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his most Christian daughter, with Languedoc for a dowery, I could not

wed her. It is against my vow to love any maiden, otherwise than 'par

amours', as I will love thee. I am a Templar. Behold the cross of my

Holy Order. "

" Darest thou appeal to it, " said Rebecca, " on an occasion like the

present? "

" And if I do so, " said the Templar, " it concerns not thee, who art no

believer in the blessed sign of our salvation. "

" I believe as my fathers taught, " said Rebecca; " and may God forgive my

belief if erroneous! But you, Sir Knight, what is yours, when you appeal

without scruple to that which you deem most holy, even while you are

about to transgress the most solemn of your vows as a knight, and as a

man of religion? "

" It is gravely and well preached, O daughter of Sirach! " answered the

Templar; " but, gentle Ecclesiastics, thy narrow Jewish prejudices make

thee blind to our high privilege. Marriage were an enduring crime on

the part of a Templar; but what lesser folly I may practise, I shall

speedily be absolved from at the next Preceptory of our Order. Not the

wisest of monarchs, not his father, whose examples you must needs allow

are weighty, claimed wider privileges than we poor soldiers of the

Temple of Zion have won by our zeal in its defence. The protectors of

Solomon's Temple may claim license by the example of Solomon. "

" If thou readest the Scripture, " said the Jewess, " and the lives of the

saints, only to justify thine own license and profligacy, thy crime

is like that of him who extracts poison from the most healthful and

necessary herbs. "

The eyes of the Templar flashed fire at this reproof--" Hearken, " he

said, " Rebecca; I have hitherto spoken mildly to thee, but now my

language shall be that of a conqueror. Thou art the captive of my bow

and spear--subject to my will by the laws of all nations; nor will I

abate an inch of my right, or abstain from taking by violence what thou

refusest to entreaty or necessity. "

" Stand back, " said Rebecca--" stand back, and hear me ere thou offerest

to commit a sin so deadly! My strength thou mayst indeed overpower for

God made women weak, and trusted their defence to man's generosity. But

I will proclaim thy villainy, Templar, from one end of Europe to

the other. I will owe to the superstition of thy brethren what their

compassion might refuse me, Each Preceptory--each Chapter of thy Order,

shall learn, that, like a heretic, thou hast sinned with a Jewess. Those

who tremble not at thy crime, will hold thee accursed for having so

far dishonoured the cross thou wearest, as to follow a daughter of my

people. "

" Thou art keen-witted, Jewess, " replied the Templar, well aware of the

truth of what she spoke, and that the rules of his Order condemned in

the most positive manner, and under high penalties, such intrigues as

he now prosecuted, and that, in some instances, even degradation had

followed upon it--" thou art sharp-witted, " he said; " but loud must be

thy voice of complaint, if it is heard beyond the iron walls of this

castle; within these, murmurs, laments, appeals to justice, and screams

for help, die alike silent away. One thing only can save thee, Rebecca.

Submit to thy fate--embrace our religion, and thou shalt go forth in

such state, that many a Norman lady shall yield as well in pomp as in

beauty to the favourite of the best lance among the defenders of the

Temple. "

" Submit to my fate! " said Rebecca--" and, sacred Heaven! to what

fate? --embrace thy religion! and what religion can it be that

harbours such a villain? --THOU the best lance of the Templars! --Craven

knight! --forsworn priest! I spit at thee, and I defy thee. --The God of

Abraham's promise hath opened an escape to his daughter--even from this

abyss of infamy! "

As she spoke, she threw open the latticed window which led to the

bartisan, and in an instant after, stood on the very verge of the

parapet, with not the slightest screen between her and the tremendous

depth below. Unprepared for such a desperate effort, for she had

hitherto stood perfectly motionless, Bois-Guilbert had neither time

to intercept nor to stop her. As he offered to advance, she exclaimed,

" Remain where thou art, proud Templar, or at thy choice advance! --one

foot nearer, and I plunge myself from the precipice; my body shall

be crushed out of the very form of humanity upon the stones of that

court-yard, ere it become the victim of thy brutality! "

As she spoke this, she clasped her hands and extended them towards

heaven, as if imploring mercy on her soul before she made the final

plunge. The Templar hesitated, and a resolution which had never yielded

to pity or distress, gave way to his admiration of her fortitude. " Come

down, " he said, " rash girl! --I swear by earth, and sea, and sky, I will

offer thee no offence. "

" I will not trust thee, Templar, " said Rebecca; " thou hast taught me

better how to estimate the virtues of thine Order. The next Preceptory

would grant thee absolution for an oath, the keeping of which concerned

nought but the honour or the dishonour of a miserable Jewish maiden. "

" You do me injustice, " exclaimed the Templar fervently; " I swear to you

by the name which I bear--by the cross on my bosom--by the sword on my

side--by the ancient crest of my fathers do I swear, I will do thee

no injury whatsoever! If not for thyself, yet for thy father's sake

forbear! I will be his friend, and in this castle he will need a

powerful one. "

" Alas! " said Rebecca, " I know it but too well--dare I trust thee? "

" May my arms be reversed, and my name dishonoured, " said Brian de

Bois-Guilbert, " if thou shalt have reason to complain of me! Many a law,

many a commandment have I broken, but my word never. "

" I will then trust thee, " said Rebecca, " thus far; " and she descended

from the verge of the battlement, but remained standing close by one of

the embrasures, or " machicolles", as they were then called. --" Here, " she

said, " I take my stand. Remain where thou art, and if thou shalt attempt

to diminish by one step the distance now between us, thou shalt see that

the Jewish maiden will rather trust her soul with God, than her honour

to the Templar! "

While Rebecca spoke thus, her high and firm resolve, which corresponded

so well with the expressive beauty of her countenance, gave to her

looks, air, and manner, a dignity that seemed more than mortal. Her

glance quailed not, her cheek blanched not, for the fear of a fate so

instant and so horrible; on the contrary, the thought that she had her

fate at her command, and could escape at will from infamy to death,

gave a yet deeper colour of carnation to her complexion, and a yet

more brilliant fire to her eye. Bois-Guilbert, proud himself and

high-spirited, thought he had never beheld beauty so animated and so

commanding.

" Let there be peace between us, Rebecca, " he said.

" Peace, if thou wilt, " answered Rebecca--" Peace--but with this space

between. "

" Thou needst no longer fear me, " said Bois-Guilbert.

" I fear thee not, " replied she; " thanks to him that reared this dizzy

tower so high, that nought could fall from it and live--thanks to him,

and to the God of Israel! --I fear thee not. "

" Thou dost me injustice, " said the Templar; " by earth, sea, and sky,

thou dost me injustice! I am not naturally that which you have seen me,

hard, selfish, and relentless. It was woman that taught me cruelty, and

on woman therefore I have exercised it; but not upon such as thou. Hear

me, Rebecca--Never did knight take lance in his hand with a heart more

devoted to the lady of his love than Brian de Bois-Guilbert. She, the

daughter of a petty baron, who boasted for all his domains but a ruinous

tower, and an unproductive vineyard, and some few leagues of the barren

Landes of Bourdeaux, her name was known wherever deeds of arms were

done, known wider than that of many a lady's that had a county for a

dowery. --Yes, " he continued, pacing up and down the little platform,

with an animation in which he seemed to lose all consciousness of

Rebecca's presence--" Yes, my deeds, my danger, my blood, made the name

of Adelaide de Montemare known from the court of Castile to that of

Byzantium. And how was I requited? --When I returned with my dear-bought

honours, purchased by toil and blood, I found her wedded to a Gascon

squire, whose name was never heard beyond the limits of his own paltry

domain! Truly did I love her, and bitterly did I revenge me of her

broken faith! But my vengeance has recoiled on myself. Since that day

I have separated myself from life and its ties--My manhood must know no

domestic home--must be soothed by no affectionate wife--My age must

know no kindly hearth--My grave must be solitary, and no offspring must

outlive me, to bear the ancient name of Bois-Guilbert. At the feet of

my Superior I have laid down the right of self-action--the privilege

of independence. The Templar, a serf in all but the name, can possess

neither lands nor goods, and lives, moves, and breathes, but at the will

and pleasure of another. "

" Alas! " said Rebecca, " what advantages could compensate for such an

absolute sacrifice? "

" The power of vengeance, Rebecca, " replied the Templar, " and the

prospects of ambition. "

" An evil recompense, " said Rebecca, " for the surrender of the rights

which are dearest to humanity. "

" Say not so, maiden, " answered the Templar; " revenge is a feast for the

gods! And if they have reserved it, as priests tell us, to themselves,

it is because they hold it an enjoyment too precious for the possession

of mere mortals. --And ambition? it is a temptation which could disturb

even the bliss of heaven itself. " --He paused a moment, and then added,

" Rebecca! she who could prefer death to dishonour, must have a proud and

a powerful soul. Mine thou must be! --Nay, start not, " he added, " it must

be with thine own consent, and on thine own terms. Thou must consent to

share with me hopes more extended than can be viewed from the throne

of a monarch! --Hear me ere you answer and judge ere you refuse. --The

Templar loses, as thou hast said, his social rights, his power of free

agency, but he becomes a member and a limb of a mighty body, before

which thrones already tremble, --even as the single drop of rain which

mixes with the sea becomes an individual part of that resistless ocean,

which undermines rocks and ingulfs royal armadas. Such a swelling flood

is that powerful league. Of this mighty Order I am no mean member, but

already one of the Chief Commanders, and may well aspire one day to hold

the batoon of Grand Master. The poor soldiers of the Temple will not

alone place their foot upon the necks of kings--a hemp-sandall'd monk

can do that. Our mailed step shall ascend their throne--our gauntlet

shall wrench the sceptre from their gripe. Not the reign of your

vainly-expected Messiah offers such power to your dispersed tribes as my

ambition may aim at. I have sought but a kindred spirit to share it, and

I have found such in thee. "

" Sayest thou this to one of my people? " answered Rebecca. " Bethink

thee--"

" Answer me not, " said the Templar, " by urging the difference of our

creeds; within our secret conclaves we hold these nursery tales in

derision. Think not we long remained blind to the idiotical folly of our

founders, who forswore every delight of life for the pleasure of dying

martyrs by hunger, by thirst, and by pestilence, and by the swords of

savages, while they vainly strove to defend a barren desert, valuable

only in the eyes of superstition. Our Order soon adopted bolder and

wider views, and found out a better indemnification for our sacrifices.

Our immense possessions in every kingdom of Europe, our high military

fame, which brings within our circle the flower of chivalry from every

Christian clime--these are dedicated to ends of which our pious founders

little dreamed, and which are equally concealed from such weak spirits

as embrace our Order on the ancient principles, and whose superstition

makes them our passive tools. But I will not further withdraw the veil

of our mysteries. That bugle-sound announces something which may require

my presence. Think on what I have said. --Farewell! --I do not say forgive

me the violence I have threatened, for it was necessary to the display

of thy character. Gold can be only known by the application of the

touchstone. I will soon return, and hold further conference with thee. "

He re-entered the turret-chamber, and descended the stair, leaving

Rebecca scarcely more terrified at the prospect of the death to which

she had been so lately exposed, than at the furious ambition of the bold

bad man in whose power she found herself so unhappily placed. When she

entered the turret-chamber, her first duty was to return thanks to

the God of Jacob for the protection which he had afforded her, and to

implore its continuance for her and for her father. Another name glided

into her petition--it was that of the wounded Christian, whom fate had

placed in the hands of bloodthirsty men, his avowed enemies. Her heart

indeed checked her, as if, even in communing with the Deity in prayer,

she mingled in her devotions the recollection of one with whose fate

hers could have no alliance--a Nazarene, and an enemy to her faith. But

the petition was already breathed, nor could all the narrow prejudices

of her sect induce Rebecca to wish it recalled.

CHAPTER XXV

A damn'd cramp piece of penmanship as ever I saw in my life!

--She Stoops to Conquer

When the Templar reached the hall of the castle, he found De Bracy

already there. " Your love-suit, " said De Bracy, " hath, I suppose, been

disturbed, like mine, by this obstreperous summons. But you have come

later and more reluctantly, and therefore I presume your interview has

proved more agreeable than mine. "

" Has your suit, then, been unsuccessfully paid to the Saxon heiress? "

said the Templar.

" By the bones of Thomas a Becket, " answered De Bracy, " the Lady Rowena

must have heard that I cannot endure the sight of women's tears. "

" Away! " said the Templar; " thou a leader of a Free Company, and regard

a woman's tears! A few drops sprinkled on the torch of love, make the

flame blaze the brighter. "

" Gramercy for the few drops of thy sprinkling, " replied De Bracy; " but

this damsel hath wept enough to extinguish a beacon-light. Never was

such wringing of hands and such overflowing of eyes, since the days of

St Niobe, of whom Prior Aymer told us. [30] A water-fiend hath possessed

the fair Saxon. "

" A legion of fiends have occupied the bosom of the Jewess, " replied the

Templar; " for, I think no single one, not even Apollyon himself, could

have inspired such indomitable pride and resolution. --But where is

Front-de-Boeuf? That horn is sounded more and more clamorously. "

" He is negotiating with the Jew, I suppose, " replied De Bracy, coolly;

" probably the howls of Isaac have drowned the blast of the bugle.

Thou mayst know, by experience, Sir Brian, that a Jew parting with his

treasures on such terms as our friend Front-de-Boeuf is like to offer,

will raise a clamour loud enough to be heard over twenty horns and

trumpets to boot. But we will make the vassals call him. "

They were soon after joined by Front-de-Boeuf, who had been disturbed in

his tyrannic cruelty in the manner with which the reader is acquainted,

and had only tarried to give some necessary directions.

" Let us see the cause of this cursed clamour, " said

Front-de-Boeuf--" here is a letter, and, if I mistake not, it is in

Saxon. "

He looked at it, turning it round and round as if he had had really some

hopes of coming at the meaning by inverting the position of the paper,

and then handed it to De Bracy.

" It may be magic spells for aught I know, " said De Bracy, who possessed

his full proportion of the ignorance which characterised the chivalry of

the period. " Our chaplain attempted to teach me to write, " he said, " but

all my letters were formed like spear-heads and sword-blades, and so the

old shaveling gave up the task. "

" Give it me, " said the Templar. " We have that of the priestly character,

that we have some knowledge to enlighten our valour. "

" Let us profit by your most reverend knowledge, then, " said De Bracy;

" what says the scroll? "

" It is a formal letter of defiance, " answered the Templar; " but, by

our Lady of Bethlehem, if it be not a foolish jest, it is the most

extraordinary cartel that ever was sent across the drawbridge of a

baronial castle. "

" Jest! " said Front-de-Boeuf, " I would gladly know who dares jest with me

in such a matter! --Read it, Sir Brian. "

The Templar accordingly read it as follows: --" I, Wamba, the son of

Witless, Jester to a noble and free-born man, Cedric of Rotherwood,

called the Saxon, --And I, Gurth, the son of Beowulph, the swineherd---"

" Thou art mad, " said Front-de-Boeuf, interrupting the reader.

" By St Luke, it is so set down, " answered the Templar. Then resuming his

task, he went on, --" I, Gurth, the son of Beowulph, swineherd unto the

said Cedric, with the assistance of our allies and confederates, who

make common cause with us in this our feud, namely, the good knight,

called for the present 'Le Noir Faineant', and the stout yeoman, Robert

Locksley, called Cleave-the-Wand. Do you, Reginald Front de-Boeuf, and

your allies and accomplices whomsoever, to wit, that whereas you have,

without cause given or feud declared, wrongfully and by mastery seized

upon the person of our lord and master the said Cedric; also upon

the person of a noble and freeborn damsel, the Lady Rowena of

Hargottstandstede; also upon the person of a noble and freeborn man,

Athelstane of Coningsburgh; also upon the persons of certain freeborn

men, their 'cnichts'; also upon certain serfs, their born bondsmen; also

upon a certain Jew, named Isaac of York, together with his daughter, a

Jewess, and certain horses and mules: Which noble persons, with their

'cnichts' and slaves, and also with the horses and mules, Jew and Jewess

beforesaid, were all in peace with his majesty, and travelling as liege

subjects upon the king's highway; therefore we require and demand

that the said noble persons, namely, Cedric of Rotherwood, Rowena of

Hargottstandstede, Athelstane of Coningsburgh, with their servants,

'cnichts', and followers, also the horses and mules, Jew and Jewess

aforesaid, together with all goods and chattels to them pertaining, be,

within an hour after the delivery hereof, delivered to us, or to those

whom we shall appoint to receive the same, and that untouched and

unharmed in body and goods. Failing of which, we do pronounce to you,

that we hold ye as robbers and traitors, and will wager our bodies

against ye in battle, siege, or otherwise, and do our utmost to

your annoyance and destruction. Wherefore may God have you in his

keeping. --Signed by us upon the eve of St Withold's day, under the great

trysting oak in the Hart-hill Walk, the above being written by a

holy man, Clerk to God, our Lady, and St Dunstan, in the Chapel of

Copmanhurst. "

At the bottom of this document was scrawled, in the first place, a

rude sketch of a cock's head and comb, with a legend expressing this

hieroglyphic to be the sign-manual of Wamba, son of Witless. Under this

respectable emblem stood a cross, stated to be the mark of Gurth, the

son of Beowulph. Then was written, in rough bold characters, the words,

" Le Noir Faineant". And, to conclude the whole, an arrow, neatly enough

drawn, was described as the mark of the yeoman Locksley.

The knights heard this uncommon document read from end to end, and then

gazed upon each other in silent amazement, as being utterly at a loss to

know what it could portend. De Bracy was the first to break silence by

an uncontrollable fit of laughter, wherein he was joined, though with

more moderation, by the Templar. Front-de-Boeuf, on the contrary, seemed

impatient of their ill-timed jocularity.

" I give you plain warning, " he said, " fair sirs, that you had better

consult how to bear yourselves under these circumstances, than give way

to such misplaced merriment. "

" Front-de-Boeuf has not recovered his temper since his late overthrow, "

said De Bracy to the Templar; " he is cowed at the very idea of a cartel,

though it come but from a fool and a swineherd. "

" By St Michael, " answered Front-de-Boeuf, " I would thou couldst stand

the whole brunt of this adventure thyself, De Bracy. These fellows dared

not have acted with such inconceivable impudence, had they not been

supported by some strong bands. There are enough of outlaws in this

forest to resent my protecting the deer. I did but tie one fellow, who

was taken redhanded and in the fact, to the horns of a wild stag, which

gored him to death in five minutes, and I had as many arrows shot at me

as there were launched against yonder target at Ashby. --Here, fellow, "

he added, to one of his attendants, " hast thou sent out to see by what

force this precious challenge is to be supported? "

" There are at least two hundred men assembled in the woods, " answered a

squire who was in attendance.

" Here is a proper matter! " said Front-de-Boeuf, " this comes of lending

you the use of my castle, that cannot manage your undertaking quietly,

but you must bring this nest of hornets about my ears! "

" Of hornets? " said De Bracy; " of stingless drones rather; a band of lazy

knaves, who take to the wood, and destroy the venison rather than labour

for their maintenance. "

" Stingless! " replied Front-de-Boeuf; " fork-headed shafts of a cloth-yard

in length, and these shot within the breadth of a French crown, are

sting enough. "

" For shame, Sir Knight! " said the Templar. " Let us summon our people,

and sally forth upon them. One knight--ay, one man-at-arms, were enough

for twenty such peasants. "

" Enough, and too much, " said De Bracy; " I should only be ashamed to

couch lance against them. "

" True, " answered Front-de-Boeuf; " were they black Turks or Moors, Sir

Templar, or the craven peasants of France, most valiant De Bracy; but

these are English yeomen, over whom we shall have no advantage, save

what we may derive from our arms and horses, which will avail us little

in the glades of the forest. Sally, saidst thou? we have scarce men

enough to defend the castle. The best of mine are at York; so is all

your band, De Bracy; and we have scarcely twenty, besides the handful

that were engaged in this mad business. "

" Thou dost not fear, " said the Templar, " that they can assemble in force

sufficient to attempt the castle? "

" Not so, Sir Brian, " answered Front-de-Boeuf. " These outlaws have indeed

a daring captain; but without machines, scaling ladders, and experienced

leaders, my castle may defy them. "

" Send to thy neighbours, " said the Templar, " let them assemble their

people, and come to the rescue of three knights, besieged by a jester

and a swineherd in the baronial castle of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf! "

" You jest, Sir Knight, " answered the baron; " but to whom should I

send? --Malvoisin is by this time at York with his retainers, and so

are my other allies; and so should I have been, but for this infernal

enterprise. "

" Then send to York, and recall our people, " said De Bracy. " If they

abide the shaking of my standard, or the sight of my Free Companions,

I will give them credit for the boldest outlaws ever bent bow in

green-wood. "

" And who shall bear such a message? " said Front-de-Boeuf; " they will

beset every path, and rip the errand out of his bosom. --I have it, " he

added, after pausing for a moment--" Sir Templar, thou canst write

as well as read, and if we can but find the writing materials of my

chaplain, who died a twelvemonth since in the midst of his Christmas

carousals--"

" So please ye, " said the squire, who was still in attendance, " I think

old Urfried has them somewhere in keeping, for love of the confessor.

He was the last man, I have heard her tell, who ever said aught to her,

which man ought in courtesy to address to maid or matron. "

" Go, search them out, Engelred, " said Front-de-Boeuf; " and then, Sir

Templar, thou shalt return an answer to this bold challenge. "

" I would rather do it at the sword's point than at that of the pen, "

said Bois-Guilbert; " but be it as you will. "

He sat down accordingly, and indited, in the French language, an epistle

of the following tenor: --" Sir Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, with his noble

and knightly allies and confederates, receive no defiances at the hands

of slaves, bondsmen, or fugitives. If the person calling himself the

Black Knight have indeed a claim to the honours of chivalry, he ought

to know that he stands degraded by his present association, and has no

right to ask reckoning at the hands of good men of noble blood. Touching

the prisoners we have made, we do in Christian charity require you to

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