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He had one scheme for her marriage; but his brother, the Count, had wished to give her to his own second son, who was almost an infant; and the Duke of Burgundy had designs on her for his half-brother Boemond; and among these various disputants, Esclairmonde had never failed to find support against whichever proposal was forced upon her, until the coalition between the Dukes of Burgundy and Brabant becoming too strong, she had availed herself of Countess Jaqueline's discontent to evade them both.
In the midst of the battle, Tancred made his esquire swear never to reveal his exploits, probably as a mortification of his own vanity in hearing them extolled. After a siege of more than seven months, Boemond effected an entrance by means of an understanding with some of the Eastern Christians within the town.
Many another great name was there: Raymond, the wise Count of Toulouse; the crafty Boemond, one of the Normans of Sicily; his gallant cousin, Tancred, a mirror of chivalry, the Achilles of the Crusade; but our limits will only allow us to dwell on those through whom the Crusade is connected with English history.
If this young gentleman, after professing himself willing to wed you, now draws back, so much the worse for him. But if you terrify him out of it with your humours, then will my brother St. Pol and the Duke of Burgundy soon be here, with no King of England to meddle; and by St. Adrian, Sir Boemond will be daunted by no airs, like Monsieur there.
Almost had he uttered the vow, when, tugging hard at his heart, came the vision of Esclairmonde's loveliness, and he felt it beyond his strength to resign her voluntarily; besides, how Madame of Hainault and Monseigneur de Therouenne would deride his uncertainties; and how intolerable it would be to leave Esclairmonde to fall into the hands of Boemond of Burgundy.
Malcolm detected the expression, and rallying his powers the more, continued: 'Sir, there was no help they vowed that she must choose between Boemond and me. On the faith of a dying man, I hold her troth but in trust; I pledged myself to her to restore it when her way is clear to her purpose. She would never be mine but in name. And now who will save her?
I was in an exceeding strait, and had only one trust, namely, that Father Thomas had told me that the more I threw myself upon God, the more He would save me from man. But oh! they seemed all closing in on me, and I knew that Sir Boemond had sworn that I should pay heavily for my resistance. Then one night my Countess came to me.
A bride shall you be, Esclairmonde de Luxemburg, ere the week is out, if not to Monsieur de Glenuskie, to the Chevalier Boemond de Bourgogne. 'Look not at me, said Jaqueline. 'I am weary of your contumacy. All I shall do is to watch you well.
'It were a poor compliment to Lord Malcolm to name him in the same day with Sir Boemond of Burgundy, said Esclairmonde; 'but, as I said, it is not the person that withholds me, but the fact that I am not free. 'I do not ask you to love or accept the poor boy as yet, said James; 'I leave that for the time when I shall bring him back to you, with the qualities grown which you have awakened.
Boemond of Burgundy was better than that, for he at least was a man! 'No, no, Alice, said Esclairmonde, with a shudder; 'any one rather than the Burgundian! It is shame even to compare the Scot! 'He may not be so evil in himself, said Alice; 'but with a brave man you have only his own sins, while a coward has all those other people may frighten him into.
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