WILLIAM FITZ-OSBERT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 56, 7 March 1871, Page 4

WILLIAM FITZ-OSBERT.

A STORY OF LONDON LIFE IN THE DATS OF RICHARD CCEUR DE LION. From the Family Friend, !

fitz-osbert's story. For some minutes Fitz-Osbert remained silent, at length he succeeded in mastering the almost convulsive emotion of grief mid rage which filled his soul. "It is now sixteen years ago," he said, in a half whisper, for a great lump seemed rising in his throat, and almost prevented his utterance, " since the event occurred which made my life desolate and made you a motherless girl. You were then just two years old — a little ruddy-faced, blue-eyed child, running about and amusing us with your quaint glimmerings of knowledge and your early prattle. It seems but yesterday that your mother — she was very beautiful — sat smiling on you as with precocious mimicry you climbed upon the bench beside her spindle, and tried to spin the wool. We dwelt at that time in a pretty cottage not far from Danedred Tower. We might have had a nobler horne — a home in the good city of Canterbury, where I was born, and where I learnt to write and read the laws, but your grandfather would not leave the place of his childhood, and your mother would not desert him in his old age. Your grandfather remembered when Danedred Tower belonged to his father; he had witnessed when a boy the cruel trampiug out of Saxon power by the Norman. Nearly fifty years had then elapsed since the first rush of the ■victorious Norman over the land; but slowly and surely the hoof of the conqueror was still crushing the conquered. For some trifling offence Danedred Castle was taken from his father, and given to the grandfather of Sir Hugh, a young Norman baron, who permitted the ejected Saxon to reside on the estate, and who iv a moment of generosity made a will that the estate should go back to the Saxon. Ralfs, whenever in a future generation they should have a son with Norman blood in his veins. There was not much prospect of such a consuma,tion then, but when I married your mother there came upon old Ralf and his daughter a strong hope to win back their rightful inheritance. When you were born there was much disappointment, but your mother was a gentle, heavenly-minded woman, and the worldly ambition was quickly forgotten in fondness for her offspring. A year and a half passed away, and the hope was again kindled by the prospect of another child. This hope was strengthened by your mother's presentiment that Heaven would bless her with a boy. The Lady of Danedred had at that time a son four years old — the. present Sir Hugh — and being well acquainted with the possible claims of our familyishe had done many things to destroy the contfof tof our home. On one occasion the house was attacked at night by a band ■ t of marauders. Old Ralf, myself, and a '' sturdy neighbor contrived after a desperate \ fight to 'beat them off, and to this day I V? believe th&t they were the hired miscreants {of the LadY <fe Danedred. Weeks passed •on, however, and the event which was to i decide our fat! drew daily nearer. It was a beautiful day of early summer, and the woods were filled with the sweet music of the birds, when the first tidings of evil came upon us. We were sitting at the cottage door watching you plucking daisies, •when your grandfather hurried in from au adjoining field where he had been tend-' ing the sheep, and said that a troop of horsemen were coming towards the cottage. There was no ordinaiy reason for a troop of horsemen to come that way unless to visit us. The road to and from Danedred Tower ran in quite another direction. What could be their mission? A sense of peril came upon me. I felt that some great calamity was closing on us, and I had not long to wait before my fears were confirmed. There was suddenly a bright gleam in the meadow before us, and fifty horsemen, then? armour flashing in the sun, came^ with a rush, across the jjei|Uand formed round the cottage. A k"nJght who wore his visor

down rode up to the door and dismounted. " 'In the name of the king;' he said, ' I want Nelly, the wife of William FiizOsbert.' , " 'I am William Fitz-Osbert,' I replied, stepping before your mother; ' what is your purpose here? ' [ " ' I want your wife,' replied the knight. ; "'What mean you?' j j* " ' Read that warrant fromjou^nief justicier, and my meaning wilUfpclear.' He hauded me a small roll a^rfe spoke, and with trembling handsj-opened and read. It was a warrant foj^he apprehension of ' Nelly the daughter of Half, and wife of William Fitz-Osbert, ibr that she hath been accused, by divers of our gojod and honest subjects, of using certain dirk and mysterious spells, whereby she hath communicated with the evil one (God forgive them!), and hath made a compact for the discomfiture of her neighbours and the peril ©f their souls.' Your mother! your dear good mother, imperil her neighbors' souls! In an instant I saw that some vile treachery was at work, and a suspicion that the Lady ofDanedrcd had a hand in the foul plot flashed across my mind. ' Sir Knight,' I cried, 'this is false! a conspiracy — a cruel wrong — who arc the witnesses? ' ' False or true, I can only act on the warrant,' coldly retorted the knight, pushing me gently back, for I had rushed up to him menacingly in my wrath. "You are a lawyer he continued, ' and know well that this is not the place to decide the question' I knew it too well; I knew, moreover, that powerful influence and false witnesses were often able to hurl back truth and defeat justice. I turned round and gaze,d with a wild look of despair at. your poor mother. To my astoni3bnent, she was very calm, though deathly pale. Your grandfather stood beside her in sullen silence, bnt I noticed that he had seized an axe, and his hand was gripping tightly the haudle. 'I knoAV that this is all a base conspiracy,' I said, 'and yet the warrant must be obeyed . Take my wife, but you must allow her father to bear her company, while I seek the means to prove the falsity of the charge.' The knight in command of the troop looked at your mother through his visor, and answered in a kinder tone. " ' You should know best if the charge be true,' he said. ' Heaven protect me from doing aught to the injury of so fair a. lady! She must go with me to Danedred Tower, there to await under guard the itinerant justice?, but if it please you we will grant a few hours to prepare for the removal.' I readily accepted the proffered delay. I was confused, bewildered, lost. I saw myself caught in a cunning trap, and ail that was dear to me about to be snatched away. Resistance was impossible, and submission to the law when administered by enemies seemed fatal. The only hope appeared to bo in a quiet and firm remonstrance, supported by ample evidence disproving the accusation. With an effort to maintain an appearance of self-possession, I bade your mother retire to another room, and invited the knight to a seat within the cottage. He dismissed the greater portion of his men, who galloped off" to an inn about two miles distant; and having stationed the remainder round our dwelling, he availed himself of my invitation. All the Saxon blood of your grandfather was aroused, and he still stood at the door nervously clutching at the handle of the old battle-axe which had been wielded in many a hard fight by his brave forefathers. I seized the first opportunity to follow your mother. As I entered the room she threw her arms round my neck and bowed her head on my shoulder. We stood in silence for some moments. We both plainly saw the relentless hand of a wicked enemy closing upon us. 'We must be brave,' said your mother, looking into my face and then at you, — you were standing close by her side, holding the skirt of her dress; 'Heaven alone can help us now. You know the law, William, and can plead for me as you have pleaded oftentimes before ior others in equal peril.' There was no hope, no confidence in her voice, although she was much calmer than myself. She knew how utterly useless my pleading had always been in cases promoted by malice and supported by powerful influence. The few hours of respite flew quickly by, and the tramp of the returning horsemen interrupted a useless consultation between your mother, your grandfather, and myself. When all was ready, we started together for Danex dred Tower. I observed your mother look back at you — we had left you in the charge of Wilfred — and I noticed a strange, eager look in her eye, which went like an arrow to my heart. It was the look of one conscious that the hour of parting had come — conscious that she was soon to leave the shore of this world for the vast seas of eternity. When Danedred Tower was reached, she assumed a proud, defiant look, for she was in the presence of the enemy. She knew that the malicious eyes of that woman-fiend, the Lady de Danedred, would be gleaming at her from one of the narrow windows. There we parted. To be continued.