It was the Countess' wish that the betrothal should remain secret for the present, and therefore none but Their Majesties and Sir John de Bury were acquainted with it. The old Knight, when approached by De Lacy on the subject, had clapped him heartily on the shoulder.
"Take her, lad," he exclaimed; "and be worthy, even as I think you will. The King, himself, has spoken in your behalf … to say naught of the maid herself. But by St. Luke! this fortune will bring its drag. The Countess has had too many suitors for the favored one to escape unhated. Nay, do not shrug your shoulders … or, at least, there is no harm in shrugging if your wit be keen, your dagger ever ready, and your arm strong. Remember, De Lacy, that you are a stranger, high in favor with the King, and that Beatrix has broad acres as well as a fair face."
"And also that there is a certain, flat-nosed, red-haired knave at large, who, perchance, may honor me, even as he did you."
"Spare him, lad, spare him for me! … Yet if he should come under your sword, put a bit more force in the blow for my sake."
"Trust me for that… I shall split him six inches deeper—and tell him why as I do it."
"It will make me still more your debtor. By the Holy Evangels! if I were assured the Abbot Aldam of Kirkstall had aught to do with that attack upon me, I would harry his worthless old mummery shop so clean a mouse would starve in it."
"Hark you, Sir John," said Aymer, "I may resign the Flat-Nose to you, but I shall claim a hand in that harrying business if the time ever ripen."
"Sorry the day for the Cistercian when we batter down his gates," the old Knight laughed, yet with a menacing ring in his words.
"Sorry, indeed, for those on the other side of the gates," came a voice from behind the arras, and the King parted the hangings. … "Though may I ask whose gates are in to be battered and for what purpose?"
"The gates of Kirkstall Abbey, under certain conditions, so please Your Majesty," said De Bury.
Richard elevated his eyebrows ever so slightly.
"And the conditions?" he asked.
"Proof that the Abbot Aldam was concerned in a recent murderous assault upon me, or that he harbors a certain flat-nosed ruffian who led it," Sir John replied.
"Methinks you told me of this matter at the time," addressing De Lacy.
"Yes, my liege,—at Leicester."
Richard nodded. "Perchance, Sir John, you may solve the riddle some day, and by way of Kirkstall: though it were not best to work sacrilege. Mother Church is holy with us yet awhile, and must needs be handled tenderly. Nathless, there is no hurt in keeping a close watch upon the Cistercian."
"And if it should be that he plots treason against the King of England?" De Bury queried.
Richard smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"In that event," he said, "there will be a new mitre to fit at Kirkstall… And mon Dieu! John, how would you like to wear it?"
De Bury raised his hands in horrified negation. "Now God forefend that I, in my old age, should come to that. Better take De Lacy; he is young and blithesome."
"By St. Paul! John, best not tell your niece you sought to turn De Lacy monk!" … then went on: "Two days hence we fare Northward, but without Her Majesty, who will join us later … at Warwick likely. To you, Sir John, I give command of her escort … De Lacy, you will ride with me. But of this, more anon," and he moved away—then stopped and said sternly: "Sir Aymer, go to the Queen and say to her it is my command that, until we depart, you walk with the Countess of Clare on the terrace, or ride with her, or do whatever you two may wish." And then he laughed.
On the following Thursday, being the thirteenth of July, Richard departed from Windsor, and behind him rode the most imposing and gorgeous cavalcade that ever accompanied a King of England in a peaceful progress through his realm. There, gleamed the silver bend of Howard on its ground of gules; the red chevron of Stafford in its golden field; the golden fess of De la Pole amid the leopard faces; the three gold stagheads of Stanley on the azure bend; the gold bend of Bolton, Lord of Scrope; the gold and red bars of Lovell; the red lion of De Lisle ramping on its field of gold; the sable bend engrailled of Ratcliffe; the red fess and triple torteaux of D'Evereux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley; the sable twin lions of Catesby; the golden chevron of Hungerford; the red engrailled cross and sable water bougets of Bourchier; and a score of others equally prominent and powerful. And with every Baron were his particular retainers; but varying in number up to the three hundred that wore the Stafford Knot and ruffled themselves as scarce second even to the veterans of the King himself.
Richard was mounted on "White Surray," the famous war horse that he rode first in the Scottish War, and was to ride for the last time in the furious charge across Redmore Plain on that fatal August morning when the Plantagenet Line died, even as it had lived and ruled—hauberk on back and sword in hand. He wore no armor, but in his rich doublet and super-tunic of dark blue velvet with the baudikin stripes on the sleeve, he made as handsome and gallant a figure as one was wont to see, even in those days of chivalry. And no reign, since his protonymic predecessor's, gave promise of a brighter future. The people had accepted him without a murmur of dissatisfaction, well pleased that there was to be no occasion for the riot of factions and favorites that a child King always engenders. England had known Richard of Gloucester, even since his boyhood, as a strong man among strong men—a puissant knight, an unbeaten general, a wise counsellor, a brilliant administrator; in all things able, resourceful, proficient; combining, as it were, in the last of the Angevines, all the keen statesmanship, stern will, and fiery dash of the great House that had ruled England for three hundred turbulent years.
Since the evening in London when Buckingham had quitted the castle in anger at the denial of the De Bohun inheritance, the matter had not been mentioned between them; nor did the Duke know that Richard had ever heard of his outburst. Yet it is sure that from that moment they had distrusted each other, though they varied not a jot their former bearing. Stafford remained at Court in constant attendance, and the King continued to grant him substantial favors and honors, and this day, as they rode side by side toward Reading (as well as until Buckingham turned aside at Gloucester for his demesne of Brecknock), the most astute observer could not have detected in the frank cordiality of their manner, the faintest trace of unfriendliness on the part of either.
The King had thrown aside his haughty reserve, and laughed and chatted gayly with those about him. Toward the inhabitants, who were gathered in crowds along the highways, he was very gracious, doffing bonnet to the curtsies of the women, and acknowledging with a gracious sweep of his arm and hand the respectful salutations of the men. And many were the enthusiastic cries of "God save the King!" or "God save Your Majesty!" or "God save King Richard!" And they came from the solitary individual as well as from the multitude; from the laborers in the country as well as from the tradesmen and artificers in the hamlets and small towns.
It was near evening on the twelfth day after leaving Windsor that the tall towers of Warwick Castle loomed in the distance, the giant "Caesar" rising high above its huge brothers, the "Gateway" and the "Grey," and casting its grim shadow far across the country-side. During much of this day's journey Richard had been very quiet, riding with his head sunk on his breast; and observing this, his attendants, save only the particular Knight of the Body on duty, gradually drew further behind so that their talk would not annoy him. At intervals he summoned one or more of them, but after a short time his interest waned, his abstraction returned, and like discreet courtiers, they quickly dropped again to the rear. As they neared the fortress he roused himself, and when the bombard on the wall roared out the royal salute he waved his suite to him. At the same time Sir William Catesby, who had gone on in advance from Worcester the previous day, came galloping to meet them with Sir James Gascoyne, the Constable of the Castle.
Richard supped alone that evening; and then for a while he paced the floor in meditation, pausing finally at the open window. Presently he struck the bell.
"Who waits?" he asked.
"Sir Aymer de Lacy and Sir Ralph de Wilton," replied the page.
"De Lacy," he said… "Come hither," as Aymer entered; "a crowded courtyard always entertains me… Sometimes much may be learned from it; and this is very active now. Have you ever seen one so bright and busy?"
"But once before in England, Sire."
"Where?"
"At Pontefract! the night I first met the Duke of Gloucester."
"Aye, that may be true—it was crowded in those days… Pardieu! it is scarce three months since then—and yet … Holy Paul, what, changes!" He half closed his eyes in retrospection… "It is marvellous what memory can show us in an instant," he said, and turning sharply from the casement struck the bell again… "Summon the Lord Steward," he ordered … then, to De Lacy, when the page had gone: "And do you attend to what is said and pay no regard to Stanley's glances of uneasiness… You understand?"
De Lacy bowed. "I do, and with profound satisfaction."
"Why satisfaction?"
"That Your Majesty does not trust him."
Richard smiled grimly. "Trust him or his brother William? Rather look for faith and honesty in the Fiend himself. Nathless, I may not slight them—yet awhile. It is watch and wait—now. And a trying task truly, for they are the shrewdest brained in the land."
"Save the King of England," Aymer added.
"Save none, as you some day may see."
"God forbid!" De Lacy exclaimed earnestly.
But Richard only shrugged his shoulders. "Nay, what boots it? As great Coeur-de-Lion said: 'From the Devil we Plantagenets all come, and to the Devil shall we all go.'"
"Then Your Majesty will never be quit of the Stanleys."
"It would seem so," with a short laugh; "yet it is the live Stanley that worries me now."
"The Lord Stanley awaits Your Majesty's pleasure," said the page, stepping within the arras.
"Admit him," the King ordered, choosing a place where his own face would be in the shadow and the other's in the glare… "And would it were my pleasure, rather than my expediency, that awaited him," he added in an undertone.
Stanley came forward in his precise and cautious way and bent knee to the King.
"Be seated, my lord," said Richard cordially. "I wish your advice upon a most important matter, if you can spare me a little of your time."
The Lord Steward bowed. "My time belongs to you, Sire," he said suavely; "though I fear my poor advice can aid but little your own keen judgment; yet it is flattering to be asked it."
Richard made a gesture of dissent. "I did not summon you for flattery," he said; "if I did not value your discretion you would not be here."
"Then I trust your gracious confidence may not be misplaced."
"I am about to test it… Tell me, my lord, what is the gravest state problem that confronts me now?"
The Lord Steward's crafty blue eyes shot a sharp glance at the King, but Richard's black ones met it half way and drove it back in quick retreat. Now, Stanley had one weakness. He was vain of his astuteness and ever ready to display it; and he thought he had discerned instantly what was in the King's mind.
"Your Majesty means the two Princes—Edward's sons," he said.
Richard's face showed blank surprise.
"Nay, my lord, I mean nothing in particular," he said. "I sought only what, in your opinion, was my chief embarrassment and peril… And you answer: the young Princes… By St. Paul! you may be right—give me your reasons."
Stanley saw his blunder and grew hot with rage. He had been outwitted; and now, as between him and the King, he must ever bear the burden of having first suggested Edward's sons as a menace to the State. The trap was so easy; and yet he had never seen it until it had caught him tight. And between his anger and the strange influence which Richard exercised over all men when in his presence, he blundered again—and worse than before.
"When, since time began," he asked, "has a new King had peace or comfort while his supplanted predecessor lived to breed revolt?"
Richard seized the opening instantly.
"Great St. George! You do not urge the Princes' death?" he exclaimed.
And Stanley floundered deeper.
"Holy Mother, Sire, do not misunderstand me," he answered. "I urge nothing. But the problem, as I see it, is, not why to act, but how to refrain."
"Yet Parliament has declared them bastards and so never eligible to the crown," Richard objected.
But Stanley had gone too far now to retreat and he pressed on, knowing that he, himself, was incurring little or no danger by the advice. Richard alone would be responsible if he acted upon it, and all the open shame would fall upon him.
"The Beauforts were bastards," he answered, "and Parliament specifically refused them the royal dignity; yet who, to-day, is Lancaster's chief and claimant for your Crown but the heir of those same Beauforts? Pardieu! Sire, you need not me to tell you that Parliament belongs to him whose writ summons it."
"I would never countenance it," the King answered; "and it would surely destroy me if I did."
Stanley smiled shrewdly. "Did the Fourth Henry sit less easy on the throne when the deposed Richard died suddenly at Pontefract? … Did John tyrannize the less because of Arthur's cruel taking off?"
The King arose and paced the floor, looking straight before him. Stanley watched him furtively, trying vainly to read behind the mask of that passionless face.
"Tell me, my lord," said Richard presently, halting beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder, "if you were King of England, what would you do with the Princes?"
Stanley evaded the direct question. "Your Majesty is King of England, and I can never be aught but a subject—how can I know what a King would do?"
Richard nodded. "That is but fair, my lord," he said. "To decide as King one must be King. Yet I would gather from our talk that you deem the … removal … most essential—is it not so?"
Pushed into the corner, the shifty Baron hesitated and sought to evade again. But he managed badly, for now the King's eyes were hard upon his face.
"Of a truth, Sire," he replied, "our talk this night has convinced me it would be most expedient for Your Majesty."
Richard's lips softened into the very faintest smile.
"Our talk———!" he began.
Then suddenly Stanley started up and pointed to the window.
"Who is yonder listener?" he exclaimed.
Richard turned quickly, following the gesture.
"Are your eyes failing?" he asked. "It is De Lacy—he is on duty to-night."
"Did you know he was there?"
"Most assuredly, my lord."
Stanley stared at the King in amazed silence, and despite his careful dissimulation the indignation blazed in his eyes.
"If Your Majesty deem it wise to discuss such matters before a simple attendant," he said, "it is not for me to criticise … yet, methinks, if it be not risky, it is at least unusual."
"Never fear, Lord Steward; I will answer for my Body-Knight," Richard responded.
During the colloquy, De Lacy had been leaning on the window edge, watching idly the courtyard below, but paying strict attention to all that was said behind him. Now he came forward and bent knee to Richard.
"My King's confidence," he said, "makes contemptible the insinuations of the fickle Stanley."
"How now, Sir———" Stanley began angrily; but Richard silenced him with an imperious gesture.
"Hold, my Lord Steward," he said sternly, "no words betwixt you two. And hark you both, no renewal of this hereafter. You are each acquittanced of the other now."
De Lacy drew himself up stiffly and saluted.
"The King commands," he said.
"And you, my lord?" asked Richard, eyeing Stanley.
"Pardieu! Sire, I have no quarrel with Sir Aymer," he answered, and affably extended his hand.
Just then there came loud voices from the outer room, followed immediately by the entrance of the page.
"May it please Your Majesty," the boy said, as the King's curt nod gave him leave to speak, "Sir Robert Brackenbury craves instant audience on business of state."
"Admit him!"
The next moment the old Knight strode into the room, spurs jangling and boots and doublet soiled by travel.
"Welcome, Robert," said Richard, giving him his hand. "What brings you in such haste?"
"Matters which are for your ears alone, Sire," said the Constable of the Tower, with the abruptness of a favored counsellor.
The King walked to a distant window.
"Might the two-faced Lord Steward hear us?" Brackenbury asked.
"No danger, speak—what is amiss in London?"
"Enough and to spare. Edward's sons are dead."
Even Richard's wonderful self-control was unequal to such news, and he started back.
"Holy Paul!" he exclaimed, under his breath; then stood with bent head… "How happened it?"
"No one knows, certainly. As you expressly ordered, either the lieutenant or myself regularly locked their apartments at sundown and opened them at dawn. Two nights since I, myself, turned key upon them. In the morning I found them dead—in each breast a grievous wound—Edward's bloody dagger on the floor."
"And your view of it?"
"That Edward killed Richard and himself. He had lately been oppressed with heavy melancholy."
The King shook his head. "Yes, that is doubtless the solution, yet scant credence will be given it. To the Kingdom it will be murder foul… Yet, pardieu! who else know it?"
"None but my lieutenant."
"And his discretion?"
"Beyond suspicion. He has forgotten it long since."
Richard called De Lacy to him. "Let Suffolk, Lovel, Ratcliffe, D'Evereux and Catesby be summoned instantly," he ordered.
"My friends," said he, when the last of them had come, "I have sore need of your wisdom and counsel. Hark to the mournful tidings Sir Robert Brackenbury brings."
Bluntly and simply the old Knight told the story. When he ended there was deep concern on every face and all eyes turned toward the King.
"You perceive, my lords, the gravity of the situation," said Richard. "What shall be done?"
None answered.
"Come, sirs; it is here and we must face it. What say you, Stanley?"
The Lord Steward swept the circle with a keen glance.
"Your Majesty has put a direful question and given us scant time for thought," he replied. "Yet but two courses seem possible: either to proclaim the Princes dead by natural causes and give them public burial; or to conceal the death, and by letting the world fancy them life prisoners so forget them. Each has its advantage; but on the whole, the latter may be better. Nathless, this much is self-evident—the true tale dare not be told. Daggers, blood, and death are inexplicable when Kings' sons are the victims, save on one hypothesis."
One after another endorsed these words, until finally it came back to the King for decision.
For a long while he sat silent, staring into vacancy. Through the open windows floated the noises of the courtyard—the neigh of a horse, the call of a soldier, the rattle of steel on stone; from the anteroom came the hum of voices, the tramp of a foot, the echo of a laugh. But within, no one spoke nor even stirred. Not a man there but understood the fatefulness of the moment and the tremendous consequences of the decision, which, once made, might never be amended. At length he spoke.
"It is an ill-fated event and leaves a dismal prospect," he said very quietly. "Sooner or later my nephews' death will be laid on me. To proclaim them dead would be to declare me guilty now. To conceal their death will be simply to postpone that guilt a time—a very little time, it may be. Curiosity will arise over their prolonged disappearance … then will come suspicion … and at length suspicion will become accepted fact… So, my lords, their blood will be put on me—either now or in the future. That is my only choice—now or the future—… and I choose the future. We will not announce the death; and the bodies shall be buried privately and in an unknown spot. To you, Sir Robert Brackenbury, I commit the task, trusting you fully… And, my lords, from this moment henceforth, let this council and its sad subject be forgotten utterly… Only I ask that when, in after days, you hear Richard Plantagenet accused of this deed, you will defend him or his memory… And now, good night."
One by one they came forward, bent knee and kissed his hand; then quietly withdrew, leaving him and De Lacy alone together.
"And yet, forsooth," he exclaimed, "Stanley advised that the Princes be removed! By St. Paul! if he sought to persuade me to my injury, the Fates have subserved his wishes well. Him I can baffle, but under their frown the strongest monarch fails."
It was September, and Their Majesties had come to Pontefract with the immediate Household for a brief rest after the labors and fatigues of the summer, and which had culminated in the festivities and ceremonies at York. In the room where Sir Aymer de Lacy first saw Richard of Gloucester, the King and Queen were alone together. Evening had fallen, but the brilliancy of a full moon in a cloudless sky had prolonged the day. Through the open windows came the freshness of the woods and hills, and the candles flickered and flamed in coquetry with the gentle breeze.
"Come, Anne, let us walk. It is too fine an evening to spend indoors," Richard said, laying aside the papers he had been examining.
She answered with the sweet smile that was always on her lips for him, and arm in arm they passed out upon the ramparts.
The main body of the soldiery were quartered in the town below the hill, and the castle was very quiet, save only for the tramp of the guards on the wall, the rattle of their weapons, and an occasional burst of laughter from the great hall. The peace and calm appealed to the Queen, and she sighed.
"How so, sweetheart," said Richard; "what troubles you?"
"I was thinking how much preferable Pontefract is to London."
The King laughed. "I believe you would rather be Duchess than Queen."
"Aye, Richard, much rather, much rather," she replied instantly.
He put his hand on her fair hair and stroked it softly. "Nay, dear, the wearisome work is over now, I trust. Henceforth it will be pleasanter … Pardieu! was there ever another woman, I wonder, who needed encouragement to wear a crown?"
"A Neville once refused one," she replied.
"True, indeed; and gave it back to the miserable Henry… You resemble your great father in many ways—and may our own dear son be like you both."
"You are very good to me, Richard," she said, taking his hand.
"But much short of what you deserve, dear one."
Suddenly a bugle rang loudly from before the barbican, followed in a moment by the rattle of the drawbridge and the clatter of hoofs on the planks.
"It is Beatrix and Sir John returning from their ride," the Queen said.
"It was not De Bury's call," he answered.
"Why, it is Sir Aymer de Lacy!" she exclaimed, as a pair of horsemen cantered across the inner bailey.
Richard nodded. "And a day earlier than I anticipated … but he has a good excuse."
"And a bit of disappointment also, that Beatrix is not here to greet him."
"He can spare her until he has supped, I fancy."
"She would not be pleased to think so."
"A woman wants a man to think of naught but her," he smiled.
"Yes, she does—and even though she know it to be futile … it is foolish, doubtless."
"It is more than foolish; it is unfortunate. It annoys the man and grieves the woman."
"Nay, Richard, you look at it with a man's view only."
"And you, my dear?"
"I?—with the proper view, of course."
The King laughed aloud; and as De Lacy, who had just dismounted before the keep, recognized the voice and glanced up, Richard leaned over the parapet and beckoned to him.
"We are glad to see you," he said, as the Knight presently bent knee and kissed the Queen's hand.
"Yes, Sir Aymer, you are always welcome," she added.
"Your Majesties overwhelm me."
"Well, if our greeting overwhelm you," the King remarked, "the Countess of Clare's wilt likely end your life."
"I am very anxious to risk it, Sire," De Lacy answered quickly.
"Beatrix has left the castle," said Richard.
"Gone!" Aymer exclaimed.
"Oh … only for a ride."
"A ride—at night?"
"Surely—why not—on a fine night and with a gallant escort?"
"Nay, Richard," the Queen broke in, "do not distress him. Sir Aymer, Beatrix is with her uncle, and as they have been absent since before vespers, they must soon return."
De Lacy's face cleared so quickly that Richard smiled.
"A bad case, truly," he commented, putting his arm about the Queen. "Has the lady the disease so deep?"
"I would not tell you even if I knew," she answered.
"Nay, I only jested… But seriously, De Lacy, why should the wedding be delayed … why not have the ceremony here at Pontefract before we go Southward?"
"That it has not already taken place is no fault of mine———"
"It is, sir; you should have won the Countess to consent," the King interrupted.
"Her wish runs with mine."
"Then what ails the matter? … Not De Bury surely?"
"Sir John is as willing as we. It is the behest of the dead Earl that bars."
"Beatrix's father?"
"Yes; she promised him she would not wed before her twenty-fifth birthday."
"Peste! A senseless thing to exact; she was little more than child. As King I can absolve her from it."
"I fear that would not help the matter, Sire; Beatrix regards it as sacred—it was given at the Earl's deathbed."
Richard made a gesture of annoyance. "Does no consideration lift the obligation from her?" he demanded.
"Naught, as she views it now, but a question of life, honor, or imperative necessity."
"Now may the Devil fly away with such foolishness! Wherefore shall the dead rule the living? … How old is the Countess?"
"She was four and twenty last month."
"Great St. George! You have a wait, indeed; and ample time to pray for the imperative necessity. Meanwhile, best continue to keep the betrothal secret. It will likely save you both some embarrassment and considerable gossip at the long delay."
Just then another bugle blared from the barbican.
"Sir John and Beatrix!" the Queen exclaimed.
Richard shook his head.
"It was Ratcliffe's call," he said.
A moment later the Master of Horse came at full gallop across the courtyard.
Jumping from saddle and letting his horse run loose to be caught by the grooms, he sprang up the steps. In the anteroom the page met him with the information that Their Majesties were on the wall and were not to be disturbed. But at the first word, Ratcliffe dashed into the King's chamber and thence to the ramparts. Richard saw him coming and went quickly to meet him.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Where is De Bury?" Ratcliffe asked.
"Gone for a ride with the Countess."
"I feared it. I found his horse at the foot of the hill, trotting toward the castle from the West. There is blood on the saddle cloth, and the rein is cut in twain at the bit."
"Foul work!" the King exclaimed. "Send an order to the camp for a hundred men to scour the country toward the Aire, and let another fifty muster before the barbican at daybreak; then come to me." … and turning, he sauntered back to the Queen. "Come, my dear, let us go in," he said, putting his arm through hers, "I must take up some matters that Ratcliffe has brought. And do you remain, De Lacy; perchance you can aid me."
"Will you be occupied very late?" she asked, as he held back the arras.
"Only a short time, my dear. I will come to you presently," and himself closed the door behind her.
"Are you very weary?" he asked De Lacy.
"Fit for any service Your Majesty may wish."
"It will be your own service."
"Mine! Mine! … You cannot mean——" taking a step forward.
"Steady, man, steady! I mean only that Sir John's riderless horse has just been found near the castle, with severed rein and bloody saddle."
De Lacy passed his hand across his forehead.
"And Beatrix?" he asked huskily.
The King shook his head.
Again Aymer passed his hand across his eyes; his brain was working very slowly how.
"You have given orders?" he asked.
"One hundred men-at-arms are seeking for a clue. Fifty others will await you at the barbican at daybreak."
"Meanwhile I, too, will seek," and he sprang toward the door—and into Ratcliffe's arms.
"Stay, Sir Aymer," said the King; "it would do no good for you to search at night—you may go far astray. All that can be done till daybreak the scouts will do… You gave the orders, Ratcliffe?"
"I did, and venture to amplify them by sending twenty men along the North road as far as the Aire for any trace of Sir John or of the fight—for, of course, there was a fight."
"And a passing hard one ere De Bury was unhorsed," said Richard.
"The remaining eighty," Ratcliffe continued, "I divided into bands of ten and five, bidding them follow every cross-road or bridle-path, and inquire for information from every traveler and at every habitation. The instant aught is discovered you will be advised."
The King turned to De Lacy. "You rescued Sir John when he was attacked last April near his own castle; might this be the same band?"
Aymer shook his head. "We killed all of them but one."
"True, I remember now… The flat-nosed one alone escaped… Did De Bury ever speak to you of enemies in these parts?"
"Never directly; though, as you know, he seemed to dislike the Abbot of Kirkstall and suspected him of being, at least, party to the other attack."
"Well, we must wait for even a plausible solution until we have a few facts. Yet I would wager much it is an abduction—and God grant it be so… Of course, it may be the villains did not molest the Countess. In that case, find Sir John and you find her, too."
"The chance is slight," De Lacy said quickly, "yet I shall ride rapidly back for a few miles and, perchance, it may be so. If I be not here by daybreak, Sire, I will join the men en route."
"It will be a relief for you to be on the move," said Richard kindly; "but return here for your escort. We may have clues then; and if the Countess has been abducted, she is quite as likely to be carried South as North."
"I shall be here at daybreak," Aymer answered. He saddled Selim with his own hand, and with Dauvrey beside him hurried away. They rode in silence with eyes alert, scanning sharply the ground on both sides of the road that lay like a silver stream before them. A mile from the castle a soldier rode out from the shadow and reined across the track, his casquetel and drawn sword glistening in the moonlight.
"Hold!" he ordered.
"Yorkshire!" said De Lacy … "Any news?" he demanded, as they swept by.
"None, my lord."
At the first cross-road two horsemen barred the way. Aymer paused to question them, but learning nothing, the pace was resumed. Another mile was passed, and they had tarried a moment to breathe and water the horses at a rivulet that gurgled across the road, when Selim suddenly threw up his head.
"Some one comes!" said De Lacy … "it is news … he rides furiously; he must be stopped."
They drew out into the middle of the track and waited. Presently a running horse shot into view ahead, and the rider, seeing the two in front, shouted the royal messenger's call: "Way! In the King's name! Way!"
"Stay, Allen," Giles Dauvrey cried, recognizing him. "What word?"
"Sir John has been found," the man answered, drawing up short.
"Dead?" Aymer demanded.
"No, my lord, not yet."
"And the Countess of Clare?"
"Gone, my lord; no trace."
"God in Heaven! … Where Is Sir John?"
"Half a league further on."
"Tell the King I have gone thither," Aymer called over his shoulder as he raced away.
In a patch of moonlight, fifty feet or so in from the road, lay Sir John de Bury, his eyes closed, his face upturned, motionless—to all appearances a corpse. De Lacy sprang down and knelt beside him.
"He is not dead, my lord," said a soldier.
Aymer laid back the doublet and shirt, wet and heavy with blood that had come from a deep wound in the right breast, and was still oozing slowly. The heart was beating, but very faintly, and forcing the set jaws apart with his dagger, he poured a measure of cordial down Sir John's throat.
"May it please you, sir," said one of the men, "we have arranged a litter of boughs, and if you think it good we will bear him back to the castle."
"It can do him no harm," De Lacy answered… "How say you, Giles?"
"With even step it will not hurt him," the squire replied.
Lifting the old Knight carefully they placed him on the litter and Aymer wrapped his own cloak around him, then nodded to the soldiers to proceed.
"Go slowly," he ordered, "a jolt may end his life. Watch his heart closely; if it grow weaker, use the cordial," and he handed them the flask.
"The fight was not at this place," said Dauvrey after a moment's examination of the ground; "there are no mingling hoof marks. De Bury likely fell from the saddle here and the horse kept on to the castle; his tracks point thither."
"Let us follow the back track," De Lacy exclaimed.
For a score of paces it led them, slowly and laboriously, into the dark forest, and then vanished, and though they searched in all directions, no further trace was found. It was a fruitless quest; and at length the squire persuaded his master to abandon it and await the coming of the dawn.
Reluctantly De Lacy remounted and they rode slowly back to Pontefract. The soldiers bearing Sir John de Bury had reached there some time before, and he lay on the couch in his own room. There was no material change in his condition, though under the candle-light there was less of the ghastly pallor of death in the face; and about the ears were evidences that the blood was beginning to circulate more strongly. The King's own physician, Antonio Carcea—an Italian—sat beside him with his hand on the pulse and, ever and anon, bent to listen to the respiration.
At Be Lacy's entrance he glanced up with a frown which faded when he saw who it was.
"He will live, Signor," he said in Italian. "He has not yet come to consciousness, but it is only a matter of a little while."
"Will he speak by daybreak?" De Lacy asked.
"Most likely, Signor."
"Summon me on the instant, and may the Good God aid you."
Going to his quarters and waving Dauvrey aside when he would have relieved him of his doublet, Aymer threw himself upon the bed. He had ridden far that day, and with the coming of the sun would begin what promised to be a labor long and arduous. He could not sleep—and his closed eyes but made the fancies of his brain more active and the visions of his love, abducted and in hideous peril, more real and agonizing. Yet to serve her he must needs be strong and so he tried to compose himself and rest his body. There was scanty time until morning; but an hour of quiet now might breed a day of vigor in the future.
Presently there came a sharp knock and Ratcliffe entered.
"Lie still," he said, as De Lacy would have risen. "I know you found no trace of the Countess else you would not be here. Yet, perchance, Sir John may speak or some of the scouts return with a clue. If not, the sunlight, doubtless, will reveal what the night has hidden. The King has retired, but he bade me say to you not to depart without word with him. Meanwhile if any of the scouts come in they are to report to you."
Slowly the minutes dragged themselves out. The shadows lengthened more and more as the moon went to its rest behind the distant Craven hills. Then of a sudden, light and shadow mingled and all was dark. Presently a cock crowed; and the sound seemed loud as a roar of a bombard. Again the cock crowed, and from the retainers' houses another and another answered, until the shrill cry ran along the outer bailey and across the wall and on down the hill to the village, growing fainter and fainter until, at the last, it was like a far distant echo, more memory than reality.
De Lacy turned his head toward the window, hoping for some sign of day, but the East was black. With an impatient sigh he lay back. Was ever man so sorely tried—so cruelly used—so choked by horrors of the probable! Then came a troubled slumber—a tossing and a waking—that was ended by a quick step in the corridor, and with a bound he reached the door and flung it open.
"Sir John———" the page began, but got no farther—De Lacy was gone.
Sir John de Bury lay as when Aymer left him, but the color was coming back to his face and his eyes were open, and he smiled very faintly in greeting.
"He may speak?" De Lacy asked.
"A few words, Signor," the Italian answered.
Just then the King entered hastily, a long gown about him. Sir John tried to raise his hand in salute, but Richard quickly caught the weak fingers.
"Nay, nay, my friend," he said; "another time for that." … Then to Carcea: "Has he spoken?"
"Not yet, Sire; and if it please Your Majesty, it would be well to ask the questions so that they can be answered by a motion of the head. The patient's strength will permit few words."
"Do you understand, John?" Richard asked.
De Bury smiled faintly and indicated that he did.
"Were you attacked?" the King went on.
"Yes," said the nod.
"By highwaymen?"
A pause, and then—"No."
"By men hired for the purpose?"
"Yes," readily.
"Do you know by whom?"
Another pause; then—"No."
"You have suspicion?"
"Yes," quickly.
"More of that in a moment; first, tell me, did they carry off the Countess?"
"Yes," and the old eyes glowed fiercely.
"Was she hurt in the struggle?"
"No."
"Were you attacked in the main road?"
"No."
"On a by-track?"
"Yes."
"North of the main road?"
"Yes."
"Near the main road?"
"Yes."
"Two leagues from here?"
"Yes," after a slight pause.
"More than two?"
"No."
"Oh! the path to the Hermit's Cell?"
"Yes," quickly.
"How long after you left Pontefract—two hours?"
"Yes," readily.
"Can you show the number of your assailants on your fingers?"
The right hand opened and closed twice.
"Ten, mean you?" the King exclaimed.
"Yes," instantly.
"Pardieu! did you recognize any of them?"
"One," said the raised finger.
"Can you whisper his name?" and the King bent low over the bed.
Sir John's lips twitched. He labored hard to speak, but the strength was wanting; no sound came; the tongue refused to move. A spasm of disappointment passed over his face. Then suddenly he fixed his eyes meaningly upon De Lacy, and Richard understood.
"Does Sir Aymer know this fellow?" he asked.
"Yes," was the instant answer.
"Has he been about the Court?"
"No."
"St. Denis!" exclaimed De Lacy, "was it Flat-Nose?"
"Yes! Yes!" eagerly.
"One more question," said the King: "Can you suggest whither they carried the Countess?"
Again the eyes turned to De Lacy.
"Kirkstall Abbey?" Aymer asked.
"Yes," but the hesitating nod signified it was only a suspicion.
"We will leave you now, old friend," said Richard. "Be not concerned. Ample precautions were taken hours ago to trace the Countess; and De Lacy with fifty horsemen rides in pursuit at daybreak—as soon as trail can be followed. The quest ends only when she is found and saved. Come, Sir Aymer, morning dawns and a word with you before you mount. Hark! your troopers muster now within the camp."