 Prologue of Leatherface, A Tale of Old Flanders. This is a LibriVox recording. A LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Dion Giants, Salt Lake City, Utah. Leatherface, A Tale of Old Flanders by Baroness Orksi. Prologue, Mons, September 1572. It lacked two hours before the dawn on this sultry night early in September. The crescent moon had long ago sunk behind a bank of clouds in the west, and not a sound stirred the low-lying land around the besieged city. To the south, the bivouac fires of Elva's camp had died out one by one, and here the measured tread of the sentinels on their beat alone broke the silence of the night. To the north, where valorous orange with a handful of men, undisciplined, unpaid, and rebellious, vainly tried to provoke his powerful foe into a pitched battle. Relying on God for the result, there was greater silent still. The sentinels, worried and indifferent, had dropped to sleep at their post. The troops, already mutinous, only held to their duty by the powerful personality of the prince, slept as soundly as total indifference to the cause for which they were paid to fight could possibly allow. In his tent, even orange, tired out with ceaseless watching, had gone to rest. His guards were in a profound sleep. Then it was that from the south there came a stir, and from Elva's entrenchments waves of something alive that breathed in the darkness of the night were set in motion, like when the sea rolls inwards to the shore. Whispered words set this living mass on its way, and anon it was crawling along swiftly and silently, more silently than incoming waves on a flat shore, on and on, always northwards in the direction of the prince of Orange's camp, like some gigantic snake that creeps with belly close to the ground. Don Ramon, whispered a voice in the darkness, let Captain Romero deal with the sentinels and lead the surprise attack, whilst you yourself make straight for the prince's tent, overpower his guard first, then seize his person. Two hundred dookots will be your reward, remember, if you bring Orange back here, a prisoner, and a dookot for each of your men. These were the orders, and Don Ramon Delinea sped forward with six hundred arch-a-busiers, all picked men. They wore their shirts over their armor, so that in the Malay, which was to come, they might recognize one another in the gloom. Less than a league of flat pasture land lay between Elva's entrenchments at St. Florian, near the gates of beleaguered mons and Orange's camp at Hermigny. But at St. Florian, men stirred and planned and threatened, whilst at Hermigny even the sentinels slept. Noble-hearted Orange had raised the standard of revolt against the most excruble oppression of an entire people, which the world has ever known, and he could not get more than a handful of patriots to fight for their own freedom against the tyranny and the might of Spain, whilst mercenary troops were left to guard the precious life of the indomitable champion of religion and civil liberties. The moving mass of Delinea's arch-a-busiers had covered half a league of the intervening ground. Their white shirts, only just distinguishable in the gloom, made them look like ghosts. Only another half-league, less perhaps, separated them from their goal, and still no one stirred in Orange's camp. Then it was that something roused the sentinels from their sleep. A rough hand shook first one, then the others by the shoulder, and out of the gloom, a preemptory voice whispered hurriedly. Quick, awake, sound the alarm, and encomazada is upon you, you will all be murdered in your sleep. And even before the drowsy sentinels had time to rouse themselves or to rub their eyes, the same rough hand had shaken the prince's guard. The same preemptory voice had called, awake, the Spaniards are upon you. In the prince's tent a faint light was glimmering, he himself was lying fully dressed and armed upon a couch. At sound of the voice of his guard stirring of the noise and bustle of a wakening camp, he sat up just in time to see a tall figure in the entrance of his tent. The feeble light threw butt into a dim relief this tall figure of a man, clad in dark, shapeless, woolen clothes, wearing a hood of the same dark stuff over his head and a leather mask over his face. Leather face exclaimed the prince as he jumped to his feet. What is it? A night attack replied a muffled voice behind the mask. Six hundred archibousers, they are but half a league away. I would have been here sooner. Only the night is so infernally dark. I caught my foot in a rabbit hole and nearly broke my ankle. I am as lame as a Jew's horse, but still in time. He added as he hastily helped the prince to adjust his armor and straighten out his clothes. The camp was alive now with call to arms and rattle of steel, horses snorting and words of command flying to and fro. Don Ramon Delinia, a quarter of a league away, heard these signs of troops well on the alert and he knew that the surprise attack had failed. Six hundred archibousers, though they be picked men, were not sufficient for a formal attack on the prince of Orange's entire cavalry. Even mercenary and undisciplined troops will fight valiantly when their lives depend upon their valor. Delinia thought it best to give the order to return to camp and the waves of living men, which had been set in motion an hour ago, now swiftly and silently went back the way they came. Don Ramon, when he came once more in the camp at St. Florian and in the presence of Alva's captain in chief, had to report the failure of the night attack which had been so admirably planned. The whole camp at Hermitney was a stir, he said, as he chowed the ends of his heavy mustache for he was sorely disappointed. I could not risk an attack under those conditions. Our only chance of winning was by surprise. Who gave the alarm, queried Don Frederick de Toledo, who took no pains to smother the curses that rose to his lips. The devil, I suppose, growled Don Ramon Delinia savagely and out at Hermitney in Orange's tent, the man who was called Leatherface was preparing to go as quietly and mysteriously as he had come. They won't be on you, Monsignor, he said, now that they know your troops are a stir. But if I were you, he added grimly, I would have every one of those sentinels shot at Don. They were all of them fast asleep when I arrived. He gave the military salute and would have turned to go without another word, but that the prince caught him preemptorily by the arm. In the meantime, monsieur, how shall I thank you again? He asked, by guarding your precious life, Monsignor, replied the man simply, the cause of freedom in the low countries would never survive your loss. Well, retorted the Prince of Orange with a winning smile, if that be so, then the cause of our freedom owes as much to you as it does to me. Is it the tenth time or the twelfth that you have saved my life? Since you will not let me fight with you, I'll let you do anything you wish, monsieur, for you would be as fine a soldier as you are a loyal friend. But are you not content with the splendid services which you are rendering to us now? Putting aside my own life, which may have is not worthless, how many times has your warning saved mine and my brother's troops from surprise attacks? How many times have nor harms or Don Frederick's urgent appeals for reinforcements failed through your intervention to reach the Duke of Alva until our own troops were able to rally? Ah, monsieur, believe me, God himself has chosen you for this work. The work of a spy, Monsignor, said the other, not without a touch of bitterness. Nay, if you call yourself a spy, monsieur, then shall the name of spy be henceforth a name of glory to its wearer, synonymous with the loftiest patriotism and noblest self-sacrifice. He held out his hand to the man with the mask who bent his tall figure over it in dutiful respect. You see how well I keep to my share of the compact, monsieur? Never once, even whilst we were alone, hath your name escaped my lips. For which act of graciousness, Monsignor, I do offer you my humble thanks. May God guard your highness through every peril. The cause of justice and of liberty rests in your hands. After another deeply respectful bow, he finally turned to go. He had reached the entrance of the tent when once more the prince spoke to him. When shall I see you again, Leatherface? He asked cheerily. When your highness's precious life or the safety of your army are in danger, replied the man. God reward you, murmured orange, fervently, as the man with the mask disappeared into the night. End of prologue. Chapter one of Leatherface, A Tale of Old Flanders. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Dion Giants, Salt Lake City, Utah. Leatherface, A Tale of Old Flanders by Baroness Orksey. Chapter one, The Blood Council. Less than a month later, and tyranny is once more triumphant. Mons has capitulated. Orange has withdrawn his handful of mutinous troops into Holland. Valenciennes has been destroyed. And Mecklen, beautiful, gracious, august Mecklen with her cathedrals and her trade halls, her ancient monuments of art and civilization has been given over for three days to the lust and rapine of Spanish soldiery. Three whole days, even now we think on those days and shudder, shudder at what we know, at what the chroniclers have told us, the sacking of churches, the pillaging of monasteries, the massacre of peaceful, harmless citizens. Three whole days during which the worst demons that infest hell itself, the worst demons, that inspire the hideous passions of men, greed, revenge, and cruelty, were let loose upon the stately city whose soul of fence had been that she had for twenty-four hours harbored orange and his troops within her gates and closed them against the tyrant's soldiery. Less than a month an orange is a fugitive and all the bright hopes for the cause of religious and civil freedom are once more dashed to the ground. It seems as if God himself had set his face against the holy cause. Mons has fallen and Mecklen is reduced to ashes and over across the borders the King of France has caused ten thousand of his subjects to be massacred. One holy day the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, ten thousand of them just because their religious beliefs did not coincide with his own. The appalling news drove Orange and his small army to flight. He had reckoned on help from the King of France. Instead of that promised help, the news of the massacre of ten thousand Protestants, Catholic Europe was horror-stricken at the crime committed in the name of religion. But in the low countries Spanish tyranny had scored a victory. The ignoble Duke of Alva triumphed and the cause of freedom in Flanders and Heinalt and Brabant received a blow from which it did not again recover for over three hundred years. Outwardly the house where the Duke of Alva lodged in Brussels was not different to many of the same size in the city. It was built of red brick with stone base and finely carved cornice and had a high slate roof with picturesque dormer windows therein. The windows on the street level were solidly grilled and were ornamented with richly carved pediments as was the massive doorway, too. The door itself was of heavy oak and above it there was a beautifully wrought niche which held a statue of the Virgin. On the whole it looked a well-constructed, solid and roomy house and Massour de Jassi, its owner, had placed it at the disposal of the Lieutenant Governor when first he arrived in Brussels and he had occupied it ever since. The idler, as he strolled past the house, would hardly pause to look at it if he did not happen to know that behind those brick walls and grilled windows a work of oppression more heinous than this world had ever known before was being planned and carried on by a set of cruel and execrable tyrants against an independent country and a freedom-loving people. Here in the dining hall the Duke of Alva would preside at the meetings of the Grand Council, the Council of Blood, sitting in a high-backed chair and had the arms of Spain emblazoned upon it. Juan de Vargas and Albaric del Rio usually sat to the right and left of him del Rio, indolent and yielding a mere tool for the carrying out of every outrage, every infamy which the fiendish brain of those tyrants could devise werewith to crush the indomitable spirit of a proud nation, jealous of its honor and of its liberties. And de Vargas, Alva's double and worthy lieutenant, no tool he, but a terrible reality, active and resourceful in the invention of new forms of tyranny, new fetters for the curbing of stiff-necked Flemish and Dutch burgers, new methods for ringing rivers of gold out of a living stream of tears and blood. De Vargas, the very name stinks in the nostrils of honest men, even after the lapse of centuries, it conjures up the hideous image of a human bloodhound, lean and sallow of visage with drooping, heavy-littled eyes and flaccid mouth, a mouth that sneered and gested when men, women and children were tortured and butchered, eyes that gloated at sight of steak and scaffold and gibbet, and within the inner man a mind intent on the science of murder and rapine and bloodshed. Alva, the will that commanded, Vargas, the brain that devised Del Rio, the hand that accomplished, meant sent by Philip II of Spain the most fanatical tyrant the world has ever known to establish the abhorrent methods of the Spanish Inquisition in the Low Countries in order to consolidate Spanish rule there and rest from prosperous Flanders and Brabant and Heynalt from Holland and the Dutch provinces enough gold to irrigate the thirsty soil of Spain, the river of gold which will flow from the Netherlands to Madrid shall be a yard deep, so had Alva boasted when his infamous master sent him to quell the revolt which had noble-hearted orange for its leader, a revolt born of righteous indignation and an unconquerable love of freedom and of justice, to mold the Netherlands into abject vassals of Spain to break their independence of spirit by terrorism and by outrage to force Spanish ideas, Spanish culture, Spanish manners, Spanish religion upon these people of the North who loathed tyranny and worshipped their ancient charters and privileges, that was the task which the Duke of Alva had to do, a task for which he needed the help of men as tyrannical and unscrupulous as himself. Granville had begun the work, Alva was completing it, the stake, the scaffold, the gibbet for all who had one thought of justice, one desire for freedom, mons raised to the ground, Valencians a heap of ruins and ashes, Meklin a hecatome, men, women and children outraged and murdered, whole families put to the torture to wring gold from unwilling givers, churches destroyed, monasteries ransacked. That was the work of the Grand Council, the odious Council of Blood, the members of which have put to shame the very name of religion, for they dared to pretend that they acted in its name. Alva, De Vargas, Del Rio, a trinity of fiends whose deeds would shame the demons in hell. But there were others too, and oh ye gods, were they not infinitely more vile since their hands reaped with the blood of their own kith and kin. Alva and his two bloodhounds were strangers in a strange land owing allegiance to Spain alone. But Councilor Hessels sat on this same infamous board, and he was a patrician of Brabant. And there was Pierre Arsens, president of Artois. There was de Barlemont and Vigilius and Hopper. Gentlemen, save the mark, and burgers of Flanders, or Haenald, or the Dutch provinces, and who can name such creatures without a shudder of loathing. As for Don Ramón de Linnea, he was just the usual type of Spanish soldier, a grandee of Spain, direct descendant of the sed, so he avirred, yet disdained to prove it. For in him there was no sense of chivalry, just personal bravery, and no more. The same kind of bravery in a tiger or a jaguar. In truth there was much in common between Don Ramón and the wild feline tribes that devastate the deserts. He had the sinuous movements, the languorous gestures of those creatures, and his eyes dark and velvety at times, and others almost of an orange tent had all the cruel glitter which comes into the eyes of the leopard when he is out to kill. Otherwise Don Ramón was a fine-looking man, dark-skinned and dark-eyed, a son of the South, with all those cajoling ways about him which please and so often deceive the women. It was he who had been in command at Mecklen, entrusted by General De Norcoms with the hideous task of destroying the stately city and he had done it with a will. Overproud of his achievements he had obtained leave to make personal report of them to the Lieutenant Governor and thus it was that on the second day of October, 1572, he was present at the Council Board talking with easy grace and no little satisfaction of all that he had done of the churches which he had raised to the ground, the houses which he had sacked of the men, women and children whom he had turned out naked and starving into the streets. We labored hard for three days he said and the troops worked with a will for there were heavy arrears of pay due to them and we told them to make up those arrears in Mecklen since they wouldn't get any money from headquarters. Oh, Mecklen got all that she deserved. Her accursed citizens can now repent at leisure of their haste in harboring orange and his rebel troops. His voice was deep and mellow and even the guttural Spanish consonants sounded quite soft when he spoke them. Through half-closed lids his glance swept from time to time over the eager faces around the board and his slender hands emphasized the hideous narrative with a few graceful gestures. He looked just the true type of grand signor telling a tale of mild adventure and of sport and now and then he laughed displaying his teeth sharp and white like the fangs of a leopard's cub. No one interrupted him as his slur-hessles fell gradually as was his want into a gentle dose from which he roused himself now and again in order to murmur drowsily to the gallows with them all. Viglius and Hopper and de Berlemont tried hard to repress a shudder. They were slaves of Spain these gentlemen of the low countries but not Spanish-born and were not accustomed from earliest childhood to listen not only unmoved but with a certain measure of delight to these tales of horror but there was nothing in what Don Ramon said of which they disapproved they were all of them loyal subjects of the king and the very thought of rebellion was abhorrent to them but it was passing strange that the Duke of Alva made no comment on the young captain's report there he sat at the head of the table silent and moody with one bony fist clenched above a letter which lay open beneath his hand and which bore a large red seal with the royal arms of Spain impressed upon it not a word of praise or blame did he speak his heavy brows were contracted in a sullen frown and his protruding eyes were veiled beneath the drooping lids De Vargas too was silent De Vargas who loved to gloat over such tales as Don Ramon had to tell De Vargas who believed that these rebellious low countries could only be brought into subjection by such acts of demoniical outrage that the Spanish soldiery had just perpetrated in Mons and in Mecklen he too appeared moody today and the story of sick women and young children being dragged out of their beds and driven out to perish in the streets while their homes were being pillaged and devastated left him taciturn and unmoved Don Ramon made vain pretense as the lieutenant governor's moodyness nor yet De Vargas's silence but those who knew him best and De Vargas was among these plainly saw that irritation had seized upon his nerves he was talking more voluble and his voice had lost its smoothness whilst the linger of his gestures had given place to sharp febrile movements of hands and shoulders which he tried vainly to disguise our soldiers he was saying loudly did not leave a loaf of bread in the bakeries or a bushel of wheat in the stores of Mecklen the rich citizens we hanged at the rate of twenty a day and I drew orders for the confiscation of their estates to the benefit of our most gracious king and suzerain lord to you we made quick work of all the rebels stone no longer stands on stone in Mecklen today its patricians are beggars its citizens are scattered we have put to the torture and burned at the stake those who refused to give us their all and month ago Mecklen was a prosperous city she gave of her wealth and of her hospitality of orange today she and her children have ceased to be are you not satisfied he brought his clenched fist crashing down upon the table surely a very unusual loss of restraint in a grandie of Spain but obviously he found it more and more difficult to keep his temper under control and those dark eyes of his were now fixed with a kind of fierce resentment upon the impassive face of the Duke counselor Hessels only half awake reiterated with drowsy emphasis to the gallows with them send them all to the gallows still the Duke of Alva was silent and De Vargas did not speak yet it was the Duke himself who had given the order for the destruction of Mecklen as a warning to other cities he had said and now he sat at the head of the table sullen moody and frowning and Don Ramon felt an icy pain of fear gripping him by the throat the thought that censure of his conduct was brewing in the Lieutenant Governor's mind caused him to lose the last vestige of self control for he knew that censure could have but one sequel quick judgment and the headman's acts are you not satisfied he cried what more did you expect what more ought we to have done what other proof of zeal does King Philip ask of me thus directly challenged the Duke raised his head and looked the young man sternly in the face what you have done Miss or he said slowly and the cold glitter in his steely eyes held in it more real and calculating cruelty than the feline savagery of the other man what you have done is good but it is not enough what use is there in laying low and entire city when the one man whose personality of this abominable rebellion together still remains unscathed you hanged twenty noted citizens a day in Mecklen you say he added with a cynical shrug of the shoulders I would gladly see every one of them spared so long as oranges head fell on the scaffold orange has disbanded his army and has fled almost alone into Holland said Don Ramon sullenly my orders were to punish Mecklen and not to run after the Prince of Orange the order to bring the Prince of Orange alive or dead to Brussels and to me takes precedence of every other order as you well know Mr. retorted Alva roughly we decided on that unanimously at the meeting of the Grand Council on the day that I sent Egmont and Horn to the scaffold and Orange refused to walk into the trap which I had set for him he always escapes from the traps which are set for him now broke in De Vargas in his calm even expressionless voice during the siege of Mons according to Don Frederick's report no fewer than six surprise night attacks all admirably planned failed because Orange appeared to have received timely warning who should know that better than I senior query Don Ramon hotly seeing that I led most of those attacks myself they were splendidly planned our men as silent as ghosts the night darker than hell not a word the plan was breathed until I gave the order to start yet someone gave the alarm we found Orange's camp a stir every time we had to retire who but the devil could have given the warning a spy more astute than yourselves quote Alva dryly nay here interposed Del Rio blandly I am of the same opinion as Don Ramon Delinia there is a subtle agency at work which appears to guard the life of the Prince of Orange I myself was foiled many a time when I was on his track with who wills a dagger in the dark more deftly than any man I know I also employed Lorenzo who graduated in Venice in the art of but invariably the Prince slipped through our fingers just as if he had been put on his guard by some mysterious emissary the loyalists in Flanders quote President Viglius under his breath declare that the agency which works for the safety of the Prince of Orange is a supernatural one they speak of a tall man like figure whose face is hidden by a mask and who invariably appears whenever the Prince of Orange is life is in danger some people call this mysterious being Leatherface but no one seems actually to have seen him it sounds as if he were truly an emissary of the devil and as the President spoke a strange silence fell down the council board every cheek had become pale every lip quivered De Vargas made a quick sign of the cross over his chest Alva drew a small metal from the inside of his doublet and kissed it devoutly these men who talked airily of rapine and of violence perpetrated against innocent people who gloated over torture and misery who were loved to inflict were held in the cold grip of superstitious fear and their trembling lips uttered abject prayers for mercy to the God whom they outraged by every act of their infamous lives when the Duke of Alva spoke again his voice was still unsteady devil or no devil he said with an attempt at dignified composure His Majesty's latest orders are quite peremptory he desires the death of orange he will have no more cities destroyed no more wholesale massacres until that great object is attained pressure has been brought to bear upon him the Emperor it seems has spoken authoritatively and with no uncertain voice it seems that the destruction of Flemish cities is abhorrent to the rest of Europe rebel cities ejaculated de berlemont hotly I we know well enough that they are rebel cities quote Alva fiercely but what can we do when a milk-livered weakling wears the imperial crown our gracious king himself dares not disregard the Emperor's protests and in his last letter to me he commands that we should hold our hand and neither massacre a population nor destroy a town unless we have proof positive that both are seething with rebellion seething with rebellion exclaimed Don Ramon then what of Ghent which is the very nest of rubbles ah retorted Alva by the mass seniors all of you who know that accursed city bring me proof that she harbors orange or his troops bring me proof that she gives him money bring me proof that plots against our government are hatched within her walls I have moral proofs that orange has been in Ghent lately that he is levying troops within her very walls I know that he has received promises of support from some of her most influential citizens nay then let your highness but give the order broke in Don Ramon once more my soldiers would spend three fruitful days in Ghent as I pointed out to his highness yesterday rejoined Dvargas in Malifluous tones we should reduce Ghent to ashes before she hatches another mischief against us once the city has ceased to be it can no longer be a source of danger to the state and he added blandly there is more money in Ghent than in any other city of Flanders and more rebellion in one family there than in the whole of the population of Brabant assented counselor persons I have lived in that accursed city all my life he continued savagely and I say that Ghent ought not to be allowed to exist a day longer than is necessary for massing together two or three regiments of unpaid soldiery and turning them loose into the town just as we did in Meklin the others not at approval and by the mass resumed Don Ramon enough mature broke in the duke preemptorily who are you I pray who are you all to be thus discussing the orders of his majesty the king I have transmitted to you his majesty's orders just as I received them from Madrid yesterday it is for you for us all to show our zeal and devotion at this critical moment in our nation's history by obeying blindly wholeheartedly those gracious commands do we want our king to be further embarrassed by a quarrel with the emperor and what are those orders I ask you wise and Christian like as usual his majesty doth not forbid the punishment of rebel cities no that he asks is that we deliver orange unto him orange the art trader and that in future we prove conclusively to Europe and to Maximilian that when we punish a Flemish city we do so with unquestioned justice he paused and his prominent heavy-litted eyes wandered somewhat contemptuously on the sullen faces around the board proofs signores he said with a light shrug of the shoulders proofs are not difficult to obtain all you want is a good friend inside a city to keep you well informed the paid spy is not sufficient off times he is clumsy and himself an object of suspicion orange has been in gantt signores he will go again he has disbanded his army but at his call another will spring up in gantt may have where he has so many friends where money is plentiful and rebellion rife we must strike at gantt before she becomes an open menace you'll never strike at orange broke in counselor arsons obstinately while that creature leather face is at large is said to hail from gantt added viglius with conviction then by the mass signores interposed alva fiercely the matter is even more simple than I had supposed and all this talk and these murmurings savor of treason me seems are you fools and doltz to imagine that when his majesty's orders were known to me I did not at once set to work to fulfill them we want to strike at gantt signores and want proofs of her rebellion his majesty wants those proofs and he wants the death of orange we all desire to raise gantt to the ground then will you give me your close attention and I will even tell you my plans for attaining all these objects and earning the approval of our gracious king and recognition from the rest of Europe then should not Don Ramon Delinia retire queried president viglius surely his highness's decision can only be disclosed to members of his council let Don Ramon stay interposed De Vargas with unanswerable authority even as the young man was preparing to take his leave the matter is one that in a measure will concern him seeing that it involves the destinies of the city of gantt and that his highness is pleased to give him the command of our troops stationed in that city Don Ramon Delinia glanced up at De Vargas with a look of agreeable surprise the command of the troops in gantt of truth this was news to him and happy news indeed rumor was current that the Duke of Alva lieutenant governor of the low countries and captain general of the forces was about to visit gantt and the captain in command there would thus be in a position of doing useful work may have of rendering valuable services and in any case of being well before the eyes of the captain general all the young man's elegant languid manner had come back to him he had had a fright but nothing more and commendation in the shape of this important promotion had allayed all his fears his being allowed to be present at a deliberation of the grand council was also a signal mark of favor granted to him no doubt in recognition of his zeal and loyalty whilst destroying the noble city of Meklin for the glory of king Philip of Spain he now resumed his seat at the board selecting with becoming modesty a place at the bottom of the table and feeling not the least disconcerted by the wrathful envious looks which president viglius and one or two other netherlanders directed against him the plans ignores which i have in my mind resumed the duke after a slight pause could never have come to maturity but for the loyal cooperation of senior Juan de Vargas and of his equally loyal daughter let me explain he continued seeing the look of astonishment which spread over most of the faces around the board as necessary in view of all that we said just now that i should have a means a tool i might say for the working out of a project which has both the death of orange and the punishment of Ghent for its aim i have told you that i am morally certain that orange is operating in Ghent at the present moment is it likely that he would leave such a storehouse of wealth and rebellion untouched heresy is rampant in Ghent and treachery goes hand in hand with it our spies unfortunately have been unable to obtain very reliable information the inhabitants are astute and wary they hatch their plots with devilish cunning and secrecy obviously therefore what we want is a loyal worker and efficient and devoted servant of the king in the very heart of the civic life of the town if only we can get to know what goes on in the intimate family circles of those townsfolk i feel sure that we can get all the proofs that the king desires of the treachery of Ghent he paused a moment in order to draw breath absolute silence of tense expectation hung around the council board the netherlanders hung obsequiously on the tyrant's lips Del Rio leaned back in his chair seemingly indifferent and De Vargas was closely watching Don Ramon de Linea the young man was trying to appear calmly interested but the restless look in his eyes and a slight tremor of his hand betrayed inward agitation some of you reverend seniors continued the Duke of Alva after a while in powerful compelling tones will perhaps have guessed by now what connection there is in my mind between that vast project which i have just put before you and the daughter of my loyal co-agitor Don Juan de Vargas i have arranged that she shall marry a man of influence and position in Ghent so that she cannot only keep me informed of all the intrigues which are brewing in that city against the government of our gracious king but also become the means whereby we can lure orange to his doom capture that mysterious arrogant over to Don Ramon's soldiery he struck the table repeatedly with his fist as he spoke there was no doubting the power of the man to accomplish what he wanted as well as the cruelty and vindictiveness wherewith he would pursue anyone who dared to attempt to thwart him in his projects no one thought of interrupting him but Don Ramon kept his agitation under control as best he could for he felt that de Vargas's eyes still watched him closely a very admirable idea now murmured viglius obsequiously as usual on these occasions it was obvious that he and the other netherlanders were mere figureheads at the council board Alva was directing commanding de Vargas had been the confidante and Del Rio would always be the ready tool when needed but viglius, de berlément Hessels and the others were mere servile listeners ready to give the approbation which was expected of them and withholding every word of criticism and doth Donna Lenora de Vargas enter into all these far-reaching schemes now asked Don Ramon coldly me seems they are above a woman's comprehension de Vargas's persistent glance was irritating his nerves he threw a challenging look, wholly defiant across the table at the older man my daughter, misserer said the latter loftily is above all a true Spaniard she has been brought up in bay and not to discuss she is old enough now to forget all past youthful follies he added answering Don Ramon's defiant glance with one that conveyed a threat her devotion to her church her king and her country and her hatred of orange and all rebels will influence her actions in the way the lieutenant governor desires Don Ramon was silent he had understood the threat which de Vargas's glance had expressed and he knew what the other meant when he spoke of past youthful follies it meant the breaking off of a pleasing romance a farewell to many and ambitious dream Don Ramon suppressed a sigh of anger and of disappointment it was beautiful and wealthy but it were not wise to let her father see how hard he, Ramon, had been hit he took no further part in the discussion and after a while he succeeded in appearing wholly indifferent to its sentimental side but he listened attentively to all that was said and when he met de Vargas's glance which now and then was fixed mockingly upon him he answered it with a careless shrug of the shoulders and now rejoined Pierre Arsens who was president of Artois and a patrician of Hanalt may we ask if his highness has already chosen the happy man who is to become the husband of such a pattern of womanhood my choice has naturally fallen the son of my near Charles van Rijk the high bailiff of Ghent replied alva curtly a family of traitors if ever there was one Gralde albaric del Rio savagely I know them the father is all right so is the younger son Mark younger I believe by only a couple of hours a wastrel and something of a drunkard so I understand the mother and the other son are impudent adherents of orange they have more than once drawn the attention of the chief inquisitor on themselves and if I had my way with such cattle I would have had the men hanged and the woman burned long before this van Rijk said alva curtly is high bailiff of Ghent he is a good catholic and so is his wife he is a man of great consideration in the city and his sons are popular it has not been thought expedient to interfere with them up to now but bearing my schemes in mind I have caused the man to be severely warned once or twice these warnings have reduced him to a state of panic and lately when my scheme had matured I told him that my desire was that one of his sons should wed Don Juan de Vargas his daughter he had no thought of refusal in fact his acceptance was positively object and on what grounds was the marriage suggested to him questioned president arson's grounds missur retorted the duke we give no grounds or reasons for our commands to our Flemish subjects we give an order and they obey I told my near van Rijk that I desired the marriage and that was enough then interposed president Viglius with an attempt at jocularity we shall soon be able to congratulate two young people on a happy event you will be able to do that tomorrow missur both the duke senor de Vargas goes to Ghent for the purpose of afiancing the two young people together the marriage ceremony will take place within the week his majesty hath approved of my scheme he desires that we should expedite the marriage senor de Vargas is willing missur van Rijk would not think of objecting Dona Lenora is heart free why should we delay why indeed murmured Don Ramon under his breath Dona Lenora resumed Elvis intentionally is indeed lucky in that unlike most women she will be able to work personally for the glory of her king and country if through her instrumentality we can bring orange to the block and Ghent to her knees there is no favor which her father could not ask of us as he said this he turned to de Vargas and stretched out his hand to him de Vargas took the hand respectfully and bent over it in dutiful obedience now senors resumed the duke more gaily and once more addressing the full council board you know the full reason of my projected journey to Ghent I go ostensibly in order to inaugurate the statue of our sovereign king erected by my orders in the marketplace but also in order to ascertain how our loyal worker will have progressed in the time Dona Lenora de Vargas will have been the wife of missir van Rijk for over a sun night by then she will and I mistake not have much to tell us in the meanwhile senor de Vargas will take up his residence in the city as vicarious criminalis he will begin his functions tomorrow by presiding over the engagement of his daughter to the son of the high bailiff there will be much public rejoicing and many entertainments during the week and on the day of the wedding ceremony to these senors graciously bidden I pray you go and mingle as far as you can with that crowd of uncouth and vulgar burgers whose treachery seems to pierce even through their ill-fitting doublets I pray you also to keep your eyes and ears open and my conjectures are correct much goes on in Ghent of which the holy inquisition should have cognizance we are out on a special campaign against cunning traitors and Ghent is our first objective when we turn our soldiery loose into the city yours senors will be the first spoils Ghent is rich in treasure and money those first spoils will be worth the winning until that happy day I bid you our revere gentle sirs and let your toast let every banquet to the destruction of Ghent and to the death of Orange after which long peroration the Lieutenant Governor intimated with a casual wave of his be-ringed hand that the sitting of the Grand Council was at an end the illustrious counselors rose with alacrity they were now in rare good humor the parting speech of his highness tickled their cupidity the first spoils at the sacking of Ghent should mean a fortune for every member of the board General Day Norcarms had made a huge one at the sacking of Mons and even younger officers like Don Ramon de Linea had vastly enriched themselves when Mecklen was given over to the soldiers one by one and the other having taken respectful leave of his highness to the salute of the Netherlanders of Viglius and Hessels of Berlaymont and the others the Duke responded with a curt bow to De Vargas and Del Rio and also to Don Ramon he nodded with easy familiarity however obsequious the Netherlanders might be however proven their zeal the Spanish masters never allowed them to forget that there was a world of social distinction between a grande of Spain and the uncouth burgers and even patricians of this semi-civilized land having made his last abeasance before the Duke of Alva and taken leave of the grave seniors of the Grand Council Don Ramon de Linea bowed himself out of the room with all the ceremony which Spanish etiquette prescribed as he did so he noticed that at a significant sign from Alva De Vargas and Albaric Del Rio remained behind in the council chamber even while all the Netherlanders were being dismissed he watched these latter gentlemen as one by one they filed quickly out of the house even to exchange a few friendly words with one another on the doorstep in this place where every wall had ears and every nook and cranny concealed a spy he watched them with an air of supercilious contempt oblivious of the fact that he himself had been not a little scared by the black looks cast on him by the all-powerful tyrant and merciless autocrat the scare had been unpleasant but it was all over now fate that ever fickle jade seemed inclined to smile on him the penniless seon of a noble race he seemed at last on the high road to fortune the command of the troops in Ghent was an unexpected gift of the goddess whilst the sacking and looting of Meklin had amply filled his pockets but it was a pity about Donna Lenora Don Ramon paused in the vast paneled hall and instinctively his eyes wandered to the mirror framed in rich, Flemish carved wood which hung upon the wall by our lady he had well nigh lost his self-control just now under De Vargas's mocking gaze and also that air of his singing and sing-froid which became him so well the thought of Donna Lenora even in connection with her approaching marriage caused him to readjust the set of his doublet and the stiff folds of his ruffle and his well-shaped hand wandered lovingly up to his silky mustache a sound immediately behind him caused him to start and to turn wrapped in a dark shawl and wearing a black veil right over her face and head was standing close to his elbow Inaz, he exclaimed, what is it? Hissed, I beg of you, senor whispered the woman I am well nigh dead with terror at thought that I might be seen the senorita knew that you would be here today she saw you from the gallery and asked me down to ask you to come to her at once the senorita broke in Don Ramon impatiently and with a puzzled frown is she here? Senor De Vargas won't let her out of his sight now when he have audience of the lieutenant governor or business with the council he makes the senorita come with him the Duke of Alva has given her a room in this house to sit while her father is at the council but heavens above why all this mystery the senorita will tell your graciousness said the woman I beg of you to come at once if I stay longer down here I shall die of fright and like a scared hand old Inaz trotted across the hall without waiting to see if Don Ramon followed her to hesitate for a moment the call was a peremptory one coming as it did from a beautiful woman whom he loved at the same time all that he had heard in the council chamber was a warning to him to keep out of De Vargas's way the latter, if Inaz spoke the truth was keeping his daughter almost a prisoner and it was never good at any time to run counter to Senor De Vargas the house was very still the netherlanders had all gone two serving men appeared to be asleep in the porch otherwise there came no sign of life from any part of the building the heavy oak doors which gave on the enter room of the council chamber effectively deadened every sound which might have come from there Don Ramon smiled to himself and shrugged his shoulders after all he was a fool to be so easily scared a beautiful woman beckoned and he had not been forbidden to see her so after that one brief moment of hesitation he turned to follow Inaz up the stairs the woman led the way round the gallery then up another flight of stairs and along a narrow corridor till she came to a low door beside which she stopped go in I pray you senor she said the senorita expects you the young man walked unannounced into the small room beyond there came a little cry of happy surprise out of the recess of a wide dormer window and the next moment Don Ramon held Lenora De Vargas in his arms Lenora with the golden hair dark velvety eyes thus do the chroniclers of the time speak of her notably the sir De Varnavik who knew her intimately thus too did Velasquez paint her a few years after these notable events all in white for she seldom wore colored gowns very stately with the small head slightly thrown back the fringe of dark lashes revealing the luster of her luminous eyes but just at this moment there was no stateliness about Dona Lenora she clung to Don Ramon just like a loving child that has been rather scared and knows where to find protection and he accepted her caress with an easy somewhat supercilious air of condescension the child was so pretty he patted her hair with gentle soothing gesture and thanked kind fate for this pleasing gift of a beautiful woman's love I did not know that you were in Brussels he said after a while and when he had led her to a seat in the window and sat down beside her all this while I thought you were still in Segovia his glance was searching hers and his vanity was pleasantly stirred by the fact that she was pale and thin and that those wonderful luminous eyes of hers looked as if they had shed many tears of late Ramon she whispered you know the Duke of Alva he replied dryly gave me official information then seeing that she remained silent and dejected he added, peremptorily Lenora how long is it since you have known of this proposed marriage only three days she replied tomelessly my father sent for me about a month ago the Duchess of Medina Sally was coming over to the Netherlands on a visit to her lord and I was told that I must accompany her we started from Laredo in the Esperanza on the 10th of last month and we landed at Flushing a week ago oh at first I was so happy to come it is nine months and more since you left Spain and my heart was aching for a sight of you then when did you first hear three days since when we arrived in Brussels the Duchess herself took me to my father's house and then he told me that he had made me come because the Lieutenant had arranged a marriage for me with a Netherlander Don Ramon muttered an angry oath did he your father I mean never hint at it before he asked never a month ago he still spoke of you in his letters to me had you no suspicions Ramon none he replied it was he of course who obtained for you that command under Don Frederick which took you out of Spain it was a fine position and I accepted it gladly and unsuspectingly it must have been the beginning he wanted you out of my way already then though he went on pretending all this while that he favored your attentions to me he thought that I would soon forget you how little he knows of me and now he has forbidden me to think of you again since I am in Brussels he hardly lets me out of his sight he only leaves the house in order to attend on the Duke and when he does he brings me here with him Ines and I are sent up to this room and I am virtually a prisoner it all seems like an ugly dream Lenora he murmured sullenly I an ugly dream she sighed off times since my father told me this awful thing I have thought that it could not be true God could not allow anything so monstrous and so wicked I thought that I must be dreaming and must presently wake up and find myself in the dear old convent at Segovia with your farewell letter to me under my pillow she was gazing straight out at her not at him for she felt that if she looked on him all her fortitude would give way and she would cry like a child this she would not do for her woman's instinct had already told her that all the courage in this terrible emergency must come from her he sat there moody and taciturn all the while that she longed for him to take her in his arms and to swear to her that never would he give her up never would he allow reasons of state to come between him and his love there are political reasons it seems she continued and the utter wretchedness and hopelessness with which she spoke were a pathetic contrast to his own mere sullen resentment my father has not condescended to say much he sent for me and I came as soon as I arrived in Brussels he told me that I must no longer think of you that childish folly he said must now come to an end then he advised me that the lieutenant governor had arranged a marriage for me with the son of monsieur van rijk high bailiff of Ghent that we are to be affianced tomorrow and married within the week I cried I implored I knelt to my father and begged him not to break my heart my life I told him that to part me from you was to condemn me to worse than death well and he queried you know my father Ramon she said with a slight shudder almost as well as I do do you believe that any tears would move him he made no reply indeed what could he say he did know Juan de Vargas knew that such a man would sacrifice without pity or remorse everything that stood in the way of his schemes or of his ambition I was not even told that you would be in Brussels today I nez only heard of it through the Duke of Alva's serving men then she asked me if I could do it for you because I felt that I must at least be the first to tell you the awful awful news oh she exclaimed with sudden vehemence the misery of it all Ramon cannot you think of something cannot you think are we going to be parted like this as if our love had never been as if our love the blessing of God which no man should have the power to take away from us she was on the point of breaking down and on Ramon with one ear alert to every sound outside had much ado to soothe and calm her this he tried to do for selfish as he was he loved this beautiful woman with that passionate if shallow which is characteristic of his temperament Lenora he said after a while it is impossible for me to say anything for the moment fate and your father's cruelty have dealt me a blow which has half stunned me as you say I must think I am not going to give up hope quite as readily as your father seems to think by our lady I am not just an old glove that can so lightly be cast aside I must think I must devise but in the meanwhile he paused and something of that same look of fear came into his eyes which had been there when in the council chamber he had dreaded the Duke of Alva's censure in the meanwhile my sweet he added hastily you must pretend to obey you cannot openly defy your father nor yet the Duke of Alva you know them both they are men who know neither pity nor mercy your father would punish you if you disobeyed him he has the means of compelling you to obey but the Duke's wrath would fall with deathly violence upon me you know as well as I do that he would sacrifice me ruthlessly if he felt with any of his projects and your marriage with the Netherlander is part of one of his vast schemes the look of terror became more marked upon his face his dark skin had become almost livid in hue and Lenora clung to him trembling for she knew that everything he said was true they were like two birds caught in the net of a remorseless fowler to struggle for freedom were worse than useless Dvargas was a man who had attained supreme power beside the most absolute tyrant the world had ever known every human being around him even his only child was a mere pawn in his hands for the great political game in which the Duke of Alva was the chief player a mere tool for the fashioning of that monstrous chain which was destined to bind the low countries to the chariot wheels of Spain a useless tool a superfluous pawn he would throw away without a paying of remorse this Don Ramon knew and so did Lenora but in Ramon that knowledge reigned supreme and went hand in hand with terror whilst in the young girl there was all the desire to defy that knowledge and to make a supreme fight for love and happiness I must not stay any longer now my sweet he said after a while if your father has so absolutely forbidden you to see me then I have tarried here too long already he rose and gently disengaged himself from the tender hands which clung so pathetically to him I can't let you go Ramon she implored it seems as if you were going right out of my life and that my life would go with you if you went sweetheart he said a little impatiently it is dangerous for me to stay a moment longer try and be brave I'll not say farewell we'll meet again how? Bruthaus this evening I'll give her a letter for you in the meanwhile I shall have seen your father who knows his decision may not be irrevocable after all you are the one being in the world he has to love and to care for he cannot willfully break your heart and destroy your happiness she shook her head dejectedly but the next moment she looked up trying to seem hopeful she believed that he suffered just as acutely as she did and womanlike did not want to add to his sorrow by letting him gas too much of her own she contrived to keep back her tears she had shed so many of late that their wellspring had may have run dry he folded her in his arms for she was exquisitely beautiful she loved her marriage with her would have been both blissful and advantageous and his pride was sorely wounded at the casual treatment meted out to him by De Vargas at the same time the thought of defiance never once entered his head for defiance could only end in death and Don Ramon felt quite sure that even if he lost his life still held many compensations for him in the future therefore he was able to part from Lenora with a light heart whilst hers was over-weighted with sorrow he kissed her eyes, her hair, her lips and murmured protestations of deathless love which only enhanced her grief and inflamed all that selfless ardor of which her passionate nature was capable never had she loved Don Ramon Delinia as she loved him at this hour of parting never perhaps would she love as fondly again and he with a last tender kiss eerily bait her to be brave and trustful and finally waved her with a cheery farewell End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 of Leather Face A Tale of Old Flanders This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Dionne Jines Salt Lake City, Utah Leather Face A Tale of Old Flanders by Baroness Orksey Chapter 2 The Subject Race The Subject Race I cannot do it mother I cannot the very shame of it would kill me Lawrence Van Reich sat on a low chair in front of the fire his elbow propped on his knee his chin buried in his hand his mother gave a little shiver and drew her woolen shawl closer round her shoulders you cannot go against your father's will like one who has even lost the power to suffer acutely God alone knows what would become of us all if you did he can only kill me retorted Lawrence with fierce passionate resentment and how should I survive if he did would you not rather see me dead mother dear than wedded to a woman whose every thought every aspiration must tend toward the further destruction of our country she the daughter of the most hideous tyrant that has ever defamed this earth more hideous even than that execrable alpha himself he paused abruptly in the midst of this passionate outburst for the old house then so solemn and silent a while ago suddenly echoed from end to end with loud and hilarious sounds laughter and shouts heavy footsteps jingle of spurs and snatches of song immediately followed by one or two piteous cries uttered in a woman's piercing voice Lawrence van Rijk jumped to his feet but he cried and made a dash for the door his mother's imploring cry called him back no no Lawrence don't go she begged it is only the soldiers they tease Jeanne and she gets very cross we have six men and a sergeant quartered here now besides the commandant eight Spanish soldiers in the house of Ghent exclaimed Lawrence with a prolonged laugh of intense bitterness and a prolonged laugh of intense bitterness came from his overburdened heart oh god he added as he stretched out his arms with a gesture of miserable longing and impotence to endure all this outrage and all this infamy to know as we do what has happened in Mons and Mecklen and to be powerless to do anything against such hideous appalling detestable tyranny to feel every wrong and every injustice against the country one loves against one's own kith and kin eating like the plague into one's very bones and to remain powerless inert an insentient log in the face of it all and all the while to be fawning always fawning and cringing kissing the master's hand that wields the flail and now this new tyranny this abominable marriage ye heavens above me but my own cowardice in accepting it would fill me with unspeakable loathing Lawrence for pity's sake implored the mother at her call he ran to her and nailed at her feet then burying his head in his hands he sobbed like a child I cannot do it mother he reiterated piteously I cannot do it I would far rather die with gentle mechanical touch she stroked his unruly fair hair and heavy tears rolled down her wand cheeks upon her thin white hands just think of it mother dear resumed Lawrence a little more calmly after a while would it not be introducing a spy into our very home and just now at the time when we all have so much at stake the prince Lawrence implored the mother and this time she placed an authoritative hand upon his arm and gave it a warning pressure but her wand cheeks had become a shade paler than before and the look of terror became more marked in her sunken eyes even these walls have ears these days she added feebly there is no danger here mother darling nobody can hear he said reassuringly but nevertheless he too cast a quick look of terror into the remote corners of the room and dropped his voice to a whisper when he spoke again Juan de Vargas' daughter he said with passionate earnestness what hath she in common with us she hates every Netherlander who despises us all as every Spaniard does she would wish to see our beautiful country devastated our cities destroyed our liberties and ancient privileges rested from us and every one of us made into an abject vassal of her beloved Spain every moment of my life I should feel that she was watching me spying on me making plans for the undoing of our cause and betraying our secrets to her abominable father mother dear such a life would be hell upon earth I could not do it I would far rather die but what can you do Lawrence asked Clamont's then Reich with a sigh of infinite misery Lawrence rose and dried his tears he felt that they had been unmanly and was half ashamed of them fortunately it was only his mother who had seen them and how well she understood I must think it all over mother dear he said calmly it is early yet father will not want me to be at the townhouse before eight o'clock oh how could he ever mean so obsequious as to agree to this selling of his son in such a shameful market how could he help it retorted the mother with a fretful little sigh the Duke of Elva commanded in the name of the king and threatened us all with the inquisition if we disobeyed you know what that means she added whilst that pitiable look of horror and fear once more crept into her eyes sometimes I think said Lawrence somberly he was standing in front of the fire and staring into the crackling logs with a deep frown right across his brow sometimes I think that the worst tortures which those devils could inflict on us would be more endurable than this life of constant misery and humiliation the mother made no reply her wand cheeks had become the color of ashes her thin hands which were resting in her lap were seized with a nervous tremor from below came still the sound of loud laughter intermixed now with a bibulous song a smothered cry of rage shaped Lawrence's lips it seemed as if he could not stay still as if he must run and stop this insult in his mother's house silence those brawling soldiers force their own obscene songs down their throats regardless of the terrible reprisals which might ensue only his mother's thin trembling hand upon his arm forced him to remain and to swallow his resentment as best he could it is no use Lawrence she murmured and I would be the first to suffer this argument had the effect of forcing Lawrence van Rijk to control his raging temper common sense came momentarily to the rescue and told him that his mother was right he started pacing up and down the narrow room with a view to calming his nerves have you seen Mark this morning ask Clémence van Rijk suddenly no he replied have you only for a moment what had he to say oh you know Mark's way she replied evasively it seems that he caught sight of Donna Lenora de Vargas when she passed through the wallport yesterday he made a flippant joke or two about your good luck and the girl's beauty Lawrence suppressed an angry oath don't blame Mark interposed Clémence van Rijk gently he is as God made him shallow careless not careless where his own pleasures are concerned said Lawrence with a laugh of bitter contempt last night at the three weavers a lot of Spanish officers held corrals Mark was with them till far into the night there was heavy drinking and high play and Mark I know I know broke in the mother fretfully do not let us speak of Mark he is his father's son and you are mine she added as with a wistful little gesture she stretched out her arms to the son whom she loved once more he was at her feet kissing her hands do not fret mother dear he said I'll think things out quietly and then do what I think is right you'll do nothing rash Lawrence she pleaded nothing without consulting me I must consult my conscience first dear he said firmly and then I must speak with the Prince yes yes I know he added somewhat impatiently as once again he felt that warning pressure on his arm next to God my every thought is for him nor did he think of himself when he refused to acknowledge the autocracy of Elva our time is at hand mother dear I feel it in my bones the last response has been splendid we have promises of close on two thousand do-cots already and two hundred men are ready to take up arms in the city at any moment yes yes I know and I am careful I am as wary as the fox but how can I at such a moment think of matrimony how can I think to such abominable tyranny I bend the knee only to the Prince of Orange and by him I swear that I will not wed the daughter of Juan de Vargas I will not bring to this hearth and to my home one of that gang of execrable tyrants who have ravaged our country and crushed the spirit of our people I have worked to do for Orange and for my country I will not be hindered by bonds which are abhorrent to me he gave his mother a final kiss and then hurried out of the room she would have detained him if she could for she was terrified of what he might do but she called after him in vain and when presently she went to his room to look for him but on his desk there was a letter addressed to his father Clemence van Rijk took it up it was not sealed only rolled and tied with ribbon this she undid and read the letter there were only a few words and when the unfortunate woman had grasped their full meaning she uttered a moan of pain and sank half fainting on her knees here Jeannie found her half an hour later sobbing and praying the faithful creature comforted her mistress as best she could then she half carried half led her back to her room the letter written to his father by Lawrence van Rijk contained the following brief communication find someone else my father to help you lick our Spanish boots I cannot do it I refuse to wed the daughter of that bloodhound De Vargas but as I cannot live under your roof and disobey you I will not return until you bid me come this had occurred early this morning it was now late in the afternoon and Lawrence had not returned the levy at the town hall was timed for eight o'clock and the high bailiff had just come home in order to don his robes for the solemn occasion Clemont's van Rijk had made an excuse not to see him yet like all weak indecisive natures she was hoping against hope that something would occur even now to break Lawrence's obstinacy and induce him to bow to that will which it was so useless to rebel but the minutes sped on and Lawrence did not return and from a room close by came the sound of Mr. van Rijk's heavy footstep and his gruff voice giving orders to the serving man who was helping him with his clothes another hour or perhaps two at most and she would have to tell her husband what had happened and the awful catastrophe would have to be faced as she sat in the high back chair Clemont's van Rijk felt as if an icy chill had crept into her bones put another log on the fire Jeannie, she said this autumn weather hath chilled me to the marrow Jeannie, capable buxom and busy did as she was bid and more she ran nimbly out of the room and in a trice had returned with Madame's chafaret well filled with glowing charcoal and had put it to her mistress's feet then she lit the candles in the tall candelabra which stood on a heavy sideboard at the further end of the room and drew the heavy curtains across the window the room certainly looked more cozy now Madame only gave one slight final shiver and drew her shawl closer round her shoulders Is Monsieur Marc dressed yet? Jeannie, she asked wistfully Monsieur came in about ten minutes ago replied the woman let him know that I wish to speak with him as soon as he can come to me Yes Madame they are on duty at the town hall till eleven o'clock then they are coming home for a second supper then will Don Ramon Delinia sup with us thank you he didn't say in any case lay his place ready in case he wants to sup he'll be on duty quite late too for him if his supper is not to his taste whatever I do will never be to the common dance taste he didn't like his room and he didn't like the dinner I had cooked for him when he heard in whose house he was he swore and blasphemed as I never heard anyone blaspheme before I worked my fingers to the bone last night and this morning I opened his linen and starch his rough but even then he was not satisfied there was a tone of bitter wrath in Genie's voice as she spoke Madame drew a fretful little sigh but she made no comment what was the use the Spanish soldiers and officers quartered in the houses of Flemish burgers had an unpleasant way of enforcing their wishes in regard to food and drink which it was not wise to combat these days so Clemont's then Reich dismissed Genie and remained brooding alone staring into the fire repeating in her mind all that Lawrence had said looking into the future with that same shiver of horror which was habitual to her and into all the awful possibilities that must inevitably follow Lawrence's hot-headed act of rebellion and as she sat there huddled up in the high back chair it would be difficult to realize that Clemont's van Reich was still on the right side of fifty she had married when she had only just emerged out of childhood and had been in her day the prettiest, gayest of all the maidens in the city of Ghent but now her eyes had lost their sparkle and her mouth its smile her shoulders were bent as if under a perpetual load of care and anxiety and in her once so comely face there was a settled look of anxiety and of fear even now when a firm footstep sounded along the tiled corridor she lost nothing of that attitude of dejection which seemed to have become habitual to her in answer to a timid knock at the door she called a fretful enter but she did not turn her head as Mark her younger son came close up to her chair he stooped to kiss the smooth white forehead which was not even lifted for his caress any news were the first words which Clemont's van Rijk uttered and this time she looked up more eagerly and a swift glimmer of hope shot through her tear dimmed eyes nothing definite replied Mark van Rijk he had food and drink at the hostelry of St. John just before midday and at the tavern of the silver bell later in the afternoon apparently he has not left the city as no one saw him pass through any of the gates but if Florence does not mean to be found mother dear he added with a light shrug of the shoulders I might as well look for a needle in a haystack as to seek him in the streets of Ghent the mother sighed dejectedly and Mark threw himself into a chair and stretched his long legs out to the blaze he felt his mother's eyes scanning his face and gradually a faint smile half ironical half impatient played round the corners of his mouth to a superficial observer there was a great likeness between the two brothers although Mark was the taller and more robust of the two most close observers would however assert that Lawrence was the better looking Mark had not the same unruly fair hair nor look of boyish enthusiasm his face was more dour and furrowed despite the merry twinkle which now and then lit up his grey eyes and there were lines around his brow and mouth which in an older man would have suggested the cares of his gorgeous life but which to the mother's searching gaze at this moment only seemed to indicate traces of dissipation of nights spent in taverns and days frittered away in the pursuit of pleasure Clémence van Rijk sighed as she read these signs and a bitter word of reproach hovered on her lips but this she checked and merely sighed for so habitual to her poor soul have you seen your father she asked after a while not yet he replied you will have to tell him Mark I couldn't I haven't the courage he has always loved you better than Lawrence or me the blow would come best from you have you told him nothing then nothing good God he exclaimed and he has to meet in your de Vargas within the next two hours oh I hadn't the courage to tell him Mark she moaned piteously I was always hoping that Lawrence would think better of it all I so dread even to think what he will say what he will do Lawrence should have thought of that rejoined Mark dryly before he embarked she exclaimed with sudden vehemence you can talk of escapade when easy easy mother dear broken Mark good humoredly I know I deserve all your reproaches for taking this adventure so lightly but you must confess dear that there is a comic side to the tragedy there always is Lawrence the happy bridegroom elect takes to his heels even a glimpse at the bride offered to him while it's her beauty according to rumor sets every masculine heart ablaze the mother gave a little sigh of weariness and resignation you never will understand your brother Mark she said with deep earnestness not as long as you live you never will understand your mother either you are your father's son is more holy mine you can look on with indifference God help you even with levity on the awful tyranny which has well now annihilated our beautiful land of flounders on you the weight of Spanish oppression sits over lightly sometimes I think I ought to thank God that he has given you a shallow nature and that I am not doomed to see both my son's suffer as Lawrence my eldest does to him Mark his country and her downtrodden liberties are almost a religion every act of tyranny perpetrated by that odious alva is a wrong which he swears to avenge what he suffers in the innermost fiber of his being every time that your father lends a hand to the abominable work of persecution nobody but I his mother will ever know your father's abject submission to alva has eaten into his very soul from a gay light hearted lad he has become a stern and silent man what schemes for the overthrow of tyrants go on within his mind I dare not even think awful bloodhound divargus murderer desecrator thief he loathes with deadly abomination when the order came forth from your father that he should forthwith prepare for his early marriage to the daughter of that execrable man he even thought of death as preferable to a union against which his innermost soul rose in revolt he spoke and thus lengthily very slowly but with calm and dignified firmness mark was silent there was a grandeur about the mother's defense of her beloved son which checked the word of levity upon his lips now clements than rike sank back in her chair exhausted by her sustained effort she closed her eyes for a while but note how much his mother had aged in the past two years how worried she looked and how pathetic and above all how timid like one on whom fear is a constant attendant when he spoke again it was more seriously and with great gentleness I had no thought mother dear he said of belittling Lawrence's earnestness nor yet his devotion I'll even admit and you wish that the present situation is tragic it is now past six o'clock father must be at the town hall within the next two hours he must be told and at once the question is what can we tell him to to soften the blow and to appease his fury broken clements van rike and once more the look of terror crept into her eyes a look which made her stooping figure look still more whizzened and forlorn mark she added under her breath your father is frightened to death of the Duke of Alva I believe that he would sacrifice Lawrence and even me to save himself from the vengeance of those people hush mother dear now you are talking wildly father is perhaps a little weak most of us I fear me now are weak we have been cowed and brow beaten and threatened till we have lost all sense of our own manhood and our own dignity you perhaps protested the mother almost roughly but not Lawrence you and your father are ready to lick the dust before all these banyards but I tell you that what you choose to call loyalty they call servility they despise you for your fawning men like orange and Lawrence they hate but they give them grudging respect and hang them to the nearest gibbet when they get a chance broke in mark with a dry laugh before clements van rike could say another word the heavy footstep of the high bailiff was heard in the hall below the poor woman felt as if her heart stood still with apprehension your father has finished dressing go down to him mark she implored I cannot bear to meet him with the news and mark without another word went down to meet his father Charles van rike a fine man of dignified presence and somewhat pompous manner was standing in the hall arrayed ready for the reception in the magnificent robes of his office his first word on seeing mark was to ask for Lawrence the bridegroom elect and hero of the coming feast he is a fine looking lad said the father complacently he cannot fail to find favor in Donna Lenora's sight the news had to be told mark drew his father into the dining hall and served him with wine this marriage will mean a splendid future for us all mark continued the high bailiff as he pledged his son in a tankard of wine here's to the happy young people and to the coming prosperity of our house no more humiliations mark no more fears of that awful inquisition we shall belong to the ruling class now tyranny can touch us no longer and the news had to be told Clemont's van rike had said nothing to her husband about Lawrence's letter so it all had to be told quietly and without preambles Lawrence has gone out of the house father vowing that he would never marry Donna Lenora de Vargas it took some time before the high bailiff realized that mark was not justing the fact had to be dwelt upon, repeated over and over again explained and insisted on before the father was made to understand that his son had played him faults and had placed the family fortunes and the lives of its members in deadly jeopardy thereby he has gone reiterated mark for the tenth time gone with the intention not to return at the reception tonight the bride will be waiting and the bridegroom will not be there the Duke of Alva will ask where is the bridegroom whom he hath chosen for the great honor and Echo will only answer where? Charles van rike was silent pushed away from him the tankard and bottle of wine his face was the color of lead this means ruin for us all mark he murmured black hideous ruin Alva will never forgive de Vargas will hate us with the hatred born of humiliation a public front to his daughter oh holy virgin protect us he continued half it will mean the scaffold for me the steak for your mother he rose and said curtly I must speak with your mother he went to the door but his step was unsteady mark forestalled him and placed himself against the door with his hand on the latch it means black ruin for us all mark reiterated the high bailiff with somber despair you and speak of it with your mother my mother is sick and anxious said mark quietly she cannot help what Lawrence has done you and I father can talk things over quietly without her there is nothing that you can say mark there is nothing we can do save perhaps pack up a few belongings and clear out of the country as quickly as we can that is if there is time your imagination does not carry you very far me seems quote mark dryly Lawrence's default is not irreparable what do you mean am I not here to put it right what you by your leave you mark the transition from black despair to this sudden ray of hope was too much for the old man he tottered and nearly measured his length on the floor mark had barely the time to save him from the fall now he passed his trembling hand across his eyes and forehead his knees were shaking under him you mark he murmured again he managed to pour himself out a fresh mug of wine and drink it greedily then he sat down for his knees still refused him service it would be salvation indeed he said somewhat more steadily mark shrugged his shoulders with an air of complete indifference well frankly father dear he said I think that there is not much salvation for us in introducing a Spaniard into our home mother and Lawrence when he comes back you have to be very careful in their talk but you seem to think the present danger imminent imminent ye gods exclaimed the high bailiff unable to repress a shutter of terror at the thought I tell you mark that De Vargas would never forgive what he would call a public insult nor would Alva forgive what he would call a woman who are all powerful and as cruel and cunning as fiends would track us and hunt us down till they had brought you and me to the scaffold and your mother to the stake I know that father interposed mark with some impatience else I would not dream of standing in Lawrence's shoes the bride is very beautiful but I have no liking for matrimony the question is will De Vargas guess the truth he hath eyes like links no no he will not guess he only saw Lawrence twice a fortnight ago when I took him up to Brussels and presented him to senor De Vargas and to the Duke and then again the next evening both times the lights were dim no no De Vargas will not guess you and your brother are at times so much alike and Donna Lenora hath not seen Lawrence yet and you did not speak of Lawrence by name I shouldn't care to change mine no I don't think so I presented my son to the Duke and to senor De Vargas it was at his highness's lodgings the room was small and dark and senor De Vargas paid but little heed to us we Netherlanders are of so little account in the sight of these grandees of Spain, quote Mark with a light laugh and in any case father we must take some risk so will you go and see my mother and calm her fears whilst I go and don my best doublet and hose poor little mother we have put one foot into her grave through terror and anxiety on Lawrence's account as for Lawrence exclaimed the high bailiff wrathfully don't worry about Lawrence father broke in Mark quietly his marriage with a Spaniard would have been disastrous he would have fallen violently in love with his beautiful wife and she would have dragged sufficient information out of him to denounce us all to the Inquisition perhaps he added with good humoured indifference it is all for the best the high bailiff rose and placed a hand upon his son's shoulder you are a true son to me Mark he said earnestly never shall I forget it I am a wealthy man more wealthy than many suppose in virtue of your marriage wench you will be more free from taxation than we Netherlanders are I'll make over the bulk of my fortune to you you shall not regret what you have done for me and for your mother it is time I went up to dress was Mark's only comment on his father's kindly speech and he quietly removed the paternal hand from off his shoulder my bailiff cheerfully I'll wait until you are ready I must just run up to your mother and tell her the good news nay but I do believe if that hot-headed young rascal were to turn up now I would forgive him his senseless escapade as you say my dear son it is all for the best