惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER XXXVI: THE SALLY
The wretch condemn'd with life to part,Still, still on hope relies,And every pang that rends the heart,Bids expectation rise.
Hope, like the glimmering taper's light,Adorns and cheers the way;And still, the darker grows the night,Emits a brighter ray.
GOLDSMITH
Few days had passed ere Louis had received, with a smile of gratifiedvengeance, the intelligence that his favourite and his councillor,the Cardinal Balue, was groaning within a cage of iron, so disposedas scarce to permit him to enjoy repose in any posture except whenrecumbent, and of which, be it said in passing, he remained theunpitied tenant for nearly twelve years. The auxiliary forces whichthe Duke had required Louis to bring up had also appeared, and hecomforted himself that their numbers were sufficient to protecthis person against violence, although too limited to cope, had suchbeen his purpose, with the large army of Burgundy. He saw himselfalso at liberty, when time should suit, to resume his project ofmarriage between his daughter and the Duke of Orleans; and, althoughhe was sensible to the indignity of serving with his noblest peersunder the banners of his own vassal, and against the people whosecause he had abetted, he did not allow these circumstances toembarrass him in the meantime, trusting that a future day wouldbring him amends.
"For chance," said he to his trusty Oliver, "may indeed gain onehit, but it is patience and wisdom which win the game at last."
With such sentiments, upon a beautiful day in the latter end ofharvest, the King mounted his horse; and, indifferent that he waslooked upon rather as a part of the pageant of a victor, than inthe light of an independent Sovereign surrounded by his guards andhis chivalry, King Louis sallied from under the Gothic gateway ofPeronne, to join the Burgundian army, which commenced at the sametime its march against Liege.
Most of the ladies of distinction who were in the place attended,dressed in their best array, upon the battlements and defences ofthe gate, to see the gallant show of the warriors setting forthon the expedition. Thither had the Countess Crevecoeur brought theCountess Isabelle. The latter attended very reluctantly, but theperemptory order of Charles had been, that she who was to bestowthe palm in the tourney should be visible to the knights who wereabout to enter the lists.
As they thronged out from under the arch, many a pennon and shield wasto be seen, graced with fresh devices, expressive of the bearer'sdevoted resolution to become a competitor for a prize so fair.Here a charger was painted starting for the goal -- there an arrowaimed at a mark -- one knight bore a bleeding heart, indicative ofhis passion -- another a skull and a coronet of laurels, showinghis determination to win or die. Many others there were; and someso cunningly intricate and obscure, that they might have defied themost ingenious interpreter. Each knight, too, it may be presumed,put his courser to his mettle, and assumed his most gallant seatin the saddle, as he passed for a moment under the view of the fairbevy of dames and damsels, who encouraged their valour by theirsmiles, and the waving of kerchiefs and of veils. The Archer Guard,selected almost at will from the flower of the Scottish nation,drew general applause, from the gallantry and splendour of theirappearance.
And there was one among these strangers who ventured on a demonstrationof acquaintance with the Lady Isabelle, which had not been attemptedeven by the most noble of the French nobility. It was QuentinDurward, who, as he passed the ladies in his rank, presented tothe Countess of Croye, on the point of his lance, the letter ofher aunt.
"Now, by my honour," said the Count of Crevecoeur, "that is overinsolent in an unworthy adventurer!"
"Do not call him so, Crevecoeur," said Dunois; "I have good reasonto bear testimony to his gallantry -- and in behalf of that lady,too."
"You make words of nothing," said Isabelle, blushing with shame, andpartly with resentment; "it is a letter from my unfortunate aunt.-- She writes cheerfully, though her situation must be dreadful."
"Let us hear, let us hear what says the Boar's bride," saidCrevecoeur.
The Countess Isabelle read the letter, in which her aunt seemeddetermined to make the best of a bad bargain, and to console herselffor the haste and indecorum of her nuptials, by the happiness ofbeing wedded to one of the bravest men of the age, who had justacquired a princedom by his valour. She implored her niece not tojudge of her William (as she called him) by the report of others, butto wait till she knew him personally. He had his faults, perhaps,but they were such as belonged to characters whom she had evervenerated. William was rather addicted to wine, but so was thegallant Sir Godfrey, her grandsire -- he was something hasty andsanguinary in his temper, such had been her brother Reinold ofblessed memory; he was blunt in speech, few Germans were otherwise;and a little wilful and peremptory, but she believed all men loved torule. More there was to the same purpose; and the whole concludedwith the hope and request that Isabelle would, by means of the bearer,endeavour her escape from the tyrant of Burgundy, and come to herloving kinswoman's Court of Liege, where any little differencesconcerning their mutual rights of succession to the Earldom mightbe adjusted by Isabelle's marrying Earl Eberson -- a bridegroomyounger indeed than his bride, but that, as she (the Lady Hameline)might perhaps say from experience, was an inequality more easy tobe endured than Isabelle could be aware of.
(The marriage of William de la Marck with the Lady Hameline is asapocryphal as the lady herself. -- S.)
Here the Countess Isabelle stopped, the Abbess observing, with aprim aspect, that she had read quite enough concerning such worldlyvanities, and the Count of Crevecoeur, breaking out, "Aroint thee,deceitful witch! -- Why, this device smells rank as the toastedcheese in a rat trap. -- Now fie, and double fie, upon the olddecoy duck!"
bride," saidCrevecoeur. present train who would scruple to assail Burgundy undefied,or to ally themselves with De la Marck."expectation?
The Countess of Crevecoeur gravely rebuked her husband for hisviolence.
"The Lady," she said, "must have been deceived by De la Marck witha show of courtesy."
"He show courtesy!" said the Count. "I acquit him of all suchdissimulation. You may as well expect courtesy from a literal wildboar, you may as well try to lay leaf gold on old rusty gibbetirons. No -- idiot as she is, she is not quite goose enough to fallin love with the fox who has snapped her, and that in his very den.But you women are all alike -- fair words carry it -- and, I daresay, here is my pretty cousin impatient to join her aunt in thisfool's paradise, and marry the Bear Pig."
"So far from being capable of such folly," said Isabelle, "Iam doubly desirous of vengeance on the murderers of the excellentBishop, because it will, at the same time, free my aunt from thevillain's power."
"Ah! there indeed spoke the voice of Croye!" exclaimed the Count,and no more was said concerning the letter.
But while Isabelle read her aunt's epistle to her friends, it mustbe observed that she did not think it necessary to recite a certainpostscript, in which the Countess Hameline, lady-like, gave anaccount of her occupations, and informed her niece that she hadlaid aside for the present a surcoat which she was working for herhusband, bearing the arms of Croye and La Marck in conjugal fashion,parted per pale, because her William had determined, for purposesof policy, in the first action to have others dressed in his coatarmour and himself to assume the arms of Orleans, with a bar sinister-- in other words, those of Dunois. There was also a slip of paperin another hand, the contents of which the Countess did not thinkit necessary to mention, being simply these words: "If you hearnot of me soon, and that by the trumpet of Fame, conclude me dead,but not unworthy."
A thought, hitherto repelled as wildly incredible, now glancedwith double keenness through Isabelle's soul. As female wit seldomfails in the contrivance of means, she so ordered it that ere thetroops were fully on march, Quentin Durward received from an unknownhand the billet of Lady Hameline, marked with three crosses oppositeto the postscript, and having these words subjoined: "He who fearednot the arms of Orleans when on the breast of their gallant owner,cannot dread them when displayed on that of a tyrant and murderer."
A thousand thousand times was this intimation kissed and pressedto the bosom of the young Scot! for it marshalled him on the pathwhere both Honour and Love held out the reward, and possessed himwith a secret unknown to others, by which to distinguish him whosedeath could alone give life to his hopes, and which he prudentlyresolved to lock up in his own bosom.
But Durward saw the necessity of acting otherwise respecting theinformation communicated by Hayraddin, since the proposed sallyof De la Marck, unless heedfully guarded against, might provethe destruction of the besieging army, so difficult was it, inthe tumultuous warfare of those days, to recover from a nocturnalsurprise. After pondering on the matter, he formed the additionalresolution, that he would not communicate the intelligence savepersonally, and to both the Princes while together, perhaps becausehe felt that to mention so well contrived and hopeful a scheme toLouis whilst in private, might be too strong a temptation to thewavering probity of that Monarch, and lead him to assist, ratherthan repel, the intended sally. He determined, therefore, to watchfor an opportunity of revealing the secret whilst Louis and Charleswere met, which, as they were not particularly fond of the constraintimposed by each other's society, was not likely soon to occur.
Meanwhile the march continued, and the confederates soon enteredthe territories of Liege. Here the Burgundian soldiers, at leasta part of them, composed of those bands who had acquired the titleof Ecorcheurs, or flayers, showed, by the usage which they gavethe inhabitants, under pretext of avenging the Bishop's death,that they well deserved that honourable title; while their conductgreatly prejudiced the cause of Charles, the aggrieved inhabitants,who might otherwise have been passive in the quarrel, assuming armsin self defence, harassing his march by cutting off small parties,and falling back before the main body upon the city itself, thusaugmenting the numbers and desperation of those who had resolved todefend it. The French, few in number, and those the choice soldiersof the country, kept, according to the King's orders, close bytheir respective standards, and observed the strictest discipline,a contrast which increased the suspicions of Charles, who could nothelp remarking that the troops of Louis demeaned themselves as ifthey were rather friends to the Liegeois than allies of Burgundy.
At length, without experiencing any serious opposition, the armyarrived in the rich valley of the Maes, and before the large andpopulous city of Liege. The Castle of Schonwaldt they found hadbeen totally destroyed, and learned that William de la Marck, whoseonly talents were of a military cast, had withdrawn his whole forcesinto the city, and was determined to avoid the encounter of thechivalry of France and Burgundy in the open field. But the invaderswere not long of experiencing the danger which must always existin attacking a large town, however open, if the inhabitants aredisposed to defend it desperately.
A part of the Burgundian vanguard, conceiving that, from thedismantled and breached state of the walls, they had nothing to dobut to march into Liege at their ease, entered one of the suburbswith the shouts of "Burgundy, Burgundy, Kill, kill -- all is ours!-- Remember Louis of Bourbon!"
But as they marched in disorder through the narrow streets, andwere partly dispersed for the purpose of pillage, a large body ofthe inhabitants issued suddenly from the town, fell furiously uponthem, and made considerable slaughter. De la Marck even availedhimself of the breaches in the walls, which permitted the defendersto issue out at different points, and, by taking separate routesinto the contested suburb, to attack, in the front, flank, and rearat once the assailants, who, stunned by the furious, unexpected,and multiplied nature of the resistance offered, could hardly standto their arms. The evening, which began to close, added to theirconfusion.
When this news was brought to Duke Charles, he was furious withrage, which was not much appeased by the offer of King Louis tosend the French men at arms into the suburbs, to rescue and bringoff the Burgundian vanguard. Rejecting this offer briefly, he wouldhave put himself at the head of his own Guards, to extricate thoseengaged in the incautious advance; but D'Hymbercourt and Crevecoeurentreated him to leave the service to them, and, marching into thescene of action at two points with more order and proper arrangementfor mutual support, these two celebrated captains succeeded inrepulsing the Liegeois, and in extricating the vanguard, who lost,besides prisoners, no fewer than eight hundred men, of whom abouta hundred were men at arms. The prisoners, however, were notnumerous, most of them having been rescued by D'Hymbercourt, whonow proceeded to occupy the contested suburb, and to place guardsopposite to the town, from which it was divided by an open space,or esplanade, of five or six hundred yards, left free of buildingsfor the purposes of defence. There was no moat betwixt the suburband town, the ground being rocky in that place. A gate fronted thesuburb, from which sallies might be easily made, and the wall waspierced by two or three of those breaches which Duke Charles hadcaused to be made after the battle of Saint Tron, and which hadbeen hastily repaired with mere barricades of timber.
D'Hymbercourt turned two culverins on the gate, and placed twoothers opposite to the principal breach, to repel any sally fromthe city, and then returned to the Burgundian army, which he foundin great disorder. In fact, the main body and rear of the numerousarmy of the Duke had continued to advance, while the broken andrepulsed vanguard was in the act of retreating; and they had comeinto collision with each other, to the great confusion of both. Thenecessary absence of D'Hymbercourt, who discharged all the dutiesof Marechal du Camp, or, as we should now say, of QuartermasterGeneral, augmented the disorder; and to complete the whole, thenight sank down dark as a wolf's mouth; there fell a thick and heavyrain, and the ground on which the beleaguering army must needs takeup their position, was muddy and intersected with many canals. Itis scarce possible to form an idea of the confusion which prevailedin the Burgundian army, where leaders were separated from theirsoldiers, and soldiers from their standards and officers. Everyone, from the highest to the lowest, was seeking shelter andaccommodation where he could individually find it; while the weariedand wounded, who had been engaged in the battle, were calling invain for shelter and refreshment; and while those who knew nothingof the disaster were pressing on to have their share in the sackof the place, which they had no doubt was proceeding merrily.
When D'Hymbercourt returned, he had a task to perform of incredibledifficulty, and imbittered by the reproaches of his master, whomade no allowance for the still more necessary duty in which hehad been engaged, until the temper of the gallant soldier began togive way under the Duke's unreasonable reproaches.
"I went hence to restore some order in the van," he said, "andleft the main body under your Grace's own guidance, and now, on myreturn, I can neither find that we have front, flank, nor rear, soutter is the confusion."
"We are the more like a barrel of herrings," answered Le Glorieux,"which is the most natural resemblance for a Flemish army."
The jester's speech made the Duke laugh, and perhaps prevented afarther prosecution of the altercation betwixt him and his general.
By dint of great exertion, a small lusthaus, or country villa ofsome wealthy citizen of Liege, was secured and cleared of otheroccupants, for the accommodation of the Duke and his immediateattendants; and the authority of D'Hymbercourt and Crevecoeur atlength established a guard in the vicinity, of about forty men atarms, who lighted a very large fire, made with the timber of theouthouses, which they pulled down for the purpose.
A little to the left of this villa, and betwixt it and the suburb,which, as we have said, was opposite to the city gate, and occupiedby the Burgundian Vanguard, lay another pleasure house, surroundedby a garden and courtyard, and having two or three small enclosuresor fields in the rear of it. In this the King of France establishedhis own headquarters. He did not himself pretend to be a soldierfurther than a natural indifference to danger and much sagacityqualified him to be called such; but he was always careful toemploy the most skilful in that profession, and reposed in themthe confidence they merited. Louis and his immediate attendantsoccupied this second villa, a part of his Scottish Guard wereplaced in the court, where there were outhouses and sheds to shelterthem from the weather; the rest were stationed in the garden. Theremainder of the French men at arms were quartered closely togetherand in good order, with alarm posts stationed, in case of theirhaving to sustain an attack.
Dunois and Crawford, assisted by several old officers and soldiers,amongst whom Le Balafre was conspicuous for his diligence, contrived,by breaking down walls, making openings through hedges, fillingup ditches, and the like, to facilitate the communication of thetroops with each other, and the orderly combination of the wholein case of necessity.
Meanwhile, the King judged it proper to go without farther ceremonyto the quarters of the Duke of Burgundy, to ascertain what was tobe the order of proceeding, and what cooperation was expected fromhim. His presence occasioned a sort of council of war to be held,of which Charles might not otherwise have dreamed.
It was then that Quentin Durward prayed earnestly to be admitted,as having something of importance to deliver to the two Princes.This was obtained without much difficulty, and great was theastonishment of Louis, when he heard him calmly and distinctlyrelate the purpose of William de la Marck to make a sally upon thecamp of the besiegers, under the dress and banners of the French.Louis would probably have been much better pleased to have had suchimportant news communicated in private, but as the whole story hadbeen publicly told in presence of the Duke of Burgundy, he onlyobserved, that, whether true or false, such a report concerned themmost materially.
"Not a whit! -- not a whit!" said the Duke carelessly. "Had therebeen such a purpose as this young man announces, it had not beencommunicated to me by an Archer of the Scottish Guard."
"However that may be," answered Louis, "I pray you, fair cousin,you and your captains, to attend, that to prevent the unpleasingconsequences of such an attack, should it be made unexpectedly, Iwill cause my soldiers to wear white scarfs over their armour. --Dunois, see it given out on the instant -- that is," he added, "ifour brother and general approves of it."
"I see no objection," replied the Duke, "if the chivalry of Franceare willing to run the risk of having the name of the Knights ofthe Smock Sleeve bestowed on them in future."
"It would be a right well adapted title, friend Charles," saidLe Glorieux, "considering that a woman is the reward of the mostvaliant."
"Well spoken, Sagacity," said Louis. "Cousin, good night, I willgo arm me. -- By the way, what if I win the Countess with mine ownhand?
"Your Majesty," said the Duke, in an altered tone of voice, "mustthen become a true Fleming."
"I cannot," answered Louis, in a tone of the most sincereconfidence, "be more so than I am already, could I but bring you,my dear cousin, to believe it."
The Duke only replied by wishing the King good night in a toneresembling the snort of a shy horse, starting from the caress ofthe rider when he is about to mount, and is soothing him to standstill.
"I could pardon all his duplicity," said the Duke to Crevecoeur,"but cannot forgive his supposing me capable of the gross folly ofbeing duped by his professions."
Louis, too, had his confidences with Oliver le Dain, when hereturned to his own quarters. "This," he said, "is such a mixtureof shrewdness and simplicity, that I know not what to make ofhim. Pasques dieu! think of his unpardonable folly in bringing outhonest De la Marck's plan of a sally before the face of Burgundy,Crevecoeur, and all of them, instead of rounding it in my ear, andgiving me at least the choice of abetting or defeating it!"
"It is better as it is, Sire," said Oliver; "there are many inyour present train who would scruple to assail Burgundy undefied,or to ally themselves with De la Marck."
"Thou art right, Oliver. Such fools there are in the world, and wehave no time to reconcile their scruples by a little dose of selfinterest. We must be true men, Oliver, and good allies of Burgundy,for this night at least -- time may give us a chance of a bettergame. Go, tell no man to unarm himself; and let them shoot, in caseof necessity, as sharply on those who cry France and St. Denis!as if they cried Hell and Satan! I will myself sleep in my armour.Let Crawford place Quentin Durward on the extreme point of ourline of sentinels, next to the city. Let him e'en have the firstbenefit of the sally which he has announced to us -- if his luckbear him out, it is the better for him. But take an especial careof Martius Galeotti, and see he remain in the rear, in a placeof the most absolute safety -- he is even but too venturous, and,like a fool, would be both swordsman and philosopher. See to thesethings, Oliver, and good night. -- Our Lady of Clery, and MonseigneurSt. Martin of Tours, be gracious to my slumbers!"
(The Duke of Burgundy, full of resentment for the usage which theBishop had received from the people of Liege (whose death, as alreadynoticed, did not take place for some years after), and knowing thatthe walls of the town had not been repaired since they were breachedby himself after the battle of Saint Tron, advanced recklessly totheir chastisement. His commanders shared his presumptuous confidence:for the advanced guard of his army, under the Marechal of Burgundy,and Seigneur D'Hymbercourt, rushed upon one of the suburbs, withoutwaiting for the rest of their army, which, commanded by the Dukein person, remained about seven or eight leagues in the rear.The night was closing, and, as the Burgundian troops observed nodiscipline, they were exposed to a sudden attack from a party ofthe citizens commanded by Jean de Vilde, who, assaulting them inthe front and rear, threw them into great disorder, and killed morethan eight hundred men, of whom one hundred were men at arms. WhenCharles and the King of France came up, they took up their quartersin two villas situated near to the wall of the city. In the twoor three days which followed, Louis was distinguished for the quietand regulated composure with which he pressed the siege, and providedfor defence in case of sallies; while the Duke of Burgundy, noway deficient in courage, and who showed the rashness and want oforder which was his principal characteristic, seemed also extremelysuspicious that the King would desert him and join with the Liegeois.They lay before the town for five or six days, and at length fixedthe 30th of October, 1468, for a general storm. The citizens,who had probably information of their intent, resolved to preventtheir purpose and determined on anticipating it by a desperate sallythrough the breaches in their walls. They placed at their head sixhundred of the men of the little territory of Fraudemont, belongingto the Bishopric of Liege, and reckoned the most valiant of theirtroops. They burst out of the town on a sudden, surprised the Dukeof Burgundy's quarters, ere his guards could put on their armour,which they had laid off to enjoy some repose before the assault.The King of France's lodgings were also attacked and endangered.A great confusion ensued, augmented incalculably by the mutualjealousy and suspicions of the French and Burgundians. The peopleof Liege were, however, unable to maintain their hardy enterprise,when the men at arms of the king and Duke began to recover fromtheir confusion, and were finally forced to retire within theirwalls, after narrowly missing the chance of surprising both KingLouis and the Duke of Burgundy, the most powerful princes of theirtime. At daybreak the storm took place, as had been originallyintended, and the citizens, disheartened and fatigued by thenocturnal sally, did not make so much resistance as was expected.Liege was taken and miserably pillaged, without regard to sex orage, things sacred or things profane. These particulars are fullyrelated by Comines in his Memoires, liv. ii, chap. 11, 12, 13, anddo not differ much from the account of the same events given inthe text. S.)