How the Lady Gabrielle, and the Lady Blanchefleur, were
carried away by the Moorish Prince.
Some weeks had now past since the departure of Sir Folko, when one
evening the three ladies were walking along the sea-shore, discoursing
together, and enjoying the cool breezes from the water. “Methinks,
Blanchefleur,” said Bertha, “your brother has not done well to leave
the Moorish prince here alone with us in the castle, especially as
the stranger continues to maintain that he is no longer bound by the
conditions on which he came. You know he speaks in jest; but I own,
that I distrust him mightily, and feel a certain horror, which I cannot
well describe, at his presence.” “There we listen again to the grave
German damsel,” said Gabrielle, “so precise, and so demurely timid!
There are few knights, this you must at least confess, who surpass,
or even equal, this noble Mutza in courtesy of manners, princely
demeanour, or ingenious and witty discourse. Besides, I have seldom
seen any man so handsome, and, methinks, he is now by far the most
brilliant ornament of our lonely castle.”
“Handsome!” replied Bertha, slowly and reflectingly; “are you both of
that mind? When I calmly reflect on the matter, I cannot indeed say
that you are in the wrong; though I, for my own part, should never
have thought so. Mark you, he is tall indeed, slender, has fine eyes,
a high forehead, and majestic gait. Moreover, when he dances the
toca, with his turban loose and fluttering about him, it is doubtless
a pleasure to look upon him, and he is like what we read of in old
fables, starting into real life before us; but, strange as you may
think my fancies, when smiling, as if in scorn and triumph, he opens
his lips, and shews his long white teeth, I feel almost as if I had
beside me a half-tamed tiger! The tiger too is said to be a beautiful
creature,--only for my part I wish not for any such companion!”
“And what says Blanchefleur to all this?” said Gabrielle. Whereupon
that beautiful damsel started as if awoke from a dream, and said,--“I
know not certainly who is approaching us; but, even now, I heard
again the same pleasant sounds from the rocks on the sea-shore!”
Both her companions laughed at perceiving how her thoughts wandered
from the subjects on which they had spoken; but, ere long, they were
themselves hindered from continuing their discourse; for they heard in
truth a soft sound of music, which came from the direction to which
Blanchefleur had pointed across the water. They thought they could
even distinguish words expressing the deep ardent longing of a lover
separated from his mistress, wishing for wings that he might be borne
across the seas towards her, and then ending with notes of melancholy
and despair, because this was impossible! The tones melted away, and
Blanchefleur said, with tears in her eyes, “Thus I often hear him sing.
Even by moonlight, at dead of night, I have heard his voice coming
to me through the flowers and vine-leaves at my window. Am I right,
dearest sister? Can it be the voice of Aleard?”
There was no time to answer; for, lo! among the trees before them,
were now visible, tall figures of men, strangely attired, and with
long beards, who stood still, and spoke vehemently, pointing all the
while to the three ladies, as if these were the subjects of their
conversation. The damsels were terrified, and wished to return home;
but, on looking round, they perceived, on the top of a hill, more
of the same figures, precisely in the direction of their homeward
path. Some of these frightful men on the hill immediately rushed down
with supernatural rapidity, and, as if to aid the plans of those who
were still among the trees, took their stations on the other side;
so that all attempt at escape would now have been utterly vain. Then
they approached with an air of the greatest respect, with their hands
crossed over their breasts, and their heads declined almost to the
ground; though, as their disordered locks hung over their features,
their appearance was thus rendered more hideous than ever. At last,
behold! Prince Mutza stepped forward from among them, now dressed
in more than usual magnificence, gleaming with gold and jewels, and
followed by two youths, also in the Arabian garb, and nearly as
splendid in appearance as the prince. “Do not blame me,” said he,
bowing to Gabrielle, “if I now say that I must go from hence; nor
tremble when I add, that you must bear me company! With us you will
enjoy a life of magnificence and pleasure; and, for my support in this
adventure, I have sent for these two handsome knights, assuring them,
that they would here find ladies even more beautiful than the Houris of
Mahomet. Have I kept my word?” added he, looking to his companions, one
of whom now kneeled down before Blanchefleur, who, pale with terror,
clung to the arm of Gabrielle; while the other, in like manner, paid
his court to Bertha, who scornfully turned from him, and hastily ran up
to the remains of an aged stone altar, on which there yet stood an old
moss-grown crucifix. It was a pleasure to look upon her, and mark how
she held the cross firmly with her left arm, while with the right, she
made signs to the young Arab to be gone, and gazed thoughtfully up to
the deep azure vault of heaven.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle had again recovered her recollection and power
of speech, and in vehement tones expressed her indignation at the
Prince Mutza; inasmuch as he had insulted the confidence reposed
in him by his noble host, and also broken his own word of honour,
solemnly pledged, when he came thither as a hostage and a prisoner.
“As to my word of honour, pledged to the Chevalier de Montfaucon,”
answered the Moor, “I have twice in his own presence declared that
I was no longer bound by any such contract; and if your dazzling
beauty, noble lady, has since then completely blinded me and led me
astray, who shall question me on the consequences? I must act, in
the first place, according to my own sense of justice; and in the
second, according as your irresistible charms compel me to do.” With
these words, he took Gabrielle in his arms; and, notwithstanding her
loud cries for help, bore her down to the sea-shore, where a boat was
already prepared by his people. Blanchefleur, during this adventure,
had sunk into complete forgetfulness of all that had passed; for she
had fainted; and the young Arab, who had knelt before her, took her in
his arms, and followed his prince and leader. However, when the rest
of the Moorish party, now become more than ever bold and determined,
stept up to the Lady Bertha, she called out in a loud severe tone,
“I take God and man, heaven and earth to witness, that here, on this
day, a deed of violence, a deed of shameful wickedness and dishonour,
is committed! Whether a miracle shall be wrought to check or hinder
its achievement I know not yet. But beware, cowards as you are, thus
triumphing over the defenceless; for such a miracle may come to pass,
when you think yourselves most secure and independent. I say this to
you with confidence, that whoever dares to tear me from the sacred
place on which I now stand, to your pirate-ship, will draw down the
wrath of Heaven upon his own head.” The Moorish knight looked on her
as she stood clinging to the cross, illumined by the ruby light of the
setting sun, and recoiled as if terrified from her reproaches. His
soldiers, too, without saying a word, retreated to the shore; and
when Bertha once more made him a sign, with her uplifted right arm,
he exclaimed,--“She is more like a ghost than a mortal woman!” So he
left her with precipitation, and fled to the boat, which immediately
afterwards began to ply its oars and depart from the coast.
Still the enthusiastic damsel had retained her place on the altar, when
a youth, in the dress of a minstrel, with features deadly pale, and his
hair dishevelled, came running along the sea-shore towards her. “In
God’s name!” cried he, “tell me, I beseech you, have the Moors made a
captive of Blanchefleur?” And scarcely had she answered “Yes,” when,
in the hurried tone of distraction, he addressed her, “Send then a
messenger with a fleet horse to her brother in Normandy! I must find
means to follow the Moors! Remember this, that not a moment must be
lost!” Thereupon he ran away as quickly as he had come; and not till
after he had vanished from her sight did the Lady Bertha remember that
it was the minstrel, Aleard, with whom she had then spoken.