Part 50 (1/2)
They stared about the deserted garden in which stones and sacks of earth had been stored ready for a siege, and finding no one, said:
”We do not see them.”
Then the lady let slip her cloak, though not her veil revealing the robe beneath.
”By St. Peter!” said G.o.dwin. ”I know the broidery on that dress.
Masouda! Say, is it you, Masouda?”
As he spoke the veil fell also, and lo! before them was a woman like to Masouda and yet not Masouda. The hair was dressed like hers; the ornaments and the necklace made of the claws of the lion which G.o.dwin killed were hers; the skin was of the same rich hue; there even was the tiny mole upon her cheek, but as the head was bent they could not see her eyes. Suddenly, with a little moan she lifted it, and looked at them.
”Rosamund! It is Rosamund herself!” gasped Wulf. ”Rosamund disguised as Masouda!”
And he fell rather than leapt from his saddle and ran to her, murmuring, ”G.o.d! I thank Thee!”
Now she seemed to faint and slid from her horse into his arms, and lay there a moment, while G.o.dwin turned aside his head.
”Yes,” said Rosamund, freeing herself, ”it is I and no other, yet I rode with you all this way and neither of you knew me.”
”Have we eyes that can pierce veils and woollen garments?” asked Wulf indignantly; but G.o.dwin said in a strange, strained voice:
”You are Rosamund disguised as Masouda. Who, then, was that woman to whom I bade farewell before Saladin while the headsman awaited me; a veiled woman who wore the robes and gems of Rosamund?”
”I know not, G.o.dwin,” she answered, ”unless it were Masouda clad in my garments as I left her. Nor do I know anything of this story of the headsman who awaited you. I thought--I thought it was for Wulf that he waited--oh! Heaven, I thought that.”
”Tell us your tale,” said G.o.dwin hoa.r.s.ely.
”It is short,” she answered. ”After the casting of the lot, of which I shall dream till my death-day, I fainted. When I found my senses again I thought that I must be mad, for there before me stood a woman dressed in my garments, whose face seemed like my face, yet not the same.
”'Have no fear,' she said; 'I am Masouda, who, amongst many other things, have learned how to play a part. Listen; there is no time to lose. I have been ordered to leave the camp; even now my uncle the Arab waits without, with two swift horses. You, Princess, will leave in my place. Look, you wear my robes and my face--almost; and are of my height, and the man who guides you will know no difference. I have seen to that, for although a soldier of Salah-ed-din, he is of my tribe. I will go with you to the door, and there bid you farewell before the eunuchs and the guards with weeping, and who will guess that Masouda is the princess of Baalbec and that the princess of Baalbec is Masouda?'
”'And whither shall I go?' I asked.
”'My uncle, Son of the Sand, will give you over to the emba.s.sy which rides to Jerusalem, or failing that, will take you to the city, or failing that, will hide you in the mountains among his own people. See, here is a letter that he must read; I place it in your breast.'
”'And what of you, Masouda?' I asked again.
”'Of me? Oh! it is all planned, a plan that cannot fail,' she answered. 'Fear not; I escape to-night--I have no time to tell you how--and will join you in a day or two. Also, I think that you will find Sir G.o.dwin, who will bring you home to England.'
”'But Wulf? What of Wulf?' I asked again. 'He is doomed to die, and I will not leave him.'
”'The living and the dead can keep no company,' she answered.
'Moreover, I have seen him, and all this is done by his most urgent order. If you love him, he bids that you will obey.'”
”I never saw Masouda! I never spoke such words! I knew nothing of this plot!” exclaimed Wulf, and the brethren looked at each other with white faces.
”Speak on,” said G.o.dwin; ”afterwards we can debate.”
”Moreover,” continued Rosamund, bowing her head, ”Masouda added these words, 'I think that Sir Wulf will escape his doom. If you would see him again, obey his word, for unless you obey you can never hope to look upon him living. Go, now, before we are both discovered, which would mean your death and mine, who, if you go, am safe.'”