Flemish Legends Part 17

He obeyed, and Sir Roel, the lady Gonde, and the sorrowing Magtelt saw that he was bleeding from the head and from the neck, and cast down his eyes, not daring to look them in the face.

The lady Gonde cried out with fright on seeing the blood, and Magtelt came to him, and Sir Roel said: "Who has given my son this shamed countenance, this downcast heart, and these wounds in his body?"

The Silent answered: "Siewert Halewyn."

"Why," said Sir Roel, "was my son so presumptuous as to attack the Invincible?"

The Silent answered: "Anne-Mie hanged in the Gallows-field of Siewert Halewyn."

"Woe!" cried Sir Roel, "our poor maid hanged! shame and sorrow upon us!"

"Lord G.o.d," said Gonde, "you smite us hard indeed." And she wept.

But Magtelt could neither weep nor speak from the bitterness of the grief which laid hold upon her.

And she looked at her brother fixedly, and his sunken face blenched, and from the wounds against his eyes dropped tears of blood, and his body was shaken with spasms.

And the Silent sank into a seat, weeping dully like a wounded lion.

"Ha," quoth Sir Roel, hiding his face, "this is the first man of the house of Heurne that has found need to sit weeping. Shame upon us, and without redress, for there is a spell woven."

And the Silent stuffed his fingers into the wound in his neck, pressing out the blood; but he felt nothing of the pain.

"Toon," said the lady Gonde, "do not dirty your wound with your fingers in this wise; you will poison it, my son."

But the Silent did not seem to hear.

"Toon," said the lady Gonde, "do not do it; I, your mother, order you. Let me wash away this blood and dress with ointment these ugly sores."

While she hurried to prepare the ointment and to warm the water in a was.h.i.+ng-basin, Toon did not cease his groaning and weeping. And he tore out the hair from his beard in a rage.

And Sir Roel, watching him, said: "When a man weeps 'tis blood and shame, shame without redress. Halewyn has a spell. Ah, presumptuous one, must thou then go to his castle to brave the Invincible?"

"Woe, my lord," said the lady Gonde, "be not so bitter angry with the Silent, for he showed fine courage in wis.h.i.+ng to avenge Anne-Mie on the Miserable."

"Yes," said Sir Roel, "fine courage that brings shame to our house."

"Tell," said she, "tell, Toon, the tale to thy father, to show him that thou art a worthy son to him none the less."

"I wish it," said Sir Roel.

"My lord father," said the Silent, groaning, and speaking in short breaths, "Anne-Mie hanging, Siewert Halewyn near to the gallows. He was laughing. I ran at him, cutting at his belly with my sword in the fas.h.i.+on of a cross to break the spell. Invincible! He laughed, saying: 'I will take Magtelt.' I struck him with a knife; the blade turned. He laughed. He said: 'I do not care for punishment, be off.' I did not go. I struck him with sword and knife together; in vain. He laughed. He said again: 'Be off.' I could not. Then he struck me with the flat of his sword in the neck and breast, and with the hilt in the back, like a serf. He laughed. I lost sense from the blows. Beaten like a serf, my lord father, I could do naught against him."

Sir Roel, having heard Toon speak, was less angered, understanding that he had not been presumptuous, thinking also of his great pain and of his bitter groaning and his grievous shame.

With the ointment ready and the water warm, the lady Gonde set to work to dress the wounds of her son, particularly that on his neck, which was a deep one.

But Magtelt wept never a tear, and soon went off to her bed, not without a blessing from Sir Roel her father, and her lady mother.

The three stayed a long while together before the fire, father, mother, and son, without a word spoken, for the Silent, moaning all the while, could not bear his defeat, and the lady Gonde wept and prayed; and Sir Roel, sad and ashamed, hid his face.

XXIV. How the damosel Magtelt made a good resolution.

Magtelt, before she lay down on her bed, prayed, but not aloud. And her face was hard set with anger.

And having undressed she lay down in her bed, tugging at her breast with her finger-nails from time to time, as if she were fighting for breath.

And her breathing was as if she were in agony.

For she was bitter sad and out of heart.

But she did not weep.

And she heard the high wind, forerunner of snow, lifting over the forest, and roaring like a stream in spate after heavy rain.

And it tossed against the window gla.s.s dried leaves and branches, which beat on the pane like dead men's finger-nails.

And it howled and whistled sadly in the chimney.

And the sorrowing maid saw in her mind's eye Anne-Mie hanging in the Gallows-field and her poor body pecked by the crows, and she thought of the stain on her brave brother's honour, and of the fifteen poor virgins outraged by the Miserable.

But she did not weep.

For in her breast was a dumb pain, harsh anguish, and a bitter thirst for vengeance.

And she asked very humbly of Our Lady if it were a good thing to let the Miserable any longer go killing the maidens of the land of Flanders.

And at c.o.c.k-crow she rose from her bed, and her eyes were bright, and proud was her countenance, and her head held high, and she said: "I will go to Halewyn."

And throwing herself on her knees she prayed to the very strong G.o.d to give her courage and strength for the revenge of Anne-Mie, Toon the Silent, and the fifteen virgins.

XXV. Of the sword of the Lion.

At sun-up she went to Sir Roel, who was still in bed, on account of the cold.

Seeing her come in and fall on her knees before him, he said: "What wilt thou, little one?"

"My lord father," she said, "may I go to Halewyn?"

At this he became afraid, and saw well enough that Magtelt, unable to rid her heart of the thought of Anne-Mie, was minded to avenge her. And he said with love and anger:

"No, my daughter, no, not thou; who goes there will not come again!"