PREPARATIONS.
Great was the merriment in Raglan Castle over the discomfiture of the
bumpkins, and many were the compliments Tom received in parlour,
nursery, kitchen, guard-room, everywhere, on the success of his
hastily-formed scheme for the chastisement of their presumption. The
household had looked for a merry time on the occasion of the wedding,
but had not expected such a full cup of delight as had been pressed out
for them betwixt the self-importance of the overweening yokels and the
inventive faculties of Tom Fool. All the evening, one standing in any
open spot of the castle might have heard, now on the one, now on the
other side, renewed bursts of merriment ripple the air; but as the still
autumn night crept on, the intervals between grew longer and longer,
until at length all sounds ceased, and silence took up her ancient
reign, broken only by the occasional stamp of a horse or howl of a
watch-dog.
But the earl, who, from simplicity of nature and peace of conscience
combined, was perhaps better fitted for the enjoyment of the joke, in a
time when such ludifications were not yet considered unsuitable to the
dignity of the highest position, than any other member of his household,
had, through it all, showed a countenance in which, although eyes, lips,
and voice shared in the laughter, there yet lurked a thoughtful doubt
concerning the result. For he knew that, in some shape or other, and
that certainly not the true one, the affair would be spread over the
country, where now prejudice against the Catholics was strong and
dangerous in proportion to the unreason of those who cherished it. Now,
also, it was becoming pretty plain that except the king yielded every
prerogative, and became the puppet which the mingled pride and
apprehension of the Parliament would have him, their differences must
ere long be referred to the arbitration of the sword, in which case
there was no shadow of doubt in the mind of the earl as to the part
befitting a peer of the realm. The king was a protestant, but no less
the king; and not this man, but his parents, had sinned in forsaking the
church--of which sin their offspring had now to bear the penalty,
reaping the whirlwind sprung from the stormy seeds by them sown. For
what were the puritans but the lawfully-begotten children of the so
called reformation, whose spirit they inherited, and in whose footsteps
they so closely followed? In the midst of such reflections, dawned
slowly in the mind of the devout old man the enchanting hope that
perhaps he might be made the messenger of God to lead back to the true
fold the wandering feet of his king. But, fail or speed in any result,
so long as his castle held together, it should stand for the king.
Faithful catholic as he was, the brave old man was English to the
backbone.
And there was no time to lose. This visit of search, let it have
originated how it might, and be as despicable in itself as it was
ludicrous in its result, showed but too clearly how strong the current
of popular feeling was setting against all the mounds of social
distinction, and not kingly prerogative alone. What preparations might
be needful, must be prudent.
That same night, then, long after the rest of the household had retired,
three men took advantage of a fine half-moon to make a circuit of the
castle, first along the counterscarp of the moat, and next along all
accessible portions of the walls and battlements. They halted often,
and, with much observation of the defences, held earnest talk together,
sometimes eagerly contending rather than disputing, but far more often
mutually suggesting and agreeing. At length one of them, whom the others
called Caspar, retired, and the earl was left with his son Edward, lord
Herbert, the only person in the castle who had gone to neither window
nor door to delight himself with the discomfiture of the parliamentary
commissioners.
They entered the long picture gallery, faintly lighted from its large
windows to the court, but chiefly from the oriel which formed the
northern end of it, where they now sat down, the earl being, for the
second time that night, weary. Behind them was a long dim line of
portraits, broken only by the great chimney-piece supported by human
figures, all of carved stone, and before them, nearly as dim, was the
moon-massed landscape--a lovely view of the woodland, pasture, and red
tilth to the northward of the castle.
They sat silent for a while, and the younger said:
'I fear you are fatigued, my lord. It is late for you to be out of bed;
nature is mortal.'
'Thou sayest well; nature is mortal, my son. But therein lies the
comfort--it cannot last. It were hard to say whether of the two houses
stands the more in need of the hand of the maker.'
'Were it not for villanous saltpetre, my lord, the castle would hold out
well enough.'
'And were it not for villanous gout, which is a traitor within it, I see
not why this other should not hold out as long. Be sure, Herbert, I
shall not render the keep for the taking of the outworks.'
'I fear,' said his son, wishing to change the subject, 'this part where
we now are is the most liable to hurt from artillery.'
'Yes, but the ground in front is not such as they would readiest plant
it upon,' said the earl. 'Do not let us forecast evil, only prepare for
it.'
'We shall do our best, my lord--with your lordship's good counsel to
guide us.'
'You shall lack nothing, Herbert, that either counsel or purse of mine
may reach unto.'
'I thank your lordship, for much depends upon both. And so I fear will
his majesty find--if it comes to the worst.'
A brief pause followed.
'Thinkest thou not, Herbert,' said the earl, slowly and thoughtfully,
'it ill suits that a subject should have and to spare, and his liege go
begging?'
'My father is pleased to say so.'
'I am but evil pleased to say so. Bethink thee, son--what man can be
pleased to part with his money? And while my king is poor, I must be
rich for him. Thou wilt not accuse me, Herbert, after I am gone to the
rest, that I wasted thy substance, lad?'
'So long as you still keep wherewithal to give, I shall be content, my
lord.'
'Well, time will show. I but tell thee what runneth in my mind, for thou
and I, Herbert, have bosomed no secrets. I will to bed. We must go the
round again to-morrow--with the sun to hold as a candle.'
The next day the same party made a similar circuit three times--in the
morning, at noon, and in the evening--that the full light might uncover
what the shadows had hid, and that the shadows might show what a
perpendicular light could not reveal. There is all the difference as to
discovery whether a thing is lying under the shadow of another, or
casting one of its own.
After this came a review of the outer fortifications--if, indeed, they
were worthy of the name--enclosing the gardens, the old tilting yard,
now used as a bowling-green, the home-farmyard, and other such outlying
portions under the stewardship of sir Ralph Blackstone and the
governorship of Charles Somerset, the earl's youngest son. It was here
that the most was wanted; and the next few days were chiefly spent in
surveying these works, and drawing plans for their extension,
strengthening, and connection--especially about the stables, armourer's
shop, and smithy, where the building of new defences was almost
immediately set on foot.
A thorough examination of the machinery of the various portcullises and
drawbridges followed; next an overhauling of the bolts, chains, and
other defences of the gates. Then came an inspection of the ordnance,
from cannons down to drakes, through a gradation of names as uncouth to
our ears, and as unknown to the artillery descended from them, as many
of the Christian names of the puritans are to their descendants of the
present day. At length, to conclude the inspection, lord Herbert and the
master of the armoury held consultation with the head armourer, and the
mighty accumulation of weapons of all sorts was passed under the most
rigid scrutiny; many of them were sent to the forge, and others carried
to the ground-floor of the keep.
Presently, things began to look busy in a quiet way about the place. Men
were at work blasting the rocks in a quarry not far off, whence laden
carts went creeping to the castle; but this was oftener in the night.
Some of them drove into the paved court, for here and there a buttress
was wanted inside, and of the battlements not a few were weather-beaten
and out of repair. These the earl would have let alone, on the ground
that they were no longer more than ornamental, and therefore had better
be repaired AFTER the siege, if such should befall, for the big guns
would knock them about like cards; but Caspar reminded him that every
time the ball from a cannon, culvering, or saker missed the parapet, it
remained a sufficient bar to the bullet that might equally avail to
carry off the defenceless gunner. The earl, however, although he
yielded, maintained that the flying of the wall when struck was a more
than counterbalancing danger.
The stock of provisions began to increase. The dry larder, which lay
under the court, between the kitchen and buttery, was by degrees filled
with gammons and flitches of bacon, well dried and smoked. Wheat,
barley, oats, and pease were stored in the granary, and potatoes in a
pit dug in the orchard.
Strange faces in the guard-room caused wonderings and questions amongst
the women. The stables began to fill with horses, and 'more man' to go
about the farmyard and outhouses.