IT is nine o clock. All is quiet in the camp. The fires have been
extinguished as a measure of prudence, and only the moon is allowed to
gleam.
In the plain, however, a few tumblers displayed their feats by
torchlight to a few spectators, but ere long, losing their public, they
were fain to pack up their traps and seek repose beneath some forest
tree. By degrees every noise died away. Hardly a chirrup was heard to
give life to a lovely night; still, now and then, one heard from afar
the ringing of steel. It was some watch on its rounds. The armour
glittered a moment in the moonbeams and then disappeared, and that was
all.
Let us, too, go our rounds, and see what is passing in the camp. We
will begin with the Royal tent. If you were not with me, my dear young
people, I would defy you to enter it. Never was treasure or sacred
relic so carefully guarded. Charles slept in a great bed of state, and
a hundred of his bravest and stoutest men were appointed to guard him.
Forty knights kept watch, changing guard three times a night, according
to the muster-roll--ten at the head, ten at the foot, and ten on either
side, each with a drawn sword and a torch.
Aude, too, had retired to her pavilion. She could not sleep, however,
for thinking of all that had happened during the day--a day that had
been at once hateful and glad: hateful, because it had nearly deprived
her of her dear Oliver; joyful, because it had decided her marriage with
Roland--her dear Roland. Her waiting-women surrounded her. Ten Moorish
maidens sang to her Spanish ballads, which she preferred to all others,
but to-night she heard them not--she was lost in meditation. Four Saxon
damsels combed her long tresses, waiting for the signal to dress it for
the night, a signal she forgot to give. Eight Lombard girls had made
ready a perfumed bath, but it had been three times prepared already, for
it grew cold while she was musing. Oghris was not more fortunate. He
had gently placed his head in her lap, but she had not bestowed on him
a single glance. He was a guard that made a mockery of the precaution
taken to put sentinels at the tent-door.
Roland slept beside Oliver. The two gallant fellows had fallen asleep
hand in hand. The friends were now virtually brothers.
[Illustration: 087]
Meanwhile Ganelon and Wolf had concocted a murderous undertaking.
“Don’t you think Marsillus would give a handsome price for Roland’s
body?”
“I believe you,” answered the Duke of Aquitaine; “but it would be better
to deliver him up alive, and let the king manage him. It is by craft we
must oppose him; as to force, we must not dream of that, for neither you
nor I could do anything with him in that line.”
Let us take a Stroll now Roland and Oliver reposing, beyond the
camp, and see who they are that wander in the skirts of the forest. A
delightful couple are whispering together. Mita, the worthy sister of
Aude, whom we remarked at the head of the royal _cortège_, and who was
called “the little knight of pearls,” Mita was walking along, leaning on
the arm of Miton of Rennes, the friend of Roland. They were followed by
a waiting-maid and a page.
“My sister is fortunate in having for her knight such a man as Roland.”’
“Cannot you see how it breaks my heart to hear you speak so? To win your
favour must one be the only knight who has no equal in the field?”
“I know my own value, and it seems to me that I deserve to have
prodigies of valour done to win me. Listen, Sir Miton. You would wed
me: is it not so? You repeat, over and over again, you would achieve
miracles for my sake!”
“It is true.”
“Then I shall seek a proof of this to-morrow. At daybreak you will
receive my commands. If you carry out well the enterprise I shall plan
for you, I will be yours--yours devotedly. If you attempt it, but do not
succeed, I shall be your friend as heretofore, but nothing beyond. If
you draw back, never speak to me again, for I should speak to you as to
a poltroon.”
They had now reached the camp, where they must part.
“Farewell, Miton; may you succeed to-morrow. I go to pray for your
success.”
She reached out a hand, which trembled in that of the knight, and which
he kissed respectfully. Miton returned to his tent, but did not close
his eyes all night. Every time a footstep passed near his tent he rushed
to the door, expecting to receive the message from Mila. At early dawn
an attendant came with a packet, which she gave to him, and said--
“My mistress sends me to you to communicate her wishes. ‘Go seek Sir
Miton,’ she said to me, ‘and bid him rejoice it he be truly desirous of
proving to me that he is worthy of my love, for I am going to give him
an opportunity of proving it. Give to him this cambric garment of mine,
and bid him wear it to-morrow in the fight. If he loves me he will
consider it a talisman more potent and more secure than steel, and, full
of confidence, will present himself at the tournament without any other
armour except his greaves, his shield, and his helmet. If he does this
and triumphs, I shall be ready to give him any proof of my love that he
may demand. If he does not succeed, he shall none the less have my
esteem and friendship for having essayed it. If he should fall, I
will wear mourning for him and die in a convent. If he refuse, I shall
despise him as the falsest and most cowardly of men.’”
[Illustration: 088]
Miton, who had sunk on his knees to receive from the messenger of his
love the packet, which he covered with kisses, rose smilingly, and spoke
thus to the attendant:--
“Return to her whom you have the honour to serve, and tell her that I
am happy and proud that she has given me an opportunity of dying for her
pleasure. Without her, life is nothing to me: and this is putting me to
too easy a trial, for I feared she would send me away from her, and that
would have been to put me to a slow and lingering death. I feel truly
blest now, since I can devote to her openly every minute as it passes to
her service.”
Miton gave all the gold and silver he possessed to the messenger,
dismissed her, and prepared himself for the battle.
He put on the garment sent him by Mita, and I assure you he looked very
well, and not at all ridiculous, when he was equipped as his lady had
commanded.
I ought to tell you, my friends, that our knight was about twenty-three,
and had a handsome face, framed in long yellow locks. He was second to
none in either elegance or strength.
The cambric corselet which he had assumed, bound round his waist with
a rich girdle, came down to his knees, leaving bare his neck and arms,
which were very white.
Thus equipped he visited the Archbishop Turpin, related to him his
adventure, confessed to him, took the sacrament, and then gave himself
up to prayer until the hour for entering the lists.
[Illustration: 089]
[Illustration: 090]