University of Virginia Library

Scene XI.

—Bruges.—An Apartment in the Palace of the Earl of Flanders.
The Earl and Sir Walter D'Arlon.
D'Arlon.
I marvel, my good Lord, you take that knave
So freely to your counsels.

Earl.
Treason done
Against my enemies secures him mine.
Ghent never can forgive him what is past,
Which knowing, he will therefore cleave to me.
Besides, he learns the minds of men; how each,
Here and in Ghent, is leaning, off or on.
For this and other serviceable arts
I show him favour, not for better gifts.
Have you not seen a jackdaw take his stand
On a sheep's back, permitted there to perch
Less out of kindness to so foul a bird
Than for commodious uses of his beak?
As to the sheep the jackdaw, so to me
Is Gilbert Matthew; from my fleece he picks
The vermin that molest me.—Here he comes!
Enter Gilbert Matthew.
Well, honest Gilbert, are the Knights not gone?

Gilbert.
Not yet, my Lord: they urge in lieu of lives
The forfeiture of sundry burgages
To fill your coffers. I denied them.

Earl.
Why?
I bade thee not!

Gilbert.
Lives, lives, my Lord, take freely,
But spare the lands and burgages and moneys.
The father dead, shall sleep and be forgotten;
The patrimony gone,—that makes a wound
That's slow to heal; heirs are above-ground ever.

Earl.
Well, be it so.

Gilbert.
The Knights wait here without.
They ask an audience of leave, and more,
They bring a new adherent.

Earl.
Bid them come.

Gilbert Matthew goes out, and returns with Sir Simon Bette and Sir Guisebert Grutt.
Sir Simon.
This audience we made bold to crave, my Lord,
To notify your Highness that our friend
The Lord of Occo, hazarding his life,
Hath ventured hither in disguise, to tell
How matters stand in Ghent.

Earl.
And does he wait?

Sir Simon.
He does; and with your leave I'll call him in

[Exit.
Earl.
But is he worth his pardon?

Gilbert.
Past a doubt
He has his hand upon the balance now;
And free forgiveness for all past misdeeds
Will make him wholly yours.

Earl.
Well, we shall see.
'Tis no such urgent need we have of him;
But if he be so contrite, it is well. Re-enter Sir Simon Bette with Occo.

You're a bold man, my Lord of Occo, you
That have so long borne arms against your Liege,
Without safe-conduct to come hither.

Occo.
Sir,
My sole safe-conduct is the good intent
I bear to your affairs; nought else prevailed
To start me hither, and nought else, I trust,
Is needed for my safe return.

Earl.
Enough;
Thou shalt return in safety. Say, what news
Bring'st thou from Ghent?

Occo.
My Lord, peace, peace! is there
The only cry, except with desperate chiefs,
Who are so weak, that fair conditions now
Would draw their followers from them to a man.

Earl.
Our proffer of conditions is made known
Already to our good Sir Simon Bette
And Guisebert Grutt.

Sir Guisebert.
Indemnity to all
Save some three hundred souls; and who be these
He names not now, but will hereafter.

Occo.
Well!
These terms are just and merciful indeed!
But then they must be promptly proffer'd; yes,
You know, my Lord, the humour we of Ghent
Have still indulged—we never cry for peace
But when we're out of breath; give breathing-time,
And ere the echo of our cry for peace
Have died away, we drown it with War! War!
Ev'n now the faction hopes to be redeem'd
By a new leader.

Earl.
What may be his name?

Occo.
Philip Van Artevelde.

Earl.
Thou say'st not so!
That is a name I like not; it means much.
Whenever sunshine has come near my house
An Artevelde has cast his shadow there.
I have not heard the name of Artevelde
Since that usurper Jacques died the death.
This Philip then, I think, was but a child.
What is he made of? Of his father's metal?
A dangerous man, in truth, Sirs, if he be.

Gilbert.
Oh, fear him not, my Lord; his father's name
Is all that from his father he derives.
He is a man of singular address
In catching river-fish. His life has been,
Till now, more like a peasant's or a monk's
Than like the issue of his father.

Occo.
True;
Yet is his name so worshipp'd of the crafts,
That were the time permitted and the scope
To grow expert, some danger might ensue.
Wherefore 'twere well to note him on the list
Of those three hundred doomed.

Earl.
No doubt, no doubt.
Let him be noted. Think you, then, Sir Guy,
That they'll accept our terms, or still hold out?

Occo.
Let these good Knights make instant speed to Ghent
And call the burghers to the market-place;
Then let to-morrow at their bidding wear
The aspect of to-day, and all will thrive.
Take them whilst yet Nivelle is in their thoughts.

Earl.
You counsel well. Prepare, Sirs, to depart;
We'll have the terms engross'd and send them you.
Farewell, my Lord; farewell, Sir Simon Bette!
Sir Guisebert Grutt, farewell!

[Exeunt the Earl, Gilbert Matthew, Occo, and Sir Simon Bette. As Sir Guisebert Grutt is following he is detained by D'Arlon.
D'Arlon.
One word, fair Sir.

Sir Guisebert.
My good Lord, at your pleasure.

D'Arlon.
Only this:
I have a foolish errand in your town;
There is a damsel . . . . . . but your head is white;
You will not heed me.

Sir Guisebert.
Pray proceed, my Lord;
I have not yet forgotten how in youth
A damsel's love, amongst the amorous,
Was more than bed of down or morning posset.

D'Arlon.
In brief, kind Sir, conveyance hence to Ghent
Is what I crave. Methinks amongst your train,
And habited like them, I well could pass
And no one mark me.

Sir Guisebert.
Sir, you're free to try;
And if our friends should still be uppermost
You will risk nothing. Should the faction reign,
You shall do well to keep your secret close
And make your best speed back.

D'Arlon.
Leave that to me.