A SNARE
It is not unnatural that, when relating what the king said, and what
his marshals did, and how his army moved, I should be in some danger
of losing sight of my own figure, and even forgetting, in some degree,
my own existence. However, I would not, by any means, have the reader
conclude that, because silent as to my achievements, I, Arthur Winram,
was wholly idle during the march of the English from La Hogue to Caen,
or an idle spectator of the events that rendered that expedition
memorable.
In fact, young, new to life, ardent and eager to appear a man, I
entered with enthusiasm into the spirit of the enterprise. Far be it
from me to sing my own praises; but, being in constant activity, I met
with exploits of which I venture to say no warrior of my age could with
justice boast. At Caen I was among the first who entered the gates,
and barely escaped atoning for my audacity by being stoned to death
in the narrow streets; and afterwards gained some experience, and a
significant warning to be on my guard, during a mysterious adventure,
which involved me in such danger that I well-nigh gave myself up for
lost.
I have already mentioned that, after the king had consented to spare
the place, Godfrey de Harcourt rode through the streets with his banner
displayed, and commanded that no Englishman should, on pain of death,
injure an inhabitant, male or female, and that the proclamation led to
the army mingling with the citizens. I was rather too young to profit
much by the hospitality or the wealth of the men and women of Caen; but
I was not insensible to the wild kind of freedom in which the invaders
indulged, and did not fail, like my neighbours, to assume the air of a
conqueror, and to roam about the city as if I had been lord of all I
beheld.
It happened that, on the second day of the king's residence in Caen, I
was examining, not without interest, the monastery of St. Stephen, in
which repose the ashes of William the Norman, when I felt my shoulder
slightly touched, and, turning quickly round, found beside me a man
with a beetle brow, who, in answer to my question as to his business
with me, intimated that he could not speak my language, but placed a
missive in my hand.
Drawing back to guard against surprise--for his appearance was the
reverse of prepossessing--I read the document with breathless amazement.
"If the English page, calling himself Arthur Winram"--so ran the
words--"will, at nightfall, meet the bearer of this on the spot on
which he receives it, he will be conducted to the presence of one who
will clear away the mystery that hangs over his birth, and reveal the
story of his parentage."
I trembled with excitement as these words met my eye, and did not,
for an instant, hesitate about venturing on an interview. Having
explained to the messenger, in as good French as I was master of, that
I should meet him at the time appointed, I hurried back to the prince's
quarters, and passed the remainder of the day in vague surmises.
I confess that sometimes I suspected a snare; but, considering my
position, believing that no one could be interested in harming me, I
dismissed my doubts as they rose, and asked, with a smile of contempt,
whether, in pursuit of the information for which, from childhood, I had
earnestly longed, I, vowed as I was to face all dangers in quest of
fame and fortune, would shrink from a hazard which could not be great,
and which probably was imaginary.
Such being the view which I took of the adventure to which I was
invited, I awaited in a restless mood the hour for going forth to hear
the secret by which, I could not doubt, my destiny, in some measure,
hung. At length, the sun having set, I prepared to be gone; and
arraying myself, without any weapon save a small dagger, which, having
sheathed, I placed in my bosom to be ready to my hand in case of need,
I walked forth with the feelings natural to a man about to solve a
mysterious question that has for years baffled his intelligence, and
preyed on his imagination.
Making my way through streets filled with warriors flushed with wine,
I bent my steps to the monastery of St. Stephen, and there I found,
true to his time and appointment, the man with the beetle brow.
Without speaking, he made a sign for me to follow; and I, having by
this time cast the last remnant of hesitation to the winds, accepted
his guidance, and walked on, under the influence of a curiosity which
silenced the last whispers of prudence.
It was still early, but daylight had wholly departed; and, the moon
not having yet risen, Caen was gradually enveloped in darkness, as my
guide, after leading me through streets with which I was unacquainted,
at length halted before the door of a house which had nothing to
distinguish it from the ordinary dwellings of citizens in that town
and others of the province of which it formed part. Having rung at
the gate, we were readily admitted; and I, after being conducted up
a stair, found myself in an apartment somewhat brilliantly lighted,
and, as I thought, richly furnished. On a table, where stood a lamp
that threw its brilliancy all over the room, were a flask and two
drinking-cups; and on a couch, hard by, reclined a woman who rose as
I entered, and welcomed me with a smile, which, of itself, would have
sufficed to banish suspicion of anything like foul play being intended.
At this moment, when long years have intervened, I perfectly remember
the impression which the first sight of that woman produced on me.
She was young--not more than twenty--and exquisitely beautiful, with a
tall, graceful figure, hair dark as the raven's wing, dark, dark eyes,
that seemed to pierce instantly to the heart, and features which, in
later years, would have led me to suppose her a native of Italy. At
that time, however, I was much too ignorant of countries and races to
be capable of making any such distinctions; and as I stood silent, I
certainly was not stupified, but I was lost in wonder.
"You know not the language of the country in which we are?" said she,
with a voice and manner which completed the fascination.
"It grieves me, lady," I replied, "that I am not so familiar with it
as to hold converse freely with the natives; but I know enough to
understand and to make myself understood."
"It matters not," she said hastily; "for I know enough of the English
tongue to spare you the inconvenience of speaking, or listening to,
mine. Your name, or rather the name by which men call you, is Arthur
Winram?"
"True," answered I, "I pass by that name; but I have reason to believe
that I am entitled to bear one to which the world would pay more
respect."
"On that point you shall be enlightened anon," said she, as she
motioned me to a seat, and then added, gravely and in a tone of
emotion, "but the tale I have to tell is one of bloodshed; and you will
require all your courage to hear it to an end. Be pleased, therefore,
to steel your heart for the trial."
As she spoke she raised the flask on the table, filled the cups that
stood with it, took one herself, and made a sign for me to take the
other. I obeyed; I put forth my hand; I took the cup; I raised it to my
lips; and, as my blood was feverish with suspense, and my thirst, in
consequence, intense, I drank copiously. I had scarcely done so when a
marvellous change came over me. My head began to swim; the objects in
the room seemed to dance before my face. Gradually my eyes grew dim;
the figure of the woman faded from my sight; and I sank back overcome
and unconscious.