"Why, truly, madam," replied Sussex, "as I said before, I wish the
gamesome mad fellow no injury. Some of his whoreson poetry (I crave your
Grace's pardon for such a phrase) has rung in mine ears as if the lines
sounded to boot and saddle. But then it is all froth and folly - no
substance or seriousness in it, as your Grace has already well touched.
What are half a dozen knaves, with rusty foils and tattered targets,
making but a mere mockery of a stout fight, to compare to the royal game
of bear-baiting, which hath been graced by your Highness's countenance,
and that of your royal predecessors, in this your princely kingdom,
famous for matchless mastiffs and bold bearwards over all Christendom?
Greatly is it to be doubted that the race of both will decay, if
men should throng to hear the lungs of an idle player belch forth
nonsensical bombast, instead of bestowing their pence in encouraging the
bravest image of war that can be shown in peace, and that is the sports
of the Bear-garden. There you may see the bear lying at guard, with his
red, pinky eyes watching the onset of the mastiff, like a wily captain
who maintains his defence that an assailant may be tempted to venture
within his danger. And then comes Sir Mastiff, like a worthy champion,
in full career at the throat of his adversary; and then shall Sir Bruin
teach him the reward for those who, in their over-courage, neglect the
policies of war, and, catching him in his arms, strain him to his breast
like a lusty wrestler, until rib after rib crack like the shot of a
pistolet. And then another mastiff; as bold, but with better aim and
sounder judgment, catches Sir Bruin by the nether lip, and hangs fast,
while he tosses about his blood and slaver, and tries in vain to shake
Sir Talbot from his hold. And then - "
"Nay, by my honour, my lord," said the Queen, laughing, "you have
described the whole so admirably that, had we never seen a bear-baiting,
as we have beheld many, and hope, with Heaven's allowance, to see many
more, your words were sufficient to put the whole Bear-garden before our
eyes. - But come, who speaks next in this case? - My Lord of Leicester,
what say you?"
"Am I then to consider myself as unmuzzled, please your Grace?" replied
Leicester.
"Surely, my lord - that is, if you feel hearty enough to take part in our
game," answered Elizabeth; "and yet, when I think of your cognizance of
the bear and ragged staff, methinks we had better hear some less partial
orator."
"Nay, on my word, gracious Princess," said the Earl, "though my brother
Ambrose of Warwick and I do carry the ancient cognizance your Highness
deigns to remember, I nevertheless desire nothing but fair play on all
sides; or, as they say, 'fight dog, fight bear.' And in behalf of the
players, I must needs say that they are witty knaves, whose rants and
jests keep the minds of the commons from busying themselves with
state affairs, and listening to traitorous speeches, idle rumours,
and disloyal insinuations. When men are agape to see how Marlow,
Shakespeare, and other play artificers work out their fanciful plots, as
they call them, the mind of the spectators is withdrawn from the conduct
of their rulers."
"We would not have the mind of our subjects withdrawn from the
consideration of our own conduct, my lord," answered Elizabeth; "because
the more closely it is examined, the true motives by which we are guided
will appear the more manifest."
"I have heard, however, madam," said the Dean of St. Asaph's, an eminent
Puritan, "that these players are wont, in their plays, not only to
introduce profane and lewd expressions, tending to foster sin and
harlotry; but even to bellow out such reflections on government, its
origin and its object, as tend to render the subject discontented, and
shake the solid foundations of civil society. And it seems to be,
under your Grace's favour, far less than safe to permit these naughty
foul-mouthed knaves to ridicule the godly for their decent gravity,
and, in blaspheming heaven and slandering its earthly rulers, to set at
defiance the laws both of God and man."
"If we could think this were true, my lord," said Elizabeth, "we should
give sharp correction for such offences. But it is ill arguing against
the use of anything from its abuse. And touching this Shakespeare, we
think there is that in his plays that is worth twenty Bear-gardens;
and that this new undertaking of his Chronicles, as he calls them, may
entertain, with honest mirth, mingled with useful instruction, not only
our subjects, but even the generation which may succeed to us."
"Your Majesty's reign will need no such feeble aid to make it remembered
to the latest posterity," said Leicester. "And yet, in his way,
Shakespeare hath so touched some incidents of your Majesty's happy
government as may countervail what has been spoken by his reverence
the Dean of St. Asaph's. There are some lines, for example - I would
my nephew, Philip Sidney, were here; they are scarce ever out of his
mouth - they are spoken in a mad tale of fairies, love-charms, and I wot
not what besides; but beautiful they are, however short they may and
must fall of the subject to which they bear a bold relation - and Philip
murmurs them, I think, even in his dreams."
"You tantalize us, my lord," said the Queen - "Master Philip Sidney is,
we know, a minion of the Muses, and we are pleased it should be so.
Valour never shines to more advantage than when united with the true
taste and love of letters. But surely there are some others among our
young courtiers who can recollect what your lordship has forgotten amid
weightier affairs. - Master Tressilian, you are described to me as a
worshipper of Minerva - remember you aught of these lines?"
Tressilian's heart was too heavy, his prospects in life too fatally
blighted, to profit by the opportunity which the Queen thus offered
to him of attracting her attention; but he determined to transfer the
advantage to his more ambitious young friend, and excusing himself
on the score of want of recollection, he added that he believed the
beautiful verses of which my Lord of Leicester had spoken were in the
remembrance of Master Walter Raleigh.
At the command of the Queen, that cavalier repeated, with accent and
manner which even added to their exquisite delicacy of tact and beauty
of description, the celebrated vision of Oberon: -
"That very time I saw (but thou couldst not),
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid, allarm'd: a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal, throned by the west;
And loos'd his love-shaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts:
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon;
And the imperial vot'ress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy free."
The voice of Raleigh, as he repeated the last lines, became a little
tremulous, as if diffident how the Sovereign to whom the homage was
addressed might receive it, exquisite as it was. If this diffidence was
affected, it was good policy; but if real, there was little occasion
for it. The verses were not probably new to the Queen, for when was ever
such elegant flattery long in reaching the royal ear to which it was
addressed? But they were not the less welcome when repeated by such a
speaker as Raleigh. Alike delighted with the matter, the manner, and
the graceful form and animated countenance of the gallant young reciter,
Elizabeth kept time to every cadence with look and with finger. When
the speaker had ceased, she murmured over the last lines as if scarce
conscious that she was overheard, and as she uttered the words,
"In maiden meditation, fancy free," she dropped into the Thames the
supplication of Orson Pinnit, keeper of the royal bears, to find more
favourable acceptance at Sheerness, or wherever the tide might waft it.
Leicester was spurred to emulation by the success of the young
courtier's exhibition, as the veteran racer is roused when a
high-mettled colt passes him on the way. He turned the discourse on
shows, banquets, pageants, and on the character of those by whom these
gay scenes were then frequented. He mixed acute observation with light
satire, in that just proportion which was free alike from malignant
slander and insipid praise. He mimicked with ready accent the manners of
the affected or the clownish, and made his own graceful tone and manner
seem doubly such when he resumed it. Foreign countries - their customs,
their manners, the rules of their courts - -the fashions, and even the
dress of their ladies-were equally his theme; and seldom did he conclude
without conveying some compliment, always couched in delicacy, and
expressed with propriety, to the Virgin Queen, her court, and her
government. Thus passed the conversation during this pleasure voyage,
seconded by the rest of the attendants upon the royal person, in gay
discourse, varied by remarks upon ancient classics and modern authors,
and enriched by maxims of deep policy and sound morality, by the
statesmen and sages who sat around and mixed wisdom with the lighter
talk of a female court.
When they returned to the Palace, Elizabeth accepted, or rather
selected, the arm of Leicester to support her from the stairs where they
landed to the great gate. It even seemed to him (though that might arise
from the flattery of his own imagination) that during this short
passage she leaned on him somewhat more than the slippiness of the
way necessarily demanded. Certainly her actions and words combined to
express a degree of favour which, even in his proudest day he had not
till then attained. His rival, indeed, was repeatedly graced by the
Queen's notice; but it was in manner that seemed to flow less from
spontaneous inclination than as extorted by a sense of his merit. And in
the opinion of many experienced courtiers, all the favour she showed
him was overbalanced by her whispering in the ear of the Lady Derby that
"now she saw sickness was a better alchemist than she before wotted
of, seeing it had changed my Lord of Sussex's copper nose into a golden
one."
The jest transpired, and the Earl of Leicester enjoyed his triumph,
as one to whom court-favour had been both the primary and the ultimate
motive of life, while he forgot, in the intoxication of the moment, the
perplexities and dangers of his own situation. Indeed, strange as it may
appear, he thought less at that moment of the perils arising from his
secret union, than of the marks of grace which Elizabeth from time to
time showed to young Raleigh. They were indeed transient, but they were
conferred on one accomplished in mind and body, with grace, gallantry,
literature, and valour. An accident occurred in the course of the
evening which riveted Leicester's attention to this object.
The nobles and courtiers who had attended the Queen on her pleasure
expedition were invited, with royal hospitality, to a splendid banquet
in the hall of the Palace. The table was not, indeed, graced by the
presence of the Sovereign; for, agreeable to her idea of what was at
once modest and dignified, the Maiden Queen on such occasions was wont
to take in private, or with one or two favourite ladies, her light and
temperate meal. After a moderate interval, the court again met in the
splendid gardens of the Palace; and it was while thus engaged that
the Queen suddenly asked a lady, who was near to her both in place and
favour, what had become of the young Squire Lack-Cloak.
The Lady Paget answered, "She had seen Master Raleigh but two or
three minutes since standing at the window of a small pavilion or
pleasure-house, which looked out on the Thames, and writing on the glass
with a diamond ring."
"That ring," said the Queen, "was a small token I gave him to make
amends for his spoiled mantle. Come, Paget, let us see what use he has
made of it, for I can see through him already. He is a marvellously
sharp-witted spirit." They went to the spot, within sight of which,
but at some distance, the young cavalier still lingered, as the fowler
watches the net which he has set. The Queen approached the window, on
which Raleigh had used her gift to inscribe the following line: -
"Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall."
The Queen smiled, read it twice over, once with deliberation to Lady
Paget, and once again to herself. "It is a pretty beginning," she said,
after the consideration of a moment or two; "but methinks the muse
hath deserted the young wit at the very outset of his task. It were
good-natured - were it not, Lady Paget? - to complete it for him. Try your
rhyming faculties."
Lady Paget, prosaic from her cradle upwards as ever any lady of the
bedchamber before or after her, disclaimed all possibility of assisting
the young poet.
"Nay, then, we must sacrifice to the Muses ourselves," said Elizabeth.
"The incense of no one can be more acceptable," said Lady Paget; "and
your Highness will impose such obligation on the ladies of Parnassus - "
"Hush, Paget," said the Queen, "you speak sacrilege against the immortal
Nine - yet, virgins themselves, they should be exorable to a Virgin
Queen - and therefore - let me see how runs his verse -
'Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall.'
Might not the answer (for fault of a better) run thus? -
'If thy mind fail thee, do not climb at all.'"
The dame of honour uttered an exclamation of joy and surprise at so
happy a termination; and certainly a worse has been applauded, even when
coming from a less distinguished author.
The Queen, thus encouraged, took off a diamond ring, and saying, "We
will give this gallant some cause of marvel when he finds his couplet
perfected without his own interference," she wrote her own line beneath
that of Raleigh.
The Queen left the pavilion; but retiring slowly, and often looking
back, she could see the young cavalier steal, with the flight of a
lapwing, towards the place where he had seen her make a pause. "She
stayed but to observe," as she said, "that her train had taken;" and
then, laughing at the circumstance with the Lady Paget, she took the way
slowly towards the Palace. Elizabeth, as they returned, cautioned her
companion not to mention to any one the aid which she had given to the
young poet, and Lady Paget promised scrupulous secrecy. It is to be
supposed that she made a mental reservation in favour of Leicester,
to whom her ladyship transmitted without delay an anecdote so little
calculated to give him pleasure.
Raleigh, in the meanwhile, stole back to the window, and read, with a
feeling of intoxication, the encouragement thus given him by the Queen
in person to follow out his ambitious career, and returned to Sussex
and his retinue, then on the point of embarking to go up the river,
his heart beating high with gratified pride, and with hope of future
distinction.
The reverence due to the person of the Earl prevented any notice being
taken of the reception he had met with at court, until they had landed,
and the household were assembled in the great hall at Sayes Court; while
that lord, exhausted by his late illness and the fatigues of the day,
had retired to his chamber, demanding the attendance of Wayland, his
successful physician. Wayland, however, was nowhere to be found; and
while some of the party were, with military impatience, seeking him and
cursing his absence, the rest flocked around Raleigh to congratulate him
on his prospects of court-favour.
He had the good taste and judgment to conceal the decisive circumstance
of the couplet to which Elizabeth had deigned to find a rhyme; but other
indications had transpired, which plainly intimated that he had made
some progress in the Queen's favour. All hastened to wish him joy on the
mended appearance of his fortune - some from real regard, some, perhaps,
from hopes that his preferment might hasten their own, and most from a
mixture of these motives, and a sense that the countenance shown to any
one of Sussex's household was, in fact, a triumph to the whole. Raleigh
returned the kindest thanks to them all, disowning, with becoming
modesty, that one day's fair reception made a favourite, any more than
one swallow a summer. But he observed that Blount did not join in the
general congratulation, and, somewhat hurt at his apparent unkindness,
he plainly asked him the reason.
Blount replied with equal sincerity - "My good Walter, I wish thee as
well as do any of these chattering gulls, who are whistling and whooping
gratulations in thine ear because it seems fair weather with thee. But I
fear for thee, Walter" (and he wiped his honest eye), "I fear for thee
with all my heart. These court-tricks, and gambols, and flashes of fine
women's favour are the tricks and trinkets that bring fair fortunes to
farthings, and fine faces and witty coxcombs to the acquaintance of dull
block and sharp axes."
So saying, Blount arose and left the hall, while Raleigh looked after
him with an expression that blanked for a moment his bold and animated
countenance.
Stanley just then entered the hall, and said to Tressilian, "My lord is
calling for your fellow Wayland, and your fellow Wayland is just come
hither in a sculler, and is calling for you, nor will he go to my lord
till he sees you. The fellow looks as he were mazed, methinks; I would
you would see him immediately."
Tressilian instantly left the hall, and causing Wayland Smith to be
shown into a withdrawing apartment, and lights placed, he conducted the
artist thither, and was surprised when he observed the emotion of his
countenance.
"What is the matter with you, Smith?" said Tressilian; "have you seen
the devil?"
"Worse, sir, worse," replied Wayland; "I have seen a basilisk. Thank
God, I saw him first; for being so seen, and seeing not me, he will do
the less harm."
"In God's name, speak sense," said Tressilian, "and say what you mean."
"I have seen my old master," said the artist. "Last night a friend whom
I had acquired took me to see the Palace clock, judging me to be curious
in such works of art. At the window of a turret next to the clock-house
I saw my old master."
"Thou must needs have been mistaken," said Tressilian.
"I was not mistaken," said Wayland; "he that once hath his features by
heart would know him amongst a million. He was anticly habited; but he
cannot disguise himself from me, God be praised! as I can from him.
I will not, however, tempt Providence by remaining within his ken.
Tarleton the player himself could not so disguise himself but that,
sooner or later, Doboobie would find him out. I must away to-morrow;
for, as we stand together, it were death to me to remain within reach of
him."
"But the Earl of Sussex?" said Tressilian.
"He is in little danger from what he has hitherto taken, provided
he swallow the matter of a bean's size of the orvietan every morning
fasting; but let him beware of a relapse."
"And how is that to be guarded against?" said Tressilian.
"Only by such caution as you would use against the devil," answered
Wayland. "Let my lord's clerk of the kitchen kill his lord's meat
himself, and dress it himself, using no spice but what he procures from
the surest hands. Let the sewer serve it up himself, and let the master
of my lord's household see that both clerk and sewer taste the dishes
which the one dresses and the other serves. Let my lord use no perfumes
which come not from well accredited persons; no unguents - no pomades.
Let him, on no account, drink with strangers, or eat fruit with them,
either in the way of nooning or otherwise. Especially, let him observe
such caution if he goes to Kenilworth - the excuse of his illness, and
his being under diet, will, and must, cover the strangeness of such
practice."
"And thou," said Tressilian, "what dost thou think to make of thyself?"
"France, Spain, either India, East or West, shall be my refuge," said
Wayland, "ere I venture my life by residing within ken of Doboobie,
Demetrius, or whatever else he calls himself for the time."
"Well," said Tressilian, "this happens not inopportunely. I had business
for you in Berkshire, but in the opposite extremity to the place where
thou art known; and ere thou hadst found out this new reason for living
private, I had settled to send thee thither upon a secret embassage."
The artist expressed himself willing to receive his commands, and
Tressilian, knowing he was well acquainted with the outline of his
business at court, frankly explained to him the whole, mentioned the
agreement which subsisted betwixt Giles Gosling and him, and told
what had that day been averred in the presence-chamber by Varney, and
supported by Leicester.
"Thou seest," he added, "that, in the circumstances in which I am
placed, it behoves me to keep a narrow watch on the motions of these
unprincipled men, Varney and his complices, Foster and Lambourne, as
well as on those of my Lord Leicester himself, who, I suspect, is partly
a deceiver, and not altogether the deceived in that matter. Here is my
ring, as a pledge to Giles Gosling. Here is besides gold, which shall be
trebled if thou serve me faithfully. Away down to Cumnor, and see what
happens there."
"I go with double good-will," said the artist, "first, because I serve
your honour, who has been so kind to me; and then, that I may escape my
old master, who, if not an absolute incarnation of the devil, has, at
least, as much of the demon about him, in will, word, and action; as
ever polluted humanity. And yet let him take care of me. I fly him now,
as heretofore; but if, like the Scottish wild cattle, I am vexed by
frequent pursuit, I may turn on him in hate and desperation. [A remnant
of the wild cattle of Scotland are preserved at Chillingham Castle, near
Wooler, in Northumberland, the seat of Lord Tankerville. They fly before
strangers; but if disturbed and followed, they turn with fury on those
who persist in annoying them.] Will your honour command my nag to be
saddled? I will but give the medicine to my lord, divided in its proper
proportions, with a few instructions. His safety will then depend on the
care of his friends and domestics; for the past he is guarded, but let
him beware of the future."
Wayland Smith accordingly made his farewell visit to the Earl of Sussex,
dictated instructions as to his regimen, and precautions concerning his
diet, and left Sayes Court without waiting for morning.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The moment comes -
It is already come - when thou must write
The absolute total of thy life's vast sum.
The constellations stand victorious o'er thee,
The planets shoot good fortune in fair junctions,
And tell thee, "Now's the time."
- SCHILLER'S WALLENSTEIN, BY COLERIDGE.
When Leicester returned to his lodging, alter a day so important and so
harassing, in which, after riding out more than one gale, and touching
on more than one shoal, his bark had finally gained the harbour with
banner displayed, he seemed to experience as much fatigue as a mariner
after a perilous storm. He spoke not a word while his chamberlain
exchanged his rich court-mantle for a furred night-robe, and when this
officer signified that Master Varney desired to speak with his lordship,
he replied only by a sullen nod. Varney, however, entered, accepting
this signal as a permission, and the chamberlain withdrew.
The Earl remained silent and almost motionless in his chair, his head
reclined on his hand, and his elbow resting upon the table which stood
beside him, without seeming to be conscious of the entrance or of the
presence of his confidant. Varney waited for some minutes until he
should speak, desirous to know what was the finally predominant mood of
a mind through which so many powerful emotions had that day taken their
course. But he waited in vain, for Leicester continued still silent,
and the confidant saw himself under the necessity of being the first
to speak. "May I congratulate your lordship," he said, "on the deserved
superiority you have this day attained over your most formidable rival?"
Leicester raised his head, and answered sadly, but without anger, "Thou,
Varney, whose ready invention has involved me in a web of most mean
and perilous falsehood, knowest best what small reason there is for
gratulation on the subject."
"Do you blame me, my lord," said Varney, "for not betraying, on the
first push, the secret on which your fortunes depended, and which
you have so oft and so earnestly recommended to my safe keeping? Your
lordship was present in person, and might have contradicted me and
ruined yourself by an avowal of the truth; but surely it was no part of
a faithful servant to have done so without your commands."
"I cannot deny it, Varney," said the Earl, rising and walking across the
room; "my own ambition has been traitor to my love."
"Say rather, my lord, that your love has been traitor to your greatness,
and barred you from such a prospect of honour and power as the world
cannot offer to any other. To make my honoured lady a countess, you have
missed the chance of being yourself - "
He paused, and seemed unwilling to complete the sentence.
"Of being myself what?" demanded Leicester; "speak out thy meaning,
Varney."
"Of being yourself a KING, my lord," replied Varney; "and King of
England to boot! It is no treason to our Queen to say so. It would have
chanced by her obtaining that which all true subjects wish her - a lusty,
noble, and gallant husband."
"Thou ravest, Varney," answered Leicester. "Besides, our times have
seen enough to make men loathe the Crown Matrimonial which men take from
their wives' lap. There was Darnley of Scotland."
"He!" said Varney; "a, gull, a fool, a thrice-sodden ass, who suffered
himself to be fired off into the air like a rocket on a rejoicing day.
Had Mary had the hap to have wedded the noble Earl ONCE destined to
share her throne, she had experienced a husband of different metal; and
her husband had found in her a wife as complying and loving as the mate
of the meanest squire who follows the hounds a-horseback, and holds her
husband's bridle as he mounts."
"It might have been as thou sayest, Varney," said Leicester, a brief
smile of self-satisfaction passing over his anxious countenance. "Henry
Darnley knew little of women - with Mary, a man who knew her sex might
have had some chance of holding his own. But not with Elizabeth, Varney
for I thank God, when he gave her the heart of a woman, gave her the
head of a man to control its follies. No, I know her. She will accept
love-tokens, ay, and requite them with the like - put sugared sonnets
in her bosom, ay, and answer them too - push gallantry to the very verge
where it becomes exchange of affection; but she writes NIL ULTRA to all
which is to follow, and would not barter one iota of her own supreme
power for all the alphabet of both Cupid and Hymen."
"The better for you, my lord," said Varney - "that is, in the case
supposed, if such be her disposition; since you think you cannot aspire
to become her husband. Her favourite you are, and may remain, if the
lady at Cumnor place continues in her present obscurity."
"Poor Amy!" said Leicester, with a deep sigh; "she desires so earnestly
to be acknowledged in presence of God and man!"
"Ay, but, my lord," said Varney, "is her desire reasonable? That is
the question. Her religious scruples are solved; she is an honoured and
beloved wife, enjoying the society of her husband at such times as his
weightier duties permit him to afford her his company. What would she
more? I am right sure that a lady so gentle and so loving would consent
to live her life through in a certain obscurity - which is, after all,
not dimmer than when she was at Lidcote Hall - rather than diminish the
least jot of her lord's honours and greatness by a premature attempt to
share them."
"There is something in what thou sayest," said Leicester, "and her
appearance here were fatal. Yet she must be seen at Kenilworth;
Elizabeth will not forget that she has so appointed."
"Let me sleep on that hard point," said Varney; "I cannot else perfect
the device I have on the stithy, which I trust will satisfy the Queen
and please my honoured lady, yet leave this fatal secret where it is now
buried. Has your lordship further commands for the night?"
"I would be alone," said Leicester. "Leave me, and place my steel casket
on the table. Be within summons."
Varney retired, and the Earl, opening the window of his apartment,
looked out long and anxiously upon the brilliant host of stars which
glimmered in the splendour of a summer firmament. The words burst from
him as at unawares, "I had never more need that the heavenly bodies
should befriend me, for my earthly path is darkened and confused."
It is well known that the age reposed a deep confidence in the vain
predictions of judicial astrology, and Leicester, though exempt from the
general control of superstition, was not in this respect superior to his
time, but, on the contrary, was remarkable for the encouragement which
he gave to the professors of this pretended science. Indeed, the wish to
pry into futurity, so general among the human race, is peculiarly to
be found amongst those who trade in state mysteries and the dangerous
intrigues and cabals of courts. With heedful precaution to see that it
had not been opened, or its locks tampered with, Leicester applied a key
to the steel casket, and drew from it, first, a parcel of gold pieces,
which he put into a silk purse; then a parchment inscribed with
planetary signs, and the lines and calculations used in framing
horoscopes, on which he gazed intently for a few moments; and, lastly,
took forth a large key, which, lifting aside the tapestry, he applied to
a little, concealed door in the corner of the apartment, and opening it,
disclosed a stair constructed in the thickness of the wall.
"Alasco," said the Earl, with a voice raised, yet no higher raised than
to be heard by the inhabitant of the small turret to which the stair
conducted - "Alasco, I say, descend."
"I come, my lord," answered a voice from above. The foot of an aged man
was heard slowly descending the narrow stair, and Alasco entered the
Earl's apartment. The astrologer was a little man, and seemed much
advanced in age, for his heard was long and white, and reached over
his black doublet down to his silken girdle. His hair was of the same
venerable hue. But his eyebrows were as dark as the keen and piercing
black eyes which they shaded, and this peculiarity gave a wild and
singular cast to the physiognomy of the old man. His cheek was still
fresh and ruddy, and the eyes we have mentioned resembled those of a
rat in acuteness and even fierceness of expression. His manner was not
without a sort of dignity; and the interpreter of the stars, though
respectful, seemed altogether at his ease, and even assumed a tone
of instruction and command in conversing with the prime favourite of
Elizabeth.
"Your prognostications have failed, Alasco," said the Earl, when they
had exchanged salutations - "he is recovering."
"My son," replied the astrologer, "let me remind you I warranted not
his death; nor is there any prognostication that can be derived from
the heavenly bodies, their aspects and their conjunctions, which is not
liable to be controlled by the will of Heaven. ASTRA REGUNT HOMINES, SED
REGIT ASTRA DEUS."
"Of what avail, then, is your mystery?" inquired the Earl.
"Of much, my son," replied the old man, "since it can show the
natural and probable course of events, although that course moves in
subordination to an Higher Power. Thus, in reviewing the horoscope which
your Lordship subjected to my skill, you will observe that Saturn, being
in the sixth House in opposition to Mars, retrograde in the House of
Life, cannot but denote long and dangerous sickness, the issue whereof
is in the will of Heaven, though death may probably be inferred. Yet if
I knew the name of the party I would erect another scheme."
"His name is a secret," said the Earl; "yet, I must own, thy
prognostication hath not been unfaithful. He has been sick, and
dangerously so, not, however, to death. But hast thou again cast my
horoscope as Varney directed thee, and art thou prepared to say what the
stars tell of my present fortune?"
"My art stands at your command," said the old man; "and here, my son, is
the map of thy fortunes, brilliant in aspect as ever beamed from those
blessed signs whereby our life is influenced, yet not unchequered with
fears, difficulties, and dangers."
"My lot were more than mortal were it otherwise," said the Earl.
"Proceed, father, and believe you speak with one ready to undergo his
destiny in action and in passion as may beseem a noble of England."
"Thy courage to do and to suffer must be wound up yet a strain higher,"
said the old man. "The stars intimate yet a prouder title, yet an higher
rank. It is for thee to guess their meaning, not for me to name it."
"Name it, I conjure you - name it, I command you!" said the Earl, his
eyes brightening as he spoke.
"I may not, and I will not," replied the old man. "The ire of princes Is
as the wrath of the lion. But mark, and judge for thyself. Here Venus,
ascendant in the House of Life, and conjoined with Sol, showers down
that flood of silver light, blent with gold, which promises power,
wealth, dignity, all that the proud heart of man desires, and in such
abundance that never the future Augustus of that old and mighty Rome
heard from his HARUSPICES such a tale of glory, as from this rich text
my lore might read to my favourite son."
"Thou dost but jest with me, father," said the Earl, astonished at the
strain of enthusiasm in which the astrologer delivered his prediction.
"Is it for him to jest who hath his eye on heaven, who hath his foot in
the grave?" returned the old man solemnly.
The Earl made two or three strides through the apartment, with his hand
outstretched, as one who follows the beckoning signal of some phantom,
waving him on to deeds of high import. As he turned, however, he caught
the eye of the astrologer fixed on him, while an observing glance of
the most shrewd penetration shot from under the penthouse of his shaggy,
dark eyebrows. Leicester's haughty and suspicious soul at once caught
fire. He darted towards the old man from the farther end of the lofty
apartment, only standing still when his extended hand was within a foot
of the astrologer's body.
"Wretch!" he said, "if you dare to palter with me, I will have your skin
stripped from your living flesh! Confess thou hast been hired to deceive
and to betray me - that thou art a cheat, and I thy silly prey and
booty!"
The old man exhibited some symptoms of emotion, but not more than the
furious deportment of his patron might have extorted from innocence
itself.
"What means this violence, my lord?" he answered, "or in what can I have
deserved it at your hand?"
"Give me proof," said the Earl vehemently, "that you have not tampered
with mine enemies."
"My lord," replied the old man, with dignity, "you can have no better
proof than that which you yourself elected. In that turret I have spent
the last twenty-four hours under the key which has been in your own
custody. The hours of darkness I have spent in gazing on the heavenly
bodies with these dim eyes, and during those of light I have toiled this
aged brain to complete the calculation arising from their combinations.
Earthly food I have not tasted - earthly voice I have not heard. You are
yourself aware I had no means of doing so; and yet I tell you - I
who have been thus shut up in solitude and study - that within these
twenty-four hours your star has become predominant in the horizon, and
either the bright book of heaven speaks false, or there must have been
a proportionate revolution in your fortunes upon earth. If nothing has
happened within that space to secure your power, or advance your favour,
then am I indeed a cheat, and the divine art, which was first devised in
the plains of Chaldea, is a foul imposture."
"It is true," said Leicester, after a moment's reflection, "thou wert
closely immured; and it is also true that the change has taken place in
my situation which thou sayest the horoscope indicates."
"Wherefore this distrust then, my son?" said the astrologer, assuming a
tone of admonition; "the celestial intelligences brook not diffidence,
even in their favourites."
"Peace, father," answered Leicester, "I have erred in doubting thee.
Not to mortal man, nor to celestial intelligence - under that which is
supreme - will Dudley's lips say more in condescension or apology. Speak
rather to the present purpose. Amid these bright promises thou hast said
there was a threatening aspect. Can thy skill tell whence, or by whose
means, such danger seems to impend?"
"Thus far only," answered the astrologer, "does my art enable me to
answer your query. The infortune is threatened by the malignant and
adverse aspect, through means of a youth, and, as I think, a rival; but
whether in love or in prince's favour, I know not nor can I give further
indication respecting him, save that he comes from the western quarter."
"The western - ha!" replied Leicester, "it is enough - the tempest
does indeed brew in that quarter! Cornwall and Devon - Raleigh and
Tressilian - one of them is indicated-I must beware of both. Father, if I
have done thy skill injustice, I will make thee a lordly recompense."
He took a purse of gold from the strong casket which stood before him.
"Have thou double the recompense which Varney promised. Be faithful - be
secret - obey the directions thou shalt receive from my master of the
horse, and grudge not a little seclusion or restraint in my cause - it
shall be richly considered. - Here, Varney - conduct this venerable man
to thine own lodging; tend him heedfully in all things, but see that he
holds communication with no one."
Varney bowed, and the astrologer kissed the Earl's hand in token of
adieu, and followed the master of the horse to another apartment, in
which were placed wine and refreshments for his use.
The astrologer sat down to his repast, while Varney shut two doors with
great precaution, examined the tapestry, lest any listener lurked behind
it, and then sitting down opposite to the sage, began to question him.
"Saw you my signal from the court beneath?"
"I did," said Alasco, for by such name he was at present called, "and
shaped the horoscope accordingly."
"And it passed upon the patron without challenge?" continued Varney.
"Not without challenge," replied the old man, "but it did pass; and I
added, as before agreed, danger from a discovered secret, and a western
youth."
"My lord's fear will stand sponsor to the one, and his conscience to the
other, of these prognostications," replied Varney. "Sure never man chose
to run such a race as his, yet continued to retain those silly scruples!
I am fain to cheat him to his own profit. But touching your matters,
sage interpreter of the stars, I can tell you more of your own fortune
than plan or figure can show. You must be gone from hence forthwith."
"I will not," said Alasco peevishly. "I have been too much hurried
up and down of late - immured for day and night in a desolate