Mary of Burgundy; or, The Revolt of Ghent

by G. P. R. James

For an instant his lip curled with a proud and satisfied smile; and everything was forgotten, but that bright bubble--success. But, as he sat, a sort of lassitude came over him; his eye fell casually on the spot where the druggist Ganay had lain, convulsed in the agonies of death; and, by a caprice of the imagination, the same face which had then appeared streaked with ghastly blood, and contorted with the pangs of dissolution, was presented to his memory, as he had seen it in former days, speaking the words of hope to his own ear, and cheering him on the path of enterprise and ambition.

Touched by the magic wand of association, the splendid objects which he had just been contemplating began to change their form and lose their brightness. A dull weight of thought seemed to fall upon him, and his utmost efforts would not throw it off. It seemed as if some fiend, in bitter mockery, resolved to conjure up the faces of the dead, and to torture his heart with painful recollections, even in the hour of triumph. To the form of the druggist, next succeeded, before the eye of fancy, that of the Duke of Gueldres, dyeing the green sward with his blood; and then, the shifting picture of the mind presented the same prince as when first, with buoyant joy, he came to thank him for his liberation. Next appeared Imbercourt and Hugonet, bending to the stroke of the executioner: and then, he beheld them as they had appeared at the council, when he had been examined on the accusation of the Prevot; while the calm, grave, noble countenance of Imbercourt was seen pleading eagerly in exculpation of him, who had since worked out the death of his defender.

"So many, in so short a time!" thought Albert Maurice. "Yet have they died, each for his own misdeeds; and I have sacrificed them--ay, and with pain--for the good of my country alone!"

He almost started at the vehemence with which conscience gave the lie to so base a delusion. "For the good of my country alone!" he thought again. "Nay--nay--nay--for my own ambition. What--what act have I done yet, for the good of my country alone? None, alas! none! and even now, perhaps--even now, when ambition has swallowed up all--when I have reached the very pinnacle of success--perhaps the only one I have suffered to escape--perhaps yon Duke of Cleves is even now plotting to deprive me of the only reward that can wipe away every evil memory, repay every effort, tranquillize every pain, and render success a blessing indeed. But he shall plot in vain; and if he dare to plot, by the Lord that lives, he shall die!"

"Ho! without there!" he continued, aloud. "Bring me a hat and cloak! Oh, good Matthew Gournay--I had forgot," he added, as he saw who it was that answered his summons--"this very night your noble lord shall be set free. But I must see him myself; I have tidings for him which will glad his heart. You, too, shall not be forgotten; and though I know, gold can never pay such services as yours, yet there are other means within my power. This very night we will set free your lord. In all the turbulence of the past evening, I had forgot what I should have remembered. No, no, boy"--he added, to the page who brought him a high-plumed bonnet and richly decorated cloak--"these vestments I have on are all too fine already. I must conceal my rank--my station in the city, I should say. Get me some servant's cloak and hat. Be quick! 'Tis nearly ten."

The President mused thoughtfully till the boy returned; and honest Matthew Gournay, seeing that deep and agitating thoughts were engrossing all his attention, stood quietly gazing on the spot where he had slain the unhappy Ganay, and wondering that any man should take the trouble of poisoning another, when he might rid himself of his enemy so easily by the dagger or the sword.

At length the hat and cloak were brought; and Albert Maurice drew the one round his person, and the other over his brow. "Now, Matthew Gournay," he said, "take five-and-twenty men, and bid them follow me by separate ways to the palace. There wait till I come. I will be in the square almost as soon as you; and after I have spent some ten minutes in transacting business which admits of no delay, we will go on and liberate your good lord."

The ring which Matthew Gournay had received from his young lord, acted with the magic effect of some talisman in an Eastern tale; and whatever commands he received from Albert Maurice, he obeyed at once, with unquestioning alacrity. The five-and-twenty men were soon summoned--for the whole force of the free companions had been poured into the town of Ghent, during the evening, by means of the gate which, as we have seen, the followers of the President had secured on his first entering the city. A few brief words directed them by different ways to the palace; and--passing through the various crowds which had been gathered together for the entertainment in the square, and which were now discussing, in eager tones, the events that had taken place in the town-house--the men selected to accompany, or rather to follow, the young citizen, soon made their way to the gates of the palace. That part of the town was nearly deserted, and the little square before the Cours du Prince was void and solitary, except where, nearly in the midst, a tall, dark figure, with its arms crossed upon its chest, stood gazing up at the building. All was quiet, and calm, and dark, along the facade of the palace, except where, here and there, from some of the long narrow windows, a stream of tremulous light broke upon the night.

For several minutes the figure continued to gaze, apparently fixing its glance earnestly upon one part of the building. But at length perceiving the number of soldiers collecting before the gate, Albert Maurice--for he it was, who had outwalked his followers--advanced, and after speaking a few words to Matthew Gournay, demanded admission from the warder of the fortified gate. He gave his name and station, and urged business of importance as an excuse for the lateness of his visit. The warder replied in a tone of humble deference, which circumstances had compelled the proud soldiers of Burgundy to learn in speaking to the once contemned burghers of Ghent, telling him that he would willingly admit him, but that, as his orders had been very strict for the last week, he must detain him at the gate while he caused the princess to be informed of the fact.

Albert Maurice made no objection, and remained, musing with a downcast countenance, across which the shadows of many emotions were passing, that he would not willingly have shown to the eye of open day. As calm and tranquil as a summer's morning, he had sat his horse in the midst of battle and conflict. Calmly, too, he had remained beside the man who was mixing a cup of poison for his lip, and preparing the dagger if the cup should fail. But now every nerve thrilled, and his heart beat like a coward's, though he was but to meet a fair and gentle girl, whose fate might almost be said to rest in his own hands. He had hoped, and he had dreamt, through many a long day; and various circumstances had combined to give those hopes and dreams a tangible foundation and a definite form. But now that the moment approached when they were to be realized or destroyed for ever, they faded all away into fears and anxieties.