Ivanhoe, Walter Scott [the lemonade war series txt] 📗
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to end it by the death of the fair enchantress; while thou, taken
in flagrant delict by the avowal of a crime contrary to thine
oath, canst hope no aid of thy brethren, and must exchange all
thy brilliant visions of ambition and power, to lift perhaps a
mercenary spear in some of the petty quarrels between Flanders
and Burgundy.”
“Thou speakest the truth, Malvoisin,” said Brian de
Bois-Guilbert, after a moment’s reflection. “I will give the
hoary bigot no advantage over me; and for Rebecca, she hath not
merited at my hand that I should expose rank and honour for her
sake. I will cast her off---yes, I will leave her to her fate,
unless---”
“Qualify not thy wise and necessary resolution,” said Malvoisin;
“women are but the toys which amuse our lighter hours---ambition
is the serious business of life. Perish a thousand such frail
baubles as this Jewess, before thy manly step pause in the
brilliant career that lies stretched before thee! For the
present we part, nor must we be seen to hold close conversation
---I must order the hall for his judgment-seat.”
“What!” said Bois-Guilbert, “so soon?”
“Ay,” replied the Preceptor, “trial moves rapidly on when the
judge has determined the sentence beforehand.”
“Rebecca,” said Bois-Guilbert, when he was left alone, “thou art
like to cost me dear---Why cannot I abandon thee to thy fate, as
this calm hypocrite recommends?---One effort will I make to save
thee---but beware of ingratitude! for if I am again repulsed, my
vengeance shall equal my love. The life and honour of
Bois-Guilbert must not be hazarded, where contempt and reproaches
are his only reward.”
The Preceptor had hardly given the necessary orders, when he was
joined by Conrade Mont-Fitchet, who acquainted him with the Grand
Master’s resolution to bring the Jewess to instant trial for
sorcery.
“It is surely a dream,” said the Preceptor; “we have many Jewish
physicians, and we call them not wizards though they work
wonderful cures.”
“The Grand Master thinks otherwise,” said Mont-Fitchet; “and,
Albert, I will be upright with thee---wizard or not, it were
better that this miserable damsel die, than that Brian de
Bois-Guilbert should be lost to the Order, or the Order divided
by internal dissension. Thou knowest his high rank, his fame in
arms---thou knowest the zeal with which many of our brethren
regard him---but all this will not avail him with our Grand
Master, should he consider Brian as the accomplice, not the
victim, of this Jewess. Were the souls of the twelve tribes in
her single body, it were better she suffered alone, than that
Bois-Guilbert were partner in her destruction.”
“I have been working him even now to abandon her,” said
Malvoisin; “but still, are there grounds enough to condemn this
Rebecca for sorcery?---Will not the Grand Master change his mind
when he sees that the proofs are so weak?”
“They must be strengthened, Albert,” replied Mont-Fitchet, “they
must be strengthened. Dost thou understand me?”
“I do,” said the Preceptor, “nor do I scruple to do aught for
advancement of the Order---but there is little time to find
engines fitting.”
“Malvoisin, they MUST be found,” said Conrade; “well will it
advantage both the Order and thee. This Templestowe is a poor
Preceptory---that of Maison-Dieu is worth double its value
---thouknowest my interest with our old Chief---find those who
can carry this matter through, and thou art Preceptor of
Maison-Dieu in the fertile Kent---How sayst thou?”
“There is,” replied Malvoisin, “among those who came hither with
Bois-Guilbert, two fellows whom I well know; servants they were
to my brother Philip de Malvoisin, and passed from his service to
that of Front-de-Boeuf---It may be they know something of the
witcheries of this woman.”
“Away, seek them out instantly---and hark thee, if a byzant or
two will sharpen their memory, let them not be wanting.”
“They would swear the mother that bore them a sorceress for a
zecchin,” said the Preceptor.
“Away, then,” said Mont-Fitchet; “at noon the affair will
proceed. I have not seen our senior in such earnest preparation
since he condemned to the stake Hamet Alfagi, a convert who
relapsed to the Moslem faith.”
The ponderous castle-bell had tolled the point of noon, when
Rebecca heard a trampling of feet upon the private stair which
led to her place of confinement. The noise announced the arrival
of several persons, and the circumstance rather gave her joy; for
she was more afraid of the solitary visits of the fierce and
passionate Bois-Guilbert than of any evil that could befall her
besides. The door of the chamber was unlocked, and Conrade and
the Preceptor Malvoisin entered, attended by four warders clothed
in black, and bearing halberds.
“Daughter of an accursed race!” said the Preceptor, “arise and
follow us.”
“Whither,” said Rebecca, “and for what purpose?”
“Damsel,” answered Conrade, “it is not for thee to question, but
to obey. Nevertheless, be it known to thee, that thou art to be
brought before the tribunal of the Grand Master of our holy
Order, there to answer for thine offences.”
“May the God of Abraham be praised!” said Rebecca, folding her
hands devoutly; “the name of a judge, though an enemy to my
people, is to me as the name of a protector. Most willingly do I
follow thee---permit me only to wrap my veil around my head.”
They descended the stair with slow and solemn step, traversed a
long gallery, and, by a pair of folding doors placed at the end,
entered the great hall in which the Grand Master had for the time
established his court of justice.
The lower part of this ample apartment was filled with squires
and yeomen, who made way not without some difficulty for
Rebecca, attended by the Preceptor and Mont-Fitchet, and followed
by the guard of halberdiers, to move forward to the seat
appointed for her. As she passed through the crowd, her arms
folded and her head depressed, a scrap of paper was thrust into
her hand, which she received almost unconsciously, and continued
to hold without examining its contents. The assurance that she
possessed some friend in this awful assembly gave her courage to
look around, and to mark into whose presence she had been
conducted. She gazed, accordingly, upon the scene, which we
shall endeavour to describe in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XXXVII
Stern was the law which bade its vot’ries leave
At human woes with human hearts to grieve;
Stern was the law, which at the winning wile
Of frank and harmless mirth forbade to smile;
But sterner still, when high the iron-rod
Of tyrant power she shook, and call’d that power of God.
The Middle Ages
The Tribunal, erected for the trial of the innocent and unhappy
Rebecca, occupied the dais or elevated part of the upper end of
the great hall---a platform, which we have already described as
the place of honour, destined to be occupied by the most
distinguished inhabitants or guests of an ancient mansion.
On an elevated seat, directly before the accused, sat the Grand
Master of the Temple, in full and ample robes of flowing white,
holding in his hand the mystic staff, which bore the symbol of
the Order. At his feet was placed a table, occupied by two
scribes, chaplains of the Order, whose duty it was to reduce to
formal record the proceedings of the day. The black dresses,
bare scalps, and demure looks of these church-men, formed a
strong contrast to the warlike appearance of the knights who
attended, either as residing in the Preceptory, or as come
thither to attend upon their Grand Master. The Preceptors, of
whom there were four present, occupied seats lower in height,
and somewhat drawn back behind that of their superior; and the
knights, who enjoyed no such rank in the Order, were placed on
benches still lower, and preserving the same distance from the
Preceptors as these from the Grand Master. Behind them, but
still upon the dais or elevated portion of the hall, stood the
esquires of the Order, in white dresses of an inferior quality.
The whole assembly wore an aspect of the most profound gravity;
and in the faces of the knights might be perceived traces of
military daring, united with the solemn carriage becoming men of
a religious profession, and which, in the presence of their Grand
Master, failed not to sit upon every brow.
The remaining and lower part of the hall was filled with guards,
holding partisans, and with other attendants whom curiosity had
drawn thither, to see at once a Grand Master and a Jewish
sorceress. By far the greater part of those inferior persons
were, in one rank or other, connected with the Order, and were
accordingly distinguished by their black dresses. But peasants
from the neighbouring country were not refused admittance; for it
was the pride of Beaumanoir to render the edifying spectacle of
the justice which he administered as public as possible. His
large blue eyes seemed to expand as be gazed around the assembly,
and his countenance appeared elated by the conscious dignity, and
imaginary merit, of the part which he was about to perform. A
psalm, which he himself accompanied with a deep mellow voice,
which age had not deprived of its powers, commenced the
proceedings of the day; and the solemn sounds, “Venite exultemus
Domino”, so often sung by the Templars before engaging with
earthly adversaries, was judged by Lucas most appropriate to
introduce the approaching triumph, for such he deemed it, over
the powers of darkness. The deep prolonged notes, raised by a
hundred masculine voices accustomed to combine in the choral
chant, arose to the vaulted roof of the hall, and rolled on
amongst its arches with the pleasing yet solemn sound of the
rushing of mighty waters.
When the sounds ceased, the Grand Master glanced his eye slowly
around the circle, and observed that the seat of one of the
Preceptors was vacant. Brian de Bois-Guilbert, by whom it had
been occupied, had left his place, and was now standing near the
extreme corner of one of the benches occupied by the Knights
Companions of the Temple, one hand extending his long mantle, so
as in some degree to hide his face; while the other held his
cross-handled sword, with the point of which, sheathed as it was,
he was slowly drawing lines upon the oaken floor.
“Unhappy man!” said the Grand Master, after favouring him with a
glance of compassion. “Thou seest, Conrade, how this holy work
distresses him. To this can the light look of woman, aided by
the Prince of the Powers of this world, bring a valiant and
worthy knight!---Seest thou he cannot look upon us; he cannot
look upon her; and who knows by what impulse from his tormentor
his hand forms these cabalistic lines upon the floor?---It may be
our life and safety are thus aimed at; but we spit at and defy
the foul enemy. ‘Semper Leo percutiatur!’”
This was communicated apart to his confidential follower, Conrade
Mont-Fitchet. The Grand Master then raised his voice, and
addressed the assembly.
“Reverend and valiant men, Knights, Preceptors, and Companions of
this Holy Order, my brethren and my children!---you also,
well-born and pious Esquires, who aspire to wear this holy Cross!
---and you also, Christian brethren, of every degree!---Be it
known to you, that it is not defect of power in us which hath
occasioned the assembling of this congregation; for, however
unworthy in our person, yet to us is committed, with this batoon,
full power to judge and to try all that regards the weal of this
our Holy Order. Holy Saint Bernard, in the rule of our knightly
and religious profession, hath said, in the fifty-ninth capital,*
The reader is again referred to the Rules of
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