Mary of Burgundy; or, The Revolt of Ghent

by G. P. R. James

The sensation, however, oppressed him; and, after hurried and somewhat incoherent thanks, he took his leave, feeling that he had made another step in the crooked and degrading path of policy.

The rest of the day was consumed in preparations for his departure early the next morning, and in precautions against the influence of his enemies in Ghent. Men may make use of knaves and hypocrites, in order to rise, but they must still have recourse to the honest and the true, when they would give permanence to their authority. Thus, from the council which Albert Maurice now called to his aid, Ganay was excluded, as well as all the fiercer and more subtle spirits, which had hitherto been so busy in the affairs of Ghent; while honest Martin Fruse, and seven other citizens like himself, who, though not without their weaknesses and their follies, possessed at heart a fund of honesty of intent and plain common sense, were summoned by the young citizen to a private conference, for the purpose of taking such measures as would secure the peace and tranquillity of the city, and the stability of the order of things established, during his temporary absence.

He felt it difficult, indeed, to explain to them all the evils that were to be guarded against, all the dangers that he foresaw, and all the apprehensions that he entertained, especially in regard to the druggist Ganay. To have done so fully, would have been to have exposed all the darker and more dangerous secrets of his own bosom, and to have given a picture of himself, of the means he had employed, and of the deeds into which he had been betrayed, which he was unwilling to display to any human being. Thus it was not without much circumlocution that he could find words to convey his immediate views to the honest men by whom he was surrounded, and yet keep to those general terms which might not expose himself.

Martin Fruse, however, whose love for his nephew was paramount in his bosom, greatly relieved the task; for--with a sort of intuitive feeling, that there were many things which Albert Maurice would wish to keep concealed, and from a desire of sparing him as much as possible--he passed as rapidly as his intellect would permit him to conclusions, skipping as quickly as possible over all explanations regarding preceding facts with a nod or smile of intelligence, which led the other worthy merchants to believe that he was fully acquainted with all the machinery of the events which had taken place. After some hours' consultation, it was arranged that Albert Maurice, deputing his whole municipal authority to his uncle, should entrust the worthy citizen and the other merchants present, to form such a party in the council, as might keep the affairs of the town, if possible, in a completely passive state during his absence. His office in the states general he could not transfer; for though he held the presidency of that body as a privilege connected with its assembling in the city of which he had been constituted chief magistrate, yet that privilege could not be deputed to another; and the states--if they met at all during his absence--would be presided by the next deputy from the city of Ghent.

The power, however, which he placed in the hands of good Martin Fruse was anything but insignificant, for Ghent then ruled the states; and it was determined that all measures were to be taken for the security of the city and the repairs of the fortifications; that the purchase of supplies and provisions, and the levying of men, were to go on as usual; but that, upon the proposal of any important movement, on the part of Ghent, a motion for its postponement till the return of the President was immediately to be put, and supported by his friends. The meeting of the states general, too, was to be opposed as much as possible during his absence from Ghent; and as the authority of the municipality was, of course, paramount in their own city, it seemed probable that his friends would be able to exert great influence in this respect. Any pretensions of the Duke of Gueldres to the hand of the princess were to be strenuously opposed in the council; and Martin Fruse, and the burgher guard, were to give her every support and protection, in case she might require it. Anxious, too, for the safety of Hugh of Gueldres, Albert Maurice took care that a strong force should be stationed at the town prison, and that the merchants should be prepared to put an instant negative upon any proposal for bringing the prisoner to trial during his absence.

When all these arrangements were concluded, the next care of the young citizen was to select such bands from amongst both the new and old levies of the city, as were most likely to ensure him success in the enterprises which he was about to execute; and this being done, and all his further preparations completed, he proceeded, once more, to visit the Vert Gallant of Hannut in the chamber to which he had now been removed. The young cavalier lay in a deep, sweet sleep, from which even the opening of the door and the approach of Albert Maurice did not wake him; and the President gazed for a moment or two on his face--as he lay so calm and tranquil, within the walls of a prison, suffering from injuries, and exposed to constant danger--with a feeling of envy and regret, which, perhaps, few can appreciate fully, who have not felt the sharp tooth of remorse begin its sleepless gnawing on the heart.

He would not have disturbed such slumbers for the world; and, withdrawing again with a noiseless step, he retired to his own chamber, and cast himself down upon his bed, to snatch, at least, that heated and disturbed sleep, which was all the repose that he was ever more to know on earth.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

The clang of trumpets echoing through the streets of Ghent, an hour before daybreak, announced that the body of forces under the command of the young President was about to set out upon its expedition; and as the burghers started from their sleep, and listened to the various sounds that followed--the trampling of horses, the voices of the officers, and the dull measured tread of marching men, not unfrequently did a feeling of pride rise in their bosoms from that universal principle--"the extension of the idea of self;" as each one felt that the army thus on its march was, in some degree, his own, as part and parcel of the city of Ghent.

To the ears of none in the whole town, however, did the sounds come more pleasantly than to those of the druggist Ganay, who had felt, within the last two days, a sort of thirst to see the back of him he had once loved, turned upon the city; for, though--with that degree of pride in his cunning, which artful men often possess--he did not usually apprehend that his wit would fail in a struggle with that of any other being; yet there was something in the unaccountable knowledge of foregone facts which Albert Maurice had displayed, that made him entertain a vague fear of the young citizen, and rendered him unwilling to venture any very bold stroke till Ghent was free from his presence.