The MS. in a Red Box Part 2

"Do. My friends, Doctor Goel and his fair daughter, tell me you have been exceedingly kind in bribing a rabble crew to call off their dogs from the lady. Pray accept my thanks. It will give you comfort to know that she will not again be exposed to annoyance by the scoundrels of the neighbourhood. To-morrow they remove to our poor castle of b.u.t.terwick."

I bowed an acknowledgment of his information, mounted, and rode away.

A heedless rider I was, leaving Trueboy to choose the manner of our going. I saw nothing but, now the pale face with steadfast look confronting the threatening crowd, now the face aflush with tender pity, now the arch-light in the brown eyes as she talked with me in the room. And this was one of our invaders! A conquering invader, right surely! A Dutchwoman! Nay, an angel!

How flowingly and trippingly she spoke our English tongue! How divinely she endured her pain! How daintily she mingled raillery and sweetness! No such woman had ever lived on earth before. And one day she could call me Frank, and be my own. Some foreboding that my father and I might be divided by my love, I felt, but none the less determined that she should be mine. That sneering villain, Sheffield, had marked her as his prey, but I had no fear of him. She would know him for the libertine and coward that he was. Why had he told me that to-morrow she would be removed to his father's house? Ten to one, he lied to me, perhaps that he might hinder me from going to the White Hart again.

Ha, ha, what a thrice sodden fool to think _that_! Or it might be that he had some other mischief in his head. Whatever it might be, I would be too strong for him.

For all the way I rode there rang in my ears to the sweetest tune, "You will not forget to bring your friend to see my father." No, I should not forget. To-morrow, early, I would bring my friend.

How long, long ago is it since that bright day of May? And I remember all I felt, and thought better than I remember yesterday.

CHAPTER II

On the morrow I appeared at breakfast in silken stockings, new doublet and hose, new shoes, with roses and strings of the latest fashion, Flemish ruff and cuffs, and cloak of tawny velvet. My man, Luke Barnby, stared at my gaudy apparel; and, when I bade him have Trueboy and the old, white mare at the door within half an hour, and to bring me my Milanese rapier, he answered surlily--

"Which 'tis the first time I've heard of otter-hunting with swords, or in Sunday clothes."

I had clean forgotten the big otter hunt! This spring the otters were more numerous than any man remembered them, and they were making havoc among the salmon in Trent. This was the day appointed for the meet at Temple Belwood, when all Belton and Beltoft were to a.s.semble and make a great riddance of the vermin. And I, the host and master of the hunt, had clean forgotten the business! To fail to be at my post would raise an outcry among our neighbours, and might bring me severe censure from my father, but to postpone the visit to Doctor and Mistress Goel was not to be thought of. I had my doubts whether the young lady could be removed so soon as Sheffield had threatened; but there was a chance that it might happen, and then farewell to the hope of seeing her for Heaven only knew how long. That was unendurable, so I wrote a few lines to a neighbour, begging him to a.s.sume my place, and not to spare the Temple ale or wine-cellar.

"Hark ye, Luke," said I; "put this into the hands of Squire Mell, of Beltoft, with haste. Mr. Butharwick and I have pressing business at Crowle."

When Mr. Butharwick and I sat down to breakfast, he to his usual mess of hot barley-water, sweetened with sugar and thickened with bread--he having no stomach of a morning for steak and ale, and marrow-pudding he abhorred--I saw that he had something on his mind, and was in no such jovial humour as last evening, when he had been joyous in prospect of meeting a scholar and a friend of his idolized Grotius. At last he broke silence with--

"Frank, it will be wise to defer this visit to Crowle. The town is ruled by Scorpio, and in thy horoscope Scorpio was occupied by Mars in affliction. To-day a malefic is transiting the place of Mars."

"Terms of art are thrown away on me," I answered. "Who should know that so well as you?"

"Crowle is always unlucky for you," said Mr. Butharwick.

"Truly, my horse once fell there, and once I came to disgrace for snoring under a sermon by Uncle Graves; but other mischance I cannot remember. Yet I have gone thither--how many? say, a thousand times."

"Do not jest with the Heavens, boy," said Mr. Butharwick, sternly.

And, indeed, at any other time I should have been far from jesting, for my tutor was marvellously skilled in astrology, but this day the longing to see Mistress Goel's bright face made me defiant of the stars. Mindful, however, that my good tutor had been rereading my horoscope, and anew consulting the heavens on my behalf, I replied--

"Pardon me, but the worst luck that could befall me at Crowle to-day would be to find that Doctor Goel and his daughter had left the place before we arrived. And we are to keep our word, are we not, though the stars be never so unfavourable?"

In the end Mr. Butharwick was persuaded much against his will to countenance our going, but not until I had put on my topaz ring, and engaged to use the prayer appointed for Times of War and Tumult.

a.s.suredly, no prince of the blood had ever more fonder faithful counsellor than I in my tutor, but I chafed much at his delay and over great precaution.

The old mare was covered with foam when we drew rein at the inn door, and her rider fain to be out of saddle, for Mr. Butharwick was no keen horseman. The hostess led us into her best room, where the doctor received us with distant stateliness, and his daughter with sweet courtesy. After introduction of Mr. Butharwick I left the clerkly men to entertain themselves, which they were well able to do, having Latin for their common tongue, and, as it seemed by the noise they made, an infinite deal to say to each other.

I had thought Mistress Goel lovely when she was in pain and disarray, and her form partly hidden by the long cloak she wore on our first meeting; but now, wearing a gown which fitted her slim body closely to the waist, with her shining brown hair neatly coiled and folded, and in ease and gaiety of heart, as her pleasant smiling showed, I thought--no, I did not think, I was overcome with love and felt that all the high fantastic words and deeds of lovers, at which I had laughed hitherto, were too tame for the height of my pa.s.sion and worship. When I found my tongue, I asked particularly of her health.

"My hurts are healed, or will soon be healed," she a.s.sured me. "Leyden is famous for its leechcraft, and my father is--or was--the best physician there. We go to-day to Castle Mulgrave."

"But you cannot ride so far," I objected.

"We are to be carried in a litter, which the earl sends for us."

The old n.o.bleman had, I then remembered, a litter in which he was conveyed about the Isle when gout forbade horsemanship.

"You know the earl?" I asked.

"He did us the honour to pay us some attention, when we were in London."

I wondered what might underlie this, for the earl was one of the proudest men in England, and not likely to care for the sorrows of an exiled doctor.

"Did you make the acquaintance of Lord Sheffield in town?" I asked.

"Yes; he had the condescension to be our cicerone there."

The tone in which Mistress Goel p.r.o.nounced the word "condescension" had soothing for my jealousy.

"How long do you remain at Castle Mulgrave?" I asked.

"I do not know; perhaps until Mynherr Vermuijden appears. We go because Lord Sheffield has alarmed my father, warning him of danger in our continuing here. And our hostess is relieved of some strange uneasiness by our going."

My mind was filled with apprehension, which I could not express. That Sheffield should do an act of pure kindness was incredible. His foul pursuit of beauty was a byword in the Isle, and there were fathers, brothers, and lovers, who were held back from murderous revenge only by terror of the old earl, who had long been President of the Council of the North, and consequently held unlimited authority over the common people of Axholme. Even that fear might not have restrained some, but Sheffield, as I have said, always went armed and attended, and had a host of spies in his pay. But how could I speak of Sheffield's vileness to this maiden shining in her purity?

The door flew open, and Dame Hind announced: "His lordship, my lord Sheffield." From the plumes in his beaver, fastened with glistering stones, to his riding boots, richly lined with lace, he was dressed with splendour. The courtly grace with which he doffed his hat and bowed filled me with envy. When he had saluted Mistress Goel and her father, he told them that the litter awaited their pleasure, and then greeted me with affected surprise.

"I' faith, Master Frank, I took you for some London gallant. One is used to meet you ready for the chase. Vavasour is a mighty hunter, you must know," said he to Mistress Goel. "He hath no fellow in the art of cutting a stag's throat, or spearing an otter."

Noting the slight shudder of disgust, which he had caused by so artfully discommending me, he went on--

"In the Netherlands you have pastimes more refined than our English sports. I say 'our,' though I take no pleasure in them."

"It is true you are no hunter, but you are a skilful trapper, my lord: cunning in bait and lure and bird-call," I answered.

One glance at Sheffield's face, white with rage, showed Mistress Goel that more was meant than met the ear. She stepped back nearer to the two old men, who were so deep in some question of learning that they were loth to part, and oblivious of every thing but their disputation.

"You cowardly cur," said Sheffield. "You know that you are safe from horse-whip in this presence."

"Safe from horse-whip anywhere in your hand, unless you had four or five to help you."

Threat and defiance pa.s.sed in whisper almost, but our looks were fierce enough, as we stood close together, eyes pretty nearly level, for Sheffield had not more than an inch advantage over my five feet ten.

He was the first to recover himself, saying--

"Your ill-timed jests would provoke a Stoic."

Then he turned to Doctor Goel, who had suddenly become aware that he detained his lordship and his train unseemlily, and a movement was made. Not until the lady and her father were in the litter, borne on the shoulders of four stout fellows in the Mulgrave livery, and the escort mounted and ready to set off, had I speech with Mistress Goel, and that no more than formal leave-taking, save that when her little hand lay for a moment in my big paw, I touched it lightly with my lips.

She withdrew it quickly, but I saw no displeasure in her eyes.

Sheffield put his blackamoor in charge of the litter and its attendants, and promising to overtake the party speedily, rode with two of his men in the opposite direction.

Mr. Butharwick and I re-entered the inn, a dull hole now, that had been lately so bright, and called for a cup of wine, which Dame Hind brought us, and, setting hands on hips, gave vent to her feelings.