“When purposed vengeance I forego,
Term me a wretch, nor deem me foe;
And when an insult I forgive,
Then brand me as a slave, and live.”
--_Rokeby._
On the following forenoon the captive outlaw was brought up from his
cell to be confronted with De Ermstein, in the great hall of the
castle. When the myrmidons intimated this to Somervil all his
dejection and helplessness left him; he scorned that, in this his
trying hour, an enemy should behold him cast down by misfortune, or in
despair at the apprehension of a speedy death. Summoning all his
daring courage, he became indifferent to whatever fate might await
him; and he followed his keepers with a firm step and a flashing eye.
In an antique chair, set upon the _dais_ or elevation at the upper end
of the spacious hall, sat the stern knight of Warkcliff, attended by
an imposing array of armed retainers. The deepest stillness prevailed
when the prisoner appeared and was led up to the foot of the _dais_.
Those who anticipated exultation at the sight of his misery were
greatly deceived; they were startled on beholding his fearless mien
and deportment. His face was calm but stern; and his eye met that of
De Ermstein, but never quailed. He could not have displayed more
bravery had he then stood upon the battlements of Hunterspath, with
all his wild band around him. Not all the power of De Ermstein--not
all the horrors of approaching death--could daunt him in a moment when
faint-heartedness would have been deep disgrace.
“You have dragged me hither,” began the outlaw, in a firm, measured
tone, “to speak the doom which you are impatient to utter.”
“You are here,” answered Sir Dacre, standing up, “to receive that doom
which your life of rapine makes justice. The sufferings of my vassals,
whom you so frequently have despoiled, call for redress at my hands,
and upon your head. I gratify no private malice, no private feud, in
pronouncing judgment of death upon a villain who stands outlawed by
both kingdoms. And the terror of such a judgment may have a salutary
effect upon the many lawless ruffians who infest the marches, and, by
their depredations, give constant causes for disturbing the peace of
these kingdoms.”
“By destroying my life,” replied the outlaw--“a life placed at your
mercy by an act of the foulest treachery--you shall gratify your own
malice more than redress the sufferings of your dependants. To you,
Sir Dacre, I have long been a personal and detested foe. The defeat at
Hawksglen can never be obliterated from your memory; the disgraceful
rout of the predatory forces, under your command, rankles yet in your
breast, and has stained your escutcheon, which has been still more
indelibly stained by the deed of treachery and ruffian guile which
threw me into your power--”
He was here interrupted by the clamour of the attendants; the jailor
even placed his hand upon his mouth to stop his speech; and some cried
out to dash his brains against the wall for such insolence to such a
knight. Sir Dacre himself was confounded by the audacity of the
mosstrooper’s speech; but his high pride conquered his indignant
emotions, and, affecting to smile, he imposed silence upon his
retainers, and forbade any one to interfere, either by word or deed,
in what should follow.
“I thank you, Sir Dacre,” cried the captive, “for silencing the empty
clamour of your armed serfs. I have much to say, and I will not be
overborne by insolent tumult. On you, Sir Dacre de Ermstein, I charge
treachery and fraud unworthy of the last scion of the noble house of
Warkcliff. I have defied you behind the battlements of Hawksglen, on
the field of your defeat--defied you as a soldier and a freeman
should--but never did I stoop to treachery and fraud to gain an
advantage over my foe.”
“How, churl! of what fraud speak you?” demanded Sir Dacre.
“The fraud which rivetted these chains on my limbs,” answered
Somervil, elevating his fettered hands. “It was fraud so dastardly and
so base that it will ever cover you with shame, and expose you to the
deep scorn of all whose hearts are warmed by feelings of honour.”
“Thou art beyond the pale of honour as well as of law,” retorted De
Ermstein, with a blush on his hard face. “To what code of honour,
observed by thyself, canst _thou_ appeal? Wretch, this insolence, this
show of frontless audacity, will avail thee nothing save to hasten thy
doom. It is my sentence that upon the third morning hence thou shalt
hang at the cross of Warkcliff!”
An approving hum and murmur broke from the attendant soldiery, and
there came a momentary palor over the captive’s face; but it was the
result of a mere evanescent emotion, and soon passed away.
“Hear me, Sir Dacre,” he exclaimed, with passionate ardour. “You have
pronounced my doom, and that doom I am ready to meet. The prospect of
the speedy approach of death has terrors in it for those only who have
found life pleasant, and who bask under the smile of fortune, and
stand high and fair in the world, who have kindred and loving friends,
who have wealth and luxury to leave behind them. To such the fear of
death is terrible. But I, who, from my ill-fated birth, have been the
sport of destiny, I have nothing to fear from the repose of the grave;
and there was mercy with Heaven even for the thief who hung quivering
in his death-agony on the cross. But flatter not yourself, noble
knight, that, by my murder, you shall relieve yourself of a stern and
unbending foe. I never was your foe until patriotism called me to the
field to oppose your inroad upon the Border. And my enmity to the
enemy of my country shall live after me. My followers will deeply
revenge my death. Hang me upon a gallows high as Haman’s if you will;
and each night your lady shall set her hood by the blaze of your
burning villages. From one end of the wide domains of Warkcliff to the
other shall ravage and destruction spread. And when, in the midst of
ruth, and rapine, and bloodshed, you shall stand aghast, powerless
against foes whose power you can neither break nor resist, you will
then think on the evil day when Ruthven Somervil died!”
Lost in thought, De Ermstein waved his hand involuntarily; and the
jailor, taking that to be a sign for the removal of the prisoner,
hurried him away.
The attendants hovered about for some minutes, and then noiselessly
left the hall, leaving their lord standing solitary on the _dais_.
A light footstep approached, and, looking up, Sir Dacre beheld his
lady. She was in great agitation, and came up to his chair, and,
taking him by the hand, said:
“Have you doomed the outlaw to death?”
“I have,” answered Sir Dacre. “I could, in justice, pronounce no other
doom.”
“I beheld him through yonder window,” she said, “and never did I
behold a nobler-looking youth. With what grace and courage he
confronted you; what emotion in his countenance; what defiance in his
tone. Such a youth must not die so shameful a death. I thought, as I
looked upon him, of our own boy.”
“Peace, Alice; you kindle afresh the embers of pain,” cried Sir Dacre.
“Recall not the memory of that one dread sorrow which has for ever
destroyed our happiness.”
“Grant me this captive’s life,” she cried passionately.
“Do _you_ plead for him?”
“I plead and pray that he may be spared to forsake his evil career,
and seek his fortune in some honourable path. It is hard that so young
and so noble a stranger should die, and by our hands. Give him life,
husband, though you may not give him liberty. His life is the boon I
crave. Deny me not.”
“I would deny it, Alice, to the mother that bore him,” said De
Ermstein, with stern composure, “though she pled for him on her bended
knees. I dare not suffer such a villain to live. Did I spare him, I
might be accused of participation in his crimes. Plead for him no
more; I am inexorable. I am steeled against pity.”