In the Days of Chivalry: A Tale of the Times of the Black Prince, Page 2

  CHAPTER II. FATHER ANSELM.

  The mill of Sainte-Foi, which was the home of the twin brothers of theDe Brocas line, was situated upon a tributary stream of the river Adour,and was but a couple of leagues distant from the town of Sauveterre --one of those numerous "bastides" or "villes Anglaises" built by thegreat King Edward the First of England during his long regency of theprovince of Gascony in the lifetime of his father. It was one of thoseso-called "Filleules de Bordeaux" which, bound by strong ties to theroyal city, the queen of the Garonne, stood by her and played so large apart in the great drama of the Hundred Years' War. Those cities had beenbuilt by a great king and statesman to do a great work, and to them weregranted charters of liberties such as to attract into their walls largenumbers of persons who helped originally in the construction of the newtownships, and then resided there, and their children after them, proudof the rights and immunities they claimed, and loyally true to the causeof the English Kings, which made them what they were.

  It is plain to the reader of the history of those days that Gasconycould never have remained for three hundred years a fief of the EnglishCrown, had it not been to the advantage of her people that she should soremain. Her attachment to the cause of the Roy Outremer, her willinghomage to him, would never have been given for so long a period of time,had not the people of the land found that it was to their ownadvancement and welfare thus to accord this homage and fealty.

  Nor is the cause for this advantage far to seek. Gascony was of immensevalue to England, and of increasing value as she lost her hold upon themore northerly portions of France. The wine trade alone was soprofitable that the nobility, and even the royal family of England,traded on their own account. Bordeaux, with its magnificent harbour andvast trade, was a queen amongst maritime cities. The vast "landes" ofthe province made the best possible rearing ground for the chargers andcavalry horses to which England owed much of her warlike supremacy;whilst the people themselves, with their strength and independence ofcharacter, their traditions of personal and individual freedom which canbe clearly traced back to the Roman occupation of the province, andtheir long attachment to England and her King, were the most valuable ofallies; and although they must have been regarded to a certain extent asforeigners when on English soil, they still assimilated better andworked more easily with British subjects than any pure Frenchman hadever been found to do.

  Small wonder then that so astute a monarch as the First Edward had takenvast pains to draw closer the bond which united this fair province toEngland. The bold Gascons well knew that they would find no suchliberties as they now enjoyed did they once put themselves beneath therule of the French King. His country was already overgrown and almostunmanageable. He might cast covetous eyes upon Gascony, but he would notpour into it the wealth that flowed steadily from prosperous England. Hewould not endow it with charters, each one more liberal than the last,or bind it to his kingdom by giving it a pre-eminence that would butarouse the jealousy of its neighbours. No: the shrewd Gaseous knew thatfull well, and knew when they were well off. They could often obtain anincrease of liberty and an enlarged charter of rights by coquetting withthe French monarch, and thus rousing the fears of the English King; butthey had no wish for any real change, and lived happily and prosperouslybeneath the rule of the Roy Outremer; and amongst all the freemen of theGascon world, none enjoyed such full privileges as those who livedwithin the walls of the "villes Anglaises," of which Sauveterre was oneamongst the smaller cities.

  The construction of these towns (now best seen in Libourne) is verysimple, and almost always practically the same -- a square in the centreformed by the public buildings, with eight streets radiating from it,each guarded by a gate. An outer ditch or moat protected the wall orpalisade, and the towns were thus fortified in a simple but effectivemanner, and guarded as much by their own privileges as by any outerbulwarks. The inhabitants were bound together by close ties, and eachsmaller city looked to the parent city of Bordeaux, and was proud of thetitle of her daughter.

  Sauveterre and its traditions and its communistic life were familiarenough, and had been familiar from childhood to the twin brothers.

  Halfway between the mill and the town stood a picturesque and scatteredhamlet, and to this hamlet was attached a church, of which a piousecclesiastic, by name Father Anselm, had charge. He was a man of muchpersonal piety, and was greatly beloved through all the countryside,where he was known in every hut and house for leagues around the doorsof his humble home. He was, as was so frequently the case in thosetimes, the doctor and the scribe, as well as the spiritual adviser, ofhis entire flock; and he was so much trusted and esteemed that all mentold him their affairs and asked advice, not in the confessional alone,but as one man speaking to another in whom he has strong personalconfidence.

  The twin brothers knew that during the years when their dead mother hadresided at the mill with honest Jean and Margot (they began greatly towonder now why she had so lived in hiding and obscurity), she had beenconstantly visited by the holy Father, and that she had told him thingsabout herself and her history which were probably known to no otherhuman being beside. Brought up as the youths had been, and trained in ameasure beneath the kindly eye of the priest, they would in any casehave asked his counsel and blessing before taking any overt step inlife; but all the more did they feel that they must speak to him now,since he was probably the only person within their reach who could tellthem anything as to their own parentage and history that they did notknow already.

  "We will go to him upon the morrow," said Gaston with flashing eyes. "Wewill rise with the sun -- or before it -- and go to him ere his day'swork is begun. He will surely find time to talk with us when he hearsthe errand upon which we come. I trow now that when he has sat at ourboard, and has bent upon our faces those glances I have not known how toread aright, he has been wondering how long it would be ere we shouldawake to the knowledge that this peasant life is not the life of the DeBrocas race, guessing that we should come to him for counsel andinstruction ere we spread our wings to flee away. They call us eagletsin sooth; and do eaglets rest for ever in their mountain eyry? Nay, theyspread their wings as strength comes upon them, and soar upwards andonwards to see for themselves the great world around; even as thou and Iwill soar away, Brother, and seek other fortunes than will ever be ourshere in Sauveterre."

  With these burning feelings in their hearts, it was no wonder that thetwins uttered a simultaneous exclamation of satisfaction and pleasurewhen, as they approached the mill, they were aware of the familiarfigure of Father Anselm sitting at the open door of the living house,engaged, as it seemed, in an animated discussion with the worthy millerand his good wife.

  The look which the Father bent upon the two youths as they approachedbetrayed a very deep and sincere affection for them; and when aftersupper they asked to speak with him in private, he readily acceded totheir request, accepting the offer of a bed from the miller's wife, asalready the sun had long set, and his own home was some distance away.

  The faces of Jean and Margot were grave with anxious thought, and thatof the priest seemed to reflect something of the same expression; forduring the course of the simple meal which all had shared together,Gaston had told of the unlooked-for encounter with the proud Sieur deNavailles in the forest, and of the defiance he had met with from thetwin eaglets. As the good miller and his wife heard how Gaston hadopenly declared his name and race to the implacable foe of his house,they wrung their hands together and uttered many lamentableexclamations. The present Lord of Saut was terribly feared throughoutthe neighbourhood in which he dwelt. His fierce and cruel temper hadbroken forth again and again in acts of brutality or oppression fromwhich there was practically no redress. Free as the Gascon peasant wasfrom much or the serfdom and feudal servitude of other lands, he was insome ways worse off than the serf, when he chanced to have roused theanger of some great man of the neighbourhood. The power of the noblesand barons -- the irresponsible power they too often held -- was one ofthe cryin
g evils of the age, one which was being gradually extinguishedby the growing independence of the middle classes. But such changes wereslow of growth, and long in penetrating beyond great centres; and it wasa terrible thing for a brace of lads, unprotected and powerless as thesetwin brothers, to have brought upon themselves the hostility andperchance the jealousy of a man like the Sieur de Navailles. If hewished to discover their hiding place, he would have small difficulty indoing so; and let him but once find that out, and the lives of the boyswould not be safe either by night or day. The retainers of the proudbaron might swoop down at any moment upon the peaceful mill, and carryoff the prey without let or hindrance; and this was why the secret oftheir birth and name had been so jealously kept from all (save a few wholoved the house of De Brocas) by the devoted miller and his wife.

  But Gaston little recked of the threatened peril. The fearless nature ofhis race was in him, and he would have scorned himself had he failed tospeak out boldly when questioned by the haughty foe of his house. If theDe Brocas had been ruined in all else, they had their fearless honourleft them still.

  But the priest's face was grave as he let the boys lead him into thenarrow bedchamber where they slept -- a room bare indeed of such thingsas our eyes would seek, but which for the times was commodious andcomfortable enough. He was pondering in his mind what step must now betaken, for it seemed to him as though the place of safety in the mill inwhich their mother had left her sons could hide them no longer. Go theymust, of that he felt well assured; but where? That was a question lesseasily answered offhand.

  "Father," began Gaston eagerly, so soon as the door had closed behindthe three, and Raymond had coaxed the dim taper into its feeble flicker-- "Father, we have come to thee for counsel -- for help. Father, chideus not, nor call us ingrate; but it has come to this with us -- we canno longer brook this tame and idle life. We are not of the peasantstock; why must we live the peasant life? Father, we long to be up anddoing -- to spread our wings for a wider flight. We know that those whobear our name are not hiding their heads in lowly cots; we know that oursires have been soldiers and statesmen in the days that are past. Are wethen to hide our heads here till the snows of age gather upon them? Arewe, of all our race, to live and die obscure, unknown? Father, we cannotstand it; it shall not be! To thee we come to ask more of ourselves thanyet we know. To thee our mother commended us in her last moments; tothee she bid us look in days to come when we needed guidance and help.Wherefore to thee we have come now, when we feel that there must surelybe an end to all of this. Tell us, Father, of our sire; tell us of ourkinsfolk. Where be they? Where may we seek them? I trow thou knowestall. Then tell us, I beseech thee tell us freely all there is to know."

  The good priest raised his eyes and thoughtfully scanned the faces ofthe two eager youths. Gaston was actually shivering with repressedexcitement; Raymond was more calm, but not, as it seemed, one whit lessinterested. What a strong and manly pair they looked! The priest's eyeslighted with pride as they rested on the stalwart figures and noblefaces. It was hard to believe that these youths were not quite sixteen,though man's estate was then accounted reached at an age which we shouldcall marvellously immature in these more modern days.

  "My children," said the good old man, speaking slowly and with no smallfeeling, "I have long looked for this day to come -- the day when yetwain should stand thus before me and put this selfsame question."

  "You have looked for it!" said Gaston eagerly; "then, in very sooth,there is something to tell?"

  "Yes, my children, there is a long story to tell; and it seemeth to me,even as it doth to you, that the time has now come to tell it. This dayhas marked an era in your lives. Methinks that from this night yourchildhood will pass for ever away, and the life of your manhoodcommence. May the Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Saints, and ourgracious Saviour Himself watch over and guard you in all the perils anddangers of the life that lies before you!"

  So solemn were the tones of the Father that the boys involuntarily sankupon their knees, making the sign of the Cross as they did so. Thepriest breathed a blessing over the two, and when they had risen totheir feet, he made them sit one on each side of him upon the narrowpallet bed.

  "The story is something long -- the story which will tell ye twain whoand what ye are, and why ye have been thus exiled and forced to dwellobscure in this humble home; but I will tell all I know, and ye willthen see something of the cause.

  "My children, ye know that ye have a noble name -- that ye belong to thehouse of De Brocas, which was once so powerful and great in these fairlands around this home of yours. I wot that ye know already some thingof the history of your house, how that it was high in favour with thegreat King of England, that first Edward who so long dwelt amongst us,and made himself beloved by the people of these lands. It was in partfidelity to him that was the cause of your kinsfolk's ruin: for whilstthey served him in other lands, following him across the sea when he wasbidden to go thither, the treacherous foe of the house of Navailleswrested from them, little by little, all the lands they had owned here,and not even the many mandates from the Roy Outremer sufficed to gainthem their rights again. It might have been done had the great Edwardlived; but when he died and his son mounted the throne, men found atonce how weak were the hands that held the sovereign power, and theSieur de Navailles laughed in his beard at commands he knew there was nopower to enforce. But listen again, my sons; that feeble King, despitemany and great faults, was not without some virtues also; and he did notforget that the house of De Brocas had ruined itself in the cause ofhimself and his father."

  "Did he do aught to show his gratitude?"

  "Thou shalt hear, my son. The younger Edward had not been many yearsupon his father's throne before a great battle was fought by him againstthe Scottish race his father had vanquished and subdued. These rebelsubjects revolted from under his hand, and he fought with them a battleon the field of Bannockburn, in which he was overthrown and defeated,and in which your grandsire, Arnald de Brocas, lost his life, fightinggallantly for England's King."

  "Our grandsire?" cried both the boys in a breath. "Tell us more of him."

  "It is little that I know, my children, save what I have just said. Heserved the King faithfully in life and death, and his sons reaped somereward for their father's fidelity. At first, whilst they were quiteyoung, his three sons (of whom your father was the third) were sent todwell with their mother's relatives -- the De Campaines of Agen, ofwhom, doubtless, ye have heard; but as they grew to man's estate, theywere recalled to the English Court, and received offices there, as manyanother noble Gascon has done before them."

  "Have we then uncles in England?" asked Raymond eagerly. "Then, if wefind but our way across the water, we may find a home with one of them?Is it not so, good Father?"

  The priest did not exclaim at the idea of the boys journeying forthacross the seas alone, but he shook his head thoughtfully as hecontinued his narrative as if there had been no interruption.

  "The English King was not unmindful of the service done him by thefather of these youths, and he promoted them to places of honour abouthis Court. First, they were all made serviens of his own royal person,and were brought up with his son, who is now the King; then, as I haveheard, they greatly endeared themselves to the Prince by loyalty andfaithful service. When he ascended the throne, and purged the Court ofthe false favourites from this and other lands who had done so much illto that country, he was ably helped in the task before him by thy fatherand thy two uncles; and I can well believe that this was so, seeing thatthey were speedily advanced to posts of honour in the royal service."

  "What posts?" asked the eager youths.

  "The head of your branch of this noble house," continued the priest, "isyour uncle Sir John de Brocas, who is the King's Master of the Horse,and the lord of many fair Manors and wide lands in England, and high infavour with his master. Second in the line is your uncle Master Bernardde Brocas, a clerk, and the Rector (as it is called in the realm ofEngland) of St. Nichola
s, in or near a town that is called Guildford --if I can frame my lips aright to the strange words. He too is high infavour with the Roy Outremer, and, as I have heard, is oft employed byhim in these parts to quell strife or redress grievances; but I know nothow that may be. It is of thy father that I would fain speak to thee,Gaston, for thou art heir to his name and estate if thou canst make goodthe claim, as in time thou mayest yet. Listen whilst I tell all that Iknow. Thy father -- Arnald -- was the youngest of the three sons of himwho died on the field of Bannockburn, and to him was given the post ofMaster of the Horse to Prince John of Eltham. I misdoubt me if thatPrince is living yet; but of that I cannot speak with certainty. He wasalso valettus or serviens to the King, and might have carved out forhimself as great a career as they, had it not been that he estrangedhimself from his kindred, and even offended the King himself, by themarriage that he made with Mistress Alice Sanghurst of Basildene."

  The brothers exchanged quick glances as the name passed the priest'slips. Their memory had not then played them false.

  "But why were they thus offended? Was not our mother rightful owner ofBasildene? and is it not a fair heritage?"

  "The reason for the ill will, my sons, I know not. Your mother did notfully understand it, and from her lips it was I heard all this tale.Perchance some nobler alliance was wished by the family and by the Kinghimself, perchance the young man acted something hastily, and gaveumbrage that might have been spared. I know not how that may have been.All I for certainty know is that your father, Arnald, brought hither hiswife, flying from some menaced peril, fearful of capture and discovery;and that here in this lonely mill, amongst those who had ever loved thename of De Brocas, the sweet lady was able to hide her head, and to finda place of safe refuge. Jean, then a youth, had been in the service ofArnald, having been seized with a love of wandering in his boyhood,which had led him to cross the sea to England, where he had fallen inwith your father and attached himself to his person. The elder Jean, hisfather, was miller then and right glad was he to welcome back his son,and give a shelter to the lady in her hour of need. Good Margot, as youknow, was your nurse when you were born; she had married Jean a shorttime back, and her own babe had died the very week before you came intothe world. She has always loved you as her own, and though your motherwas taken from you, you have never lost a mother's love. Do not forgetthat, my children, in the years to come; and if the time should ever bewhen you can requite the faithful attachment of these two honest hearts,be sure that you let not the chance slip."

  "We will not," answered the boys in a breath. "But the rest of yourstory, good Father."

  "You shall hear it all, my sons. It was in the year of grace 1329 thatyour father first brought his wife here, and in the following year youtwain were born. Your father stayed till he could fold you in his arms,and bestow upon you the blessing of a father; but then his duties to hismaster called him to England, and for a whole long year we heard no newsof him. At the end of that time a messenger arrived with despatches forhis lady. She sent to ask my help in reading these; and together we madeout that the letter contained a summons for her to join her lord inEngland, where he would meet her at the port of Southampton, into whichharbour many of our vessels laden with wine put in for safe anchorage.As for the children, said the letter, she must either bring or leavethem, as seemed best to her at the time; and after long and earnestdebate we resolved that she should go alone, and that you should be leftto good Margot's tender care. I myself escorted our gentle lady toBordeaux, and there it was easy to find safe and commodious transportfor her across the sea. She left us, and we heard no more until morethan a year had passed by, and she returned to us, sorely broken down inmind and body, to tell a sorrowful tale."

  "Sorrowful? Had our proud uncles refused to receive her?" asked Gaston,with flashing eyes. "I trow if that be so --"

  But the Father silenced him by a gesture.

  "Wait and let me tell my tale, boy. Thou canst not judge till thouknowest all. She came back to us, and to me she told all her tale, pieceby piece and bit by bit, not all at once, but as time and opportunityserved. And this is what I learned. When your father summoned her backto join him, it was because her one brother was dead -- dead withoutleaving children behind -- and her father, now growing old, wished tosee her once again, and give over to her before he died the fair domainof Basildene, which she would now inherit, but to which she had had notitle when she married your father. It seemed like enow to both of themthat if Arnald de Brocas could lead a well-dowered bride to hisbrothers' halls, all might be well between them and so it came aboutwhen the old man died, and the lady had succeeded to the lands, that hestarted forth to tell the news, not taking her, as the weather wasinclement, and she somewhat suffering from the damp and fog which theysay prevail so much in England, but faring forth alone on his embassy,trusting to come with joy to fetch her anon."

  "And did he not?" asked the boys eagerly.

  "I will tell you what chanced in his absence. You must know that yourgrandsire on your mother's side had a kinsman, by name Peter Sanghurst,who had long cast covetous eyes upon Basildene. He was next of kin afteryour mother, and he, as a male, claimed to call the property his. He hadfailed to make good his claim by law; but so soon as he knew your motherto be alone in the house, he came down upon it with armed retainers anddrove her forth ere she well knew what had befallen; and she, notknowing whither her lord had gone, nor how to find him, and being insore danger from the malice of the wicked man who had wrested from herthe inheritance, and would gladly have done her to death, knew not whatbetter to do than to fly back here, leaving word for her lord where shewas to be found; and thus it came that ere she had been gone from us ayear, she returned in more desolate plight than at the first."

  Gaston's face was full of fury, and Raymond's hands were clenched in anaccess of rage.

  "And what did our father then? Sure he waged war with the vile usurper,and won back our mother's lands for her! Sure a De Brocas never restedquiet under so foul an insult!"

  "My sons, your father had been taught patience in a hard school. Hereturned to Basildene, not having seen either of his brothers, who wereboth absent on the King's business, to find his wife fled, and the placein the firm grasp of the wily man, who well knew how to strengthenhimself in the possession of ill-gotten gains. His first care was foryour mother's safety, and he followed her hither before doing aughtelse. When he found her safe with honest Jean and Margot, and when theyhad taken counsel together, he returned to England to see what could bedone to regain the lost inheritance and the favour of his kinsmen whohad been estranged. You were babes of less than three summers when yourfather went away, and you never saw him more."

  "He did not come again?"

  "Nay, he came no more, for all too soon a call which no man may disobeycame for him, and he died before the year was out."

  "And had he accomplished naught?"

  "So little that it must needs come to naught upon his death. He sent atrusty messenger -- one of his stout Gascon henchmen -- over to us withall needful tidings. But there was little of good to tell. He had seenhis brother, Sir John, the head of the family, and had been received notunkindly by him; but in the matter of the recovery of Basildene theknight had but shaken his head, and had said that the King had too manygreat matters on hand just then to have leisure to consider so small apetition as the one concerning a Manor of no repute or importance. IfArnald had patience to wait, or to interest Prince John in the matter,something might in time be done; but Peter Sanghurst would strive tomake good his claim by any means bad or good, and as he held possessionit might be difficult indeed to oust him. The property belonged to onewho had been a cause of much offence, and perchance that weighed withSir John and made him less willing to bestir himself in the matter. Butbe that as it may, nothing had been done when Arnald de Brocas breathedhis last; and his wife, when she heard the tale, looked at you two youngchildren as you lay upon the grass at play, and she said with a sigh anda smile, 'Father, I will wa
it till my boys be grown, for what can oneweak woman do alone? and then we will go together to the land that ismine by birth, and my boys shall win back for me and for themselves thelost inheritance of Basildene.'"

  "And so we will!" cried Gaston, with flashing eyes; "and so we will!Here as I stand I vow that we will win it back from the false and cowardkinsman who holds it now."

  "Ay," answered Raymond, with equal ardour and enthusiasm, "that,Brother, will we do; and we will win for ourselves the name that sheherself gave to us -- The Twin Brothers of Basildene."