Ivanhoe: A Romance, Page 20

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Away! our journey lies through dell and dingle, Where the blithe fawn trips by its timid mother, Where the broad oak, with intercepting boughs, Chequers the sunbeam in the green-sward alley-- Up and away!--for lovely paths are these To tread, when the glad Sun is on his throne Less pleasant, and less safe, when Cynthia's lamp With doubtful glimmer lights the dreary forest. --Ettrick Forest

  When Cedric the Saxon saw his son drop down senseless in the lists atAshby, his first impulse was to order him into the custody and care ofhis own attendants, but the words choked in his throat. He could notbring himself to acknowledge, in presence of such an assembly, the sonwhom he had renounced and disinherited. He ordered, however, Oswald tokeep an eye upon him; and directed that officer, with two of his serfs,to convey Ivanhoe to Ashby as soon as the crowd had dispersed. Oswald,however, was anticipated in this good office. The crowd dispersed,indeed, but the knight was nowhere to be seen.

  It was in vain that Cedric's cupbearer looked around for his youngmaster--he saw the bloody spot on which he had lately sunk down, buthimself he saw no longer; it seemed as if the fairies had conveyed himfrom the spot. Perhaps Oswald (for the Saxons were very superstitious)might have adopted some such hypothesis, to account for Ivanhoe'sdisappearance, had he not suddenly cast his eye upon a person attiredlike a squire, in whom he recognised the features of his fellow-servantGurth. Anxious concerning his master's fate, and in despair at hissudden disappearance, the translated swineherd was searching for himeverywhere, and had neglected, in doing so, the concealment on whichhis own safety depended. Oswald deemed it his duty to secure Gurth, as afugitive of whose fate his master was to judge.

  Renewing his enquiries concerning the fate of Ivanhoe, the onlyinformation which the cupbearer could collect from the bystanderswas, that the knight had been raised with care by certain well-attiredgrooms, and placed in a litter belonging to a lady among the spectators,which had immediately transported him out of the press. Oswald, onreceiving this intelligence, resolved to return to his master forfarther instructions, carrying along with him Gurth, whom he consideredin some sort as a deserter from the service of Cedric.

  The Saxon had been under very intense and agonizing apprehensionsconcerning his son; for Nature had asserted her rights, in spite of thepatriotic stoicism which laboured to disown her. But no sooner was heinformed that Ivanhoe was in careful, and probably in friendly hands,than the paternal anxiety which had been excited by the dubiety of hisfate, gave way anew to the feeling of injured pride and resentment, atwhat he termed Wilfred's filial disobedience.

  "Let him wander his way," said he--"let those leech his wounds for whosesake he encountered them. He is fitter to do the juggling tricks ofthe Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his Englishancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of hiscountry."

  "If to maintain the honour of ancestry," said Rowena, who was present,"it is sufficient to be wise in council and brave in execution--to beboldest among the bold, and gentlest among the gentle, I know no voice,save his father's---"

  "Be silent, Lady Rowena!--on this subject only I hear you not. Prepareyourself for the Prince's festival: we have been summoned thither withunwonted circumstance of honour and of courtesy, such as the haughtyNormans have rarely used to our race since the fatal day of Hastings.Thither will I go, were it only to show these proud Normans how littlethe fate of a son, who could defeat their bravest, can affect a Saxon."

  "Thither," said Rowena, "do I NOT go; and I pray you to beware, lestwhat you mean for courage and constancy, shall be accounted hardness ofheart."

  "Remain at home, then, ungrateful lady," answered Cedric; "thine is thehard heart, which can sacrifice the weal of an oppressed people to anidle and unauthorized attachment. I seek the noble Athelstane, and withhim attend the banquet of John of Anjou."

  He went accordingly to the banquet, of which we have already mentionedthe principal events. Immediately upon retiring from the castle, theSaxon thanes, with their attendants, took horse; and it was during thebustle which attended their doing so, that Cedric, for the first time,cast his eyes upon the deserter Gurth. The noble Saxon had returned fromthe banquet, as we have seen, in no very placid humour, and wanted but apretext for wreaking his anger upon some one.

  "The gyves!" he said, "the gyves!--Oswald--Hundibert!--Dogs andvillains!--why leave ye the knave unfettered?"

  Without daring to remonstrate, the companions of Gurth bound him witha halter, as the readiest cord which occurred. He submitted to theoperation without remonstrance, except that, darting a reproachfullook at his master, he said, "This comes of loving your flesh and bloodbetter than mine own."

  "To horse, and forward!" said Cedric.

  "It is indeed full time," said the noble Athelstane; "for, if weride not the faster, the worthy Abbot Waltheoff's preparations for arere-supper [25] will be altogether spoiled."

  The travellers, however, used such speed as to reach the convent of StWithold's before the apprehended evil took place. The Abbot, himself ofancient Saxon descent, received the noble Saxons with the profuse andexuberant hospitality of their nation, wherein they indulged to a late,or rather an early hour; nor did they take leave of their reverend hostthe next morning until they had shared with him a sumptuous refection.

  As the cavalcade left the court of the monastery, an incident happenedsomewhat alarming to the Saxons, who, of all people of Europe, were mostaddicted to a superstitious observance of omens, and to whose opinionscan be traced most of those notions upon such subjects, still to befound among our popular antiquities. For the Normans being a mixed race,and better informed according to the information of the times, had lostmost of the superstitious prejudices which their ancestors had broughtfrom Scandinavia, and piqued themselves upon thinking freely on suchtopics.

  In the present instance, the apprehension of impending evil was inspiredby no less respectable a prophet than a large lean black dog, which,sitting upright, howled most piteously as the foremost riders left thegate, and presently afterwards, barking wildly, and jumping to and fro,seemed bent upon attaching itself to the party.

  "I like not that music, father Cedric," said Athelstane; for by thistitle of respect he was accustomed to address him.

  "Nor I either, uncle," said Wamba; "I greatly fear we shall have to paythe piper."

  "In my mind," said Athelstane, upon whose memory the Abbot's goodale (for Burton was already famous for that genial liquor) had made afavourable impression,--"in my mind we had better turn back, and abidewith the Abbot until the afternoon. It is unlucky to travel where yourpath is crossed by a monk, a hare, or a howling dog, until you haveeaten your next meal."

  "Away!" said Cedric, impatiently; "the day is already too short forour journey. For the dog, I know it to be the cur of the runaway slaveGurth, a useless fugitive like its master."

  So saying, and rising at the same time in his stirrups, impatient at theinterruption of his journey, he launched his javelin at poor Fangs--forFangs it was, who, having traced his master thus far upon his stolenexpedition, had here lost him, and was now, in his uncouth way,rejoicing at his reappearance. The javelin inflicted a wound upon theanimal's shoulder, and narrowly missed pinning him to the earth; andFangs fled howling from the presence of the enraged thane. Gurth's heartswelled within him; for he felt this meditated slaughter of his faithfuladherent in a degree much deeper than the harsh treatment he had himselfreceived. Having in vain attempted to raise his hand to his eyes,he said to Wamba, who, seeing his master's ill humour had prudentlyretreated to the rear, "I pray thee, do me the kindness to wipe my eyeswith the skirt of thy mantle; the dust offends me, and these bonds willnot let me help myself one way or another."

  Wamba did him the service he required, and they rode side by side forsome time, during which Gurth maintained a moody silence. At length hecould repress his feelings no longer.

  "Friend Wamba," said he, "of all those who are fools en
ough to serveCedric, thou alone hast dexterity enough to make thy folly acceptable tohim. Go to him, therefore, and tell him that neither for love nor fearwill Gurth serve him longer. He may strike the head from me--he mayscourge me--he may load me with irons--but henceforth he shall nevercompel me either to love or to obey him. Go to him, then, and tell himthat Gurth the son of Beowulph renounces his service."

  "Assuredly," said Wamba, "fool as I am, I shall not do your fool'serrand. Cedric hath another javelin stuck into his girdle, and thouknowest he does not always miss his mark."

  "I care not," replied Gurth, "how soon he makes a mark of me. Yesterdayhe left Wilfred, my young master, in his blood. To-day he has striven tokill before my face the only other living creature that ever showed mekindness. By St Edmund, St Dunstan, St Withold, St Edward the Confessor,and every other Saxon saint in the calendar," (for Cedric never sworeby any that was not of Saxon lineage, and all his household had the samelimited devotion,) "I will never forgive him!"

  "To my thinking now," said the Jester, who was frequently wont to actas peace-maker in the family, "our master did not propose to hurt Fangs,but only to affright him. For, if you observed, he rose in his stirrups,as thereby meaning to overcast the mark; and so he would have done,but Fangs happening to bound up at the very moment, received a scratch,which I will be bound to heal with a penny's breadth of tar."

  "If I thought so," said Gurth--"if I could but think so--but no--I sawthe javelin was well aimed--I heard it whizz through the air with allthe wrathful malevolence of him who cast it, and it quivered after ithad pitched in the ground, as if with regret for having missed its mark.By the hog dear to St Anthony, I renounce him!"

  And the indignant swineherd resumed his sullen silence, which no effortsof the Jester could again induce him to break.

  Meanwhile Cedric and Athelstane, the leaders of the troop, conversedtogether on the state of the land, on the dissensions of the royalfamily, on the feuds and quarrels among the Norman nobles, and on thechance which there was that the oppressed Saxons might be able tofree themselves from the yoke of the Normans, or at least to elevatethemselves into national consequence and independence, during the civilconvulsions which were likely to ensue. On this subject Cedric was allanimation. The restoration of the independence of his race was the idolof his heart, to which he had willingly sacrificed domestic happinessand the interests of his own son. But, in order to achieve this greatrevolution in favour of the native English, it was necessary that theyshould be united among themselves, and act under an acknowledged head.The necessity of choosing their chief from the Saxon blood-royal was notonly evident in itself, but had been made a solemn condition by thosewhom Cedric had intrusted with his secret plans and hopes. Athelstanehad this quality at least; and though he had few mental accomplishmentsor talents to recommend him as a leader, he had still a goodly person,was no coward, had been accustomed to martial exercises, and seemedwilling to defer to the advice of counsellors more wise than himself.Above all, he was known to be liberal and hospitable, and believed to begood-natured. But whatever pretensions Athelstane had to be consideredas head of the Saxon confederacy, many of that nation were disposedto prefer to the title of the Lady Rowena, who drew her descent fromAlfred, and whose father having been a chief renowned for wisdom,courage, and generosity, his memory was highly honoured by his oppressedcountrymen.

  It would have been no difficult thing for Cedric, had he been sodisposed, to have placed himself at the head of a third party, asformidable at least as any of the others. To counterbalance their royaldescent, he had courage, activity, energy, and, above all, that devotedattachment to the cause which had procured him the epithet of The Saxon,and his birth was inferior to none, excepting only that of Athelstaneand his ward. These qualities, however, were unalloyed by the slightestshade of selfishness; and, instead of dividing yet farther his weakenednation by forming a faction of his own, it was a leading part ofCedric's plan to extinguish that which already existed, by promoting amarriage betwixt Rowena and Athelstane. An obstacle occurred to this hisfavourite project, in the mutual attachment of his ward and his son andhence the original cause of the banishment of Wilfred from the house ofhis father.

  This stern measure Cedric had adopted, in hopes that, during Wilfred'sabsence, Rowena might relinquish her preference, but in this hope he wasdisappointed; a disappointment which might be attributed in part to themode in which his ward had been educated. Cedric, to whom the name ofAlfred was as that of a deity, had treated the sole remaining scion ofthat great monarch with a degree of observance, such as, perhaps, wasin those days scarce paid to an acknowledged princess. Rowena's will hadbeen in almost all cases a law to his household; and Cedric himself, asif determined that her sovereignty should be fully acknowledged withinthat little circle at least, seemed to take a pride in acting as thefirst of her subjects. Thus trained in the exercise not only of freewill, but despotic authority, Rowena was, by her previous education,disposed both to resist and to resent any attempt to control heraffections, or dispose of her hand contrary to her inclinations, and toassert her independence in a case in which even those females who havebeen trained up to obedience and subjection, are not infrequently apt todispute the authority of guardians and parents. The opinions which shefelt strongly, she avowed boldly; and Cedric, who could not free himselffrom his habitual deference to her opinions, felt totally at a loss howto enforce his authority of guardian.

  It was in vain that he attempted to dazzle her with the prospect of avisionary throne. Rowena, who possessed strong sense, neither consideredhis plan as practicable, nor as desirable, so far as she was concerned,could it have been achieved. Without attempting to conceal her avowedpreference of Wilfred of Ivanhoe, she declared that, were that favouredknight out of question, she would rather take refuge in a convent, thanshare a throne with Athelstane, whom, having always despised, she nowbegan, on account of the trouble she received on his account, thoroughlyto detest.

  Nevertheless, Cedric, whose opinions of women's constancy was far fromstrong, persisted in using every means in his power to bring about theproposed match, in which he conceived he was rendering an importantservice to the Saxon cause. The sudden and romantic appearance of hisson in the lists at Ashby, he had justly regarded as almost a death'sblow to his hopes. His paternal affection, it is true, had for aninstant gained the victory over pride and patriotism; but both hadreturned in full force, and under their joint operation, he was now bentupon making a determined effort for the union of Athelstane and Rowena,together with expediting those other measures which seemed necessary toforward the restoration of Saxon independence.

  On this last subject, he was now labouring with Athelstane, not withouthaving reason, every now and then, to lament, like Hotspur, that heshould have moved such a dish of skimmed milk to so honourable anaction. Athelstane, it is true, was vain enough, and loved to havehis ears tickled with tales of his high descent, and of his rightby inheritance to homage and sovereignty. But his petty vanity wassufficiently gratified by receiving this homage at the hands of hisimmediate attendants, and of the Saxons who approached him. If he hadthe courage to encounter danger, he at least hated the trouble of goingto seek it; and while he agreed in the general principles laid down byCedric concerning the claim of the Saxons to independence, and was stillmore easily convinced of his own title to reign over them when thatindependence should be attained, yet when the means of asserting theserights came to be discussed, he was still "Athelstane the Unready,"slow, irresolute, procrastinating, and unenterprising. The warm andimpassioned exhortations of Cedric had as little effect upon hisimpassive temper, as red-hot balls alighting in the water, which producea little sound and smoke, and are instantly extinguished.

  If, leaving this task, which might be compared to spurring a tired jade,or to hammering upon cold iron, Cedric fell back to his ward Rowena, hereceived little more satisfaction from conferring with her. For, as hispresence interrupted the discourse between the lady and her favouriteattendant upon the g
allantry and fate of Wilfred, Elgitha failed not torevenge both her mistress and herself, by recurring to the overthrow ofAthelstane in the lists, the most disagreeable subject which could greetthe ears of Cedric. To this sturdy Saxon, therefore, the day's journeywas fraught with all manner of displeasure and discomfort; so thathe more than once internally cursed the tournament, and him who hadproclaimed it, together with his own folly in ever thinking of goingthither.

  At noon, upon the motion of Athelstane, the travellers paused in awoodland shade by a fountain, to repose their horses and partake of someprovisions, with which the hospitable Abbot had loaded a sumpter mule.Their repast was a pretty long one; and these several interruptionsrendered it impossible for them to hope to reach Rotherwood withouttravelling all night, a conviction which induced them to proceed ontheir way at a more hasty pace than they had hitherto used.