The White Gauntlet Part 47

"Shall he wear _the white gauntlet_ in his beaver?" he continued, pondering over new modes of humiliating his adversary. "There would be something sweet in such a sublime mockery? No: better not--he will appear more ridiculous with his head bare--bound like a felon! Ha! ha!

ha!"

Again he gave way, unchecked, to his exultant laugh, till the room rang with his fierce cachinnations.

"Zounds!" exclaimed he, after an interval, during which the shadow of some doubt had stolen over his face. "If she should smile upon him in that hour, then my triumph would be changed to chagrin! Oh! under her smile he would be happier than I!"

"Aha!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, after another pause, in which he appeared to have conceived a thought that chased away the shadow. "Aha! I have it now.

She shall _not_ smile. I shall take precautions against it. Phoebus!

what a splendid conception! He shall appear before her, _not_ bareheaded, but with beaver on--bedecked with a bunch of flowers!"

"Let me see! What sort were those the girl gave him? Red, if I remember aright,--ragged robin, corn poppies, or something of the kind.

No matter about that, so long as the colour be in correspondence. In the distance, Marion could scarce have distinguished the species. A little faded, too, they must be: as if kept since the day of the fete.

_She_ will never suspect the _ruse_. If she smile, after beholding the flowers, then shall I know that there is nothing between them. A world to see her smile? To see her do the very thing, which but an instant ago, I fancied would have filled me with chagrin!"

"Ho!" he again e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, in a tone of increasing triumph. "Another splendid conception! My brain, so d.a.m.nably dull all through the night, brightens with the coming day. As our French queen is accustomed to exclaim, '_une pensee magnifique_!' 'Twill be a home thrust for Holtspur. If _he_ love _her_--and who can doubt it--then shall his heart be wrung, as he has wrung mine. Ha! ha! _The right hand glove shall triumph over the left_!"

As Scarthe said this, he strode towards the table on which lay his helmet; and, taking from the breast of his doublet the gauntlet of Marion Wade--the one she had really lost--he tied it with a piece of ribbon to the crest;--just under the _panache_ of plumes.

"Something for him to speculate upon, while inside the walls of his prison! Something to kill time, when he is awake, and dream of, when asleep! Ha! ha! A sweet revenge 'twill be--one worthy the craft of an inquisitor!"

A footstep coming along the corridor put a period to his changing soliloquy.

It was the footstep of Stubbs; and in the next instant the flat face of the cornet presented itself in the half-opened door.

"Thirty in armour, captain--ready for the road," was the announcement of the subaltern.

"And I am ready to head them," answered his superior officer--setting his helmet firmly upon his head, and striding towards the door, "Thirty will be more than we need. After all, 'tis best to make sure. We don't want the fox to steal away from his cover; and he might do so, if the earths be not properly stopped. We're pretty sure to find him in his swaddling clothes at this hour. Ha! ha! ha! What a ludicrous figure our fine cavalier will cut in his nightcap! Won't he, Stubbs?"

"Ought to, by Ged!"

And, with this gleeful antic.i.p.ation, Scarthe, followed by his subaltern, stepped lightly along the pa.s.sage leading towards the courtyard--where thirty troopers, armed _cap-a-pied_--each standing on the near side of his steed--awaited the order to spring into their saddles.

In two seconds' time the "Mount and forward!" was given--not by signal-call of the bugle, but by word of command, somewhat quietly p.r.o.nounced. Then, with captain and cornet at its head, the troop by twos, filed out through the arched entrance--directing their march towards the gateway that opened upon the Oxford Road, treading in the direction of Beaconsfield.

It was by this same entrance the two officers had come in only a short while before. They saw the hoof-prints of their horses in the dust-- still saturated with the rain that had fallen. They saw also the track of a third steed, that had been travelling the same direction: towards the house.

They found the gate closed. They had left it open. Some less negligent person had entered the park after them!

"Our host has got safe home!" whispered Scarthe to his subaltern.

"So much the better," he--added with a significant smile, "I don't want to capture _him_--at least, not now; and if I can make _a captive_ of his daughter--not at all. If I succeed not in that, why then--then--I fear Sir Marmaduke will have to accept the hospitality of his Majesty, and abide some time under the roof of that royal mansion that lies eastward of Cheap--erst honoured by the residence of so many distinguished gentlemen. Ha! ha! ha!"

Having delivered himself of this jocular allusion to the Tower, he pa.s.sed through the park gate; and at the head of his troopers continued briskly, but silently, along the king's highway.

On went the glittering phalanx--winding up the road like some destroying serpent on its way to wickedness--the pattering of their horses' feet, and the occasional clink of steel scabbards, striking against stirrups and _cuisses_, were the only sounds that broke upon the still air of the morning--to proclaim the pa.s.sage of armed and mounted men.

Volume Two, Chapter XII.

Shortly after the spies had taken their departure from Stone Dean, the conspirators might have been seen, emerging from the house, mounting their horses, and riding off. They went, much after the fashion in which they had come--in silence, alone, or in small groups; and, after clearing the gate entrance, along different roads. Some half dozen stayed later than the rest; but before the daylight could have disclosed their ident.i.ty, these had also bidden adieu to Stone Dean; and were journeying far beyond the precincts of its secluded park.

When the last guest had gone, two of Holtspur's improvised grooms--for whose services there was no further occasion--also took their departure from the place. There remained only three individuals in the old mansion--its owner, his Indian attendant, and Gregory Garth.

Of these, the last mentioned, and only he, had yielded his spirit to the embrace of the drowsy G.o.d.

On perceiving that his services as stable-helper were no longer in requisition, the ex-footpad,--having no other lodging to which he might betake himself,--had stretched his tired limbs along the beechwood bench; which, as on a former occasion, he had drawn up close to the kitchen fire. In five minutes after, not only the ample kitchen itself, but the contiguous apartments of pantry and wash-house,--with the various pa.s.sages between,--were resonant of his snores.

Holtspur was still in the apartment in which the meeting had been held-- the library it was--where, seated in front of a writing table, with pen in hand, he appeared to busy himself in the composition of some doc.u.ment of more than ordinary importance.

Oriole was the only one of the household who seemed to have no occupation: since he was neither sleeping, nor acting.

He was not inside the house, nor yet outside, but part of both: since he stood in the doorway, on the top step of the front entrance,--the door being still open.

He was in his habitual att.i.tude of perfect repose,--silent and _statuesque_. This he had maintained for some length of time--having lingered, vaguely gazing after the last guest who had gone away--or, rather, the two woodmen, Walford and Dancey: for they had been the latest to take their departure.

It is difficult to say what may have been occupying the thoughts of the young savage. Perhaps they were dwelling upon scenes of the past-- memories of his forest home, thousands of miles away--memories of his early years--of his tawny companions, and their sports--memories, perhaps more tender, of sister or mother? Whether or no, they stirred him not from his silent att.i.tude; and for a long half hour he remained motionless, wrapped in speechless reverie.

It was only on seeing the first streaks of the dawn, stealing over the beech-clad crests of the hills, that he began to arouse himself; and then only in his eyes were exhibited signs of activity.

These, instead of being directed towards the sky, were turned towards the ground--scrutinising a s.p.a.ce in front of the door-step, where the close crowding of hoof-prints told of the many hors.e.m.e.n who had late made their departure from the place.

For some time the Indian kept his eyes upon the ground, without exhibiting any apparent interest in the tracks. And yet he appeared to be tracing them: perhaps only in obedience to a habit learnt, and indulged in, from earliest childhood.

After a while, his glance wandered to a wider range; and something, observed at a few paces distance, appeared more seriously to engage his attention.

His statuesque att.i.tude became at once disarranged; and, gliding down from the steps, he walked rapidly along the gravelled walk, leading to the left side of the house.

On arriving at the angle of the wall, he stooped downward--as if to examine some object at his feet.

After remaining motionless for a few seconds, he continued on--still with body bent--towards the back part of the dwelling.

He proceeded slowly, but without making a stop--till he had arrived near the rear of the mansion. There a narrow doorway, opening into the eastern wing, was before his eyes; and into this he stood gazing-- evidently in some surprise. It could not be at seeing the door: for he knew of it already. It was its being open that elicited that look of astonishment.

During his stay at Stone Dean he had never known that side door to be otherwise than shut, and locked too. As there was only himself, and his master, who had the right to unlock it, he was naturally surprised at finding it ajar.

He might not have heeded the circ.u.mstance but for another, which seemed to connect itself with the open door. He had observed the footprints of two men, plainly impressed in the damp dust. They ran all along the wall, parallel to, and a few paces from it. Near the angle of the building, they were joined by a third set of footmarks; and from that point the three proceeded together till lost among the horse-tracks around the entrance in front.

It was these footmarks that had first attracted the Indian from his stand upon the steps; and, in tracing them, he had been conducted to the side doorway.

To examine the tracks, either of man or animal, and wherever seen, is a habit--indeed almost an instinct--with an Indian; and, ruled by this peculiarity of his people, Oriole had hastened to scrutinise the "sign."

The act was not altogether unaccompanied by a process of ratiocination.

Slightly as he understood the bearings of those political schemes, in which his master was engaged, the faithful follower knew that there was reason for secrecy, as well as suspicion in regard to the men, with whom he was brought in contact. It was some vague thought of this kind, that had caused him to take notice of the tracks.

He remembered having conducted all the gentlemen outward by the front door, on their departure, as he had conducted them inward on their arrival. He remembered that all had ridden directly away. Which of them, then, had gone round to the rear of the building, without his having observed them?

There were three distinct sets of footprints, not going towards the back, but returning towards the front. One set had been made by hobnailed shoes. These might be the tracks of one of the three helpers; but the other two were those of gentlemen.

Almost intuitively had the Indian arrived at this conclusion, when his a.n.a.lysis was interrupted by seeing the side door standing open--a circ.u.mstance which strengthened his incipient suspicion that there was something in the "sign."