THE ANTECHAMBER.
As Warwick passed the door that led from the garden, he brushed by a
young man, the baudekin stripes of whose vest announced his
relationship to the king, and who, though far less majestic than
Edward, possessed sufficient of family likeness to pass for a very
handsome and comely person; but his countenance wanted the open and
fearless expression which gave that of the king so masculine and
heroic a character. The features were smaller, and less clearly cut,
and to a physiognomical observer there was much that was weak and
irresolute in the light blue eyes and the smiling lips which never
closed firmly over the teeth. He did not wear the long gown then so
much in vogue, but his light figure was displayed to advantage by a
vest, fitting it exactly, descending half-way down the thigh, and
trimmed at the border and the collar with ermine. The sleeves of the
doublet were slit, so as to show the white lawn beneath, and adorned
with aiglets and knots of gold.
Over the left arm hung a rich jacket of furs and velvet, something
like that adopted by the modern hussar. His hat, or cap, was high and
tiara-like, with a single white plume, and the ribbon of the Garter
bound his knee. Though the dress of this personage was thus far less
effeminate than Edward's, the effect of his appearance was infinitely
more so,--partly, perhaps, from a less muscular frame, and partly from
his extreme youth; for George Duke of Clarence was then, though
initiated not only in the gayeties, but all the intrigues of the
court, only in his eighteenth year. Laying his hand, every finger of
which sparkled with jewels, on the earl's shoulder--"Hold!" said the
young prince, in a whisper, "a word in thy ear, noble Warwick!"
The earl, who, next to Edward, loved Clarence the most of his princely
House, and who always found the latter as docile as the other (when
humour or affection seized him) was intractable, relaxed into a
familiar smile at the duke's greeting, and suffered the young prince
to draw him aside from the groups of courtiers with whom the chamber
was filled, to the leaning-places (as they were called) of a large
mullion window. In the mean while, as they thus conferred, the
courtiers interchanged looks, and many an eye of fear and hate was
directed towards the stately form of the earl. For these courtiers
were composed principally of the kindred or friends of the queen, and
though they dared not openly evince the malice with which they
retorted Warwick's lofty scorn and undisguised resentment at their new
fortunes, they ceased not to hope for his speedy humiliation and
disgrace, reeking little what storm might rend the empire, so that it
uprooted the giant oak, which still in some measure shaded their
sunlight and checked their growth. True, however, that amongst these
were mingled, though rarely, men of a hardier stamp and nobler birth,
--some few of the veteran friends of the king's great father; and
these, keeping sternly and loftily aloof from the herd, regarded
Warwick with the same almost reverential and yet affectionate
admiration which he inspired amongst the yeomen, peasants, and
mechanics,--for in that growing but quiet struggle of the burgesses,
as it will often happen in more civilized times, the great Aristocracy
and the Populace were much united in affection, though with very
different objects; and the Middle and Trading Class, with whom the
earl's desire for French alliances and disdain of commerce had much
weakened his popularity, alone shared not the enthusiasm of their
countrymen for the lion-hearted minister.
Nevertheless, it must here be owned that the rise of Elizabeth's
kindred introduced a far more intellectual, accomplished, and literary
race into court favour than had for many generations flourished in so
uncongenial a soil: and in this ante-chamber feud, the pride of
education and mind retaliated with juster sarcasm the pride of birth
and sinews.
Amongst those opposed to the earl, and fit in all qualities to be the
head of the new movement,--if the expressive modern word be allowed
us,--stood at that moment in the very centre of the chamber Anthony
Woodville, in right of the rich heiress he had married the Lord
Scales. As, when some hostile and formidable foe enters the meads
where the flock grazes, the gazing herd gather slowly round their
leader, so grouped the queen's faction slowly, and by degrees, round
this accomplished nobleman, at the prolonged sojourn of Warwick.
"Gramercy!" said the Lord Scales, in a somewhat affected intonation of
voice, "the conjunction of the bear and the young lion is a parlous
omen, for the which I could much desire we had a wise astrologer's
reading."
"It is said," observed one of the courtiers, "that the Duke of
Clarence much affects either the lands or the person of the Lady
Isabel."
"A passably fair damozel," returned Anthony, "though a thought or so
too marked and high in her lineaments, and wholly unlettered, no
doubt; which were a pity, for George of Clarence has some pretty taste
in the arts and poesies. But as Occleve hath it--
'Gold, silver, jewel, cloth, beddyng, array,'
would make gentle George amorous of a worse-featured face than high-
nosed Isabel; 'strange to spell or rede,' as I would wager my best
destrier to a tailor's hobby, the damozel surely is."
"Notest thou yon gaudy popinjay?" whispered the Lord of St. John to
one of his Towton comrades, as, leaning against the wall, they
overheard the sarcasms of Anthony, and the laugh of the courtiers, who
glassed their faces and moods to his. "Is the time so out of joint
that Master Anthony Woodville can vent his scurrile japes on the
heiress of Salisbury and Warwick in the king's chamber?"
"And prate of spelling and reading as if they were the cardinal
virtues?" returned his sullen companion. "By my halidame, I have two
fair daughters at home who will lack husbands, I trow, for they can
only spin and be chaste,--two maidenly gifts out of bloom with the
White Rose."
In the mean while, unwitting, or contemptuous, of the attention they
excited, Warwick and Clarence continued yet more earnestly to confer.
"No, George, no," said the earl, who, as the descendant of John of
Gaunt, and of kin to the king's blood, maintained, in private, a
father's familiarity with the princes of York, though on state
occasions, and when in the hearing of others, he sedulously marked his
deference for their rank--"no, George, calm and steady thy hot mettle,
for thy brother's and England's sake. I grieve as much as thou to
hear that the queen does not spare even thee in her froward and
unwomanly peevishness. But there is a glamour in this, believe me,
that must melt away soon or late, and our kingly Edward recover his
senses."
"Glamour!" said Clarence; "thinkest thou, indeed, that her mother,
Jacquetta, has bewitched the king? One word of thy belief in such
spells, spread abroad amongst the people, would soon raise the same
storm that blew Eleanor Cobham from Duke Humphrey's bed, along London
streets in her penance-shift."
"Troth," said the earl, indifferently, "I leave such grave questions
as these to prelate and priest; the glamour I spoke of is that of a
fair face over a wanton heart; and Edward is not so steady a lover
that this should never wear out."
"It amates me much, noble cousin, that thou leavest the court in this
juncture. The queen's heart is with Burgundy, the city's hate is with
France; and when once thou art gone, I fear that the king will be
teased into mating my sister with the Count of Charolois."
"Ho!" exclaimed Warwick, with an oath so loud that it rung through the
chamber, and startled every ear that heard it. Then, perceiving his
indiscretion, he lowered his tone into a deep and hollow whisper, and
griped the prince's arm almost fiercely as he spoke.
"Could Edward so dishonour my embassy, so palter and juggle with my
faith, so flout me in the eyes of Christendom, I would--I would--" he
paused, and relaxed his hold of the duke, and added, with an altered
voice--"I would leave his wife and his lemans, and yon things of silk,
whom he makes peers (that is easy) but cannot make men, to guard his
throne from the grandson of Henry V. But thy fears, thy zeal, thy
love for me, dearest prince and cousin, make thee misthink Edward's
kingly honour and knightly faith. I go with the sure knowledge that
by alliance with France I shut the House of Lancaster from all hope of
this roiaulme."
"Hadst thou not better, at least, see my sister Margaret? She has a
high spirit, and she thinks thou mightest, at least, woo her assent,
and tell her of the good gifts of her lord to be!"
"Are the daughters of York spoiled to this by the manners and guise of
a court, in which beshrew me if I well know which the woman and whom
the man? Is it not enough to give peace to broad England, root to her
brother's stem? Is it not enough to wed the son of a king, the
descendant of Charlemagne and Saint Louis? Must I go bonnet in hand
and simper forth the sleek personals of the choice of her kith and
House; swear the bridegroom's side-locks are as long as King Edward's,
and that he bows with the grace of Master Anthony Woodville? Tell her
this thyself, gentle Clarence, if thou wilt: all Warwick could say
would but anger her ear, if she be the maid thou bespeakest her."
The Duke of Clarence hesitated a moment, and then, colouring slightly,
said, "If, then, the daughter's hand be the gift of her kith alone,
shall I have thy favour when the Lady Isabel--"
"George," interrupted Warwick, with a fond and paternal smile, "when
we have made England safe, there is nothing the son of Richard of York
can ask of Warwick in vain. Alas!" he added mournfully, "thy father
and mine were united in the same murtherous death, and I think they
will smile down on us from their seats in heaven when a happier
generation cements that bloody union with a marriage bond!"
Without waiting for further parlance, the earl turned suddenly away,
threw his cap on his towering head, and strode right through the
centre of the whispering courtiers, who shrunk, louting low, from his
haughty path, to break into a hubbub of angry exclamations or
sarcastic jests at his unmannerly bearing, as his black plume
disappeared in the arch of the vaulted door.
While such the scene in the interior chambers of the palace,
Marmaduke, with the frank simpleness which belonged to his youth and
training, had already won much favour and popularity, and he was
laughing loud with a knot of young men by the shovel-board when
Warwick re-entered. The earl, though so disliked by the courtiers
more immediately about the person of the king, was still the favourite
of the less elevated knights and gentry who formed the subordinate
household and retainers; and with these, indeed, his manner, so proud
and arrogant to his foes and rivals, relapsed at once into the ease of
the manly and idolized chief. He was pleased to see the way made by
his young namesake, and lifting his cap, as he nodded to the group and
leaned his arm upon Marmaduke's shoulder, he said, "Thanks, and hearty
thanks, to you, knights and gentles, for your courteous reception of
an old friend's young son. I have our king's most gracious permission
to see him enrolled one of the court you grace. Ah, Master Falconer,
and how does thy worthy uncle?--braver knight never trod. What young
gentleman is yonder?--a new face and a manly one; by your favour,
present him. The son of a Savile! Sir, on my return, be not the only
Savile who shuns our table of Warwick Court. Master Dacres, commend
me to the lady, your mother; she and I have danced many a measure
together in the old time,--we all live again in our children. Good
den to you, sirs. Marmaduke, follow me to the office,--you lodge in
the palace. You are gentleman to the most gracious and, if Warwick
lives, to the most puissant of Europe's sovereigns. I shall see
Montagu at home; he shall instruct thee in thy duties, and requite
thee for all discourtesies on the archery-ground."