The torrent of business in which Albert Maurice found himself
involved, had occupied his time in such a manner as hardly to permit
of his giving much attention to the tumultuous assemblages which took
place, during the day, in various parts of the city. Popular leaders,
indeed, are apt to attach too little importance to those commotions
which, being frequently raised by themselves with ease and rapidity,
they fancy they can allay with the same facility and power; but a time
comes when they are to be undeceived, and it was approaching with
Albert Maurice. Towards two o'clock the young citizen had addressed
the people in the market-place, and had easily induced them disperse,
by informing them that the princess had most generously granted them,
of her own accord, all that they could desire. He had then, in the
belief that all the other crowds would melt away, in the same manner,
before night, retired to his own dwelling; and, in the most remote and
noiseless apartment which it contained, had proceeded to make, with
rapidity and decision, all those arrangements on which depended the
defence of the city against external enemies, and the predominance of
the popular party within its walls. He wrote at length to all the
municipal councils of the various towns in Flanders; he took measures
for organizing a considerable national force; he sent express orders
to the guard at all the gates, to refuse admission to any party of
armed men; and he issued orders for the fabrication of arms as
speedily as possible, in order that the citizens might be found in a
state of preparation, if the privileges and liberty they had regained
should be menaced from without.
Thus passed the three hours of light that remained after his return
home; and busy hours they were. At length feeling himself,
notwithstanding his great corporeal powers, somewhat wearied with the
immense exertions which he had made, he proceeded into the garden
attached to his dwelling, which formed a little terrace on the banks
of the Lys. As he stood there, turning his aching brow to the cool
wind, the full roar of the tumult in the city burst upon his ear, like
the distant sound of a stormy sea; and, after listening for a few
moments to the combination of discordant noises, which rose up from
the many streets and squares, he felt at once that some great
change had taken place in the popular mind since he had left the
market-place; and, turning quickly back, he prepared to go forth and
use all the power he knew that he possessed to restore tranquillity.
At his own door, however, he was met by a boy, who instantly
pronounced his name, though it was now dark, and demanded to speak
with him.
"Who, and what are you, boy?" demanded the young citizen.
"I bear you a billet from a lady," replied the youth; "and you must
read it directly."
"A billet from a lady!" cried Albert Maurice, with a sneer curling his
handsome lip. "Go, go, my boy, this is no time for idle gallantries.
Give me the note, and get thee hence; I will read it to-morrow."
"Nay, but you must read it this moment," the other answered, without
giving him the note: "ay, and that in private, too," he added. "So
come, good sir, go back into your house; and take it with reverence
and care, for it deserves no less."
"Thou art bold enough," replied Albert Maurice; but at the same time
there was something in the deportment of the boy, so unlike that of
the common _Love's messengers_ of those days, that he yielded to his
desire; and, turning into the house, strode quickly to the chamber in
which he had been writing, and in which a light was still burning.
The moment he had entered, the apparel of the page, and a small St.
Andrew's cross, embroidered on his left breast, at once showed that he
was a servant of the house of Burgundy. Instantly closing the door,
Albert Maurice took the note with every sign of reverence and respect,
and read it attentively by the light of the lamp. As he did so,
however, his cheek flushed, and then turned pale and flushed again,
and he demanded eagerly, "Who gave you this note, Sir Page?"
"The Lady Alice of Imbercourt," replied the boy; "and she bade me lead
you speedily to the postern on the river."
Albert Maurice paused, and mused; and though no heart that ever beat
in a human bosom knew less of fear than his, yet the ordinary
calculation of danger which every one makes when engaged in
enterprises of importance forced itself upon his notice, and he could
not but feel that the step proposed to him was replete with peril. Was
it probable, he asked himself, that the princess should send to him at
that hour? And was not the dispatch of the note he held in his hand,
much more likely to be part of a scheme framed by the Prevot, or some
of the inferior agents of the government, in order to get the chief
leader of the popular party, the president of the provisional council,
into their hands, as a tie upon the people?
Yet, as he gazed upon the billet, it was evidently a woman's writing;
and as he re-read the contents there was something in it all which put
prudence and caution to flight at once. Was not the very name of Mary
of Burgundy enough? To be requested by her to visit her dwelling in
secrecy and disguise! to see her, to speak with her in private! to
bask in the light of those beautiful eyes! to hear that soft and
thrilling voice! The very hope was worth all the perils that ever
knight or paladin encountered; and his re-perusal of the billet
determined him at once to go.
Where to find some speedy means of disguising his person was his next
thought; but then, immediately remembering the monk's grey gown in
which he had already travelled so far, and which, by some accident,
had been left behind by his former guide, he instantly sought it out,
stripped off the furred robe which he had worn through the day, and
buckling on a sword and poniard under the frock, strode on after the
page, with that increased feeling of security which we all experience
when we know that we have the means about us of selling our lives
dearly, happen what will in the course before us.
"Better follow at a short distance behind, good father," said the boy,
as they proceeded into the street; "you know your way towards the back
of the Cours du Prince. If we go separate we shall the better escape
notice, and you will find me on the narrow path beneath the walls."
As he spoke thus, he darted away, and Albert Maurice followed with the
hurried step of excitement and expectation. It was now completely
dark; and passing onward along the quay of the canals, and through one
or two of the many large squares of Ghent, he soon saw enough of
popular feeling to make him anxious to resume a garb in which he might
take measures for repressing the turbulent spirit that was every
moment gaining ground. At the corner of each of the larger streets
immense bonfires, blazing and crackling in the chill air, at once
lighted, and warmed, and excited the multitudes that assembled round
them. But this was not all; wine, and ale too, that genuine Flemish
beverage, were circulating rapidly amongst the crowds of men and
women, whose class and appearance did not at all warrant the
supposition that their own means could procure, even on an
extraordinary occasion, such copious supplies of dear and intoxicating
liquors. All this excited a suspicion in the mind of Albert Maurice,
that some unseen agency was at work, to rouse the people to a far
higher pitch than he wished or had expected; and at the same time, he
felt that such scenes of tumultuous rejoicing on the news of the loss
of a great battle, and the death of their bold and chivalrous
sovereign, was indecent in itself, and must be bitter, indeed, to the
child of the dead prince. Such sights, of course, increased his speed;
and hastening on as fast as possible, he soon found himself upon the
narrow ledge of land between the fortified wall of the palace and the
river. But he was alone; the page was nowhere to be seen; and Albert
Maurice began to suspect he had been deceived; but, a moment after,
the appearance of the boy, hurrying up as fast as his less powerful
limbs permitted, soon showed him that his own anxious haste had
outstripped even the page's youthful activity.
Although a sentry paraded the wall above, with his slow match lighted,
no challenge was given; and three sharp taps upon the postern door
soon caused it to fly open, and admit them within the walls of the
building. An inferior officer of the guard stood by, and held a
lantern to the face of the page as he entered. The boy endured his
scrutiny quietly; but, to the surprise of the young citizen, he found
that the appearance of the page was received as a passport for
himself. The officer withdrew the lantern without farther comment, as
soon as he had satisfied himself in regard to the boy's person, and
suffered Albert Maurice and his conductor to enter the palace.
Up long and manifold staircases--through innumerable doors and
interminable passages, the page led the leader of the Gandois, and
only stopped at length, when both were out of breath, at a small, deep
doorway, where he knocked before he entered, making a sign to Albert
Maurice to pause. The boy was then told to come in, and remained
within for some minutes, while the young burgher continued in the dark
passage, his heart beating, as he thought of his near meeting with
Mary of Burgundy, with that thrill of expectation which would seem to
partake of the nature of fear, were it not almost always mingled in
some way with feelings not only of hope, but of joy.
After a time the boy returned; and, leading the young burgher to
another door, he threw it open, and admitted him into an apartment
fitted up with all the ostentatious splendour for which Charles of
Burgundy had been famous in the decoration of his palaces. It seemed
to have been a room peculiarly allotted to that prince's leisure
moments; for all around hung various implements of sylvan sport, each
ornamented in some way with the arms of Burgundy, and piled up against
the walls in the manner of trophies.
There is something strangely solemn in entering the chamber of one
lately dead. It seems more empty, more vacant and cold, than when its
master, though absent, is living. It appeals to our own feelings and
connects itself, by the thin gossamer threads of selfishness which the
human heart draws between our own fate and every external event that
befalls our fellow-men, with an after-period, when our chamber shall
be left thus cold and lonely, and our place be no longer found amongst
the living.
All spoke of the last Duke Charles, and of the bold rude sports of
which he had been fond. Even the sconce that held a few lighted tapers
was fashioned in the shape of a boar's head; and as the young citizen
entered the chamber, he felt that feeling of pity for, and sympathy
with, the deceased prince which nothing could have inspired but his
death: that common fate which breaks down all that holds man from man,
and first makes us feel our near kindred to each other.
There was no one in the chamber; and the page, after telling Albert
Maurice that the lady would be with him in a moment, retired and left
him to think both of the living and the dead. His thoughts of the
latter, however, soon ceased; for in this active life the solemn
impressions are naturally the most transitory; and the expectation of
meeting Mary of Burgundy soon absorbed the whole. He had no time to
analyse his feelings, or to examine with microscopic accuracy the
workings of his own heart. Since the day when he had first seen her in
the market-place her image had become connected with almost every
thought that had passed through his mind. The name of the princess,
and her conduct in all the events of the day, of course formed a
constant part in the conversation of the people; and whenever she was
mentioned, the fair form and the mild liquid eyes rose to the sight of
the young burgher, and the sweet melodious tones of her voice seemed
to warble in his ear. He had refused to let his own mind inquire what
was going on in his bosom; but the words of Ganay had, perhaps, in
some degree, opened his eyes to his feelings; and the sensations which
he experienced while waiting her coming in that chamber tended still
more to undeceive him.
"What, what was he doing?" he asked himself: "encouraging a passion
for an object beyond his reach." But even while he so thought, a
thousand wild and whirling images rushed across his brain--of triumph,
and success, and love. But how was it all to be obtained? By
overthrowing her power to raise himself into her rank; by overturning
the institutions of his country; by risking the effusion of oceans of
blood, and by inducing months of anarchy? Still these were the only
means by which he could ever hope to win the hand of Mary of Burgundy;
and he asked himself, would such means win her love? Even were he to
give way to the towering ambition, which was the only passion that had
hitherto struggled with patriotism in his bosom--the only one which he
had feared--would it obtain the gratification of that love which was
now rising up, a stronger passion, still destined to use the other as
its mere slave?
Such feelings as I have said rushed rapidly through his brain, while
expectation mingled with the rest, and made his heart beat till it
almost caused him to gasp for breath. These sensations were becoming
well-nigh intolerable, when the door opened, and Mary of Burgundy,
followed a step behind by Alice of Imbercourt, entered the apartment,
and the door was closed. The princess was still pale with grief; but
there was a fitful colour came and went in her cheek, that was far
lovelier than the most rosy health. Her eyes, too, bore the traces of
tears; but their heaviness had something touching in it, which,
perhaps, went more directly to the heart than their brighter light.
With a flushed cheek and agitated frame the young burgher advanced a
step, and made a profound inclination of the head as the princess
entered, not well knowing whether, when received in so private a
manner, to kneel or not. But Mary, after pausing a moment, with a
doubtful glance, as her eye fell upon the monk's frock with which he
was covered, held out her hand for him to kiss as her subject, a
custom then common to almost all ladies of sovereign station; and the
young citizen at once bent the knee, and touched that fair hand with a
lip that quivered like that of a frightened child. He then rose, and
stepping back, waited for Mary to express her commands, though his eye
from time to time was raised for a single instant to her face, as if
he thought to impress those fair features still more deeply on the
tablet of his heart.
"I thank you, sir, for coming so speedily," said the princess, "for,
in truth, I have much need of your counsel and assistance."
"I trust, madam, you could not entertain a doubt of my instant
obedience to your commands," replied Albert Maurice, finding that she
paused.
"The only thing which could have led me to do so," said the princess,
"was your refusal to come at the bidding of my faithful friends, the
Lords of Imbercourt and Hugonet."
"There is some great mistake, madam," replied the young citizen, in
surprise; "the noblemen, to whom your Grace refers, have never
signified any wish to see me. Had they done so, I should have come at
their request, with the same confidence that I have obeyed your
commands."
"Alice," cried the princess, turning to her fair attendant, "my
information came from you. I hope it was correct."
"All I can say, fair sir," said Alice of Imbercourt, advancing a step,
and applying to the young burgher the term that was generally used in
that day, from noble to noble--"all I can say, fair sir, is, that I
heard my father, the Lord of Imbercourt, despatch a messenger this
day, at about three of the clock, to entreat Master Albert Maurice and
Master Walter Ganay to visit him at the palace immediately; and I
heard, scarcely an hour ago, by the report of one of my women, that a
direct refusal had been returned."
"Not by me, lady, certainly not by me," replied Albert Maurice. "Since
the hour of two, this day, I have been in my own cabinet busily
engaged in writing, and know but little of what has passed in the
city. But assuredly no messenger has ever reached me to-day from the
palace, except the page who brought me the command, which I am here to
obey. But you say another name was coupled with mine. Perhaps that
person may have returned the uncourteous refusal of which you speak."
"I am very sorry for it, then," answered Mary of Burgundy; "for the
matter on which I desired to see you, sir, would be much better
transacted with men and statesmen than with a weak women like myself."
"Your pardon, madam!" exclaimed Albert Maurice. "If what you would say
refers to the city of Ghent and its present state, much more may be
done by your own commands, expressed personally to myself, than by an
oration of the wisest minister that ever yet was born. Statesmen,
madam, are often too cold, too prudent, too cautious, to deal with the
frank multitude, whose actions are all passion, and whose motives are
all impulse. But, oh! madam, there is a natural, generous, gentle
feeling about all your demeanour, from your lightest word to your most
important deed, which is well calculated to make our hearts serve you,
as well as our heads or our hands."
The young burgher spoke with a fervour and an enthusiasm that called
the blood up for a moment into Mary's cheek. But as the chivalrous
courtesy of the day often prompted expressions of much more romantic
admiration, without the slightest further meaning than mere ordinary
civility, Mary of Burgundy saw nothing in the conduct of the young
citizen beyond dutiful and loyal affection. The possibility of her
having raised a deeper or more tender feeling in the bosom of her
subject never once crossed her thoughts. It was to her as a thing
impossible; and, though she certainly felt gratified by the fervent
tone of loyalty in which Albert Maurice expressed himself, she dreamed
not for a moment that that loyalty could ever become a warmer feeling
in his breast.
"I trust, sir," she replied, "ever to merit the opinion you have
expressed, and to keep the love of my good people of Ghent, as well as
that of all my subjects. But, indeed, the conduct that they are now
pursuing evinces but small regard either for my feelings or my
interest, nor much gratitude for the first willing concession that I
have made in their favour. You say, sir, you know little that has
passed in the city since an early hour, listen, then to the tidings
that have reached me."
Mary then recapitulated all that she had heard concerning the tumults
in different parts of the city; and a conversation of considerable
length ensued, which--from all the important and interesting
circumstances discussed, from the free and unceremonious communication
which it rendered necessary, and from the continual bursts of high and
generous sentiments, upon both parts, to which the great events they
spoke of gave rise--brought all the feelings of the young citizen
within the circle of the one deep, overpowering passion which had been
long growing up in his bosom. If he came there doubting whether he
loved Mary of Burgundy, before he left her presence his only doubt
was, whether there was anything else on earth worth living for but the
love he felt towards her.
Such thoughts had their natural effect both on his appearance and
demeanour. He still maintained that tone of deep respect due from a
subject to his sovereign; but there was a free grace in all his
movements, a brilliant energy in all he said, a spirit of gentle,
chivalrous loyalty in all his professions, inspired by the great
excitement under which he spoke, that raised the wonder and admiration
of Mary herself, though still no one dream of bolder aspirations ever
crossed her imagination.
The chamber in which this conference was held was turned towards the
river, rather than to the square before the palace; and the shouts
which had made themselves loudly audible in the apartments from which
Mary had just come, had hitherto been less distinctly heard where she
now stood. But, in a moment after, the multitudes which had assembled
in other places seemed directing their course over a bridge that lay a
little higher up the stream; and the sounds came with redoubled force.
Shouts, cries, and songs of every kind were borne along with the wind,
to the chamber in which the princess was standing; and, pointing to
the casement, she bade the young citizen open it, and hearken to what
was passing without.
Albert Maurice did so, and, in listening, his cheek became alternately
pale and red; his brow knitted, and his eye flashed; and, turning to
the princess, he replied, "I know not, madam, what they have done, or
what they are about to do, but certainly some sort of insanity seems
to have seized upon the people. However, I will this instant go forth,
and, as I live, if they have committed the crimes of which I am led to
fear they are guilty, from some of the cries I have just heard, the
perpetrators shall meet the punishment they deserve."
He turned towards the door as he spoke, but Mary desired him to pause.
"Stay, stay, sir, a moment," she said: "Alice, bid the page see that
the way is clear."
The young lady opened the door, and whispered a few words to the boy,
who waited in the passage beyond, and who instantly proceeded to
ascertain that no change had taken place to obstruct the burgher's
egress from the palace. Scarcely was he gone on this errand, however,
when a pale reddish glare began to pour through the open window,
waxing stronger each moment; and Mary, whose face was half turned
towards it, started forward, exclaiming, "Look, look! Good Heaven,
they have set fire to the city!"
Albert Maurice sprang to the casement also; and, as with his right
hand he threw further open the lattice, his left rested for a single
moment on that of Mary of Burgundy, which she had accidentally placed
upon the sill of the window. It was but for an instant, yet a thrill
passed through his whole frame that made his brain seem to reel.
But he had no time to indulge such thoughts. A bright pyramid of flame
was at that very moment springing up through the clear night air,
affording a strange and fearful contrast to the pure sweet beams of
the early moon. Redder and redder the baleful glare arose, as if
striving to outshine the moonlight, and streaming over the city,
displayed the dark black masses of the buildings; wall, and roof, and
tower, and spire, standing out in clear relief upon the bright
background of the blaze. Thence gleaming on, the two lights were seen
flashing together upon the river, amidst the innumerable black spots
formed by the boats, in many of which a number of human figures might
be descried, gazing with upturned faces at the flame. The wooden
bridge, too, with the crossing and interlacing of its manifold piles
and beams, appeared at a little distance beyond, a piece of dark fine
tracery upon the glittering mass of the stream; and there, too, an
immense multitude were to be observed, looking on calmly at the fire
which was consuming some of the finest buildings in the city.
All this was gathered by the young citizen at one glance.
"They have set fire to the prison and the hall of justice," he cried,
divining in an instant, both from the direction of the flames, and the
cries he had before heard, the crime which had been committed. "This
must be put a stop to! Madam, farewell. When you shall hear to-morrow
of the events of this night, you shall either learn that I am dead, or
that I have done my duty."
The page had by this time returned; and Albert Maurice followed him
with a rapid step through the same passages by which he had been
conducted to his interview with the princess. Just as they reached the
ground floor of the castle, however, there was the sound of a coming
step. The boy darted across the corridor in a moment, and Albert
Maurice had but time to draw the cowl of his monk's gown over his
head, when he was encountered by the Lord of Imbercourt, advancing
with a hasty step towards the apartments of the princess.
The young citizen, with all his feelings excited by what had just
passed, was both fearless and careless of any mortal thing, and,
making slight way for the nobleman to pass, was striding rapidly on
after the page; but Imbercourt caught him by the arm, exclaiming, "Who
are you, sir? and what do you here?"
"I do the errand on which I am sent," replied the young citizen, "and
interrupt no man. Unhand me, sir; for I am not to be stayed."
"Not till I see your face," said Imbercourt sternly: "your voice I
should know. But that form, I doubt me, is no monk's."
As he spoke, he raised his hand towards the cowl which covered the
head of the young citizen. But Albert Maurice shook off his grasp,
saying, "Man, you are unwise! Stay me further at your peril."
"Ho! a guard without there!" shouted the Lord of Imbercourt, till the
whole passages rang, and cast himself immediately in the path of the
burgher. But Albert Maurice seized him in his powerful grasp, and,
with one effort sent him reeling to the further part of the corridor,
where he fell almost stunned upon the floor.
Without a moment's pause, the young citizen darted through the door by
which the page had disappeared, traced without difficulty the passages
which led to the postern, passed unquestioned by the sentry who was
conversing with the boy, and, in a moment after, was standing upon the
terrace without the palace walls.
Casting off the monk's gown, he rolled it hastily up and threw it into
the water; and then striding along the narrow quay, between the Cours
du Prince and the river, he directed his way at once towards the
bridge. It was still covered with people; and some one, recognising
him as he came upon it, pronounced his name, which was instantly
spoken by a hundred other voices. Still Albert Maurice passed on,
forcing his way through the crowd, but marking attentively the various
countenances, as he went, by the light which the flames of the burning
buildings cast upon them. There were many he recognised, but he spoke
to none for some moments, till he came to a stout honest-looking
clothworker, near whom he stopped for an instant.
"Are you ready to obey my commands, Gibelin?" he demanded.
"To the death, Master Albert," replied the other; "the rogues have set
fire to the hall of justice."
"I see," answered Albert Maurice; "follow me thither, and, as you go,
collect as many as you can who will obey without question."
He then strode on, stopping from time to time at the various crowds,
wherever he recognised a person on whom he could depend. With each of
these, a momentary conversation took place, of the same nature as that
which he had held with the man he called Gibelin. To some, however,
his address was much more brief. To others, merely, "Follow me, Kold!
follow me Gastner!"
His commands were instantly obeyed; those whom he charged to collect
more, were successful in doing so; and as he made his way forward, a
body of two or three hundred men, gathered in this manner from the
different crowds, continued pushing their way after him in an
irregular manner, up the great street, in which the old prison and
hall of justice were situated. Those buildings had been built so as to
retire a little from the general facade of the houses; and, being
placed exactly opposite to each other, left a sort of square between
them. The edifices on both sides were now on fire; but notwithstanding
the intense heat, the place or square was filled to overflowing with
people, whose appearance and occupation seemed altogether those of
devils in human form. The blaze of the burning buildings cast upon
their swarthy and excited countenances, disfigured as they already
were by drink and passion, a glare that was perfectly infernal. Loud
shouts of exultation, or rather screams of triumphant hatred, rent the
air: and, round about the square, suspended by the neck to the long
stone water-spouts which then distinguished the city of Ghent, were to
be seen a number of human figures, quivering and convulsed in the
agonies of death, while the demon yells of the populace hailed the
contortions of their victims with horrible delight.
Such, it is well known, was the death of the unhappy eschevins, whom
Charles of Burgundy had appointed for the city of Ghent; but the
vengeance which was immediately taken on some of the perpetrators of
that cruel act is not so generally recorded. Albert Maurice found the
multitude in the first exultation of the barbarous feat they had
committed; and many of those who had taken a leading part therein were
still making a parade of their activity. The young citizen, however,
hesitated not a moment; but striding up to a wretch who held the end
of one of the ropes used as the means of inflicting death upon the
eschevins, he seized him at once by the collar of his jerkin, and
dragged him towards the middle of the square.
A momentary movement was made by the people to resent this
interference, and to rescue their comrade; but he was instantly passed
from the hands of Albert Maurice to the trustworthy followers whom he
had called together, with the words, "To the town-house!" The next
moment the young citizen, without appearing even to see, or notice the
threatening aspect of the people, again strode through the midst of
them, and made another prisoner of a better class, thundering no
measured terms of reproach upon him as he cast him back into the hands
of those that followed. The multitude now perceived that amongst
themselves, in every part of the square, there were persons of their
own rank and appearance, acting with the young burgher, whose name,
never mentioned by any of the citizens without respect and applause,
also began to circulate rapidly amongst them. Even those most bent
upon evil, not knowing who was prepared to support, and who to oppose
them, lost confidence in themselves. Fear, the most contagious of all
diseases, seized them; and, one by one, they made their way from the
scene of their criminal excesses. Those on the outside of the mass
felt those within pressing to escape, and catching the alarm, began to
run also; so that in a few minutes, Albert Maurice, and the men who
had followed him, alone remained in the square, together with three
prisoners, while a fourth had been hurried away.
To cut down the bodies of the unhappy men who had become the victims
of popular fury was the proceeding of the burgher and his companions;
but as all aid in their case was found to be in vain, the attention of
Albert Maurice was soon turned to prevent the conflagration from
spreading further than the public buildings to which it had been
communicated. As they were very much isolated in their situation, this
object was easily effected; and, as soon as it was accomplished, the
young citizen proceeded with hasty steps towards the town-house, where
he found a number of the municipal officers in somewhat lengthy debate
concerning the measures to be pursued for tranquillizing the city. The
superior mind of Albert Maurice instantly brought all wordy
discussions to an end; and while armed parties of the burgher guard
were despatched with peremptory orders to disperse the crowds, the
attention of those who now ruled in Ghent was called to the case of
the ruffians taken redhanded in the crime they had committed. The
ancient laws of the city were hastily consulted; were found to be
conclusive in regard to their guilt and punishment; a confessor was
summoned; and, ere daybreak the next morning, the four persons who had
acted the most prominent part in the death of the eschevins had tasted
the same fate before the town-hall of Ghent.
With a sternness which formed no part of his original nature, but
which grows sadly and destructively upon the human heart in such
scenes of excitement and violence, Albert Maurice with his own eyes
saw the decree of the municipal council carried into effect ere he
trod his way homeward. But as soon as the execution was over, he
returned to his dwelling; and, exhausted with all he had gone through
during the last eight and forty hours, he cast himself upon his bed,
and slept.