Ivanhoe by Walter Scott (world best books to read .TXT) 📖

the greater will be his haste

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