During the course of the following morning, Albert Maurice was
visited, in the sort of honourable imprisonment to which he was
subjected, by all the chief citizens of Ghent; and a number of them
begged permission of the ex-seneschal of Burgundy to accompany their
young townsman to the council-table of the palace. This was
immediately granted to Martin Fruse and several others, who, by
relationship or connexion, could claim a near interest in the fate of
Albert Maurice. At the same time the rumour of what was about to occur
spread all over Ghent, and before the arrival of the appointed hour, a
large crowd, composed of different classes, surrounded the great gate
of the dwelling of the Lord of Neufchatel. At about half-past eleven,
one of the young citizen's own horses was brought from his house to
the place of his temporary abode; and, shortly after, the old nobleman
rode forth, accompanied by his _protégé_, and followed by half a dozen
of the principal burghers; while a party of about twenty of his own
armed attendants brought up the rear of the cavalcade. In this order,
and amongst deafening shouts from the people, who ran on by the sides
of their horses, they proceeded to the palace, where a considerable
crowd was also assembled.
In the court-yard, drawn up so as to face the great gate, was a small
body of men-at-arms clad in complete steel, with horses furnished with
that sort of defensive armour called bard or bardo; while, in a double
line from the entrance of the outer enclosure to the steps before the
palace, appeared a strong body of harquebussiers with their slow
matches lighted, as if prepared for an anticipated struggle: behind
these again, appeared the soldiers of the Prevot's guard, who were
chosen in general from those lighter and more active troops, which at
a former period were called in the English armies hobblers, but which
had now generally obtained the name of _jennetaires_, from the jennets
or light Spanish horses on which they were usually mounted.
The Lord of Neufchatel and his companions alighted at the outer gate,
and passed on foot through the formidable military array above
described. The old nobleman led the way, followed by Albert Maurice,
who, with a firm step and an upright carriage, but without the
slightest touch of bravado in his demeanour, passed along the whole
line, which, he plainly saw, was drawn up to overawe any attempt to
rescue him, which the populace might be inclined to make in case of
his condemnation. The same demonstrations of military force appeared
in the outer hall, and in an ante-room beyond, in which the young
citizen and his companions were detained for a few minutes, while his
arrival was announced in the chamber of audience with which it
communicated.
It were vain to say that no shade of emotion passed through the bosom
of Albert Maurice as he stood there waiting for a hearing which was to
determine his fate for life or death; but still his feelings were
different from those which men of less firm nerve might be supposed to
experience on such an occasion. Poor Martin Fruse, who stood behind
him, quivered in every limb with anxiety and apprehension; fidgeted
here and there, and many a time and oft plucked his nephew by the
sleeve, to receive rather than to yield consolation and encouragement.
The countenance of the young burgher, however, was in no way troubled:
there was in it that expression of deep grave thought, which befitted
the time and circumstances; but his brow was unclouded, his cheek had
lost not a tint of its natural hue, and his lip quivered not with
anything like agitation.
After a brief pause, two soldiers, who stood with their partizans
crossed before the entrance of the audience hall, raised their weapons
at a signal from within. The doors were thrown open, and in the midst
of much hurrying and confusion, for a number of persons had by some
means gained admission to the ante-chamber to witness the proceedings,
Albert Maurice, and those who accompanied him, were led forward to the
end of a long table, at which were seated a body of the noblest men
of the land. A wooden bar had been drawn from each side of the
council-board to the wall on either hand; and two soldiers with drawn
swords were placed within these barriers, to prevent the spectators
from advancing beyond them. The space thus left at the end of the
hall, being but small, was soon filled up; and the doors were
immediately closed by the orders of the Lord of Imbercourt, who was
sitting near the head of the table.
In the chair of state, which occupied the principal place at the
table, sat the same gentle, beautiful being whom Albert Maurice had
seen the day before in the great square. She was dressed as befitted
her state and station; and, in a semicircle behind her, stood a bevy
of fair girls, whose beauty, however, faded completely before her own.
She was somewhat paler than the day before, and perhaps a slight
degree of agitation and anxiety might be visible in her looks: but
still the predominant expression of her countenance was gentle
calmness; and, as she raised the dark fringes of her soft hazel eyes
towards the accused, when he took his place at the end of the table,
they seemed to say, "I shall be a lenient judge."
His eyes met hers for a moment, and the colour rose slightly in her
cheek as they did so; while, at the same time, a thrill of feelings,
new and strange, passed through the heart of Albert Maurice. The
principal places of the council-table were filled by the Lords of
Ravestein, Imbercourt, Hugonet, and Vere; but the Duchess of Burgundy
herself, the wife of Charles the Bold, was not present.
A momentary silence succeeded the bustle of their entrance, and the
Lord of Neufchatel surrendered in due form the prisoner for whom he
had become responsible, and claimed to be delivered from the charge.
The business of the council then seemed suspended for a time, from
some motive which Albert Maurice did not understand. This was
explained, however, the minute after, when a door, which opened into
the space within the bar, was thrown back, and Maillotin du Bac, his
countenance as pale as ashes, his arm in a sling, and his head wrapped
in innumerable bandages, was supported into the hall by two
attendants. The eye of the princess fixed upon him with an expression
of grief and compassion, and making an eager gesture with her hand,
she exclaimed, "Place him a chair, place him a chair!"
This command was immediately obeyed; and after the Prevot had paused
for a few minutes to regain strength, he was directed to proceed with
his charge against Albert Maurice, qualified simply as a citizen of
Ghent. This he instantly did with a loudness of tone and a degree of
vindictive vehemence, which no one could have supposed him capable of
exerting, from the weak state in which he appeared to be. His present
charge was somewhat differently couched from that which he had made
against the young citizen at the castle of Hannut: he passed over in
complete silence all the circumstances of the prisoner's arrest,
merely stating that he had received information of a treasonable
communication carried on by this young citizen, between Ghent, Namur,
and France; and that he had arrested him accordingly. On his person he
said he had found letters, the tendency of which placed the facts
beyond doubt; and also showed that the prisoner was criminally
connected with those lawless bands of _routiers_ and plunderers called
the Green Riders. He then went on to detail his having placed him
securely in one of the strongest dungeons of the castle of Hannut, and
of his having discovered the next morning that the dungeon was vacant.
How it became so he said he could not tell; but certain it was that he
had not been received by the Lord of Hannut with that courtesy and
willing co-operation which, as an officer of the Duke of Burgundy, he
had a right to expect. He next detailed to the council his pursuit of
the Green Riders; and related the manner in which he had been attacked
and defeated, although he rated the number of the brigands as not less
than triple that of his own band. It was evidently their design, he
said, and probably their whole design, to deprive him of the papers
which proved the guilt of their comrade and ally, who stood there at
the end of the table. In this view they had unfortunately been too
successful; but he was ready to swear upon his knightly oath, and two
or three of his band, to whom he had shown those papers, were prepared
to bear witness, that they were of a most treasonable character.
To confirm this statement two of the troopers were accordingly called
in, and swore to the Prevot having shown them the papers found upon
the prisoner's person, which were full of treason in every line.
During the evidence of one of these persons, the eye of Maillotin du
Bac detected the old Lord of Neufchatel in whispering something to the
prisoner; and he exclaimed loudly and indecently against that nobleman
for conniving with a base mechanical citizen and a traitor.
"Hark ye, Sir Maillotin du Bac," replied the old lord, bursting forth
with no small indignation, "you yourself are a grovelling hound; and
by the Lord that lives, the first time I meet thee I will drub out of
thee the little life that the good Green Riders have left thee, and
more--"
"Peace, peace, sirs," interrupted the Lord of Imbercourt; "you forget
the presence in which you stand, your own dignity, and the solemnity
of the occasion. My Lord of Neufchatel, do you object to tell the
council what you whispered but now in the ear of that young man?"
"Not I, in faith," replied the other; "that was just what I was about
to tell you when you interrupted me. I was then saying that the fellow
there, who has just sworn to having read so much treason, must have
learned to read very fast, and somewhat late in the day; for not a
year ago he was trumpeter in my train, and could not tell an A from a
Z."
"Ha!" cried the Lord of Imbercourt, "this must be looked to. Some one
hand him a book. Methinks thou turnest mighty pale," he added,
speaking to the trooper as his command was obeyed; and a volume of the
archives of Burgundy was placed in the man's hand. "There, read me
that sentence!"
With trembling hands the man held the book, gazing with a white face,
and lack-lustre eyes, upon the characters which it contained, and
which were evidently to him meaningless enough. After a moment's vain
effort to perform the impossible task, he lifted his eyes, and rolled
them, full of dismay and detected guilt, round the faces of all
present; while Maillotin du Bac, in rage and disappointment, set his
teeth firm in his pale lip, and stamped his foot heavily upon the
ground.
The brow of the Chancellor Hugonet darkened; and, pointing to the man
who had so evidently committed a gross and wilful perjury, he
exclaimed, "Take him away, and let him be well guarded." The command
was immediately obeyed, and the trooper was hurried out of the chamber
by two of the attendants.
"Do you not think, my lords," said the low, sweet voice of Mary of
Burgundy, "that we may dismiss this cause? If it be supported by such
witnesses as these, it will bring more disgrace upon our nation than
can be well wiped off."
"We must not forget, madam," replied Imbercourt, "that here is justice
to be done to the characters of two persons, the accused and his
accuser; and though the nature of the testimony offered as yet may
well induce us to view this charge with suspicion, yet we should be
doing less than justice to this young citizen of your good town of
Ghent, did we not give him the opportunity of clearing his character
fully from even a shade of doubt. Sir Maillotin du Bac," he added
somewhat sternly, "have you any other testimony to produce in support
of your accusation?"
"Methinks," replied the Prevot boldly, "that my own word and testimony
should be enough."
"Not here, sir," replied Imbercourt. "You, young gentleman," he added,
addressing the young burgher, "you have heard the charge against you;
do you desire to speak in your defence?"
"I pray thee, do so, young sir," said the princess, bending slightly
forward; "we would fain believe you wholly innocent, for we cannot
believe that our noble father, the Duke Charles, can have done
anything to turn one true heart against him; and we would fain hear
that such a word as treason is unknown in the good land of Flanders,
except in the mouths of base calumniators, such as the man who, but
now, has been taken hence."
Albert Maurice bent low his head, and then raising his eyes, he
replied, "Madam, for your good opinion I would plead long; and, that I
felt conscious of my innocence, and able to establish it before you,
you may, in some degree, see, by the bold appeal I have made to your
justice, rather than trust myself in the hands of one whose character
is not famous for equal dealing. It seldom happens, lady, that even in
this evil world one man persecutes another without some motive,
springing from either avarice, ambition, or revenge; and yon Prevot's
bare word, perhaps, might weigh even against the fair character I
trust I have hitherto borne, could I not prove that, besides the
general hate which he bears towards the citizens of Ghent, he has
cause of personal animosity against myself. The tale is soon told, and
the proofs of its veracity are in my hand," he added, laying his
finger upon the papers which he had collected to prove his innocence.
"In the small town of Gembloux, whither I had gone, on business
relating to the traffic of my house, I heard a woman's scream, and saw
the wife of an honest burgher insulted and ill-treated at her own door
by one of the brutal soldiers of that Prevot's band; a band, lady,
which, by their insolent contempt of all the ordinary charities and
feelings of civil life, have brought more hatred upon the rulers of
Flanders than ever your noble father dreamt of, and than ever their
services against the brigands can repay. But no more on that score,"
he continued, as the Lord of Imbercourt held up his hand with a
warning gesture. "Suffice it, I saw a woman ill-treated by one of the
soldiers of his band, and I struck the miscreant to the earth in the
very deed; and where is there a Christian man, be he knight or noble,
citizen or peasant, who shall say that I did wrong? Before I was
aware, however, I was seized and overpowered by numbers, my arms tied
with cords, my horse-boy beaten and driven out of the town, my baggage
plundered, and several sealed letters which I was bearing from Namur
to Ghent broken open, and read for the purpose of forging accusations
against me."
"You hear, lords, you hear!" exclaimed Maillotin du Bac; "he
acknowledges the fact of the letters, mark that."
"Ay, do mark it, noble lords! mark it well," continued Albert Maurice,
boldly; "I do acknowledge it. Nay, more, I acknowledge that in those
letters was the expression of some grief and indignation felt by the
people of Namur, on account of infringed rights and violated
privileges. But at the same time, I do most strictly deny that I knew
one word of the contents of those letters, till they were read by yon
bad man in my presence; and still more, I affirm that, even had I
known everything that they contained, or had I written them myself,
there was no sentence in them which tyranny itself could wrest into
such a crime as treason. Lady, and you, Lords of the Council, yon
Prevot has called witnesses to tell you what were the contents of
those letters, and of the honour and good faith of those witnesses you
have had an opportunity of judging. I will now call upon a witness
also, with whose character you have equal means of being acquainted.
My Lord of Imbercourt, to you I appeal. Those letters were shown to
you in my presence; and if you can, upon your knightly honour, declare
that they contain treason, do so before the world."
"Your appeal to me, young gentleman," replied the Lord of Imbercourt,
"must not be made in vain. I do most solemnly declare, on my honour
and oath as a belted knight, that in the letters shown me by the
Prevot, as found upon that young citizen's person, though there were
some expressions bordering upon turbulent discontent, yet there was
nothing, in my poor judgment, which any sane man could construe into
treason."
The eyes of Mary of Burgundy had fixed eagerly upon the counsellor as
he spoke; and when he uttered the last words, a bright smile of gentle
satisfaction lighted up all her features, while a slight glow,
spreading over her face, seemed to tell with what anxiety she had
listened to the testimony of the Lord of Imbercourt. That smile and
that glow were not unmarked by Albert Maurice; and his own cheek
flushed, and his own rich voice rather trembled, as he proceeded with
the next sentences of his defence.
"On such grounds of accusation, lady," he continued, "was I
dragged along, tied hand and foot as a criminal of the worst
description, hurried forward in this situation with the rest of the
troop, while they attacked a party of _routiers_ in the forest of
Hannut, carried on to the castle in that forest, and thrown into a
dark dungeon, with a pile of straw for my bed. I thence made my
escape----"
"How?" shouted Maillotin du Bac; "how?"
"How matters not," replied Albert Maurice.
"Ay, by my faith, but it does," rejoined the Prevot; "for I accuse
you, Sir Citizen, of leaguing with these forest swine that have so
long plundered and desolated the land. Every one of my men can bear
witness, that for the papers concerning you alone was I attacked near
Braine-la-Leud; that they were the first things sought for when we
were overpowered by numbers, and that the continual cry of their
leaders was, 'Secure the papers.'"
Albert Maurice paused, and the Chancellor Hugonet exclaimed, "You had
better explain your escape, young gentleman; this gives a new aspect
to the case."
"On the facts that followed I can say something also," observed the
Lord of Imbercourt, "having been in the castle of my good brother of
Hannut when the absence of the prisoner was first discovered."
"Speak, then, my lord, speak," said Mary of Burgundy, eagerly; "such
testimony as yours is beyond all question; and, unaccustomed to such
scenes as this, I would fain see this case terminated speedily and
well. Speak, then, my lord, and tell us all you know."
"It were better," replied Imbercourt, "and more in the forms of
justice, to suffer the accused to tell his own tale in regard to his
escape; before I give any evidence that I can upon the subject. If you
require it, sir," he added, addressing the young citizen, "I will
absent myself from the council-table while you deliver your statement,
that my testimony may be considered the more impartial."
"Not in the least, my lord," replied Albert Maurice, "do I desire your
absence at all; nor is it my purpose to make any statement in regard
to my escape. Escape I did. Of course I could not have done so
effectually without some aid, from without or from within; and I do
not choose to injure any one, however lowly or however high, by
implicating them in an affair like this. Whatever you know upon the
subject must be from some other source, and, knowing my own innocence
in every respect, I hear you without apprehension."
"I have then but little beyond conjecture to advance," said
Imbercourt. "On the morning after our arrival at the castle of Hannut,
this Prevot presented himself in great wrath before my noble
brother-in-law and myself, informing us of the escape of the prisoner,
and insinuated, in somewhat insolent terms, that the Lord of
Hannut--as loyal a nobleman as ever lived--had abetted the evasion. An
instant investigation was instituted, and we learned that the dungeon
in which the prisoner was left the night before had been found locked
in the morning. No sign of violence was to be seen when we examined it
in person, not a bar was broken, not a stanchion was moved; there lay
the straw which had been the prisoner's bed, there stood the flagon
and the bread which had been given him for his supper on the previous
night. But on inquiry, we found, that this Prevot, after some deep
drinking, and in a state, as several persons witnessed, of stupid
drunkenness, had visited the prisoner's cell at a late hour the
preceding night; and we concluded that he had suffered the young
burgher to slip past him unobserved before he closed the door. Whether
it was so or not, none but himself can tell."
"My lord, as I before said, I will be silent on that point," replied
Albert Maurice; "but the use which I made of my liberty would be quite
sufficient, I should conceive, to prove that I had no very evil or
dangerous designs. I hastened immediately to Gembloux, where I
obtained these papers, which I now lay before the council, to
establish fully the fact that I was arrested, in the first instance,
solely for striking a soldier, who had insulted the wife of a burgher
of the place; I then made all speed to Ghent, where I was sure of
encountering my adversary, but where I trusted also to obtain
justice."
"And the first thing you did when you were in Ghent," exclaimed
Maillotin du Bac, with the angry vehemence of disappointed hatred,
"was to stir up the people to tumult, to make seditious speeches in
the town-hall, to resist the lawful force sent to arrest you, and to
incite the people to murder the officers that were despatched for your
apprehension. Pretty proofs of innocence, indeed! Well, well, the
princess and the lords of the council will see what will come of it,
if they suffer such doings to take place with impunity. Who will serve
the state, if the state will not support them in doing their duty? The
strong hand, lords, the strong hand is the only way to keep down these
turbulent, disaffected burghers."
"It must be the strong hand of justice, then, Prevot," replied
Imbercourt; "and let me tell you, that you yourself, by the unjust
arrest of this young man, have done more to stir up the people to
rebellion than the most seditious traitor that ever harangued from a
market cross. Nor, sir, must you scatter such false and malicious
accusations without proofs. Before I sat down here, I, with several of
the other lords now present, investigated accurately what had been the
conduct of this young burgher during the course of yesterday morning;
and I find that, so far from his behaviour being turbulent and
seditious, he acted only as a loyal subject to our lord the duke, and
was one of those good merchants who drew up an address of
congratulation on the news of our sovereign's safety. More I found
that, had it not been for his influence and strong exertions with the
people, your lieutenant and his band, Sir Prevot, would have been
sacrificed to their indignation, for imprudently intruding into a
privileged place, while the merchants of the good town were assembled
in deliberation. Nor can any one doubt the fact, for your own
lieutenant was the first to bear witness to this young citizen's
generous intercession in his favour."
Maillotin du Bac set his teeth hard, and stretched out his hand upon
his knee, with a sort of suppressed groan, which might proceed either
from the pain of his bruises, or the disappointment of his malice.
After a short pause, during which no one seemed prepared to say
anything more, either in accusation or defence, the princess herself
spoke, with that sort of timid and doubtful tone which was natural in
one so young, so inexperienced, and so gentle on giving a decision
upon so important a cause, although it was sufficiently evident to all
what her decision must be.
"I think, my lords," she said, "after what we have heard there cannot
be any great difference of opinion. The evidence which has been
brought forward seems not only to exculpate this young gentleman from
all charge whatever, but to cast the highest honour upon his character
and conduct. What say you, my lords? do you not acquit him freely from
all stain?"
The voices of the council were found unanimous in favour of the
accused; and it was announced to him that he stood free and clear from
all accusation. The princess bowed to him, as his full acquittal was
declared, with a smile of gratification at the result, which sprang
from a pure, a noble, and a gentle heart, pleased to see a fellow
creature, whose dignified deportment and graceful carriage could not
but win upon the weaknesses of human nature, establish clearly a
higher and more dignified title to esteem by tried virtue and
integrity. There was no other feeling mingled with her smile; nor did
Albert Maurice, for a moment, dream that there was; but, at the same
time, it wakened a train of thoughts in his own mind both dangerous
and painful. More than ever did he feel that he was born out of the
station for which nature had formed his spirit; and more than ever did
his heart burn to do away those grades in society, which, though the
inevitable consequences of the innate differences between different
men, he, from mortified pride, termed artificial distinctions, and
unjust barriers betwixt man and man. It were to inquire too curiously,
perhaps, to investigate how the one sweet smile of that beautiful lip
woke in the heart of the young citizen a train of such apparently
abstruse thoughts. So, however, it was; and, as the doors of the
audience hall were thrown open behind him, allowing those to go forth
who had gained admittance to hear his examination before the council,
he bowed to the princess and the nobles present, with feelings
individually more friendly to all of them, but certainly more hostile
to the general system of government, and the existing institutions of
society.
Still Albert Maurice entertained no presumptuous dreams in regard to
Mary of Burgundy. He thought her certainly the most beautiful creature
he had ever beheld. She had smiled upon him sweetly and gently. She
had been present at his examination herself, though she might,
notwithstanding his appeal, have left it to the decision of her
council. She had done him full and impartial justice; and she had
seemed to derive a personal pleasure from his acquittal. All this he
felt strongly; and he was fond to picture, from that fair face, and
those soft hazel eyes, a mind and a spirit within all gentleness and
excellence. He thought, too, that had mankind been in its just and
natural situation, where no cold rules placed as wide a distance
between different classes, as if they were composed of different
creatures, he might have striven to win, ay, and he thought he might
have won, that fair hand, which had held the scales of justice for him
so impartially.
Such feelings, and all the many collateral thoughts to which those
feelings gave rise, were busy in his breast, as he followed the good
old Lord of Neufchatel towards the door. Just as he was going out, he
turned to take one more glance of the princess, the last, perhaps, he
was ever to obtain; but Mary of Burgundy, and her ladies, had already
quitted the hall, as well as his accuser, Maillotin du Bac, who had
hastened away to conceal himself from popular indignation. Nothing was
to be seen but one or two of the members of the council, standing
together in a group at the farther end of the table, and apparently,
by the gay laughter in which they were indulging, conversing over some
indifferent subject. Albert Maurice turned, and strode through the
ante-chamber, while the Lord of Neufchatel walked on before him,
demonstrating, with proud courtesy, various points of feudal law to
good Martin Fruse, who listened to his speech with every mark of the
most deferential respect. The young citizen was just entering the
outer hall, and he already heard the shouts of the people in the
square, welcoming with a glad voice, the news of his acquittal, which
had preceded his own appearance, when somebody plucked him by the
sleeve, and one of the officers of the household informed him, in a
low tone, that the Princess Mary required his presence for a moment in
private.
The heart of the young burgher beat quick; but without pause he
followed the attendant, as he turned away from him, and in a moment
had passed through one of the side doors into the private apartments
of the palace.