[Decoration]
_LONDON_
_John Lane The Bodley Head Limited_
_New York John Lane Company_
_First Published 1898_
_Illustrated Edition 1921_
_Printed In Great Britain by R. Clay & Sons, Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk._
_List of Illustrations_
"Now That we have been properly introduced
allow me to apologise" _Frontispiece_
_Facing page_
"You see I am Familiar with the Routine....
Good-morning, Gentlemen!" 8
"Au revoir, Sir! If you should happen to be in
the Market-place any Morning" 28
Endeavouring to convey the Tardy Prisoner to the
Scaffold 32
"Nay, pardon me, Sweet One, 'twas but a Jest
of Mine" 36
But at this point a Hubbub arose at the Foot of
the Scaffold 42
"Now, mark my Words, you Miserable Little
Bladder-o'-Lard, see if I don't take this
out of your Skin presently" 44
An Invitation arrived, backed by an Escort of
Half-a-dozen very Tall Archers 46
_The Headswoman_
[Illustration]
I
It was a bland, sunny morning of a mediaeval May,--an old-style May of
the most typical quality; and the Council of the little town of St.
Radegonde were assembled, as was their wont at that hour, in the
picturesque upper chamber of the Hotel de Ville, for the dispatch of the
usual municipal business. Though the date was early sixteenth century,
the members of this particular town-council possessed considerable
resemblance to those of similar assemblies in the seventeenth,
eighteenth, and even the nineteenth centuries, in a general absence of
any characteristic at all--unless a pervading hopeless insignificance
can be considered as such. All the character in the room, indeed, seemed
to be concentrated in the girl who stood before the table, erect, yet at
her ease, facing the members in general and Mr. Mayor in particular; a
delicate-handed, handsome girl of some eighteen summers, whose tall,
supple figure was well set off by the quiet, though tasteful mourning in
which she was clad.
"Well, gentlemen," the Mayor was saying, "this little business appears
to be--er--quite in order, and it only remains for me to--er--review the
facts. You are aware that the town has lately had the misfortune to
lose its executioner,--a gentleman who, I may say, performed the duties
of his office with neatness and dispatch, and gave the fullest
satisfaction to all with whom he--er--came in contact. But the Council
has already, in a vote of condolence, expressed its sense of
the--er--striking qualities of the deceased. You are doubtless also
aware that the office is hereditary, being secured to a particular
family in this town, so long as any one of its members is ready and
willing to take it up. The deed lies before me, and appears to
be--er--quite in order. It is true that on this occasion the Council
might have been called upon to consider and examine the title of the
claimant, the late lamented official having only left a daughter,--she
who now stands before you; but I am happy to say that Jeanne--the young
lady in question--with what I am bound to call great good-feeling on
her part, has saved us all trouble in that respect, by formally applying
for the family post, with all its--er--duties, privileges, and
emoluments; and her application appears to be--er--quite in order. There
is, therefore, under the circumstances, nothing left for us to do but to
declare the said applicant duly elected. I would wish, however, before
I--er--sit down, to make it quite clear to the--er--fair petitioner,
that if a laudable desire to save the Council trouble in the matter has
led her to a--er--hasty conclusion, it is quite open to her to
reconsider her position. Should she determine not to press her claim,
the succession to the post would then apparently devolve upon her cousin
Enguerrand, well known to you all as a practising advocate in the courts
of this town. Though the youth has not, I admit, up to now proved a
conspicuous success in the profession he has chosen, still there is no
reason why a bad lawyer should not make an excellent executioner; and in
view of the close friendship--may I even say attachment?--existing
between the cousins, it is possible that this young lady may, in due
course, practically enjoy the solid emoluments of the position without
the necessity of discharging its (to some girls) uncongenial duties. And
so, though not the rose herself, she would still be--er--near the rose!"
And the Mayor resumed his seat, chuckling over his little pleasantry,
which the keener wits of the Council proceeded to explain at length to
the more obtuse.
"Permit me, Mr. Mayor," said the girl quietly, "first to thank you for
what was evidently the outcome of a kindly though misdirected feeling on
your part; and then to set you right as to the grounds of my application
for the post to which you admit my hereditary claim. As to my cousin,
your conjecture as to the feeling between us is greatly exaggerated; and
I may further say at once, from my knowledge of his character, that he
is little qualified either to adorn or to dignify an important position
such as this. A man who has achieved such indifferent success in a minor
and less exacting walk of life, is hardly likely to shine in an
occupation demanding punctuality, concentration, judgment,--all the
qualities, in fine, that go to make a good business man. But this is
beside the question. My motive, gentlemen, in demanding what is my due,
is a simple and (I trust) an honest one, and I desire that there should
be no misunderstanding. It is my wish to be dependent on no one. I am
both willing and able to work, and I only ask for what is the common
right of humanity,--admission to the labour market. How many poor,
toiling women would simply jump at a chance like this which fortune, by
the accident of birth, lays open to me! And shall I, from any false
deference to that conventional voice which proclaims this thing as
'nice,' and that thing as 'not nice,' reject a handicraft which promises
me both artistic satisfaction and a competence? No, gentlemen; my claim
is a small one,--only a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. But I can
accept nothing less, nor consent to forgo my rights, even for any
contingent remainder of possible cousinly favour!"
There was a touch of scorn in her fine contralto voice as she finished
speaking; the Mayor himself beamed approval. He was not wealthy, and had
a large family of daughters; so Jeanne's sentiments seemed to him
entirely right and laudable.
"Well, gentlemen," he began briskly, "then all we've got to do, is
to----"
"Beg pardon, your worship," put in Master Robinet, the tanner, who had
been sitting with a petrified, Bill-the-Lizard sort of expression during
the speechifying: "but are we to understand as how this here young lady
is going to be the public executioner of this here town?"
"Really, neighbour Robinet," said the Mayor, somewhat pettishly, "you've
got ears like the rest of us, I suppose; and you know the contents of
the deed; and you've had my assurance that it's--er--quite in order; and
as it's getting towards lunch-time----"
"But it's unheard of," protested honest Robinet. "There hasn't ever been
no such thing--leastways not as I've heard tell."
[Illustration: "You see I am familiar with the routine....
Good-morning, Gentlemen!"]
"Well, well, well," said the Mayor, "everything must have a beginning, I
suppose. Times are different now, you know. There's the march of
intellect, and--er--all that sort of thing. We must advance with the
times--don't you see, Robinet?--advance with the times!"
"Well, I'm----" began the tanner.
But no one heard, on this occasion, the tanner's opinion as to his
condition, physical or spiritual; for the clear contralto cut short his
obtestations.
"If there's really nothing more to be said, Mr. Mayor," she remarked, "I
need not trespass longer on your valuable time. I propose to take up the
duties of my office to-morrow morning, at the usual hour. The salary
will, I assume, be reckoned from the same date; and I shall make the
customary quarterly application for such additional emoluments as may
have accrued to me during that period. You see I am familiar with the
routine. Good-morning, gentlemen!" And as she passed from the Council
chamber, her small head held erect, even the tanner felt that she took
with her a large portion of the May sunshine which was condescending
that morning to gild their deliberations.