HOW TORFRIDA WAS STOLEN
So they stayed some months at the court of Lothian, and Torfrida had a
house set apart for her and maids to wait and do her bidding and had full
liberty to walk about freely, but she saw little of Feargus, for he was
much away on the king’s business. And Feargus knew not how they might
get away from these parts, and wondered much how it fared with Edwy and
Sigmund.
And one evening it chanced that Torfrida was walking late in her garden
when of a sudden from the hedgerows on either side burst armed men with
their faces masked. Torfrida, being surprised, stood still for a moment,
when she was seized from behind and a cloth cast about her, then strong
hands lifted her and she was borne away till they came to where seemed to
be horses waiting. She was then taken up and borne on the saddle before
the rider, and they rode for many miles over much uneven ground. She
could hear that on either side and behind her were horsemen. At length
they drew up, then Torfrida heard the noise of a drawbridge and the tramp
of the hoofs of the beasts as they rode across; then it was drawn up
behind them and at the sound the heart fell within her. They carried her
into the castle, for such she deemed it wherein she was. The cloth was
now withdrawn from her head and she saw that she was in a large chamber,
handsomely furnished and hung around with rich tapestry, and with her was
a stout woman in the dress of a servant.
“Oh, where am I, why have they brought me here?” said she.
“Thou art safe, lady; they have brought thee here because my master, the
prince, has loved thee since the day they took thee to the king with yon
great man thy squire.”
“Oh, tell me who is thy master? I know him not.”
“Weep not, lady; my master is right comely.”
“What is his comeliness to me?”
“Nay, thou hast seen him, but thou wouldst not look upon him, so he was
angered, and he knew that his father, the king, set too much store by
thy knight to let him take thee from him, even if he had a wish to fight
thy lord, which methinketh few men about the king have. So he cast round
for a way to win thee, and none other could he think of but the taking
of thee in this wise—but there, I am telling thee too much. It matters
little, for I am sent, my lady, to tell thee that my master, prince
Siegfried, wills to wed thee to-night—for he fears to lose thee still;
even now the priest awaits thy coming, and the feast is spread.”
Torfrida groaned aloud.
“As thou art a woman I beg thee to let me hence. Let me go out into the
mountains and the woods that the wild beasts may devour me.”
“Nay, thou art over young and comely, and I would not if I could, for it
would be shame.”
“Nay, good woman, not shame as great as mine will be when this wild beast
thou speakest of, thy master, comes. Let me hence and amongst the hills
and moors I may find men who speak the Gaelic tongue and will befriend
me.”
“Nay, thou art in the hills here and all the men about Glencorse and
Bonaly are adread of the prince and this new castle, and thou wouldst
lose thyself and be drowned in the bogs that surround us long before any
of the Pictland men could succour thee, for hills encompass Glencorse on
every side and the paths are hard to find to a stranger. And they would
quickly follow thee with dogs and men and there would be no escape.”
“Oh, say not so, good woman, for I could slay myself by leaping into the
burn or into the bog—it were easy.”
“Nay, vex not thyself, child. Thou wilt soon be reconciled. And if I
let thee free, then would the prince be so angry that he would turn me
into the night, if he did not slay me, and I am old and the fireside is
my place, and I have neither kith nor kin to shelter me in this wild
country.”
“Nay, then, if thou fearest for thyself let me escape on to the
battlements and I will throw myself from them and thy master will never
know thou hast shown me the way, but will believe I have escaped from
thee. And I will give thee these rings and this collar of gold worth a
king’s ransom, an thou wilt be rich.” And Torfrida threw herself on the
ground and clasped and kissed the woman’s feet.
“Nay, rise, sweet girl, for I lack courage for this thing thou askest. I
would serve thee if I could for never have I seen any woman so modest and
so comely as thou art. Greet no more and have no fear, for the prince is
mad for love of thee and will let no harm befall thee, but will wed thee
and make thee lady of his house and the queen of all his lands.”
Now Torfrida saw that she could not move the woman and she arose and bade
her leave her, and the woman went. Then Torfrida ran round the room to
see whether there were any hope of escape, but the windows were small
and set high up on the walls, and across them were stout iron bars. Now
she saw that the walls were built of huge logs of wood and were of great
thickness, and from the windows were hangings of heavy tapestry. In the
wide chimney upon a stone slab fixed into the earth floor burnt a fire
of wood. Torfrida drew forth a burning faggot and then stepped to the
windows and set the hangings alight, then she ran to the tapestry on the
walls and did the like. In an instant there was a roar that frightened
her and she screamed; she could not help it, as a sheet of flame shot up
the walls. Only the inner side remained and Torfrida, recovering herself,
in her frenzy went to light the wall, though her terror of what she had
done almost overcame her. As she stooped to apply the faggot the door
flew open and a huge woman with red face and flaunting dress stood over
her, and with a cry of astonishment and rage struck Torfrida with her
open hand upon the ear with such force that she, being light and slim of
figure, fell upon the ground. She lay for a moment and then arose, but as
she gained her feet the woman struck her again on the other side of the
head so that she fell down again upon her knees.
[Illustration: Torfrida drew forth a burning faggot, and then stepped to
the windows and set the hangings alight.]
“Huzzy!” she screamed, “who are you that would burn us in our beds?” and
then she walked to the door and cried “Fire!” and in a moment men came
running with vessels filled with water, and they tore the hangings down
and in ten minutes, so well they wrought, that they had quenched all the
flames.
Then Torfrida, dizzy and sick with the blows she had received, stole out
of the door unnoticed in the smoke and confusion, and turned along the
corridor, thinking to throw herself from the battlements. She passed
swiftly along a maze of narrow passages till she found a stair; up this
she ran and presently felt a breath of wind, and turned to face it
thinking it might come from the battlements. She sped along, staggering
much from the blows she had received, till she saw a door and pushed it
open and, lo! she found herself in a large hall and before her stood
the big red-faced stout woman who had struck her. Torfrida screamed and
begged for mercy.
“Ha, huzzy! thou wert thinking to escape. My son wed thee, forsooth! Thou
imp of evil! thou witch! Wouldst burn us in our beds! I will teach thee
better manners,” and she seized her by the wrist with one hand and beat
her with the other till the blood flowed from her nose and mouth and she
sank down in a swoon. Then the woman got water and threw it over her and
picked her up like an infant, and taking her into another room laid her
upon a bed and left her, locking the door as she went. And presently the
old tire-woman came in and when she saw her she wept. “Then she hath
beaten thee, poor child. No wonder the king cannot live with so great
a brute!” And she washed the blood from Torfrida’s nose and mouth and
kissed her and put cold bandages round her head. “Ah, thou wert foolish
not to give way as I told thee and wed the prince without ado, for he
will defend thee from her, and I will wait upon thee and love thee, for I
have nothing else to love.”
Knowing she could not move her, Torfrida thanked the woman and bid her go
and return in an hour, and she said, “I charge ye, good woman, tell no
one of the usage I have received at this dame’s hands, for it puts shame
upon me.”
In an hour the wife returned and found Torfrida calm and white and bland,
with a smile upon her face, and her manner was decided and she no longer
craved for help.
“Go, good wife,” she said, “and tell the prince, thy master, that an he
loves me he must leave me to-night. I am ill and sore and weary with the
rough handling and rough riding, for tell him women have not the strength
of men; but I know thy master is a soldier and brave, they say, and
would not needlessly distress a maiden even if he loved her not. Now I
charge you, my woman, speak him fair as I speak,” added she, “for an thou
dost not thou shalt be no woman of mine when I am queen of thy master’s
hearth.”
“Now thou speakest, my lady, and I will do thy bidding, as I would be thy
tire-woman, for well I know thou art a great lady and a king’s daughter.”
Then she went below and entered the hall where sat the prince at the
board, fierce, impatient, and flushed. At his side were his companions,
wild, loose sots, half soldiers, half forest robbers. Among them were
many of the native Britons of Lothian of the race of Gwynedd, who had
entered the service of the conqueror that they might keep their lands,
even though below them was a sturdy race of clansmen full of the spirit
of nationality and true to the nation of the Southern Albanich or Picts
to which their land of Gododin had been joined, and friendly also to
the stronger nation of the Northern Picts. These men, deserted by their
natural chiefs, were waiting only for the leadership of a few strong
men to take up arms against the Anglian settlers. In the Pentland and
Muirfoot hills, and indeed in all the hill country, the Britons and Picts
had been able to hold their own. At the prince’s board were also one
or two soldiers of fortune or outlaws of the nation of the South Picts
and the rest Northumbrians, Mercians, Lindeseymen, and men from other
quarters, a motley throng. At the side of the prince stood a priest
of unpleasant feature and shifty eye. At the other end of the table
opposite the prince was a vacant chair, richly embroidered and draped
with crimson and cloth of gold; to right and left of this sat the ladies
of the chiefs. When he saw that the tire-woman had not Torfrida with her,
the prince looked angry, but when she delivered her message his wrath
was mollified for, be it said, he had great fear of his father’s captain
and of his father, who loved only the fair fight, and within him was a
foreboding of evil; but if the lady were going to prove willing what
could her lover or the king have to complain of if they married? He could
then spread it abroad that the lady had fled with him to escape from her
squire. And was it not easy to believe that she should choose him instead
of a beggarly captain! And so he smiled and sent back a message to her
that she must be of good cheer, for nothing should she lack that gold
might buy. So the wife returned and Torfrida retired to her bedchamber
and tried to sleep. In the morning the woman entered.
“How doth my lady this morning?”
“Nay, I am weary and will not rise to-day.”
“But the prince, my lady?”
“What of the prince?”
“He wishes at least to see thee and has been walking the hall the night
through so distracted is he for love of thee.”
“Tell him I am sick.”
So they let her alone that day, but the next the woman came again. “My
lady, the prince hath been pacing the walls all the night, and he saith
he dieth for love of thee, and I would counsel thee, if thou wilt take
my rede, not to delay; for like a madman he goeth between love and fear.
Hark ye, he is even now without.”
“Then dress me and help me to the couch in the outer chamber and I will
speak with him.”
So she laid her on the couch and the prince entered, and when he saw her,
how pale she was after her terrible beating and long fast, he was abashed
and came and knelt down by her. Then Torfrida put out her hand and he
kissed it.
“What manner of prince or knight art thou that presseth thy suit even
though the lady lie sick unto death? Is this the way of princes?”
Now the prince was young, if old in riotous living, and the sight of a
noble and beautiful maiden had not lost its hold upon him, even though
his fears for his own safety filled him.
He answered not, and Torfrida knew that she had shamed him.
“Have I not sent word that I would see thee when I am cured of this
sickness? Better treatment would I receive at the hands of a common man.
If thou lovest me let me be till I am whole.”
“If I might but kiss thy lips I will rest me content, sweet lady, till
thou art healed.”
“Thou wilt act as a prince only an thou mayest kiss me. Thou wouldst kiss
when thou hast not wooed me; surely thou hast a way of wooing of thine
own.”
“Say no more, I will leave thee, but keep me not long, I implore thee.”
“Here, thou mayest kiss my hand an thou art so minded. Now, get thee
gone.”
Then the prince returned and no sooner had he reached the hall than he
stamped and swore in rage, and called himself fool and faint of heart;
for he had been overcome by a woman, though he had sworn to his followers
that he would wed Torfrida that day, sick or well. So he was much haunted
by fears and doubts, and knew no rest either day or night. Two days later
he went again to Torfrida’s chamber door and knocked. Then Torfrida
took from her finger a ring which held a rare stone of wondrous lustre,
and she gave it to the tire-woman, who took it to the prince, telling
him that Torfrida saw that he was indeed a gentle prince and knight. So
the prince went down to the hall again and the barons laughed at him and
nodded to each other, saying that the woman was too clever for him. The
prince was angry and drank deep, and the waiting-woman told Torfrida what
they were saying in the hall.