The Count asked how it happened, and Richard told the story, for he felt as if he could tell the kind Count anything—it was almost like that last evening that he had sat on his father’s knee. Hugh ended by putting his arm round him, and saying, “Well, my little Duke, I am as glad as you are the gallant bird is safe—it will be a tale for my own little Hugh and Eumacette[13]at home—and you must one day be friends with them as your father has been with me. And now, do you think your Squire could come to my chamber late this evening when the household is at rest?”
Richard undertook that Osmond should do so, and the Count, setting him down again, returned to the dais. Osmond, before going to the Count that evening, ordered Sybald to come and guard the Duke’s door. It was a long conference, for Hugh had come to Laon chiefly for the purpose of seeing how it went with his friend’s son, and was anxious to know what Osmond thought of the matter. They agreed that at present there did not seem to be any evil intended, and that it rather appeared as if Louis wished only to keep him as a hostage for the tranquillity of the borders of Normandy; but Hugh advised that Osmond should maintain a careful watch, and send intelligence to him on the first token of mischief.
The next morning the Count of Paris quitted Laon, and everything went on in the usual course till the feast of Whitsuntide, when there was always a great display of splendour at the French court. The crown vassals generally came to pay their duty and go with the King to Church; and there was a state banquet, at which the King and Queen wore their crowns, and every one sat in great magnificence according to their rank.
The grand procession to Church was over. Richard had walked with Carloman, the Prince richly dressed in blue, embroidered with golden fleur-de-lys, and Richard in scarlet, with a gold Cross on his breast; the beautiful service was over, they had returned to the Castle, and there the Seneschal was marshalling the goodly and noble company to the banquet, when horses’ feet were heard at the gate announcing some fresh arrival. The Seneschal went to receive the guests, and presently was heard ushering in the noble Prince, Arnulf, Count of Flanders.
Richard’s face became pale—he turned from Carloman by whose side he had been standing, and walked straight out of the hall and up the stairs, closely followed by Osmond. In a few minutes there was a knock at the door of his chamber, and a French Knight stood there saying, “Comes not the Duke to the banquet?”
“No,” answered Osmond: “he eats not with the slayer of his father.”
“The King will take it amiss; for the sake of the child you had better beware,” said the Frenchman, hesitating.
“He had better beware himself,” exclaimed Osmond, indignantly, “how he brings the treacherous murderer of William Longsword into the presence of a free-born Norman, unless he would see him slain where he stands. Were it not for the boy, I would challenge the traitor this instant to single combat.”
“Well, I can scarce blame you,” said the Knight, “but you had best have a care how you tread. Farewell.”
Richard had hardly time to express his indignation, and his wishes that he was a man, before another message came through a groom of Lothaire’s train, that the Duke must fast, if he would not consent to feast with the rest.
“Tell Prince Lothaire,” replied Richard, “that I am not such a glutton as he—I had rather fast than be choked with eating with Arnulf.”
All the rest of the day, Richard remained in his own chamber, resolved not to run the risk of meeting with Arnulf. The Squire remained with him, in this voluntary imprisonment, and they occupied themselves, as best they could, with furbishing Osmond’s armour, and helping each other out in repeating some of the Sagas. They once heard a great uproar in the court, and both were very anxious to learn its cause, but they did not know it till late in the afternoon.
Carloman crept up to them—“Here I am at last!” he exclaimed. “Here, Richard, I have brought you some bread, as you had no dinner: it was all I could bring. I saved it under the table lest Lothaire should see it.”
Richard thanked Carloman with all his heart, and being very hungry was glad to share the bread with Osmond. He asked how long the wicked Count was going to stay, and rejoiced to hear he was going away the next morning, and the King was going with him.
“What was that great noise in the court?” asked Richard.
“I scarcely like to tell you,” returned Carloman.
Richard, however, begged to hear, and Carloman was obliged to tell that the two Norman grooms, Sybald and Henry, had quarrelled with the Flemings of Arnulf’s train; there had been a fray, which had ended in the death of three Flemings, a Frank, and of Sybald himself—And where was Henry? Alas! there was more ill news—the King had sentenced Henry to die, and he had been hanged immediately.
Dark with anger and sorrow grew young Richard’s face; he had been fond of his two Norman attendants, he trusted to their attachment, and he would have wept for their loss even if it had happened in any other way; but now, when it had been caused by their enmity to his father’s foes, the Flemings,—when one had fallen overwhelmed by numbers, and the other been condemned hastily, cruelly, unjustly, it was too much, and he almost choked with grief and indignation. Why had he not been there, to claim Henry as his own vassal, and if he could not save him, at least bid him farewell? Then he would have broken out in angry threats, but he felt his own helplessness, and was ashamed, and he could only shed tears of passionate grief, refusing all Carloman’s attempts to comfort him. Osmond was even more concerned; he valued the two Normans extremely for their courage and faithfulness, and had relied on sending intelligence by their means to Rouen, in case of need. It appeared to him as if the first opportunity had been seized of removing these protectors from the little Duke, and as if the designs, whatever they might be, which had been formed against him, were about to take effect. He had little doubt that his own turn would be the next; but he was resolved to endure anything, rather than give the smallest opportunity of removing him, to bear even insults with patience, and to remember that in his care rested the sole hope of safety for his charge.
That danger was fast gathering around them became more evident every day, especially after the King and Arnulf had gone away together. It was very hot weather, and Richard began to weary after the broad cool river at Rouen, where he used to bathe last summer; and one evening he persuaded his Squire to go down with him to the Oise, which flowed along some meadow ground about a quarter of a mile from the Castle; but they had hardly set forth before three or four attendants came running after them, with express orders from the Queen that they should return immediately. They obeyed, and found her standing in the Castle hall, looking greatly incensed.
“What means this?” she asked, angrily. “Knew you not that the King has left commands that the Duke quits not the Castle in his absence?”
“I was only going as far as the river—” began Richard, but Gerberge cut him short. “Silence, child—I will hear no excuses. Perhaps you think, Sieur de Centeville, that you may take liberties in the King’s absence, but I tell you that if you are found without the walls again, it shall be at your peril; ay, and his! I’ll have those haughty eyes put out, if you disobey!”
She turned away, and Lothaire looked at them with his air of gratified malice. “You will not lord it over your betters much longer, young pirate!” said he, as he followed his mother, afraid to stay to meet the anger he might have excited by the taunt he could not deny himself the pleasure of making; but Richard, who, six months ago could not brook a slight disappointment or opposition, had, in his present life of restraint, danger, and vexation, learnt to curb the first outbreak of temper, and to bear patiently instead of breaking out into passion and threats, and now his only thought was of his beloved Squire.
“Oh, Osmond! Osmond!” he exclaimed, “they shall not hurt you. I will never go out again. I will never speak another hasty word. I will never affront the Prince, if they will but leave you with me!”[14]
It was a fine summer evening, and Richard and Carloman were playing at ball on the steps of the Castle-gate, when a voice was heard from beneath, begging for alms from the noble Princes in the name of the blessed Virgin, and the two boys saw a pilgrim standing at the gate, wrapt in a long robe of serge, with a staff in his hand, surmounted by a Cross, a scrip at his girdle, and a broad shady hat, which he had taken off, as he stood, making low obeisances, and asking charity.
“Come in, holy pilgrim,” said Carloman. “It is late, and you shall sup and rest here to-night.”
“Blessings from Heaven light on you, noble Prince,” replied the pilgrim, and at that moment Richard shouted joyfully, “A Norman, a Norman! ’tis my own dear speech! Oh, are you not from Normandy? Osmond, Osmond! he comes from home!”
“My Lord! my own Lord!” exclaimed the pilgrim, and, kneeling on one knee at the foot of the steps, he kissed the hand which his young Duke held out to him—“This is joy unlooked for!”
“Walter!—Walter, the huntsman!” cried Richard. “Is it you? Oh, how is Fru Astrida, and all at home?”
“Well, my Lord, and wearying to know how it is with you—” began Walter—but a very different tone exclaimed from behind the pilgrim, “What is all this? Who is stopping my way? What! Richard would be King, and more, would he? More insolence!” It was Lothaire, returning with his attendants from the chase, in by no means an amiable mood, for he had been disappointed of his game.
“He is a Norman—a vassal of Richard’s own,” said Carloman.
“A Norman, is he? I thought we had got rid of the robbers! We want no robbers here! Scourge him soundly, Perron, and teach him how to stop my way!”
“He is a pilgrim, my Lord,” suggested one of the followers.
“I care not; I’ll have no Normans here, coming spying in disguise. Scourge him, I say, dog that he is! Away with him! A spy, a spy!”
“No Norman is scourged in my sight!” said Richard, darting forwards, and throwing himself between Walter and the woodsman, who was preparing to obey Lothaire, just in time to receive on his own bare neck the sharp, cutting leathern thong, which raised a long red streak along its course. Lothaire laughed.
“My Lord Duke! What have you done? Oh, leave me—this befits you not!” cried Walter, extremely distressed; but Richard had caught hold of the whip, and called out, “Away, away! run! haste, haste!” and the words were repeated at once by Osmond, Carloman, and many of the French, who, though afraid to disobey the Prince, were unwilling to violate the sanctity of a pilgrim’s person; and the Norman, seeing there was no help for it, obeyed: the French made way for him and he effected his escape; while Lothaire, after a great deal of storming and raging, went up to his mother to triumph in the cleverness with which he had detected a Norman spy in disguise.
Lothaire was not far wrong; Walter had really come to satisfy himself as to the safety of the little Duke, and try to gain an interview with Osmond. In the latter purpose he failed, though he lingered in the neighbourhood of Laon for several days; for Osmond never left the Duke for an instant, and he was, as has been shown, a close prisoner, in all but the name, within the walls of the Castle. The pilgrim had, however, the opportunity of picking up tidings which made him perceive the true state of things: he learnt the deaths of Sybald and Henry, the alliance between the King and Arnulf, and the restraint and harshness with which the Duke was treated; and with this intelligence he went in haste to Normandy.
Soon after his arrival, a three days’ fast was observed throughout the dukedom, and in every church, from the Cathedral of Bayeux to the smallest and rudest village shrine, crowds of worshippers were kneeling, imploring, many of them with tears, that God would look on them in His mercy, restore to them their Prince, and deliver the child out of the hands of his enemies. How earnest and sorrowful were the prayers offered at Centeville may well be imagined; and at Montémar sur Epte the anxiety was scarcely less. Indeed, from the time the evil tidings arrived, Alberic grew so restless and unhappy, and so anxious to do something, that at last his mother set out with him on a pilgrimage to the Abbey of Jumièges, to pray for the rescue of his dear little Duke.
In the meantime, Louis had sent notice to Laon that he should return home in a week’s time; and Richard rejoiced at the prospect, for the King had always been less unkind to him than the Queen, and he hoped to be released from his captivity within the Castle. Just at this time he became very unwell; it might have been only the effect of the life of unwonted confinement which he had lately led that was beginning to tell on his health; but, after being heavy and uncomfortable for a day or two, without knowing what was the matter with him, he was one night attacked with high fever.
Osmond was dreadfully alarmed, knowing nothing at all of the treatment of illness, and, what was worse, fully persuaded that the poor child had been poisoned, and therefore resolved not to call any assistance; he hung over him all night, expecting each moment to see him expire—ready to tear his hair with despair and fury, and yet obliged to restrain himself to the utmost quietness and gentleness, to soothe the suffering of the sick child.
Through that night, Richard either tossed about on his narrow bed, or, when his restlessness desired the change, sat, leaning his aching head on Osmond’s breast, too oppressed and miserable to speak or think. When the day dawned on them, and he was still too ill to leave the room, messengers were sent for him, and Osmond could no longer conceal the fact of his sickness, but parleyed at the door, keeping out every one he could, and refusing all offers of attendance. He would not even admit Carloman, though Richard, hearing his voice, begged to see him; and when a proposal was sent from the Queen, that a skilful old nurse should visit and prescribe for the patient, he refused with all his might, and when he had shut the door, walked up and down, muttering, “Ay, ay, the witch! coming to finish what she has begun!”
All that day and the next, Richard continued very ill, and Osmond waited on him very assiduously, never closing his eyes for a moment, but constantly telling his beads whenever the boy did not require his attendance. At last Richard fell asleep, slept long and soundly for some hours, and waked much better. Osmond was in a transport of joy: “Thanks to Heaven, they shall fail for this time and they shall never have another chance! May Heaven be with us still!” Richard was too weak and weary to ask what he meant, and for the next few days Osmond watched him with the utmost care. As for food, now that Richard could eat again, Osmond would not hear of his touching what was sent for him from the royal table, but always went down himself to procure food in the kitchen, where he said he had a friend among the cooks, who would, he thought, scarcely poison him intentionally. When Richard was able to cross the room, he insisted on his always fastening the door with his dagger, and never opening to any summons but his own, not even Prince Carloman’s. Richard wondered, but he was obliged to obey; and he knew enough of the perils around him to perceive the reasonableness of Osmond’s caution.
Thus several days had passed, the King had returned, and Richard was so much recovered, that he had become very anxious to be allowed to go down stairs again, instead of remaining shut up there; but still Osmond would not consent, though Richard had done nothing all day but walk round the room, to show how strong he was.
“Now, my Lord, guard the door—take care,” said Osmond; “you have no loss to-day, for the King has brought home Herluin of Montreuil, whom you would be almost as loth to meet as the Fleming. And tell your beads while I am gone, that the Saints may bring us out of our peril.”
Osmond was absent nearly half an hour, and, when he returned, brought on his shoulders a huge bundle of straw. “What is this for?” exclaimed Richard. “I wanted my supper, and you have brought straw!”
“Here is your supper,” said Osmond, throwing down the straw, and producing a bag with some bread and meat. “What should you say, my Lord, if we should sup in Normandy to-morrow night?”
“In Normandy!” cried Richard, springing up and clapping his hands. “In Normandy! Oh, Osmond, did you say in Normandy? Shall we, shall we really? Oh, joy! joy! Is Count Bernard come? Will the King let us go?”
“Hush! hush, sir! It must be our own doing; it will all fail if you are not silent and prudent, and we shall be undone.”
“I will do anything to get home again!”
“Eat first,” said Osmond.
“But what are you going to do? I will not be as foolish as I was when you tried to get me safe out of Rollo’s tower. But I should like to wish Carloman farewell.”
“That must not be,” said Osmond; “we should not have time to escape, if they did not still believe you very ill in bed.”
“I am sorry not to wish Carloman good-bye,” repeated Richard; “but we shall see Fru Astrida again, and Sir Eric; and Alberic must come back! Oh, do let us go! O Normandy, dear Normandy!”
Richard could hardly eat for excitement, while Osmond hastily made his arrangements, girding on his sword, and giving Richard his dagger to put into his belt. He placed the remainder of the provisions in his wallet, threw a thick purple cloth mantle over the Duke, and then desired him to lie down on the straw which he had brought in. “I shall hide you in it,” he said, “and carry you through the hall, as if I was going to feed my horse.”
“Oh, they will never guess!” cried Richard, laughing. “I will be quite still—I will make no noise—I will hold my breath.”
“Yes, mind you do not move hand or foot, or rustle the straw. It is no play—it is life or death,” said Osmond, as he disposed the straw round the little boy. “There, can you breathe?”
“Yes,” said Richard’s voice from the midst. “Am I quite hidden?”
“Entirely. Now, remember, whatever happens, do not move. May Heaven protect us! Now, the Saints be with us!”
Richard, from the interior of the bundle heard Osmond set open the door; then he felt himself raised from the ground; Osmond was carrying him along down the stairs, the ends of the straw crushing and sweeping against the wall. The only way to the outer door was through the hall, and here was the danger. Richard heard voices, steps, loud singing and laughter, as if feasting was going on; then some one said, “Tending your horse, Sieur de Centeville?”
“Yes,” Osmond made answer. “You know, since we lost our grooms, the poor black would come off badly, did I not attend to him.”
Presently came Carloman’s voice: “O Osmond de Centeville! is Richard better?”
“He is better, my Lord, I thank you, but hardly yet out of danger.”
“Oh, I wish he was well! And when will you let me come to him, Osmond? Indeed, I would sit quiet, and not disturb him.”
“It may not be yet, my Lord, though the Duke loves you well—he told me so but now.”
“Did he? Oh, tell him I love him very much—better than any one here—and it is very dull without him. Tell him so, Osmond.”
Richard could hardly help calling out to his dear little Carloman; but he remembered the peril of Osmond’s eyes and the Queen’s threat, and held his peace, with some vague notion that some day he would make Carloman King of France. In the meantime, half stifled with the straw, he felt himself carried on, down the steps, across the court; and then he knew, from the darkness and the changed sound of Osmond’s tread, that they were in the stable. Osmond laid him carefully down, and whispered—“All right so far. You can breathe?”
“Not well. Can’t you let me out?”
“Not yet—not for worlds. Now tell me if I put you face downwards, for I cannot see.”
He laid the living heap of straw across the saddle, bound it on, then led out the horse, gazing round cautiously as he did so; but the whole of the people of the Castle were feasting, and there was no one to watch the gates. Richard heard the hollow sound of the hoofs, as the drawbridge was crossed, and knew that he was free; but still Osmond held his arm over him, and would not let him move, for some distance. Then, just as Richard felt as if he could endure the stifling of the straw, and his uncomfortable position, not a moment longer, Osmond stopped the horse, took him down, laid him on the grass, and released him. He gazed around; they were in a little wood; evening twilight was just coming on, and the birds sang sweetly.
“Free! free!—this is freedom!” cried Richard, leaping up in the delicious cool evening breeze; “the Queen and Lothaire, and that grim room, all far behind.”
“Not so far yet,” said Osmond; “you must not call yourself safe till the Epte is between us and them. Into the saddle, my Lord; we must ride for our lives.”
Escape from captivity
Osmond helped the Duke to mount, and sprang to the saddle behind him, set spurs to the horse, and rode on at a quick rate, though not at full speed, as he wished to spare the horse. The twilight faded, the stars came out, and still he rode, his arm round the child, who, as night advanced, grew weary, and often sunk into a sort of half doze, conscious all the time of the trot of the horse. But each step was taking him further from Queen Gerberge, and nearer to Normandy; and what recked he of weariness? On—on; the stars grew pale again, and the first pink light of dawn showed in the eastern sky; the sun rose, mounted higher and higher, and the day grew hotter; the horse went more slowly, stumbled, and though Osmond halted and loosed the girth, he only mended his pace for a little while.
Osmond looked grievously perplexed; but they had not gone much further before a party of merchants came in sight, winding their way with a long train of loaded mules, and stout men to guard them, across the plains, like an eastern caravan in the desert. They gazed in surprise at the tall young Norman holding the child upon the worn-out war-horse.
“Sir merchant,” said Osmond to the first, “see you this steed? Better horse never was ridden; but he is sorely spent, and we must make speed. Let me barter him with you for yonder stout palfrey. He is worth twice as much, but I cannot stop to chaffer—ay or no at once.”
The merchant, seeing the value of Osmond’s gallant black, accepted the offer; and Osmond removing his saddle, and placing Richard on his new steed, again mounted, and on they went through the country which Osmond’s eye had marked with the sagacity men acquire by living in wild, unsettled places. The great marshes were now far less dangerous than in the winter, and they safely crossed them. There had, as yet, been no pursuit, and Osmond’s only fear was for his little charge, who, not having recovered his full strength since his illness, began to suffer greatly from fatigue in the heat of that broiling summer day, and leant against Osmond patiently, but very wearily, without moving or looking up. He scarcely revived when the sun went down, and a cool breeze sprang up, which much refreshed Osmond himself; and still more did it refresh the Squire to see, at length, winding through the green pastures, a blue river, on the opposite bank of which rose a high rocky mound, bearing a castle with many a turret and battlement.
“The Epte! the Epte! There is Normandy, sir! Look up, and see your own dukedom.” “Normandy!” cried Richard, sitting upright. “Oh, my own home!” Still the Epte was wide and deep, and the peril was not yet ended. Osmond looked anxiously, and rejoiced to see marks of cattle, as if it had been forded. “We must try it,” he said, and dismounting, he waded in, leading the horse, and firmly holding Richard in the saddle. Deep they went; the water rose to Richard’s feet, then to the horse’s neck; then the horse was swimming, and Osmond too, still keeping his firm hold; then there was ground again, the force of the current was less, and they were gaining the bank. At that instant, however, they perceived two men aiming at them with cross-bows from the castle, and another standing on the bank above them, who called out, “Hold! None pass the ford of Montémar without permission of the noble Dame Yolande.” “Ha! Bertrand, the Seneschal, is that you?” returned Osmond. “Who calls me by my name?” replied the Seneschal. “It is I, Osmond de Centeville. Open your gates quickly, Sir Seneschal; for here is the Duke, sorely in need of rest and refreshment.”
“The Duke!” exclaimed Bertrand, hurrying down to the landing-place, and throwing off his cap. “The Duke! the Duke!” rang out the shout from the men-at-arms on the battlements above and in an instant more Osmond had led the horse up from the water, and was exclaiming, “Look up, my Lord, look up! You are in your own dukedom again, and this is Alberic’s castle.”
“Welcome, indeed, most noble Lord Duke! Blessings on the day!” cried the Seneschal. “What joy for my Lady and my young Lord!”
“He is sorely weary,” said Osmond, looking anxiously at Richard, who, even at the welcome cries that showed so plainly that he was in his own Normandy, scarcely raised himself or spoke. “He had been very sick ere I brought him away. I doubt me they sought to poison him, and I vowed not to tarry at Laon another hour after he was fit to move. But cheer up, my Lord; you are safe and free now, and here is the good Dame de Montémar to tend you, far better than a rude Squire like me.”
“Alas, no!” said the Seneschal; “our Dame is gone with young Alberic on a pilgrimage to Jumièges to pray for the Duke’s safety. What joy for them to know that their prayers have been granted!”
Osmond, however, could scarcely rejoice, so alarmed was he at the extreme weariness and exhaustion of his charge, who, when they brought him into the Castle hall, hardly spoke or looked, and could not eat. They carried him up to Alberic’s bed, where he tossed about restlessly, too tired to sleep.
“Alas! alas!” said Osmond, “I have been too hasty. I have but saved him from the Franks to be his death by my own imprudence.”
“Hush! Sieur de Centeville,” said the Seneschal’s wife, coming into the room. “To talk in that manner is the way to be his death, indeed. Leave the child to me—he is only over-weary.”
Osmond was sure his Duke was among friends, and would have been glad to trust him to a woman; but Richard had but one instinct left in all his weakness and exhaustion—to cling close to Osmond, as if he felt him his only friend and protector; for he was, as yet, too much worn out to understand that he was in Normandy and safe. For two or three hours, therefore, Osmond and the Seneschal’s wife watched on each side of his bed, soothing his restlessness, until at length he became quiet, and at last dropped sound asleep.
The sun was high in the heavens when Richard awoke. He turned on his straw-filled crib, and looked up. It was not the tapestried walls of his chamber at Laon that met his opening eyes, but the rugged stone and tall loop-hole window of a turret chamber. Osmond de Centeville lay on the floor by his side, in the sound sleep of one overcome by long watching and weariness. And what more did Richard see?
It was the bright face and sparkling eyes of Alberic de Montémar, who was leaning against the foot of his bed, gazing earnestly, as he watched for his waking. There was a cry—“Alberic! Alberic!” “My Lord! my Lord!” Richard sat up and held out both arms, and Alberic flung himself into them. They hugged each other, and uttered broken exclamations and screams of joy, enough to have awakened any sleeper but one so wearied out as Osmond.
“And is it true? Oh, am I really in Normandy again?” cried Richard.
“Yes, yes!—oh, yes, my Lord! You are at Montémar. Everything here is yours. The bar-tailed hawk is quite well, and my mother will be here this evening; she let me ride on the instant we heard the news.”
“We rode long and late, and I was very weary,” said Richard! “but I don’t care, now we are at home. But I can hardly believe it! Oh, Alberic, it has been very dreary!”
“See here, my Lord!” said Alberic, standing by the window. “Look here, and you will know you are at home again!”
Richard bounded to the window, and what a sight met his eyes! The Castle court was thronged with men-at-arms and horses, the morning sun sparkling on many a burnished hauberk and tall conical helmet, and above them waved many a banner and pennon that Richard knew full well. “There! there!” he shouted aloud with glee. “Oh, there is the horse-shoe of Ferrières! and there the chequers of Warenne! Oh, and best of all, there is—there is our own red pennon of Centeville! O Alberic! Alberic! is Sir Eric here? I must go down to him!”
“Bertrand sent out notice to them all, as soon as you came, to come and guard our Castle,” said Alberic, “lest the Franks should pursue you; but you are safe now—safe as Norman spears can make you—thanks be to God!”
“Yes, thanks to God!” said Richard, crossing himself and kneeling reverently for some minutes, while he repeated his Latin prayer; then, rising and looking at Alberic, he said, “I must thank Him, indeed, for he has saved Osmond and me from the cruel King and Queen, and I must try to be a less hasty and overbearing boy than I was when I went away; for I vowed that so I would be, if ever I came back. Poor Osmond, how soundly he sleeps! Come, Alberic, show me the way to Sir Eric!”
And, holding Alberic’s hand, Richard left the room, and descended the stairs to the Castle hall. Many of the Norman knights and barons, in full armour, were gathered there; but Richard looked only for one. He knew Sir Eric’s grizzled hair, and blue inlaid armour, though his back was towards him, and in a moment, before his entrance had been perceived, he sprang towards him, and, with outstretched arms, exclaimed: “Sir Eric—dear Sir Eric, here I am! Osmond is safe! And is Fru Astrida well?”
The old Baron turned. “My child!” he exclaimed, and clasped him in his mailed arms, while the tears flowed down his rugged cheeks. “Blessed be God that you are safe, and that my son has done his duty!”
“And is Fru Astrida well?”
“Yes, right well, since she heard of your safety. But look round, my Lord; it befits not a Duke to be clinging thus round an old man’s neck. See how many of your true vassals be here, to guard you from the villain Franks.”
Richard stood up, and held out his hand, bowing courteously and acknowledging the greetings of each bold baron, with a grace and readiness he certainly had not when he left Normandy. He was taller too; and though still pale, and not dressed with much care (since he had hurried on his clothes with no help but Alberic’s)—though his hair was rough and disordered, and the scar of the burn had not yet faded from his check—yet still, with his bright blue eyes, glad face, and upright form, he was a princely, promising boy, and the Norman knights looked at him with pride and joy, more especially when, unprompted, he said: “I thank you, gallant knights, for coming to guard me. I do not fear the whole French host now I am among my own true Normans.”
Sir Eric led him to the door of the hall to the top of the steps, that the men-at-arms might see him; and then such a shout rang out of “Long live Duke Richard!”—“Blessings on the little Duke!”—that it echoed and came back again from the hills around—it pealed from the old tower—it roused Osmond from his sleep—and, if anything more had been wanting to do so, it made Richard feel that he was indeed in a land where every heart glowed with loyal love for him.
Before the shout had died away, a bugle-horn was heard winding before the gate; and Sir Eric, saying, “It is the Count of Harcourt’s note,” sent Bertrand to open the gates in haste, while Alberic followed, as Lord of the Castle, to receive the Count.
The old Count rode into the court, and to the foot of the steps, where he dismounted, Alberic holding his stirrup. He had not taken many steps upwards before Richard came voluntarily to meet him (which he had never done before), held out his hand, and said, “Welcome, Count Bernard, welcome. Thank you for coming to guard me. I am very glad to see you once more.”
“Ah, my young Lord,” said Bernard, “I am right glad to see you out of the clutches of the Franks! You know friend from foe now, methinks!”
“Yes, indeed I do, Count Bernard. I know you meant kindly by me, and that I ought to have thanked you, and not been angry, when you reproved me. Wait one moment, Sir Count; there is one thing that I promised myself to say if ever I came safe to my own dear home. Walter—Maurice—Jeannot—all you of my household, and of Sir Eric’s—I know, before I went away, I was often no good Lord to you; I was passionate, and proud, and overbearing; but God has punished me for it, when I was far away among my enemies, and sick and lonely. I am very sorry for it, and I hope you will pardon me; for I will strive, and I hope God will help me, never to be proud and passionate again.”
“There, Sir Eric,” said Bernard, “you hear what the boy says. If he speaks it out so bold and free, without bidding, and if he holds to what he says, I doubt it not that he shall not grieve for his journey to France, and that we shall see him, in all things, such a Prince as his father of blessed memory.”
“You must thank Osmond for me,” said Richard, as Osmond came down, awakened at length. “It is Osmond who has helped me to bear my troubles; and as to saving me, why he flew away with me even like an old eagle with its eaglet. I say, Osmond, you must ever after this wear a pair of wings on shield and pennon, to show how well we managed our flight.”[15]
“As you will, my Lord,” said Osmond, half asleep; “but ’twas a good long flight at a stretch, and I trust never to have to fly before your foes or mine again.”
What a glad summer’s day was that! Even the three hours spent in council did but renew the relish with which Richard visited Alberic’s treasures, told his adventures, and showed the accomplishments he had learnt at Laon. The evening was more joyous still; for the Castle gates were opened, first to receive Dame Yolande Montémar, and not above a quarter of an hour afterwards, the drawbridge was lowered to admit the followers of Centeville; and in front of them appeared Fru Astrida’s own high cap. Richard made but one bound into her arms, and was clasped to her breast; then held off at arm’s-length, that she might see how much he was grown, and pity his scar; then hugged closer than ever: but, taking another look, she declared that Osmond left his hair like King Harald Horrid-locks;[16]and, drawing an ivory comb from her pouch, began to pull out the thick tangles, hurting him to a degree that would once have made him rebel, but now he only fondled her the more.
As to Osmond, when he knelt before her, she blessed him, and sobbed over him, and blamed him for over-tiring her darling, all in one; and assuredly, when night closed in and Richard had, as of old, told his beads beside her knee, the happiest boy in Normandy was its little Duke.
Montémar was too near the frontier to be a safe abode for the little Duke, and his uncle, Count Hubert of Senlis, agreed with Bernard the Dane that he would be more secure beyond the limits of his own duchy, which was likely soon to be the scene of war; and, sorely against his will, he was sent in secret, under a strong escort, first to the Castle of Coucy, and afterwards to Senlis.
His consolation was, that he was not again separated from his friends; Alberic, Sir Eric, and even Fru Astrida, accompanied him, as well as his constant follower, Osmond. Indeed, the Baron would hardly bear that he should be out of his sight; and he was still so carefully watched, that it was almost like a captivity. Never, even in the summer days, was he allowed to go beyond the Castle walls; and his guardians would fain have had it supposed that the Castle did not contain any such guest.
Osmond did not give him so much of his company as usual, but was always at work in the armourer’s forge—a low, vaulted chamber, opening into the Castle court. Richard and Alberic were very curious to know what he did there; but he fastened the door with an iron bar, and they were forced to content themselves with listening to the strokes of the hammer, keeping time to the voice that sang out, loud and cheerily, the song of “Sigurd’s sword, and the maiden sleeping within the ring of flame.” Fru Astrida said Osmond was quite right—no good weapon-smith ever toiled with open doors; and when the boys asked him questions as to his work, he only smiled, and said that they would see what it was when the call to arms should come.
They thought it near at hand, for tidings came that Louis had assembled his army, and marched into Normandy to recover the person of the young Duke, and to seize the country. No summons, however, arrived, but a message came instead, that Rouen had been surrendered into the bands of the King. Richard shed indignant tears. “My father’s Castle! My own city in the hands of the foe! Bernard is a traitor then! None shall hinder me from so calling him. Why did we trust him?”
“Never fear, Lord Duke,” said Osmond. “When you come to the years of Knighthood, your own sword shall right you, in spite of all the false Danes, and falser Franks, in the land.”
“What! you too, son Osmond? I deemed you carried a cooler brain than to miscall one who was true to Rollo’s race before you or yon varlet were born!” said the old Baron.
“He has yielded my dukedom! It is mis-calling to say he is aught but a traitor!” cried Richard. “Vile, treacherous, favour-seeking—”
“Peace, peace, my Lord,” said the Baron. “Bernard has more in that wary head of his than your young wits, or my old ones, can unwind. What he is doing I may not guess, but I gage my life his heart is right.”
Richard was silent, remembering he had been once unjust, but he grieved heartily when he thought of the French in Rollo’s tower, and it was further reported that the King was about to share Normandy among his French vassals. A fresh outcry broke out in the little garrison of Senlis, but Sir Eric still persisted in his trust in his friend Bernard, even when he heard that Centeville was marked out as the prey of the fat French Count who had served for a hostage at Rouen.
“What say you now, my Lord?” said he, after a conference with a messenger at the gate. “The Black Raven has spread its wings. Fifty keels are in the Seine, and Harald Blue-tooth’s Long Serpent at the head of them.”
“The King of Denmark! Come to my aid!”
“Ay, that he is! Come at Bernard’s secret call, to right you, and put you on your father’s seat. Now call honest Harcourt a traitor, because he gave not up your fair dukedom to the flame and sword!”
“No traitor to me,” said Richard, pausing. “No, verily, but what more would you say?”
“I think, when I come to my dukedom, I will not be so politic,” said Richard. “I will be an open friend or an open foe.”
“The boy grows too sharp for us,” said Sir Eric, smiling, “but it was spoken like his father.”
“He grows more like his blessed father each day,” said Fru Astrida.
“But the Danes, father, the Danes!” said Osmond. “Blows will be passing now. I may join the host and win my spurs?”
“With all my heart,” returned the Baron, “so my Lord here gives you leave: would that I could leave him and go with you. It would do my very spirit good but to set foot in a Northern keel once more.”
“I would fain see what these men of the North are,” said Osmond.
“Oh! they are only Danes, not Norsemen, and there are no Vikings, such as once were when Ragnar laid waste—”
“Son, son, what talk is this for the child’s ears?” broke in Fru Astrida, “are these words for a Christian Baron?”
“Your pardon, mother,” said the grey warrior, in all humility, “but my blood thrills to hear of a Northern fleet at hand, and to think of Osmond drawing sword under a Sea-King.”
The next morning, Osmond’s steed was led to the door, and such men-at-arms as could be spared from the garrison of Senlis were drawn up in readiness to accompany him. The boys stood on the steps, wishing they were old enough to be warriors, and wondering what had become of him, until at length the sound of an opening door startled them, and there, in the low archway of the smithy, the red furnace glowing behind him, stood Osmond, clad in bright steel, the links of his hauberk reflecting the light, and on his helmet a pair of golden wings, while the same device adorned his long pointed kite-shaped shield.
“Your wings! our wings!” cried Richard, “the bearing of Centeville!”
“May they fly after the foe, not before him,” said Sir Eric. “Speed thee well, my son—let not our Danish cousins say we learn Frank graces instead of Northern blows.”
With such farewells, Osmond quitted Senlis, while the two boys hastened to the battlements to watch him as long as he remained in view.
The highest tower became their principal resort, and their eyes were constantly on the heath where he had disappeared; but days passed, and they grew weary of the watch, and betook themselves to games in the Castle court.
One day, Alberic, in the character of a Dragon, was lying on his back, panting hard so as to be supposed to cast out volumes of flame and smoke at Richard, the Knight, who with a stick for a lance, and a wooden sword, was waging fierce war; when suddenly the Dragon paused, sat up, and pointed towards the warder on the tower. His horn was at his lips, and in another moment, the blast rang out through the Castle.
With a loud shout, both boys rushed headlong up the turret stairs, and came to the top so breathless, that they could not even ask the warder what he saw. He pointed, and the keen-eyed Alberic exclaimed, “I see! Look, my Lord, a speck there on the heath!”
“I do not see! where, oh where?”
“He is behind the hillock now, but—oh, there again! How fast he comes!”
“It is like the flight of a bird,” said Richard, “fast, fast—”
“If only it be not flight in earnest,” said Alberic, a little anxiously, looking into the warder’s face, for he was a borderer, and tales of terror of the inroad of the Vicomte du Contentin were rife on the marches of the Epte.
“No, young Sir,” said the warder, “no fear of that. I know how men ride when they flee from the battle.”
“No, indeed, there is no discomfiture in the pace of that steed,” said Sir Eric, who had by this time joined them.
“I see him clearer! I see the horse,” cried Richard, dancing with eagerness, so that Sir Eric caught hold of him, exclaiming, “You will be over the battlements! hold still! better hear of a battle lost than that!”
“He bears somewhat in his hand,” said Alberic.
“A banner or pennon,” said the warder; “methinks he rides like the young Baron.”
“He does! My brave boy! He has done good service,” exclaimed Sir Eric, as the figure became more developed. “The Danes have seen how we train our young men.”
“His wings bring good tidings,” said Richard. “Let me go, Sir Eric, I must tell Fru Astrida.”
The drawbridge was lowered, the portcullis raised, and as all the dwellers in the Castle stood gathered in the court, in rode the warrior with the winged helm, bearing in his hand a drooping banner; lowering it as he entered, it unfolded, and displayed, trailing on the ground at the feet of the little Duke of Normandy, the golden lilies of France.
A shout of amazement arose, and all gathered round him, asking hurried questions. “A great victory—the King a prisoner—Montreuil slain!”
Richard would not be denied holding his hand, and leading him to the hall, and there, sitting around him, they heard his tidings. His father’s first question was, what he thought of their kinsmen, the Danes?
“Rude comrades, father, I must own,” said Osmond, smiling, and shaking his head. “I could not pledge them in a skull-goblet—set in gold though it were.”
“None the worse warriors,” said Sir Eric. “Ay, ay, and you were dainty, and brooked not the hearty old fashion of tearing the whole sheep to pieces. You must needs cut your portion with the fine French knife at your girdle.”
Osmond could not see that a man was braver for being a savage, but he held his peace; and Richard impatiently begged to hear how the battle had gone, and where it had been fought.
“On the bank of the Dive,” said Osmond. “Ah, father, you might well call old Harcourt wary—his name might better have been Fox-heart than Bear-heart! He had sent to the Franks a message of distress, that the Danes were on him in full force, and to pray them to come to his aid.”
“I trust there was no treachery. No foul dealing shall be wrought in my name,” exclaimed Richard, with such dignity of tone and manner, as made all feel he was indeed their Duke, and forget his tender years.
“No, or should I tell the tale with joy like this?” said Osmond. “Bernard’s view was to bring the Kings together, and let Louis see you had friends to maintain your right. He sought but to avoid bloodshed.”
“And how chanced it?”
“The Danes were encamped on the Dive, and so soon as the French came in sight, Blue-tooth sent a messenger to Louis, to summon him to quit Neustria, and leave it to you, its lawful owner. Thereupon, Louis, hoping to win him over with wily words, invited him to hold a personal conference.”
“Where were you, Osmond?”
“Where I had scarce patience to be. Bernard had gathered all of us honest Normans together, and arranged us beneath that standard of the King, as if to repel his Danish inroad. Oh, he was, in all seeming, hand-and-glove with Louis, guiding him by his counsel, and, verily, seeming his friend and best adviser! But in one thing he could not prevail. That ungrateful recreant, Herluin of Montreuil, came with the King, hoping, it seems, to get his share of our spoils; and when Bernard advised the King to send him home, since no true Norman could bear the sight of him, the hot-headed Franks vowed no Norman should hinder them from bringing whom they chose. So a tent was set up by the riverside, wherein the two Kings, with Bernard, Alan of Brittany, and Count Hugh, held their meeting. We all stood without, and the two hosts began to mingle together, we Normans making acquaintance with the Danes. There was a red-haired, wild-looking fellow, who told me he had been with Anlaff in England, and spoke much of the doings of Hako in Norway; when, suddenly, he pointed to a Knight who was near, speaking to a Cotentinois, and asked me his name. My blood boiled as I answered, for it was Montreuil himself! ‘The cause of your Duke’s death!’ said the Dane. ‘Ha, ye Normans are fallen sons of Odin, to see him yet live!’”
“You said, I trust, my son, that we follow not the laws of Odin?” said Fru Astrida.
“I had no space for a word, grandmother; the Danes took the vengeance on themselves. In one moment they rushed on Herluin with their axes, and the unhappy man was dead. All was tumult; every one struck without knowing at whom, or for what. Some shouted, ‘Thor Hulfe!’ some ‘Dieu aide!’ others ‘Montjoie St. Denis!’ Northern blood against French, that was all our guide. I found myself at the foot of this standard, and had a hard combat for it; but I bore it away at last.”
“And the Kings?”
“They hurried out of the tent, it seems, to rejoin their men. Louis mounted, but you know of old, my Lord, he is but an indifferent horseman, and the beast carried him into the midst of the Danes, where King Harald caught his bridle, and delivered him to four Knights to keep. Whether he dealt secretly with them, or whether they, as they declared, lost sight of him whilst plundering his tent, I cannot say; but when Harald demanded him of them, he was gone.”
“Gone! is this what you call having the King prisoner?”
“You shall hear. He rode four leagues, and met one of the baser sort of Rouennais, whom he bribed to hide him in the Isle of Willows. However, Bernard made close inquiries, found the fellow had been seen in speech with a French horseman, pounced on his wife and children, and threatened they should die if he did not disclose the secret. So the King was forced to come out of his hiding-place, and is now fast guarded in Rollo’s tower—a Dane, with a battle-axe on his shoulder, keeping guard at every turn of the stairs.”
“Ha! ha!” cried Richard. “I wonder how he likes it. I wonder if he remembers holding me up to the window, and vowing that he meant me only good!”
“When you believed him, my Lord,” said Osmond, slyly.
“I was a little boy then,” said Richard, proudly. “Why, the very walls must remind him of his oath, and how Count Bernard said, as he dealt with me, so might Heaven deal with him.”
“Remember it, my child—beware of broken vows,” said Father Lucas; “but remember it not in triumph over a fallen foe. It were better that all came at once to the chapel, to bestow their thanksgivings where alone they are due.”
After nearly a year’s captivity, the King engaged to pay a ransom, and, until the terms could be arranged, his two sons were to be placed as hostages in the hands of the Normans, whilst he returned to his own domains. The Princes were to be sent to Bayeux; whither Richard had returned, under the charge of the Centevilles, and was now allowed to ride and walk abroad freely, provided he was accompanied by a guard.
“I shall rejoice to have Carloman, and make him happy,” said Richard; “but I wish Lothaire were not coming.”
“Perhaps,” said good Father Lucas, “he comes that you may have a first trial in your father’s last lesson, and Abbot Martin’s, and return good for evil.”
The Duke’s cheek flushed, and he made no answer.
He and Alberic betook themselves to the watch-tower, and, by and by, saw a cavalcade approaching, with a curtained vehicle in the midst, slung between two horses. “That cannot be the Princes,” said Alberic; “that must surely be some sick lady.”
“I only hope it is not the Queen,” exclaimed Richard, in dismay. “But no; Lothaire is such a coward, no doubt he was afraid to ride, and she would not trust her darling without shutting him up like a demoiselle. But come down, Alberic; I will say nothing unkind of Lothaire, if I can help it.”
Richard met the Princes in the court, his sunny hair uncovered, and bowing with such becoming courtesy, that Fru Astrida pressed her son’s arm, and bade him say if their little Duke was not the fairest and noblest child in Christendom.
With black looks, Lothaire stepped from the litter, took no heed of the little Duke, but, roughly calling his attendant, Charlot, to follow him, he marched into the hall, vouchsafing neither word nor look to any as he passed, threw himself into the highest seat, and ordered Charlot to bring him some wine.
Meanwhile, Richard, looking into the litter, saw Carloman crouching in a corner, sobbing with fright.
“Carloman!—dear Carloman!—do not cry. Come out! It is I—your own Richard! Will you not let me welcome you?”
Carloman looked, caught at the outstretched hand, and clung to his neck.
“Oh, Richard, send us back! Do not let the savage Danes kill us!”
“No one will hurt you. There are no Danes here. You are my guest, my friend, my brother. Look up! here is my own Fru Astrida.”
“But my mother said the Northmen would kill us for keeping you captive. She wept and raved, and the cruel men dragged us away by force. Oh, let us go back!”
“I cannot do that,” said Richard; “for you are the King of Denmark’s captives, not mine; but I will love you, and you shall have all that is mine, if you will only not cry, dear Carloman. Oh, Fru Astrida, what shall I do? You comfort him—” as the poor boy clung sobbing to him.
Fru Astrida advanced to take his hand, speaking in a soothing voice, but he shrank and started with a fresh cry of terror—her tall figure, high cap, and wrinkled face, were to him witch-like, and as she knew no French, he understood not her kind words. However, he let Richard lead him into the hall, where Lothaire sat moodily in the chair, with one leg tucked under him, and his finger in his mouth.
“I say, Sir Duke,” said he, “is there nothing to be had in this old den of yours? Not a drop of Bordeaux?”
Richard tried to repress his anger at this very uncivil way of speaking, and answered, that he thought there was none, but there was plenty of Norman cider.
“As if I would taste your mean peasant drinks! I bade them bring my supper—why does it not come?”
“Because you are not master here,” trembled on Richard’s lips, but he forced it back, and answered that it would soon be ready, and Carloman looked imploringly at his brother, and said, “Do not make them angry, Lothaire.”
“What, crying still, foolish child?” said Lothaire. “Do you not know that if they dare to cross us, my father will treat them as they deserve? Bring supper, I say, and let me have a pasty of ortolans.”
“There are none—they are not in season,” said Richard.
“Do you mean to give me nothing I like? I tell you it shall be the worse for you.”
“There is a pullet roasting,” began Richard.
“I tell you, I do not care for pullets—I will have ortolans.”
“If I do not take order with that boy, my name is not Eric,” muttered the Baron.
“What must he not have made our poor child suffer!” returned Fru Astrida, “but the little one moves my heart. How small and weakly he is, but it is worth anything to see our little Duke so tender to him.”
“He is too brave not to be gentle,” said Osmond; and, indeed, the high-spirited, impetuous boy was as soft and kind as a maiden, with that feeble, timid child. He coaxed him to eat, consoled him, and, instead of laughing at his fears, kept between him and the great bloodhound Hardigras, and drove it off when it came too near.
“Take that dog away,” said Lothaire, imperiously. No one moved to obey him, and the dog, in seeking for scraps, again came towards him.
“Take it away,” he repeated, and struck it with his foot. The dog growled, and Richard started up in indignation.
“Prince Lothaire,” he said, “I care not what else you do, but my dogs and my people you shall not maltreat.”
“I tell you I am Prince! I do what I will! Ha! who laughs there?” cried the passionate boy, stamping on the floor.
“It is not so easy for French Princes to scourge free-born Normans here,” said the rough voice of Walter the huntsman: “there is a reckoning for the stripe my Lord Duke bore for me.”
“Hush, hush, Walter,” began Richard; but Lothaire had caught up a footstool, and was aiming it at the huntsman, when his arm was caught.
Osmond, who knew him well enough to be prepared for such outbreaks, held him fast by both hands, in spite of his passionate screams and struggles, which were like those of one frantic.
Sir Eric, meanwhile, thundered forth in his Norman patois, “I would have you to know, young Sir, Prince though you be, you are our prisoner, and shall taste of a dungeon, and bread and water, unless you behave yourself.”
Either Lothaire did not hear, or did not believe, and fought more furiously in Osmond’s arms, but he had little chance with the stalwart young warrior, and, in spite of Richard’s remonstrances, he was carried from the hall, roaring and kicking, and locked up alone in an empty room.
“Let him alone for the present,” said Sir Eric, putting the Duke aside, “when he knows his master, we shall have peace.”
Here Richard had to turn, to reassure Carloman, who had taken refuge in a dark corner, and there shook like an aspen leaf, crying bitterly, and starting with fright, when Richard touched him.
“Oh, do not put me in the dungeon. I cannot bear the dark.”
Richard again tried to comfort him, but he did not seem to hear or heed. “Oh! they said you would beat and hurt us for what we did to you! but, indeed, it was not I that burnt your cheek!”
“We would not hurt you for worlds, dear Carloman; Lothaire is not in the dungeon—he is only shut up till he is good.”
“It was Lothaire that did it,” repeated Carloman, “and, indeed, you must not be angry with me, for my mother was so cross with me for not having stopped Osmond when I met him with the bundle of straw, that she gave me a blow, that knocked me down. And were you really there, Richard?”
Richard told his story, and was glad to find Carloman could smile at it; and then Fru Astrida advised him to take his little friend to bed. Carloman would not lie down without still holding Richard’s hand, and the little Duke spared no pains to set him at rest, knowing what it was to be a desolate captive far from home.
“I thought you would be good to me,” said Carloman. “As to Lothaire, it serves him right, that you should use him as he used you.”
“Oh, no, Carloman; if I had a brother I would never speak so of him.”
“But Lothaire is so unkind.”
“Ah! but we must be kind to those who are unkind to us.”
The child rose on his elbow, and looked into Richard’s face. “No one ever told me so before.”
“Oh, Carloman, not Brother Hilary?”
“I never heed Brother Hilary—he is so lengthy, and wearisome; besides, no one is ever kind to those that hate them.”
“My father was,” said Richard.
“And they killed him!” said Carloman.
“Yes,” said Richard, crossing himself, “but he is gone to be in peace.”
“I wonder if it is happier there, than here,” said Carloman. “I am not happy. But tell me why should we be good to those that hate us?”
“Because the holy Saints were—and look at the Crucifix, Carloman. That was for them that hated Him. And, don’t you know what our Pater Noster says?”
Poor little Carloman could only repeat the Lord’s Prayer in Latin—he had not the least notion of its meaning—in which Richard had been carefully instructed by Father Lucas. He began to explain it, but before many words had passed his lips, little Carloman was asleep.
The Duke crept softly away to beg to be allowed to go to Lothaire; he entered the room, already dark, with a pine torch in his hand, that so flickered in the wind, that he could at first see nothing, but presently beheld a dark lump on the floor.
“Prince Lothaire,” he said, “here is—”
Lothaire cut him short. “Get away,” he said. “If it is your turn now, it will be mine by and by. I wish my mother had kept her word, and put your eyes out.”
Richard’s temper did not serve for such a reply. “It is a foul shame of you to speak so, when I only came out of kindness to you—so I shall leave you here all night, and not ask Sir Eric to let you out.”
And he swung back the heavy door with a resounding clang. But his heart smote him when he told his beads, and remembered what he had said to Carloman. He knew he could not sleep in his warm bed when Lothaire was in that cold gusty room. To be sure, Sir Eric said it would do him good, but Sir Eric little knew how tender the French Princes were.
So Richard crept down in the dark, slid back the bolt, and called, “Prince, Prince, I am sorry I was angry. Come out, and let us try to be friends.”
“What do you mean?” said Lothaire.
“Come out of the cold and dark. Here am I. I will show you the way. Where is your hand? Oh, how cold it is. Let me lead you down to the hall fire.”
Lothaire was subdued by fright, cold, and darkness, and quietly allowed Richard to lead him down. Round the fire, at the lower end of the hall, snored half-a-dozen men-at-arms; at the upper hearth there was only Hardigras, who raised his head as the boys came in. Richard’s whisper and soft pat quieted him instantly, and the two little Princes sat on the hearth together, Lothaire surprised, but sullen. Richard stirred the embers, so as to bring out more heat, then spoke: “Prince, will you let us be friends?”
“I must, if I am in your power.”
“I wish you would be my guest and comrade.”
“Well, I will; I can’t help it.”
Richard thought his advances might have been more graciously met, and, having little encouragement to say more, took Lothaire to bed, as soon as he was warm.