Mary of Burgundy; or, The Revolt of Ghent

by G. P. R. James

All this, however, appeared natural enough; and though his troops, in quartering themselves in different parts of the building, according to his orders, seemed to take upon themselves a tone of authority and power not very pleasing to his adversaries, yet this also might pass for the swagger and insolence of military success; nor did it excite any very great surprise. As the evening went on, however, a number of persons were observed ascending to his apartments, whose faces no one recognised. Some stayed and some returned; but it was evident that they were not citizens of Ghent, and great was the anxiety and discussion which these appearances caused amongst the enemies of the young President. Every means was taken to discover whence they came and what was their errand, but it was all in vain. The Duke of Cleves retired to his own hotel, to prepare for the scenes that were about to take place; and Ganay waited eagerly the coming of the hour appointed for the banquet, which would put an end, he believed, for ever, to transactions which, from many causes, he both doubted and feared.

Nevertheless, his sensations were of a mixed, and even painful nature, and his conclusions in regard to the conduct of Albert Maurice were less clear and decided than they had ever been before. He did not and would not believe that the President suspected the precise design of those who had contrived his overthrow; but he saw evidently that he was not deceived by all the fair appearances which had welcomed him back to Ghent; and he felt that the moment was come when, as the young citizen had long before foreseen, the immediate destruction of the one was necessary to the safety of the other. That conviction in his own bosom of course made him believe that Albert Maurice was equally alive to the same fact; and as the means which he had so carefully prepared during the absence of the other had been, in some degree, rendered vain by the measures that the President had taken, the druggist now stood resolved to snatch the first opportunity of executing his purpose by any means, however great the risk, well knowing that the peril of delay was still greater.

And yet, strange to say, there was within the bosom of that man--hardened as he was by crimes, and still more hardened by the struggle of passions concealed within his breast through a long life--strange to say, there was a feeling of deep regret, of bitter repugnance, when he thought of the very act he planned for his own security. If ever there had been, in the course of all his existence, a being that he had sincerely loved, besides his own unhappy son, that being had been Albert Maurice; and though in the scenes of civil faction and the strife of contending interests and desires which they had lately passed through, that affection had been apparently smothered, it is wonderful how freshly it rose up in his heart, when he thought that Albert Maurice must die by his means--possibly by his own hand.

The fatal creed he held of man's entire mortality, made him fearless of death himself, and careless of inflicting it on others; but, perhaps, by teaching him that the loves and affections of this life were all, it made them take a deeper hold upon his heart, when once they could grasp it by any means; and for a moment, as he thought of cutting off the noble being whose powers he had so often admired--of extinguishing for ever all those fiery energies and bright aspirations he had watched from their first breaking forth to their full expansion--he shuddered at the task.

The people without, witnessing the preparations for the banquet to which the young citizen had invited them, from time to time shouted forth his name with loud applause, and there was a voice within the bosom of Ganay that echoed their praises. "He is, indeed, a splendid creature," he thought; "and if ever there was one calculated to win all hearts, and lead men and nations on to scenes and glories such as the world has never yet seen, he is the man. Yet after all, he must die! and 'tis but like the slaughter of a mighty stag or a noble boar; and death--which ends all things--perhaps, when the pain and the pleasure of life are fairly balanced, is the crowning good that renders the whole equal at last; but I must speed to see all prepared!"

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Never had the town of Ghent witnessed so magnificent a sight as on the night after the return of Albert Maurice. The whole marketplace before the Stadt Huys, illuminated by a thousand torches, was crowded with people regaling at long tables, which groaned beneath the burden of good cheer. The young President had spared no means to satisfy all; and, by the magic influence of gold, had, in the short time which had elapsed since his return, conjured up a festival more like some of those fairy banquets depicted in an Eastern tale, than anything in real life. Thousands and thousands, too, of the wealthier classes, whose circumstances raised them above those who came to partake of his bounty, moved through the open spaces, enjoying the scene. The Perron of the Hotel de Ville was crowded with guards, officers, and attendants, looking over the gay and happy sight which the square afforded; and above all, rose the dark mass of the town-house, with a broad blaze flashing forth from all the open windows, while the sound of music from within, and the glancing of figures moving rapidly across the lights, offered links of interest between the feelings of the crowd without and the transactions that were passing in the building. A knot of the more curious citizens had stationed themselves on the little rise by the fountain, and watched eagerly the windows of the hall, where the banquet was just about to take place; and at length, when a loud flourish of trumpets echoed out upon the air, some of them were heard to exclaim, "Now! now they are coming to the tables!--See, see! they are passing along!--There is the Duke of Cleves; I know him by the limp in his gait; and there is the President--there is the noble President! See how he overtops them all, and how his plumes dance above the highest in the hall! Hurrah for the noble President!" and the multitude catching the sound, burst forth with a loud and universal cheer, that made the buildings around echo and re-echo with the shout.

Although, at that distance, it was difficult to distinguish the persons within, yet the shout was appropriate, for it was, indeed, Albert Maurice who--received as a guest by the states of Flanders, and the nobles and prime burghers of Ghent--was advancing to the seat prepared for him. Long consultations had been previously held in regard to where that seat was to be placed; for feudal states in general required that a marked distinction should be observed between nobles and citizens; but the druggist counselled the nobles to indulge the young citizen's pride to the utmost for that one night. The example of Artevelde--a common tradesman of that very town, who had sat and treated with the highest princes of Europe--was cited, and prevailed; and the president of Ghent took his chair by the Duke of Cleves, with Ganay, by a previous arrangement, seated beside him.

The face of the druggist was uncommonly pale. He had marked the immense concourse of people in the square; he had marked the multitude of guards and attendants that crowded the terrace and thronged the halls of the town-house; and he knew the infinite perils that attended the deed he had undertaken to perform. Whatever course events might take, he felt that fate brooded heavily over the whole splendid scene; and his small, clear dark eye wandered somewhat wildly round the hall, especially as, in following Albert Maurice towards the seat it had been arranged he was to occupy, the thundering shout of the multitude without burst upon his ear. All, however, apparently passed in tranquil ease; the whole party were seated; and the attendants of the Duke of Cleves--somewhat more numerous than necessary--drew round the upper end of the table. But as they did so, they perceived that they enclosed amongst themselves two or three strange men, against whose intrusion they remonstrated rather roughly. What the others answered was not heard, but they kept their place, and the banquet proceeded. Everything was rich and splendid, according to the custom of that time; and many a fish and many a fowl appeared upon the table, which have either lost their palatable flavour in latter days, or have been discarded by some depravity of human taste. Albert Maurice ate sparingly, and drank little; but he was more gay and cheerful than, perhaps, any one had ever seen him before; and, with the whole, there was an air of easy dignity, which left any outward difference that might be observed between himself and any of the nobles around, entirely to his advantage.

Ganay drank deep; and, as the banquet proceeded, his cheek grew flushed, and his eye sparkled more; but he was silent, absent, and thoughtful, and shrunk when the eye of Albert Maurice rested on him, even for a moment, in conversation. At length the Duke of Cleves rose, and addressed the druggist briefly, saying, "Master Ganay, you are an orator, and I am none; and besides, as one of the consuls of the good town of Ghent, the task I am going to put upon you falls more naturally to you than to me. Fill, then, yon golden chalice to the brim, and express, if you can find language to do so, the gratitude and admiration which the states of Flanders--nobles and commons alike--feel for him who has won the first successes in arms for his native country against her base invaders--successes which I trust may be but the earnest of many more."