Mary of Burgundy; or, The Revolt of Ghent

by G. P. R. James

CHAPTER XXVII.

Although other matters of some moment might claim attention in this place, we will not interrupt the course of our narrative, but will follow, throughout her journey, the fair fugitive from the city of Ghent; as far, at least, as that journey was permitted to proceed unimpeded.

The boat glided along over the calm dull bosom of the Scheldt, with hardly any noise, except the occasional dip of the oar in the water, and the slight creaking of the gunnel as the rower plied his stroke. Every one knows that the river which, a little distance further down its stream, assumes so much importance as to be the object of intrigue, negotiation, and even war, to rival nations, presents no very imposing aspect in the neighbourhood of Ghent; but so gloomy was the moonless sky, and so dense was the heavy fog which hung over the waters, that from the moment the boat had pushed off from the quay both banks became quite invisible. The deep, misty obscurity of the atmosphere, and the profound darkness of the night, might have been a cause of terror to Alice of Imbercourt under any other circumstances; but now all apprehension of danger from the want of light and the difficulties of the navigation, was swallowed up in the fear of being overtaken or impeded in her escape; and the impenetrable veil which seemed to cover all things around her she looked upon as a blessing, in the hope that it would also conceal herself. The darkness, however, which gave this feeling of security, did not continue so completely uninterrupted as to leave her entirely without alarm. Now and then, as the boat shot past some of the warehouses, or the quays where the larger craft were moored, an indistinct dim line of light would break across the mist from lamp or lantern, hung up to show the late watcher the objects of his toil or of his anxiety; and the heart of poor Alice would beat quick with fear, lest the skiff, or those it contained, should attract the eye of any of the eager and wary citizens. But all these perils were soon past; the boatman rowed strongly and well; the slow current with which they were proceeding was not powerful enough to afford much assistance to his exertions, but still the boat skimmed swiftly over the waters, and ere long the last bridge was passed. Beyond it there extended along the banks a short suburb, terminated by scattered houses belonging to cowfeeders and gardeners, and forming a sort of brief connecting link between the wide open country and the fortified city; and further on, again, came the rich fields and meadows in the immediate vicinity of the town, blending gradually into the thick woods that at that time commenced about Heusden and Melle.

Alice's heart beat more freely, as the fresher air, the slight clearing away of the mist, the occasional lowing of the cattle, and that indescribable feeling of expanse which is only known in the country, showed her--though she could not yet see the objects on the banks--that she had passed beyond the limits of the city of Ghent. The page, too, felt the same relief, and, for the first time, ventured a whispered observation on the good fortune that had attended their movements. But Alice was still too fearful of being pursued or discovered, to utter anything but a low-toned injunction to be silent; and no further sound marked their course but the stroke of the oars, as the sturdy boatman impelled them on, unwearied, over the waters of the Scheldt.

At the distance of about three miles from the city the air became gradually less dense, and at the end of half a mile more the fog had cleared away entirely. It was still dark, but the stars afforded sufficient light to show the fair fugitive, and her companion, that they were passing through a country where the meadow and the cornfield were merging in the forest. Scattered patches of copse and underwood, mingled with fields which had been reclaimed to the use of man, came sweeping down to the banks of the river; and straight before the travellers lay a dark and shadowy track, broken into dense, heavy masses, the rounded forms of which, cutting black upon the lighter sky beyond, distinguished it as wood, from the soft sweeping lines of the uplands which in other directions marked the horizon.

There is scarcely anything on earth more gloomy and impressive than the aspect of a deep wood by night, with just sufficient light in the sky to contrast strongly with the stern body of impenetrable shade presented by the forest, and yet not enough to show any of the smaller parts into which it appears separated by day. The wood lay straight before the bow of the boat, seeming to swallow up the widening course of the Scheldt, as flowing on, it reflected here and there, the faint lines of light which it caught from the sky, and which served to mark its track, till it was lost in the sombre shadows of the trees. An indefinite feeling of dread passed through the bosom of Alice of Imbercourt as the boat cut its way on towards the dark and gloomy wilderness which the forest seemed to present at that hour of the night. She believed, indeed, that she had no cause for fear; and her own peculiar plans absolutely required that she should banish all timidity of the kind that she now felt. Some inquiry, however, was necessary, in order to guide her further movements; and, as her apprehensions of pursuit had by this time vanished, she addressed a few words to the boatman, to lead him into conversation regarding the part of the country at which they had now arrived.

"Those seem very dark and extensive woods," she said; "do we pass through them?"

"Yes, noble lady," replied the man, and struck on with more vigour than before, as if he considered the time occupied by the three words he spoke as lost to all profitable employment.

"Are they safe to travel at night?" demanded the young lady again.

"No, noble lady," was all the reply she received.

"But do you mean that it is dangerous to pass through them in a boat?" inquired Alice.

"I cannot tell, madam," answered the man; but still he rowed on, and the page, laughing with the thoughtless glee of youth, whispered that the attempt was vain to make silent Martin give them any information, as he had never been known to speak ten words to an end in his life. By this time they were within the limits of the forest, and nothing surrounded them on every side but the trees dipping down their branches over the water. Alice, however, ventured one more question, to which the answer she received, though as short, was more satisfactory than those the boatman had formerly given.

"How far does the wood extend?" she demanded.

"Three quarters of a league, noble lady," replied the boatman, and again plied his oar in silence.

Whether Alice's voice, and his reply, had called attention, or whether the stroke of the oars itself could be heard at the banks, cannot be determined; but the man had answered but a moment, when a slight plash was heard from behind a little projection of the shore, on which an old oak had planted itself, spreading its roots down to the very river. Then came a rushing sound, as of something impelled quickly through the water, succeeded by the regular sweep of oars, and, in a moment after, a boat, rowed by two strong men, darted out into the mid-stream, and followed rapidly after that in which Alice sat. Still silent Martin, as the boy called him, pulled stoutly on without a word, but the superior power of the two men who pursued soon brought them alongside the boat, and, grappling her tight, they addressed the boatman in a tone rough but not uncivil.

"So ho, friend!" they cried; "stop a bit. What news from Ghent? How goes the good city?"

"Well! well! my masters," replied the boatman, still striving to impel his skiff forward, though the proximity of the other boat rendered the effort to use his oars unavailing.

"It is silent Martin," said one of the men, "and a fair dame, by the Lord! Who have you here, Master Martin?"

"There, there," replied the boatman, with what appeared to be an immense effort to make an oration; "let me get on. You do not stop women, my masters. Surely you would never stop a lady like that!" And exhausted with this long speech, he again tried to push away from the other boat, but in vain.

"No, no," cried one of the men, "we will not stop the lady long; but every one who rows upon the Scheldt now-a-days must have a pass from the captain. So come along, Master Martin; and when you and the young lady have given all the news of Ghent, that, doubtless, you can give--for certainly young ladies do not come up the Scheldt at this hour of the night for nothing--we will let you go on your way."

"Fine times!" said silent Martin; but as resistance was in vain, he suffered them to pilot his boat to the mouth of the little creek from which their own had shot out; and he himself, with a certain degree of awkward gentleness, aided Alice of Imbercourt to land.

Her feelings were of a very mixed nature; but, assuredly, not such as might be imagined from a consideration of the more obvious circumstances of her situation. She was certainly terrified as well as agitated, and she trembled a good deal; but, at the same time, she showed no unwillingness to obey the commands of those who now had her in their power. Her terror, however, did not escape the eyes of the men who had rowed the other boat; and one of them addressed her in a kindly tone, saying, "Fear not, fear not. No lady ever suffered harm or dishonour from the green riders of Hannut. So do not be alarmed, and you shall soon be free to go whithersoever you will."

These words, which he spoke as they were landing, seemed to reassure the fair traveller, more than they would, probably, have done most other people at such a moment.

"Oh, where is he?" she exclaimed, eagerly. "Lead me to him, I beseech you. It is he whom I am now seeking."

"Ay, indeed!" said the adventurer. "Mean you the Vert Gallant of Hannut, lady? He is soon found by those who seek him, and rather often found by those who seek him not. Ho, Roger!" he continued, addressing his companion in the boat, "rouse up Frank Van Halle and Simpkin yonder, to keep watch with thee, while I lead the lady and the boy to the rendezvous. Come now, my pretty mistress," he added, "take care of your steps, for it is as dark as the tomb. Here, take an old man's arm. It was more pliant in days of yore, but never stronger, and will serve at least to help you up the bank."

Alice was glad of assistance, and laid her hand on his arm; but though his occupation had been sufficiently evident before, yet she almost started back when her fingers rested upon plates of cold iron, forming the brassards or defensive armour for the arms, so much are our minds the slaves of our corporeal sensations, that our convictions are never vivid till we have verified them by our external senses. She recovered herself immediately, however, and clung to him both for support and direction; for the whole scene around was wrapped in profound obscurity; and though her eye was already accustomed to the night, yet the additional gloom of the forest was so great, that she followed the adventurer in perfect blindness, without being able to see, one moment, where she was to set her foot the next.

After climbing a slight acclivity, which compelled them to walk slowly, they came to more open ground, where her guide hurried his pace, and Alice was obliged to follow rapidly upon his steps, though not without often shrinking back for fear of striking against the trees, which her imagination pictured as protruding across the path. The way, though in fact short, seemed to her long, from the darkness and uncertainty in which she moved; but at length a light began to glisten between the branches; and, after walking on a few minutes longer, she perceived a glare so strong as almost to make her believe that a part of the wood was on fire. As her conductor led her forward, she every now and then caught a glimpse, through the breaks in the wood, of figures moving about across the light towards which they were approaching; but a moment after, the whole scene was again shut out by a tract of withered beech trees, loaded with their thick dry leaves, through which the path that Alice and her guide were pursuing took a sudden turn. The blaze of the fire, however, was sufficiently general to light them easily on their way; and in a few minutes more they emerged at once into the little sheltered arena whence it was diffused.

The frost, as I have before said, had for some time broken up, and the preceding day had been warm and fine. Nevertheless, sufficient precautions had been taken by the tenants of the forest to dispel, in their own neighbourhood at least, whatever touch remained of winter. In the midst of the open space which Alice now entered, they had piled up, with very unceremonious appropriation of the duke's trees, a fire of immense logs, sufficient to roast a hecatomb; and many a relic of the more ancient and simple methods of dressing meat displayed themselves around, in various immense pieces of venison and beef roasting on wooden spits in the open air, while a gigantic black caldron, pendent from the immemorial triple chevron, which has suspended all primeval pots from the days of Noah, fumed and bubbled with most savoury promise. Around, in groups, lay a number of stout soldiery, prepared to refresh their vigorous and sinewy limbs with the contents of the pot, or the burden of the spit, as soon as those skilled in the mystery of cooking pronounced that they were ready for the knife. Several more, whose appetite seemed still fiercer, stood round the fire, watching with anticipating expectation the progress of the cookery. But it is to be remarked, at the same time, that amongst all this number of persons--amounting fully to fifty or sixty--a great deal of decent order was kept up, and nothing like either rioting or confusion was observed, notwithstanding the more than doubtful character of the persons concerned. There was no singing, no shouting; and those who were conversing together spoke in an under tone, as if afraid of disturbing some person engaged in more important business in their near neighbourhood.

The cause of this orderly tranquillity, perhaps, might be discovered by running the eye on a little way beyond the fire, where stood a sort of rude, but extensive, wooden shed or hut, raised upon a number of upright piles driven into the ground, and thatched on the top with boughs, leaves, and rushes, which materials also served to cover three sides of the building. The side that remained open was turned towards the fire; and, consequently, it both commanded a view of everything that took place in that direction, and exposed to the sight of the other parties in the savannah all that was passing in the interior of the hut. It was owing to this disposition, that, as Alice approached, she at once perceived the Vert Gallant of Hannut, habited, as we have before described him, reclining on the ground under the shed, with a paper before him, on which was apparently traced a rude map of some country, the topography of which he seemed studying intently. Sitting beside him, supplied with a flat board, which served the purposes of a table, and on which were seen the implements for writing, was the sleek, round monk, of whom we have previously given some account under the name of Father Barnabas, and who now, with a ready pen, appeared busily tracing some despatch at the dictation of the adventurous leader.

On the other side of the Vert Gallant stood a page, whose rich dress of green and gold seemed but ill to correspond with the scene in which he was found, holding a torch high in his hand, to throw light upon the papers before his two companions; and near him again was a person in the habit of a courier of some distinction, whose horse, all in flakes of foam with hard riding, stood, held by another page, close by the entrance of the shed.

The approach of Alice and her conductor instantly drew the eyes of a great part of the persons assembled in the savannah upon her; and, shrinking from the gaze of the rude men amongst whom she now found herself, the lady drew her mantle closer round her, and bent her look upon the ground, while, at the desire of him who had led her thither, she paused with the page, and suffered their guide to advance alone. Without taking any notice of the groups around, he walked forward at once to the shed; and only staying till the Vert Gallant had concluded the sentence which hung upon his lips, he addressed a few words to him, which were inaudible where Alice stood. Their effect upon the leader, however, was great and instantaneous. He started at once upon his feet, and turned fully towards the spot where the young lady stood; but the bars of the casque, which he seemed never to lay aside, still prevented his own countenance from being seen.

After the glance of a single instant, he advanced towards Alice; and, bending respectfully over her hand which he took in his, he bade her welcome with kind and graceful courtesy.

"I know the general meaning of your coming, lady," he said, "though not the immediate cause; and I will speak with you as soon as I have despatched the messenger. In the meantime trust to this old man, my lieutenant, who will lead you to a place where I can hear your commands in private."

Alice listened attentively, and looked up when he had done, with a glance, in which anxiety and apprehension for her father's fate were strangely mingled, considering the moment and the scene, with a rise of the eyebrow, and a turn of the fair mouth, which altogether approached very near one of the merry smiles that had so thronged her lips in happier days. She replied not, however, though at first she appeared about to do so; but following her former conductor in silence, was led once more into the paths of the wood. She was not now called upon to walk far; for little more than a hundred steps brought her in front of a low-roofed building, which, apparently had been in former times the abode of one of the forest guards, but which had now fallen into the occupation of the free companions.

Everything within bore an air of comfort and neatness hardly to have been expected from its present tenants; and in the chamber to which Alice was conducted, nothing appeared to announce that it was not still the abode of quiet and affluent industry.

The moment she and the page had entered, the old man retired and closed the door; and Alice remained gazing upon the embers of the wood fire that lay sparkling on the hearth, till the sound of rapid steps passing the window again made her heart beat with redoubled quickness. In a moment after the door was thrown open, and the tall, graceful figure of the Vert Gallant once more stood before her.

"Quit the room, page," he said, as he entered, "but do not leave the chamber-door."

The boy hesitated; but a sign from Alice made him instantly obey; and the Vert Gallant advancing, took her hand and led her to a seat.

"You are tired, lady, and evidently agitated," he said; "and I fear much that some event of a sad and serious nature has gained me the honour of your presence in this wild place."

Alice looked up with the same sparkling smile which had before played for a moment on her countenance. "You cannot deceive me!" she said. "Hugh de Mortmar, do you think that I do not know you?"

The Vert Gallant paused an instant as if in suspense, then threw his arms round the fair girl who stood beside him, and pressed her gently to him. "Dear Alice," he said, "how did you discover me?"

"It were vain to say how, Hugh," replied Alice; "I may have had suspicions long before; but, from the day of the thunderstorm in the forest of Hannut, I have not had a doubt; though why Hugh de Mortmar should need to league with outlaws and adventurers, and, as it would appear, to hide his face even from such strange companions, is more difficult to divine."

"I am, indeed, willing, though not obliged, to hide my face even from the bulk of my gallant followers," replied the young cavalier, undoing the clasps of his casque. "Ay! and in order to guard against surprise or inadvertency, to wear so foul a seeming as this, even beneath that heavy helmet;" and removing the iron cap, he showed her a half mask representing the countenance of a negro, which covered his own face to the beard.

"You start, Alice!" he continued, "and look somewhat aghast! Is it at that fearful painted piece of emptiness?"

"No!" she answered, "no! But it is to think that you--you, De Mortmar--should, for any cause, condescend to hide yourself beneath such a semblance."

"Indeed, Alice!" said De Mortmar, with a smile. "Then tell me, beloved, and put it fairly to your own heart, what is it that a man will not do--what that he should not do--to recover those things that have been snatched from his race by the unjust hand of power, and to free a father from captivity?"

"Nothing, indeed!" replied Alice, to whose bosom one part, at least, of the question went directly home. "Nothing, indeed! and I will believe, with the faith of a martyr, that no other way than this existed for you to accomplish such an object; although till this moment I knew not that you had either parent in existence."

"But your father did," replied the young cavalier; "and when first I called these troops together, Alice--for you must not confound them with a band of lawless plunderers--when first I called them together, it seemed the only way by which I could ever hope to liberate my imprisoned father. I am Hugh of Gueldres; and it has been only the hope and the promise of your hand, joined to the prospect held out by your noble father of obtaining my own parent's liberation by peaceful means, which has so long prevented me from asserting his right in arms, though the whole force of Burgundy were prepared to check me--I might say, indeed, to crush me," he added; "for though, with the forces of Hannut, and all the discontented men which the late duke arrayed against him in his own dominions, with the aid of France, and, perhaps, of Austria, my right and my good cause might have done much, while Charles remained embroiled in foreign wars. I could have hoped for little had he once turned his whole force against me. But, as I have said, your father persuaded me to delay. During the years that I have thus been induced to pause, I have been obliged to hide, as best I might, the force of free companions I had raised; and no method of concealment could be more efficacious than that which I have adopted. As the green riders of Hannut we passed nearly unmolested, while the Duke of Burgundy pursued his ambitious schemes against Lorraine, and his mad ones against the Swiss; and though, if you recall the past events, you will find that the green riders have punished the guilty and the bloodthirsty--have laid many a plundering noble under contribution, and have levelled more than one stronghold of cruelty and oppression with the ground, yet not one act of baseness or barbarity can be traced to themselves."

"Then, why such necessity for concealing yourself from them?" demanded Alice, carried away for a moment from other thoughts by the personal interest she felt in her lover's conduct.

"What!" exclaimed the young cavalier, "would you have had me, dear Alice, give so important a secret as that of my existence, when the Duke of Burgundy and all his court--nay, my own father also, thought me dead; would you have had me give such a secret as that to the keeping of more than five hundred men? No! they were levied secretly by one who has been devoted and faithful to me through life--good Matthew Gournay, who led you hither. The long accumulated wealth of my more than father, the Lord of Hannut, served to gather them together. His forests and the catacombs under the castle gave them shelter: and, though far too strong in numbers to fear the weak bands of the Prevot, or the force of any of the neighbouring nobles, it was absolutely necessary to conceal, with the most scrupulous care, from the court of Burgundy, that so large a body of independent troops existed, and still more that such a force was commanded by one who had cause for deadly hatred towards the duke, now dead. Thus, by the advice and with the aid of the good Lord of Hannut, I mingled with the world as his nephew, under which title he had brought me up from my youth. But as it was necessary to keep my free companions in continual employment, and to acquire over them that personal authority, which nothing but the habit of commanding them could obtain, I was often obliged to assume the character of the Vert Gallant of Hannut, and lead them to enterprises, which, however dangerous, I took care should never be dishonourable. The very concealment of my person, which was revealed only to those who had previously known me, added a sort of mysterious influence to the power which general success gave me over them; and I believe that, at this moment, there is no enterprise, however wild or rash, to which they would not follow me, with the most perfect confidence."

"But my father," said Alice, reverting to the still more interesting topic of her parent's danger; "I must speak with you of my father."

"Well, then, in regard to your father," replied the young noble; and proceeding eagerly in his exculpation, he explained to Alice that Imbercourt had always lamented the Duke of Burgundy's severity to his parent, and had striven by every means to call the sovereign to a sense of justice, even before he acquired a personal interest in the house of Gueldres. The real name and rank of the supposed Hugh de Mortmar, the cavalier proceeded, had been revealed to her father, when Alice's hand had first been promised to him as the young heir of Hannut; and seeing at once that Hugh's design of liberating the imprisoned Duke of Gueldres, and recovering his duchy by force, was anything but hopeless, Imbercourt had only become the more anxious to obviate the necessity for such an attempt, by inducing Charles the Bold to grant as a concession that which he might otherwise be forced to yield on compulsion. The purposes of the Duke of Burgundy, however, were not easily changed, nor was his mind to be wrought upon in a day; and Imbercourt was still occupied with the difficult task he had undertaken, when the defeat of Nancy took place. On the other hand, he had ever laboured zealously to induce the young heir of Gueldres to delay; and many of those trifling circumstances which impede the execution of the best laid schemes, had combined, from time to time, to second his endeavours with Hugh of Gueldres. Friends and confederates had proved remiss or incapable; supplies had been retarded; changes had taken place in the disposition or circumstances of particular states; and three times the young noble had been half persuaded, half compelled, to put off the attempt on which he had determined. All this Hugh of Gueldres poured forth eagerly to Alice of Imbercourt, too anxious to exculpate himself from all blame in the eyes of her he loved, to read in her looks the more serious cares that were busy at her heart.

"In the disturbed and dangerous state of the country," added the young cavalier, "although my father has been liberated by other means, it is my determination to keep my band together, and, watching every turn, to choose that moment which must come, when a small force, acting vigorously for one great purpose, may give the preponderance to right, and crush the wrong for ever."

"Now, then, is the moment! Hugh de Mortmar," cried Alice, clasping her hands eagerly; "now, then, is the moment!--if you feel any gratitude towards my father--if you feel any love for me--if you would uphold the right--if you would crush the wrong--if you would save the innocent from ignominious death--lose not a day, but force the rebel people of Ghent to free my unhappy father!"

The young cavalier, who had never suspected the actual danger of the Lord of Imbercourt, started with surprise; and Alice, with the eager eloquence of apprehension, made him rapidly acquainted with the events which had occurred in Ghent during the morning, and which had thus brought her to seek him.

"Ha!" cried the Vert Gallant, "does Albert Maurice--does the President of the States sanction such proceedings? I had heard that when the unhappy eschevins were murdered by the populace, he wrought signal vengeance on the perpetrators of the crime; and, if ever I saw one to whom I should attribute noble feelings and just and upright sentiments, he is the man."

"He is ambitious, Hugh," replied Alice, vehemently; "wildly, madly ambitious. I have marked him well throughout--and you may trust a woman's eyes for such discoveries--he has dared to raise his thoughts to Mary of Burgundy. He loves her--deeply and truly, I believe; but he loves her not with the love which an inferior may feel for a superior whom they may never hope to gain, but rather with that rash and daring love, which will make ambition but a stepping-stone to accomplish its bold purpose--which will see the land plunged deeper and deeper in bloodshed, in the wild hope, that out of the ruins of ancient institutions, and the wreck of order, prosperity, and peace, he may build up for himself a seat as high, or higher, than the ducal chair of Burgundy. It is evident, Hugh, it is evident, that he has the power as well as the daring to do much; and one of his first steps will be upon my father's head; for had that father's will and counsel been followed, our fair and gentle princess would now have been the bride of the Dauphin of France, and every hour that he lives will be an hour of suspense and anxiety to that ambitious burgher."

A slight smile of contempt, springing from the prejudices of the day, curled the lip of Hugh of Gueldres, as Alice first spoke of the love of the young citizen for the Princess of Burgundy; but it vanished speedily as she went on; and he shook his head with an air of thoughtful sternness as he replied, "He is one to be feared and to be opposed, far more than to be contemned. Alice, my beloved," he added, taking both her hands in his, "I must think what may be best done to save your father; and of this be assured, that I will lose not one moment in the attempt; but will peril life and fortune, and every future hope, to deliver him instantly."

"And yet," said Alice, while a deep blush spread over her whole face, "for my sake be not over rash of your own person. Save my father, I beseech, I entreat!--but, oh! remember that you, too--that you--"

Her feelings overpowered her, and she finished the sentence by tears. Hugh of Gueldres drew her gently to him, and consoled her as far as the circumstances permitted. But on such occasions there is little to be said but commonplaces; and all he could assure her was, that while he made every effort to save her father, her love would make him as careful of himself as the nature of the task would allow.

In that day, however, every sport, pastime, and occupation of man's life, were of so rude and dangerous a nature, that perils lost half their fearfulness from familiarity; and, though Alice of Imbercourt could not but feel pained and apprehensive for her lover, yet her feelings of terror were much sooner tranquillized than those of a person in the present day could have been under similar circumstances.

In the meanwhile, the emergency of the case required that Hugh of Gueldres should instantly fix upon some plan for the deliverance of the Lord of Imbercourt, and proceed to put it in execution without loss of time; and it was also necessary that Alice, whose return to Ghent would have been both fruitless and dangerous, should seek some safe asylum till her father's fate was decided. It was accordingly determined that she should instantly proceed to the castle of Hannut; and means for rendering her journey both safe and easy were arranged at once by her lover.

While the litter for conveying her thither was in preparation, and the soldiers destined to escort her were saddling their horses, Hugh of Gueldres stole a few brief minutes from more painful thoughts, for the enjoyment of her society, and the interchange of happy promises and hopes--nor were those brief moments less sweet to Alice and her lover, because they were so few, nor because they were mingled with many an apprehension, nor because many an anxious topic intruded on the conversation. It is the light and shade, the close opposition of the dark and the sparkling, that gives zest even to joy. Hugh de Mortmar felt all the sweetness of their brief interview to the full for the time; but, the moment after he had placed Alice in the vehicle, given strict directions to the band which accompanied her, and seen the cavalcade wind away into the dark paths of the wood, he turned to less pleasing thoughts, summoned some of those from his troops in whom he felt the greatest confidence, and remained with them for a short time in close deliberation, concerning the measures to be taken for the deliverance of the Lord of Imbercourt.

A plan was soon determined; and an hour before daylight one of the band was despatched to Ghent, habited as a peasant, and charged to gain every information in regard to the proceedings of the council, but to hasten back with all speed, as soon as he had obtained sufficient knowledge of what was passing in the city. In the meanwhile, all was held in readiness to act, immediately upon the receipt of the tidings which he was to bring; and messengers were despatched in every direction, to prepare the bodies of free companions, scattered through the different woods in the neighbourhood of Ghent, for instant movement upon the city.