"Though thou wert the holy pontiff himself, and all the terrors of the
Church were at thy command, thou shouldst not escape my vengeance, thou
daring priest! To the Furca!--his offence is repugnant to my
nostrils--'tis rank with treason!"
"Hold!" cried the mysterious hermit; "I have promised him protection,
nor shall the promise be foregone."
"Thou!" cried the warrior, with unfeigned astonishment; "and who art
thou that seemest here the arbiter of destiny, whether good or evil?"
"A sinful but heaven-destined man," replied the hermit, meekly.
"Our vengeance slumbereth not," said the chief; "the sentence is gone
forth, and he dies ere sunset."
"Not so," replied the hermit, again assuming the attitude of command.
"By the beard of Hugh Lupus, he dieth."
"He doth, but not by thy decree."
"How! methinks the fever of disloyalty hath seized you all: the
infection hath so tainted your nature that a skilful leech, whom I
employ in cases of emergency, will be of service--my headsman, or
hangman, as shall seem most fitting. He dies, I tell thee, though the
saints themselves were interceding."
"I have promised," said the hermit again, with the confidence of
careless superiority.
Adam de Dutton, who had hitherto been waiting anxiously for an
opportunity to communicate with his lord, now whispered something in his
ear.
"How!" said the bewildered chieftain; "'tis said thou wearest the badge
of our house, and art thyself under some surreptitious disguise."
"I wear no disguise," returned the hermit calmly; "what thou seest is my
badge, and will be, Heaven permitting, until I die."
"Who art thou?"
"A sinful mortal like thyself; but worn down with long vigils and
maceration. Lord of as wide inheritance as thou, and yet a tenant only
in a narrow cell!"
"Thou speakest riddles;--thy meaning?"
"I was an outcast, though heir to a vast heritage. I vowed that if He,
whose prerogative it is, would cleanse me from my stains, my life should
thenceforth be His, and consecrate to Heaven. I was a leper; but my
prayer was heard. I washed in yonder holy well which gushes from the
rock, whose virtues had been reported to me. Washing daily, with faith
and prayer, I was healed. I found close by a convenient hermitage; and
many caverns and secret chambers, with hidden passages and
communications, had been dug therefrom, by which I could pass to and
fro, and thus visit the castle unseen. I was the confessor and companion
of Robert de Lacy. At my desire, he left the whole of his domains to the
Fitz-Eustace. But thou art not the eldest-born of thy father."
"My eldest brother has long been dead. He was a leper; his cruel disease
drove him from the haunts of men. The last we knew of him, he went forth
with cup and clapper as they are wont. Soon after news arrived of his
decease."
"Was he not driven forth by rude and cruel taunts, the rather?" said the
hermit, gazing with unaverted eye on the haughty chieftain. "This noble
birth and heritage are mine! Behold, 'tis thus I repay your injustice!"
He threw off his cloak; underneath appeared a complete suit of proof
armour, and a surcoat, on which was emblazoned the badge of the
Fitz-Eustace.
"I am Richard Fitz-Eustace, thine elder brother! Nay, put off that brow
of discontent. I claim not my birthright; the vows of Heaven are upon
me, and to thee and thine will this good inheritance devolve. One right
only do I claim--this prisoner is free. Was he not my stay and
sustenance when the fiat of Heaven guided me hither? He sheltered me,
and had pity on mine infirmity. Moreover, he had some well-founded
expectancy towards these domains, by reason of kindred to the Lacies,
had they not been devised by will to the Fitz-Eustace. His blood is
noble as our own. He thinks there is injustice in the deed, but not to
him shall the atonement come. Thou hast a daughter, and my prescience
hath this consequence, that by her this rankling wound shall be healed.
If so be that he have found favour in her sight, let her and the son of
this ambitious priest be joined together in the bonds of holy wedlock;
for my word is gone forth--his blood mingles with ours."
The whole assembly were aghast with this thrilling discovery. The baron
would have embraced his brother; but the gloomy ascetic forbade. He left
the hall, returned to his cell, and but a short period elapsed ere the
grave he had prepared with his own hands was closed over his corpse--the
period of his sojourn having been shortened, no doubt, by the
austerities and mortifications he deemed himself called upon to endure.
Maud was shortly afterwards united to Geoffery de Whalley, unto whom her
father granted the Villa de Tunley or Townley, and the manor of
Coldcoats, with Snodworth, as a marriage portion. From them is descended
the present owner of Townley, nephew to that celebrated scholar and
antiquary, Charles Townley, the twenty-ninth in descent from
Spartlingus, the first Dean of Whalley upon record. The latter was
predecessor to Cutwulph, whose exploits in the days of Canute we have
before noticed.
Soon afterwards died Robert de Whalley, his departure hastened, it is
said, by grief and chagrin at the loss of these long-coveted
possessions.
Roger de Lacy died 1st October A.D. 1211, after a long and active life,
spent between his arduous wars and invasions of the Welsh, and his no
less arduous journeyings to and fro between the castles of Clitheroe and
Pontefract, where he spent the latter part of his days. He was succeeded
by John de Lacy, his eldest son, who, by marriage with Margaret,
daughter and co-heiress of Robert, son of De Quincy, Earl of Winchester,
became Earl of Lincoln by patent from Henry III., the monarch having
re-granted this title to him and his heirs for ever.