惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER XXV: THE UNBIDDEN GUEST
No human quality is so well woveIn warp and woof, but there 's some flaw in it:I've known a brave man fly a shepherd's cur,A wise man so demean him, drivelling idiocyHad wellnigh been ashamed on't. For your crafty,Your worldly wise man, he, above the rest,Weaves his own snares so fine, he 's often caught in them.
Louis had been beforehandwith our defiance, and began to consider how much the Duke wouldresent the advice which had ?
OLD PLAY
Quentin, during the earlier part of the night journey, had tocombat with that bitter heartache which is felt when youth parts,and probably forever, with her he loves. As, pressed by the urgencyof the moment, and the impatience of Crevecoeur, they hasted onthrough the rich lowlands of Hainault, under the benign guidanceof a rich and lustrous harvest moon, she shed her yellow influenceover rich and deep pastures, woodland, and cornfields, from whichthe husbandmen were using her light to withdraw the grain, suchwas the industry of the Flemings, even at that period, she shone onbroad, level, and fructifying rivers, where glided the white sailin the service of commerce, uninterrupted by rock and torrent,beside lively quiet villages, whose external decency and cleanlinessexpressed the ease and comfort of the inhabitants, -- she gleamedupon the feudal castle of many a Baron and Knight, with its deepmoat, battlemented court, and high belfry -- for the chivalry ofHainault was renowned among the nobles of Europe -- and her lightdisplayed at a distance, in its broad beam, the gigantic towers ofmore than one lofty minster.
Yet all this fair variety, however, differing from the waste andwilderness of his own land, interrupted not the course of Quentin'sregrets and sorrows. He had left his heart behind him when hedeparted from Charleroi, and the only reflection which the fartherjourney inspired was that every step was carrying him farther fromIsabelle. His imagination was taxed to recall every word she hadspoken, every look she had directed towards him, and, as happensfrequently in such cases, the impression made upon his imaginationby the recollection of these particulars, was even stronger thanthe realities themselves had excited.
At length, after the cold hour of midnight was past, in spitealike of love and of sorrow, the extreme fatigue which Quentinhad undergone the two preceding days began to have an effect onhim, which his habits of exercise of every kind, and his singularalertness and activity of character, as well as the painful natureof the reflections which occupied his thoughts, had hithertoprevented his experiencing. The ideas of his mind began to beso little corrected by the exertions of his senses, worn out anddeadened as the latter now were by extremity of fatigue, that thevisions which the former drew superseded or perverted the informationconveyed by the blunted organs of seeing and hearing, and Durwardwas only sensible that he was awake, by the exertions which, sensibleof the peril of his situation, he occasionally made to resistfalling into a deep and dead sleep. Every now and then, strongconsciousness of the risk of falling from or with his horse rousedhim to exertion and animation, but ere long his eyes again weredimmed by confused shades of all sorts of mingled colours, themoonlight landscape swam before them, and he was so much overcomewith fatigue, that the Count of Crevecoeur, observing his condition,was at length compelled to order two of his attendants, one toeach rein of Durward's bridle, in order to prevent the risk of hisfalling from his horse.
When at length they reached the town of Landrecy, the Count, incompassion to the youth, who had now been in a great measure withoutsleep for three nights, allowed himself and his retinue a halt offour hours, for rest and refreshment. Deep and sound were Quentin'sslumbers, until they were broken by the sound of the Count's trumpet, andthe cry of his Fouriers (subordinate officers who secure quartersfor the army while manoeuvring) and harbingers, "Debout! debout!Ha! Messires, en route, en route! (arise, let us set out!)"
Yet, unwelcomely early as the tones came, they awaked hima different being in strength and spirits from what he had fallenasleep. Confidence in himself and his fortunes returned with hisreviving spirits, and with the rising sun. He thought of his loveno longer as a desperate and fantastic dream, but as a high andinvigorating principle, to be cherished in his bosom, although hemight never purpose to himself, under all the difficulties by whichhe was beset, to bring it to any prosperous issue.
"The pilot," he reflected, "steers his bark by the polar star,although he never expects to become possessor of it, and thethoughts of Isabelle of Croye shall make me a worthy man at arms,though I may never see her more. When she hears that a Scottishsoldier named Quentin Durward distinguished himself in a well foughtfield, or left his body on the breach of a disputed fortress, shewill remember the companion of her journey, as one who did allin his power to avert the snares and misfortunes which beset it,and perhaps will honour his memory with a tear, his coffin with agarland."
In this manly mood of bearing his misfortune, Quentin felt himselfmore able to receive and reply to the jests of the Count of Crevecoeur,who passed several on his alleged effeminacy and incapacity ofundergoing fatigue. The young Scot accommodated himself so goodhumouredly to the Count's raillery, and replied at once so happilyand so respectfully, that the change of his tone and manner madeobviously a more favourable impression on the Count than he hadentertained from his prisoner's conduct during the preceding evening,when, rendered irritable by the feelings of his situation, he wasalternately moodily silent or fiercely argumentative. The veteransoldier began at length to take notice of his young companion asa pretty fellow, of whom something might be made, and more thanhinted to him that would he but resign his situation in the ArcherGuard of France, he would undertake to have him enrolled in thehousehold of the Duke of Burgundy in an honourable condition, andwould himself take care of his advancement. And although Quentin,with suitable expressions of gratitude, declined this favour atpresent, until he should find out how far he had to complain ofhis original patron, King Louis, he, nevertheless, continued toremain on good terms with the Count of Crevecoeur, and, while hisenthusiastic mode of thinking, and his foreign and idiomaticalmanner of expressing himself, often excited a smile on the gravecheek of the Count, that smile had lost all that it had of sarcasticand bitter, and did not exceed the limits of good humour and goodmanners.
Thus travelling on with much more harmony than on the precedingday, the little party came at last within two miles of the famousand strong town of Peronne, near which the Duke of Burgundy's armylay encamped, ready, as was supposed, to invade France, and, inopposition to which, Louis XI had himself assembled a strong forcenear Saint Maxence, for the purpose of bringing to reason his overpowerful vassal.
Perrone, situated upon a deep river, in a flat country, and surroundedby strong bulwarks and profound moats, was accounted in ancient asin modern times, one of the strongest fortresses in France. (Indeed,though lying on an exposed and warlike frontier, it was never takenby an enemy, but preserved the proud name of Peronne la Pucelle,until the Duke of Wellington, a great destroyer of that sort ofreputation, took the place in the memorable advance upon Paris in1815. S.) The Count of Crevecoeur, his retinue, and his prisoner,were approaching the fortress about the third hour after noon, whenriding through the pleasant glades of a large forest, which thencovered the approach to the town on the east side, they were met bytwo men of rank, as appeared from the number of their attendants,dressed in the habits worn in time of peace, and who, to judge fromthe falcons which they carried on their wrists, and the number ofspaniels and greyhounds led by their followers, were engaged inthe amusement of hawking. But on perceiving Crevecoeur, with whoseappearance and liveries they were sufficiently intimate, they quittedthe search which they were making for a heron along the banks ofa long canal, and came galloping towards him.
"News, news, Count of Crevecoeur," they cried both together, "willyou give news, or take news? or will you barter fairly?"
"I would barter fairly, Messires," said Crevecoeur, after salutingthem courteously, "did I conceive you had any news of importancesufficient to make an equivalent for mine."
The two sportsmen smiled on each other, and the elder of the two,a fine baronial figure, with a dark countenance, marked with thatsort of sadness which some physiognomists ascribe to a melancholytemperament, and some, as the Italian statuary augured of the visageof Charles I, consider as predicting an unhappy death, turning tohis companion, said, "Crevecoeur has been in Brabant, the countryof commerce, and he has learned all its artifices -- he will betoo hard for us if we drive a bargain."
"Messires," said Crevecoeur, "the Duke ought in justice to havethe first of my wares, as the Seigneur takes his toll before openmarket begins. But tell me, are your news of a sad or a pleasantcomplexion?"
The person whom he particularly addressed was a lively looking man,with an eye of great vivacity, which was corrected by an expressionof reflection and gravity about the mouth and upper lip -- the wholephysiognomy marking a man who saw and judged rapidly, but was sageand slow in forming resolutions or in expressing opinions. Thiswas the famous Knight of Hainault, son of Collara, or Nicolas del'Elite, known in history, and amongst historians, by the venerablename of Philip de Comines, at this time close to the person ofDuke Charles the Bold, and one of his most esteemed counsellors.He answered Crevecoeur's question concerning the complexion of thenews of which he and his companion, the Baron D'Hymbercourt, werethe depositaries.
(Philip de Comines was described in the former editions of thiswork as a little man, fitted rather for counsel than action. Thiswas a description made at a venture, to vary the military portraitswith which the age and work abound. Sleidan the historian, uponthe authority of Matthieu d'Arves, who knew Philip de Comines, andhad served in his household, says he was a man of tall stature,and a noble presence. The learned Monsieur Petitot . . . intimatesthat Philip de Comines made a figure at the games of chivalryand pageants exhibited on the wedding of Charles of Burgundy withMargaret of England in 1468. . . . He is the first named, however,of a gallant band of assailants, knights and noblemen, to thenumber of twenty, who, with the Prince of Orange as their leader,encountered, in a general tourney, with a party of the same numberunder the profligate Adolf of Cleves, who acted as challenger, bythe romantic title of Arbre d'or. The encounter, though with armsof courtesy, was very fierce, and separated by main force, notwithout difficulty. Philip de Comines has, therefore, a title tobe accounted tam Martre quam Mercurio. . . S.)
(D'Hymbercourt, or Imbercourt, was put to death by the inhabitantsof Ghent, with the Chancellor of Burgundy, in the year 1477. Maryof Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, appeared in mourning inthe marketplace, and with tears besought the life of her servantsfrom her insurgent subjects, but in vain. S.)
"They were," he said, "like the colours of the rainbow, variousin hue, as they might be viewed from different points, and placedagainst the black cloud or the fair sky. -- Such a rainbow wasnever seen in France or Flanders, since that of Noah's ark."
"My tidings," replied Crevecoeur, "are altogether like the comet,gloomy, wild, and terrible in themselves, yet to be accounted theforerunners of still greater and more dreadful evils which are toensue."
"We must open our bales," said Comines to his companion, "or ourmarket will be forestalled by some newcomers, for ours are publicnews. -- In one word, Crevecoeur -- listen and wonder -- King Louisis at Peronne."
"What!" said the Count in astonishment, "has the Duke retreatedwithout a battle? and do you remain here in your dress of peace,after the town is besieged by the French? -- for I cannot supposeit taken."
"No, surely," said D'Hymbercourt, "the banners of Burgundy havenot gone back a foot, and still King Louis is here."
"Then Edward of England must have come over the seas with hisbowmen," said Crevecoeur, "and, like his ancestors, gained a secondfield of Poictiers?"
"Not so," said Comines. "Not a French banner has been borne down,not a sail spread from England -- where Edward is too much amusedamong the wives of the citizens of London to think of playing theBlack Prince. Hear the extraordinary truth. You know, when youleft us, that the conference between the commissioners on the partsof France and Burgundy was broken up, without apparent chance ofreconciliation."
"True, and we dreamt of nothing but war."
"What has followed has been indeed so like a dream," said Comines,"that I almost expect to awake, and find it so. Only one day since,the Duke had in council protested so furiously against fartherdelay that it was resolved to send a defiance to the King, andmarch forward instantly into France. Toison d'Or, commissioned forthe purpose, had put on his official dress, and had his foot inthe stirrup to mount his horse, when lo! the French herald Montjoierode into our camp.
"We thought of nothing else than that Louis had been beforehandwith our defiance, and began to consider how much the Duke wouldresent the advice which had prevented him from being the first todeclare war. But a council being speedily assembled, what was ourwonder when the herald informed us, that Louis, King of France, wasscarce an hour's riding behind, intending to visit Charles, Dukeof Burgundy, with a small retinue, in order that their differencesmight be settled at a personal interview!"
"You surprise me, Messires," said Crevecoeur, "yet you surprise meless than you might have expected, for, when I was last at Plessisles Tours, the all trusted Cardinal Balue, offended with his master,and Burgundian at heart, did hint to me that he could so work uponLouis's peculiar foibles as to lead him to place himself in sucha position with regard to Burgundy that the Duke might have theterms of peace of his own making. But I never suspected that soold a fox as Louis could have been induced to come into the trapof his own accord. What said the Burgundian counsellors?"
"As you may guess," answered D'Hymbercourt, "talked much of faithto be observed, and little of advantage to be obtained by such avisit, while it was manifest they thought almost entirely of thelast, and were only anxious to find some way to reconcile it withthe necessary preservation of appearances."
"And what said the Duke?" continued the Count of Crevecoeur.
"Spoke brief and bold as usual," replied Comines. "'Which of youwas it,' he asked, 'who witnessed the meeting of my cousin Louisand me after the battle of Montl'hery, when I was so thoughtless asto accompany him back within the intrenchments of Paris with halfa score of attendants, and so put my person at the King's mercy?'I replied, that most of us had been present, and none could everforget the alarm which it had been his pleasure to give us. 'Well,'said the Duke, 'you blamed me for my folly, and I confessed to youthat I had acted like a giddy pated boy, and I am aware, too, thatmy father of happy memory being then alive, my kinsman, Louis,would have had less advantage by seizing on my person than I mightnow have by securing his. But, nevertheless, if my royal kinsmancomes hither on the present occasion, in the same singleness ofheart under which I then acted, he shall be royally welcome. -- Ifit is meant by this appearance of confidence to circumvent and toblind me, till he execute some of his politic schemes, by SaintGeorge of Burgundy, let him to look to it!' And so, having turnedup his mustaches and stamped on the ground, he ordered us all toget on our horses, and receive so extraordinary a guest."
(After the battle of Montl'hery, in 1465, Charles . . . had aninterview with Louis under the walls of Paris, each at the head ofa small party. The two Princes dismounted, and walked together sodeeply engaged in discussing the business of their meeting, thatCharles forgot the peculiarity of his situation; and when Louisturned back towards the town of Paris, from which he came, theCount of Charalois kept him company so far as to pass the line ofoutworks with which Paris was surrounded, and enter a field workwhich communicated with the town by a trench. . . . His escort andhis principal followers rode forward from where he had left them.. . . To their great joy the Count returned uninjured, accompaniedwith a guard belonging to Louis. The Burgundians taxed him withrashness in no measured terms. "Say no more of it," said Charles;"I acknowledge the extent of my folly, but I was not aware whatI was doing till I entered the redoubt." Memoires de Philippe deComines. -- S.)
"And you met the King accordingly?" replied the Count of Crevecoeur."Miracles have not ceased -- How was he accompanied?"
"As slightly as might be," answered D'Hymbercourt, "only a scoreor two of the Scottish Guard, and a few knights and gentlemen ofhis household among whom his astrologer, Galeotti, made the gayestfigure."
"That fellow," said Crevecoeur, "holds some dependence on theCardinal Balue -- I should not be surprised that he has had hisshare in determining the King to this step of doubtful policy. Anynobility of higher rank?"
themoonlight landscape swam before them, and he was so much overcomewith fatigue,
"There are Monsieur of Orleans, and Dunois," replied Comines.
"I will have a rouse with Dunois," said Crevecoeur, "wag the worldas it will. But we heard that both he and the Duke had fallen intodisgrace, and were in prison."
"They were both under arrest in the Castle of Loches, that delightfulplace of retirement for the French nobility," said D'Hymbercourt,"but Louis has released them, in order to bring them with him --perhaps because he cared not to leave Orleans behind. For his otherattendants, faith, I think his gossip, the Hangman Marshal, withtwo or three of his retinue, and Oliver, his barber, may be the mostconsiderable -- and the whole bevy so poorly arrayed, that, by myhonour, the King resembles most an old usurer, going to collectdesperate debts, attended by a body of catchpolls."
person ofDuke Charles the Bold, and one of his most esteemed counsellors.He answered Crevecoeur's question.
"And where is he lodged?" said Crevecoeur.
"Nay, that," replied the Comines, "is the most marvellous of all.Our Duke offered to let the King's Archer Guard have a gate of thetown, and a bridge of boats over the Somme, and to have assigned toLouis himself the adjoining house, belonging to a wealthy burgess,Giles Orthen, but, in going thither, the King espied the bannersof De Lau and Pencil de Riviere, whom he had banished from France,and scared, as it would seem, with the thought of lodging so nearrefugees and malcontents of his own making, he craved to be quarteredin the castle of Peronne, and there he hath his abode accordingly."
"Why, God ha' mercy!" exclaimed Crevecoeur, "this is not only notbeing content with venturing into the lion's den, but thrustinghis head into his very jaws. -- Nothing less than the very bottomof the rat trap would serve the crafty old politician!"
"Nay," said Comines, "D'Hymbercourt hath not told you the speechof Le Glorieux (the jester of Charles of Burgundy of whom morehereafter. S.) -- which, in my mind, was the shrewdest opinion thatwas given."
"And what said his most illustrious wisdom?" asked the Count.
"As the Duke," replied Comines, "was hastily ordering some vesselsand ornaments of plate and the like, to be prepared as presentsfor the King and his retinue, by way of welcome on his arrival:
"'Trouble not thy small brain about it, my friend Charles,' saidLe Glorieux, 'I will give thy cousin Louis a nobler and a fittergift than thou canst, and that is my cap and bells, and my baubleto boot, for, by the mass, he is a greater fool than I am, forputting himself in thy power.'
"'But if I give him no reason to repent it, sirrah, how thou?' saidthe Duke.
"'Then, truly, Charles, thou shalt have cap and bauble thyself, asthe greatest fool of the three of us.'
"I promise you this knavish quip touched the Duke closely -- I sawhim change colour and bite his lip. And now, our news are told,noble Crevecoeur, and what think you they resemble?"
"A mine full charged with gunpowder," answered Crevecoeur, "towhich, I fear, it is my fate to bring the kindled linstock. Yournews and mine are like flax and fire, which cannot meet withoutbursting into flame, or like certain chemical substances whichcannot be mingled without an explosion. Friends -- gentlemen --ride close by my rein, and when I tell you what has chanced in thebishopric of Liege, I think you will be of opinion that King Louismight as safely have undertaken a pilgrimage to the infernal regionsas this ill timed visit to Peronne."
The two nobles drew up close on either hand of the Count, andlistened, with half suppressed exclamations, and gestures of thedeepest wonder and interest, to his account of the transactions atLiege and Schonwaldt. Quentin was then called forward, and examinedand re-examined on the particulars of the Bishop's death, untilat length he refused to answer any farther interrogatories, notknowing wherefore they were asked, or what use might be made ofhis replies.
They now reached the rich and level banks of the Somme, and theancient walls of the little town of Peronne la Pucelle, and thedeep green meadows adjoining, now whitened with the numerous tentsof the Duke of Burgundy's army, amounting to about fifteen thousandmen.