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diff --git a/34243.txt b/34243.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7020023 --- /dev/null +++ b/34243.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1263 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Headswoman, by Kenneth Grahame + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Headswoman + +Author: Kenneth Grahame + +Illustrator: Marcia Lane Foster + +Release Date: November 8, 2010 [EBook #34243] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEADSWOMAN *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +_The Headswoman_ + + + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + + THE GOLDEN AGE + DREAM DAYS + PAGAN PAPERS + +THE BODLEY HEAD + + + + + [Frontispiece: "Now that we have been properly introduced allow + me to apologise"] + + + + +THE HEADSWOMAN + +_By_ Kenneth Grahame + + +_With Illustrations in Colour and Woodcuts by_ + +Marcia Lane Foster + + +[Decoration] + + + _LONDON_ + _John Lane The Bodley Head Limited_ + _New York John Lane Company_ + + + + + _First Published 1898_ + _Illustrated Edition 1921_ + + + + +_Printed In Great Britain by R. Clay & Sons, Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk._ + + + + +_List of Illustrations_ + + + "Now That we have been properly introduced + allow me to apologise" _Frontispiece_ + + _Facing page_ + "You see I am Familiar with the Routine.... + Good-morning, Gentlemen!" 8 + + "Au revoir, Sir! If you should happen to be in + the Market-place any Morning" 28 + + Endeavouring to convey the Tardy Prisoner to the + Scaffold 32 + + "Nay, pardon me, Sweet One, 'twas but a Jest + of Mine" 36 + + But at this point a Hubbub arose at the Foot of + the Scaffold 42 + + "Now, mark my Words, you Miserable Little + Bladder-o'-Lard, see if I don't take this + out of your Skin presently" 44 + + An Invitation arrived, backed by an Escort of + Half-a-dozen very Tall Archers 46 + + + + +_The Headswoman_ + + + + +[Illustration] + +I + + +It was a bland, sunny morning of a mediaeval May,--an old-style May of +the most typical quality; and the Council of the little town of St. +Radegonde were assembled, as was their wont at that hour, in the +picturesque upper chamber of the Hotel de Ville, for the dispatch of the +usual municipal business. Though the date was early sixteenth century, +the members of this particular town-council possessed considerable +resemblance to those of similar assemblies in the seventeenth, +eighteenth, and even the nineteenth centuries, in a general absence of +any characteristic at all--unless a pervading hopeless insignificance +can be considered as such. All the character in the room, indeed, seemed +to be concentrated in the girl who stood before the table, erect, yet at +her ease, facing the members in general and Mr. Mayor in particular; a +delicate-handed, handsome girl of some eighteen summers, whose tall, +supple figure was well set off by the quiet, though tasteful mourning in +which she was clad. + +"Well, gentlemen," the Mayor was saying, "this little business appears +to be--er--quite in order, and it only remains for me to--er--review the +facts. You are aware that the town has lately had the misfortune to +lose its executioner,--a gentleman who, I may say, performed the duties +of his office with neatness and dispatch, and gave the fullest +satisfaction to all with whom he--er--came in contact. But the Council +has already, in a vote of condolence, expressed its sense of +the--er--striking qualities of the deceased. You are doubtless also +aware that the office is hereditary, being secured to a particular +family in this town, so long as any one of its members is ready and +willing to take it up. The deed lies before me, and appears to +be--er--quite in order. It is true that on this occasion the Council +might have been called upon to consider and examine the title of the +claimant, the late lamented official having only left a daughter,--she +who now stands before you; but I am happy to say that Jeanne--the young +lady in question--with what I am bound to call great good-feeling on +her part, has saved us all trouble in that respect, by formally applying +for the family post, with all its--er--duties, privileges, and +emoluments; and her application appears to be--er--quite in order. There +is, therefore, under the circumstances, nothing left for us to do but to +declare the said applicant duly elected. I would wish, however, before +I--er--sit down, to make it quite clear to the--er--fair petitioner, +that if a laudable desire to save the Council trouble in the matter has +led her to a--er--hasty conclusion, it is quite open to her to +reconsider her position. Should she determine not to press her claim, +the succession to the post would then apparently devolve upon her cousin +Enguerrand, well known to you all as a practising advocate in the courts +of this town. Though the youth has not, I admit, up to now proved a +conspicuous success in the profession he has chosen, still there is no +reason why a bad lawyer should not make an excellent executioner; and in +view of the close friendship--may I even say attachment?--existing +between the cousins, it is possible that this young lady may, in due +course, practically enjoy the solid emoluments of the position without +the necessity of discharging its (to some girls) uncongenial duties. And +so, though not the rose herself, she would still be--er--near the rose!" +And the Mayor resumed his seat, chuckling over his little pleasantry, +which the keener wits of the Council proceeded to explain at length to +the more obtuse. + +"Permit me, Mr. Mayor," said the girl quietly, "first to thank you for +what was evidently the outcome of a kindly though misdirected feeling on +your part; and then to set you right as to the grounds of my application +for the post to which you admit my hereditary claim. As to my cousin, +your conjecture as to the feeling between us is greatly exaggerated; and +I may further say at once, from my knowledge of his character, that he +is little qualified either to adorn or to dignify an important position +such as this. A man who has achieved such indifferent success in a minor +and less exacting walk of life, is hardly likely to shine in an +occupation demanding punctuality, concentration, judgment,--all the +qualities, in fine, that go to make a good business man. But this is +beside the question. My motive, gentlemen, in demanding what is my due, +is a simple and (I trust) an honest one, and I desire that there should +be no misunderstanding. It is my wish to be dependent on no one. I am +both willing and able to work, and I only ask for what is the common +right of humanity,--admission to the labour market. How many poor, +toiling women would simply jump at a chance like this which fortune, by +the accident of birth, lays open to me! And shall I, from any false +deference to that conventional voice which proclaims this thing as +'nice,' and that thing as 'not nice,' reject a handicraft which promises +me both artistic satisfaction and a competence? No, gentlemen; my claim +is a small one,--only a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. But I can +accept nothing less, nor consent to forgo my rights, even for any +contingent remainder of possible cousinly favour!" + +There was a touch of scorn in her fine contralto voice as she finished +speaking; the Mayor himself beamed approval. He was not wealthy, and had +a large family of daughters; so Jeanne's sentiments seemed to him +entirely right and laudable. + +"Well, gentlemen," he began briskly, "then all we've got to do, is +to----" + +"Beg pardon, your worship," put in Master Robinet, the tanner, who had +been sitting with a petrified, Bill-the-Lizard sort of expression during +the speechifying: "but are we to understand as how this here young lady +is going to be the public executioner of this here town?" + +"Really, neighbour Robinet," said the Mayor, somewhat pettishly, "you've +got ears like the rest of us, I suppose; and you know the contents of +the deed; and you've had my assurance that it's--er--quite in order; and +as it's getting towards lunch-time----" + +"But it's unheard of," protested honest Robinet. "There hasn't ever been +no such thing--leastways not as I've heard tell." + + [Illustration: "You see I am familiar with the routine.... + Good-morning, Gentlemen!"] + +"Well, well, well," said the Mayor, "everything must have a beginning, I +suppose. Times are different now, you know. There's the march of +intellect, and--er--all that sort of thing. We must advance with the +times--don't you see, Robinet?--advance with the times!" + +"Well, I'm----" began the tanner. + +But no one heard, on this occasion, the tanner's opinion as to his +condition, physical or spiritual; for the clear contralto cut short his +obtestations. + +"If there's really nothing more to be said, Mr. Mayor," she remarked, "I +need not trespass longer on your valuable time. I propose to take up the +duties of my office to-morrow morning, at the usual hour. The salary +will, I assume, be reckoned from the same date; and I shall make the +customary quarterly application for such additional emoluments as may +have accrued to me during that period. You see I am familiar with the +routine. Good-morning, gentlemen!" And as she passed from the Council +chamber, her small head held erect, even the tanner felt that she took +with her a large portion of the May sunshine which was condescending +that morning to gild their deliberations. + + + + +II + + +One evening, a few weeks later, Jeanne was taking a stroll on the +ramparts of the town, a favourite and customary walk of hers when +business cares were over. The pleasant expanse of country that lay +spread beneath her--the rich sunset, the gleaming, sinuous river, and +the noble old chateau that dominated both town and pasture from its +adjacent height--all served to stir and bring out in her those poetic +impulses which had lain dormant during the working day; while the cool +evening breeze smoothed out and obliterated any little jars or worries +which might have ensued during the practice of a profession in which she +was still something of a novice. This evening she felt fairly happy and +content. True, business was rather brisk, and her days had been fully +occupied; but this mattered little so long as her modest efforts were +appreciated, and she was now really beginning to feel that, with +practice, her work was creditably and artistically done. In a satisfied, +somewhat dreamy mood, she was drinking in the various sweet influences +of the evening, when she perceived her cousin approaching. + +"Good-evening, Enguerrand," cried Jeanne pleasantly; she was thinking +that since she had begun to work for her living she had hardly seen +him--and they used to be such good friends. Could anything have occurred +to offend him? + +Enguerrand drew near somewhat moodily, but could not help allowing his +expression to relax at sight of her fair young face, set in its +framework of rich brown hair, wherein the sunset seemed to have tangled +itself and to cling, reluctant to leave it. + +"Sit down, Enguerrand," continued Jeanne, "and tell me what you've been +doing this long time. Been very busy, and winning forensic fame and +gold?" + +"Well, not exactly," said Enguerrand, moody once more. "The fact is, +there's so much interest required nowadays at the courts that unassisted +talent never gets a chance. And you, Jeanne?" + +"Oh, I don't complain," answered Jeanne lightly. "Of course, it's +fair-time just now, you know, and we're always busy then. But work will +be lighter soon, and then I'll get a day off, and we'll have a +delightful ramble and picnic in the woods, as we used to do when we were +children. What fun we had in those old days, Enguerrand! Do you +remember when we were quite little tots, and used to play at executions +in the back-garden, and you were a bandit and a buccaneer, and all sorts +of dreadful things, and I used to chop off your head with a paper-knife? +How pleased dear father used to be!" + +"Jeanne," said Enguerrand, with some hesitation, "you've touched upon +the very subject that I came to speak to you about. Do you know, dear, I +can't help feeling--it may be unreasonable, but still the feeling is +there--that the profession you have adopted is not quite--is just a +little----" + +"Now, Enguerrand!" said Jeanne, an angry flash sparkling in her eyes. +She was a little touchy on this subject, the word she most affected to +despise being also the one she most dreaded,--the adjective +"unladylike." + +"Don't misunderstand me, Jeanne," went on Enguerrand imploringly: "you +may naturally think that, because I should have succeeded to the post, +with its income and perquisites, had you relinquished your claim, there +is therefore some personal feeling in my remonstrances. Believe me, it +is not so. My own interests do not weigh with me for a moment. It is on +your account, Jeanne, and yours alone, that I ask you to consider +whether the higher aesthetic qualities, which I know you possess, may not +become cramped and thwarted by 'the trivial round, the common task,' +which you have lightly undertaken. However laudable a professional life +may be, one always feels that with a delicate organism such as woman, +some of the bloom may possibly get rubbed off the peach." + +"Well, Enguerrand," said Jeanne, composing herself with an effort, +though her lips were set hard, "I will do you the justice to believe +that personal advantage does not influence you, and I will try to reason +calmly with you, and convince you that you are simply hide-bound by +old-world prejudice. Now, take yourself, for instance, who come here to +instruct me: what does _your_ profession amount to, when all's said and +done? A mass of lies, quibbles, dodges, and tricks, that would make any +self-respecting executioner blush! And even with the dirty weapons at +your command, you make but a poor show of it. There was that wretched +fellow you defended only two days ago. (I was in court during the +trial--professional interest, you know.) Well, he had his regular +_alibi_ all ready, as clear as clear could be; only you must needs go +and mess and bungle the thing up, so that, just as I expected all +along, he was passed on to me for treatment in due course. You may like +to have his opinion--that of a shrewd, though unlettered person. 'It's a +real pleasure, miss,' he said, 'to be handled by you. You _knows_ your +work, and you _does_ your work--though p'raps I ses it as shouldn't. If +that blooming fool of a mouthpiece of mine'--he was referring to you, +dear, in your capacity of advocate--'had known his business half as well +as you do yours, I shouldn't a bin here now!' And you know, Enguerrand, +he was perfectly right." + +"Well, perhaps he was," admitted Enguerrand. "You see, I had been +working at a sonnet the night before, and I couldn't get the rhymes +right, and they would keep coming into my head in court and mixing +themselves up with the _alibi_. But look here, Jeanne, when you saw I +was going off the track, you might have given me a friendly hint, you +know--for old times' sake, if not for the prisoner's!" + +"I daresay," replied Jeanne calmly: "perhaps you'll tell me why I should +sacrifice my interests because you're unable to look after yours. You +forget that I receive a bonus, over and above my salary, upon each +exercise of my functions!" + +"True," said Enguerrand gloomily: "I did forget that. I wish I had your +business aptitudes, Jeanne." + +"I daresay you do," remarked Jeanne. "But you see, dear, how all your +arguments fall to the ground. You mistake a prepossession for a logical +base. Now if I had gone, like that Clairette you used to dangle after, +and been waiting-woman to some grand lady in a chateau,--a thin-blooded +compound of drudge and sycophant,--then, I suppose, you'd have been +perfectly satisfied. So feminine! So genteel!" + +"She's not a bad sort of girl, little Claire," said Enguerrand +reflectively (thereby angering Jeanne afresh): "but putting her +aside,--of course you could always beat me at argument, Jeanne; you'd +have made a much better lawyer than I. But you know, dear, how much I +care about you; and I did hope that on that account even a prejudice, +however unreasonable, might have some little weight. And I'm not alone, +let me tell you, in my views. There was a fellow in court only to-day, +who was saying that yours was only a _succes d'estime_, and that woman, +as a naturally talkative and hopelessly unpunctual animal, could never +be more than a clever amateur in the profession you have chosen." + +"That will do, Enguerrand," said Jeanne proudly; "it seems that when +argument fails, you can stoop so low as to insult me through my sex. +You men are all alike,--steeped in brutish masculine prejudice. Now go +away, and don't mention the subject to me again till you're quite +reasonable and nice." + + + + +III + +Jeanne passed a somewhat restless night after her small scene with her +cousin, waking depressed and unrefreshed. Though she had carried matters +with so high a hand, and had scored so distinctly all around, she had +been more agitated than she had cared to show. She liked Enguerrand; and +more especially did she like his admiration for her; and that chance +allusion to Clairette contained possibilities that were alarming. In +embracing a professional career, she had never thought for a moment +that it could militate against that due share of admiration to which, as +a girl, she was justly entitled; and Enguerrand's views seemed this +morning all the more narrow and inexcusable. She rose languidly, and as +soon as she was dressed sent off a little note to the Mayor, saying that +she had a nervous headache and felt out of sorts, and begging to be +excused from attendance on that day; and the missive reached the Mayor +just as he was taking his usual place at the head of the Board. + +"Dear, dear!" said the kind-hearted old man, as soon as he had read the +letter to his fellow-councilmen: "I'm very sorry. Poor girl! Here, one +of you fellows, just run round and tell the gaoler there won't be any +business to-day. Jeanne's seedy. It's put off till to-morrow. And now, +gentlemen, the agenda----" + +"Really, your worship," exploded Robinet, "this is simply ridiculous!" + +"Upon my word, Robinet," said the Mayor, "I don't know what's the matter +with you. Here's a poor girl unwell,--and a more hard-working girl isn't +in the town,--and instead of sympathising with her, and saying you're +sorry, you call it ridiculous! Suppose you had a headache yourself! You +wouldn't like----" + +"But it _is_ ridiculous," maintained the tanner stoutly. "Who ever heard +of an executioner having a nervous headache? There's no precedent for +it. And 'out of sorts,' too! Suppose the criminals said they were out of +sorts, and didn't feel up to being executed?" + +"Well, suppose they did," replied the Mayor, "we'd try and meet them +half-way, I daresay. They'd have to be executed some time or other, you +know. Why on earth are you so captious about trifles? The prisoners +won't mind, and _I_ don't mind: nobody's inconvenienced, and everybody's +happy!" + +"You're right there, Mr. Mayor," put in another councilman. "This +executing business used to give the town a lot of trouble and bother; +now it's all as easy as kiss-your-hand. Instead of objecting, as they +used to do, and wanting to argue the point and kick up a row, the +fellows as is told off for execution come skipping along in the morning, +like a lot of lambs in May-time. And then the fun there is on the +scaffold! The jokes, the back answers, the repartees! And never a word +to shock a baby! Why, my little girl, as goes through the market-place +every morning--on her way to school, you know--she says to me only +yesterday, she says, 'Why, father,' she says, 'it's as good as the +play-actors,' she says." + +"There again," persisted Robinet; "I object to that too. They ought to +show a properer feeling. Playing at mummers is one thing, and being +executed is another, and people ought to keep 'em separate. In my +father's time, that sort of thing wasn't thought good taste, and I don't +hold with new-fangled notions." + +"Well, really, neighbour," said the Mayor, "I think you're out of sorts +yourself to-day. You must have got out of bed the wrong side this +morning. As for a little joke, more or less, we all know a maiden loves +a merry jest when she's certain of having the last word! But I'll tell +you what I'll do, if it'll please you; I'll go round and see Jeanne +myself on my way home, and tell her--quite nicely, you know--that once +in a way doesn't matter; but that if she feels her health won't let her +keep regular business hours, she mustn't think of going on with anything +that's bad for her. Like that, don't you see? And now, gentlemen, let's +read the minutes!" + +Thus it came about that Jeanne took her usual walk that evening with a +ruffled brow and a swelling heart; and her little hand opened and shut +angrily as she paced the ramparts. She couldn't stand being found fault +with. How could she help having a headache? Those clods of citizens +didn't know what a highly strung sensitive organisation was. Absorbed in +her reflections, she had taken several turns up and down the grassy +footway before she became aware that she was not alone. A youth, of +richer dress and more elegant bearing than the general run of the +Radegundians, was leaning in an embrasure, watching the graceful figure +with evident interest. + +"Something has vexed you, fair maiden?" he observed, coming forward +deferentially as soon as he perceived he was noticed; "and care sits but +awkwardly on that smooth young brow." + +"Nay, it is nothing, kind sir," replied Jeanne; "we girls who work for +our living must not be too sensitive. My employers have been somewhat +exigent, that is all. I did wrong to take it to heart." + +"'Tis the way of the bloated capitalist," rejoined the young man +lightly, as he turned to walk by her side. "They grind us, they grind +us; perhaps some day they will come under your hands in turn, and then +you can pay them out. And so you toil and spin, fair lily! And yet, +methinks, those delicate hands show little trace of labour?" + +"You wrong me, indeed, sir," replied Jeanne merrily. "These hands of +mine, that you are so good as to admire, do great execution!" + +"I can well believe that your victims are numerous," he replied; "may I +be permitted to rank myself among the latest of them?" + +"I wish you a better fortune, kind sir," answered Jeanne demurely. + +"I can imagine no more delightful one," he replied; "and where do you +ply your daily task, fair mistress? Not entirely out of sight and +access, I trust?" + + [Illustration: "Au revoir, sir! If you should happen to be in + the market-place any morning."] + +"Nay, sir," laughed Jeanne, "I work in the market-place most mornings, +and there is no charge for admission; and access is far from difficult. +Indeed, some complain--but that is no business of mine. And now I must +be wishing you a good-evening. Nay,"--for he would have detained +her,--"it is not seemly for an unprotected maiden to tarry in +converse with a stranger at this hour. _Au revoir_, sir! If you should +happen to be in the market-place any morning----" And she tripped +lightly away. The youth, gazing after her retreating figure, confessed +himself strangely fascinated by this fair unknown, whose particular +employment, by the way, he had forgotten to ask; while Jeanne, as she +sped homewards, could not help reflecting that, for style and +distinction, this new acquaintance threw into the shade all the +Enguerrands and others she had met hitherto--even in the course of +business. + + + + +IV + + +The next morning was bright and breezy, and Jeanne was early at her +post, feeling quite a different girl. The busy little market-place was +full of colour and movement, and the gay patches of flowers and fruit, +the strings of fluttering kerchiefs, and the piles of red and yellow +pottery, formed an artistic setting to the quiet impressive scaffold +which they framed. Jeanne was in short sleeves, according to the +etiquette of her office, and her round graceful arms showed snowily +against her dark blue skirt and scarlet, tight-fitting bodice. Her +assistant looked at her with admiration. + +"Hope you're better, miss," he said respectfully. "It was just as well +you didn't put yourself out to come yesterday; there was nothing +particular to do. Only one fellow, and _he_ said he didn't care; +anything to oblige a lady!" + +"Well, I wish he'd hurry up now, to oblige a lady," said Jeanne, +swinging her axe carelessly to and fro: "ten minutes past the hour; I +shall have to talk to the Mayor about this." + +"It's a pity there ain't a better show this morning," pursued the +assistant, as he leant over the rail of the scaffold and spat +meditatively into the busy throng below. "They do say as how the young +Seigneur arrived at the Chateau yesterday--him as has been finishing his +education in Paris, you know. He's as likely as not to be in the +market-place to-day; and if he's disappointed, he may go off to Paris +again, which would be a pity, seeing the Chateau's been empty so long. +But he may go to Paris, or anywhere else he's a mind to, he won't see +better workmanship than in this here little town!" + +"Well, my good Raoul," said Jeanne, colouring slightly at the obvious +compliment, "quality, not quantity, is what we aim at here, you know. If +a Paris education has been properly assimilated by the Seigneur, he will +not fail to make all the necessary allowances. But see, the prison-doors +are opening at last!" + + [Illustration: Endeavouring to convey the tardy prisoner to the + scaffold.] + +They both looked across the little square to the prison, which fronted +the scaffold; and sure enough, a small body of men, the Sheriff at their +head, was issuing from the building, conveying, or endeavouring to +convey, the tardy prisoner to the scaffold. That gentleman, however, +seemed to be in a different and less obliging frame of mind from that of +the previous day; and at every pace one or other of the guards was shot +violently into the middle of the square, propelled by a vigorous kick or +blow from the struggling captive. The crowd, unaccustomed of late to +such demonstrations of feeling, and resenting the prisoner's want of +taste, hooted loudly; but it was not until that ingenious mediaeval +arrangement known as _la marche aux crapauds_ had been brought to bear +on him that the reluctant convict could be prevailed upon to present +himself before the young lady he had already so unwarrantably detained. + +Jeanne's profession had both accustomed her to surprises and taught her +the futility of considering her clients as drawn from any one particular +class; yet she could hardly help feeling some astonishment on +recognising her new acquaintance of the previous evening. That, with all +his evident amiability of character, he should come to this end, was not +in itself a special subject for wonder; but that he should have been +conversing with her on the ramparts at the hour when--after courteously +excusing her attendance on the scaffold--he was cooling his heels in +prison for another day, seemed hardly to be accounted for, at first +sight. Jeanne, however, reflected that the reconciling of apparent +contradictions was not included in her official duties. + +The Sheriff, wiping his heated brow, now read the formal _proces_ +delivering over the prisoner to the executioner's hands; "and a nice job +we've had to get him here," he added on his own account. And the young +man, who had remained perfectly tractable since his arrival, stepped +forward and bowed politely. + +"Now that we have been properly introduced," said he courteously, "allow +me to apologise for any inconvenience you have been put to by my delay. +The fault was entirely mine, and these gentlemen are in no way to blame. +Had I known whom I was to have the pleasure of meeting, wings could not +have conveyed me swiftly enough." + +"Do not mention, I pray, the word inconvenience," replied Jeanne, with +that timid grace which so well became her. "I only trust that any slight +discomfort it may be my duty to cause you before we part will be as +easily pardoned. And now--for the morning, alas! advances--any little +advice or assistance that I can offer is quite at your service; for the +situation is possibly new, and you may have had but little experience." + +"Faith! none worth mentioning," said the prisoner gaily. "Treat me as a +raw beginner. Though our acquaintance has been but brief, I have the +utmost confidence in you." + +"Then, sir," said Jeanne, blushing, "suppose I were to assist you in +removing this gay doublet, so as to give both of us more freedom and +less responsibility?" + +"A perquisite of the office?" queried the prisoner with a smile, as he +slipped one arm out of its sleeve. + +A flush came over Jeanne's fair brow. "That was ungenerous," she said. + +"Nay, pardon me, sweet one," said he, laughing: "'twas but a poor jest +of mine--in bad taste, I willingly admit." + + [Illustration: "Nay pardon me, sweet one, 'twas but a jest of + mine."] + +"I was sure you did not mean to hurt me," she replied kindly, while her +fingers were busy in turning back the collar of his shirt. It was +composed, she noticed, of the finest point lace; and she could not +help a feeling of regret that some slight error--as must, from what she +knew, exist somewhere--should compel her to take a course so at variance +with her real feelings. Her only comfort was that the youth himself +seemed entirely satisfied with his situation. He hummed the last air +from Paris during her ministrations, and when she had quite finished, +kissed the pretty fingers with a metropolitan grace. + +"And now, sir," said Jeanne, "if you will kindly come this way: and +please to mind the step--so. Now, if you will have the goodness to kneel +here--nay, the sawdust is perfectly clean; you are my first client this +morning. On the other side of the block you will find a nick, more or +less adapted to the human chin, though a perfect fit cannot, of course, +be guaranteed in every case. So! Are you pretty comfortable?" + +"A bed of roses," replied the prisoner. "And what a really admirable +view one gets of the valley and the river, from just this particular +point!" + +"Charming, is it not?" replied Jeanne. "I'm so glad you do justice to +it. Some of your predecessors have really quite vexed me by their +inability to appreciate that view. It's worth coming here to see it. And +now, to return to business for one moment,--would you prefer to give the +word yourself? Some people do; it's a mere matter of taste. Or will you +leave yourself entirely in my hands?" + +"Oh, in your fair hands," replied her client, "which I beg you to +consider respectfully kissed once more by your faithful servant to +command." + +Jeanne, blushing rosily, stepped back a pace, moistening her palms as +she grasped her axe, when a puffing and blowing behind caused her to +turn her head, and she perceived the Mayor hastily ascending the +scaffold. + +"Hold on a minute, Jeanne, my girl," he gasped. "Don't be in a hurry. +There's been some little mistake." + +Jeanne drew herself up with dignity. "I'm afraid I don't quite +understand you, Mr. Mayor," she replied in freezing accents. "There's +been no little mistake on my part that I'm aware of." + +"No, no, no," said the Mayor apologetically; "but on somebody else's +there has. You see it happened in this way: this here young fellow was +going round the town last night; and he'd been dining, I should say, and +he was carrying on rather free. I will only say so much in your +presence, that he was carrying on decidedly free. So the town-guard +happened to come across him, and he was very high and very haughty, he +was, and wouldn't give his name nor yet his address--as a gentleman +should, you know, when he's been dining and carrying on free. So our +fellows just ran him in--and it took the pick of them all their time to +do it, too. Well, then, the other chap who was in prison--the gentleman +who obliged you yesterday, you know--what does he do but slip out and +run away in the middle of all the row and confusion; and very +inconsiderate and ungentlemanly it was of him to take advantage of us in +that mean way, just when we wanted a little sympathy and forbearance. +Well, the Sheriff comes this morning to fetch out his man for execution, +and he knows there's only one man to execute, and he sees there's only +one man in prison, and it all seems as simple as A B C--he never was +much of a mathematician, you know--so he fetches our friend here along, +quite gaily. And--and that's how it came about, you see; _hinc illae +lachrymae_, as the Roman poet has it. So now I shall just give this young +fellow a good talking to, and discharge him with a caution; and we +sha'n't require you any more to-day, Jeanne, my girl." + +"Now, look here, Mr. Mayor," said Jeanne severely, "you utterly fail to +grasp the situation in its true light. All these little details may be +interesting in themselves, and doubtless the press will take note of +them; but they are entirely beside the point. With the muddleheadedness +of your officials (which I have frequently remarked upon) I have nothing +whatever to do. All I know is, that this young gentleman has been +formally handed over to me for execution, with all the necessary legal +requirements; and executed he has got to be. When my duty has been +performed, you are at liberty to reopen the case if you like; and any +'little mistake' that may have occurred through your stupidity you can +then rectify at your leisure. Meantime, you've no _locus standi_ here at +all; in fact, you've no business whatever lumbering up my scaffold. So +shut up and clear out." + +"Now, Jeanne, do be reasonable," implored the Mayor. "You women are so +precise. You never will make any allowance for the necessary margin of +error in things." + +"If I were to allow the necessary margin for all _your_ errors, Mayor," +replied Jeanne coolly, "the edition would have to be a large-paper one, +and even then the text would stand a poor chance. And now, if you +don't allow me the necessary margin to swing my axe, there may be +another 'little mistake'----" + + [Illustration: But at this point a hubbub arose at the foot of + the scaffold.] + +But at this point a hubbub arose at the foot of the scaffold, and +Jeanne, leaning over, perceived sundry tall fellows, clad in the livery +of the Seigneur, engaged in dispersing the municipal guard by the agency +of well-directed kicks, applied with heartiness and anatomical +knowledge. A moment later, there strode on to the scaffold, clad in +black velvet, and adorned with his gold chain of office, the stately old +seneschal of the Chateau, evidently in a towering passion. + +"Now, mark my words, you miserable little bladder-o'-lard," he roared at +the Mayor (whose bald head certainly shone provokingly in the morning +sun), "see if I don't take this out of your skin presently!" And he +passed on to where the youth was still kneeling, apparently quite +absorbed in the view. + +"My lord," he said firmly though respectfully, "your hair-brained folly +really passes all bounds. Have you entirely lost your head?" + +"Faith, nearly," said the young man, rising and stretching himself. "Is +that you, old Thibault? Ow, what a crick I've got in my neck! But that +view of the valley was really delightful!" + +"Did you come here simply to admire the view, my lord?" inquired +Thibault severely. + + [Illustration: "Now mark my words you miserable little + bladder-o'-lard, see if I don't take this out of your skin + presently."] + +"I came because my horse would come," replied the young Seigneur +lightly: "that is, these gentlemen here were so pressing; they would not +hear of any refusal; and besides, they forgot to mention what my +attendance was required in such a hurry for. And when I got here, +Thibault, old fellow, and saw that divine creature--nay, a goddess, +_dea certe_--so graceful, so modest, so anxious to acquit herself with +credit---- Well, you know my weakness; I never could bear to disappoint +a woman. She had evidently set her heart on taking my head; and as she +had my heart already----" + +"I think, my lord," said Thibault, with some severity, "you had better +let me escort you back to the Chateau. This appears to be hardly a safe +place for light-headed and susceptible persons!" + +Jeanne, as was natural, had the last word. "Understand me, Mr. Mayor," +said she, "these proceedings are entirely irregular. I decline to +recognise them, and when the quarter expires I shall claim the usual +bonus!" + + + + +V + + +When, an hour or two later, an invitation arrived--courteously worded +but significantly backed by an escort of half-a-dozen tall archers--for +both Jeanne and the Mayor to attend at the Chateau without delay, Jeanne +for her part received it with neither surprise nor reluctance. She had +felt it especially hard that the only two interviews fate had granted +her with the one man who had made some impression on her heart should be +hampered, the one by considerations of propriety, the other by the +conflicting claims of her profession and its duties. On this +occasion, now, she would have an excellent chaperon in the Mayor; and, +business being over for the day, they could meet and unbend on a common +social footing. The Mayor was not at all surprised either, considering +what had gone before; but he was exceedingly terrified, and sought some +consolation from Jeanne as they proceeded together to the Chateau. That +young lady's remarks, however, could hardly be called exactly +comforting. + + [Illustration: An invitation arrived, backed by an escort of + half-a-dozen tall archers.] + +"I always thought you'd put your foot in it some day, Mayor," she said. +"You are so hopelessly wanting in system and method. Really, under the +present happy-go-lucky police arrangements, I never know whom I may not +be called upon to execute. Between you and my cousin Enguerrand, life is +hardly safe in this town. And the worst of it is, that we other +officials on the staff have to share in the discredit." + +"What do you think they'll do to me, Jeanne?" whimpered the Mayor, +perspiring freely. + +"Can't say, I'm sure," pursued the candid Jeanne. "Of course, if it's +anything in the _rack_ line of business, I shall have to superintend the +arrangements, and then you can feel sure you're in capable hands. But +probably they'll only fine you pretty smartly, give you a month or two +in the dungeons, and dismiss you from your post; and you will hardly +grudge any slight personal inconvenience resulting from an arrangement +so much to the advantage of the town." + +This was hardly reassuring, but the Mayor's official reprimand of the +previous day still rankled in this unforgiving young person's mind. + +On their reaching the Chateau the Mayor was conducted aside, to be dealt +with by Thibault; and from the sounds of agonised protestation and +lament which shortly reached Jeanne's ears, it was evident that he was +having a _mauvais quart d'heure_. The young lady was shown respectfully +into a chamber apart, where she had hardly had time to admire +sufficiently the good taste of the furniture and the magnificence of the +tapestry with which the walls were hung, when the Seigneur entered and +welcomed her with a cordial grace that put her entirely at her ease. + +"Your punctuality puts me to shame, fair mistress," he said, +"considering how unwarrantably I kept you waiting this morning, and how +I tested your patience by my ignorance and awkwardness." + +He had changed his dress, and the lace round his neck was even richer +than before. Jeanne had always considered one of the chief marks of a +well-bred man to be a fine disregard for the amount of his washing-bill; +and then with what good taste he referred to recent events--putting +himself in the wrong, as a gentleman should! + +"Indeed, my lord," she replied modestly, "I was only too anxious to hear +from your own lips that you bore me no ill-will for the part forced on +me by circumstances in our recent interview. Your lordship has +sufficient critical good sense, I feel sure, to distinguish between the +woman and the official." + +"True, Jeanne," he replied, drawing nearer; "and while I shrink from +expressing, in their fulness, all the feelings that the woman inspires +in me, I have no hesitation--for I know it will give you pleasure--in +acquainting you with the entire artistic satisfaction with which I +watched you at your task!" + +"But, indeed," said Jeanne, "you did not see me at my best. In fact, I +can't help wishing--it's ridiculous, I know, because the thing is hardly +practicable--but if I could only have carried my performance quite +through, and put the last finishing touches to it, you would not have +been judging me now by the mere 'blocking-in' of what promised to be a +masterpiece!" + +"Yes, I wish it could have been arranged somehow," said the Seigneur, +reflectively; "but perhaps it's better as it is. I am content to let the +artist remain for the present on trust, if I may only take over, fully +paid up, the woman I adore!" + +Jeanne felt strangely weak. The official seemed oozing out at her +fingers and toes, while the woman's heart beat even more distressingly. + +"I have one little question to ask," he murmured (his arm was about her +now). + +"Do I understand that you still claim your bonus?" + +Jeanne felt like water in his strong embrace; but she nerved herself to +answer, faintly but firmly, "Yes!" + +"Then so do I," he replied, as his lips met hers. + + * * * * * + +Executions continued to occur in St. Radegonde; the Radegundians being +conservative and very human. But much of the innocent enjoyment that +formerly attended them departed after the fair Chatelaine had ceased to +officiate. Enguerrand, on succeeding to the post, wedded Clairette, she +being (he was heard to say) a more suitable match in mind and temper +than others of whom he would name no names. Rumour had it, that he found +his match and something over; while as for temper--and mind (which she +gave him in bits). But the domestic trials of high-placed officials have +a right to be held sacred. The profession, in spite of his best +endeavours, languished nevertheless. Some said that the scaffold lacked +its old attraction for criminals of spirit; others, more unkindly, that +the headsman was the innocent cause, and that Enguerrand was less fatal +in his new sphere than formerly, when practising in the criminal court +as advocate for the defence. + + +[Illustration: THE END] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Headswoman, by Kenneth Grahame + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEADSWOMAN *** + +***** This file should be named 34243.txt or 34243.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/4/34243/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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