And I asked his meaning, for verily I was ignorant of 't, albeit I was
not ignorant in all matters. And he explained to me that it was a drink
or potion to cause love.
Then I answered, and said, "Calamint doth make a good brew, likewise
sage, and some flax is soothing, but methinks none o' these would cause
love."
On this he wept again, but said that I was a good old man, and that on
his return to Mallow he would send me a gift; and so he did--a pair o'
silk hose, such as my lady and the Queen do wear; but being mindful of
my station, I laid them aside for the sake o' th' poor lad, and
yesterday Marian did bring them to me, with her ten fingers through as
many moth-holes. Whereupon I was minded o' th' text concerning that we
lay not up treasures where moth and rust do corrupt, and at my behest
Marian read me the whole of that chapter. But to return to bare facts.
It was on a certain night in March that there occurred the conversation
which was the cause of this narrative. There had been news of the return
of one Lord Denbeigh to Warwickshire--by report as wild a cavalier as
ever fought, and a godless body to boot. Marian, who, as I have said,
had always a certain knack for ghost stories and the like, froze me with
her accounts o' this wild lord's doings. Quoth she:
"Fire-brace is a suiting name for him, inasmuch as 'tis a family name,
and he a fire-brand to peace wheresome'er he shall go."
"Peace--peace thyself!" quoth I, hearing my lady's foot along the hall.
And, o' my word, Marian had but just ceased, and given her attention to
the fire, when in clatters my lady, with her riding-whip stuck in her
glove, and her blood-hound Hearn in a leash. She was much wrought,
either with riding or rage, for there was a quick red in her cheek, and
she had set her red lips until they were white. Then took she the hound
between her knees, and plucked off her gloves. Here I did find it my
duty to speak.
"My lady," cried I, "'tis not in your mind to baste the dog?"
"Ay, that it is," quoth she, and her lips went tighter, and she jerked
at her glove.
Then said I, "How if he leap at thy throat?" And she answered, "Nay, he
knows better;" and with that she gripped his collar, and let swing her
whip. Then did I bid Marian that she leave the room. As for me, it was
my duty to stay, though, as I have given an oath to tell but the truth
in this narrative, I must confess that I was in a sweat from head to
foot with fear.
But the great hound crouched as though he knew he got but what he
deserved, and when my lady had given him ten or twenty lashes she flung
wide the door, and said she, "Get thee gone, coward! Go fare as fares
the poor beggar thou sought'st to bite!" and the hound slunk out. Then
turned my mistress to me, and--"Butter," saith she, "yon beast sought to
bite an old beggar as we came through the park, so I whipped him. But
for naught save cruelty or disobedience will I ever whip a dog; so,
Butter, the next time that thou seest me about to lash one, keep thy
counsel." (This was the harshest that my lady e'er spoke, either to me
or to Marian.) Then went she to the door and called Marian.
"Come, nurse," quoth she, "I am a-weary. Fling me some skins on the
settle, and I will lie down, and thou shalt card out my locks with thy
fingers." So we heaped the settle with the skins o' white bears, and
thereon my lady cast herself, like a flower blown down upon a snow-bank;
and by-and-by, what with the warmth and Marian's strokings, she fell
into a deep sleep. But we two sate and gazed on her.
She was all clad in a tight riding-dress of green velour cloth, and her
white face seemed to come from the close collar like a white lily from
its sheath. She was e'er flower-like, asleep or waking, as I have said,
and her pretty head was sleek and yellow, like a butterfly's wing. She
was so sound that it appeared to me and Marian as though one longer
breath might transform the mimicry into the actual thing--death. But
by-and-by awe fell from us, as it doth ever fall, even in the presence
of that which hath awed us, and my wife and I did return to our
discourse concerning my Lord Denbeigh.