the loves of og and lilias.
it will probably be recollected under what singular circumstances the acquaintance began between og the gigantic and lilias the fair. from the very moment when the damsel, seated behind the giant on the broad back of arundel, passed her arm round his waist, a flame was kindled in his breast never afterwards to be extinguished.
a magnetic influence was exercised over him by lilias, and he speedily became so much enthralled by her fascinations as was sir bevis of southampton, whom he then represented, by the charms of the peerless princess josyan. when he and his gigantic brothers, with sir narcissus and lady le grand, proceeded to winchester to take part in the pageants displayed there during the royal nuptials, lilias accompanied them, and, before many days had elapsed, her conquest of og was complete. 362she had him, as gog confidentially remarked to magog, “entirely under her thumb.”
“will he be fool enough to marry her, think you, brother?” observed magog, shrugging his shoulders, and thinking of dame placida.
“hum! i cannot say, but i shall do my best to dissuade him from the step,” rejoined gog.
so the brothers laid their huge heads together, and the result was that they devised a plan by which they hoped to get rid altogether of the fair syren, and cure og of his ridiculous passion, as they deemed it. their plan was to send back lilias to southampton, and persuade og that she had left him of her own accord to return to her former admirer, and they managed the matter so adroitly, that og was completely duped, and, after a tremendous burst of indignation against the fickleness of the sex, vowed he would never think of the false jillflirt again. his brothers commended his resolution, and told him he had had a narrow escape.
“if you are wise, you will take warning by me, and never marry,” said magog.
“if he must needs marry, let him choose a buxom widow, and not a tricksome girl like lilias.”
“i don’t mean to marry at all,” cried og, resolutely.
but the fangs of disappointment gnawed his heart. he grew moody and dull, and avoided the society of his brothers.
after a month’s absence from the tower, the three gigantic warders returned there, and resumed their ordinary duties. but og’s melancholy increased, and his brothers at last began to feel uneasy about him, and to regret the part they had played.
“it would be a grievous thing were he to break his heart for this silly girl,” remarked gog. “he seems pining away for her.”
“he may be pining away,” observed magog; “but he is in good case still, and his appetite is not amiss, judging by the havoc he made with the cold chine of beef and lumbar-pie at breakfast this morning, to say nothing of the stoup of ale which he managed to empty. nevertheless, i agree with you, brother gog, that he is not himself, and hath quite lost his old pleasant humour. he never jests, as was his wont, 363and i have not heard a hearty laugh from him since we sent lilias away.”
“i begin to think we did wrong in meddling in the matter,” observed gog. “i shall never cease to reproach myself if anything should happen to him.”
“well, we acted for the best,” said magog. “i only wish my marriage had been prevented,” he added, with a groan. “let us see how he goes on. perchance, he may recover.”
but og did not recover, and, although he did not exhibit any of the usual symptoms of despairing love, as loss of appetite, or flesh, a lacklustre eye, and disordered manner, still he became more gloomy and sullen than ever, and rarely exchanged a word with his brothers.
nearly eight months had now flown since he had beheld lilias, and still her image was constantly before him, and the witchery she had practised upon him by her fascinations and allurements had not lost a jot of its power. he was still as much under her sway as if she had been with him all the time.
one evening, while he was taking a solitary walk upon the ramparts, and thinking of lilias, he saw xit hastening towards him, and would have avoided him, but the dwarf stopped him, saying,—
“give thee good e’en, og. i was looking for thee. i bring thee good news.”
“out of my way,” rejoined the giant, gruffly. “i am in no humour for jesting.”
“i know thou art become as surly as a bear with a sore head,” replied xit; “but thou hadst best not provoke a quarrel with me, or thou wilt rue it.”
“pass on,” roared og, “and exercise thy wit at the expense of those who are amused by it—my brothers for example. but meddle not with me. i am dangerous.”
“big words do not terrify me,” rejoined xit, with a mocking laugh. “furious as thou art, i can tame thee with a word. i have but to pronounce the name of ‘lilias ringwood,’ and thou wilt straight become as gentle as a lamb. ha ha! ha! was i not right?”
“hast thou aught to tell me concerning lilias?” cried 364og, suddenly becoming as meek as the animal to which he had been likened. “if so, speak quickly!”
“soh! thou art in the mood for converse now, and my jests do not appear tiresome to thee,” rejoined xit; “but i will not gratify thee. thou art dull company. i will go to thy brothers.”
“nay, but xit, sweet xit, if thou hast any love for me, tell me what thou knowest of lilias.”
“thou dost not deserve that i should tell thee aught, uncourteous giant,” said xit. “nevertheless, out of compassion for thy miserable state, i will speak. know, then, most amorous titan, that i have seen the lady of thy love——”
“thou hast seen lilias!” interrupted og. “oh! thou art my best friend. how doth she look? is she comely as ever? or is she changed and married to another? tell me the worst. it may break my heart—but spare me not.”
“i will tell thee the best and the worst as quickly as may be,” rejoined xit. “the best is, that lilias is still true to thee, and looking lovelier than ever—and the worst is, that she is coming to the tower in a few days, and therefore thou wilt soon behold her again.”
“why, the worst is best of all!” cried og, transported with delight.
“nay, it is worst,” rejoined xit; “because, when she comes, thou wilt be compelled to marry her.”
“but i say to thee again that it is best, for i desire nothing so much as marriage with her. but thou art not making merry with me all this while? ’twere a sorry jest to trifle with me thus.”
“i am not trifling with thee, incredulous giant,” replied xit. “if the hand of the fair lilias will make thee happy, thou shalt have it. that i promise thee. now listen. compassionating thy woful condition, i have been to southampton, and seen the mistress of thy affections, and finding her still unfettered by matrimonial ties, still amiably disposed towards thee, i proposed marriage to her in thy name, and the offer was—accepted.”
“thou hast done me an incalculable service!” cried og, taking him in his arms, and hugging him tightly. 365“and so thou hast been to southampton, and seen lilias, and won her for me—eh? i have missed thee for the last week, but fancied thou wert with her majesty at whitehall.”
“set me down, and i will talk to thee,” replied xit. “thou hast almost squeezed the breath out of my body;” and as og placed him gently on the ground, he continued, “i will now let thee into a secret. but first promise not to be angry.”
“i am far too happy to be angry with any one now,” rejoined og. “speak out. what hast thou to reveal?”
“i must set thee right upon one point. when lilias quitted thee so suddenly at winchester, it was not, as thou wert led to suppose, from a desire to be reconciled to her first lover. her disappearance was contrived by gog and magog, who did not wish thee to wed the damsel.”
“thunder and lightning! was it so?” roared og, with sudden fury.
“remember thy promise,” said xit.
“well, proceed,” cried og, trying to calm himself.
“perceiving the mischief they had occasioned, and despairing of remedying the matter, thy brothers applied to me, and out of my love for them and thee, i offered to go to southampton to see what could be done with lilias. accordingly i went, and how i succeeded in my mission thou art already aware.”
“i am for ever beholden to thee,” said og. “and so lilias will certainly be here in a few days. why didst thou not bring her with thee?”
“i would fain have done so,” replied xit; “but she had preparations to make before her departure. however, she will be escorted by a young gentleman whom you may remember, captain rodomont bittern, of cardinal pole’s household.”
“rodomont bittern!” exclaimed og, knitting his bushy brow. “why should he escort her?”
“because he chances to be coming up to london at the same time—nothing more, thou jealous and suspicious fool,” rejoined xit. “captain bittern’s errand to southampton 366was very different from mine. he did not go to propose a marriage, but to attend a funeral. you remember constance tyrrell?”
“daughter of a wealthy southampton merchant,” replied og. “yes, i remember her. it was whispered that the king was enamoured of her, but that she preferred young osbert clinton. she is now at lambeth palace, under the guardianship of cardinal pole.”
“i see you are well informed about her,” replied xit. “well, old tyrrell, her father, is just dead, and has made a very singular will. since his daughter has become tainted with heresy, he has lost all affection for her, and has now disinherited her, and left the whole of his immense riches to—whom think’st thou?”
“nay, i cannot guess,” replied og. “not to rodomont bittern, i trust?”
“no, not to him,” returned xit. “he has made cardinal pole his heir, and the sum he has bequeathed is such as not even a cardinal need despise. this was the reason why rodomont bittern and others of the cardinal’s household were sent down to southampton to bury the old merchant and take possession of his property, and as i chanced to be there at the same time, i naturally came in contact with them, and on acquainting captain bittern with mine errand, he proffered his services, and accompanied me when i called on lilias. it is but justice to him to add, that he pleaded thy cause with the damsel as warmly as i could do myself. when the affair was arranged, and captain bittern found that a longer stay at southampton was inconvenient to me, he obligingly undertook to escort thy destined bride to london. thus thou hast now the whole affair before thee. methinks i have some little claim on thy gratitude. so if you will come with me to thy brothers, and assure them they are forgiven, i shall deem myself amply requited.”
og readily assented, and quitting the ramparts, they proceeded to the byward tower, where they found gog and magog at supper, an immense pasty, with a cold ham, a mountainous loaf, and a mighty mazer filled with ale, being set before them.
as og and xit entered, they both rose from the table at which they were seated, and seeing there were no traces of 367anger on their brother’s countenance, they held out their hands to him, which og, so far from refusing, shook very cordially.
in a few moments all explanations were over, and the brothers amicably seated at the table, discussing the pasty, ever and anon applying to the mazer, and talking, when they were able to talk at all, of the approaching marriage.
