The House of Walderne | Page 5

The union of
the long hostile races, Norman and English, is producing a people
which shall in time rule the world; and if I can do aught to help to lay
the foundation of such a polity as befits the union, please God, I shall
feel well repaid: in short, Leicester is a dearer name to me than
Montfort; England than France."
"Thy noble father, my lord, adorned the latter country."
"God grant he has not left an inheritance of judgment to his children;
the cries of the slaughtered Albigenses ever rang in my poor mother's
ears, and ring too often in mine."
"I have never heard the story fairly told."
"Thou shalt now. The land where they spoke the language of Oc,
thence called Langue-d'oc, was hardly a part of France; it had its own
government, its own usages, as well as its own sweet tongue. It was
lovely as the garden of the Lord ere the serpent entered therein; the soil
was fruitful, the corn and wine and oil abundant. The people were
unlike other people; they cared little for war, they wrote books and
made love on the banks of the Rhone and Garonne.
"Well had they stopped here, and not taken liberties" (here the knight
crossed himself) "with the Church. Intercourse with Mussulmen and
Greeks--who alike came to the marts--corrupted them, and they became
unbelievers, so that even the children in their play mocked at the
Church and Sacraments. In short, it was said they were Manicheans."
"What is that?"
"People who believe that the powers of good and evil are co-equal and
co-eternal, that both God and the devil are to be worshipped. At least
this was laid to their charge; I know not if it be all true.
"Well, the Church appealed for help to the chivalry of France; she
declared the goods and possessions of this unfortunate people
confiscate to them who should seize them, and offered heaven to those

who died in battle against them. Now these poor wretches could write
love songs and were clever at all kinds of art, but they could not fight.
My father was chosen to head the new crusade; and even he was
shocked at the murderous scenes, the massacres, the burnings, which
followed--God forbid I should ever witness the like--they were blotted
out from the earth."
The storm which had been gathering all this time now burst in its full
violence upon our travellers. Blinding flakes of snow, borne with all
the force of the wind, seemed to overwhelm them; soon the tracks
which alone marked the way became obliterated, and the riders
wandered aimlessly for more than an hour.
"What shall we do, Stephen? I have lost every trace of the way; my
poor beast threatens to give up."
"I know not, my lord."
"Ah, the Saints be praised, there is a light close at hand. It shines clear
and distinct--now it is shut out."
"A door or window must have been opened and closed again."
"So I deem, but this is the direction," said the knight as he turned his
horse's head northwards.
Let us precede knight and squire and see what awaited them.
Upon a spot of firm ground, free from swamp, and clear for about the
area of a couple of acres, stood a few primitive buildings: there was a
barn, a cow shed, a few huts in which men slept but did not live, and a
central building wherein the whole community, when at home,
assembled to eat the king's venison, and wash it down with ale, mead,
and even wine--the latter probably the proceeds of a successful forage.
Darkness is falling without and the snowflakes fall thicker and
thicker--it yet wants three hours to curfew--but the woods are quite
buried in the sombre gloom of a starless night. The central building is

evidently well lighted, for we see the firelight through many chinks in
the ill-built walls ere we enter, although they have daubed the
interstices of the logs whereof it is composed with clay and mud almost
as adhesive as mortar. Let us go in--the door opens.
A huge fire burns in the centre of the building, and the smoke ascends
in clouds through an opening in the roof, directly above, down which
the snowflakes descend and hiss as they meet their death in the ruddy
flames. Three poles are suspended over the fire, and from the point
where they unite descends an iron chain, suspending a large caldron or
pot.
Oh, what a savoury smell! the woods have been ransacked, that their
tenants, who possess succulent and juicy flesh, may contribute to
appease the hunger of the outlaws--bird and beast are there, and soon
will be beautifully cooked. Nor are edible herbs wanting, such at least
as can be