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" And you have found me, " said Cedric, " ready to resume our brave

projects of honour and liberty. I tell thee, never will dawn a morrow so

auspicious as the next, for the deliverance of the noble Saxon race. "

" Talk not to me of delivering any one, " said Athelstane; " it is well I

am delivered myself. I am more intent on punishing that villain Abbot.

He shall hang on the top of this Castle of Coningsburgh, in his cope and

stole; and if the stairs be too strait to admit his fat carcass, I will

have him craned up from without. "

" But, my son, " said Edith, " consider his sacred office. "

" Consider my three days' fast, " replied Athelstane; " I will have their

blood every one of them. Front-de-Boeuf was burnt alive for a less

matter, for he kept a good table for his prisoners, only put too much

garlic in his last dish of pottage. But these hypocritical, ungrateful

slaves, so often the self-invited flatterers at my board, who gave

me neither pottage nor garlic, more or less, they die, by the soul of

Hengist! "

" But the Pope, my noble friend, " --said Cedric--

" But the devil, my noble friend, " --answered Athelstane; " they die, and

no more of them. Were they the best monks upon earth, the world would go

on without them. "

" For shame, noble Athelstane, " said Cedric; " forget such wretches in the

career of glory which lies open before thee. Tell this Norman prince,

Richard of Anjou, that, lion-hearted as he is, he shall not hold

undisputed the throne of Alfred, while a male descendant of the Holy

Confessor lives to dispute it. "

" How! " said Athelstane, " is this the noble King Richard? "

" It is Richard Plantagenet himself, " said Cedric; " yet I need not remind

thee that, coming hither a guest of free-will, he may neither be injured

nor detained prisoner--thou well knowest thy duty to him as his host. "

" Ay, by my faith! " said Athelstane; " and my duty as a subject besides,

for I here tender him my allegiance, heart and hand. "

" My son, " said Edith, " think on thy royal rights! "

" Think on the freedom of England, degenerate Prince! " said Cedric.

" Mother and friend, " said Athelstane, " a truce to your

upbraidings--bread and water and a dungeon are marvellous mortifiers of

ambition, and I rise from the tomb a wiser man than I descended into

it. One half of those vain follies were puffed into mine ear by that

perfidious Abbot Wolfram, and you may now judge if he is a counsellor to

be trusted. Since these plots were set in agitation, I have had nothing

but hurried journeys, indigestions, blows and bruises, imprisonments

and starvation; besides that they can only end in the murder of some

thousands of quiet folk. I tell you, I will be king in my own domains,

and nowhere else; and my first act of dominion shall be to hang the

Abbot. "

" And my ward Rowena, " said Cedric--" I trust you intend not to desert

her? "

" Father Cedric, " said Athelstane, " be reasonable. The Lady Rowena cares

not for me--she loves the little finger of my kinsman Wilfred's glove

better than my whole person. There she stands to avouch it--Nay, blush

not, kinswoman, there is no shame in loving a courtly knight better than

a country franklin--and do not laugh neither, Rowena, for grave-clothes

and a thin visage are, God knows, no matter of merriment--Nay, an thou

wilt needs laugh, I will find thee a better jest--Give me thy hand, or

rather lend it me, for I but ask it in the way of friendship. --Here,

cousin Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in thy favour I renounce and abjure---Hey!

by Saint Dunstan, our cousin Wilfred hath vanished! --Yet, unless my eyes

are still dazzled with the fasting I have undergone, I saw him stand

there but even now. "

All now looked around and enquired for Ivanhoe, but he had vanished.

It was at length discovered that a Jew had been to seek him; and that,

after very brief conference, he had called for Gurth and his armour, and

had left the castle.

" Fair cousin, " said Athelstane to Rowena, " could I think that this

sudden disappearance of Ivanhoe was occasioned by other than the

weightiest reason, I would myself resume--"

But he had no sooner let go her hand, on first observing that Ivanhoe

had disappeared, than Rowena, who had found her situation extremely

embarrassing, had taken the first opportunity to escape from the

apartment.

" Certainly, " quoth Athelstane, " women are the least to be trusted of all

animals, monks and abbots excepted. I am an infidel, if I expected not

thanks from her, and perhaps a kiss to boot--These cursed grave-clothes

have surely a spell on them, every one flies from me. --To you I

turn, noble King Richard, with the vows of allegiance, which, as a

liege-subject--"

But King Richard was gone also, and no one knew whither. At length it

was learned that he had hastened to the court-yard, summoned to his

presence the Jew who had spoken with Ivanhoe, and after a moment's

speech with him, had called vehemently to horse, thrown himself upon a

steed, compelled the Jew to mount another, and set off at a rate, which,

according to Wamba, rendered the old Jew's neck not worth a penny's

purchase.

" By my halidome! " said Athelstane, " it is certain that Zernebock

hath possessed himself of my castle in my absence. I return in my

grave-clothes, a pledge restored from the very sepulchre, and every one

I speak to vanishes as soon as they hear my voice! --But it skills not

talking of it. Come, my friends--such of you as are left, follow me to

the banquet-hall, lest any more of us disappear--it is, I trust, as yet

tolerably furnished, as becomes the obsequies of an ancient Saxon noble;

and should we tarry any longer, who knows but the devil may fly off with

the supper? "

CHAPTER XLIII

Be Mowbray's sins so heavy in his bosom,

That they may break his foaming courser's back,

And throw the rider headlong in the lists,

A caitiff recreant!

--Richard II

Our scene now returns to the exterior of the Castle, or Preceptory, of

Templestowe, about the hour when the bloody die was to be cast for the

life or death of Rebecca. It was a scene of bustle and life, as if the

whole vicinity had poured forth its inhabitants to a village wake, or

rural feast. But the earnest desire to look on blood and death, is not

peculiar to those dark ages; though in the gladiatorial exercise of

single combat and general tourney, they were habituated to the bloody

spectacle of brave men falling by each other's hands. Even in our own

days, when morals are better understood, an execution, a bruising match,

a riot, or a meeting of radical reformers, collects, at considerable

hazard to themselves, immense crowds of spectators, otherwise little

interested, except to see how matters are to be conducted, or whether

the heroes of the day are, in the heroic language of insurgent tailors,

flints or dunghills.

The eyes, therefore, of a very considerable multitude, were bent on the

gate of the Preceptory of Templestowe, with the purpose of witnessing

the procession; while still greater numbers had already surrounded the

tiltyard belonging to that establishment. This enclosure was formed on

a piece of level ground adjoining to the Preceptory, which had been

levelled with care, for the exercise of military and chivalrous sports.

It occupied the brow of a soft and gentle eminence, was carefully

palisaded around, and, as the Templars willingly invited spectators to

be witnesses of their skill in feats of chivalry, was amply supplied

with galleries and benches for their use.

On the present occasion, a throne was erected for the Grand Master at

the east end, surrounded with seats of distinction for the Preceptors

and Knights of the Order. Over these floated the sacred standard, called

" Le Beau-seant", which was the ensign, as its name was the battle-cry,

of the Templars.

At the opposite end of the lists was a pile of faggots, so arranged

around a stake, deeply fixed in the ground, as to leave a space for the

victim whom they were destined to consume, to enter within the fatal

circle, in order to be chained to the stake by the fetters which hung

ready for that purpose. Beside this deadly apparatus stood four black

slaves, whose colour and African features, then so little known in

England, appalled the multitude, who gazed on them as on demons employed

about their own diabolical exercises. These men stirred not, excepting

now and then, under the direction of one who seemed their chief, to

shift and replace the ready fuel. They looked not on the multitude. In

fact, they seemed insensible of their presence, and of every thing save

the discharge of their own horrible duty.

And when, in speech with each other, they expanded their blubber lips,

and showed their white fangs, as if they grinned at the thoughts of the

expected tragedy, the startled commons could scarcely help believing

that they were actually the familiar spirits with whom the witch had

communed, and who, her time being out, stood ready to assist in her

dreadful punishment. They whispered to each other, and communicated all

the feats which Satan had performed during that busy and unhappy period,

not failing, of course, to give the devil rather more than his due.

" Have you not heard, Father Dennet, " quoth one boor to another advanced

in years, " that the devil has carried away bodily the great Saxon Thane,

Athelstane of Coningsburgh? "

" Ay, but he brought him back though, by the blessing of God and Saint

Dunstan. "

" How's that? " said a brisk young fellow, dressed in a green cassock

embroidered with gold, and having at his heels a stout lad bearing a

harp upon his back, which betrayed his vocation. The Minstrel seemed

of no vulgar rank; for, besides the splendour of his gaily braidered

doublet, he wore around his neck a silver chain, by which hung the

" wrest", or key, with which he tuned his harp. On his right arm was a

silver plate, which, instead of bearing, as usual, the cognizance or

badge of the baron to whose family he belonged, had barely the word

SHERWOOD engraved upon it. --" How mean you by that? " said the gay

Minstrel, mingling in the conversation of the peasants; " I came to seek

one subject for my rhyme, and, by'r Lady, I were glad to find two. "

" It is well avouched, " said the elder peasant, " that after Athelstane of

Coningsburgh had been dead four weeks--"

" That is impossible, " said the Minstrel; " I saw him in life at the

Passage of Arms at Ashby-de-la-Zouche. "

" Dead, however, he was, or else translated, " said the younger peasant;

" for I heard the Monks of Saint Edmund's singing the death's hymn for

him; and, moreover, there was a rich death-meal and dole at the Castle

of Coningsburgh, as right was; and thither had I gone, but for Mabel

Parkins, who--"

" Ay, dead was Athelstane, " said the old man, shaking his head, " and the

more pity it was, for the old Saxon blood--"

" But, your story, my masters--your story, " said the Minstrel, somewhat

impatiently.

" Ay, ay--construe us the story, " said a burly Friar, who stood beside

them, leaning on a pole that exhibited an appearance between a pilgrim's

staff and a quarter-staff, and probably acted as either when occasion

served, --" Your story, " said the stalwart churchman; " burn not daylight

about it--we have short time to spare. "

" An please your reverence, " said Dennet, " a drunken priest came to visit

the Sacristan at Saint Edmund's---"

" It does not please my reverence, " answered the churchman, " that there

should be such an animal as a drunken priest, or, if there were, that

a layman should so speak him. Be mannerly, my friend, and conclude the

holy man only wrapt in meditation, which makes the head dizzy and foot

unsteady, as if the stomach were filled with new wine--I have felt it

myself. "

" Well, then, " answered Father Dennet, " a holy brother came to visit the

Sacristan at Saint Edmund's--a sort of hedge-priest is the visitor,

and kills half the deer that are stolen in the forest, who loves the

tinkling of a pint-pot better than the sacring-bell, and deems a flitch

of bacon worth ten of his breviary; for the rest, a good fellow and

a merry, who will flourish a quarter-staff, draw a bow, and dance a

Cheshire round, with e'er a man in Yorkshire. "

" That last part of thy speech, Dennet, " said the Minstrel, " has saved

thee a rib or twain. "

" Tush, man, I fear him not, " said Dennet; " I am somewhat old and stiff,

but when I fought for the bell and ram at Doncaster--"

" But the story--the story, my friend, " again said the Minstrel.

" Why, the tale is but this--Athelstane of Coningsburgh was buried at

Saint Edmund's. "

" That's a lie, and a loud one, " said the Friar, " for I saw him borne to

his own Castle of Coningsburgh. "

" Nay, then, e'en tell the story yourself, my masters, " said Dennet,

turning sulky at these repeated contradictions; and it was with some

difficulty that the boor could be prevailed on, by the request of

his comrade and the Minstrel, to renew his tale. --" These two 'sober'

friars, " said he at length, " since this reverend man will needs have

them such, had continued drinking good ale, and wine, and what not,

for the best part for a summer's day, when they were aroused by a

deep groan, and a clanking of chains, and the figure of the deceased

Athelstane entered the apartment, saying, 'Ye evil shep-herds! --'"

" It is false, " said the Friar, hastily, " he never spoke a word. "

" So ho! Friar Tuck, " said the Minstrel, drawing him apart from the

rustics; " we have started a new hare, I find. "

" I tell thee, Allan-a-Dale, " said the Hermit, " I saw Athelstane of

Coningsburgh as much as bodily eyes ever saw a living man. He had his

shroud on, and all about him smelt of the sepulchre--A butt of sack will

not wash it out of my memory. "

" Pshaw! " answered the Minstrel; " thou dost but jest with me! "

" Never believe me, " said the Friar, " an I fetched not a knock at him

with my quarter-staff that would have felled an ox, and it glided

through his body as it might through a pillar of smoke! "

" By Saint Hubert, " said the Minstrel, " but it is a wondrous tale, and

fit to be put in metre to the ancient tune, 'Sorrow came to the old

Friar. '"

" Laugh, if ye list, " said Friar Tuck; " but an ye catch me singing

on such a theme, may the next ghost or devil carry me off with him

headlong! No, no--I instantly formed the purpose of assisting at some

good work, such as the burning of a witch, a judicial combat, or the

like matter of godly service, and therefore am I here. "

As they thus conversed, the heavy bell of the church of Saint Michael of

Templestowe, a venerable building, situated in a hamlet at some distance

from the Preceptory, broke short their argument. One by one the sullen

sounds fell successively on the ear, leaving but sufficient space

for each to die away in distant echo, ere the air was again filled

by repetition of the iron knell. These sounds, the signal of the

approaching ceremony, chilled with awe the hearts of the assembled

multitude, whose eyes were now turned to the Preceptory, expecting the

approach of the Grand Master, the champion, and the criminal.

At length the drawbridge fell, the gates opened, and a knight, bearing

the great standard of the Order, sallied from the castle, preceded by

six trumpets, and followed by the Knights Preceptors, two and two, the

Grand Master coming last, mounted on a stately horse, whose furniture

was of the simplest kind. Behind him came Brian de Bois-Guilbert, armed

cap-a-pie in bright armour, but without his lance, shield, and sword,

which were borne by his two esquires behind him. His face, though partly

hidden by a long plume which floated down from his barrel-cap, bore

a strong and mingled expression of passion, in which pride seemed to

contend with irresolution. He looked ghastly pale, as if he had not

slept for several nights, yet reined his pawing war-horse with the

habitual ease and grace proper to the best lance of the Order of the

Temple. His general appearance was grand and commanding; but, looking at

him with attention, men read that in his dark features, from which they

willingly withdrew their eyes.

On either side rode Conrade of Mont-Fitchet, and Albert de Malvoisin,

who acted as godfathers to the champion. They were in their robes

of peace, the white dress of the Order. Behind them followed other

Companions of the Temple, with a long train of esquires and pages clad

in black, aspirants to the honour of being one day Knights of the Order.

After these neophytes came a guard of warders on foot, in the same

sable livery, amidst whose partisans might be seen the pale form of the

accused, moving with a slow but undismayed step towards the scene of her

fate. She was stript of all her ornaments, lest perchance there should

be among them some of those amulets which Satan was supposed to bestow

upon his victims, to deprive them of the power of confession even when

under the torture. A coarse white dress, of the simplest form, had been

substituted for her Oriental garments; yet there was such an exquisite

mixture of courage and resignation in her look, that even in this garb,

and with no other ornament than her long black tresses, each eye wept

that looked upon her, and the most hardened bigot regretted the fate

that had converted a creature so goodly into a vessel of wrath, and a

waged slave of the devil.

A crowd of inferior personages belonging to the Preceptory followed the

victim, all moving with the utmost order, with arms folded, and looks

bent upon the ground.

This slow procession moved up the gentle eminence, on the summit of

which was the tiltyard, and, entering the lists, marched once around

them from right to left, and when they had completed the circle, made a

halt. There was then a momentary bustle, while the Grand Master and all

his attendants, excepting the champion and his godfathers, dismounted

from their horses, which were immediately removed out of the lists by

the esquires, who were in attendance for that purpose.

The unfortunate Rebecca was conducted to the black chair placed near the

pile. On her first glance at the terrible spot where preparations were

making for a death alike dismaying to the mind and painful to the

body, she was observed to shudder and shut her eyes, praying internally

doubtless, for her lips moved though no speech was heard. In the space

of a minute she opened her eyes, looked fixedly on the pile as if to

familiarize her mind with the object, and then slowly and naturally

turned away her head.

Meanwhile, the Grand Master had assumed his seat; and when the chivalry

of his order was placed around and behind him, each in his due rank,

a loud and long flourish of the trumpets announced that the Court

were seated for judgment. Malvoisin, then, acting as godfather of the

champion, stepped forward, and laid the glove of the Jewess, which was

the pledge of battle, at the feet of the Grand Master.

" Valorous Lord, and reverend Father, " said he, " here standeth the good

Knight, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, Knight Preceptor of the Order of the

Temple, who, by accepting the pledge of battle which I now lay at your

reverence's feet, hath become bound to do his devoir in combat this

day, to maintain that this Jewish maiden, by name Rebecca, hath justly

deserved the doom passed upon her in a Chapter of this most Holy Order

of the Temple of Zion, condemning her to die as a sorceress; --here, I

say, he standeth, such battle to do, knightly and honourable, if such be

your noble and sanctified pleasure. "

" Hath he made oath, " said the Grand Master, " that his quarrel is just

and honourable? Bring forward the Crucifix and the 'Te igitur'. "

" Sir, and most reverend father, " answered Malvoisin, readily, " our

brother here present hath already sworn to the truth of his accusation

in the hand of the good Knight Conrade de Mont-Fitchet; and otherwise he

ought not to be sworn, seeing that his adversary is an unbeliever, and

may take no oath. "

This explanation was satisfactory, to Albert's great joy; for the wily

knight had foreseen the great difficulty, or rather impossibility, of

prevailing upon Brian de Bois-Guilbert to take such an oath before the

assembly, and had invented this excuse to escape the necessity of his

doing so.

The Grand Master, having allowed the apology of Albert Malvoisin,

commanded the herald to stand forth and do his devoir. The trumpets

then again flourished, and a herald, stepping forward, proclaimed

aloud, --" Oyez, oyez, oyez. --Here standeth the good Knight, Sir Brian

de Bois-Guilbert, ready to do battle with any knight of free blood, who

will sustain the quarrel allowed and allotted to the Jewess Rebecca, to

try by champion, in respect of lawful essoine of her own body; and to

such champion the reverend and valorous Grand Master here present allows

a fair field, and equal partition of sun and wind, and whatever else

appertains to a fair combat. " The trumpets again sounded, and there was

a dead pause of many minutes.

" No champion appears for the appellant, " said the Grand Master. " Go,

herald, and ask her whether she expects any one to do battle for her

in this her cause. " The herald went to the chair in which Rebecca was

seated, and Bois-Guilbert suddenly turning his horse's head toward that

end of the lists, in spite of hints on either side from Malvoisin and

Mont-Fitchet, was by the side of Rebecca's chair as soon as the herald.

" Is this regular, and according to the law of combat? " said Malvoisin,

looking to the Grand Master.

" Albert de Malvoisin, it is, " answered Beaumanoir; " for in this appeal

to the judgment of God, we may not prohibit parties from having that

communication with each other, which may best tend to bring forth the

truth of the quarrel. "

In the meantime, the herald spoke to Rebecca in these terms: --" Damsel,

the Honourable and Reverend the Grand Master demands of thee, if thou

art prepared with a champion to do battle this day in thy behalf, or if

thou dost yield thee as one justly condemned to a deserved doom? "

" Say to the Grand Master, " replied Rebecca, " that I maintain my

innocence, and do not yield me as justly condemned, lest I become guilty

of mine own blood. Say to him, that I challenge such delay as his forms

will permit, to see if God, whose opportunity is in man's extremity,

will raise me up a deliverer; and when such uttermost space is passed,

may His holy will be done! " The herald retired to carry this answer to

the Grand Master.

" God forbid, " said Lucas Beaumanoir, " that Jew or Pagan should impeach

us of injustice! --Until the shadows be cast from the west to the

eastward, will we wait to see if a champion shall appear for this

unfortunate woman. When the day is so far passed, let her prepare for

death. "

The herald communicated the words of the Grand Master to Rebecca, who

bowed her head submissively, folded her arms, and, looking up towards

heaven, seemed to expect that aid from above which she could scarce

promise herself from man. During this awful pause, the voice of

Bois-Guilbert broke upon her ear--it was but a whisper, yet it startled

her more than the summons of the herald had appeared to do.

" Rebecca, " said the Templar, " dost thou hear me? "

" I have no portion in thee, cruel, hard-hearted man, " said the

unfortunate maiden.

" Ay, but dost thou understand my words? " said the Templar; " for the

sound of my voice is frightful in mine own ears. I scarce know on what

ground we stand, or for what purpose they have brought us hither. --This

listed space--that chair--these faggots--I know their purpose, and yet

it appears to me like something unreal--the fearful picture of a vision,

which appals my sense with hideous fantasies, but convinces not my

reason. "

" My mind and senses keep touch and time, " answered Rebecca, " and tell

me alike that these faggots are destined to consume my earthly body, and

open a painful but a brief passage to a better world. "

" Dreams, Rebecca, --dreams, " answered the Templar; " idle visions,

rejected by the wisdom of your own wiser Sadducees. Hear me, Rebecca, "

he said, proceeding with animation; " a better chance hast thou for life

and liberty than yonder knaves and dotard dream of. Mount thee behind me

on my steed--on Zamor, the gallant horse that never failed his rider.

I won him in single fight from the Soldan of Trebizond--mount, I say,

behind me--in one short hour is pursuit and enquiry far behind--a new

world of pleasure opens to thee--to me a new career of fame. Let them

speak the doom which I despise, and erase the name of Bois-Guilbert from

their list of monastic slaves! I will wash out with blood whatever blot

they may dare to cast on my scutcheon. "

" Tempter, " said Rebecca, " begone! --Not in this last extremity canst thou

move me one hair's-breadth from my resting place--surrounded as I am by

foes, I hold thee as my worst and most deadly enemy--avoid thee, in the

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