Agincourt Part 35

"Then they will not come hither, I suppose?" said Richard of Woodville.

"Oh, yes! 'tis a thousand chances to one they will," answered the man.

"If they force another beast, they must quit that ground, and cross the road to Senlis; and if they return with what they have got, they must take the Paris avenue, so that in either case they will come here."

While he spoke, there was a vast howling of dogs, and blowing of horns at some distance; and Woodville, trusting to the piqueur's sagacity for the direction the Court would take, waited patiently till the sounds accompanying the _curee_ were over, and then gazed down the avenue. In about ten minutes some hors.e.m.e.n began to appear in the road; and then a splendid party issued forth from one of the side alleys, followed by a confused crowd of men, horses, and dogs. They came forward at an easy pace, and Richard of Woodville inquired of his companion, which was the Duke of Burgundy.

"What, do you not know him?" said the man, in some surprise. "Well, keep back, and I will tell you when they are near."

The young Englishman, without reply, reined back his horse for a step or two, so as to take up a position beyond the projecting corner of the wood; and, while the piqueur continued gazing down the avenue, still holding his dogs in the leash, Woodville turned a hasty glance behind him, to see if he could discover anything of his page. The boy was nearer than he thought, but was wisely coming round the back of the savannah, where the turf was soft and somewhat moist, so that his approach escaped both the eyes and ears of the royal attendant, till, approaching his master's side, he said something which, though spoken in a low tone, made the man turn round. At the same moment, however, the first two hors.e.m.e.n pa.s.sed out of the road into the open s.p.a.ce; and immediately after, the princ.i.p.al party appeared.

At its head, a step before any of the rest, came a man, seemingly past the middle age, with grey hair and a n.o.ble presence, but with cheeks channelled and withered, more by sickness and care than years. His eye was peculiarly clear and fine, and not a trace was to be seen therein of that fatal malady which devoured more than one-half of his days.

His aspect, indeed, was that of a person of high intellect; and though his shoulders were somewhat bowed, and his seat upon his horse not very firm, there were remains of the great beauty of form and dignity of carriage, which had distinguished the unhappy Charles in earlier days.

Close behind the King came a youth of eighteen or nineteen years of age, with a fine, but somewhat fierce and haughty countenance, a cheek colourless and bare, and a bright but haggard eye; and near him rode a somewhat younger lad, of a fresher and more healthy complexion, round whose lip there played ever and anon a gay and wanton smile. Almost on a line with these, were three or four gentlemen, one far advanced in years, and one very young; while the personage nearest the spot where Richard of Woodville sat, seemed still in the l.u.s.ty prime of manhood, stout but not fat, broad in the shoulders, long in the limbs, though not much above the middle height. He was dressed in high boots, and long striped hose of blue and red, with a close-fitting pourpoint of blue, and a long mantle, with furred sleeves, hanging down to his stirrups. On his head he bore a cap of fine cloth, shaped somewhat like an Indian turban, with a large and splendid ruby in the front, and a feather drooping over his left ear. His carriage was princely and frank, his eye clear and steadfast, and about his lip there was a firm and resolute expression, which well suited the countenance of one who had acquired the name of John the Bold.

"If that be not the Duke of Burgundy," said Richard of Woodville, to the piqueur, in a low tone, as the party advanced, "I am much mistaken."

"Yes, yes," replied the man, nodding his head, "that is he, G.o.d bless him!--and that is the Duke of Aquitaine, the King's son, just before him. Then there is the Duke of Bavaria on the other side----"

The young Englishman did not wait to hear enumerated the names of all the personages of the royal train, but, as soon as the King himself had pa.s.sed, rode up at once to the Duke of Burgundy, who turned round and gazed at him with some surprise, while the young pale Duke of Aquitaine bent his brow, frowning upon him with an inquiring yet ill-satisfied look.

"My lord the Duke," said Woodville, tendering the letter he had received from De Roucq, "I bear you this from Flanders."

The Duke took it, and, without checking his horse, but merely throwing the bridle over his arm, opened the letter, and looked at the contents. "Ha!" he exclaimed, as he read--"Ha! I thank you, sir;" and, making a sign for Richard and his page to follow, he spurred on, and pa.s.sed the two young Princes to the side of the King.

"This gentleman, Sire," he said, displaying the letter, "brings me troublous tidings from my poor county of Flanders, which call for my immediate presence; and, therefore, though unwilling to leave you, royal sir, at a time when my enemies are strong in your capital and court, I must even take my leave in haste; but I will return with all convenient speed."

The King had drawn his bridle, and, turning round, gazed from the Duke to Richard of Woodville, with a look of hesitation; but, after a moment's pause, he answered, with a cold and constrained air, "Well, Duke of Burgundy, if it must be so, go. A fair journey to you, cousin;" and without farther adieu, he gave a glance to his sons, and rode on.

The Duke of Burgundy bowed low, and held in his horse while the royal party pa.s.sed on, exchanging no very placable looks with the young Duke of Aquitaine, his son-in-law, and giving a sign to four or five gentlemen who were following in the rear, but immediately fell out of the train, and ranged themselves around him.

"Who are you, sir?" demanded the Prince, turning to Woodville, while the King and his court proceeded slowly towards a distant part of the savannah, and, by the movements of different gentlemen round the Duke of Aquitaine, there seemed to be some hurried consultation going on.

"An English gentleman, my lord, attached to the Count, your son,"

replied Woodville, without farther explanation; but seeing that a number of men completely armed, who followed the princ.i.p.al body of courtiers, had been beckoned up, he added, "Methinks, fair sir, there is not much time to lose. Yonder is the way--I am not alone." Without reply, the Duke gave one quick glance towards the royal party, set spurs to his horse, and rode quickly along the road to which Woodville pointed. He had hardly quitted the savannah, and entered the long broad avenue, however, when the sound of a horse's feet at the full gallop came behind, and a voice exclaimed, "My lord, my lord the Duke!

the King has some words for your ear."

It was a single cavalier who approached; but the quick ear of Richard of Woodville caught the sound of other horse following, though the angle of the wood cut off the view of the royal train.

"Good faith," answered the Duke, turning his head towards the messenger, but without stopping, "they must be kept for another moment. My business will have no delay." But, even as he spoke, he caught sight of a number of men-at-arms following the first, and just entering the alley in a confused and scattered line.

"But you must, my lord!" exclaimed the gentleman who had just come up.

"I have orders to use force."

The Duke and his attendants laid their hands upon their swords; but Woodville raised his lance high above his head, and shook it in the air, shouting, "Ho, there!--Ho! Ride on, my lord, ride on! I will stay them."

"Now, gold spurs for a good lance!" cried the Duke of Burgundy; "but I will not let you fight alone, my friend;" and, wheeling his horse, he formed his little troop across the road.

"Ho, there! Ho!" shouted Woodville again; and instantly he heard a horn answering from the wood. "The first man is mine, my lord," he cried, setting his lance in the rest and drawing down his visor. "Fall back upon our friends behind: you are unarmed!" and, spurring on his charger at full speed, he pa.s.sed the King's messenger, (who was only habited in the garments of the chase,) towards a man-at-arms, who was coming at full speed some fifty yards in advance of the party sent to arrest the Duke. His adversary instantly charged his lance likewise; no explanation was needed; and the two cavaliers met in full shock between the parties. The spear of the Frenchman struck right on Woodville's cuira.s.s, and broke it into splinters; but the lance-head of the young Englishman caught his opponent on the gorget, and, without wavering in his seat, he bore him back over the croup to the ground. Then, wheeling rapidly, he galloped back to the Duke's side; while, at a brisk pace, but in perfect order, his band came up under the young Lord of Lens; and the English archers, springing to the ground, put their arrows to the strings and drew the bows to the ear, waiting for the signal to let fly the unerring shaft.

"Hold! hold!" cried the Duke. "Gallantly done, n.o.ble sir!--you have saved me; but let us not shed blood unnecessarily;" and, casting his eye over Woodville's troop, he added, "We outnumber them far; they will never dare attack us."

As he spoke, the men-at-arms of France paused in their advance, and some of the foremost, dismounting from their horses, raised the overthrown cavalier from the ground, and were seen unlacing his casque. At the same time, the gentleman who had first followed the Duke of Burgundy began quietly retreating towards his friends, and though the Duke called to him aloud to stop, showed no disposition to comply.

"Shall I bring him back, n.o.ble Duke?" exclaimed the young Lord of Lens, eager to win some renown.

"Yes, ride after him, young sir," said John the Bold.

"Remember, he is unarmed," cried Richard of Woodville, seeing the youth couch his lance, and fearing that he might forget, in his enthusiasm, the usages of war.

"You are of a right chivalrous spirit, sir," said the Duke, turning to the young Englishman. "Do you know, my Lord of Viefville, who is that gentleman, whom he unhorsed just now?"

"The Count de Vaudemont, I think," replied the n.o.bleman to whom he spoke. "I saw him at the head of the men-at-arms in the forest."

"Oh, yes, it is he," rejoined another. "Did you not see the cross crosslets on his housings?"

"A good knight and stout cavalier as ever couched a lance," observed the Duke of Burgundy. "The young kestrel has caught the hawk," he continued, as the Lord of Lens, riding up to him of whom he had been in pursuit, brought him back apparently unwillingly towards the Burgundian party.

"Ah! my good Lord of Vertus," exclaimed John the Bold, "you have gone back with half your message. Fie! never look white, man! We will not hurt you, though we have strong hands amongst us, as you have just seen. Offer my humble duty to the King, and tell him that I should at once have obeyed his royal mandate to return, but that my affairs are very urgent, and that I knew not how long I might be detained to hear his royal will."

"And what am I to say to our lord?" asked the Count de Vertus, "for Monsieur de Vaudemont, his son's bosom friend, overthrown by your people, and well-nigh killed, I fear?"

"My daughter ought to be his son's bosom friend," replied the Duke, sharply, "but she is not, it seems; and as to Monsieur de Vaudemont, perhaps you had better tell the King that he was riding too fast and had a fall: it will be more to his credit than if you say, that he met a squire of Burgundy in fair and even course, and was unhorsed like a clumsy page; and now, my Lord of Vertus, I give you the good time of day. You said something about force just now; but methinks you will forget it; and so will I."

Thus saying, the Duke turned his horse and rode away down the avenue; the English archers sprang upon their steeds again; and Richard of Woodville, beckoning the young Lord of Lens to halt, caused his whole troop to file off before him, and then with his companion brought up the extreme rear. A number of the French men-at-arms followed at a respectful distance, till the party entered the village of Fleurines, in the forest; but there, having satisfied themselves that there was no greater body of the men of Burgundy in the neighbourhood--which might have rendered the King's journey back to Paris somewhat dangerous--they halted and retired.

The Duke had turned round to watch their proceedings more than once; nor did he take any farther notice of Richard of Woodville till the French party were gone. When they were no longer in sight, however, he called him to his side, and questioned him regarding himself.

"I do not remember you about my son, fair sir," he said, "and I am not one to forget men who act as you have done to-day."

"I have been in your territories, my Lord Duke, but a short time,"

replied Richard of Woodville. "As I came seeking occasions of honour to the most chivalrous court in Europe, and as I was furnished with letters from my Sovereign to yourself, and to your son, vouching graciously for my faith, the Count was kindly pleased to give me a share in anything that was to be done to-day. Happening to be in the saddle this morning somewhat before the rest of the Lord of Roucq's troop, and my horses being somewhat fresher, the good old knight sent me on, thinking you might need aid before you reached the rendezvous you had given him."

"Ay, he judged right," replied the Duke; "and had I known as much, when I wrote to him, as I learned yesterday, I would have had him at the gates of Paris; for my escape at all has been a miracle. They only put off arresting me or stabbing me in my hotel till the King returned from this hunting, in order to guard against a rising of the citizens.

Have you this letter from King Henry about you?"

"My page has it in his wallet, n.o.ble Duke," replied the young Englishman. "Will you please to see it?"

John nodded his head, and, calling up the boy, Richard of Woodville took the letter from him, and placed it in the Prince's hands. The Duke opened and read it with a smile; then, turning to Woodville, he said, "You justify the praises of your King, and his request shall be attended to by me, as in duty bound. Men look to him, sir, with eyes of expectation, and have a foresight of great deeds to come. His friends.h.i.+p is dear to me; and every one he is pleased to send shall have honour at my hands for his sake. Ah! there is Pont St. Maxence, and the bright Oise. De Roucq is, probably, there by this time."

"I doubt it not, my lord," answered Richard of Woodville; "he could not be far behind."

"Who is that youth," demanded the Duke, "who seems your second in the band?"

"One of your own va.s.sals, n.o.ble sir," replied the English gentleman, "full of honour and zeal for your service, who will some day make an excellent soldier. He is the young Lord of Lens."

"Ah!" said the Duke in a sorrowful tone, "I have bad news for him. His uncle Charles is a prisoner in Paris, taken out of my very house before my eyes; and I doubt much they will do him to death. Break it to him calmly this evening, sir. But see! here are several of good old De Roucq's party looking out for us. Methinks he would not have heard bad tidings of his Duke without riding to rescue him."