of such a storm as this. It seems as if one were in the presence,
and heard the voice of the Almighty."
" It is very grand," replied Alice of Imbcrcourt ; " but from
my youth I have been taught to look upon the storm as the finest
spectacle in nature ; and I would rather see the lightnings go
tilting on their fiery horses through the sky, and hear the roaring
trumpets of the thunder, than sit in the gayest pavilion that ever
was stretched with hands, to witness the brightest tournament
that ever monarch gave."
" You arc poetical, Alice," cried the Princess ; " had old
George ('hatelain been here, he would have made fine verses
out of that speech But, gracious Heaven, what a flash !"
As she spoke, there came, indeed, one of those tremendous
flashes of lightning that literally wrap the whole sky in flame,
and, for the brief s])ace that it endured, lighted up every part of
the inside of the chapel, with a splendour that was painful to the
eye. At the same time Alice, who still stood by the door, saw
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 157
clearly the brighter waving line of more intense fire which accom-
panied the broad flash dart from a spot nearly above their heads,
and streaming downward with fierce rapidity, strike one of the
noblest trees on the edge of the wood below, and tear it in one
moment into atoms. She almost fancied she could hear the
rending groan of the stout oak, as it was shivered by the bolt of
heaven; but nearly in the same instant the thunder followed,
with a soimd as if a thousand rocks had been cast on the roof
above their heads; and another and another flash succeeded,
before the report of the first had died away. Then came a
momentary pause — calm, heavy, and silent, without a breath of
air to stir the boughs, or to relieve the sultry oppressiveness
of the atmosphere, and without a sound, save the fall of an
occasional drop of rain.
The duration of this state of repose was but brief. The whole
air over the forest seemed surcharged with electricity ; and in a
moment after, with a loud whizzing noise, not unlike that of a
musket bullet when it passes near the head, a large ball of fire
rushed rapidly by the chapel, in a line raised not more than a
few yards above the ground, and pitched upon the point of a rock
at a little distance below, where, after quivering and wavering
for a moment, it broke into a thousand fragments with a loud
explosion, and vanished entirely. The lightning and the thunder
now succeeded each other so quickly, that there seemed scarcely
an instant's interval ; and flash after flash, roar after roar, con-
tinued without intermission, while every now and then the sight
of a tree rent to pieces in the distant prospect marked the work
of the lightning; and the forest, and the rocks, and the hills
echoed and re-echoed the thunder, so that the sound became
absolutely incessant.
This had continued for about half an hour, and still Alice of
Imbercourt had remained gazing out upon the scene, as well as
the old cavalier, who accompanied them as their principal at-
tendant, when she suddenly exclaimed, — " Good God ! how
extraordinary ! There seems to be a thick cloud gathering upon
the edge of the wood, and rolling up the hill towards us, sweep-
ing the ground as It comes. Holy Virgin! the lightning is
flashing out of it like that from the sky ! — This is very terrible,
indeed !"
" Come back, Alice, I beseech — I entreat !" exclaimed the
Princess: "you may lose your sight or your life — you are
tempting your fate."
158 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
But Alice did not seem to hear, for she still continued gazing
out from the door, although it was very evident that she now
had also taken alarm.
" Now, gracious God, be merciful unto us !" she exclaimed ;
" for this is the most terrible thing I ever saw ! It is fast rolling
up the hill !"
" Come away, lady, come away," cried the old cavalier, seizing
her by the arm, and leading her from the door ; " this is no sight
to look upon ;" and he drew her back towards the Princess.
Ahce once more turned her head to gaze ; and then, overcome
with what she saw, she cast herself down upon her knees, throw-
ing her arms around Mary, as if to protect her from the approach-
ing destruction, exclaiming, — " Oh, my princess ! my princess !
God protect thee in this terrible hour !"
Mary's hand was very cold ; but, in the moment of great
danger, she showed herself more calm and firm than her more
daring companion, " God will protect me," she said, in a soft
low voice, " if such be His good pleasure ; and if not. His will
be done."
As she spoke, a tremendous flash illuminated the whole of the
inside of the building, accompanied — not followed — by a crash,
as if two worlds had been hurled together in their course through
space.
The eyes of every one in the chapel, it is probable, were closed
at that moment, for no one saw the small door by the side of the
shrine thrown open. But the first who looked up was Mary of
Burgundy ; and a sudden cry, as she did so, called the attention
of all the rest. They instantly perceived the cause of the Prin-
cess's surprise and alarm ; for close beside her, in the midst of
the chapel, stood a tall powerful man, habited in the ordinary
equipment of a man-at-arms of that day, with the unusual circum-
stance, however, of every part of his garb being of a peculiar
shade of green ; which colour was also predominant in the dress
of half-a-dozen others who appeared at the door by the shrine.
He gave no one time to express their surprise. " Good Heaven !"
he exclaimed, " do you not see the ground lightning coming up
the hill ! Fly, fly for your lives ; it will be over the chapel in a
moment. Matthew, catch up some of the women. Karl, take
that one who has fainted. Let the men follow me as fast as
possible, and we shall soon be out of the direction it is taking."
So saying, and without farther ceremony, he caught up Alice
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 159
of Imbercourt in his powerful arms. One of his companions
Ufted the Princess, and another raised the form of the young
hidy who had fallen from her horse in the morning, and whose
terror had now cast her into a swoon, and, darting through the
door by which they had entered, the Vert Gallant of llannut
and his companions passed out into that part of the forest which
swept up to the back of the chapel. Striking on as fast as pos-
sible towards the east, he took his way over the other edge of
the hill, in a direction opposite to that in which Alice had been
looking. The lightning flashed around them as they went, the
thunder roared loud at every step, and the rain, which had
ceased for a time, began again to drop, at first slowly, but after
a few minutes in a more heavy and continuous shower, which,
pattering thick through the withered leaves of the wood, drenched
the unfortunate hawking party to the skin.
" Thank God for that !" exclaimed the Vert Gallant : " this
rain will drown yon accursed cloud, and we shall get rid of the
ground lightning."
These were the only words he spoke ; but, with rapid steps,
he continued to bear on his fair burden for nearly a quarter of
an hour, with apparently the same ease, and in somewhat of the
same position, that a mother carries her child. Two of his
sturdy companions followed loaded in the same way ; — and so
complete was the helpless terror of the whole party who had
accompanied Mary of Burgundy, that they yielded themselves
passively, and without a word of inquiry, to the guidance of the
green riders ; a body of men who acknowledged no law, though
a sort of generous and chivalric spirit amongst themselves seemed,
in some degree, to supply the place of the authority they had
cast off. It is true, indeed, that resistance or question would
have been in vain ; for the superior numbers of these free gen-
tlemen of the forest set at defiance all opposition on the part of
the princess's attendants, and a sort of taciturnity seemed to
reign amongst them which did not at all encourage inquiry.
After proceeding steadily and rapidly for the space of time
above mentioned, over a rough and uneven road, sometimes
down the side of a wooded hill, where no unpractised foot could
have kept its hold — sometimes through deep ravines, which the
torrents of rain that were now falling had converted into water-
courses — sometimes over the trunks of trees that had been felled
and shattered by the fire of heaven — with the lightning flashing
IGO MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
round their heads, and the thunder rolHng above thcni, the Vert
GaUant and his companions at length reached a deep dell, from
one side of which rose up a steep and rocky bank, forming the
base of the hill which they had just descended.
At the height of a few yards above the bottom of the valley,
which was itself marshy and filled with long flags and rushes,
was the mouth of a low-browed cave, to which the Vert Gallant
iininediately directed his steps. He was obliged to bow his
head to enter ; but within, it became more lofty ; and, though
it did not run above nine or ten yards into the mountain, the
cavity afforded a complete shelter from the storm and rain. The
moment he had entered, the leader of the free com})anions
gently freed Alice from his arms ; and then, in a low and
respectful voice, he said, — " You will here, fair ladies, find some
security. Keep as far as you can from the mouth of the cave,
and there is little fear of any danger. You, sirs," he continued,
in a sterner tone, turning to the male followers of the Princess,
" should have known better than to have placed this lady, — who,
if I judge right, must be an object of no small solicitude to every
subject of the House of Burgundy, — in the most exposed and
dangerous situation of the whole forest."
" Good faith. Sir Green Knight," said the old gentleman who
had accompanied the Princess, " we certainly did not know that
it was so dangerous, or we should neither have placed her in it,
nor ourselves, as you may well suppose. And now, sir," he
continued, with a voice the slight trcmulousness of whose tone
showed that he was not without some apprehensions of another
kind — " and now, sir, that you have the lady in your power — be
she princess or not — I trust that you will deal fairly and honour-
ably with her. Our purses are, of course, at your disposal, as
well as our jewels, &c. ; but I give you notice that "
" Pshaw !" exclaimed the Vert Gallant, the beaver of whose
helmet was still down, "talk not to me of purses, sir, and jewels !
— Madam," he continued, turning to the Princess, " suffer not, I
beseech you, the vain and vulgar fears of this old man to affect
you for a moment : the Vert Gallant of Hannut takes no purses
from wandering travellers, nor draws the sword against ladies —
far less against the Princess of Burgundy. Rest here in safety,
with your fair companions," he added, turning slightly towards
Alice of Imbercourt ; " and we, who have brought you hither,
and have been your unseen attendants ever since you were
THE REVOLT OF OIIENT. IGl
ilying your hawks by the side of the river, will guard you as
well, or better, than if you were in your father's palace."
" I owe you many thanks, sir," replied Mary ; " more, indeed,
than I can at present express ; for this dreadful storm has left
my ideas somewhat confused. However, I am satisfied that to
your prompt assistance I stand indebted for my life."
" Perhaps, madam, you do," replied the Vert Gallant ; " for I
feel convinced that, had that cloud reached the chapel before
you quitted it, the coronet of Burgundy would be now without
an heiress. Think mc not ungenerous, madam," he added, " if
I ask a boon in return. It is this — that if, some day, I should
need your voice to support a petition with your father — or if you
should, at the time, hold the reins of government yourself, when
I may have occasion to make a request before the chair of Bur-
gundy — you will give me your influence in the one case, or^
grant my desire in the other."
There was something in the tone and in the manner of the
speaker at once so gentle and so lofty, that Mary of Burgund^'^
could not but think that his present adventurous life must be
one more of necessity than of choice ; and she doubted not, that
tlie petition to which he alluded must be for pardon for his past
offences. She gazed at him for a moment or two before she re-
plied, as he stood towering above the seven or eight strong men
who accompanied him, and who had now grouped themselves
round the mouth of the cave, watching, as it appeared, every
word of their leader's mouth with a sort of reverential attention.
" If it be wrong, sir," she replied, " for simple individuals to
make rash promises, it is still more so for princes. But where
gratitude, such as I owe you, is concerned, even prudence might
seem ungenerous. I must qualify, however, in some degree, the
promise you desire, and say, that if your request, when it is
made, prove nothing contrary to my own honour or dignity, I
will give it all my influence with my father, should it depend
upon him ; or grant it myself, should it depend upon me. —
Does that satisfy you ?"
"Most fully, madam," replied the Vert Gallant; "and I
return you deep thanks for your kind assent."
" I doubt not," said Mary, " that w hat you have to ask will be
far less than a compensation for the service you have rendered
me. However, accept this jewel," she added, taking a ring from
her finger and giving it to him, " as a testimony of the promise
M
\y
162 MAUY (»F HURGUNUY; OK,
I have made ; and with il Icl nie add, many thanks for your
honourable courtcisy."
The leader of the free companions received the ring with due
acknowledgments; and after a few words more upon the same
subject, he bowed low, as if to take his leave, and made a step
towards the mouth of the cavern.
*' You are not, surely, going to expose yourself to such a storm
as this," exclaimed Alice of Imbercourt, with a degree of eager-
ness that made her mistress smile, and declare afterwards —
when, in a place of security, they could look upon the dangers
of the forest as a matter of amusement — that Alice had certainly
been smitten with the distinction which the V^crt Gallant had
shown her, in carrying her in his own arms through the wood,
although he knew that a princess was jiresent.
"The storm is abating, lady," replied the freebooter; "and
besides, wc fear no weather. I myself go to give notice to those
who can receive you as you should be received, that such a noble
party require better shelter and entertainment than we poor
adventurers can afford you. My men, though they must keep
out of sight, will be near enough to yield you protection and
assistance, on one blast of a horn. — Horns are strange magical
things in this wood," he added; "for though all the hunters in
the world might go blowing their mots, fi'om one end of the
forest to the other, without seeing aught but boar or deer, I will
soon show you that we can conjure up beasts of another kind."
So saying, he approached the mouth of the cavern, and wound
his horn with a long, shrill, peculiar blast ; when, in a moment
after, from the opposite part of the wood, a man, bearing the
appearance of a mounted squire, trotted rapidly forth, leading a
strong black charger, which he at once brought up to the mouth
of the cave. A few words whispered by the Vert Gallant to the
men who had accompanied him hitherto, caused them instantly
to quit the place where they had taken refuge ; and, dispersing
themselves over the side of the hill, the whole were in a few
minutes lost to the sight amongst the trees and bushes. Their
leader, once more, bowed low to the Princess, sprang upon his
horse, dashed rapidly down the rough and uneven side of the
hill, plunged through the marsh that lined the bottom of the
valley, and, in a moment after, was seen followed by his squire,
winding in and out through the tall trees on the opposite slope,
till the turn of the hill hid him from view.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 1G3
They were the eyes of Alice of Imbercourt which thus fol-
lowed him on his course ; for the Princess had seated herself on
a mass of rock in the farther end of the cave ; and her other
young attendant, stupified with all the terrors and dangers she
had gone through, though now recovered from her swoon, con-
tinued sitting in silence on the ground, where the soldier who
had carried her had set her down, and still kept her hands
clasped over her eyes, as if every moment would show her some
horrible sight.
The storm had, nevertheless, abated considerably already.
The rain, it is true, continued to pour down in torrents, and an
occasional flash of lightning still broke across the sky ; but it
was dim, as if half extinguished by the deluge through which it
glared. The thunder, too, followed at a longer interval ; and
each succeeding flash was at a greater and a greater lapse of
time ft-om the one that preceded it.
Thus about an hour and a half passed away, during which the
different members of the falconing party amused themselves as
they best might ; the groom talking with the falconers about the
gallant horses they had left tied at the top of the hill, lamenting
the fright and drenching they must have been exposed to, and
expressing some apprehension that the good gentleman in green,
who had hurried them away so fast from the chapel, might take
advantage of their absence to carry off" their good horses, the
worst of which, he declared, was worth fifty golden crowns of
Florence at the lowest computation. The falconers, on the
other hand, who had taken care to bring away their birds with
them, busied themselves actively in providing for the comfort of
their hawks ; and each administered to the falcon under his
special charge a small ball of choice medicaments, extracted
from a pouch that every one carried by his side, in order to
guard the stomachs of those noble fowls from any evil as a con-
sequence of the storm.
The old gentleman, who might be considered — what we
should call in the present day — the chaperon of the party, stood
by the side of the Princess, and addressed to her, from time to
time, with sweet unmeaning smiles and courtly language, a
variety of easy flowing sentences, very pleasant and harmonious,
but signifying nothing. Alice, on her part, generally remained
silent and thoughtful, though seemingly a little agitated, and
perhaps, not displeased, at the probability of revisiting the castle
M 2
164 iMAin OF uiuciNUV; on,
of Ilannut. Sometimes she would sit at the side of the Princess,
and talk to her, with all the lijijht gaiety of her character; but, at
others, she would liill into long pauses of deep and silent thought ;
or would stand at the mouth of the cave, and watch tiie diminish-
ing rain .and the storm as it passed away. Every minute it de-
creased in some degree ; and even the poor girl who had fallen
from her horse, and who was clearly the most timid of the whole
party, began to look up, and to venture an occasional word to
those around her.
At length, when the day was somewhat far advanced, a low
whistle was heard at a considerable distance, was taken up by
some one nearer, and then repeated from more than twenty
places in the wood, till at last it sounded close by the cave. All
then relapsed into profound silence ; but at the end of about
ten minutes more, a distant trampling sound was heard; and,
on looking forth from the mouth of the cave, Alice perceived,
winding up from the extreme of the valley, a gay cavalcade,
consisting of a couple of horse litters, escorted by about twenty
spearmen on horseback, bearing the colours of the Lord of
Ilannut.
CHAPTER XVII.
The sight of the approaching party was very acceptable to
every one of the persons in the cave, who were not a little tired
of their situation, after having waited for nearly two hours,
watching the dying away of a thunder-storm, which, even then,
left no better prospect than that the hard leaden clouds which
had poured forth the lightning would soften into the showery
haze of an unsettled autumn night.
The troop, however, seemed to approach but slowly, — every
now and then pausing and looking round the valley, as if doubt-
ful of the exact place to which their steps should be directed.
At length, Alice took an impatient step out into the shower,
and was followed by one of the falconers ; who soon attracted
the notice of the horsemen by one of the long and peculiar
whoops practised in his vocation. The moment after, a young
cavalier, habited in the furs and embroideries which designated
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 165
a mail of noble rank in the county of Flanders, dashed forward
from the rest ; and the next instant Hugh de Mortmar was by
the side of his fair Alice.
A few words of explanation sufficed. A strange horseman,
he said, whom the warder described as bearing the appearance
of one of the free companions who infested the country, had
given notice at the barbacan of the castle, that the Princess
Mary and her train were storm-stayed in that valley which in the
forest bore the name of " The Valley of the Marsh ;" and that,
of course, he had instantly set out to render service and assist-
ance.
The young gentleman then, with deep respect, tendered his
aid to the Princess. Mary and her attendants M'cre soon placed
in the litters, or mounted on the spare horses; and, as it was
too late to think of returning to Tirlemont, the whole party
wound onward towards the castle of Hannut. At the earnest
request of the chief groom, however, as the road by the chapel
was not longer than that by which the young noble had come,
it was preferred in returning to the castle, in order to relieve the
horses which had been left tied in the neighbourhood ; and,
choosing a longer but easier ascent than that which had been
trod so rapidly by the Vert Gallant some hours before, the
Princess was soon once more on the spot from which she had
been carried in the thunder-storm.
The scene that she there beheld was not a little awful. Three
of the walls of the chapel, indeed, remained, but that was all ;
and the time-dried wood-work which had supported the tall
conical roof, now lay on what had once been the floor, still
blackened and smouldering, though the fire which had been
kindled by the lightning was well nigh extinguished by the
subsequent rain. The chapel itself, however, though it showed
how terrible her own fate might have been, was not, perhaps,
the most fearful object that the spot presented. The tall,
majestic tree which had stood alone, a few yards in advance of
the building, was rent to the very ground ; and, amidst the
shivered boughs and the yellow leaves with which they were
covered, lay motionless the beautiful horse that had been tied
there, with its strong and energetic limbs — but a few hours
before full of wild life and noble fire — now cold and stiflf^ — the
wide expansive nostril, small and collapsed — the clear eye, dim
and leaden, and the proud head cast powerless down the bank.
166 MARY OF JiUIlGUNDV ; OH,
There are few things show so substantially the mighty and awful
power of death as to see a noble horse killed by some sudden
accident. The moment before, it stands at the sublimest point
of animal existence — as if tlic living principle were yielded to it
in a greater share than to any other thing, — and the next it is
shapeless carrion.
" Alas, the poor horse !" cried Mary, when her eyes fell upon
the gallant beast lying stretched out beneath the tree; "alas,
the poor horse !" But, running along the chain of association,
her mind speedily reverted to herself, and the fate she had
so narrowly escaped ; and, closing her eyes, while the litter
was borne on, she spent a few moments in thankful prayer.
The other horses, which had been tied at a little distance
to the east of the chapel, appeared to have broken their bridles
from fear, and escaped. The trees under which they had been
fastened remained uninjured by the storm, but no trace could be
discovered of the animals themselves.
After the lapse of a few minutes spent in the search, the
cavalcade moved on at a quicker pace ; and Mary of Burgundy
soon observed, with a smile, that Hugh de Mortmar, though
often at the side of the litter in which she herself was placed,
offering all those formal attentions which her rank and station
required, was still more frequently in the neighbourhood of the
one which followed, and which contained her fair attendant,
Alice, alone. The young waiting-woman, who shared the
princess's conveyance, remarked the particular attentions of the
young lord also, and commented on it with some acerbity : but her
jealous anger was soon repressed by Mary's sweet smile : and ere
long the whole cavalcade wound through the barbacan and the
manifold gates of the castle of Hannut.
The retainers of the lord of the mansion, drawn up in the
court-yards, received the heiress of Burgundy and Flanders
with feudal reverence ; and the old lord himself waited bare-
headed to hand her from the vehicle which had conveyed her
thither. She was instantly conducted to the apartments which
Alice of Imbercourt had inhabited during her stay; and a part of
the wardrobe which the fair girl had left behind, in the hope of a
speedy return, now served to replace the damp garments of the
Princess.
On returning from the chamber where she had made this
change of dress to the little sitting-room or bower — as it was
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 167
called, in the castles of the nobility of that time — the Princess
found that supper had been laid out for her there, rather than in
the hall ! but at the same time she perceived, by the solitary
cover which graced the table, while the Lord of Ilannut and
Hugh dc Mortmar stood by to attend upon her, that she was
to be served with all the formal state and ceremony of a sovereign
princess.
" Nay, nay, my lord," she said, as she remarked the fact, " I
must not suffer all this. While I am here, I must have you
consider me as a wandering demoiselle, whom you have de-
livered from danger and distress, and with whose rank or
station you are unacquainted. All, therefore, of noble blood,
must sit and partake with me of my supper, or I partake not
myself."
The old Lord of Hannut, well knowing the formal ceremony
maintained at the court of Burgundy, especially during the pre-
vious reign, would fain have remonstrated ; but Mary cut him
short, laying her hand kindly and gently on the old man's arm,
and saying, in a soft and somewhat playful tone, " Must Mary
of Burgundy command ? — Well, then, be it so : — we command
you, my lord, to forget from this moment that there is any
one beneath your roof but a dear friend of your sweet niece,
Alice. Believe me," she added, more seriously, " that I know
no greater enjoyment than to cast aside the trammels of state,
and the cold weight of ceremony, and let my heart play free.
To me, it is like what you, my lords, must have felt in unbuckling
your armour after a long days' tournament."
Although the politeness of that day was of the stately and
rigid kind, which might have required the Lord of Hannut
to press further the ceremonious respect he had been about
to show, he had too much of the truer politeness of the heart
not to yield at once to the Princess's wishes thus expressed.
More covers were instantly laid upon the table ; and, assuming
easily the station of host, in place of that of feudal subject,
he treated his fair guests during supper with easy courtesy,
mingled indeed, but not loaded, with respect.
The time passed pleasantly, and many a varied strain of con-
versation, regarding all those matters which were interesting
in that age, whiled the minutes insensibly away. The common
subjects, indeed, connected with the state of society as it then
existed, — arms, and love, and the hunting-field, the news of
168 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
the day, and the gossip of the town, — were the first things
spoken of, as matters on which all could converse. But speedily,
as each tried the other's powers, and found that there were less
rrdinary topics on which they might communicate, the con-
versation turned to arts, to letters, and to the human mind.
Hugli dc Mortinar, whose travels through many lands had made
him acquainted with things but scantily known even at the
luxurious court of Burgund}^, told of the efforts that Italy was
then beffinniny; to make to cast off the darkness which had
so long hung over her states, described many a beautiful object
which he had seen in the land of ancient arts, and rose into
enthusiasm as he spoke of Medici, and of all that his magnificent
efforts were likely to restore to Italy.
The newly discovered art of printing, too, was mentioned and
discussed, and surmises of what it might one time accomplish
were ventured on that occasion which would astonish those who
see them only partly realized even in the present day. But it
was, perhaps, one of the weaknesses of that age to attribute
great and mysterious powers to everything that was new and
unusual : and, though clear and philosophical reasoning guided
the liord of Hannut to some of his anticipations in regard to
printing, a vague degree of superstition, or perhaps it might
better be called mysticism, added not a little. It was an easy
transition from considering what the mind could do, to consider
what the mind of man even then did ; and Mary, half fearful
of offending, yet with her curiosity not a httle excited, led
the conversation to those dark and mysterious arts, in the study
of which the Lord of Hannut was supposed to pass the greater
part of his time. Upon that branch of what were then called
the dark sciences, which referred to the communication of
mortal beings with the spiritual world, the old Lord was })ro-
foundly silent ; but in the accuracy and reality of the art by
which man was then supposed to read his future fate, from
the bright and mysterious orbs of heaven, he expressed his most
deep and sincere conviction.
" jNIany a long and weary night, many a deep and anxious
thought, have I given," he said, " to the subject ; and, after
the study of nearly forty years — after searching philosophy and
Scripture — after consulting the learned and the wise — I cannot
doubt, madam, that the science which the Chaldee shepherds
studied and acquired in the plains of the East has come down to
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. IGO
US, though not in the degree of clear accuracy to which they
had brought it. Our calculations are sometimes slightly wrong, — •
a day — a month — a year sometimes, too early or too late, — but,
on examination, I have always found that the error was in
the imperfection of my own knowledge, not in a deceitful prog-
nostication of the stars."
The mind of woman is naturally more bent toward super-
stition than that of man. Mary of Burgundy had heard her
father rave against astrologers as quacks and impostors, especially
whenever their predictions did not accord with his own designs;
but she had heard him also express, on many an occasion, a
desire for their counsel ; and even the abuse which he showei'cd
upon them, had shown her how much importance he attached to
their predictions. Her belief, indeed, in their skill was not
un tinged with doubt — more, indeed, than was usual in that
age — but nevertheless it was still belief; and the calm and
serious assurances of a man so famous for his wisdom and his
skill as the Lord of Hannut, raised that belief, for the time,
to certainty.
" I wish," she replied, with a smile, in answer to what he had
last said — " I wish that I had here noted down the exact day,
and hour, and minute of my birth, that I might ask you, my lord,
to give me some insight into my future fate."
" Were such really your wishes, lady," answered the old noble-
man, " your desire might soon be gratified. Too much interest
have I ever felt in the house of Burgundy, not to obtain every
particle of information necessary to discover exactly, as far as
human science can reach, the destinies and fate of each child of
that race."
" Indeed !" exclaimed Mary ; " and can you, then, calculate
for me,- with any degree of accuracy, the lot that is likely to befal
me in life ?" — and her eyes, as she spoke, turned with a glance
of inquiring interest towards Alice of Imbercourt, as if for con-
firmation of her belief in the old lord's skill.
" I can do more, lady," said the Lord of Hannut : " I can
show you a page where the whole is already written. While you
were yet in the cradle, the interest which every one takes in
those who are destined to rule nations, led me to draw the
scheme of your nativity, and to learn everything concerning your
part in the future, which human science could discover. At the
same time, the famous Anthony of Palermo separately under-
170 MAIIV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
took the same task; and, after mature deliberation, though at
the distance of many hundred miles, each sent to the other a
transcript of the result. The difference between our calcula-
tions was so slight as scarcely to merit the name ; and I can now
place before your eyes the two combined. I pledge my word to
you, that more than eighteen years have elapsed since those
calculations were made ; and from the past, which you cannot
doubt, you shall learn to judge of the future. Do you desire to
see it?"
Mary turned somewhat pale, and paused ere she replied ; but
at length she answered, — " I do ; and thank you, sir."
" The book in which that eventful page is written," said the
Lord of Hannut, " must never leave the chamber where it has
been so long preserved; and I can but suffer one person to
accompany you to its perusal. Choose, then, lady ! who shall
it be ?"
" Alice," said the Princess, " will you go with me ?"
" Willingly — wiUingly," replied the lively girl, " if my uncle
promises beforehand to call up no spirits to terrify ns out of our
senses."
" Let me beseech you not to go, madam," exclaimed the old
cavalier who had accompanied them thither : " I never yet did
know any one who attempted to pry into the hidden secrets of
fate, who did not bitterly repent it."
" Madam," said the Lord of Hannut, " follow, I entreat, your
own judgment alone. I urge you not to read or to forbear ; yet,
as far as my memory serves me, you may read without much
apprehension ; for though you may have many a painful scene
yet to go through — as who in life has not ? — still there will be
bright days, and many, before the end."
" I will go, my lord," replied Mary. " Come, Alice, lend me
your arm. My lord, I will follow you."
" Ho, without, there ! — a light ! — a light !" exclaimed the Lord
of Hannut. " Pause yet a moment, lady. The sun is down,
and the dim and narrow passages of this building arc not to be
trod by a stranger without more light than yon twilight sky will
now afford. Bear a torch to the end of the gallery, Roger," he
added, speaking to a tall old man, who appeared at his summons.
" Now, madam, permit me to lead you on."
Thus speaking, he took the hand of the Princess reverently in
his own, and led her from the chamber, followed by Alice of
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 171
Imbercourt. Tlie next moment, Mary found herself in a long
gallery, pierced by many windows turned to the westward,
through which might be seen the fiery streaks left by the setting
sun upon the verge of the stormy sky. Manifold doors opened
opposite to these windows, and between the apertures the effigies
of many a warrior frowned in steel, while the red glare of the
sunset flashed upon the polished armour, as each suit stood sup-
ported by its wooden figure, giving to all the prominent points
a bloody hue — akin to the associations that the sight of those
implements of war called up. At the end of this long corridor
was a wide archway, at which, ere Mary had paced half the
length of the gallery, a figure took its place, bearing a lighted
torch ; and though the whole arrangement of the building was,
in that age, more common, and consequently appeared less
gloomy, than it would seem at present, still there was an aspect
of solemn grandeur about it, that raised, and yet saddened, the
feelings of Mary of Burgundy, as she advanced in the firm belief
that she was about to see the scheme of her future life laid open
before her eyes.
Passing through the archway, with the torch-bearer preceding
them, the old lord and his two fair companions wound round
the greater part of the building, in order to reach the apartment
in which he pursued his studies, without passing through the
common hall; and as they swept along the dark and naiTow
passages, with the torch-light flashing on the rude and mouldered
stone, the sense of awe and expectation increased in the bosom
of the Princess almost to the height of pain. Alice, too, felt it,
and was profoundly silent ; and when at length they entered the
chamber, in which the lonely hours of a long life had been spent
in solitary and mysterious study, she gazed around her with a
glance of curiosity and apprehension, which clearly showed that
she herself had never set her foot within its walls before. The
silver lamp hung lighted fi'om the roof; and the attendant with
his torch drew back to let them pass, carefully avoiding, however,
to set his foot across the threshold.
Mary's heart beat quick ; and she now began to ask herself
whether she had any right to unveil that awful future over which
the Almighty has cast so profound a shadow. What was she
about to do ? To learn her fate, without the possibility of changing
it — to acquire the knowledge of each event that was to happen,
without the power of avoiding or ruling it as it arose — to mark
172 MAUY OF DUUGUxN'DV; UK,
every danger while yet it lay in the womb of the future — to fore-
know every pang while yet it was far distant — to sip the cup of
agony and fear, drop by drop, long before fate compelled her to
the draught — and to make each day miserable with the certainty
of the morrow's sorrow.
While such thoughts passed through her mind, the old noble
took down one of the large volumes from the cabinet, and un-
fastening the golden clasps with which it was bound, he laid it
on the desk beneath the lamp. — " Madam," he said, " you wished
to know the fate of your future years ; — it is now before you.
Event by event 1 have marked the current of the past, and I
have found no error yet in what is there written. Read, then, if
you will, and with full confidence; for as sure as that we all
live, and that we all must die, every turn of your coming existence
is, there, written down."
Mary took a step forward towards the book — laid her fair hand
upon the yellow leaves — then paused, and gazed upwards for a
moment. " No I" she exclaimed at length — " no ! it is wiser —
it is better as it is ! Most merciful was the decree of the Most
High, that veiled the future in uncertainty. Forgive me, God,
that I have sought to pry beyond the limits that thou thyself
hast set ! No, no ! I will not read !" So saying, she drew hastily
back, as if afraid of her own determination — cast open the door,
and quitted the apartment.
The Lord of Ilannut followed, in some surprise. " Madam,"
he said, as he offered his hand to guide the Princess through the
passages which the want of the torch now rendered totally dark,
"' I will not say you have done w-rong; but you have, I own,
surprised me."
" My lord," replied the Princess, " I feel that I have done
right, and have not suffered curiosity to triumph over reason. —
At least," she added, with a smile, " you can say that there is
one woman in the world, who, when the book of destiny was
laid open before her, refused to read !"
" It is, indeed, a wonder which may well be noted down,"
replied the old nobleman ; " but, I beheve, we have left another
behind who may not have the same prudence — Alice." He
added aloud, — " Alice ! beware ! Close the door, tair niece," he
added, as the young lady followed ; and having seen that it was
fastened, he led the way back to the apartments which the Prin-
cess was to occupy for the night.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 173
The party they now rejoined were, as may be naturally sup-
posed, full of curiosity, which, however much restrained by
respect, was sufficiently apparent ; and Mary, whose spirits had
risen since her determination had been formed, told them at
once, with gay <2;ood humour, that she had been afraid to read ;
" and therefore," she said, " I can tell you nothing of the future —
for, thank God ! I know nothing."
" I am happy then, madam," said Hugh do Mortmar, " that I
can tell you something of the present, which may make up for
the disappointment ; and what I can tell you is good. A mes-
senger has arrived during your brief absence, bringing news from
Lorraine. My lord your father is, as you doubtless know, in the
field ; and, notwithstanding the checks of Granson and Morat,
has an army in better condition than ever. Of all this you are
aware : but now you will be glad to hear that Regnier of Lor-
raine, and all his Switzers, have fled before the Duke, across the
Moselle ; that Dieulewart, Pont a Mouchon, and Pont, have sur-
rendered to Burgundy ; and that the general of the enemy has
left his army, and retired to Germany."
Such tidings in regard to the present banished the thoughts of
the future, which the preceding events had called up ; and the
messenger, being summoned to the presence of the Princess,
repeated the joyful news he had brought, in a more circum-
stantial manner; and added the still more important information,
in Mary's eyes, that her father was in good health, and had
totally shaken off the lethargy of grief int6 which the defeat at
Morat had thrown him for many weeks.
Thus passed the evening of the Princess's stay in the castle of
Hannut; and early the next morning, escorted by Hugh de
Mortmar and a large body of armed retainers, as well as a party
of her own attendants, who had arrived from Tirlemont, she
passed through the forest, and proceeded on the visitation which
she was making to various cities in the county of Flanders.
In each and all she was received with loud and joyful accla-
mations ; for as both Philip of Commines and good John Molinet
observed of their countrymen, the Flemings, they always adored
the heirs of the county till they w^ere invested with real autho-
rity ; but from the moment they succeeded to the sovereignty,
they became objects of as much detestation and abuse, as they
before were, of love and applause. Thus, as she progressed
through the land, Mary fondly fancied that the Flemings had
174 MARV OF BURGUNDY; Olt,
I)ccn a pooj)lo <»;reatly traduced, and believed that their hearts
and best wislies wouhl surely follow a mild and just government.
That such, under all circumstances and in every time, should
be the character of her own sway, she firmly resolved ; and she
returned to Ghent, convinced that peace, good will, and union
of purpose, would ever reign between her and the honest com-
mons of Flanders.
CHAPTER XVIIL
We must make our narrative of the events which took place in
Ghent precede the arrival of the Princess in that city by a few
days, as her return did not take place till the evening of the
10th of Januar}', 1477 ; and it may be necessary to mark parti-
cidarly some circumstances which occurred on the 8th of that
month ; premising, however, that the local government had been
left in the hands of the Lord of Imbercourt during her absence.
The scene to which we wish to introduce the reader, is a small
dark chamber in one of the largest mercantile houses in Ghent,
but far removed from the warehouse or the shop, and fitted up
with a degree of luxury and elegance only known in Europe, at
that time, amongst the great Flemish or Venetian merchants.
The walls were huiTg with rich tapestry ; carpets of the same
fabric covered the floor. Silver lamps and small round mirrors
— then one of the most costly articles of furniture — hung around ;
and in short, the whole interior of the room presented an aspect
of wealth and comfort not to be exceeded by anything of modern
days.
At the time I speak of, however, various circumstances com-
bined to show that the apartment was the abode of sorrow.
Only (me of the lamps was lighted. The cloak and bonnet of a
citizen of the time were cast recklessly on the ground, near the
door. A small dagger lay upon the table ; and, in a seat before
it, with his eyes buried in his hands, and his body shaken with
convulsive sobs, sat the little druggist, Ganay, displaying that
sort of dejected disarray of dress, and careless fall of the limbs,
which denotes so strongly that despair has mastered the citadel
of hope in the human heart.
THE REV()i;r OF GHENT, 175
From time to time, tlic sighs and groans which struggled from
his bosom, gave way to momentary exclamations — sometimes
loud and fierce, sometimes muttered and low. " He was my
son," he would exclaim, — " ay, notwithstanding all, he was my
son I He had robbed me, it is true — taken my gold — resisted
my authority — scoffed at my rebuke — but still my blood poured
through his veins ; — and to die such a death — by the common
hangman ! — like a dog ! — to hang over the gate of the city, for
the ravens to eat him, like the carrion of a horse !" and once
more, he gave way to tears and groans.
Then again he would exclaim, — " The fiends ! the incarnate
fiends I — to slaughter my poor boy like a wolf — to refuse prayers,
entreaties, gold ! — can they be fathers ? — out upon them, cold-
hearted tigers ! — he has done no more than many a man has
done. What though the woman was wronged? — what though
her brother was slain in the affray ? — Do not these proud
nobles do worse every day ? — Besides, she should have had gold,
oceans of gold; — but now I will have revenge — deep, bitter,
insatiable revenge !" and he shook his thin bony hand in the
ail", while the fire of hell itself seemed gleaming from the bottom
of his small dark eyes.
At that moment there was a noise heard without ; and the
voices of two persons in some degree of contention, as if the one
strove to prevent the other from entering, sounded along the
passage.
" Out of my way !" cried the one, in a harsh, sharp, grating
tone ; " I tell you, boy, I must enter ; I have business with your
master. I enter everywhere, at all times and seasons."
" But don't you know, sir, what has happened ?" cried the
other voice ; " my master is in great affliction, and bade us deny
sight of hira to every one."
" I know all about it, much better than you do, lad," replied
the first. " Out of my way, I say, or I will knock your head
against the wall."
The little druggist had started up at the first sounds ; and,
after gazing upon the door for a moment, with the fierce inten-
sity of the tiger watching his victim before the spring, he seemed
to recognise the voice of the speaker who sought to force his
way in ; and, snatching the dagger hastily from the table, he
placed it in his bosom, wiped away the marks of tears from his
eyes, and then cast himself back again ip his seat.
17G MA1{^ OF UURGUNDV; OR,
Almost at tlic same moment the door opened, and Maillotin
du Bac, the prevot of the Duke of Hur<rundy, appeared, together
with a lad, who seemed to be a serving boy of the drnggist's.
The prevot was habited in a different manner, on the present
occasion, from that in which we have before depicted him. He
was no longer cither clad in arms, as he had appeared at the castle
of Ilannut, or wrapped in bandages, as he had shown himself
before the council. His dress was now a rich and costly suit of
fine cloth, splendidly embroidered, together with a bonnet of the
same colour, in which, as was then very customary amongst
the nobles, he wore the brush of a fox, slightly drooping on one
side, as it may sometimes be seen in the cap of the successful
hunter of the present day. Over his more gaudy apparel, how-
ever, he had cast a long black cloak, bordered with sable, which
he probably used, in general, on occasions of mourning.
" This person will have entrance," said the youth who accom-
panied him, addressing the little druggist, " notwithstanding all
I can do to prevent him."
" Hinder him not," replied Ganay ; " but shut the door, and
get thee gone."
The boy readily obeyed the order he received; and Maillotin
du Bac, advancing into the room, saluted the druggist with some
degree of formal courtesy, not unmixed with that solemnity of
aspect wherewith men do reverence to griefs they personally feel
but little.
" Health and better cheer to you. Master Ganay !" he said,
taking a seat close by the druggist — " health and better cheer to
you ! This is a sad business, indeed, and I wish to talk over it
with you."
The druggist eyed him for a moment or two in bitter silence,
while his heavy eyebrows were drawn together till they met,
and almost concealed the small piercing eyes beneath.
" You are kind. Sir Prevot," he said, in a sneering tone ;
" you arc mighty kind ; but let me tell you, that were it not
that I hear there has been something strange — I know not
whether to sa}' friendly — in the conduct that you have pursued
through all that is gone, I would soon show you how a man
deserves to be treated, who forces himself upon a father on the
day of his son's death."
" Why now, Master Ganay, I can bear with you a great deal,"
replied the Prevot ; *' and therefore say what you will, I shall
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 177
not be offended : but you very well know, that I would not
myself, nor would I suffer any of my men to have anything to
do with this bad business, cither in regard to the arrest or the
execution."
" Murder I call it murder !" cried the druggist, grasping the
arm of his chair, wuth a convulsive motion of his hand.
" Well, murder be it," replied the Prevot, " though they say
they did it all by law. But, however, I did not choose to have
anything to do with it ; not alone from considering the right or
wrong of the matter, but because I had a regard for yourself,
and that there are two or three little feelings in common be-
tween us."
" Ay, indeed !" cried the druggist ; " and what may they be V
Maillotin du Bac laid his large, strong, bony hand upon the
arm of the druggist, and fixing his keen hawk-like eyes upon his
face, replied, — " First and foremost — hatred to Imbercourt."
" Ha !" exclaimed the druggist, almost starting from his seat ;
" how knew you that I hated him ?— at least, before this last
dark deed?"
" Because," replied Maillotin du Bac, "some ten years ago,
when the people of Ghent were pressing boldly round the duke,
and shouting for their privileges, I saw this Imbercourt give a
contemptuous buffet to a man w^ho had caught him by the robe.
Do you remember such a thing ? The man was a rich druggist
of Ghent ; and in his first fury he got a knife half way out
of his bosom — not unlike that which lies in your own. Master
Ganay — but the moment after he put it up again, as he saw
the duke's horsemen riding down ; and, with a smooth face and
pleasant smile, said to the man who had struck him, — ' We
shall meet again, fair sir.' "
" Ay, and we have met again — but how ? — but how ?" cried
the druggist, grasping the arm of the Prevot tight as he spoke ;
" how have we met again ? Not as it should have been —
for vengeance on the insolent oppressor ; — no ; but to go upon
my knees before him — to humble myself to the very dust —
to drop my tears at his feet — to beseech him to spare my
child's life."
" And he spurned you away from him, of course ?" replied
Maillotin du Bac, eagerly.
" No, no," answered the druggist; " no, no, he did not
spurn me, — but he did worse — he pretended to pity me. He
N
178 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
declared tliat what I asked was not in his power — tliat he had not
pronounced the sentence — that it was the cschevins of the city —
and that he had no right nor authority to reverse the judgment.
Oh ! that I should have been the cursed idiot to have humbled
myself before him — to be pitied, to be commiserated by him
whose butfet was still burning on my cheek — to be called, poor
man ! imhappy father I — to be prayed to take some wine, as if I
had not the wherewithal to buy it for myself. Out upon them
all ! — eternal curses light u})on their heads, and sink them all to
hell!" — and as he spoke, the imhappy man gave way to one
of those fearful fits of wrath which had divided his moments,
during the whole of that day, with grief as bitter and un-
availing.
Maillotin du Bac let the first gust of passion have its way, with
that sort of calm indifferent management of the other's grief
Avhich showed how familiar his ruthless office had rendered him
with every expression of human misery and despair. " Ay,"
he said, after the tempest had in some degree passed, " it was
just like him; a cold calculating person enough he is, and was,
and always will be ! Much should I like to hear, though, how it
happened that he had no power to grant pardon. Did not the
princess give him full authority when she went ?"
" He said, not ! he said not !" cried the druggist, eagerly ;
" and if he lied, with a father's tears dewing his feet — a father's
agony before his eyes — he has purchased a ])lacc for himself
as deep as Judas in the fiery abyss, — if there be such a place, at
least, as monks would have us believe ; — would it were true, for
his sake !"
" But why did you not pray him," demanded the Prevot, " to
stay the execution till the return of the princess herself? She
would have granted you an easy pardon, and j-our boy's life
might have been saved."
" I did, I did," replied the unhappy father; " I did pray —
I did beseech — for a day — for an hour ; but he would not listen to
me. He said that the circumstances of the case would not
justify such an action ; that the proofs were clear and undoubted;
that he — he, my poor luckless boy — had committed an offence
heinous in the eyes' of God and man ; that he had outraged a
defenceless w'oman, and slain a fellow-creature to escape from
the punishment of the crime he had committed ! Oh ! may the
time come, that he himself may plead for mercy to ears as deaf
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 179
and inexorable ! Mark me. Sir Prevot, mark me ! men say
lightly that they would give a right hand for some trifling nothing
that they covet in this world — some rare jewel, or some painted
hood, or some prancing horse ; but I would lay down both these
old hands, and bid the hangman strike them off — ay, with a smile
— for but one hour of sweet revenge."
" If such be the case," replied Maillotin du Bac, in his usual
common-place tone
" If such be the case ?" exclaimed the other, starting up with
a new and violent burst of passion : " if such be the case ? I tell
thee it is, man ! Why came you here ? — What do you want
with me ? — Beware how you urge a desperate man ! — What
seek you ? — What offer you ? — Do you come to give me revenge ?
If me no ifs. Sir Prevot ; come you to give revenge ?"
" I do !" replied the Prevot, who had been waiting till the
other had run out his hasty exclamations ; " I do. Master Ganay,
if you can recover your cool tranquillity, and argue some difficult
points with me, not forgetting the calm policy with which, I have
heard, that you can bend some of your young and inexperienced
comrades to your purpose. But recollect yourself — but be de-
termined, collected, and shrewd, and you shall have revenge
As I am a living man !" he added, seeing the druggist's eyes
fix upon him with a look of stern inquiry.
" Then I am calm !"' answered the old man ; " as calm as the
dead. I seek but that one thing — revenge ! Thou sa3'est true.
Sir Prevot ; I have been moved — far too much moved. — I, who
am wont to stir the minds of others, while I keep my own as
tranquil as a still lake, I should not have yielded to such mad
despair, but should only have thought how I might repay the
mighty debts I owe to some below the moon. Pardon me, and
forget what you have seen — but you have never lost a child ; —
you have never seen your only one given to the butchers. But I
am calm, as I said, quite calm ; and I will be calmer still. Ho,
boy ! without there !" and rising from the table, he threw open
the door, and rang; a small silver hand bell which stood beside
him ; in answer to the tones of which, the boy who had before
presented himself, re-appeared.
" Bring me," said the druggist, " that small box of the precious
juice of the Thebaid, which the Venetian merchants sent me,
so pure and unadulterated. — Let us be silent till it comes,"
he added, speaking to the Prevot ; " it will soon quiet all but the
N 2
180 iVIARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
settled purpose. I marvel that I thought not of its virtues
before."
The boy returned speedily, bringing a small box of Sanders
wood, in which — wrapped in innumerable covers, to preserve its
virtues — was a quantity of j)ure oj)ium, from the mass of which
the druggist pinched off a small portion, and swallowed it, much
to the surprise of Maillotin du Bac, who held all drugs in sove-
reign abhorrence. However violent might be his passions, Ganay,
by the influence of a powerful mind, had acquired such complete
command over them, in all ordinary circumstances, that seldom,
if ever, had they cast off his control in the course of life. On
the present occasion, indeed, despair and mental agony had con-
quered all for a time : but, even before he had swallowed the
opium, he had recovered his rule ; and, speedily, as that great
narcotic began to exercise its soothing influence upon the irritated
fibres of his corporeal frame, the mind acquired still greater as-
cendency, and he felt no little shame and contempt for himself,
on account of the weak burst of frenzied violence to which he had
given way in the presence of the Prevot.
He was too politic, however, when he had regained his self-com-
mand, to show that he did contemn the feelings to which he had
given way ; and he at once prepared to play with Maillotin
du Bac the same shrewd and artificial part which he had laid
down as the general rule of his behaviour towards mankind.
The two were fairly matched ; for the Prevot was one of those,
in whom, a sort of natural instinct, as well as the continual
habit of observation, leads to the clear perception of other men's
motives, especially where they strive to conceal themselves
amongst the dark and tortuous paths of policy. He was, cer-
tainly, sometimes wrong in his calculations, but was not often so;
and, in the present instance, by placing himsjlf cxr.ctly iii the
situation of the drusg;ist, and conceiving what would have been
his own feelings under such circumstances, with a little allowance
for die difference of character, he arrived at a very correct con-
clusion, in regard to the designs and the wishes of his companion,
as well as to the obstacles which might impede them from acting
together.
One great difficulty, indeed, would have lain in his way on
almost any other occasion ; for so accustomed was lie both to see
others attempt to deceive him, and to deceive others himself
in return, that he could scarcely deal straight-forwardly with any
THE IlEVOLT OF GllEiNT. 181
one. As he was now perfectly sincere, however, in his desire of
aiding the druggist s revenge, or rather of acconipHshing his own
through that of Ganay, he could afford to be candid on the present
occasion. All that obstructed their cordial co-operation arose in
those doubts and fears of each other, which all villains, however
bold, must naturally feel on leaguing themselves together for an
evil purpose ; and such doubts and fears were undoubtedly
felt strongly by the Prevot and his companion.
Nevertheless, these difficulties were to be got over. The
jealousies and suspicions were soon very frankly avowed ; for as
each — though with certain modifications — considered cunning
or shrewdness as the height of human wisdom, and, consequently,
of human virtue, vanity itself naturally taught them to display
rather than to conceal the prudent circumspection, with which
they guarded against any danger from each other.
We cannot here detail the whole conversation that ensued ;
but, in the first instance, the druggist made himself master of all
the circumstances which acted as incentives to revenge, in the
mind of Maillotin du Bac, against the Lord of Imbercourt, before
he committed himself further. By many a keen question, he
induced him to imveil, step by step, the manner in which, through
many years, that nobleman had thw^arted his designs, and in-
curred his displeasure ; how he had cut him off from reward and
honour, where he had striven for it by dishonourable means;
how he had defended the innocent against his persecution; how
he had sternly overturned many of his best laid schemes, and
exposed some of his most subtle contrivances, from a period long
before, up to the day on which his testimony had freed Albert
Maurice from the effects of the Prevot's vindictive hatred. Had
there been one defect in the chain, — had not the motive for
vengeance been clear and evident, — thp doubts of the druggist
might have remained unshaken, and he might have conceived
that Maillotin du Bac had visited him as a spy, with the design
of betraying the schemes of vengeance which his incautious
indignation might breathe, to the ears of those who had refused
mercy to his child. But the Prevot, appreciating and revering
his suspicions, recapitulated every event with cool, bitter exact-
ness, and dwelt upon the various circumstances with a precision
that showed how deeply they were impressed upon his memory.
He added, too, a slight glimpse of interested motives, by showing
how Imbercourt had stood in the way of his advancement, and
182 MAUV OF BURGUNDY; OH,
how he might be profited in his own ofl'icc if that nobleman were
removed, by any means, from the conncils of Burf^nndy.
Tlie impression thus left upon the mind of the burj^her — and
it was a correct one — was, that there was a long store of treasured
hatred in the mind of the Prevot towards this statesman, Iml)er-»
court, aggravated by thwarted ambition and avarice; and that
he had reached that point at which he was ready to run con-
siderable risks for the gratification of his vengeance and the
promotion of his interest. As to any moral sentiment standing
in the way, it was an objection which neither the Prevot nor the
druggist ever dreamed of. Those were ties from which each felt
that the other was free, and therefore they were never taken into
consideration.
After a long conversation had brought them to this mutual
state of good understanding, and after the druggist had pretty
plainly pointed out that, before proceeding with any of the
deeper and more intricate schemes, which might place the life
of each in the power of the other, he should expect that the
Prevot would join with him in some act which, though less
dangerous, would give him a hold upon that officer, that at pre-
sent he did not possess, he went on Avith the calmness of intense
but subdued feclinss.
" By the sentence of the eschevins," he said, in a low, quiet
tone, which was, perhaps, more impressive than even his former
bursts of passion ; " by the sentence of the eschevins. Sir Prevot,
the body — you understand me — the body is to hang in chains
over the Ypres gate, till such time as it is consumed by the wind,
and the rain, and the foul birds of prey ; — will it not be sweet
for a fiither's eyes to behold such a sight every time that he rides
forth from his own house ?"'
" VVhy, truly no. Master Ganay," replied Maillotin du Bac :
" good faith, you must take some other road."
" Ay ; but would it not be a matter of triumph, rather than
shame," asked the druggist, " if I could ride through that gate,
and find the body gone ? In a word, would it not be proud to
show these paltry tyrants that even now they cannot work all
their w^ill? — What! do you not understand me yet? I Avould
have my son's head laid in the calm ground, man : I would have
the body of the thing I loved removed from the place of horror
and of shame. — What say you ? — can it be done ?"
" I understand you now," answered the Prevot : " let me but
TJIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 183
think a moment, Master Ganay, — let mc but think a moment.
It can be done — a}^, it can be done : but I should think it mat-
tered little to one of your firm mind. The body will rot as soon
in the holiest ground that ever priest or bishop blest, as in the
wide unholy air."
" Do I not know that?' demanded Ganay, with a curling lip.
" Think you that I ever dream of angels or devils, or all the
absurd fancies that monks and ])riestly quacks have built up, on
the wild vision of an hereafter ? — No, no ! but I would fliin dis-
appoint the tyrants, and teach them that they cannot do all. I
would fain, too, remove the memento of my house's shame from
before the eyes of my fellow-citizens. — Can it be done, 1 sa}'?"
" It can— it can !" replied Maillotin du Bac ; " and, to please
you, it shall be done. Hie you away straight to .the churchyard
of the Minnims, with some one you can trust bearing pickaxe
and shovel. Use my name, and the porter will soon let you in.
Wait there till I come, and busy the man you take with you in
digging a trench. Be quick; for it will take long. I go upon
my errand, and will be .there in about two hours. After this.
Master Ganay, I think we may trust each other. So we will
meet again to-morrow night, at this hour ; and, if I mistake not,
we wall soon find means to crush the viper that has stung us
both."
The druggist replied not a word, but wrung the hand that
the prevot had given him hard in his own, and suffered him to
depart.
• It were needless to trace further the proceedings of that night,
or to give any more detailed explanations in regard to the events
just mentioned, than to say, that early the following morning a
party of children and women assembled before the Ypres gate,
to gaze — with that fondness for strange and fearful sights which
often characterizes that age and that sex — upon the body of
young Karl Ganay, the rich druggist's son, who, after a short
course of wild profligacy'and vice, had been hanged for murder
the day before. However much they might expect to have their
wonder excited, it was so in a greater degree, though in a dif-
ferent manner from that which they anticipated. There, on
the projecting beam from which the unhappy young man had
been suspended, hung, indeed, the rope which had terminated
his existence, and the chains which marked the additional turpi-
tude of his offence ; but the body itself was no longer there ;
184 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OH,
;ind tlio tidings of what had occurred soon spread through the
city.
Strict search was immediately instituted. The eschevins, and
other officers appointed by the Duke of Burgundy, were furious
at their authority being set at nought, and both licld out threats
and offered rewards for the discovery of the body. But it was
all in vain : and while some of the more malevolent — remember-
ing the course of young Ganay's life, and into the hands of wliat
Being it had aj)peared likely to cast him in the end — accounted
for the disappearance of his body, by supposing that the great
enemy of mankind had carried it off as his due, others, more
charitable, but not less superstitious, chose to believe that the
father, by some drugs only known to himself, had found means
to resuscitate his son, and had sent him away to some distant
land, where his crimes and their punishment were equally
unknown.
This version of the affair, indeed, obtained by far the most
numerous body of supporters ; and the tale, swollen and dis-
figured by tradition, is still to be heard at the firesides of the
citizens of Ghent.
CHAPTER XIX.
Other matters of more general interest occurred soon after the
events we have narrated in the last chapter, and imperatively
called the attention of the citizens of Ghent from the unhappy
druggist and his son. Strange rumours of a battle fought and
lost beneath the walls of Nancy, circulated in the good town
during the evening of the ninth of January. No one, however,
could trace them to their source. No messenger had arrived in
the city from the army of the Duke of Burgundy; and the wise
and prudent amongst the citizens, after a few inquiries concerning
the authority on which these reports rested, rejected them as
false and malicious.
They were borne, however, in the evening, by Maillotin du
Bac, to the ears of the druggist Ganay ; and the chance of such
an event was eagerly canvassed between them, as well as the
course of action to be pursued in case the tidings should prove
THE REVOLT OF GlIEKT. 185
true ; which, as they calculated all the probabilities, and suffered
their wishes in some degree to lead their judgments, they gradually
persuaded themselves was even more than likely.
Long and anxious were their deliberations ; and it was verging
fast towards the hour of three in the morning when the Prevot
left the dwelling of the rich merchant. It was a clear, frosty
night, with the bright small stars twinkling in thousands through
a sky from which every drop of vapour and moisture seemed
frozen away by the intense cold. The world was all asleep ;
and the sound of a footfall in the vacant streets was enough to
make even the joiirneyer himself start at the noise his step pro-
duced, so still and silent was the whole scene. The sinking moon,
though she still silvered over with her beams the frost-work on
the high roofs of the various buildings, and poured a flood of
mellow splendour down the long streets that led to the westvs^ard,
cast the broad shadows of the principal buildings completely over
all the other parts of the town, leaving no light but that which
was diffused through the whole air by the general brightness of
the sky, and its glistening reflection from the thin film of ice
upon the canals.
There is always something sublime and touching in the aspect
of a large city sleeping calmly in the moonlight of a clear quiet
night, with all its congregated thousands reposing beneath the
good providence of God. But the mind of Maillotin du Bac
had reached that point of obduracy at which the sweetest or
the most solemn, the most refreshing or the most awful of the
pages in Nature's great monitory book are equally unheeded.
Wrapping his cloak round him, to guard against the cold, he
walked on, close to thie houses, and turned into the first small
narrow alley that he found, in order that no watchful eye, if such
existed, might trace him from the house of the druggist. Thence,
again deviating into one of those lateral streets that lead along
by the side of the principal ones, he continued his course over
the stones, rendered black and slippery by the intense frost.
All was still. Not a sound fell upon the ear, except every
now and then the distant crowing of a cock heard through the
clear air from the country beyond the walls. After a little,
however, as the Prevot walked on, he caught the tramp of a horse's
feet sounding afar off, and, in a few minutes, the challenge of
the sentries at the Alost gate, the clang of the portcullis, the fall
of the drawbridge, a brief murmured conversation at the gate.
186 xMARV OF BURGUNDY; OH,
ami then airaiii the sound of the horse's feet advancins: at the
slow pace, vvliich the state of tlie pavement rendered necessary,
down tlie principal street. All this he heard clearly and dis-
tinctly ; for the sound nuist have been small, indeed, which, in
the calm still winter air of the night, did not reach his prac-
tised ear.
lie was now too far from the house of tlie druggist for his
appearance in the streets, even at that late hour, to lead to any
suspicion of their connexion, especially as his official duties were
always a fair excuse for conduct that in other men might have
led to doubt and question. At the same time the very habits of
his life gave him a propensity to investigate every occurrence,
however slight, so that the sound of some one entering the city,
at such an hour of the night, instantly attracted his attention, and
his curiosity at once led him to take a short cut into the street
down which the horseman was riding. It was one of those
which, running nearly east and west, was still illumined by the
pale light of the moon ; and the eye of Maillotin du Bac, which
never forgot the form that it had once rested upon, instantly
perceived and recognised an armed cavalier riding towards him,
whom he had known as a boon companion in the army of the
Duke of Burgundy.
Ilis resolution was instantly taken to accost him ; and, stcp-
j/mg out of the shadow, as the cavalier approached, he exckiimed,
" Why, how now ! What news, Paul Verdun ? How long have
you left the camp ?"
" Who the devil art thou ?" was the first reply of the cavalier,
who appeared to have drank more wine than was beneficial to
his faculties of perception : — " Who the devil art thou ? — What !
Master Prevot? — give you good day — give you good day —
night, that is to say : or day it may be, too ; for, by my faith, it
is after cock-crow. What ! going your rounds ? — Ever watchful.
Master Prevot, eh ? — What news of the good city ?"
"Nothing stirring — nothing stirring," replied INIaillotin du
Bac : "no news at all, except that the cschcvins hanged a man
yesterday, without my help. But what news of the camp, I say,
and how came you from it ?"
" Ay, there is the mischief," said the soldier.
"What! no new defeat?" interrupted Maillotin du Bac, his
wish, very likely, being father to the thought.
"Defeat! No, no, — no defeat, man !" answered the soldier;
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 187
" never were we better. A glorious army — ])ostcd strongly, —
the town almost reduced by famine, and nothing but a handfid
of raw Switzers come to relieve it. There will be a battle before
many days arc over ; and Duke Charles will cut up the churls
like mincemeat. But the mischief is, that I should be sent
away before it is fought."
*' So, then, there has been no battle after all !" exclaimed the
Prevot. — "Well, God send it a good issue, when it does come. —
Good night, good friend : I must on upon my way."
" Good night ! — good night !" replied the soldier : — " faith, I
must on my way, too ; for I have letters from the Duke, and from
the Count de Chimay, for my good Lord of Imbercourt ; and,
somehow, I met with three good companions at Alost, who
wasted my time over their cursed pottle-pots. Good night ! —
good night !" and so saying, he rode on.
" Ha !" said the Prevot to himself, as he walked onward
towards his own dwelling ; "so — that scheme is all vain, and we
must try the other, though it will be both difficult and dangerous
to get any one to give him the dose. I had rather that it had
been something public, too, if it had but been to wring his pride."
Thus muttering as he went, the Prevot now trod his way
homeward. The soldier and his war-horse were admitted into
the court of the Lord of Imbercourt's hotel. The streets of
Ghent resumed their solitude and silence ; and the night be-
tween the ninth and tenth of January ended in peace.
No small activity was observable, however, the next morning
in the precincts of the court. By seven o'clock the Lord of Im-
bercourt was on horseback, and proceeding towards the palace, at
which Margaret Duchess of Burgundy, and sister to Edward IV".
of England, had arrived the day before. The Princess Mary,
too, was expected from the side of Bruges. But, nevertheless,
two messengers were sent oif, at diffei;ent limes, in that direc-
tion ; and it was supposed that they bore her the intelligence of
an approaching battle, and recommended her immediate return
to the city.
The news which had been brought by Paul Verdun, and the
certainty that, at the time of his departure from the Burgundian
camp, no battle had been fought, spread rapidly amongst the
citizens, and was received by every different individual with dif-
ferent feelincfs, as he was well or ill affected to the reignin";
family. The certainty, however, that an immediate struggle was
188 MAIIY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
about to take j)lacc between Charles the Bold and his deter-
mined and hitiierto successful adversaries, the Swiss, of course
kept the minds of the people of the city in a state of agitation
and excitement, — a stale the most detrimental, morally and
pliysically, that it is j)ossible to conceive for any town or any
people. Business w'as neglected, if not suspended ; ])olitical
gossipings supplied the room of activity and industry ; anxietv,
suspicion, and irritation took the place of calm labour and tran-
quil enjoyment; the slightest piece of news, whether false or
true, was sought and received as a boon ; the wildest tale found
some to believe it ; and a small lie, by the industrious augment-
ation of many, soon swelled into a mountain of falsehood.
Towards evening the Princess Mary arrived at the palace ;
and while the good people of Ghent proceeded to distort amongst
themselves the news of her return in every different way that
suited their fancies — some saying that she had come back with
only a single squire, some that she had brought with her a force
of a thousand men-at-arms — that fair girl herself, after dismount-
ing in the court-yard, together with exactly the same train which
had accompanied her during the whole course of her progress,
ran lightly up the wide flight of steps wliich conducted to the
apartments of her amiable stepdame, and in a moment after was
in the arms of Margaret of York.
" Bless thee, my sweet child ! bless thee !" said the fliir Eng-
lishwoman, pressing her husband's daughter to her bosom : " thon
art come to comfort mc ; for I am very sad, and my heart is full
of forebodings."
" Nay, nay, madam, never fear," replied the Princess ; " you
arc sad and anxious because you know my lord and father is
likely to risk a battle, — and I, of course, am anxious, too ; but
still we must not despond. Remember, madam, how often he has
fought and conquered."
" It is not for the battle that I fear," replied INIargarct of
York : " my early daj's, and my early recollections, have been,
and are, of nothing but stricken fields, and battles lost and won ;
and the tidings of approaching strife would give me no appre-
hensions, did not those who are on the spot breathe doubts and
suspicions which have satlly shaken my hopes, dear Mary. In a
word, with the duke's letters, received last night, came a des-
patch to the good Lord of Imbcrcourt from the Count de Chi-
may. He speaks vaguely and doubtingly ; but he evidently
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 189
apprehends treason, and as evidently points to Campo Basso as
the traitor, — your father's most trusted and favourite servant."
" I would fain see the letters," replied the Princess : " may I
heseech you, madam, to let the Lord of Imbcrcourt be sent for?"
The desire of the Princess was immediately obeyed ; and in a
short time, Imbercourt returned to the palace, llis words were
few, and tended merely to express his congratulations on the
Princess's safe return, without touching upon the fears which
had been more openly spoken by the Duchess of Burgundy.
There was, however, a degree of settled gloom upon his counte-
nance, and a restless anxiety in his eye, which showed that his
apprehensions were perhaps greater even than her own. He
immediately laid before the Princess Mary the letters which he
had received the night before, and which, as far as positive fact
went, merely stated that the Burgundian army, in great force,
lay in a strong position beneath the walls of Nancy ; that a
small army of Swiss and Germans were encamped opposite to
them, and that a battle was likely soon to take place. The
duke's letter was short and general : that of the Count de Chi-
may was more particular; and Mary read over both with deep
and eager attention.
" There is much matter for fear," she said, as she laid them
down, " in both these despatches. May God defend us, and
avert the dangers that threaten !"
" That there is much to raise apprehension in the letter of
Monsieur de Chimay, I acknowledge, madam," replied the Lord
of Imbercourt ; " but I see nothing in that of our noble sove-
reign the Duke which should give us any alarm."
Mary raised her eyes with a timid glance towards the face of
Margaret of York, as if fearful of causing her pain, or of increas-
ing her alarm. But the Duchess instantly perceived her hesita-
tion, and exclaimed, — " Speak, speak, dear Mary ! let us not
have a thought concealed from each other."
" Well, then," replied Mary, the tears starting in her eyes —
" I must say I see more — far more — cause for apprehension in
this letter than in this,^^ and she laid her hand first upon the
letter of her father, and then upon that of the Count de Chimay.
" The one," she proceeded, " speaks vaguely of traitors to be
feared in my father's camp ; the other shows me much cause to
fear for my father himself. — O, my lord!" she added, laying her
left hand upon the arm of Lnbercourt, while, with her right, she
190 MARY OF BURGUNDY; 01!,
pointed to a number of blots and erasures, sentences begun and
not finished, or phrases entirely altered, in the despatch from her
father: — " O, my lord I do you not sec a great alteration here ?
The time was when the brief, clear sentences of Charles of Bur-
gundy, unstudied and rough though they might sometimes be,
proceeded at once to the point, without change or hesitation,
and expressed with force and precision the exact meaning, which
was too distinct in his mind, ever to be doubtful in his words :
but look at that letter, my lord, — Did you ever sec anything
like iliat from t'hc hand of the Duke before?"
Imbercourt was silent, and gazed upon the paper with a stern
and mournful glance.
" My lord, my lord !" continued Mary, " my father is ill ; and,
with Heaven's blessing, I will set out to-morrow to see him and
console him."
" Nay, lady," replied Imbercourt, " you must not forget that
3'ou are left here by our sovereign lord, as his representative
in Flanders ; and indeed you must not quit your post. Before
you could arrive, too, a battle will have been fought. I will yet
trust that the noble duke will win it gloriously : — and you know
him too well to doubt," he added, with a faint smile, " that a
batde won will do more to console him, than the sweetest voice
that ever whispered comfort in the ear of man."
" I do indeed, — I do indeed !" replied Mary ; but no smile
accompanied her words ; for that truth had been often felt
too bitterly during the course of her past life. — " I do indeed ;
but yet the only thing that can detain me here while my father,
ill at ease, and shaken both in body and mind, lies in his weary
leaguer before Nancy, is the doubt which is the superior duty —
to join him there, or to remain in the situation in which he has
placed me."
" Nay, nay, Mary," said Margaret of York ; " your duty binds
you to stay here, and mine calls me hence. You can trust
my love for both your father and yourself; and, as soon as may
be, I will join him, though hai)ly my coming unbidden, may call
on me some harsh words, as when last I saw him at Dijon."
" Bear with him, dear lady ! oh, bear with him !" exclaimed
Mary. — " It is but the haste of an impatient spirit chafed by un-
wonted reverses. He knows the worth of your love too well
to chide with any bitterness. But hark !" she proceeded, —
" what noise is that in the court ? For God's sake, my Lord of
TJIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 191
Imbercourt, look out and sec I for since I took upon mc the sad
task of holding tlie reins, which rcc^uire a far stronger hand than
mine, I have met with so many sorrows and misfortunes, that every
sound alarms me. — Hark ! there are many people speaking."
In obedience to her command, Imbercourt approached the
casement which opened above the lesser court of the palace, and,
throwing back a part of the lattice, he looked out upon what was
passing below. The first object that his eyes fell upon was the form
of the old Lord of Neufchatcl, in the act of dismounting from
his horse by the aid of two stout attendants, whose dusty armour
and jaded horses evinced that they, like their master, had tra-
velled fiir and fast. The old nobleman himself, however, dis-
played sti'ong traces of battle as well as wayfaring. Ilis helmet
was off, and its place supplied by a small furred cap, from under-
neath which, a mingled mass of bandages and long gray hair,
dabbled with dust and blood, made its appearance ; while his left
arm, supported in a torn and soiled scarf, showed that the fight
had been severe ere he left it.
Imbercourt at once guessed the event which he had come
to communicate, well knowing that an aged and wounded
cavalier would not have been chosen as the messenger of victory:
and while, with slow and painful efforts, the old lord dismounted,
the counsellor withdrew from the window, doubting whether he
should meet him on the stairs, and delay the tidings that he
bore, till INIary was more prepared to receive them, or whether he
should suffer him to see the Princess, and let the shock pass over
at once. His course, however, was determined by Mary herself,
who marked the conflict in his mind by the changing expression
of his countenance.
" What is it, my lord ?" she exclaimed ; " speak boldly ! — '
Are they again in revolt?"
" Who, madam? — the men of Ghent ?" demanded Imbercourt.
— " Oh ! no, no ! nothing of the kind. It is apparently a wounded
officer bearing news from the army; and I fear "
Mary waved her hand, — "Bid him hither! — quick!" she
cried. — " Suspense is worse than any tidings. Quick, my lord !
Bid him hither, without pause of idle ceremony."
Imbercourt withdrew to obey ; and while Mary gazed with
eager eyes upon the door, Margaret of York fixed her glance
with melancholy interest on her fair step-daughter, more anxious
for Mary of Burgundy — in whom she had found as much affection
192 MARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
as she could have expected from a child of her own bosom —
than even for a husband, who had never preatly souj^ht her
love, and who had ncf^lectcd her as soon as he found that she
was destined to be childless. But a short time elapsed between
the Lord of Imbcrcourt's departure and his return; but moments
of apprehension would weigh down many long days of joy :
and to Mary of Burgundy his absence seemed interminable.
At length, however, he came, followed slowly by the old Lord of
Neufchatcl, unable, from wounds, and weariness, and exhaustion,
to walk without the support of several attendants.
Even anxiety conquered not the gentleness of Mary's heart ;
and though she began by exclaiming, as he entered, " Well,
my lord ! Speak!" she instantly paused, and continued, — " Good
Heaven! you are sadly wounded, sir. Bring forward that chair;
send for the chirurgeon of the household. Sit you down, my
Lord of Neufchatcl ! How fare you now ?"
" Better than many a better man, madam," replied the old
knight, more full of the disastrous tidings he bore, than even of his
corporeal sufferings ; " many a one lies cold that could fill the
saddle now-a-days far better than old Thibalt of Neufchatel."
" Good God ! then, what are your tidings ?" cried Mary,
clasping her hands. " My father? — speak, sir! — my father?"
" Is well, I hope, lady," answered the old soldier ; " but
as for his army "
" Stop, stop !" exclaimed the Princess ; " first, thank God for
that ! But are you sure, my lord, that he is safe ?"
" Nay, nay, I cannot vouch it, lady," he replied ; " his army,
however, is no more. Fatal, most fatal, has been the duke's deter-
mination. All is lost in the field. The army of Burgundy is, as
I have said, no more ; and where the duke is, I cannot say,
though I saw him galloping towards the left when I quitted the
field, which was not amongst the first. — Ah ! had he but taken
my advice !" he added, with a rueful shake of the head ; a slight
touch of natural vanity obtruding itself, even then, in the
midst of sincere grief of mind, and pain, and exhaustion of
body — " Ah ! had he but taken my advice, and not that of either
the black traitor, Campo Basso, or of Chimay, and such boys as
that ! But, lady, I am faint and weary, for I have ridden harder
to bear you these news, though they be sad ones, and to bid you
prepare all sorts of reinforcements to check the enemy, than ever
I thought to ride from a field of battle."
'IIIJ'. HK\()I/I OF GHENT. 193
" But tell me, my lord," said Margaret of York, stepping
forward, as Mary, overwhelmed with the tidings, sat gazing,
mournfully, in the face of the old soldier, while her mind was
afar ; " but tell me, my lord, how all this has happened. Speak,
for I have a right to hear ; and my oar, alas ! has been, from the
cradle, too much accustomed to the details of battle and blood-
shed, for my cheek to blanch or my heart to fail. Say, how went
this luckless day ?"
" Faith, good madam, I umst be short with my talc," replied
the Lord of Neufchatel, " for I know not how, but my breath
fails me. — My lord the duke — God send him safe to Ghent ?
— had sworn by all the saints, that no house of stone should ever
cover his head till he had slept in Nancy, which, as you know,
we had besieged some days. The enemy, in the meanw^hile, lay
over the w^ater a league or two beyond St. Nicholas, and day by day
increased in number, while day by day the forces of the duke fell
off; for we had famine and disease, and — ^worse than all — traitors
in the camp. But his Grace would not be warned, though many
a one strove to warn him ; and at length, on the Sunday morning,
just five days since, the Swiss and Lorrainers, with their German
and French allies and Italian traitors, marched boldly up towards
our camp. Faith ! it was a fair sight to see them come in two
great bodies — one by the river, and the other by the high
road from Neufville. Churls though they were, they made a
gallant array. ■ So then they came on. — But, madam," he added,
rising and supporting himself by the back of the chair, " I love
not to think of it ! Good sooth, it makes my heart swell too
much to tell the whole just now. — We w^ere soon hand to hand —
the artillery roaring, bolts and arrows and balls flying, the
trumpets braying, and the men-at-arms charging gallantly. But
still, as I looked round, I saw the ranks of Burgundy wax thin ;
and still the Swiss churls pushed on ; and I beheld many a stout
soldier fall, and many that had fought well turn his back. Well,
as I was thinking what might best be done, my lord the duke
rode up ; and, speaking softly as a woman, he said, — ' My good
old friend, I pray you join De Lalaing, and, w ith yoiu- men-at-
arms, make one good charge upon the flank of j'onder boors.'
It was soon done and over. We went down like the shot of a
mangonel, but we were driven back like the same shot when
it bounds off from a wall of stone. One churl shivered my
helmet, and nearly split my skull with his two-handed sword.
o
194 MAUV OF BURGUNDY; OH,
Another shot me in the arm with his hand-gun. AH my poor
fellows but two or three died around me bravely; and they who
were left took my liorse by the bridle, and were carrying me ofi",
when, by our Lady, I saw one of the base Italians who had
betrayed us all, despatching my poor Sc^uire Walter as he lay
tumbled from his horse upon a little mound. He had served
with me in nine stricken fields, and many a chance affray ;
he had never quitted me for well nigh twenty years, so I
could not quit him then. No, lady, no ! but shaking the bridle
from their hands that would have stayed me, I turned me round,
and struck one more good stroke for Burgundy. But the poor
lad was dead I — God have his soul — the poor lad was dead !"
and as he spoke, the old knight dashed the tear from his
eye with the back of his brown hand.
" Little is there more to tell, madam," he proceeded, after a
moment's pause. " By this time the battle had changed to
a flight and a pursuit. There were not ten men who held
together on the field. Shame to him who turns his back while
one ho})c lasts ; but no shame to him who flies from a lost field.
I saw the duke galloping to the left; and as I knew the country
well, I spurred for the bridge of La Buissiere, and sad it was
to see the road all strewed with dead and dying. But when
I came near the bridge, the matter was still worse , for there was
that foul traitor, Campo* Basso, with a barricade of carts and
wagons, cutting off the fugitives from his betrayed master's host.
When I looked forward, there were the Italian devils — when
I looked behind, down were coming the German swine. On
the one hand was the hill, with the Swiss pikes gleaming over
the top, and on the other was the river. The water afforded the
only chance ; so in we plunged. Our horses were strong and
unwounded, and we struggled through, though many a gallant
gentleman sunk close before our eyes. But, lady," he added,
once more, as the excitement of detailing the battle passed away,
" I am growing faint again, and in good sooth I have little more
to tell ; therefore, by your Grace's leave, I will retire."
Mary answered not a word, but gazed upon the old man with
• This fact is undoubted, and indeed tiie whole account of the battle of
Nancy here given is confirmed by Jean Molinet, Historiographer to Mary
of Burgundy. The writer of this book, however, would have omitted this
narration of events, which have been so admirably detailed elsewhere, had it
not l)een absolutely necessary to his story.
TIIK RF.\Oi;r OF GHENT. 195
the same fixed painful glance; but the Duchess bowed her head,
and the Lord of Ncufchatel, with the aid of his two attendants,
moved towards the door.
Before he reached it, however, he paused, and turning round
exclaimed — " Faith ! 1 had forgot the very errand which made
me make such haste ; for I have travelled with scarcely an hour's
rest, in order to bid you take instant measures to secure the
country, for that wild young wolf of Lorraine will be upon the
frontier speedily ; and even as I passed by Brussels I heard
strange tales of movements in France. You, my Lord of Im-
bercourt, look to it with all speed ; for, believe me, not an hour
is to be lost."
Thus saying, he turned and left the chamber, while Imbercourt
advanced to the Princess, and besought her to be comforted.
She answered nothing, however; and only by a melancholy wave
of the hand, expressed how deep were her apprehensions.
" Nay, Mary, my sweet child," said the Duchess, " give not
way to despair : remember, there is a God of mercy above us,
who sees all, and rules all, for the best."
Mary of Burgundy cast her fair arms round her stepmother,
and exclaiming, " My father ! oh, my father !" burst into a ])as-
sionate flood of tears.
" Leave us, my Lord of Imbercourt," said the Duchess. " Let
me beseech you to take all the measures necessary for our security;
and send out messengers to gain more intelligence of this sad
defeat. Call those whom you can best trust to council ; and, for
God's sake, suffer not your mind to be overcome at the moment
that all its energies are most required."
Imbercourt bowed and withdrew : but there were circum-
stances in the situation of the country which rendered it impos-
sible for him to act or think with that calm tranquillity w4iich he
had displayed at other times. A deep and heavy gloom fell over
him from the first moment that the loss of the fatal battle of
Nancy met his ear ; and he never seemed wholly to recover his
former energies.
He took care, however, to summon to the side of the Prin-
cess, in her hour of need, all those who, he thought, might give
her both consolation and support. Messengers were instantly
despatched to the Loi'd of Ravestein, the Duke of Cleves, the
Bishop of Liege, and several others, whose relationship to the
house of Burgundy afforded the best security for their taking an
o 2
196 MARY OF lU.'RGUNDV ; (JH,
interest in its fate ; and Imbercourt endeavoured, as far as pos-
sible, to increase the military force within the town of Ghent,
without exciting the watchful jealousy of the inhabitants; but
the country was totally drained of men, and few, if any, could
be added at a short notice to the force within the town — at least,
few of those feudal troops on which alone reliance could be
])laced.
In the meanwhile, during the evening and the early part of
the night which followed the arrival of the Lord of Neufchatcl,
post after post came in from the side of Alost and Brussels,
bringing new details and rumours of the battle ; and each ad-
ditional fact proved it to have been more disastrous and bloody
than it had appeared at first. Nothing was heard but long lists
of the dead, or exaggerated computations of the total loss. Still,
there was a deep silence in regard to the duke himself. No one
knew what had befallen him in the fight or the pursuit; and no
one ventured to assert, what all internally believed, that he had
fiillen upon that bloody plain. The very silence, however, was
ominous; and the whole of the inmates of the ducal dwelling in
(Jlieut passed the night in that gloomy apprehension, which is
perhaps more racking to the heait than absolute sorrow.
Mary wept her father as dead; but yet she insisted upon
hearing the tidings that every courier brought in, with that
anxious eagerness which showed that a spark of hope, however
faint, still remained alive within her bosom ; but with her, and
indeed with every one else, as fresh news arrived, as the accounts
of the stern determination evinced by the duke before the battle
were multiplied, and as his often reiterated declaration that he
would never quit the field alive, w-as repeated, the conviction of
his death became more and more complete.
In the meanwhile, the people of the city, collecting in eager
and anxious crowds in the streets, especially towards the Brussels
gate, canvassed in low tones the events that had taken place.
As one horseman after another entered the town, still some indi-
vidual would start out to accost him, and running by his side as
he rode on, would gather from him whatever information he
would afford, and then return to tell it to the groups, whose
comments on the past were seldom unconnected with some of
those whispered apprehensions for the future, which, like the low
moanings of the rising wind, generally give notice of a coming
storm long before it is ready to fall upon the earth.
tul; revolt of giient. 197
CHAPTER XX.
It was remarked as an extraordinary fact, that during the whole
course of that evening, — an evening of the greatest excitement
and anxiety, perhaps, that Ghent had ever known, — not one of
the principal and most influential citizens was seen in the streets
of the city. The groups which collected were altogether of the
lower classes ; and those amongst them who were supposed to be
the most knowing in the policy of the higher burghers, could
discover no other sign of interest and agitation on their part,
than was afforded by the sight of one of the serving-men of
Albert Maurice calling rapidly at the houses of five or six of the
principal merchants, amongst whom the druggist Ganay was the
first.
Gradually, as the evening closed in, the crowds began to dis-
perse — a considerable number returning home early, to discuss
with their wives and families the news they had collected in the
town, and to acquire that degree of domestic importance which
a budget of strange tidings is always sure to impart to the bearer.
One after another, the diminishing groups thus separated at
length — the wind, which was intensely cold, though symptoms
of a thaw had begun to manifest themselves, driving even the
most persevering to the shelter of their own homes, as the night
advanced — and only one or two idle young men, who could boast
some acquaintance with the soldiers on guard at the Brussels
gate, remained after nine o'clock within the warm refuge of the
guard-house, waiting for any tidings that might still arrive.
The many varied scenes, the continued presence of danger,
the frequent breaking short of ties and affections, have all a
natural tendency to render the heart of an old soldier, in some
degree, callous and indifferent to events which agitate and affect
younger and fresher minded men. It was wonderful to hear
with what calm composure the veterans in the guard-house talked
over the events which had spread grief and dismay through the
palace, and excitement and alarm in the city. Although they
all loved and admired the character of Charles the Bold, for the
very lion-hearted qualities which had led him to attempt im-
possible enterprises, and to rush upon certain defeat, yet they
canvassed his conduct with calm and somewhat contemptuous
198 i\IAKV Ol isriiGDNDV; OH,
examination, and spoke of his probable death in the same terms
that they might be supposed to use in talking of a hound which
had been gored by the boar.
" Why the devil did he sit down before Nancy, in the middle
of winter ?" cried one ; " he might have known very well that
nobody would stay with him, looking at stone walls, in a frost
like this."
" Ay, ay, but he did worse than that !" replied another : " why
did he trust to a set of Italian hirelings, when he had good sub-
jects of his own ?"
" Why, old lions," rejoined a third, " will, they say, grow both
suspicious and obstinate. '
" Full time, then, that they should get their throats cut,"
answered the first : " but I know old Charlie well ; and I will
bet a tlagon of Beaune to a flask of sour Rhenish, that he never
left the field of Nancy. No, no ; he had had enough of running
away ; and sure I am that he died like a stag at bay. Well, I
am almost sorry that I was not with him, though a warm guard-
house and a pottle-pot are better, at any time, in a January
night, than the cold ground and a bloody nightcap. Hie thee
over, Bon-temps, to the vintner's at the corner, and fill the flagon
with the best thou canst get for that broad piece. By my faith !
we will have a carouse to the old Lion of Burgundy, be he
living or dead, and then w'e will go sleep. — Ilie thee over, while
I undo the gate, for there is some one blowing his horn, — a new
post from Alost, bringing more news, I warrant."
While one soldier, according to the request of the other, ran
across the street to seek matter for the potations with which they
proposed to conclude the night, his senior proceeded to the gate,
where, the portcullis being raised, and the drawbridge let down,
a cavalier immediately rode in, whom he addressed with, — " Ha!
Master Prevot ; you can never have gone as far as Alost since
you rode out."
" By my faith ! I have, though," replied Maillotin du Bac ;
" look at my beast, — he is steaming like a quagmire with hard
riding."
"Well, what news? — what news?" cried the other, — "you
must have heard some tidings."
" Nothing new at all," replied the Prevot : " all is stale as a
miser's cheese ; — a battle fought and lost ; men dead, but not
buried ; the army dispersed, and every one gone Heaven knows
THE HKVOLT OF GIlEN'l'. lUU
where. — Good night, good night !" and so saying, he rode on.
Hut it is remarkable, that though his horse was evidently ready
to drop with fatigue, he did not, at first, take his way towards
his own dwelling, but directed his course towards the house of
the little druggist Ganay.
In the meantime the soldiers in the guard-house discussed the
contents of the flagon, with which their messenger returned ;
sharing it liberally with the two or three young artisans whom
they had permitted to remain at their post. With what had
been drunk before, the contents of the gallon pot which was now
brought over was sufficient — notwithstanding the fact of its
being shared with the citizens — to obfuscate, in some degree,
the intellects of the soldiery ; and, after having given their civil
companions a somewhat unceremonious notice to go home, they
cast themselves down upon the straw which was provided for
their accommodation during the night, and soon forgot every-
thing else, under the influence of the drowsy god. The sentry
without, who had been ordered to w^atch well, of course felt a
greater inclination to sleep than ordinary, which was increased
by the cold ; and, in spite of various vigorous efforts to keep
himself awake, by walking rapidly up and down, dropping the
end of his partisan upon the ground, and several other little
experiments of the same kind, he found himself, from time to
time, nodding most refreshingly under the shelter of the high
arch which spanned over the gate.
IIow long this state of things had continued none of the
soldiers knew, when suddenly the sentry was woke by his weapon
being snatched hastily from his hands ; and, on shaking off" the
slumber which oppressed him, he found himself pinioned by a
number of powerful men, while a stern voice, backed by a naked
sword at his throat, commanded him to be silent on pain of
death. Faithful, in this instance at least to his duty, without a
moment's consideration, the soldier shouted loudly, — " To arms !
to arms !" But he was instantly thrown down and tied by those
who held him, while a number of others made their way into the
guard-house. The soldiers there were already upon their feet ;
and the captain of the watch was starting forward to light the
match of his arquebuse at the lantern which hung against the
wall, when a powerful man, rushing in, closed with him, and,
throwing him violently back, interposed between him and the
light. A dozen more persons, completely armed, poured into
200 MAllV OK lU ItGI M>\ ; OK.
the building ; aiul more tlKin one stern voice couiniandcd the
tour soldiers which it contained to lay down their arms at once.
" Who, in the liend's name, are you, my masters?' exclaimed
the captain of the watch : " let us licar that, before we put down
our arms, at all events:" and while he spoke he made impatient
signs to one of his companions to get out of the small window,
and give the alarm : but this scheme was frustrated by the same
tall, powerful figure which had before prevented him from light-
ing his match.
" We are the officers of the burgher guard of Ghent," replied
the stranger, "whose incontestable right and privilege it has
been, in all ages, to mount guard on the walls and at the gate of
our own city ; which privilege, though it was usurped from us
by the Duke Charles, is no less valid than before that act. Give
up your arms, then, quietly, and no harm shall befall you."
" Before we do that, good sir," answered the captain ol' the
watch, " we must have authority from our superior officers. As
you well know, the commander for the night is at the Ypres
gate ; send to him, and we will obey his commands."
" You seek, sir, to gain time," said the other ; " but it is in
vain. The walls and the gates are now in our hands. Our sen-
tinels are mounted everywhere ; and each military post which
had been unlawfully placed by the Duke of Burgundy, through-
out the city of Ghent, has been disarmed belbre we came hither.
Yield, therefore, with a good grace, for yield you must; and as
no blood has been shed already, pity it were to begin now."
" Well, sir ! — well !" replied the captain of the watch : " you
say right in that, at least ; though I should be willing enough to
shed blood of my own, or of other men, could it prove of service.
But four can hardly cope with twenty; therefore, ground your
arms, my lads, and give them up. We are your prisoners, sir."
" You have done wisely, soldier," said Albert Maurice, for he
it was wlu) spoke ; — " take their arms, my friends, but suffer
them to pass freely out. As our fellow-citizens arrive, let all the
posts be doubled. Now, good iNIaster Ganay," he added in a
whisper, "gather together the men we named, and join me
quickly at my house. It wants but four hours to daybreak ; and
ere the sun rises, we have as much to do as would take lazy
statesmen full many a month. I go round by the western
magazine, to secure, if possible, the stores and artillery. But be
quick, for noiv despTvtch is everything."
TlIK REVOLl OF CillENT. 201
The purpose of Albert Maurice was accom})lished without
difficulty. The magazine was but scantily guarded; and the
sleeping soldiers were surprised at that post as easily, as the
others had been at the guard-houses. The gates, the defences,
and all the principal military stations, were now in the hands of
the people ; and Albert Maurice hastened home to meet a nnm-
ber of individuals, selected from the most influential citizens, on
whose consent, and with whose aid, he proposed to assert the
ancient privileges of the city of Ghent, as the first step to those
grander plans of general emancipation, which yet remained but
vagne and undefineJ even in his own mind.
So rapid had been the determination and the movements of
the young citizen through all that night — so prompt and success-
ful all his measures — that even Ganay, stirred up by revenge
and hatred, and guided by consummate cunning and shrewdness,
had been left far behind. Where he had expected to be obliged to
urge and suggest, he found himself at once compelled to follow
and obey ; and, yielding readily to a mind that he felt to be far
superior, he had been hurried through a series of actions in a
few hours, which he had contemplated before, indeed, but which
he had contemplated as the work of many days, and long and
difficult intrigues.
Between ten at night and three in the morning, the young
citizen had received, from the druggist himself, the certainty of
the Duke of Burgundy's death, which had been obtained by the
prevot, — had formed his determination at once — had arranged
his plans with prompt decision — had assembled the ancient
burgher guard in force in his court-yard — by a few brief and
striking words had explained to them his views and his schemes
— had carried all voices in his favour; and, finally, had seized
every military post in the town, except the palace, without
bloodshed, while the regular soldiery had everywhere been
surprised and disarmed.
His last effort upon the magazine, the one of the greatest im-
portance, had been effected, as sometimes happens, with more
ease, than attempts which had seemed less difficult ; and, leaving
the citizens, who had accompanied him, to guard that post, he
hastened home through the solitary sti'eets, not a little rejoiced
to find, by the stillness of the whole city, that the silence and
caution which had been enjoined in the first instance were still
preserved. No one had arrived when he again crossed the
202 MAllY OF UURGUNDV; OH.
threshold of his own door ; and whispering a few hasty orders to
the servant who a(hnitted him, in regard to saddHng horses, and
preparing trustworthy messengers, he entered the chamber
where he was about to meet his fellow-citizens, and casting
himself back in a chair, covered his eyes with his hand, and
abandoned himself, for a moment, to deep thought. More than
one pang crossed his heart, as he contemplated the future ; but
he smothered them instantly : and, banishing regret, he directed
the whole powers of his mind to consider the best means for
obtaining that object for which he had now irrevocably de-
termined to struggle.
So deep, so intense was the meditation to which he yielded
himself, that Ganay and several others entered the apartment
without his perceiving their presence ; and it was only the voice of
the druggist, demanding if he slept, that roused him from his
reverie.
" Sleep !" he exclaimed, starting up ; " no, no ! Who could
sleep on such a night as this ? Welcome, my friends, welcome !
Each sit down, I pray : others will soon be here ; but it is not
fitting that of the few hours which are given us for action, even
one minute should be wasted in waiting for any man. Some
things need long counsel ; in others, little can be risked. Let
us choose those first that are most easily determined. Citizens
of Ghent ! are you not resolved to recover the liberties and
privileges which have been torn from you by the unholy hand of
power ?"
" We are ! We are !" replied a number of stern voices around.
" Is it not requisite, then," continued Albert Maurice, " that
you should call your brethren of the other good towns of Flan-
ders and Brabant to join with and support you, in asserting the
rights of all ?"
" Beyond all doubt ! Let it be done !" was the answer.
"Well, then, by this time," said the young citizen, "four
strong horses stand saddled, ready to set out ; and four trust-
worthy messengers are prepared to bear to Brussels, Ypres,
Bruges, and Louvain, our request that the worthy burghers of
those great towns will send us deputies to give force to our pro-
ceedings. jNIy letters, written nearly six months ago, when the
battle of Morat was lost and won, have prepared them to do so
at a moment's warning. The gates are now in our own hands ;
shall the messensers set out ?"
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 203
" The sooner they depart the better !" replied the rest ; and a
few lines, hastily penned to each of the cities, were despatched
without farther delay.
Before all this was completed, a number of other citizens had
arrived ; and the chamber was almost full. Everywhere were
to be seen men with faces pale from anxiety and excitement ;
some armed in hasty guise, with such armour as could be caught
up in a moment ; some with their night gear scarcely laid aside ;
and each, as he entered, gazing round upon the rest, with half
wild and somewhat fearful glances, as the light of the lamps
dazzled their eyes, on entering from the dark streets without.
Gradually, however, as they beheld a number of friends and
acquaintances all gathered together in the same cause as them-
selves, the boldness which men derive from union began to
spread amongst them. Every one present had long before been
prepared, in some degree, for such events as were now taking
place ; and, while they had been taught to look to Albert
Maurice as the man from whose voice and conduct the rest of
the citizens were likely to take their tone, he had taken care to
ascertain the sentiments of each individual, whom he now called
to consult with him, in a moment of such exigency. He well
knew, indeed, that it is by no means a necessary result, that the
conduct of a large body of men will be regulated by the personal
opinions of each. The shades of thought and character in
different men are so infinite, that, when united, as in multitudes,
they produce combinations which defy previous calculation ; and
besides that fact, there is something in the very change of posi-
tion, from an isolated station to a place in a large body, which
alters the feelings of the persons themselves. Some, singly bold,
are timid in a multitude ; and some, cowardly as individuals,
become even rash when supported by numbers.
Albert Maurice trusted to himself, however, to give thd~
impress of his own mind to all the proceedings of the great
burghers, and through them to rule the people also : but he well
knew that the task before him would be to restrain rather than
to excite ; for seldom, very seldom, has a country, justly or
unjustly, risen against the power that previously ruled it, with-
out going infinitely farther than those who stirred it up originally
designed.*
* The only exception that I l<now, is to be found in the last French
Revolution.
204 iVlARV OF ULUGINDV ; OM,
As soon as he perceived that all whom he liad called were
y)resent, the younjr citizen at once dcterniined to address them,
before any one else could interpose to give a wrong direction to
their efforts. " Men of Ghent," he said, " may I crave your
patience for a moment? Certain news has just been received
by our friend and fellow-citizen here present," — and he pointed
to the druggist, — " that in this last and fatal battle, wherein he
staked his country's welfare and shed his people's blood in an
unjust quarrel, Charles Duke of Burgundy has paid the forfeit
of liis obstinacy and ambition with his life. Now, men of Ghent,
who is there amongst us that does not feel that our rights have
been infringed, our privileges usurped, and our liberties trampled
on, by him, who has gone to give an account of all the wrongs
he has so boldly committed ? We all know it, and we all feel it ;
and there is not an artisan, however humble, in all Ghent — nay,
in all Flanders — that is not preparing to take arms to vindicate
the freedom of our native land. That freedom, citizens, we may
look upon as secure ; for never yet did a whole nation join heart
and hand in asserting its liberty, but it gained its object against
all opposition. But, oh ! my friends, let us beware — let us be
cautious — let us be wise — let us be just — let us be merciful.
Those who would guide a stirred-up j)eopIe through a successful
insurrection, must be calm as well as bold, and moderate as well
as zealous. The wild horses of popular excitement must be
governed with a firm and a clear eye, and strong rein, or they
will pass far beyond the golden goal of liberty, and rush into
bloodshed, anarchy, and licence. We take upon ourselves a great
and an awful responsibility ; and e\ cry drop of unnecessary blood
that is shed in this great effort, will cry loudly to Heaven for
vengeance on the head of the rash men who caused or suffered
it to flow. The sway of all that vast and wealthy land which
lately rested in the hand of Charles, called the Bold, has now
descended to a young and gentle lady, who, if her counsellors
be good "
" We will give her good counsellors !" cried some one beside
him ; but Albert Maurice proceeded — " Who, if her counsellors
be good, will, at our petition, not only restore to us our rights
and privileges, but will afford us some security that they shall
never be infringed again. But let us do nothing harshly. Let
us proceed mildly and legally, though firmly; and first petition,
as good and faithful subjects, for the redress of our wrongs, before
HIE Ri;\OI.T OF (IIIF.Nr. 20.3
we proceed to obtain it by our own right hands. Such modera-
tion, my friends, will gain us the love and support of all good
men — will prevent neighl)ouring princes from interfering while
we obtain our liberty — and will at once serve best our cause,
and satisfy the conscience of the most scrupulous."
" Methinks, Master Albert Main-Ice, you have already begun
pretty boldly," said one of the more moderate of the citizens:
" I hear that the gates and walls of the city have already been
forcibly taken from the duke's guard, and the soldiers have been
disarmed."
" That, sir, was done," replied Albert Maurice, " solely for our
own security; and had it not been done, our meeting now, or
our petitions hereafter, unsupported by any power of our own,
would have been utterly fruitless. — It was done to prevent the
princess from being carried away from us before our liberties
were secure ; it was done to prevent the introduction of large
forces into this town, before we were prepared to bid them
defiance ; and, in doing it, we only asserted and resumed the
immemorial right of the citizens of Ghent to guard their own
walls and gates, — a right which had been long unjustly usurped."
" It was wisely done ! it was nobly done !" cried a number of
voices, in the midst of which Ganay the druggist stepped forward,
and said, — " Friends, and fellow-citizens ! all here present are
bearers of high offices in the several trades, and members of the
great commune of Ghent ; but we are meeting without form or
order. Let us resolve ourselves into a council, as a temporary
government of the city ; and as president thereof I here propose
him whose able conduct, whose patriotic zeal, and whose prompt
activity, has already conducted us, thus far, with triumphant
success."
A murmur of applause followed, which soon rose into a loud
and unanimous assent to the proposah Nor did Albert Maurice
affect to decline an office which he had previously determined to
assume. His (hanks he expressed with manly eloquence, and
assured his fellow citizens, with the convincing voice of true
feeling, that the liberty and prosperity of his native land should
ever be the dearest wish of his heart, and the principal object of
his endeavours.
As soon as this subject was discussed, an old man, one of the
fathers of the city, rose up, and addressed the new president.
With a slight touch of the monitory garrulity of old age — at
20G MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
least, most of those who heard him tliouj^lit it such, — he offered
a word or two of caution to the young man who had taken upon
him so bold and high a part. " He would not," he said, " urge
him to be more moderate in his views, for he seemed to feel the
necessity of moderation already ; but he would warn him, in the
course that was before him, — a course, the turns and circum-
stances of which, none could yet tell, — to beware of his own
heart — to guard against ambition, or revenge, or love : for he
was young and ardent ; and that spirit must be either very cold
or very strong, which could resist the influence of some mighty
passion, when under the excitement of great events."
Though Albert Maurice listened with attention, and felt, more
deeply than he suffered to appear, the justice of the good man's
speech, yet there were others who showed some degree of im-
patience, and evidently thought it out of season. The old burgher
perceived this feeling, and, breaking off" quickly, went on with
the more immediate matter before them. " It is evident. Master
Albert Maurice," he said, " that you have thought over all these
events long and deeply before this night; and, indeed, who is
there amongst us w^io has not so thought? What, then, is the
result of your consideration ? What is the first step that you
advise us to take ?"
" This," replied Albert Maurice, — " to meet to-morrow early,
at the town-house, and there to prepare a petition, at once con-
doling with the princess on the events which have placed the
government in her hands, and beseeching her to listen to the
voice of her own heart, and spontaneously to restore, to the good
towns of Flanders, those rights and privileges of which her fiither
deprived them. Especially, let us entreat her, in the first in-
stance, to do away with that false and illegal body of men, which,
under her father's jurisdiction, and by his appointment, ad-
ministered in this city — not justice — but the arbitrary will of the
prince ; and to give us back our true and legitimate magistrates,
chosen by ourselves, from amongst ourselves, to dispense our own
laws to us and to our children."
While the full mellow voice of the young citizen touched thus
pointedly uj)on those subjects in regard to which the feelings
and passions of the druggist Ganay w^ere so highly excited, the
eye of the unhappy father flashed like a living fire, and a small
bright red spot gathered in the centre of his sallow cheek, while
his lip (quivered as if he could scarcely restrain the passion from
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 207
bursting forth. The moment that Albert Maurice had done
speaking, he started up from his scat, and exclaimed in a quick,
sharp, discordant voice, which trembled with the very effort that
he made to banish from its tones anything like personal rancour,
— " I second the proposal. Are we all agreed ?"
" We are," echoed the conclave.
" Now I," continued Ganay, " must offer my proposal, too.\
Listen to me, men of Ghent. Our rights are our own — inherent
— unchangeable — which the voice of no despot can wring from
us — which his power may hold in abeyance, but which it can
never destroy — which, when even suspended, still exist in full
force, and render everything that is done in opposition to them
unjust, illegal, criminal: I therefore call upon you solemnly to
arraign and to condemn those men, who, chosen from ourselves
by the late despot, Charles, became the instruments of his tyranny
against their own countrymen. The twenty-six men, falsely
calling themselves magistrates of Ghent, — appointed, not by the
people of Ghent, accoi'ding to ancient law and usage, but by
the Duke of Burgundy, contrary to all our inclinations and con-
sent, — have, for nearly ten years, presumed to rule and judge,
and doom to punishment, and shed blood, within the walls of
this city ; for which, as traitors, oppressors, and murderers, un-
justified in their proceedings by any law or right, I claim their
death, as the just punishment for their crimes, and a due warning/
unto others in the time to come."
As he spoke, his whole frame trembled with the angry passion
that was burning at his heart. His words flowed rapidly and
clear; and his face, with the bright dark eyes, flashing from
beneath his heavy-knitted brow, offered the very picture of elo-
quent revenge. A murmur of doubtful import spread through
his auditory, — some carried away by his passionate oratory —
some unwilling to begin their course with such a sweeping act of
severity. Albert Maurice himself, — sympathizing deeply with
the feelings of the childless father, yet resolved, upon every
principle of reason and right, to oppose a proposition which,
he well knew, proceeded rather from the spirit of revenge than a
sense of justice, — paused between his contending feelings; when,
to the surprise of all, good Martin Fruse raised up his portly
person, and, with one of those bursts of generous indignation,
which sometimes rendered him almost eloquent, opposed himself
strongly to the course suggested by his friend the druggist.
2()H .MAllY OF BUllGlIMn'; On,
" No, no I" he exclaimed ; " no, no ! that will never do. Good
God ! my fellow-citizens, shall it be hereafter said that the
people of Ghent rose up powerfully in defence of their own
liberties, and made their first act the slaughter of six-and-twenly
defenceless men, who had been acting under the belief that they
were justified by the law? If any one was to blame, it w^as the
Duke Charles, not they ; and good sooth, I doubt, that, at the
worst, you could prove they did not legally hold their posts ; for,
by my faith! we all consented that the duke should appoint them,
when we thought he was going to hang us all. A cheap bargain
we thought it then, when he was at our gates with ten thousand
men. But even were it not so, and had we not consented,
should we be the first to make widows and orphans in our
own city ? Should we shed more Flemish blood, when so much
has already flowed to no purpose ? Should we punish men for
actions in which they believed there was no offence ? Fie !
fie ! Take from them their offices ; reprove them for having
so far betrayed their country, as to accept the post they held
from one who had no right to give it; and let them go back
to their dwellings to mourn over their fall. What say you,
my fair nephew ? do I judge aright ?"
" Most wisely, sir, as far as my poor judgment goes," replied
Albert Maurice. " None would show more rigorous justice
towards men who, perhaps, have been somewhat severe in the
discharn;c of their office, than I would, but that it is clear that the
citizens of Ghent formally consented to their nomination by the
duke, and, therefore, that during his life, they were acting at
least under legal authority."
" But not after his death !" cried Ganay. " Charles Duke
of Burgundy died on the fifth day of this month ; and three days
after his death my child v;ras butchered by men whose only
title to authority had ceased. The cry of blood must and shall
be heard; and if it be not "
/ Whatever the druggist added, was muttered in so low a tone,
that no one distinguished its import. Albert Maurice, how-
ever, saw the necessity of conciliating him, well knowing the
influence he possessed over the minds of many whose support
was absolutely requisite to success in their undertaking. He
now also began to experience how difficult is the task of binding
into one mass a large body of men, without any power over
them, but that which is afforded by the evanescent bubble,
thf: kkvolt of giient. 209
popularity. Revenge, ambition, avarice, vanity, pride, and
every other passion common to the sons of man, he knew must
ever be fertile sources of disunion in assemblies where, as in that
over which he presided, each one feels that his individual ad-
hesion is of too great consequence to the schemes of the rest,
for anything to be refused him, however unreasonable his request.
But he had yet to learn that the enchanter's wand, that stilled
the very angry seas themselves, would wave in vain over the un-/
bridled passions of mankind.
" Master Ganay," — replied the young citizen, seeing the im-
pression which had been made upon a great part of the burghers by
the certain fact that the druggist's son had been condemned and
executed after the duke's death, — " the case you mention is one
totally distinct from any of the rest, and must be considered and
judged of apart. Doubt not you shall have full justice done you ;
and the day after to-morrow we will assemble in our public hall,
and solemnly debate on what course we must pursue in that
respect. In the meanwhile, let us not embarrass our present
consultations with any point on which there may be a difference
of opinion ; — morning will soon be here. Our proceedings, then,
are thus far determined : — first, to petition the princess for
restoration of our rights : if she grant them, well ; but if by evil
counsellors she be persuaded to refuse, then to assert them with
our blood and with our fortunes, till the last man amongst us
perish ! Am I right ? — Well, then," proceeded Albert Maurice,
as a ready assent followed his words, and many of the assembly
rose to depart, " to-morrow, by eight in the morning, let us
meet in the town-hall; and, in the meantime, friends and fellow-
counsellors of the good city of Ghent, have I not your authority
to provide for the guarding and safety of the town ?"
" You have ! you have !" was the general reply ; " and now
good night."
One by one the counsellors of the town of Ghent departed
from the apartment of the young citizen. But Ganay, the
druggist, lingered behind the rest. The conversation between
him and Albert Maurice was brief and rapid, but stern and
to the point.
" Albert Maurice," said the druggist, " are we still one
in purpose ?"
" If you so will," replied the young burgher ; " but beware that
you bring nothing to divide our councils."
210 MARY OF mJRGUNDY; OR,
" Nay, rather, you locware that you stand not between the
sword of justice and its victim," rejoined the other; "for, as
I Uve, if you do, my love for you will become somethinji; bitterer
than hate ; and more than your ruin — the ruin of your cause,
shall follow."
The eye of the young citizen flashed fiercely, as he was thus
dared in the first hour of power. " Mark mq!" he said,
grasping the arm of his companion, and bending his majestic
head over him, while he fixed his full stern glance upon the
sallow face of the other — " mark me ! It is time that our
mutual determination should be spoken : j'ours has already found
voice — now hearken to mine. For the service you may do
to the cause that I hold dear, I will give a certain way to your
revenge. — You see I understand you. — But if you take one stej)
beyond that, and show me that you would rule our eflPorts
for your purposes, I will crush you or die. Man, you have
met with your master ! and, though you may have caused
the misery of lordly houses, the star of my destiny is above
your scope !"
As Albert Maurice spoke, the cheek of the druggist turned
even paler than before; and he answered, in a subdued voice, —
" Ha I indeed ! We do, then, know more of each other than
I thought. — But this is all vain," he added, after a momentary
pause ; " if you know so much, you know, too, that I love
you. But, Albert Maurice, I must — I will have my revenge."
" You shall have justice," replied the young citizen, " and
I will not oppose you ; though I think reason, and humanity,
and a right construction of the law, should save the unhappy
men at whom you aim. The day after to-morrow, however,
plead your own cause before the council in the town-hall.
I will be absent ; and if they judge for you, I will not interpose
by word or deed."
The druggist paused, and thought for a moment. " Be it
so," he said, at length. " They must condemn them : and
now for you, Albert Maurice. Mark me ! There are two
paths open before you. The one, which you seem choosing
for yourself, leads to a long struggle between the people and the
throne, which, after nicely balancing rights, and weighing ten-
derly the thousand grains of dust that constitute all questions of
government and policy, shall end in nothing for the state, and
your own death and ruin. The other, on which I would guide
THE REVOLT OF OlIENI. 211
you, conducts, by a few bold strides, to power, to empire, and to
love! — You see I know you, tool Choose for yourself, and
let your actions speak the result. Farewell ! I will be ever
by your side, to prompt you to your own advantage, even to the
last moment."
Thus speaking, the druggist quitted the apartment, and fol-
lowed the rest of the citizens ; while Albert Maurice remained
in the solitude of his own chamber, with his eyes fixed still upon
the spot where Ganay had stood.
" To power — to empire — to love !" he repeated, in a low tone.
" How dexterously yon man knows to mix the small portion of
leaven, calculated to turn and change the whole heart of him to
whom he speaks. To power — to empire — and to love !" and the
young burgher seated himself slowly, and turned his head to-
wards the shady side of the room, as if the very light of the
lamps looked into his heart, and disturbed the intense thoughts
that were working in the dark chamber of his bosom.
" No !" he cried, at length, clasping his hands together ;
" No ! no ! no ! My country, thou shalt be my first object !
and if, in serving thee, without one effort for myself, aught of
good befall me personally, I will receive it, only as a reward for
working thy freedom ; but never shall the thought of my indi-
vidual wishes mingle with my aspirations for the benefit of my
native land. — Fiend ! how thou hast tempted me !"
He then gave a moment or two to other ideas connected with
his situation at the time ; and the first blossom of that full
harvest of regrets, which every man, who sows the Cadmean
seeds of civil strife, is destined to reap in bitterness of heart,
rose up in his bosom, as he thought of the fate of the unhappy
men, whom he felt forced to yield to the revenge of Ganay ; or
to resign every hope of delivering his country. It was the first
sacrifice of better feeling he had yet been obliged to make ; — but
the first is ever the augury of many more. Albert Maurice, in-
deed, would fain have persuaded himself that it was not a sacri-
fice. He strove to prove to his own mind that the men deserved
their fate. He called up instances of their severity — of their
cruelty ; and recapitulated to his own heart the specious
sophistry of Ganay ; asserting that the act they had committed
— however just had been their sentence on the druggist's son —
was illegal, from the previous death of him from whom alone
they derived their power. He reasoned, he argued in vain — his
p2
212 MARV Ol BURGUNDY; OH,
heart was unsatisfied ; wben a neighboiirinfr clock, striking the
hour of five, made him start from his seat, and gladly take
advantage of its warning voice, to cast away thoughts that
brought regret, in the busy activity of preparing the city to hold
firmlv tlio power it had assumed.
CHAPTER XXI.
We shall pass over the forenoon of the following day rapidly.
The news of her father's death reached Mary of Burgun-Jy early
in the morning ; and though she we})t long and bitterly, her
grief was now more calm and tranquil, than it had been while
uncertainty remained mingled with sorrow. More agitating
tidings, however, had reached the Lord of Imbcrcoiul and tiic
Chancellor Hugonet, at a still earlier hour : for, by daybreak,
the first rumours of the disarming of the soldiery, and the seizure
of the gates and walls of the city by the burgher guard, had
been communicated to them ; and before they could take any
measures in consequence, the painful fact that every post or
defence in Ghent was in the hands of the citizens, had been
reported from all quaiters. Respect for the grief of the Princess
caused thein to withhold from her, for some hours, the know-
ledge which they themselves possessed of the state of the city ;
and it was only when, by means of some other private agents,
they received information that the principal burghers of the
town had assembled in the town-house, and were voting a peti-
tion to the Princess, praying a restitution of all those rights and
privileges, of which they had been deprived by Duke Charles,
that they found it absolutely necessary to communicate to hor,
both what had occurred and what was likely to follow.
The news affected Mar}^ of Burgundy less than tlicy had ex-
pected ; and, indeed, proved only a sufficient stimulus to rouse
her from the grief into which she had fallen.
" Fear not, my Lord of Imbercourt," she said, as she saw the
apprehension that overshadowed his countenance ; " fear not, I
will soon find means to quiet and satisfy the good people of
Ghent. It was only while the will and ordinances of my father
Illi; REVOLT OF GIIENJ'. 213
ucrc opposed to my own inclinations, that 1 found any diffi-
culty, or entertained any fear, in regard to the trancjuillity of the
state."
" I hope, madam, and I trust," replied Imbercourt, " that you
may find it easy ; but a stirred-up population is like one of those -^
ravenous beasts, that seems to acquire a greater appetite by feed-
ing largely. I trust that the Lords of Ravestein and Cleves,
with others to whom I have despatched messengers, may soon
arrive, and in sufficient force to overawe these insolent burghers ;
so that you may be obliged to grant nothing but that which is
just and right, and be able to check concession at the proper
point. — Hark, lady !" he added, as a distant shout burst upon
his car, " the unmanly brutes allow you not one day for sorrow ;
they are coming even now."
Mary's cheek turned a little pale ; but she showed no other
sign of apprehension ; and merely replied — " Let them come,
my lord ! They shall find it difficult to conquer the love of
Mary of Burgundy ; for love is the only arms that I shall oppose
to my subjects. Alas I that they should ever be mine ! I be-
seech you, my good lords, to have the hall of audience fittingly
prepared to receive the people, who seem approaching fast.
Have such guards and attendants drawn up as may give us some
show of state. Alice, my sweet friend, seek out the noble
duchess, and pray her to cast by her grief for a moment ; for
much do I need her presence and support, in what is about to
occur."
The orders of the Princess were promptly obeyed. Margaret
of York joined her in a few minutes. The hall of audience was
prepared as speedily as possible ; and everything was ready for
the' reception of the burghers before they reached the gates of
the palace. The deputation, consisting of about twenty persons,
dressed in their municipal robes, proceeded from the town-house
on foot, followed and surrounded by an immense multitude of
the lower orders, shouting loudly — " Ghent and liberty ! Ghent
and liberty ! Long live the noble Syndics !" They soon arrived
at the building called the Cours du Prince ; and some surprise,
perhaps, was felt by the citizens, on finding themselves at once
admitted to the palace, without any question, and ushered,
through a line of armed guards, to the great hall of audience.
The general impression among them was, that the counsellors of
the Princess, possessing a greater armed force than the towns-
214 IMAKV 01' nURGUNDY; OR,
men had been aware ot", were determined to bring tlie matter to
an inmicdiate decision ; and, perhaps, even to arrest them in the
palace, for the events of the night before. This snpposition was
rather increased by the appearance of the hall of andiencc,
which was also lined with armed attendants ; and by the de-
meanour of Imbercourt, llugonet, and other counsellors, who
stood with somewhat severe and frowning countenances on each
side of the chair of state, which now remained vacant, under the
rich crimson canopy that had so often overhung the stern, de-
termined features of Charles the Bold.
As soon as they had entered the chamber, the deputation
paused, uncertain to whom to address themselves. The counsel-
lors neither spoke nor changed their position ; and, for a few
moments, there was a dead, unpleasant silence, which no one
chose to break. At that instant, however, when the dumb
confronting of the court and the citizens was becoming even
painful to both, the door by the side of the throne was thrown
open by one of the huissiers or door-keepers, and Mary of Bur-
gundy, leaning on the arm of Margaret of York, preceded by
some of the officers of the palace, and followed by two or three
female attendants, entered the apartment, and advanced towards
the chair.
She ascended the steps on which it was raised, but did not sit
down ; and, turning towards the deputation of the burghers, she
bowed her head with a gentle inclination, while the novelty of
her situation, the feeling that she was taking possession of her
dead father's throne, and the difficulty of her circumstances,
overcame her firmness for an instant, and she burst into tears.
Wiping the drops rapidly from her eyes, she made a sigpi to
the Chancellor Hugonet, who immediately took a step forward,
and said — addressing the deputation of citizens, who still stood
at the further end of the room, — " The high and mighty Prin-
cess, Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Flanders and
llainault, is ready to receive any persons on behalf of her good
town of Ghent."
There was a slight pause ; and then Albert Maurice, as president
of the provisional council, advanced towards the throne, and knelt
on one knee upon die first step. Mary extended her fair hand
to him, as he knelt, and with a flushed cheek and cpiivcring lip,
the young burgher bent his head over it, while something very
like a tear glittered in his eye, too. In his left hand he held a
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 215
roll of parchment ; and, before he rose, he said — " Madam, I
come to lay at your feet a humble address of condolence, and
petition, from your good and faithful subjects, the citizens of
Ghent. Is it your good pleasure that I read it ?"
Mai'y bowed her head ; and Albert Maurice, rising from his
knee, unrolled the parchment which he held, and read, in gentle
and respectful tones, the address which had that morning been
agreed to in the town-hall. The terms in which it was couched
were as mild and moderate as the young burgher, by his utmost
eloquence, had been able to procure. The citizens, in the lan-
guage of grief and respect, spoke of the high qualities of the late
Duke of Burgundy ; and touched, as lightly as possible, upon
those acts of arbitrary power and barbarous harshness, which had
deprived him of that love, which the more noble and generous
parts of his character might have obtained from his subjects.
They continued, however, to notice his attacks upon the liberties
of the good towns of Flanders, in terms both severe and firm ;
and they petitioned the Princess immediately to take into con-
sideration the consequences which such aggressions had pro-
duced, and to remedy the wrong that had been done by her
father.
While Albert Maurice read the petition, the deputation had
gradually advanced, and formed a little semicircle at a few
yards' distance from the throne ; and when the young citizen had
concluded, the Princess immediately replied, addressing herself
to all: —
" I did think, my good friends," she said, in a tone rather sad
than reproachful, " that the day on which I first heard the sad
news of my poor father's death, might have been passed in pri-
vacy, sanctified to mourning and to sorrow. I know, howeyer,
that communities are little capable of feeling for the griefs and
affections of individuals, especially when those individuals are
their princes ; and, therefore, laying by my sorrow, I come wil-
lingly to hear your wants and wishes, and to assure you all, of
my firm resolve to do everything 1 can, to satisfy and to make
you happy. In regard to the rights and privileges of the city ot
Ghent, far be it from me, now or ever, to inquire why they were
restrained or abridged by your late sovereign lord, my father ;
or to renew old griefs and dissensions, by investigating who was
right or wrong in the times past. Me, men of Ghent, you have
never yet offended : you are my fellow-countrymen, therefore I
21b MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
feel for you ; you are my subjects, therefore 1 love you. At
once, then, whether as a boon, or as a right — whether as your
own due, or as a testimony of the affection of Mary of Burgundy
— take, hold, and use wisely, all those privileges and immunities
whatever, which you can prove that you have possessed at any
time within fifty years of the present day. Farther back let us
not inquire, for it would lead us to times when Ghent and Flan-
ders, under the usurped domination of a man who was raised
from the dregs of the people, by the people's discontent, endured
a grosser and more bloody tyranny than ever they suffered from
the most savage and cruel of their native princes."
" We thankfully accept your Grace's bounty," replied Albert
Maurice ; " and without derogating from our own inherent
rights, wc willingly receive your free and generous confirmation
of them, as a grace and benefit conferred ; and so humbly take
our leave."
" You will confer, my friends," said Mary, "with my chancel-
lor here present, in regard to all the particulars which you may
claim, and will have them clearly established and defined, to the
full extent of the words that I have used."
The deputation were then permitted to kiss the hand of the
Princess, and withdrew ; and Mary, after giving one hasty
glance round the hall of audience, retired, once more to indulge
her grief in her own apartments.
With her, and with the Duchess of York, the hours passed in
lonely mourning, only interrupted from time to time by an
occasional call to transact some of the necessary business of the
state ; or by the tidings of some event which it was thought
indispensable to communicate. In the streets and lanes of the
city, however, the day went by with all those signs which show
an anxious and excited population. Continual crowds collected
in various parts of the town ; now conversing among themselves,
now listening to some popular declaimer. The busy and im-
portant were seen hurrying to and fro in every direction. The
song, the fiddle, or the corneyiiuxe, were exchanged for pitiable
verses on the pitiable battle of Nancy ; and while one part of
the city was overflowing with people, and rang with the sound
of many tongues, another showed streets totally deserted, the
abode of silence and solitude.
At length, towards evening, a strong disposition to riot and
tumult displayed itself Whispers and rumours, originating no
rilE REVOLT OF GHENT. 217-
one knew where, were spread rapidly amongst the crowd, tend-
ing strongly to excite them to outrage. Some said that the
council were bringing in large bodies of soldiers ; some that the
nobles were arming their attendants, and intended to repossess
themselves of the gates. But the strongest and most generally
credited reports were directed against the eschevins, or police
magistrates of the city, whose very duties of investigation and
punishment rendered them at all times obnoxious to the lower
classes, but who were now hated in a tenfold degree, from the
abrogation of the popular form of election in their last appomt-
ment. In several districts petty tumults actually took place •
whoever bore the appearance of either a noble or a lawyer was
insulted as soon as he appeared ; and the burgher guard, which
was more than once called out, with a very natural leaning to
the people from which it was selected, took merely such means
of repression as dispersed the crowds in one spot, only to collect
in larger numbers in another.
In the meanwhile, Maillotin du Bac, as prevot, and the drug-
gist Ganay, as one of the notables of the town, mingled with the
crowds, and harangued them with the apparent purpose of per-
suading them to return peaceably to their houses. The first,
indeed, was anything but popular in the city ; and some
supposed that he was exposing himself to outrage by the active
part he took ; but it was wonderful to see how readily he
assumed the tone and deportment necessary to captivate the
people, and how speedily the multitude forgot his former con-
duct. It is true that neither he nor Ganay in their speeches
said one word to appease the current of popular indignation, or
to divert it from the point to which it was tending. They used
every sort of common-place argument to induce the people to
return to their own dwellings. They told them that it would be
much better, much safer, much more prudent, to disperse, and
to let things take their course ; though they acknowledged, at
the same time, that the eschevins, in the discharge of their
illegal office, had acted cruelly and basely. Nevertheless, they
said, that those instruments of tyranny would doubtless be
brought to justice, if they were not by any means smuggled out
of the city. In short, they did what may always be done,
excited the people in a far greater degree, while they affected to
tranquillize them; and pointed their fury to the very object
liom which they pretended to turn it.
21S MAllV OF lUIRCJUNDY; OH,
The troops which remained in the town, though totally
insufficient to overawe the citizens, or to repossess themselves
of the walls and gates, were numerous enough to hold out, for
any length of time, the palace or Cours du Prince, as it was
called, which, according to the custom of the day, was strongly
fortified ; and which was, luckily, fully provisioned. The
attention, therefore, of the ministers of the orphan princess was
solely directed to adding temporary defences to her dwelling,
and to repairing any slight defect which time or oversight had
produced, without attempting the vain task of putting down the
turbulent spirit which was manifesting itself in the city. No
hostility, indeed, was evinced by the populace towards the
princess or her attendants; and servants were suflfered to go to
and from the palace without the slightest molestation. But still
the tidings of tumultuous movements, in various parts of the
town, poured in through the evening; and, as Mary sat in a
high chamber of a tall tower, long since pulled down, but which
then rose above most of the buildings round, the distant shouts
and cries caught her ear, and more than once made her inquire
the cause. Towards nightfall, Imbercourt was summoned to her
presence ; and she asked eagerly if there were no means of
pacifying the people.
" None, madam," replied the minister ; " without, indeed,
you could bribe some of their demagogues ; and that would, of
course, be merely hiring them to create tumults hereafter, when-
ever they wanted a fresh supply. I am afraid they must be
suffered to have their way for a time. In the end, the populace
will see their own folly, and the base selfishness of those that
mislead them, and will return to quiet and tranquillity of their
own accord. In the meanwhile, thank God, the palace is
secure ; so be under no apprehensions, madam, for we could
hold it out for six mouths, against any force they can bring."
" Oh, I fear not for myself, my lord," replied Mary ; " I fear
for my subjects and my friends. I beseech you, my lord, leave
not the palace to-night : they might murder you in your way to
your own hotel."
" I do not believe, madam, that they have any ill-will towards
me," replied Imbercourt : " I have never done them wrong, and
have often stood between them and the anger of their prince.
But my duty commands me to remain here, at least till the town
is somewhat more calm ; and I certainly will not quit the palace
ihib nitiht."
THE RKVOLT OF GHENT. 219
So saying, ho withdrew ; and Mary approached the lattice of
the room in which she had been sitting, and which commanded
a somewhat extensive view over the city ; though the objects
that were visible were rather the roofs of buildings and the spires
of churches, than the busy multitudes which she would fain have
watched, herself unseen. Every now and then, however, a glance
was to be caught of some of the manifold canals and squares of
Ghent; and Mary threw open the window, in order, ere the
light faded away entirely, to gain a view of any of the crowds
whose shouts she heard. But the effort was vain ; and turning
away from the chilling blast of the January wind, she closed the
window, and was returning to her seat, when she found that
Alice of Imbercourt had followed her to the deep arch in which
the casement was situated.
" I wish, dearest lady," said her fair follower, " that you would
take the counsel of a simple girl, which, I have a fond beliefi
would be better than that of all these grave signiors."
" Well, my Alice," replied the Princess, with a faint sniile,
" what would you have me do?"
"May I speak boldly, lady?" demanded Alice.
" Ay, indeed, as boldly as you will," answered Mary, whose
heart Mtanted some bosom into which to pour its anxieties and
sorrows. — " But first, dear friend, send away those two girls, who
sit moping by the fire, sharing my distress, without feeling my
grief. Bid the page go light the lamps in the lower chamber,
and tell them to take thither their embroidery fi'ames, and work
diligently, while we two stay here in the grey twilight, as dim
and melancholy as my thoughts."
Her commands were speedily obeyed. " And now, Alice,"
she said, as the other returned, " what would you have me do ?"
" I would have you despatch a messenger this very night,"
replied the young lady, boldly, " to the only person on whose
arm and to whose heart you can rely to defend and guard you in
the present strait — I mean to the Arch "
*' Hush, hush ! — Not for a universe !" cried Mary. " Good
Heaven ! what would he deem me ? — No, Alice, no ! you would
surely never advise me to such a step. Fie I fie ! mention it
not!"
" 1 knew that you would start away, my dearest mistress,"
replied her fair counsellor ; " but you must hear me still. What
can you do better? What can you do so well? The circum-
220 MAltY OF lU'llGlMJV; OH,
stances in which you are placed — the difficulties which surround
you — do they not justify such an act? do they not render it wise
and rij^ht, instead of indelicate and bold? The Archduke Maxi-
milian was once plighted to you by your own father; and if ever
two people loved each other "
" llush, hush ! Alice, I entreat, I command," interrupted the
Princess. " It must not, it cannot be. — If such be all your
advice, speak no more : what I wanted was counsel, how to
tranquilhze these unquiet people of Ghent."
" I had something to say on that score, too," replied Alice of
Imbercourt ; " but perchance, my advice will not be more
palatable to you, in regard to that matter, than in regard to the
other."
" Nay, nay ; be not offended, Alice," answered Mary ; " none
can judge of that on which you were speaking, but myself; but,
(if this business of Ghent, perhaps any one can judge better."
" Well, then, madam, I will say my say," replied Alice ; " and
you can follow my counsel or not, as you think best. You marked
the young burgh jr, with the furred robe and the gold chain, who
read you the address this morning? — You must remember him —
as handsome a youth as ever lady's eye rested on."
" I scarcely saw him," said the Princess ; " nor should have
noticed him at all, but that I think it was the same who, some
three or four months since, was accused before the council of
high treason, and acquitted himself most nobly."
" The same, exactly the same," replied Alice : " his name is
Albert Maurice, as I hear ; and he bears the noblest reputation
of any young citizen of them all. I have heard even my own
father declare, that yon young man has too high a mind, and too
noble a spirit, for his class and station."
" Well, what of him?" demanded the Princess; " I fear me
that his noble spirit will work us little good ; for, from all 1 saw
to-day, he seems to lead the disaffected of the city."
'• You marked him not as 1 did, madam," answered Alice :
" never mind what I saw, or what I fancied that I saw. lie does
lead all parties in the city, I hear ; and I am fain to think, that
had it not been for him, that petition and address, as they call it,
would have had a ruder tone. — Lady, that young man is well
disposed towards you and yours; and I believe that he might be
easily worked upon to use his great influence to cure the present
madness of the people."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 221
" Indeed, I believe he is well disposed," said Mary ; " for, I
remember, by your father's counsel, I had him called back after
the trial, and besought him, in private, to do his best to maintain
peace and order in the city."
" My father's counsel was wise, madam," replied Alice, with a
quiet smile; "and his daughter's is just of the same piece. What
I would have you do now is what my father led you to do then.
Send for this Albert Maurice, and beseech him, fairly and gently,
to do his best to quiet the populace, and to restore tranquillity.
Appeal to his generosity — to his gratitude ; — show him how
frankly you granted the petition of the citizens this morning;
and, take my word, you will make a convert and a powerful
friend."
" With all my heart," exclaimed Mary, at once ; " but there
is no time to be lost : hie thee down to thy father, dear Alice ;
tell him what I have resolved to do, and bid him send a messenger
for the young citizen directly."
" Nay, nay, dear lady," answered Alice, smiling again, " that
way will never do. In the first place, I hear my father is not,
just now, the best beloved in the city, for suffering a young man
to be executed who had committed murder, and was condemned
by the eschevins ; and, besides that, I learned from one of my
women but now, that he had sent, in his own name, to this
Albert Maurice and another of the citizens, named Ganay, and
that they refused to come."
" Then, most probably, they would refuse me, too," replied
the Princess; "and though Mary of Burgundy will do all that
she can to make her people happy, she must not stoop to beg
their presence, and be refused."
" No fear, no fear, madam," said Alice of Imbercourt ; " but
leave the matter to me, and I will answer for it, that, ere half
an hour be over, the young citizen shall be standing here before
you."
" W^at do you propose to do, then," demanded the Princess.
" Merely to write a billet, desiring Master Albert Maurice, in
the name of Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, to render himself to
the palace, with all speed, in order to speak with his sovereign,"
was her fair attendant's answer.
" Nay, but it may seem strange," said the Princess ; " I hardly
dare to do so without speaking with your father."
" If you make it a matter for counsellors, lady," replied Alice,
T>'2 MARY OF BURGUNDY; ()1{,
" all our scheme fails, or worse may come of it than you suspect
I have already heard the constable of the reiters and one of your
Grace's council regretting that they did not seize upon the depu-
tation this morning, as a pledge for the submission of the })eoj)le.
No, no ; he must come in disguise, and must go in disguise. I
will send the page with the billet; he is shrewd and active, and
shall bring him in by the postern, on the canal. Nay, nay, lady,"
she added, seeing Mary about to make some farther ojiposition,
" 1 will take it all upon myself. I will write the note, and send
the page, and bid the sentry give him admission on his return :
and if ought is heard of it, it will but pass for the trick of a mad-
headed girl ; — and I have more to lose than you, too, my prin-
cess," she continued, laughing ; " for I have a lover who could
be as jealous as a spaniel dog, if I chose to let him,"
Mary still hesitated, and ])robably might have refused her
consent ; but some nearer and louder shouts met her ear, giving
evidence that the crowds were increasing as the night came on,
and determined her to accede. Alice's proposal was agreed to
accordingly; and, as every moment was apparently adding to
the tunmlt in the city, she proceeded to put the scheme in
execution immediately.
CHAPTER XXII.
The torrent of business in which Albert Maurice found himself
involved, had occupied his time in such a manner as hardly to
permit of his giving much attention to the tumultuous assemblages
which took place, during the day, in various parts of the city.
Popular leaders, indeed, are apt to attach too little importance to
those commotions which, being frequently raised by themselves
with ease and rapidity, they fancy they can allay with the same
facility and power; but a time comes when they are to be im-
deceivcd, and it was approaching with Albert Maurice. Towards
two o'clock the young citizen had addressed the people in the
market-place, and had easily induced them to disperse, by in-
forming them that the princess had most generously granted
them, of her own accord, all that they could desire. He had
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 223
then — in the belief that all the other crowds would melt away,
in the same manner, before night — retired to his own dwelling ;
and, in the most remote and noiseless apartment which it con-
tained, had proceeded to make, with rapidity and decision, all
those arrangements on which depended the defence of the city
against external enemies, and the predominance of the popular
party within its walls. He wrote at length to all the municipal
councils of the various towns in Flanders ; he took measures for
organizing a considerable national force ; he sent express orders
to the guard at all the gates, to refuse admission to any party of
armed men ; and he issued orders for the fabrication of arms as
speedily as possible, in order that the citizens might be found in
a state of preparation, if the privileges and liberty they had
regained should be menaced from without.
Thus passed the three hours of light that remained after his
return home ; and busy hours they were. At length feeling
himself, notwithstanding his great corporeal powers, somewhat
w'earied with the immense exertions which he had made, he pru
ceeded into the garden attached to his dwelling, which formed
little terrace on the banks of the Lys. As he stood there,
turning his aching brow to the cool wind, the full roar of the
tumult in the city burst upon his ear, like the distant sound of a
stormy sea ; and, after listening for a few moments to the combi-
nation of discordant noises, which rose up from the many streets
and squares, he felt at once that some great change had taken
place in the popular mind since he had left the market-place ;
and, turning quickly back, he prepared to go forth and use
all the power he knew that he possessed to restore tranquillity.
At his own door, however, he was met by a boy, who instantly
pronounced his name, though it was now dark, and demanded to
speak with him.
" Who, and what are you, boy ?" demanded the young
citizen.
" I bear you a billet from a lady," replied the youth ; " and
you must read it directly."
" A billet from a lady !" cried Albert Maurice, with a
sneer, curling his handsome lip, " go, go, my boy, this is no time
for idle gallantries. Give me the note, and get thee hence ;
I will read it to-morrow."
" Nay, but you must read it this moment," the other answered.
'2.i\ MARY 01" lUnUHJNDY ; OM,
without giving him the note: " ay, and that in j)rivato, too," he
added. " So come, good sir, go back into your house, — and
taivc it with reverence and care, for it deserves no less/'
" Thou art bold enough," replied Albert Maurice ; but at
the same time there was something in the deportment of the
boy, so unlike that of the common Love's mcsscjigers of those
days, that he yielded to his desire ; and, turning into the house,
strode (juickly to the chamber in which he had been MTiting,
and in which a \\^\\i was still burnin";.
The moment he had entered, the apparel of the page, and
a small St. Andrew's cross, embroidered on his left breast,
at once showed that he was a servant of the house of Burgundy.
Instantly closing the door, Albert Maurice took the note with
every sign of reverence and respect, and read it attentively
by the light of the lamp. As he did so, however, his cheek
flushed, and then turned pale and flushed again, and he de-
manded eagerly, " Who gave you this note. Sir Page ?"
" The Lady Alice of Imbcrcourt," replied the boy; "and she
bade me lead you speedily to the postern on the river."
Albert Maurice paused, and mused ; and though no heart that
ever beat in a human bosom knew less of fear than his, yet the ordi-
nary calculation of danger which evei*y one makes when engaged
in enterprises of importance forced itself upon his notice, and
he could not but feel that the step proposed to him was replete
with peril. Was it probable, he asked himself, that the jirincess
should send to him at that hour ? And was not the dispatch of
the note he held in his hand, much more likely to be part
of a scheme framed by the prevot or some of the inferior agents
of the government, in order to get the chief leader of the popular
party — the president of the provisional council — into their hands,
as a tie upon the people ?
Yet, as he gazed upon the billet, it was evidently a woman's
writing ; and as he re-read the contents there was something
in it all, which put pi^idence and caution to flight at once.
Was not the very name of Mary of Burgundy enough ? — To be
requested by her to visit her dwelling in secrecy and disguise ! —
to see her, to speak with her in private ! — to bask in the light of
those beautiful eyes ! — to hear that soft and thrilling voice ! —
the very hope was worth all the ])crils that ever knight or paladin
encountered ; and his re-perasal of the billet determined him at
once to go.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 225
Where to find some speedy means of disguising his person was
his next thought ; but then, immediately remembering the grey
monk's gown in which he had already travelled so far, and
which, by some accident, had been left behind by his former
guide, he instantly sought it out, — stripped off the furred
robe which he had worn through the day, — and buckling on
a sword and poniard under the frock, strode on after the page,
with that increased feeling of security which we all experience
w^hen we know that we have the means about us of selling our
lives dearly, happen w'hat wall in the course before us.
" Better follow at a short distance behind, good father," said
the boy, as they proceeded into the street ; " you know your way
towards the back of the Cours du Prince. If we go separate we
shall the better escape notice, and you will find me on the narrow
path beneath the walls."
As he spoke thus, he darted away, and Albert Maurice fol-
lowed with the hurried step of excitement and expectation. It
was now completely dark ; and passing onward along the quay of
the canals, and through one or two of the many large squares
of Ghent, he soon saw enough of popvdar feeling to make him
anxious to resume a garb in which he might take measures
for repressing the turbulent spirit that was every moment
gaining ground. At the corner of each of the larger streets
immense bonfires, blazing and crackling in the chill air, at
once lighted, and warmed, and excited the multitudes that
assembled round them. But this was not all ; wine, and ale
too, that genuine Flemish beverage, were circulating rapidly
amongst the crow-ds of men and women, whose class and appear-
ance did not at all warrant the supposition that their own means
could procure, even on an extraordinary occasion, such copious *
supplies of dear and intoxicating liquors. All this excited a
suspicion in the mind of Albert Maurice, that some unseen
agency was at work, to rouse the people to a far higher pitch
than he wished or had expected ; and at the same time, he
felt that such scenes of tumultuous rejoicing on the news of the
loss of a great battle, and the death of their bold and chivalrous
sovereign, was indecent in itself, and must be bitter indeed to
the child of the dead prince. Such sights, of course, increased
his speed ; and hastening on as fast as possible, he soon found
himself upon the narrow ledge of land between the fortified wall
of the palace and the river. But he was alone — the page was
Q
220 iMARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
nowhere to be seen ; and Albert Maurice began to suspect
he had been deceived ; but, a moment after, tlie appearance of
the boy, hurrying up as fast as his less powerful limbs permitted,
soon showed him that his own anxious haste had outstripped
even the page's youthful activity.
Although a sentry paraded the wall above, with his slow match
lighted, no challenge was given ; and three sharp taps upon the
postern door soon caused it to fly open, and admit them within
the walls of the building. An inferior officer of the guard stood
by, and held a lantern to the face of the page as he entered.
The boy endured his scrutiny quietly ; but, to the surprise of
the young citizen, he found that the appearance of the page was
received as a passport for himself. The officer withdrew the
lantern without farther comment, as soon as he had satisfied
himself in regard to the boy's person, and suffijred Albert
Maurice and his conductor to enter the palace.
Up long and manifold staircases, through innumerable doors
and interminable passages, the page led the leader of the Gan-
dois, and only stopped at length, when both were out of breath,
at a small, deep doorway, where he knocked before he entered,
making a sign to Albert Maurice to pause. The boy was then told
to come in, and remained within for some minutes, while the
young burgher continued in the dark passage — his heart beating,
as he thought of his near meeting with Mary of Burgundy, with
that thrill of expectation which would seem to partake of the
nature of fear, were it not almost always mingled in some way
with feelings not only of hope, but of joy.
After a time the boy returned ; and, leading the young burgher
to another door, he threw it open, and admitted him into an
apartment fitted up with all the ostentatious splendour for which
Charles of Burgundy had been famous in the decoration of his
palaces. It seemed to have been a room peculiarly allotted
to that prince's leisure moments ; for all around hung various
implements of sylvan sport, each ornamented in some way
with the arms of Burgundy, and piled up against the walls in the
manner of trophies.
There is something strangely solemn in entering the chamber
of one lately dead. It seems more empty — more vacant and
cold, than when its master, though absent, is living. It appea.s
to our own feelings and connects itself — by the thin gossamer
threads of selfishness which the human heart draws between our
THE TIEVOLT OF GHENT. 22?
own fate and every external event that befalls our fellow- men —
with an after-period, when our chamber shall be left thus cold
and lonely, and our place be no longer found amongst the living.
All spoke of the last Duke Charles, and of the bold rude
sports of which he had been fond. Even the sconce that held a
few lighted tapers was fashioned in the shape of a boar's head ;
and as the young citizen entered the chamber, he felt that
feeling of pity for, and sympathy with, the deceased prince
which nothing could have inspired but his death — that common
fate which breaks down all that holds man fi*om man, and first
makes us feel our near kindred to each other.
There was no one in the chamber; and the page, after telling
Albert Maurice that the lady would be with him in a moment,
retired and left him to think both of the living and the dead.
His thoughts of the latter, however, soon ceased ; for in this
active life the solemn impressions are naturally the most transi-
tory ; and the expectation of meeting Mary of Burgundy soon
absorbed the whole. He had no time to analyse his feehngs, or
to examine with microscopic accuracy the workings of his own
heart. Since the day when he had first seen her in the market-
place her image had become connected with almost every
thought that had passed through his mind. The name of the
princess, and her conduct in all the events of the day, of course
formed a constant part in the conversation of the people ; and
whenever she was mentioned, the fair form and the mild liquid
eyes rose to the sight of the young burgher ; and the sweet
melodious tones of her voice seemed to warble in his ear. He
had refused to let his own mind inquire what was going on in
his bosom ; but the words of Ganay had, perhaps, in some
degree, opened his eyes to his feelings ; and the sensations
which he experienced while waiting her coming in that chamber
tended still more to undeceive him.
" What, what was he doing?" he asked himself: " encouraging
a passion for an object beyond his reach." But even while he so
thought, a thousand wild and whirling images rushed across his
brain — of triumph, and success, and love. But how was it all to
be obtained ? — By overthrowing her power to raise himself into
her rank, — by overturning the institutions of his country, — by
risking the effusion of oceans of blood, and by inducing months
of anarchy ? — Still these were the only means by which he
could ever hope to win the hand of Mary of Burgundy ; and he
q2
'-^-!8 MAKV OF BURGUNDY; UH,
suskcd himself, would such means win lirr love? — Even were he
to ^ivc way to the towering ambition, which was the only
piission that had hitherto struj:;jrled with palriolisin in his bosom,
— the only one which he had feared, — would it obtain the grati-
fication of that love which was now rising up, a stronger passion,
still, destined to use the other as its mere slave ?
Such feelings as I have said rushed rapidly through his brain,
while expectation mingled with the rest, and made his heart
beat till it almost caused him to gasp for breath. These sensa-
tions were becoming well-nigh intolerable, when the door opened,
and Mary of Burgundy, followed a step behind by Alice
of Imbercourt, entered the apartment, and the door was closed.
The Princess was still pale wdth grief; but there was a fitful
colour came and went in her check, that was far lovelier than
the most rosy health. Her eyes, too, bore the traces of tears ;
but their heaviness had something touching in it, which, perhaps,
went more directly to the heart than their brighter light.
With a flushed cheek and agitated frame the young burgher
advanced a step, and made a profound inclination of the head as
the Princess entered, not well knowing whether, when received
in so private a manner, to kneel or not. But Mary, after
pausing a moment, with a doubtful glance, as her eye fell upon
the monk's frock with which he was covered, held out her hand
for him to kiss as her subject, a custom then common to almost
all ladies of sovereign station; and the young citizen at once
bent the knee, and touched that fair hand, with a lip that
quivered like that of a frightened child. He then rose, and,
stepping back, waited for Mary to express her commands,
though his eye from time to time was raised for a single instant
to her face, as if he thought to impress those fair features still
more deeply on the tablet of his heart.
" I thank you, sir, for coming so speedily," said the Princess ;
" for, in truth, I have much need of your counsel and assistance."
" I trust, madam, you could not entertain a doubt of my
instant obedience to your commands," replied Albert Maurice,
finding that she paused.
" The only thing which could have led me to do so," said the
Princess, "was your refusal to come at the bidding of my faithful
friends, the Lords of Imbercourt and Hugonet."
" There is some great mistake, madam," replied the young
citizen, in surprise ; " the noblemen, to whom your Grace refers.
THE RKVOLT OF GHKNT. 229
have never signified any wish to see mc. Had they done so, I
should have come at their request, with the same confidence
that I have obeyed your commands."
" AHce," cried the Princess, turning to her fair attendant,
" my information came from you. I hope it was correct."
" All I can say, fair sir," said Alice of Imbercourt, advancing
a step, and applying to the young burgher the term that was
generally used in that day, from noble to noble, — " all I can say,
fair sir, is, that I heard my father, the Lord of Imbercourt,
despatch a messenger this day, at about three of the clock, to
entreat Master Albert Maurice and Master Walter Ganay to
visit him at the palace immediately ; and I heard, scarcely an
hour ago, by the report of one of my women, that a direct
refusal had been returned."
" Not by me, lady — certainly not by me," replied Albert
Maurice. " Since the hour of two, this day, I have been in my
own cabinet busily engaged in writing, and know but little of
what has passed in the city. But assuredly no messenger has
ever reached me to-day from the palace, except the page who
brought me the command, which I am here to obey. But you
say another name was coupled with mine. Perhaps that person
may have returned the uncourteous refusal of which you speak."
" I am very sorry for it, then," answered Mary of Burgundy ;
" for the matter on which I desired to see you, sir, would be
much better transacted with men and statesmen than with a
weak woman like myself."
" Your pardon, madam !" exclaimed Albert Maurice. " If
what you would say refers to the city of Ghent and its present
state, much more may be done by your own commands, ex-
pressed personally to myself, than by an oration of the wisest
minister that ever yet was born. Statesmen, madam, are often
too cold, too prudent, too cautious, to deal with the frank multi-
tude, whose actions are all passion, and whose motives are all
impulse. But, oh ! madam, there is a natural, generous, gentle
feeling about all your demeanour, from your lightest word to
your most important deed, which is well calculated to make our
hearts serve you, as well as our heads or our hands."
The young burgher spoke with a fervour and an enthusiasm
that called the blood up for a moment into Mary's cheek. But
as the chivalrous courtesy of the day often prompted expressions
of much more romantic admiration, without the slightest further
230 AlAltV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
meaning than mere ordinary civility, Mary of Burgundy saw
nothing in the conduct of the young citizen beyond dutiful and
loyal affection. The possibility of her having raised a deeper or
more tender feeling in the bosom of her subject never once
crossed her thoughts. It was to her as a thing impossible ; and,
though she certainly felt gratified by the fervent tone of loyalty
in which Albert Maurice expressed himself, she dreamed not for
a moment that that loyalty could ever become a warmer feeling
in his breast.
" I trust, sir," she replied, " ever to merit the opinion you have
expressed, and to keep the love of my good people of Ghent, as
well as that of all my subjects. But, indeed, the conduct that
they are novt^ pursuing evinces but small regard either for my
feelings or my interest, nor much gratitude for the first willing
concession that I have made in their favour. You say, sir, you
know little that has passed in the city since an early hour, listen,
then to the tidings that have reached me."
Mary then recapitulated all that she had heard concerning the
tumults in different parts of the city ; and a conversation of con-
siderable length ensued, which, — from all the important and
interesting circumstances discussed, from the free and uncere-
monious communication which it rendered necessary, and from
the continual bursts of high and generous sentiments, upon both
parts, to which the great events they spoke of gave rise, —
brought all the feelings of the young citizen within the circle of
the one deep, overpowering passion which had been long grow-
ing up in his bosom. K he came there doubting whether he
loved Mary of Burgundy, before he left her presence his only
doubt was, whether there was anything else on earth worth
living for but the love he felt towards her.
Such thoughts had their natural effect both on his appearance
and demeanour. He still maintained that tone of deep respect
due from a subject to his sovereign ; but there was a free grace
in all his movements, a brilliant energy in all he said, a spirit of
gentle, chivalrous loyalty in all his professions, inspired by the
great excitement under which he spoke, that raised the wonder
and admiration of Mary herself, though still no one dream of
bolder aspirations ever crossed her imagination.
The chamber in which this conference was held was turned
towards the river, rather than to the square before the palace ;
and the shouts which had made themselves loudly audible in the
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 231
apartments from which Mary had just come, had hitherto been
less distinctly heard where she now stood. But, in a moment
after, the multitudes which had assembled in other places seemed
directing their course over a bridge, that lay a little higher up
the stream ; and the sounds came with redoubled force. Shouts,
cries, and songs of every kind were borne along with the wind,
to the chamber in which the Princess was standing ; and, point-
ing to the casement, she bade the young citizen open it, and
hearken to what was passing without.
Albert Maurice did so, and, in listening, his cheek became
alternately pale and red ; his brow knitted, and his eye flashed ;
and, turning, to the Princess, he replied, " I know not, madam,
what they have done, or what they are about to do, but certainly
some sort of insanity seems to have seized upon the people.
However, I will this instant go forth, and, as I live, if they have
committed the crimes of which I am led to fear they are guilty,
from some of the cries I have just heard, the perpetrators shall
meet the punishment they deserve."
He turned towards the door as he spoke, but Mary desired
him to pause. " Stay, stay, sir, a moment," she said : " Alice,
bid the page see that the way is clear."
The young lady opened the door, and whispered a few words
to the boy, who waited in the passage beyond, and who instantly
proceeded to ascertain that no change had taken place to ob-
struct the burgher's egress from the palace. Scarcely was he
gone on this errand, however, when a pale reddish glare began
to pour through the open window, waxing stronger each mo-
ment ; and Mary, whose face was half turned towards it, started
forward, exclaiming, " Look, look ! Good Heaven, they have
set fire to the city !"
Albert Maurice sprang to the casement also ; and, as with his
right hand he threw further open the lattice, his left rested for a
single moment on that of Mary of Burgundy, which she had
accidentally placed upon the sill of the window. It was but for
an instant, yet a thrill passed through his whole frame that made
his brain seem to reel.
But he had no time to indulge such thoughts. A bright
pyramid of flame was at that very moment springing up through
the clear night air, affording a strange and fearful contrast to
the pure sweet beams of the early moon. Redder and redder
the baleful glare arose, as if striving to outshine the moonlight,
232 MARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
and streaming over the city, displayed the dark black masses of
the buildings — wall, and roof, and tower, and s})ire, standing out
in clear relief upon the bright background of the blaze. Thence
gleaming on, the two lights were seen flashing together ii{)on
the river, amidst the innumerable black spots formed by the
boats, in many of which a number of human figures might be
descried, gazing with upturned faces at the flame. The wooden
bridge, too, with the crossing and interlacing of its manifold
piles and beams, appeared at a little distance beyond — apiece of
dark fine tracery upon the glittering mass of the stream ; and
there, too, an immense multitude were to be observed, looking
on calmly at the fire which was consuming some of the finest
buildings in the city.
All this was gathered by the young citizen at one glance.
" They have set fire to the prison and the hall of justice," he
cried, divining in an instant, both from the direction of the
flames, and the cries he had before heard, the crime which had
been committed. " This must be put a stop to ! Madam, fare-
well. When you shall hear to-morrow of the events of this
night, you shall either learn that I am dead, or that I have done
my duty."
The page had by this time returned ; and Albert Maiurice
followed him with a rapid step through the same passages by
which he had been conducted to his interview with the Princess.
Just as they reached the ground floor of the castle, however,
there was the sound of a coming step. The boy darted across
the corridor in a moment, and Albert Maurice had but time to
draw the cowl of his monk's gown over his head, when he was
encountered by the Lord of Imbercourt, advancing with a hasty
step towards the apartments of the Princess.
The young citizen, with all his feelings excited by what had
just passed, was both fearless and careless of any mortal thing,
and, making slight way for the nobleman to pass, was striding
rapidly on after the page ; but Imbercourt caught him by the
arm, exclaiming, " Who are you, sir ? and what do you here ?"
" I do the errand on which I am sent," replied the young
citizen, " and interrupt no man. Unhand me, sir ; for I am not
to be stayed."
" Not till I see your face," said Imbercourt, sternly ; " your
voice I should know. But that form, I doubt me, is no monk's."
As he spoke, he raised his hand towards the cowl which
THK REVOLT OF GHENT. 233
covered the head of the young citizen. But Albert Mcaurice
shook off his grasp in a moment, saying, " Man, you are unwise !
Stay me further at your peril."
*' IIo ! a guard without there !'.' shouted the Lord of Iuil)er-
court, till the whole passages rang, and cast himself immediately
in the path of the burgher. But Albert Maurice seized him in
his powerful grasp, and, with one effort sent him reeling to the
further part of the corridor, where he fell almost stunned upon
the floor.
Without a moment's pause, the yoimg citizen darted through
the door by which the page had disappeared, traced without
difficulty the passages which led to the postern, passed un
(piestioned by the sentry who was conversing with the boy, and,
in a moment after, was standing upon the terrace without the
palace walls.
Casting off the monk's gown, he rolled it hastily up and threw
it into the water ; and then striding along the narrow quay,
between the Cours du Prince and the river, he directed his way
at once towards the bridge. It was still covered with people ;
and some one, recognising him as he came upon it, pronounced
his name, which was instantly spoken by a hundred other voices.
Still Albert Maurice passed on, forcing his way through the
crowd, but marking attentively the various countenances, as he
went, by the light which the flames of the burning buildings
cast upon them. There were many he recognised, but he spoke
to none for some moments, till he came to a stout honest-looking
clothworker, near whom he stopped for an instant.
" Are you ready to obey my commands, Gibelin ?" he de-
manded.
" To the death. Master Albert," rephed the other ; " the
rogues have set fire to the hall of justice."
" 1 see," answered Albert Maurice ; " follow me thither, and,
as you go, collect as many as you can who will obey without
question."
He then strode on, stopping from time to time at the various
crowds, wherever he recognised a person on whom he could
depend. With each of these, a momentary conversation took
place, of the same nature as that which he had held with the
man he called Gibelin. To some, however, his address wa.s
much more brief. To others, merely, " Follow me, Kold !
follow me, Gastner!"
234 MARY OF BURGUNDY'; OR,
His commands were instantly abcycd ; those whom he charged
to collect more, were successful in doing so ; and as he made his
way forward, a body of two or three hundred men, gathered in
this manner from the different crowds, continued pushing ihcir
way after him in an irregular manner, up the great street, in
whieli the old jmson and hall of justice were situated. Those
buildings had been built so as to retire a little from the general
facade of the houses ; and, being placed exactly opposite to each
other, left a sort of square between them. The edifices on both
sides were now on fire ; but notwithstanding the intense heat,
the place or square was filled to overflowing with people, whose
appearance and occupation seemed altogether those of devils in
human form. The blaze of the burning buildings cast upon
their swarthy and excited countenances — disfigured as they
already were by drink and passion — a glare that was perfectly
infernal. Loud shouts of exultation, or rather screams of
triumphant hatred, rent the air : and, round about the square,
suspended by the neck to the long stone water-spouts which
then distinguished the city of Ghent, were to be seen a number
of human figures, quivering and convulsed in the agonies of
death, while the demon yells of the populace hailed the con-
tortions of their victims with horrible delight.
Such, it is well known, was the death of the unhappy esche-
vins, whom Charles of Burgundy had appointed for the city of
Ghent; but the vengeance which was immediately taken on
some of the perpetrators of that cruel act is not so generally
recorded. Albert Maurice found the multitude in the first
exultation of the barbarous feat they had committed ; and many
of those who had taken a leading part therein were still making
a parade of their activity. The young citizen, however, hesitated
not a moment ; but striding up to a wretch who held the end of
one of the ropes used as the means of inflicting death upon the
eschcvins, he seized him at once by the collar of his jerkin, and
dragged him towards the middle of the square.
A momentary movement was made by the people to resent
this intericrence, and to rescue their comrade ; but he was
instantly passed from the hands of Albert Maurice to the trust-
worthy followers whom he had called together, with the words,
" To the town-house !" The next moment the young citizen,
without appearing even to see, or notice the threatening aspect
of the people, again strode through the midst of them, and made
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 235
another prisoner of a better class, thundering no measured terms
of reproach upon him as he cast him back into the hands of
those that followed. The multitude now perceived that amongst
themselves, in every part of the square, there were persons of
their own rank and appearance, acting with the young burgher,
whose name — never mentioned by any of the citizens without
respect and applause — also began to circulate rapidly amongst
them. Even those most bent upon evil, not knowing who was
prepared to support, and who to oppose them, lost confidence in
themselves. Fear, the most contagious of all diseases, seized
them ; and, one by one, they made their way from the scene of
their criminal excesses. Those on the outside of the mass felt
those within pressing to escape, and catching the alarm, began
to run also ; so that in a few minutes, Albert Maurice, and the
men who had followed him, alone remained in the square,
together with three prisoners, while a fourth had been hurried
away.
To cut down the bodies of the unhappy men who had become
the victims of popular fury was the proceeding of the burgher
and his companions ; but as all aid in their case was found to be
in vain, the attention of Albert Maurice was soon tvurned to
prevent the conflagration from spreading further than the public
buildings to which it had been communicated. As they were
very much isolated in their situation, this object was easily
effected ; and, as soon as it was accomplished, the young citizen
proceeded with hasty steps towards the town-house, where he
found a number of the municipal officers in somewhat lengthy
debate concerning the measures to be pursued for tranquillizing
the city. The superior mind of Albert Maurice instantly
brought all wordy discussions to an end; and while armed
parties of the burgher guard were despatched with peremptory
orders to disperse the crowds, the attention of those who now
ruled in Ghent was called to the case of the ruffians taken red-
handed in the crime they had committed. The ancient laws of
the city were hastily consulted ; were found to be conclusive in
regard to their guilt and punishment; a confessor was sum-
moned ; and, ere daybreak the next morning, the four persons
who had acted the most prominent part in the death of the
cschevins had tasted the same fate before the town-hall of Ghent.
With a sternness which formed no part of his original nature,
but which grows sadly and destructively upon the human heart
23G MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
in Huch scenes of excitement and violence, Albert Maurice with
his own eyes saw the decree of the municipal council carried
into effect ere he trod his way homeward. But as soon as the
execution wjis over, he returned to his dwelling ; and, ex-
hausted with all he had gone through during the last eight and
tbrty hours, he cast himself upon his bed, and slept.
CHAPTER XXIII.
We must now, once more, change the scene; and, leaving Ghent
to proceed step by step through all the mazes of anarchy and
confusion, which are sure for a time to succeed the overthrow of
established authority, we must trace the events which were
occurring to some of the other personages connected with this
true history.
Once more, then, let us turn to the forest of Ilannut, which
now, in the depth of winter, offered a very different scene from
that which it had displayed either in the full summer or the.
brown autumn. It was early in the morning of the 20th of
January ; and, except on the scattered beeches which, mingling
here and there with the oak, and the elm, and the birch, retained
their crisp brown leaves longer than any of the other trees, not a
bough in the wood, but, stript of all that ornamented it in
the warmer season, was encrusted with a fine white coating
of glistening frost-work. Little snow, indeed, covered the
ground, and that which had fallen was too hard frozen to have
any tenacity, but — drifted about the forest in a fine white
powder, lodged here and there amongst the withered leaves, or
collected in thick sweeps upon the dingle side — it retained no
form but that given to it by the wind ; so that the deep foot-
print of the stag or boar was effaced almost as soon as made, and
the only mark by which the eye of the most experienced hunts-
man could have traced the lair of his quarry, would have been
by the hoar frost brushed off the boughs of the thickets in the
animal's course through the wood.
The morning was as clear and bright as if the sun were
just stiirting from the dark pavilion of the night, to run his race
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 237
of glory through the long course of a summer's day , but the
wind, whisthng keenly through the woods, and tingling on the
cheeks of die early forester, told that the sharp reign of winter
was in the height of its power.
In a wide, open, grassy spot, about half a mile from the
high road to Louvain, were collected, on the morning to which I
refer, about a dozen of our good friends the green riders. One
or two were on horseback ; but the greater part had dismounted,
and were employing themselves in all the various ways which
men devise to warm themselves on a winter's morning. They
were evidently waiting for some one ; and though the people who
are watched for by such gentry, are not generally in the most
enviable situation in the world, yet, on the present occasion,
the freebooters seemed to have no hostile purpose in view, and
spoke of the person they expected as one of themselves.
" Cold work he will have of it. Master Matthew," said one
of the adventurers, addressing the florid, white-haired old man,
whom we have had occasion to notice somewhat particularly
in the cavern.
" By my faith !" replied the other, " when anything disagree-
able is to be done, he does not spare himself."
"• " Ay, but such is the leader for us," rejoined the other.
" Think you he will be long ? It is mighty cold, and the horses
are half frozen."
" Hark !" cried his companion ; " that clatter may answer
your question. By the Lord ! he is coming down the hill at
a fearful rate, for so slippery as it is. I trust he is not pursued.
Stand to your arms, my men, and be ready to mount !"
As he spoke, the sound of a horse's feet at full gallop was
heard through the clear frosty air ; and, in a moment after, along
the little road — which wound away from the open space where
the adventurers were collected over the side of a steep acclivity
— was seen a man on horseback, darting down towards them,
without the slightest apparent regard to the sharpness of the
descent, or the slipperiness of the road. He was armed like
themselves, but with the distinction, that instead of the open
basinet, or round steel cap, without visor, which they wore,
his head was covered by a plumed casque, the beaver of
which was down.
He drew not a rein till he was in the midst of them ; then,
with one slight touch, checked his horse and vaulted to the
238 MARY OF lUIRCUNDY; OK,
ground. The haste in which he had arrived was now equalled by
the raj)idity of his words, as lie gave a number of different orders
to the men who surrounded him, clearly and precisely, but with
a celerity which showed that no time wsis to be lost.
" Matthew, my good lieutenant," he said, laying his hand
upon the shoulder of the old man, " who is fittest to send to
Germany, on an errand to a prince ?"
" Why not myself?" demanded the adventurer.
" Because I want you here, and cannot do without you,"
replied the chief.
" Well, then, send Walter there," rejoined the old man ; " he is
a Frenchman, and courtly in his way."
" Courtly, and honest, too," added the Vert Gallant, " which
is a wonder. There, Master Walter, take that letter to the Bishop
of Triers. You will find him at Cologne with the bishop of that
city. There, mount and be gone ! you know your way. Here is
a purse of gold to pay your expenses. The bishop will send you
on to the archduke. The Germans arc frugal — therefore be
not you over fine. Yet spare not the florins, where it may do
honour to him that sent you. — Away !
" You, good Matthew, yourself," continued the Vert Gallant,
" speed like lightning to Ghent ; but cast off your steel jacket,
and robe me yourself like the good burgher of a country town.
Seek out your old friend Martin Fruse : confer with him, and
with his nephew Albert Maurice ; they are now all-powerful in
Ghent. Bid them beware of Louis King of France. Tell them
it is his purpose to force the Princess Mary into a marriage with
his puny son, and to make her yield her fair lands into his
hand, that he himself may seize them all when death lays hold
upon his sickly boy. Bid them oppose it by all means, but
by none more than by delay. Risk not your person, however ;
and if you cannot speak with them in safety, write down the
message, and have it given by another hand. You, Frank Van
Halle — you are bold and shrewd, though you have but little
speech : follow Matthew Gournay, ha})ited as his man ; but when
you are within the walls of Ghent, find out some way of speech
with the princess ; and, whether in public or in private, give
her that ring, with this small slip of paper. Then leave the
city as quickly as you may."
" I doubt me it will be sure death ?" replied Van Halle, looking
up with an inquiring glance.
THE REVOT/r OF GHENT. 239
" What ! you afraid. Van Ilallc !" exclaimed his leader , " but
go, there is no fear."
" Afraid ? No, no," answered the man ; " but I only thought,
if I were to die, I would go home first, and, with Martin of
Gravelines and Dick Drub the Devil, would drink out the pipe
of sack I bought ; — pity it should be wasted."
" Keep it for another time," said the Vert Gallant, " for,
by my faith, your errand to Ghent will never stop your
drinking it."
" Well, well ; if I die, tell the other two to finish it," re-
joined Van Halle ; " pity it should be wasted ;" and so sprang on
his horse.
" Hold, Matthew," cried the Vert Gallant, as the two soldiers
were about to depart without more words ; " meet me five days
hence in the wood between Swynaerdc and Deynse. So lose
no time. You know the red cross near Astene."
The two instantly rode off; and the Vert Gallant then turned to
the others, and continued his orders, for marching the whole
force he had under his command — which seemed to be con-
siderable — into the woods in the neighbourhood of Ghent.
Those woods, though then very extensive, and covering acres
of ground which are now in rich cultivation, were nevertheless
too small to afford perfect shelter and concealment for such a
large body of adventurers as had long tenanted the vaster and
less frequented forest-tracks near Hannut, unless the entire
band were subdivided into many smaller ones, and distributed
through various parts of the country. All this, however, was
foreseen and arranged by the leader of the free companions;
and it is probable that he also trusted to the distracted state
of the country — throughout which anything hke general police
was, for the time, at an end — for perfect immunity in his bold
advance to the very gates of the capital of Flanders.
All his orders were speedily given, and one by one his com-
panions left him, as they received their instructions, so that at
length he stood alone. He paused for a moment on the spot,
patting the neck of his strong fiery horse ; and, — as men will
sometimes do when they fancy themselves full of successful
designs, and are excited by the expectation of great events, —
addressing to the nearest object of the brute creation those secret
outbreakings of the heart, which he might have feared to trust
in the unsafe charge of human beings.
240 MARY OF nUTlGUNDY; OR,
" Now, my bold horse, now," he exelaimed, " the moment is
come, for wliich, diirinj^ many a lon^r year, I have waited and
watched ! The star of my house is once more in the ascendant,
and the reign of tyranny is at an end — let him who dares, stand
between me and my right, for not another hour will I pause till
justice is fully done."
While he was thus speaking, a sort of slight distant murmur
came along, so mingled with the whistling of the wind, that he
had to listen for some moments before he could ascertain whether
it proceeded merely from the increased waving of the boughs
occasioned by the gale rising, or whether it was the distant sound
of a number of persons travelling along the road which ho had
just passed.
lie was soon satisfied ; and as he clearly distinguished voices,
and the jingling tramp of a travelling party of that day, he sprang
upon his charger, leaped him over a small brook that trickled
half-congealed through the grass, and plunged into a deep thicket
beyond, the bushes and trees of which were of sufficient height
to screen him from the observation of the passengers.
The party whose tongues he had heard soon came to the spot
where he had lately stood. It comprised about thirty people, all
well armed, and dressed splendidly, bearing the straight cross,
which at that time distinguished France from Burgundy. The
magnificent apparel of the whole body, the number of the men-
at-arms, of which it was principally composed, together with
certain signs of peaceful dispositions on their own part, evinced
at once, to the practised eye that watched them, that the caval-
cade which came winding along the road consisted of -some envoy
from France and his escort ; furnished, probably, with those let-
ters of safe-conduct which guarded them from any hostile act on
the part of the government of the country through which they
passed, but prepared to resist any casual attacks from the lawless
bands that were then rife.
Not exactly at the head of the cavalcade, — for two stout archers,
armed at all points, led the way, — but at the head of the ]irin-
cipal body, appeared a small, dark, ill-featured man, whose person,
even an extraordinary display of splendour in his apparel, suf-
ficed not to render anything but what it was, insignificant.
Velvet and gold and nodding plumes could do nought in bis
favour ; and the only thing which made his appearance in any
degree remarkable, was an air of silent, calm, and determined
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 241
cunning, which had in it something fearful from its very intensity.
One gazed upon him as on a serpent, which, however small
and powerless in appearance, inspires terror in much mightier
things than itself, from the venom of its fongs.
He rode on quietly, speaking little to any one ; and that which
he did say was all uttered in a calm, soft, insinuating tone, which
corresponded well with the expression of his countenance. The
rest of the party laughed and talked with much less ceremony
and restraint than the presence of so dignified a person as an
ambassador might have required, had he been by state and station
fit to have inspired respect. Such seemed not to be the case in
the present instance ; and though not one word on any other
than the most common-place subjects passed amongst the fol-
lowers of the Count de Meulan, — for so the ambassador was
called, — yet their light laughter and gay jokes, breaking forth
every moment close to his ear, were anything but reverential.
Some little difficulty seemed now to occur in regard to the
road that the party were travelling. It appeared that hitherto,
on turning slightly from the high road, they had followed the
foot-marks of the Vert Gallant's charger ; taking them for those
left by the horse of an avant- courier, who had been despatched
to prepare for them at the next town. When they found, how-
ever, that the steps turned into the savannah, and lost themselves
in a number of others, a halt immediately took place ; and, after
a short consultation, by order of the ambassador, the whole party
wheeled round, and wisely returned to the high road.
Their whole proceedings, however, had been watched by one
they knew not of; and almost before they were out of sight, the
Vert Gallant emerged from his concealment, and, with a laugh
which rang with contempt, turned his horse's head and galloped
away.
The Count de Meulan — or, in other words, Olivier le Dain,
the barber of Louis XL, whom that monarch had raised from the
lowest class for the basest qualities, and whom he now sent as
ambassador, to treat with the young heiress of Burgundy, and to
intrigue with her subjects — had hardly proceeded two houi's on
the high road, when a fat rolling monk of the order of St. Francis,
mounted on a sleek mule, the picture of himself, joined the rear
of the ambassador's escort, and entering into jovial conversation
with some of the men-at-arms, besought their leave to travel as
far as they went on the road to Ghent under their protection,
R
242 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
alleging that the country was in such a disturbed state, that even
a poor brother like himself could not pursue his journey in any
safety. The light-hearted Frenchmen easily granted his re([ucst,
observing, in an under tone to each other, that Oliver the Devil,
— such was the familiar cognomen of the respectable persouiige
they followed — could not in all conscience travel without a monk
in his train.
Father Barnabas, whom we have seen before, no sooner found
himself added to the suite of the ambassador, than he displayed
all those qualities he well knew would make his society agreeable
to the men-at-arms who had given him protection ; and by many
a jolly carouse, and many a licentious bacchanalian song, he
soon won favour on all hands. Even the barber Count himself,
whose more sensual propensities were only restrained by his
cunning, found no fault with the merry friar, whose sly and cut-
ting jests, combined with the sleek and quiet look of stupidity
which always accompanied them, found means to draw up even
his lip into a smile, that might have been mistaken for a sneer.
On one occasion he felt disposed to put some shrewd questions
to worthy Father Barnabas as to his situation and pursuits, and
even began to do so on the second night of their journey, as,
occupying the best seat by the fire in the little hostelrie at which
(hey lodged, he eyed the impenetrable fat countenance before
him with the sort of curiosity one feels to pry into anything that
we see will be difficult to discover.
But the monk was at least his match ; and if the weapons
with which they engaged in the keen contest of their wits were
not precisely the same on both parts, the combat resembled that
of the elephant and the rhinoceros, — whenever Oliver the wicked
strove to seize the monk and close with him, his antagonist ran
under him and gored him. Thus, when, by some casual words,
the envoy thought he had discovered that his companion was a
native of Saarvelt, and suddenly put the question to him at once,
the other replied, — " No, no ; I only remember it well, on account
of a barber's boy who was there, and whose real name was —
pho ! I forget his real name ; but he is a great man now-a-days,
and has held a basin under the nose of a king."
The quiet, unconscious manner in which this was said, loft
Olivier le Dain, with all his cunning, in doubt, whether the jolly
friar really recognised in him the barber's boy of Saarvelt, or
whether the allusion had been merely accidental ; but he resolved
TIIF, REVOLT OF GHENT. 243
not to intciTogntc any more a person of sueh a mcinor}', and
possibly determined to take care that the most effectual stop
should be put to its exercise in future, if those plans regarding
Ghent should prove successful, in the execution of which he was
now engaged.
Too wise, however, to show any harshness towards the monk
at the time, — a proceeding which would have pointed home the
sarcasm for his men-at-arms, on whose faces he thought he had
remarked a sneering smile as the other spoke, — he allowed good
Father Barnabas still to travel under his escort, meditating a
lesson for him wdien he arrived at his journey's end, which
some might have thought severe. In the meantime, as they
journeyed on, there was about the monk a sort of subdued
triumph — a self-satisfied chuckle in his laugh, especially when
he jested with the gay and boasting Frenchmen upon their arms
and their exploits — which occasionally wakened a suspicion in
the mind of Olivier le Dain, whose own conduct was far too
crooked for him to believe that any one else could act straight-
forwardly.
Still no danger appeared; and the party arrived in perfect
safety, within about four leagues of Ghent. There, after pausing
for supper at an inn, it was found, on preparing to resume their
journey, and enter the city that night, that the person who had
hitherto guided them was so drunk as hardly to be able to sit
his horse. The ambassador demanded a guide of the host, but
none could be found ; and the worthy keeper of the inn answered,
with true Flemish coolness, that he would not spare any one of
his own household. " Could not the monk guide them ?" he
demanded. " If his eyes served him, he had seen his broad face
in that part of the world before."
" Ay, marry can I, my son," replied Father Barnabas ; " but
I offer no service before it is asked. There is a proverb against
it, man."
As the affairs he had to transact were of deep importance, and
minutes were of the utmost consequence to success, Olivier le
Dain, though by no means fond of riding at night, and not at
all prepossessed in favour of the monk, consented to accept him
as a guide ; and the party accordingly set out. By a whispered
arrangement between the respectable Count de Meulan and the
captain of his escort, however, a large part of the armed attend-
ants rode on at a sufficient distance before, to enable Oliver to
ii2
244 MAKY OF BURGUNDY; OP,
make his retreat if he heard any attack upon this advanced guard ;
wliile the monk, riding between two troopers, close to the worthy
barber, was held as a sort of hostage for the security of the road,
on which he was about to pilot them.
Father IJarnabas, whether he perceived anything strange in
this array or not, made no opposition, and jogged on contentedly
upon his mule, chattering gaily as he went, and seasoning his
discourse with various choice allusions to barbers, and basins,
and beards, much more to the gratification of the men-at-arms
than of Olivier Ic Dain.
Thus proceeded the cavalcade, till they reached the little
wood of Swynacrdc, nerir Merebck, where the road from Alost,
in ancient days, crossed the Scheldt, over a wooden bridge, at
which a certain pontage was charged upon each horse that
passed. Here the mind of the bai'ber ambassador was in some
degree relieved, by hearing from the toll-taker, that all was
quite quiet and safe, though six good miles still lay between him
and Ghent, and that through a dark wood of tall trees. At the
distance of about a mile from the bridge, was a red cross, mark-
ing the direction of four different roads, which there intersected
each other ; and the whole party paused — as it was too dark to
read the information thereon inscribed — to receive the instruc-
tions of the monk.
" Straight on ! straight on !" cried Father Barnabas ;^and the
first part of the escort moved forward, though somewhat nearer
to the rest of the body than before ; but the moment they had
again resumed their march, there was a low, sharp whistle, and a
sound of rushing and rustling all around them. Olivier le Dain,
who was already following the van, drew in his rein ; and the
whistle, repeated a thousand times in different parts of the wood
round about, showed him at once that his party was beset. Fear
certainly was the predominant feeling in his mind ; but even
that very absorbing sensation did not banish a passion equally
strong : and while he turned his horse's head to ily back to the
bridge with all speed, he did not fail to say, in a voice but little
changed from its ordinary calm and sustained tone, — " We are
betrayed ! Kill the monk !"
But both Oliver's purpose of escape, and his desire of ven-
geance, were disappointed. At the very first whistle, the friar
had slipped, unperceived, from his sleek mule, and, passing
under the animal's bellv, was no longer to be seen ; and before
TFIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 245
the luckless ambassador could reach the road, which led awa}' to
the bridge, he found it occupied by armed men. To whichever
side he turned, the s:une sight presented itself; and even on
the highway leading to Ghent a still stronger party was inter-
posed between him and the first division of his escort. Thus
then he remained in the midst of the open square of the cross
road, accom}ianied by about twelve attendants, and surrounded
by a body of adventurers, which could not consist of less than
one or two hundred, but which fear and darkness magnified into
a much greater number.
The scene and situation were by no means pleasant. Not a
sound was to be heard, but the echo of horses' feet ringing over
the hard frozen ground, — from which he justly inferred that the
advanced party of his escort, by whom he was neither loved nor
respected, finding themselves infinitely overmatched, had gal-
loped off, leaving him to his fate ; — and nothing was to be
seen in the darkness of the night, but the black trunks of the
trees, slightly relieved by the colour of the ground, which was
covered by a thin drift of snow, while a number of dim human
forms appeared, occupying all the different roads ; and a multi-
tude of faint, dull spots of fire, drawn in a complete circle round
him, showed the ambassador that the slow matches of the arquc-
busiers, into whose hands he had fallen, were prepared against
resistance.
For a moment or two not a word was spoken ; but at length
a voice not far from him exclaimed, " Lord a' mercy I Only to
think of the barber's boy of Saarvelt coming ambassador to
Ghent ! Lack a day ! lack a day, Noll ! lack a day ! thou art
become a mighty great man! Thou hast lathered and shaved
to some purpose, ha, ha, ha !" And the voice of the monk was
drowned in his own laughter, the contagious merriment of whose
thick plum-porridge sounds, instantly afiacted all around ; and
the whole forest rang and echoed to the peals.
" What would you, fair sirs ?" demanded the soft silken tones
of Olivier le Dain. " If laughter be all you seek, laugh on ; but
let me pass upon my way. If it be gold you want, there, take
my purse ; I make you welcome to it."
" A fool and his money !" cried the monk, snatching the
purse. " But, 'faith ! Master Noll, the barber, it is generous of
you to give, what you cannot keep unless we like it."
" Cease your fooling, monk !" said the stern voice of some
246 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
one advancing from the wood. '* Get off your horse, Sir Bar-
ber; you shall know my pleasure with you, when it suits me to
tell it. And now answer me ! How dare you, a low mechani-
cal slave, presume to undertake a mission to the Duchess of Bur-
gundy, without one drop of noble blood in your veins ?"
" Your pardon, fair sir !" replied Oliver, dismounting slowly,
and standing in an attitude of deprecation before the tall com-
manding figure by whom he was addressed; — "your pardon; I
was rendered noble by my sovereign lord the king, for the very
purpose, as his letters patent will show."
" Faith ! the letters patent must be miraculous ones, that
could ennoble one drop of your slave's blood," replied the Vert
Gallant. " There, take him away I — Treat him not ill ; but
keep him safe and fast. Search his person, his servants, and his
sumpter horses. Examine well the stuffings of the saddles, and
the paddings of their coats ; and bring every paper and parch-
ment you may find."
" But listen to me, fair sir ! Only hear me !" entreated
Olivier le Dain. " Surely you will not show such treatment to
an ambassador. My papers and my person are sacred in every
Christian land."
" Pshaw !" cried the Vert Gallant. " When Louis, King of
France, so far forgets what is due to a princess, as to send to the
heiress of Burgundy a mean, cunning barber, as an ambassador,
he can only expect that others will also forget the character with
which he chooses to invest his lackey. Besides, what is it to me
that you are ambassador to Burgundy ? You are no ambassador
to me. I am duke of the forests ; and when you come as envoy
to me, you shall have forest cheer. Away with him and do my
bidding !"
Closely guarded, but well treated, Olivier le Dain and his at-
tendants were detained for some days in the woods near Ghent,
during the greater part of which time, though occasionally com-
pelled to sleep in a hut of boughs, they resided generally in a
small lonely house, which had belonged in former days to the
forester.
At length, one morning, suddenly, while the twilight was still
grey, the ambassador and his followers were called from their
repose, and placed upon the horses which brought them. All
their apparel and jewels were restored, as well as their arms ;
and of the treasure, which the barber had brought with him, for
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 247
the purpose of bribing the populace of Ghent, a sufficient por-
tion was left in his possession, to maintain his dignity, but not
to effect the object he had intended.
lie was then told to proceed upon his way, for that he was
free to come or go; and with all speed he turned his rein to-
wards Ghent, at which place he arrived in safety, though seven
days after the period that had been fixed for his appearance.
CHAPTER XXIV.
In the meantime, many events had occurred within the walls of
the city of Ghent, of which some account must be given, though
perhaps it may be necessary to follow the same desultory course
in which they are related in shrewd old Philip de Commines
and pompous Jean de Molinet.
The quelled tumult, the extinguished fire, and the prompt
justice done upon some of the incendiaries, spread in a thousand
shapes through the toAvn ; and as, whenever Fame has marked
a hero for her own, she never fails to load him with many more
honours than his due, Albert Maurice had soon acquired the
reputation of a thousand miracles of skill, and courage, and
judgment, far beyond the acts he had really performed. Thus,
when, after a brief sleep and a hasty meal, he issued forth from
his house the next morning, and rode on to the town-house, he
found the people — on whose wrath for their thwarted passions
he had fully counted — ready, on the contrary, to shout gratula-
tions and plaudits on his path. At the town-house, the syndics
and notables of all the trades had already assembled, and the
druggist Ganay was in the very act of proposing that an address
of thanks and applause should be voted to the young burgher
for his noble and courageous conduct of the preceding evening.
Albert Maurice, however, was not to be blinded ; and even
when the druggist was declaiming vehemently against the out-
rages of the foregoing night, and lamenting that the populace
had dealt upon the eschevins without due judgment by law, the
eye of the young citizen fixed upon him with a glance of keen
reproach, which Ganay at once translated, and translated rightly
— " You have deceived me.'"
248 I\1ARV OF JiURGUNDV; OK,
To have done so, however, was no matter of shame to the dark
and artful man who was sj)eakinf^ ; and, as tlieir eyes met, a
sli<^lit smile ol" triumphant meaning eurled his hp, while, with a
fresh burst of eloquence, he called upon the assembly to testify
their admiration of the man who had saved the city from pillage
and coiillagratiun. The address of thanks was carried by ac-
clamation; and Albert Maurice soon found that it was the
determination of the more active part of the citizens, under the
immediate influence of Ganay, to carry forward, with eager
rapidity, all those bold measures which would deprive the
sovereigns of any real ])ower for the future, and place it entirely
in the hands of the people — or rather, in the hands of whatever
person had courage, energy, and talent, to snatch it from their
grasp, and retain it in his own. Twenty-six eschevins, together
with the lieutenant-bailli, and three pensioners, were imme-
diately elected by the citizens, to replace those who had been
massacred, and to administer the law ; but the grand bailli and
chief pensioner were still to be chosen, and Albert Maurice w itli
surprise heard the determination of the citizens to confound
those two high offices in his own person. From the body of
magistrates, three persons were selected, as a president and two
consuls, as they were called, and extraordinary powers were
entrusted to them. The president named at once was the chief
officer of the city, Albert Maurice ; and Ganay, the druggist,
was added as one of the consuls. The third olTice was not so
easily filled ; and a strong attempt was made to raise to it a
fierce and brutal man, whose talents perhaps appeared greater
than they really were, from the total want of any of the restraints
of feeling and moral principle, to limit the field in which they
were exercised.
Some one, however, luckily proposed the name of worthy
Martin Iruse ; and his nomination, seconded by the eloquent
voice of his nephew, was instantly acquiesced in by all. A
slight cloud passed over the brow of the druggist, as he found
his power likely to be counterbalanced by the influence of one,
who, if he possessed no other quality to render him great, had
at least that rectitude of feeling, which was a fearful stumbhng-
block in the way of crooked designs. But unchangeable deter-
mination of purpose, and unscrupulous exercise of means, had
rendered the druggist so often successful in things which seemed
hopeless, that he bore, with scarcely a care, any change of
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 249
circumstances, confident of finding some path to his object in
the end.
After one of those noisy and tumukuous assembhes, in the
course of which, though no business is transacted with cahn
reason, an infinity of acts are performed by impulse, the meeting
at the town-house broke up ; and while Martin Fruse returned
to his dwelhng on foot, as was his usual custom, Albert Maurice
and the druggist mounted their horses, and rode slowly home-
ward. Their conversation was long and rapid — too long, indeed,
for transcription here ; but the commencement of it must not be
omitted, even for the sake of brevity.
" Ganay, you have deceived me !" said Albert Maurice, as
soon as they were in some degree free from the crowd.
" 1 have !" was the calm reply of the druggist. " You arc
ungrateful, Albert. You have never thanked me for it. Whcit,
you would pretend you do not see cause for thanks ! Had not
the populace taken it into their own hands, the council must
have condemned those foul vultures vvho have so long preyed
upon us. Ay, I say must; and then whose name, but that of
Albert Maurice, nuist have stood amongst others in the order
for their death ? As I have managed it, the severity was no act
of yours. You have offended none — no, not even the princess ;
and, on the contrary, you have had the means of adding, in one
night, more to your fame, than your whole life has won before.
You have had an opportunity of winning honour and respect
from commons and from nobles, and love and gratitude from
Mary of Burgundy. Still farther, have you not in one night, in
consequence of acts with which you accuse me almost as a
crime — have you not climbed to the very height of power in
your native land ? — ay, I say the height of power, for who
IS there, be he duke, or count, or prince, who has so much
authority as he who sways the power of all the people of Flan-
ders ? A few steps more, and your hand may seize the "
" The what ?" demanded Albert Maurice, as the other paused.
" No matter," replied the druggist. " The gates of ambition
are cast wide open before you ; and you must on, whether you
will or not."
" Ha ! and who shall force me ?" demanded Albert Maurice.
" Fate I — Destiny !" answered the druggist. " 'Tis many
years ago, and you w'cre then a mere boy ; but I remember
your fate was predicted in the forest of llannut by that gloomy
2oO MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
lord whose only commune, for many a year, had l)ccn with the
bri<rht stars. 'Twas one night when wc fell accidentally into
the hands of the free companions— and he foretold that you
should go on from power to power, successfully through life ;
and that no one should check you but yourself"
" And do you believe in such vain dreams ?" rejoined Albert
Maurice.
" I believe," I'eplicd the druggist, gravely, " that our lot
through life is immutably fixed from the cradle to the grave ;
that like a wild horse we may foam and plunge, or like a dull
jade plod onward at a foot pace — but that the firm rider, Fate,
still spurs us on upon the destined course ; and when the stated
goal is won, casts down the bridle on our neck, and leaves us to
repose. I believe, too, that the stars, as well as many other
things, may tell, to those who study them, events to come ; for
depend upon it, everything throughout the universe fits closel}',
like the blocks cut for a perfect arch; so that, from the form
and position of the neighbouring stones, a person, who has
deeply studied, may tell to a certainty the shape and size of
any other."
Albert Maurice mused for a moment over the confession of
this strange creed, and its illustration, and then demanded, —
" What did the old lord say concerning me ?"
The druggist repeated his former words ; and his young com-
panion again mused for a brief space. Then suddenl}' bringing
back the conversation to the matter in which it arose, he re-
peated, — " Ganay, you have deceived me; and not for my
interest, but for your own revenge. You have worked your will;
and I trust that you ai-e now sated. Better for us both to labour
together as far as may be, than stand in the very outset face to
face as foes. Are you contented with the blood already shed ?"
" There must be one more !" said the druggist, resolutely.
" And who do ^-ou aim at now ?" demanded the young citizen,
with no small loathing and horror towards his companion; but
yet with a conviction that, by some means, he would accomplish
his purpose.
" It matters not," replied Ganay ; " but set your mind at ease.
The man to whom I point is less an enemy to myself than
an enemy to the state ; and I give you my promise that I
will practise nought against his life but with your ccmscnt. So
guilty is he, and so convinced shall you be of his guilt, that your
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 251
own hand shall sign the warrant for his death. But, oh ! Albert
Maurice, if you bchevc that the blood shed last night is all that
must be shed to effect the purposes you seek, sadly, sadly do you
deceive yourself. Prepare to bid it flow like water, or betake
you to a monastery ! Ambition joined to faint-hearted pity, is
like a tame lion at a show, led about by a woman."
" But there is such a thing as patriotism," rejoined Albert
Maurice; — yet he named the virtue but faintly, compared with the
tone in which he would have mentioned it three days before.
" Ay," said the druggist ; " patriotism ! The first step to am-
bition — but that stage is past."
Well did Ganay know that there exists no means of persuading
a human being to any course of action, so powerful as by con-
vincing him it is inevitable. To do so, however, there must
be probability as a basis ; and Ganay had watched too closely the
most minute turns of his companion's behaviour during many
months, not to divine the spark of ambition lying half smothered
at the bottom of his heart. Nor had the effect of Mary of Bur-
gundy's eyes upon the colour and the voice of Albert Maurice
been lost upon the keen spirit that followed him ; and he fancied
he beheld an easy method of bending him to his own purpose,
lie saw, indeed, that, if either by love, or any other means, he
succeeded in fanning that spark of ambition into a flame, he
must leave him to run his course without a struggle, or a hope to
deprive him of the prize ; nay, that he must aid him with his
whole cunning to raise up a new authority in the land, on the
basis of that which they were about to overthrow. But Ganay
was not ambitious of aught but avarice and revenge ; and he
soon perceived that these two master passions of his soul must
be gratified by Albert Maurice in his ascent to power.
As he rode on, he spoke long of their future prospects. He
cast away, at once, the enthusiastic cant he had at one time
assumed towards him, of patriotism and the entire abnegation of
self; and, in order to habituate his mind fully to the dreams of
ambition, he spoke of them as things already determined and to
be. But still, to smooth the transition, he failed not to point out
the mighty benefits that a ruler with a truly liberal heart might
confer upon his people — it mattered not what he was called —
governor, lord, duke, prince, or king. As for a pure ropublic,
the land was not yet in a state fit for it, he said : but what a
boon — a mighty boon — might not that man grant to the whole
2.?2 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
world, who, starting up from amongst the pco])lo, were to rule
(hem for their own ha])j)iness alone, and to show to other nio-
narehs the immense advantages of sueh a sway.
" But if you speak of this land," replied Albert Maurice,
in whose heart he had discovered the unfortified sjiot, — " but
if you speak of this land, how can any man so start up, with-
out tearing her inheritance from the gentlest, the noblest of
beings ?"
" By one means alone," answered Ganay, in a grave, decided
tone ; " by uniting her fate with his own."
Albert Maurice, thrown oft" his guard by so bold and straight-
forward an allusion to that which was passing in his own heart, sud-
denly drew in his rein, and glanced his eye over the countenance
of the druggist, to see if there were no sneer at the presumption
of his very dreams, hidden beneath the calm tone which the
other assumed. But all was trancpxil, and even stem; and, after
a momentary pause, the young burgher replied, though with
a flushed and burning cheek, — " If — as we know her to be —
she is so gentle, and noble, and kind-hearted, as you admit, why
not leave her to rule her hereditary lands by the dictates of her
generous will ?"
" What ! before a year be over," cried Ganay, " to give her
hand, and with it the wealth, and welfare, and hajipiness of her
people, to some of the proud t^^rants under which the country
groans — or, at the instigation of her intriguing ministers, to
bestow the whole upon some foreign prince, who will come
amongst us without one sympathy, to grind into the dust the
stranger sul)jccts given him like serfs, as a part of his wife's
portion ! — Is this what you would have ?"
Albert Maurice was silent, but not so Ganay ; and as they
proceeded, with poiscinous eloquence he poured forth every argu-
ment, to show both the necessity and the facility of the course
he suggested. He cited Artevelde, as an instance of what
talented ambition had accomplished in that very city, and in
an age when all the institutions of feudal pride were a thousand-
fold stricter than the}' had since become. He depicted him,
now a lackey in a noble house in France, and then a mead-
brewer in Ghent, and then a popular leader, and then a com-
])anion of kings, seated beside the conquering and accomplished
Edward of England, treating as a prince with riullp of France,
waging war at the head of mighty armies, and balancing the fate
THE REA^OI.T OF GHENT. 2^3
of Europe by his power. He had lallen, at length, he said, it
was true ; but he had fallen by his vices and his follies ; and as
far as virtues, talents, courage, or accomplishments, went, could
Artevelde compete, for one hour, with the man to whom he then
spoke. The one was a lackey, risen from the lowest order of
the state, the other sprang from the highest class of the burghers
of the first commercial city in the north of Europe ; — burghers
who already ranked almost with nobility, and who, in fact,
should rank far higher.
With the skill of a practised musician, whose finger lights
with nice precision on all the tones and half tones of his instru-
ments, Ganay found means to touch every feeling in the bosom
of the young burgher, and make every chord vibrate with the
sound that he desired. True it is, indeed, that the heart of
Albert Maurice was not one to have been thus worked upon,
had not the feelings been already there; and the task of his
companion, — an easy one in comparison, — was merely to excite
those feelings into stronger action.
At length they reached the door of his own dwelling ; and
Albert Maurice alighted from his horse, without asking the
druggist to do so too. But Ganay rode on contented ; for he
saw that he had given the young citizen matter for thoughts
which sought to be indulged in private, and he desired no better.
Nor had his words failed to sink deep. Albert Maurice, indeed,
passed rapidly over, in his own mind, all the intermediate steps ;
but there rested behind, as a result, the proud, the inspiring
conviction, that all which he chose to snatch at was within his
grasp, — that in one single day he had reached a height of power,
from which it was but a step to the side of Mary of Burgundy ;
and the conviction was a dangerous one for his virtue and his
peace. Much, however, was still to be done ; and he sat down
to revolve all that must be attempted and effected, in order to
render the daring hopes of mingled love and ambition, with
which his own heart beat, a passion of the people — to crush, or
scatter, or circumvent the many rivals that must and would
arise — and to win the love of her, upon whose affections all his
dreams were founded. For the latter object, he felt that it was
necessary to bury deep in his own heart the aspirations which
rose within it, till manifold communings, service, and tenderness,
should have ripened the esteem, in which he saw he was held,
into warmer feelings. Thus he pondered, till, before he was
254 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
aware, schemes were formed, and deeds were prepared, which
all eternity could not annul.
The following days passed much in the same manner; but
each day brought forward to the light some of the many difii-
culties with which the young citizen was destined to contend in
his progress towards the great object before his eyes, but which,
having calculated upon them from the first, he was prepared to
meet as soon as they assumed a tangible form. During the
course of the morning which followed the day of his elevation
to the supreme power in the city, the levy of a large body of
troops was voted, and the entire command was assigned to him-
self: but, before night, the Lord of Ravestein, the Duke of
Cleves, and the Bishop of Liege arrived, to counsel and support
the Princess; and though each came separately, their trains,
united, amounted to nearly a thousand men. A wary guard,
however, was held upon the gates of Ghent, and only thirty
attendants were allowed to pass wathin the walls in company
with each of the noble visiters ; while, much to the discontent of
their lords, the rest were sent back to their various territories.
A new scene of intrigue immediately followed the arrival of
these princes in the palace ; and it soon reached the ears of
Albert Maurice, that the Duke of Cleves was moving heaven and
earth to obtain the hand of the orphan Princess of Burgundy for
his son. Almost at the same time, good Martin Frusc received
intelligence, from a quarter which we already know, that Louis XL
sought to unite France and Burgundy, by an union between the
heiress of Charles the Bold and his sickly child, the Dauphin ;
and it soon became evident, that Imbercourt and liugonet, sup-
ported by the Lord of Ravestein, were eagerly pressing Mary to
sacrifice her ow^n feelings to the benefit of her country, and to
bestow her hand upon the feeble boy.
Clear, however — most clear, it was, both to Albert Maurice
and to the druggist Ganay, that while these parties contended
for mastery, they must equally court the people of Ghent, and
more especially must bow to the young citizen himself, whose
power they all well knew, and whose designs they did not sus-
pect. Of neither of the parties at the court did xMbert Maurice
at first entertain much fear; for he felt sure that the heart of
Mary of Burgundy, however tutored to sacrifice her own will,
would strongly revolt against either alliance, — the one with a
fierce and brutal sot — the other with a sickly child. But tidings
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 255
speedily arrived, which inade him fear that force or terror would
soon compel the unhappy girl to yield herself to France. News
now reached him that Louis was already in the field, that Picardy
was full of the troops of France, and that Commincs and Bourbon
were advancing along the line of the Somme. An ambassador,
too, he was warned at the same time, was on his way from France
to Ghent ; and to show the young citizen that he was sent rather
to tamper with the people, than to negotiate with the Princess,
or even with the municipal council, copies of his commission and
instructions reached Albert Maurice from an unknown source,
together with an assurance that some days would yet elapse
before he could appear at the gates.
The near approach of the ambassador, whom we have already
seen delayed on his journey, remained unknown in the palace ;
but hourly tidings were received of the progress of the French
king, and of his unjust claims upon the whole inheritance of the
late Duke of Burgundy. The pretences he set forth were so
futile and absurd — so contrary to every principle of law or jus-
tice — that every one believed his sole object was to force the
heiress of Burgundy into an immediate marriage with his son.
Imbercourt, Hugonet, and all the ministers of the late duke, saw
his proceedings in the same point of view, and incessantly be-
sought the unhappy Mary to yield to her fate, and, before her
dominions were entirely incorporated with France, to avert the
misfortunes that must fall upon herself and her people, by yielding
her hand to the Dauphin.
The same conclusion in regard to the motives of Louis XL
was drawn by the Duke of Cleves ; but the result on his own
conduct was totally different. Instead of beseeching Mary to
yield to necessity, he opposed such advice with determined ajad
angry vehemence. He stigmatized Hugonet and Imbercourt as
traitors ; and, in order to destroy the powerful party opposed to his
own views in the council of the Princess, he laid himself out to
court the people ; rode side by side with Albert Maurice through
the streets of the city, amidst the shouts of the multitude ; and,
after having excited the municipal body to petition that their
president might have a seat in the provincial council of Flanders,
he himself presented the address, which he knew that neither
Mary nor her ministers dared to refuse.
Albert Maurice, however, suffered himself not to be dazzled ;
and though joy inexpressible thrilled at his heart at every tri-
25G 1\IARV OF nURGUNDV ; nn,
umj)hant stop he took in advance ; tliougli his whole soul rejoiced
at the constant opportunity now afforded him of daily communi-
cation with licr he dared to love ; yet he allowed neither pas-
sion nor success for a moment to relax his energies or his
watchfulness ; and he yielded to the pretensions of the Duke of
Clevcs in fjivour of his son, only so far as might stay the precipi-
tate haste with which the French alliance might otherwise have
been concluded.
With Imbcrcourt he clashed continuall}' ; and the hrm, calm
reasoning of the minister was constantly met and overpowered
by the fiery and brilliant eloquence of the young citizen. Nor
was he, even in opposing her faithful and her esteemed minister,
without deriving some encouragement from the eyes of Mary
herself, whenever the discussion took place in her presence ; for
though she both loved and reverenced the wise and gallant friend
of her father, who advocated, for her own interests, the proposed
union with the Dauphin ; 3'et to her heart that union was so
repugnant, that she could not but look with pleasure on every
one who opposed it, nor listen without delight to arguments
which gave her new courage to resist.
Nor did Albert Maurice ever support the idea of her marriage
with another; so that while advancing his own design, and
winnino; both her o;ratitude and admiration, he was never found
in oppositi(m to her wishes; and still, when he appeared, she
welcomed his coming with a smile and with a look of pleasure,
which, without the slightest purpose of deceit, served painfully
to deceive.
Nevertheless, the Duke of Clcves made rapid progress; and,
not contented with the efforts of the young citizen to oppose the
French alliance, he left no means untried to stimulate the people
to support his own design. The watchful eye of Albert Maurice
was indeed upon him, but still his strides towards the accom-
plishment of his schemes were more speedy than the other had
anticipated ; and the cries he heard, when riding, one day, to-
wards the palace, of " Long live the Duke of Cleves ! liOng live
his gallant son !" showed him at once that it was time to raise up
some barrier against his pretensions. At the same time, he felt,
that to give even a slight support to the opposite party might
prove fatal to his hopes ; and, after a long consultation with
Ganay, he determined to seek out some one who might openly
pretend to Mary's hand, and draw away the countenance of the
THE RKVOF/r OF GHENT. 257
people from the Duke of Cleves ; but whose pretensions would
be even more repugnant, not only to herself, but to her ministers,
her friends, and her nobles, than even his own might prove at
an after-period. But who was to be the man?
Accompanied by the crowd of attendants, who now always
followed his footsteps when he rode forth, as chief magistrate of
Ghent, Albert Maurice hastened to the palace, some minutes
before the council met, and was admitted to the presence of the
Princess, whose smile gave him even a more glad reception than
ordinary. She was not alone, however; for besides her usual
train of ladies, a page, a chamberlain, and a man dressed as a
peasant, but whose scarred cheek told tales of warlike broils,
stood before her when he entered.
" Oh ! you are most welcome. Sir President," said the Prin-
cess, " and have come to afford me counsel at a good moment.
Here is a ring just returned to me, which I gave some months
ago to a stranger who saved me, I believe, from death, in a
thunderstorm, near Tirlemont. I promised, at the same time,
that on his sending it back, I would grant whatever he might
ask, if it were consistent with my honour and my dignity. Look
what he says on this slip of parchment." — " He, to whom the
Duchess of Burgundy gave this ring, demands, as the boon of
which it was a pledge, the instant liberation of Adolphus, Duke
of Gueldres, and his restoration to his own domains."
Albert Maurice almost started ; for there was a strange coin-
cidence between the demand which the Princess had just read,
and the thoughts which had been passing in his mind as he rode
thither. " Lady," he said, " it seems to me that there is but
one counsel to be given you. Your word is plighted ; the liber-
ation of the Duke of Gueldres — monster though he be — is con-
sistent with your honour and dignity ; and your promise must
be fulfilled."
" You always judge nobly, Sir President," replied the Prin-
cess ; " and I thank you now, and ever shall thank you, for sup-
porting that which is just and generous, however contrary it
may be to apparent interests."
" Believe me, madam," replied the young citizen, l)cnding
low to conceal the joy that sparkled in bis eyes, — "believe me,
that it shall ever be my endeavour both to forward your best
interests, and tliose of the country, Avhich are, indeed, insepar-
able ; and I would ask you as a boon, through all the future —
s
258 MAiiY ov miiuiuNDV; on,
whatever you may see, or think strange in my demeanour — to rest
assured that your good and my country's arc still the motive/'
" I will — 1 will, indeed," replied the Princess ; " for it would
be hard to make mc suppose that you, whom I have seen act so
nobly in circumstances of personal danger and difficulty, would
forget your honour and integrity, when trusted by our country-
men and your sovereign."
A slight flush passed over the cheek of Albert Maurice, at
such praise. It was not exactly that he knew himself unde-
serving of it, for he had laboured hard and successfully to con-
vince his own mind that his aggrandizement, the welfare of
the country — ay, and he almost hoped, the happiness of Mary
herself — were inseparably united. He replied, however — not
with words of course, for his lightest thoughts wore seldom cera-
monplace — but vjiguely ; and, after a few questions addressed to
the man who bore the ring, which he seemed unwilling to
answer, the Princess rendered her promise to liberate the Duke
of Gueldrcs definite, and the messenger was suffered to depart.
At the meeting of the council, which followed immediately,
the matter was discussed and concluded, and the orders to set
the Duke at liberty were instantly despatched. They were ac-
companied, however, by an express command from the Princess
— whose abhorrence for that base, unnatural son, turbulent sub-
ject, and faithless friend, was unconcealed — that he should im-
mediately retire to his own domains, and never present himself
before her.
More important matters occupied the council also. New
tidings had been received from the frontiers; and all those
tidings were evil. No doubt could now exist, that while his
principal officers were invading the Duchy of Burgundy in the
east, Louis XL, with an overwhelming force, was marching on-
wanl towards Flanders, taking possession of all those fair lands
which had descended to the unhappy princess at the death of
her father, and meeting with little opposition on his way. Al-
ready Abbeville had thrown open its gates. Ham, Bohain, St.
Qucntin, Roye, and Montdidier, had followed ; and Peronne —
proud, impregnable Peronne — had been yielded at the first sum-
mons.
Again the Lord of Imbcrcourt boldly and strongly urged the
absolute necessity of propitiating the King of France, and arrest-
ing his farther progress, by the immediate union, or at least affi-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 259
ancing, of the Princess of Burgundy and the heir of the French
crown. It was the only means, he said — it was the only hope of
preserving any part of the dominions, which, by various events,
had been united under the coronet of Burgundy; and was it
not better, he asked, for the Princess to carry them as a dowry
to her husband, than to come portionless to the same prince at
last, and receive the honour of his alliance as a matter of grace
and favour?
" My lords," replied Albert Maurice, rising as soon as the
other had sat down, " already a thousand times have you heard
my arguments against the base and ungenerous step proposed,
often have I shown, by reasoning, that the interests of France
and Burgundy are as distinct as it is possible to conceive, and
that centuries must elapse before they can be united. But, if
such be the case with the duchy of Burgundy itself, and all its
immediate dependencies, how much more so is it the case with
Flanders and Brabant. With England, the eternal enemy of
France, has ever been our great commercial intercourse ; to our
friendship with England do we owe our commercial existence ;
and the moment that this land is united to the enemy of that
great country, that moment our wealth, our prosperity, our being
as a distinct land, is at an end. All this I have shown, taking a
mere political view : but remembering that I spoke to knights
and nobles, to men who can feel for national honour, and fear
national disgrace, I have also pointed out the shame — the burning
shame — it would be in the eyes of all Christendom, the moment
that your bold and gallant prince is dead, to truckle to his often
worsted enemy ; to yield to Louis the lands which Charles
the Bold so stoutly maintained against him ; and to give his
dauiihter's hand to the son of that base foe, whose dark and trai-
torous intrigues effected, more than ought on earth, your so-
vereign's overthrow and death. Already have I demanded why,
instead of all those degrading concessions, you do not prepare
defences in the field ; and why, rather than talk of yielding
tamely to an unjust tyrant, you do not go forth to encounter
him with lance and sword, as in the days of the great duke ?
But now I must use another language — language more bold and
more decided — and say that Flanders, Ilainault, and Brabant,
will never consent to be the slaves of France, — France, who has
so often wronged us, and whose efforts, vain as they have been,
have never ceased to grasp at the dominion of these lands.
s2
*-'()•> MA in OF BUUGUNDV; ()1{,
Moro ! I siy — and by my voice the three united states now
speak to the councils of Burgundy — that we will consider and
))ur.sne, as a false and perfidious traitor, boufz;lit with the gold of
I'Vaiice to betray his lady's interest, that man, whoever he may
be, who henceforth proposes the subjection of these lands to a
French prince."
The Duke of Clcves eagerly supported the bold speech of the
young citizen, as did also the Bishop of Liege — more perhaps
from personal hatred to Imbercourt, than from any real disap-
probation of the French alliance. Warm and violent words
passed on all jiarts ; and the discussion had reached a pitch of
dangerous turbulence, when it was announced that the Count
dc Meulan, envoy extraordinary from the King of France, had
just entered the city, and taken up his abode at the principal
inn of the place.
This news gave a different turn to the deliberations of the
council; and after determining that the reception of the ambas-
sador should take place the following day, the assembly broke
up ; and its various members separated, with those feelings of
personal animosity burning in their bosoms, which have so often
proved fatal to great designs.
CHAPTER XXV.
About seven o'clock at night, a post arrived in Ghent, bearing
the unwelcome intelligence that Hesdcn, Montreuil, Boulogne,
Cambray, and many other places, had yielded to the arms of
France ; that Philippe de (^reveceur, the oldest and most tried
servant of the house of Burgundy, had gone over to the enemy ;
and that Arras itself was lost to Flanders. Such were the
tidings that reached Albert Maurice, while busily debating with
Ganay, in a private chamber of the Hotel de Ville, the means of
raising, as rapidly as possible, a large force for the defence of the
country.
The messenger delivere 1 the sealed packets into the hands of
the young President, with notice that they were of the utmost
importance ; but, ere he opened them, Albert Maurice dismissed
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 2G1
the bearer calmly, and finished the phrase which his entrance
had interrupted. He then broke the seals, and read ; but as he
proceeded, notwithstanding his great command over his own
feelings, it was clear, from the contraction of his brow, and the
(juivering of his lip, that the talc therein written was anything
but pleasing.
Casting them on the table, after a moment's deep thought,
the young citizen laid his hand sternly upon the papers, and ap-
proaching the lamp towards them, pointed to the fatal tidings
from Arras, saying to his keen companion, — " This is sad ! this
is terrible ! We must, if possible, keep this from the knowledge
of the council, till this pitiful ambassador has had his reply."
Ganay read the contents of the papers over, word by word ;
then raising his eyes to the face of his companion, and compress-
ing his thin, bloodless lips, he replied, calmly but sternly —
" Imbercourt must die !"
Albert Maurice started. — " No, no ! not so," replied he ; " I
am not one of those tigers, Ganay, to cross whose path is death.
He may oppose me in the council ; he may even thwart me in
my plans ; and yet not die, Ganay. But if he betray my
country, his deed be upon his head. I will crush him with my
heel, as I Avould a viper."
" Imbercourt must die !" reiterated Ganay, in the same stern,
determined tone he had used before. — " He will betray your
country and mine, — and he dies. I have marked him well, I see
his plans. He, like the traitors who have gone over before, will
sell his country to France for French gold ; and he must die.
The only difference between him and this Philippe de Creve-
cceur, is, that the one, less cunning than the other, went over
with nothing but his own brute courage to sell ; while this Im-
bercourt, take my word for it, will carry, as merchandise to Louis
of France, the hand of Mary of Burgundy, and the coronet of
all these states."
" Never !" cried Albert Maurice, stung to the heart, as the
other had intended, and striking his clenched hand upon the
table ; " never ! My head or his shall whiten in the wind over
the battlements of Ghent, before such a sacrifice be consum-
mated."
The moment he had spoken, however, he felt that he had
given Ganay an advantage ; and well understanding that the
game between him and his subtle comrade was one that admitted
262 MARY OF BURGUNDY; (H<,
of no oversight, and that he must be as much upon his guard
with his apj)arent friend as with a dcchircd enemy, he hastened
to turn the conversation from a topic on which he could not
speak wisely. " We must think farther" — he said ; " we must
think farther ! In the meantime," he added, abruptly, " see you
to this messenger, and ensure that he do not spread his news
abroad before the reception of the worthy ambassador, whom
Louis has deigned to send. I have that in yon cabinet which
shall overthrow, at a word, all that his cunning can advance,
were he as cunning as the fiend whose name he takes. At the
same time, Ganay, I must trust to your zeal also, my friend, for
the skilful management of our other purpose. This Duke of
Gueldres you must render popular with the citizens, and oppose
him strongly to the Duke of Cleves. Not too far, however.
I would equally divide between them the power that the Duke
of Cleves at present holds entire. Better it were, nevertheless,
that the people over-favoured him of Gueldres, than the other ;
for he has no hope. Every noble in the land would rise up
against him ; and, at the worst, it were but three passes of this
steel" — and he touched the hilt of Iiis sword — "to send him
howling to the place he has so long deserved ; and to win me
the thanks of all the world, for ridding it of such a monster."
Notwithstanding all his care, Albert Maurice felt — and felt
angrily — that the eager passions of his heart would burst forth
and display more of his real feelings and emotions than he was
willing to expose. Ganay smiled, too, as he listened ; and with
his smiles there was always mingled a degree of mockery of the
person who excited them, which rendered their meaning very
doubtful.
" May I trust you ?" demanded Albert Maurice, sternly.
" You may," answered the druggist. " Doubt me not ; for
with you, Albert Maurice, I am more frank a thousand-fold than
with any other human being. We are like two men playing one
game of chess, against a whole host of adversaries ; and it is
necessary that we should sec each other's moves. Your game
I know, Albert ; and mine I do not seek to conceal from you ;
for it would be both useless and fatiguing. I will, then, do your
biddinu: in rcsrard to these two men of Cleves and Gueldres ;
and so play them oif against each other, that they shall both
combine, in their dissensions, to raise you to the height of your
ambition."
THE REVOLT OF GlIKNT. 263
lie spoke boldly ; and Albert Maurice felt that, for once at
least, he spoke truly. lie saw, indeed, that although they were
in some sort partners in the game, as Ganay had depicted them,
yet they were playing for different stakes, and might soon find
that they had different interests.
" And when this game is won, Ganay," said be, calml}', after
a brief pause — " this game in which you and I stand as partners,
— say, are we to turn round the board, and singly play one
short game more, against each other ? — -Ha ! is it not so ?"
" No ; on my life !" replied Ganay, with a degree of fervour
unusual with him. — " No ; on my life, young man. I have my
passions, like my neighbours ; but I am without ambition. Do
you, too, believe me without a touch of feeling ? You have
shown me kindness in times past : you once saved the life of one
that is now no more ; three years ago you held my head when it
throbbed with fever, when we were together on the shores of the
Adriatic : and if you cross not my purpose — if you oppose not
the stronger passion, which guides, and struggles with, and
masters all — you shall find that my gratitude is only second to
my revenge. " Even more !" he added, resuming his ordinary
air of calm shrewdness : " I can be even grateful for those things
Avhich I accomplish by your means — though without your will ;
and our common efforts for one great purpose bind us together
more firmly than you think. So, now, farewell ! — but remember,
I tell you Imbercourt is a traitor — and he must die !"
" If he be a traitor, die most certainly he shall," replied Albert
Maurice ; " but in regard to that man, I mistrust my own motives
too much to rely on my own judgment. More, Ganay ! — still
more ! — I mistrust your motives, too ; and I will not rely on your
judgment either. Nay, protest not ! I see your bitter persevering
hatred of that man as clearly as if your bosom were of glass,
though I see not the occasion of it. But it matters not what be
the occasion. — I doubt myself, and I doubt you ; and others,
more impartial than either you or I, shall judge him, though,
God knows, I know no cause of enmity you can have towards
him. — So now, farewell."
Ganay's lip curled with a very mingled expression, as Albert
Maurice pronounced the last words, but he made no reply: and,
leaving the young citizen, he proceeded to confer with the mes-
senger who had lately arrived, and then held a long and secret
conference with Maillotin du Bac.
264 ]\IAKV OF BURGUNDY ; OH,
The post that brought such unwelcome tidings from the frontier
supped well at the jNIaison de Ville, and, resting his weary limbs
upon his bed, soon found the sweet sleep of fatigue ; nor did he
ever stir from the precincts of the building. No one saw him
without its gates ; no one held conference with him within, except
in the presence of Ganay himself Nevertheless, before an hour
had passed, the whole news he had brought were known to
Imbercourt, and were by him carried straight to the Princess.
How it reached him it were hard to say, for no post came to the
Cours du Pi'ince from that quarter, but still he had learned it all.
Not a word had escaped him, — the whole evil tidings were known,
and the consternation was excited which Albert Maurice had
been so desirous of warding off, till the ambassador from France
had been received and dismissed. The views of the young citizen
in this desire were certainly partly patriotic and partly personal ;
but his immediate object was to send back the messenger of the
deceitful Louis with such a reply, as would render the project of
an union between France and Burgundy hopeless. Every fresh
success of the French king of course strengthened the arguments
of those who advocated the marriage of Mary with the Dauphin ;
and this torrent of evil tidings was well calculated to overpower
all opposition.
Such had been the light in which Albert Maurice had seen
the effect likely to be produced by the progress of Louis ; but in
vain, however, did he take measures to conceal it. Each event,
rather magnified than otherwise, reached the ears of Imbercourt,
and by him were that very night detailed to Mary herself.
Tidings had arrived in Ghent, not long before, that almost the
whole of the duchy of Burgundy also had been overrun by
French troops ; and this, together with the unresisted advance
of the King of France on the side of Flanders, the total loss of
Picardy, Artois, and the Boulonnois, the desertion of her friends,
the turbulence of her subjects, and the power of her enemies,
overcame at length the unhappy girl's hopes and her firmness.
After a long conference with Imbercourt and her chancellor, as
well as with her cousin, the Lord of Ravestein, and her best of
friends, Margaret, her father's widow, in an evil hour Mary con-
sented to send the two former on a mission to the base monarch
who was usurj)ing her inheritance.
Under their dictation, with a trembling hand, she wrote part
of a letter to Louis XI. ; but where she came to give them power
THE REVOLT OF GIIKNT. 265
to treat of licr alliance with France, her feelings overpowered
her, and the tears gushing from her eyes, obscured her sight.
" Give me the pen, my sweet child," said Margaret of York.
" My Lord of Ravcstein and myself, your two nearest relatives
and friends, will each write a part under your direction : so shall
the document acquire additional weight, as showing the wishes
of so many persons."
This was accordingly done, and Mary calmly heard a paper
read, which she felt was binding her to misery for life. With a
hurried hand she signed her name, but she could bear no more,
and hastened from the chamber.
" Poor child !" said Margaret of York. " Poor child. — But
now, my Lord of Imbercourt, lose not a moment. No communi-
cation wath this coming ambassador will answer our purpose.
You must see Louis himself; and treat with himself, and put
forth all your wisdom to meet all his cunning. Hasten to Peronne ;
fear not to bloody your spurs on the road, for not a minute that
flies, till you are before the King of France, may not serve to
recall this most necessary paper."
While this determination was adopted by the counsellors,
Mary w^as followed fi-om the room by Alice of Imbercourt ; and
the moment she had reached her chamber, that princess cast
herself upon the bosom of her fair attendant, and wept most
bitterly. " Fear not, madam," whispered Alice, " fear not ! You
shall yet wed him you love."
Mary had never acknowledged her lingering hopes even to
Alice of Imbercourt, perhaps hardly to her own heart. But now
the more vehement passion overcame the milder feeling, and
timidity was forgotten in grief " Never, Alice ! never !" sobbed
Mary ; " I have just signed away my last and only chance !"
" Fear not !" again repealed the young lady. " Do you re-
member, madam, w-hen you would not read th'e scheme of your
future fate in the castle of Hannut ?"
" Well, very well !" replied Mary, raising her head and dry-
ing her eyes ; " what then, m}' Alice ?"
"Do you remember, then, that I stayed behind," continued
her companion, " when you quitted my uncle's observatory ?
Well ; I remained long enough to give you consolation even
now ; for I saw there written, that the coronet of an archduchess
was to bind the brow of my fair mistress."
Mary drew a deep and doubtful sigh ; but there v/as a bright
2GV) MAIl^ OF IJURGUNDV; OH,
blush rose also in her chock, wliich iniglit seem an augury of
hope ; and it were false to say that slic did not derive some com-
fort even from the predictions of a science, which — since the ex-
citement of her visit to the castle of llannut had worn away —
she could hardly be said to believe.
At that period, however, each day of the life of Mary of ]5ur-
gundy was a day of renewed care and anxiety ; and the pro-
ceedings of the next morning opened with the tedious and
painful ceremony of receiving the ambassador from the French
monarch.
At the hour appointed it was announced that the Count de
Meulan waited, and Mary took her seat in state, with the Bishop
of Liege on one hand and the Duke of Cleves on the other,
while Albert Maurice and various members of the council stood
round. It had struck the young citizen, however, as soon as he
entered the hall of audience, that neither Imbercourt nor IIu-
gonet, the two chief supporters of what was called the French
party, were present ; and it appeared to him not a little extra-
ordinary that they shoiJd be absent, if in the town, when such
an opportunity for showing their respect to the King of France
occurred, as the public reception of his envoy. During the time
that elapsed between his own arrival and the introduction of
the ambassador, he asked frequently, but in vain, for the absent
counsellors, and on every movement near the door looked for
their appearance, supposing that the business of the day could
not or would not proceed without their presence. lie was not
a little surprised, however, when the order for admitting the Count
de Meulan was at length given in their absence.
The doors were soon thrown open; and, dressed in the excess
of splendour, but with a certain crouching and stealthy pace,
habitual to the barber of the most cunning king in Europe,
Olivier le Dain entered the hall, and approached the chair of
the Princess. After the ceremony of his introduction, which he
went through, not without grace, but without dignity, the am-
bassador was commanded to deliver his letters, which he accord-
ingly did. These were found to be in full and correct form,
and he was then directed to state the purport of his embassy,
and what he was charged to communicate to the Princess of Bur-
gundy, from her cousin the King of France.
Here, however, the envoy hesitated; and, after a moment's
thought, replied in a low, soft voice, that he was directed by
THE REVOLT OF GHf:NT. 2(Vl
his master, Louis the most Cliristian king, to explain his views
and wishes to his beloved cousin and god-daughter, the Princess
Mary, in private, and to her alone. He therefore, he said, craved
a private audience, in which his communication should be more
full and complete.
The Bishop of Liege, — whose territories lay too close to the
French frontier, and whose interests were too nearly connected
with those of France to suffer him to feel any great personal
interest in the distinct rights of the House of Burgundy, — had
hitherto been the person who spoke on the part of the Princess.
He of course had evinced every sort of respect for the am-
bassador of the French King; but at this point the Duke of
Cleves broke in ; and with a haughty and contemptuous tone,
informed the Count de Meulan, that what he demanded was
not consistent with the customs of the court of Burgundy. He,
must, therefore, he said, declare openly his errand to the Princess
sun'ounded by her council, for no other course of proceeding
could be permitted.
Again the ambassador hesitated: uttering several sentences,
from which — though loaded with fine and sounding words, and
gilded with a show of argument — all that could be gathered
was, that the open communication required by the council was
contrary to his monarch's commands. He then seemed about to
retire ; but at that moment Albert Maurice advanced a little
before the rest, and craved leave to explain the object and views
of the ambassador, which that functionary seemed to have so
much difficulty in doing for himself. The assembled court, and
the ambassador likewise, gazed on him with some surprise ; but
the young citizen proceeded.
" In the first place," he said, " your Grace will be glad to
hear, who is the noble envoy whom that mighty monarch, Louis,
King of France, thinks fit to send to the court of Burgundy
— to the daughter of that great prince who overthrew him in
the field by valour and skill, and who foiled him in the cabinet
by decision and boldness. Allow me, in the man who calls
himself Count de Meulan, to introduce to your notice Olivier le
Dain, or by some called Le Mechant, barber to the most Christian
king, born at Thielt, and serving as a barber's boy at Saarvelt,
near this city."
A roar of laughter burst from the nobles of Burgundy ; and
Albert Maurice proceeded, waving his hand to the doorkeepers
268 MARY OF lil'UGUNDY; OR,
to prevent the barber t'loin making his exit too rapidly. — " Do
not let the worthy ambassador depart till he has heard me
explain the object of his coming. I hold here in my hand, by the
favom" of some unknown friend who sent these papers to me,
a copy of the private instructions of the King of France to
the Barber Ambassador, which direct him, strictly, to keep the
Princess and the court of Burgundy engaged in long and tedious
negotiations, while he strives in private to persuade the people
of Ghent to invite the King of France to enter their territory.
He is further ordered to spare no means, neither money nor
promises, to make the good men of this city declare for the King
of France, and throw off the authority of their lawful sovereign.
To this, by your Grace's permission, I, as the only individual
of the Burgher class in this presence, will take upon me to reply,
that Louis, King of France, mistakes entirely the character and
disposition of the men of Ghent ; for, though they may be anxious
to preserve their own liberties and privileges, they are no less
anxious to preserve the legitimate authority of their sovereign ;
and, though they are never disposed to submit to tyranny from
their own princes, they are no less determined to resist all foreign
domination. Let him learn that he can neither buy us with his
gold, nor fool us with his promises ; and that his intrigues and
offers will be equally in vain with the men of Ghent. It is
for you, my lords," he continued, turning to the members of
the council present, "as older men, and more experienced in
the ways of courts than myself, — it is for you to judge what
course ought to be pursued towards a man who comes as am-
bassador to a sovereign prince ; and, at the same time, undertakes
to seduce the subjects of that prince from their allegiance — who
approaches the presence of an oppressed princess, from the man
who is robbing her of her territories and massacreing her subjects,
affecting in words and in style to negotiate with her as the mes-
senger of a friend and a relation, while his real errand is to excite
treason amongst her people, and to bribe her citizens to revolt. —
It is for you, my lords, I say, to judge what is to be done with the
caitiff who undertakes such a commission for such a man !"
" Nail his ears to the door-post !" cried the Lord of Vere,
an impetuous noble of North Zealand."
" Throw him into the river !" cried the Duke of Cleves ; " such
treatment docs he well deserve."
Various other pleasant modes of disposing of the person ot the
Tin: RKVOF/r of giiknt. 269
barber ambassador were suggested by different members of the
council, probably without any intention of carrying them into
effect. They were not, however, without producing some im-
pression, and that of no very agreeable nature, upon the mind of
Olivier le Dain himself. Tliat worthy personage had listened to
the speech of Albert Maurice in downcast silence. No flush be-
trayed his agitation or shame, though his lip quivered a little,
and at one time he took two or three steps towards the door.
But when he heard the many unceremonious methods of treat-
ment proposed, he gradually crept back till he Avas within a step
of the entrance of the chamber. His face was still turned tow^ards
the council ; and he still seemed listening attentively to the
somewhat bitter strictures which were passing upon his own con-
duc-t ; but he showed no inclination to retreat farther than was
absolutely necessary to keep himself out of the reach of violent
hands, so that the doorkeepers were off their guard. As the
Duke of Cleves spoke, the barber paused and listened, gave a
furtive glance over his shoulder; and then, without any effort to-
wards taking leave, he darted out of the presence at once, reached
the court-yard, mounted his horse, and galloped away to the inn
where he had lodged.
Before he arrived at that building, however, he began to feel
that his apprehensions of personal violence had probably been a
little too hasty ; and a loud laugh, which he remembered to have
heard, as he quitted the audience-hall, confirmed him in that
opinion. The calm reflection of a few hours, during which he
seemed totally forgotten by the whole town, refreshed his courage
and re-animated his hopes ; and, therefore, not to abandon his
purpose without another effort, he ventured to ride out in the
evening ; but the moment that he presented himself in the streets,
he was greeted with so much mockery and laughter, that he soon
found the attempt would be vain. A full account of his birth and
situation had been industriously circulated amongst the people
during the day ; and as nothing excites the hatred and contempt
of the populace more than to see a person sprung from amongst
themselves, affecting the airs and splendour of a class above
them, they were all prepared to shower upon his head every sort
of ridicule and abuse. No sooner did he appear, than this deter-
mination to insult and annoy him in every different way, began
to manifest itself among the people. One held a pewter basin
before his horse's head ; another lifted up his rugged chin, and
270 MM\Y OV BURGUNDY; OH,
Ijcgged thai liis highness wotild shave him, just to keep his hand
in; and a third exchiiuicd, that he must not tliink to lead the
people of Giient by the nose, though he might often have taken
the King of France by that organ.
Just while he was turning awa}' from these unpleasant saluta-
tions, in order to return as fast as possible to his hotel, some
shouts met his ear, which seemed rapidly coming nearer, and in
a moment after he perceived half a dozen horsemen cantering
easily down the street, with a number of men and l)()ys running
by the sides of the horses, shouting loudly, "Long live the Duke
of Gueldres ! long live the noble Duke of Gueldres !" The
horseman at their head was a powerful handsome man, of about
fifty, with a coarse and bold expression of countenance, but still
possessing that easy air of dignity and command, which is a part
of the education of princes. Some one, as the cavalcade ap-
proached, recognising the person of the French ambassador by
his splendid dress and gaudy train, shouted out the name and
various opposite occupations of Master Olivier le Dain ; and the
Duke of Gueldres, dashing on, drove his horse rudely against
that of the unfortunate barber, which reared with the stroke,
and almost plunged him into the canal, near which they were
riding.
" I la, ha ! Master Barber," shouted the Duke, in the rough
and brutal tone which he usually employed, when he had no
purpose to answer which might require softer speech ; " thou
canst never shave without water, man, but there is plenty in the
canal."
The populace roared their applause ; and while Olivier le
Dain, keeping his seat with difficulty, made the best of his way
back to his inn, and thence for ever out of the gates of Ghent,
the Duke of Gueldres rode on, nor stopped till he sprang from
his horse at the house of Albert Maurice.
Representatives from all the different cities of that part of
Belgium which was then under the dominion of Burgundy, had
arrived in Ghent the day before ; and at the moment when the
Duke of Gueldres approached, the young President was in the
act of despatching a deputation to Louis XL, then encamped at
Arras. Albert Maurice, be it remarked, went not himself; but
at the head of the deputation, on the part of Ghent, was the
druggist Ganay.
The Duke of Gueldres found the street before the young
TTIF, REVOr.T OF tJIIKNT. 271
citizen's house crowded with horses and horse bo3's ; and the
different chambers of the house itself filled with the attendants
of the deputies and the officers of the city — messengers, visiters,
soldier, and spectators — displayed a spectacle more like the
palace of a sovereign prince than the house of a simple merchant
in a Flemish town.
" By my faith," the Duke muttered, as he walked on amidst
robes, and embroider}^, and gold chains, and furred gowns,
" times have strangely changed with the good city of Ghent,
sirKre that cursed tyrant shut me up in his old stone rat-trap.
Which is Master Albert Maurice ?" he then demanded of a mer-
chant who was passing out ; " which is the grand bailli — which
is the president of the municipal council ?"
" Yonder he stands at the head of the table," replied the
merchant, " speaking with the deputies of Utrecht and Bruges."
At that moment the eye of the young citizen fell upon the
Duke of Gueldres; and — though he was unannounced, and
Albert Maurice had never beheld him before — either from
having heard his personal appearance described, or from having
seen some picture of him, the burgher at once recognised the
prince, and advanced a step or two to meet him.
The Duke of Gueldres was surprised to behold so young
a man chosen from amongst the jealous and factious citizens of
Ghent, to wield the chief authority of the city, to fill two of the
most important offices, and to influence so strongly the councils
of all Flanders ; but he was still more surprised to find that high
and dignified tone in the mei'chant, which so well became his
station. He had been prepared to see the president in posses-
sion of vast power, but he now perceived that his power was
greatly derived from his superiority to his class, and he at once
saw the necessity of suiting his demeanour — for the time at
least — to the man. With a degree of suavity which no one knew
better how to assume, when it answered his purpose, than
Adolphus Duke of Gueldres, that base and brutal prince, now,
with his manner softened down to an appearance of mere
generous frankness, thanked the young citizen for his liberation,
and told him that he had good reason to know that the happy
event was solely owing to his intervention.
Albert Maurice at once gracefully complimented the Duke on
his enlargement, and disclaimed all title to gratitude for an act
which, he said, emanated from the Princess herself. He had.
272 MARV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
he acknowledged, strongly advised her to the course she had
])ursued, wlicu she had condescended to consult him upon the
subject ; but he assured the Duke that she had first sj)okcn of
her kinsman's hberation, before he had ventured to propose such
a proceeding.
" Well, well," replied the Duke, " I knew not that my fair
cousin was so generous, but I will kiss her pretty check in token
of my thanks, which, perhaps, she will think no unpleasant way
of showing one's gratitude."
The blood rushed up to the temples of the young citizen ; but
he made no reply, and merely bowed low. lie then begged the
Duke to excuse him for a few moments, while he concluded the
business in which he had been engaged. The Prince replied,
that he would detain him no longer ; and Albert Maurice, with
cold and formal courtesy, suffered him to depart — from that
moment either a secret or an avow-ed enemy. As soon as he was
gone, the young citizen took leave of the deputies, besought
them to make all speed to meet the king, and directed them to
beg him — instead of hastening on to plunge the two nations into
long and sanguinary wars — to halt his armies, till such time as
the states general could devise and propose to his majesty some
fair means of general pacification.
1 Ic then gave into the hands of Ganay a letter, fully autho-
rizing the deputation to treat, in the name of the Princess, —
which instrument had been unwillingly wrung from Mary during
the morning, notwithstanding the secret powers which she had
so lately given to Imbercourt and Ilugonet. To this Albert
Maurice added a private injunction, to trace and discover all the
movements of the two ministers, whose absence from the council
of that day he had remarked ; and there was a sort of fierce and
flashing eagerness in the eye of the young citizen, as he spoke
this in a low whisper, which the druggist marked with pleasure
and expectation.*
The results of this deputation to the crafty monarch of France
are so well known, that they need but short recapitulation.
Louis received the members of the Belgian states with all civility,
* The proceedings of the municipal council of Ghent, even before the assem-
bling of the States, which it entirely commanded, were, in many instances,
much more bold and tyrannical than any that it has seemed necessary to
particidarize here. Some authors assert that it forbade Mary to transact any
I)ublic business without its sanction.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 273
and treated them individually with distinction ; as that wily
monarch well knew, that tlirough the intervention of such men
alone he could hope to win that extensive territory, which he
was striving to add to France. At the same time, he positively
refused to ti-eat with them in their official capacity, and affected,
at first, a great degree of mystei-y in regard to his reasons for so
doing, assigning a thousand vague and unsatisfactory motives,
which he well knew would not be believed for a moment, but
which he was aware would induce the deputies — encouraged by
his homely and good-humoured manner — to press so strongly for
a further explanation, as to afford him some excuse for the base
treachery he meditated against their sovereign.
The deputies fell into the trap he laid ; made use of every
argument to induce him to negotiate Avith them upon the powers
they had received fi-om their several cities ; and finally urged,
that if he would not acknowledge them as the representatives of
the towns of Flanders, Hainault, and Brabant, he must at least
consent to receive them as ambassadors from the young Duchess
of Burgundy, whose letters of authority they then tendered.
Still, however, Louis refused; and, at length, as if worn out
by importunity, he said, " My good friends of Ghent and the
other towns of Flanders, you must very well know, from my
whole conduct towards you, that I would rather treat with you
than with any other persons. I am a plain man, and love to deal
with plain citizens ; but you are entirely mistaken in supposing
that you possess the confidence of my dear god-child Mary,
Duchess of Burgundy, or that you are really authorized to treat
for her. It is not impossible," he added, with a self-satisfied and
yet mysterious air, " it is not at all impossible, that, were I so
disposed, I might show you a letter, written partly in her own
hand, partly in that of the Duchess Dowager, and partly in that
of the good Lord of Ravestein, directing me to place confidence
in no persons but my excellent, good friends, and faithful ser-
vants, the Lord of Imbercourt, and William de Hugonet, Chan-
cellor of Burgundy, who were both with me at Peronne for
many hours some nights ago, and are by this time back again in
Ghent."
The deputies, confounded and surprised, expressed, in the first
heat of their astonishment, a very uncourtly doubt of the truth
of the King's statement; and Louis, affecting to consider his
honour impugned, committed one of the basest acts of the many
T
274 M/MIV (JK lilJHGlXDY; OR,
that stain his memory, and j)roduced the private letter of the
Princess Mary to the eyes of" her turbulent and headstrong sul;-
jects. Furious with indignation and disappointment, the deputies
retired from the presence of the King, without having concluded
anything, and journeyed on with all speed towards (ihent, ne-
glecting the great and vital business of the moment, in order to
plunge into fresh scenes of anarchy and confusion.
Louis saw them depart with scorn and triumph ; and, as proud
of his successful villany as ever conqueror was of a final victory,
he marched on to new successes in every direction, satisfied that,
in the discontented spirit of the people of Ghent, he had a faith-
ful ally that not even self-interest could sever from him.
CHAPTER XXVI.
It is wonderful, though common to a proverb, that days of sun-
shiny brightness and placid tranquillity should so often precede
great convulsions in the natural and the political world; and
that although " coming events often throw their shadows before
them," yet that the storm, when it does approach, should almost
always find the world all smiling, and the birds in song.
The day after the return of the deputation from Arras, the
aspect of the city of Ghent was more like that which it had been
during the most brilliant days of Philippe the Good and (.harles
the Bold, than it had appeared for many months. The shops
and booths, which projected into the street, and which, being
totally unprovided with any means of defence Jigainst popular
violence, were generally closed in times of tumult and disturb-
ance, were now again all open, and full of the finest wares.
Mountebanks of different grades, and those who sold books, and
repeated verses, were exercising their usual vocations at the
corners of the streets. Burghers and their wives, lords and
ladies, artisans and peasantry, all in their gayest dresses, — for it
was one of the high festivals of the year, — moved about in the
streets ; and, to crown all, the foul weather had disappeared, and
the sun shone out with a warm and promising beam.
A great multitude had collected near the palace gates, to see
THE RKVOLT OF GHENT. 275
the different members of the council, and the deputies from the
various cities and states of Flanders and Brabant, proceed in
state to visit the Princess Mary ; and the approbation of the
crowd — often depending not a Httle upon the splendour of
the several trains — was loudly expressed as their peculiar fa-
vourites approached the gates of the great court. At the same
time it was remarkable, that though loud and vociferous in their
applause, the multitude restrained all marks of disapprobation on
the appearance of persons supposed to be unpopular, with won-
derful and unexpected moderation.
Since the first effervescence of feeling had subsided, after the
defeat of Nancy and the death of Charles the Bold, and since
the apprehension of immediate revolt had gone by, the ministers
of Mary of Burgundy, — or, to speak more correctly, the members
of the provincial council of Flanders, — though spending the
greater part of the day in the palace, had generally returned to
inhabit their own hotels at night. Thus, almost every one but the
Lord of Ravestein, who remained in the palace with his cousin,
had to traverse the crowd in their way to the audience hall.
Imbercourt and Ilugonet, neither of whom had ever been very
popular, passed amidst profound silence, and Maillotin du Bac,
who, in his official dress as prevot, was riding about the ground,
took no small credit to himself for saving those two noblemen
from some sort of insult. The Duke of Cleves again, was loudly
cheered; but the Duke of Gueldres, who, by some means un-
known even to himself, had acquired an extraordinary degree of
popularity during the short time which had elapsed since his
return to the city, received a degree of applause that went far
beyond that which greeted the Duke of Cleves. Albert Maurice,
however, as the great favourite of the people, and one whom they
considered more peculiarly as their own representative, was re-
ceived with loud, long-continued, and reiterated shouts. Indeed,
as he rode on upon a splendid and fiery horse, dressed in mag-
nificent apparel — not only as president of the council of Ghent
and grand bailli of the city, but as holding, in the capacity
of chief pensionary, the presidency of the States General of
Flanders* — and followed by a number of guards and attendants,
with his lordly air and his beautiful person, he looked more hke
• When the States of Flanders assembled in Ghent, which was generally the
case, either the chief pensionary or the chief eschevin of that city presided in
the assembly as a matter of right.
T 2
27G MARY OF BURGUNDY; OU,
some mighty prince going to claim his bride, than a simple mer-
chant about to appear before his sovereign.
The visit was one of ceremony, and as no Inisiness of import-
ance was to be transacted, the Princess received her court in
state ; and, to see the splendour with which she was surrounded,
the guards, the attendants, the kneeling subjects, no one would
have supposed, as was indeed the case, that Mary of Burgundy
was less a free agent than the meanest subject in her capital.
All who presented themselves before the Princess were received
with affability and courtesy, with the one exception of the Duke
of Gucldres, from whom, as he approached the chair of state,
she seemed to shrink with a repulsive abhorrence, which she
could in no degree command. Although he appeared there con-
trary to her commands, she strove to say something kind in
regard to his liberation, and to smile as he offered his thanks ;
but the words died away before they were uttered, and the smile
faded upon her lip as soon as it appeared. To Imbcrcourt
and Ilugonet, the Lord of Vere and others, who supported the
French alliance, — although they had so strongly pressed her to
sacrifice all her own personal feelings, and to abandon the hope
of happiness for life, — she still, from a deep conviction of the
honesty of their intentions, and from long habits of regard,
yielded the same marks of friendship and affection with w^hich
she had always distinguished the counsellors and friends of her
father, however much their advice to him or to herself had been
at times opposed to her own opinion, or to her dearest wishes.
On Albert Maurice, too, as the boldest and strongest supporter
of her own wishes against the voice of her more politic advisers,
and as the leader of those who really ruled in Flanders, she
smiled sweetly, from a feeling of gratitude as well as esteem ; and
none who beheld the young citizen in the midst of that splendid
court, could help acknowledging that he was well fitted, in
appearance at least, to take his place among the noblest and
most courtly of the land. His mien had all the calm dignity of
power and the easy grace of confident but not presuming self-
possession. There was also a freshness and variety in his words
and actions, which, springing from a rich and generous mind,
gave a sparkling grace to the whole of his demeanour, and ren-
dered it at once striking and pleasing. There was certainly
a difference in his manners from that of the stiff and stately
nobles of the coui't of Burgundy, but it was slight, and to his
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 277
advantage, characterized by no want of grace or dignity, bnt
rather by the cahn ease of natiu-al politeness, as opposed to the
acquired formality of courtly etiquette. It seemed, not that
he was assuming a rank, and mingling amidst a class to which he
did not belong — but rather as if he had suddenly taken possession
of a station which was his own by the indefeasible title of en-
nobling nature. The respect and deference also with which all
the rest of the court felt themselves obliged to treat him, both from
his authority over the people, and the powers of his own mind,
placed him at his ease ; and perhaps the very excitement which
he felt under the eyes of Mary of Burgundy, and the mighty
aspirations and brilliant hopes which thrilled in his bosom, were
not without their share in giving firmness and dignity to the step
with which he trod the ducal halls of the house of Burgundy.
Thus passed by the morning ; and everything proceeded in
undisturbed harmony and tranquillity, both within the Cours du
Prince and without its walls. The populace showed themselves
calm and placable ; and it had seldom happened of late that
so many nobles and statesmen, of different opinions and different
interests, had met within the gates of that palace with so little
jarring and contention. Nevertheless, there were things observed
by many of the keen eyes which always hang about courts and
watch the flickering signs of the times, that boded events not
quite so pacific and gentle as the first aspect of affairs might
augur. Between Albert Maurice and the Lord of Imbercourt no
words passed ; but, w^hen their glances encountered upon more
than one occasion, the lordly brow of the young citizen became
overcast, and a fire blazed up in his eye, which spoke no very
cordial feeling towards that nobleman. Imbercourt himself,
whose demeanour through life had always been characterized by
calm gravity, not absolutely approaching sadness, but still far re-
moved from cheerfulness, had — since the death of his master —
shown himself more gloomy and reserved than he had ever before
appeared ; and, on the present occasion, there w^as a deep im-
movable sternness in his countenance, which had something in
it more profound than can be expressed by the word melan-
choly. He met the fiery glance of the young citizen, how-
ever, calm and unchanged. His eyelid never fell, his brow
contracted not a line, his lip remained unmoved. Not a trace of
emotion of any kind passed over his face, as he endured rather
than returned the gaze of the young citizen ; and, after remain-
278 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
ing a few minutes in the Princess's presence, he took his leave,
mounted his horse, and rode homewards. But as he passed
by Maillotin du Bac, and addressed some common observation to
that officer, there was a sort of triumphant sneer on the hard
countenance of the Prevut, and an unnatural degree of courtesy
in his manner, from which, those who saw it, inferred no
very favourable anticipations in his mind regarding the Lord of
Imbercourt.
When the whole ceremony was over, and Mary of Burgundy
was left alone with Alice of Imbercourt, and a few of her other
attendants, her heart seemed lightened of a load, and a smile
brightened her countenance for the first time since her father's
death.
" Thank God, Alice," she said, " that it is over. I was very
anxious about the passing by of this morning, for I feared much
that some angry clashing might have taken place, concerning the
messengers despatched to the cruel King of France. — But you
are sad, Alice," she continued, — seeing the fair face of her
gay friend overcast with unusual clouds, which probably had
arisen from the increased gloom she had observed upon the
countenance of her father : — " you are sad, Alice, — you, whose
gay and happy spirit seems formed by heaven to bear up against
everything."
" 1 know not well how it is, your Grace," replied Alice, with
a sigh ; " nothing particular has happened to make me so ; and
yet, I own, my heart feels more gloomy than it generally does
on such a sunshiny day."
" Nay, Alice," replied the Princess, " you must be sad, indeed,
to call Mary of Burgundy ' your Grace,' when from our earliest
years we have grown up together as sisters more than friends.
But be not gloomy, dear Alice ; all will, I trust, go well. There
is not that evil, in all this sorrowful world, which could shake
my trust in an over-ruling Providence, or make me doubt that
the end will yet be good."
" But sorrows must sometimes happen," replied Alice ; " and
in that book, — which I wish I had never looked into, — in the
cabinet at Ilannut, I saw that some time soon you were to lose
two faithful friends : — I wonder if I shall be one."
" Heaven forbid, dear Alice I" replied the Princess. " How-
ever, I am sorry that you have told me ;" and she fell into a deep
and somewhat painful reverie, from which she only roused her-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 279
self, to propose that they should go to the apartments of the
Dowager Duchess, Margaret, who inhabited the other wing of
the building.
Alice willingly followed ; and Margaret — though, in her grief
and widowhood, she had taken no part in the ceremonies of the
day — received her fair visiters with gladness, and inquired with
some anxiety how the morning and its events had passed away.
Her mind was of that firm and equable, though gentle tone, which
feels every misfortune intensely, but bears it with unshaken reso-
lution ; and it is a quality of such minds to communicate a part
of their own tranquil and enduring power to others with whom
they are brought in contact. Thus Mary of Burgundy always felt
more calm and more resigned after conversing long with Margaret
of York than before ; and if, in the present instance, her design
in visiting her stepmother was to obtain some such support, she
was not disappointed. Both herself and Alice of Imbercourt
returned from the apartments of the Duchess less gloomy than
when they went ; and the vague omens which had given rise to
their melancholy were dropped and forgotten, especially as no-
thing occurred during the rest of the morning to recall them to
the mind of either the Princess or her fair attendant. The day
went by in peace and tranquillity. The multitudes dispersed
and retired to their own homes. The brief sunshine of a
winter's day soon lapsed into the dark, cold night ; and a thick
white fog, rolling densely up from the many rivers and canals
that intersect the town of Ghent, rendered all the streets doubly
obscure. Several of the hours of darkness also went by in tran-
quillity : though the glare of many torches, lighting various
groups of persons, through the dim and vapoury atmosphere,
and casting round them a red and misty halo of circumscribed
light, together with the shouting voices of people who had lost
their way, and the equally loud replies of those who strove to
set them right, broke occasionally upon the still quiet of the
streets of Ghent, during the course of the evening.
All this, too, passed away, and the hour approached for re-
signing the body and the mind to that mysterious state of uncon-
scious apathy, which seems given to show that we can die, as far
as sentient being goes, and yet live again, after a brief pause of
mental extinction. Mary of Burgundy, whose days — if ever the
days of mortal being did so — should have passed in peace, was
about to retire to rest, thanking Heaven that one more scene in
280 MAKY OF lUIKCiUNDY; OK,
life's lonj^ inigedy was over. Her fair liair wiis cast over iier
shouldfrs, in soft and silky waves, and she was tiiinking — with
the natural connnent of sorrow n[)on human Hfe — '' how sweet a
thing is repose 1" Although she had assumed in pubHc the state
of a sovereign princess, in private she had hitherto dispensed
with that burdensome etiquette, which renders the domestic
hours of princes little less tedious than their public ceremonies.
Her ladies were all dismissed to rest before she herself retired to
her own apartment, and two tiring women of inferior rank were
all that remained to aid her in the toilet of the night Those
women, whose whole intellects were limited in their range to
the thoughts of dress and ornament, contented themselves with
performing their several offices about the person of the Princess,
and leaving her mind to reflection. Thus, perhaps, the hour
which she spent each night in her own chamber, ere she lay
down to rest, was one of the sweetest portions of time to Mary
of Burgundy. It was the hour in which her heart, relieved from
all the pressure of the day, could commune with itself at ease ;
and, could one have looked into her bosom on that or any other
night, the whole course of her life gives reason to believe, that
it would have displayed as fine and pure a tissue of sweet and
noble ideas, as ever the thoughts of woman wove. Her toilet
for the night, however, had proceeded but a short way, on the
present occasion, when the door of the chamber was thrown
open with unceremonious haste, and Alice of Imbercourt, pale,
agitated, trembling, with her own brown hair streaming over her
shoulders like that of the Princess, showing how sudden had
been the news that so affected her, rushed into the apartment,
and, casting herself upon her knees before Mary, hid her eyes
upon the lap of the Princess, and wept so bitterly as to deprive
herself of utterance.
" What is the matter, my dear Alice ? What is the matter,
my sweet girl ?" demanded Mary, anxiously. " Speak, speak,
dear Alice ! what has happened so to affect you ?"
" Oh, madam, madam I" sobbed Alice, " my father — my dear
father !"
" What of him ?" exclaimed Mary, turning deadly pale.
" What has happened to him, Alice ? tell me, I beseech you !"
" Oh, madam, they have arrested him and the Lord of Hugo-
net !" replied Alice, "and have dragged them from their beds,
loaded with chains, to the town-prison !"
THE RKVOLT OF GHENT. 281
" Good God !" cried Mary, clasping her hands ; " will they
deprive me of all my friends? lias not the gold of Louis
tempted all feeble hearts from my service, and will my own sub-
jects take from me the only ones who have been found firm ?"
" They will kill them, — be sure they will kill them !" exclaimed
Alice. " Tliere is only one person on the earth can save them ;
and, alas ! I fear these butchers of Ghent will be too quick in
their murder for him to come."
" Who do you mean, dear girl ?" asked Mary. " Who is there
you think can aid them ? What do you propose ? Let us lose
no time ; but take any way to save their lives. Some one," she
added, turning to her tiring women, " go to my mother the
Duchess ; tell her I would fain speak with her. — Now, Alice,
what way do you propose ?"
" Oh, let me go !" cried Alice, wildly, "let me go ! Let me
lose not a moment of time ! I will easily find him out, — or send
on messengers — or bring him by some way ! — Let me go, I beg
— I entreat !"
" But of whom do you speak ?" again demanded Mary. " You
forget, dear Alice, I know not what you mean."
" I mean !" replied Alice, while a slight blush passed rapidly
over her countenance, and was immediately again succeeded
by the eager and terrified paleness which had before appeared
there, — "I mean — I mean the Vert Gallant of Hannut. 'Tis
scarce three days ago, that, by a letter from Hannut, Hugh de
Mortmar bade me seek aid and assistance from him, if anything
happened, in the tumults of this city, to cause me danger or
distress. He said that the Vert Gallant owed him much. Let
me go, madam, I beseech you."
" But you cannot go alone, dear Alice," said the Princess,
gazing u])on her almost as much bewildered as she was herself;
" you cannot go alone, and at this hour of the night. At all
events, you must have a party of the guards."
"Oh, no, no I" cried Alice; "they will only let one person
go through the gates at a time : and there are men here set to
watch the river, so that no large boat can pass."
At this moment the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy entered
the chamber of her stepdaughter ; and Mary was beginning to
explain the circumstances, as far as she had been able to gather
them from her terrified companion, when she found that Mar-
garet was already acquainted with many more particulars con-
282 MAUY OF BURGUiNUV; OK,
corning the arrest of Imbcrcourt and Ilugonet than herself. So
daring an act on the part of the turl)ulcnt men of Ghent, as the
arrest of two members of the sujireme council of I'landers, of
course terrified and shocked botii Mary and her stepmother.
But their ]iersonal apprehensions for the future, and considera-
tion of the long series of calamities and horrors which such a
deed portended, were overpowered by the wild agony of the
daughter of one of those victims of popular sedition. The tears
poured over her cheeks, her fair hands clasped in convulsive
agony, till the taper fingers seemed as if they would have
broken ; and still she besought the Princess, with wild eager-
ness, to permit her instant departure in search of him on whose
assistance she seemed to place her only hope of delivering her
father.
Mary called upon her stepmother to second her arguments,
for the purpose of persuading Alice to secure some protection
and assistance, at least in her attempt to escape from the town,
and in the difficult search she proposed to undertake for one,
whose character was so doubtful, and whose dwelling was so un-
certain. But Margaret, animated by a bolder spirit, saw the
proposal in a different light, and supported strongly the desire of
Alice, to seek the assistance she hoped for, accompanied alone
by the page.
" Great things," she said, " have been done by less men than
this adventurer seems to be. Many a battle between York and
Lancaster has been Avon by the aid of foresters and outlaw's. If
you can once secure his assistance, and he can, by any of those
strange means which he has been often known to employ so suc-
cessfully, introduce his bands within the town, these rebellious
men of Ghent may yet be taught a lesson which they have much
need to learn. Go, then, my poor girl, if you have any probable
means of discovering the abode of him you seek. Take the
page with you ; furnish yourself with all the money and jewels
which you can collect. The Princess and I w^ill do our best to
contribute ; for with such men gold is better than clociuence ;
and, at all events, you will have the satisfaction of doing your
duty towards your father."
"In the meantime, Alice," added Mary, " be not more anxious
than necessary for your father's safety. These men will, doubt-
less, never attempt anything against his life without bringing
him to trial. All the preparations must take long, and I will
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 283
leave no means unused to delay their proceedings, and to mitigate
their rancour. I will send for the President ; I will speak with
him myself. I will entreat, I will beseech, I will rather lay
down my own life than that they should hurt my faithful
serv^ants."
" Thank you ! thank you, dear lady !" replied Alice, kissing
her hand; "thank you, thank you for your comfort! — But I
must go," she added, with eager anxiety ; " I must not lose a
moment."
" Stay, stay !" said the young Duchess, seeing her about to
depart. " Let Bertha call the page whom we employed before,
and we will determine on some better plans than your own
unassisted fancy can frame."
It would be unnecessary here to enter into the minute details
of all that ensued ; and, indeed, so rapidly were the arrange-
ments concluded, that many words would only serve to give
a false impression of things that were resolved and executed in a
few brief moments. Suffice it, then, that the page was soon
brought to the presence of the Princess ; and, in eager and
hasty consultation, it was determined that he should proceed in
search of a small skiff, which, being brought opposite to the
palace wall, on the water side, would enable Alice to make her
escape with less chance of observation than if she attempted to
pass the gates either on horseback or on foot, at that hour of the
night
No large boat would be allowed to proceed, and therefore he
was directed to seek the smallest that he could possibly find ;
but, at the same time, to use all his shrewdness in endeavouring
to discover some boatman, who was either trustworthy by native
honesty, or might be rendered secret by a bribe. The boy at
once declared in reply, that he well knew a man who used to
bring the duke's venison up from the woods, and whose tacitur-
nity was so great, that those who knew him averred, he had
never said ten words to anybody yet in life, nor ever would say
ten words more.
In search of this very desirable person the page instantly pro-
ceeded ; but, either from the darkness of the night, or from
having found it difficult to wake the boatman out of his first
sleep, the boy was so long in returning, that all Alice's prepara-
tions for her journey were completed, and many minutes spent
in agonizing anxiety, ere he re-appeared. When he did come.
284 MARV UF BURGUNDY; OR,
however, he brought the ^lad tidings iluit all was ready; and,
after takinp; leave of the l*rincess, Alice of Iiiibcrcourt, with a
rapid but silent step, threaded the dark and intricate passages of
the palace, passed the postern unquestioned, and finding her
way with ditliculty through the dim and foggy air, to the steps
which led towards the water, stood at length by the side of the
boat. Stepping forward over some unsteady planks, she was
speedily seated in the stern, with the boy beside her : tlie single
boatman, whom they had found waiting, pushed silently away
from the bank ; and, in a minute after, the skiff was making its
slow way through the fog, down the dull current of the Scheldt
CHAPTER XXVII.
Altuough other matters of some moment might claim attention
in this pUicc, wc will not interrupt the course of our narrative,
but will follow, throughout her journey, the fair fugitive from
the city of Ghent ; as far, at least, as that journey was permitted
to proceed unimpeded.
The boat glided along over the calm dull bosom of the
Scheldt, with hardly any noise, except the occasional dip of the
oar in the water, and the slight creaking of the gunnel as the
rower pHed his stroke. Every one knows that the river which,
a little distance furtlier down its stream, assumes so mucli im-
portance as to be the object of intrigue, negotiation, and even
war, to rival nations, presents no very imposing aspect in the
neighbourhood of Ghent ; but so gloomy was the moonless sky,
and so dense was the heavy fog which hung over the waters, that
from the moment the boat had pushed off from the quay both
banks l)ecame quite invisible. The deep, misty obscurity of the
atmosphere, and the profound darkness of the night, might have
been a cause of terror to Alice of Imbercourt under any other
circtumstances ; but now all apjirehension of danger from the
want of light and the difficulties of the navigation, was swallowed
up in the fear of being overtaken or impeded in her escape; and
the impenetrable veil which seemed to cover all things around
her she looked upon as a blessing, in the hope that it would also
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 285
conceal herself. The darkness, however, which gave this feeling
of security, did not continue so completely uninterrupted as to
leave her entirely without alarm. Now and then, as the boat
shot past some of the warehouses, or the quays where the larger
craft were moored, an indistinct dim line of light would break
across the mist from lamp or lantern, hung up to show the late
watcher the objects of his toil or of his anxiety ; and the heart
of poor Alice would beat quick with fear, lest the skiff, or those
it contained, should attract the eye of any of the eager and wary
citizens. But all these perils were soon past ; the boatman
rowed strongly and well : the slow current with Avhich they were
proceeding was not powerful enough to afford much assistance to
his exertions, but still the boat skimmed swiftly over the waters,
and ere long the last bridge was passed. Beyond it there extended
along the banks a short suburb, terminated by scattered houses
belonging to cowfeeders and gardeners, and forming a sort of
brief connecting link between the wide open country and the
fortified city ; and further on, again, came the rich fields and
meadows in the immediate vicinity of the town, blending gra-
dually into the thick woods that at that time commenced about
Heusden and Mclle.
Alice's heart beat more freely, as the fresher air, the slight
clearing away of the mist, the occasional lowing of the cattle,
and that indescribable feeling of expanse which is only known in
the country, showed her — though she could not yet see the
objects on the banks — that she had passed beyond the limits of
the city of Ghent. The page, too, felt the same relief, and, for
the first time, ventured a whispered observation on the good
fortune that had attended their movements. But Alice was still
too fearful of being pursued or discovered, to utter anything but
a low- toned injunction to be silent; and no further sound
marked their course but the stroke of the oars, as the sturdy
boatman impelled them on, unwearied, over the waters of the
Scheldt.
At the distance of about three miles from the city the air
became gradually less dense, and at the end of half a mile more
the fog had cleared away entirely. It was still dark, but the
stars afforded sufficient light to show the fair fugitive, and her
companion, that they were passing through a country where the
meadow and the cornfield were merging in the forest. Scattered
patches of copse and underwood, mingled with fields which had
286 iMAIlV OF mUGL'NDV; OR,
been reclaimed to the use of man, came sweeping down to the
banks of the river ; and straight before the travellers lay a dark
and shadowy track, broken into dense, heavy masses, the
rounded forms of which, cutting black upon the lighter sky
beyond, distinguished it as wood, from the soft sweeping lines of
the uplands which in other directions marked the horizon.
There is scarcely anything on earth more gloomy and impres-
sive than the aspect of a deep wood by night, with just sufficient
light in the sky to contrast strongly with the stern body of im-
penetrable shade presented by the forest, and yet not enough to
show any of the smaller parts into which it appears separated
by day. The wood lay straight before the bow of the boat,
seeming to swallow up the widening course of the Scheldt, as
flowing on, it reflected, here and there, the faint lines of light
which it caught from the sky, and which served to mark its
track, till it was lost in the sombre shadows of the trees. An
indefinite feeling of dread passed through the bosom of Alice of
Imbercourt as the boat cut its way on towards the dark and
gloomy wilderness which the forest seemed to present at that
hour of the night. She believed, indeed, that she had no cause
for fear ; and her own peculiar plans absolutely required that she
should banish all timidity of the kind that she now felt. Some
inquiry, however, was necessary, in order to guide her further
movements ; and, as her apprehensions of pursuit had by this
time vanished, she addressed a few words to the boatman, to
lead him into conversation regarding the part of the country at
which they had now arrived.
" Those seem very dark and extensive woods," she said ; " do
we pass through them?"
" Yes, noble lady," replied the man, and struck on with more
vigour than before, as if he considered the time occupied by the
three words he spoke as lost to all profitable employment.
" Are they safe to travel at night?" demanded the young lady
again.
" No, noble lady," was all the reply she received.
" But do you mean that it is dangerous to pass through them
in a boat ?" inquired Alice.
" I cannot tell, madam," answered the man ; but still he rowed
on, and the page — laughing with the thoughtless glee of youth —
whispered that the attempt was vain to make silent Martin give
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 287
them any information, as he had never been known to speak ten
words to an end in his life. By this time they were within the
limits of the forest, and nothing surrounded them on every side
but the trees dipping down their branches over the water. Alice,
however, ventured one mol*e question, to which the answer she
received, though as short, was more satisfactory than those the
boatman had formerly given.
" How far does the wood extend ?" she demanded.
"Three quarters of a league, noble lady," replied the boat-
man, and again plied his oar in silence.
Whether Alice's voice, and his reply, had called attention, or
whether the stroke of the oars itself could be heard at the banks,
cannot be determined ; but the man had answered but a mo-
ment, when a slight plash was heard from behind a little projec-
tion of the shore, on which an old oak had planted itself, spread-
ing its roots down to the very river. Then came a rushing
sound, as of something impelled quickly through the water, suc-
ceeded by the regular sweep of oars, and, in a moment after, a
boat, rowed by two strong men, darted out into the mid-stream,
and follow^ed rapidly after that in which Alice sat. Still silent
Martin, as the boy called him, pulled stoutly on without a word ;
but the superior power of the two men who pursued, soon
brought them alongside the boat, and, grappling her tight, they
addressed the boatman, in a tone rough but not uncivil.
" So ho, friend !" they cried ; " stop a bit. What news from
Ghent ? How goes the good city ?"
" Well, w^ell, my masters," replied the boatman, still striving
to impel his skiff forward, though the proximity of the other
boat rendered the effort to use his oars unavailing.
" It is silent Martin," said one of the men, " and a fair dame,
by the Lord ! — Who have yoii here. Master Martin ?"
" There, there !" replied the boatman, with what appeared to
be an immense effort to make an oration ; " let me get on. You
do not stop women, my masters. Surely you would never stop
a lady like that ?" And exhausted with this long speech, he
again tried to push away from the other boat, but in vain.
" No, no," cried one of the men, " we will not stop the lady
long ; but every one who rows upon the Scheldt, now-a-days,
must have a pass from the captain. So come along, Master
Martin ; and when you and the young lady have given all the
288 AIAHV OF lU'RCINDV; ()l{,
news of Giiont, tliat, tloubtless, yovi can give, — for certainly
yonng ladies <Jo nol come np the Scheldt at this hour of the
night for nothing, — we will let you go on your way."
" Fine times I" said silent Martin : but as resistance was in
vain, he suffered them to pilot his boat to the mouth of the little
creek from which their own had shot out ; and he himself, with
a certain degree of awkward gentleness, aided Alice of Imbcr-
court to land.
Her feelings were of a very mixed nature ; but, assuredly, not
such as mij'ht be imagined from a consideration of the more
obvious circumstances of her situation. She was certainly terri-
fied as well as agitated, and she trembled a good deal ; but, at
the same time, she showed no unwillingness to obey the com-
mands of those who now had her in their power. Ilcr terror,
however, did not escape the eyes of the men who had rowed the
other boat ; and one of them addressed her in a kindly tone,
saying, " Fear not, fear not. No lady ever suffered harm or dis-
honour from the green riders of Ilannut. So do not be alarmed,
and you shall soon be free to go whithersoever you will."
These words, which he spoke as they were landing, seemed
to re-assure the fair traveller, more than they would, probably,
have done most other people at such a moment.
" Oh, where is he ?" she exclaimed, eagerly. " Lead me to
him, I beseech you. It is he whom I ^m now seeking."
" Ay, indeed !" said the adventurer. " Mean you the Vert
Gallant of Ilannut, lady ? He is soon found by those who seek
him, and rather often found by those who seek him not. — Ho,
Roger I" be continued, addressing his companion in the boat,
" rouse up Frank Van Halle, and Simpkin yonder, to keep watch
with thee, while I lead the lady and the boy to the rendezvous.
Come now, my pretty mistress," he added, " take care of your
steps, for it is as dark as the tomb. — Here, take an old man's arm.
It was more pliant in days of yore, but never stronger, and will
serve at least to help you up the bank."
Alice was glad of assistance, and laid her hand on his arm ;
but though his occupation had been sufficiently evident before,
yet she almost started back when her fingers rested upon plates
of cold iron, forming the brassards or defensive armour for the
arms, — so much are our minds the slaves of our corporeal sen-
sations, that our convictions are never vivid till we have verified
them by our external senses. She recovered herself immediately,
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 289
however, and clung to him ])olli for support and direction ; for
the whole scene around was wrapjicd in profound obscurity; and
though her eye was already accustomed to the night, yet the
additional gloom of the forest was so great, that she followed the
adventurer in perfect blindness, without being able to see, one
moment, where she was to set her foot the next.
After climbing a slight acclivity, which compelled them to
walk slowly, they came to more open ground, where her guide
hurried his pace, and Alice was obliged to follow rapidly upon
his steps, though not without often shrinking back for fear of
striking against the trees, which her imagination pictured as
protruding across the path. The way, though in fact short,
seemed to her long, from the darkness and uncertainty in which
she moved : but at length a light began to glisten between the
branches ; and, after walking on a few minutes longer, she per-
ceived a glare so strong as almost to make her believe that a part
of the wood was on fire. As her conductor led her forward, she
every now and then caught a glimpse, through the breaks in the
wood, of figures moving about across the light towards which
they were approaching ; but a moment after, the whole scene
was again shut out by a tract of withered beech trees, loaded
with their thick dry leaves, through which the path that Alice
and her guide were pursuing took a sudden turn. The blaze of
the fire, however, was sufficiently general to light them easily on
their way ; and in a few minutes more they emerged at once into
the little sheltered arena whence it was diffused.
The frost, as I have before said, had for some time broken up,
and the preceding day had been warm and fine. Nevertheless,
sufficient precautions had been taken by the tenants of the forest
to dispel, in their ow^n neighbourhood at least, whatever touch
remained of winter. In the midst of the open space which Alice
now entered, they had piled up, — with very unceremonious ap-
propriation of the duke's trees, — a fire of immense logs, sufficient
to roast a hecatomb ; and many a relic of the more ancient and
simple methods of dressing meat displayed themselves around, in
various immense pieces of venison and beef roasting on wooden
spits in the open air, while a gigantic black caldron, pendent
from the immemorial triple chevron, which has suspended all
primeval pots from the days of Noah, fumed and bubbled with
most savoury promise. Around, in groups, lay a number of stout
soldier}', prepared to refresh their vigorous and sinewy limbs
2'JO MAllV OF BURGUNDY; OH,
witli the contents of the pot, or the burden of the spit, as soon as
those skilled in the mystery of cooking pronounced that they
were ready for the knife. Several more, whose appetite seemed
still fiercer, stood round the fire, watching with anticipating cx-
])cctation the progress of the cookery. But it is to be remarked,
at the same time, that amongst all this number of persons —
amounting fully to fifty or sixty — a great deal of decent order
was kept up, and nothing like either rioting or confusion was
observed, notwithstanding the more than doubtful character of
the persons concerned. There was no singing, no shouting ;
and those who were conversing together spoke in an under tone,
as if afraid of disturbing some person engaged in more important
business in their near neighbourhood.
The cause of this orderly tranquillity, perhaps, might be dis-
covered by running the eye on a little way beyond the fire, where
stood a sort of rude, but extensive, wooden shed or hut, raised
u})()n a number of upright piles driven into the ground, and
thatched on the top with boughs, leaves, and rushes, which
materials also served to cover three sides of the building. The
side that remained open was turned towards the fire ; and, con-
sequently, it both commanded a view of everything that took
place in that direction, and exposed to the sight of the other
parties in the savanna all that was passing in the interior of the
hut. It was owing to this disposition, that, as Alice approached,
she at once perceived the Vert Gallant of llannut, habited, as
we have before described him, reclining on the ground under the
shed, with a paper before him, on which was apparently traced a
rude map of some country, the topography of which he seemed
studying intently. Sitting beside him, supplied with a flat board,
which served the purposes of a table, and on which were seen
the implements for writing, was the sleek, round monk, of whom
we have previously given some account imder the name of Father
Barnabas, and who now, wuth a ready pen, appeared busily
tracing some despatch at the dictation of the adventurous leader.
On the other side of the Vert Gallant stood a page, whose rich
dress of green and gold seemed but ill to correspond with the
scene in which he was found, holding a torch high in his hand,
to throw light upon the papers before his two companions ; and
near him again was a person in the habit of a courier of some
distincticm, whose horse, all in flakes of foam with hard riding,
stood, held by another page, close by the entrance of the shed.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT 291
The approach of Alice and her conductor instantly drew the
eyes of a great part of the persons assembled in tlie savanna
upon her; and, shrinking from the gaze of the rude men amongst
whom she now found herself, the lady drew her mantle closer
round her, and bent her look upon the ground, while, at the desire
of him who had led her thither, she paused with the page, and
suffered their guide to advance alone. Without taking any
notice of the groups around, he walked forward at once to the
shed ; and only staying till the Vert Gallant had concluded the
sentence which hung upon his lips, he addressed a few words to
him, which were inaudible where Alice stood. Their effect upon
the leader, however, was great and instantaneous. lie started at
once upon his feet, and turned fully towards the spot where
the young lady stood ; but the bars of the casque, which he
seemed never to lay aside, still prevented his own countenance
from being seen.
After the glance of a single instant, he advanced towards
Alice ; and, bending respectfully over her hand which he took in
his, he bade her welcome with kind and graceful courtesy.
" I know the general meaning of your coming, lady," he said,
" though not the immediate cause ; and I will speak with you as
soon as I have despatched the messenger. In the meantime trust
to this old man, my lieutenant, who will lead you to a place
where I can hear your commands in private."
Alice listened attentively, and looked up when he had done,
with a glance, in which anxiety and apprehension for her father's
fate were strangely mingled — considering the moment and the
scene — with a rise of the eyebrow, and a turn of the fair mouth,
which altogether approached very near one of the merry smiles
that had so thronged her lips in happier days. She replied not,
howevei", though at first she appeared about to do so ; but
following her former conductor in silence, was led once more
into the paths of the wood. She was not now called upon to
walk far; for little more than a hundred steps brought her in
front of a low-roofed building, which, apparently had been
in former times the abode of one of the forest guards, but which
had now fallen into the occupation of the free companions.
Everything within bore an air of comfort and neatness hardly to
have been expected from its present tenants; and in the chamber
to which Alice was conducted, nothing appeared to announce
that it was not still the abode of quiet and affluent industry.
u 2
292 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
The moment she and the page had entered, tlic old man retired
and closed tlio door; and Alice remained gazing upon the
embers of the wood fire that lay sj)arkling on the hearth, till the
sound of rapid steps passing the window again made her heart
beat with redoubled quickness. In a moment after the door was
thrown open, and the tall, graceful figure of the Vert Gallant
once more stood before her.
" Quit the room, page," he said, as he entered, "but do not
leave the chamber-door."
The boy hesitated ; but a sign from Alice made him instantly
obey; and the Vert Gallant advancing, took her hand and led her
to a seat.
" You are tired, lady, and evidently agitated," he said ; " ami
I fear much that some event of a sad and serious nature has
gained me the honour of your presence in this wild place."
Alice looked up with the same sparkling smile which had
before played for a moment on her countenance. " You cannot
deceive me !" she said. " Hugh de Mortmar, do you think that
I do not know you ?"
The Vert Gallant paused an instant as if in suspense, then
threw his arms round the fair girl who stood beside him, and
pressed her gently to him. " Dear Alice," he said, " how did
you discover me ?"
" It were vain to say how, Hugh," replied Alice : " 1 may
have had suspicions long before; but, from the day of the
thunderstorm in the forest of Hannut, I have not had a doubt ;
though why Hugh de Mortmar should need to league with out-
laws and adventurers, and, as it would appear, to hide his face
even from such sti'ange companions, is more difficult to divine."
" I am, indeed, willing, though not obliged, to hide my face
even from the bulk of my gallant followers," replied the young
cavalier, undoing the clasps of his casque. " Ay ! and in order to
guard against surprise or inadvertency, to wear so foul a seeming
as this, even beneath that heavy helmet;" and removing the iron
cap, he showed her a half mask representing the countenance of
a negro, which covered his own face to the beard.
" You start, Alice !" he continued, " and look somewhat aghast !
Is it at that tearful painted piece of emptiness ?"
" No !" she answei'cd, " no ! But it is to think that you — you,
De Mortmar — should, for any cause, condescend to hide yourself
beneath such a semblance."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 293
" Indeed, Alice !" said De Mortmar, with a smile. " Then
tell me, heloved, and put it fairly to your own heart, what
is it that a man will not do — what tiiat he should not do — to re-
cover those things that have been snatched from his race by the
unjust hand of power, and to free a father from captivity ?"
" Nothing, indeed !" replied Alice, to whose bosom one part,
at least, of the question went directly home. " Nothing, indeed !
and I will believe, with the faith of a martyr, that no other way
than this existed for you to accomplish such an object ; although
till this moment I knew not that you had cither parent in
existence."
" But 3'our father did," replied the young cavalier ; " and
^\hen first I called these troops together, Alice, — for you must
not confound them with a band of lawless plunderers, — when
first I called them together, it seemed the only way by which I
could ever hope to liberate my imprisoned father. I am Hugh of
Gueldres; and it has been only the hope, and the promise of
your hand, joined to the prospect held out by your noble father
of obtaining my own parent's liberation by peaceful means, which
has so long prevented me from asserting his right in arms,
though the whole force of Burgundy were prepared to check
me — I might say, indeed, to crush me," he added; " for though
— with the forces of Hannut, and all the discontented men which
the late duke arrayed against him in his own dominions, with
the aid of France, and, perhaps, of Austria, my right and my
good cause might have done much, while Charles remained em-
broiled in foreign wars — I could have hoped for little had he
once turned his whole force against mc. But, as I have said,
your father persuaded me to delay. Dui'ing the years that
I have thus been induced to pause, I have been obliged to hide
as best I might the force of free companions I had raised ; and no
method of concealment could be more efficacious than that which
I have adopted. As the Green Riders of Ilannut we passed nearly
unmolested, while the Duke of Burgundy pursued his ambitious
schemes against Lorraine, and his mad ones against the Swiss ;
and though, if you recall the past events, you will find that the
green riders h:ive punished the guilty and the bloodthirsty, have
laid many a plundering noble under contribution, and have le-
velled more than one stronghold of cruelty and oppression with
the ground, yet not one act of baseness or barbarity can be traced
to themselves."
294 • MARY OF lUUGUNDV; OR,
" Then why such necessity for concealing yourself from them?"
demanded Alice, carried away for a moment from other thoughts
by the personal interest she felt in her lover's conduct.
" What !" exclaimed the young cavalier, " would you have
had me, dear Alice, give so important a secret as that of my
existence, — when the Duke of Burgundy and all his court, nay,
my own father also, thought me dead — would you have had me
give such a secret as that to the keeping of more than five
hundred men ? No ! they were levied secretly by one who has
been devoted and faithful to me through life, — Good Matthew
Gournay, who led you hither. The long accumulated wealth of
my more than father, the Lord of Hannut, served to gather them
together. His forests and the catacombs under the castle gave
them shelter : and, though far too strong in numbers to fear the
weak bands of the Prevot, or the force of any of the neighbouring
nobles, it was absolutely necessary to conceal, with the most
scrupulous care, from the court of Burgundy, that so large
a body of independent troops existed, and still more that such a
force was commanded by one who had cause for deadly hatred
towards the duke, now dead. Thus, by the advice and with the
aid of the good Lord of Hannut, I mingled with the world as his
nephew, under which title he had brought me up from my youth.
But as it was necessary to keep my free companions in continual
employment, and to acquire over them that personal authority,
which nothing but the habit of commanding them could obtain,
I was often obliged to assume the character of the Vert Gallant of
Hannut, and lead them to enterprises, which, however dangerous,
I took care should never be dishonourable. The very conceal-
ment of my person — which was revealed only to those who had
previously known me — added a sort of mysterious influence to
the power which general success gave me over them ; and I
believe that, at this moment, there is no entci-prise, however wild
or rash, to which they would not follow me, with the most perfect
confidence."
" But my father," said Alice, reverting to the still more inter-
esting topic of her parent's danger ; " I must speak with you of
my father."
" Well, then, in regard to your father," replied the young
noble ; and proceeding eagerly in his exculpation, he explaincil
to Alice that Imbercourt had always lamented the Duke of Bur-
TIIK REVOLT OF GHENT. 295
gundy's Bevcrity to his parent, and had striven by every means
to call the sovereign to a sense of justice, even before he ac-
(jiiired a personal interest in the house of Gueldres. The real
name and rank of the supposed Hugh de Mortmar, the cavalier
proceeded, had been revealed to her father, when Alice's hand
had first been promised to him as the young heir of Ilannut;
and seeing at once that Hugh's design of liberating the im-
prisoned Duke of Gueldres, and recovering his duchy by force,
was anything but hopeless, Imbercourt had only become the
more anxious to obviate the necessity for such an attempt, by
inducing Charles the Bold to grant as a concession that which
he might otherwise be forced to yield on compulsion. The
purposes of the Duke of Burgundy, however, were not easily
changed, nor was his mind to be wrought upon in a day ; and
Imbercourt . was still occupied with the difficult task he had
undertaken, when the defeat of Nancy took place. On the
other hand, he had ever laboured zealously to induce the young
heir of Gueldres to delay; and many of those trifling cir-
cumstances which impede the execution of the best laid schemes,
had combined, from time to time, to second his endeavours with
Hugh of Gueldres. Friends and confederates had proved I'emiss
or incapable, — supplies had been retarded, — changes had taken
place in the disposition or circumstances of particular states;
and three times the young noble had been half persuaded, half
compelled, to put off the attempt on which he had determined.
All this Hugh of Gueldres poured forth eagerly to Alice of Im-
bercourt, too anxious to exculpate himself from all blame in the
eyes of her he loved, to read in her looks the more serious cares
that were busy at her heart.
" In the disturbed and dangerous state of the country,' added
the young cavalier, " although my father has been liberated by
other means, it is my determination to keep my band together,
and, watching every turn, to choose that moment which must
come, when a small force, acting vigorously for one great
purpose, may give the preponderance to right, and crush the
wrong for ever."
" Now, then, is the moment ! Hugh de Mortmar," cried Alice,
clasping her hands eagerly.; " now, then, is the moment ! — if you
feel any gratitude towards my father, — if you feel any love for
me, — if you would uphold the right, — if you would crush the
296 MAKV OF nUJKJUXDY; OR,
wrong, — it' you would save the innocent from ignoniiuious death,
— lose not a day, but force the rebel people of Ghent to free my
unhappy father !"
The young cavalier, wlio had never suspected the actual dan-
ger of the Lord of Inibercourt, started with surprise ; and Alice,
with the eager eloquence of apprehension, made him rapidly
acquainted with the events which had occurred in Ghent during
the morning, and whicli had thus brought her to seek him.
" lla !" cried the Vert Gallant, " does Albert Maurice — does
the President of the States sanction such proceedings? I had
heard that when the unhappy eschevins were murdered by the
populace, he wrought signal vengeance on the perpetrators of
the crime ; and, if ever I saw one to whom I should attribute
noble feelings and just and upright sentiments, he is the man."
"lie is ambitious, Hugh," replied Alice, vehemently ; "wildly,
madly ambitious. I have marked him well throughout — and
you may trust a woman's eyes for such discoveries — he has
dared to raise his thoughts to Mary of Burgundy. lie loves
her, — deeply and truly, I believe ; — but he loves her not with
the love which an inferior may feel for a superior whom they
may never hope to gain, but rather with that rash and daring
love, which will make ambition but a stepping-stone to ac-
complish its bold purpose — which will see the land plunged
deeper and deei)er in bloodshed, in the wild hope, that out of
the ruins of ancient institutions, and the wreck of order, pros-
perity, and peace, he may build up for himself a seat as high, or
higher, than the ducal chair of Burgundy. It is evident, Hugh,
— it is evident, that he has the power as well as the daring to do
much ; and one of his first steps will be upon my father's head ;
for had that ftither's will and counsel been followed, our fair and
gentle Princess would now have been the bride of the Dauphin
of France, and every hour that he lives will be an hour of
suspense and anxiety to that ambitious burgher."
A slight smile of contempt, s})ringing from the prejudices
of the day, curled the lip of Hugh of Gueldres, as Alice first
spoke of the love of the young citizen for the Princess of Bur-
gundy ; but it vanished speedily as she went on : and he shook
his head with an air of tiioughtful sternness as he replied, " He
is one to be feared and to be opposed, far more than to be con-
temned. — Alice, my beloved," he added, taking both her hands
in his, " I umst think what may be best done to save your
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 297
father ; and of this be assured, that I will lose not one moment
in the attempt ; but will peril life and fortune, and every future
hope, to deliver him instantly."
" And yet," said Alice, while a deep blush spread over her
whole face, " for my sake be not over rash of your own person.
Save my father, I beseech, I entreat ! — but, oh ! remember that
you, too, — that you "
Her feelings overpowered her, and she finished the sentence
by tears. Hugh of Gueldres drew her gently to him, and con-
soled her as far as the circumstances permitted. But on such
occasions there is little to be said but commonplaces ; and all he
could assure her was, that while he made every effort to save her
father, her love would make him as careful of himself as the
nature of the task would allow.
In that day, however, every sport, pastime, and occupation of
man's life were of so rude and dangerous a nature, that perils
lost half their fearfulness from familiarity ; and, though Alice of
Inibercourt could not but feel pained and apprehensive for her
lover, yet her feelings of terror were much sooner tranquillized
than those of a person in the present day could have been under
similar circumstances.
In the meanwhile, the emergency of the case required that
Hugh of Gueldres should instantly fix upon some plan for the
deliverance of the Lord of Imbercourt, and proceed to put it in
execution without loss of time ; and it was also necessary that
Alice, whose return to Ghent would have been both fruitless and
dangerous, should seek some safe asylum till her father's fate was
decided. It was accordingly determined that she should instantly
proceed to the castle of Ilannut ; and means for rendering her
journey both safe and easy were arranged at once by her lover.
While the litter for conveying her thither was in preparation,
and the soldiers destined to escort her were saddling their horses,
Hugh of Gueldres stole a few brief minutes from more painful
thoughts, for the enjoyment of her society, and the interchange
of happy promises and hopes ; — nor were those brief moments
less sweet to Alice and her lover, because they were so few, nor
because they were mingled with many an apprehension, nor
because many an anxious topic intruded on the conversation.
It is the light and shade, the close opposition of the dark and
the sparkling, that gives zest even to joy. Hugh de Mortmar
felt all the sweetness of their brief interview to the full for the
298 MMIY ()|- BURGUNDY; 0]{,
lime; ImU, the moment after he had j)lacc(l Alice in the vehicle,
given strict directions to the band which accompanied her, and
seen the cavalcade wind away into the dark paths of the wood,
he turned to less pleasing thoughts, summoned some of those
from his troops in whom he felt the greatest confidence, and re-
mained with them for a short time in close deliberation, concern-
ing the measures to be taken for the deliverance of the Lord of
Imbercourt.
A plan was soon determined ; and an hour before daylight one
of the band was despatched to Ghent, habited as a peasant, and
charged to gain every information in regard to the proceedings
of the council, but to hasten back with all speed, as soon as he
had obtained sufficient knowledge of what was passing in the
city. In the meanwhile, all w^as held in readiness to act, imme-
diately upon the receipt of the tidings which he was to bring ;
and messengers were despatched in every direction, to prepare
the bodies of free companions, scattered through the different
woods in the neighbourhood of Ghent, for instant movement
upon the city.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
While such events had been passing without the gates of Ghent,
the Estates of Flanders and Brabant — as the members somewhat
grandiloquently styled the anomalous assemblage which had been
collected in that city — had prolonged their sittings till night had
shaken hands with morning. The Lords of Hugonet and Imber-
court had, as we have seen, been arrested by their commands ;
but this was not all, and every individual of any weight, who was
clearly connected with w'hat was called the French party at the
court, had likewise been committed to prison. It may be neces-
sary, however, to state how^ such a bold and sweeping measure —
a Jiieasure so full of difficulties, and so likely to encounter
strenuous opposition — had been can-ied into effi^ct.
No favour was shown to any one ; and, as soon as the assembly
met, Albert Maurice, so averse, in general, to deeds of violence,
proposed in (piick succession, and with an eager light in his eye,
which proved how dcej)ly his personal feelings were implicated.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 299
the names of tlie victims who were to be exposed to the fiery
ordeal of a public trial, under such an excited and furious state
of the popular mind. With bold and sweeping positions, sup-
ported by extraordinary eloquence, he laid it dow^n, in his opening
address, as a first grand principle, that those who sought to unite
Flanders with France were declared enemies to their native
country; and he went on to assume, that even those who could
show that no mercenary motive influenced them, were worthy,
at least, of banishment, while those who could be proved to have
been bought by France, merited nothing less than death. All
this was readily admitted by his hearers ; but the high rank and
station of the first men that he then proceeded to proscribe, their
fair reputation, and a long train of brilliant services to the state,
caused no light feelings of surprise and apprehension to agitate
the various members of the States, as they heard them named.
But there was a power and an authority in the tone of the young
President, which overawed or carried away the greater part of
his hearers ; and the calm sneer, or cold philosophic reasoning
of Ganay, who supported him, drove or induced many of the
rest to yield.
Still it required but the strenuous opposition of some one indi-
vidual, to rouse and lead a large party in the States against the
bold and dangerous measures proposed ; and, to the surprise of
all, that individual was worthy Martin Fruse. As soon as Ganay
had concluded, he rose, and, after some agitated embarrassment, —
occasioned both by the importance of the subject on which he
was about to speak, and his dislike to oppose his nephew, — found
words to begin; but, once having done so, he poured forth, with
rapid utterance, one of those torrents of rude eloquence which
generosity of heart and rectitude of feeling will sometimes elicit
from the roughest and most untutored mind.
" No, no, Albert ! No, no, my dear boy !" he exclaimed.
" No, no ; it is very wrong, — very wrong indeed ! For God's
sake, my friends and fellow citizens, pause ! let us be wise and
firm, but moderate and just. We have done great things, — indeed
we have. We have recovered our freedom ; we have regained
those ancient laws and usages which were our blcssirtg in the
olden time, and which, may bless us still, if we use them dis-
creetly. But, fellow citizens, remember, oh, remember! there
is a point where our own privileges end, and where those of other
classes aiid other men begin. Let us not take one stride beyond
300 INIARY OF nURGUNDY; OR,
the harriers of our own riglits ; for surely, if we do, we shall,
sooner or later, he driven haek with disgrace. The man who,
with power to rij^ht himself, suffers another to roh him of his
])roper(y, is little hetter than a fool ; hut he who, heeause he has
once hecn rohhed, grasps at the possessions of another, is none
the less a robhcr himself. The nobles have their own privileges
and their own laws ; and right it is that they should have them ;
for perhaps we are less fitted, from our habits and situation, to
judge them, than they are to judge us. But, setting that point
aside, we claim our own laws and our own judges, and we have
obtained them : the nobles, too, claim theirs, and let them have
them too. If they have wi'onged each other, let them right
themselves ; and if they have wronged the state, whereby we may
suffer too, let us carry up our impeachment of their conduct to the
footstool of the Princess, and demand that they be judged by their
peers, according to law. But on no account let us either arrest
them without lawful authority ; and still less let us presume, —
a body of men sujierior to them in numbers, and in some sort, I
will say, prejudiced against them, because we hold a lower rank
than they do, — and still less, I say, let us presume to judge them,
when we cannot, from our very station, judge them impartially.
A man can very well judge others, may be, when he despises
them ; but no men can judge others whom they envy. 1 know
nothing of these two lords ; and all I have heard of them makes
me believe that they were good and faithful servants of their
prince, so long as he was living ; but if you have good reason to
think that they have since betrayed their countr}' to France,
accuse them before the Princess and her council, and let them be
judged by their equals."
" What ! and give them time to escape the pursuit of justice?"
demanded Albert Maurice, sternly ; but immediately assuming a
softer tone, he added, " Had any other man spoken the words
we have just heard, I should have instantly called upon the
States of Flanders not to entertain for a moment ideas which
would go to circumscribe all their powers. I would have endea-
voured to show that we have a right, as the representatives of
the whol(* of Flanders and Brabant, to defend our existence as
a nation, and our general interests as a free people, by arresting
any one whom we find labouring to sell us at the highest price
to a forei .j;n power ; and, by making the most terrible example
of such traitors, to deter others from similar treason, — without
THE KEVOLT OF GHENT. 301
addnolni:^ any weaker reasons. But to you, my uncle, — my l)est
and kindest friend, — I am bound by love and gratitude ; and to
you also — as the oldest and most revered member of the council
— the States arc bound by reverence and esteem, to yield every
motive which can satisfy your mind. I, therefore, as one of the
provincial council of the Princess, may now inform you, that one
half of that council "
" The Duke of Gueldres has signed the order," whispered
Ganay, laying a parchment before the President, who instantly
proceeded, — " that even a majority of the council, have con-
sented to the arrest of these two nobles, the Lord of Imbcrcourt
and the Chancellor Hugonet ; and surely, did there exist no
other right in this assembly to try them for their manifold and
recent offences, the warrant of three such men of their own order
as the Duke of Cleves, the Duke of Gueldres,* and the Bishop
of Liege, would be ample authority for such a proceeding."
As he spoke, he spread out the parchment on the table before
the States; and, slowly pronouncing the names of the three
princes who, from the base motives of personal ambition or re-
venge, had been induced to consent to such a degradation of
their class, he pointed with his finger in succession to their sig-
natures attached to the order for arresting the unfortunate nobles.
Martin Fruse was silent ; but the voice of every other person
present was raised for the instant execution of a warrant so
signed, though many, by leaving the order without any further
authority, would have gladly shifted the responsibility of the act
upon those princes who had justified it, in order to escape them-
selves from a task, for which, with all the will in the world, they
wanted the necessary courage.
Albert Maurice, however, and several others, made of sterner
stuff than the generality of the burghers by whom they were
surrounded, had more extended views and more daring purposes,
and were determined not to trust the execution of the vengeance
they proposed to wreak on the two counsellors, to such doubtful
friends as the Dukes of Cleves and Gueldres, and the Bishop of
* The Dukes of Cleves and Gueldres were actuated, in the present instance,
by very evident motives ; the one wishing to obtain the hand of the Princess
(which Imbercourt and Ilugonet strove to give to France) for his nearest re-
lation, and the other for himself. The motive of the Bishop of Liege is sup-
posed by historians to have been revenge for acts of justice rendered by Im-
bercourt under the reign of Charles the Bold.
302 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
Licgc. The first, indeed, had shown himself the bitter foe of
Imbercoiirt from the moment he had discovered that the states-
man had determined to save the country from foreif^n invasion,
if possible, by uniting Mary of Burgundy to the heir of the
French crown. To the Bishop of Liege, Imbercourt had long
been a personal enemy; and the Duke of Gucldres had motives
of his own, or rather motives suggested by Ganay, for seeking to
alienate the unhappy minister from the councils of the Princess.
Each, however, of these great lords, Albert Maurice well knew,
were willing to compound for the exile of the minister, and to
spare his life ; but the young President himself judged rightly,
when he thought that Imbercourt, in power or in banishment,
would never cease his efforts to execute the design he had
formed, till he were dead, or the scheme accomplished ; and
Albert Maurice resolved that he should die. He tried hard to
convince his own heart that his intentions were purely patriotic ;
but his own heart remained unsatisfied. Yet, having once
yielded to the promptings of the worse spirit, the burning doubt
in his own bosom, in regard to the purity of his motives, only
urged him on the course he had chosen with more blind and
furious impetuosity, in order to escape from the torturing self-
examination to which conscience prompted him continually.
lie saw around him difficulties and dangers on every side, — ob-
stacles alike opposed to his ambition, to his love, and to his aspi-
rations after liberty, lie believed himself to be in the situation
of a mariner on a narrow bank, over which the ocean threatened
every instant to break, and overwhelm both himself and the
vessel of the state ; and he resolved at once to push off into the
midst of the stormy waves, in despite of the fears of his com-
panions, believing that his own powers could steer the ship
safely, and that their feebleness must yield him the command,
till he had piloted her into the port for which he had already
determined to sail.
The timidity of some, the subtlety of others, the wilfulness,
the self-conceit of all, he saw could only be bent to his purposes
by plunging them in an ocean of difficulties, from which he alone
could extricate them ; and, understanding well the characters of
those by whom he was surrounded, and prepared to make their
talents, their influence, their wealth, their vices, their very weak-
nesses, suljscrvient to his one great purpose, he resolved to in-
volve them all in schemes of which he alone knew the extent.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 303
At once, therefore, he rejected the idea that the warrant,
signed by the three j)rinces he had named, was sufficient ; and
though he allowed their names to stand first, he urged upon
those who heard him, that the States must also join in the same
act, or forfeit thenceforward all pretence to real power. Ilis
arguments and his authority easily bi'ought over a large majority
of the hearers; and the warrants were sent forth bearing the
names of the whole assembly. A number of other persons, less
obnoxious, were then, as I have before said, added to the list of
those to be secured ; and the meeting of the States did not
break up till the fearful work of proscription had been dreadfully
extended.
The assembly then rose ; and member by member, bowing
low to the President, who had the day before taken possession
of a suite of apartments in the Stadthuys, and now made it his
dwelling, left the town-hall, and departed. Ganay alone re-
mained, and he did so on a sign to that effect from Albert Mau-
rice ; who, when all the rest were gone, and the doors closed,
leaned his folded arms upon the table, and buried his brows
upon them, as if utterly exhausted with all the fatigues of the
day and the struggle of many a potent passion in the arena of
his own bosom. The dull flames of the long-burnt lamps but
dimly illumined the wide vacant hall and its dark wainscot ; but
the great cresset hung just above the head of Albert Maurice ;
and as the light fell upon the bright curls of dark hair dropping
over his arms, and upon the magnificent head and form which
those curls adorned, it seemed shining upon some fallen spirit,
in the first lassitude of its despair. Nor did the withered form
of Ganay, with his shrewd keen eyes fixed upon the young
citizen, and his cheek shrunk and pale with the long workings
of passions, — concealed by subtlety, but not the less potent on
that account, — offer a bad image of some dark tempter, enjoying
his triumph over the fall of a better being, then writhing before
his eyes under the very fruition of its first evil hopes.
It was Gana}' who began the discourse, and the tone of his
voice at once roused Albert Maurice from his momentary absence
of mind. " They have all plunged in now, indeed !" said the
druggist. " I thought not they would run before our will so
easily."
" They have plunged in, indeed," replied Albert Maurice,
" and so have we ! But that matters not. We will lead them
304 MARY OF irjKGl^iNDV; OR,
safely throuj2;li. But lunv tell me — I low was the Duke of Guel-
dres won to our wishes? lie owes his freedom as niueh to Im-
bercourt as to any one. Is he then so base a slave as he has
been pictured ? Is the soil of his heart really so fertile in weeds,
that good service produces nothing thence but ingratitude ?"
" Nay, nay, my young friend," answered the druggist, while a
bitter sneer lurked round his lip, at the very candour he as-
sumed ; " you are beginning to think sadly ill of mankind.
They are not so bad a race as you believe. Like all great
patriots, you affect to despise the very world you would shed
your blood to serve. No, no; the Duke of Gueldres, good
honest man, would be as grateful as his neighbours, if no more
powerful motive came in the way of gratitude. You forget,
Albert Maurice, that we are teaching him to believe that his
pretensions to the heiress of Burgundy arc full as good as those
of the sottish heir of Cleves ; so that, whoever seeks to give her
hand to a stranger, is an enemy to Adolphus of Gueldres, who
counts boldly on being her husband."
The cheek of Albert Maurice flushed, and then grew pale ;
for often in the dull and filthy trade of worldly polic}', men must
work with tools they are ashamed to touch, and employ means
abhorrent to their better nature. Thus, though obliged to
balance one mean soul against another, as suitors for her he
himself loved, it stung the young aspirant to the very heart to
hear their pretensions calmly named by any other human being ;
and giving way to the first burst of indignation, he exclaimed,
" Out on him, vile swine ! But beware. Sir Druggist, beware
how you raise his mad dreams too high 1 and still more beware,"
he continued, as a sudden suspicion seemed to cross his mind,
awakened, as had been frequently the case before, by the sneer-
ing tone in which the druggist sometimes spoke ; " and still
more beware how you dare to play into his hands. Mark me,
sir," and, grasping Ganay by the arm, he bent his dark brow
upon him ; — " mark me ! I know you well, and you know me,
but not so well ! You think you use me as a tool, because, to a
certain point, you have succeeded while following my steps, and
have obtained, and are obtaining, the vengeance for which you
thirst. But learn and know that you have succeeded so far,
only because the interests of the state and your own desires have
been bound up together. It is, that those whom you seek to
destroy have given you the means of destroying them, by ren-
THE REVOI/r OF GIIF.NT. 305
dering it necessary that I should strike them ; not, as perhaps
you dieam, that you have bent me to your pur])ose. You see I
know you, and some of your most secret thoughts. But hear
me further ere you reply. Learn, too, that the transactions of
thirty years ago, are not so deeply buried beneath the dust of
time as you may think ; and that, though you and Adolphus of
Gucldres may meet as strangers now-a-day, I have dreamt that
there was a time when ye knew more of each other. So now^,
you see, I know you, and some of your most secret deeds ; and
once more, I say, beware !"
It was the second time that Albert Maurice had referred
boldly to events in the past, which Ganay had supposed for-
gotten ; and the ashy cheek of the druggist grew, if anything,
a shade paler than before, while, for a moment, he gazed upon
the face of Albert Maurice with a glance of amazement, most
unwonted to his guarded features. It passed oif, however, in an
instant, and a flash of something like anger succeeded in its
room. But that, too, passed away, and he replied calmly, but
somewhat bitterly, " I will beware. But you, too, Albert
Maurice, beware also. There are some things that it is not well
to discuss ; but if you can trace — as, for aught I know or care,
perhaps you can — my whole course of being for more than
thirty years, you well know that I am one whose vengeance is
somewhat deadly ; and that however strong you may feel your-
self, it were better to incur the hatred of a whole host of
monarchs, than that of so humble a thing as I am. Curl not
your proud lip. Sir President, but listen to me, and let us both
act wisely. I love you, and have loved you from your child-
hood ; and, in the great changes that are taking place around us,
we have advanced together, — I, indeed, a step behind you ; or,
in other words, you have gone on in search of high things and
mighty destinies, while I have had my objects, no less dear and
precious to my heart, though perhaps less pompously named in
the world's vocabulary. Let us not, now that we have done so
much, and stood so long side by side, turn face to face as foes.
Doubtless you fear not me : but let me tell you, Albert Maurice,
that I am as fearless as yourself, — nay, something more so, — for
there are many mere words cunningly devised, and artfully
preached upon, by monks, and priests, and knaves, and tyrants,
which you fear, and I do not. But let us set all these things
aside ; it is wisest and best for us both to labour on together,
X
3()() MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
without suspicions of each other. If, as you say, you know the
secrets of the past, you well know that I have no mighty cause
to love Adolphus of Gueldres. In what I have done to win him
popularity, and to make him raise his eyes to the hand of the
sweet and hcautiful Princess of Burgundy, I have but followed
your own directions, and no more ; and you must feci and know
that his power over the people, and his hope of that bright lady,
are, when compared with yours, but as a feather weighed against
a golden crown."
The firmest heart that ever beat within man's bosom is, after
all, but a strange weak thing ; and, — though feelings very little
short of contempt and hatred were felt by the young citizen for
his insidious companion, — though he knew that he was false and
subtle, and believed that even truth in his mouth was virtually a
lie, from being intended to deceive, — yet, strange to say, the
goodly terms that he bestowed upon Mary of Burgundy, and the
flattering picture he drew of his hearer's probable success,
soothed, pleased, and softened Albert Maurice, and wiped away,
for the moment, many of the individual suspicions he had been
inclined to entertain before.
It must not be supposed, however, that those suspicions thus
partially obliterated, did not soon return. They were like the
scratches on an agate, which a wet sponge will apparently wipe
away for ever, but which come back the moment that the stone
is dry again, and cloud it altogether. He knew Ganay too well,
he saw too deeply into the secrets of his subtle heart, to be ever
long without doubt of his purposes, though artful words and
exciting hopes, administered skilfully to his passions, would
efface it for a time. If this weakness, — and it certainly was
a great one, — did not influence his conduct, it was, perhaps,
as much as could be expected from man.
" I mean not, Ganay," he said, " either to taunt you or to pain
you : but as our objects are different, as you admit yourself, I do
you no wrong, — even on your own principles, — in supposing that
as soon as those objects are no longer to be gained by aiding
and supporting me, you will turn to some one whose plans may
better coincide with your own. My purpose, then, in showing
you how thoroughly I know you, is, that you may have the
means of seeing that it would be dangerous to abandon my
interest for that of any other person ; and that you may balance
in your own mind the advantages and difficulties on either side.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 307
But, as you say, to drop this subject, and never to resume it
again, unless the day should come when separate interests and
different feelings may oppose us hostilely to each other, tell me,
candidly and fairly, do you think that, if we encourage the
popularity of him of Gueldres, in opposition to this proud Duke
of Cleves, we may safely count upon his ultimate failure; for did
I believe that there were a possibility of his success, I would slay
him myself ere such a profanation should take place :" and as he
spoke he fixed his eyes upon the face of the druggist, in order
to make the expression of the other's countenance a running com-
mentary upon the words he was about to reply.
" I think," replied the druggist, firmly, and emphatically,
" that Adolphus of Gueldres — stigmatized by the pure imma-
culate world we live in, as the blood-stained, the faithless, the
perjured, the violator of all duties and of all rights — has as much
chance of obtaining heaven, as of winning Mary of Burgundy. I
tell you, Albert Maurice, that she would sooner die, — ay, die
a thousand times, were it possible, than wed the man she has been
taught to hate from her infancy."
" I believe she would," miu-mured the young citizen, calling to
mind the demeanour of the Princess, when giving the order for
the liberation of the Duke of Gueldi'es ; " I believe she would,
indeed."
" Besides," continued the druggist, " besides, she loves another.
Ay, Albert Maurice, start not, she loves another ! — What, man,"
he continued, seeing his companion change colour, " are you so
blind ? — I had fancied that all your hopes, and one half your
daring, had birth in that proud consciousness."
Never dreaming that his companion would announce so boldly
what was still but one of the most indistinct visions of hope, even
within his own bosom, — a vision, indeed, which was the prime
motive of all his thoughts and actions, but which he had never
dared to scrutinize carefully, — Albert Maurice, with all the irri-
table jealousy of love, had instantly concluded that Ganay, in the
first part of what he said, had alluded to some other object of the
Princess' affection, and his cheek for a moment turned pale.
Otherwise he might have paused to consider whether the some-
what over-enthusiastic tone was not assumed to blind and mislead
him; but the latter part of the other's speech set the blood rushing
back into his face with renewed force ; and his own passions
proved traitors, and lulled to sleep the sentinels of the mind.
X 2
'MS MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
" Mark my words," continued Ganay ; " mark my words, and
see whether, by the grey dawn of to-morrow, you are not sent
for to the palace. But remember, Albert Maurice, that though
patriotism may lead a man to the summit of ambition ; and
though love, as well as glory and authority, may become the
fitting reward for services rendered to his country, yet, in the
path thither, he must never sacrifice his duty for any of those
temptations, or he will surely lose all and gain nothing."
A slight smile passed over the features of Albert Maurice, —
whose passions, in this instance, did not interfere to blind his
native acutencss, — when he saw what use his artful companion
could make of the words duty and patriotism, while it served his
])urpose, though, at other times, he might virtually deny the
existence of such entities. " How mean you ?" he said. " Your
position, good friend, is general ; but you have some more par-
ticular object in it."
" I moan," replied Ganay, " that should Mary of Burgundy
use all those sweet words, which love itself teaches woman to
employ in moving the heart of man, in order to shake your duty
to your country, and make you work out the safety of two con-
victed traitors, you, Albert Maurice, nmst have firmness enough
to say, no, even to her you love, remembering, that if you let
them escape, even into banishment — jj-ou may look upon the
marriage of Mary of Burgundy with the Dauphin of France as
an event not less sure than that you yourself exist. Look, too, a
little farther, and think of the consequences. Even supposing
you could brook your personal disappointment, and calmly see
her you love in the arms of the weak boy of France, what would
befall your country ? Already one half of the nobles of Burgundy
and Flanders have gone over to the French ! Already half our
towns are in possession of Louis, that most Christian knave ; and
at the very first breathing of the news, that a treaty of marriage
was signed between the heirs of France and Burgundy, the whole
land would rush forward to pass beneath the yoke, while the
blood of those who sought to save their country, would be poured
out in the streets of Ghent, to expiate the crime of patriotism."
" Fear not," replied Albert Maurice ; " proved as it is, beyond
all doubt, that these two men have dared to negotiate the sale of
their native land to him who has been its great enemy, there is
no power on earth that could induce me to interpose and save
them from the outstretched arm of justice. They shall be fairly
THE RP:VOI/r OF GHENT. .'iO'J
heard, and fairly tried ; and if it be shown, — which it cannot be,
— that they are guiltless, why let them go, in God's name, as
free as the blast of the ocean : but, if they be condemned — they
die, Ganay."
" So be it," said the druggist; " in this instance, at least, jus-
tice to your country is your only chance of personal success ;
and now, good night, and every fair dream attend you."
Thus ended their long conference ; and, Ganay, descending
from the hall, woke his two sleepy attendants, who were nod-
ding over an expiring fire in the vestibule below. Each in-
stantly snatched up his sword and target, to conduct his master
home, for the streets of Ghent were not quite so safe, since the
death of Charles the Bold, as they had been under his stricter
reign. A boy with a lantern preceded the druggist on his way
homeward; and as he walked on across the Lys towards the
church of St. Michael, the subtle plotter bent his eyes upon the
ground, and seemed counting the stones, as the chequering light
of the lantern passed over them. But his thoughts were not so
void of matter; and he muttered words which showed how
deeply some parts of his late conversation — those which had
seemed to affect him but little at the time — had in reality sunk
into his heart. " He is quieted for the present," he said, " and
he must do out his work, — but he must die, — I fear me he must
die ; and yet my heart fails me to think it. Why and how did
he learn so much ? and why was he mad enough to breathe it
when he had learned it ? But I must think more ere I deter-
mine. Those papers ! he added, — those papers, — if I could but
get at those papers ! Whatever hearsay knowledge he may have
gained, he could make out nothing without those papers."
While thus — muttering to himself broken sentences of the
dark purjioses which dwelt within his own bosom — the druggist
pursued his way homeward, Albert Mavirice retired to his bed-
chamber in the town-house, and summoned his attendants to aid
in undressing him. No man really more despised the pomp and
circumstance of state ; but since he had taken upon himself the
government of Flanders, — for the power he had assumed was •/
little less, — he had in some degree affected a style of regal splen-
dour, and attendants of all kinds waited his commands. The
necessity of captivating the vulgar mind by show, and of im-
pressing on the multitude respect for the office that he held, was
the excuse of the young citizen to himself and others ; but there
310 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
was something more in it all than that, — a sort of flattering sti-
mulus to hope and expectation was to be drawn from the magni-
ficence with which he surrounded himself; and he seemed to
feel, that the thought of winning Mary of Burgundy was some-
thing more than a dream, when he found himself in some sort
acting the monarch in her dominions, lie felt, too, — and there
might be a charm in that also, — that he acted the monarch well;
and that the robes he had assumed became him, while the native
dignity of his whole demeanour, and the unaffected ease with
which he moved amidst the splendour he displayed, dazzled the
eyes of those who surrounded him, so that he met nothing but
deference and respect from all.
He slept that night as calmly in the couch of state, as if he
had been born amongst the halls of kings ; and he was still in
the arms of slumber, when a page woke him, announcing as Ga-
nay had predicted, that the Princess required his presence at the
palace with all speed. He instantly rose, and dressing himself
in such guise as might become him well without incurring a
charge of ostentatious presumption, he proceeded to obey the
summons he had received ; and was led at once to the presence
of Mary of Burgundy.
The Princess, as usual, was not absolutely alone ; for one of
her female attendants — the same who had accompanied her
during the thunderstorm in the forest of Ilannut — now remained
at the farther extremity of the room, but at such a distance as to
place her out of earshot. It was, indeed, as well that it should
be so ; for Mary was prepared to plead to her own subject, for
the life of her faithful servants, — an humiliation to which the
fewer were the witnesses admitted, the better. The feeling of
the degradation to which she submitted, was not without a pain-
ful effect upon Mary's heart, however gentle and yielding that
heart might be ; and the struggle between anxiety to save the
ancient friends of her father and herself, and the fear of descend-
ing fro!n her state too far, wrote itself in varying characters upon
her countenance, which wrecks of painful thoughts and fears had
accustomed too well to the expression of agitated apprehension.
It was still, however, as beautiful a picture of a bright and
gentle soul as ever mortal eye rested on ; and as Albert Maurice
gazed upon it, half shrouded as it was by the long black mourn-
ing veil which the Princess wore in memory of her father's death,
he could not but feel that there was a power in loveliness like
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 311
that, to shake the sternest resolves of his heart, and turn him all
to weakness. The agitation of his own feelings, too, — the hopes
that would mount, the wishes that could not be repressed, — ren-
dered him anxiously alive to every varying expression of Mary's
face ; and without the vanity of believing that all he saw spoke
encouragement to himself, he could not but dream that the
colour came and went more rapidly in her cheek, that her eye
more often sought the ground while speaking to him, than in the
most earnest consultation with her other counsellors. Perhaps,
indeed, it was so ; but from far other causes than his hopes
would have led him to believe. Seldom called to converse with
him but in moments of great emergency, Mary was generally
more moved at such times than on other occasions, and when
agitated, the eloquent blood would ever come and go in her
cheek, with every varying emotion of her heart.
In him, too, she met one of a class with which she was unac-
customed to hold any near commune ; and, at the same time,
there was a power, and a freshness, and a graceful enthusiasm in
all the young burgher's demeanour, which never can be without
effect upon so fine a mind as that of the Princess. Perhaps, too,
— thouo-h had she ever dreamed that such a thinsr as love for her
could enter into his imagination, she would have been as cold as
ice itself-T— Perhaps, too, she might feel that there was something
of admiration in the young burgher's eyes, which she would not
encourage, but at which she could not feel offended, and which
she might have done something to check, had she not felt afraid
of wounding and alienating one whom it was her best interest to
attach. Nevertheless, it might be the very desire of doing so,
and the fear of giving pain, that agitated her still more, and ren-
dered her manner more changeful and remarkable.
Such were their mutual feelings, — varying through a thousand
fine shades, which would require a far more skilful hand than
that which now writes to portray, — when they met on that
eventful morning, the sovereign to solicit and the subject to
deny.
A few words explained to Albert Maurice the cause of the
call he had received to Mary's presence ; and the occasion hav-
ing once been explained, she went on, with gentle but zealous
eloquence, with a flushed cheek and a glistening eye, to beseech
him, by every motive that she thought likely to move his heart,
to save the lives of her faithful servants.
.'512 MARY OF liURGUNDV; OR,
" Indeed, dear lady," he replied, " you attribute to me more
power than I possess ; for much I fear, that, even were I most
anxious to screen two men, accused of selUng their native land
to a foreign prince, from a judicial trial and judgment, I should
1)C totally unable to bring such a thing to pass. Willingly, most
willingly, would I lay down my own life for your service, madam,
and be proud to die in such a cause ; but to pervert the course
of justice would be a far more bitter task to Albert Maurice than
to die himself."
" But remember, sir ! oh, remember !" replied Mary, " that we
are told to show mercy, as we hope for mercy ; and still further
remember, that, in their dealings with France, the Lords of Im-
bercourt and Hugonet were authorized by my own hand ; and if
there were a crime therein committed, I am the criminal alone !
The act was mine, not theirs, as under my commands they
went."
" Your Grace is too generous," replied the young burgher,
" to take upon yourself so great a responsibility, when, in truth,
it is none of yours. How reluctant you were to treat with
France, no one knows better than I do ; and what unjust means
must have been used to induce you, I can full well divine."
" Nay, nay, indeed !" she said ; " it was my voluntary act, —
done upon due consideration ; and no one is to blame, save
myself."
" If, lady," rejoined Albert Maurice, speaking in a low but
solemn tone, " if you, indeed, do wish for this French alliance, —
if you desire to unite yourself with your father's pertinacious
enemies, — if, as your own voluntary act, you would give your
hand to the puny boy, whose numbered days will never see him
sovereign of France, and who can alone serve to furnish a now
claim to Louis XI. for annexing your territories to his own — if,
I say, such be your own sincere desire, I will, most assuredly,
announce it to the States General."
" If I say that it is so, will it save the lives of my two faithful
servants?" demanded Mary, anxiously, while her heart beat
painfully with the struggle between the desire of rescuing her
counsellors, and her shrinking abhorrence of the marriage pro-
posed to her. " Will it, —tell me, — will it save them ?"
" I cannot promise that it will," replied Albert Maurice. " The
States must decide, whether those who counselled such an act
are not still most guilty, though your Grace was prevailed upon
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 313
to sanction it. Nor, lady, must you think that such a sacrifice
on your part would achieve even the pacification of France and
Burgundy. Be assured, that there is not an unbought man in
all Flanders who would not shed the last drop of his blood ere
he would consent to the union of the two countries. Nor do I
believe that Louis of France himself would accede. He claims
the whole of your lands, madam, upon other titles. Burgundy he
calls his own by right of male descent ; the districts of the Somme
he declares to have been imjustly wrung from the crown of
France ; and the counties of Flanders and Artois, he says, are
his of right, though he has not yet deigned to yield a specification
of his claim. Doubtless he has striven to buy your servants and
your counsellors ; and many of them has he purchased — not to
promote your union with his son, but to betray your lands and
cities into his power."
" But these faithful friends," said Mary, " these noble gentle-
men whom you now hold in captivity, are all unsoiled by such a
reproach."
" Your pardon, madam," replied Albert Maurice, gravely ;
"such is one of the chief crimes with which they are charged.
Good evidence, too, it is said, can be produced against them ;
and though I have not myself examined the proofs, yet I fear
they will be found but too strong."
Mary stood aghast — not that she believed the accusation for a
moment, but that any one should find means of advancing even
such a pretext against those whose honour seemed in her eyes
too bright for such a stain to rest upon them for a moment.
" Oh, save them !" she exclaimed, at length, with passionate
eagerness. " Save them, sir, if j^ou love honour, if you love
justice ! Look there," she continued, advancing to the high
window of the apartment, and pointing with her hand to the
scene spread out below — " Look there !"
Albert Maurice gazed out, in some surprise. It was, indeed,
as fair a sight as ever he had looked upon. The situation of the
casement at which he stood, in a high tower, long since de-
molished, commanded an extensive view over the whole country
round. The sun had not risen above an hour. The world was
in all the freshness of early spring. The mists and dews of night,
flying from before the first bright rays of day, had gathered to-
gether in thin white clouds, and were skimming rapidly towards
the horizon, leaving the sky every moment more blue and clear.
314 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
Ghent lay yet half asleep beneath the palace, with its rivers and
its canals constantly gleaming in, here and there, amongst the
grey, sober-coloured hoiiscs, while innumerable monasteries, with
their green gardens, and churches, with their tall spires, broke
the monotony both of colour and of form, and pleasantly diversi-
fied the scene. As the eye wandered on over the walls, past the
suburbs, through a maze of green fields and young plantations, a
fair, undulating country met its view, interspersed with deep,
brown woods, from which, every now and then, rose a village
spire, or a feudal tower, while the windings of the Scheldt and
the Lys, with every now and then an accidental turn of the
Lieve, were seen glistening like streams of silver through the
distant prospect. Over all the ascending sun was pouring a flood
of the soft light of spring, while the clouds, as they flitted across
the sky, occasionally cut off his beams from different parts of
the view, but gave a more sparkling splendour, by contrast, to
the rest.
" Look there !" said Mary of Burgundy — " look there ! — Is
not that a fair scene?" she added, after a moment's pause. —
" Is not that a beautiful land ? — Is it not a proud and pleasant
thing to be lord of cities like this, and countries like that before
you ? Yet let me tell you, sir, I would sacrifice them all. I would
resign power and station, the broad lands my father left me, the
princely name I own — ay, and never drop a tear to know them
lost for ever, so that I could save the life of those two noble
gentlemen now in such peril by false suspicions. Oh, sir, I
beseech, I entreat ; and, did it beseem either of us, I would cast
myself at your feet to implore that you would save them. You
can, — I know you can ; for well am I aware of all the power
which, not unjustly, your high qualities have obtained amongst
your fellow citizens. Oh, use it, sir, for the noblest, for the
best of purposes ! — use it to save them at my entreaty, and for
my sake."
As she spoke, agitation, eagerness, and grief overcame every
other consideration, and the tears streamed rapidly over her fair
cheeks, while, with clasped hands, and raised-up eyes, she sought
to move her hearer. Nor was he unmoved. On the contrary, he
was shaken to the very heart. That stern determination which
he thought virtue, the ambition which rose up beside patriotism,
and was beginning to overtop the nobler shoot — all were yielding
to the more powerful force of love ; or, if they struggled, struggled
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 315
but feebly against that which they could not withstand. His
temples throbbed, his cheek turned pale, his lip quivered, and
words were rising to utterance which might, perhaps, have changed
the fate of nations, when quick steps and loud voices in the
ante-chamber attracted the attention both of himself and the
Princess.
*' Stand back, sir!" exclaimed the coarse tones of the Duke of
Gueldres. " By the Lord ! if the Princess is in council with any
one, as you say, the more reason that I should be present at it.
Am not I one of her counsellors, both by birth and blood ?"
By this time he had thrown open the door; and, striding
boldly into the chamber, he advanced with a " Good morrow,
fair cousin : if you be in want of counsellors, here am I ready to
give you my best advice."
Mary's cheek turned pale as he approached ; but she replied,
mournfully, " My best and most tried counsellors have been taken
from me, sir, and I know not in whom I ma}' now trust."
" Trust in me, fair cousin, trust in me," replied the Duke ;
but Albert Maurice interrupted him.
*' I believe, sir," he said, " that it is customary for the Prin-
cess, when she wants the counsel of any individual, to send for
him, and for none to intrude themselves upon her without such
a summons. I, having been so honoured this morning, and
having received her commands, shall now leave her, doubting
not that she will be well pleased that we both retire."
" School not me. Sir Citizen," replied the Duke of Gueldres,
fiercely ; " for, though you fly so high a flight, by the Lord ! I
may find it necessary some day to trim your wings."
Albert Maurice replied only by a glance of withering con-
tempt, which might have stung the other into some new violence,
had not Mary interposed. " I did not think to see such wrangling
in my presence, gentlemen," she said, assuming at once that air
of princely dignity which became her station ; " I would be
alone. — You may retire !" and for a single instant the command-
ing tone, and the flashing eye, reminded those who saw her of
her father, Charles the Bold.
The rude Duke of Gueldres himself was abashed and over-
awed ; and, having no pretence prepared for remaining longer,
he bowed, and strode gloomily towards the door, satisfied with
having interrupted the conversation of the Princess and Albert
Maurice, of which he had from some source received intimation.
:n6 MARY OF lujRGi'Nnv; on,
The young citizen followed, not sorry to be relieved from en-
treaties which had nearly overcome what he believed to be a
virtuous resolution, although — with that mixture of feelings from
which scarcely any moment in human life is exempt — he was
pained and angry, at the same time, to be forced to quit the
society of one so beloved, however dangerous that society might
be to his well considered purposes. lie bowed low as he de-
parted ; and Mary, dropping the tone of authority she had
assumed, with clasped hands, and an imploring look, murmured,
in a low tone, " Remember ! oh, remember !"
The Duke of Gucldres proceeded down the stairs before him,
with a heavy step and a gloomy brow. Nevertheless, that prince,
whose cunning and whose violence were always at war with each
other, only required a short time for thought, to perceive that he
could not yet, amidst the bold designs which had been instilled
into his mind, dispense with the assistance and support of the
young citizen ; and he determined, as speedily as possible, to do
away any unfavourable impression which his rude insolence might
have left upon the mind of the other.
" Master Albert Maurice," he said, as soon as they had reached
the vestibule below, " i'faith I have to beg your pardon for some-
what sharp speech but now. Good sooth, I am a hasty and a
violent man, and you should not cross me."
" My lord duke," replied Albert Maurice, gravely, but not
angrily, " your apology is more due to yourself than to me. It
was the Duke of Gueldres you lowered: Albert Maurice you
could not degrade ; and as to crossing you, my lord, — that man's
violence must be a much more terrible thing than I have ever met
with yet, that could scare me from crossing him when I felt it
my duty to do so."
The Duke of Gueldres bit his lip, but made no reply ; for
there was a commanding spirit about the young burgher', which,
supported by the great power he possessed in the state, the other
felt he could not cope with, at least till he had advanced many
steps farther in popular favour. He turned away angrily, how-
ever, seeing that conciliation was also vain; and, flinging himself
on his horse, rode off with the few attendants whom he had col-
lected in haste to accompany him to the palace.
Albert Maurice returned more slowly to the town-house,
clearly perceiving that the coming of the Duke of Gueldres,
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 317
in the midst of his conference willi the Princess, had not been
accidental, and endeavouring, as he rode on, to fix with certainty
upon the person who had given that prince the information on
which he had acted.
CHAPTER XXIX.
A DAY intervened: but at noon on that which followed, an
immense, dense crowd was assembled in the open space before
the town-house of Ghent. Nevertheless, though the multitude
was perhaps greater than ever the Square of St. Pharailde had
contained before, there was a stillness about it all, which spoke
that men w^ere anticipating some great event. Each one who
spoke addressed his neighbour in that low tone which argues awe :
but by far the greater part of the people remained perfectly silent,
with their eyes turned towards the town-house, immediately
in front of which stood a scaffold, hung with black cloth, sup-
porting two low blocks of wood, and surrounded by a large
party of the burgher guard. A still larger body of the same
troops kept the space between the scaffold and the public building
before which it was placed ; and, in all, the armed force present
seemed more than sufficient to keep order, and overawe the evil-
disposed. In fact, the regular municipal power had been in-
creased to an extraordinary degree during the last fortnight,
both by an extended levy amongst the citizens themselves, and
by the raising of a number of extraordinary companies from
amongst the peasantry of the neighbouring districts, joined to all
such disbanded soldiers as were willing to enrol themselves
under the banners of the commune. The trained force thus
at the disposal of the town-council of Ghent amounted to at least
seven thousand men, and, on the morning of which we speak, a
great part of this body were drawn up between the town-house
and the scaffold, and in the main court of the building.
At the same time, it is to be remarked, that almost all the
burghers, and a number of the peasantry of the country round
about, had provided themselves with warlike weapons, since the
first disturbances which followed the death of the duke ; so that
318 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
the multitude which (hrongcd tlic space before the town-house
appeared universally in arms. The principal weapons with
which they had furnished themselves were long pikes ; and any
one gazing over the market-place might have fancied it crowded
by an immense body of dismounted lancers; but, at the same
time, a number of the more wealthy were provided with swords
also ; and one or two appeared more in the guise of regular men-
at-arms than simple citizens.
It was remarked that amidst the assembly were a number
of persons with somewhat hard features and weather-beaten
countenances, habited in the ordinary dress of peasants, but in
general better armed than the rest of the people. These men
seemed to have but few acquaintances in the town, but wherever
any two of them met, they appeared instantly to recognise
each other ; and, by a quiet, unobtrusive, but steady movement
forward, they gradually made their way one by one through the
crowd, to the immediate vicinity of the scaffold. Another
circumstance, also, was noticed by those persons in the crowd who
employed all their vacant moments in looking about them, which
was, that, close to the head of one of the bands of the burgher
guard, and conversing from time to time with the officer who
commanded it, appeared a young man of a powerful and active
form, dressed as a common man-at-arms, with the beaver of
his helmet, at what was called the half-spring; in short, so far
open as to give him plenty of air, yet not sufficiently thrown up
to expose his face.
In those days, it must be remembered that the appearance
of men in armour had nothing extraordinary in it, either in
the country or the town, and consequently such a sight was
not at all uncommon in the streets of Ghent at any time; but it
had become far more so since the burghers had assumed the
authority they now claimed, as not a few of the rich young
merchants, every now and then, chose to ape the nobles, whom
they were desirous of overthrowing ; and would appear in the
streets, clothed, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, in complete
steel.
Whether the captain of the band to whom the stranger ad-
dressed himself, was or was not previously acquainted with the
man-at-arms, he seemed well pleased with his company, which
certainly somewhat tended to relieve the irksome anticipation
of a disagreeable duty. Their conversation, however, soon ap-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 319
peared to turn upon more important matters; and they spoke
quick and eagerly, though in so low a tone, that only a few words
of what they said reached the bystanders.
" I wish them no ill, poor wretches, God knows," the captain
of the band was heard to say, in reply to something the other
nad whispered the moment before. Two or three indistinct
sentences succeeded ; and then, he again answered, " If any one
would begin, I would follow ! we have as good a right to a say in
the matter as any one else."
Again the man-at-arms spoke with him rapidly; and the other
rejoined in a low and hurried tone — " Stay ! I will see what the
men say I Stand back, sir !" he added, pushing back, angrily,
one of the crowd, who intruded upon the open space, and came
within earshot. He then walked leisurely along the file of men
that he commanded, speaking a few words, now to one, now to
another ; and then, turning back with an air of assumed in-
difference, he said to the person with whom he had before
been speaking, " It will do ! They do not want any more blood
spilt. They are all murmuring, to a man. Go and talk with
the captain on the other side."
While this was passing in the immediate vicinity of the scaf-
fold, several of the persons I have described as looking like
weather-beaten peasants, had, in making their way through the
crowd, paused to speak with a number of the citizens ; at first
asking some questions in regard to the multitude, and the dark
preparations before the town-house, as if ignorant of what had
lately taken place in the city. They then generally proceeded
to comment on the reply made to them ; and then something
was always said about the shame and horror of staining their
market-place with public executions for state crimes which the
events of a few weeks might render no crimes at all.
Thus, one of them demanded of a fat burgher, by whom he
passed, " Why, what is the matter, neighbour ? This looks as if
they were going to cut off some one's head."
" And so they are, to be sure," replied the citizen. '•' They
are going to do execution upon the Lord of Imbercourt, and
Hugonet the Chancellor, who were condemned this morning for
treating with France and receiving bribes."
" Ay, did they receive bribes ?" rejoined the peasant : " that
is strange enough ; for I always thought that they were as free
and liberal of their gold to those who needed it, as any men
320 I\1AR^ OF BURGUNDY • OR,
living, and coveted nothing belonging to another; and those are
not the sort of men, I have heard say, who usually receive bribes."
" Ay, that is true enough, indeed !" answered the citizen, with
a sigh.
" But did they really receive bribes?" persevered the peasant.
" Was it clearly proved ?"
" No, no, I believe not," replied the citizen. " Proof they
could not get — proof they could not get ; but there was strong
suspicion."
" 'Tis hard a man should die for mere suspicion, though ; for
who would be safe if that were law ?" said the other. " If I had
been one of them, I would have appealed to the King of France
and Court of Peers."
" Why, so they both did," replied the citizen ; " but they are
to die for all that."
" Then I would not be a citizen of Ghent for ten thousand
crowns," answered the peasant; " for, by the Lord! Louis and
his peers will be like to hang every one of them that he catches ;
and it is a sad thing to be hanged for spilling innocent blood.
Were I one of the citizens of Ghent, they should never stain the
market-place in such a way while I had a voice to raise against it."
" Ay, ay, it is very sad !" said the citizen : " and I dare say if
any one would begin, many a man would cry out against it too."
" Well, w^ell," answered the other, " I must forward, and see
what is going on ; and I hope some one will cry out against it."
Thus speaking, the peasant, as he seemed to be, pushed his
way on for a little distance, and then, pausing by another of the
citizens, held with him a short conversation, like that which we
have just narrated, asking very nearly the same questions, and
making very nearly the same observations on the answers he
received.
The instance which has just been particularized was only one
out of many ; for in every part of the crowd were to be seen
persons similar in appearance to the man whose conversation we
have just detailed, and who acted precisely upon the same plan,
though the words they made use of might be slightly different.
The man-at-arms who, as we have mentioned, had been talking
with the captain of one of the city bands, in accordance with the
intimation he had received, was, in the meantime, making his
way round to speak with the person who commanded the company
at the other side of the scaffold. As, in his apparent military
HIE REVOLT OF GHENT. 321
capacity, he strode l)olclly across the space kept clear in front of
the scaffold, and consequently encountered none of the impedi-
ments which might have delayed him, had he attempted to
[)roceed through the crowd, he would, probably, soon have
accomplished this purpose ; but at that moment a considerable
noise and disturbance was heard in the direction of the town-
house, mingled with shouts of " They are coming ! — they are
coming !"
The ear of the man-at-arms immediately caught the sound.
He paused for a single instant ; and then taking a step back to a
spot whence he could dcscfTy the intermediate space between the
scaffold and the town-house, he saw a body of people moving
from the principal entrance of that edifice, through a double
line of the burgher guard. The procession consisted of a .
rmmber of the municipal council, a body of various officers of
state, Maillotin du Bac the prevot marechal, two executioners
with naked axes, and the unfortunate nobles Imbercourt and
Hugonet, bound and bare-headed.
The man-at-arms instantly perceived that he would not have
time to accomplish what he proposed ; and with three strides he
placed himself once more by the side of the officer with whom
he had before been speaking. Gathered at the same point were,
by this time, at least a hundred and fifty of the peasant-looking
men whom we have before described ; and, forcing their way
through the crowed in every direction, with no longer any
affectation of ceremony, or regard to the convenience of those
they thrust out of their w^ay, there appeared a number of others
perfectly similar in appearance. The eyes of the whole of this
distinct body were evidently turned upon the man-at-arms ; and
it was observed that the one who stood nearest to him held
something enveloped in the flap of his coarse brown coat, as if to
be given at a moment's notice.
" Now," said the man-at-arms, addressing the captain of the
burgher guard, " do your duty as a brave man, as a good citizen,
and more, — as a good Christian, and you shall have plenty of
support."
" But who are you ?" demanded the captain of the guard,
eyeing him eagerly: — " who are you, who so boldly promise
support in such a case as this ?" '■ ''••i'
" I am the Vert Gallant of Ilannut," replied the man-at-arins ;
and at the same moment, stretching back his hand to the peasant
Y
322 MAllV OF FUIRGUNDY ; OR,
behind him, ho received a broad green scarf and {)lunif', the one
of which he fastened instantly in his casque, and waved the
other, for a moment, hit!;h in the air before he threw it over his
shoulder.
The sitrnal had an instantaneous effect. The brown coarse
coats of the peasants were thrown off, and they appeared armed
in steel corslets and brassards, while the distinctive marks of the
well-known Green Riders of Ilannut were seen boldly displayed
in the midst of the streets of Ghent. Although where each of
these men was making his way onward, and at the point where
so many had already congregated, this sudden change occasioned
a considerable sensation ; yet the great body of the ci'owd was
agitated by so many different feelings, and the tumult was at
that moment so great, that the transaction did not attract gene-
ral attention. Almost every one throughout the multitude was,
indeed, moved by sensations of his own ; and each nearly at
once gave voice to those feelings, as his eye happened to catch
different points in the scene that was passing in the square.
" They ai'e coming ! they are coming !" shouted some. —
" Where ? w^here ?" exclaimed others. — " Who the devil are
these ?" cried those who saw the green riders. — " Death to the
enemies of Ghent !" vociferated the fierce. — " Poor wretches !
will no mercy be shown to them ?" said the pitiful. — " What a
large axe! IIow pale they look! Who are those behind?"
cried others of the crowd.
In the meanwhile, the mournful procession came on. The
new eschcvins of Ghent, elected by the people themselves,
mounted the scaffold, and ranged themselves around, to see the
sentence they had lately pronounced carried into execution.
The two executioners took their places by the blocks, and
leaned the axes which they bore against them, while they made
themselves ready to go through the preparatory part of their sad
function. The condemned nobles followed after ; and several
members of the municipal council — but Albert Maurice was not
amongst them — closed the whole, and occupied the only vacant
space left at the back of the scaffold. At the same moment a
gentleman in splendid arms, half concealed under a surcoat of
costly embroidery, followed by a number of richly- dressed
attendants, forced his way rudely through the crowd, and thrust
himself close to the foot of the scaffold, on the opposite side to
that where the Vert Gallant had placed himself. He then
niK HHVOi;r OF CIIKNT. 323
crossed his arms upon his broad, bull-Hke chest, and stood
gazing upon the awful scene that was proceeding above, with a
look of ruthless satisfaction.
The Lord of Imbercourt at once advanced to the front of the
scaffold, and gazed round upon the multitude before him. He
was very pale, it is true ; but his step M'as as firm as when he
strode the council-chamber in the height of his power : and not
a quiver of the lip, not a twinkle of the eyelid, betrayed that
there was such a thing as fear at his heart.
" Must I die with my hands tied, like a common felon ?" he
said, addressing the executioner.
" Not if your lordship is prepared to die without offering
resistance," replied the other.
" I am prepared, sir," answered Imbercourt, " to die as I have
lived, calmly, honestly, fearlessly."
The executioner began to untie his hands ; and the Vert
Gallant, giving one glance round the crowd, apparently to
ascertain the proximity of his followers, drew forward his sword-
belt, and loosened the weapon in the sheath. Imbercourt, at
the same time, was advancing as far as possible, as if to address
the people, and the whole multitude^ seeing it, kept a profound
silence ; when suddenly, in the midst of the still hush — just as
the Vert Gallant of Hannut was passing round the head of the
file of burgher guards, till he was within a few steps of the
scaffold itself — a sweet and plaintive voice, which would have
been inaudible under any other circumstances, was heard from
amongst the crowd exclaiming, " Oh, let me pass ! for God's
sake, let me pass ! They are murdering my faithful servants.
Let me pass ; in pity, in mercy let me pass !"
" It is the Princess ! it is the Princess !" cried a number of
voices : " let her pass ! let her pass !" and, by an involuntary
movement of feeling and compassion, the people drew hastily
back on either side, and Mary of Burgundy, in the deep mourn-
ing of an orphan, with her bright hair escaped from her veil, and
flowing wide over her shoulders, her face deluged in tears, and
her hands clasped in agony, rushed forward into the open space,
and, casting herself upon her knees before the people of Ghent,
exclaimed aloud the only words she could utter, " Oh, spare
them — spare them I"*
* It may be necessary to inform those who are not deeply read in the
chronicles of France, that this fact is minutely accurate.
Y 2
324 MARY OF Bl'lU.l'NDV; Oi{,
"Yes, yes," cried an honest burgher from the croud, " we will
spare them. Out upon it ! has not the prince always had
power to show mercy ? Hark ye, neighbours, pikes and swords
for Martin Fruse ! On upon the scaffold ! We will save them !"
" Back, false citizen ; back !" cried the cavalier in the glitter-
ing dress we have described. " What, would you interrupt the
course of justice ? By the sun in heaven, they shall die the
death !" and, drawing his sword, he threw himself between the
people and the scaffold.
All was now tumult and confusion ; and in one instant it
seemed as if a general spirit of civil strife had seized upon every
part of the multitude. Some shouted, " Mercy for them !
mercy for them !" Some, " Justice ! justice ! slay the traitors !"
Pikes were crossed, and swords were drawn on all sides. The
burgher guards were as divided as the people. Mary of Burgundy
was borne fainting behind the scaffold; and those u})on the
scaffold itself seemed paralysed by surprise and fear. But the
green scarfs and burgonets of the Riders of Ilannut were seen
forcing their way forward through the press, in spite of all
opposition; and at the same moment the thundering voice of
the Vert Gallant was heard rising above everything else, " On,
on to the scaffold, friends of mercy !" he cried. " Lord of Im-
bcrcourt, cast yourself over, you are amongst friends I"
Imbercourt might have done so ; but he was instantly seized
by Maillotin du Bac, and one of the executioners, who unhappily
awoke from their first consternation in time to prevent him from
seizing the opportunity which was unexpectedly presented to
him.
The Vert Gallant, however, pushed forward, sword in hand.
All gave way, or went down before him ; the pikes opposed to
his breast shivered like withered boughs beneath his arm ; and
he was within a yard of the spot where Imbercourt stood, when
he was encountered, hand to hand, by the cavalier we have
before mentioned ; and each found that he had met an enemy
very different from the burghers by whom they were surrounded.
Each was powerful and skilful ; but the Vert Gallant had, by
more than twenty years, the advantage of his adversary ; and
feeling that the fate of Imbercourt must be decided in the
twinkling of an eye — for the guards and executioners were
forcing him down to the block — he showered his blows upon his
adversary with a thundering rapidity that in a moment brought
THE REVOLl OF GHENT. 325
him upon his knees. He was still, however, between the young
cavalier and the scaffold ; and, fierce with the eagerness of the
encounter, Hugh of Gueldres drew back his arm, to plunge the
point of his sword into the throat of his opponent, when the
voice of one of the cavalier's attendants exclaimed aloud, '" Save
the Duke ! For God's sake, save the Duke of Gueldres ! For-
bear ! forbear !"
The Vert Gallant paused, gazing upon his prostrate enemy,
with feelings that can be understood, when it is remembered
that it was his own father, who, beaten down by his superior
strength, lay within an inch of his sword's point, raised for the
purpose of terminating their struggle by a parent's death. His
eyes grew dim — his brain reeled — the sword dropped from his
hand, and he fell back upon the pavement, without power or
consciousness.
At the same moment, the axe of the executioner swung high
in the air — there was a dull, heavy blow — a rush of dark blood
poured over the scaffold ; and the Lord of Imbercourt was no
more.
CHAPTER XXX.
It is a sad thing for a calm, retired student, to sit down and
depict the fierce and terrible passions which sometimes animate
his fellow-beings ; and it is scarcely possible to tell how worn and
shaken his whole frame feels, after hurrying through some scene
of angry violence and wild commotion. He meets, indeed,
with compensations in pursuing his task. There may be a high
and indescribable pleasure in portraying the better qualities of
human nature in all their grand and beautiful traits ; in de-
scribing sweet scenes of nature, and in striving to find latent
associations between the various aspects of the material world
and the mind, the feelings, or the fate of ourselves and our fellow-
men. Nay, more, there may be some touch of satisfaction — part
self-complacency, part gratified curiosity — in tracing the petty
things of humanity mingling with the finer ones, the mighty and
the mean counterbalancing each other within the same bosom,
and in discovering that the noblest of recorded earthly beings
326 JMARY OF lUIRGUNDY ; OR,
is iinl<<'(l on to our little selves by some fond familiar fault or
empty vanity. But at the same time, though not so wearing
as to paint the struggle of miglity energies callod forth on some
great occasion, it is even more painful, perhaps, to sit and draw
the same strong passit>ns working by inferior means, and em-
ploying the low and treacherous slave, Cunning, instead of the bold
bravo. Daring. To such a picture, however, we must now turn.
It was on the evening of the day, whose sanguinary com-
mencement we have already noticed, that, placed calmly by a
clear wood fire, with all the means of comfort, and even luxury
around him, Ganay, the druggist, sat pondering over the past
and the future. Neither he himself, nor Albert Maurice, had
appeared at the execution of Imbercourt and Hugonet — the one
careless of what else occurred, so that his bitter revenge was gra-
tified — the other naturally abhorring scenes of blood. The
druggist, however, — though where it was necessary he neither
wanted courage to undertake, nor hardihood to execute the most
daring actions, — was ever well pleased to let more careless fools
perform the perilous parts of an enterprise, employing the time,
which would have been thus filled up by action, in thinking
over the best means of reaping his own peculiar harvest from
the seed sown by others. He now revolved every circumstance
of his present situation, and scanned the future — that dim and
uncertain prospect — with steady eyes, determined to force his
way onward, through its mists and obstacles, without fear and
without remorse.
The predominant sensation in his bosom, however, was gra-
tification at the consummation of his long sought revenge. The
man whom he most hated on earth, who had offered him a
personal indignity, and who had refused pardon to his son, he
had sent to join the unhappy magistrates who had condemned
that base and flagitious boy ; and when he contemplated the
difficulties he had surmounted to bring about that act of ven-
geance, — the schemes he had formed and perfected, — the events
which he had turned from their natural course, by his sole art, to
accomplish his purpose, — the men he had used as instruments,
and the passions he had bent to his designs ; — when he con-
templated, I say, the whole course of his triumphant machi-
nations, there rose up in his bosom that pride of successful
villany, which is so often the ultimate means of its own pimish-
ment by the daring confidence which it inspires.
THE REVOLT OF (JHENT. S^T
The maxim of Rochefoucaiilt is applicable to men as well as
women. Where was there ever the man who paused at one evil
act? Ganay had previously determined to limit all his efforts to
the death of the eschevins and of Imbercourt; but his very
success in that endeavour had entailed the necessity, and fur-
nished the encouragement, to new, and, if possible, less jus-
tifiable acts. Nevertheless, it must not be thought that there
was no such thing as a thrill of remorse ever entered his bosom.
There probably never yet was a man, however he might brave
it to the world, who, with a bosom loaded with crimes, did
not feel remorse, when solitary thought left him a prey to me-
mory. Conscience is an Antreus, that, though often cast to
the earth by the Herculean passions of man's heart, rises ever
again re-invigorated by its fall ; and he must be strong indeed
who can stran<2;lo it altogether.
Remorse mingled its bitter drop even with the cup of Ganay's
triumph; and while he gazed upon the crackling embers, the
joy of his successes faded away — a feeling of age, and solitude,
and crime, crept over his heart; and the memories of other
years, the hopes and dreams of boyhood and innocence, rose up,
and painfully contrasted themselves with the mighty disappoint-
ment of successful vice. Through life he had found many means
of stifling such murmurs of the heart, in the excitement of new
schemes and the intricacies of tortuous policy ; but now he had
learned another way of lulling the mind together with the body ;
and, rising with his usual calm and quiet pace, he approached a
cupboard, poured a small silver cup half full of ardent spirits,
and then swallowed in its contents a certain portion of that nar-
cotic which he had found so soothing under the first anguish of
his son's death. Then carefully replacing the cup and the vial,
he again took his seat before the fire, and listened, as if waiting
for some visitor.
He was not kept long in expectation ; for, in a very few minutes
after, the door was opened by the boy, and Maillotin du Bac
entered without farther announcement. The cheek of the Frevot
was flushed with wine, and his lip curled with triumph ; but he
had, by this time, learned the influence of Ganay in the affairs
of Ghent too completely to treat him with aught but the most
profound deference. After some formality, he took the seat that
Ganay offered ; and hypocras and wine having been brought in
with spices and comfits, he helped himself largely, and then, at
328 MAHV OK HlKtUNDV; OK,
the request of ilie druggist, recapitulated the events connected
with the execution of the morning, which we need not repeat.
" So now," said the Prevot, in conclusion, speaking of the
unhapj)y Inibercourt, " he is dead, and that score is cleared.
Master Ganay, I give you joy, with all my heart! Your son's
death is nobly avenged, and you can sleep in peace. Now, give
me joy in return."
" I do ! I do I Sir Prevot," replied Ganay, grasping the hand
the other held out to him in his thin fingers : " I do ! I do, with
all my heart !"
" But stay ! stay !" cried Maillotin du Bac, " you do not yet
know for what. Hark ye, Master Ganay, revenge is sweet to
every honourable man. Did you ever hear tell of the Vert Gal-
lant of Ilannut? Did you ever hear how he overpowered mc
by numbers, and disgraced rae as a man and a knight ? lie
delivered yon proud Albert Maurice, too, when he was a less
worm than he is now. Well, he it was, who, as I tell you, en-
countered the good Duke of Gueldres, and would have slain
him, had not his own foot slipped, or some one dashed him
down, and the duke was rescued."
" Well, well, what of him ?" cried the druggist ; " what has
befallen him ?"
" Why, he is safe in the prison of the town-house," replied the
Prevot, " and shall die after seven days' torture, if I live to the
end of them. His fellows, somehow, cut their way through, and
got out of the press, every one of them ; but he himself was
trodden down as he lay, by the people, and was taken up by
the burgher guard half dead, after the crowd dispersed. We
shall have to give him two or three days to recover. There is
no use of killing him like a rat caught in a trap, you know, and
just knocking his head against the stones, without letting him
know why or wherefore. No, no, we must give him time to re-
cover his strength and his senses, or he will die upon the first
wheel. — But there is more, there is more to be told still," con-
tinued the Prevot, rather heated by the wine, and seeing that
the other was about to reply ? " Who, think you, this famous
long concealed Vert Gallant proves to be at last? Who but the
nephew of that old sorcerer, the Lord of Hannut — and by the
holy cross! if ever I live to see quiet times again, that vile, hea-
thenish wizard shall roast in the market-place of Brussels, if
THK REVOLT OF GHENT. 329
there be such a thing as law and religion in the land. I knew it
all the time ! Bless you, Master Ganay, I saw through it all,
from the time I was at the castle. I told the Lord of Iniber-
court, that his nephew was the brigand leader — you may ask
him if 1 did not, — though, by the way, he wont answer, for he
is dead — but I told him, nevertheless, that I was sure it was the
old man's nephew. — Master Ganay, here's to you !"
Ganay had turned somewhat pale as the other spoke : but he
showed no farther sign of discomposure ; and replied imme-
diately, — " His nephew ! You must mistake. He has no nephew.
— He once had a son !" he added, in a voice, the tremulous tone of
which the Prevot, whose faculties had not been rendered more
pellucid by the wine he had drunk, attributed to the painful
remembrance of his own loss, — " he once had a son ! But the
boy died in infancy."
" Nay," replied Maillotin du Bac, " of that I know nothing.
All I know is that this youth is his nephew — this Sir Hugh de
Mortmar."
" But I tell thee, good friend, it cannot be," rejoined the
druggist, somewhat sharply. " No nephew has he. Surely I
should know."
" Well, well, 'tis all the same," cried the Prevot. " If not his
nephew, he passes as such ; and die he shall, after the torture
has racked his every limb. Ay, Master Ganay, he shall die,"
he added, clasping his strong and sinewy hand tight, as if hold-
ing some substance which he was determined to let no power on
earth wring from his grasp ; " he shall die, although your pre-
cious president were to give his right hand to save him ; and ifj
out of what he calls his fine feelings, he attempt to repay the
good turn the Vert Gallant did him at Hannut, and free him
from prison in return, he may chance to stumble at that step
himself, and die along with him. I owe him something, too,
which I have not forgot. So let him look to it."
Ganay mused for several minutes over the words of his com-
panion, who spoke evidently under the excitement both of pas-
sion and drink. The wine, however, had not very deeply
aifected his discretion ; and the moment after, remembering
the close connexion between the druggist and Albert Maurice,
the Prevot added, " Not that I mean any harm to your friend.
Master Ganay, only let him not meddle with my prisoner, that
330 MM{\ OF 15liU(;i'i\DV; ()I{,
is all. I am sure I have refrained from seeking any vengeance
against him iiiinseif, simply because he is your friend ; and will
not, if he keep his hands from interfering with my affairs."
Still Ganay was silent, and remained nuising, with his eyes
hcnt u])on the fire, till he perceived that Maillotin du Bac, —
somewhat discomposed by his companion's taciturnity, and ima-
gining tiiat he had made a blunder in regard to Albert Maurice,
— was again about to apply to the IjowI of spiced wines, as the
best means of restoring his confidence and composure. At that
moment the druggist, stretching out his hand, caught him gently
by the arm, saying, " Stay, stay, Master Prevot, we have both
had enough of that for the present ; and as we may have many
things to speak of which require cool heads, let us refrain till all
is settled, and then drink our fill."
" Well, well, 'tis the same to me," rejoined the Prevot, relin-
'<|uishing the bowl, and taking his seat once again. " What
would you say. Master Ganay ? Command me ; for you know
that Ave are linked together by the same interests, and therefore,
are not likely to differ."
" Well, then, listen for a moment, good Sir Maillotin, while I
just tell you a few things concerning this Lord of llannut, which,
though they belong to the days past, do not the less bear upon
the days present."
The druggist then paused, and again mused for a moment in
deep thought, ere he proceeded ; and in his countenance there
was that air of deep calculating thought, which may often be
seen in the face of a skilful chess player, when pausing, with sus-
pended finger, over some critical move. At length he went on.
" We nnist both serve each other. Sir Maillotin ; and if you will
aid me in what I propose, I will help you to what you wish,
though you dare not even hope for it."
" Speak, speak ! Master Ganay," replied the Prevot ; " and
fear not that I will refuse to serve you willingly and well. We
have drawn vastly well together yet ; and there is no danger of
our not doing so to the end."
Still, however, the druggist hesitated for some minutes ; for
though he could assume a false frankness as well as any one, he
was not, by nature, at all communicative, and what he had re-
solved, upon long deliberation, to propose to the Prevot, recpiired
a more full confidence than he could place in any one without
pain. " I will tell you a story," he said, at length, — *' I will tell
IIII': RKVOLT OF (jIIKNT. 331
you a story, good Maillotin du Bac. Listen then. 'Tis just
two-and-thirty years ago since I first beard much of this Lord
of llannut, who was then a bright, brave young cavalier, whose
Ufe was not to be counted on for two hours together, so nuich
was his courage better than his prudence. He had — as well you
know he still has — ample wealth and large possessions, while his
cousin, the present Duke of Gueldres, whose father was then
living, was so munificent a prince, as often to be pinched for a
hundred florins. Report said that the young duke, who was then
heir to Hannut, piously wished that his gallant cousin might find
the road to heaven speedily. But, as fate would have it, the
Lord of Hannut one day unexpectedly married, and within a
year, his fair lady made him the father of a son, of which she
was delivered at their pleasure-house of Lindenmar. All this
went mightily against the stomach of the good young Lord of
Gueldres, whose father, then living, kept him on scanty means ;
when, by another strange turn of fate, the pleasure-house of Lin-
deimiar was burnt to the ground, and the infant son of the young
Lord of Hannut perished in the flames. As fortune would have
it, a detachment of Duke Philip's army was marching over the
hill, within sight at the time, and with it was my good Lord of
G ueldres, together with Thibalt of Neufchatel, and a number of
other knights and nobles. As soon as the fire was discovered,
they all galloped down to put out the flames ; and my Lord of
Gueldres might have passed for as zealous a friend as the rest,
had he not been fool enough to cry out, as if in jest, to let the
whole place burn, so that he had the lands of Hannut."
" He had better have kept that to himself," interrupted the
Prevot, shaking his head sagaciously. " No man has a worse
enemy than his own tongue. The good duke should have
learned that it is better never to let people know one's wishes,
for they are never long in discovering one's designs afterwards."
" He has marred all his good fortune through life," replied
Ganay, " by those rough sayings of his ; for though he says no
more than other men think, yet he makes all men that hear
him his enemies, by exposing their feelings while confessing his
own.
" However," continued the druggist, after this sage and liberal
observation, " down he came with the rest, of course, to make
them think what he had said was a mere joke, and plunged into
the flames with the foremost. All was confusion, and no one
332 MARY OF !U'11GI'M)V; OK,
knew what the other was doing. The Lord of liannut himself
was stunned l)y the fall of a beam upon his head, and was with
difficulty dragged out by his servants. Thibalt of NeufcliJitel,
his great friend and brother in arms, carried out the lady unhurt,
through the midst of the flames : but the heir of Ilanimt perished ;
and, for some hours, no one could tell what had become of Adol-
phus of Gueldrcs."
" Why you describe it all as well as if you had been there
yourself," said Maillotin du Bac.
" I was there," replied the druggist, drily ; " but you shall
hear. What put it into Thibalt of Neufcluitel's head, I know
not ; but, after saving the lady, he rushed back again into the
house, and, finding me in the further wing, he dragged me out
by the hair of the head, vowing that I had kindled the fire.
Now, you must know that I was then a humble friend and do-
mestic surgeon to the young Duke of Gueldres ; and when they
searched my person, they found a number of letters, which they
thought of very doubtful meaning, and a few drugs, the use of
which their ignorance could not comprehend, and which they
wanted much to prove were materials for secretly lighting a
flame. The good duke, too, was not present ; and, under all
these circumstances, they had nearly killed me on the spot. I
took it all silently, for a man can but die once in this world, and
very little does it matter when that once may fall. All I said
was, to call my young lord, for that he would clear me ; and they
agreed, at length, to spare me till the duke, that is at present,
could be found. He was not heard of, however, till the next
day, when it was discovered that he had retired to a neighbouring
village, much scorched by the flames. He instantly despatched
a letter to the Lord of Neufchatel, informing him that he himself
had sent me to inquire after the health of his fair cousins, the
Lord and Lady of liannut, which was the cause that I had not
been seen accompanying him with the rest of the army. The
servants of the household of Lindenmar vouched for my coming
the evening before on that errand, and gave a good report of my
proceedings. The Lord of Hannut himself joined to exculpate
me ; and I easily found means to convince Thibalt of Neufchatel
that he had grossly ill-treated me, and foully aspersed my cha-
racter. Had he continued to treat me ill, I might have devised
a way to satisfy myself; but, on the contrary, as soon as he was
THE REVOl/r OF GHENT. 333
convinced of my innocence, nothing would serve him to testify
his sorrow for what had occurred, and to compensate the injury
he had inflicted. He kept his eye upon me through hfe, and, I
may well say, has been the origin of all my fortunes. The proofs
he gathered together of the cliarge against me, and of my inno-
cence, he has always kept in his own possession ; and I have not
chosen to press for their being given up to me, lest it should
seem that I was afraid of anything therein contained. Do you
understand me ?"
" Quite well," replied Maillotin du Bac, drawing his clear
hawk's eyes together, with a shrewd glance upon the druggist's
face ; " quite well. What more ?"
" Why this," answered the druggist : — " I love not to be in
the power of any man. While Adolphus of Gueldres was in
prison, and hkely to remain there, — while Thibalt of Neufchatel
was living, and likely to live, — the matter did not much signify ;
but now that Adolphus of Gueldres is free, and that Thibalt of
Neufchatel is dying of the wounds he received at Nancy, it might
be as well that those papers were in my own possession. Thus,
then, it must be managed, Sir Prevot : you must find some excuse
to take possession of his house with your men-at-arms the mo-
ment the breath is out of his body ; and while you are sealing
up the effects, I may be looking for the papers."
" But what, suppose I keep them in my possession for you ?"
demanded Maillotin du Bac, with one of his shrewd looks.
" Why, then," replied the druggist, calmly, " I cannot aid you
in overthrowing Albert Maurice, and in obtaining possession of
his person and his wealth."
" I understand," said the Prevot ; " we are agreed. But what
surety have I that you will do so when you have the papers ?"
" This," answered Ganay, without any expression of indig-
nation at a doubt of his honesty, which he felt to be perfectly
natural, but, at the same time, approaching closer to the Prevot,
and speaking in a low, but clear and emphatic tone, — " this, that
Albert Maurice — by what means I know not — has discovered
my secret, and must die."
" Good ! good !" replied the Prevot ; " 't is better than a bond !
We are agreed, we are agreed, mine excellent good friend. But,
hark ye, Ganay,. there is one bad stone in the arch. This Thibalt
of Neufchatel — this good Count Thibalt — is marvellously better
334 MAiiv or IUIHCi^^D^ : on,
to-day. It would seem that the death of IiDbercourt and llu-
f^onct had done him good; for, about the time of the axe faUing,
he began to mend."
Ganay, as was his habit when he heard any unpalatable tidings,
replicil nought, but fixed his eyes upon the fire, and mused. " lie
is an old man," said the druggist, at length, speaking in a low
and quiet voice, — " he is an old man, this good Cqunt Thibalt."
" Ay, doubtless is he," replied Maillotin du Bar, who was one
of those people who take a keen delight in discovering difficulties
and objections, solely for the sake of giving pain and disappoint-
ment to those whom they were likely to thwart ; " but he is a
hale old man, and may live these twenty years, if he get over
this bout."
" He must have had enough of life," continued Ganay, in the
same meditative tone. " It is time he were asleep. Adolphus
of Gueldres has visited his sick couch more than once — It is
time he were asleep."
The Prevot w^as silent ; and Ganay, after considering his hawk-
like features for a moment or two with an inquiring glance, added
quietly, " Well, well, Sir Maillotin, we will see. These sudden
gleams of convalescence often precede death in the badl3Mvounded.
I know these matters better than you do, my good friend ; and
I have no faith in this sudden and strange amendment. Let us
keep ourselves in readiness, and wait the result. — You will be
prepared at a moment's notice," he added, in a more sharp and
decided tone, throwing off at once the quiet conversational manner
of his former speech; "perchance he may die to-morrow^ — per-
chance the next day ; but be you on the watch, and ever ready
to secure the house."
" I will ! I will !" answered Maillotin du Bac ; and then speak-
ing to the druggist's purpose more than to his words, he added,
" 1 will be ready to secure the house and all that, Master Ganay;
but I can do no more in this business. To take men off except
by the cord or the steel, when they have merited their fate, is
out of my line of operations."
" Who required you to do so ?" demanded the druggist, gravely.
" No, no, Sir Prevot, men may die without your help or mine
cither. So, now to the bowl ! We understand each other, and
that is enough. Be you ready when I send to warn you that
the good count is dead. If he live, you know — which is likely —
vastly likely ; — if he live — why all the rest is in the moon. Sir
THE REVOLT OF GIIEIVT. 335
Prevot, I carouse to your good rest this night. Do me justice —
do me justice in the bowl !"
Thus ended their more important conversation ; and all that
passed farther referred to the mysteries of the tankard, and need
not be here inflicted on the reader. It may be necessary to
observe, however, that the druggist did not suffer the Prevot
Marechal to leave his house till he had imbibed a sufficient
quantity of various kinds of intoxicating liquors to require the
aid of two stout men to bear him home ; and that Ganay himself
was, at the same time, incapable of quitting the chair in which
he sat.
It may be asked, was a man of such subtle schemes an habitual
drunkard, then ? Far from it, though he could drink as deep as
any one, when some object might be gained by so doing: but
he was one of those men whose limbs only became inebriated, if
we may use such an expression, while their brain remains un-
clouded; and the debauch in which he indulged was one of
calculation, not pleasure. He had soon seen that, in the case of
the Prevot, the prudent guard which was usually placed upon his
lips was half asleep at the post long before their conversation was
over; and though he believed that he could trust to old habits
of caution to keep his companion from any indiscreet babbling,
either drunk or sober, yet he determined not to let him leave his
dwellino; till utterance itself was drowned in wine. Of himself
he had no fear ; and, leaning on his boy, he tottered to his bed
in silence.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Oh, the dull silent hours of the night, when not a sound stirs
upon the heavy air to steal one thought from man's communion
with his own dark heart ! — when the stern silence renders the
sleep that covers all the world more like one universal death,
and everything around us bids our conscience scan the brief
records of our past existence, and prejudge us for the long
eternity ! The days had been, when, on a clear spring-tide
night, like that, — while all the countless stars seemed living
diamonds in the heaven, — Albert Maurice, full of fine soul and
336 MARY OF lUIRGUNDY; OFl,
noble aspirations, would have gazed forth enchanted; and, with-
out one heavy tie between his heart and the low earth, would
have bade his spirit soar up in grand, calm dreams to heaven —
when, between him and the multitude of bright orbs that sparkled
before his eyes, there would have been felt a coinmnnion and a
sympathy ; and when the knowledge that each wondrous fhune
was the creation of the same Almighty hand, would have awakened
in his bosom a feeling of kindred with the living lights of the
sky. But now, how heavy was the night ! how dark ! how hope-
less ! how reproachful ! There was a voice even in the solemn
stillness; and the blood, which yet reeked upon the scaffold
beneath the very windows of the apartment where he sat, seemed
crying up, through the silence of the universe, to the Judge
enthroned above those eternal stars.
lie was left, too, entirely alone, and had been so during the
greater part of the day ; for such was the awful sensation pro-
duced in Ghent by the events of the morning, that all the shops
were shut, and every kind of business was very generally
suspended. Even the affairs of the city seemed to be neglected
by general consent. Neither the council of the town, nor the
deputies of the States, returned to consult over the future. Nor
was it the higher functionaries alone that seemed to feel this sort
of bewildered apathy. The clerks and secretaries were absent ;
not above one or two of the many couriers usually in attendance
wore now found in readiness ; and Albert Maurice, after having
endeavoured, in vain, to occupy his mind with business during
the day, found himself, at night, left in utter solitude, to revolve
the tragedy of the morning, without any other thing to distract
his thoughts, or any voice to plead his cause against the accusa-
tion of his own conscience.
He strove, however, to convince himself that he had acted
justly. lie read over the evidence against the dead. He read
over the sentence of the judges. He thought over all the many
specious reasons that had before seemed to afford a thousand
clear and patriotic excuses for sweeping away those whose views
were likely to thwart his own : but the reasons had lost their
force ; the sentence was manifestly unjust ; the evidence was
broken and inconclusive.
" At all events," he thought, " the act is not mine ; the award
has been pronounced by the lawful magistrates of the land ; and
I have taken no part either in the judgment or its execution."
THE TxEVOLT OF GHENT. 337'
But that pretext would not avail a moment before the stern
inquisitor within ; and he felt that he, in whom the real power
lay, if he did not interpose to shield the innocent, made himself
responsible for their blood.
The heart of man cannot long endure such racking self-
examination ; and the most dangerous resource, but the only
refuge from present pain, is flight from thought. As sad an
hour's commune with himself as ever sinful human being passed,
ended with Albert Maurice, in a resolution to think no moi'e of
tile unchangeable hours of the past, and to fix his mind upon tlie
])resent. After pausing for a moment, during which nis ideas
wandered confusedly over a number of objects, without finding
any subject of contemplation of sufficient importance to with-
draw his thoughts, for an instant, from the engrossing theme
that ever called them back with painful importunity, some
sudden memory seemed to come across him ; and, taking up
one of the lamps, he proceeded into the antechamber, in which
waited several of his attendants. Giving the light to a page,
with orders to go on before, the young citizen paced slowly
through several of the halls and corridors of the town-house, his
footfell, ever firm and proud, taking now a more heavy and
determined step, from the feeling of the dark, stern deeds which
lie had done. Descending one of the staircases, he came to
that portion of the building which was set apart as the municipal
prison ; and, proceeding to a small chamber or lodge, he de-
manded the keys of the gaoler, who was dozing by the fire.
The man immediately delivered them ; and, passing onwards,
the President of the States entered the gloomy dwelling, and
descended the staircase which led to the lowest chambers of the
prison. He was surprised, however, to perceive a light ; and
the moment after, in the low passage which ran between six or
seven small heavy archways leading to the cells, his eye fell
upon a trooper of the prevot's guard, seated upon a stone bench
at the end, employed in furbishing the steel of his partisan by
the light of a lamp above his head.
The man instantly started on his feet ; and, challenging^ the
party that approached, advanced his weapon, till it nearly
touched the bosom of the page. But Albert Maurice, stepping
past the boy, put the pike aside, and demanded, sternl^^, what
the soldier did there, in the municipal prison.
He was there, the man replied, by order of his captain, and
z
"338 INIAIIV OF BURGUNDY; OR,
was couimandcd to give admission to none, but the gaoler with
food for the prisoner.
" Your oHiccr is somewhat too bold !" replied the young
burgher, " and must answer for having dared to plaee a sentry
where he himself has no authority. Get thee gone, good fellow
— you know me — get thee gone ; and let me not see your face
within these walls again."
The man at first hesitated ; and at length refused to obey,
alleging, civilly, the commands of his own captain, which he was
bound to. follow. Well knowing the station and power of the
person whom he addressed, he spoke with courtesy and respect ;
but Albert Maurice was in that state of dissatisfied irritation,
which the first reproaches of conscience leave upon a fine and
energetic mind ; and, returning to the upper chambers, he
instantly summoned a guard, and caused the soldier to be
disarmed, and confined him in one of the very dungeons he had
been placed to watch.
There was a stern fierceness in the whole proceeding, unlike
his usual decisive but mild demeanour ; and those who watched
him well, remarked, that upon liis mind and character, such as
tliey had appeared throughout the whole course of his life, that
day had left a trace which no after-events could obliterate.
When he had seen his orders obeyed, he dismissed the guard,
and bidding the page wait him on the stairs, he advanced alone
to one of the cells and applied the various keys he carried to the
lock. It was some time before he found the right one ; and he
thought he heard more than one low groan, while employed in
opening the door. At length, however, he succeeded, and
entered the dungeon, which was dark and dismal enough.
Stripped of arms, both offensive and defensive, and stretched
upon a pile of straw, lay the gallant and enterprising Hugh de
Mortmar, as we have generally called him, with every limb power-
less and rigid, in consequence of the trampling and blows he had
received while trodden under foot in the market-})lace. His fine
head leaned languidly u])on his arm, while, with a motion which,
however slight, seemed full of anguish, he turned a little as he
lay, to see who it was that visited his prison. The light, for a
moment, dazzled his eyes ; but when he perceived the face of
Albert Maurice, a slight smile of pleasure played on his lip. It
was a face he knew — it was a being on wliom he had some claim,
that came to visit him ; and it is only necessary to think over liis
TUE REVOLT OF GHENT. 339
situation — friendless, a prisoner, and alone, with every mental
power oppressed, and every corporeal faculty rigid and be-
numbed — to comprehend what joy such a sight must have given,
however criminal he might hold some of his visiter's deeds to be.
The young citizen set down the lamp, and seated himself on
a rude w^ooden settle, which was the only article of furniture
that the place contained. Bending down his head over the
prisoner, he said, in a kind and gentle tone, — " Do you remem-
ber me ?"
" Well — very well," replied the young cavalier, faintly ; " \\c
have changed stations since we met."
•' You will find me ready," answered Albert Maurice, " to
follow the good example you then set me, and to give you back
freedom, for the freedom you then gave me."
Hugh de Mortmar shook his head mournfull}', and cast his
eyes upon his stiff and rigid limbs, as if to express the impos-
sil)ility of his accepting the proffered liberation.
" Fear not, fear not!" said Albert Maurice, in reply to this
mute language. " Fear not ; in two or three days you will be
able to use your limbs as freely as ever, and I will find means to
remove from them all other thraldom."
" But my father," exclaimed Hugh de Mortmar. " Tell me, I
beseech yoa, tell me ! — Is he safe ? Is he unhurt ?"
" Your father !" repeated Albert Maurice, in some surprise, —
" your father ?"
" Yes, yes !" cried the prisoner, raising himself as well as he
could upon his arm, — " my father — the Duke of Gueldres ! — Is
he safe ? Is he unhurt ? I struck him down before I knew him ;
but I do not think he was injured."
" No, no," replied the young citizen, " the duke is safe and
well. But this, indeed, is a strange tale. I do not comprehend
you well, I fear," he added, somewhat inclined to ' believe that
the injuries the prisoner had received had rendered him delirious.
" Can the Duke of Gueldres be your father? I never heard that
he had more than one child, who was slain, they say, by some of
the cruel soldiers of the late Duke of Burgundy's father, when
Adolphus of Gueldres himself was taken near Namur. I re-
member all the circumstances ; for there was many an event
occurred about that time which impressed the whole story more
deeply on my memory than other things that have happened
since. I was then a boy, travelling with my uncle through the
z2
340 MARY OF BUUGUNDV; OK,
forest of Ilaimut, and we had been at Nanuir not three days
before."
" Ila! and were you tliat boy?" demanded the yonnfj; cavaUer.
" 1 remember you well. You fell into the hands of the free
companions with whom 1 then was, and were sent on safely by
them, and by my father's noble cousin, the Lord of llannut.
Mind you the boy who joined you, with good Matthew Gonrnay,
when yoii were sitting round the freebooter's fire in the forest y"
" Well, perfectly well," replied Albert Maurice.
"Then, that was the sou of Adolphus of Gucldres," rejoined
the prisoner, " escaped from the hands of the sworders of the
Duke of Burgundy, and flying to seek and find protection and
concealment with his father's cousin, the Lord of llanimt. Such
was the boy, and I am he."
"These things are very strange," said Albert Maurice; "and
if you knew all that I know, you w^ould say so. — Most strange,
indeed !" he nnittercd to himself, " that the bereaved father should
become a second parent to the son of him who made him child-
less. — But let your heart rest satisfied !" he added, aloud ; " your
father is well and safe ; and you have not even an unconscious
crime to reproach yourself with."
He spoke mournfully, and then fell into a deep, long fit of
thought, from which lie was only roused by the young cavalier
demanding, whether the noble Lord of Imbercourt had been
saved, after all ?
What were the thoughts at that moment in the bosom of
Albert Maurice — whether his mind rested painfully on the con-
sciousness that he could no longer boast of a guiltless heart, and
pondered, with all the bitter, wringing agony of crime, upon the
blessed sweetness of innocence — can only be guessed; but an
involuntary groan burst from the lips of the young citizen at the
question of the prisoner, and he clasped his hands upon his eyes.
Removing them an instant after, he answered, gazing some-
what sternly ui)on his companion, — " He died as he deserved."
Hugh of Gucldres replied not; but, feeble as he was, returned
the stern glance of Albert Maurice with one still more severe
and reproachful. The young citizen recovered himself, however,
at once, banished the frown from his brow, and, for the moment,
even stifled the regret within his bosom. " Let us not speak,
my lord," he said, " on matters of painful discussion. The man
you asked for, was tried and condenmed by lawful judges, upon
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 341
what they considered sufficient evidence. He suffered this
morninp; according to his sentence. Suffice it, that I liad no
personal hand either in his doom or execution."
" Thank God for that !" said Hugh de Mortniar ; " for I do
beheve that I should look upon even liberty as stained, if re-
ceived from the hands of one who, for envy or ambition, could
do two such noble men to death as died this day in Ghent."
The blood rushed violently up to the face and temples of
Albert Maurice ; and, for a moment, he felt so giddy, that he
started up and leaned against the wall for support. What he had
said was true, indeed, to the letter; but conscience told him,
that he was not only an accessory, but a principal in the death
of Imbercourt ; and, though he had spoken truth, he nevertheless
felt that he had deceived. There was again a bitter struggle in
his bosom ; but it was soon over, for the presence of another
person shamed him into conquering the upbraidings of his own
heart.
" Let us say no more on that subject, my lord," he rejoined,
as soon as he had somewhat recovered his calmness. " It is a
matter on which you and I cannot, I fear, agree. I am bound,
injustice to the States of Flanders and the magistrates of Ghent,
to say boldly, that I think they have done nobly, firmly, and
well ; and though I took no part in the act itself, 3'et the opinion
of no man on earth will make me shrink from avowing, that I
would have done the same. But all this-has nothing to do with
the feelings between you and me. Suffice it, that I owe you
a deep debt of gratitude, which I am ready and willing to
pay. You shall be instantly removed from this dungeon to
a more convenient chamber, where you shall be tended with
all care, till such time as you have recovered strength. If you
will, your existence and your situation shall be immediately com-
municated to the Duke of Gueldres. But still, I think "
" No, no," answered the prisoner, quickly ; " no, no ; if
there be any other means whatever of obtaining my freedom,
without revealing who I am, let me still remain concealed for
a certain space. I know not well whether the news of my exist-
ence might, or might not, be well received. There are new
plans and views abroad, I find, with w^iich my appearance might
interfere. My father, I hear, aims at the hand of the heiress of
Burgundy."
A scornful smile curled the lip of Albert Maurice, while the
342 AIAUV OF BURGUNDY; Ol?,
Other proceeded : — " And I know not how he might love to
hear, that a son he has bcHcved to be dead for twenty years, had
now arisen to cumber his inheritance. Let us pause for a time
and see. — Nor, indeed, would I wiihngly be found a prisoner."
" I think you judge rightly, my lord," replied the young
citizen; "though the Duke of Gucldres will never marry Mary
of Burgundy. But, as to your freedom," he added, cutting short
something that the prisoner was about to reply, " for that I will
pledge my life; and, when once more beyond the walls of Ghent,
you can act as you will in regard to discovering yourself."
The motives of Hugh of Gueldres for wishing to conceal his
existence from his father for some time longer, were certainly
those which he had stated ; but perhaps he might also be in-
fluenced by another feeling. In mingling with men who knew
him not for what he was, the name of his father had never reached
his ears, but coupled with some opprobrious epithet, or in con-
junction with some evil deed ; and perhaps a lingering dis-
inclination to claim kindred with such a man, might make him
still glad to leave his station unacknowledged to the world.
Some ftirther conversation then ensued between the President
of Ghent and the son of the Duke of Gueldres; and though Albert
Maurice became often thoughtful and abstracted — though there
■was a varying and uncertain tone in everything he said, unlike
his usual calm and dignified manner ; yet, from the nature of the
subjects to which they now both restricted themselves, there was
something sweet and pleasing in the commune which they
indulged. They spoke of the early days in which they had first
met — of the times, and the scenes, and the pleasures, and the
hopes of other years ; and a kindly sympathy breathing from the
past, made for them, even in the prison, and separate as they
were by state, by station, by education, and by prejudices, a pe-
culiar atmosphere in which they seemed to live alone. Hugh de
Mortmar felt it strongly, and seemed to revive under its influence.
His voice became firmer, and his eye regained its light.
" And what," said Albert Maurice, after they had conversed
some time on the scenes in the forest of Hannut, — " and what
has become of that good stout soldier, Matthew Gournay, who
was, in some sort, a friend of my worthy uncle Martin Fruse."
" He was with me, this day, in Ghent," replied the prisoner ;
" and I trust in God has escaped beyond the gates. Many a
time also has he been the means by which I have communicated
rilE REVOLT OF GllKNI'. 343
to you, through your uncle, tliosc proceedings which I thought it
necessary that you should know. Once, not a nionlh since, he
was within the walls of Ghent; but coidd not obtain a private
interview with you. Thus it was that you received tidings
of the march of the base King of France. Thus, of the coming
of his barber ambassador. Thus, too, did I send you a co})y of
that degraded slave's instructions."
" Then I owe you far more than I ever dreamed of," replied
the young citizen, " and I will peril my life but I will repay
it. Nevertheless," he added, after a moment's thought, in which
suspicions, vague indeed, but strong, of the motives and designs
of the druggist Ganay, rose up before his mind ; — " nevertheless,
although for the time I am powerful in the city, yet several days
must elapse ere you can mount a horse. I have many enemies,
too, many false friends, many dangerous rivals ; and I would ftiin
place your security beyond the chance of anything that may
happen to myself Think you," be added, musing, " that Mat-
thew Gournay, with twenty of his ])icked companions, would
venture once more within the gates of Ghent, and, habited like
followers of my own, be ready to aid in your deliverance, whether
I be alive or dead."
"■ If he have escaped," replied the prisoner, " he would come
at my bidding, were it into the jaws of hell. But you must
make me certain of his safety. Sir Citizen."
" That he has escaped, rest assured," replied Albert Maurice ;
" for no one but yourself was taken : and as for his future secu-
rity," he added, with a smile, " what object think you I could
have in shoi'tening an old man's days ?"
A bitter reply rose in the heart of the young cavalier, as
he thought of the unhappy Lord of Imbercourt; but he felt it
would be ungenerous to give it utterance, and he refrained.
" I trust you, sir !" he replied ; " I saved you at a moment
when you were an oppressed and injured man ; and to doubt
you now in such a case, would be a kind of blasphemy against
the God who made the human heart. Take this ring, and send
it by some sure messenger — a young bo}', perchance, were best,
though I do not think they would maltreat any one but an open
enemy — but send it by some page in a small skiff down the
Scheldt at two hours after dusk. The boat will undoubtedly
be stopped — and let the page give the ring to Matthew Gournay
— whom he will find in the woods between this and Heusden, if
344 MAKY OF BURGUNDY; OK,
he escaped unhurt from Ghent. — Let the boy add a message,
biddhig him, in my name, render himself, with twenty of his
comrades, to the house of good Martin Fruse, at any hour that
you may appoint. Fear not that he will meet you, antl then take
counsel with him as you may think fit."
Some more explanations ensued ; but as Albert Maurice per-
ceived that the prisoner was exhausted with so long a conversa-
tion, he soon after bade him farewell, and left him. " For twa
days," he said, as he turned to depart, " in all probability, I shall
not visit you ; for it may be well not to excite any suspicion of
n)y design. But you shall be watched carefully night and day,
that no foul practice be employed against you ; and at the end
of the third day I trust to find you well enough to bear at least
a short walk to the river side. In the meantime, as they have
deprived you of your arms, for greater security take this." And
he placed in his hands a broad double-edged Venetian poniard,
adding, — "Fear not to use it, should any one attempt to injure you;
for if they do, the means they employ must be of that kind which
does not court examination ; and now, once more, farewell !"
The young citizen then retired ; and though the more kindly
and noble feelings which his conversation with Hugh of Guel-
dres had awakened — feelings untainted by the v>-orld's ambition
or its policy — could not, it is true, stifle entirely the cry of re-
morse ; yet there had been a balm in it all, that sent him forth
soothed and softened. He retired not to his chamber till he had
given orders that care and attendance should be shown to the
})risoncr, and that he should be removed to a better chamber ;
but when, at length, he cast himself upon his bed, fatigue, and
the feeling that his heart w^as not all bitterness, brought sleep,
though it was disturbed ; and he woke not till the dawn looked
in, and roused him from slumber.
Already, when he rose, the first poignancy of regret was gone ;
and the wound in his heart had grown stiff and numb. The
voice of self-love was more ready to plead extenuation ; and
hope, always far more potent than memory, told him that mighty
things might yet be derived for love and for his country, from
the very deeds he so deeply regretted. At all events, policy
whispered that he nuist not let the moments slip ; and, though
the immortal worm, remorse, was still slowly preying on his
heart, he rose prepared to forget the pang, in all the active
energy of watchful policy and great ambition.
THE REVOLT OF GIIExNT. 345
Even while he was dressing, messenger after messenger, from
different parts of the country, bearing news, not alone of the
movements of friends and enemies, but also of the preparations
which he himself had been labouring to complete, was admitted
to his presence. After collecting the tidings that each one bore
him, with a minute memory that never failed, and arranging
every particular in his own mind with that methodical accuracy
which rendered the whole available at a moment's notice, he de-
scended early to the hall — where he expected soon to meet many
envious and suspicious visiters — feeling that he possessed a store
of ready information on every subject, which he knew must con-
found and overbear them all.
Strange to say — or, perhaps, not strange at all — the state of
jniinful irritation which he now suffered, appeared to render all
the faculties of his mind more acute and powerful. Naturally
energetic, he had acquired a new degree of energy, from the
necessity of withdrawing all his thoughts from the past, and fix-
ing them on the present or the future ; and his comprehension
of the most confused narrative seemed more clear, his orders to
the most stupid messenger more precise, than ever they had been
in the whole course of his public career.
An assembly of all the deputies from Flanders and Brabant
had been appointed for that day ; but during the morning a
number of persons crowded the great hall in a desultory manner,
long before any general meeting of the States took place ; and
amongst the first that appeared was Maillotin du Bac, with an
air which expressed both a knowledge that he had overstepped
his authority, and a determination to resist every effort to curb
his nearly gratified revenge.
At another moment, Albert Maurice might have alone de-
spised him, and crushed hiui beneath his feet as a mere worm .;
but he well knew that great power often trips at a small obstacle.
He felt, too, that the height he had reached was a giddy one ;
and that it might require to stand some time on the dizzy pin-
nacle of power, in order to ac(paire that firmness of footing which
alone could justify him in despising inferior enemies. His very
elevation offended many ; and, seeing that the contention must
soon commence between himself and the Duke of Gueldres on
the one hand, and the Duke of Cleves on the other, he deter-
mined to leave the way unencumbered by any minor difficulties.
Not that he proposed for a moment to abandon his purpose to-
346 MARY OF 15URGUNDV; OK,
wards the prisoner he had left the night before ; Init he resolved to
free him \)y (juiet poHcy, more than by bold and sweeping power.
" Sir Prevot," he said, as soon i\s their iirst salutation had
passed, " you did wrong, last night, in plaeing a sentry within
the walls of the municijnxl prison ; and also somewhat liarshly,
in confining an untried prisoner in one of the lower dungeons.
Hear me, sir, to an end," he added, seeing the other about to
make some dogged reply : " I have no intention of bringing
the matter of your boldness before the council, as I might have
done ; but the thing must not be repeated. Should any like
event arise again, I will take care the magistracy of Ghent shall
examine strictly what punishment is to be inflicted on those who
have frequently dared to infringe their privileges ! Mark me,
and remember ! for I will not pass it over a second time. Now,
then, before the States assemble, take one of my officers and
visit the prisoner. See whether he is able to undergo examination
to-day ; and make me your report."
The Prevot was very glad to avoid any collision with the
eschevins of Ghent, and at the same time to see a fliir prospect
of his revenge being accomplished ; but, as it was far from the
wish of Maillotin du Bac that his prisoner should be examined
before the States at all, he instantly determined to report him as
much too ill to meet the proposed investigation.
At the same time, there was something in the demeanour of
the young citizen that surprised him. As men of shrewd but
mean minds sometimes are, in their estimation of nobler charac-
ters, he was generally right in his appreciation of Albert Mau-
rice, and nsually perceived the great object that the President
was likely to seek in any particular contingency, without, how-
ever, at all comprehending the inferior means he would employ
to accomplish his purpose. So much the contrary, indeed, that
after having judged correctly of the ultimate design, he would
often become puzzled and doubtful in regard to the accuracy of
his judgment even on that point, because the course pursued by
the young citizen was almost always totally different from the
method which he himself would have followed in order to arrive
at the same object, and totally opposed to all the axioms of his
own meaner policy.
Thus, in the present instance, he had sought the town-hall so
earlv, under the perfect conviction that the President of Ghent
would attempt to liberate the man who had before given him his
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 347
freedom ; believing, at the same time, that the consciousness of
such a purpose would cause the aspiring citizen to avoid the
subject, or to speak darkly upon his own views. But the bold
and proud manner in which Albert Maurice rebuked his as-
sumption of power in the town prison, and spoke of the imme-
diate examination of the prisoner, shook his conviction, and
almost made him believe that the same stern and uncompromis-
ing ])olicy, which had been pursued towards Ilugonct and Im-
bercourt, would be followed throughout, without regard to any
other feeling than selfish ambition.
The scenes which he soon witnessed tended to confirm this
opinion ; and led him, however falsely, to believe that Albert
Maurice forgot every gentler and nobler feeling, every generous
tie and private affection, in the overpowering impulse of an as-
piring heart. Scarcely had the order proceeded from the lips of
the young citizen to inspect tlie condition of the prisoner, ere
two or three members of the States entered the hall. Several
others followed within a very short interval ; and as soon as
Albert Maurice perceived that a sufficient number were assem-
bled to justify the discussion of important matters, he declared
the appointed hour fully arrived, called them to consultation, and
at once boldly proposed that a decree of banishment — drawn up
in the name of the States General of Flanders, though not ten
members of that body were present, and those wholly devoted to
his own views — should be issued against the Lord of Ravestein
and the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, as parties to the plot
for subjecting the country to the sway of France.
So bold a measure was not, of course, without an object of
deep moment to him who proposed it ; but, when it is remem-
bered, that Ravestein and Margaret of York were the only in-
fluential members of what was called in Ghent the French party,
who now remained with the Princess, his motives will be clear
enough ; for it was that party only which Albert Maurice feared.
The Duke of Gueldres, though dangerous from the popularity
he had suddenly acquired, the young citizen thought himself
strong enough to overthrow when he pleased, supported, as he
was sure of being in such a case, by the Duke of Cleves, and by
the manifest abhorrence which the Princess displayed towards
the brutal aspirant to her hand ; and the Duke of Cleves him-
self, the President felt sure, was too weak to succeed without his
aid. Thus the French party was the only obstacle to his views
318 MAIIY OF BURGUNDY ; OH,
that he really dreaded ; but still, the measure he counselled was
too bold to ]iass without some debate.
It was carried, however, at length, betbre any one arrived wlio
had sufficient influence to oppose it with vigour ; and the order
for the instant removal of the Dowager Duchess and the Lord of
Kavestcin was sent at once to the palace, enforced by a large
body of the burgher guard.
Gradually the assembly increased, till about forty persons were
gathered round the council table, while a number of others, un-
entitled to a seat amongst the deliberative body, filled the vacant
places of the hall, by the favour of the President's adherents.
lie himself was, perhaps, not unaware that a multitude of voices,
ready to ap])laud his words, were collected around him ; for the
noblest, — ay, and the proudest heart will bend servilely to the
senseless shout it despises, when once it has bound itself as a
serf in the golden collar of ambition. At length, after casting
his eye around, to see who were the members of the States assem-
bled, Albert Maurice rose to speak ; but, as he did so, the
trampling of horse coming at a rapid rate, and loud shouts of
" Lone: live the Duke of Gueldres ! Health to the noble Duke
and the fair Princess ! Long life to Ghent and the Duke of
Gueldres!" were heard rising from the square below; and the
young citizen again sat down, with a contracted brow and quiver-
ing hp.
In a few moments the Duke of Gueldres entered the hall, and
took his scat on the right of the President, who knew the in-
formal constitution of their whole assembly too well, to object to
that noble's intrusion on their councils. But the young citizen
rose again immediately himself, and at once addressed the States,
as they termed themselves, in a speech full of fire and energy.
He pointed out that the time was now come, when active and
combined exertion throughout the whole land was necessary to
save it from the usurpation of France — when not only the safety,
but the very existence of the country requii'ed the energy of
every individual to be employed, without a moment's delay, for
the benefit of the whole ; and he touched eloquently upon the
necessity of laying aside all private jealousies, disputes, and feuds,
in order to concentrate all efforts to check the rapid progress of
the French monarch. Of many dangers, he said, it was of course
necessary to meet that which was most imminent, and no one
would doubt for a moment that the usurping and successful arms
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 349
of France presented the peril they had most to dread. Severe
measures had been pursued, he said, to show the timid and the
traitor that they could not betray their country with impunity ;
and it became the States of Flanders and Brabant, even as a con-
sequence of many of their late acts, to prove to their countrymen
that they could and would protect the honest and the patriotic,
as well as punish the guilty and the disloyal. It was time, he
added, to lay aside all differences of opinion, to forget individual
interests and passions, to cast away every thought but patriotism,
and calling forth the whole intelligence and the whole strength
of the state, to join heart and hand, and mind and energy, in
defence of their violated rights and their insulted countr3%
He spoke with the most powerful oratory, and he spoke true ;
but he did not remember that the oil of smooth words will never
allay the raging waves of faction, even though the storm of
anarchy threaten to wreck the state itself. Had he looked into
his own heart, indeed, and seen that, though he was now anxious
to repel the common enemy, yet it was but in order to seize one
quiet moment to overthrow his rivals, he would have learned
the secret of every bosom around him, and found that selfish
ambition was the whole.
In the midst of his speech, however, while, in the very
vehemence of declamation, he was inveighing against France,
and was about to proceed, from the general terms which he had
been using, to a clear and minute view of the state of the land,
and the measures immediately necessary for its defence, one of
the deputies from some inferior town, who believed the moment
for distinguishing his own small knowledge and talents was
arrived, rose, and boldly cut across the President's speech, ex-
claiming, " Perhaps the noble President does not know the
unhappy news "
" I know all !" thundered Albert Maurice, his eyes lightening
with indignation at the interruption. " God of Heaven ! where-
fore do I hold the station that I do, if it be not to learn, and
know, and investigate all that may concern the interest of the
state ? Do I not know that Arras has fallen ? that Tournay is
now in the hands of the enemy ? that Ilesdin, and Boulogne, and
Bethune are taken ? that Oudard has been murdered ? that
Descordes is false ? that Vergy lies in chains ? Do I not know
that the duchy of Burgundy is invaded ; that Franche-compte is
overrun ; and that the troops of Louis are advancing to the gates
350 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
of Ghent? What is it that I do not know, that any one should
dare to interrupt nie? Let me tell the deputy who has just sat
down, that, if he had all the miserable catalogue of the woes and
dangers of his country, from the first infraction of her frontiers,
to the last base, or mean, or murderous act of her great enemy,
so much by heart as I have, he would turn every thought of his
mind to find means of meeting the perils that menace us, rather
than break through the order of this assembly by speaking before
he has heard."
The vehemence with which the young citizen spoke, the picture
of overwhelming misfortunes which he displayed, and the deep
tone of patriotic anxiety which his words breathed forth, com-
bined to make his hearers forget the angry bitterness with which
he rebuked one of their members, and each turned and gazed,
with an expression of terror, in the faces of the others, as the
President counted over the rapid losses and misfortunes of their
country.
Albert Maurice paused, and Ganay, who was present, re-
marked, without rising, " Something must be immediately done
to remedy all this. Or, doubtless," he added, not unwilling to
bring about some imputation of blame upon Albert Maurice for
neglect, though unwilling to utter one word of blame himself,
" or, doubtless, our noble President has already, Avith his usual
activity, prepai'cd some means of meeting all these difficulties."
" I have !" replied Albert Maurice, sternly ; and as he did so,
a slight curl of the lip conveyed to the druggist a suspicion
that his purpose had been understood. " I have ! The difficulty
can only be met, the enemy can only be opposed in arms, and
the means have been prepared. Seven thousand men have
been raised and trained in Ghent, as you all know. Three
thousand men are ready to march in the villages round about.
Before noon, five thousand more will be in the city from Yprcs,
and, ere night, five thousand more will have arrived from
Bruges; while Brabant and the other provinces are preparing an
army of forty thousand men besides. Our power is thus already
sufficient to keep the towns of Flanders against the King of
France, while forces are marching up to our aid, which will
soon enable us to expel him from our land for ever. Provisions
for forty days have been prepared, and a magazine of arms is
already established at Oudenarde, which is garrisoned by a
sufficient force to ensure it from capture. We have still a line
THE RFAOLT OF GHENT. 351
of fortified places, wliicli we can soon render secure ; and having
done so, we can bid the tyrant either retire from our borders, or
let his soldiers rot in the field till we reap them with the sword,
instead of that harvest which they have mowed ere it was ripe."
A loud and long burst of applause followed this recapitu-
lation of the means which, by the most extraordinary activity, he
had collected in so short a space of time to repel the arms
of France ; and, satisfied with the impression that he had made,
Albert Maurice sat down, in order to allow one of the deputies
from Ypres to propose a plan of action, which had been pre-
viously laid out between them, for the employment of the forces
thus raised to the general advantage of Flanders. The worthy
burgher, however, though a man of sense, and some military
skill, having served during a considerable time with the people of
his commune under the Duke Philip, was always an unwilling
speaker, and paused for a moment to collect his ideas after the
President had sat down.
The Duke of Gueldres instantly seized the occasion, and,
anxious to gain the command of the army, proposed to lead
it' himself against the suburbs of Tournay, together with five
hundred men-at-arms which he had raised since his liberation.
" The very appearance of such a force in the fiield," he said,
" and led on to some rapid and brilliant expedition, would make
Louis XL, who had been well called Le Roi Couard, pause and
hesitate, while fresh reinforcements might come up to swell the
army of Flanders, and enable it either to risk a general battle, or
attempt the re-capture of the towns which had been taken."
To this proposal Albert Maurice strongly objected, and de-
clared that, instead of encountering any further risk than that in-
evitable in leading a raw and unexperienced army through a
difficult countr}^, they ought to make it their chief object to
strengthen the garrisons of all the many fortified towns they still
possessed, but more especially to throw a considerable force into
Lille and Douai, which still held out for the Princess, and were
plentifully supplied with provisions, but whose respective gar-
risons were too small to retard the progress of Louis for three
days, whenever he should lead his armies against them. In
support of this opinion, he showed that troops hastily levied,
and unaccustomed to warfare, were much more likely to serve
well when defended by stone walls, and commanded by expe-
rienced officers, than in the open field against a veteran army.
352 MARV OF nURGUNDY; OR,
He showed, also, tliat Tournay itself was not likely long to hold
out for France, if Lille and Douai were properly gan*isoncd with
numbers sufficient to sweep the whole neighbouring country
of provisions; and he ended by calling upon the States not to be
dazzled by the apparent ease of the cnterjirisc proposed by
the Duke of Gueldres, for he could assure them that it was the
best maxim, both in tactics and policy, never to believe anything
impossible, but never to fancy anything easy.
The countenance of the Duke of Gueldres flushed with wrath,
to hear himself so boldly opposed by a simple citizen of Ghent,
and he was about to reply with hasty vehemence, which would
infallibly have ruined all his own designs, had not Ganay started
up, and, with all the smooth and plausii)le art of which he was
master, sketched out a plan, which, while it seemed to coincide
with that of Albert Maurice, rendered it nearly nugatory, and,
at the same time, coincided exactly with that of the Duke of
Gueldres,
" The infinite wisdom and skill," he said, " which have been
displayed, under all circumstances, by our noble President,
should make us receive his opinion with reverence and respect,
even were it not evidently founded in knowledge and expe-
rience. There can be no doubt, however, in the minds of any
one here present, that the preservation of Lille and Douai is
absolutely necessary for the security of Flanders, and maj' also
greatly tend to facilitate the very objects proposed by the noble
Duke of Gueldres. But the two plans arc by no means incom-
patible. Neither Lille nor Douai can admit of a garrison of
more than two thousand men in addition to that with which thcv
arc at present furnished. Twelve or thirteen thousand men will
be quite sufficient to enable the noble Duke to make his attempt
upon Tournay. Let then the President himself, whose military
skill we all witnessed, when he served with the men of Ghent
under the late Duke Charles, some five or six years ago, — let
him then lead five thousand men to the aid of Lille and Douai ;
and, having thrown what force into those places he may find
necessary, return with the rest to Ghent; while, in the meantime,
the Duke marches forth against Tournay with the rest of the
troops which we can spare from the defence of this city."
The feelings which this speech excited in the mind of Albert
Maurice were of a very mixed and intricate nature. By this
time, from many of those slight and accidental indications by
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 353
which a skilful observer may read the changes of the human
heart, the young burgher had learned that Ganay was no longer
the zealous friend he had been, and he felt, rather than re-
marked, that, with that dark and subtle being there could be no
medium between active support and deadly opposition, circum-
stanced as they were and had been. With this conviction
impressed upon his mind, perhaps he might see, or at least
suspect, that one object in the proposal of the druggist was to
obtain his absence from the city. He might see, too, that
the command of a large portion of the army given to the Duke of
Gueldres, whose military abilities were well known, would throw
immense power into the hands of that prince, becoming already
too powerful ; and he likewise knew the general dangers attend-
ant upon the absence of a political leader too well, not to dread
the consequences of his own departure from Ghent at a moment
so critical.
Nevertheless, one of his chief weaknesses was the ambition
of military renown ; and that ambition had received an impulse
which it had never known before, since he had dared to raise his
hopes to a princess descended from a race of heroes. He felt,
too, within himself, great powers of the kind immediately re-
quired, and he trusted that, by the exertion of that energetic
activity which characterized all his movements, he should be
enabled to accomplish his enterprise, — to add, perhaps, some
brilliant exploits to all that he had already performed, and to
return to Ghent before any great advantage could be taken of his
absence by his enemies.
An immediate reply, however, was necessary, and long dis-
cussions ensued, in the course of which Albert Maurice did not
absolutely oppose the scheme of Ganay ; yet there were in
the details so many nice and delicate points to be determined,
that much angry and vehement dispute took place, in which the
violent and overbearing temper of the Duke of Gueldres more
than once broke forth, and was repressed by the young citizen, in
his capacity of President of the States, with a stern severity, that
left them both, with flushed cheeks and frowning brows, gazing
upon each other when the meeting of the States broke up.
By this time all was determined. Albert Maurice had ac-
cepted the command, with the understanding that it was totally
distinct and independent of the one conferred upon the Duke
of GueldreSj that the troops were solely under his own orders,
A A
354 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
and that the moment he had performed the specific task he
undertook, he was at liberty to return to Ghent. All this had
been conceded. The populace quitted the hall, and the de-
puties, one by one, took their leave and retired.
The Duke of Gueldres was among the last that left the apart-
ment, and it was with a slow step he descended the stairs nearly
to the bottom, biting his lip with ill-repressed passion at the
contradiction he had met with, and at the little reverence that the
President of Ghent had shown either to his opinions or to his
rank. His meditations did not serve to cool him ; on the con-
trary, at every step the words which had been addressed to
him, and the scene in which they had been spoken, recurred
with more and more bitterness to his mind ; and when he
had reached the last step but two, passion, as it often did with
him, got the better of all command, and stamping on the ground
with his foot, as he remembered the contemptuous curl of the
young citizen's lip, he turned, and mounting the stairs with
wide strides, once more entered the hall.
Albert Maurice was standing alone at the head of the table,
with a countenance of deep melancholy, from which every ex-
pression of anger and scorn was now totally banished. He
raised his eyes as the Duke entered, and gazed upon him with
surprise, as advancing close to him, with flashing eyes and a
burning cheek, that rude prince exclaimed, " You have dared,
sir, — villain and slave as you arc, base mechanical hind, bred
and born amongst looms and shuttles, — you have dared to treat
with disrespect a noble of the land, and, by Heaven ! you shall
some day pay for it. Were you not as the dirt beneath my
feet, and would not your vile blood sully my sword to shed
it, I would save the hangman the pains he may some day have,
and punish you where you stand."
" Know, Duke of Gueldres," replied Albert Maurice, with
calm sternness, — though in other days he might have laughed at
the intemperate insolence of his adversary, — " Know, Duke of
Gueldres, that were there anything in the empty assumption
of blood, mine is descended from as pure a stock as your own,
though one of my ancestors wisely and nobly chose to era-
brace an honourable trade, rather than follow the example of such
as you and yours, and live by rapine, plunder, oppression, and
wrong. Advance not your hand towards me. Sir Duke, for
remember that insult levels all distinctions; and that I, too, wear
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 355
a sword, which I should not scruple to dye in nobler blood than
that of the Duke of Gueldrcs, if he laid but a finger upon me."
" Out, slave !" cried the Duke ; " I will take thy boasted
descent on credit, were it but to punish thine insolence !" and
striking the young citizen a violent blow on the breast, he threw
back his mantle and drew his sword.
Albert Maurice was not slack to meet him, and his sword was
also in his hand, when a number of the citizens who had heard,
through the open doors, the high words which had lately passed,
ran in and beat up their weapons. The Duke of Gueldres
glared round him for a moment in vain fury, then thrust back
his sword into its scabbard, and shaking his clenched hand
towards the young citizen, exclaimed, " When next we meet !"
and, turning on his heel, left the apartment.
Albert Maurice sheathed his weapon also, and only comment-
ing on what had passed by a contemptuous smile, resumed his
look of grave thought, and proceeded calmly to transact the
business of his station.
CHAPTER XXXIL
The Duke of Gueldres, however, was still to enjoy a triumph
before he returned to his dwelling, which, could he have seen
into the heart of his rival, would have fully compensated all the
pain which his anger had inflicted on himself. Albert Maurice
was left alone ; but there was a shout in the market-place
without, which rang painfully on his ears, as he turned from the
great hall ; for he could not avoid hearing the loud voice of the
multitude, cheering the Duke of Gueldres as he mounted his
horse.
The sounds were distinct enough ; and to him bitter enough,
also ! They were " Long live the Duke of Gueldres and the
Princess ! Gueldres and Burgundy for ever ! We will give her
to whom we like ! She shall marry the good Duke ! Long life
to the noble Duke of Gueldres !" and though, as that prince rode
on, the words were no longer to be distinguished, the cries still
continued, and the fancy of the young citizen furnished each
A A 2
356 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
brawling shout with articulate sounds of the character most
inimical to his own peace.
"Ere I go," he thought, — "ere I go, I will see her myself;
and assure myself of her feelings before I quit the city. Then,
if I find that she hates him, as I believe — that she looks u})on
him as the wolf he really is, I will take sufficient means to guard
her from his importunities during my absence."
The determination was no sooner formed than he prepared to
execute it ; and, while he despatched a messenger to the palace
to demand an audience of the Princess previous to his departure,
which was fixed for the next day, he gave a multitude of neces-
sary orders, and as soon as his horse was ready, set out himself
to seek an interview, which the consciousness of having brought
about the death of Mary's counsellors, and the banishment of her
friends, made him dread even while he courted it.
But, as those w^ho are young in deceit generally do, he forgot,
for the time, that the dark secrets of his heart were confined to
his own bosom ; and that the policy he had pursued, and the
bold ambition that prompted it, were unknown to her who had
most suffered by it. In truth, the feelings of Mary were very
different from those which he had anticipated. The broad and
simple fiicts only had reached her ear. She knew that the
young citizen had taken no part in the trial or the judgment of
Imbercourt, and that he had not even been present at his exe-
cution. The order for the immediate removal of the Duchess
Dowager and Ravestein, also, had been issued in the name of the
States: and perfectly unconscious of the wild hopes and am-
bitious dreams of Albert Maurice, she believed that if he had at
all mingled in those proceedings, it was but most unwillingly,
and from a strong, though mistaken impression of duty and
patriotism. Deprived, too, of the counsellors in whom she had
always most trusted, and of the friends whom she had most loved,
the unhappy girl felt inclined to cling to any one who seemed dis-
posed to treat her with kindness and tenderness ; and the only one
who now remained was Albert Maurice. He had always been
gentle ; he had always seemed to advocate her interest ; he had
never asked her for gift, or honour, or dignity ; and even his
very animosity towards Imbercourt and the Chancellor, had first
arisen in the support which he gave to the Princess, in her
reluctant struggles against the hard and painful policy her
ministers had dictated. The dignity of his demeanour, the high
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 357
qualities of bis mind, the independence of his character, and
the apparent disinterestedness of his conduct, had gained her
esteem ; and the respectful gentleness of his manners towards
herself, as well as his constant and zealous advocacy, in the
council, of the line of policy dictated by her wishes as a woman,
had won her gratitude and her confidence.
A gleam of pleasure brightened the gloom around her when
she heard that he was coming ; and, in order at once to attach
him more strongly to her interests, to express her thanks for his
supposed services, and to detach him totally from the burgher
faction, whose influence had already worked so much evil, she
directed one of the officers of the palace to draw up, immediately,
letters of nobility in favour of the young citizen, and to bring
them to her with all speed. Gentle by nature and by habit, the
only arms v.hich Mary ever employed against her rebellious sub-
jects were favours and mildness, and she fondly fancied, that, in
this step towards x\lbert Maurice, she had devised a deep stroke
of policy. The secretary's task was almost completed when
Albert Maurice arrived ; and the evident pleasure with which
Mary received him, in the midst of all her griefs, extinguished
for the time remorse and apprehension in the blaze of hope and
joy, and once more nerved him for the bold career of ambition
in which he had started against such fearful odds.
The Princess was pale and shaken with all the agitation,
terror, and grief of the day before ; but the light that shone up
in her eyes, and the smile which played about her lips as he ap-
proached, made her appear a thousand times more lovely in the
eyes of the young burgher than she would have seemed in all
the pride of state, security, and happiness. In the unconscious
simplicity of her heart, too, all her words gave encouragement to
feelings that she little dreamed of; and when, on the announce-
ment of his approaching departure, she pressed him to stay, and
to abandon his design ; when she assured him that he was the
only one in whom she could now trust, since her faithful servants
had been put to death and her kindred had been banished, and
beseeched him not to leave her without a counsellor, or without
a friend, Albert Maurice, knowing the passions that animated
his own bosom, could not but hope that in some degree she saw
them too ; and — while habitual respect cast a deep reverence
over all his words and actions, which served to deceive her as to
his feelings, — his love and his ambition caught a new fire from
358 MAIIY OF BURGUNDY ; 01{,
the confiding esteem she expressed towards him. lie assured
her that in six days he would be once more in Ghent ; and he
hoped, he said, to lay some laurels at her feet. In the meantime,
he added, it might be necessary to think of her security against
all intrusion.
" Oh, for the love of Heaven, provide for that !" exclaimed
the Princess; " I fear that base, that dreadful Duke of Gueldres.
Even the shelter of my own apartments is no security against
him ; and his influence with the people, they tell me, is becom-
ing fearfully great. Speak, Margaret," she added, turning to
one of her attendants, " what was it you heard the people crying
but now ?"
"Fear not, your Grace," replied Albert Maurice, without
waiting to hear from the Princess's lady a repetition of words
which had already made his blood boil. " Fear not, your
Grace 1 The career of the Duke of Gueldres draws towards its
end! If I judge rightly, his own ambition will be a stumbling-
block sufficient to bring his speedy overthrow. But if not —
sooner than you should suffer from his insolent daring, he shall
find that Albert Maurice does not wear a sword in vain."
" Oh, use it not against him, sir," replied the Princess ; " there
may be other ways of ridding the city of his presence. Too
much blood has been shed already — Nay, do not look sad. Lord
President. I know that it was without your will. I know that
you were not even present. But while you are absent from the
city, — if your absence be unavoidable, — I beseech you to take
measures to guard me against his intrusion. When you return,"
she added, with a deep crimson blush, which rose from feelings
that would have damned all the young citizen's presumptuous
hopes for ever, could he have divined them ; " when you return,
I would fain speak with you, on taking such measures for the
defence of the state as may obtain for it permanent security. A
woman's hand, I see, cannot hold the reins of such a land as
that, which I am unhappily called to govern ; and it is time for
me to yield them to some one who can better guide the state
than I can. But more of this hereafter. We will not speak
more now."
The heart of the young citizen throbbed as if it would have
burst, — but it throbbed with joy ; and probably he might have
replied, notwithstanding the prohibition of the Princess, in such
a manner as would have ended the delusion of both ; but, at that
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 359
moment, according to the orders he had received, the secretary
of the chancery of Burgundy brought in the letters-patent, which
he had been drawing up in haste.
The Princess presented them to him for wliom they were
destined with her own hand, leaving him at liberty to make
them public, or to preserve them unemployed till such time as
he should think fit: and while she gave them, she added her
thanks for his obedience to the wishes she had expressed when
last they met. Though the subject was too painful for the Prin-
cess even to mention the name of the two faithful servants she
had lost, yet Albert Maurice felt that she alluded to her petitions
in their behalf. For a single instant he thought she spoke in
irony, and his cheek turned red and pale by turns ; but a mo-
ment's reflection called to his mind the simple, candid character
of her who spoke, and what she had before said on the same sub-
ject ; and he saw that she deceived herself in regard to the part
he had taken. There was a natural rectitude in his heart which
might have made him, at any risk, avow boldly his approval of,
if not his participation in, the bloodshed which had been com-
mitted — had the love of Mary of Burgundy not been at stake.
But he who knew not what fear is, under other circumstances,
had learned to become as timid as a child in her presence ; and
though, while kneeling to kiss her hand in thanks for the honour
she had just conferred, his whole frame trembled both with the
agitation of deep love, and the knowledge that he was acting a
deceitful part, yet he found it impossible to utter those words
which he well knew would have pronounced his own condemna-
tion to the ears of Mary of Burgundy.
The sensation, however, oppressed him ; and, after hurried
and somewhat incoherent thanks, he took his leave and retired,
feeling that he had made another step in the crooked and de-
grading path of policy.
The rest of the day was consumed in preparations for his
departure early the next morning, and in precautions against the
influence of his enemies in Ghent. Men may make use of knaves
and hypocrites, in order to rise, but they must still have recourse
to the honest and the true, when they would give permanence to
their authority. Thus, from the council which Albert Maurice
now called to his aid, Ganay was excluded, as well as all the
fiercer and more subtle spirits, which had hitherto been so busy
in the affairs of Ghent; while honest Martin Fruse, and seven
360 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
Other citizens like himself, who, though not without their weak-
nesses and their follies, possessed at heart a fund of honesty of
intent and plain common sense, were summoned by the young
citizen to a private conference, for the purpose of taking such
measures as would secure the peace and tran(juillity of the city,
and the stability of the order of things established, during his
temporary absence.
He felt it difficult, indeed, to explain to them all the evils that
were to be guarded against, all the dangers that he foresaw, and
all the apprehensions that he entertained, especially in regard to
the druggist Ganay. To have done so fully, would have been
to have exposed all the darker and more dangerous secrets of his
own bosom, and to have given a picture of himself, of the means
he had employed, and of the deeds into which he had been
betrayed, which he was unwilling to display to any human being.
Thus it was not without much circumlocution that he could find
words to convey his immediate views to the honest men by whom
he was surrounded, and yet keep to those general terms which
miglit not expose himself.
Martin Fruse, however, whose love for his nephe\y was para-
mount in his bosom, greatly relieved the task ; for — with a sort
of intuitive feeling, that there were many things which Albert
Maurice would wish to keep concealed, and from a desire of
sparing him as much as possible — he passed as rapidly as his
intellect would permit him to conclusions, skipping as quickly as
possible over all explanations regarding preceding facts with a
nod or smile of intelligence, which led the other worthy merchants
to believe that he was fully acquainted with all the machinery of
the events which had taken place. After some hours' consultation,
it was arranged that Albert Maurice, deputing his whole muni-
cipal authority to his uncle, should entrust the worthy citizen
and the other merchants present, to form such a party in the
council, as might keep the affairs of the town, if possible, in a
completely passive state during his absence. His office in the
States General he could not transfer; for though he held the
presidency of that body as a privilege connected with its assem-
bling in the city of which he had been constituted chief magistrate,
yet that privilege could not be deputed to another; and the
States — if they met at all during his absence — would be presided
by the next deputy from the city of Ghent.
The power, however, which he placed in the hands of good
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 361
Martin Fruse was anything but insignificant, for Ghent then
ruled the States ; and it was determined that all measures were
to be taken for the security of the city and the repairs of the
fortifications; that the purchase of sup})lics and provisions, and
the levying of men, were to go on as usual ; but that, upon the
proposal of any important movement, on the part of Ghent, a
motion for its postponement till the return of the President was
immediately to be put, and supported by his friends. The meet-
ing of the States General, too, was to be opposed as much as
possible during his absence from Ghent; and as the authority of
the nmnicipality was, of course, paramount in their own city, it
seemed probable that his friends would be able to exert great
influence in this respect. Any pretensions which the Duke of
Gueldres might put forward to the hand of the Princess were to
be strenuously opposed in the council ; and Martin Fruse, and
the burgher guard, were to give her every support and pro-
tection, in case she might require it. Anxious, too, for the safety
of Hugh of Gueldres, Albert jNIaurice took care that a strong
force should be stationed at the town prison, and that the mer-
chants should be prepared to put an instant negative upon any
proposal for bringing the prisoner to trial during his absence.
When all these arrangements were concluded, the next care
of the young citizen was to select such bands from amongst both
the new and old levies of the city, as were most likely to ensure
him success in the enterprises which he was about to execute ;
and this being done, and all his further preparations completed,
he proceeded, once more, to visit the Vert Gallant of Hannut in
the chamber to which he had now been removed. The young
cavalier lay in a deep, sweet sleep, from which even the opening
of the door and the approach of Albert Maurice did not wake
him ; and the President gazed for a moment or two on his face —
as he lay so calm and tranquil, within the walls of a prison, suf-
fering from injuries, and exposed to constant danger — with a
feeling of envy and regret, which, perhaps, few can appreciate
fully, who have not felt the sharp tooth of remorse begin its
sleepless gnawing on the heart.
He would not have disturbed such slumbers for the world;
and, withdrawing again with a noiseless step, he retired to his
own chamber, and cast himself down upon his bed, to snatch, at
least, that heated and disturbed sleep, which was all the repose
that he was ever more to know on earth.
3G2 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
ClLVrTEll XXXIIL
The clang of trumpets echoing through the streets of Ghent, an
hour before daybreak, announced that tlic body of forces under
the command of the young President was about to set out upon
its expedition ; and as the burghers started from their sleep, and
listened to the various sounds that followed, — the tramj)ling of
horses, the voices of the officers, and the dull measured tread
of marching men, — not unfrequcntly did a feeling of pride rise
in their bosoms from that universal principle — " the extension of
the idea of self;" as each one felt that the army thus on its march
was, in some degree, his own, as part and parcel of the city of
Ghent.
To the ears of none in the whole town, however, did the sounds
come more pleasantly than to those of the druggist Ganay, who
had felt, within the last two days, a sort of thirst to see the back
of him he had once loved, turned upon the city ; for, though —
with that degree of pride in his cunning, \A'hich artful men often
possess — he did not usually apprehend that his wit would fail in
a struggle with that of any other being ; yet there was something
in the unaccountable knowledge of foregone facts which Albert
Maurice had displayed, that made him entertain a vague fear of
the young citizen, and rendered him unwilling to venture any
very bold stroke till Ghent was free from his presence.
The first sound of the trumpet fell upon his ear as he sat
watching the bed of the wovmded Lord of Ncufchatel, into whose
sick chamber he had obtruded himself with an officious zeal,
which might have been resented by the noble's attendants, had
he not, by quiet and soothing attentions, rendered himself useful,
and his presence pleasing to the invalid himself, while a long
attendance on a sick and fretful old man, had cooled and wearied
those who were at first most active in his service. A restless and
feverish night had passed away ; and, as morning came, the
ancient Seneschal of Burgundy showed some inclination to fall
asleep; but the first braying of the trumpets roused him; and
he eagerly demanded what those sounds meant. The druggist
explained the cause at once ; and the enfeebled warrior shook
his head with a melancholy air, as he heard the call to horse
sounded again, without being able to raise a limb from his
couch.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 363
" 'Twas not so when first you knew me, Master Ganay?" he
said; and then — while one sound succeeded another, and squa-
dron after squadron marched forth through the streets — he con-
tinued to murmur a number of low and somewhat incoherent
sentences, between the delirium of feverish irritation and the
drowsiness of exhaustion. At length, as a faint bluish light
beffan to ffleam into the chamber from the dawning of the morn-
ing, the last horseman passed before the gates of the court-yard,
and all in Ghent resumed its former stillness.
The old man would then have addressed himself to sleep again ;
but Ganay now recalled his mind to the subject of his brighter
days, with an extraordinary degree of pertinacity. " Nay, nay,
my noble lord," he said, returning to the topic of their early
acquaintance ; " when first I saw your lordship, you would little
have suffered an army to march, while you lay still in bed."
" Not I — not I, indeed !" replied the Lord of Ncufchatel.
" But what can one do ?"
" Alack, nothing now," answered the druggist ; " but think
that you never flinched while you could keep the saddle. You
were as eager a rider in those days as ever I met — ay ! and
somewhat hasty withal."
" Ah ! my good Ganay, are you there now ?" said the old lord.
" Have you not forgot that yet ? Well, man, I did you wrong ;
but have I not tried to make atonement ? I did you wrong, I do
believe fi-om my soul."
" Believe, my lord !" cried Ganay ; " are you not sure ? Are
not the very papers you possess convincing enough of my inno-
cence ?"
" Well, well, perhaps they are," replied the old man, somewhat
impatiently.
" Perhaps they are !" exclaimed the other. " Nay, surely they
are. But let me fetch and read them to your lordship — where
can I find them ?"
" They are in the Venice cabinet, I think," answered the
Lord of Neufchate] ; " but never mind them — never mind them !
I tell thee I am convinced — what need of more ? I would fain
sleep now, if the accursed itching of this thrust in my shoulder
would let me. Call the boy with his rote, good Ganay ! he
often puts me to sleep by playing on his instrument — or the man
that tells stories : he is better still. I never fail to grow drowsy
as soon as he begins, and to snore before he has half done."
304 MARY OF ni'R{;r\DY; or,
" Take but a cup of tliis elixir, my lord," answered the druggist.
** Mind von not, how it refreshed yon yesterday morning?"
" Surely !" cried the old lord, in a peevish tone. " Have you
any more? Why did you not give it me sooner? How could
yon sec me suffer so all night, and not give me that which alone
eases me ?"
" Because, if used too often, it loses its effect," replied the
druggist.
" Give it me — give it me now, then!" cried the invalid, impa-
tiently. " When would you give a man medicine, but when he
is ill and in pain ? Spare not, man, — let the dose be full. Thou
shalt be well paid for thy drugs."
Ganay took up a cup from the table, and nearly filled it with
a dark-coloured liquid from a phial which he drew out of his
bosom. He then gave it to the old noble, who drank off the
contents at once, while the druggist gazed on him with an eye
which seemed almost starting from its socket, so intense was the
look of eager interest with which he regarded him.
" Are you sure it is the same?"' said the Lord of Neufchatcl,
returning the cup, — " it tastes differently ; — it is bitterer, and has
a faint taste as of earth. It is — it is — not so "
But, as he spoke, the lids of his eyes fell — he opened them
drowsily once or twice — added a few more almost inarticulate
words, and then sunk back upon his pillow. Ganay looked at
him intently for two or three minutes ; then stole out of the
room ; and, descending with a quiet step to the hall, he woke
his own serving-boy, who was sitting by the fire — " Hie thee to
the Prevot," he whispered ; " bid him hither instantly !"
" Who goes there ?" cried the servant on watch, who had been
asleep also, but was now wakened by the boy opening the door,
— " Who goes there ?"
" Only my boy," answered Ganay, " going for some drugs
against my good lord wakes — I would have healed him sooner
than all the leeches in the town, had I but tried it before ; but,
of course, I could not meddle till he dismissed the surgeon in
such wrath."
" How goes he now. Master Ganay ?" demanded the man.
" Better, I hope !" replied the druggist, " but he has had a
fearful night. He now sleeps, and I think it is a crisis. If he
wake better, he will do well. If not, he dies."
" God forefend !" cried the man.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 365
Ganay echoed loudly the wisli, and retired once more to the
sick man's chamber.
Entering with stealthy steps, he approached the bed, and
gazed upon him that it contained. A slight stream of dark fluid
had flowed from his mouth, and stained his pillow ; and Ganay,
as he remarked this appearance, muttered, " The stomach has re-
jected it ! lie must take more. To leave it half done, were worse
than all I Here, my lord !" he added, aloud, shaking him by the
arm — " Here ! take a little more of the same blessed elixir !"
But the old man made no answer, except by a long deep-
drawn sigh ; and Ganay, adding, " He has had enough," sat
down, and turning his face from the lamp, continued gazing for
some minutes upon the couch. From time to time, as he sat
and looked, a few muttered words would ep^ pe his lips ; and
often he would turn and listen for the sounds in the street, as if
impatient for the coming of some one from without.
" The Venice cabinet !" he muttered, " that stands in the small
arras chamber by the saloon !— Could one reach it, now, unper-
ceived ! But no. 'Tis better to wait till Du Bac arrives — Some
of the varlets might catch me, and all were ruined — Better wait
till he comes — He is very tedious, though — It works but slowly !
He has had hardly enough — What can be done ? He cannot take
any more ! — That is a long drawn sigh, — it shoidd be the last— A
little help were not amiss, though !" and so saying, he pressed his
hand heavily on the chest of the old Lord of Neufchatel.
It rose once slightly against the weight ; but death and life
were by this time so nearly balanced in his frame, that it rose
but once, and then all was quiet. Still Ganay continued the
pressure with his whole force, till suddenly the eyes opened, and
the jaw dropped ; and the murderer instinctively started back,
fancying that his victim was awaking from his slumber. But he
instantly perceived that what he saw was but the sign of a longer
and more profound sleep having taken the old man to repose for
ever ; and, after one more glance to satisfy himself that no means
of resuscitation could prove available, he loudly called upon the
servants and attendants to give him help, for that their lord was*
dying. It was some time before he made them hear; for the
illness of the old noble, as we have before said, had been long
and tedious, and kindness had been wearied, and attention worn
out. When they did come, therefore, the druggist had some
excuse to rate them severely for inattention and sloth. He
366 MARY OF burgundy; on,
affected to try many means of recalling the dead to life again ,
and proposed to send for skilful leeches, as soon as he heard the
voice of Maillotin du Bac in the hall below.
That officer now came boldly in, and, stopping all other pro-
ceedings, demanded whether any relation of the dead lord were
in the house. The answer, as he knew it must be, was in the
negative ; for — as the servants replied — all his connexions were
in the far parts of Burgundy. " Well, then," cried the Prevot, —
" it becomes me, though not exactly the proper officer, to seal
up all the doors and effects of the deceased, till such time as
account can be taken. — You, my men," he continued, to the
archers of the band that followed him, " gather all these worthy
servants and varlets together in the great hall, and see that no
one stirs a step, till I have asked them a question or two. You,
Master Ganay, being one of the magistrates of the town, had
better come with me, to bear witness that I seal all things fairly.
You, my good lieutenant, bring me some wax and a chafing
dish, and then return to the hall, to guard these worthy fellows
till I come."
The domestic attendants of the old lord, amongst w^hom were
several of his ancient military retainers, grumbled not a little at
this arrangement, and might have shown somewhat more stub-
born resistance, had not the force brought by the Prevot over-
matched them in numbers as well as in preparations. One of
them, however, whispered to a boy who was amongst them, to
slip out and warn the other retainers in the lodging over the
way ; the house, or rather houses, of the deceased noble, extend-
ing, as was not uncommon in those times, to both sides of the
street. With this intimation to the boy, and one or two loud
oaths, which the Prevot would not hear, the servants were re-
moved, and the two accomplices stood together in the dead
man's chamber alone. Such sights were too familiar to Maillotin
du Bac, to cause even the slightest feeling of awe to cross his
bosom, as he gazed on the face of the corpse ; and after looking
at it for a moment in silence, he turned to the druggist with a
well satisfied smile, but without farther comment.
" Let us make haste !" cried Ganay, — " the papers are in the
Venice cabinet, in the little arras chamber by the saloon."
" Wait for the wax ! Wait for the wax, man !" replied the
Prevot ; " there is plenty of time. Let us do things orderly.
You, seek for the keys in the meantime. They are in that cup-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 367
board, probably. Where is its own key ? But never mind, — I
will put back the lock with my dagger."
This was soon accomplished, and the open door exposed, as
the Prevot had expected, several large bunches of keys, and a
leathern bag, which bore all the marks of being swelled out with
coined pieces of some kind. The druggist seized upon the keys,
and carefully concealed them on his person ; but the Prevot
dipped his hand zealously into the heart of the leathern bag, —
draw ing it forth, and then plunging it deep into his own bosom,
without at all examining what his fist contained. After two or
three such dives down into the pouch, which grew somewhat
lank and wrinkled under its intercourse with the Prevot's hand,
he raised it, as if to see how much it still contained, murmuring
— " We must leave some !"
An approaching step now caused him to replace it hastily,
and close the door ; and, as soon as the lieutenant brought him
the wax and chafing dish he had been despatched to seek, Mail-
lotin du Bac proceeded to secure that cupboard first, using the
hilt of his dagger as a seal.
Do
The inferior officer was speedily sent away ; and the Prevot
instantly turned to his companion, saying, " Now to the Venice
cabinet, if you will. You know the way better than I — lead on."
" This way, then ! this way !" answered the druggist, " we
will go by the back passage ;" and opening another door, he
hurried on through several corridors, till they entered what had
been the great saloon of the hotel. They paused not to feel,
and still less to comment on the gloomy aspect which associa-
tion gives to a festive chamber, the lord of which is just gone
down to the gloomy dust : but crossing it as fast as possible, they
entered a small room beyond, which was hung all round with
rich arras tapestry, and which, besides some settles and a table,
contained a large black cabinet of the kind which was at that
time imported from Venice.
The druggist approached it eagerly ; and looking at the lock,
and then at the keys in his hand, after some difficulty chose one,
and applied it to the keyhole. What was his surprise, however,
to find that the cabinet was already open, and that the whole
shelves which it contained were covered with books and papers,
in a state of terrible confusion.
" Curses on the old sloven !" he cried ; " this will take an age
to go through."
36S MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
" Better take all the papers," said the Prevot, " and leave the
trash of books ; but at all events make haste !"
" I cannot conceal them all," replied the druggist. " Here !
help me to search. They are tied uj) in a bundle together, with
my name on the back."
The Prevot approached, and aided Ganay busily in his search;
and at length the druggist himself caught a sight of the papers,
lying far back in the cabinet: " Here they are ! Here they arc !"
he cried; but at that moment — as he was reaching forth his
hand to seize them — a powerful grasp was laid upon his
shoulder, and turning round with a sudden start, he beheld the
countenance of Albert Maurice.
Without giving him time to deliberate, the young citizen
drev/ him forcibl}' back from the cabinet with his right hand,
while he himself laid his left upon the very bundle of papers
that Ganay had been about to take. The druggist was struck
dumb with surprise, disappointment, and consternation ; but
Maillotin du Bac, who did not easily lose his presence of mind,
exclaimed at once, " What, you here. Sir President ! I thought
you were miles hence by this time."
" Doubtless you did," replied Albert Maurice, " doubtless you
did ! What do you here ?"
" We seek to discover if there be any testamentary paper,"
replied the Prevot, who perceived that the doorway, which
opened into the saloon, was full of people, amongst whom he
recognised none of his own band.
" And what right have you, sir, to seek for such papers ?"
demanded the President. " Is it a part of your office ? Is it a
part of your duty ? You seem to consider your functions won-
derfully enlarged of late. Advance, Maitre Pierre," he con-
tinued, turning to one of the eschevins of the city, who had
accompanied him thither. " You will do your duty in sealing
up the effects of the Lord of Ncufchatcl. As for these papers
which I have in my hand, I hold thcni to be necessary to the
state, having seen them before, by the consent of the Lord of
Neufchatel, while awaiting in this chamber of his house, an
examination before the council of the Princess on a charge
brought against me by yon Prevot. It is my intention, therefore,
to keep them in my possession. But I beseech you, in the first
instance, to envelop them carefully, sealing them with your
own seal, after which I will be answerable for them to what-
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 3G9
ever person may prove to be tlic legal heir of the nobleman
deceased."
Ganay's face, always pale, beeame cadaverous, as he heard
these words ; and both Albert Maurice and the Prevot believed
that the only feeling in his heart, at that moment, was terror.
The words he muttered to himself, however, were — " Fool ! he
has destroyed himself!" — and they might have served to show,
had they been overheard, that the predominant passion of his
soul — revenge — was still uppermost, and even overbore both
consternation and surprise.
The eschevin, according to the desire of the President, sealed
up the papers in an envelope, and returned them to him ; and
Albert Maurice, whose stern eye had turned severely from the
covmtenance of the one culprit to the other, with an expression
which made them at first believe that he meditated to exert his
authority for their immediate punishment, now once more ad-
dressed the magistrate, saying, " I must myself leave you, sir, to
pursue this business alone, for it will require hard riding to
overtake the troops ; but I have every confidence that you will
examine this suspicious affair most strictly and carefully. You
know how far, according to the laws, such conduct as we have
seen to-day is just or unjust, and you will take measures, without
fear or favour, to see that justice be not evaded. But you will
be pleased especially to cause the body of the deceased noble-
man, of which we had but a casual glance just now, to be care-
fully examined by competent persons, in order to ascertain the
cause of his death. My speedy return will prevent the necessity
of your employing any means but those of precaution, till we
meet again. In the meantime, farewell."
Thus saj'ing, Albert Maurice, without taking any further
notice either of Ganay or the Prevot, quitted the chamber ; and,
leaving a sufficient number of persons behind to enforce the
authority of the eschevin, he proceeded to the court-yard, and,
mounting his horse, galloped off.
Things that appear very extraordinary in themselves, are often
brought about by the simplest means ; and such had been the
case in regard to the interruption which Ganay and the Prevot
had met with in the execution of their design. Albert Maurice
had been prevented, by some casual business, from setting out
himself at the hour he at first proposed, but in order that the
troops might not be delayed, he suffered them to begin their
B B
370 I\IARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
march from Ghent, under their inferior officers, well knowing
that, with the niunbcr of swift horses he had at his command, he
could overtake them before they had advanced many miles. His
way Lay past the hotel of the Lord of Ncufcliatel ; and as he was
riding hastily on with a few attendants, he saw a boy drop from
one of the casements, and run across the street in breathless
speed. From some vague suspicion, Albert Maurice stopped
him, with inquiries into the cause of his haste ; and the boy at
once replied, " The old lord is dead, and the prevot and the
druggist have shut all the varlcts up in the hall, while they seal
up the papers. So they sent me to tell the squires and men-at-
arms in the other lodging."
Such tidings, joined to the previous knowledge that he pos-
sessed, was quite sufficient for Albert Maurice ; and, sending
instantly for one of the eschevins who lived close by, he proceeded
at once to the hotel, and, with his own followers, the retainers
he found on the premises, and those who rapidly came over from
the other side of the street, he obliged the Prevot's guard to quit
the place. He then at once turned his steps to the chamber of
the dead man, and after a hasty examination of the corpse, which
excited still stronger suspicions than those he had before enter-
tained, he led the way silently to the room in which he knew
that the papers referring to Ganay were usually kept.
All that ensued we have already seen, and, without pursuing
any further the events which took place in Ghent, we shall beg
leave to follow the young citizen on his journey.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
TuE transactions of the next few days, though certainly com-
prising matters of great interest to many of the persons connected
with the present history, must be passed over as briefly as possible,
because their nature is in a certain sense discordant with the
general tenour of the story. This is no tale of battles ; unless
it be the battle of passions in the human heart ; and therefore it
is that we give no minute detail of the incidents which befel
Albert Maurice in his short but brilliant military career. Suffice
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 371
it to say, that by happy combinations, and the strenuous exertion
of the great activity wliich was one of the most conspicuous traits
in his character, he had, in the short space of five days, thrown
forces into Douai and Lille, and had defeated Le Lude and a body
of men-at-arms despatched fi'om Arras to cut off his retreat.
Well aware of the mighty effect of success in blowing up
the bubble of popularity, ]ie despatched messenger after mes-
senger to Ghent, bearing tidings of each event as it occurred.
Joy and gratulation spread through the city ; and the people of
Ghent, elated by their novel exploits in arms, laid out in fancy
vast plans of conquest and aggrandizement, and began to think
themselves invincible in the field. Nor was his military success ~
without effect upon the heart of Albert Maurice himself. It did
not, it is true, produce such overweening expectations in his
own bosom, as it did in those of his weaker fellow citizens.
But it certainly did give him fresh confidence in his own powers,
from the very fact of finding good fortune attend him in every
effort, however new and unfamiliar to his habits and his mind.
It nerved him to dare all, and to struggle against every diffi-
culty; and the combination of constant occupation and repeated
triumph drowned, for the time, those feelings of remorse and
self-upbraiding, which, day by day, had been acquiring a stronger
hold upon his heart. Besides, it communicated to his mind
the refreshing consciousness of being energetically employed
in the execution of duties totally unmingled with any baser
motive in their origin, or any degrading means in their progress.
In the actions which he performed during these four days, he felt
that for the first time he was really serving his country, that
he was winning a purer glory and gaining a nobler name, than
faction or intrigue — whatever might be its object, and whatever
might be its result — could ever obtain for man ; and his heart ex-
panded with a joy long unknown, when at night he summed up
the events of the day, and found that another sun had risen and
set on deeds which he could dare all the world to scrutinize.
Still the necessity of his immediate return to Ghent was
not the less felt ; and as soon as ever he had accomplished the
great purpose of his expedition, he commenced his march home-
wards, and pursued it with as much rapidity as possible.
His force was, by this time, reduced to a thousand horse,
from the various reinforcements he had thrown into the frontier
towns ; but nevertheless, confident of his own powers, in return-
BB 2
372 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OH,
ing to Ghent he took a road which passed in the immediate
ncighbonrhood of Tonrnay, aUhough varions bands detached
from the garrison of that city were continnally making excur-
sions into the coimtry around, lie fixed his quarters for the
night, after his first day's march homeward, in a httlc village
about three miles to the cast of that town; and, taking such
precautions as were necessary to guard against surprise, he
passed the hours of darkness undisturbed.
It was a fine spring morning when he again put his troops in
motion. The sun had just risen ; and the fresh, elastic air,
driving the vapours of the night before it, had gathered together
in the north a wide extent of dark clouds, streaked with the
whiter mists that were every moment carried to join them by the
wind; while, over all the rest of the sky, the bright sunshine was
pouring triumphantly, and flashing upon the diamond drops that
the night had left behind on every spray and every blade of
grass.
The body of horse which the young citizen commanded
moved on quickly, but cautiously, through the by-roads and less
direct paths which led between Tournay and Ath ; and it had
proceeded in this manner for about an hour, when the distant
sound of a culverin, followed by a heavy discharge of artil-
lery, was borne upon his ear from the westward. The troopers
listened eagerly, with no small curiosity written on their counte-
nances; but the face of Albert Maurice scarcely betrayed that he
heard the sounds, except by a curl of the lip, slight indeed,
but bitter and contemptuous. He rode on without comment;
and, shortly after, as he led his force over the summit of a small
hill, he could pei'ceive on looking towards Tournay — though the
place itself was hidden by some wavy ground that intervened — a
long stream of thick, white smoke, drifting down the valley in
which that city stands. He drew in his horse for a moment,
and gazed upon the sight; and then, putting his force into a
quicker pace, pursued his road onward towards Ghent.
The path which they were following entered, at about the
distance of two miles from the spot where they then were, the
high road from Tournay to Oudenarde ; and, passing among
some woody grounds, it lay very much concealed from obser-
vation. As they came near the open road, however, Albert
Maurice himself proceeded a little in advance of the line to
reconnoitre, before he led his forces forth from the less exposed
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 373
ground below. But ere he reached it, the sounds that he heard
were sufficient to satisfy him that the highway was occupied by
some party of armed men, cither friends or foes. The prospect
of meeting with the forces commanded by the Duke of Gucldrcs
was httle less disagreeable to him than that of encountering
a superior body of the cuemyj and he accordingly halted his
men, riding slowly along the narrow border of copse which sepa-
rated the low grounds from the high road, in order to ascertain
who were his immediate neighbours, and what was the direction
they were taking. The trampling of horses, the jingling of
armour, laughter, merriment, and oaths, announced sufficiently
the presence of a military force ; and the moment after, a break
in the belt of wood showed him the rear of a body of horsemen
passing on in a continuous but somewhat irregular line towards
Tournay ; while the straight crosses of cut cloth which they
wore sewed upon their gambesons, at once designated them
as the adherents of France in opposition to Burgundy, the parti-
sans of which dukedom were as universally designated by a
cross-cross, or cross of St. Andrew.
The young burgher paused for several minutes; and fixing
his eye upon a break some way farther down the road, watched
till the spears and plumes began to pass by that aperture also, and,
by means of the two, easily ascertained that the party he beheld
did not amount to more than five hundred men. Though from
various traces of recent strife, joined to the merriment that
reigned amongst them, he judged — and judged rightly — that
the French were retm*ning to Tournay after some successful
skirmish, which, he doubted not, had taken place with the Duke
of Gueldres ; yet, the superiority of his own numbers and his
confidence in his own powers, determined him immediately to
attack the enemy.
This resolution was no sooner formed than executed ; and
although the space was narrow for the evolutions of cavalry,
the road having on one side a large piece of marshy ground,
and on the other a scattered wood ; yet so unprepared were
the French for the attack of the Gandois, and so skilfully did
the young citizen employ a raw against a veteran force, that
the old soldiers of Louis at once gave way before tlic fresh levies
of Ghent; and while many a man found an ignoble death in
the morass, those were the happiest who, by sharp spurring, made
their way unscathed to Tournay.
374 iMARY OF BURGUNDY; OH,
A battery of small cannon, which enfiladed the part of the
road that led directly to the gate, protected the fugitives in their
retreat; and Albert Maurice, not fully aware of the state of
the garrison, and the amount of forces it could pour forth upon
his small corps, hastened to retreat from before the walls as soon
as he found himself exposed to their artillery. The way seemed
clear before him ; yet — as he knew that the enterprise of the
Duke of Gueldres was to have taken place about that time, and
from the firing he had heard in the morning, doubted not it had
been attempted on that very day — he could not believe that
so small a party as that which he had just driven back within the
walls, would have ventured forth alone against the superior force
of the Gandois ; and he felt sure that some larger body of French
troops must still lie between him and the retreating army of the
Duke of Gueldres.
Under these circumstances, and fearful of tarnishing the gloss
of his success by encountering a defeat at last, he caused the
country to be well reconnoitred as he advanced ; and ere long,
the reported appearance of a large force seen moving in the
line of the high road, about a league in advance, made him
resolve once more to take the paths through the wood to the
east, however circuitous and inconvenient, being very well assured,
from his knowledge of the country and from his acquaintance
with the plans of the people of Ghent, that the line of operations
of either party could not have extended far to the east of the
Chemin d Oudenarde, as the high road was called.
lie accordingly at once quitted the broad causeway which led
directly to Ghent, and passing across some of the wide yellow
mustard fields that lay to the right, he gained, unobserved,
the shelter of the scattered woods through which he had been
before advancing. As he marched on, however, the appearance
of some of the fearful vestiges of warfare — now a slain horse —
now a long track of blood — now some piece of armour, or some
offensive weapon cast away in flight — showed that a deadly strife
must have passed not far from the ground over which he was
marching. These tokens of battle and defeat, however, soon
became less frequent; and, by care and circumspection, he was
enabled to guide his forces to a safe distance from Tournay
without encountering any of the bands of either party which were
scattered over that part of the province. Not knowing the state
of the country, and determined, whatever were the case, to force
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 375
his way onward to Ghent without loss of time, he did not choose
to detach any parties from his main body ; but he was of course
very anxious for inteUigence, and it was not long before he
received as much as was necessary for the purpose of determining
his after proceedings. Ere he had marched half a league,
several stragglers belonging to the army of Ghent joined his
force ; and from them he learned, that on that very morning the
Duke of Gueldres had attacked and burned the suburbs of Tour-
nay ; but that in effecting his retreat, his rear-guard had been
charged by a small force from the town, and had been nearly cut
to pieces, notwithstanding extraordinary efforts on the part of
tlie duke himself. That prince was reported to be dead or taken,
and the rest of the army had retreated in no small confusion
upon Oudenarde.
This discomfiture of the Flemish forces, and the disgrace in-
flicted on his country, were of course painful, as a whole, to
the young citizen ; but there were parts of the detail which
were not so unpleasant ; for his successes of course stood out
in brighter light from their contrast with the failure of the
larger division ; and as it appeared, by the account of the fugi-
tives, that the party which had defeated the Duke of Gueldres
was the very same that he himself had in turn overthrown and
driven into Tournay, the mortification would be in some degree
softened to the people of Ghent, while he could not find in his
heart to grieve very bitterly for their defeated commander.
The intelligence that he now received of the state of the
garrison of Tournay — which it appeared was very scanty, but
bold and enterprising in the extreme — made him resolve to halt
for the night at the first village on the road, in order to keep the
forces of that city in check, while the dispersed parties of Flemings
effected their retreat. He accordingly took up his quarters at
the little town of Frasne, on the edge of the wood, and im-
mediately sent out parties to reconnoitre the country, and bring
in any stragglers they might meet with. Few were found, indeed;
but from their information, the young burgher was led to suppose
that the great body of the forces, which had issued from Ghent
two days before, had made good its retreat, without any farther
loss than the discomfiture of its rear-guard.
By the time these facts were fully ascertained, the evening was
too far advanced to make any farther move ment ; and Albert
Maurice, having taken measures to hold his present position in
376 MARV OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
security, laid by the weighty armour with which, according to
the custom of the day, he was encumbered on the march, and
strolled out alone into the wood, to j^ivc way to thoughts which
had long been sternly pressing for attention.
lie was now returning towards Ghent, where he could not
hide from himself that new scenes of intrigue, of anxiety, and
of trouble, lay before him. Ilis previous conduct in the same
career had given birth to regrets which he had determined to
scan and try, more accurately than he ever yet had done ; and
from his judgment on the past, to form a firm and inflexible
determination for the future, lie found, too, that now was the
moment when the self-examination must begin, if ever it was to
be attempted; and many circumstances combined to render it
less painful than it had appeared before. Previous to the expe-
dition in which he was now engaged, the commune with his own
heart had offered so little but pure bitterness, that he had
avoided it with care. But his recent successes, in which was to
be found no matter for self-reproach, afforded him something
wherewith to balance more painful contemplations; and with
a decided purpose of indulging that craving for calm reflection
which had long preyed upon him, he went forth totally alone,
merely saying to his attendants that he would speedily return.
Of course, it is not possible to follow the thoughts of Albert
Maurice through all the tortuous and uncertain ways which the
Imman heart pursues in its examination of itself. The result,
however, was painful. lie compared what he had done, now
that power was given into his hands, with what he had proposed
to do, when that power existed but in expectation. Not six
months before he had determined, if ever circumstances should
favour the exertion of his abilities in the wide arena of political
strife, to dedicate all the talents and energy of his mind solely to
the good of his country — to free her from oppression — to remedy
the evils of her situation — to open the way for arts and civi-
lization — to place laws and rights upon such a footing that they
could never be doubted nor destroyed — and to accomplish all
this by the most calm and peaceful means, without spilling one
unnecessary drop of blood — without causing one eye through all
the land to shed a tear.
Such had been his purpose — but what had been his conduct,
and what had he become ? He had appropriated to himself
nearly the whole power of the stale. He had obtained influence
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 377
greater than his fondest expectations had held ont. He had not
improved one law. He had not removed one evil. He had eeen,
under his own authority, anarchy substituted for civil order and
domestic peace. He had involved himself in the meanest wiles of
faction and intrigue. He had beheld innocent blood shed by the
hands of the populace. He had himself brought about the death of
two noble-minded men, who, his own heart told him, were inno-
cent of the crimes with wliich they were charged; and conscience
thundered in his ear that they were murdered for his ambition.
He could no longer look upon himself as a patriot. He knew
liimself to have become solely an ambitious demagogue ; and,
look around him on which side he would, he saw no means of
extricating himself or his country from the state into which he
had aided to immerse it, but by pursuing the same dark and
intricate intrigues, the mean cunning of which he felt bitterly to
be degrading to his better nature ; by shedding more blood ; by
stirring up more discord ; and by plunging deeper and deeper
into the abyss of anarchy and confusion.
While such a conviction forced itself upon his mind, he
almost shrunk from himself; and the small, still voice within,
whispered that but one way was left — to yield the hand of Mary
of Burgundy to any prince whose state and situation offered the
most immediate prospect of benefit and support to his country —
to make the price of that fair hand and the rich dowry that
went with it, the full recognition of such popular rights as would
put the freedom and prosperity of Flanders for ever beyond
a doubt, — and on his own part to resign the hopes and aspirations
that had led him so far astra3^ But those hopes — those aspira
tions — had become parts of his very soul; and to require him to
cast them from him, was but to bid hiin die. As the bare idea
crossed his mind of resigning Mary of Burgundy — of seeing her
in the arms of another — the blood rushed up into his head with
violence ; and he paused abruptly on his way, resolved, if thought
presented such images, to think no more. The good and the
evil principle were in his heart at eternal war; calm reflection
instantly gave the good full promise of victory; but the evil had
but to call up the idea of Mary of Burgund}'^ as the wife of
another, in order to banish reflection altogether, and every
better purpose along with it.
He had, by this time, advanced somewhat far into the wood ;
and the faint grey of the sky announced that the sun was sinking
378 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
rai)i(.lly below the horizon, and warned him to return to the
village. The road he had followed was a long grassy path, cut
by the wheels of the wood-carts ; and there was no mistaking
his way back. But, as he paused, determined to think no more,
since thought required such bitter sacrifices, he looked onward
vacantly, ere he turned, directing with difficulty his mind
towards external things, the better to withdraw it from himself.
As he did so, he remarked, at the bottom of the slope, down
which the path proceeded, some large white object lying amongst
the long grass which fringed a little forest stream. The distance
was not more than a hvnidred yards in advance ; and attracted,
he knew not very well why, he strode on almost unconsciously
towards the spot. As he came nearer, the object which had
caught his eye assumed the form of a horse, either dead or
asleep-, and to ascertain which was the case he still walked
forward, till he stood close beside it, and found that it was the
carcase of a splendid charger, which had dropped, apparently,
from exhaustion and loss of blood. A rich military saddle and a
poitrel, inlaid with gold, announced that the rank of the rider
nuist have been high ; while a fresh wound in the poor beast's
side, and another in his thigh, seemed to show that he had been
eniiaq-cd in the skirmish of that morninnr.
Albert Maurice gazed on the horse for a moment, not exactly
with inditference, but with no great interest in a sight which had
been frecpiently before his eyes during the last two or three days.
The thing that principally attracted his attention, indeed, was
the costliness of the caparisons ; and he looked round the little
glade in which he now stood, to see if he could perceive any
further traces of the horse's owner. His eye instantly rested
upon a pile of splendid arms, cast heedlessly down at a short
distance ; and as he walked forward to examine them also, a man
started up, as if from sleep, amongst the fern which there thickly
clothed the forest ground, exclaiming — " Who goes there ?"
A single glance sufficed to show Albert Maurice that he stood
in presence of the Duke of Gueldres; and that prince almost as
soon perceived whom he himself had encountered. No great
love existed between them, it is true ; but a natural compassion
for the defeat and disappointment which the duke had that day
sustained, and a conviction that that defeat, together with his own
success, had removed all danger from the rivalry of the other,
greatly softened the fcehng of enmity in the bosom of the young
T[IE REVOLT OF GHENT. 379
citizen ; and a word would have disarmed hiin entirely. The
contrary, however, was the case with Adolphus of Gueldres, who,
naturally furious and impatient, had been rendered almost in-
sane by defeat and disgrace. He had heard, too, it would seem,
of the late successes of Albert Maurice ; and jealousy and envy
were thus added to hatred. Ilis words and his manner had been
quick and vehement, even before he had seen who it was that
roused him. But no sooner did he distinguish the features of
the young citizen, than the thought of his own overthrow and of
the triumph of Albert Maurice, mingled with remembrance of the
opposition he had formerly met with and the cool contempt with
which he had been treated on their last meeting, all rose up in
his mind ; and his countenance became convulsed with passion.
" lla !" he cried, " you here. Sir Mechanic ! you here to insult
and triumph over me ! — Or have you come to finish out what we
but began in the town-hall of Ghent? Doubtless you have! —
Quick, then, quick! Draw, sir, — draw your sword, I say! —
Thank God, there is no one here, either to part us, or to see
the Duke of Gueldres stain his blade with the blood of a low
citizen !"
Albert Maurice himself was not, naturally, the most patient of
men; and he instantly laid his hand upon his sword. But
nobler feelings checked him the moment after ; and he paused
in the act, saying, — " You had better reflect, my lord !"
Before he could add another vrord, however, the Duke of
Gueldres struck him a blow with the pommel of his weapon, that
made him reel ; and the next moment their blades were crossed.
Complete master of every military exercise, powerful, active,
quicksighted, and calm, Albert Maurice was far more than a
match for the Duke of Gueldres, though that prince had always
been reputed a stout and skilful man-at-arms. So great, indeed,
did the young President feel his own superiority to be, that, had
he not been heated in some degree by the blow he had received,
he would, most probably, have contented himself with wounding
or disarming his antagonist. But he was heated with the insult ;
and in four passes, the sword of the Duke of Gueldres — turned
from its course — was wounding the empty air over the shoulder
of Albert Maurice, while the blade of the young citizen passed
direct through the chest of his adversary.
Albert Maurice recovered his weapon, and gazed for a moment
on the Duke, whose mortal career he felt must be at its close.
380 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
But tliat unhappy prince stood before hiui for an instant, still
grasping his sword, and still apparently firm upon his feet, though
a ghastly swimming of his eyes showed what a convulsive agony
was moving his frame within, lie made no further effort to
lunge again; but he stood there by a sort of rigid effort, which
sufficed for a time to keep him from falling, though that was all.
The next moment the sword dropped. He reeled giddily ; and
then fell back with a fearful sort of sobbing in his throat.
Albert Maurice kneeled down beside him, and strove to stanch
the blood (which was now flowing copiously from his wounds) in
such a degree as to enable him to speak, should he have any
directions to give before he died. He brought some water, also,
from the brook hard by, and sprinkled his face ; and the Duke
almost instantly opened his eyes, and gazed wildly about for a
moment.
Then, as his glance met that of Albert Maurice, he exclaimed,
in the same harsh and brutal tone he had before used, — " You
have slain me, fellow ! you have slain me ! Out upon it, churl I
you have spilt some of tlie best blood of the land."
" My lord," said Albert Maurice, solemnly, " you have brought
it on yourself. But think not of that at this moment ! You are
dying. There is such a thing as another world ; and, oh ! repent
you of your sins while you are yet in this !"
" Is it you tell me to repent?'' cried the Duke, faintly, — " you,
who have shortened my time for repentance. What know you
of my sins ?"
" Nothing, but by report, my lord," replied the young citizen ;
"except, indeed, — except on one occasion, — the fire at the
pleasure-house of Lindenmar — the death of the young heir of
Ilannut !"
The Duke groaned. " Oh! were that all," cried he — "were
that all,— that might soon be pardoned; for my own hands in
some degree undid what my own voice commanded. But stay,
stay," he added, speaking far more quickly, " stay ! The old
man, they say, still grieves for his child — still, perhaps, suspects
me. Fly to him quick. Tell him the boy did not die in the
flames of Lindenmar. Tell him — tell him that I bore him away
myself. Tell him that, bad as I was, I could not resist the look
of helpless infancy'; that I carried liim away wrapped in my
mantle; and when my own boy died, bred him as mine; that I
was kind to him — that I loved him, till the butchers of Duke
Philip murdered him, when they cast me into prison at Namur."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 381
A light broke at once upon the mind of the young citizen.
" Good God !" he cried, — " he is not dead. lie hves, my lord —
he lives ! lie escaped — found refuge with his own father — ay,
and was instrumental in procuring your hberation from prison.
He lives — indeed, he lives !"
The eyes of the Duke of Gueldres fixed upon him as he spoke,
with an intense and half-doubting gaze. But as the young
burgher repeated earnestly, " He lives !" the dying man, by a
great effort, half raised himself from the ground, clasped his
hands together, and exclaimed, " Thank God !"
They were the last words he ever spoke; for almost as he
uttered them, he closed his eyes, as if a faint sickness had come
over him, fell back upon the turf with a convulsive shudder; and
in a few moments Adolphus of Gueldres was no more.
Albert Maurice gazed upon him with a feeling of painful in-
terest. He had slain him, it is true, under circumstances which
he believed to justify the deed. But no one, that is not in heart
a butcher, can, under any circumstances, take life hand to hand,
without feeling that a shadow has settled over existence. There
is always something to be remembei'cd — always something that
can never be forgotten. In the case of the young citizen, too,
the cloud was of a deeper shade ; for he felt that in the death of
the Duke of Gueldres, — however much justified by the immediate
provocation, — he had taken another life in that course of ambition,
in which he foresaw that many more must fall.
Thus, in gloomy bitterness, he took his way back to the village,
and, without any explanation, gave orders that the dead body
should be brought in with honour. The soldiers concluded that
both horse and man had died by the hands of the enemy ; and
Albert Maurice, in quitting his quarters the next morning, gave
strict directions that the remains of the deceased prince should
be immediately sent after him to Ghent.
After his departure, however, before a bier could be got ready,
and all the necessary preparations entered into, a party from the
town of Tournay swept the little village of Frasne ; and the body
of the Duke, being found there, was carried away by the French.
Due honours were shown to the corpse by the people of Tournay ;
and many of the writers of that age attribute the death of Adol-
phus, the bad Duke of Gueldres, to the successful sortie of the
garrison of that city.
382 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
CHAPTER XXXV.
It was barely dawn when Albert Maurice l)egan his last day's
march towards Ghent; and tliough tlic distance was considerable,
at the hour of three in the afternoon, he was within a league of
the city. The number of armed men that he now overtook —
both sinjrle individuals and small bands — showed him that the
force which had retreated from before Tournay must have lately
passed. And with a sort of anxious apprehension in regard to
the machinations which might have taken place in Ghent daring
his absence, he spoke personally with almost all the stragglers he
saw; and, b}^ a few kind words, easily induced a number of the
half- disciplined burghers and peasantry to join the small force
he was leading into Ghent — most of them being very willing to
pass for part of a conquering rather than part of a conquered
army.
At the distance of about two miles from the city — at a point
where the town itself was hidden by a detached wood — Albert
Maurice perceived a small body of horsemen coming slowly to-
wards him ; but as such a sight had nothing extraordinary in it,
he took but little heed of the party till it was within a hundred
yards, when, to his unutterable surprise, he beheld the portly
figure of worthy Martin Fruse leading the van on horseback, —
a situation which the good burgher, as may well be remembered,
had never coveted in his most agile and enterprising age, and
which had become quite abhorrent to his feelings now that years
and bulk had weighed do\A'n all activity.
" Halt your troops ! — halt your troops, my dear boy !" cried
the worthy merchant, in some trepidation. " Halt your troops,
and listen to me while I tell you "
" Had you not better speak with the honourable President
apart ?" said one of the party, in whom Albert Maurice instantly
recognised Maitre Pierre, the eschevin who had been called to
examine the dwellino; of the old Lord of Neufchatel : although,
on glancing his eye over the rest, he could recal the face of none
other amongst the stout men-at-arms, of which the chief part of
the band was composed.
Seeing that there was something to be communicated, and
judging that no very agreeable intelligence awaited him, from
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 383
the evident agitation of his friends, he gave the command to
halt his httlc force ; and then leading the way into the meadow,
begged his nncle to explain the cause of his perturbation.
Martin Fruse began with a violent declamation upon the evils
of riding on horseback, and the perils thereupon attending ; but
he ended with a recapitulation of dangers somewhat more real,
which awaited his nephew if he ventured within the gates of
Ghent. It seemed that the violent party — as Albert Maurice
had apprehended — had, under the skilful tactics of the druggist
Ganay, completely outmanoeuvred the little junta which the
young President had left to keep them in check ; and now that
it was too late, Albert Maurice perceived that he had suffered
his thirst for military renown to lead him aside from the paths of
saner policy. Ganay himself had become the supreme object of
the people's adoration ; and having leagued himself by some
skilful management with the Duke of Cleves on the one hand,
and the populace on the other, he had been entirely successful in
all the measures he had proposed to the council of magistrates.
The States General had not again met, it was true ; but a new
party had been created in the town. The city of Ghent, in fact,
had become completely divided, but divided unequally ; for
though a strong and influential body had attached themselves to
Martin Fruse, the multitude adhered to his opponent.
Ganay, indeed, the worthy burgher said, not daring openly to
assail one whose successes in the field were daily subject of re-
joicing with the citizens, affected to act upon the instructions
and desires of Albert Maurice himself; and the complete, or
rather apparent union between them, which had formerly existed,
had aided to deceive the people. Martin Fruse had reproached
the druggist, and reasoned with the magistrates, in vain ; and all
that he had gained was the certainty that, from some cause which
he could not define, Ganay had become his nephew's most bitter
enemy, though he still affected to regard him as a friend. Pri-
vate information, also, had reached Martin Fruse early in the
morning, that — as soon as it had been ascertained the young
citizen was on his march with the intention of reaching the city
in the course of the day — Ganay, supported both by the nobility
under the Duke of Cleves and by the more violent members of
the States, had contrived a scheme for arresting the President
that very night, at a grand banquet to be given in honour of his
return ; and the large body of discontented soldiery which had
384 IMAUY OF BUnGUNDV , OR,
been pouring into the town diirinL;; the day, and who were already
jealous of those who had been more sucecssful than themselves,
seemed to offer the means of aecomplishing this purpose in
security.
Martin Frusc, losing all presence of mind at the danger of his
beloved nephew, had determined to quit the city, to meet and
warn the ol)jcct of this conspiracy, of his danger, ere he entered
the town. The cschevin, who had been called to the hotel of
the Lord of Ncufchatel, conscious that some suspicions which he
had ventured to breathe concerning the death of that nobleman
had rendered him obnoxious to the party which for the time
appeared triumphant, had joined the good burgher ; and the
danger that seemed to threaten all, had even overcome the ob-
jection of Martin Fruse to the use of a horse.
This talc was soon told ; and Albert Maurice, from his own
private knowledge of all the springs that were moving the dark
cabals within the walls of the city before him, saw much deeper
into the dangers and difficulties of his own situation than those
who detailed the circumstances which had occurred since his
departure. lie saw that the crisis of his fate was come ; and
without once entertaining the vain thought of avoiding it, he
merely paused to calculate how he might pass through it most
triumphantly.
Fear or hesitation, doubt or even anxiety, never seemed to
cross his mind for a moment. lie felt, it is true, that his victory
or his fall must be now complete, and that he was marching ibr-
ward to a strife that must be final and decisive : but still he was
eager to bring the whole to a close — perhaps from that confi-
dence in his own powers, which is ever one great step towards
success. He -heard his uncle to an end with an unchanged
countenance ; and then, without a single observation on the
intelligence he had just received, he spoke a few words to the
cschevin, in a low tone, in regard to the inquisition he had
charf^ed him to make in the house of the old Lord of Ncufchatel.
D
The answers seemed to satisfy him well ; for ever and anon he
bowed his head with a calm but somewhat bitter smile, saying
merely, — " So ! Ay ! Is it so ?"
At length he demanded suddenly, — pointing to a man-at-
arms who had come up with his uncle and the party which
had accompanied him, and now sat with his visor up, display-
ing a fresh and weather-beaten countenance, well seamed with
THE RRVOl/r OF GHENT. 385
scars of ancient wounds, — " Who is that ? I should know his
foce."
" That," whispered his uncle, riding close up to him — " that
is good Mathew Gournay, the captain of adventurers, who was
with us in the year fifty, when we made a stand against the
Count of Charolois. lie said you had sent for him."
" I did, I did !" replied the young burgher ; " but I had for-
gotten all about it, in the events that have since taken place.
Where is the prisoner I left in the town prison ?"
" Ay ! there is one of their bold acts," answered Martin Fruse ;
and, as he spoke, the countenance of Albert Maurice turned
deadly pale, thinking they had put to death the man whom he
had promised to set free ; but his uncle soon relieved him.
" Ay ! there is one of their bold acts," he said ; " they have moved
him from the town-house to the Prevot's prison near the gates,
and threaten to do him to death to-morrow by cock-crow. Mail-
lotin du Bac would fain have had him tried by the eschevins this
morning ; but the Duke of Cleves made so long a speech, and
brought so much other business before the council, that they
agreed to put it off till to-morrow ; when he is to be interrogated
at six o'clock, and have the question at seven if he refuse to
confess."
Again the President mused, without reply, though he saw
that to extort confessions which would tend to create a charge
against him, might be the object of the Prevot in reserving
the Vert Gallant for the torture. At length, riding up to the old
man-at-arms, he led him apart, and conversed with him earnestly
for near a quarter of an hour. At the end of that time he
conducted him, with the dozen of troopers who accompanied
him, to the last constabulary of the horse, which had shared
in his own successful expedition, and then spoke a few words
with the constable, or leader of the troop, who, with a low reve-
rence, dropped back amongst his men. The followers of Matthew
Gournay fell into the ranks ; the adventurer put himself at their
head ; and scarcely a difference was perceivable in the order
of the band.
As soon as all this was completed, Albert Maurice rode back
to his uncle and the rest of his party, and informed them calmly
that it was absolutely necessary — notwithstanding all the events
which had lately taken place — that they should return to Ghent,
and re-enter the town by one of the opposite gates ; so as to
c c
38G IVIARY OF BURGUNDY; OH,
leave it at least doubtful whether they had or had not held any
coinmiuiication with himself.
What he rccfuircd of them was, perhaps, somewhat hard, con-
sidering that they were peaceable men, who had no small reason
to fear for their lives, and had no immediate stlnuilus to make
them risk so much willingly. But Martin Frnse had seen
his nephew accomplish such great things in the face of every sort
of probability, and the tone in which Albert INIaurice spoke was
so calm and assured, that the wishes of the young citizen were
received as commands ; and the small party of citizens,- now left
without an escort, rode off; while the young President still
halted on the road, to give them time to make the circuit pro-
posed before his entrance.
As soon as he judged that this object was accomplished, Albert
Maurice again put his troops in motion, and advanced slowly
towards the city. As he emerged from the low wood that had
hitherto screened him, he despatched a trumpet to announce his
approach to the council of Ghent, and the States of Flanders ;
and directed the messenger especially to speak with Signior
Ganay, one of the magistrates of the town. He then resumed a
quicker pace, and approached rapidly the walls of the city.
Before he reached the gates, however, it became evident that
his harbinger had not spared the spur, and had already executed
his commission. A large body of horsemen were seen to issue
forth, accompanied by a crowd on foot; and loud shouts of
joy and gratulation met the ear of Albert Maurice, — showing
that the populace at least, to whom Ganay had first made his
court by affecting friendship for their victorious President, had
not yet become aware of the designs of his enemies. But such
demonstrations of the popular joy on his return, were received by
Albert Maurice as no sign that the purpose of destroying him
did not exist; nor as any reason for expecting that his overthrow
would not be attempted ; nor as any proof that the people would
oppose or resent it; for no one knew better than himself how
slight a charge will condemn the most innocent before the fierce
tribunal of the multitude, or felt more bitterly how readily those
who now greeted his return would shout at his execution.
He was surprised, however, as the two parties drew near each
other, to find that the body which had issued forth to receive
him was headed by Ganay himself, and was composed of all
those whom he had the greatest reason to look upon as his
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 387
political enemies. But Albert Maurice was not to be deceived ;
and though he received the compliments and gratulations of the
citizens on his return, and their thanks for his great services,
with a smiling countenance, and bland untroubled brow, yet
his mind clearly divined the motives of so much courtesy ; and
he internally scoffed at the grossness of the deceit they at-
tempted to play off upon him. He bowed, and smiled, and
doffed his cap and plume to every one who affected to con-
gratulate him ; but he well understood that he was surrounded
by doubtful friends or concealed enemies; and watched care-
fully every changing expression of the faces round him.
The populace on foot, who crowded round, with loud and
vehement shouts of " Long live the noble President ! Long
live the conqueror of Le Lude !" he clearly saw were sincere
enough. But in the set speeches and formal courtesy of the
different members of the States he beheld much to distrust,
and calmly prepared for those great and bold measures which
were alone fitted to meet the exigency of the moment.
Albert Maurice was a reader of the human countenance, —
a book, every volume of which is easy to comprehend, when
we know the language in which it is written, or, in other words,
when we understand the general character of the individual.
Ganay was a master in the art of dissimulation ; but the young
citizen was so intimately acquainted with every turn of his dark
mind, that even the slight traces which he suffered to appear,
were as legible to Albert Maurice, as if he had seen into his
heart. He marked a transient and scarcely perceptible shade
come over the brow of the druggist, whenever the people voci-
ferated their noisy welcome. He saw, too, that ever, on each
shout, Ganay redoubled his attention to himself; and he clearly
perceived that, from the moment they met, his former friend
attached himself to his side, and strove anxiously to prevent
his holding any private communication with the leaders of his
troops. From all this, he judged that the tidings he had re-
ceived from Martin Fruse were substantially correct; and that
the honours shown to him on his return, were only to deceive
the people, while any act that was meditated against him was
to be executed at night, after the lower orders had retired
to rest.
Albert Maurice affected to be entirely deceived, and rode
on with the party who had come to welcome him, with every
c c 2
388 MARY OF BURGUNDY ; OR,
appearance of friendshij) and confidence. He spoke freely and
calmly with those around him ; addressed (jlanay frequently in
a low and confidential tone ; and, at the same time, assumed all
that slate and dignity, which he knew that his enemies ex-
pected him to display. He marked, too, with a feeling of sup-
pressed scorn, the significant glances which passed between his
foes, as — taking on himself the principal place, and with an
air and demeanour, which might have suited the most potent
monarch in Christendom — he rode through the gates of Ghent
amidst the acclamations of the people.
While thus Albert Maurice proceeded, surrounded by a great
number of the high citizens, the troops he commanded followed
in a long line, now swelled to the amount of nearly fifteen hun-
dred men. The whole cavalcade moved on towards the market-
place ; but some persons, who remained near the drawbridge,
remarked that the last band of soldiers did not follow the rest ;
but, halting at the gate, relieved the guard that was there on
duty, and then passed on, in a different direction, by the low
streets which ran under the walls. At the same time, however,
three of the troopers were detached, and, at once, repassing the
gates, galloped off at full speed, in the direction of Ileusden and
Melle. It was farther observed, and commented upon in other
days, that in about two hours afterwards, three bands of men-at-
arms came up from the same quarter, at a quick pace, and
entered the city, without even being questioned by the guard.
To what spot they went in the city was not very clearly ascer-
tained, but it was generally reported that they made their way
in small parties to the town-house.
In the meanwhile, Albert Maurice and the rest pursued their
march towards that building, the crowds increasing every mo-
ment as they passed, and rending the air with their acclamations.
With his helmet, lance, and shield, carried by pages behind him,
as if he had been the most distinguished knight in the land —
with his cap and plume in his hand, and bowing his fine head
low at every shout of the multitude, the young citizen advanced
towards what was called the Perron of the Hotel de Ville, on
which he found collected, to do him honour, the Duke of Cleves
and a number of the other nobles of the town and neighbourhood.
Knowing their league against him, and what a mockery they
considered this public reception of a simple burgher, Albert
Maurice could scarcely prevent the scorn he felt in his heart
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 389
from curling his proud lip. But he did prevent it, and merely
thinking, like Hamlet, — " They fool me to the top of my bent," —
he dismounted from his horse at the steps, and played exactly
the part which he well knew they expected from him. After
receiving, with a degree both of haughtiness and humility, the
gratulations of the nobles upon his successful expedition, he
turned and addressed the lower orders of Ghent in a long and
flattering harangue, throughout which, the close of every period,
was drowned in the enthusiastic cheers of the populace.
" It were hard, my friends," he added, in conclusion, " that
you should all come out hither to welcome my return, and I
should give you no sign of my good will. Fain would I have
vou all to sup with me ; but, in good faith, there are so many
here, — some twenty thousand, as I guess, — that no house could
hold the multitude I see around me. However, it is a fair and
beautiful evening, and there is no better roof than the sky. Now,
as these noble lords and worthy merchants have invited me to
banquet with them within, I invite you all to sup here in the
market-place, and by seven of the clock you shall find good ale
and beef enough to satisfy you, if I give the last stiver of my
private fortune to entertain the worthy artisans of Ghent."
A loud shout burst from the people, but Ganay and his friends
exchanged glances not of the most pleasant kind. Nor were
their looks rendered more placid, when they heard an order
given by the young President to his troops, purporting that they
were to stable their horses in whatever sheds they could find
round the market-place, and to quarter themselves in the wide
halls and vacant chambers of the Hotel de Ville. Ganay even
ventured to remonstrate against turning the town-house into a
barrack, but he was instantly silenced by Albert Maurice.
" I have heard, my excellent, good friend," he replied, " since
my return to Ghent, that the fifteen thousand men, who were
driven like sheep from before Tournay, have been received in
this city, and quartered in the different barracks. I know, there-
fore, that there can be no room to spare, and what you urge with
regard to the illegality of bringing troops into the town- house,
you must well know does not apply in the present case. The
troops which I have resolved to station there are the troops of
the city of Ghent, not those of either a foreign or a native
prince."
" But for the informality of the thing," urged Ganay, seeing
390 MARY OF UURGIIN'DV; OR,
that by tlic very measures which he liad taken to secure the safe
execution of his purpose against the young citizen, he had, in
fact, over-reaclicd himself — " but for the informality of the thing,
would it not be better, as there is no room for them in the town,
to march them into any of the pleasant little villages in the
neighbourhood ?"
" What !" exclaimed Albert Maurice, assuming an air of in-
dignation ; — " what ! make the victorious troops, that have so
well served the city, give place to those who have brought no-
thing but disgrace upon us ! No, no, Master Ganay, let us hear
no more of this. My orders must be obeyed ;" and so saying,
he turned and advanced towards the door of the town-house.
A short and rapid conversation was now carried on, in a low
tone, between the druggist and the Duke of Cleves, as they
ascended the steps towards the hall. " It will be impossible to-
night," whispered the noble.
" If he live over to-morrow," replied Ganay, " no earthly
power will overthrow him."
A few words succeeded, in so low a tone, that even, by the
parties who spoke, their meaning was probably gathered more
completely by their mutual looks, than by any distinct sounds.
A white-haired old soldier, however, who was pushing up the
steps after the young President, just heard Ganay add, " If I do,
will you justify and defend me ?"
"Anything to get rid of him !" replied the Duke, emphatically ;
and they both passed on.
The sun was, by this time, beginning to descend in the western
sky ; and on entering the town-house, the young citizen retired
to the apartments which had been assigned him in that building,
and remained long in consultation with various persons, who
were admitted to him one after another. The individuals who
thus visited him were all marked by the opposite faction, which
remained in the other parts of the town-house ; and it was seen
that, besides Martin Frusc, and a number of the burghers ad-
hering to the party of that good citizen, almost all the leaders of
the bands which had accompanied the young President in his
expedition to Lille and Douai were admitted, and remained with
him long.
All this, however, appeared natural enough ; and though his
troops, in quartering themselves in different parts of the build-
ing, according to his orders, seemed to take upon thcuiselves a
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 391
tone of authority and power not very pleasing to his adversaries,
yet this also might pass for the swagger and insolence of military
success; nor did it excite any very great surprise. As the
evening went on, however, a number of persons were observed
ascending to his apartments, whose faces no one recognised.
Some stayed and -some returned ; but it was evident that they
were not citizens of Ghent, and great was the anxiety and dis-
cussion which these appearances caused amongst the enemies of
the young President. Every means was taken to discover
whence they came and what was their errand, but it was all in
vain. The Duke of Clcves retired to his own hotel, to prepare
for the scenes that were about to take place ; and Ganay waited
eagerly the coming of the hour appointed for the banquet,
which would put an end, he believed, for ever, to transactions
which, from many causes, he both doubted and feared.
Nevertheless, his sensations were of a mixed, and even painful
nature, and his conclusions in regard to the conduct of Albert
Maurice were less clear and decided than they had ever been
before. He did not and would not believe that the President
suspected the precise design of those who had contrived his
overthrow ; but he saw evidently that he was not deceived by all
the fair appearances which had welcomed him back to Ghent ;
and he felt that the moment was come when, as the young citizen
had long before foreseen, the immediate destruction of the one
was necessary to the safety of the other. That conviction in his
own bosom of course made him believe that Albert Maurice was
equall}' alive to the same fact ; and as the means which he had
so carefully prepared during the absence of the other had been,
in some degree, rendered vain by the measures that the President
had taken, the druggist now stood resolved to snatch the first
opportunity of executing his purpose by any means, however
great the risk, well knowing that the peril of delay was still
greater.
And yet, strange to say, there was within the bosom of that
man, — hardened as he was by crimes, and still more hardened
by the struggle of passions concealed within his breast through a
long life, — strange to say, there was a feeling of deep regret, of
bitter repugnance, when he thought of the very act he planned
for his own security. If ever there had been, in the cotxrse of
all his existence, a being that he had sincerely loved, besides his
own unhappy son, that being had been Albert Maurice ; and
392 IMAUY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
though, in the scenes of civil faction and the strife of contending
interests and desires which tlicy had lately passed through, that
affection had been apparently smothered, it is wonderful how
freshly it rose up in his heart, when he thought that Albert
Maurice must die by his means, — possibly by his own hand.
The fatal creed he held of man's entire mortality, made him
fearless of death himself, and careless of inflicting it on others ;
but, ]ierhaps, by teaching him that the loves and affections of
this life were all, it made them take a deeper hold uj)()n his
heart, when once they could grasj) it by any means ; and for a
moment, as he thought of cutting off the noble being whose
powers he had so often admired, — of extinguishing for ever all
those fiery energies and bright aspirations he had watched from
their first breaking forth to their full expansion, — he shuddered
at the task.
The people without, witnessing the preparations for the
banquet to which the young citizen had invited them, from
time to time shouted forth his name with loud applause, and
there was a voice within the bosom of Ganay that echoed their
praises. " He is indeed a splendid creature," he thought ; " and
if ever there was one calculated to win all hearts, and lead men
and nations on to scenes and glories such as the world has never
yet seen, he is the man. Yet after all, he must die ! and 'tis
but like the slaughter of a mighty stag or a noble boar ; and
death, — which ends all things, — perhaps, when the pain and the
pleasure of life are fairly balanced, is the crowning good that
renders the whole equal at last: but I must speed to see all
prepared !"
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Never had the town of Ghent witnessed so magnificent a sight
as on the night after the return of Albert Maurice. The whole
market-place before the Stadt Iluys, illuminated by a thousand
torches, was crowded with people regaling at long tables, which
groaned beneath the burden of good cheer. The young Pre-
sident had spared no means to satisfy all ; and, by the magic
influence of gold, had, in the short time which had elapsed
THE REVOLT OF GHENT, 393
since his return, conjured up a festival more like some of those
fairy banquets depicted in an Eastern tale, than anything in real
life. Thousands and thousands, too, of the wealthier classes,
whose circumstances raised them above those who came to
partake of his bounty, moved through the open spaces, enjoyhig
the scene. The Perron of the Hotel de Ville was crowded with
guards, officei's, and attendants, looking over the gay and happy
sight which the scjuare afforded ; and above all, rose the dark
mass of the town-house, with a broad blaze flashing forth from
all the open windows, while the sound of music from within, and
the glancing of figures moving rapidly across the lights, offered
links of interest between the feelings of the crowd without and
the transactions that were passing in the building.
A knot of the more curious citizens had stationed themselves
on the little rise by the fountain, and watched eagerly the win-
dows of the hall, where the banquet was just about'to take place ;
and at length, when a loud flourish of trumpets echoed out upon
the air, some of them were heard to exclaim, " Now ! now they
are coming to the tables ! — See, see ! they are passing along ! —
There is the Duke of Cleves ; I know him by the limp in his
gait ; and there is the President, — there is the noble President !
See how he overtops them all, and how his plumes dance above
the highest in the hall ! Hurrah for the noble President !" and
the multitude catching the sound, burst forth with a loud and
universal cheer, that made the buildings around echo and re-echo
with the shout.
Although, at that distance, it was diflicult to distinguish the
persons within, yet the shout was appropriate, for it was, indeed,
Albert Maurice who — received as a guest by the States of Flan-
ders, and the nobles and prime burghers of Ghent — was advancing
to the seat prepared for him. Long consultations had been pre-
viously held in regard to where that seat was to be placed ; for
feudal states in general required that a marked distinction should
be observed between nobles and citizens ; but the druggist coun-
selled the nobles to indulge the young citizen's pride to the utmost
for that one night. The example of Artevelde — a common trades-
man of that very town, who had sat and treated with the highest
princes of Europe — was cited, and prevailed ; and the President
of Ghent took his chair by the Duke of Cleves, with Ganay, by
a previous arrangement, seated beside him.
The face of the druggist was uncommonly pale. He had
394 MM{\ OK burgundy; oh,
marked the immcMisc concourse of people in the scjuare ; he had
marked the multitude of guards and attendants that crowded
the terrace and thronged the lialls of the town-house ; and he
knew the infinite perils that attended the deed he had under-
taken to perform. Whatever course events might take, he felt
that fate bnxxlcd heavily over the whole splendid scene ; and his
small, clear dark eye wandered somewhat wildly round the hall,
especially as, in following Albert Maurice towards the seat it had
been arranged he was to occupy, the thundering shout of the
multitude without burst upon his ear. All, however, apparently
passed in trancpiil ease : the whole party were seated ; and the
attendants of the Duke of Clcvcs — somewhat more numerous
than necessary — drew round the upper end of the table. But as
they did so, they perceived that they enclosed amongst themselves
two or three strange men, against whose intrusion they remon-
strated rather roughly. What the others answered was not heard,
but they kept their place, and the banquet proceeded.
Everything was rich and splendid, according to the custom of
that time ; and many a fish and many a fowl appeared upon the
table, which have either lost their palatable flavour in latter days,
or have been discarded by some depravity of human taste.
Albert Maurice ate sparingly, and drank little ; but he was more
gay and cheerful than, perhaps, any one had ever seen him
before ; and, with the whole, there was an air of easy dignity,
which left any outward difference that might be observed be-
tween himself and any of the nobles around, entirely to his
advantage.
Ganay drank deep ; and, as the banquet proceeded, his cheek
grew flushed, and his eye sparkled more; but he was silent,
absent, and thoughtful, and shrunk when the eye of Albert
Maurice rested on him, even for a moment, in conversation. At
length the Duke of Cleves rose, and addressed the druggist
briefly, saying, " Master Ganay, you are an orator, and I am
none ; and besides, as one of the consuls of the good town of
Ghent, the task I am going to put upon you, falls more naturally
to you than to me, Fill, then, yon golden hanap to the brim,
and express, if you can find language to do so, the gratitude and
admiration which the States of Tlanders — nobles and commons
alike — feel for him who has won the first successes in arms for
his native country against her base invaders, — successes which I
trust may but be the earnest of many more."
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 395
Ganay took tlic large golden cup, and held it to an officer who
filled it with wine : but, as the druggist again brought it back,
he leaned his hand upon the edge for a moment, and something
seemed, to the eyes of more persons than one, to fall into the
chalice. lie rose, however, with greater composure than he had
hitherto displayed through the evening ; and with a happy flow
of words, the very choiceness and selection of which made his
speech appear far more vigorous and enthusiastic than it really
was, he commented on the talents and successes of the young
citizen, and thanked him, in the name of the town of Ghent and
the States of Flanders, for the services he had rendered to his
country.
It is scarcely necessary, perhaps, to state that it was the com-
mon custom of the day for a person publicly drinking to* another
in such a manner, to taste the wine himself, and then to send the
cup to him whom he addressed. Ganay, accordingly, at the end
of his oration, raised the hanap to his lips, and held it there for
a moment; and then, according to form, gave it to the cup-
bearer, who presented it to the young burgher. Albert Maurice,
after taking the chalice, rose at once, while the eye of the drug-
gist fixed upon him with a gaze, that had something almost
fearful in its very intensity.
" Noble lords," he said, in a clear, mellow, steady voice ; —
" noble lords ! dear fellow citizens ! worthy men of Flanders !
you have been pleased this day to show me honours, far higher
than my poor merits gave me any title to expect. The duty of
a citizen to his country is one, which, however zealously executed,
affords him no claim to thanks ; for being an obligation imposed
on him by his birth, it binds him strictly through his life ; and
even at his death, he that has done all within his scope to uphold
his native land, has still done nothing but that which he was
boimd to do. Nevertheless, it is hard to say, how much I rejoice
that the men of Ghent and the States of Flanders have thought
fit, by such distinguished honours, to reward such poor services
as mine. Nor — however grateful to my heart may be your
generous applause — are my feelings personal alone. I rejoice
more that you have so honoured and rewarded the first man who
has been enabled to render service in arms to the state, since her
restoration to freedom, than that the first was Albert Maurice.
I rejoice chiefly, because I am sure that the distinction shown to
me this night — unworthy as I am — will be the means of calling
396 AIAKV OK lill{Gl'NDV; OH,
Others forth in the service of the country, wlioin diffidence of
their own powers, or doubts of the state's wilUngness to accept
what they niay Ix'hevc inefficient service, has hitherto ke[)t back
from the path of fame. When an incHvickial serves his country
to the utmost of his power, as I have before said, he does but his
duty to tliat country, and no more ; but when the state recom-
penses its individual servants even beyond their deserts, it does
its duty to itself, and ensures the most zealous services of all its
ciiildren : for the men who will serve a niggard master well,
because it is their duty, will serve a liberal one with their whole
lieart and soul ; and let me say, there is a mighty difference. —
Men of Ghent," continued the young President, " and you, nol;le
barons and burghers of Flanders, I give you all deep and heart-
felt thanks ; and I drink unto you all !"
Albert Maurice had spoken calmly and collectedly, and not a
word betrayed that there was one feeling in his heart but tranquil
confidence. As he paused and lifted the hanap in his hand, the
gaze of Ganay grew more and more intense : his pale lip quivered,
and a bright red spot glowed on his ashy cheek, while the young
citizen continued to raise the cup slowly towards his lip. Sud-
denly, however, Albert Maurice paused, and turned his glance
with a movement as quick as lightning upon the druggist, into
whose face the blood rushed with fearful violence as their eyes
met. Sternly and steadfastly the young President gazed on him,
while one might count fifty, and then tossing the cup into the
midst of the hall, he exclaimed, with a scornful laugh, — " No,
no ! No, no ! — Did you dream that I did not know you, nuu--
derer ?"
" Know me now, then !" cried Ganay, starting up — " know me
now !" and he sprang towards Albert Maurice like a famished
tiger. But, at that moment, the man who stood behind his chair
strode forward ; something bright waved above the druggist as
he rose, descended at once upon his head, and cleft its way
through to the very eyes.
Ganay fell back from his place, dead upon the floor of the
hall ; but even as he fell, his hand, armed with a short poniard,
aimed an impotent blow at the young President, which struck
ringing against the pavement.
" Ho ! Close the doors !" cried Albert Maurice, rapidly.
" Matthew Gournay, you have done well ! Let no one dare to
approach the corpse ! Look at him as he lies, lords and free
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 397
citizens ! Look at him as he lies, with the weapon of destruction
in his hand ! And you, my friends, whom I stationed round
about, did you not see him drop the poison in the cup as clearly
as I did ?"
" We did ! — we did ! — we did I" cried a dozen voices round
the table ; and those who were at first inclined to look somewliat
fiercely upon these witnesses, soon perceived that the testimony
came from all the most honourable citizens of Ghent, who, fore-
warned, had watched the proceedings of the druggist.
" These are bold and terrible deeds, Sir President !" said the
Duke of Cleves.
" Not so bold as some I could name, Duke of Cleves !" replied
Albert Maurice, bending his brows sternly upon him. " The
man who lies before you has already more than one murder
on his head. There are the proofs of his participation in the
death of the good old Lord of Neufchatel, who died by poison
while recovering from his wounds. For these proofs I have
to thank yon worthy and fearless magistrate, Maitre Pierre.
These, however, would have been produced before the judges
of this city, had I not discovered the purpose of this base as-
sassin to poison me this night, and taken proper means to
counteract his design. There are others here present, leagued in
the same evil conspiracy; and did I so please, I could name them
one by one. Look not to your attendants, Duke of Cleves ; for
know, that in this building and around it I have enough faithful
friends, to bind every traitor present hand and foot, and give
them over to the common hangman — did I so will it. But fear
not ; I neither accuse you nor absolve you, my lord. You came
here, a guest to the city of Ghent, and you depart unopposed,
uninjured, with this warning only — beware how you entertain a
thought against the liberties of the people. To the rest —
within whose bosoms dwells the fearful consciousness of their
own treachery — I say only, I do not dread them ; and from my
confidence in myself and in the people of Ghent, they find
safety. Those who were moved to seek my overthrow by fears
and doubts, instilled into them by yon arch traitor who now lies
dead, will learn from my conduct this night, that I am not the
man that I have been represented ; and those who, from baser
motives, would have compassed my death, may also learn, that
such designs fall ever, sooner or later, on the heads of those that
framed them. Those who love me not, therefore, may depart
398 RIAUV OF nURGUNDY; OR,
in peace; those who love me and Ghent, remain; and let us
finish our festivities, for the death of that base man is no more to
be noted than the shooting of a wolf, or any other wild beast
that would destroy us. — Take away the corpse !"
The guests looked upon each other with in(juiring glances,
as they stood around the tabic in the same attitudes into which
they had started, on the sudden catastrophe they had just
witnessed; but few present were willing, by quitting the hall,
as the young President permitted, to brand themselves as enemies
to Albert Maurice and to Ghent.
Good Martin Fruse was the first who resumed his seat, which
he did, murmuring, — " He was an unworthy man, that Ganay,
and a disgrace to the city. He nearly caused my death some
twenty years ago."
Those who heard this new charge against the unhappy druggist
started, and many looked wise, and shook the sagacious head,
exclaiming, — " Ah ! we always knew he w^as a wicked man !"
but Albert Maurice, who understood that the mode of death
to which his uncle alluded was not quite deserving of such
serious comment, again called upon those who were friends to
Ghent, and to himself, to resume their seats at once.
One after another, all the citizens, and almost all the nobles,
followed the example of good Martin Fruse. The Duke of
Cleves, however, together with a few of his immediate partisans,
remained standing, and, after a brief pause, moved a step towards
the door.
" It is not my custom," he said, " to sit and drink in halls
where blood has just been shed; and without being an enemy
to Ghent, or any of her true and faithful sons, I may be par-
doned for quitting a place, where I know not what is to happen
next."
" Fortunately for myself, my lord," replied Albert Maurice,
" I did know what was intended to happen next; though, perhaps,
my having spoiled the design may be matter of offence to some
here present. But not to bandy words with so high a prince,
I have only further to say, that the citizens of Ghent have
been honoured by your presence while it has lasted; and you
have, in return, been treated with a goodly and instructive,
though somewhat fearful, spectacle — showing how tho men of
this city punish those who attempt to poison them at their
solemn feasts. — Make way for the Duke of Cleves, there !"
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 399
And with an air in which courtesy and grace gave additional
point to the keen scorn that curled his hp and bent his brow,
Albert Maurice led the Duke towards the door, and bowed low
as he passed out.
The young President then resumed his seat ; his lip softened,
his brow unbent, and, gazing round the guests with one of those
bland smiles which often win approbation for the past, by seeming
certain of applause, he exclaimed, — " Friends, have I done
well?"
The man who rose to reply was one of the most zealous of
that violent party, on whose support Ganay had founded his
authority; and Albert Maurice prepared for bold opposition; for
he knew him to be fierce and fearless, though honest and up-
right in purpose. By one of those sudden revolutions of feeling,
however, which are common in scenes of great excitement, the
whole sentiments of the partisan had become changed by the
frank and determined demeanour of the young citizen ; and
he answered at once, — " So well have you done. Sir President,
that, in my opinion, if Ghent owed you gratitude before, that
gratitude ought now to be increased a hundred-fold ; and if she
suspected you of any baseness, those suspicions should be done
away for ever. To many of us you have been represented as
courting the nobility for your own purposes, and seeking alone, in
all you have done, your own aggrandizement. Some of us, too,
— I for one," he added, boldly, — " consented to your arrest this
night. I acknowledge it ; and frankly I acknowledge I was
wrong. But believe me. Sir President, when with the same
voice I declare, that, had I ever dreamed of the scheme for
murdering you here, my own knife should first have drunk the
blood of the assassin. Justly has he been done to death; and
wisely have you treated yon proud prince, who courts us now,
only, that he may first rise by us, and then crush us hereafter ;
and who — as no one that saw his countenance can doubt — was
leagued with the dead assassin. It is the policy of those that
hate us, to set us at variance amongst ourselves, and remove
from us all the men whose talents and whose firmness will enable
us to triumph still. Let us, then, all pledge ourselves to union ;
and, in order to preserve him who alone possesses genius and
power sufficient to lead us properly, let us give him a guard
of five hundred men, and intrust him with greater authority
than he has hitherto enjoyed."
400 MAllY OF BURGUNDY ; 015,
The proposal was received with acclamation; and the citizens
— some eager to show that they had no participation in the
plot which had just been frustrated — some carried away by
the general enthusiasm — and some from- the first devoted to
the young President — vied with each other in voting him new
powers and new dignities. At that moment he miglit have com-
manded anything in the power of the States of Flanders to
bestow ; and much more was spontaneously offered than he
thought prudent to accept. " No, no !" he said ; " limit the
power you grant me to that which your fathers formerly con-
ferred, in this very hall, on Jacob Von Artevclde, with this further
restriction, that I shall submit, every month, the revenues in-
trusted to my disposal, to the inspection of three persons chosen
from your own body. Thus shall I be enabled to serv^e you
as much as man can do ; and thus will you guard against those
abuses to which the unlimited confidence of your ancestors gave
rise. Nothing more will I accept."
The will of the young citizen for the time was law, and the
whole arrangement was speedily completed. One more deep
cup of red wine each man present quaffed to the health of Albert
Maurice, and then took leave, one by one. Martin Fruse was
the last that left him; and as he did so, the good old man wrung
his hand hard. " Farewell, Albert," he said ; " I have seen you
a little child, and I have seen you a stately man, and I have
loved you better than anything else on earth throughout my
life. You have now reached a dizzy height, my dear boy ; and,
oh ! take care that your head do not turn giddy. — For my sake,
if not for your own, take care ; — for it would slay me to see your
fall."
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Few, but those who have passed through such scenes, and have
felt the mighty strife of Titan passions not only acting around
them, but struggling in the narrow battle-field of their own
bosoms, can at all comprehend what it is, after hours of conten-
tion, difficulty, and danger — where life and death hung upon
a breath or movement — to find one's self alone and successful.
THE REVOLT OF UIIKM. 401
If there be a feeling amongst the many which visit the human
heart, in this dark and misty abode of mortal existence, — if
there be a feeling amongst all those Avhich, like angel or devil,
visits the lonely sojourner in the wilderness of being, to raise him
to the sky, or plunge him in the abyss, — if there be a feeling on
earth that really deserves the name of sublime, it is the first calm
sensation of dangers encountered and conquered, of mighty
things endeavoured and achieved.
Altjert Maurice sat alone, after an evening of such fearful
excitement, as few have ever passed upon this earth, — after
having seen his own life, and power, and hopes, in momentary
danger, — after having controlled and concealed his own passions,
and bridled, and governed, and guided those of others, — after
having overthrown his enemies, slain his betrayer, secured his
authority, and taken all but one small easy step to the very
summit of his ambition. Oh, what a host of mingled sensations
crowded rapidly on his heart ! and how dizzily his brain whirled
for the first few brief moments, while remembrance rapidly
brought before him all the multiplied events of the last two
hours; and out of the smoke of memory rose the giant con-
sciousness that he was successful — triumphantly successful !
For an instant his lip curled with a proud and satisfied smile ;
and everything was forgotten, but that bright bubble — success.
But, as he sat, a sort of lassitude came over him ; his eye fell
casually on the spot where the druggist Ganay had lain, con-
vulsed in the agonies of death ; and, by a caprice of the imagina-
tion, the same face which had then appeared streaked with
ghastly blood, and contorted with the pangs of dissolution, was
presented to his memory, as he had seen it in former days,
speaking the words of hope to his own ear, and cheering him on
the path of enterprise and ambition.
Touched by the magic wand of association, the splendid
objects which he had just been contemplating began to change
their form and lose their brightness. A dull weight of thought
seemed to fall upon him, and his utmost efforts would not throw
it off. It seemed as if some fiend, in bitter mockery, resolved to
conjure up the faces of the dead, and to torture his heart with
painful recollections, even in the hour of triumph. To the
form of the druggist, next succeeded, before the eye of fancy,
that of the Duke of Gueldres, dyeing the green sward with his
blood; and then, the shifting picture of the mind presented the
D D
402 INIAUV ()]• MriUJUNDV; OH,
same prince as when first, with buoyant joy, he came to thank
him for his Hberation. Next a})pcarcd Imbcrcourt and Ilugonot,
bending to the ytrokc ot" the executioner: and then, iigain,
he beheld them, as they had appeared at the council, when
he had been examined on the accusation of" the Prevot ; while,
the calm, grave, noble countenance of Imbcrcourt was seen, by
imagination, j)leading eagerly in exculpation ot" him, who hatl
since worked out the death ot" his defender.
" So many, in so short a time !" thought Albert Maurice.
" Yet have they died, each for his own misdeeds ; and I have
sacrificed them — ay, and with pain — for the good of my country
alone !"
He almost started at the vehemence with which conscience
gave the lie to so base a delusion. " For the good of my
country alone !" he thought again. " Nay — nay — nay — for my
own ambition. What — what act have I done yet, for the good
of my country alone ? None, alas ! none ! and even nuw,
perhaps, — even now, when ambition has swallowed up all —
when 1 have reached the very pinnacle of success, — perhaps the
only one I have suffered to escape — perhaps yon Duke of Cleves
is even now plotting to deprive me of the only reward that can
wipe away every evil memory, repay every effort, tranquillize
every pain, and render success a blessing indeed. But lie shall
plot in vain ; and if he dare to plot, by the Lord that lives, he
shall die !
" IIo ! without there !"' he continued, aloud. " Bring me a
hat and cloak ! Oh, good jNIatthew Gournay — I had forgot,"
he added, as he saw who it was that answered his sum-
mons — " this very night your noble lord shall be set free.
But I must see him myself; I have tidings for him which will
glad his heart. You, too, shall not be forgotten ; and though I
know, gold can never pay such services as yours, yet there are
other means within my power. This very night we will set
free your lord. In all the turbulence of the past evening, I had
forgot what I should have remembered. — No, no, boy"' — he
added, to the page who brought him a high-plumed bonnet and
richly decorated cloak — " no, no ! these vestments I have on are
all too fine already. I would have something to conceal my
rank — my station in the city, I should say. Get me some
servant's cloak and hat. Be quick ! 'Tis nearly ten."
The President mused thoughtfully till the boy returned ; and
THE IU:V()i;i OF GIIKNT. 403
honest Matthew Gournay, seeing that dcej) and agitating
thonghts were engrossing all his attention, stood quietly gazing
on tlic spot where he had slain the unhappy Ganay, and won-
dering that any man should take the trouble of poisoning
another, when he might rid himself of his enemy so easily by the
dagger or the sword.
At length the hat and cloak were brought ; and Albert
Maurice drew the one round his person, and the other over his
brow. " Now, Matthew Gournay," he said, " take fivc-and-
twcnty m^, and bid them follow me by separate ways to the
palace. There wait till I come. 1 will be in the square almost
as soon as you; and after I have spent some ten minutes in
transacting business which admits of no delay, we will go on
and liberate your good lord."
The ring which Matthew Gournay had received from his
young lord, acted with the magic effect of some talisman in an
Eastern tale ; and whatever commands he received from Albert
Maurice, he obeyed at once, with unquestioning alacrity. The
five-and-twenty men were soon summoned, — for the whole force
of the free companions had been poured into the town of Ghent,
during the evening, by means of the gate which, as we have
seen, the followers of the President had secured on his first
entering the city. A few brief words directed them by different
ways to the palace ; and — passing through the various crowds
which had been gathered together for the entertainment in the
square, and which v.'cre now discussing, in eager tones, the
events that had taken place in the town-house — the men selected
to accompany, or rather to follow, the young citizen, soon made
their way to the gates of the palace.
That part of the town was nearly deserted, and the little
square before the Cours du Prince was void and solitary, except
where, nearly in the midst, a tall, dark figure, with its arms
crossed upon its chest, stood gazing up at the building. All was
quiet, and calm, and dark, along the fa9ade of the palace, except
where, here and there, from s^me of the long narrow windows,
a stream of tremulous light broke upon the night.
For several minutes the figure continued to gaze, ajiparently
fixing its glance earnestly upon one part of the building. But
at length perceiving the number of soldiers collecting before the
gate, Albert Maurice — for he it was, who had outwalked his
followers — advanced, and after speaking a few words to Matthew
D D 2
404 AlAKY OF BURCi'JNDY ; OH,
Gournay, demanded admission from the warder of the fortified
gate. He gave his name and station, and urged business of
importance as an excuse for the hiteness of liis visit. The
warder rephed in a tone of humble deference, which circum-
stances had compelled the proud soldiers of Burgundy to learn
in speaking to the once contemned burghers of Ghent, telling
him that he would willingly admit him, but that, as his orders
had been very strict for the last week, he must detain him at the
gate while he caused the Princess to be informed of the fact.
Albert Maurice made no objection, and remained, musing
with a downcast countenance, across which the shadows of many
emotions were passing, that he would nut willingly have shown
to the eye of open day. As calm and tranquil as a summer's
morning, he had sat his horse in the midst of battle and conflict.
Calmly, too, he had remained beside the man who was mixing a
cuj) of poison for his lip, and preparing the dagger if the cup
should fail. But now every nerve thrilled, and his heart beat
faint like a coward's, though he was but about to meet a fair and
gentle gii'l, whose fate might almost be said to rest in his own
hands. lie had hoped, and he had dreamt, through many a
long day ; and various circumstances had combined to give those
hopes and dreams a tangible foundation and a definite form. But
now that the moment approached when they were to be realized
or destroyed for ever, they faded all away into fears and anxieties.
The warder returned and bowed low, while the gates were
thrown open. The soldiers within the court did military honours
to the President of Ghent ; and, assuming a firmer step and a
prouder air, Albert Maurice passed on within the precincts of the
palace, followed by the train who had met him according to his
appointment. At the entrance-hall his followers paused; and
he himself, ushered forward by one of the domestic attendants
of the Princess, ascended the slops towards a smaller chamber,
adjoining the great hall of audience.
In the ante-room he cast off his hat and cloak, and remained
in the rich dress in which he had descended to the banquet in
the town-house ; and as he passed on towards the door which the
servant threw open, his eye fell upon a Venetian mirror, and per-
haps he gained another ray of hope, from feeling that, in appear-
ance as well as mind, he was not unfitted to move through thot-e
lordly halls, in the high station for which his ambition strove.
The chamber that he entered was but dimly lighted ; and it
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 405
was evident that the preparations for receiving him there, had
only been made upon the sudden announcement of his arrival.
His eye, however, instantly rested upon Mary of Burgundy, as
she sat surrounded by a number of her women ; and the sweet
smile with which she welcomed him so thrilled through his heart,
that he felt the resolution which had brought him thither shaken,
lest, by seeking for deeper happiness, he should lose even the
joy of that sweet smile itself.
" Welcome, my lord," she said — " most welcome back again
to Ghent. For though we have had great joy from your vic-
tories and successes, — the first that have ever yet blessed our
cause, — yet we have much needed your presence in the city."
" I hope, lady," replied the young citizen, with a tone of deep
interest in all that concerned her immediate happiness — " I hope
that you have suffered no personal annoyance ; for, believe me,
before I went, I took every means to guard you from the im-
portunity of the Duke of Gueldres, or the intr'ision of any one
else."
" From the Duke of Gueldres," replied Mary, " who, I hear —
unhappy man — has fallen in some of the late conflicts, I have,
indeed, suffered nothing; nor have I truly to complain of any
one else. Though my good cousin of Cleves does, perhaps,
press me somewhat unkindly to an union, which is little less
fearful in my eyes than the other. Doubtless, however, he
deems it for my good, and strong are the reasons he urges ; but
having taken on myself to decide, and having told him that de-
cision, I would fain be spared all farther discussion."
The cheek of Albert Maurice reddened with anger ; and he
answered hastily, — " Fear not, dear lady ; his importunities shall
not press upon your Grace much longer. The city of Ghent and
the States of Flanders have this night armed me, thank God !
with sufficient power to sweep — to — to "
Albert Maurice paused and hesitated ; for the bold and ambi-
tious words that had been just springing to his lips, he felt must
not be rashly uttered in the ear of one whose love was to be
gained and fixed, and whose hand, — although it was the crowning
object of all his ambition — though it was the motive for every
energy and endeavour of his bosom, — would at once become vain
and valueless, if unaccompanied by her heart.
He paused, and then continued, — " have armed me with suffi-
cient power, at once to guide the state, I trust, to permanent
406 iMAKV OF Hl'HGUNDY; Ol!,
security and peace ; and to sweep away from your domestic life
every ])ain, anxiety, and fear."
The last words were spoken low and slowly ; and as he })ro-
nounced them, he dropped his eyes to the ground ; while the
warm conscious blood rose up into his cheeks, and spoke far
more than his lips. The words he uttered, it is true, had no
very definite meaning, and might be taken up in a very general
sense ; but the tone, the manner, the hesitation, the flusliing of
the cheek, the timid glance of the eye, gave emphasis and pur-
pose to the whole. For the first time, a suspicion of what was
passing in his bosom flashed across the mind of Mary of Bur-
gundy, and inspired her, for the moment, with a feeling of terror
which approached very nearly to despair. She turned deadly
pale, and trembled violently, as, with rapid thought, she ran over
the circumstances of her situation, and found how helpless she
was, if that suspicion were well founded. It was but for an in-
stant, however, that she gave way to apprehension. From the
first, she had appreciated the general character of Albert jMau-
ricc, especially its finer points, by a sort of instinctive comparison
with her own. She knew that he was generous, high- spirited,
noble-minded ; and, though she might now find that her esti-
mate of his ambition had been far below that which it should
have been, yet she trusted to the better parts of his disposition
to deliver her from the consequences of the worse. She knew
that she was in his power. She felt that his will was law, in all
the country that surrounded her ; and that, if he chose, he could
blast her hopes and happiness for ever. But, at the same time,
she felt that there was some resource — though the only one — in
the native generosity of his heart ; and she determined to aj^peal
to it boldly as her sole refuge from despair. It is true that an
union with Albert Maurice, whose many splendid qualities she
could not but acknowledge, might — were such feelings sus-
ceptible of any very marked shades of diiference, and had it been
})ossible for her to dream for one moment of such an union —
might have been less repugnant to her, than the marriages which
had been proposed with the drivelling bo}' of France, with the
coarse and brutal son of the Duke of Cleves, or with the cniel
and unnatural Duke of Gueldres. But, still, the simple fact
existed, — she loved another with all the deep sincerity of a
woman's first atfection, and the very thought of any other alliance
was abhorrent to every feeling of her heart.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 407
Nothing could have balanced those feelings in her bosom, but
hex* strong sense of duty to the nation she was called upon to
govern and protect. She could, indeed, and would, have sacri-
ficed everything for her country and her people ; but that ])cople
themselves had rejected the only alliance that could have bene-
fited them ; and, in the present instance, no such object could
be gained by her marriage with the President of Ghent, as that
which the French alliance might have accomplished, even could
she have entertained the thought of bestowing the hand of the
heiress of Burgundy on an adventurous and aspiring citizen, — a
thought from which all Mary's feelings revolted, not the less
strongly for the natural gentleness of her character. Had time
for reflection been added, the discovery or the suspicion of his
love might have afforded a key to all the conduct of the young
citizen, and, by showing to what deeds his passion had already
betrayed him, might have increased a thousand-fold the terror of
the unhappy Princess ; but, luckily the consideration of her own
situation, and of the means of averting the consequences she
dreaded, engrossed her wholly, and thus guarded her from worse
apprehensions.
The first effect of his speech, and of the sudden conviction
which his manner, more than his words, produced, was, as
we said, to turn her deadly pale ; and while a thousand new
anxieties and painful considerations crossed her mind, she re-
mained gazing on him so long, in silence, that she felt, he must
see that he was understood. The silence of her own embarrass-
ment then becoming painful to her, as well as to him, the blood
rushed up into her face, and yet she could not reply ; so that
both remained completely mute for several moments, after words
had been spoken, which, to the by-standers, seemed perfectly
simple.
At length she answered, — " Oh ! Sir President, if such power
has been granted to you, by the States, use it nobly, and Heaven
will bless you."
" As far, lady, as my poor judgment can extend, I will use it
nobly," replied Albert Maurice, over whose heart an icy chill
had come, he knew not well why. " But," he added, " as I
would fiin use it for your happiness — believing it to be insepar-
aljlc from that of the people — let me crave a few words with you
in private, that I may ascertain more fully how that happiness
may be best consulted."
408 AIAHV OF BL'HGL'NDV; OH,
He spoke slowly and calmly ; but, from the quiveriag of his
lip, it was evident that each word cost him a painful struggle to
pronounce. On the other hand, Mary was herself embarrassed
by his request, which was not a little contrary to the etiquette of
her situation ; and yet he who requested, she knew, might com-
nuuul ; and she felt that, perhaps, it might be better for both
that they should be alone.
After a moment's pause, then, she gave the necessary order
for her attendants to withdraw into the antechamber, and then
resumed her seat. Albert Maurice stood beside her, with his
eyes still bent upon the ground ; and for a moment, even after
the last of the Princess's suite had quitted the chamber, he re-
mained silent, striving to master all the emotions which were
agitating his heart. It was a painful struggle, but at length he
succeeded ; and then raising his head with some degree of proud
consciousness in his aspect, he looked calmly on the Princess.
" Madam," he said, in a firmer voice than he had hitherto
commanded, " your general welfare, and that of your people, is
undoubtedly one great, and ought to be one paramount, object
with me in all I strive for; but, at the same time, believe me —
oh, believe me ! — that your individual happiness is no less a deep
and overpow'ering consideration in my mind. Lady, I know,
and feel painfully, that the great difference of rank and station
between us, may prevent you from conceiving fully how dear
your interests are to me. — Nay, turn not pale, madam!" — he
added, with watchful and somewhat irritable pride, softened by
deep and sincere affection — " Nay, turn not pale! No word
shall you hear from my lips, that may offend your ear or wound
your heart. Lady, the ambitious, misproud citizen may have as
elevated — perhaps more devoted — ideas of true affection, than
the noble, whose pride and arrogance are his right of birth ; and
may be able to crush liis own heart, to sacrifice more than life —
hope, blessed hope itself — to serve the being that he loves. — And
do you weep ?" he continued, seeing the tears roll I'apidly over
the fair cheek of Mary of Burgundy. " And do you weep? Then
I have said too much. Yet, hear me a little. I see you agi-
tated — far more agitated than anything which has J)iissed hitherto
should have occasioned, unless the words we have spoken, whose
import seems but small, may have touched some fine strung cord
within your heart, and made sadder music than I dreamed of.
However, in this land of Flanders T have now no small power —
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 409
which may last God knows how long. But fear not that the
power I do possess will ever be used to thwart one wish of your
heart. Whatever it may cost mc, it shall be employed to serve
you with deep and true attachment. — There is — there is," he
added, his emotion almost mastering his calmness ; " there is one
question I would ask, which is hard to put, and may be painful
to answer. Yet, let me speak it quickly and briefly, lest I should
fail."
He paused for a moment, and looked down ; while his hand
became clenched fearfully tight, as if in the struggle to suppress
some deep feelings that would fain have burst forth ; but, after a
single moment, all was again vanquished, and he proceeded : —
" Some months have now passed since your father's eyes were
closed in death ; your dominions are invaded ; your people are
distracted by different parties, and your nobles are leaguing to-
gether to snatch one from another the blessing of your hand. It
is time, lady, that you should make a choice ; and although I
know no one, on all the earth, that is worthy of the happiness
within your gift, yet, if there be any one to whom you can give
your heart, I will — I will — Yes !" he added, more firmly, " I
will do all that mortal man can do, to render you happy in your
love !"
He paused; and although an undefinable something in the
conduct and demeanour of Mary of Burgundy through that
night, had already shown him that one half of his dreams were
dreams indeed ; yet hope — persevering hope — lingered still, and
whispered, " If she love none else, she may still be mine."
Mary of Burgundj^'s conduct was already determined ; but
nevertheless she trembled in every limb ; and long, long was it,
ere she could reply. At length she answered ; — " You have,
indeed, put to me a question, which makes me feel most pain-
fully how different is the station of princes from the happy and
modest retirement of private life. Nay, do not think I blame
you, sir, — I blame but my hard" fate. You are most kind ; and,
amidst a base and interested crowd, who would fain make me
the slave of their wild ambitions, I shall ever remember you with
gratitude, as the only one who — who — with more power than all
the rest to command my fate, was willing to cast self away, and
— and to seek my happiness alone. Feeling thus, — believing
from my heart that in your generous nature I may perfectly
rely, — 1 answer your question as distinctly as it is put. There
410 MAKV OF luiiujrNDV ; on,
is, I believe, upon the face of the cartli but one man to whom I
can conscientiously give my hand. 'Tis now near two years ago,
that, by my father's command, I plighted my faith in writing,
and pledged thereto a ring, to one, whom I had been taught,
during some months of happy intimacy, to look upon as my future
lord: — Maximilian, Archduke of Austria "
"And you love him ! and you love him !" cried Albert Maurice,
starting forward, and, forgetful of all restraint, grasping her firmly
by the wrist. The Princess started up alarmed, and a cry of
terror at his sudden vehemence, had nearly passed her li})s. Bat
she stifled it ere it was uttered ; and the next moment Albert
Maurice had recovered himself, and was kneeling at her feet.
" Pardon me ! pardon me. Princess of Burgundy !" he said.
" Give me — oh, give me your forgiveness ! The dream is gone !
the vision is over! and Albert Maurice, the humblest of your
subjects, is ready to pour out his blood, to atone for all that he
has done amiss. Madam," he added, rising, " I have been living
in a dream ; and, I fear me, when I come to look u})on it steadily,
I shall find it a sad one. But no more of that : at present I am
— if that be not a dream also — President of the States General
of Flanders, and armed with greater power than any other man
in the land. What can I do to sweep all obstacles from before
your wishes ? Tell me quickly how I can serve you. Let me,
at least, work out your happiness, before the memory of the past
turn my brain."
" Oh, speak not so wildly, sir !" cried Mary. " You have great
powers and noble energies, which will guide you to the height of
fame ; and yet, I trust, to the height of happiness. Lideed, sir,
I cannot speak farther, while you seem so moved."
" Madam, I am perfectly calm," replied Albert Maurice.
" Those energies and those powers your Grace is ])leased to
speak of, may last a longer or a shorter time, according to God's
will ; and I am most anxious to wipe out any offence I have
committed, by employing them v'lgorously in your service. Let
me beseech you to speak. Shall I send off' immediate messengers
to the Archduke ?"
" No, no ! Oh, no !" cried Mary ; " I fear too much has been
done already in that course, by my kind step-dame, the J)uchess
Margaret, and my good cousin of Ravestein ; for I hear — for I
hear — that the Archduke is already on his way to Brussels."
" Ha!" cried Albert Maurice; "ha!" — but he said no more,
and the Princess proceeded..
Till': [{KVOLT OF GHENT. 41 I
" Yet, sir," she said, " I have many fears; for 1 know that the
Duke of Clevcs has not only sent forth nicsscnfrcrs to forbid his
approach to the city, but also, I learn from my dear friend and
foster-sister, Alice of Imbercourt, who is now with the good Lord
of llannut, that a hundred men, bearinji; the colours of the house
of Clevcs, have passed through Brussels ; and there is reason to
believe, they waylay the road from the Rhine."
" Indeed ! This must be seen to !" said the young citizen,
in the same abstracted manner, " But your Grace was about to
add "
" Merely this, sir," replied Mary, with that calm, impressive
gentleness that is more touching than any vehemence ; " that
the man to whom I believe myself plighted by every tie but the
final sanction of the church, is, I am told, on his road hither,
slenderly accompanied, — for the avarice of the emperor is well
known, — and his son now journeys with hardly ten attendants.
He has enemies, — strong enemies on the way, — and I leave you
to judge, sir, of the feelings that I experience."
The lip of Albert Maurice quivered; but he still retained
command over himself, and replied in a low but distinct voice,
though, in every tone, the vehement struggle he maintained to
master the agony of his heart was still apparent: — "To calm
those feelings, madam, shall be my first effort; and, as I have
received timely information, entertain not the slightest appre-
hension of the result. I will serve you, madam, more devotedly
than I would serve myself; and the last energies that, possibly,
I may ever be able to command, shall be directed to secure your
happiness. I have now detained you long. Night wears, and
time is precious. I humbly take my leave. May Heaven bless
you, madam ! May Heaven bless you ! and send you ha})})ier
days, to shine upon your reign, than those with which it has
begun."
He bowed low, and took two or three steps towards the door,
while Mary gazed upon him, with eyes in which compassion for
all she saw that he suffered, and woman's invariable sympathy
with love, called up an unwilling tear. " Stay, sir, one moment,"
she said, at length ; " it may be the last time that ever I shall
have the power to thank you, as Duchess of Burgundy, before I
resign my sovereignty with my hand to another. Believe me,
then, that as far as the gratitude of a princess towards a subject
can extend, I am grateful to you for all that you have done in
412 INIARY OF JtURGUNDY; OK,
my behalf. Believe me, too, that I admire and esteem the great
qualities of your mind, and that 1 will, as far as in me lies, teach
my husband" — and she laid a stress uj)on the word — " to appre-
ciate your talents and your virtues, and to honour and employ
them for our common benefit. Take this jewel, I beseech you,"
she added, " and wear it ever as a token of my gratitude."
" Oh ! madam !" exclaimed Albert Maurice, as he advanced
to receive the diamond she proffered. He took it slowly and
reverentially ; but, as her hand resigned it, his feelings over-
powered him, and pressing the jewel suddenly to his heart, he
exclaimed, " I will carry it to my grave !" Then turning, with-
out farther adieu, he threw open the door and quitted the apart-
ment.
CHAPTER XXXVHI.
Painful and terrific as had been the struggle in the bosom
of Albert Maurice, while he remained in the presence of the
Princess, his feelings had been light and sunshiny, compared
with those which he experienced when he found himself alone
with the deep gloom — the dull, immovable despair, which at
once took possession of his heart, the moment that thought had
an opportunity to rest upon his own situation. We have before
seen that remorse was already busy in his bosom ; and the only
shield that guarded him from the lash of his own reflections, had
been the bright surpassing hope of overcoming all the mighty
obstacles before him, and winning her he loved. But now he
had triumphed over every enemy — he had overleaped every
barrier — he had set his foot upon every obstacle, and, in the end,
discovered that she loved another — that all was useless, he had
done — that the blood he had shed, had been shed in vain — that
he had forgotten his country and her rights — that he had for-
gotten justice and humanity — that he had yielded himself
entirely to ambition, and consigned himself to remorse for ever
— for a dream that was gone. Nor was this all ; the same deep,
fiery, passionate love remained in his heart, but was now
doomed, instead of the bright follower of hope, to become the
sad companion of remorse and despair. When he thought of
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 413
the future, — when she should become the bride of another, — he
felt his brain reel under the agony of that contemplation. When
he thought of the past, he felt that the gnawing worm was for
ever destined to prey upon his heart. There was no refuge for
him in all time, to which he could fly for relief. The gone
hours were full of reproach, and the approaching ones were all
bitterness.
Such were his feelings as he strode along the passages of the
palace at Ghent ; and the incoherent words that he muttered to
himself, as he proceeded, showed how terrible had been their
eifect already upon his bright and powerful mind. " They have
been murdered in vain," — he muttered, — " they have been mur-
dered in vain. Their blood cries up to heaven against me. To
see her in the arms of another — Oh, God ! oh, God ! — But she
shall be happy. Yes — she shall be happy. I will provide for
his safety, as a brother — and she shall be happy; and I? — and
I ? — Why there is the grave — that is one resource, at least !"
and suddenly he burst into a low, involuntary laugh, which
made him start even as it rang upon his own ear. " Am I
insane ? " he thought ; " then I must be speedy, lest the power
fail me." And again muttering disjointed sentences, he pro-
ceeded down the great staircase, and was passing through the
entrance-hall, without noticing any one, when Matthew Gournay
advanced to his side and stopped him.
" There is no time to be lost, sir," he said ; " let us hasten
quick."
" Who are you ?" demanded Albert Maurice, gazing vacantly
upon him. " Who are you ? — Oh, yes ! I had forgot," he added,
recalling his thoughts. " Other things were pressing on my
mind. We will go presently, but I must first return to the
town-house ; and yet that square — I love not to pass that square,
where they were beheaded."
" You have no time, sir," replied the old soldier, in a tone
which again recalled Albert Maurice to the present moment.
" As I sat here but now, that evil Prevot — that Maillotin du
Bac — passed through the hall, with several others, speaking
eagerly of you. His eye fell upon me, and he may chance to
know me well. At all events, he was silent instantly ; but, if 1
am not very wrong indeed, he has taken his way towards the
prison, where my young lord lies ; and, perchance, if we be not
quick, we may come too late."
114 MAI{V OF DllRCH'NDV; OR,
" You speak (rue — lead on !" cried Albert Maurice, roused to
the exertion of all his ])()\vers by the sudden cull upon his
energy. " You, youn^i; man, run as for your life to the town-
house ! Rid the coiiuuander of the burgher guard march a
hundred men instantly down to the Prevot's prison, near the
gates. — But who have we here ?" he added, as a man in breath-
less haste ran up the steps into the hall. " The lieutenant of
the Prevot, as I live ! How now, sir, whom seek you?"
" You, Sir President," replied the man, at once. " You
once saved me when I was in imminent peril ; and I now think
that the news I bring may be valuable to you. The prisoner
who was made in the market-place, — the Vert Gallant of 1 Ian-
nut, — men say you owe him something, and would fain repay it.
Rut, if you hasten not your steps, you wall come too late. I
have done what I can to delay the Prevot, but he is now speed-
ing on to the prison. His purpose is against the Ufe of the
prisoner; and his horses are ready to fly from Ghent for ever."
" Enough, enough 1" said Albert Maurice, passing him sud-
denly, and springing down the steps of the palace. The court
was soon traversed, and the streets leading towards the gale
were threaded by the young citizen and his followers with the
speed of light. The active exertion of his corporeal powers
seemed to give back to Albert Maurice full command of his
mental ones, at least for the time ; and though his thoughts
were characterized by the darkest and sternest despair, they
wandered not from those points to which he strove to bend
them, and he seemed revolving eagerly some plan of future con-
duct. " Yes," he said, half aloud, as he strode on, — " yes ! so
shall it be, — so shall it be ! If I am in time, he shall conduct
the rest ; and, ere all be finished, the world may have cause to
know that there were some drops of Roman blood even within
this bosom."
Almost as he spoke he tiu'ned the corner of a street, which led
into one of those conducting directly towards the Alost gate.
Fifty yards farther from the town waHs than the point at which
the narrow street he had been pursuing entered the other, stood
a small stone building, with a few narrow slits in the masonry for
windows, known as the Prevot's prison, in which he lodged any
newly arrested prisoners, previous either to their immediate exe-
cution or to their removal to some other place of confinement.
The street was all dark, and likewise solitary, except where.
TIIH HF,VOi;r OF GIIF.N'I. 4 1.')
under the projection of a house — the uj^pcr stories of which,
as was often customary in Ghent, protruded considerably beyond
the lower ones — stood four or five men, holding saddled horses,
and conversing together in a low tone.
The impatient stamping of their steeds had prevented them
from catching the approaching steps of Albert Maurice and
his party ; and one was saying to the other, at the very moment
they came up, in a tone sufficiently loud for his words to be dis-
tinguished, — " lie is very long ! I never knew him so long about
such a job before !"
" Let them be seized !" exclaimed Albert Maurice, the instant
his 030 fell upon them ; " the rest follow me ;" and without
waiting to notice the short scuffle that ensued, he s})rang on
towards the Prevot's prison, and pushed against the door. It
w^as locked, and the key on the inner side, so that his effort
to open it was vain.
" Fly to the gate!" he exclaimed, turning to one of his fol-
lowers : " bring me a battle-axe from the guard-house. Ho !
within there," he added, striking the hilt of his sword violently
against the door. " Open the door ! beware what you tlo ;
you cannot escape me ; and you shall find my vengeance terrible.
Open the door, I say !"
But he spoke in vain : no answer was returned ; and the
only sound that he even thought he heard, was that of a low
groan. After a few moments of painful expectation the man
who had been sent to the gate returned, bearing a ponderous
axe, and followed by two or three of the soldiers of the guard.
Albert Maurice snatched the weapon from his hands, and
in three blows dashed in a large part of the door. The rest was
soon hewn down, at least sufficiently to admit the passage of the
young burgher and his follow^ers. Entering the small stone hall
into which it opened, he caught up a light that had evidently
been burning some time untrimmed; and, commanding two or
three of those who accompanied him to guard the door, he strode
forward rapidly to the mouth of a narrow flight of steps, which
led to some cells below the ground. At the entrance of one
of these dungeons a lantern had been placed upon the ground,
and was still burning; and Albert Maurice immediately perceived
that the door was not completely closed. He instantly pushed
it open, and held up the light, when the sight that presented
itself to his eyes was horrible indeed, but not ungrateful.
416 M.AKV OF RURGUNDY; ()F{,
Seated upon liio side of tlie straw pallet, which had been his
only couch since he had l)ccn removed from the town-house, ap-
})eared Hugh dc Mortmar, as we have previously called him,
with his right foot pressed heavily upon the body of a man, who,
from his dress and appearance, seemed to be one of the jailers in
the employ of the Prevot. A little to the right, surrounded by
a pool of blood, — a stream of which was still flowing from his
throat, — lay the form of Maillotirr du Bac, while the poniard,
which, it may be remem])ered, Albert Maurice had bestowed
upon Hugh de Mortmar in the prison of the town-house, now
driven tightly in between the gorget plaits and cuirass of the
Prevot's armour, showed at once the manner of his death and the
arm which had inflicted it.
The young prisoner held in his hand the sword of the dead
man, and gazed upon those who entered with a firm and re-
solute countenance, while he held down beneath his feet the
form of the jailer, who was clearly alive, and seemingly uninjured,
except from a ghastly contusion on his forehead. The moment
that he beheld who were the new comers, Hugh de Mortmar
started up ; and a few hurried words explained the precise situ-
ation in which they all stood. The sight of Albert Maurice and
of good old Matthew Gournay was enough to satisfy the young
prisoner; and on his part he had only to tell them, that while
lying there a few minutes before, thinking of when his captivity
might end, he had heard approaching steps, and listened to a lov/
conversation at the door which he felt sure boded him no good.
Affecting to sleep, he remained perfectly quiet while the door
was o})cned, and the Prevot, setting down his lantern on the
outside, approached towards him, accompanied by the jailer
who had the care of the prison. Their eyes, however, were not
so much accustomed to the darkness as his own ; and, seeing
evidently that the design of the Prevot was to despatch him, he
watched his moment, till the other was stooping over him,
and then drove the dagger with which he had been furnished,
with the full force of recovered health and strength, under the
gorget of the murderer. So hard had he stricken it, however,
between the iron plates, that he could not draw it forth again,
and he had nothing to trust to but his own corporeal strength in
the struQ;";]e which succeeded with the jailer.
The hard food and the constrained repose to which he had
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 417
been subjected in the prison, had perhaps contributed to restore
him to full vi""our in a shorter time than might otherwise have
been required for recovering his health ; and the jailer, over-
matched, iiad just been cast headlong to the ground when Albert
Maurice forced his way into the place of the young noble's
confinement.
In the energy of action Albert Maurice had, for the time,
found relief from a part of the heavy load that passion and
circumstances had piled upon his head ; but the moment the
necessity of active exertion passed away, the weight returned
and crushed him to the earth. He spoke for an instant to the
prisoner collectedly and calmly ; but gradually his brow grew
dark and clouded ; and his words became low, harsh, and confined
to those necessary to express his wishes or commands.
The jailer, freed from the tread of Hugh de Mortmar, was
placed in the custody of some of those who had now crowded to
the spot; and the President, after giving general orders to the
burgher guard, which came up, and a few whispered directions to
Matthew Gournay, took the prisoner by the hand, saying, "Come,
my lord; let us to the town-house !"
The change which had come over the whole demeanour of the
young citizen since last he had seen him, was too great to escape
the eyes of Hugh de Mortmar, even at a moment when the
excitement of a late struggle was fresh upon him. Nor did he
exactly understand how the young President dared to take
the bold step of setting him free at once, when he had before
seemed most anxious to proceed with scrupulous caution. He
made no observation, however, and followed Albert Maurice into
the street. By this time, almost all the respectable citizens
of Ghent were in their quiet beds ; but a number of those who
had been entertained in the market-place were still wandering
about ; some partially inebriated with ale or mead ; some half
drunk with excitement and pleasure. A number of these had
gathered together amongst the guards and attendants, now col-
lected round the door of the prison ; and as Albert Maurice led
forth his companion, and the flickering glare of a number of
lanterns and torches showed the features of the President to the
crowd, he was greeted by loud acclamations.
But the smile of bitterness and scorn with which Albert Maurice
now heard the vivats of the multitude, contrasted strongly with
E E
418 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
his demeanour in the morning, and showed how completely the
talisinanic touch of disappohitincnt had changed to his eyes
all the fairy splendours of his fate.
Without a word of reply, he passed through the midst of
the crowd, — sought the narrowest and darkest way ; and, appa-
rently buried in sad thoughts, proceeded with a quick and
irregular step towards the town-house, maintaining a gloomy
and unbroken silence as he went. He avoided the market-place
before the building as much as possible ; and the only words
he spoke, were uttered, when he could not avoid seeing the spot
where Imbercourt and Hugonct had died, and which was now
covered with people, busily removing the traces of the evening's
festivity. " It is sad," he said, with a mournful shake of the
head ; " it is sad !" Then turning into the town-house, he
ascended the stairs rapidly, and entered a small withdrawing
room by the side of the great hall.
To that very chamber it so happened that the body of Ganay
had been removed, after the sword of Matthew Gournay had
left him lifeless on the pavement ; and the first object that
met the eye of Albert Maurice was the corpse stretched upon a
table, while one of his own attendants stood near, as if he had
been examining the appearance of the dead man. The immediate
impulse of the President was to draw back ; but the next was the
very contrary ; and, again advancing, he approached directly
to the table, and fixed his eyes upon the face of the corpse, which
was uncovered. " He sleeps calm enough !" he said, drawing in
his Ups, and turning partially to Hugh de Mortmar. " He
sleeps calm enough, with all his burning passions at an end. But
this is no place for what we have to say."
He was then treading back his steps towards the door, when the
attendant advanced, and gave him a packet of papers and a
small silver box, saying, " These old papers, sir, aiid this box,
which we conceive to contain poison, are all that we have dis-
covered on the dead body."
" Ha! will the means of death lie in so small a space?" said
Albert Maurice, gazing on the little silver case ; " but 'tis well !
Bring hence the lights, leave the body, and lock the door. He
will not find solitude oppressive, I doubt not ;" and thus saying,
he led the way into another chamber, to which the servant
followed with the key and lights; and the President added farther,
as they were set down before him, " Bring wine !"
TIIK REVOLT OF GHENT. 419
When the man was gone, and he was seated with the young
cavaher, he leaned his brow upon his hand for a moment, and
then looked up, — " Give me your pardon, sir," he said; " give me
your pardon for a short space. I am somewhat ill to-night, and
must collect my thoughts, before I can speak to you as I ought."
Iluijh de Mortmar bowed his head ; and wine beino; brought
in a few minutes, Albert Maurice filled for both, and drained his
own cup to the dregs. " I have a burning thirst upon me,"
he said, " but it will soon be quenched. Now, sir, I can speak.
You have recovered, I trust, your full strength; and this night —
that is to say, ere dawn — can ride forth away from the thraldom
of this place ?"
" As well as ere I rode in life," replied Hugh de Mortmar,
" and thank you deeply for your kind intentions."
" Thank not me," replied Albert Maurice, gravely, " for I am
about — like a true citizen — " he added, with a bitter smile, " for
I am about to drive a hard bargain with you ; and to make you
agree to do me a service in return, — not for giving you your
liberty, for you did the like to me — but for some intelligence
I have to communicate, which may be worth its weight in gold.
Of that hereafter. First, let us speak of the service I require.
You have at this moment, within the walls of the city, where I
have given them employment during this evening, some three or
four hundred free companions — good soldiers, levied for pur-
poses I know and respect. In an hour's time they will be
mounted, and at the Alost gate, from which we have just come.
You shall have arms that might grace a prince, a horse as
noble as ever was bestrode by knight ; and what I require is
this, — that, all other matter laid aside, you ride forward towards
Brussels, and thence onward, on whatever road you may find
necessary, — as you will there discover from the Lord of llaves-
tein, or the Duchess Dowager, — in order to meet Maximilian,
Archduke of Austria."
" What ! my best friend and old companion in arms I" cried
Hugh de Mortmar. " No evil against him. Sir President ! for
know, I would sooner bear to my grave the heaviest chains that
ever shackled man, than raise an arm against one I love so well !"
" Fear not, my lord !" replied Albert jNIaurice. " For his
safety, not for his injury, would I have you set out. Tell him
from me, Albert Maurice, that his way is beset, — tell him that
every artifice will be used to make him turn back, by fair means
E E 2
4-20 MARY OF BURGUNDY; Ul!,
or by foul. But bid him hasten forward, in spite of all ; and
you, on your part, promise me, never to quit him, till you see
him safely within the gates of the Duke's house in Ghent."
" VVilUn<i;ly I most willingly !" replied the young cavalier,
rising. " 1 am ready to set out !"
" What, without the tidings I have promised ?" demanded
Albert Maurice.
" Some other time !" replied Hugh de Mortmar. " When I
return will do."
" The present moment is yours," answered the young citizen,
gravely. " Who can say that, by the time you return, these li})s
may not be closed by a seal, that no human hand can ever
remove ?"
" I trust not," replied the other; "I trust not; but if what
you have to tell be really of importance, let me beseech you to
speak it quickly."
" I will," replied Albert Maurice. " I have no right, nor any
wish, to keep you in suspense. Are you aware that Adolphus,
Duke of Gueldres, is dead ?"
" Good God I" exclaimed the young cavalier. " They told
me that he was quite well, and leading the forces of Ghent
against Tournay. You have, indeed, ended my suspense some-
what abruptly."
" There is still more to come," said Albert Maurice, with
a sort of reckless harshness, which was no part of his natural
character ; but which probably arose from the apathetic callous-
ness of despair. " As you knew not that he was dead, you
know not that this arm slew him."
" Ha !" cried the other, instinctively laying his hand upon his
side, as if to grasp the hilt of his sword. " You — you ! Did
you shed my father's blood ! Then, take heed to yourself. Call
again for your jailers ! Cast me back into the dungeon ; for
otherwise your blood must answer for that which you have spilt."
" Such threats," answered Albert Maurice, " are worse than
vain, to one who loves life too little to care who takes it from
him. Besides, they are prompted by a mere dream of the
imagination, which I can dissolve by two or three words. You
had never seen the Duke of Gueldres from your childhood ; no
sweet reciprocations of domestic love had bound your heart to
his ; you knew that he w^as vicious, criminal, unfeeling. — Nay,
frown not, sir, but hear me. — You know all this ; and, yet.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT, 421
because you believe him to have been your father, you would
slay any one that raised a hand against him."
Doubtless, there is inherent in human misery a desire of see-
ing others wretched when we are wretched ourselves ; and the
sort of painful playing with the feelings of the young cavalier, in
which Albert Maurice indulged at a moment when he himself
was plunged in the gloomiest dcsjiair, probably arose from some
such cause. His own griefs, however, were too great to suffer his
mind to dwell long upon anything without weariness ; and he
tired almost instantly of the topic.
" Too much of this I" he added, in the same abrupt tone.
" Be your feelings on those points rational or not, no tie, human
or divine, binds you to love or to avenge Adolphus, the bad
Duke of Gueldres. Know, that at his instigation the man,
whose corpse you saw but now, kindled the flames of Lindenmar,
in which the infant heir of Hannut was supposed to have
perished ; and farther know, that in the act of death, the Duke
of Gueldres confessed to me, that he himself carried away the
infant, and reared him as his son upon the death of his own
child. You are that boy; but you will want other proofs to
establish the facts — there they are, in writing ; and probably
these papers which you saw me receive but now, may throw
some farther light upon the matter. We have neither of us
time to examine them more particularly at present. Take
them with you, and claim your right of birth. Now follow me
to the armory, for I hear your band passing onward towards
the Alost gate to wait your coming. Are you strong enough
to go?"
The young cavalier gazed for a moment in his face, be-
wildered by all he heard ; but then replied, " I am ready ! quite
ready ! For these papers I owe you a thousand thanks ; but the
tidings you have given confound me, and I have not words "
" No more, no more !" replied Albert Maurice. " Here is
our way."
The young citizen now led his companion forward to the
armory, which had been collected in the town-house under his
own care. As they went, the liberated prisoner would fain have
asked a thousand questions explanatory of the strange tidings he
had just received ; but the answers of Albert Maurice were
brief, and somew^hat sharp. Referring him entirely to the
papers that he had received, the young citizen strode onward,
422 MARY UK BURGUNDY ; OH,
and saw the Vert Gallant of Ilannut equip himself once more in
a complete suit of arms. There was a degree of joy in the
countenance of the young heir of Ilannut as he did so, — a sort
of new lighting up of that military hope which was the great
inspiration of the day, — that called a melancholy smile even to
the lip of Albert Maurice ; and he gazed xipon him, as with
quick and dexterous hands he clothed his powerful limbs in
steel, as an old man on the verge of the tomb might be supposed
to regard a youth setting out upon the flowery path of life, full
of all those bright aspirations that had passed away from himself
for ever.
When it was all done, — " Your horse," said the young citizen,
" stands below ; but yet one moment. A pass must be written
for yourself and the Archduke. Follow me once more."
In the next chamber were implements for writing ; and, with
a rapid hand, Albert Maurice traced the necessary order, des-
tined to remove all petty obstacles from the path of his princely
rival, signed his name below in a bold, free hand, and gave it
to his companion with a proud, but bitter smile.
" There," he said ; " take it, and go forth ! and may God
speed you on your errand. Forgive me if I have sported with
your feelings this night, — which may be I have done in some
degree, — but there is a potent demon in my heart just now, that
strives hard to crush each noble wish and kindly feeling, ere
they can rise. Now, forewell !"
" Farewell ! farewell !" replied Hugh of Ilannut. " I may,
perhaps, want more information than these papers contain. But
we shall meet again !"
" Perhaps we may," replied Albert Maurice, as the other
turned, and descended the steps. " Perhaps we may," he re-
peated, as, after a moment's pause, he heard the trampling of
horse, announcing that the other had departed — " perhaps we
may, in the grave, or, rather, beyond it."
The young President then returned to the chamber in which
he had been sitting, and continued for about an hour engaged
in writing. When he had concluded, he buried his eyes in his
hands for a few moments, and remained plunged in deep thought.
Rousing himself, he raised a lamp, and striding across the pas-
sages to the room where the corpse of Ganay the druggist lay, he
threw open the door, and gazed upon the countenance of the
dead man for some time.
TIIF, REVOLT OF GHENT. 423
Without a word, he tlien walked back to the chamber \yhere
he had been writing ; and drawing forth the small silver box
which had been given him, poured the white powder that it con-
tained into one of the cups, added a little wine from the tankard,
and drank off the mixture. After which he cast himself into a
chair, and closed his eyes.
For several minutes he remained in the same position, without
a muscle of his face being moved ; but at length he opened his
eyes, looking somewhat fiercely round the chamber.
" This is too much !" he exclaimed, aloud. " It has no effect !
and I lie here, expecting death without a chance of his approach,
while the past haunts me, and there seem voices crying up for
judgment upon me, fi'om yon accursed square. But I will
soon end all !" and starting up, he drew his dagger from the
sheath ; but as he did so, something in the word judgment ap-
peared to seize upon his imagination. " Judgment !" he said —
"judgment ! Am I not flying to judgment ?" and laying down
the dagger on the table, he paused, gazing round with a degree
of fearful bewilderment in his eyes, which seemed to show
either that his mind was shaken, or that some potent destroyer
was mastering the body. "Judgment!" he repeated. "Were
it not better to wait till I am summoned, — to strive to wipe out
the evil, — and to bear the sorrows that God has given as a
punishment for all that I have done, and left undone ? Judg-
ment ! — Judgment !" But, as he repeated that awful word, his
cheek grew deathly pale ; cold drops of perspiration stood upon
his forehead ; his lips became nearly livid ; and the rich curls
of his dark hair, as if relaxed by the overpowering weakness
that seemed coming over his whole frame, fell wild and floating
upon his brow.
At first, apparently unconscious of the change that was taking
place, he leaned his hand upon the table to steady himself as he
stood ; but the moment after, two or three sharp shudders passed
over his whole fi-ame ; and after reeling painfully for an instant,
he cast himself back into the ghair, exclaiming, in a tone full of
despair indeed, " It is too late ! it is too late !" and he threw
himself to and fro in restless agony.
" This is vain !" he cried, at length, opening his eyes. " This
is weak, and empty, and cowardly ! I that have lived boldly can
surely die as I have lived ;" and once more resuming the atti-
tude in which he had placed himself at first, he clasped his hand
424 MARY OF BURGUNDY; OR,
tight over his eyes, as if" to exchidc a painful sense of the light.
In a moment or two, the hand dropped ; Ijut his eyes remained
closed; and after a time, the exhausted lamps, which had now
been burning many hours, went out, and all was darkness !
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The rumour which had given to the heart of Mary of Burgundy
the glad hope that Maximilian of Austria was already within her
territories, had deceived her ; and Hugh of Hannut, on arriving
at Brussels, found that his princely companion-in-arms was still
far from that city. True to the promise he had given, however,
— though all his own feelings would have conducted him at
once to the forest of Hannut, wherein he had led a life of such
adventure and interest, and to the mansion where her he loved
now dwelt, and in which his happiest days had been passed, —
he advanced directly towards Cologne ; and not far on the hither
side of the Rhine, met the small party which accompanied the
son of the Emperor. It were as tedious as an old chronicle to
tell the joy of Maximilian at the coming of his friend, or to
detail all the efforts that were made by the Duke of Cleves to
deter or prevent the Archduke from pursuing his journey to-
wards Ghent. The private information he had received, and
the armed force which now accompanied him on his way, ren-
dered all efforts either to alarm or impede him vain ; and the
rapid progress made by the French arms had so convinced the
people of Flanders that a single leader, whose fortunes were
linked for ever to that of the Princess of Burgundy, was abso-
lutely necessary to give vigour and direction to their efforts, that
all attempts to stir them up to oppose the alliance with the Aus-
trian prince would have been fruitless under any circumstances.
One event, however, had happened in the meantime, which
completely cooled throughout Flanders, that ardour for innova-
tion, and that desire of democratic rule, which is one of the evils
consequent upon every struggle for increased liberty, whether
just or unjust — the wild spray which the waves of freedom cast
beyond their legitimate bound.
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 425
The morning after the return of Albert Maurice to Ghent,
some of his attendants, finding the door of his bedchamber open,
entered, and discovered that he had never been in bed ; and the
alarm spreading, he was soon after found, seated in the chair in
which he had been writing, cold, stiff, and dead.
Of the letters which were cast upon the table before him, one
was addressed to the Princess, and one to his uncle ; and both
distinctly alluded to his intention of destroying himself. Left
suddenly without a leader, pressed by a powerful enemy, and
encumbered with the management of a state, all the springs and
wheels of which they themselves had disarranged, the people of
Ghent began to ask themselves what they had gained by pressing
exaction and discontent beyond the mere recovery of their rights
and privileges. The simplest amongst them saw that they had
gained nothing and lost much ; and the more clear-sighted dis-
covered, that in caiTying their efforts beyond the straightforward
object which they had proposed at first, they had only made the
government of the state an object of contention to bold and am-
bitious party leaders, — a race of men who, for the purpose of
success, must always necessarily prolong that confusion and
anarchy, which is more baleful than the worst of tyrannies ; and
who, when success is obtained, must end in tyranny to uphold
their power.
The very day that the death of Albert Maurice was discovered,
intelligence arrived that the armies of France, marching on from
the side of Cassel, had burned some villages within four leagues
of Ghent ; and the Council of the States, confused, terrified, and
surprised, without chief, without union, and without resource,
proceeded in a body to the palace ; and resigning at the feet of
the Princess the authority they had usurped, demanded her
orders and directions, in the imminent peril to which the state
was exposed. It was then that Mary of Burgundy made that
famous answer, which has been transmitted to us by almost every
historian who has mentioned her name ; but it was in sorrow,
not in anger, that she spoke ; and the tears were in her eyes,
when — after hearing the details of a ruined country, an invaded
territory, the rich hars'csts of Flanders reaped by strange hus-
bandmen while they were green, her frontier fortresses taken,
and her troops proving false — she replied to the subjects, whose
turbulence and discontent had fostered, if not caused all the evils
they recapitulated : — " You have banished my best friends, and
426 MARY OF HURGUNDY; OR,
slain my wisest counsellors, and now what can I do to deliver
you?"
But misfortune had taught the people of Ghent their own
errors, and the excellence of her they had so basely outraged.
The news that the Archduke of Austria, the long betrothed hus-
band and the favoured lover of Mary of Burgundy, was advancing
w ith rapid steps towards Ghent, spread as much joy through the
cit}' as if the tidings had been of some personal good fortune to
each individual citizen. The gates of Ghent were now no longer
guarded, except against the common enemy. The Duke of
Clcvcs quitted the city in haste ; and jo}'^ and satisfaction spread
through all ranks when the cavalcade which escorted the Arch-
duke wound on towards the palace. It was remarked, however,
that nearly five hundred of the horsemen who accompanied
him — and those, surpassing all the rest in military array and
demeanour — were all adorned with a green scarf, while the ban-
ner that floated over them bore the arms of Hannut — Argent, a
green tree proper ; and that the knight who led this band of
elite, though his beaver was now up, and his face exposed, was
clothed from head to foot in the green armour of the Vert Gallant
of Hannut.
Little more requires to be said. It is well known to every
one, how gladly Mary of Burgundy herself saw the arrival of
Maximilian ; and there is every reason to believe that the old
chronicler spoke the truth, when, in describing their first meet-
ing, he said, — " Si parfaicte liesse fut oncques logee en coeur de
parfaict amant, elle fut trouvee ce jour en I'assemblement de ces
deux jouvenceaux."
Nor did the heart of Hugh de Hannut beat less highly, when,
standing beside his princely friend, he, too, claimed his fair bride,
Alice of Imbercourt. Still, the dead were to be mourned, and
many sorrows were to be forgotten ; but they were sorrows which
drew the hearts of the living closer together.
A gleam of sunshine shone out at last upon the days of the
good old Lord of Hannut; and casting from him the studies
which — fanciful or real — had soothed his griefs by occup3nng his
mind, he passed his latter years in rejoicing over the recovery of
so noble and so dear a son.
On the nineteenth of August, 1477, Mary of Burgundy gave
her hand to Maximilian of Austria; and the rich territories,
which so many princes had coveted, and for which France had
THE REVOLT OF GHENT. 427
played so base and subtle a game, passed away into another
house. The years of that fair princess herself were few; but
when she gazed smiling upon her husband and her children, she
was wont to thank God that she had not looked into that fatal
book, which might have given her an insight into her future
destiny ; and that in the happiness of the present she could see
no ill to be anticipated for the future.
Alice of Imbcrcourt, soon after her marriage, retired from the
city to the dwelling of her husband's father; and though her
deep affection for Mary of Burgundy still continued unabated,
she never more made the court her abode.
When, at length, the fatal accident happened, which caused
the death of her fair foster-sister, she flew eagerly to soothe her
couch of sickness; but she never entertained, for a moment,
those hopes of her recovery, which all the others around in-
dulged for several days. She it was who prepared the mind of
the Archduke for the death of her he loved. She closed her
eyes, and then returned to her own dwelling, and resumed the
duties of her station.
The people of the country declared that Alice was not sur-^
prised by the event which had occurred, being forewarned by
the previous knowledge of the future which she had obtained ;
and the old writers assert, most seriously, that the horoscope of
Mary of Burgundy, as it was drawn at her birth, was fulfilled
to the most minute particular. As no one, however, saw this
horoscope but Alice of Imbercourt, — at least, before the latter
events of Mary's life took place, — and as Alice carefully abstained
from ever mentioning the subject, it is more than probable that
the love of the marvellous, so prevalent in those days, adapted
the prediction to the facts long after they occurred.
THE END.
T. C. Savin, PniitLi-, 107, St. Martin's-lane.
14 DAY USE
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