There was a jingling of arms and a shouting of words of command at the
door of the inn, somewhat too much of the trumpet, and a great deal
too much talking for a veteran force; and then the order was given to
march, followed by trampling of horses' feet in not the most orderly
progression upon the road. The mouth of Captain Barecolt had been busy
for the last five minutes upon beef and cabbage, and much execution
had it done in that course of operations; but no sooner had the sounds
of the retiring party diminished than it opened, evidently with the
purpose of giving utterance to the pent-up loquacity which had long
been struggling in his throat. But the Earl of Beverley made him a
second significant sign to be silent, and his caution was not
unnecessary, for at that moment mine host was standing at the back of
the door with a few silver pieces in his hand, grumbling internally at
the small pay of the parliamentary party, and ready to overhear
anything that was said by his other guests. The next moment he opened
the door of the room in which they were dining, and found them all
eating and drinking in very edifying silence. His presence did not
seem to discompose them in the least, and the only effect it had upon
any one, was to induce the earl to point to the huge black jack in the
midst of the table, saying the few but gratifying words "More ale!"
The landlord hastened to replenish the tankard; but as there were no
ingenious contrivances in those days for conjuring up various sorts of
beer at will from the depths of a profound cellar, and, as the house
boasted no tapster, the host himself had to draw the liquor from the
cask, and the earl took advantage of his absence to say to Barecolt
and Falgate, "One more draught, my friends, if you will, and then to
our horses' backs. Are you rested enough to travel on, fair lady, for
I have business of much importance on hand?"
"Quite, sir," replied Arrah Neil; "I am only too glad to go on."
"I am rejoiced to see you here," continued the earl; "but we must not
venture to speak more till we have nothing but the free air around
us."
The next instant the landlord re-appeared, and the earl, taking the
black jack from his hands, put his lips to it, but passed it on, after
barely tasting the contents. Barecolt did it more justice, in a long
deep draught; and Falgate well nigh drained it to the bottom. As soon
as this ceremony was concluded. Barecolt and the rest of the party
rose, and the earl returned thanks for the daily bread they had
received, at less length, but with greater devotion than his companion
might have done.
"Now, Captain Jeraval," he said, when this was done, "you see to the
horses, while I pay the score." And when Barecolt returned, he found
the face of his host bearing a much better satisfied look, after
settling with his present guests, than it had assumed after the
departure of him whom the good man mentally termed a beggarly cornet
of horse.
The earl then placed Arrah Neil in the saddle, sprang upon the back of
a handsome, powerful charger, and, followed quickly by Barecolt, and
slowly by Falgate, took his way along the lane in which the house
stood, choosing without hesitation many a turning and many a by-path,
much to the admiration of the worthy captain, who had a natural
fondness for intricate ways.
"You seem to know the road right well," he said in a low tone to the
earl, when he could refrain no longer.
"I have known it from my boyhood," replied Lord Beverley; but he made
no farther answer, and rode on in silence till the path they followed
opened out upon one of the wide open moors, not unfrequently met with
even now in that part of the country, and which at that season was all
purple with the beautiful flower of the heath.
"Now," observed the earl, "we can speak freely. You are full of wonder
and curiosity, I know, captain; but first tell me," he continued,
looking behind towards Diggory Falgate, who was labouring after them
about three hundred yards in the rear, "whom have you got there?"
"Oh! a very honest fellow, my lord," replied Barecolt; "who must needs
go join the king, and be a soldier."
"Put him into the infantry, then," said the earl. "But are you sure of
him?"
"Quite," replied Barecolt; "he aided me last night to get speech with
you in the block-house; and would not have cared if it had put his
neck in a noose."
"Enough--enough!" said the earl; "it had well nigh been an unlucky
business for all; but that matters not. The man showed his devotion,
and therefore we may trust him; and now, fair lady, so long, and so
anxiously sought, I can scarcely believe my eyes to find you here upon
the coast of Yorkshire. But, doubtless, you do not know me; let me say
that I am an old friend of Lord Walton."
"Oh! yes, sir," replied Arrah Neil; "I remember you well. You were at
Bishop's Merton that terrible night before the fire. You passed me as
I sat by the well watching for Lord Walton's return, to tell him what
they plotted against him; and you asked your way, and spoke kindly to
me. Oh I remember you well; but I wonder you remember me, for I am
much changed."
"You are, indeed," replied the earl, "not only in dress but in speech.
I could hardly at that time wring a word from you, though I was
anxious to know if I could give you aid or help."
"I was at that time in deep grief," replied Arrah Neil, "and that with
me is always silent; but, besides, I had one of my cloudy fits upon
me--those cloudy fits that are now gone for ever."
"Indeed!" said the earl; "what has happened to dissipate them?"
"Memory," replied Arrah Neil. "At that time all the past was covered
with darkness, previous to that period at which I arrived at Bishop's
Merton; but still, in the darkness it seemed as if I saw figures
moving about, different from those that surrounded me, and as if I
heard tongues speaking that had ceased to sound upon my ear. And so
longingly, so earnestly, used I to look upon that cloud over the
past--so completely used it to withdraw my thoughts from the
present--so anxious used I try to see those figures, and to hear those
voices more distinctly, that I do not wonder people thought me mad. I
thought myself so at times."
"But still," rejoined Lord Beverley, "how has all this been removed?"
"Because the cloud is gone," replied Arrah Neil, with a smile that
made her fair face look angelic--"because to remember one scene, one
hour, one person, connected with the past, woke up memory as if she
had been sleeping; and daily and hourly since she has been bringing up
before me the pictures of other days, till all is growing clear and
bright."
"I can understand all that," said the earl, with interest; "but I
would fain hear how it happened, that memory had for so long failed
you at a particular point."
"It is strange, indeed," said Arrah Neil, thoughtfully; "but I suppose
it sometimes happens so, after such a terrible fever as that which I
had at Hull, and of which my poor mother died."
"That explains the whole," replied the earl; "such is by no means an
uncommon occurrence. Was this many years ago?"
"Oh, yes," replied Arrah Neil; "when I was very young. I could not be
more than eight or nine years old; for that good kind woman, the
landlady of the inn, where we then lodged, told me the other day that
it was between nine and ten years ago. Those were sad times," she
said.
"They were, indeed," said the Earl of Beverley, a deep shade coming
over his brow; "as sad to you it seems as to me, for we both then lost
those that were dearest to us."
He paused for a moment or two, looking down upon his horse's crest
with a stern and thoughtful expression of countenance; and then,
raising his head, he shook his rein with a quick and impatient
gesture, saying, "It is not good to think of such things. Come,
Barecolt, now to satisfy your curiosity as far as is reasonable. I see
that you have scarcely been able to keep it within bounds; but first
let me thank you for your efforts to set me free; and, understand me,
I am not one to limit my gratitude to words."
"But your lordship said it had well nigh been an unlucky business for
us all," exclaimed Captain Barecolt; "and, to say truth, as soon as
the door was open, I saw that I had got into the wrong box, as it is
called. There was somebody behind the curtain, I suspect; and I do not
know," he continued, "whether it would be discreet to ask who it was."
"There need be no secret about it now;" replied the earl. "It was no
other than my worthy friend Sir John Hotham, the governor, who wished
to hold some private communication with me. He feared when you tried
to open the door, that it was some one come to spy upon his actions;
and to tell the truth, I was very apprehensive lest your inopportune
appearance should be the means not only of breaking off my
conversation with him, but of getting you yourself hanged for a spy. I
had no time for consideration, and therefore it was that I told you to
get out of Hull as fast as possible, and wait for me on the road. I
had still less time to think of what account I should give of you to
Sir John; but the truth when it can be told, my good captain, is
always the best; and as the governor had already promised to set me at
liberty speedily, I thought fit to tell him that you were an attached
dependant of mine, who had foolishly thought fit to risk your own life
to set me free. I told him, moreover, that I had directed you to get
out of the town as soon as you could, and wait for me on the road,
trusting to his promise for speedy liberation. He pronounced the plan
a good one, and made arrangements for sending Colonel Warren with me
to insure my passing safe, if I should meet this party of horse with
whom I just now found you embroiled."
"This Colonel Warren must be quick at taking a hint." replied
Barecolt; "for he certainly entered into your lordship's schemes in my
poor favour with great skill and decision."
"He is a very good man, and well affected," replied the earl; "the
only one, indeed, in Hull on whom Sir John Hotham can rely. He was
prepared, however; for, just before we set out this morning, as he
told me afterwards, first a rumour, and then a regular report from the
gates, reached the governor, to the effect that you had run away from
the town. Sir John replied coldly to the officer who brought him the
intelligence, that you had not run away, but had been sent by him on
business of importance; and that for the future, when on guard at the
gates, he had better mind his own business, which was to prevent the
enemy from coming in, and not to meddle with those who went out. He
then explained to Warren that we should find you on our way; and in
half-an-hour we came up the river in a boat, mounted the horses which
had been sent to meet us a couple of miles from the town, and fell in
with the party of horse, as you know."
"Truth is best, as you say," replied Barecolt; "but yet I do honour a
man who, when need compels him, can tell a sturdy lie with a calm and
honest countenance; and in this respect the worthy Colonel Warren
certainly deserves high renown, for he vouched for my being Captain
Jersval, with as sincere and as innocent a face as a lamb's head at
Easter."
"I fear he does not merit your praise." replied the earl, "and I do
not think he would exactly covet it; but at all events he did not know
you to be any other than Captain Jersval; for my conversation about
you with Sir John Hotham was but short, and it did not occur to me to
mention your real name."
"Lucky discretion!" cried Barecolt; "but, in good sooth, my lord, we
must wait a little for my good friend, Diggory Falgate, whose bones
are already aching from his first acquaintance with a horse's back,
and who cannot keep up with us at the pace we go."
"What hour is it?" said the earl. "We have not yet made much way, and
I would fain be at Market Wighton or at Poklington before night. We
have taken a great round to avoid some dangers on the Beverley road,
otherwise the distance to York is not more than forty miles."
Having ascertained that it was not yet more than two o'clock, the earl
agreed to pause a little for the benefit of good Diggory Falgate, and,
about two miles farther on, stopped at a little village to feed the
horses, in order to enable them to make as long a journey as possible
before night.
The aspect of the landlord and landlady of the house at which they now
paused was very different from that of their late host. The latter was
a buxom dame of forty-five, with traces of beauty passed away, a
coquettish air, a neat foot and instep, and a bodice laced with what
the Puritans would have considered very indecent red ribbons. Her
husband was a jovial man, some ten years older than herself, with a
face as round and rosy as the setting sun, a paunch beginning to be
somewhat unwieldy, but with a stout pair of legs underneath it, which
bore it up manfully. He wore his hat on one side as he came out to
greet his new guests, and a cock's feather therein, as if to mark
peculiarly his abhorrence of puritanical simplicity.
The first appearance of Lord Beverley and his party, the plainness of
their dress, and the soberness of their air, did not seem much to
conciliate his regard; but the nose of Captain Barecolt had something
pleasant and propitious in his eyes, and the light ease with which the
Earl of Beverley sprang to the ground and lifted Arrah Neil from the
saddle also found favour in his sight; for the worthy landlord had a
very low estimation of the qualities of all the parliamentary party,
and could not make up his mind to believe that any one belonging to it
could sit a horse, wield a sword, or fire a shot, with the same grace
and dexterity as a Cavalier.
Just as the earl was leading in Arrah Neil, however, and Barecolt was
following, Diggory Falgate, to use a nautical term, hove in sight; and
the landlord, who was giving orders to his ostler for the care of the
horses, rubbed his eyes and gazed, and then rubbed his eyes again,
exclaiming, "By all the holy martyrs! I do believe that it is that
jovial blade Falgate, who painted my sign, and kept us in a roar all
the time it was doing."
"Ay, sir, that's just Diggory," answered the ostler, "though I wonder
to see him a-horseback; for, if you remember, he once got upon our
mare, and she shot him over her head in a minute."
"Ah, jolly Falgate!" cried the landlord, advancing towards him; "how
goes it with you?"
"Hardly, hardly, good Master Stubbs," answered the painter. "This
accursed beast has beaten me like a stockfish; and I am sure that my
knees, with holding on, are at this moment all black and blue, and
green and yellow, like an unscraped pullet."
"Faith, I am sorry to hear it," replied the landlord; "but you will
come to it--you will come to it, Master Falgate. All things are beaten
into us by an application on the same part, from our first schooling
to our last. But tell me, do you know who these people are who have
just come?"
"Tell you! To be sure," cried Diggory Falgate; "I am of their party.
One is a great lord."
"What! the long man with the nose?" cried the worthy host. "'Tis a
lordly nose--that I'll vouch for."
"No, no; not he," replied the painter: "he is a great fire-eating
captain, the devil of a fighting soldier, who swallows you up a whole
squadron in a minute, and eats up a battalion of infantry, pikes and
all, like a boy devouring a salt herring, and never caring for the
bones. No, no; 'tis the other is the lord."
"He's mighty plainly dressed for a lord," replied the host. "Why, my
jerkin's worth his, and a shilling to boot!"
"Ay, because we have just made our escape from Hull," replied the
painter, "and we are all in disguise; but I can tell you,
nevertheless, that he is a great lord, and very much trusted by the
king."
"Then I'm the man for him!" said the landlord; and hurrying in, hat in
hand, he addressed the Earl of Beverley, saying, "What's your
lordship's pleasure? What can I get for you, my lord? Has your
lordship any news from Nottingham or York? I am upon thorns till I
hear from Nottingham; for I've got two sons--fine boys as ever you set
your eyes upon--gone to join the king there, just a week ago last
Monday, and my two best horses with them."
"In whose regiment are they?" asked the earl.
"Oh, in the noble Earl of Beverley's," replied the host; "he's our
lord and master here, and as soon as one of his people came down to
raise men, my boys vowed they'd go."
"They shall be taken care of," said the earl, laying his hand upon the
landlord's shoulder, with a meaning smile, which let worthy Master
Stubbs into the secret of his name in a moment. "And now, my good
friend," he continued, "forget 'your lordship' with me, and, if you
want really to serve me, send somebody to the top of the hill, to
bring me word if he sees any parties moving about in the country. I
have heard of such things, and would be upon my guard."
The landlord winked one small black eye till it was swallowed up in
the rosy fat that surrounded it. Then, shutting the door of the room,
he approached the earl, saying in a mysterious tone, "You are quite
right--you are quite right, my lord. There are such things in the
country. One troop passed through the village this morning, and there
is another handful of them left over at the hamlet, beyond the edge,
as we call the hill. There are not above a score of them; and if they
were to come into the village, we would soon show them the way out,
for we have surly fellows amongst us, and do not love Roundheads here.
I will send over to watch them, sure enough; but if your lordship
would like to make a sweep of them, we could mount half-a-dozen men in
the village, who would break some heads with right good will; and in
two or three hours we could have help over from the Lady Margaret
Langley's, for one of her people was here yesterday, and told me that
they expected a party of Cavaliers there, either that day or to-day."
Lord Beverley paused and meditated for a moment; but he then replied,
"No, my good friend--no. The business I am on is too important to run
any risks before it is accomplished; and, in the next place, it would
not be right to bring down the vengeance of these people upon good
Lady Margaret. It is about nine miles to her house, I think, too; so
that would cause delay. Send some one to watch the gentry from the
hill. Have the horses fed with all despatch, and give us a flagon of
wine, for we have two thirsty men in our company."
"You shall have of the best in the land, my lord," replied the jolly
host. "Only to think of my not knowing you!"
The wine was soon brought; and Barecolt, who had been delivering
himself of a few marvels in the kitchen, followed it quickly and
shared in the draught. The horses, accustomed to hard work, were not
without appetite for their provender, so that their meal was speedily
despatched. But when the earl and his companions once issued forth to
pursue their way, he was surprised to find four stout men mounted and
armed by the care of the good landlord, to escort him on his journey.
He might perhaps have preferred a less numerous party, in the hope of
passing unobserved; but, while he was discussing the matter with the
host, a boy who had been sent up to watch ran back into the village,
bringing the news that the men were moving from Little Clive, along
the high-road towards the top of the hill.
"Well, then, I will take the road to the right--towards Beverley,"
said the earl. "Mount, mount! and let us away with all speed. Amongst
the trees they will hardly see us, if we can get a mile on the way.
Come, Master Falgate; we must have no lagging behind, or, by heaven,
you will fall into their hands!"
"I would rather be bumped to death," replied Falgate, clambering up
into his saddle; "and that wine has healed some of my bruises."
"We'll make a good fight of it if they do catch us," said one of the
mounted men: "there are not above a score of them."
"Come on, then--come on quick!" cried the earl; and setting spurs to
his horse, he rode out of the village, fair Arrah Neil placed between
himself and Barecolt, Falgate with their escort bringing up the rear.
They had reached the wooded lane which led along under the slope
towards Beverley before the party of horse which had been seen by the
boy appeared upon the top of the hill. But a break of some two or
three hundred yards in length in the hedgerow occurred at the distance
of about a mile, and by the movements that the earl remarked amongst
the troopers, whom he now saw distinctly, he judged that his little
party was also observed.
"Spur on, my lord!" cried Barecolt, who had also turned round to look.
"They are coming after us; but we have got a fair start. Spur on,
Falgate, or you will be caught!" and, putting their horses to their
utmost speed, they rode along the lane, while the faint blast of a
trumpet was borne by the wind from above, and the small body of
cavalry was seen to take its way quickly over the open fields, as if
to cut them off.