The Knight Of The Golden Melice, John Turvill Adams [the reading list TXT] 📗

He Mentioned The Contents Of The Letters From

England, But Did Not Exhibit Them, Concealing Nothing Except What

Appertained To The Examination Of The Lady Geraldine, All Inquiries

Respecting Which He Either Evaded Or Directly Refused To Answer.

Courteously, Indeed, Was It Done; Nor Could Sir Christopher Deny That

The Information Was Rightfully Withheld. It Was Only In Accordance

With The Usual Proceedings Of Courts Of Justice, When Those Who Are

Considered Accomplices Are Examined Apart From One Another, In Order

That They May Not, By A Knowledge Of Each Other's Answers, Be Better

Able To Frame Their Own.

 

 

To Every Accusation Sir Christopher Opposed A Steady Denial. "That

Falsely Suspected As I Am," He Said, "Of Other Crimes And

Misdemeanors, I Should Also Be Deemed An Usurper Of A Title That Does

Not Belong To Me, Surprises Me Not. But Grant Me Time To Send Home (As

The English In The Colonies Affectionately Call England To This Day,)

And I Will Prove My Knighthood Honorably Won Upon A Stricken Field, By

Irrefragable Testimony. I Will Not Deny That I Have The Honor Of An

Acquaintance With Sir Ferdinando Gorges, But I Am In No Sense His

Agent, Nor In Any Wise Hold Communication With Him, Save As A Friend.

For The Note-Book Found At My Lodgings, And Deemed Conclusive Proof

That I Am A Catholic, I Aver That The Memorandum Therein Contained

Refers Not To Myself But To One Whom It Concerns Not You That I Should

Name; And It Furnishes No Evidence Against Me, Except What Arises Out

Of The Fact That I Acknowledge One Who Is Of Rome To Be My Friend."

  

 

"Whatever My Private Thoughts," Said Winthrop, "It Were Useless To

Express Them, Seeing That Thy Fate Hangs Not Entirely Upon Me. With No

Unnecessary Severity," He Continued, In A Kinder Tone Than He Had

Hitherto Adopted During The Conversation, "Will I Treat One, Whom,

Before These Unhappy Suspicions Were Raised, I Was Beginning To Love

As A Brother; And, If Thou Wilt Pledge Me Thine Honor Neither To

Attempt Escape, Nor By Word Or Deed To Practise Aught Against The

Commonwealth, Thou Shalt Have Liberty Of The Precincts Of The

Settlement Until The Council Shall Take Further Orders."

 

  

"I Accept Thine Offer," Answered Sir Christopher, "And Plight Thee My

Knightly Troth To Observe The Conditions. And In This, My Adversity,

It Is A Consolation To Know That The Noblest Spirit Who Is To Sit In

Judgment On Me, Believes Me Not Wholly Lost To The Duties And

Sensibilities Of A Gentleman."

 

 

 The Governor, Without Reply, Summoned Lieutenant Venn, Who Was In

Waiting; And, After Communicating To Him The Conclusion To Which He

Had Come, Requested Him To Escort The Knight To His Lodging.

  

 

A Few Days Passed, During Which Sir Christopher Was Seemingly In The

Full Enjoyment Of Freedom, Though Closely Watched. He Attempted To

Speak With The Lady Geraldine, But Was Refused Permission; And Upon

Her Being Told Of His Desire, She Sent Him Word That She Had No Wish

To See Him. No Objection, However, Was Interposed To His Intercourse

With Arundel, Who, With His Lovely Mistress, Did All In Their Power To

Console The Knight And The Unhappy Lady In Their Misfortunes. The

Relation Which The Latter Stood To The Colony Affected Not The Young

People, Except To Excite Their Sympathies For Those Whom They

Considered Unjustly Suspected And Prosecuted.

 

  

It Might Be Supposed That In These Circumstances Sir Christopher Would

Betray Some Anxiety Or Gloom. Far From It. The Command Over His

Emotions Which Nature And Discipline Had Given Him, Concealed His

Trouble Of Mind. He Seemed To Think But Little Of Himself, And To Be

Principally Occupied With The Approaching Nuptials Of Arundel And

Eveline, Who, Immediately Thereafter, Were To Sail For England In The

Ship Commanded By The Jolly Captain Sparhawk. The Ceremony, In Order

To Give It The Greater Dignity, Was To Be Performed By Winthrop

Himself, The Right To Tie The Mystical Knot Being, Among These

Planters Of New Customs In A New World, Confined To The Civil

Magistrate. Strongly, At First, Did The Young Lady Object, And It

Needed All The Eloquence Of Her Lover, And All Her Affection For Him,

To Prevail Upon Her To Dispense With The Priestly Blessing. However,

There Was No Alternative, If They Meant To Be Married Before Their

Departure; And The Circumstances Of Their Situation And Mutual

Inclination Were Persuasive Arguments. Voyages, Too, Were Not Then As

Safe As Now; And To The Romantic Girl Contemplating The Dangers Of The

Sea, There Was Something Sweet And Even Fascinating In The Thought,

That If She Perished, She Should Die In The Arms Of Her Husband. This

Last Consideration, Above All, Prevailed To Overcome Her Scruples, And

The Uncanonical Marriage Was Accordingly Determined Upon.

 

  

At Length The Day Arrived For The Hearing Of Sir Christopher, And,

Attended By Arundel, He Presented Himself Before The Council. It Is

Unnecessary To Enter Into Details. The Result Is All That Need Be

Stated. The Accusations Contained In The Letters, Though Denied By The

Knight, (Who Vehemently Protested Against The Liberties Taken With

Those Addressed To Himself, On Which Latter Was Founded The Charge Of

Being In Correspondence With Sir Ferdinando Gorges, The Most Dreaded

Enemy Of The Colony,) Obtained Credence With His Judges. Winthrop

Blushed When Reproached With The Violation Of The Letters; But The

Rough Dudley Justified And Commended The Act, As Fidelity To Public

Interests. There Was A Settled Conviction In The Minds Of All Of The

Assistants, That The Lady Geraldine Was Other Than She Seemed; And The

Conclusion They Had Arrived At Concerning Her Were Not Of A Nature To

Operate Favorably For The Knight. The Memorandum In The Note-Book Was

Also Considered Weighty Evidence. It Was Recollected, That Long Before

Suspicions Were Conceived Concerning Sir Christopher, And When He

Stood Highest In The Favor Of The Principal Inhabitants, He Had, In

Speaking Of His Travels In Foreign Parts, Mentioned That He Was At The

Very Place Where, And At The Time When The Scapula Was Assumed; And

His Ascribing The Reference To Another, Was Regarded As Only An

Awkward Attempt At Deception. It Was Thought Plainly To Betray Him As

A Member Of A Religious Order Among The Roman Catholics. Winthrop

Himself Was Of That Opinion, And That, Without More, Was Sufficient To

Support An Unfavorable Decision. The Idea Of Having Covert Papists

Lurking In Their Midst Was Not To Be Tolerated, And, By Whatever

Means, They Were To Be Got Rid Of. Allusion Was Made To His Embassy To

The Taranteens, And Services Rendered On That And Other Occasions, But

They Were Deemed Insufficient To Neutralize His Guilt; Yet, In

Consideration Of Those Services, They Forbore To Inflict Any Severe

Punishment. The Sentence Of The Council Was, That Both The Knight And

Lady Should Be Sent Back To England In The Next Ship, And Forbidden To

Return.

 

  

"All England Shall Ring With The Report Of Your Injustice," Cried Sir

Christopher, When The Decision Was Announced. "Ye Do Yourselves More

Wrong Than Me, And The Time Will Come When Ye Shall Hang Your Heads

With Shame For The Deed. Ye Have Power, It Is True, To Extrude Me From

This New World, But My Presence Will Be A Bane To You In The Old. I Go

With Solemn Protest Against Your Violence."

 

  

"Enough," Said Winthrop, Rising With Dignity, "Of Threats Which We

Notice Not, Because We Are Above Them. The Men Who Are Founding An

Empire, Whose Future Extent And Power Human Sagacity Cannot Limit, And

Who, For The Sake Of Present Liberty Of Thought And Action, And Of

Prospective Blessings For Their Descendants, Have Renounced And Count

As Naught The Vanities Of This World, Fear No Arm Of Flesh. Their

Shield Is The Lord Of Hosts. This Council Is Dissolved."

 

Chapter XXXVI ("To Feel That We Adore With Such Refined Excess, That Though The Heart Would Burst With More, We Could Not Live With Less.")

 

 

 

 Moore.

  

 

 Fair Rose The Morn Of The Day Which Was To Unite The Destinies Of

Miles Arundel And Of Eveline Dunning, As If To Make Some Amends For

The Clouds Which Had Attended The Progress Of Their Affection.

 

  

With A Tear In Her Eye, And Smiles In The Dimples Of Her Plump Cheeks,

Dame Spikeman Looked On The Adorning Of The Lady For The Marriage

Ceremony, By The Cunning Fingers Of Prudence Rix. She Thought, As She

Gazed On The Fair, Young Face, Of Her Own Maiden Beauty, Of The Timid

Happiness That Palpitated In Her Bosom On Her Wedding-Day, Of The

Dress That Heightened Her Charms, And (Shall I So Soon Acknowledge

It?) Of What Would Be Becoming For Herself On A Like Occasion, Wherein

She Was To Bear A Principal Part, And The Too-Fascinating Master Prout

Another. Let Not The Solemn Pretender To Decorum, Who, In Proportion

To His Demureness, Is Apt To Be Worse Than Others, With Owlish Visage

Quote, "Frailty, Thy Name Is Woman," Or, "E'er Those Shoes Were Old,"

Or Whatever Musty Apothegms Besides, As Stale And Senseless. The Name

Of Frailty Is No More Woman Than Man, And Old Shoes Have No Business

At Weddings. Stand Aside O Censorious Reader, (I Desire Not Thy

Acquaintance,) While I Whisper To Both Maid And Widow, What, Probably,

They Have Often Pondered--That Life Is Short, And That In Heaven They

Neither Marry Nor Are Given In Marriage.

 

 

"Bless Thy Sweet Face!" Said The Dame. ("Pull Down The Stomacher A

Little, Prudence; An' It Had Been A Thought Longer It Were Better.)

Ne'er Saw I So Lovely A Bride."

  

 

"It Is The Latest London Fashion," Muttered Prudence, "That Hath Come

To These Outlandish Parts, Where, Thank The Lord, Our Stay Will Not Be

Much Longer Than The Stomacher." 

 

 

"What Is The Girl Chattering About?" Said The Dame. "Why, Prudence

Pert, Thou Wilt Tear The Beautiful Satin With Thine Impatience."

 

  

"You Have Already Made Me Prick My Fingers Three Times, Dame,"

Answered The Waiting-Maid, Pettishly. "I Never Could Dress My Young

Lady Aright, When I Was Talked To. There! O Dear! You Have Made Me Cut

A Ribbon In The Wrong Place!"

  

 

"Did Ever One See The Like!" Exclaimed The Widow, As, With A Jerk Of

The Petulant Prudence, A Few Stitches Now Gave Way. "Why, Minx, Thou

Art As Much Flustrated As If Thou Wert To Be Married Thyself."

 

  

"I Know Somebody, I Guess," Said The Girl, In So Low A Tone As To Be

Heard Only By Her Mistress, Close To Whose Ear Was Her Mouth, "Who

Would Like To Be Flustrated In That Manner."

 

  

Eveline Could Not Restrain Her Smiles At The Impertinence Of Her Maid,

And Her Gaiety Seemed To Please The Good Dame.

 

 

 

"Thou Art A Sensible Child, Eveline," She Said. "Now Have I Known Many

A Wedding, And Generally There Are Quite As Many Tears As Smiles At

Them. I Like Not That, Exactly, Though I Believe I Was As Great A

Simpleton As Most, When I Mar--(Here The Dame Decorously Put Her

Handkerchief To Her Eyes To Receive The Tears Which She Did Not

Shed)--When I--; But I Must Not Think Of My Sorrow, When Thy Happiness

Is Just Commencing." (Dame Spikeman Wiped Her Eyes, And Went On More

Composedly.) "There Is Nothing Thou Hast Cause To Fear, And Thou Wilt

Soon Get Used To It. But, Who Is To Be Thy Bridesmaid?"

 

  

"It Was My Intent To Have Had Little Neebin," Replied The Young Lady.

"It Would Have Sounded So Prettily In England To Say That An Indian

Princess Stood Up With Me, For Miles Says That She Is The Sister Of A

Great King--Of Waqua--; Thou Dost Recollect Him, Prudence?"

 

  

"The Funny Salvage," Said The Girl, "Who Mistook A Painting For A Live

Man. But To Think Of The Like Of The Sister Of An Indian, Though He Be

A Handsome Fellow, Going To The 'Menial Halter With My Mistress!" She

Added, Tossing Her Head.

 

 

 "The Danger Is Past, Prudence," Said Eveline, "For Miles Tells Me She

Has Run Away From The Governor's, And Was Last Seen In The Woods With

One Of Her Brother's Paniese, As The Savages Call Their Greatest

Warriors, Town--, Town--, I Forget