The Knight of the Golden Melice Part 36

"It would take a long arm to reach his accusers, seeing they are on the other side of the ocean. Hark ye, young sir--it is in every one's mouth that thy famous Knight is an agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who makes unrighteous claim to the lands granted us by his Majesty King Charles, and, moreover, thou art connected with him, in men's minds, as in some sort an accomplice."

"Is that all?" said the young man, scornfully. "I judge from thy speech that these lies come in letters from England. Pray, are they credited by any one, save by them of the baser sort?"

"Callest thou me one of the baser sort? Wilt thou revile them who are set in authority over thee? Have a care, my young c.o.c.keril, or thy own comb may chance to be cut."

"Out with thee, malapert knave," said the young man, in his vexation, "and know to respect thy betters. Truly, the world is come to a pretty pa.s.s, when a fowl like thee is permitted to ruffle his feathers at a gentleman."

"An' he were not in some sort an amba.s.sador, whom I have heard it is unlawful for a constable to touch," growled Master Prout to himself, as Arundel angrily turned his back upon him, "I had taught him incontinently, better than to speak to me in this fashion. As it is, I will advise with Master Spikeman about this matter." So saying, with a flushed brow, the irate officer of the law departed.

"What means this, Colonel McMahon?" demanded Arundel. "Here have I been a bare three weeks away, on business of the commonwealth, and on my return I find myself rewarded with sour looks and unpleasant speeches, _sans_ any consciousness of deserving them. I cannot ask a plain question, without being answered in riddles that would have crazed the brain of OEdipus."

The person addressed, a grave man, of middle age, and the same who had had the words with Endicott about the cutting out of the cross, took the questioner aside, and, as soon as they were out of hearing, answered:

"Truly am I afraid that I shall also be involved in thy condemnation of those who return answers after the manner of the sphynx; but, to be short, there have two ships lately arrived from England, bringing, it is said, unpleasant tidings touching Sir Christopher Gardiner."

"What be these tidings?" inquired Arundel, noticing that the speaker hesitated.

"I neither am, nor desire to be, in the confidence of the government,"

answered Colonel McMahon, haughtily, the wounds inflicted on whose loyalty by the mutilation of the standard, were not yet healed; "and the information I have is derived from a private source and uncertain rumor. For the former, the Knight is pointed at as an agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges; for the latter, it becomes me not to heed the idle chatter of the vulgar."

"Comports it with your sense of propriety to reveal more?" asked Arundel.

"Were I never so desirous," said the Colonel, courteously, "I should be unable. In fact, what I have told is the sum of my knowledge. I could, indeed, indulge in surmises based on rumor, but that were too much like the gossiping of old women, and both unbecoming in me to speak and in you to hear, more especially as that rumor attaints in other respects the fair fame of your friend. It is different with the base-born scullions around us, who are licensed to utter whatever their unruly imaginations may conceive; but a gentleman will not allow epithets upon his tongue to the disparagement of another, which, after all, may be false."

Having thus spoken, the Colonel raised his steeple-crowned hat in a formal manner, slightly bending his body, and walked up to the landlord, to whom he paid his score, and then left the apartment.

"I will endure this no longer," said Arundel to himself, putting on his own hat. "I will seek the Governor immediately, and demand from him its explanation."

Upon arriving at the house of Winthrop, he learned, with a feeling of disappointment, that the Governor was absent on a visit at Plymouth, and he turned reluctantly away, in order to communicate to the rough Dudley, instead of the polished chief magistrate, the result of the mission, and to obtain that information which would enable him to give shape to the chaotic rumors.

He was received with neither cordiality nor incivility by the Deputy Governor, to whom the young man communicated the success of the conciliatory efforts of Sir Christopher with the Taranteens, and at the same time delivered the Knight's message. His auditor listened in grim silence, interrupting him by no inquiry, nor did he, when the communication was finished, vouchsafe a word of thanks for the service rendered. Dudley had been a soldier in his youth, having received a captain's commission from Queen Elizabeth, and commanded a company of volunteers under the chivalrous Henry Fourth of France, at the siege of Amiens, in 1597; and, if he had not the quality of frankness by nature, had acquired an appearance of it in the camp, together with a military decision and roughness of manner. It was not his wont to disguise his feelings, and on the present occasion they were obvious, even before he opened his lips to speak. When Arundel had concluded, he waited for the comments of the Deputy, nor had he to wait long.

First, however, Dudley inquired,

"Is there nothing more thou wouldst communicate?"

"If there be any thing of importance or of public concern omitted, it is done unwittingly," said Arundel.

"Then is thy news most jejune and unsatisfactory, seeing that our condition is neither war nor peace, but of sort of armed truce, liable to be broken at any moment by these treacherous savages. I am not to be deceived by the promise, that, for the present, we need fear no hostilities. I know their craft. If they refuse formally to make peace, they are preparing for war. Well, they may try their hand. But I am disappointed in the opinion I had of the extent of the influence, by some means acquired, over the Indians by this Sir Christopher Gardiner, if he indeed have authority to bear the t.i.tle."

"Who dares to say," exclaimed Arundel, whose irritation this fresh taunt increased, "that Sir Christopher a.s.sumes a t.i.tle which belongs not to him, or to asperse in any respect his character?"

"It will come to light," said Dudley, "in its own time; but tell me now, wherefore made not the Knight, as you choose to call him, his appearance himself? Methinks such proceeding were more respectful to the authority which commissioned him."

The brow of the young man flushed at the rude speech, and it was with difficulty that he restrained his feelings; but he succeeded so far as to reply with an appearance of tolerable calmness, that it was only that morning they had returned, and that the Knight purposed to present himself on the morrow, being detained for the present by reasons which doubtless ought to be satisfactory.

"It were strange," said the surly Dudley, "if his private affairs should be of more importance than the interests of our Commonwealth; and yet it seems that the former do, in his estimation, outweigh the latter."

"I pray of your goodness to pardon the fault," said Arundel, who was determined that nothing should provoke his anger again that day. "Sure am I that, had the Knight of the Golden Melice known the importance attached to his presence, he had come forthwith, without stopping for rest, or to change his soiled garments, instead of sending me, his unfortunate and most unworthy subst.i.tute."

"I like not this fantastic t.i.tle," said Dudley, whose ill-humor seemed not at all soothed by the gentle language of the young man, but rather to increase. "I like it not, whether it be an idle appendage stuck on by the humorous learning of Winthrop, as I have heard, or a quaint conceit springing out of the man's own vanity. I deny not honor and dignity, where they rightfully belong, but what is to become of the realities, if the shams receive an equal consideration?"

"I wander like a man in a mist, who sees not a foot before him," said Arundel. "I have entreated your Worship to deal more plainly with me, but it has been your pleasure to seem as if you heard me not; and, for the report which, in the discharge of my duty, I have made, I have received only innuendos against the fair fame of my friend, and which do, in some sense, alight upon myself. From whatever quarter they may proceed, I scorn and defy them, and brand them as false; and, I doubt not, the appearance of Sir Christopher will force his detractors to disappear, even like so many whipped curs."

Arundel spoke with a feeling of anger, notwithstanding his resolution to keep command over himself, and rose to take his leave. The spirit which he had shown in his last speech, so far from displeasing the Deputy, had a contrary effect; for, rising himself, Dudley grasped his visitor's hand, and dismissed him with less frigidity than he had received him. Something also he said, as if in excuse of his conduct, about the necessity of caution, amounting sometimes to unreasonable suspicions on the part of the rulers of a weak colony, depending more upon the wisdom of its counsels than upon force for its existence, intimating at the same time, that if any suspicions were attached to the young man, it was doubtless more in consequence of his accidental connection with Sir Christopher, than because he deserved them.

It is natural that Arundel, after his long absence, and the unpleasant events of the day, should desire to derive some consolation from the society of his mistress. We are not surprised, therefore, to find him taking his way toward the house of the a.s.sistant Spikeman, in the hope of receiving some signal which would permit him to enter. Nor was he disappointed--Prudence, with a light kerchief thrown over her head, being just stepping out of the door on an errand to some neighbor as he came up. The girl gave a pretty start as she beheld Arundel, partly natural and partly affected, and then beckoned to him to enter.

"O! how you frighted me!" she said, after she had carefully closed the door. "You have sent all the blood into my heart; and it flutters so!"

"I will bring it back again into thy cheeks, where it shows so prettily," replied Arundel, saluting her.

"Fie! Master Miles," exclaimed Prudence, but not looking at all displeased. "It is well Master Prout sees thee not. Well, what do you want? I suppose you came to see me?"

"I have seen thee, pretty Prudence, and am so unreasonable as to desire also to be shown to thy mistress. She is well?"

"I humbly thank your Worship," said the girl, curtseying awkwardly, and snuffling through her nose in a manner intended to ridicule the grave Puritans, "worthy Dame Spikeman is well in body, albeit ill in spirit, being afflicted with a grievous visitation called a husband."

"Come, come, you mad-cap girl," said the young man, laughing at the caricature, "pervert not my meaning, but show me the way to Mistress Eveline. If thou wilt, I promise thee a husband for thyself in good time."

"From plague, pestilence, famine, and husbands, (I did ever think the litany deficient,) good Lord deliver us," exclaimed Prudence, holding up her hands. "Do I look, forsooth, like one in need of a husband, or likely to a.s.sist my young mistress therewith? She deserves better at my hands. I see, besides, Master Miles, that you are ignorant of the law in this blessed country, which forbids young men to woo maidens. I know all about it, for I had it from the lips of a venerable a.s.sistant. Shall I rehea.r.s.e it to you?"

"Why, what has got into the girl?" said Arundel, tired of this foolery. "I prithee no more, sweet Prudence, but conduct me at once to Eveline. Consider how long it is since I saw her."

"Nay, an' you come to calling me sweet, there is no resisting you. I do love sweet things, and it is pleasant to be called sweet by some persons. I will delay you no longer," she added, resuming her natural manner, "since Mistress Eveline must by this time have made up her toilette. So, please you, follow me."

So saying, she tripped forward, and ushered Arundel into a room, where we have already seen him, and retired. Almost instantly, the beautiful Eveline came in with a smile upon her lips and a blush on her cheeks, for from her room, the door of which was open in that warm season, she had overheard the whole conversation, as indeed Prudence had intended she should.

"A strange way, Miles," she said, biting her red lips to restrain a laugh, "to show the devotedness of your affection to the mistress by kissing the maid. Is it a fashion taught thee by the savages?"

Arundel, notwithstanding the words of Eveline, could not discover much severity either in the tones of her voice or the glances of her eyes, for those were days when scarcely so great a delicacy of manners prevailed as in the present; and, catching her to his bosom, he found little difficulty in obtaining pardon for his fault.

"Ah, you know, Miles," said Eveline, withdrawing herself from his embrace, "that a maiden who scolds her lover has more than half forgiven him already."

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the particulars of a meeting, which, even without experience of like scenes, the imagination will suggest, and which, lacking the spice of personal interest, might appear tame, even to those whose recollection of early emotions still has power to send the blood with a livelier glow through the heart. From his conversation with Eveline, the apprehensions in regard to Sir Christopher, which began to invade the mind of Arundel, were increased, although his fears were of an indefinite character. Without being able to determine exactly what were the accusations against the Knight, of one thing at least he became certain--that they were commonly considered of too serious a nature to be pa.s.sed by in silence; that any services would hardly screen him from censure or punishment of some sort, if they were proved; and that Spikeman was exerting his malignity against him to an extraordinary degree.

Upon leaving Eveline, Arundel meditated on the conduct he ought to adopt, whether to remain and await the arrival of Sir Christopher on the next day, as he originally intended, or to return and inform him of what he had learned. That some calamity threatened his friend, was plain. What it was, was not so evident. The only cause of complaint against him he could discern, was a supposed connection with Sir Ferdinando Gorges. On this point he knew that Winthrop and his council were extremely sensitive, warmly resenting the claim which that gentleman made, and was trying to prosecute in England, adverse to their patent, which he declared was void, and determined to punish whoever should a.s.sert the t.i.tle of Sir Ferdinando as superior to their own, or should in any respect countenance or abet him in his schemes.

As for other intimations, Arundel considered them as only additions, which stories, like rolling s...o...b..a.l.l.s, naturally receive in their progress, and which, in the present instance, deserved even less credit than usual, on account of their vagueness and improbability.

What motive could there be, for example, to induce Sir Christopher to arrogate a t.i.tle which did not belong to him, when there was every chance of detection, and no important advantage to be gained? He had never noticed in the Knight any a.s.sumption of superiority, but, on the contrary, rather a careless cordiality, amounting almost to _bonhommie_. Everything which he had seen about his friend forbade the supposition. From the baselessness of this, he inferred the falsity of all other charges, whatever they might be; and yet, notwithstanding his conviction of the innocence of his friend, it appeared to him that information of the disposition of Dudley ought to be made known to Sir Christopher, in order to enable him to decide for himself upon the steps necessary to be taken, before he should be a.s.sailed unawares.

Having arrived at this conclusion, Arundel lost no time in hurrying off to the residence of the Knight.

CHAPTER XXVI.

"Ah! home let him speed, for the spoiler is nigh!

Why flames the far summit? Why shoot to the blast Those embers, like stars from the firmament cast?"