惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER XXXII: THE INVESTIGATION Page 1
Me rather had my heart might feel your love,Than my displeased eye see your courtesy.Up, cousin, up -- your heart is up, I know,Thus high at least -- although your knee --
KING RICHARD II
At the first toll of the bell which was to summon the great noblesof Burgundy together in council, with the very few French peerswho could be present on the occasion, Duke Charles, followed by apart of his train, armed with partisans and battle axes, enteredthe Hall of Herbert's Tower, in the Castle of Peronne. King Louis,who had expected the visit, arose and made two steps towards theDuke, and then remained standing with an air of dignity, which,in spite of the meanness of his dress, and the familiarity of hisordinary manners, he knew very well how to assume when he judgedit necessary. Upon the present important crisis, the composure ofhis demeanour had an evident effect upon his rival, who changedthe abrupt and hasty step with which he entered the apartment intoone more becoming a great vassal entering the presence of his LordParamount. Apparently the Duke had formed the internal resolutionto treat Louis, in the outset at least, with the formalities dueto his high station; but at the same time it was evident, that, indoing so, he put no small constraint upon the fiery impatience ofhis own disposition, and was scarce able to control the feelingsof resentment and the thirst of revenge which boiled in his bosom.Hence, though he compelled himself to use the outward acts, andin some degree the language, of courtesy and reverence, his colourcame and went rapidly -- his voice was abrupt, hoarse, and broken-- his limbs shook, as if impatient of the curb imposed on hismotions -- he frowned and bit his lip until the blood came -- andevery look and movement showed that the most passionate princewho ever lived was under the dominion of one of his most violentparoxysms of fury.
The King marked this war of passion with a calm and untroubledeye, for, though he gathered from the Duke's looks a foretaste ofthe bitterness of death, which he dreaded alike as a mortal anda sinful man, yet he was resolved, like a wary and skilful pilot,neither to suffer himself to be disconcerted by his own fears,nor to abandon the helm, while there was a chance of saving thevessel by adroit pilotage. Therefore, when the Duke, in a hoarse andbroken tone, said something of the scarcity of his accommodations,he answered with a smile that he could not complain, since he hadas yet found Herbert's Tower a better residence than it had provedto one of his ancestors.
"They told you the tradition then?" said Charles.
or withstood."the Countess, continuing on her knees, "itis even that well meant goodness which I fear still more .
"Yes -- here he was slain -- but it was because he refused to takethe cowl, and finish his days in a monastery."
"The more fool he," said Louis, affecting unconcern, "since hegained the torment of being a martyr, without the merit of beinga saint."
"I come," said the Duke, "to pray your Majesty to attend a highcouncil at which tidings of weight are to be deliberated uponconcerning the welfare of France and Burgundy. You will presentlymeet them -- that is, if such be your pleasure."
"Nay, my fair cousin," said the King. "never strain courtesy sofar as to entreat what you may so boldly command. -- To council,since such is your Grace's pleasure. We are somewhat shorn ofour train," he added, looking upon the small suite that arrangedthemselves to attend him, "but you, cousin, must shine out for usboth."
Marshalled by Toison d'Or, chief of the heralds of Burgundy,the Princes left the Earl Herbert's Tower, and entered the castleyard, which Louis observed was filled with the Duke's bodyguard andmen at arms, splendidly accoutred, and drawn up in martial array.Crossing the court, they entered the Council Hall, which was in amuch more modern part of the building than that of which Louis hadbeen the tenant, and, though in disrepair, had been hastily arrangedfor the solemnity of a public council. Two chairs of state wereerected under the same canopy, that for the King being raised twosteps higher than the one which the Duke was to occupy; about twentyof the chief nobility sat, arranged in due order, on either handof the chair of state; and thus, when both the Princes were seated,the person for whose trial, as it might be called, the council wassummoned, held the highest place, and appeared to preside in it.
It was perhaps to get rid of this inconsistency, and the scrupleswhich might have been inspired by it, that Duke Charles, havingbowed slightly to the royal chair, bluntly opened the sitting withthe following words --
"My good vassals and councillors, it is not unknown to you whatdisturbances have arisen in our territories, both in our father'stime and in our own, from the rebellion of vassals against superiors,and subjects against their princes. And lately we have had the mostdreadful proof of the height to which these evils have arrived inour case, by the scandalous flight of the Countess Isabelle of Croye,and her aunt the Lady Hameline, to take refuge with a foreign power,thereby renouncing their fealty to us, and inferring the forfeitureof their fiefs; and in another more dreadful and deplorable instance,by the sacrilegious and bloody murder of our beloved brother andally, the Bishop of Liege, and the rebellion of that treacherouscity, which was but too mildly punished for the last insurrection.We have been informed that these sad events may be traced, notmerely to the inconstancy and folly of women, and the presumptionof pampered citizens, but to the agency of foreign power, and theinterference of a mighty neighbour, from whom, if good deeds couldmerit any return in kind, Burgundy could have expected nothingbut the most sincere and devoted friendship. If this should provetruth," said the Duke, setting his teeth and pressing his heelagainst the ground, "what consideration shall withhold us -- themeans being in our power -- from taking such measures as shalleffectually, and at the very source, close up the main spring fromwhich these evils have yearly flowed on us?"
The Duke had begun his speech with some calmness, but he elevatedhis voice at the conclusion; and the last sentence was spoken in atone which made all the councillors tremble, and brought a transientfit of paleness across the King's cheek. He instantly recalled hiscourage, however, and addressed the council in his turn in a toneevincing so much ease and composure that the Duke, though he seemeddesirous to interrupt or stop him, found no decent opportunity todo so.
"Nobles of France and of Burgundy," he said, "Knights of the HolySpirit and of the Golden Fleece! Since a King must plead his causeas an accused person he cannot desire more distinguished judges thanthe flower of nobleness and muster and pride of chivalry. Our faircousin of Burgundy hath but darkened the dispute between us, in sofar as his courtesy has declined to state it in precise terms. I,who have no cause for observing such delicacy, nay, whose conditionpermits me not to do so, crave leave to speak more precisely. Itis to Us, my lords -- to Us, his liege lord, his kinsman, his ally,that unhappy circumstances, perverting our cousins's clear judgmentand better nature, have induced him to apply the hateful charges ofseducing his vassals from their allegiance, stirring up the peopleof Liege to revolt, and stimulating the outlawed William de la Marckto commit a most cruel and sacrilegious murder. Nobles of Franceand Burgundy, I might truly appeal to the circumstances in which Inow stand, as being in themselves a complete contradiction of suchan accusation, for is it to be supposed that, having the sense ofa rational being left me, I should have thrown myself unreservedlyinto the power of the Duke of Burgundy while I was practisingtreachery against him such as could not fail to be discovered,and which being discovered, must place me, as I now stand, in thepower of a justly exasperated prince? The folly of one who shouldseat himself quietly down to repose on a mine, after he hadlighted the match which was to cause instant explosion, would havebeen wisdom compared to mine. I have no doubt that, amongst theperpetrators of those horrible treasons at Schonwaldt, villainshave been busy with my name -- but am I to be answerable, who havegiven them no right to use it? -- If two silly women, disgustedon account of some romantic cause of displeasure, sought refuge atmy Court, does it follow that they did so by my direction? -- Itwill be found, when inquired into, that, since honour and chivalryforbade my sending them back prisoners to the Court of Burgundy-- which, I think, gentlemen, no one who wears the collar of theseOrders would suggest -- that I came as nearly as possible to thesame point by placing them in the hands of the venerable father inGod, who is now a saint in Heaven."
Here Louis seemed much affected and pressed his kerchief to his eyes."In the hands, I say, of a member of my own family, and still moreclosely united with that of Burgundy, whose situation, exaltedcondition in the church, and, alas! whose numerous virtues qualifiedhim to be the protector of these unhappy wanderers for a littlewhile, and the mediator betwixt them and their liege lord. I say,therefore, the only circumstances which seem, in my brother ofBurgundy's hasty view of this subject, to argue unworthy suspicionsagainst me, are such as can be explained on the fairest and mosthonourable motives; and I say, moreover, that no one particle ofcredible evidence can be brought to support the injurious chargeswhich have induced my brother to alter his friendly looks towardsone who came to him in full confidence of friendship -- havecaused him to turn his festive hall into a court of justice, andhis hospitable apartments into a prison."
"My lord, my lord," said Charles, breaking in as soon as the Kingpaused, "for your being here at a time so unluckily coinciding withthe execution of your projects, I can only account by supposingthat those who make it their trade to impose on others do sometimesegregiously delude themselves. The engineer is sometimes killed bythe springing of his own petard. -- For what is to follow, let itdepend on the event of this solemn inquiry. -- Bring hither theCountess Isabelle of Croye."
As the young lady was introduced, supported on the one side bythe Countess of Crevecoeur, who had her husband's commands to thateffect, and on the other by the Abbess of the Ursuline convent,Charles exclaimed, with his usual harshness of voice and manner,"So! sweet Princess -- you, who could scarce find breath to answerus when we last laid our just and reasonable commands on you, yethave had wind enough to run as long a course as ever did hunteddoe -- what think you of the fair work you have made between twogreat Princes, and two mighty countries, that have been like to goto war for your baby face?"
The publicity of the scene and the violence of Charles's mannertotally overcame the resolution which Isabelle had formed of throwingherself at the Duke's feet and imploring him to take possession ofher estates, and permit her to retire into a cloister. She stoodmotionless, like a terrified female in a storm, who hears thethunder roll on every side of her, and apprehends in every fresh pealthe bolt which is to strike her dead. The. Countess of Crevecoeur,a woman of spirit equal to her birth and to the beauty whichshe preserved even in her matronly years, judged it necessary tointerfere.
"My Lord Duke," she said, "my fair cousin is under my protection.I know better than your Grace how women should be treated, andwe will leave this presence instantly, unless you use a tone andlanguage more suitable to our rank and sex."
The Duke burst out into a laugh. "Crevecoeur," he said, "thytameness hath made a lordly dame of thy Countess; but that is noaffair of mine. Give a seat to yonder simple girl, to whom, so farfrom feeling enmity, I design the highest grace and honour. -- Sitdown, mistress, and tell us at your leisure what fiend possessedyou to fly from your native country, and embrace the trade of adamsel adventurous."
With much pain, and not without several interruptions, Isabelleconfessed that, being absolutely determined against a matchproposed to her by the Duke of Burgundy, she had indulged the hopeof obtaining protection of the Court of France.
"And under protection of the French Monarch," said Charles. "Ofthat, doubtless, you were well assured?"
"I did indeed so think myself assured," said the Countess Isabelle,"otherwise I had not taken a step so decided."
Here Charles looked upon Louis with a smile of inexpressiblebitterness, which the King supported with the utmost firmness,except that his lip grew something whiter than it was wont to be.
Charles.opened the sitting withthe following words --get .
"But my information concerning King Louis's intentions towards us,"continued the Countess, after a short pause, "was almost entirelyderived from my unhappy aunt, the Lady Hameline, and her opinionswere formed upon the assertions and insinuations of persons whom Ihave since discovered to be the vilest traitors and most faithlesswretches in the world."
She then stated, in brief terms, what she had since come to learnof the treachery of Marthon, and of Hayraddin Maugrabin, and addedthat she "entertained no doubt that the elder Maugrabin, calledZamet, the original adviser of their flight, was capable of everyspecies of treachery, as well as of assuming the character of anagent of Louis without authority."
There was a pause while the Countess had continued her story,which she prosecuted, though very briefly, from the time she leftthe territories of Burgundy, in company with her aunt, until thestorming of Schonwaldt, and her final surrender to the Count ofCrevecoeur. All remained mute after she had finished her brief andbroken narrative, and the Duke of Burgundy bent his fierce darkeyes on the ground, like one who seeks for a pretext to indulge hispassion, but finds none sufficiently plausible to justify himselfin his own eyes.
"The mole," he said at length, looking upwards, "winds not hisdark subterranean path beneath our feet the less certainly thatwe, though conscious of his motions, cannot absolutely trace them.Yet I would know of King Louis wherefore he maintained these ladiesat his Court, had they not gone thither by his own invitation."
"I did not so entertain them, fair cousin," answered the King."Out of compassion, indeed, I received them in privacy, but tookan early opportunity of placing them under the protection of thelate excellent Bishop, your own ally, and who was (may God assoilhim!) a better judge than I, or any secular prince, how to reconcilethe protection due to fugitives with the duty which a king owes tohis ally, from whose dominions they have fled. I boldly ask thisyoung lady whether my reception of them was cordial, or whetherit was not, on the contrary, such as made them express regret thatthey had made my Court their place of refuge?"
displeasure, sought refuge atmy Court, does it follow that they did so by my direction? -.
"So much was it otherwise than cordial," answered the Countess,"that it induced me, at least, to doubt how far it was possiblethat your Majesty should have actually given the invitation of whichwe had been assured, by those who called themselves your agents,since, supposing them to have proceeded only as they were dulyauthorized, it would have been hard to reconcile your Majesty'sconduct with that to be expected from a king, a knight, and agentleman."
The Countess turned her eyes to the King as she spoke, with a lookwhich was probably intended as a reproach, but the breast of Louiswas armed against all such artillery. On the contrary, waving slowlyhis expanded hands, and looking around the circle, he seemed tomake a triumphant appeal to all present, upon the testimony borneto his innocence in the Countess's reply.
Burgundy, meanwhile, cast on him a look which seemed to say,that if in some degree silenced, he was as far as ever from beingsatisfied, and then said abruptly to the Countess, "Methinks, fairmistress, in this account of your wanderings, you have forgot allmention of certain love passages. -- So, ho, blushing already?-- Certain knights of the forest, by whom your quiet was for atime interrupted. Well -- that incident hath come to our ear, andsomething we may presently form out of it. -- Tell me, King Louis,were it not well, before this vagrant Helen of Troy (the wife ofMenelaus. She was carried to Troy by Paris, and thus was the causeof the Trojan War), or of Croye, set more Kings by the ears, wereit not well to carve out a fitting match for her?"
King Louis, though conscious what ungrateful proposal was likely tobe made next, gave a calm and silent assent to what Charles said;but the Countess herself was restored to courage by the veryextremity of her situation. She quitted the arm of the Countess ofCrevecoeur, on which she had hitherto leaned, came forward timidly,yet with an air of dignity, and kneeling before the Duke's throne,thus addressed him "Noble Duke of Burgundy, and my liege lord, Iacknowledge my fault in having withdrawn myself from your dominionswithout your gracious permission, and will most humbly acquiescein any penalty you are pleased to impose. I place my lands andcastles at your rightful disposal, and pray you only of your ownbounty, and for the sake of my memory, to allow the last of theline of Croye, out of her large estate, such a moderate maintenanceas may find her admission into a convent for the remainder of herlife."
"What think you, Sire, of the young person's petition to us," saidthe Duke, addressing Louis.
"As of a holy and humble motion," said the King, "which doubtlesscomes from that grace which ought not to be resisted or withstood."
"The humble and lowly shall be exalted," said Charles. "Arise,Countess Isabelle -- we mean better for you than you have devisedfor yourself. We mean neither to sequestrate your estates, nor toabase your honours, but, on the contrary, will add largely to both."
"Alas! my lord," said the Countess, continuing on her knees, "itis even that well meant goodness which I fear still more than yourGrace's displeasure, since it compels me --"
Notwithstanding this stern answer, the Countess Isabelle remainedat his feet, and would probably, by her pertinacity, have driven himto say upon the spot something yet more severe, had not the Countessof Crevecoeur, who better knew that Prince's humour, interfered toraise her young friend, and to conduct her from the hall.
Quentin Durward was now summoned to appear, and presented himselfbefore the King and Duke with that freedom, distant alike frombashful reserve and intrusive boldness, which becomes a youthat once well born and well nurtured, who gives honour where it isdue but without permitting himself to be dazzled or confused bythe presence of those to whom it is to be rendered. His uncle hadfurnished him with the means of again equipping himself in the armsand dress of an Archer of the Scottish Guard, and his complexion,mien, and air suited in an uncommon degree his splendid appearance.His extreme youth, too, prepossessed the councillors in his favour,the rather that no one could easily believe that the sagacious Louiswould have chosen so very young a person to become the confidantof political intrigues; and thus the King enjoyed, in this, as inother cases, considerable advantage from his singular choice ofagents, both as to age and rank, where such election seemed leastlikely to be made. At the command of the Duke, sanctioned by thatof Louis, Quentin commenced an account of his journey with the Ladiesof Croye to the neighbourhood of Liege, premising a statement ofKing Louis's instructions, which were that he should escort themsafely to the castle of the Bishop.