The Betrothed

umber'd, that m

ay, and here m

ACT. I.

known, occupied the numerous towers, which, like so many falcon-nests, had been built on the points most convenient to defend the frontiers, and were bound to give signal of any incursion of the Welsh, by blowing their horns; which sounds, answered from tower to tower, and from station to station, gave the alarm for general defence. But although Raymond conside

presently the signals of alarm were echoed from every castle and tower on the borders of Shropshire, where every place of habitation was then a fortress. Beacons were lighted upon crags and eminences, the bel

nded the watch-tower of the castle, to observe in person the country around, already obscured in several places by the clouds of smoke, which announced the progress and the ravages of the invaders. He was speedily joined by his favourite squi

eran soldier, "are our vassal

the Flemings, who a

o plant such sluggish natures in our borders. They are like their ow

service notwithstanding. That Wilkin Flammock of the Gr

" said Raymond; "but he has no stomach for such ex

may be a fit foil to the fiery and headlong dispositions of our dangerous neighbours, just as restless waves are best opposed by st

of unusual weight and thickness, and cleaned with exceeding care, which marked the neatness of his nation; but, contrary to the custom of the Normans, entirely plain, and void of carving, gilding, or any sort of ornam

llane, "you are in no hurry, meth

compelled to tarry, that we might load our wai

any wains have you

sir," repl

en?" demanded R

ant sir," ans

ain? I wonder you would thus en

defend them with our bodies; and, had we been obliged to leave our cloth to the plundering clutches of yonder vagabonds, I should have seen

xture of surprise and contempt, as excluded indignation. "I have heard much," he said, "but

for life and property; and my coming to this country, where they are both in constant danger, shows

stoutly with that long body of thine. We are like to have need for all that we can d

," replied Wilkin; "I could not but know

essary to withdraw his attention. "I can tell thee," he said to Flammock, "that when the Constable of Chester joins us w

p, Dennis Morolt," said Berenger, "else i

nce, with which his master answered the question, he proceeded, with yet more vehement earnestness -"You cannot mean it - you cannot intend that we shall quit this castle, which we have so often made good against them, and conten

in love to me and mine. But, Dennis Morolt, this thing must be - we must fight the Welshmen within

rolt, where battle is the theme. But we will fight them under the walls of the castle, with honest Wilkin Flamm

th of my castle, in a manner which intimated it was these advantages alone that had secured me in former wars from defeat and captivity. I spoke in answer, when I had far better been silent; for what availed my idle boast, but as a fetter to bind me to a deed next to madness? If, I said, a prince of t

- he almost laughed, notwithstanding the reverence due to the Castellane, and his own insensibility to risible emotions. "And is this all?" he said. "If your honour had pledged yourself to pay one hundred florins to a Jew or to a Lombard, no doubt yo

ewhere. The promiser," said Berenger, "escapes not the sin

er than you should do such a deed of dole, the Ab

of knights, who have broken my word of battle pledged, for fear of a Welshman and his naked savages? No!

mise, and so fail to appear to claim it in the appointed space; for,

aid the Castellane -"trust me, he will not forget what will

of the river, over which an ancient bridge extended itself to the appointed place of combat. They were at no loss to conjecture the cause. It was evident th

ing the bridge. Your word bound you to the plain as to a field of battle, but it did not oblige you to forego such advantages as t

ull advantage of equality of ground. I so meant it - he so understood it; and what avails keeping my word in

e move to our death!- May G

"something sticks in thy

your daughter th

aunt, the Abbess of the Benedictine sisters - thou, Dennis, wilt see her placed there in honour and safety, and my sister will care for her future provision as her wisdom shall determine." "I leave you at this pinch!" said Dennis Morolt, bursting into tears

n a soothing tone, "Do not think, my good old servant, that, were honour to be won, I would drive thee from my side. But this is a wild and an inconsider

r derived some little fame from partaking in thee deeds which won your renown - deny me not the right to share in that blame which your temerity may incur; let them not say, that

itterly the folly I have yielded to. I. would grant y

an his usual apathy, "it is not my purpose this day to leave this castle; now, if you c

leave the castle? Who gives you right to propose o

and so forth, for which I am to pay man-service in defending this Castle of the Garde Doloureuse, and in this I am ready. But if you call on me to march from hence,

, laying his hand on his dag

tice of their own country, the attack and defence of walled cities and fortresses, and are especially skilful in working of mangonels and military engines. There are several of his countrymen in the castle, besides his own followers. These I propose to lea

needs say he is as stout and true as any whom you might trust; and, besides, his own shrewdness will teach him there is more to be gained by defendi

of chivalry, of which thou knowest nothing; but, as thou art an honest man, and a true Christian, I conjure thee to stand to the defence of this castle. Let no promise of the enemy draw thee to any base

he sea; and they who can deal with the waves in a tempest, need not fear an undisciplined people in their fury. Your daughter shall be as dear to me as mine own; and in that faith you may prick forth - if,

e," he added hastily; "I would not again meet her, again to part from her. T

rvices in the field and the chase had been for some time chiefly limited to the superintendence of the Knight's kennels, and the charge especially of his more favourite hounds; and by Rose Flammock, the daughter of Wilkin, a blue-eyed Flemish maiden, round, plump, and shy as a partridge, who had been

ceremony, and totally disregarding the anxious inquiries of the huntsman and the chaplain, he said hastily to his daughter, in his ow

man esquire, answered not, until the Netherlander fortunately recollected his Anglo-Norman title of butler. This, his regular name of office, was the key to the buttery-hatch, and the old man instantly appeared, with his gray cassock and high rolled hose, a pon

r what are your commands, since it is my lord's p

ood Meister Keller-mas

with some of the petty resentment of a spoiled domestic, who thi

d the Fleming, "for my heart is low and poor w

o the secret crypts, of which he was the guardian, and returned with a silver flagon, which might contain about a

ry mouthful, paused as if to estimate the strength and flavour of the generous liquor. Apparently he was pleased with both, for he nodded in approbation to the butler; and, raising the

ntervals, after so long a suspense of respiration; "but, may Heaven forgive you for thin

blood hold the wines of Gascony and France, generous, light, and

e Fleming; "but hark ye - Is ther

pleased not your daint

- I may have drunk better - but this is right good, wher

red the butler; "I have broa

s castle be served with such a cup as I have here swallowed. I feel it hath done me much good - my heart was sinking when I saw the blac

e not alike. That which will but warm your Flemish hearts, will put wildfire into Norman brains; and

nes and measure you list - only let each Fleming have a solemn quart of Rhenish.- But

or the English, they are, as you wot, a mixed breed, having much of your German sullenness, together with a plentiful touch of the hot blood of yonder Welsh furies. Light w

- ha - is your ale mighty, S

have witnessed me ever as they came round, for thirty years

the flagon which the Fleming had just emptied, and which was no

devils upon it - let them be furnished with mighty ale along with their beef and brown bread. A

assigned to each their posts, reserving to his own countrymen the management of the arblasts, or crossbows, and of the military engines which were contrived by the proud Normans, and were incomprehensible to the ignorant English, or, more properly, Anglo-Saxons, of the period, but which his more adroit co