Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold

by G. P. R. James

Cran.--For me?

Must I go like a traitor then?--Shakspere.

And where was Osborne Darnley all this while?

Wait a little, dearly-beloved, and you shall hear more. It was not yet five o'clock in the morning, and a sweet morning it was; the sun had just risen, and, spreading all over the eastern sky, there was that, soft, lustrous tint of early light that surely ought to be called hope-colour, it promises so many bright moments for the coming day. It was not yet five o'clock in the morning when the western sally-port of the castle of Ardres was opened by a little page not higher than my thumb, as the old story-book goes, who looked cautiously about, first to the right and then to the left, to see if any one was abroad and stirring; but the only person who had risen was the matutinal sun, so that the page could see nothing but the blue sky, and the green fields, and the grey stone walls of the castle, whose great age, like the antiquity of a beggar's coat, had plastered them all over with patches of green and yellow lichens. Having looked to his heart's content, he next listened; but no sound could he hear save the light singing of the lark and the loud snoring of the sentinel on the neighbouring bastion, who, with head propped on his halberd, kept anything but silent watch, while the vigilant sun, looking over the wall, spied out all the weaknesses of the place; and now, having listened as well as looked, the boy withdrew once more within the walls. He left, however, the door open, and in a few minutes two horsemen rode forth, each wrapped up in a large Spanish cloak, with a chaperon, at Fleurange calls it, or, in other words, an immense hood, which covered the whole head and disguised the person completely.

As soon as they were fairly out, the page who had accompanied them so far returned and closed the sally-port, and the two travellers cantered lightly over the green to a little wood that lay before the castle. When they were fully concealed by the trees, among which they wound along, following the sinuosities of a little sandy road, wherein two, but only two, might ride abreast, they both, as by common consent, threw back their hoods, and, letting their cloaks fall upon their horses' cruppers, discovered the two powerful forms of the good knight Osborne Lord Darnley, and Francis the First King of France.

"Well, my friend and my deliverer," said the king, as they rode on, "'twill go hard but I will restore you to your king's favour; and even should he remain inexorable, which I will not believe, you must make France your country. We will try to win your fair Constance for you from that suspicious cardinal, of which fear not, for I know a certain way to gain him to anything; and then I see no cause why, in so fair a land as France, and favoured by her king, you may not be as happy as in that little seabound spot called England."

Before proceeding farther, however, it may be necessary to say a few words concerning the events which had occurred since the knight's courage and skill had saved the king's life from Shoenvelt and his adventurers. One may well imagine what anxiety had reigned amongst the monarch's followers in the forest near Lillers, when they found that Francis, after having separated from their party, did not rejoin them on the track appointed for the hunt. Such occurrences, however, having several times happened before, and the king having always returned in safety, they concluded that he and Count William of Firstenberg must have taken the other road to Aire, and that they would find him there on their arrival. When they did reach that town, their inquiries immediately discovered that the king was missing.

The news spread rapidly to the whole court, and soon reached the ears of his mother the Duchess of Angoulême, who became almost frantic on hearing it, giving him up for lost from that moment, as she had good reasons to believe that Count William entertained designs against his life. Her active spirit it was that first discovered the treachery of the Burgundian, which she had instantly communicated to the king; but the generous mind of Francis refused all credit to the news, and he continued his confidence towards Firstenberg without the slightest alteration, till at length more certain proofs of his designs were obtained, which induced the monarch to act with that fearless magnanimity which we have seen him display towards his treacherous favourite in the forest of Lillers.

Immediately that the king's absence was known, bands of horsemen were sent out in various directions to obtain news of him, but in vain. Convinced, by the account of the hunters, that he had quitted the wood, and that if he were therein they could not find him by night, they searched in every other place than that in which they were likely to be successful; so that, the whole night that Francis spent sleeping tranquilly in the charbonier's cottage, his guards were out towards Pernès, Fruges, and St. Pol, searching for him without success. When morning came, however, fresh parties were sent off to examine every part of the forest, and it was one of these that came up to the spot not long after the defeat of Shoenvelt and his companions.

The joy occasioned by the king's safe return was not a little heightened by the danger he had undergone; and every one to whom his life was precious contended who should do most honour to his gallant deliverer. Francis himself knew not what recompense to offer Sir Osborne for the signal service he had rendered him; and, with the delicacy of a truly generous mind, he exacted from him a particular account of his whole life, that he might adapt the gift or honour he wished to confer exactly to the situation of the knight. Darnley understood the motive of the noble-hearted monarch, and told him all without reserve; and Francis, now furnished with the best means of showing his gratitude, resolved not to lose the opportunity.