Cedric, the Forester Part 5

"Not quite so fast, Sir d.i.c.kon. There's many a thought to be taken yet anent thy knightly training. But now it comes to me that Cedric here e'en must remain at Mountjoy for some months at least, if he would guard his life and limb. After this day's work, should any of the Carleton men come upon him at a vantage, his shrift would be short and no prayers said."

So was it settled that Cedric should remain with us of Mountjoy. The next day a messenger was despatched to Elbert, the forester, with the news of his son's brave deeds and his present safety. I lost no time in beginning his training for sword-play; and he showed himself the best of learners. Within a week, moreover, he had shown to me some tricks of the cross-bow of which I had never heard, and fairly 'mazed our men with the marks he struck at a hundred paces distance. Already we planned a match 'twixt Cedric and Old Marvin which should be a fete-day for all the friends of Mountjoy.

Then came a messenger from Shrewsbury, where for the time the King made his seat, bearing a scroll addressed to my father and sealed with the sign royal. Father read it slowly to himself as he stood with his back to the fire in the hall and the King's messenger was quaffing a cup of wine in the courtyard. My mother and I waited eagerly to hear its contents. Cedric sat in a farther corner, saying over to himself the names of the great letters which my mother had made for him on a sheet of parchment.

'Twas plain to see that the message was not to my father's liking, for he scowled fearsomely as he conned the words. Suddenly he began reading it in a loud and wrathful voice; and Cedric dropped his parchment to listen.

"To Robert, Lord of Mountjoy and Knight of the Holy Sepulcher, from Henry, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Lord of Anjou, Acquitaine, and Gascony, _Greeting_.

"Know thou that there hath appeared before our Court at Shrewsbury, Elizabeth, Lady of Carleton and Teramore, and relict of Geoffrey, Lord of Carleton, deceased, who hath, on oath, made complaint against thee, thy minor son, Richard and a certain yeoman of Pelham Forest, Cedric, son of Elbert, and now harbored by thee at Mountjoy, as follows:

"That, on Sat.u.r.day, of October the twenty-second day, thy son Richard did ride in the forests of Teramore without lawful right and leave from the holders thereof; that Lionel of Carleton, son of Geoffrey and Elizabeth of Carleton aforesaid, did meet with him and order him to leave those lands and return not; that thy son Richard did then and there attack Lionel of Carleton; and while they did fight, the yeoman, Cedric, being a servitor and confederate of Richard of Mountjoy did most foully slay Lionel of Carleton by a mortal weapon, to wit, a cross-bow bolt discharged from a point of hiding; that the servitors of Carleton did pursue and endeavor to arrest Richard of Mountjoy and the yeoman, Cedric, the which they did resist with force and arms, and that the aforesaid Cedric did again from hiding strike down and kill two of the Carleton retainers, so that he and thy son, Richard, did make their way to the Castle of Mountjoy where thou hast since harbored and protected them.

"Now therefore, know that it is my will that thou repair to our Court at Shrewsbury, bringing with thee thy son Richard and the yeoman, Cedric, and with not more than ten of thy retainers or men-at-arms, that fair trial of this cause may be had before our presence, on Thursday, of November the second day, at ten of the clock.

"And be thou here solemnly charged and commanded to desist from all violence and quarrel against the family of Elizabeth of Carleton or any of her servants and retainers, and to cause all thy family, thy servants and retainers to likewise refrain.

"Given under our hand and seal, this thirty-first day of October.

"_Henry_ (Rex)."

When the reading was finished we were silent for a s.p.a.ce, my father pacing back and forth with roughened brow, and Mother gazing anxiously upon him. At last he turned and said:

"We must to Shrewsbury. 'Tis the King's command; and the Mountjoys have ever been loyal va.s.sals, as none know better than the King himself. What say'st thou, Richard? Canst thou tell in open court the tale of that day's work even as we heard it here?"

"That I can, Father," I replied, "'tis the truth, and I care not who hears it."

"And thou, Cedric," he said, turning to face the forester who had now advanced to my side, "darest thou to face thy enemies and ours thus?

Remember, 'twill go hard with thee if we fail to bring the King to see the truth o't. He might order thy hanging easily as the whipping of a thief. Shall not I rather mount thee on the good horse thou didst win from the Carleton, with thy cross-bow on thy back and a bag of gold pieces beneath thy coat, and send thee to my cousin of Yorkshire, there to bide till this ill wind hath overblown?"

"My lord," answered Cedric, proudly, "that were to save myself at thy cost. The King hath commanded thee to bring me before his court; and if thou fail, he will visit his wrath upon thee. I will not fly. Rather will I ride the good steed thou speakest of to Shrewsbury in thy good company."

"Well said and bravely," said my father, with a note in his speaking which I had heard but once, and that when an old comrade-in-arms, whom he had thought dead in the Holy Land, came in illness and want to our castle door. Now he gazed for a moment full keenly at the face of Cedric, then turned and hurried to the courtyard to give orders for the morrow's journey.

The King's Court was held in the great hall at Shrewsbury, with such a brave array of lords and knights and men-at-arms, not to speak of clerks and counsellors with their mighty gowns and wigs, as was but seldom seen in our Western country. As I gazed at the King in his robes of state, seated on the dais in the midst, and noted his cold, gray eye and the hard lines about his mouth, my heart did somewhat misgive me, for all my repeating over and over to myself that none could gainsay the justice of our quarrel.

A word overheard as we entered the hall had set me thinking deeply; and though I feared not for myself, I began to wish that Cedric who now sat so uprightly by my side had thought fit to take the hint my father gave when first the summons reached us. 'Twas said that the King, in his youth, more than thirty years agone, had known Elizabeth of Winchester, before she was the bride of the Lord of Carleton, that she had then been one of the fairest and proudest maidens in the kingdom, and Prince Henry had felt for her more than a pa.s.sing fancy. However this had been, and whatever its bearing on the day's fortunes, it was now too late to do aught but await the event. The herald was announcing the cause against Richard of Mountjoy and Cedric, son of Elbert.

Two of the Carleton men-at-arms were sworn as witnesses, and told the tale of the killing of Lionel much as it had been set forth in the complaint of Elizabeth, their mistress. They declared that when they first came in sight of us, the Carleton and I were fighting with swords and hand to hand, and that I, seeming to have the worse of the fray, did shrilly call to some one hidden in the tangle behind, whereat a cross-bow bolt came from this ambush and slew their master. From that time on, their tales of the day's doings kept near the line of truth; and they did a.s.sert full stoutly their honesty in all this business when the King questioned them, making, 'twas plain to see, no little impress on his mind. Indeed, 'twas possible they believed the tale themselves, it being to them most likely from the things that they had seen.

Then was I called upon for my account; and I did set forth all the doings of that day from the time the Carleton met me in the path, forgetting not the foul insults with which Lionel began our quarrel nor the hidden coat of mail with which he thought to shield him. Cedric, with head held high and wide blue eyes gazing straight at the King, next told the tale; and his telling was closely like to mine.

When we both had done, the King sat with his eyes on the ground before him; and the hall was very still till Elizabeth of Carleton, tall, white-haired and queenly, in silken robes of black, rose in her place, and, stretching forth her hands, addressed the King:

"Henry of Anjou," she cried, "Elizabeth of Winchester, in her old age and sorrow, calls to you for vengeance for her murdered son."

More she would have spoken, but bitter tears streamed down her face, and her voice was choked with sobs.

The King gazed steadily at the weeping lady, and made as though to speak when my father started from his seat and shouted:

"There was no murder done, my Lord. The Carleton brought his death upon himself."

The King turned upon him a stern and heavy look.

"Mountjoy," he said, "wast thou there in the forest when Carleton was slain?"

"Nay, my lord."

"Then knowest thou aught save what thy son tells thee of this fray with thy enemies?"

"Nay, my lord; but 'tis enough. The Mountjoys fight their enemies and do not lie about them."

With a wave of his hand the King bade my father be seated. Then he sat motionless and thoughtful for long, while none ventured to disturb him.

His brow was drawn as with pain and he rested his head on his hand, the while we of Mountjoy, our enemies of Carleton all the members of that brilliant company awaited his verdict.

At last he slowly lifted his head and began to speak:

"I find the prisoners guilty of the charge that lies against them. To Richard, son of Robert, Lord of Mountjoy, I extend my clemency in view of the loyal and valiant service rendered by his father to our house, commanding only that he desist from bearing arms till he receive our permission.

"As for yonder varlet, called Cedric, he shall hang, to-morrow at dawn; and his body shall swing from Shrewsbury gate as an example to like evil-doers."

Some of the clerks and constables strove to raise the shout-"Long live the King"; but all became utterly silent when my father sprang from his bench, and with a face of fury addressed his sovereign:

"Not so, my lord! Not so! By the Holy Sepulcher, it shall not be."

The King sprang to his feet, and his right hand went to his sword hilt.

"Mountjoy," he shouted, "thou forget'st thyself. Beware lest thou bring down on thy head a wrath more terrible than that of any Carleton."

"By Heaven, my lord!" returned the Lord of Mountjoy in tones that matched the King's, "that brave youth shall never hang for having done a deed that should bring him praise instead. I stand on my rights as a freeman of England, and demand the _trial by battle_. There lies my glove."

Tearing from his hand his leathern gauntlet, he dashed it on the floor at the feet of the King.

All the a.s.sembled knights and soldiers drew a deep breath, as one man.

There was a low murmur of applause, for the Mountjoys have many friends.

The King's hand left his sword, and his face relaxed.

"Thou hast the right, Mountjoy," he said. Then, turning to the Carleton benches, went on: "Is there any among you who will take up this challenge?"

At this there started forth from a group of knights who had been standing a little behind the Lady of Carleton, a man of middle age, short of stature and of wide-mouthed, ill-favored face, but broad of shoulder and with arms so long that his hands reached nearly to his knees like those of a great ape I had seen in the train of the Cardinal.

"I, Philip, Knight of Latiere in Gascony, am cousin of Elizabeth, Lady of Carleton," he shouted. "I take up this glove as her protector and champion."

Then, seizing the glove, he tossed it high in air; and while it soared aloft, drew a long and slender blade from its scabbard, and as the glove fell, pierced it with a flashing thrust so that he held it high where all might see it impaled on the point of his sword.

"So let it be," said the King. "This cause shall be tried by wager of battle, here and now. Sir Philip De Latiere, the conditions are at your will, so they be fair and equal."

"Let him take a sword like unto this," said De Latiere, carelessly, "and if he chooses one a handsbreadth longer, I care not. Then let him lay aside all other weapons, as I do; and I trust, with the favor of Heaven, to be the means of affirming the righteousness of thy judgment."