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Woodstock; or, The Cavalier

S >> Sir Walter Scott >> Woodstock; or, The Cavalier




"But then," said Albert, "we lose all the time which may otherwise be
gained by the defence of this house--leaving none here but my poor
father, incapable from his state of doing any thing; and you will be
instantly pursued by fresh horses, while ours are unfit for the road.
Oh, where is the villain Joceline!"

"What can have become of Doctor Rochecliffe?" said Alice; "he that is so
ready with advice;--where can they be gone? Oh, if my father could but
rouse himself!"

"Your father _is_ roused," said Sir Henry, rising and stepping up to
them with all the energy of full manhood in his countenance and
motions--"I did but gather my thoughts--for when did they fail a Lee
when his King needed counsel or aid?" He then began to speak, with the
ready and distinct utterance of a general at the head of an army,
ordering every motion for attack and defence--unmoved himself, and his
own energy compelling obedience, and that cheerful obedience, from all
who heard him. "Daughter," he said, "beat up dame Jellicot--Let Phoebe
rise if she were dying, and secure doors and windows."

"That hath been done regularly since--we have been thus far honoured,"
said his daughter, looking at the King--"yet, let them go through the
chambers once more." And Alice retired to give the orders, and presently
returned.

The old knight proceeded, in the same decided tone of promptitude and
dispatch--"Which is your first stage?"

"Gray's--Rothebury, by Henley, where Sir Thomas Acland and young Knolles
are to have horses in readiness," said Albert; "but how to get there
with our weary cattle?"

"Trust me for that," said the knight; and proceeding with the same tone
of authority--"Your Majesty must instantly to Joceline's lodge," he
said, "there are your horses and your means of flight. The secret places
of this house, well managed, will keep the rebel dogs in play two or
three hours good--Rochecliffe is, I fear, kidnapped, and his Independent
hath betrayed him--Would I had judged the villain better! I would have
struck him through at one of our trials of fence, with an unbated
weapon, as Will says.--But for your guide when on horseback, half a
bowshot from Joceline's hut is that of old Martin the verdurer; he is a
score of years older than I, but as fresh as an old oak--beat up his
quarters, and let him ride with you for death and life. He will guide
you to your relay, for no fox that ever earthed in the Chase knows the
country so well for seven leagues around."

"Excellent, my dearest father, excellent," said Albert; "I had forgot
Martin the verdurer."

"Young men forget all," answered the knight--"Alas, that the limbs
should fail, when the head which can best direct them--is come perhaps
to its wisest!"

"But the tired horses," said the King--"could we not get fresh cattle?"

"Impossible at this time of night," answered Sir Henry; "but tired
horses may do much with care and looking to." He went hastily to the
cabinet which stood in one of the oriel windows, and searched for
something in the drawers, pulling out one after another.

"We lose time, father," said Albert, afraid that the intelligence and
energy which the old man displayed had been but a temporary flash of the
lamp, which was about to relapse into evening twilight.

"Go to, sir boy," said his father, sharply; "is it for thee to tax me in
this presence!--Know, that were the whole roundheads that are out of
hell in present assemblage round Woodstock, I could send away the Royal
Hope of England by a way that the wisest of them could never guess.--
Alice, my love, ask no questions, but speed to the kitchen, and fetch a
slice or two of beef, or better of venison; cut them long, and thin,
d'ye mark me"--

"This is wandering of the mind," said Albert apart to the King. "We do
him wrong, and your Majesty harm, to listen to him."

"I think otherwise," said Alice, "and I know my father better than you."
So saying, she left the room, to fulfil her father's orders.

"I think so, too," said Charles--"in Scotland the Presbyterian
ministers, when thundering in their pulpits on my own sins and those of
my house, took the freedom to call me to my face Jeroboam, or Rehoboam,
or some such name, for following the advice of young counsellors--
Oddsfish, I will take that of the grey beard for once, for never saw I
more sharpness and decision than in the countenance of that noble old
man."

By this time Sir Henry had found what he was seeking. "In this tin box,"
he said, "are six balls prepared of the most cordial spices, mixed with
medicaments of the choicest and most invigorating quality. Given from
hour to hour, wrapt in a covering of good beef or venison, a horse of
spirit will not flag for five hours, at the speed of fifteen miles an
hour; and, please God, the fourth of the time places your Majesty in
safety--what remains may be useful on some future occasion. Martin knows
how to administer them; and Albert's weary cattle shall be ready, if
walked gently for ten minutes, in running to devour the way, as old Will
says--nay, waste not time in speech, your Majesty does me but too much
honour in using what is your own.--Now, see if the coast is clear,
Albert, and let his Majesty set off instantly--We will play our parts
but ill, if any take the chase after him for these two hours that are
between night and day--Change dresses, as you proposed, in yonder
sleeping apartment--something may be made of that too."

"But, good Sir Henry," said the King, "your zeal overlooks a principal
point. I have, indeed, come from the under-keeper's hut you mention to
this place, but it was by daylight, and under guidance--I shall never
find my way thither in utter darkness, and without a guide--I fear you
must let the Colonel go with me; and I entreat and command, you will put
yourself to no trouble or risk to defend the house--only make what delay
you can in showing its secret recesses."

"Rely on me, my royal and liege Sovereign," said Sir Henry; "but Albert
_must_ remain here, and Alice shall guide your Majesty to Joceline's hut
in his stead."

"Alice!" said Charles, stepping back in surprise--"why, it is dark
night--and--and--and--" He glanced his eye towards Alice, who had by
this time returned to the apartment, and saw doubt and apprehension in
her look; an intimation, that the reserve under which he had placed his
disposition for gallantry, since the morning of the proposed duel, had
not altogether effaced the recollection of his previous conduct. He
hastened to put a strong negative upon a proposal which appeared so much
to embarrass her. "It is impossible for me, indeed, Sir Henry, to use
Alice's services--I must walk as if blood-hounds were at my heels."

"Alice shall trip it," said the knight, "with any wench in Oxfordshire;
and what would your Majesty's best speed avail, if you know not the way
to go?"

"Nay, nay, Sir Henry," continued the King, "the night is too dark--we
stay too long--I will find it myself."

"Lose no time in exchanging your dress with Albert," said Sir
Henry--"leave me to take care of the rest."

Charles, still inclined to expostulate, withdrew, however, into the
apartment where young Lee and he were to exchange clothes; while Sir
Henry said to his daughter, "Get thee a cloak, wench, and put on thy
thickest shoes. Thou might'st have ridden Pixie, but he is something
spirited, and them art a timid horsewoman, and ever wert so--the only
weakness I have known of thee."

"But, my father," said Alice, fixing her eyes earnestly on Sir Henry's
face, "must I really go along with the King? might not Phoebe, or dame
Jellicot, go with us?"

"No--no--no," answered Sir Henry; "Phoebe, the silly slut, has, as you
well know, been in fits to-night, and I take it, such a walk as you must
take is no charm for hysterics--Dame Jellicot hobbles as slow as a
broken-winded mare--besides, her deafness, were there occasion to speak
to her--No--no--you shall go alone and entitle yourself to have it
written on your tomb, 'Here lies she who saved the King!'--And, hark
you, do not think of returning to-night, but stay at the verdurer's with
his niece--the Park and Chase will shortly be filled with our enemies,
and whatever chances here you will learn early enough in the morning."

"And what is it I may then learn?" said Alice--"Alas, who can tell?--O,
dearest father, let me stay and share your fate! I will pull off the
timorous woman, and fight for the King, if it be necessary.--But--I
cannot think of becoming his only attendant in the dark night, and
through a road so lonely."

"How!" said the knight, raising his voice; "do you bring ceremonious and
silly scruples forward, when the King's safety, nay his life is at
stake! By this mark of loyalty," stroking his grey beard as he spoke,
"could I think thou wert other than becomes a daughter of the house of
Lee, I would"--

At this moment the King and Albert interrupted him by entering the
apartment, having exchanged dresses, and, from their stature, bearing
some resemblance to each other, though Charles was evidently a plain,
and Lee a handsome young man. Their complexions were different; but the
difference could not be immediately noticed, Albert having adopted a
black peruque, and darkened his eyebrows.

Albert Lee walked out to the front of the mansion, to give one turn
around the Lodge, in order to discover in what direction any enemies
might be approaching, that they might judge of the road which it was
safest for the royal fugitive to adopt. Meanwhile the King, who was
first in entering the apartment, had heard a part of the angry answer
which the old knight made to his daughter, and was at no loss to guess
the subject of his resentment. He walked up to him with the dignity
which he perfectly knew how to assume when he chose it.

"Sir Henry," he said, "it is our pleasure, nay our command, that you
forbear all exertion of paternal authority in this matter. Mistress
Alice, I am sure, must have good and strong reasons for what she wishes;
and I should never pardon myself were she placed in an unpleasant
situation on my account. I am too well acquainted with woods and
wildernesses to fear losing my way among my native oaks of Woodstock."

"Your Majesty shall not incur the danger," said Alice, her temporary
hesitation entirely removed by the calm, clear, and candid manner in
which Charles uttered these last words. "You shall run no risk that I
can prevent; and the unhappy chances of the times in which I have lived
have from experience made the forest as well known to me by night as by
day. So, if you scorn not my company, let us away instantly."

"If your company is given with good-will, I accept it with gratitude,"
replied the monarch.

"Willingly," she said, "most willingly. Let me be one of the first to
show that zeal and that confidence, which I trust all England will one
day emulously display in behalf of your Majesty."

She uttered these words with an alacrity of spirit, and made the
trifling change of habit with a speed and dexterity, which showed that
all her fears were gone, and that her heart was entirely in the mission
on which her father had dispatched her.

"All is safe around," said Albert Lee, showing himself; "you may take
which passage you will--the most private is the best."

Charles went gracefully up to Sir Henry Lee ere his departure, and took
him by the hand.--"I am too proud to make professions," he said, "which
I may be too poor ever to realize. But while Charles Stewart lives, he
lives the obliged and indebted debtor of Sir Henry Lee."

"Say not so, please your Majesty, say not so," exclaimed the old man,
struggling with the hysterical sobs which rose to his throat. "He who
might claim all, cannot become indebted by accepting some small part."

"Farewell, good friend, farewell!" said the King; "think of me as a son,
a brother to Albert and to Alice, who are, I see, already impatient.
Give me a father's blessing, and let me be gone."

"The God, through whom kings reign, bless your Majesty," said Sir Henry,
kneeling and turning his reverend face and clasped hands up to
Heaven--"The Lord of Hosts bless you, and save your Majesty from your
present dangers, and bring you in his own good time to the safe
possession of the crown that is your due!"

Charles received this blessing like that of a father, and Alice and he
departed on their journey.

As they left the apartment, the old knight let his hands sink gently as
he concluded this fervent ejaculation, his head sinking at the same
time. His son dared not disturb his meditation, yet feared the strength
of his feelings might overcome that of his constitution, and that he
might fall into a swoon. At length, he ventured to approach and
gradually touch him. The old knight started to his feet, and was at once
the same alert, active-minded, forecasting director, which he had shown
himself a little before.

"You are right, boy," he said, "we must be up and doing. They lie, the
roundheaded traitors, that call him dissolute and worthless! He hath
feelings worthy the son of the blessed Martyr. You saw, even in the
extremity of danger, he would have perilled his safety rather than take
Alice's guidance when the silly wench seemed in doubt about going.
Profligacy is intensely selfish, and thinks not of the feelings of
others. But hast thou drawn bolt and bar after them? I vow I scarce saw
when they left the hall."

"I let them out at the little postern," said the Colonel; "and when I
returned, I was afraid I had found you ill."

"Joy--joy, only joy, Albert--I cannot allow a thought of doubt to cross
my breast. God will not desert the descendant of an hundred kings--the
rightful heir will not be given up to the ruffians. There was a tear in
his eye as he took leave of me--I am sure of it. Wouldst not die for
him, boy?"

"If I lay my life down for him to-night," said Albert, "I would only
regret it, because I should not hear of his escape to-morrow."

"Well, let us to this gear," said the knight; "think'st thou know'st
enough of his manner, clad as thou art in his dress, to induce the women
to believe thee to be the page Kerneguy?"

"Umph," replied Albert, "it is not easy to bear out a personification of
the King, when women are in the case. But there is only a very little
light below, and I can try."

"Do so instantly," said his father; "the knaves will be here presently."
Albert accordingly left the apartment, while the knight continued--"If
the women be actually persuaded that Kerneguy be still here, it will add
strength to my plot--the beagles will open on a false scent, and the
royal stag be safe in cover ere they regain the slot of him. Then to
draw them on from hiding-place to hiding-place! Why, the east will be
grey before they have sought the half of them!--Yes, I will play at
bob-cherry with them, hold the bait to their nose which they are never
to gorge upon! I will drag a trail for them which will take them some
time to puzzle out.--But at what cost do I do this?" continued the old
knight, interrupting his own joyous soliloquy--"Oh, Absalom, Absalom, my
son! my son!--But let him go; he can but die as his fathers have died;
and in the cause for which they lived. But he comes--Hush!--Albert, hast
thou succeeded? hast thou taken royalty upon thee so as to pass
current?"

"I have, sir," replied Albert; "the women will swear that Louis Kerneguy
was in the house this very last minute."

"Right, for they are good and faithful creatures," said the knight, "and
would swear what was for his Majesty's safety at any rate; yet they will
do it with more nature and effect, if they believe they are swearing
truth.--How didst thou impress the deceit upon them?"

"By a trifling adoption of the royal manner, sir, not worth mentioning."

"Out, rogue!" replied the knight. "I fear the King's character will
suffer under your mummery."

"Umph," said Albert, muttering what he dared not utter aloud--"were I to
follow the example close up, I know whose character would be in the
greatest danger."

"Well, now we must adjust the defence of the outworks, the signals, &c.
betwixt us both, and the best way to baffle the enemy for the longest
time possible." He then again had recourse to the secret drawers of his
cabinet, and pulled out a piece of parchment, on which was a plan.
"This," said he, "is a scheme of the citadel, as I call it, which may
hold out long enough after you have been forced to evacuate the places
of retreat you are already acquainted with. The ranger was always sworn
to keep this plan secret, save from one person only, in case of sudden
death.--Let us sit down and study it together."

They accordingly adjusted their measures in a manner which will better
show itself from what afterwards took place, than were we to state the
various schemes which they proposed, and provisions made against events
that did not arrive.

At length young Lee, armed and provided with some food and liquor, took
leave of his father, and went and shut himself up in Victor Lee's
apartment, from which was an opening to the labyrinth of private
apartments, or hiding-places, that had served the associates so well in
the fantastic tricks which they had played off at the expense of the
Commissioners of the Commonwealth.

"I trust," said Sir Henry, sitting down by his desk, after having taken
a tender farewell of his son, "that Rochecliffe has not blabbed out the
secret of the plot to yonder fellow Tomkins, who was not unlikely to
prate of it out of school.--But here am I seated--perhaps for the last
time, with my Bible on the one hand, and old Will on the other,
prepared, thank God, to die as I have lived.--I marvel they come not
yet," he said, after waiting for some time--"I always thought the devil
had a smarter spur to give his agents, when they were upon his own
special service."

* * * * *

CHAPTER THE THIRTY-THIRD.


But see, his face is black, and full of blood;
His eye-balls farther out than when he lived,
Staring full ghastly, like a strangled man;
His hair uprear'd--his nostrils stretch'd with struggling,
His hands abroad display'd, as one who grasp'd
And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdued.
HENRY VI. PART I.

Had those whose unpleasant visit Sir Henry expected come straight to the
Lodge, instead of staying for three hours at Woodstock, they would have
secured their prey. But the Familist, partly to prevent the King's
escape, partly to render himself of more importance in the affair, had
represented the party at the Lodge as being constantly on the alert, and
had therefore inculcated upon Cromwell the necessity of his remaining
quiet until he (Tomkins) should appear to give him notice that the
household were retired to rest. On this condition he undertook, not only
to discover the apartment in which the unfortunate Charles slept, but,
if possible, to find some mode of fastening the door on the outside, so
as to render flight impossible. He had also promised to secure the key
of a postern, by which the soldiers might be admitted into the house
without exciting alarm. Nay, the matter might, by means of his local
knowledge, be managed, as he represented it, with such security, that he
would undertake to place his Excellency, or whomsoever he might appoint
for the service, by the side of Charles Stewart's bed, ere he had slept
off the last night's claret. Above all, he had stated, that, from the
style of the old house, there were many passages and posterns which must
be carefully guarded before the least alarm was caught by those within,
otherwise the success of the whole enterprise might be endangered. He
had therefore besought Cromwell to wait for him at the village, if he
found him not there on his arrival; and assured him that the marching
and countermarching of soldiers was at present so common, that even if
any news were carried to the Lodge that fresh troops had arrived in the
borough, so ordinary a circumstance would not give them the least alarm.
He recommended that the soldiers chosen for this service should be such
as could be depended upon--no fainters in spirit--none who turn back
from Mount Gilead for fear of the Amalekites, but men of war, accustomed
to strike with the sword, and to need no second blow. Finally, he
represented that it would be wisely done if the General should put
Pearson, or any other officer whom he could completely trust, into the
command of the detachment, and keep his own person, if he should think
it proper to attend, secret even from the soldiers.

All this man's counsels Cromwell had punctually followed. He had
travelled in the van of this detachment of one hundred picked soldiers,
whom he had selected for the service, men of dauntless resolution, bred
in a thousand dangers, and who were steeled against all feelings of
hesitation and compassion, by the deep and gloomy fanaticism which was
their chief principle of action--men to whom, as their General, and no
less as the chief among the Elect, the commands of Oliver were like a
commission from the Deity.

Great and deep was the General's mortification at the unexpected absence
of the personage on whose agency he so confidently reckoned, and many
conjectures he formed as to the cause of such mysterious conduct. Some
times he thought Tomkins had been overcome by liquor, a frailty to which
Cromwell knew him to be addicted; and when he held this opinion he
discharged his wrath in maledictions, which, of a different kind from
the wild oaths and curses of the cavaliers, had yet in them as much
blasphemy, and more determined malevolence. At other times he thought
some unexpected alarm, or perhaps some drunken cavalier revel, had
caused the family of Woodstock Lodge to make later hours than usual. To
this conjecture, which appeared the most probable of any, his mind often
recurred; and it was the hope that Tomkins would still appear at the
rendezvous, which induced him to remain at the borough, anxious to
receive communication from his emissary, and afraid of endangering the
success of the enterprise by any premature exertion on his own part.

In the meantime, Cromwell, finding it no longer possible to conceal his
personal presence, disposed of every thing so as to be ready at a
minute's notice. Half his soldiers he caused to dismount, and had the
horses put into quarters; the other half were directed to keep their
horses saddled, and themselves ready to mount at a moment's notice. The
men were brought into the house by turns, and had some refreshment,
leaving a sufficient guard on the horses, which was changed from time to
time.

Thus Cromwell waited with no little uncertainty, often casting an
anxious eye upon Colonel Everard, who, he suspected, could, if he chose
it, well supply the place of his absent confidant. Everard endured this
calmly, with unaltered countenance, and brow neither ruffled nor
dejected.

Midnight at length tolled, and it became necessary to take some decisive
step. Tomkins might have been treacherous; or, a suspicion which
approached more near to the reality, his intrigue might have been
discovered, and he himself murdered or kidnapped by the vengeful
royalists. In a word, if any use was to be made of the chance which
fortune afforded of securing the most formidable claimant of the supreme
power, which he already aimed at, no farther time was to be lost. He at
length gave orders to Pearson to get the men under arms; he directed him
concerning the mode of forming them, and that they should march with the
utmost possible silence; or as it was given out in the orders, "Even as
Gideon marched in silence when he went down against the camp of the
Midianites, with only Phurah his servant. Peradventure," continued this
strange document, "we too may learn of what yonder Midianites have
dreamed."

A single patrol, followed by a corporal and five steady, experienced
soldiers, formed the advanced guard of the party; then followed the main
body. A rear-guard of ten men guarded Everard and the minister. Cromwell
required the attendance of the former, as it might be necessary to
examine him, or confront him with others; and he carried Master
Holdenough with him, because he might escape if left behind, and perhaps
raise some tumult in the village. The Presbyterians, though they not
only concurred with, but led the way in the civil war, were at its
conclusion highly dissatisfied with the ascendency of the military
sectaries, and not to be trusted as cordial agents in anything where
their interest was concerned. The infantry being disposed of as we have
noticed, marched off from the left of their line, Cromwell and Pearson,
both on foot, keeping at the head of the centre, or main body of the
detachment. They were all armed with petronels, short guns similar to
the modern carabine, and, like them, used by horsemen. They marched in
the most profound silence and with the utmost regularity, the whole body
moving like one man.

About one hundred yards behind the rearmost of the dismounted party,
came the troopers who remained on horseback; and it seemed as if even
the irrational animals were sensible to Cromwell's orders, for the
horses did not neigh, and even appeared to place their feet on the earth
cautiously, and with less noise than usual.

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