The appetite for news is like the appetite for every other thing,
stimulated by a small portion of food; and the various unsatisfactory
reports which had reached Ghent during the day, made her good citizens
devour the tidings of Albert Maurice's return with no small
greediness.
In the meanwhile, the young merchant communicated to his uncle,
immediately after the departure of the guests, that, from various
circumstances, of which he would inform him more fully at another
time, he judged it not expedient to return to his own house, perhaps,
for some days. He prayed him, therefore, to allow him to occupy, for a
short space, the apartments which had been appropriated to him during
his youth, in the dwelling where he then was; to which request, as his
nephew had originally taken up a separate establishment much against
his wishes, Martin Fruse consented with no small joy, and proposed
that the monk, who still remained, should sleep in the little grey
chamber over the warehouse.
"Nay, nay," replied Father Barnabas, when he heard the proposal; "nay,
nay, dearly beloved brother Martin, no grey chamber for me; by my
faith I must be betaking myself early to-morrow to my own green
chamber, and in the meantime, I shall pass the night with a friend of
mine in the city, in pious exercises and devout exclamations."
Whether these pious exercises and devout exclamations might not be the
rapid circulation of the flagon, and many a jovial bacchanalian song,
there may be some reason to doubt. At all events, Albert Maurice had a
vague suspicion that it was so; and after pressing the monk to stay,
as much as hospitality required, he ceased his opposition to his
departure, at the same time putting a purse of twenty golden crowns
into his hand.
The monk gazed for a moment upon the little leathern bag, whose
weight, as it sunk into his palm, seemed to convey to him a full idea
of its value; and then raising his merry grey eyes to the face of his
travelling companion, he replied, "This is great nonsense, my son,
quite unnecessary, I assure you; and, indeed, I cannot accept it,
except upon one condition."
"What is that, my good father?" demanded the young burgher, supposing
that the monk was about to affect some notable piece of
disinterestedness.
"Merely that you will promise me, my son," replied Father Barnabas,
"that in case you should ever hereafter meet with a certain friend of
ours, whom some people call the Vert Gallant of Hannut, you will be as
silent as the dead about ever having given a leathern purse to poor
Father Barnabas, as he may well ask, what is the use of a purse to a
holy brother, who vows never to have any money to put into it. Do you
understand me, my son?"
"Perfectly, perfectly," replied Albert Maurice, "and promise you with
all my heart never to mention it."
"So be it then," rejoined the monk, "and benedicite;--I shall take the
horse and the mule out of the stable, and speed upon my way."
As soon as the monk was gone, Albert Maurice explained to his uncle,
as briefly as possible, all that had occurred to him during his
absence from Ghent; and the distress, agitation, and terror of the
worthy burgher, at every stage of his nephew's story, were beyond
all description. "Alack, and a well-a-day! my poor boy," he
cried;--"alack, and a well-a-day! I thought what all these travellings
would come to, sooner or later. Good Lord! good Lord! why should men
travel at all! In my young days I never, if I could help it, set my
foot three leagues out of Ghent; and the first time I ever was seduced
to do so, I was caught by robbers in that cursed wood of Hannut, and
was obliged to sleep a whole night upon the cold damp ground."
The young citizen calmed his uncle's agitation as much as possible,
and then proceeded to consult with him as to the best means they could
adopt, in case that Maillotin du Bac should recover from the drubbing
he had received, and pursue, as he doubtless would, the purposes he
had previously entertained. In some things, Martin Fruse was not
deficient in shrewdness; and he instantly saw the advantages that
would be gained by a personal application to the princess, if his
nephew were again arrested.
"If," said he, "we still had our old laws, I should say at once,
appeal to the eschevins, because, as we used to elect them ourselves,
we should have had justice at least, if not favour. But now that the
twenty-six, from the _Grand Bailli_ down to the last secretary, are
all named by the creatures of the duke, this Maillotin du Bac gets
them to warrant everything he does, while the princess, who is kind
and generous, will be sure to judge in your favour, especially when
she sees the papers that prove you were first arrested for taking part
with a woman; and her council, who have nothing to do with the Prevot,
will take care not to thwart her who will one day be their mistress."
It was consequently determined, after some farther discussion, to
follow the line of conduct suggested by the leader of the adventurers.
Such precautions as were necessary to ensure against any of those
secret proceedings, which sometimes made clean conveyance with an
obnoxious person, before any of his friends were aware, were then
concerted between Albert Maurice and his uncle; and the young citizen,
pleading fatigue, retired to the apartments which he had occupied as a
boy.
There was something in the aspect of the chamber, the quaint old
tapestry, with the eyes of many of the figures shot through by the
arrows which he used to direct against them, in the wanton sport of
childhood, the table notched with the boy's unceasing knife, the
well-remembered bed, in which had been dreamed many of the pleasant
dreams of early years; there was something in the aspect of the whole
that called up the peaceful past, and contrasted itself almost
painfully with the present. Setting down the lamp which he bore in his
hand, Albert Maurice cast himself on a seat, and gazing round the
apartment, while the thousand memories of every well-known object
spoke to his heart with the sweet murmuring voice of the days gone;
and while all the perils and anxieties of his actual situation, the
imminent danger from which he had just escaped, the menacing fate
which still hung over his head, and the fierce struggle in which he
was likely to be engaged, pressed for present attention, he could not
help exclaiming, "Oh, boyhood! happy, happy boyhood! must thou never,
never come again!"
The busy and usurping present, however, soon took full possession of
his thoughts; and, casting from him all care for the individual danger
which threatened himself, he applied his whole mind to consider the
probable fate of his country. If the Duke of Burgundy were really
dead, he saw, and had long foreseen, that great and extraordinary
changes must take place. He knew that there was hardly a town
throughout all Flanders, Holland, or Hainault, which was not ready
to rise in arms, to recover some privilege wrested from its
inhabitants: to break some chain with which they had all been
enthralled. He felt, too, and it was a proud consciousness, that he,
and he alone throughout the whole land, was capable of wielding that
mighty engine, a roused-up multitude, for the great purpose to which
it can only be properly applied: the benefit and the happiness of the
whole. This consciousness arose from two circumstances: a thorough and
intimate acquaintance with the general characters of the leading men
in the various towns of Flanders, together with a knowledge that each
was individually selfish or weak, full of wild and unfeasible schemes,
or absorbed in narrow personal desires; and, in the second place, from
the internal perception of immense powers of mind, strengthened and
supported by great corporeal vigour and activity.
Such qualities were not, indeed, all that was required to carry mighty
schemes to a successful result, especially where they were to be
founded on the consent and support of the vain and wilful multitude.
But Albert Maurice had on several occasions tried his powers of
persuading the crowd, and his ready eloquence had never failed to
lead, to convince, to command. Indeed, till the present moment, he had
felt almost fearful--surrounded, as he knew himself to be, by watchful
and jealous eyes--of the immense popular influence that he was aware
he could exert. But now, as he paused and considered the probable
events about to take place, he felt a triumphant security in his own
talents, and prepared to step forward, and secure a freer form of
government, for Ghent at least, if the reins had really fallen from
the hand that lately held them. His first thoughts, indeed, were all
turned towards the benefit of his native country, to the immense
advantages that might be obtained for her, and to that mighty thing,
liberty, which was scarcely then known to the world. But it was not in
human nature, that some breathing of personal ambition should not
mingle with his nobler aspirations; and for a moment he dreamt of
power, and rule, and sovereign sway, and of nobles trampled beneath
his feet, and of kings bending to court his alliance. The shade of Van
Artevelde seemed to rise from the deep past and beckon him on upon the
road to greatness.
It was but for a moment, however; and when suddenly the better spirit
woke him from his dream, and showed him whither he was wandering, he
hid his face in his hands, with a mixed feeling of shame for having
suffered himself to be betrayed into such thoughts, and an
apprehension lest, in some after-part of his career, when the golden
temptation was within his grasp, he should yield to the spirit that
even thus early had assailed him, and be in act what he had already
been in thought. The very idea of becoming so made him pause in his
resolves, uncertain whether to take any part, lest he should
ultimately take an evil one; and for a moment Albert Maurice, who
feared no mortal man, hesitated in fear of himself.
Reflection, however, soon removed his doubts: he knew his intentions
to be pure: and, calling before his mind the brightest examples of
past ages, he determined to hold them up to himself as models to
imitate, and to sacrifice everything to virtue. Even the very doubts
that he had entertained of himself made him choose his examples from
the sternest school of patriotism. He felt, perhaps, that any modern
efforts must fall below the standard of that antique firmness, which,
nurtured by the long habit of freedom, was with the Romans of the
republic a passion as much as a principle; and, fixing his eyes upon
the earlier Brutus, he resolved that if ever in after-life the
temptation to wrong his country should assail him, he would use that
talismanic memory to charm the evil demon away for ever.
While he thus paused and thought, the night wore on; all sounds died
away in the streets of Ghent: the footsteps in his uncle's house
ceased; and, after the midnight watch had gone by in its round, not a
sound for some time disturbed the silence of the place. At length,
about one o'clock in the morning, he heard a step ascending the stairs
which led to his apartment, and the moment after a tap upon the door
announced that some one demanded admittance. He instantly rose, threw
back the tapestry, and opened the door, when, to his surprise, he
beheld the small keen features and sharp black eyes of the druggist
Ganay, beside the face of one of his uncle's servants.
The sight, indeed, accorded very well with his thoughts and wishes;
for though the person who thus visited him was, in character and mind,
as distinct--perhaps, I should say, as opposite, to himself as
possible, yet he was one of those men who, in moments of general
excitement, are often serviceable in the highest degree, and must be
used for good, lest they should employ their talents for evil.
The little druggist had, in all his motions, a silent rapidity, a
quick, sharp, but stealthy sort of activity, which, to those close
observers of the human race, who pretend to read in the habitual
movements and peculiar customs of the body the character of the mind
within, might have spoken of dark and cunning designs, prompted by
strong but carefully hidden passions, with little scruple as to the
means of accomplishing schemes once undertaken. Before Albert Maurice
was well aware of his presence, he was in the room beside him; and in
a few brief words, spoken in a low but remarkably distinct voice, he
informed the young citizen that when he went away about two hours
before, he had requested the servant to wait and let him in, after the
rest of the family had gone to rest. Then, adding that he had business
of much importance to speak upon, he at once explained and apologised
for his intrusion.
Albert Maurice took his excuses in good part; and, bidding the servant
retire to rest, he closed the door and seated himself with his
visitor, well aware that he had to encounter a mind as keen and
penetrating, though far less powerful, than his own, on subjects
difficult and dangerous to discuss.
"Master Albert Maurice," said Ganay, when they were alone, and the
retreating step of the servant had announced to his cautious ear that
his words were not likely to be overheard, "it were in vain for you or
I to attempt to conceal from each other, or from ourselves, that the
moment is come when extraordinary changes must take place in our
native land, or opportunities be lost which may never return. To you,
then, I come," he added, speaking with a serious earnestness, which
was intended to give the appearance of sincere conviction to the
flattery he was about to administer--flattery which, as he knew it to
be based in truth, he calculated upon being readily received, and
producing a particular purpose of his own--"to you, then, I come,
Master Albert Maurice, as to the man calculated, by nature and by
circumstances, to take the most prominent part in the actions in which
we are about to be engaged--to whom the eyes of all the citizens are
naturally turned, and on whom the welfare of our country must, in a
great measure, depend. My object is, in no degree, to pry into your
confidence, to obtrude advice upon you, or to hurry you forward faster
than you may think it necessary to proceed, but simply for the purpose
of offering you any assistance in my small power to give, and of
pointing out to you the necessity of thought and consultation in
regard to the measures to be pursued."
The young citizen paused for a moment or two in meditation ere he
replied. "My good friend," he answered, at length, "much consideration
is, indeed, as you say, necessary. In the first place, we are by no
means certain that our noble lord the duke is dead. If he be living,
it will be our duty, as good subjects and good citizens, to give him
all the aid in our power to repel his enemies and to recover his
losses."
The druggist bit his lip, and Albert Maurice continued:--"If, indeed,
he unhappily have fallen in this rash attempt against the Swiss, say
what would you have us do?"
"Nay, nay, speak you," replied the druggist; "for well do we all feel
that it is you must lead, and we must follow."
"I see but one thing that can be done," replied the young
citizen--"humbly to tender our allegiance and our services to the
heiress of the Burgundian coronet, and to petition her to confirm to
us our liberties and privileges."
He spoke slowly and calmly, in a tone of voice from which nothing
could be gathered in addition to the words he uttered; and in vain did
the small dark eyes of his fellow-citizen scan his countenance to
discover something more. His face remained completely unmoved, if it
was not by a scarcely perceptible smile at the evident anxiety and
agitation with which his calmness and indifference affected his
companion.
"Good Heaven!" cried the druggist, starting up in the first impatience
of disappointed expectation, "Good Heaven! little did I expect to hear
such words from your lips! But no!" he added, after a moment's pause
of deep thought, during which he rapidly combined every remembered
trait in the character of Albert Maurice, with his present affected
calmness, and deduced from it a true conclusion in regard to his real
motives. "But no! Young man, I have marked you from your childhood. I
know you as well as my own son, nay, better--for his light follies
have made him an alien to my house, though not to my heart. I have
seen your character develop itself. I have seen the wild spirit and
petulance of boyhood become, when brought under the sway of maturer
reason, that overwhelming enthusiasm, which, like a mighty river, is
calm only because it is deep and powerful. Albert Maurice, you cannot
deceive _me_; and let me tell you, that even were the course, which
but now you proposed to pursue, that to which your feelings and your
reason really led you, the people of this country would leave you to
truckle to power alone; and though--wanting one great directing mind
to curb their passions, and point their endeavours to a just
conclusion--they might cast one half of Europe into anarchy, and rush
upon their own destruction, most assuredly they would do so, rather
than submit again to a new despot, or place their lives and their
happiness in the power of one who owns no law, no justice but his own
will."
"Think you they would do so, indeed?" demanded the young citizen, well
aware of the fact, but somewhat doubtful still of the entire purity of
his companion's motives. "Then, my good friend, we must, as you say,
for the safety and security of all, find some one who may lead them to
better things; but to succeed we must be cautious; we must trust no
man before we try him; and we must first make sure of those who lead,
before we rouse up those who are to be led. Ere one step is taken,
too, we must ensure the ground that we stand upon, and know what has
been the real event of this great battle. Nay, nay, protest not that
it is as we have heard, Rumour, the universal liar, sometimes will
give us portions of the truth, beyond all doubt; but never yet,
believe me, did she tell a tale that was not more than one-half
falsehood. But even granting that the chief point be true, at the very
threshold of our enterprise, we must learn each particular shade of
thought and of opinion, possessed by our great and leading citizens.
Nor must Ghent stand alone; each other city throughout all Flanders
must be prepared to acknowledge and support the deeds of Ghent."
"You seem to have considered the matter deeply," said the druggist,
with a smile; "but I fear such long preparations, and the time
necessary to excite the public mind----"
"Fear not," interrupted Albert Maurice, "fear not. You little know the
commons, if you suppose that time is necessary to call them into
action. A few shrewd words, false or true, it matters not, will set
the whole country in a flame as fast as news can fly. Give me but just
cause, a good occasion, and an opportunity of speech, and in one half
hour all Ghent shall be in arms."
"It may be so," replied the druggist, thoughtfully; "I doubt it not;
indeed I know it is so. But, methinks, my dear young friend, that
while we are proceeding with such slow circumspection, our enemies may
take their measures of precaution also; and as they have the present
power, may use and extend it to such good effect that all our efforts
will be fruitless. Already the Lord of Imbercourt has returned with a
hundred and fifty lances; the number of nobles in the town, with their
retainers, will furnish near five hundred more."
"Again, fear not," replied Albert Maurice; "the popular mind is as a
magazine of that black hellish compound, which gives roar and
lightning to the cannon; one single spark, applied by a fearless hand,
will make it all explode at once. The nobles stand upon a mine; and
there are those in Ghent who will not fear to spring it beneath their
feet should there be need, which Heaven avert. One thing, however,
must be done, and that with speed. As a united body, these feudal
tyrants are powerful--too much so, indeed--but amongst them there must
be surely more than sufficient stores of vanity, wrath, hatred,
revenge, and all those other manifold weaknesses, which, skilfully
employed, may detach some of their members from their own body, and
spread division amongst them. Is there no one could be won?"
"None that I know of," replied the druggist, "except, indeed, it were
my very good lord and kind patron"--he spoke with a sneer--"Thibalt of
Neufchatel, who now affects mighty popularity, bows his grey head
to the people as low as to his saddle-now, calls them the good
commons, the worthy citizens of Ghent; and, no longer gone than
yesterday, made me, Walter Ganay, the poor burgher druggist, sit down
at his lordly table, and drink of his spiced wine. But I fear me, my
dear young friend, though the worthy lord may affect wonderful
popularity, and others of his rank might be brought to do the same,
they would never stand by us in the moment of need, the interest of
their class would soon resume its place in their thoughts, and they
would quit the citizens whenever the citizens wanted their help."
"That matters little," replied Albert Maurice, laying his hand upon
the arm of his companion. "The aid that we might derive from the
swords of half-a-dozen nobles were but dust in the balance; but the
advantages that we may derive from their seeming to be with us in the
outset, are great and incalculable. That which has overthrown the
finest armies that were ever yet brought into the field--that which
has scattered to the wind the noblest associations that ever were
framed for the benefit of mankind--that which has destroyed leagues,
and broken alliances, crushed republics under the feet of despots, and
blasted the best formed and brightest designs of human beings--doubt,
suspicion of each other; that, that great marrer of all men's
combinations, must be listed on our side against our oppressors. We
must teach them to fear and to suspect each other; and the bonds that
hold them together will be broken, and may remain severed till it is
too late to unite them again. This Thibalt of Neufchatel," he added,
hastily, "I have heard of him, and seen him often. When I was a mere
boy, I remember riding under his escort from the forest of Hannut, and
as haughty a lord he was as e'er I met with; but now, it would seem,
he has changed his tone, and is the popular, the pleasant noble, the
friend of the commons; he is somewhat in his dotage too, just at that
point where weakness affects great wisdom. He must be won, by all
means, if it be but for a day. Is there no way, think you, by which he
may be brought to show himself amongst us at some popular meeting? A
thousand to one the very fact of his having done so, and the scorn
that it will call upon him from his fellow-nobles, by committing his
vanity on our side, will bind him to us for ever; and he will calmly
look upon the fall of his order, if it were but for the purpose of
saying to each ruined baron, 'If you had done as I have, you would
have been safe.'--At all events," he added, "his presence with us
would sow the first feed of disunion among the proud nobility: can no
means be found?
"Oh, many, many, doubtless," replied the druggist; "but great
reverence and respect must be shown to him, and all ultimate views
must be concealed."
"Of course," answered Albert Maurice, "of course," and resting his
brow upon his hands, he remained in thought for several minutes. "Mark
me, good Master Ganay," he said, at length--"mark me, and remember
that you have sought me in this business, not I you. Think not,
therefore, that in giving you directions what to do, I wish to
arrogate to myself any superior power, or wisdom, or knowledge. Deeply
and fervently do I wish to serve my country. As far as I see my way
clearly, and as far as my countrymen choose to trust me, willingly
will I take a lead in their affairs. The moment my own view or their
confidence fails, I will draw back and leave the staff in better
hands. Let your first step, then be--at an early hour to-morrow--to
prompt as many of the principal citizens as you can meet with, to
assemble in the town-hall upon various pretences. Speak to one about
changes in the price of grain, and send him thither to hear more. Tell
another that the English wools have failed, and let him come for news
from across the seas. Bid a third to the town-hall for tidings from
France; and a fourth for the news from Switzerland. I, too, will be
there; and if you can so arrange it as to bring Thibalt of Neufchatel
to the same place by half-past ten of the clock, I will have all
prepared to fix him ours, if possible."
"I will undertake it," replied the druggist. "Albert Maurice, we
understand each other, though little has been said, and perhaps
wisely; yet we understand each other, and shall do so, without farther
explanations; I give you good night."
"Farewell," said Albert Maurice, as the other rose to depart; "but
remember, above all things, no word to any one of this night's
meeting; for, if we would work well together for the benefit of all,
we must not be seen together too much. Again, farewell."
Thus saying, he raised the light, and, after guiding his visitor
through some of the long and tortuous passages of his uncle's
dwelling, he saw him depart, and closed the door for the night.