Across this inner court also they were conducted by their guide to a small but strong tower,occupying the north-east angle of the building,adjacent to the great hall,and filling up a space betwixt the immense range of kitchens and the end of the great hall itself.The lower part of this tower was occupied by some of the household officers of Leicester,owing to its convenient vicinity to the places where their duty lay;but in the upper story,which was reached by a narrow,winding stair,was a small octangular chamber,which,in the great demand for lodgings,had been on the present occasion fitted up for the reception of guests,though generally said to have been used as a place of confinement for some unhappy person who had been there murdered.
Tradition called this prisoner Mervyn,and transferred his name to the tower.That it had been used as a prison was not improbable;for the floor of each story was arched,the walls of tremendous thickness,while the space of the chamber did not exceed fifteen feet in diameter.The window,however,was pleasant,though narrow,and commanded a delightful view of what was called the Pleasance;a space of ground enclosed and decorated with arches,trophies,statues,fountains,and other architectural monuments,which formed one access from the Castle itself into the garden.There was a bed in the apartment,and other preparations for the reception of a guest,to which the Countess paid but slight attention,her notice being instantly arrested by the sight of writing materials placed on the table (not very commonly to be found in the bedrooms of those days),which instantly suggested the idea of writing to Leicester,and remaining private until she had received his answer.
The deputy-usher having introduced them into this commodious apartment,courteously asked Wayland,whose generosity he had experienced,whether he could do anything further for his service.Upon receiving a gentle hint that some refreshment would not be unacceptable,he presently conveyed the smith to the buttery-hatch,where dressed provisions of all sorts were distributed,with hospitable profusion,to all who asked for them.Wayland was readily supplied with some light provisions,such as he thought would best suit the faded appetite of the lady,and did not omit the opportunity of himself making a hasty but hearty meal on more substantial fare.He then returned to the apartment in the turret,where he found the Countess,who had finished her letter to Leicester,and in lieu of a seal and silken thread,had secured it with a braid of her own beautiful tresses,fastened by what is called a true-love knot.
Good friend,said she to Wayland,whom God hath sent to aid me at my utmost need,I do beseech thee,as the last trouble you shall take for an unfortunate lady,to deliver this letter to the noble Earl of Leicester.Be it received as it may,she said,with features agitated betwixt hope and fear,thou,good fellow,shalt have no more cumber with me.But I hope the best;and if ever lady made a poor man rich,thou hast surely deserved it at my hand,should my happy days ever come round again.Give it,Ipray you,into Lord Leicester's own hand,and mark how he looks on receiving it.Wayland,on his part,readily undertook the commission,but anxiously prayed the lady,in his turn,to partake of some refreshment;in which he at length prevailed,more through importunity and her desire to see him begone on his errand than from any inclination the Countess felt to comply with his request.He then left her,advising her to lock her door on the inside,and not to stir from her little apartment;and went to seek an opportunity of discharging her errand,as well as of carrying into effect a purpose of his own,which circumstances had induced him to form.
In fact,from the conduct of the lady during the journey--her long fits of profound silence,the irresolution and uncertainty which seemed to pervade all her movements,and the obvious incapacity of thinking and acting for herself under which she seemed to labour--Wayland had formed the not improbable opinion that the difficulties of her situation had in some degree affected her understanding.
When she had escaped from the seclusion of Cumnor Place,and the dangers to which she was there exposed,it would have seemed her most rational course to retire to her father's,or elsewhere at a distance from the power of those by whom these dangers had been created.When,instead of doing so,she demanded to be conveyed to Kenilworth,Wayland had been only able to account for her conduct by supposing that she meant to put herself under the tutelage of Tressilian,and to appeal to the protection of the Queen.But now,instead of following this natural course,she entrusted him with a letter to Leicester,the patron of Varney,and within whose jurisdiction at least,if not under his express authority,all the evils she had already suffered were inflicted upon her.This seemed an unsafe and even a desperate measure,and Wayland felt anxiety for his own safety,as well as that of the lady,should he execute her commission before he had secured the advice and countenance of a protector.
He therefore resolved,before delivering the letter to Leicester,that he would seek out Tressilian,and communicate to him the arrival of the lady at Kenilworth,and thus at once rid himself of all further responsibility,and devolve the task of guiding and protecting this unfortunate lady upon the patron who had at first employed him in her service.
He will be a better judge than I am,said Wayland,whether she is to be gratified in this humour of appeal to my Lord of Leicester,which seems like an act of insanity;and,therefore,Iwill turn the matter over on his hands,deliver him the letter,receive what they list to give me by way of guerdon,and then show the Castle of Kenilworth a pair of light heels;for,after the work I have been engaged in,it will be,I fear,neither a safe nor wholesome place of residence,and I would rather shoe colts an the coldest common in England than share in their gayest revels.