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 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

L I B R A R I E S BE F O R E A L E X A N D R I A
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Libraries before
Alexandria
Ancient Near Eastern Traditions

Edited by
KIM RYHOLT
and
G O J K O B A RJ A M O V I C

1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
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It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
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© Oxford University Press 2019
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2019
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
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above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952282
ISBN 978–0–19–965535–9
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CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

Preface

This book is conceived as an introduction and reference to libraries in the

pre-Classical world of Egypt and Western Asia. It originated from our con-
viction that a collected presentation, written by specialists, was long overdue,
as outlined in Chapter 1. The final product has been much too long in the
making. Almost a decade has passed from the first meeting and the lively
debates of the authors in Denmark. We are grateful to the contributors for
their patience and for their willingness to keep the editorial process going over
such a long period of time.
The project on libraries in the pre-Classical Egypt and Western Asia which
led to this book was the first of a series of large collaborative efforts initiated by
the Center for Canon and Identity Formation in the Earliest Literate Societies
under the University of Copenhagen Programme of Excellence directed by
Kim Ryholt and with Gojko Barjamovic as its Associate Director. We owe our
gratitude to the Rector of the University of Copenhagen for funding the
research center over a five-year period 2008–2013.
Throughout our work, we have relied on the generosity of many colleagues
and friends, with whom we have been privileged to have stimulating discus-
sions and much help and advice. This includes the sixteen colleagues who
graciously took out time to serve as anonymous readers of the ten chapters in
this book. We are also indebted to numerous friends and colleagues working
in archives, on excavations, and in museum collections, for kindly providing
valuable images and plans used throughout this volume.
In particular, we are grateful to Haider Almamori, Adel al Tai, and Khalid al
Timimi for their kind permission to publish a complete image of the magnificent
E’ulmash library for the first time (Fig. 1.10), to Klaus Wagensonner for providing
images and his own drawings from the Yale Babylonian Collection for the
introductory chapter (Figs 1.5, 1.6, 1.9), to Fikri Kulakoğlu for sharing his
unpublished excavation photo (Fig. 1.8), to Andreas Schachner for providing
high-resolution plans of Hattusa (Figs 5.1–5.3), to Saad Eskander for his image
from Kalhu (Fig. 8.2), to Felix Arnold for the plan of the tower house at
Elephantine (Fig. 10.3), to Martin Andreas Stadler for the photograph of the
temple library at Edfu (Fig. 10.4), to Luigi Prada for the photograph of the ostraca
jars at Narmuthis (Fig. 10.12), and to Jeffrey C. Blossom of the Harvard Center for
Geographic Analysis for producing the main map for the volume (pp. xviii–xix).
We are also grateful to Seraina Nett who provided the initial translation of
Chapter 5 from German; to Paul Kosmin for valuable comments and criticism;
to the remarkable work of Timothy R. Beck (University of Minnesota) during
the copy-editing phase of the manuscript; and not least to Georgina Leighton,
Kalpana Sagayanathan, Seemadevi Sekar and the Oxford University Press for
their flexibility and support in producing this volume.
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Contents

List of Map and Figures ix

List of Tables xv
List of Contributors xvii

1. Libraries before Alexandria 1

Kim Ryholt and Gojko Barjamovic
2. The Rise of Libraries in Western Asia, c.2600–2300  67
Kamran Vincent Zand
3. Libraries in Ancient Egypt, c.2600–1600  115
R. B. Parkinson
4. Archives and Libraries in the Old Babylonian Period,
c.1900–1600  168
Paul Delnero
5. The Tablet Collections of the Hittite State, c.1650–1080  192
Paola Dardano
6. Libraries in Syria and the Levant in the Late Bronze Age,
c.1450–1100  210
Matthew Rutz
7. Libraries in Ancient Egypt, c.1600–800  244
Fredrik Hagen
8. Scholarly Tablet Collections in First-Millennium Assyria
and Babylonia, c.700–200  319
Eleanor Robson and Kathryn Stevens
9. Assurbanipal’s Library: An Overview 367
Irving Finkel
10. Libraries from Late Period and Graeco-Roman Egypt,
c.800 –250  390
Kim Ryholt

General Index 473

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List of Map and Figures

Map

1. Map of Egypt and Western Asia showing the location of libraries

and assemblages of literary manuscripts discussed in the book xviii

Figures
1.1. Egyptian scribal statue of a high official from the Kushite period,
late eighth century 
© Trustees of the British Museum 11
1.2. Papyri with samples of different scripts
Images courtesy of the Papyrus Carlsberg Collection 13
1.3. Ostraca with samples of different scripts
(a) Image courtesy of the National Museum of Denmark
(b and c) Images courtesy of the Papyrus Hauniensis
Collection 14
1.4. Egyptian scribal palette of wood with reed pens
© Trustees of the British Museum 17
1.5. Broken cuneiform tablets that show how objects were prepared
for writing
Photos by K. Wagensonner and courtesy of the Yale Babylonian
Collection 18
1.6. Different tablet types and formats through history
Tablets a–b: photos by K. Wagensonner and courtesy of the Yale
Babylonian Collection. Writing board: photo courtesy of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 20
1.7. Examples of re-used papyri
Images courtesy of the Papyrus Carlsberg Collection 23
1.8. Clay tablet, still in the ground, excavated in 2009 by Prof. Kulakoğlu
and his team from Ankara University at the site of Kültepe in Turkey
Photo by Fikri Kulakoğlu and courtesy of the Kültepe Excavations 24
1.9. Tablets bearing colophons for identification or collection provenience
Photos and drawings by K. Wagensonner and courtesy of the Yale
Babylonian Collection 29
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x List of Map and Figures

1.10. The temple library of E’ulmash in Sippar, excavated by Iraqi
archaeologists in 1988
Photo by Adel al Tai 1988, photo edit by Khalid al Timimi 2018
Used with their courtesy and kind permission 47
2.1. Plan of excavations in the city of Shuruppag (modern Fara) around
the so-called ‘Tablet House’ at XVh and the adjacent area North of XVh
After Martin 1988: 161 75
2.2. Plan of house IXac and the area of the IXaa tablets
After Martin 1988: 162 77
2.3. Plan of Tell Abu Salabikh around Area E (the Burned Building
and Southern Unit) and the Eastern Houses
After Krebernik and Postgate 2009: 2 81
2.4. Plan of Palace at Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh) with find spots of the
smaller groups marked as A–B and D–E, and the position of the Main
Archive marked as C
After Archi 2015: 78 85
2.5. (a) Plan of the room that contained the main archive C (L 2769)
in Palace G at Ebla, and (b) a schematic overview of its original
organization as determined by the Italian excavators
After Archi 2015: 82–3 88
2.6. (a) Image of the lexical tablets as found in heaps from the collapsed
shelves along the northern wall, and (b) the northern sector of the
eastern wall of L 2769 in Palace G at Ebla
After Matthiae 1986: 63–5 89
3.1. The name ‘Amenemhat’ in the different types of script in use
in the Middle Kingdom
Drawing by R. B. Parkinson 118
3.2. A funerary model of a scribe’s chest with the lid open, showing rolls
laid out lengthways and horizontally
© Trustees of the British Museum 121
3.3. A Middle Kingdom storage box, similar to that in which the ‘Ramesseum
papyri’ were discovered
© Trustees of the British Museum 122
3.4. A papyrus from the archive of Neferirkare at Abusir, with duty rosters
laid out in tables on ruled guide-lines on a full-height roll
© Trustees of the British Museum 125
3.5. Four rolls deposited on lid of a coffin in an early 12th Dynasty burial
chamber: P. Reisner I–IV as discovered in Tomb N 408/406 at
Naga el-Deir
After W. K. Simpson 1963a: [frontispiece]. Photograph courtesy
of Museum of Fine Art, Boston 145
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List of Map and Figures xi

3.6. A half-height roll with The Tale of the Peasant (B1 146–166) written
in literary hieratic in a mixture of vertical and horizontal formats
Courtesy of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin 149
3.7. P. Ramesseum 6 with Hymns to Sobek (l. 40–58)
© Trustees of the British Museum 153
4.1. Left: plan of the city of Ur drawn by F. Ghio with numbers removed
(Creative Commons License 3.0). Middle: Plan of Ur neighborhood
area AH. After C. E. Woolley and M. E. L. Mallowan, The Old
Babylonian Period, Ur Excavations 7 [London: British Museum, 1976],
fig. 124. Right: Plan of No. 1 Broad Street, drawn by author.
Image courtesy of McGuire Gibson and the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago 175
4.2. Left: General plan of the city of Nippur with the location of ‘House F’
marked in the lower right corner of ‘Trench A’ 172. Image courtesy
of McGuire Gibson and the Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago. Right: Composite excavation plan of House F, Level 10
redrawn after Robson 2001.
Image courtesy of Fabrizio Ghio (ResearchGate) and the Penn
Museum Ur Digitization Project 180
5.1. General plan of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite State
Image courtesy of Andreas Schachner 194
5.2. Plan of Büyükkale, the royal citadel of the capital Hattusa with an
outline of the main palatial buildings and fortifications
Image courtesy of Andreas Schachner 195
5.3. Plan of the Great Temple (also known as Temple 1) at Hattusa with
surrounding storehouses
Image courtesy of Andreas Schachner 196
5.4. Extensive colophon on library tablet KBo 23.103 from Hattusa
© Hethitologie-Portal Mainz (Mainzer Photoarchiv); hethiter.net 199
5.5. (a)Tablet label KBo 13.90 from Hattusa. (b) Tablet label KBo 31.33
from Hattusa
© Hethitologie-Portal Mainz (Mainzer Photoarchiv); hethiter.net 200
6.1. Clay tablet inscribed with Ugaritic Baal Cycle from the ‘House of the
High Priest’ in Ugarit
Photo courtesy of Les frères Chuzeville, © RMN-Grand Palais / Art
Resource, NY 217
6.2. Plan of the ‘House of the High Priest’ (Maison du Grand-prêtre)
in Ugarit
Illustration courtesy of M. Yon, after Saadé 2011: 280, fig. 88a 220
6.3. Plan of the ‘House of Urtēnu’ in Ugarit
Illustration courtesy of M. Yon, after Saadé 2011: 241, fig. 79a 224
6.4. Plan of the city of Emar-Bālis
Illustration courtesy of U. Finkbeiner and F. Sakal 228
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xii List of Map and Figures

6.5. Clay model of a sheep’s liver with Akkadian cuneiform inscription
from ‘Temple M₁’ in Emar
Photo courtesy of Erich Lessing /Art Resource, NY 229
6.6. Plan of the Lower Town with ‘Temple M₁’ (temple du devin) in Emar
Illustration courtesy of U. Finkbeiner and F. Sakal 230
7.1. Map of the central quarter of Tell el-Amarna, showing the location of
the ‘House of Life’ and the ‘Records Office’ (‘Place of Documents
of Pharaoh’ where the cuneiform letters and literary texts were found)
After Stevenson Smith (1998: 184), courtesy of Yale University Press 247
7.2. Map detail with the ‘Place of Documents of Pharaoh’ and the
‘House of Life’ at Tell el-Amarna
From Pendlebury 1951: II, pl. 19 248
7.3. (a) A letter sent from the king of Mitanni to the king of Egypt, with
a reception note in Egyptian written in black ink underneath
the cuneiform message. (b) A letter from the king of Mitanni
to the king of Egypt, with a reception note in Egyptian written
in black ink on the side of the cuneiform tablet
(from Winckler 1889: 19)
(a) © Trustees of the British Museum. (b) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin 249
7.4. Hieratic ostraca from an area of the Ramesseum which has been
interpreted as a ‘school’ or a ‘House of Life’
Copyright the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL.
Facsimiles after Spiegelberg 1898: pls. VII and XI 257
7.5. (a) A faïence label for a container for a papyrus roll belonging to King
Amenhotep III; ‘Book of the Moringa Tree’. (b) A faïence label for a
container for a papyrus roll belonging to King Amenhotep III; ‘Book
of the Pomegranate’
(a) © Trustees of the British Museum. (b) © Yale University Art Gallery 260
7.6. Map of the village of Deir el-Medina with the find-spot of the family
library of Qenherkhepshef
After Castel 1980: plan no. 1; courtesy of the IFAO, Cairo 279
7.7. Photograph of the find spot of the library of Qenherkhepshef
(marked by arrow); taken while looking north-west, with the western
village wall a few metres behind the camera
Courtesy of Richard Parkinson 280
7.8. (a) A schematic drawing of the front of Papyrus Chester Beatty I.
(b) A schematic drawing of the back of papyrus Chester Beatty I
Drawings by Fredrik Hagen 287
7.9. (a) An example of a papyrus from a private library of the
New Kingdom: column five of P. Chester Beatty I, from
the library of Qenherkhepshef (c.1300–1200 )
(b) Detail from papyrus Chester Beatty I (column 16, line 9), showing
the erased title and name of the original copyist and the insertion
of the words ‘made by Nakhtsobek, scribe of the Necropolis’
© The Chester Beatty Library 288
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List of Map and Figures xiii

7.10. The family of the scribe Qenherkhepshef
After Pestman 1980: 160 and Davies 1999: chart 25 293
7.11. A depiction of the ‘Place of Documents of Pharaoh’ in Piramesse,
from Theban Tomb no. 23
After Borchardt 1907: 59 fig. 1 302
8.1. Pigeon-holes for tablets in Room 5 of Nabu’s temple in Dur-Sharrukin,
c.705 
After Loud & Altman 1938: pl. 19c, courtesy of the Oriental Institute
of the University of Chicago 324
8.2. The view from the tablet room into Nabu’s shrine in the Ezida temple,
Kalhu
Photo by Saad Eskander, 2017 335
8.3. School tablet BM 77665 obverse and reverse bearing a colophon
dedicated to Nabu, northern Babylonia, c.550 
© The Trustees of the British Museum 341
8.4. A 3D reconstruction of the Reš temple in Seleucid Uruk, with Anu’s
ziggurat in the foreground
© artefacts-berlin.de; Material: German Archaeological Institute 348
8.5. The cuneiform tablet TCL 6: 10 (AO 6466), obverse and reverse
written by Nidinti-Anu in Uruk in 222 
© RMN, Musée du Louvre 351
9.1. Sketch-map to show the principal sites at Kuyunjik
After Reade 2000: 192 fig. 2 372
9.2. Assurbanipal’s inscription L⁴ (K 2694+3050), which includes
the clearest statement of his scholarly abilities
© Trustees of the British Museum 374
9.3. A much-travelled tablet (K 6073 + Bu. 91-5-9, 132.) containing
a powerful spell addressed to the Sun god to banish ghosts,
in conspicuously large, clear, even ‘textbook’ Neo-Babylonian script
© Trustees of the British Museum 380
9.4. Tablet K 8289, which was written for the Nabu Temple tablet collection
© Trustees of the British Museum 383
10.1. General plan of the town of Tebtunis
After Rondot 2004: plan 2; courtesy of Institut français d’archéologie
orientale 394
10.2. (a) Schematic of Building 32, partially reconstructed, with indication
of the two cellars in which the temple library deposit was discovered.
Adapted from Gallazzi 2018: 142–3, figs 7 and 12. (b) The temple of
Soknebtunis with the inner part of the temple and Building 32
marked with grey shading After Rondot 2004: plan 2;
courtesy of Institut français d’archéologie orientale 396
10.3. Ground plan (a) and profile (b) of tower house K 19, next to the
temple of Khnum at Elephantine, where several jars full of papyri were
found in situ
Courtesy of Felix Arnold 403
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xiv List of Map and Figures

10.4. The entrance to the temple library at the temple of Horus at Edfu
Courtesy of the Horus Behedety Project of the Julius Maximilian
University Würzburg, 2018 425
10.5. Plan of the temple of Horus at Edfu; the arrow marks the location
of the temple library
After Porter/Moss 1939: 120 427
10.6. Relief depicting Ptolemy VIII presenting book chests with leather
rolls to the falcon-headed Horus of Edfu
Adapted from Chassinat 1929: pl. 82 429
10.7. (a) Niche for storing papyri on the east wall inside the temple library
at the temple of Horus at Edfu. (b) Theoretical stacking of papyri with
the Edfu library niches
(a) Courtesy of Kim Ryholt, 2007. (b) Drawing by Kim Ryholt 430
10.8. Plan of the temple of Isis at Philae; the arrow marks the location of the
temple library behind the colonnade
Courtesy of Ancient Egyptian Architecture Online (Aegaron):
Philae, Central Buildings and Surroundings, no. 0005 434
10.9. (a) Inner part of the temple of Month at Medamud with the possible
location of the temple library marked by the arrow. (b) Inner part
of the temple of Nekhbet at el-Kab with the possible location
of the temple library marked by the arrow
(a) Adapted from Bisson de la Roque 1927: pl. 1
(b) Adapted from Clarke 1922: pl. 6 437
10.10. (a) The Ptolemaic addition to the temple of Month at Tod
(b) The northern niche at the temple of Month at Tod
(a) Adapted from Bisson de la Roque 1937: pl. 1
(b) Courtesy of Dietrich Wildung 439
10.11. (a) Plan of the temple of Renenutet at Narmuthis. (b) Cluster
of buildings designated House I-IV built against the inside
of the eastern temenos wall. The two jars with the 1300 ostraca
were found in the niche off the south-eastern corner of House III,
marked x
Adapted from Bresciani 2003: fig. 10; courtesy of Edda Bresciani 442
10.12. The larger of the two ostraca jars at Narmuthis in situ but now much
damaged
Courtesy of Luigi Prada, 2011 443
10.13. (a) Sketch of the temple compound at Tell Tukh el-Qaramus.
(b) Insert: the building in which the treasure and papyri were found
(a) Adapted from Naville/Griffith 1890: pl. 9. (b) Adapted from
Edgar 1907: 207 454

Whilst every effort has been made to secure permission to reproduce the
illustrations, we may have failed in a few cases to trace the copyright holders. If
contacted, the publisher will be pleased to rectify any omissions at the earliest
opportunity.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

List of Tables

1.1. A selection of collections and assemblages of literary

texts from Egypt and Western Asia 56
2.1. General overview of the major finds of texts and attested textual
genres of the Uruk, Early Dynastic (Old Sumerian), and
Old Akkadian periods 68
2.2. Texts coming from the ‘Tablet House’ (at XVh) 76
2.3. Texts coming from the locus ‘North of XVh’ 76
2.4. Texts with an origin from House IXac and IXaa 77
2.5. Texts with an origin from IXf–g 78
2.6. Texts with an origin from HJ–IIi 79
2.7. Texts found in Room 11 82
2.8. Texts found in Room 20 82
2.9. Texts found in Room 21 82
2.10. Texts from Room 31 83
2.11. The ‘Tablet House’ (at XVh) in Shuruppag 104
2.12. Tablets found in Shuruppag North of XVh 104
2.13. Tablets found in Shuruppag in House IXac and IXaa 105
2.14. Tablets found in Shuruppag in House IXf–g 105
2.15. Tablets found in Shuruppag in Trench HJ–IIi 105
2.16. Tablets found at Tell Abu Salabikh, Area E Rooms 11, 20, 21, and 31 106
4.1. The sequence of the elementary scribal curriculum at Nippur 177
4.2. Compositions attested at both House F and No. 1 Broad Street 182
4.3. Compositions only attested at House F 183
4.4. Compositions only attested at No. 1 Broad Street 184
5.1. Date of the texts in relation to their find-spots 197
5.2. Texts with prescriptive and descriptive function (based on van den
Hout 2002) 205
5.3. Typology of the tablet collections 206
6.1. Cuneiform tablets and artefacts from the ‘House of the High Priest’,
Ugarit 221
6.2. Cuneiform tablets from the ‘House of Urtēnu’, Ugarit 226
6.3. Cuneiform tablets from ‘Temple’ M₁, Emar. Syrian (S),
Syro-Hittite (SH), and uncertain (?) scribal traditions 232
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xvi List of Tables

7.1. A list of manuscripts and compositions belonging to a private library
of the 18th Dynasty 266
7.2. A list of manuscripts and compositions belonging to a private library
from Perunefer, dated to the 18th Dynasty 268
7.3. A list of manuscripts possibly found together in a tomb at Saqqara
(c.1200 ) 271
7.4. A list of manuscripts belonging to the library of Inena, a scribe
associated with the royal treasury (c.1200 ) 276
7.5. A list of manuscripts belonging to the library of Qenherkhepshef
and his family from Deir el-Medina (c.1240–1120 ) 281
7.6. A list of manuscripts belonging to a private library of the
21st Dynasty (c.1000 ), probably found at el-Hibeh 299
7.7. A list of manuscripts from a library belonging to (?)
Djedmontuiufankh, a priest of Amun-Re and overseer
of the royal treasury 300
8.1. Scholarly tablet collections found in first-millennium Assur
(after Pedersén 1985–6; 1998: 132–43) 322
8.2. Scholarly tablet collections found in Neo-Assyrian Kalhu,
Dur-Sharrukin, and Nineveh (after Pedersén 1998: 143–78) 325
8.3. Scholarly tablet collections found in western provincial towns
of the Assyrian Empire (after Pedersén 1998: 178–81; Robson et al.
2007–; Harrison 2012) 326
8.4. Scholarly tablet collections found in Neo- and Late Babylonian
Babylon (after Pedersén 1998: 183–91; 2005: 188–283 passim) 328
8.5. Scholarly tablet collections found in northern Babylonian cities
of the Neo- and Late Babylonian periods 330
8.6. Scholarly tablet collections found in southern Babylonian cities
of the Neo- and Late Babylonian periods (after Pedersén 1998:
206–12) 332
10.1. Chronological chart 391
10.2. Building 32 measurements 395
10.3. Published literary papyri from the German excavations at Elephantine
1906–8. Nos. 1–12 have been assigned to the Saïte period and no. 13
to the early Ptolemaic period, while no. 14 cannot be precisely dated 404
10.4. The ‘Brooklyn Library’ (list of the published or cited papyri) 409
10.5. Tomb library of Sminis son of Petemestus and Ithorôs called Sentaës 412
10.6. Akhmim tomb libraries 416
10.7. Egyptian literary papyri from the Abusir el-Melek cartonnages 422
10.8. Measurements of the library at the temple of Horus at Edfu 428
10.9. Measurements of the two niches at the temple of Month at Tod 438
10.10. Locations and sizes of temple libraries (the asterisk marks
conjectured identifications) 440
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

List of Contributors

Gojko Barjamovic is Senior Lecturer on Assyriology at Harvard University.

Paola Dardano is Associate Professor in Linguistics at the Università per
Stranieri di Siena.
Paul Delnero is Associate Professor of Assyriology at Johns Hopkins
University.
Irving Finkel is Assistant Keeper for ancient Mesopotamian script, languages,
and cultures at the British Museum.
Fredrik Hagen is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen.
R. B. Parkinson is Professor of Egyptology and Fellow of The Queen’s College
at the University of Oxford.
Eleanor Robson is Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History at University
College London.
Matthew Rutz is Associate Professor of Egyptology and Assyriology at Brown
University.
Kim Ryholt is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen.
Kathryn Stevens is Assistant Professor in Classics and Ancient History at
Durham University.
Kamran Vincent Zand is a Researcher in the Institute of Assyriology at the
University of Heidelberg.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi

Map 1. Map of Egypt and Western Asia showing the location of libraries
and assemblages of literary manuscripts discussed in the book.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/10/2019, SPi
Another random document with
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 'When you have finished with those vile calumnies, Messire...' began
Jacqueline coldly.

'Calumnies!' he exclaimed. 'Calumnies, you call them? Then Heaven

help you, for your infatuation has indeed made you blind! But take care,
Jacqueline, take care! The eyes of hate are keener than those of love.'

'The eyes of some miserable informant, you mean!' she retorted.

'Informant? I had no need of an informant to tell me that if a man shuns

the gaze of his fellow-creatures it is because he hath something unavowable
to hide. Beware the man who conceals his face behind a mask, his identity
behind an assumed name! He has that to conceal which is dishonourable
and base. Think on it all, Jacqueline. 'Tis a friendly warning I am giving
you. The path which you have chosen can only lead to humiliation. Already
the people of Cambray are enraged against the mysterious stranger. Take
care lest Madame Jacqueline de Broyart, duchesse et princesse de Ramèse,
be found bestowing her favours upon a common spy!'

He released her wrist, having had his say, felt triumphant and elated too
because she had been forced, in spite of herself, to listen to him. Hers was
an intensely mobile face, with sensitive brow and lips that readily betrayed
her thoughts and emotions; and, as he had said very pertinently, the eyes of
hate are sharper than those of love. He had studied her face while he was
pouring the pernicious poison into her ear. He saw that poison filtrating
slowly but surely into her brain. For the moment she looked scornful, aloof,
dignified; but she had listened; she had not called to her servants; she had
not even made a second attempt to escape. Eve once listened to the smooth
persuasion of the serpent; Elsa heard to the end what Ortrude had to say,
and Jacqueline de Broyart, her soul still vibrating in response to Gilles de
Crohin's passionate love, had not closed her ears to de Landas' perfidy.

The serpent, having shed his venom, was content. He was subtle enough
not to spoil the effect of his rhetoric by any further words. Obviously
Jacqueline no longer heard him. Her thoughts were already far away,
wandering mayhap in those labyrinthine regions to which a miscreant's
blind hatred had led them. He turned on his heel and left her standing there,
still dignified and scornful. But there was that in her pose, in the glitter of
her eyes and the set of her lips, which suggested that something of her
former serenity had gone. She still looked calm and indifferent, but her
quietude now was obviously forced; there was a tell-tale quiver round her
lips, the sight of which gave de Landas infinite satisfaction. In her whole
person there was still determination, valour and perfect faith; but it was
militant faith, the courage and trust of a woman fighting in defence of her
love—not the sweet tenderness of childlike belief.

And with an inward sigh of content, the serpent wriggled quietly away.

CHAPTER XX

HOW MORE THAN ONE PLOT WAS HATCHED

And now the die was cast.

Gilles de Crohin stood before Monseigneur the governor of Cambray

and Monsieur le Comte de Lalain in the library of the Archiepiscopal
Palace, and in the name of Monsieur Duc d'Anjou et d'Alençon, asked for
the hand of Madame Jacqueline de Broyart in marriage.

It was a solemn hour wherein the fate of nations rested in the hand of
men, whilst God withheld His final decree. Gilles had kept his word to the
end. Madame la Reyne could be satisfied. He had put resolutely behind him
all thoughts of his dream and of his own happiness. His exquisite Jacqueline
had ceased to be aught but a vision of loveliness, intangible, and for him—
the poor soldier of fortune—for ever unattainable. For once in his life he
was thankful for the beneficence of the mask. At least he was spared the
effort of concealing the ravages which misery had wrought upon his face.
What the final struggle had cost him, no one would ever know; even Maître
Jehan had been shut out from the narrow room, wherein a man's imprisoned
soul fought out the grim fight 'twixt love and duty.

When, an hour later, Messire called to his faithful henchman to help him
don his richest attire, the battle had been won. The man himself was left
heart-broken and bruised, a mere wreck of his former light-hearted self; but
honour and the sworn word had gained the day. Love lay fettered, passion
vanquished. God's will alone should now be done.

A great sigh of relief came from d'Inchy when Monsieur had pronounced
the final word which bound him irrevocably to the destinies of Flanders. He
and de Lalain bowed their heads almost to the ground. Gilles extended his
hand to them both and they each kissed it almost reverently.

Then they both rose, and d'Inchy said solemnly:

'No Prince could wear a more glorious crown than that of the
Sovereignty of the Netherlands.'

And de Lalain added with equal earnestness:

'And no King could wed a worthier mate.'

A worthier mate! Ye gods! Gilles could have laughed aloud at the

abjectness of this tragic farce. A worthier mate? Who knew that better than
the unfortunate man who had held her for one brief, blissful moment in his
arms, just long enough to feel how perfect, how exquisite she was—just
long enough to realize all that he had lost. Truly hell's worst torture could
not be more harrowing than this.

Wearied to the very top of his bent, Messire did his best to bring the
interview to an end.

'And now, Messeigneurs,' he said at last, 'I will, by your leave, bid you
farewell. My Maître de Camp, Messire de Balagny, has, as you know,
arrived in Cambray. He will represent me here the while I go to rejoin my
armies.'

'Your Highness would leave us?' exclaimed d'Inchy with a frown. 'So
soon?'

'Only to return in triumph, Messire,' replied Gilles, 'at the head of my

armies, after I have brought the Spaniard to his knees.'

'But Madame Jacqueline,' protested de Lalain. 'The betrothal—'

'While Cambray is starving, Messire, and the Duke of Parma is at her

gates, there is no time for public festivities. You will convey to Madame
Jacqueline de Broyart my earnest desire that she should confer the supreme
honour upon me by consenting to be my wife.' Then, as the two men
appeared wrapt in moody silence, he added quickly, with I know not what
faint ray of hope within his heart: 'You are doubtful of her consent?'

'Doubtful? Oh, no, Monseigneur,' replied d'Inchy. 'Jacqueline de Broyart

is, above all, a daughter of Flanders. She is ready to give her fortune,
herself, all that is asked of her, to the man who will free her country from its
oppressors.'

'Then the sooner I go ... and return to claim my bride,' rejoined Gilles
dryly, 'the better it will be for us all.'

'Yes, Monseigneur—but——'

'But what?'

'The people of Cambray will wish to see Your Highness with Madame
Jacqueline by your side—her hand in yours—in token of an irrevocable
pledge.'

'Starving people care little for such flummery, Messire. They will prefer
to see the sentimental ceremony when mine armies have driven the foe
from their city's gates.'

'But——'
 'Ah, ça, Messeigneurs!' suddenly queried Gilles with growing
impatience. 'Do you, perchance, mistrust me?'

The protest which came from the two Flemish lords in response to this
suggestion was not perhaps as whole-hearted as it might have been. Gilles
frowned beneath his mask. Here was a complication which he had not
foreseen. He could part from Jacqueline—yes!—he could tear her sweet
image from out his heart, since she could never become his. He could play
his part in the odious comedy to the end—but only on the condition that he
should not see her again or attempt to carry through the deception which, in
her presence, would anyhow be foredoomed to failure.

A public betrothal! A solemn presentation to the people, with

Jacqueline's hand in his own, her dear eyes having found him out in the
very first minute that they met again, despite every mask, every disguise
and every trickery! Heavens above! but there was a limit to human
endurance! and Gilles had already reached it, when he envisaged his
beloved as the wife of another man—and that man wholly unworthy of her.
Now he had come to the end of his submission. Honour and loyalty could
go no further.

Of a truth, it seemed as if some impish Fate would upset, at this eleventh

hour, Madame la Reyne's perfectly laid schemes. The Flemish lords looked
obstinate. It seemed to Gilles that while he himself had stood silent for the
space of a quick heart-beat, cogitating as to his next course of action, a
secret understanding had quickly passed between the two men.

This in its turn had the effect of stiffening Gilles' temper. He felt like a
gambler now, whose final stake was in jeopardy.

'For my part, Messeigneurs,' he said with a clever assumption of haughty

insolence, 'I could not lend myself to a public pageant at this hour. His
Majesty my brother would not wish it. When I enter Cambray as its
conqueror I will claim my promised bride—and not before.'

This final 'either—or' was a bold stroke, no doubt: the losing gambler's
last throw. If the Flemings demurred, all was lost. Gilles, by an almost
superhuman effort, contrived to remain outwardly calm, keeping up that air
of supercilious carelessness which had all along kept the Flemish lords on
tenterhooks. Obviously the tone had aroused their ire, just as it had done
many a time before, and Gilles could see well enough that a final
repudiation of the whole bargain hovered on M. d'Inchy's lips. But once
again the counsels of prudence prevailed; the implied 'take it or leave it,' so
insolently spoken by Monsieur, had the effect of softening the two men's
obstinacy. Perhaps they both felt that matters had anyhow gone too far, even
for a man of Monsieur's vacillating temperament to withdraw from the
bargain with a shred of honour. Be that as it may, when Gilles rejoined a
moment or two later with marked impatience: 'Which is it to be, Messire? Is
a Prince of the House of Valois not to be trusted to keep his word?' d'Inchy
replied quite glibly:

'Oh, absolutely, Monseigneur!'

'Well, then?' queried Gilles blandly.

'There is nothing more to be said,' concluded de Lalain. 'And if your

Highness really desires to leave us——'

'I do desire to rejoin my armies as soon as may be.'

'Then it shall be in accordance with Monseigneur's wishes. I will see that

everything is made ready for the safety and secrecy of your journey.'

'You are more than gracious, Messire,' said Gilles, who had some
difficulty in disguising the intense relief which he felt. 'As you know, my
Maître de Camp, Messire de Balagny, is in Cambray now. He will be my
representative during my brief absence.'

After that, little more was said. Formal leave-taking took up the last few
minutes of this momentous interview. Gilles had some difficulty in
concealing his eagerness to get away: a dozen times within those same few
minutes he was on the point of betraying himself, for indeed it seemed
ludicrous that the Duc d'Anjou should be quite so eager to go. However, the
two Flemings were in a distinctly conciliatory mood now. They appeared to
desire nothing save the keeping of His Highness' good graces.
 'Monseigneur will remember that Cambray is on the edge of starvation!'
said d'Inchy earnestly at the last.

'Give me three months, Messire,' rejoined Gilles lightly, 'and her joy-
bells will be ringing for her deliverance.'

'For the entry of Monsieur Duc d'Anjou, within her walls?'

'And the betrothal of Madame Jacqueline de Broyart to a Prince of the

House of France.'

'A happy hour for the Netherlands, Monseigneur.'

'And a proud one for me, Messire,' concluded Gilles solemnly. 'For the
Prince of the House of France will not lead his bride to the altar empty-
handed. The freedom of the Netherlands will be her marriage-portion.'

'Amen to that,' said the Flemish lords fervently.

II

They kissed the gracious hand which was extended to them; they bent
the knee and took leave of their exalted guest with all the ceremonial due to
his rank.

But the moment that Gilles had finally succeeded in effecting his escape,
and even before his firm footstep had ceased to echo along the corridors of
the Palace, a complete change took place in the demeanour of these two
noble lords.

Monseigneur the governor drew inkhorn, pen and paper close to him,
with almost feverish haste; then he began to write, letter after letter, while
his friend watched him in silence. For over half an hour no sound was heard
in tie room save the ceaseless scratching of d'Inchy's pen upon the paper.
Only when half a dozen letters were written and each had been duly signed
and sealed did de Lalain make a remark.
 'You are sending out orders for a holiday to-morrow?' he asked.

'Yes,' replied d'Inchy.

'And orders to de Landas not to allow any one to leave the city?'

'Yes.'

'I thought so. You do not trust our wily Prince?'

'No,' retorted the other curtly. 'Do you?'

Then, as de Lalain made no reply, since indeed that reply was obvious,
d'Inchy went on, in a quick, sharp tone of command:

'Will you see the Chief Magistrate yourself, my good de Lalain? Explain
to him just what we have in contemplation. A reception in the Town Hall,
the presence of the Provosts of the city and of the Mayors of the several
guilds; the announcement of the betrothal to be read to the people from the
balcony. The Provosts must see to it that there is a large concourse of
people upon the Grand' Place and that the whole city is beflagged by ten
o'clock in the morning, and wears an air of general festivity.'

'It shall be done at once,' said de Lalain simply.

D'Inchy then rang the bell and summoned one of his special messengers
to his presence. As soon as the man appeared, he gave him one of the letters
which he had just written.

'This to Messire de Landas,' he commanded. 'And see that he has it

without delay.'

The man retired, and when d'Inchy was once more alone with his friend,
he added complacently:

'This will close the trap, methinks, on our wily fox.'

'So long as he doth tumble into it,' remarked de Lalain dryly.

 'He will! He will! You may be sure of that! Imagine him a few hours
hence, ready for his journey and finding every gate closed against him and
the town garrison afoot. I have warned de Landas of what was in the wind,
and given him an outline of my plans for to-morrow. I can safely trust him
to see that no one leaves the city within the next four and twenty hours, for I
have made him personally accountable to me if any suspected person
should effect an escape. So our fine Monsieur will fume and rage, and
demand to see Monseigneur the governor. The latter, weary and sick, will
have long ago retired to bed. In the morning he will still be sick and unable
to attend to business, until past ten o'clock, when quite unexpectedly he will
have given his exalted guest the slip and already be engaged on important
matters at the Town Hall. Thither Monsieur will repair at once—you may
take your oath on that—fretting to receive his safe-conduct and be out of
the city ere another twenty-four hours go by. In the meanwhile——'

'You will have spoken with Madame Jacqueline,' broke in de Lalain

eagerly. 'The Magistrate and the Provosts will have issued their
proclamations, the city will be beflagged and the people assembled on the
Grand' Place, eager to see Madame and her royal betrothed. What a
programme, my good d'Inchy!' he concluded with unstinted enthusiasm.
'And how wisely conceived! Of a truth, you have enchained our fox. He
cannot now slip out of our sight.'

When the two old cronies finally took leave of one another, they had
prepared everything for their next day's box of surprise. A surprise it would
be for everybody, and Monseigneur d'Inchy could indeed congratulate
himself on the happy cannon-shot which he would fire off on the morrow,
and which would wake this sad and dormant city from its weary
somnolence. The alliance with the Royal House of France would prove a
splendid stimulus for the waning courage of the people, whilst a fickle
Valois Prince would at the same time learn that it is not easy to play fast and
loose with a nation that was ruled by such diplomatic and determined men
as were M. le Comte de Lalain and Monseigneur d'Inchy, governor of
Cambray.
 III

As for de Landas, he probably spent that evening some of the happiest

hours which he had experienced for some time. It seemed indeed as if Fate,
having buffeted him about so unmercifully these past few weeks, was
determined to compensate him for everything that he had suffered.

When he received Monseigneur's letter, he was still fresh from his

stormy interview with Jacqueline, still fresh from the discovery which he
had made of at any rate a part of his rival's secret. As to what use he would
make of this discovery, he had not yet made up his mind: his dark, vengeful
soul was for the nonce consumed with rage at thought of seeing Jacqueline
happy in the love of the man whom he so cordially hated. In the ordinary
course of events, he would have been perfectly content to see her married—
for political reasons, lovelessly or even unhappily—to any man who was
influential enough to win her at the hands of her ambitious guardian. But to
think of her bestowing her love and her kisses on another was wont to drive
de Landas to the verge of mania. He did not love Jacqueline de Broyart. He
had told her so, and he knew that her fortune would never be his. But he
had always desired her, and did so still; and such are the tortuous ways of a
depraved heart, that he would have been content to lose her only if he knew
that she would be unhappy.

Now, suddenly, Fate had changed everything. Instead of impotent rage

and futile scheming, Monseigneur's orders had placed in his hands the very
weapon which he needed to consummate that revenge of which he dreamed.

'See to it, My dear de Landas,' Monseigneur had written, 'that for

the next four and twenty Hours a full Company of the Town
garrison is afoot, and that no one leave this City on any pretext
whatsoever. I have prepared a special pageant for the People—a day
of Festivity, wherein I will make a joyful Announcement to them
from the Balcony of the Town Hall. This announcement has a direct
bearing not only on the Future of our sorely-stricken Province, but
also on that of her fairest Daughter. Both these great Issues are
 inextricably bound together, and to-morrow will see them ratified
before our assembled people. So, see to it, My dear de Landas, that
the Garrison under your Command do keep Order in the Town, so
that there should be no disturbance likely to mar the solemnity of
the occasion. There are always Malcontents in every Community
and dissentients to every measure of public good. But I know that
You at least have always been at one with Me in earnest desire to
see our beloved country placed under the protection of our mighty
neighbour, and that You will therefore rejoice with Me that that
desire will at last be fulfilled. Because of Your unswerving loyalty
to me and to Our cause, You shall be the first to know that the
mysterious stranger whom We have so long harboured within Our
gates and who chose to be known to Us all as the Prince de
Froidmont, is none other than Monsieur duc d'Anjou et d'Alençon,
Brother of His Majesty the King of France, who came to Cambray
for the express purpose of wooing Madame Jacqueline de Broyart,
Our Ward, to be his Wife. That he has succeeded in winning her
promise is the announcement which I desire to make to our People
to-morrow. I also will give them the assurance that, in consequence
of this alliance with the royal House of Valois, We may reckon on
the full might and support of France to deliver Us from Our
enemies.'

De Landas crushed the welcome letter in his hand in the excess of his
joy. He could have screamed aloud with unholy rapture.

'There is a fraud here, of course. Monseigneur has been hoodwinked.

The Prince de Froidmont is not Duc d'Anjou!' he cried exultantly. 'This
much I know. And now, friend Beelzebub and all your myrmidons, grant
me aid, so that I may unmask that miscreant in a truly dramatic manner!
Something must and shall be done, to turn that fateful hour to-morrow into
one of triumph for me, and of humiliation for the woman who has dared to
scorn my love. As for the man who has filched her from me, this same hour
will be one which shall cover him with such boundless infamy, that for
Jacqueline the very memory of his kisses will for ever remain an agony of
shame.'

He sent a hasty summons to his intimates—to Maarege, de Borel, du

Prêt and the whole of the gang of hot-headed malcontents, and just like in
the Archiepiscopal Palace, so in the lodgings occupied by Messire de
Landas, a Council of War was held which lasted late into the night.

IV

It was a dark and stormy evening after a brilliant day; and some time
after the cathedral bell had struck the hour of ten, Messire de Landas,
commanding the town garrison, was making the round of the city gates.

He had his man, Pierre, with him—a fellow well known to the guard. At
the gate of Cantimpré, Messire desired that the bridge be lowered, for he
wished to assure himself that everything was as it should be, over on the
right bank of the river. Far away to the right and left, the lights of the Duke
of Parma's encampment could be distinctly seen. The archers at the gate
begged Messire not to venture too far out into the darkness, for the Spanish
patrols were very wide-awake, and they were like cats for sighting a man in
the dark. But Messire thought it his duty to cross the bridge, and to see if all
was well on the other side. He refused to take a bodyguard with him in case
the Spanish patrols were on the alert. Messire de Landas was known to be
very brave; he preferred to take such risks alone.

Only his man Pierre accompanied him.

The archers kept a sharp look-out. But the night was very dark, a
veritable gale was blowing from the south-west, and the driven rain was
blinding. Messire crossed the bridge with Pierre, after which the darkness
swallowed them both up.

Ten minutes later, the guard at the gate, the archers and gunners, heard
the sharp report of two musket shots, following closely upon one another,
and coming from over the right bank of the river. Trembling with anxiety,
they marvelled if Messire were safe. The sheriff, who had no special orders
from the commandant to meet the present eventuality, did not know what to
do. He was ready to tear out his hair in an agony of apprehension. Had it
not been quite so dark he would have sent out a search-party, for Messire
still tarried. But, as it was, his men might fall straight into a guet-apens and
be massacred in the gloom, without doing any good to any one. Skilled and
able-bodied men were becoming precious assets in Cambray: their lives
could not be carelessly jeopardized.

A quarter of an hour of heartrending suspense went by, after which

Messire's footstep was suddenly heard upon the bridge. He returned alone.
The archers and gunners crowded round him, with the anxious query upon
their lips: 'Pierre?'

No one really cared about Pierre. Messire de Landas and his gang were
not popular in Cambray. But the incident had been rendered weird and
awesome by the darkness and the bad weather, and Messire's obstinacy in
venturing out so far.

M. de Landas appeared moody and silent. No doubt he felt responsible

for his servant's fate. But he answered the men's questions quite
straightforwardly, more fully too and with less brusqueness than was his
wont when speaking with subordinates.

'I had my suspicions aroused to-day,' he said, 'by something which our
spies reported to me, that the Spaniards contemplated one of their famous
surprise attacks under cover of this murky darkness. So I was determined to
venture on the Bapaume Road and see if I could discover anything. Pierre
insisted on coming with me. We kept our eyes and ears open and crawled
along in the ditch on hands and knees. Suddenly we were fired on without
any warning. I lay low under cover of the ditch, not moving, hardly
breathing, and thought that Pierre was doing likewise. I heard the Spanish
patrols move noiselessly away. Then I crept out of my hiding-place, almost
surprised at finding myself alive. I called softly to Pierre, but received no
answer; then I groped about for him. Presently I found him. He had been
shot twice—through the back—and must have died on the instant.'
 The story was plausible enough, nor did any one doubt it. The men cared
so little about Pierre, who was overbearing and surly. But what had actually
happened was vastly different.

It was this—Messire le Marquis de Landas, accompanied by Pierre, had

in truth crossed the bridge, and as soon as the darkness had swallowed them
up, the two men had walked rapidly along the Bapaume Road, until they
were challenged by a Spanish patrol on duty. Messire gave the password,
and the patrol not only halted but also stood at attention, for the password
which had been given was one used only by Spanish gentlemen of high
rank in the King's armies.

'You will conduct my servant at once before His Highness the Duke of
Parma,' Messire de Landas said to the man in command of the patrol.

And to Pierre he added in a whisper: 'All that you have to do when you
see His Highness is to give him this letter from me and tell him that we are
quite prepared for to-morrow.'

He gave Pierre a letter, then ordered the patrol to fire a couple of musket-
shots. After which, he waited for a few minutes, and finally returned alone
to the city gate.

CHAPTER XXI

HOW SOME OF THESE SUCCEEDED

I
 Jacqueline was sitting in the self-same deep window-embrasure from
whence she had listened—oh, so long ago!—to that song, which would for
ever remain for her the sweetest song on earth:

'Mignonne, allons voir si la rose——'

Only a few hours had gone by since she had reached the sublimal height
of ecstatic happiness—only a few hours since she had tasted the bitter fruit
of renunciation. Since then she had had a good cry, and felt better for it; but
since then also she had encountered a venomous reptile on her way, and had
been polluted by its touch.

Even to suggest that Jacqueline's pure faith in the man she loved had
been troubled by de Landas' insidious suggestions, would be to wrong her
fine and steadfast character. She did not mistrust her knight; for her he still
stood far above the base calumnies hurled at him by a spiteful rival; but,
somehow, de Landas' venom had succeeded in making her sorrow more
acute, less endurable. Oh! if only she could have shared with her beloved all
his secrets and his difficulties, if only he had thought her worthy of his
entire trust!

Words which he had spoken ere he finally went away rang portentously
in her ear—ominous words, which she had not heeded at the moment, for
her heart was then over-full with the misery of that farewell, but which now
took on, despite herself, a menacing and awesome significance.

With frowning brows and hands tightly clasped together, Jacqueline sat
there, motionless, the while memory called back those words which in very
truth did fill her heart with dread.

'If within the future,' Messire had said, 'aught should occur to render me
odious in your sight, will you at least remember that, whatever else I may
have done that was unworthy and base, my love for you has been as pure
and sacred as is the love of the lark for the sun.'
 He had gone after that—gone before she could ask him for an
explanation of these ununderstandable words, before she could affirm her
perfect faith and trust in him. Then the memory of them had faded from her
ken, merged as it was in her great, all-embracing sorrow, until the wand of a
devilish magician had brought them forth from out the ashes of
forgetfulness, and she was left more forlorn than she had been before.

II

Monseigneur the governor found her in the late afternoon, still sitting in
the window embrasure, the large, lofty room in darkness, save for the fitful
glow of the fire which was burning low in the monumental hearth. The
patter of the rain against the window panes made a weird, melancholy
sound, which alone broke the silence that hung upon the place with an eerie
sense of desolation. Monseigneur shuddered as he entered.

'B-r-r-r!' he exclaimed. 'My dear Jacqueline! I had no thought that you

were moping here all alone—and in the dark, too!—or I would have been
here sooner to cheer your spirits with my good news.'

'You and your good news are right welcome, Monseigneur,' responded
Jacqueline with a pathetic effort at gaiety. 'I was out in the garden most of
the day,' she continued composedly, 'and was resting for awhile in the
gathering dusk, as this awful weather hath made it impossible to go out
again.'

'Gathering dusk, forsooth!' he retorted. 'Send for your women, Madame,

and order them to bring in the candles. Light! We want more light, laughter
and joy at this hour! I would I could light a bonfire, to turn the night into
day!'

He was obviously nervy and excited, paced up and down the room in a
state of nerve-tension, very unlike his usual dignified self. Jacqueline, a
little puzzled, obeyed him promptly. She rang the bell and ordered Nicolle
to send in the candles, and while the women busied themselves about the
room, disposing candelabra upon the tables and consols, she watched her
guardian keenly. He certainly appeared strangely excited, and now and then
he darted quick, inquiring glances upon her, and when she met those
glances, he smiled as if in triumph.

'Let us sit by the fire, my dear,' he said genially, after he had dismissed
Nicolle and the women with an impatient gesture. 'I came to see you alone
and without ceremony, because I wished for the selfish pleasure of
imparting my good news to you myself.'

She sat down in the tall chair beside the fire, and Monseigneur sat
opposite to her. She had on a dress of dark-coloured satin, upon the shiny
surface of which the flickering firelight drew quaint and glowing
arabesques. She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and leaned her
head against her hand, thus keeping her delicate face in shadow, lest
Monseigneur should note the pallor of her cheeks and the tear-stains around
her eyes. But otherwise she was quite composed, was able to smile too at
his eagerness and obvious embarrassment.

It was his turn to study her keenly now, and he did so with evident
pleasure. Not so very many years ago he, too, had been a young gallant,
favoured by fortune and not flint-hearted either where women were
concerned. He had buried two wives, and felt none the worse for that, and
still ready to turn a compliment to a pretty woman, and to give her the full
measure of his admiration. He would have been less than a man now, if he
had withstood the charm of the pretty picture which his ward presented, in
the harmonious setting of her high-backed chair, and with the crimson glow
of the fire-light turning her fair hair to living gold.

'Put down your hand, Jacqueline,' he said, 'so that I may see your pretty
face.'

'My head aches sadly, Monseigneur,' she rejoined with a pathetic little
sigh, 'and mine eyes are heavy. 'Tis but vanity that causes me to hold my
hand before my face.'

'Neither headaches nor heavy eyes could mar the beauty of the fairest
lily of Flanders,' he went on with elaborate gallantry. 'So I pray you humour
me, and let me see you eye to eye.'

She did as he asked, and dropped her hand. Monseigneur made no

remark on her pallor, was obviously too deeply absorbed in his joyful news
to notice her swollen eyes. She tried to smile, and said lightly:

'And why should Monseigneur desire to see a face, every line of which
he knows by heart?'

He leaned forward in his chair and said slowly, keeping his eyes fixed
upon her:

'Because I wish to behold the future Duchesse d'Anjou and d'Alençon,

the future sister of the King of France!'

She made no reply, but sat quite still, her face turned toward the fire,
presenting the outline of her dainty profile to the admiring gaze of her
guardian. Monseigneur was silent for a moment or two, was leaning back in
his chair once more, and regarding her with an air of complacency, which
he took no pains to disguise.

'It means the salvation of the Netherlands!' he said with a deep sigh of
satisfaction. 'We can now count on the whole might of France to rid us of
our enemies, and after that to a long era of prosperity and of religious
liberty, when Madame Jacqueline de Broyart shares with her lord the
Sovereignty of the Netherlands.'

Jacqueline remained silent, her aching eyes fixed in the hot embers of
the fire. So the blow had fallen sooner than she thought. When, in the
arbour, she had made her profession of faith before her knight, and told him
that she belonged not to herself but to her country, she did not think that her
country would claim her quite so soon. Vaguely she knew that some day her
guardian would dispose of her hand and fortune, and that she would have to
ratify a bargain made for her person, for the sake of that fair land of
Flanders which was so dear to her. But awhile ago, all that had seemed so
remote; limitless time seemed to stretch out before her, wherein she could
pursue her dreams of the might-have-been.
 Monseigneur's announcement—for it was that—came as a hammer-blow
upon her hopes of peace. She had only just wakened from her dream, and
already the bitter-sweet boon of memory would be denied to her. Stunned
under the blow, she made no attempt at defiance. With her heart dead within
her, what cared she in the future what became of her body? Since love was
denied her, there was always the altruistic sentiment of patriotism to
comfort her in her loneliness; and the thought of self-sacrifice on the altar
of her stricken country would, perhaps, compensate her for that life-long
sorrow which was destined to mar her life.

'No wonder you are silent, Jacqueline,' Monseigneur was saying, and she
heard him speaking as if through a thick veil which smothered the sound of
his voice; 'for to you this happy news comes as a surprise. Confess that you
never thought your old guardian was capable of negotiating so brilliant an
alliance for you!'

'I knew,' she rejoined quietly, 'that my guardian would do everything in

his power to further the good of our country.'

'And incidentally to promote your happiness, my dear.'

'Oh!' she said, with an indifferent shrug of the shoulders, 'my happiness
is not in question, is it? Else you would not propose that I should wed a
Prince of the House of Valois.'

'I am not so sure,' he replied, with a humorous twinkle in his old eyes.
'Monsieur Duc d'Anjou, is not—or I am much mistaken—quite the rogue
that mischievous rumour hath painted.'

'Let us hope, for my sake,' she retorted dryly, 'that rumour hath wronged
him in all particulars.'

'In one, at any rate, I'll vouch for that. Monsieur is more than commonly
well-favoured—a handsome figure of a man, with the air and the voice of a
soldier.'

'You know him well?'

 'I have seen much of him,' said Monseigneur with an enigmatic smile,
'these past four weeks.'

'These past four weeks?' she exclaimed. 'But you have not been out of
Cambray.'

'Nor has he,' put in Monseigneur quietly.

She frowned, deeply puzzled.

'Monsieur Duc d'Anjou hath been in Cambray?' she asked, 'these past
four weeks?'

He nodded.

'And I have never seen him?'

'Indeed you have, my dear Jacqueline; on more than one occasion.'

'Not to my knowledge, then.'

'No. Not to your knowledge.'

'I don't understand,' she murmured. 'Why should so exalted a prince as

the Duc d'Anjou be in Cambray all this while?'

'Because he desired to woo Madame Jacqueline de Broyart, duchesse et

princesse de Ramèse.'

'Without my knowledge?'

'Without your knowledge—outwardly.'

'What do you mean?'

'Oh! nothing very obscure, my dear; nothing very remarkable. Monsieur

Duc d'Anjou is young—he hath a romantic turn of mind. He admired you
and desired you in marriage, but chose to woo you—have I not said that he
is romantic?—chose to woo you under a mask.'