惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER VIII: THE ENVOY Page 2
"How now," he said, "our world contemning daughter -- Are you robedfor a hunting party, or for the convent, this morning? Speak --answer."
"For which your highness pleases, sire," said the Princess, scarceraising her voice above her breath.
"Ay, doubtless, you would persuade me it is your desire to quitthe Court, Joan, and renounce the world and its vanities. -- Ha!maiden, wouldst thou have it thought that we, the first born ofHoly Church, would refuse our daughter to Heaven? -- Our Lady andSaint Martin forbid we should refuse the offering, were it worthyof the altar, or were thy vocation in truth thitherward!"
So saying, the King crossed himself devoutly, looking inthe meantime, as appeared to Quentin, very like a cunning vassal,who was depreciating the merit of something which he was desirousto keep to himself, in order that he might stand excused for notoffering it to his chief or superior.
"Dares he thus play the hypocrite with Heaven," thought Durward,"and sport with God and the Saints, as he may safely do with men,who dare not search his nature too closely?"
Louis meantime resumed, after a moment's mental devotion, "No,fair daughter, I and another know your real mind better. Ha! faircousin of Orleans, do we not? Approach, fair sir, and lead thisdevoted vestal of ours to her horse."
Orleans started when the King spoke and hastened to obey him; butwith such precipitation of step, and confusion, that Louis calledout, "Nay, cousin, rein your gallantry, and look before you. Why,what a headlong matter a gallant's haste is on some occasions! Youhad well nigh taken Anne's hand instead of her sister's. -- Sir,must I give Joan's to you myself?"
The unhappy Prince looked up, and shuddered like a child, whenforced to touch something at which it has instinctive horror --then making an effort, took the hand which the Princess neither gavenor yet withheld. As they stood, her cold, damp fingers enclosedin his trembling hand, with their eyes looking on the ground, itwould have been difficult to say which of these two youthful beingswas rendered more utterly miserable -- the Duke, who felt himselffettered to the object of his aversion by bonds which he durst nottear asunder, or the unfortunate young woman, who too plainly sawthat she was an object of abhorrence to him, to gain whose kindnessshe would willingly have died.
"And now to horse, gentlemen and ladies -- we will ourselves leadforth our daughter of Beaujeu," said the King; "and God's blessingand Saint Hubert's be on our morning's sport!"
"I am, I fear, doomed to interrupt it, Sire," said the Comte deDunois; "the Burgundian Envoy is before the gates of the Castleand demands an audience."
"Demands an audience, Dunois?" replied the King. "Did you not answerhim, as we sent you word by Oliver, that we were not at leisureto see him today, -- and that tomorrow was the festival of SaintMartin, which, please Heaven, we would disturb by no earthly thoughts-- and that on the succeeding day we were designed for Amboise --but that we would not fail to appoint him as early an audience,when we returned, as our pressing affairs would permit."
"All this I said," answered Dunois, "but yet, Sire --"
"Pasques dieu! man, what is it that thus sticks in thy throat?" saidthe King. "This Burgundian's terms must have been hard of digestion."
"Had not my duty, your Grace's commands, and his character asan envoy, restrained me," said Dunois, "he should have tried todigest them himself; for, by our Lady of Orleans, I had more mindto have made him eat his own words, than to have brought them toyour Majesty."
"Body of me," said the King, "it is strange that thou, one ofthe most impatient fellows alive, should have so little sympathywith the like infirmity in our blunt and fiery cousin, Charles ofBurgundy. Why, man, I mind his blustering messages no more than thetowers of this Castle regard the whistling of the northeast wind,which comes from Flanders, as well as this brawling Envoy."
"Know then, Sire," replied Dunois, "that the Count of Crevecoeurtarries below, with his retinue of pursuivants and trumpets, andsays, that since your Majesty refuses him the audience which hismaster has instructed him to demand, upon matters of most pressingconcern, he will remain there till midnight, and accost your Majestyat whatever hour you are pleased to issue from your Castle, whetherfor business, exercise, or devotion; and that no consideration,except the use of absolute force, shall compel him to desist fromthis."
"He is a fool," said the King, with much composure. "Does the hotheaded Hainaulter think it any penance for a man of sense to remainfor twenty-four hours quiet within the walls of his Castle, whenhe hath the affairs of a kingdom to occupy him? These impatientcoxcombs think that all men, like themselves, are miserable,save when in saddle and stirrup. Let the dogs be put up, and welllooked to, gentle Dunois. -- We will hold council today, insteadof hunting."
"My Liege," answered Dunois, "you will not thus rid yourself ofCrevecoeur; for his master's instructions are, that if he hath notthis audience which he demands, he shall nail his gauntlet to thepalisade before the Castle in token of mortal defiance on the partof his master, shall renounce the Duke's fealty to France, anddeclare instant war."
"Ay," said Louis without any perceptible alteration of voice, butfrowning until his piercing dark eyes became almost invisible underhis shaggy eyebrows, "is it even so? will our ancient vassal proveso masterful -- our dear cousin treat us thus unkindly? -- Nay,then, Dunois, we must unfold the Oriflamme, and cry Dennis Montjoye!"
(Montjoie St. Denis, a former war cry of the French soldiers. SaintDenis was a patron saint of France who suffered martyrdom in thethird century. Montjoie (mont and joie) may be the name of thehill where the saint met his death; or it may signify that any suchplace is a "hill of joy.")
"Marry and amen, and in a most happy hour!" said the martial Dunois;and the guards in the hall, unable to resist the same impulse,stirred each upon his post, so as to produce a low but distinctsound of clashing arms. The King cast his eye proudly round, and,for a moment, thought and looked like his heroic father.
But the excitement of the moment presently gave way to the hostof political considerations, which, at that conjuncture, renderedan open breach with Burgundy so peculiarly perilous. Edward IV, abrave and victorious king, who had in his own person fought thirtybattles, was now established on the throne of England, was brotherto the Duchess of Burgundy, and, it might well be supposed, waitedbut a rupture between his near connexion and Louis, to carry intoFrance, through the ever open gate of Calais, those arms which hadbeen triumphant in the English civil wars, and to obliterate therecollection of internal dissensions by that most popular of alloccupations amongst the English, an invasion of France. To thisconsideration was added the uncertain faith of the Duke of Bretagne,and other weighty subjects of reflection. So that, after a deeppause, when Louis again spoke, although in the same tone, it waswith an altered spirit. "But God forbid," he said, "that aughtless than necessity should make us, the Most Christian' King, givecause to the effusion of Christian blood, if anything short ofdishonour may avert such a calamity. We tender our subjects' safetydearer than the ruffle which our own dignity may receive from therude breath of a malapert ambassador, who hath perhaps exceeded theerrand with which he was charged. -- Admit the Envoy of Burgundyto our presence."
"Beati pacifici, (blessed are the peace makers)" said the CardinalBalue.
"True; and your Eminence knoweth that they who humble themselvesshall be exalted," added the King.
The Cardinal spoke an Amen, to which few assented, for even thepale cheek of Orleans kindled with shame, and Balafre suppressedhis feelings so little, as to let the butt end of his partisanfall heavily on the floor -- a movement of impatience for whichhe underwent a bitter reproof from the Cardinal, with a lecture onthe mode of handling his arms when in presence of the Sovereign.The King himself seemed unusually embarrassed at the silence aroundhim.
"You are pensive, Dunois," he said. "You disapprove of our givingway to this hot headed Envoy."
"By no means,"' said Dunois; "I meddle not with matters beyond mysphere. I was thinking of asking a boon of your Majesty."
"A boon, Dunois -- what is it? You are an unfrequent suitor, andmay count on our favour."
"I would, then, your Majesty would send me to Evreux to regulatethe clergy," said Dunois, with military frankness.
"That were indeed beyond thy sphere," replied the King, smiling.
"I might order priests as well," replied the Count, "as my LordBishop of Evreux, or my Lord Cardinal, if he likes the title better,can exercise the soldiers of your Majesty's guard."
The King smiled again, and more mysteriously, while he whisperedDunois, "The time may come when you and I will regulate the prieststogether. -- But this is for the present a good conceited animalof a Bishop. Ah, Dunois! Rome, Rome puts him and other burdens uponus. -- But patience, cousin, and shuffle the cards, till our handis a stronger one."
(Dr. Dryasdust here remarks that cards, said to have been inventedin a preceding reign, for the amusement of Charles V during theintervals of his mental disorder, seem speedily to have becomecommon among the courtiers. . . . The alleged origin of the inventionof cards produced one of the shrewdest replies I have ever heardgiven in evidence. It was made by the late Dr. Gregory of Edinburghto a counsel of great eminence at the Scottish bar. The Doctor'stestimony went to prove the insanity of the party whose mentalcapacity was the point at issue. On a cross interrogation, he admittedthat the person in question played admirably at whist. "And do youseriously say, doctor," said the learned counsel, "that a personhaving a superior capacity for a game so difficult, and which requiresin a preeminent degree, memory, judgment, and combination, can beat the same time deranged in his understanding?" -- "I am no cardplayer," said the doctor, with great address, "but I have read inhistory that cards were invented for the amusement of an insaneking." The consequences of this reply were decisive. S.)
thitherward!"scarceraising her voice above her breath.child, whenforced to touch something.
The flourish of trumpets in the courtyard now announced the arrivalof the Burgundian nobleman. All in the presence chamber made hasteto arrange themselves according to their proper places of precedence,the King and his daughters remaining in the centre of the assembly.
The Count of Crevecoeur, a renowned and undaunted warrior, enteredthe apartment; and, contrary to the usage among the envoys of friendlypowers, he appeared all armed, excepting his head, in a gorgeoussuit of the most superb Milan armour, made of steel, inlaid andembossed with gold, which was wrought into the fantastic taste calledthe Arabesque. Around his neck and over his polished cuirass, hunghis master's order of the Golden Fleece, one of the most honouredassociations of chivalry then known in Christendom. A handsomepage bore his helmet behind him, a herald preceded him, bearinghis letters of credence which he offered on his knee to the King;while the ambassador himself paused in the midst of the hall, asif to give all present time to admire his lofty look, commandingstature, and undaunted composure of countenance and manner. Therest of his attendants waited in the antechamber, or courtyard.
(The military order of the Golden Fleece was instituted by Philipthe Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the year 1429, the King of Spainbeing grand master of the order, as Duke of Burgundy.)
"Approach, Seignior Count de Crevecoeur," said Louis, after amoment's glance at his commission; "we need not our cousin's lettersof credence, either to introduce to us a warrior so well known,or to assure us of your highly deserved credit with your master.We trust that your fair partner, who shares some of our ancestralblood, is in good health. Had you brought her in your hand, SeigniorCount, we might have thought you wore your armour, on this unwontedoccasion, to maintain the superiority of her charms against theamorous chivalry of France. As it is, we cannot guess the reasonof this complete panoply."
"Sire," replied the ambassador, "the Count of Crevecoeur mustlament his misfortune, and entreat your forgiveness, that he cannot,on this occasion, reply with such humble deference as is due tothe royal courtesy with which your Majesty has honoured him. But,although it is only the voice of Philip Crevecoeur de Cordes whichspeaks, the words which he utters must be those of his graciousLord and Sovereign, the Duke of Burgundy."
"And what has Crevecoeur to say in the words of Burgundy?" saidLouis, with an assumption of sufficient dignity. "Yet hold --remember, that in this presence, Philip Crevecoeur de Cordes speaksto him who is his Sovereign's Sovereign."
Crevecoeur bowed, and then spoke aloud: "King of France, the mightyDuke of Burgundy once more sends you a written schedule of thewrongs and oppressions committed on his frontiers by your Majesty'sgarrisons and officers; and the first point of inquiry is, whetherit is your Majesty's purpose to make him amends for these injuries?"
The King, looking slightly at the memorial which the heralddelivered to him upon his knee, said, "These matters have beenalready long before our Council. Of the injuries complained of,some are in requital of those sustained by my subjects, some areaffirmed without any proof, some have been retaliated by the Duke'sgarrisons and soldiers; and if there remain any which fall undernone of those predicaments, we are not, as a Christian prince,averse to make satisfaction for wrongs actually sustained by ourneighbour, though committed not only without our countenance, butagainst our express order."'
"I will convey your Majesty's answer," said the ambassador, "to mymost gracious master; yet, let me say, that, as it is in no degreedifferent from the evasive replies which have already been returnedto his just complaints, I cannot hope that it will afford the meansof re-establishing peace and friendship betwixt France and Burgundy."
"Be that at God's pleasure," said the King. "It is not for dreadof thy master's arms, but for the sake of peace only, that I returnso temperate an answer to his injurious reproaches. Proceed withthine errand."
"My master's next demand," said the ambassador, "is that yourMajesty will cease your secret and underhand dealings with histowns of Ghent, Liege, and Malines. He requests that your Majestywill recall the secret agents by whose means the discontents ofhis good citizens of Flanders are inflamed; and dismiss from yourMajesty's dominions, or rather deliver up to the condign punishmentof their liege lord, those traitorous fugitives, who, having fledfrom the scene of their machinations, have found too ready a refugein Paris, Orleans, Tours, and other French cities."
"Say to the Duke of Burgundy," replied the King, "that I know of nosuch indirect practices as those with which he injuriously chargesme; that many subjects of France have frequent intercourse with thegood cities of Flanders, for the purpose of mutual benefit by freetraffic, which it would be as much contrary to the Duke's interestas mine to interrupt; and that many Flemings have residence in mykingdom, and enjoy the protection of my laws, for the same purpose;but none, to our knowledge, for those of treason or mutiny againstthe Duke. Proceed with your message -- you have heard my answer."
"As formerly, Sire, with pain," replied the Count of Crevecoeur;"it not being of that direct or explicit nature which the Duke,my master, will accept, in atonement for a long train of secretmachinations, not the less certain, though now disavowed by yourMajesty. But I proceed with my message. The Duke of Burgundy fartherrequires the King of France to send back to his dominions withoutdelay, and under a secure safeguard, the persons of Isabelle Countessof Croye, and of her relation and guardian the Countess Hameline,of the same family, in respect the said Countess Isabelle, being,by the law of the country and the feudal tenure of her estates, theward of the said Duke of Burgundy, hath fled from his dominions,and from the charge which he, as a careful guardian, was willingto extend over her, and is here maintained in secret by the Kingof France and by him fortified in her contumacy to the Duke, hernatural lord and guardian, contrary to the laws of God and man, asthey ever have been acknowledged in civilized Europe. -- Once moreI pause for your Majesty's reply."
"You did well, Count de Crevecoeur," said Louis, scornfully, "tobegin your embassy at an early hour; for if it be your purposeto call on me to account for the flight of every vassal whom yourmaster's heady passion may have driven from his dominions, thehead roll may last till sunset. Who can affirm that these ladiesare in my dominions? who can presume to say, if it be so, that Ihave either countenanced their flight hither, or have received themwith offers of protection? Nay, who is it will assert, that, ifthey are in France, their place of retirement is within my knowledge?"
"Sire," said Crevecoeur, "may it please your Majesty, I was providedwith a witness on this subject -- one who beheld these fugitiveladies in the inn called the Fleur de Lys, not far from thisCastle -- one who saw your Majesty in their company, though underthe unworthy disguise of a burgess of Tours -- one who receivedfrom them, in your royal presence, messages and letters to theirfriends in Flanders -- all which he conveyed to the hand and earof the Duke of Burgundy."
"Bring them forward," said the King; "place the man before my facewho dares maintain these palpable falsehoods."
"You speak in triumph, my lord, for you are well aware thatthis witness no longer exists. When he lived, he was called ZametMagraubin, by birth one of those Bohemian wanderers. He was yesterday-- as I have learned -- executed by a party of your Majesty's ProvostMarshal, to prevent, doubtless, his standing here to verify whathe said of this matter to the Duke of Burgundy, in presence of hisCouncil, and of me, Philip Crevecoeur de Cordes."
"Now, by Our Lady of Embrun," said the King, "so gross are theseaccusations, and so free of consciousness am I of aught thatapproaches them, that, by the honour of a King, I laugh, ratherthan am wroth at them. My Provost guard daily put to death, as istheir duty, thieves and vagabonds; and is my crown to be slanderedwith whatever these thieves and vagabonds may have said to our hotcousin of Burgundy and his wise counsellors? I pray you, tell mykind cousin, if he loves such companions, he had best keep them inhis own estates; for here they are like to meet short shrift anda tight cord."
"My master needs no such subjects, Sir King," answered the Count,in a tone more disrespectful than he had yet permitted himself tomake use of; "for the noble Duke uses not to inquire of witches,wandering Egyptians, or others, upon the destiny and fate of hisneighbours and allies."