Vain man! thou mayst, esteem thy love as fair
As fond hyperboles suffice to raise.
She may be all that's matchless in her person,
And all-divine in soul to match her body;
But take this from me--thou shalt never call her
Superior to her sex, while _one_ survives,
And I am her true votary.
OLD PLAY.
Achilles Tatius, with his faithful Varangian close by his shoulder,
melted from the dispersing assembly silently and almost invisibly, as
snow is dissolved from its Alpine abodes as the days become more
genial. No lordly step, nor clash of armour, betokened the retreat of
the military persons. The very idea of the necessity of guards was not
ostentatiously brought forward, because, so near the presence of the
Emperor, the emanation supposed to flit around that divinity of earthly
sovereigns, had credit for rendering it impassive and unassailable.
Thus the oldest and most skilful courtiers, among whom our friend
Agelastes was not to be forgotten, were of opinion, that, although the
Emperor employed the ministry of the Varangians and other guards, it
was rather for form's sake, than from any danger of the commission of a
crime of a kind so heinous, that it was the fashion to account it
almost impossible. And this doctrine, of the rare occurrence of such a
crime, was repeated from month to month in those very chambers, where
it had oftener than once been perpetrated, and sometimes by the very
persons who monthly laid schemes for carrying some dark conspiracy
against the reigning Emperor into positive execution.
At length the captain of the life-guardsmen, and his faithful
attendant, found themselves on the outside of the Blacquernal Palace.
The passage which Achilles found for their exit, was closed by a
postern which a single Varangian shut behind, them, drawing, at the
same time, bolt and bar with an ill-omened and jarring sound. Looking
back at the mass of turrets, battlements, and spires, out of which they
had at length emerged, Hereward could not but feel his heart lighten to
find "himself once more under the deep blue of a Grecian heaven, where
the planets were burning with unusual lustre. He sighed and rubbed his
hands with pleasure, like a man newly restored to liberty. He even
spoke to his leader, contrary to his custom unless
addressed:--"Methinks the air of yonder halls, valorous Captain,
carries with it a perfume, which, though it may be well termed sweet,
is so suffocating, as to be more suitable to sepulchrous chambers, than
to the dwellings of men. Happy I am that I am free, as I trust, from
its influences."
"Be happy, then," said Achilles Tatius, "since thy vile, cloddish
spirit feels suffocation rather than refreshment in gales, which,
instead of causing death, might recall the dead themselves to life. Yet
this I will say for thee, Hereward, that, born a barbarian, within the
narrow circle of a savage's desires and pleasures, and having no idea
of life, save what thou derivest from such vile and base connexions,
thou art, nevertheless, designed by nature for better things, and hast
this day sustained a trial, in which, I fear me, not even one of mine
own noble corps, frozen as they are into lumps of unfashioned
barbarity, could have equalled thy bearing. And speak now in true
faith, hast not thou been rewarded?"
"That will I never deny," said the Varangian. "The pleasure of knowing,
twenty-four hours perhaps before my comrades, that the Normans are
coming hither to afford us a full revenge of the bloody day of
Hastings, is a lordly recompense, for the task of spending some hours
in hearing the lengthened chat of a lady, who has written about she
knows not what, and the flattering commentaries of the bystanders, who
pretended to give her an account of what they did not themselves stop
to witness."
"Hereward, my good youth," said Achilles Tatius, "thou ravest, and I
think I should do well to place thee under the custody of some person
of skill. Too much hardihood, my valiant soldier, is in soberness
allied to over-daring. It was only natural that thou shouldst feel a
becoming pride in thy late position; yet, let it but taint thee with
vanity, and the effect will be little short of madness. Why, thou hast
looked boldly in the face of a Princess born in the purple, before whom
my own eyes, though well used to such spectacles, are never raised
beyond the foldings of her veil."
"So be it in the name of Heaven!" replied Hereward. "Nevertheless,
handsome faces were made to look upon, and the eyes of young men to see
withal."
"If such be their final end," said Achilles, "never did thine, I will
freely suppose, find a richer apology for the somewhat overbold license
which thou tookest in thy gaze upon the Princess this evening."
"Good leader, or Follower, whichever is your favourite title," said the
Anglo-Briton, "drive not to extremity a plain man, who desires to hold
his duty in all honour to the imperial family. The Princess, wife of
the Caesar, and born, you tell me, of a purple colour, has now
inherited, notwithstanding, the features of a most lovely woman. She
hath composed a history, of which I presume not to form a judgment,
since I cannot understand it; she sings like an angel; and to conclude,
after the fashion of the knights of this day--though I deal not
ordinarily with their language--I would say cheerfully, that I am ready
to place myself in lists against any one whomsoever, who dares detract
from the beauty of the imperial Anna Comnena's person, or from the
virtues of her mind. Having said this, my noble captain, we have said
all that it is competent for you to inquire into, or for me to answer.
That there are hansomer women than the Princess, is unquestionable; and
I question it the less, that I have myself seen a person whom I think
far her superior; and with that let us close the dialogue."
"Thy beauty, thou unparalleled fool," said Achilles, "must, I ween, be
the daughter of the large-bodied northern boor, living next door to him
upon whose farm was brought up the person of an ass, curst with such
intolerable want of judgment."
"You may say your pleasure, captain," replied Hereward: "because it is
the safer for us both that thou canst not on such a topic either offend
me, who hold thy judgment as light as thou canst esteem mine, or speak
any derogation of a person whom you never saw, but whom, if you had
seen, perchance I might not so patiently have brooked any reflections
upon, even at the hands of a military superior."
Achilles Tatius had a good deal of the penetration necessary for one in
his situation. He never provoked to extremity the daring spirits whom
he commanded, and never used any freedom with them beyond the extent
that he knew their patience could bear. Hereward was a favourite
soldier, and had, in that respect at least, a sincere liking and regard
for his commander: when, therefore, the Follower, instead of resenting
his petulance, good-humouredly apologized for having hurt his feelings,
the momentary displeasure between them was at an end; the officer at
once reassumed his superiority, and the soldier sunk back with a deep
sigh, given to some period which was long past, into his wonted silence
and reserve. Indeed the Follower had another and further design upon
Hereward, of which he was as yet unwilling to do more than give a
distant hint.
After a long pause, during which they approached the barracks, a gloomy
fortified building constructed for the residence of their corps, the
captain motioned his soldier to draw close up to his side, and
proceeded to ask him, in a confidential tone--"Hereward, my friend,
although it is scarce to be supposed that in the presence of the
imperial family thou shouldst mark any one who did not partake of their
blood, or rather, as Homer has it, who did not participate of the
divine _ichor_, which, in their sacred persons, supplies the place of
that vulgar fluid; yet, during so long an audience, thou mightst
possibly, from his uncourtly person and attire, have distinguished
Agelastes, whom we courtiers call the Elephant, from his strict
observation of the rule which forbids any one to sit down or rest in
the Imperial presence?"
"I think," replied the soldier, "I marked the man you mean; his age was
some seventy and upwards,--a big burly person;--and the baldness which
reached to the top of his head was well atoned for by a white beard of
prodigious size, which descended in waving curls over his breast, and
reached to the towel with which his loins were girded, instead of the
silken sash used by other persons of rank."
"Most accurately marked, my Varangian," said the officer. "What else
didst thou note about this person?"
"His cloak was in its texture as coarse as that of the meanest of the
people, but it was strictly clean, as if it had been the intention of
the wearer to exhibit poverty, or carelessness and contempt of dress,
avoiding, at the same time, every particular which implied anything
negligent, sordid, or disgusting."
"By St. Sophia!" said the officer, "thou astonishest me! The Prophet
Baalam was not more surprised when his ass turned round her head and
spoke to him!--And what else didst thou note concerning this man? I see
those who meet thee must beware of thy observation, as well as of thy
battle-axe."
"If it please your Valour" answered the soldier, "we English have eyes
as well as hands; but it is only when discharging our duty that we
permit our tongues to dwell on what we have observed. I noted but
little of this man's conversation, but from what I heard, it seemed he
was not unwilling to play what we call the jester, or jack-pudding, in
the conversation, a character which, considering the man's age and
physiognomy, is not, I should be tempted to say, natural, but assumed
for some purpose of deeper import."
"Hereward," answered his officer, "thou hast spoken like an angel sent
down to examine men's bosoms: that man, Agelastes, is a contradiction,
such as earth has seldom witnessed. Possessing all that wisdom which in
former times united the sages of this nation with the gods themselves,
Agelastes has the same cunning as the elder Brutus, who disguised his
talents under the semblance of an idle jester. He appears to seek no
office--he desires no consideration--he pays suit at court only when
positively required to do so; yet what shall I say, my soldier,
concerning the cause of an influence gained without apparent effort,
and extending almost into the very thoughts of men, who appear to act
as he would desire, without his soliciting them to that purpose? Men
say strange things concerning the extent of his communications with
other beings, whom our fathers worshipped with prayer and sacrifice. I
am determined, however, to know the road by which he climbs so high and
so easily towards the point to which all men aspire at court, and it
will go hard but he shall either share his ladder with me, or I will
strike its support from under him. Thee, Hereward, I have chosen to
assist me in this matter, as the knights among these Frankish infidels
select, when going upon an adventure, a sturdy squire, or inferior
attendant, to share the dangers and the recompense; and this I am moved
to, as much by the shrewdness thou hast this night manifested, as by
the courage which thou mayst boast, in common with, or rather beyond,
thy companions."
"I am obliged, and I thank your Valour," replied the Varangian, more
coldly perhaps than his officer expected; "I am ready, as is my duty,
to serve you in anything consistent with God and the Emperor's claims
upon my service. I would only say, that, as a sworn inferior soldier, I
will do nothing contrary to the laws of the empire, and, as a sincere
though ignorant Christian, I will have nothing to do with the gods of
the heathens, save to defy them in the name and strength of the holy
saints."
"Idiot!" said Achilles Tatius, "dost thou think that I, already
possessed of one of the first dignities of the empire, could meditate
anything contrary to the interests of Alexius Comnenus? or, what would
be scarce more atrocious, that I, the chosen friend and ally of the
reverend Patriarch Zosimus, should meddle with anything bearing a
relation, however remote, to heresy or idolatry?"
"Truly," answered the Varangian, "no one would be more surprised or
grieved than I should; but when we walk in a labyrinth, we must assume
and announce that we have a steady and forward purpose, which is one
mode at least of keeping a straight path. The people of this country
have so many ways of saying the same thing, that one can hardly know at
last what is their real meaning. We English, on the other hand, can
only express ourselves in one set of words, but it is one out of which
all the ingenuity of the world could not extract a double meaning."
"'Tis well," said his officer, "to-morrow we will talk more of this,
for which purpose thou wilt come to my quarters a little after sunset.
And, hark thee, to-morrow, while the sun is in heaven, shall be thine
own, either to sport thyself or to repose. Employ thy time in the
latter, by my advice, since to-morrow night, like the present, may find
us both watchers."
So saying, they entered the barracks, where they parted company--the
commander of the life-guards taking his way to a splendid set of
apartments which belonged to him in that capacity, and the Anglo-Saxon
seeking his humble accommodations as a subaltern officer of the same
corps.