The call was very sudden. Ralph Woodhall was taken quite by surprise.
He had calculated upon finding some opportunity, during the day, of
quiet conversation with his Margaret; and now to be desired by his
friend and patron, the Duke of Norfolk, to escort Lady Danvers upon
her road westward, caused him some trouble and anxiety. He knew not
how to refuse, however; for the duke informed him that intimation had
been received of tumults on the road, and the fair Hortensia herself
was present, looking as beautiful as ever, but pale and considerably
agitated, and apparently alarmed. In such circumstances there was no
showing even any hesitation, and, turning to the lady, he said, "If
you will but wait for me five minutes, Lady Danvers, I will be ready.
I wish to say a few words to my cousin, who must be up by this time,
and--"
"Oh, there will be plenty of time for that after you return, Master
Woodhall," said the duke. "Lord Woodhall announced last night his
intention of remaining till to-morrow or the next day. So sure was I
of your prompt readiness, that I took the liberty of ordering your
horse to be saddled, and he now stands at the door, with five of my
own servants ready to accompany our fair friend's carriage."
This was said with some stateliness, and Ralph evidently saw that
there was something unexplained.
"I will get my hat and gloves, then," he said, "and be ready to escort
Lady Danvers at once."
"I will send for them," replied the duke; and, raising his voice, he
called a servant, saying, "Minton, get Mr. Woodhall's hat and gloves."
Ralph smiled, but made no reply; and as soon as the servant returned
with what he had been sent for, he followed the duke, who, with
ancient courtesy, conducted the lady to her carriage, and kissed her
fair hand as he placed her in it, whispering, at the same time, "You
see I have obeyed your injunctions to the letter; but take care of
your reputation, dear lady."
Hortensia blushed to the eyes, but answered gayly, "Never fear that,
my lord duke; I do right, and defy scandal."
The carriage moved on, and Ralph Woodhall followed it, with the Duke
of Norfolk's servants and those of the fair baroness following him.
Throughout the first five miles of the journey poor Margaret might
have seen him with relief and satisfaction to her own heart.
Thoughtful and abstracted, he kept near the carriage, it is true, but
he never once approached its side. He rode on at the slow, uneasy pace
which was necessary to keep up with, but not pass by the heavy
vehicle; with eyes turned toward the ground and a somewhat contracted
brow. He was not sullen, for his was a frank and cheerful heart; and,
though he was grieved to be deprived of Margaret's society even for a
few hours when he could have enjoyed it without peril to himself or
her, that would never have clouded his bright look, when he sacrificed
his wishes to be of service to another. But there appeared something
strange to him in all that had lately passed--something that roused
suspicions of a vague, unpleasant kind--that showed him he was made an
instrument of for some purpose which was carefully concealed from
himself.
"Could it be at the desire of Lord Woodhall that he was sent away?" he
asked himself. "Could _his_ love for Margaret, or Margaret's love for
him, have been discovered?" Perhaps it might be so; and the intention
of the parties might be to remove him away from the house upon some
fair excuse till she was gone.
The thought was very bitter to him; but yet his mind clung to it; and
the more he reflected, the more probable the supposition seemed. There
were objections, it is true. That the Duke of Norfolk should have
condescended to have mingled himself with such a deceit, was not at
all likely; and he could not imagine for one moment that Lady Danvers
would have knowingly lent herself to it. All the opinions she had
expressed the night before--her whole conduct--her whole manner--her
very look, were opposed to it; and yet the anxiety to hurry him away,
to prevent him from speaking with any of his relations, or even seeing
them before he went, the few whispered words that passed between the
duke and Hortensia, which he had remarked, although he did not hear
them distinctly, all seemed to tend to such a conclusion, and puzzled
him sorely. He revolved the whole in his mind, first turning the
argument one way, and then another--at one time convinced, and at
another doubting. Thus he rode on pondering, as I have said, for some
miles, when suddenly the sound of a horse's feet coming rapidly behind
attracted his ear, and he turned and looked round. The servants of the
Duke of Norfolk were in the way, so that he could not see who
approached; but the moment after, doubt was ended by his own man Gaunt
Stilling riding up.
"What is the matter?" asked Ralph, as the servant drew close to his
side. "Has any thing gone amiss?"
"I heard you had gone away for the morning, sir," replied the man,
respectfully, "and as you had left your riding-sword and taken your
small sword, and had forgotten your cloak, I made bold to ride after
you with them."
Ralph unfastened the dangling, inconvenient weapon he carried, gave it
back to the man, and put on the other sword--more serviceable on
horseback--which he had brought. Then, pausing for a moment, he
suffered him to strap the folded riding-cloak to the back of the
saddle without dismounting, and seeing him linger, asked, "Is there
any thing more?"
Gaunt Stilling approached as close as he could, and spoke several
sentences to his master in a whisper. Ralph turned, and put a question
or two in the same tone, with an expression of some, but not great,
surprise on his face. The man replied, and it was only the dumb-show
which the Duke of Norfolk's servants witnessed. At length the young
gentleman said aloud, "I will certainly be back before nightfall,
unless some very unexpected circumstances occur to render it
impossible, but, at all events, before bedtime."
Gaunt Stilling took off his hat gracefully enough, and rode away,
directing his horse toward Norwich; and, after giving nearly half an
hour more to deep meditation, apparently not of the most pleasant
character, Ralph rode up to the side of the carriage, and commenced
what he would fain have made an easy conversation with its fair
inmate.
While this little event occurred, and these thoughts and
considerations had been passing in his mind, he had himself been the
object of some interest and anxiety to Lady Danvers. She attributed,
indeed, his thoughtful, gloomy mood, and want of ordinary gallantly,
to very different feelings from those which were really in his breast.
"He has received the challenge," she thought, "and is fearful he won't
get back in time;" and then, addressing the maid, who sat opposite,
she said, "Look out, and tell me what he is doing now."
"Just the same as before, my lady," replied the girl, "looking down at
his horse's neck, as if he were counting the hairs in the mane, and
gloomy enough he looks too."
"We must prevent him from escaping, Alice," said her mistress; "but I
know not well how to manage to detain him, till it is too late for him
to go back."
"Trust to chance, my lady," replied the waiting-woman; "it is a rare
book, that chapter of accidents, if one knows how to read it rightly.
But I dare say the duke has told his own people how to manage it. I
saw him speaking with Master Wilton, the head groom, who goes with us.
I should not wonder if the young gentleman's horse cast a shoe, or
went dead lame, or something of that kind."
Lady Danvers smiled, but replied, "I will not trust to that, Alice.
The duke seemed more indifferent about the matter than I expected. He
said that boys would fight, but that to please me he would prevent
this affair. I trust to his word as far as his ability goes, for he is
a man of honor; but I do not think he will be very active in the
business."
"Oh dear," replied the maid, "I should think, for my part, he would be
glad enough to stop two handsome young gentlemen from cutting each
other's throats on his own ground. I do hate the sight of those
swords; and if I were king, I would have them all taken from them, and
locked up against a time of war. But the duke certainly can not like
such things."
Hortensia Danvers shook her head. "Neither you nor I, Alice," she
said, "can understand men's feelings about these things; we have a
great objection to be cut, or wounded, or hurt in any way, and
bloodshed is naturally horrible to us. But no man cares much about
such things in his own case, and, of course, can not be expected to
care more in the case of others."
It was at this moment that Ralph rode up to the side of the carriage,
saying, with an effort, "The roads are bad, notwithstanding the fine
weather; but I fear we shall have rain, for there is much mist lying
on the low ground."
"I do not think that is a sign of rain," replied Lady Danvers; "but I
am no good judge of signs and seasons."
"Would that I were," replied Ralph; "for there are many that I do not
understand."
"I must not pretend to be interpreter," replied Lady Danvers, in a gay
tone; "however, if you wish me to act the Sibyl, propound your
questions, and I will try. You must take the oracle for what it is
worth, and remember that all such answers always read two ways. But
would it not be better for you to give your horse to one of the men,
and take a seat here beside me till we arrive at some point of danger,
when, of course, my knight will mount on horseback and deliver me?"
"With all my heart," replied Ralph; "then I can question the
prophetess at ease."
Thus saying, he ordered the coachman to stop, dismounted, and entered
the carriage.
"You mentioned danger just now," he said, as soon as they were going
forward again. "Now tell me, dear Lady Danvers, do you really think
there is any danger?"
"Undoubtedly," replied Lady Danvers; "both I and the duke thought so,
or you would not have been with me now."
"But have you had any intelligence which should make you fear?" asked
Ralph.
"Distinct and certain," answered the fair lady. "It is true I am
somewhat of a timid nature, and am apt, perhaps, to be frightened
occasionally without cause; but such is not the case with his grace of
Norfolk, and he judged that my apprehensions were very reasonable."
"May I ask where the danger lies, and in what it consists?" inquired
Ralph.
"Nay, I do not know that I can give you a consistent account of the
whole matter," replied Hortensia, with a quiet smile; "but we heard of
much discord and quarreling, and that there was likely to be a fight."
"Indeed!" replied Ralph, with an air so perfectly unconscious that
Lady Danvers began to ask herself if she had been misled by her maid's
information, or if he was acting the hypocrite to perfection.
"Have you had no cause to suppose such things are likely to take
place?" she asked.
"None whatever," he replied; "so little so, indeed, that I almost
fancied, from the extremely pressing hurry in which I was dispatched
upon this pleasant task, that the duke did not only desire to confer
upon me the honor and happiness of escorting you, but also to get me
out of the way for a time."
Hortensia raised her beautiful eyes to his face, and fixed them there
while she inquired, "Do you know of any motive he could have for such
a proceeding?"
"I can fix upon none in particular, and have been puzzling myself to
divine one," replied Ralph; but, at the same time, he colored highly,
and Hortensia was satisfied.
A silence of some minutes ensued; and then the lady, with all her
quiet gayety, resumed the conversation: "I do think--to use a
housemaid's mode of asseveration," she said, "that you are the most
ungallant young man that I ever met with--I don't say discourteous,
for your manner is fair enough, Master Ralph Woodhall; but I do not
believe that there is one man to be found in court, camp, or city, who
would have gone about to discover any cause for his being sent on a
journey with me, or who would not, if forced to take it, have sworn
most devoutly on the Holy Evangelists that it was the most blessed
chance that ever befell him--whether he thought it so or not, Ralph
Woodhall--you understand, whether he thought it so or not."
Ralph felt that he had in some degree failed in politeness, and he
replied, "No one, dear lady, would have told you so more readily, and
no one would have felt it more sincerely than myself, upon any other
day than this; but I had to-day something important to do, which
rendered what would otherwise have been a true pleasure, the cause of
some slight embarrassment; but you see I am too straightforward to be
courtly, even when I do my best."
"I like you all the better," replied Lady Danvers, frankly; "but now
let us talk of something else. I dare say and hope that you will get
back in plenty of time to do all that you want to do, if it be right
and proper: if it be not, I hope you won't; for I am certainly not
going to give you up, and send you back again sooner than I please,
because you are cross at being taken away from Norwich. Be therefore
exceedingly civil and amusing during the whole of the rest of the
journey, in the hope that your chains may thereby be broken all the
speedier."
Ralph thought that her philosophy was a good one, and exerted himself
to cast off the feeling of disappointment, and to make himself as
agreeable as possible for the rest of the way. He succeeded very well,
although, to speak the truth, he did so greatly by the assistance of
Hortensia who put forth all her powers to amuse the hour. Thus passed
the time upon the long and weary way which lies between Norwich and
the western part of the county. It is not very picturesque even now,
displaying but little beauty and little variety, except the beauty of
exceedingly well cultivated fields, and the variety of oxen and sheep,
sportsmen and dogs. But culture could then hardly be said to have
begun; and it was not a sporting season of the year. There was no
inducement, therefore, for the lady and her companion to turn their
eyes from the interior of the carriage; and, to say sooth, if Ralph
desired a lovely prospect, he could not have had one more beautiful
than the face and form of her who sat beside him. He could not but
feel, too, the fascination of her look and manner; and her
conversation, gay, light, and playful as it was, had frequently
running through it, like dark veins in the clear white marble, a
strain of melancholy which rendered it still more charming. It was
like a light, blithesome bird, that dips its wings for an instant in a
cool stream, only to rise again refreshed and brightened.
Slowly as the coach proceeded--and it was one of those large,
lumbering, gilded vehicles which we can not imagine to have traveled
at the rate of more than four miles an hour--five hours had been
consumed ere the party reached the little town of ----.
Ralph was glad to see it, for he thought he should be there dismissed;
and yet there were feelings of regret at parting with that fair and
charming girl--feelings which, could Margaret have seen them really as
they were, would have given her neither pain nor offense. It was now
between two and three o'clock, and there was a good deal of gayety and
bustle in the town, the streets crowded, wagons and market-carts
obstructing the way, and countrymen riding rough-looking horses, with
their tails tied up to keep them out of the mud. With some difficulty
the carriage moved along the road; and Ralph remounted his horse in
order to give directions for clearing the way. They reached at length
the inn door, where the horses were to be fed and to rest for an hour
or two. Ralph handed Lady Danvers from the carriage, and was leading
her through a little crowd which had gathered before the inn, when he
remarked that, although the appearance of such a vehicle in a remote
place might well attract attention, the eyes of the mob were
principally turned in another direction, as if watching for some
object coming down the street.
"Dear me! my lady, there is something going on," said Mistress Alice,
the waiting-maid; "what can it be about?"
Hortensia made no reply, but, quitting Ralph's arm upon the step,
walked hastily into the house, and then whispered to the maid, "Send
the duke's head groom to me at once."
The landlord was, in the mean time, bowing low; and his good dame,
with abundant keys, and more than one pin-cushion by her side, was
courtesying to the ground, ready to show the beautiful lady to her
chamber.
"What is the matter without?" asked Lady Danvers; "the people seem a
good deal excited."
"Oh, it is nothing at all," replied the landlady, "only a
Nonconformist gentleman who has been examined by the magistrates. They
are taking him away to the jail, and the people do not like it. I
should not wonder if there were to be a riot to-night; for the Whigs
have the upper hand in this town, and they don't bear patiently all
that is going on."
Hortensia turned and looked through the doorway into the street. She
saw Ralph standing on the steps, and a crowd passing hurriedly on
before him. The next instant, however, she beheld him spring forward,
and heard him exclaim. "Why do you strike the man, sir? You are
exceeding your duty. He can not go faster than he does."
What was answered she did not hear; and the steps of the inn were
almost instantly covered with a multitude of people, who shut out from
her sight what was passing beyond.
"Come up, my lady--come up stairs," cried the landlord; "they will
make bad work of it."
Hortensia followed up the stairs as fast as the landlord could go;
and, shown into a large and handsome room which faced the street, she
ran forward, threw open the window, and looked out. The sign-board of
the inn was in the way, so that she could not see the exact spot where
Ralph stood; but she heard angry words and fierce tones going on
below, and a moment after, stones began to fly and cudgels to wave.
But the next instant the sound of Ralph's voice rose up over the din,
exclaiming, clear and loud, "Keep the peace--keep the peace! Suffer
the constables to do their duty according to law; and you, sirs, take
care that you do not exceed the law, as you have done already by
striking this gentleman when he was making no resistance."
Though he spoke loud, his tone was so quiet, and his words so
reasonable, that Lady Danvers entertained no apprehension regarding
his conduct or his safety, and, taking one glance over the crowd to a
spot where she saw her maid standing on the opposite side of the road,
afraid to make her way back to the inn, the lady withdrew into the
room to avoid the stones which were flying thicker than was pleasant.
The loud and angry speaking continued for several minutes, and once a
stone came into the room where Hortensia was sitting; but no one came
near her, for the excitement of the scene without had affected even
the people of the inn, and it is probable that neither her own
servants nor those of the Duke of Norfolk could force their way up to
the door. At length, however, a nimble step was heard upon the stairs,
and the head groom, whom she had sent for, appeared with an eager and
excited countenance. He doffed his hat as he entered the room, saying
at once, "They have taken him away before the magistrates, my lady;
but Mistress Alice said you wanted me."
"Who? who?" demanded Lady Danvers; "of whom do you speak?"
"Mr. Ralph, my lady," replied the man. "We would have rescued him with
the strong hand, and beaten the constables all to mortar; but he would
not let us, and ordered us all to keep the peace. But I had better run
up at once with the rest, to see that he is fairly dealt by."
"Ay, do so, do so," cried Hortensia, at first, eagerly; but then
immediately she fell into a fit of thought, and as the man was
quitting the room, called him back, saying, "Stay, Wilton--Wilton! we
may turn this to advantage, perhaps."
The man seemed surprised and confounded, but the lady beckoned him to
come nearer, saying, "I have no time for explanations, Master Wilton,
but you must do what you can, without endangering Mr. Woodhall's
safety or character, to turn this matter so as to keep him here till
to-morrow morning. In a word, the Duke of Norfolk sent him here with
me to keep him out of the way. There was some quarrel going on between
him and another gentleman in the house, and his grace wished for time
to arrange it before he returned."
"I understand, my lady, I understand," replied the man, with a shrewd
nod of the head. "His grace gave me a little hint, but I did not think
of turning this to profit. I'll manage it--I'll manage it;" and away
he went at full speed, saying to himself, "My lady does not mind
having a handsome young man to sit with her all the evening, I'll
warrant, though they do say she has refused scores of great people
already. Well, there is no knowing womankind."
He overtook Ralph walking quietly up the street between two
constables, who, from an intimation of his strength which they had
received, kept at a respectful distance from him. A number of men and
boys were following close, with an unnecessary trot; and all the
servants of the Duke of Norfolk who had come into the town with the
carriage, as well as one or two of Lady Danvers's people, and several
women and children, were following at a little distance behind. Wilton
made his way through all these, and kept close to Ralph's elbow till
the party reached the justice room (which was, in fact, the parlor of
an alehouse), and the prisoner was ushered into the presence of the
justices, who, booted and spurred, and with their horse-whips in their
hands, were just ready to leave the place and ride away. There were
three of them present, and two of them looked exceedingly rueful at
the prospect of more business. The third, however, rapping out a great
oath, cast himself back into his seat again, and laid his horse-whip
on the table. "Why, what the devil--" he said; "you look like a
gentleman, sir. Curse my buttons, what have they brought you here
for?"
"They can best tell you themselves, sir," answered Ralph.
"Don't you go to church? Don't you take the sacrament? Are you a
Nonconformist?"
"I go to church and take the sacrament as regularly as most men,"
replied Ralph; "and Nonconformist I am none, having been brought up in
the Church of England from my infancy."
"Pox take you, then," exclaimed the choleric fat justice, addressing
the constables, "what did you bring this gentleman here for?"
The charge was then formally made by the two constables, imputing to
Ralph the serious offenses of riot and an attempt to rescue their
prisoner.
Ralph, in reply, simply told his own story. The constables, he said,
had treated an old and respectable-looking man with unjustifiable
harshness, irritated apparently by the great crowd which had
collected. One of them had even struck him with his staff, upon the
pretense of making him go on, although he was offering no resistance.
"That was Doggett, I'll be sworn," said the magistrate, looking round
at his two brethren; "I told you all Doggett would get us into a
scrape some day."
Doggett, however, was not present, having gone to lodge his prisoner
in jail for re-examination; and the magistrate continued, turning to
Ralph Woodhall, and saying, "Well, sir, but who are you? What's your
station, rank, profession? What do you know of this prisoner who you
say was maltreated?"
"I know nothing of him whatever," replied Ralph, "except that he was
maltreated, and that I told the man who struck him he exceeded his
duty. As to my name, rank, station, et cetera, my name is Ralph
Woodhall, a distant relation of a nobleman of that name, without any
rank but that of a Master of Arts, without any condition which can
particularly designate me but that of being at present a guest of the
Duke of Norfolk, and having undertaken, at his request, to escort Lady
Danvers on a part of her way to the West."
The magistrates all looked very blank, for the Duke of Norfolk was the
great man in those parts; and great men, whether good men or not,
obtained much more deference in those days than at present. The
business would have probably ended in a dismissal of the charge and a
rebuke to the constables; but Master Wilton, who was a shrewd
Yorkshireman, from which county the principal grooms in great families
were then generally selected, chose his moment well, and, stepping
forward, said, "What Master Woodhall says your worships, is quite
true, and I can prove it, if I had time to bring forward my witnesses.
I am head groom to his grace of Norfolk, who is the dearest friend of
this young gentleman. If your worships like to put off the case until
I can get the people together who saw it all, I will be 'sponsible
that Mr. Ralph will be here at any time you like to-morrow."
The magistrates looked wise; but Ralph exclaimed, with a somewhat
sharp gesticulation of impatience, "I would a great deal rather have
the case decided at once. I have business which calls me back to
Norwich."
"This is a very serious charge, sir," said one of the magistrates who
had not yet spoken--an ill-tempered man, rendered cross by having been
detained; "recollect, sir, that if we decide against you on a charge
of riot and attempt to rescue, we shall have to commit you to prison
for trial."
"I have plenty of witnesses, too, if they talk of witnesses," said one
of the constables. "I can prove that there was a riot, and that he had
a hand in it. I suppose his being a friend of the Duke of Norfolk is
no great matter here."
This part of the discussion was the most unpleasant part to Ralph
Woodhall. The prospect of being committed to prison if he urged the
case forward at that moment was, of course, more unpleasant to him
than that of being detained for the whole day; but, nevertheless, he
urged, in a few words, that the witnesses might be speedily collected,
as they could not be far off, and that the duke expected his return
that night.
"That is of no consequence to us, sir," said the chairman of the
magistrates, with solemn dignity; "and we can not wait here all the
evening collecting witnesses. We must adjourn the hearing till
to-morrow morning, and, in the mean time, should be sorry to do any
thing harsh, if we could be quite certain that you will be here
present at the hour appointed."
"I'll pawn my body and soul, your worship," said Wilton, "that he does
not stir out of the town to-night, and if he do, you can come and take
me out of the duke's stables, and lose me my wages and my place."
"Will you give your word of honor, sir," asked the magistrate,
addressing Ralph, "that you will appear at the hour appointed?"
There seemed no help for it, and Ralph replied, "I will, if the hour
be an early one."
"Nine o'clock," replied the magistrate, with a laugh; "we are all
early men. I hold you to your word, then; and you too, Master
What's-your-name. Clerk, make out the bail-bond for him; we won't be
too particular as to the property."
Once more, there was no help for it; and it is good policy in life, as
Ralph well knew, to submit patiently to that for which there is no
help. The clerk, however, was tediously slow--people always are slow
when we want them to be quick, and by the time the whole business was
concluded, and the young gentleman had once more issued forth into the
air, the clock in the old steeple was striking five.
A little crowd had gathered about the doors of the justice room, and
they greeted Ralph when he appeared at liberty with a warm-hearted
cheer. He got clear of the people as soon as he could, however, and,
followed by the servants of the Duke of Norfolk and Lady Danvers, made
his way back to the inn. A day from which he had expected some of
those golden moments which are the treasures of the heart, had nearly
passed by without affording him one look of her he loved.