A Ladder of Swords: A Tale of Love, Laughter and TearsParker, Gilbert
History
A Ladder of Swords: A Tale of Love, Laughter and Tears
Parker, Gilbert
Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603 -- Fiction; Huguenots -- Fiction; Jersey (Channel Islands) -- Fiction
“If thou dost come to Carteret thou wilt see two lights turning
this-wards: one upon a headland called Tour de Rozel, and one upon
the great rock called of the Ecréhos. These will be in line with thy
sight by the sands of Hatainville. Near by the Tour de Rozel shall I
be watching and awaiting thee. By day and night doth my prayer ascend
for thee.
“The messenger who bears this to thee (a piratical knave with a most
kind heart, having, I am told, a wife in every port of France and of
England the south, a most heinous sin!) will wait for thy answer, or
will bring thee hither, which is still better. He is worthy of trust
if thou makest him swear by the little finger of St. Peter. By all
other swearings he doth deceive freely.
“The Lord make thee true, Michel. If thou art faithful to me, I shall
know how faithful thou art in all; for thy vows to me were most
frequent and pronounced, with a full savor that might warrant short
seasoning. Yet, because thou mayst still be given to such dear
fantasies of truth as were on thy lips in those dark days wherein thy
sword saved my life ’twixt Paris and Rouen, I tell thee now that I do
love thee, and shall so love when, as my heart inspires me, the
cloud shall fall that will hide us from each other forever.
“ANGÈLE
“_An Afterword_:
“I doubt not we shall come to the heights where there is peace,
though we climb thereto by a ladder of swords.
A.”
Some years before Angèle’s letter was written, Michel de la Forêt had
become an officer in the army of Comte Gabriel de Montgomery, and
fought with him until what time the great chief was besieged in the
castle of Domfront in Normandy. When the siege grew desperate,
Montgomery besought the intrepid young Huguenot soldier to escort
Madame de Montgomery to England, to be safe from the oppression and
misery sure to follow any mishap to this noble leader of the
Camisards.
At the very moment of departure of the refugees from Domfront with
the Comtesse, Angèle’s messenger--the “piratical knave with a most
kind heart”--presented himself, delivered her letter to De la Forêt,
and proceeded with the party to the coast of Normandy by St. Brieuc.
Embarking there in a lugger which Buonespoir the pirate secured for
them, they made for England.
Having come but half-way of the Channel, the lugger was stopped by an
English frigate. After much persuasion the captain of the frigate
agreed to land Madame de Montgomery upon the island of Jersey, but
forced De la Forêt to return to the coast of France; and Buonespoir
elected to return with him.
II
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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