A SUDDEN DISCOVERY.
IT was evening, and shadows were closing over Acre. But the scene thus
presented was fair to behold. The sky was richly coloured, the setting
sun painted the landscape in brilliant hues, the wind sighed among the
palms and lofty sycamores, and the waves of the Mediterranean murmured
against the white walls and on the Syrian shore.
Walter Espec sat in the lodgings of Bisset, hard by the palace occupied
by the King of France, and he was alone. Bisset had been summoned to
attend the king; Guy Muschamp had gone to visit his kinsman, the Lord of
Joinville; and Walter, left with his own thoughts, was reclining on a
couch, and resting his head against a window, with his eyes fixed on the
citizens who passed before him, on their way to breathe the air in the
gardens outside the walls, when he was aroused by the tramp of cavalry,
and the approach of a body of warriors, whose white mantles over their
armour, and whole appearance, indicated that they were military monks.
Walter's curiosity was aroused, and he shouted to make inquiries of a
portly citizen who was passing at the moment, and who, as Walter knew,
as a confirmed gossip.
'Good citizen,' said he, 'these are warrior monks, and yet they neither
wear the habit of the Templars nor the Hospitallers. Canst tell me what
knights they be who come along so proudly?'
'In faith can I, sir squire,' answered the citizen; 'and blithely will I
do so. These be the knights of St. Katherine, of Mount Sinai; and they
are brave men in hours of danger; albeit, like other Orders, overmuch
given to amassing wealth, and more intent on keeping it than keeping the
vows of their Order.'
'Thanks, good citizen,' said Walter, laughing heartily, as Crusaders
generally did when reminded of the faults of the military monks. 'And,
to requite your courtesy, I admonish you to speak in a whisper when you
say aught in dispraise of Templars or Hospitallers; for you must be a
bolder man than I pretend to be, if you fear not to provoke their
enmity.'
'Gramercy for your warning, young squire,' replied the citizen, as,
apparently much amused, and chuckling to himself, he proceeded on his
way; while Walter, standing up, watched the warrior monks as they passed
the window.
Now, Walter Espec had of course heard of the monks of St. Katherine, and
especially what a stern front they had presented on the day when the
Saracens threatened Acre, and carried off Adeline de Brienne. Moreover,
he was naturally somewhat interested in an Order instituted in honour of
the tutelar saint of his House: but he had never before seen them; and
he looked out with no inconsiderable curiosity as, mounted on choice
steeds, they came on and swept along, with bronzed visages, athletic
forms, muscular limbs, and the air of men who believed implicitly in
their own superiority over their compeers, and desired nothing so much
as foes to conquer.
[Illustration: Suddenly Walter started in amazement, and uttered a cry;
then remained for a moment silent, and quivered with agitation; then
seized his cap, and, rushing from the house, hastened, with excitement
on his countenance and wildness in his manner, after the warrior
monk.--p. 262.]
But suddenly Walter started in amazement, and uttered a cry; then
remained for a moment silent, and quivered with agitation; then seized
his cap, and, rushing from the house, hastened, with excitement on his
countenance and wildness in his manner, after the warrior monks, not
losing sight of them till they disappeared within the gates of the
castle of St. Katherine, which they possessed in Acre, near the gate of
St. Anthony. Into this building he demanded to be admitted.
Two hours later, Walter Espec returned to his lodgings, and found Guy
Muschamp awaiting his return, and impatient to tell him that everything
was arranged for embarking for France in the king's ship in company with
the Lord of Joinville. But observing that his friend's countenance wore
a look of extraordinary elation, he, for the time being, quite forgot
the communication he had intended to make, and eyed him with an
expression of keen curiosity.
'Good Walter,' said he, quickly, and with interest, 'you appear so
excited that I cannot but presume that something wonderful has befallen
you since we parted?'
'In truth, brave Guy, you guess aright,' replied Walter, taking his
friend's hand. 'Rejoice with me, my brother-in-arms, for I have found
him who was lost.'
'Found your brother!--found Osbert Espec!' exclaimed Guy, in surprise.
'It is true as that I am a living man,' replied Walter, joyfully. 'When
he reached Marseilles with the companions of his pilgrimage, instead,
like them, of going back to die of hunger in the forests, or listening,
like them, to the temptations of the two rascal merchants by whom they
were ensnared, he embarked on board the "Christopher," which was on the
point of sailing for Acre; and the skipper, having brought him ashore,
carried him to the house of a Northern knight, who had long been
fighting for the Cross. And this noble warrior, being about to return to
England, placed him under the protection of the Grand Master of the
Order of St. Katherine; and, when he was of a fitting age, the grand
master, to whom the name of Espec was honourably known, made him take
the vows of the Order. And now, thanks to God and Holy Katherine, he is
in safety and honour, and rides bravely as the bravest among his
brethren, with his white mantle over his chain mail.'
'By St. John of Beverley!' exclaimed Guy, in surprise, 'I much rejoice
to hear that he was so graciously protected by the saints in the hour of
danger, and that his fortune has been such as is worthy of a Norman
gentleman.'
'And what is more,' said Walter, proudly, 'it was he who unhorsed the
two Saracens with his lance without breaking it, and who wounded their
leader on that day when they came hither to demand tribute.'
'A most worthy exploit, as it has been related to me,' replied Guy; 'and
one that does credit to his strength and courage. But tell me, good
Walter, how rejoiced he was to see you after so long a separation, and
all your suffering on his account.'
A shade of disappointment appeared on Walter Espec's handsome
countenance. After a pause, however, he replied--
'In faith, brave Guy, to be frank with you, I must own that my brother,
for whom I had so long mourned, manifested less enthusiasm than I
expected; and when I talked to him of our castellated house of
Heckspeth, on the Wansbeck, and of the tombs of our ancestors in the
Abbey of Newminster, and even of my great namesake, the glory of our
line, I perceived right well that he cared for none of these things. His
heart and soul are in his Order, its renown and influence; and all his
hopes are for the restoration of its glory. And nothing would serve him
but attempting to induce me to take the vows of poverty and celibacy and
obedience. But I answered readily, that such vows were not to my
liking--that I despise not riches; that I rather love noble demoiselles;
and that I am by nature more inclined to command than to obey; in short,
that I will neither be a warrior monk nor a monk in minster. And so the
great bell of the castle of St. Katherine tolled, and we parted; and at
daybreak he mounts to ride to the castle of Kakhow, which the knights of
his Order hold.
'And now, good Walter,' said Guy, 'having fulfilled your mission, for
such you deemed it, you will return to England with a light heart.'
But Walter Espec only sighed, as his thoughts reverted to Adeline de
Brienne and to the great gulf that seemed to interpose between them.